Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)(8)

Jenni looked down into the fort and saw all the people staring up at them. She waved to Katie and Jason. Juan was up on the far wall and she blew him a kiss. He caught it and pretended to smack it onto his ass. She laughed.

Ed headed down the ladder first, followed by Felix, then Bill, and finally Jenni. She jumped down the last few rungs and landed on the hot road. The entire downtown area was paved in red bricks. A few blades of grass were sticking up around the edges, but otherwise it was in good condition.

Despite the heat, they were all in jeans, boots, gloves and jackets. Jenni's hair was braided and pinned up on her head to avoid giving the zombies anything to grab onto. Her work gloves were lightweight, but would be a bitch for any zombie to bite through. She was overheated already, but they had to stay safe.

They slowly approached the Dollar Store. It was hard to see inside past the advertisements taped to the windows. The lights were off; the gloom was unwelcoming. Bill went down on his knees before the door and started to pick the lock. Busting the door open would be the last resort.

“Ha. I bet everyone thought the black man would be doing that,” Felix remarked with a grin.

“You learn things on the job being a cop,” Bill said somberly.

“Don't care if you're black or white or brown or whatever,” Ed said, “just as long as you don't turn green and bite me.”

Jenni laughed and Felix smiled.

Bill's brow furrowed as he concentrated. After a moment, he smiled. With a twist of his wrist, the lock spun, and the door opened slightly.

They all gagged at once. The smell coming out of the store was putrid.

“Fucking shit,” Felix gasped.

“We got a dead one in there all right,” Ed said grimly.

Bill crawled away from the door, his eyes watering, trying to get a clean breath of air.

Jenni pulled her bandana up over her nose. “Gawd, that is awful.”

“Enclosed space and rotting dead stuff; not a good combo. Let's do this, people,” Ed said, pushing the door all the way open with one foot. He stared into the gloom, his rifle with the makeshift bayonet at the end at the ready. “Hey!”

His voice filled the store. A low growl answered.

“It’s dead and talking,” Ed said somberly, and walked in.

Felix moved in right behind him as Bill climbed to his feet and joined Jenni. He wiped his eyes and cheeks with a bandana, then nodded to her. His eyes were still smarting, but he looked ready. Jenni slid into the darkened interior slowly.





4. The Store

The front of the store was empty except for a line of small shopping carts. Both checkout stands stood empty. Jenni walked cautiously toward the first aisle to the right as Ed and Felix moved to check out the left side of the store. Bill peered behind the checkout stands just to make sure they were truly empty. He held his machete at the ready, but with a swift motion of his head, indicated nothing lingered there.

Jenni lifted the ax a little higher as she headed down the first aisle. It was loaded up with makeup and all sorts of lotions. A lone bottle of shampoo lay in the middle of the aisle. She scooted it out of her way with the tip of her boot. Bill moved up alongside her, close enough for Jenni to hear his steady breathing. It was comforting. Slowly, she edged around the corner, looking into the aisle that cut down the side of the store. It was empty.

Together, they advance slowly to the next aisle.

Ed and Felix were obviously not finding anything as well, but the stench and low moans told them all quite clearly something was dead in the store and still moving. The aisle packed with baby supplies made Jenni's head swim for a moment, but she shoved any thoughts of Benji out of her mind and set her jaw determinedly.

The aisle was clear.

Bill moved up toward the next aisle.

Another low moan reverberated through the store.

“Is anyone alive in here?” Felix's voice called out.

Another low moan, not a screech, but a moan, answered.

“If you're human and hurt, say something,” Felix went on.

Somewhere, the moan grew into a hungry growl.

“Yep, zombie,” Ed said.

“For sure,” Felix agreed.

Bill froze for a second as they reached the aisle full of photo books and frames. A lot of merchandise lay on the floor, broken and smashed. Slowly, Jenni lifted her eyes upwards. An arm dangled off the shelf over the display of cheap, but cute frames. It was savagely bitten in several places. A low moan came from the shelf.

“Found one,” Bill called out.

The zombie moaned. Its arm twitched.

“I bet he crawled up there to get away,” Jenni whispered.

The zombie, wedged tightly between two metal shelves, wiggled anxiously, knowing human flesh was nearby.

“How do we do this?” Bill looked perplexed.

Jenni motioned to the zombie's foot. “Drag it down and deal with it?”

Bill frowned deeply. “Could go wrong on the way down. Could twist around and land on us or something.”

The zombie thrashed around still unable to free itself.

“Let's go to the other side,” Jenni suggested.

Bill and Jenni crept around to the other aisle, this one loaded down with all sorts of household supplies. The zombie's other leg and arm were hanging out on this side. It was a young man, probably in his late teens. If he hadn’t such a slim build, he may have never wedged himself between the two metal shelves. He saw them and thrashed even more, growling. Jenni looked around her and spotted a small stepladder used to stock the higher shelves. It was toppled over on its side and she bet the kid had used it to climb up out of the way of a zombie. Grabbing it, she dragged it over in front of the zombie. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see its decaying hand reaching out desperately to get her, but she was out of reach.