The Living Dead Boy (The Living Dead Boy #1)(24)

Josh saw what was going to happen seconds before it unfolded.

“Run!” he shouted, rushing to the back of the store.

“OHMYGAWDTHEY’REGONNACRASH!” Sam shouted.

Corina grabbed Sam’s arm and dragged him along behind Josh and the others instead of leaving him to gawk at the unfolding chaos. “C’mon, Sam!”

Josh slid behind a huge shelving unit just as the SUV burst through the front windows, glass showering those still inside the store. The vehicle plowed through counters, shelves, and stacks of merchandise. It finally came to a stop near the entrance to the restrooms covered in broken bricks, cement dust, and metal beams. Ceiling panels fell and the lights popped, plunging the store into an early morning gloom. Another car struck the front, making the whole building shudder. The terrifying sound of more collisions thundered through the store. The acrid smell of an electrical fire burned Josh’s nose.

Lying on his side, breathing heavily, Josh raised his head to see Corina, Troy, and Sam jumbled together at his feet. Coughing on the steam billowing out of the car engine and a cloud of cement dust, Josh rolled onto his knees. “Is everyone okay?”

“He hit the patrolman,” Sam gasped. “I saw the truck hit him!”

Several other kids were crouched nearby, including Chad. The woman with the big blonde hairdo was screaming at the end of the aisle and wringing her bloody hands.

Outside came the continuous sound of gunfire and engines revving.

“That truck hit the store,” Sam gasped out the obvious. “And then a bunch of other cars hit it too!”

“Really? I didn’t notice,” Troy said, rolling his eyes. “Josh, what do we do?”

“Get out of here,” Josh answered.

Concrete dust rained from his hair when Josh stood. His skin was stinging from where he’d been nicked by flying glass. The front end of the store was consumed in the white steam billowing out of the SUV. Two more vehicles were rammed through the windows, though not as deep. The pickup that belonged to the angry man in the red cap was crumpled against a pole near the front entrance. Inside, the man who had started all the chaos was draped over the steering wheel. Beyond the crash, barely visible through the steam and dust, the rest of the convoy continued to escape the parking lot. Tires screeched and voices shouted as some barely missed the guards rushing toward the store.

To Josh’s relief, the buses were still in position near the pumps.

Corina got to her feet, and surveyed the damage. Her eyes widened. “Oh my gawd.”

Now that the dust was settling, it was easier to see despite the steam. Josh winced when he saw why the blonde woman was screaming. Her husband was under the front tires of the SUV. Quite a few other people were also smashed against the vehicle or trapped under the rubble. Some were moving, but most were not. A few adults stumbled through the ruins of the store, dazed looks on their faces.

Moans filled the space, and Josh shuddered. The noise made by the wounded reminded him too much of zombies.

“Do we have to crawl over the cars to get out?” Troy asked.

Josh wasn’t too sure how sturdy the piles of rubble or toppled shelves would be to scramble over, but it looked like they might be able to climb over the hood of one of the cars to get out. He was about to suggest it when Corina pointed toward the dark smoke pouring out from a corner of the car’s hood.

“That car is on fire! We need to get out of here,” she said.

A second later, flames erupted from the bent hood and set the nearby pile of cardboard cookie boxes ablaze.





Chapter 15


“Josh!”

Jamie Rondell’s voice cut through the roar of the flames, the cries of the wounded and frightened people, the growl of car engines, and guns firing.

“Dad! We’re trapped!” Josh cried out.

Through the haze of smoke and the orange flames, Jamie and a few other guards ran toward the store with their heavy weapons gripped in their hands. They stopped a few feet from the burning wreckage, unable to enter the store. Jamie paced back and forth, obviously trying to figure out how to get the survivors out of the wrecked building. The fire was swiftly spreading across the front of the store, and it was getting harder to breathe inside.

“We need to get out now!” Corina tugged on Josh’s arm, and pointed to the far side of the store. “Beaux just pried the storage room door open.”

“We’re going through the back, Dad!” Josh yelled over the noise of the building groaning and the fire snapping.

“Hurry, Josh! We’ve got to get the buses out of here now!”

“Sergeant Rondell, they’re coming!” Melissa shouted.

“Zombies,” Sam gasped.

The staggering forms of the undead nearing the buses pulled Jamie’s desperate gaze from the burning store. “Hurry, son!”

Josh headed to where the storeroom door was propped open on the other side of the crashed SUV. Chad and the kids with him started to follow them over the wreckage. It was hard to scramble over all the debris. The flames were spreading fast and the heat nipped at Josh’s skin. The survivors coughed and gagged on the smoky air, which was more of a threat with every passing second.

Josh did his best not to look at the bodies of the wounded and dead. He had to save himself and his friends. There was no time to rescue the unconscious or the severely wounded. Josh tried not to look toward the SUV and the blood splattered across the windshield. The helplessness he felt made his chest hurt.