You'd Better Run

Chapter 2: Let's go shopping

Photo to the right is Ella's dad(Santiago Cabrera)

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My head thwacked against the window, inducing a painful throbbing sensation.

"God damn potholes" I muttered to myself. I heard a chuckle and turned to glare at the man in the driver's seat.

"Sorry Smella" he winked, taking his eyes off the cracked tarmac road for a second. Just as I was about to complain about being called 'Smella', the Range Rover lurched forward again violently, causing us to both bounce in our seats.

"Suspension's not what it used to be," the man grimaced. He was right. Our old faithful vehicle had taken many knocks over the years, especially when we went zombie pin-bowling.

Grumbling to myself I pushed my hair out of my eyes. It had grown a lot longer in the last few years, reaching the middle of my back. I remembered as a kid how much I'd hated having to have it cut. Now it was a different story. Now, I'd quite happily trim it if it meant that the zombies didn't have something to grab onto the next time they chased us. Which was inevitable, of course.

"We're going to have to do a shop run soon, we're running low on the munchies" I said with a sigh, rummaging through one of the large backpacks we had with us. Uncle Jack raised his eyebrows as he met my eyes in the mirror. We both knew what that meant. Food shopping was no menial task when there were zombies around.

***

Dad's hand clenched the steering wheel. He glanced over at me briefly then cast his eyes back to the road.

"Put your seatbelt on." It sounded strange coming from his mouth after what we had just witnessed. I complied, my hands more steady now. Dad grabbed the umbrella that was lying awkwardly across his lap and tucked it away on the back seat. I could see the blood on it and recoiled. Then he deposited the brown, fluffy thing onto my lap. I blinked in confusion before recognition hit me.

"George! You saved him" I nearly lunged across to give my dad a hug but held back because we could do without getting into a car accident right now.

My dad gave a tight lipped smile. "We couldn't leave your childhood best friend behind could we? Even if it meant battling a postman with a serious anger management issue using only an umbrella." Dad mumbled, still managing to make jokes even after what had happened. I was relieved he was okay though. I'd never had forgiven myself if he'd not come back out of the house.

The supermarket was only a 10 minute drive from our home through town but it was eerily silent for a Saturday morning. I was glad to not see anymore diseased people but at the same time I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Dad too, must have been intimidated by the silence as he put the radio on a minute later.

"... infected still rising. What's really worrying is their aggressiveness, they seem to attack anything that comes into sight so beware folks. If an infected individual manages to bite or scratch you then transmission is likely to take place within an hour. So get yourself to a hospital to be treated. Now for an update from Sally Hampshire, our correspondent from the..."

I tuned it out and rested my head against the door, George snuggled up in my arms. I was still in a state of shock.

The car slowed to a halt as my dad pulled up in one of the vacant spaces in the car park. I counted 10 other cars, but couldn't see mum's mini anywhere. A knot of fear nestled in my stomach. If she wasn't at home, and she wasn't here... My breathing became ragged and shallow.

"Dad," I said, my voice reaching a high pitch.

"Shhh sweetie," he stroked my cheek to calm me down. "I want you to stay in here, you'll be perfectly safe. I'm going to look inside and grab some more food okay?" I nodded faintly. Dad reached across into the glove box and grabbed his gun. Being a policeman he often had to deal with dangerous people but he had never had to use his gun on the job. That didn't mean he wouldn't use it as a precaution though. Scanning the car park for movement one last time, he hopped out and closed the door gently behind him. He opened the boot and grabbed his golf club along with his rucksack. I guess his weekend hobby was about to change into something a little more serious. He gave me one final smile as he saw me looking at him in the mirror.