Dead Days

Chapter 27

It rained for most of the next two weeks, but it gave us time to settle in because the rain made us stay in. We did make a few runs just to get us some more things to do during the rainy days. We had fun times playing board games and card games and the occasional crafting session, but we still got bored and started running low on food. How typical. 

So this landed us to gather around the island in the kitchen with the map we found weeks ago and planning on a place to find supplies. We were getting pretty good at this. 

We rather quickly decided to go check out the store we got the maps from and around there; it was apparently the shopping district. Carl also added that he could try to hotwire another car so we don't have to use the truck because all the rain would still have the bed wet and possibly flooding a bit. So that led Carl, Matt, Beth, and I to cram into a minivan that was slightly damaged from a crash. It probably would have been better if we found a car that wasn't in a crash before, but we wanted to find the biggest one we could. 

We rather quickly got to the stores and got out. Before we left the apartment, we had decided to divide and conquer: Beth would take the gas station, I would take the grocery store, Carl was to go through the hardware store, while Matt was going to try to check out the guns and ammo store. 

We gave each other a quick nod before heading off our separate ways, making sure we know the meetup time; an hour. I went to the grocery store that was across the street from the gas station we've already checked out a couple of times. It was pretty empty from first glance, but I've learned to be careful just in case, so I took my ax (how have I not lost this thing yet?) and let it bang on the permanently open doors of the store. The noise was loud, as I was going for, and it took a couple of moments for any lurkers that were hiding in there to come out. There were two of them, both extremely pale and skin and clothes tattered among what I could see. 

The first one that came out lunged for me. I simply sidestepped and let it fall to the ground before speedwalking to the other one. I quickly swung my ax into its head, letting it fall to the ground in a dead limp. At hearing a groan behind me from the other infected, I started trying to get my ax out of the dead one's head, but mostly failing. Giving up with the ax, knowing the thing was getting closer, I quickly fishing my pocket knife (who even gave this to me?) and opened it, letting the lurker get a bit closer before jumping out at it and digging the knife into its head, going from under the chin and up. 

It fell into a dead limp like the other one. I backed up and let the body hit the floor before I went and retrieved my knife, wiping the blood off of it with the lurker's shirt before hiding it back into my back pocket. I went to the other one and started prying my ax out of it before heading into the store. 

I fished my flashlight out of my backpack before heading in too deep into the store, letting the light shine around the store. I made my way to the back, assuming that if anything was untouched, it would be back there. My guess was correct as most of the shelves still had stuff on them. 

I pulled out the two duffle bags I had been supplied with anything I could find and thought necessary (obviously not forgetting any candy) before heading back out to the meet zone to wait for the others. 

It was only then, after about five-ten minutes that I realized they were late. I scanned the area, quickly noticing black smoke billowing through the sky, very clearly come from where the apartment building was that we were hiding in. I dropped my two bags full of food and started running towards the building. It was a couple of blocks, and by the time I got to our building, it felt like I had been punched in the gut by how quickly I wanted to get there. 

Half of the building was on fire. There were a couple of dead bodies on the ground, which I quickly noticed where not like the bodies that were walking around; these seemed fresh like they had just died. 

I ignored the incoming horde of infected when I heard a scream come from inside the building. I looked up at our apartment, fear running through my veins, "Mac!"