Demigods vs Zombies (Demigod Story) (Rot & Ruin)

Chapter 5

My eyes stayed glued to the doors that slowly opened, watching from the side. A low corded moan erupted from the creature that walked closer, I nearly trembled from fear and indecision. What am I supposed to do? Scream for help? Run? Fight?

No one answered my question and the monster continued making its slow approach, sometimes sniffing at the air loudly as if it were smelling my scent.

The creature soon came into view, it had the body of a man in his 60's, his gut stuck out more than his double chin (that really was more like a scarf of fat). There were more bits of hair on its face than there was on its entire head, which was shaved clean. Its mouth opened before turning its head towards me.

Maybe it won't attack, maybe it thinks that I'm just a good-smelling mailbox, right? I asked myself, but I still wasn't so sure. Although I had been doing my best to stay silent, a scream punched its way through my mouth and caught even me by surprise. Both of my hands went up to cover my mouth, releasing my shirt that I was using as a bag for the tuna cans. The metal clambered onto the tile floor, some crashing off of my toes.

I think that my scream had made less noise than the cans. The throbbing pain from the cans pounding my toes barely compared to the grasping panic that enveloped my body without my permission. Another scream escaped my mouth even though I knew that it was stupid to scream, but I had little control of my actions.

The body of the truck guy headed towards me, opening its mouth and snapping it shut as if to warm up for chopping down on me. It shuffled on the tile floor, it wasn't that I thought that it would catch me, I just didn't want to run because that's how people in horror movies got cornered and killed; by running from the smallest threat.

A dark figure jumped from the shadows, a flicker of silver shone before it disappeared into the back of the zombie's neck. The body that belonged to a "middle-aged" man fell to the floor without denial, accepting its fate without a fight. My breathing became uneven as I looked forward at the figure standing over the body.

The figure of at least 14 looked up at me, his dark eyes allowed me to identify him to be the guy that I had left behind in the silverware aisle.

"Who are you?" I asked in awe.

He smirked at me and stepped over the zombie as though he had no remorse. "James, son of Hades at your service. And you?"

I hesitated, unsure of whether or not I should trust him. I decided that I should, considering that he had just saved my life. "Crescent, daughter of Nyx."

He nodded, "As much as I love formal introductions, we should really get a move on." James then moved his head in a way to tell me to follow him, then he ran full speed to the silverware aisle.

I quickly bent down and grabbed around five tuna cans and hugged them to my chest and then glanced back to the rotting body on the ground before I ran to follow James, who was just turning into the silverware aisle.

I turned the corner and saw him start pushing the cart that was full with the soup and water. "Any ideas of where to hide out?" he asked as he started pushing the cart towards the exit.

"This is part of a shopping center, right? I recall seeing a nail salon next door," I recommended. As the cart was pushed through one of the registers, I grabbed a few boxes of gum and tossed it into the cart, possibly a supply that would last a year if I had one a day.

"A nail salon?" he groaned. "Really?"

"What?" I asked, offended by him questioning me when he was the one that had asked for an opinion of a panicked 11-year-old. "Rather be in a bank where people are withdrawing their money while attracting zombies? How about a pizza parlor full of hormonal teens that probably snuck beer in? Or the liquor store that doesn't even have a restroom?"