The Day of Reckoning

Chapter 3: Rory Jackson

"Focus on spotting the Reaper," I demand.

"So that's what you call them," he responds.

"Focus--"

One of the dude's citrus grenade whizzes past my face and pops on the head of a Reaper sneaking up behind me! "Shit!" I exclaim as it swipes at its eyes. Ramil runs past me and whacks it in the head before stabbing it in the throat. "Watch your back," he says, kicking the dead Reaper away.

"Shut the hell up. I don't need instructions on how to fight," I say. The guy looks behind us and pulls out another small bottle. This time, it's filled with dust. He throws it on the ground and grabs my wrist, pulling me as he tries to run. "Let's go, there's more coming!"

"How the hell do you know that??" I question, running with him.

"I saw them!" he answers. We run towards the other side of the store. "By the way, my name--"

"Fuck the formalities!" I interrupt. "Where's a goddamn exit!?"

"This way! Follow me," he instructs, running ahead. As I run, I feel Ell start to slip from my shoulder! "SHIT!" I exclaim as he falls.

The guy dashes past me and drops low, catching Ell just before he hits the floor. "Go!" he shouts as he gently puts Ell into his satchel. We continue running for the exit. Despite him being shorter than me, he runs much faster than I do, leading me towards an emergency exit. "There!" he shouts, pointing to the door. We try to pick up the pace, but three more Reapers show up from around an aisle!

"Turn around, TURN AROUND!!" the guy shouts, spinning in his toes. We book it in the opposite direction, but I spot more Reapers running at us from our right! "What the fuck!? How many of them are there!?" I shout, stress starting to sink in. We turn a corner and run towards the bread section of Sam's, trying our best to get away. As we run, I spot a dark room we can hide.

"Come here!" I shout, grabbing the hood of the guy's coat. I duck into the room and pull him towards me, pressing his head to my chest. I try to breathe quietly. I can feel Ramil's breathing against my chest. "H-Hey, too close-!" the guy whispers while tapping my chest.

"Shut up! Shush!" I respond urgently, holding him tightly. I watch as shadows move across the bottom of the door, passing right by us. "D-Dude, your chest... I can't breathe..!" the guy whispers, slightly pushing against me.

I let him go, and he takes a deep breath. "Sorry," I say. He shakes his head.

"Whatever. We needa go," he says. He carefully approaches the door and cracks it open, peeking out. "Is it safe?" I ask him.

"Not yet. There's a lot of them out there," he answers.

"Dammit. How the hell are we gonna get out of here?" I ask him. He sits down and starts thinking. "Well? We don't have all day," I say as he continues thinking. He suddenly snaps his fingers. "I've got it," he says. "You're strong, right?" he asks me.

"No way. The giants muscles are totally just for show," I answer sarcastically.

"Do you think you're strong enough to pull down one of these shelves?" the guy asks me.

"What? How the hell am I supposed to do that? They're bolted to the ground!" I insist.

"The bolts are weak," he responds.

"How the fuck would you know?" I ask.

"Sam's Club changes their shelf bolts once every 3 months. They didn't get to change anything because of the apocalypse. The bolts are 7 months old at this point, so they should be weak enough to come out with enough force," he says. How the hell does he know that? Did he work here or something?