This Would Be Paradise (Book 1)-A Zombie Novel

Chapter 31

I swallowed nervously as I turned to Chloe. Her stare said more than words ever could. She looked terrified of me; like she was worried I needed a next victim.

"It's clear now," was all I managed to croak out.

It took a few seconds before Chloe tore herself from her corner.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

She looked at me for a second and then nodded, "I'll be fine."

I should really give her more credit.

I managed to get a lot of the surface goop off, but my clothes were pretty much trash at this point. Still, I tried to get most of it off.

"Do you think we will be able to dig through this?" Chloe asked, as she bent down by some fallen goods.

"I don't think we have time for that. Just the essentials."

I continued down the clear aisle, aiming for the non-food items that looked like they were at the back of the store. I heard Chloe un-zip her backpack and shove some stuff in.

"Stay close," I prompted and she ran to me as she slipped her pack on again.

The back of the store had some skylights, which was rather lucky, considering the sun from the display windows didn't reach back here very well. The back shelves were out of the line of fire and were still upright.

This place was pretty picked over. Gaping holes adorned the shelves where product should have been. I slipped off my backpack and started stuffing in soap and a few other hygiene items. Clearly I would need that tonight.

"Look!" Chloe exclaimed and I grabbed for my axe that I had set down.

She was pointing to a white metal, spinning rack. Maps. And there were still some left. I hurried over and patted Chloe's head,

"Good job."

"Eww, you didn't get stuff in my hair did ya?" She wiped at the top of her head.

"Now you can smell like me," I managed a small grin and her face scrunched up.

There was one map of Louisiana left and a couple of different local maps. And they were the laminated ones too. I quickly stowed them safely into my backpack. Now, that meant we could grab what we wanted. They had a small pharmacy area that had been picked clean, but I scavenged some gauze, Benadryl and basically everything I could. To my surprise, they had some generic clothing as well. This really was a general store.

I found a grey hoodie, sweat pants and some V-neck t-shirts, which I rolled up and stuffed into my bulging bag. I guess I was going to stay looking like a college girl for a little longer. I suppose when shit hit the fan all those months ago, people weren't looking for clothes. We went back to the food area and grabbed what we could still reach. In less than ten minutes we had gathered a collection of canned and packaged goods; nothing that would be considered particularly nutritious though. I had spotted some of those reusable mesh bags and we each filled one to carry.

I needed to be able to swing into action if need be and Chloe could only carry so much. I threw the bag over my shoulder, grunting at the extra weight. Chloe was able to wear her backpack and the bag with more ease. Dreading the next part, we creeped back to the front of the store. New infected had appeared further down the main drag. Right where we needed to go.

"Shit."

"What?"

"The infected have already started to migrate here."

There were only three that I could see, but I was willing to bet more were on their way. How was I going to pull this off?

"Alright, you really have to stay by me this time."