Cross My Hart and Hope to Die

Chapter 8

Carlos, Chogan, and I were scoping out a hardware store. I had been on the road with them for three days. What was supposed to have taken us maybe half a day was taking us longer due to being overly cautious and the congested roads. We ended up having to take several round about routes. We'd also managed to avoid a group of men who looked like thugs. Thanks to Carlos, we had managed to siphon out gas from stranded vehicles to keep us from having to make the trek on foot. Chogan drove Pops, Benji, Lola, and her dog, in a faded blue minivan. Carlos had taken up residence in my passenger seat.

I had to admit. The kid was growing on me. Cerberus was tucked away in my leather jacket, small enough to squeeze between my body and the excess leather, though I knew he would soon get too big for me to carry around. What had surprised all of us was his ability to be quiet.

Instead of barking when a biter was nearby, he would softly growl to catch our attention. Chogan said it might have something to do with witnessing his mother and siblings be attacked. He was just old enough to be weaned from his mom. Plus, the biters didn't seem to discriminate what flesh and blood they wanted to eat. Humans seemed to be an easier target to catch. Oh the irony.

We all looked out from our vantage point on the road, studying the hardware store. The older and younger members of our group were back at another motel we had found along the way.

"Tell me again why we are at a hardware store? What we need most is food." Carlos complained just as his stomach rumbled.

"Grocery stores and malls will have been the first thing hit when all this went down, making it more likely to have biters. A nicer hardware store, like this one, will have a few drinks and snacks. Enough to keep us going. Plus, we can raid it for more weapons." The group had switched over to calling those shambling around "biters" instead of "the infected." The infected was such a mouthful. No pun intended.

We had sat here in the cooling November air for about two hours, making sure no one was using the store as a base. We hadn't seen any movement, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything inside that wanted to eat us. Chogan finally gave the go signal. The three of us jumped into the minivan. We pulled directly by the doors, one to help load easier and two for a faster get away in case things went south.

One of the worst things to deal with, is automatic doors. Since the electricity went out, we had to pry them open. The doors being shut gave us hope that this store had gone untouched. Once inside, I couldn't help the hope that bloomed in my chest. It wasn't just a hardware store, there was pet feed and farm equipment too.

We each grabbed a buggy. "Remember, Stay on alert. There could be biters around." Chogan gave us one last look before he walked into the dimly lit store. The only light source being the sun from the wide windows and doors.

I walked straight to the animal food, grabbing a couple of large bags of puppy food and a couple for small dogs. I thought about a collar and leash, but Cerberus was pretty good at staying by my side. A soft growl from said dog made me grab my bat and crouch down. I picked up on a soft shuffling noise and quiet groans from the isle next to me.

Leaving the cart where it was I peaked around the corner. A biter had its back to me. Obviously someone who was working during the time of the outbreak, with a red vest and khaki pants. The male bumped into the shelf, causing a few items to fall. I winced at the sound. Grabbing my bat, I tip toed towards the biter, all the while Cerberus kept his ears up and alert, almost anticipating what was about to happen next.

The biter turned just as I swung. He fell into the shelf, making even more noise than before. Fuck. His head was slightly caved in, but he righted himself and came back at me. Before I could get the bat up to swing again, the biter tripped over a dog bowl and went to the floor. I raised my bat and swung, bashing his head in again and again until I was sure he wasn't getting back up.