Who We Were | Book One

12. Need Your Help

We'd entered into a town that looked like it had been hit hard by the Infection. 

Every now and again there were moments where the sun would reappear from behind the clouds, reminding us of its presence. It wasn't reassuring, it was as if it was shining a beacon on us, pointing a spotlight to our location. Here they are. Here's your meal.

A door slammed and the sound echoed through the streets, shortly followed by the eerie song of metal wind chimes. The road was littered with rubbish; bins had been overturned, and glass cracked under our feet from shattered windows and broken bottles. 

Josh raised his arm and pointed to a small shop that sat by itself with a small car park in front. I paused in the road as litter blew around the store and circled the cars which had been abandoned. The shapes around me seemed familiar but I couldn't figure out why. I was nowhere recognisable. The lights that illuminated the shop flickered on and off at irregular intervals as Josh stopped beside me.

"We're going to have to check in there for supplies," he stated, lowering his arm and reaching for his knife.

I scowled my displeasure. I knew we were low on supplies, but I had hoped I would be able to keep putting it off. 

A sigh escaped my lips as I accepted there was no other choice. "Fine."

He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "If there was another option, I'd take it, but we're out of everything."

I nodded, already hearing the groaning inside. "Yeah, I know... Just doesn't seem to get any easier." I looked to my feet, avoiding staring at the building. "Let's just get it over with quickly."

"You never know," he added, lifting his knife in front of him, "there might even be people in there to help us."

I squinted my eyes toward him. "Very funny," I grimaced, reaching for my own knife. "But I don't think it's people who are in there."

Josh took the lead and placed his palm against the door and I winced at every noise we made. I followed close behind as he pushed it open, gripping my knife tightly. 

As he stepped inside, he placed his finger to his lips, motioning me to be quiet as glass shards cracked under our feet. Josh gestured with his knife to follow him down the first aisle as he stepped gracefully over discarded wrappers and cardboard boxes. 

We tiptoed past a body in a tattered green store uniform slumped over the checkout tills. It made my stomach sink and I snapped my head away, refusing to look a second longer. Plates crashed against the floor further into the shop and we both froze. I looked from the sound to Josh's twisted face. He was already going over six thousand different plans in his mind. 

He held his hands up towards me, telling me to stay put and it wasn't in my best interest to object. He crept ahead, holding his knife out in front of him until he was out of sight. The lights above continued to flicker on and off, heightening my uneasiness as I stood alone, only the sound of my breathing filling the shop.

Josh appeared back into view a few minutes later, treading carefully back up the aisle towards me. He leant in close where his voice was husky and soft. "There's about four of them from what I can see." 

He looked back towards the aisle as groans and deep mumblings interrupted him. His eyes widened as he took in the look that plastered my face. 

"You remember what I said about being able to hold your own?" He reminded. "This will go a lot smoother if I get some help on this one." 

I tried to swallow through the lump that had attached itself within my throat and felt the deep pounding of my heart in my chest. I nodded, my head barely moving as the corner of his lip curved upwards. 

"You don't have to take any of them down this time, I just need you to distract them. Doing this quietly is going to be a lot easier than all at once."

My eyes flickered to the aisles before they landed back on him. "What do you need me to do?"

"Go down to the end of aisle two and smash a few bottles or something, get their attention," he explained, waving his knife as he spoke. "I'll come up behind them." I nodded, hearing the urgency that coated his words. He gave me a final look, excitement seeming to spread across his face. "Okay," he exhaled, placing a hand on my back and pointing to aisle two. "Go, you've got this."

I trod quietly from Josh towards aisle two, being overly careful of my footsteps. 

The pounding of my heart rang throughout my whole body and tugged at my veins like somebody else was controlling it.

There was no going back now.

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