Of all the things I had done. Of all the things I had seen. This was beyond the worst I could imagine. Just thinking about it hurt. Is this what humanity had come to? Is this what we're reduced to? This sight would haunt me for the rest of my life. It wasn't an infected feeding on some poor sap. It wasn't a group of infected trapped back here. No, it was much worse.
Scrawled on the back wall in dried blood, blotted with finger prints, were the words And Like Him We Too Shall Rise. In front of that, a scene pulled from the crime section of a newspaper looked back at me. Two small children were decaying on the ground, a hole adorning each of their foreheads. Next to them was the badly rotted body of a woman with a matching bullet wound, a bible clutched in her dead hands. Across from them, slumped to the side, was a male figure with a fallen handgun at his side. The wall behind him was stained with blood and brain matter.
I stood there frozen, unable to move. Why? The only word echoing in my head.
"What is it?"
"Stay there!"
Whatever was in my voice had Chloe stop in her tracks. I quickly shut the door, wishing I could scrub the image from my brain. Nothing could prepare you for something like that. I rubbed at my eyes; maybe I could force the image out.
"What was it?"
"Drop it, Chloe."
And to my surprise, she did. I floundered for a moment, the shock throwing me off. I turned to the shelf and tried to distract myself by searching for 9mm ammo. I managed to find a box and a half, but all the guns were cleaned out.
Except for the handgun in there, my brain cruelly reminded me. There was no way I was going back in that room, it wasn't worth it. And I'm sure it would be considered bad luck using that gun. A shadow passed over us as an infected crossed in front of the display window.
"Hold still," I whispered.
We both froze hoping the thing would move on. It turned its head towards the window, tilting slightly, as if curious. With jerky movements, the infected continued on shuffling past the window. I swallowed loudly. We needed to cut our losses and get to the general store, which would mean taking out those infected.
Did I risk the gun for that? Or try to take them out melee style? With that many, a gun seemed like the easiest way to take them out. But that meant noise, so we would have to hurry in the store in case more infected showed up.
We left the counter behind and started back through the aisles. I handed Chloe the aluminum bat. It was light and not too big for her stature. I had spotted an axe on our way down the aisles, so I decided to upgrade. The axe was heavier, but manageable. It would do more damage than the bat and that's all that mattered.
I couldn't wait to leave this building, I was itching for it. I looked out the window and spotted the infected that had passed by. He was just slightly to the right of the building. I would have to take him out first.
"Chloe, I'm going to get you to hold the door open. If anything happens or an infected comes near you, you close it ok?"
"What about you?" She looked up at me with concerned eyes.
"I will be fine. I can outrun this few infected. If that happens, I will lead them away and come back, you understand?"
She nodded. I opened the door and she gripped it tight to hold it open. The infected turned its head towards me and made a gurgling sound as he approached me. Its foot was bent at an odd angle, so he limped towards me rather slowly. I wound up the axe and let it swing, as I used my forward momentum to take it out. The blade landed in the things' neck. No blood spurted and I could see the spinal column once I yanked the axe free.
With its arms still reaching for me, the infected fell backwards. I assumed the noises it was making meant it was angry, but I didn't give it time to get back up again. I placed my foot on its chest and brought the axe down. The head came clean off and rolled to the right of body. To make it even more grotesque, the head was still snapping away.
What was left of the rotten teeth, were clanging together in rage. I flipped the axe in my hand and brought the blunt side down on the severed head. The forehead caved in like a cracked egg and then the snapping sound stopped. I whipped the axe around, trying to dislodge some of the blood and skin from the blade.
The other roaming infected seemed oblivious to what just happened, which was fine with me. I pulled the handgun from my waistband and clicked off the safety. The infected were spread out, making for good target practice. But I needed my aim to be spot on, so that they didn't all start to come after me when I fired.
I propped the axe up against the tail gate of the old Chevy and started towards the nearest infected. Using both hands to steady my aim, I took the first shot. It rang true and the infected dropped like a stone. Then all heads were turned to me. I took out the next closest, but I would have to get closer to get the rest.
They all started to shuffle towards me and I walked towards them. I felt like a crazy person, heading towards the danger rather than running from it. I also felt pretty stupid as I basically ran around them in circles, picking them off one by one. Ten shots later and I was surrounded by slain bodies. My breathing was ragged from the exertion and adrenaline, my arms limp by my side. My chest heaved as I peered down at my morbid handy work.
I looked like a sole survivor of a bomb blast, surrounded by all the fallen corpses. Chloe poked her head out of the doorway and I waved her out. She ran to me faster than I would have thought possible. I gathered up my axe and we silently headed to the general store.
"We have to make this fast. There was no way that noise wouldn't attract other infected in the town. Remember, we need to find a map."
I ejected the empty clip and slipped in the full one. Cupping my hands around my eyes, I peered into the general store bay window. There didn't seem to be any movement, but I could only see so far. As I opened the front door, the bell hanging above it chimed, signaling our entrance. Stupid small town stores. I gritted my teeth as my ears picked up the sound of movement coming from one of the furthest aisles.
Chloe was right behind me, gripping her bat like she was ready to swing. I just hope I wasn't too close when she did. I readied my axe as the sound got louder. Stepping towards the aisle, I could see a rather large, masculine infected wearing a shopkeeper's apron. It was torn and dirty, just like the rest of him. His beard was patchy around his emaciated face.
I heard Chloe gasp behind me. The thing regarded me with interest, almost like he was savoring his prey. It was eerie.
I'd had enough of this. Enough of waiting to be attacked.
Letting out my own yell, I ran for him and swung with everything I had. The axe blade embedded in the infected's massive chest with a hollowed thud and he let out a hiss as he was knocked back from the impact. The shelf behind him shook with the force and started to teeter.
Products on the shelf started to fall into the aisles, like they were abandoning ship. The axe was still imbedded in its chest, so I lifted up my foot and used him as leverage to yank the axe free. His arms tried to reach for me, but he was thrown further back from the momentum. This time the shelf decided to tip completely. I watched as the metal shelving toppled to the side, falling into the next one. I had started a chain reaction. All four shelves had fallen over, like dominos, except much louder.
I quickly turned back, worried that Chloe had been squished. She had made herself as small as possible and was wedged safely in the corner by the front door. I looked back to see the infected lying on top of a pile of products, beside the now angled shelf. It reached for me again, as if I would just come to him.
So I did just that.
I brought the axe down again and again. Thick, congealed blood sprinkled everywhere. Pieces of skin and cartilage were flying around, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. I kept swinging that axe, long after the infected had stopped moving.
Anger.
It's all your fault.
Frustration.
It's not fair.
Sadness.
We are all doomed.
With a strangled cry, I let it all loose on this thing. Faintly, the sound of the blade clanging against the linoleum floor reached my ears. By the time my arms stilled, I was out of breath from the effort. My arms burned from the sudden use of so much force. I had to lean a hand against the wall for support as I caught my breath.
Catching a glimpse of my reflection in the beverage-cooler glass door made me cringe. Head to toe I was covered in blood and skin clumps. I wiped at the mess on my face, using my sleeve as a rag. When I say the infected was now in pieces, I meant it. He was splattered all over his store and wouldn't be getting back up again. It looked like a massacre and I was the butcher.
Chloe shouldn't have seen that. I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I felt like a monster.
Lizzie Borden took an axe...