Necropolis

Day 1
3:30pm

Katalyn

"Yeah," Dave replied, "I'm not letting you out of my sight again." Keri smiled at him weakly and together we headed towards the back of the warehouse. I walked a step behind the two, wondering why the girl.... Keri had invited me. Well that's what I was thinking on the surface. Underneath that shallow layer, my mind was trying to re-build, trying to preserve my memories of Louis and Mike and at the same time, trying to forget them, to push them from my mind.

"There's a door," Dave noted,indicating a shabby, wooden door with peeling, grey paint.

"Where do you think it leads?" Keri wondered. She took a step close but Dave beat her to it and edged the door open an inch to peer around. Then he pushed it the rest of the way and revealed a small office. A single desk was placed against the far wall, boxed in by several tall, grey filing cabinets and a small, waste paper basket.

"Do you think that computer works?" I wondered.

"What use would that be?" Dave asked.

"We could tell the world where we are. Surely it's a crime for the government to keep us in here!" I exclaimed enthusiastically. Suddenly there was hope; I had a mission.

Day 1
3:31PM
Joanna

Jo waited for the others to grab guns. "Groups of two," she ordered. "Spread out. I want two people guarding the entrance. I don't care how the rest of you spread out, but do it quickly. Mev, you're with me. We'll cut down the center."

She turned and headed deeper into the warehouse, feeling odd having never flashed her Costco card to get in.

Mev joined her. "What's up with you lately?"

"Nothing," she muttered, barging ahead, shotgun at the ready.

"You know, you were cool before we started moving."

She didn't respond.

"I mean, I know this is no light matter, but jeez. You're bringing everyone down around you."

"Would you shut up and keep looking? You're going to get us killed."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Jo checking down each aisle and behind every box.

"You know, Kev trusted me to lead the group," Mev started up again.

Jo flinched, and it did not go unnoticed.

"What's with you and him, anyway? You got incredibly bitchy after he snapped at you." Realization dawned. "You care for him, don't you?" Mev laughed. "Well, that explains a few things."

Jo focused intently on searching for zombies.

"He's going to be okay, though, you know?" he said after a time. "He knows what he's doing. He won't go down without a fight. He --"

The echo of the shotgun firing twice interrupted him. Jo slowly lowered her gun, satisfied that her shots rang true.

Two forever-dead zombies lay crumpled on one another at the end of the aisle.

"I said shut up," she hissed, continuing forward.

Mev followed cautiously, staring at the bodies as he passed them.

Day 1. 3:28pm. Bernard.

They were moving again, their medical supplies no lighter than before. Meeting ‘Derrik’ had taken away their hope, and replaced it with cold void. There was nothing they could have done, but the fact did little to cheer them.

What’s worse, is that we’re lost.

“I still don’t feel right about leaving him—”

“Enough, Beth!”

Bernard burned inside. There was nothing he could have done, yet the feeling of failure felt like a brand. Sure, there had been no hot irons, but the hopeless stare of Derrik was all but the same.

“How do you think I feel, Beth?” he lashed out, his words striking deep within her.

“The same as me! Why can’t we just talk? You always have to—”

“Enough!”

“—interrupt me! Look!”

The pair faced each other. Bernard noticed how her hair curled slightly at the fringe, such a delicate thing in a city of madness. She combed a hand through it decisively.

“I’m going back.”

Bernard frowned in disbelief.

“You can’t though. There’s nothing—”

“But maybe there is,” Bethany spoke softly now, her anger vanishing as a new objective filled her, “maybe I can find it. The cure, there’s got to be one.”

He was lost for words. Bethany stood solemnly in front of him, as if waiting to be dismissed or agreed with. Bernard could not do either. He knew she could not comprehend something she couldn’t solve. She’d always been like that. He was her opposite, the systematic logical doctor. He completed her.

“Well,” he sighed, despair poured into him, “I’m not going back.”

She looked him in the eye and turned away. He’d done it. He’d pushed it too far. He’d lost her. Even as he tried to form words to undo the damage that had been done, she was running, her hair streaming behind her. It was his ship’s golden rope that he had cut himself and he watched as the city swallowed her.

“Beth.”

His voice suddenly sounded very small. He looked left and right, the unfamiliar street gave away nothing. Hunger hit him like a brick.

And where do I go for food? Where’s the nearest shop, supermarket, Costco?

Bernard was thrown from his thoughts by a voice from the alley next to him.

“Oh fuck! Fuck, fuck, FUCK!”

He looked into the gloom and saw the man from earlier. He still had his guns, but he was sitting down. His face was scored with pain and he was running one of his hands over his knee. Bernard fell back to his protocol.

“Hey, my name is Bernard, I’m a doctor. Can I help you?”

The man spun round, his eyes flashing with a wicked light. He instinctively shrank back as Bernard moved towards him. As Bernard got nearer, the man recognised him.

“You…?”

Day 1. 3:47pm. Kevin.

My pistol was pointed at the poor bastard the second he spoke--it was a reaction I couldn't control, at the moment.

He held his hands up slightly in surrender, but it seemed more to appease me than because he was afraid.

"Calm down...I'm here to help. I heard you, thought you could use some."

I let my arm drop, the barrel of the gun clicking loudly against the cement as my hand dropped into my lap.

"Where's your girlfriend?" I asked him as he walked toward me and knelt down to inspect my knee. He flinched visibly but didn't say anything on the subject.

"Tell me if this hurts--what's your name?" He prodded my knee carefully--but that didn't stop the pain.

I grunted through it and let him continue his examination. "Kevin--yeah, that fuckin' hurts."

"Ok--sorry, it 's gotta be done. I'm Bernard, in case you missed it the first time."

"Thanks for the help, Bernie. 'Preciate it."

He nodded and continued to prod at my knee gently, and neither of us said anything for a minute.

"Well...whadaya think?" I asked him.

"It's not too bad, really. You shouldn't walk on it. I'm going to make a splint, and you're going to have to--"

"We have to move. We can't stay here, Bernie."

"Do you have a place we CAN go?" he asked, reaching for a long, thin lead pipe that was laying on the ground of the alley. "This'll do," he muttered. He set it down for a moment and pulled his belt off.

"Come on man, I barely know you!" I said tiredly. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall. It hurt too much to give a damn.

"I'm going to need yours, too." We gotta tie this thing tight to your leg to keep it from moving.

"I know what a splint is, dumbass." I said, still not looking. I unbuckled my tactical belt, then pulled my leather DC belt off as well. After handing the DC belt to him, I put the Tac Belt back on.

"Do whatever," I said.

"This is gonna hurt a bit," he said back.

Day 1. 3:49pm. Bernard.

Dear me Bernard, have you forgotten everything? The thing about splints is that they don't work. Unless you have a patient whose leg fits exactly with your splint, there will be all manner of movement. Secondly, you will not be able to tie it on tight enough. Knots slip. The main thing is to do the best you can in the time you have. It is usually best not to move the casualty unless absolutely necessary...

"Sorry, Dr Simmons," Bernard muttered under his breath as he tightened the belt around Kevin's knee. To his credit, Kevin didn't groan much.

"This better work, Bernie."

Bernard smiled and continued to pull on the end of the belt.

"But that's the point, Kevin!" he grimaced, "Splints aren't much use unless I'm carrying you out on a stretcher."

"Just get on with it."

The reply was strong despite the tightness in his voice. Bernard was impressed with this man's pain barrier. He bit his lip and looped the other belt over the pipe and brought it up to Kevin's thigh. He moved to tighten it but Kevin took the end of the belt himself.

"Don't think you're doing this one. I'm sure I can do it just as well."

Bernard hesitated. He needed the job done properly, but he couldn't afford to lose Kevin's favour. Bernard needed him. Even if he was injured, he was more company than no-one at all.

"Ok, but don't mess about. Let me see if I can get you something for the pain." Bernard sighed, defeated for a moment, before flipping through the contents of his pack's side pocket.

Morphine... no. Need something for the inflammation.
Paracetamol... no. Just not really enough.
Aspirin... God no. I don't want him bleeding to death.
Ibuprofen... yes!

He plucked the pack of tablets from the pocket and popped two tablets into his hand. Kevin looked at them suspiciously.

"You ain't giving me anything I might be allergic to."

Damn.

"You allergic to Ibuprofen?"

"No."

"Then knock these back!" Bernard ordered and dropped two capsules into Kevin's hand. He looked at them and then stared at Bernard weakly.

"Sorry Kevin, I'm out of water. You'll have to dry swallow them."

Ignoring the inevitable sarcastic comment, Bernard checked the two belts. To his surprise, they were equally tight. Nodding to himself, he stood and zipped up his bag.

"Ready to get up?"

Kevin snorted.

"Lets do this shit."

Adara
Day 1 3:55pm

Grrrr! What the hell man! I grunted my way to a corner and shoved myself as far into in as I could. I wanted to disappear, I felt useless. What had happened to me? The perky Adara who said like every other word, the one who looked happy no matter what happened. I was starting to wonder if that was ever me.

After a while of silence I looked up from my comforting corner and back into the cold surroundings of Costco. I was in the freezer section, I hadn’t even remembered walking off. I remembered hearing something about groups, but apparently I hadn’t listened, because I was alone.

I could hear distant voices ahead of me around me. I couldn’t tell whom they belonged to but I knew that I couldn’t be too far from the other group members. Apparently we hadn’t gotten far when I decided to stop paying attention. Damn.

I stuck my hands in my jean pockets and kicked an empty carton of milk along the floor. We weren’t alone in here. Somehow the zombies had found their way in here as well. Would we ever be safe? Right now I was doubting that there was any location where they weren’t there waiting.

The sound of glass hitting the concrete floor startled me and I jumped about ten feet off the ground. It came from the huge freezer. The door swayed open like something had just passed by it. I slid my knife out of my pocket and walked over to it slowly, afraid to look around the corner. As I approached it I could feel chills run down my spine from the cold. There was ice on the ground by the door from it being open for too long. I didn’t think it even got that cold in there. At last I pounced around the corner ready for a surprise only to see that no one was there. I walked inside with my knife gripped tightly in my hand. There was something in here, I just knew it.

Just then I heard the heavy freezer door compress shut behind me and the lock turn. Immediately the glass that looked onto the outside froze over and I shivered furiously as my teeth shattered, just missing my tongue every time. Were zombies even smart enough to do that? I didn’t think they were capable of locking people into rooms. I walked back to the door stiffly with hope swelling in my chest and then pulled on the handle…it didn’t budge. I was locked in here. I couldn’t possibly last long in here. I screamed and banged on the glass as hard as I could knowing that it didn’t do any good considering they couldn’t see nor hear me from outside and then everything went black.

Day 1. 4:00pm. Kevin

"This shit stings man," I grunted.

Bernard nodded. "I don't doubt." Much as I detested leaning on him, my arm around his shoulders, me limping around like a fuckin' cripple, I was glad I wasn't in the damn alley anymore.

"Take this street. Costco's two blocks thataway," I said through gritted teeth. Every time my foot touched the ground, pain shot up my leg.

"We'll make it."

"Fuckin' A we will, Bernie."

We stumbled the down the street like siamese twins at a freakshow, and I'll be damned if there wasn't a single fuckin' zombie in sight.

Weird ass shit.

Day 1. 4:04pm. Joanna.

Jo and Mev continued in silence. When they reached the back wall, they turned into the next aisle and walked back.

A couple other groups were finishing their rounds, and Jo waited for everyone to meet up again before she spoke. "Everything good?" she asked.

Everyone nodded in response.

"Good. Mev and I found a couple zombies, but they're no factor now." She looked around. "We're going to need to block these entrances somehow. We'll have to take turns guarding the doors. I saw some emergency food kits down the center aisle, and I think there's camping gear down toward that corner over there." She pointed with her gun. "We can at least use that for sleep. We should find a place where we'll be safe if something should happen... Maybe we'll just use that corner. Two walls behind us means two less directions we have to scan."

Making sure they all understood, she began mentally dividing up the group. She looked over them, her brows furrowed. Was someone missing? No, they had all gone in pairs... I have to remember Kevin's no longer part of the group, she finally decided. He had been the driving force: of course the group looked strange without him.

Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, she began sending the others off. "I'll guard this entrance. Dave, grab that one over there. Keri and Kat, grab the food. Mev and Adara..." She narrowed her eyes. "...Shit."

She turned around, slamming her fist on the wall behind her. Breathing heavily, she turned around to face them again.

"From now on, no one goes anywhere without at least one person with him or her. One of us has to know your position at all time, preferably me. If you want to go it alone, you can do so out there."

Jo pressed the palm of her hand over her eye -- she was getting a migraine. Great. Remind me to find some aspirin later.

"Mev, go with Keri and Kat. While you're gathering food, keep an eye out for Adara. If she's moping in the corner or something and won't join you, do whatever it takes to get her back here." She gestured vaguely with her gun. "We don't have time for this right now."

They left on their mission, and Jo stared at the entrance. They had left the door open, waiting for Kevin to return. Daylight was fading fast, though, and the silence on the streets meant nothing.

Still, she continued staring, searching. It really was eerie how nothing moved out there. Jo grew more anxious as she scanned.

When it became clear to her that neither zombies nor his grin would appear before nightfall, Jo reached up to the metal sliding door and grabbed its edge. Closing her eyes, she pulled it to the ground, signaling Dave to do the same.

There would be none in and none out this night.

Katalyn 4:10pm

I was disapointed to find that the computer didn't work and, after another brief session of exploring, we met up with the rest of the group and soon discovered that Adara was missing.

"Mev, go with Keri and Kat. While you're gathering food, keep an eye out for Adara. If she's moping in the corner or something and won't join you, do whatever it takes to get her back here. We don't have time for this right now." Jo sighed, gesturing in the direction of the food section with her gun. Mev nodded and together our group of three set off down the aisles.

"What sort of food are we looking for?" Keri asked as she began to grab packets of crisps.

"Anything that will keep I suppose and stuff that's got a lot of energy," I replied as I picked up some bottles of water.

"I think we're going to have to make several trips," Mev decided. I nodded and moved further along the shelves towards the frozen goods. As I was passing one of the large freezers, I paused and drew a little smiley face upon the frosted surface. Mev came across to see what I was doing and grimaced as he dashed his hand across my creation, wiping it away.

"Hey!" I protested and then I felt my eyes bulge and dropped the bottles of water so that I could reach over to pull the door open. It was locked.

"What are you doing?" Keri asked. "I thought we wanted..."

"Adara's in there!" I interrupted, my voice full of panick.

"What?" Mev pushed me aside so that he could stare through the glass window. Glass. The floor was lightly coated in it actually and the door of the next feezer held a smashed window but what had been used to smash it?

"Pass me those bottles," Mev commanded. "Go see if you can find anything heavier. Hurry!"

Day 1. 4:12pm. Keri.

Keri moved quickly and found one of the wooden crates they use to stack goods on and move them around easily. She hoisted it up with and Mev helped her pick it up and they banged it against they door next to where Adara was laying, they would be able to get to her from it. They hit it several times but it didn't break.

"Alright, one more try with theses then we go lookin again." Mev barked, they swung it one more time but the door just cracked. Mev dropped it and growled. In one swift motion Keri pulled the shot gun up and shot the glass. It broke and shattard to the ground.

"Lets get her out." SHe said walking through the broken glass as Mev growled something. Kat was in front of her in a second and at Adara's side.

Katalyn 4:12pm

I raced to Adara's side and realising that checking for a pulse would be a waste of precious seconds, I scooped her up and carried her out of the freezer. I layed Adara down on the floor and Mev and Keri immediately knelt down beside her.

"We need a hot water bottle or some blankets or some sort of material," I suggested as I took hold of her arm and noted that the pulse was very faint. Mev and Keri nodded in agreement and both darted away leaving me alone with the young woman. I tucked a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear and as I did so, I felt the faintest tremor of breath against my palm.

"Adara?" I whispered but she did not stir. Removing my jacket I placed that across her chest but it had very little affect. Fortunately, Keri appeared with a hot water bottle and not long after that Mev returned with two thick sleeping bags which we hurriedly wrapped around Adara.

Day 1. 4:17pm. Adara.

My head hurt so bad, and my limbs felt as though the pain reliever had worn off during surgery. Still, I couldn't move. I could only listen. There was a faint mumbling around me that proved to be a little agitating. What was going on? What happened. I couldn't remember any of it, how I'd gotten here, where here was, why it was so dark...what was my name?!

...Adara. Mental sigh, I remembered that much. Adara and cold. Adara Cold? ...No. The murmuring became more and more audible. Something about zombies, freezer, blankets. Ahh, blanket, that would feel good right now. I hadn't been able to feel anything for a while besides the pain. My heart drummed hard in my ears, soothing me, it was getting stronger. I could feel the heat course through my body. So sleeeeepy.

Suddenly a more harsh pain than before shot through my chest and the calm beat stopped filling me with panic. Sleep took over even stonger now and I didn't fight it. If I didn't wake up again, what would I have to lose?

Day 1. 4:00pm. Tazin.

Tazin awoke, little rested from the impromptu nap, with tears in his eyes, his muscles tense and his sheathed katana clutched at his side. He sat up on the sofa and waited for his head to clear, and listened for the sounds of anything moving outside. He looked around at the small space he and his mom had been confined to for the past five hours; the basement was boarded up, both doors and all of the windows nailed shut with planks of wood. They had plenty of food and a half-bath, so with running water and nonperishables living there for a while wasn't, in that respect, unfeasible.

Tazin missed his father. He hadn't heard from him in a long while. The old man was away on a business trip, and hadn't returned. He was late returning even before the unbelievable, sci-fi-type outbreak here in Ashville that day, which made Tazin wonder if there had been similar problems elsewhere. He had a sickening feeling that his father wasn't ever coming home, was either dead, or worse.

His mom was doing a lot less well than he was. She had been bitten about five and a half hours ago, when a handful of the creatures had broken through their barricade. Her health had taken a sudden, rapid decline, and dealing with the stress of the mere reality of zombies, plus their violent attacks, weren't helping her get better. Tazin almost laughed at that thought, but he didn't. Yeah, he once might have made a wise crack about the stress of zombie attacks, but not anymore. Laughter didn't come as easily, when people who lived in your neighborhood died and got back up, their souls gone and replaced with a dark, relentless desire for food.

Eventually, the zombies would get in. He knew that. The problem was, getting anywhere safer required facing them. He wasn't sure how long they could make it in this pitiful sanctuary, but he knew it wouldn't last long. They had already broken in once, and they would again, and eventually his sword wouldn't move fast enough, and they would have their meal. It was a deadly numbers game.

On an old mattress, on the other side of the room, his mom was still sleeping, breathing heavily. The sickness had gotten vicious, and she couldn't get to the painkillers. The futility of it all burned inside Tazin, made him want to cry and scream and do much more horrible things than cry or scream. His mom was dead, either eaten by zombies or by becoming one, each killer equally unstoppable, inexorable, heartless. He'd rather kill her himself, he thought rashly, than let her go through the pain of the one, or become the disgusting creature on the other hand. But even that he couldn't do. When he was still in the idiot-glory of his pubescent angst, he had thought he hated his mom. But he had come to realize that he loved her, had always loved her, and, even more to his surprise, that he respected her for all of her strength.

A cough wracked her body, and she awoke from the pain. He went to her side, trembling. She was weak and tired, and he could see from her face as it struggled for consciousness that it wouldn't be long. He slipped his hand into hers.

"Morning, mom."

"Hey, punk."

He smiled. "Should I make us something to eat?"

"You smell awful," she noted.

"Hey, I'm the smartass around here," he reminded her with a little laugh.

"Make some food," she replied, her voice trembling. Even talking was becoming too much for her. He fought back the tears. He wouldn't cry around his mom. He had to be strong, so that she could feel safe. Even though he was the child, he was the fighter, he was the swordsman. He was the one who had to get them through this, and if he cried, as far as he was concerned, then he failed his mom. He could never do that.

"Okay." He opened a can of peaches and put it onto a paper plate he took from a plastic bin.

He sat next to her and tried to share some of the peaches with her, handing her a fork. She didn't try to lift it, so he tried to feed her, but she stopped him.

"Listen, punk. Costco has food. I know it's a distance, but if you're careful - get that fork out of my face and eat. Let me," she started to cough, the noise razorlike and painful. He winced. "Let me finish. You can make it there, Tazin, if you're fast. You're good with that stupid sword, and if you move quick you can make it there. The zombies, they're slow, and they're stupid. Besides, it's not really very far. I'd bet that other people might have gone there; it could be defensible, and it has food."

"We don't know that for sure," argued Tazin. "It might be full of a bunch of brainless zombies, milling about waiting for an idiot teenager with a pointy stick to come looking for groceries. We can't go. You're too sick."

"I'm not going anywhere," she said with a sad smile. "You have to go. It's your chance. I'm done."

"I'm not leaving you." His eyes were hard and angry. She was all he had, and here she was, giving up. He had thought of giving up, too.

"I'd never do this to you," he whispered, feeling a betraying wetness in his eyes.

"If you were in my shoes," she said.

"You're not wearing shoes," he pointed out.

"Shut up. Tazin . . . I'm in so much pain," she said hoarsely, and he knew it was true. "And, there's no cure for my problem, and maybe no cure for this . . . this zombie thing."

She hadn't used that word before. He had, and she'd told him never to say it again with quite a bit of rage. He smirked, but said nothing.

"I don't want to die alone, Tazin, and I don't want to end up one of them . . ." She started to cry, which sent her into a fit of coughs again. It took several minutes for her to calm down. "So, what I want you to do, is save me from that, Tazin. Help me get rid of the pain, please, help me get rid of the fears. You need to go on. If I know that you'll live, that you'll be on your feet and that you have a chance, then I can go in peace. But if I die knowing that we both might end up one of those things, and that you died because of me . . ."

There was a sudden rush of scraping sounds from somewhere in the house, and they both looked at each other. Her coughing must have awakened one of them . . . He didn't know if that was the right term, he didn't think they slept, but that hardly mattered. In another moment, there were creatures scraping at one of the doors, and that bone-chilling moan. No matter how many times he heard it, Tazin felt as though he might lose total bladder control right then and there.

"Mom, I love you. I can't do this."

"I love you, punk. Please, Tazin. I'm your mom. It's my job to protect you. This is how I have to do it. Do what your mom tells you to. Do it. Don't sacrifice both of us to them, Tazin."

He bit his lip and shook his head, struggling against the tears again, feeling more moisture beginning to emerge and spill against his cheeks. "I won't, mom, I can't."

The scraping began to get more insistent, angry, hungry. They had made too much noise. It wouldn't be safe here anymore, they both knew that. It really hadn't been before, but they had been lucky. The creatures had been distracted, drawn away by things outside for a while, but now it was just them. They were probably the only ones alive on the block, Tazin thought gloomily. He didn't want to think that way, but it was hard not to with dead people trying to come over for dinner.

He looked into her once pretty face, ruined by fear and pain and a million other, horrible emotions that someone so great should never have had to gone to. His stomach roiled at what she had said, at how he had considered it himself, and how monstrous he felt, how helpless. He had killed zombies, but never a person.

As if reading his thoughts, she put her other hand on him weakly, and said quietly, "You're not killing me, Tazin. You're saving me. Please."

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The late afternoon was dead quiet . . . . He swore at himself mentally for the extraordinarily bad pun. The tears weren't stopped anymore; actually, they were still coming. But they weren't hard tears to cry now. They flowed, and he kept going, letting himself cry, but not stopping and making no sound. Staying unnoticed wasn't easy, because the zombies were practically everywhere and he was tired, malnourished and grieved. But he did his best, picking his way through the street, looking for places he could move, watching for any movement, listening for any sounds. He could hear distantly things moving, but nothing took notice. His sword was black with blood, and his shirt was ripped from a zombie that had grabbed him and nearly bitten him. He knew that would have been the end right then and there, but he had been lucky. He had cut off the thing's arm, and turned and booked, the thing shuffling after him, moaning and waving one hand and one bloody stump. He thought that image was funny, but he was too terrified to be sure.

Costco was close, just up the street, and so far he'd had relatively little trouble. There had been few Zedheads around, but he had needed to change course a few times to stop from running into the creatures. He stopped at a corner of a building, listening, keeping his breathing low and willing himself to be less visible, knowing that wouldn't do much except make him feel better. It seemed clear, so he went.

Standing about two steps in front of him was a big man, completely still, staring up at the sky. Tazin halted and gulped, then took a step back. Maybe if he went back around the corner . . .

Too late. Slowly, the thing turned around, and it saw him. Its arms rose lumberously, and the zombie moaned, its chewed face and bloody clothing becoming more obvious with the slight change of light. Its resonant, haunted moan conjured moans from elsewhere, and Tazin swore. He ducked, and ran for Costco at full tilt.

Day 1. 4:00pm. Kevin.

"This...really...fucking hurts, Bernie."

"I know man. We're almost there," Bernard muttered. He was carrying most of my weight at this point--I was positive my leg had gotten worse.

Costco was in sight, though--that bigass sign was the most welcome sight ever, at this point.

...The fuckin' zombies, however...not so much. There were maybe a dozen of them, but, hindered as we were, there was no way to outrun them, and I had two bullets left.

"Maybe we can just go around--"

The first of them saw us. As one, they turned to attack, and Bernie cut his statement short.

"Well...I still have those two bullets," I mumbled.

"Don't even think about it--we'll get to Costco. No worries."

He turned me to the left and he half dragged me that direction, hoping to get around them before they could reach us. Five steps later and it looked like we were gonna make it--even a doctor carrying a cripple moved faster than a shambler, I remember musing at the time.

Then the little bastard stumbled out from the shadows to our right and damn near landed on Bernie. I pushed the doctor away and the ghoul fell between us. I teetered precariously on one leg, then fell onto my bum one, putting all my weight on it. I heard the splint give slightly, sending lightning bolts of pain through my knee.

I collapsed and Bernie stumbled--the zombie saw me first.

"Fuck it," I said, gritting my teeth through the pain. I pulled the Springfield from its holster at my hip and pointed it at the zombie. I jerked the trigger and the top of its head disappeared in red mist.

"Little high," I muttered. Then Bernie was there, hauling to my feet.

"Let's go man," he grunted.

"Nowhere to go," I muttered. We'd waited too long. They were all around us now.

"...I'm sorry, Kevin."

"Fuck you."

I may be crippled, but I wasn't defenseless. I released my hold on Bernie's shoulder and threw myself forward, throwing a left hook that crushed the skull of the nearest zombie. I fell atop the thing, and rolled aside, kicking out the knee of the closest one with a swift snap kick.

...Fuck me. Bad idea, apparently. They were all over. I couldn't see Bernie anymore--hopefully he got away in the scuffle. At least I was on my back. I lashed out with all my limbs, retracting each as quickly as it shot out, so they couldn't get ahold of me.

"Fuckers!" I cried out.

One of them got my pant leg. Another at my shoulder. I kicked the first in the nose, but couldn't reach the other.

All at once, though, the arm wasn't connected to a shoulder. Coagulated blood spattered my chest as the zombie fell away, missing an arm. I saw a flash of silver and then it was missing its head as well. I didn't question my good fortune, kicking out again and again as the silver glint cut a bloody path through the horde. A hand grabbed me under each arm and pulled me to my feet.

"Thanks, Bernie," I huffed. He dragged me back and then got under me, and then we were moving again. I glanced behind us to see some kid trotting behind, covered in the black blood of our enemies and carrying a long,curved sword.

"Fuckin'...crazy shit, man," I mumbled.

Dave pushed with all his might and helped close the door, there new boss seemed so tired. He was glad at this moment she was doing a good job. He began to look for any food once door were firmly locked. No one could get in our out. It was so quiet and people voices barely echoed around the cavenous warehouse. It had to be non perishable foods. Packets of Crisps, chocolate bars, chewing gum? Whatever food was food. He found a wheel barrow in gardening section and threw all in swiftly examing products before chucking them in. He laughed once he'd seen a show like this called Supermarker Sweep. He was reminded of it, but no prize awaited at the end of this. You either were going to live or going to die. He arrived at the sweets section. Dave sweet tooth was very strong, but they weren't best things to grab. He threw in Celebrations tin and a large bar of chocolate right at the top. It was huge. He went to tins and grabbed beans anything they could eat.

It was just then he heard a cry of suprise, he headed towards it seeing Keri pulling Adara out the freezer. He slowed his running and stared shocked. Keri saw him and quickly told him to fetch warm jackets, winter coats whatever.