The City, Part 3, friskies

CHAPTER 8

The first thing I notice when I wake up is that my eyelids are a light red. I open them, and sunlight from the window blinds me. The second thing I notice is actually two things, warm bodies pressed against me. Puff lies, sprawled out, on my stomach, and Blaze is beside us, his arm wrapped around me. What do I do? I don't wanna wake him, but if I don't move, it'll be awkward when he wakes up. Fuck. 

Maybe if I just lie here, pretending to sleep, he'll wake up soon and move. It is kinda nice, and I could fall back asleep easily. Before I can decide what to do, Puff opens his eyes, stretching and pushing his paws into Blaze's stomach. Quickly, I close my eyes, feigning sleep. Blaze stirs, lifting his hand to pet Puff. 

He shifts away from me, plopping back down on the bed. "Ryeeee," he says, "time to get uppp." I sit up, rubbing my eyes as if I've just woken up. "What..? Why? Do we have something to do today?" "Of course we do!" He looks at me like it's obvious. "We have to find Puff some proper food!" 

"Oh, yeah.. do you even know where any is?"

"I mean, it's probably in a convenience store somewhere? We could check the Dollar General first, since it's still stocked?" The Dollar General? Last time I was there.. 

"Are you sure? When I went there last, there were walkers in it.."

"Really? Did you get hurt?! ..Did you get bit?" Blaze looks at me with fear and concern.

"No, no! It was locked up, behind a door!"

"Oh, then we should be fine!" The expression vanishes as he shrugs.

"Ok.. if you're sure.." I really don't want to run into that walker again, whether or not it's dangerous, but Blaze is right, Puff needs food. 

CHAPTER 9

As we enter the Dollar General, I push open the door, holding it for Rye. For some reason, he seems hesitant to go in, pausing where the concrete and linoleum meet, separated by a thin metal strip. I wonder what kind of metal they use? Why is it even there, so things cant fall down the crack? Is it because someone lost something like that? What would it have been? 

Rye trips, seemingly over nothing, grabbing my attention. "You okay?"

He turns away. "Yeah, I caught myself."

What was I thinking before? Oh yeah. "Are you okay.. being here?"

Now, he turns to look at me, shock, and then acceptance on his face. "I.. am fine."

But he's lying. He looks paranoid, glimpsing around, hiding behind corners as we go through the aisles. "Are you sure? If you want, you can wait outside? You have to carry the food back to the apartment though, up the stairs too." I smirk at him, trying to show I'm joking, but his mood doesn't lighten up.

"No, I'm fine, really. I'm just.. I don't wanna run into that walker I saw last time."

"Don't worry, I haven't heard anything odd, he's probably gone."

"Yeah, Okay." 

He finally lightens up a little, just as we find the pet stuff aisle. Walking through, something catches my eye. A green bag of cat food, Friskies. Not only is green in general Rye's favourite colour, this specific hue is the one he points out whenever he sees it.

Even now, as soon as he enters the aisle, I see his eyes lock on the bag, though he doesn't say anything. He leans on the shelf, trying to act nonchalant. "So.. have you found anything yet? It really doesn't matter which one we get.." His eyes slowly scan the aisle, looking at every bag except the one I know he wants. 

"Hmmm.. are you sure there's not one that.. catches your eye? Maybe, if there was a nice one here, we could even use it as decoration. Alas.." His gaze flits up to meet mine. Is he catching on to my trickery?

"Well.. if it really doesn't matter, why don't you grab that green one next to you? It's easiest for you to reach after all.." He points towards it. Hmm.. should I accept his victory, or pull one more trick out of my sleeve?

"The green one? Are you sure? This purple one is much easier to reach.." I see the panic on his face, even if for only a second, as I reach for it, one of his least favourite colours. 

"No! Okay, fine. Can we please get the green one?" Oh. My. Gosh. His face is what I can only imagine a puppy would look like as a human. His eyes are wide, and he's blushing a little for asking what he probably thinks is unimportant. I smile a little as I reply, hoping I wasn't too mean to make him ask. 

"Of course we can. Grab whatever else we need. I'll take this outside and put it in a shopping cart for the haul back."

CHAPTER 10 

Blaze leaves the store, carrying the bag over his shoulder. Fuck. He probably thinks I'm such a child, making a big deal over a damn colour. I couldn't let him get away with that horrible purple though. Rummaging through the medicine aisle for first aid stuff, I hear a noise. Another shuffling sound, searching for something. 

Whatever. It's probably nothing. I go back to looking, finding a case of acetaminophen and some alcohol wipes. Unzipping my backpack makes a loud noise, one that echoes around the store, cutting out even the sounds of my breathing.

One thing I can still hear is my heartbeat. It's grown faster. What if someone is in here? What if someone is stalking me, about to mug me? What if it's the zombie..?

"Blaze..? You better not be hiding." It probably is just him, trying to jump scare me. Even though he's never done that before. And he knows it's not a good idea. And he should still be outside, finding a shopping cart. And I never heard him come in.

"Blaze, I swear to god.." The sound is coming closer, and I turn towards it. It's in the aisle next to me, on the other side of the shelf. It scratches against the shelf, seeming to be a life in it's own, a sound tangible enough to kill. I can hear breathing now too. Not beathing, sniffing. Looking for something. 

Suddenly, the shelf shakes. I was right, a walker is on the other side. It continues pushing against the shelf, trying to reach me. I'm unable to move. Even if I wasn't frozen in place by fear, I could never escape. My only option is to leave the aisles, where there won't be a shelf between us. 

The zombie jumps against it, and it finally falls, it and everything it holds crushing me. Pain explodes from my chest, and I scream. It's a shrill one, higher pitched than a recorder being played even slightly wrong, but that doesn't matter right now. I'm about to die. The walker falls with the shelf, landing on top, trying to claw and bite it's way through to reach me. 

I can't breathe. It takes me a minute to realize, but when I do, it's a punch in the gut. My lungs feel like they're being crushed, and the edges of my vision are dark. The zombie's arm makes it through the shelf, scratching me, but I barely feel it. I hear the door open, and the muffled shouts of someone. Blaze? No, don't get yourself killed too..