by Cluke, D. L.
Josh caught her attention, motioning for her to stay put. He nodded towards the exit. She caught his drift. When he attacked, she would make a break for it. She only hoped there weren’t any infected laying in wait on the other side of that door.
Josh held up three fingers. He put one finger down. He put a second one down. She watched him take a calming breath. The last finger went down. He flung out from his hiding spot, the 9MM coming up in one fluid motion. Anna didn’t hang around to see what happened next. She threw herself at the door.
“Becca, out the back!” She screamed, hoping her friend would make a break for it. It was the best she could do.
She grabbed onto the smooth handle, fumbling a bit as she tried to get the knob to turn. Was it locked? Please, that couldn’t be happening. She twisted it harder and after a few precious seconds, the door popped open. She heard the 9MM pop off one round. Two rounds. Then she heard another noise. A noise that would haunt her nightmares forever.
The shrieks of the infected. And a lot of them. Where had they been hiding?
Anna heard Josh yelling something, but the door click closed behind her, muffling the noise and throwing her in total blackness. Her heavy breathing was the only sound. She fumbled for her phone, turning on the flashlight and illuminating what appeared to be a short hallway. About 8 feet in front of her was a sharp corner, one that she couldn’t see around. She inched her way closer, listening for any sound of her friends coming behind her.
She needed to find the exit and make sure it was clear. That flimsy door wouldn’t hold back a horde of those things for long. She reached the corner. She paused, steadying her nerves and raising her tire iron up to striking level. She jumped around, planting her feet and coming face to face… with a barricade.
Fuck. Things just keep getting better.
She studied the pile of filing cabinets, office chairs, and garbage bins blocking another door. She would need to move them so they could reach the exit, but she couldn’t just toss them behind her. She needed to leave a path for her friends to run through. She started grabbing items, throwing them around the corner, hoping they were staying put against the wall. She didn’t have enough time to move each item individually. She could hear the shrieks from the infected growing louder with each passing second. They must be in the store, or just outside it.
Where in the hell were Becca and Josh?
She moved a filing cabinet, cringing at the sound of metal scraping across the hard tile floor. She was almost to the door, but a final large filing cabinet blocked her path. She could barely budge it, her only hope was to topple it and pray that it gave them enough room to open the door and squeeze by.
Anna propped her back against the wall, placing her feet as far up as she could on the metal filing cabinet. She hoped her friends were close because this thing was going to make one hell of a bang. Every infected in the store would know right where she was.
She started straightening her legs, putting all her strength into tipping the cabinet. It slowly moved, her legs trembling with effort as she tried to tip it over. It wouldn’t budge. Sweat ran down her face as she struggled to move it even an inch.
Bang!
The door flung open around the corner.
“Anna, we gotta move now!”
Josh’s voice bellowed through the small space, but she could barely hear it over the sounds of the infected in the pharmacy. She pushed with everything she had, the filing cabinet toppling onto its side with an ear-shattering crash. She grabbed the door handle and flung it wide open, the light from the outside world blinding her. Josh crashed into her from behind, shoving her out the door. She saw a flash of fur as their newly acquired companion pulled Becca through behind him.
She went sprawling, legs and arms a tangled mess as Josh slammed the door shut. Loud thuds sounded as the infected flung themselves against the heavy metal frame. He leaned his head back against it, eyes closed as he struggled to catch his breath. Remi leaned against Becca, his eyes glued on the street. He let out a small whine, pawing at Becca, trying to draw her attention. Anna didn’t want to look. She just wanted to go home.
Anna peaked around a white delivery van, pulling her head back quickly, and sinking to her knees. Thoughts of the farm floated in her mind. Would they ever make it out of this blasted city?
“Umm, guys. We should go. Now.”
What’s that old saying? Out of the frying pan, into the fire? Yeah, more like straight into hell.
Chapter Sixteen
The infected were everywhere. They crawled all over the street, noses lifted to the sky in hopes of sniffing out their next meal. They shrieked and growled to one another, nipping and tearing at each other, fighting over any remaining scrapes. Anna saw two infected, both females, fighting over someone’s arm. They yanked it back and forth between them. Like two mangy dogs fighting over a bone. Blood and bits of skin dripped to the tarmac. She felt stomach bile rising in her throat at the gruesome sight.
Where did they all come from?
They had just walked through these streets and there had been no sight or sound of this many of the infected. Where were the infected hiding? The thought was terrifying. They had walked past hundreds of these things and didn’t even know it. Suddenly, every dark window in the alley presented a possible threat. They needed out of the city, now.
“Shit, what are we going to do now?” Becca pulled Remi closer, leaning down to shush him. “Josh? Earth to Josh? Anyone home?”
Josh sat on an old broken crate, head between his knees, hands covering his ears. He didn’t acknowledge that Becca had spoken. Was he trying to block out the noise of the infected?
“Josh?” Anna crawled over to him, placing her hand gently on his knee.
His hand snapped out, grabbing her fingers with such force she thought he would snap her fingers.
“Josh, you’re hurting me!”
“Will you two bumbling fools just shut up and let me think? We should have been out of the city by now. It’s only getting worse, the infected have already moved back this way in search of fresh meat.”
Josh continued to squeeze her hand, bringing tears to her eyes as she tried not to let the pain show on her face. Remi crouched low, lips turned up in a snarl as he growled low in his throat. Josh snapped his head towards the animal, his eyes wild.
“Shut him up before he brings the entire horde down on us!” He seethed through clenched teeth.
“Let go of Anna and he’ll stop.”
Josh turned his head to look at her, his eyes moving to her hand which was starting to turn purple. As if seeing it for the first time, he let her go. He stood up, shaking his head as if in a daze.
“Let’s move. This way. Stay behind the garbage and stay quiet.”
“What’s the plan, Josh?” Anna asked, stepping in line behind him, trying to rub some life back into her fingers. She held back the anger she was feeling, not wanting to rile him up further.
We still need him. We still need him. We still need him.
The thought made her want to puke.
“We’re only about a mile from the edge of the city. If I remember the maps correctly, about half of that distance is back alleys that we can sneak our way through.”
“And the other half?” Becca questioned, tapping Anna to get her attention. She turned to face her friend.
“Open fields. We have no choice but to make a run for it.”
Becca’s worried face mirrored Anna’s thoughts.
“What do we do? He’s lost it.” Becca whispered to Anna, letting Josh get a few steps ahead and out of earshot.
Josh was going to get them all killed. But what choice did they have? Neither of them knew this part of the city or knew where the truck was hidden. Heck, they didn’t even know if the keys were in it or with Josh. They could make a break for it, but if they came out on the wrong side of a fence or up against a dead end… They would be done for. Not to mention, there was always a chance he would find them at the farm.
No, she couldn’t risk it. She needed to wait. Any move they made to dispose of Josh would have to be at his truck. It was their best chance of survival and they needed all the chances they could get if they were to make it out of this cesspit alive.
Her face hardened, “We get rid of him. Once and for all, but not yet.”
Before she could explain her idea, Josh turned around and barked at them, “Quit chatting and get moving!”
She turned around quickly, not wanting him to get suspicious. Anna could see his eyes were glazed and red-rimmed, almost as if he was high on something. How had she missed it? She had been so busy running for her life that she had failed to notice how on edge Josh was. One wrong poke and he would explode; taking her, Becca, and their new furry friend along with him.
She would have one shot to take him out. Otherwise, she could kiss this terrifying world behind. Or worse. She didn’t want to think about what Josh would do to her if she failed.
Failure just wasn’t going to be an option.
Chapter Seventeen
A mile. 5,280 measly little feet. Average walking time of 15 minutes. Thirty minutes tops and they would be home free from this city.
Hah! Maybe once upon a time in the pre-zombie era.
Anna was pretty sure they had walked ten times that far. They followed Josh, winding their way to the outskirts of the city. Several times, they had to backtrack to avoid hordes of the infected. They seemed to be everywhere. Almost every alley sported an infected or two and taking them out before they sounded the alarm proved to be tricky. They wasted precious minutes sneaking up on their targets to dispatch them quietly. Daylight was fading.
As much as she hated to admit it… Josh had been right about one thing. He had rung the dinner bell for every infected on this end of the city when he fired that gun. Now they ran, crawled, or pulled their legless bodies through the streets, trying to sniff out the source of the noise. The city was alive with the sounds of them hunting. They shrieked, growled, and grunted to each other. Anna didn’t want to think about how much their behavior resembled communication. Her mind couldn’t handle that. Instead, she decided to focus on the good things and right now, there was only one.
Remi. The German Shepard had quickly become attached to Becca and was glued to her side. Twice, he had growled a low warning that saved their life from an unseen and unheard pack of the monsters.
“He seems to have an early warning system for those things,” Anna commented the third time he saved them from stumbling into the street right in front of ten of the infected.
“You should give him to me,” Josh snapped, reaching for Remi’s leash. Without warning, the dog snapped at his hand.
“Stupid mutt,” Josh muttered, glaring daggers at Remi. Remi held his gaze, hackles raised.
Remi can sense the evil in him.
Josh looked away, turning his back on the angry animal and stomping to the next intersection.
“Who’s a good boy? Yes, yes you are!” Becca scratched him behind the ears, whispering praise in his ears, low enough where Josh wouldn’t overhear.
Anna bit back a snort. Josh was becoming more and more irritated by the minute and she was worried any small thing would set him off. She wanted to be rid of him, more than anything, but they needed his truck. Remi was proving to be a valuable asset, as well as a loyal protector and friend of Becca’s. Something that just seemed to irk Josh even more. He wanted people to need him. He liked feeling that he was in complete control. That he was the one in charge.
Anna could see he was losing his grip on the situation. Each stumble, each wrong turn pushed him a bit closer to the edge. He was like a ticking time bomb, seconds from exploding. She kept pushing him along, even though she was afraid he would lead them into a situation even Remi couldn’t warn them out of. She needed him to guide them out of here. It was a risk she just had to take.
“Josh, I think you were right about this alley. We should try the next one,” she commented after they had finished off four of the infected. Her arms were tired, the tire iron heavy in her grip. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could go on. They needed a break. She tried mentioning it to Josh.
“No!” He barked, grabbing her arm roughly. “We’re almost there, I know it. Look, you can see the open stretch of tarmac through this cafe.”
He was right. Anna looked through the open-sided building, which had full-length glass windows on three sides. From their position, she could see directly through the building. Across the small dining area was a long stretch of cafes and stores. They would have to walk through the plaza, with several businesses and small alleys on either side. At the very end of the plaza, Anna thought she could see openness and a hint of dead grass.
Could they almost be out of here? She had a bad feeling about this.
All that stood between them and the safety of the open countryside was a plaza full of hidden dangers. Remi scoped out the area, ears perked, his eyes scanning for any sign of the infected. Anna knew they had to be in there. It was a high-traffic area at the best of times. The amount of blood on the plaza ground, so much that even she could see it from this far away… This place must have been a blood bath.
Her mind flashed back to the footage of the reporter at the city’s center. How many towns and cities around the world had experienced the same demise? Had it only been a few short days since all that happened? Must be the apocalypse had a way of messing with time. A few short days felt like a lifetime.
A flash of movement caught her eye, pulling her from her musings and back into the present. About halfway down the plaza, the shadows moved, swaying with the breeze. Except, there was no breeze. Anna’s shirt clung to her sweaty body in the sun of the afternoon. Not a wisp of wind moved through here. Her eyes strained, trying to see into the shadows of the buildings. Remi growled a warning.
Great, just freaking great.
“We need to make a run for it.”
“Umm, excuse me?” Becca stuttered, “Are you insane? We’ll never make it.”
“And we won’t survive much longer if we keep running around. Those damn things are everywhere,” Josh argued. “We can’t get out the same way I came in. Every other route I’ve tried has been a dead end. This is our last chance. There is no other way out on this side of the city.”
“So we go to the other side!”
“Becca, not so loud!” Anna warned, noticing some of the infected moving out of the shadows and into the light of the afternoon sun. Remi crouched, watching the infected as they started coming out of their trance.
“We cannot go back! Urgh, how dense can you possibly be? I should have let you die with that overweight loser boyfriend of yours.”
“You bastard!” Becca screamed, launching herself at Josh.
She landed on him, knocking him to the ground with her unexpected attack. Her hands bunched into small fists that she brought down on his face. Blindsided by the attack, Josh failed to get his arms up in time and Anna heard a crack as something in his nose broke. Transfixed by the fight happening before her, she completely forgot about the infected.
Remi barked. Anna remembered. The thundering of feet echoed towards them.
“Guys, I think you just made the decision for us,” Anna yanked Becca off Josh. “Now is not the time, we need to move before they box us in!”
Becca flailed her arms and legs, struggling to get at Josh as she slung expletives at him. A lone shriek pierced the air, snapping her attention back to reality. Remi tugged at her pants, trying to drag her away. Josh, holding his bleeding nose, staggered to his feet and turned to face the problem head on.
“Oh, we’re fucked.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Yeah, no shit asshole. Now what?” Becca started backing away, Anna following her closely. Josh just stood there. Each second the horde gained on them, picking up more infected. There must have been a hundred of the disgusting creatures.
“We can’t fight our way out of this one, we need to ru
n!” Anna grabbed Josh’s arm, pulling him with them.
How easy it would be to let the horde consume him, just like he had done to Brandon. No, not yet.
“Back this way,” Anna yelled, taking charge. “I saw an alley with stairs. If we can reach that, we can make it to the roof.”
“Did you forget they can go up steps?” Becca managed to gasp out between breaths. They were all running on empty, fueled by nothing but a primal desire to survive.
“One problem at a time, please!”
Anna knew she had a point. She only hoped a solution would present itself once they made it there. Their footsteps pounded hard on the pavement, the time for stealth long past. She jumped over the hood of a car, sliding across like some action movie star, Becca and Remi hot on her heels. Josh had finally snapped out of his stupor and managed to scramble over, just as the first of the infected smashed into the store.
They gained a few precious seconds as the infected fought their way through the shattered glass. She could hear them smashing their way through the tables and chairs, tripping over each other as the horde tried to get through the glass on the other side. It held, but barely. Already, she could see the cracks forming on the glass. They needed to get up that ladder, now.
Anna slid around a corner, darting into the alley as the sound breaking glass reached them. They had maybe 15 seconds before they were overrun. She needed to think fast. She pumped her legs harder, putting all her energy into reaching those stairs. A few feet from the bottom steps was a giant dumpster. On wheels.
Finally, some luck!
“Becca, get up those stairs with Remi and find something to block them. Josh, help me move that dumpster!”
She watched Becca sprint up the stairs, taking them two at a time with Remi right next to her. She and Josh heaved on the dumpster, inching it over to block the bottom stairs.
“How are we going to get up now?” Josh asked, pushing the dumpster into place.
