by Urban, Tony
They thought the market was empty. From the outside, all they could see through the plate glass windows were row after row of shelves full of food waiting to be scavenged. Not a person, or zombie could be seen.
The doors to the supermarket were locked but a good hit to each of them with Saw’s sledgehammer fixed that. He and Yukie climbed through the now empty metal frames, grabbed shopping carts, and began loading them up.
As Saw examined a shelf of boxed cupcakes, donuts, and other treats, it amused him how, before the plague, so many people had lamented artificial preservatives. They worried that they’d cause cancer or make your ticker explode or cause your balls to shrivel up to the size of peas. But now artificial preservatives were pretty much the greatest things ever created. All those little old ladies with root cellars full of that shit could be laughing their way through the apocalypse, if they weren’t dead.
Saw swept an armload of desserts into the cart, then he moved on to the canned good aisle where the bounty was equally plentiful. He’d filled his first cart and was on his way to retrieve a second when he heard Yukie scream.
“Yukie!”
She sounded far away, near the back of the store. He abandoned the shopping carts and ran toward her voice.
As he zigzagged through the aisles and end caps, her screams drew nearer. Then he heard a gunshot. And another. He was close now, an aisle away, maybe two.
He smelled the dead before he saw them. Their roadkill on a humid day aroma was impossible to mistake.
Saw rounded the corner and ran smack into a zombie wearing an olive-green janitor’s uniform, knocking the dead man backward where he toppled into a display rack of cheese puffs. The air-filled bags exploded underneath him in a series of forty or more pops. All combined they sounded almost like an explosion. Saw looked up and found ten more zombies surrounding Yukie, all sporting varieties of grocery store uniforms. He spotted two dead zombies on the floor, black blood dribbling from bullet holes in their heads. But it was the ones up and walking that he was worried about. Most of them were within arm’s reach of Yukie who was pinned against a shelf filled with kitchen rolls and toilet paper.
Yukie aimed the pistol at a pimple-faced, scrawny teen who looked like just about every bagboy Saw had ever seen. She pulled the trigger. The gun clicked. She looked to Saw, her eyes pleading.
“I forgot to reload,” she said.
Saw had left his pistol in the truck and the sledge setting beside the entrance. He scanned the area around him, looking for something to use but there was nothing close by except laundry detergent and cleaning supplies.
A short, fireplug of a zombie in a butcher’s coat grabbed on to Yukie’s arm. She tried to pull herself free but a woman in a blue vest sporting a name tag reading “MaryJo” joined the fray.
Saw knew it was now or never and he’d grown rather fond of Yukie. He grabbed a gallon jug of Tide off the shelf, popped the top and tossed the blue detergent over the floor. Then he grabbed another.
“Hey, you ugly bastards!”
Their heads swiveled toward him, almost in unison.
“Least you know you’re ugly. Now how about we play a little game of cat and mouse?”
Saw stepped toward a zombie whose gray hair was concealed under a black hairnet. He grabbed hold of it and plucked it from her head. Then he ran.
The zombies stumbled toward him. As soon as they hit the detergent their feet slipped and skidded out from underneath them. Some managed to stay upright for a moment, their arms flailing, their hands grasping at the air, but soon enough they hit the floor too.
Zombie MaryJo had released Yukie and joined the others on the slip and slide, but the butcher zombie still struggled with her. Yukie held it off with a stiff arm as Saw circled back, avoided the flopping, struggling mass of the monsters, and went to her. He grabbed the zombie by its apron, pulling the white straps tight around its throat. The monster was half a foot taller than Saw and considerably heavier. The Brit had to jump onto the butcher’s back before it released her.
The butcher fell sideways, crashing into the shelves of toilet paper which rained down on them like oversized marshmallows.
“What the hell’s this mess?”
Saw, still clinging to the butcher’s back, looked up and saw Aben standing at the edge of the skirmish. Mitch was close behind.
“‘Ello there, lads.” He looked around, at the flopping mass of zombies. “Got ourselves in a bit of a sticky wicket we did.”
Aben looked around, nodded. “Appears so.”
“Think you could lend a hand?”
“Well, I’ve only got one.”
Aben took his maul and moved to the first zombie, a chubby man with a bad comb over. He used the maul to smash in the top of his mostly bald pate. The maul pierced the skin, then the bone, sinking deep into his brain tissue.
Mitch tiptoed through the spilled detergent, a pistol in hand. When he reached Saw, he pressed the barrel against the side of the butcher zombie’s head and fired. The zombie, and Saw, went down in a heap.
When Mitch went to shoot another, Aben shook his head and issued a curt, “Nope!”
Aben finished them off with the maul, leaving behind a scattering of corpses with black brains and gore seeping from their caved in skulls.
“Toss me some paper towels.”
Saw did and Aben caught it between his stump and body. The big man set the maul on a shelf then ripped off some kitchen rolls and used them to wipe it somewhat clean before returning it to his belt.
“Told you I didn’t like grocery shopping.,” Aben said, then turned and marched away from them.
“Thanks anyway,” Saw called out.
“Any time.”
Back at the church the quartet unloaded their haul. Saw carried two cases of canned meat toward the entrance and was half way through the door when Grady appeared.
“Afternoon,” Saw said as he tried to push past him but Grady refused to step out of his path.
“You’re not welcome in the house of God.”
“Heard that before. How about this food? Is it welcome?
Grady eyed the cans. “Hand them to me.”
“Alright, but they’re pretty heavy.”
He passed them to the little man who struggled to keep from dropping them. It was clear it was almost more than he could handle and Saw tried to assist but Grady turned away.
“I’m fine. I have His strength inside me.” The man wobbled inside, almost falling twice before disappearing around a corner.
Chapter 22
Rain trickled down, enough to soak the ground and be an annoyance but not enough to keep everyone inside. Juli pulled weeds from a patch of flowers that had sprouted up at the front corner of the chapel. She thought the color combination of the red and pink impatiens wasn’t the best, but she enjoyed seeing them anyway. They made her think about her rose bushes and she wondered if they’d blossomed yet. Probably not without someone around to fertilize and prune. Oh well, she supposed they weren’t her concern any longer.
There was a steady drumbeat of hammers as Aben, Mitch, and Saw worked at replacing some of the rotten clapboard siding around the corner from her. Grady was inside, probably reading the bible or writing another sermon that no one but Juli would hear and Yukie was making everyone lunch.
It was an ordinary, if somewhat boring day, the kind of day Juli had grown to appreciate in the aftermath of the plague, until the girl showed up.
Juli heard branches snapping in the nearby tree line. It sounded light, almost airy, and she assumed maybe a gray squirrel or chipmunk was hopping around out of sight. She didn’t give it any considerable amount of thought until Prince began to bark.
Juli peered into the trees but saw nothing. She glanced toward the men who continued sawing boards and nailing them fast. Prince continued barking and Juli set the dandelion digger aside and rose from her knees to her feet. She took two steps toward the woods, trying to spot whatever the dog could see or smell or somehow se
nse.
Prince moved to her side and Julie leaned over to scratch its head. She realized the dog’s hackles were raised. “What is it, buddy?”
While she looked at the dog, she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. Something pink. She spun back toward the woods and saw movement and more pink.
A dress. A little girl’s dress.
She moved through the trees like a ghost, there one moment, gone the next. Juli took another step toward her, trying to see her better. She was small and thin to the point of being frail.
How long have you been alone?
Another step. She was only a few yards from the edge of the trees.
The girl also came closer. Juli could see her pink dress was tattered and dirty.
You poor thing.
Juli crouched down. She wanted to be at eye level to put the girl at ease. To show her there was nothing to fear.
The girl pushed through the last of the trees. And that’s when Juli realized she was a zombie.
She looked to be five or six years old. Along with her torn and stained pink dress, her light brown hair was littered with twigs and leaves giving it a wild, bird’s nest appearance. But the worst part of this creature before Juli was her face. The girl’s bottom lip, along with most of the flesh from there to her chin, had been eaten away. The white of her baby teeth stood out in stark contrast to the black, scabby tissue around them.
Juli inhaled sharply and the girl’s dead eyes homed in on her. Her mouth fell open and a soft, barely audible growl emerged from her ravaged mouth. She sounded like a small, wounded animal.
“Oh, God. How could this happen to you?” Julie felt her tears start to flow. The unfairness, the tragedy of it, it was too much.
The little girl stumbled forward, only a few feet away now.
“Juli, step aside”
It was Grady’s voice. Juli turned and saw him striding forward his hands empty, weaponless. When he reached Juli’s side, the dead girl was almost within arm’s reach.
“What are you doing, Grady?”
Grady ignored her. He took another step toward the child and laid his hand atop her head. The zombie looked up at him, her upper lip pulled back in a snarl. “This is where you’re supposed to be. God has sent you here.”
The little girl’s arm swung out, slashing at Grady but catching only the air. He never so much as flinched but Prince’s barking recommenced, only more agitated, more angry.
Grady put his free hand on the back of the dead girl’s neck. She struggled and squirmed but he held fast. “Be calm.”
Juli thought this was crazy. Did he really think his words made a difference? As much as it pained her to see what happened to the girl, she knew there was no hope for her. Whatever had made her human was gone now. This was nothing but a vicious, hungry shell.
Grady pushed the zombie toward the church. As Juli turned to watch them, she saw Aben approach.
“What’s got Prince so worked— “He stopped when he saw the child, staring, examining. Juli could see his gaze change from curious to bewildered when he realized the child was dead.
“Get away from it!” He screamed.
Grady shook his head. “Do not fear this child. God has sent her to me.”
Juli caught Aben’s gaze. He raised his eyebrows. ‘What the hell?’ Juli shrugged her shoulders. ‘Your guess is as good as mine.”
They watched Grady and the zombie approach the church, the child fighting to break free as they walked. Neither of them realized Saw was coming until he was just a few steps away, a claw hammer in hand.
“Fucking shit, man! Get away from it!”
Grady spun around, startled by Saw’s booming voice. When he turned he lost his grip on the zombie and she lurched away, tottering toward Saw and Saw was coming for her.
“Don’t you hurt her!” Grady yelled, but it was too late.
Saw brought the claw end of the hammer down on the child’s head and buried it handle deep. A squirt of black fluid jutted up like water from a drinking fountain. The girl took a step. Another. Then fell face first onto the wet ground.
Grady stared down at the girl. Juli expected the worst. She knew what happened to his son and how it had sent him into a catatonic state. She almost expected the same to happen now. His sanity seemed so tenuous. She didn’t know if she could bear to see him regress back into that condition and she prayed that Grady’s God, if he was really up there, would protect him.
Saw ripped the hammer free from the little girls’ skull and wiped the black blood off on his jeans. He looked to Grady. “You can thank me later, mate.”
Grady’s head came up slow, like someone cranking an old manual window. But eventually his eyes met Saw’s face. Juli could see them from her vantage point. They weren’t broken or wounded or sad. They were enraged.
“You’re no longer welcome here,” Grady said to Saw.
The killer furrowed his brow. “What’s that supposed to mean? I wasn’t allowed inside your precious church anyway.”
“That chapel and this ground is Holy. You have no purpose here. Tomorrow, I expect you to be gone.”
Grady knelt at the girl’s body and slid his arms under her. Juli could tell it took all his strength, but he lifted her. Saw twirled the hammer in his hand as if debating whether to use it again. After a moment, he turned away. “Man’s off his rocker, he is.”
Grady didn’t say a word. He carried the girl’s lifeless body to the church and disappeared inside.
“Can you tell me what that was all about?” Aben asked Juli.
She shook her head. His guess was as good as hers. “I have no idea.”
The door to the church slammed shut. She jumped.
“Let me talk to him,” Juli said.
“Good luck with that.”
As Juli went to the church, she saw Mitch conversing with Saw, the older man gesticulating wildly while Mitch laughed.
As Juli approached from behind, Grady had the dead girl’s body sprawled out on a pew as he used a wet rag to clean the death from her head and face.
“Grady, are you all right?”
He didn’t look at her. “I’m fine.”
“Are you really?” She moved in front of him into his eyeline. “What were you doing out there?”
Grady squeezed the rag. Black fluid dripped from it. When it stopped, he continued cleaning the body. He didn’t answer Juli.
“Grady, you have to speak to me. What am I supposed to tell the others?”
“They’re welcome to listen to the sermons if they care to hear God’s message.”
“I want to hear from you, not God.”
He finally looked at her. “God speaks through me. His words are my words. Do you not know that?”
“Apparently I don’t. I’m asking you Grady, why you risked your life out there.”
“I was never in danger.”
“Bullshit.”
He flinched as if the word caused him pain.
“We were all in danger. The girl was a zombie. And zombies kill us. That’s what they do.”
“You don’t understand.”
“That’s why I’m asking. Help me understand.”
Grady set the rag aside. He moved to Juli and peered into her eyes. He reached out and took her hands and Juli felt her skin break out in goosebumps. It was almost as if she could feel a mild electrical current running through his hands, into hers. She nearly pulled away but stopped herself.
“You think the zombies are the monsters but they’re not. We are. The zombies don’t kill us for our flesh. They consume our sins and cleanse our souls so we’re worthy of entering the Kingdom of God.”
Juli didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing.
“In John, Jesus said, ‘Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.’” Grady rolled up his sleeve to show the healed bite wound on his arm. “My Josiah didn’t hurt
me when he did this. He gave me salvation. So, do you understand now, Juli? We have nothing to fear from the undead for they were sent here to save us.”
She could see the earnestness in his face, the belief in his eyes that he believed what he said. It was so raw and so real that Juli started to believe it too.
Aben found Juli crouching beside a small garden that grew in an open meadow behind the church. At the sound of his footsteps, she spun around, clasping a small pair of clippers in her hands.
“Only me,” Aben said holding his hands up in submission.
Juli lowered the clippers and smiled.
“You were expecting someone more exciting.”
She shook her head. “I’ve had enough excitement to last a lifetime.”
Aben sat down beside her. “That doesn’t exactly help my ego.”
“Sorry, Aben. My manners are lacking. “
“Well, if my wounded self-confidence is my biggest problem, I’d say life has taken a definite turn for the better.”
Silence fell between them. Aben knew what needed to be said but hadn’t quite got there yet. He tilted his head toward the garden. “What you got there?”
“Someone was nice enough to plan a garden before the plague. I feel a tad guilty that they won’t be able to enjoy the bounty.”
She plucked a green tomato nearly the size of her fist from a vine. Aben looked at it skeptically. “Shouldn’t you let it ripen up first?”
Juli looked down at the tomato. “I used to fry green tomatoes at home. Not for the kids, they turned their noses up at them, but for Mark. I’d coat them in some flour, salt and pepper then fry them in butter. Real butter, not margarine. Sprinkle them with some freshly grated parmesan cheese, not the canned stuff, at the end. Mark ate them like candy.”
