"Help me," he cracked.
"I think not. I'll be on my way," Max replied. She looked up and saw that her shot had attracted the infected and they were now making their way further into the mall. She had to move with her party.
"I'm dying," the man said.
"Oh please. It's a flesh wound. You will be if you don't figure out what to do next," Max replied, motioning toward the mall. She felt little guilt for taking down the man. She had no doubts he was going to shoot her and take everything she had. And that would have included Jack. There was nothing to stop Max from protecting her daughter.
Turning away from the man, Max ran to the tent. Jack was already exiting with Blair on her heels. Jack handed Max her bug out bag and she slung her own over her shoulders. Blair was wearing the extra bag they had packed since being in the sports store. The extra body would be helpful for carrying their supplies until they could obtain a vehicle.
"Ready to go," Jack stated motioning toward the door.
"Ok. Let's grab a few more camping meals on our way out. Need to make sure we have enough food for Blair as well," Max said. She ran back to where the man had put down the shopping bag and grabbed it. As she went back to Jack she checked the contents. Mostly the man had picked up decent items. Turning Blair around, she dumped the additional things into her pack.
As they passed the food section, Max packed as many food items she could into their packs. With that, they made their way to the glass doors. Standing at the doors, looking out at the parking lot with the soft light of dawn breaking through, Max counted the infected she could see. She stopped at ten. They were wandering aimlessly at the moment, spread out around the parking lot.
"They're far apart. One is easy to handle," Max said as she pulled her tomahawk. She could easily take care of single walkers with her tomahawk and there would be no gunfire to attract additional ones from other areas.
"What do I do?" Blair asked. Max was almost startled by the girl's voice. She stayed silent so long it was easy to forget she was there.
"Follow Jack, do what she does. Jack knows what to do when we are in dangerous situations," Max replied. As she spoke Jack nodded and smiled slightly at Blair, who didn't smile back.
Though she had the keys to the mall in the tent, Max didn't waste time trying to figure out which key went to the door. Instead, using the butt of her large flashlight, Max struck the glass three times before it finally shattered outward. The sound drew the nearest infected their way. Max stepped outside quickly and raised her tomahawk in preparation for a fight. She heard the glass crunch as Jack and Blair stepped out to follow.
"Jack, stay on my left," Max said quickly, knowing without looking that her daughter would obey and move to watch for her mother's swings.
The first infected met Max head-on. She wasted no time and ended the infected quickly with a blow to the temple. She pivoted to strike the next as it stepped up behind the first. As she moved she could see Jack and Blair in her peripheral vision, just the way she wanted it. The infected attacking required the majority of her attention. She couldn't worry about Blair wandering off and getting herself killed, not in front of Jack.
Max stepped into her fighting stance with aggression. All of her defense mechanisms seemed to fire at once. Two infected came toward her at the same time. She acted quickly out of instinct, slamming the sole of her foot into the chest of the small woman, causing the infected to fall backward. The second was a taller man and Max had no patience for him. She pivoted to one side and as his uncoordinated movements tried to follow she struck him down with her tomahawk.
When Max went to finish the woman she had knocked down, she stopped short, finding Blair with a knife in hand. The knife was covered in the gross black ooze that seemed to replace blood in the infected. Max walked over to her quickly, taking the knife she wiped it off on the infected's clothing. She handed it back to Blair and nodded her approval.
Glancing around the parking lot, there were no cars on this side, adding to Max's aggravation. She didn't want to just wander around the mall parking lot looking for just any vehicle. Blair stepped up to her side, seeming to know she was looking for a direction.
"There's a car dealership on the other side of that building," she said, pointing toward a bank sitting in the mall parking lot.
"Perfect. We can steal a car from there," Max replied. Motioning to Jack to keep up, she began to sprint across the parking lot. Luckily it seemed Blair could run, and she easily kept up with the Duncans, her feet pounding directly behind Jack's.
Max picked a direct route to the next buildings in the parking lot. She maneuvered away from the infected as she went. Faster was her goal and if she stopped and took down each infected that moved their way, they wouldn't leave the parking lot until dark again. As she ran, she heard shouts and gunshots from the mall. Max wasn't sure who was shooting, but she didn't think they should stick around to find out. She slowed and ran lower, afraid shots were coming in their direction.
They reached the building quickly. Max led Jack and Blair around the corner. She peered back around, toward the mall and the broken outdoor they had left behind them. The gunshots and loud shouting were attracting the infected from the parking lot. She could see some of the infected tripping through the door, not having the thoughts to pick up their feet and step through the door frame. That didn't stop them from stumbling through and picking themselves up on the other side.
Additional shots sounded, feeding the frenzy of infected. Max imagined the man who decided the mall was all his was being surprised by the infected that had decided to join him. Or possibly he was taken down by the other mall survivors. Max could only hope someone on the inside had trapped the man inside the sporting goods store.
As if her thoughts created the moment, the intruder threw himself through the open door moments later. Max held her breath, as she watched him swing a new gun around at the infected closing in on him. Absently, Max wondered where the man found the second gun. From the distance they were at, Max couldn't tell if he had been bitten already. However, he still had a strong fight in him. That fight wasn't going to save him, Max realized, as the infected seemed to collapse on top of him. The last noise he made was a scream that echoed throughout the empty parking lot.
Feeling a touch on her arm, Max jumped, turning quickly to face Jack. Her quizzical look made Max realize how long she had been standing there watching the scene unfold. She just shook her head at her daughter, not feeling up to explaining what had just happened. Blair stood guard at the opposite end of the building and she looked over her shoulder at the Duncans expectantly.
Max moved to Blair's side and surveyed the street they had to cross. There were cars bumper to bumper in places, accidents blocking the way for vehicles to get through. Open doors stood, blood splashed inside vehicles and on the ground nearby. Debris littered the area, from people fleeing as fast as they could. The horde that chased Max and Jack into the mall had swept this area as well.
"We'll need to move quickly, to avoid the infected," Max whispered, nodding toward the street. The infected seemed to wander through the cars, still looking for a meal. The moment they stepped into the open, they would be on display. Blair and Jack nodded their understanding.
Max hitched up her pack, tightening the straps. Spinning her tomahawk, she made sure she was prepared for any unsuspected attacks. With one last deep breath, she took off for the street. She looked back once to ensure Jack and Blair were following and was pleased to see Jack on her heels. Blair wasn't far behind, her hair whipping around her face as she raced to keep up.
The group zigzagged through cars. Max wanted to take a direct route across, but there were too many infected. As she rounded a van, an infected stepped in front of her. Max had to slide to a stop before colliding with the body. Jack and Blair crashed into each other behind Max. Without waiting, Max swung her tomahawk at the arms that were reaching out to her and then stepped in to end the infected.
Reaching the car l
ot wasn't the hardest part of their escape. Now that they were in the open, the infected followed. The car lot had been looted, glass littered the ground around the building. There was no safe haven there. Max took one moment to decide and ran to the building. Once inside she slowed and motioned for the girls to stay close.
Max could hot-wire a vehicle if she had the time. But time was short now. She needed to find the keys that the dealership would have stored somewhere accessible to their salesmen. She ran for the office that was all glass walls, imagining a busy sales day and a manager sitting there to boss around his employees. The glass door had been shattered in and the office was in disarray. And there on the ground behind the desk were keys tumbled across the floor from a safe that had been pried open.
Sorting through the keys, she wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for. When they had run in she had seen a few trucks and SUV vehicles, which would be her first choices. But there was no way of knowing which keys went to those specifically. Grabbing a handful, she shoved them at Blair, and then another handful at Jack. Grabbing some in her hands, she stood to leave the office.
Outside the office, ambling into the building was a group of infected. Son of a...Max thought to herself. Quickly looking around, she realized she had broken one of her own rules, always know all the exits. She found another window broken out on the other side of the building and decided that was their best exit. However, to get there, they were going to have to handle the infected that had now spotted them.
"At some point, we will get a break, right?" Max said as she stepped toward the door of the office. As she decided on her battle plan a loud alarm began going off outside.
CHAPTER NINE
Blinking lights and alarms blared from the car dealership parking lot. Max stood frozen, confused for a moment. The noise was enough to draw the attention of the infected, who had turned toward the parking lot and open door they had come in. The sound of jingling keys caught Max's attention and she turned to a smiling Jack.
"That worked better than I thought," Jack said. She held up keys and fobs where she had pushed the alarm buttons.
"Now we know the keys match something," Blair added.
"Nice thinking, hon'," Max praised. Looking out the window she saw the infected circling the car, looking for what they assumed was an easy loud meal.
"I don't think it will take them long to come back this way though. Let's see if any of those open those bigger vehicles over there," Max said, pointing toward the trucks and SUVs.
After a few fob clicks, they were able to flash the lights on a smaller SUV. Max was happy with that and was ready to get into a vehicle and move. The group moved through the building carefully, keeping silent to keep from attracting too much attention. When they got to the side door, they ran for the small SUV, jumping into it and locking themselves in just as the infected were realizing they were missing their moving meal.
Max behind the wheel started to feel back in control of their fate. She had struggled to stay in one place and to move on foot wasn't a favorable option. Now that they were moving again, she felt more prepared and strong. As she turned the key in the ignition she wanted to cheer as the engine purred to life. She was only slightly disappointed to see only a half tank of gas, but she could handle that later.
The SUV tires peeled from the parking lot as Max stepped on the gas. The girls struggled to get their seat belts on as Max threw the wheel and landed them on the main road. She swerved, avoiding collisions. Max almost laughed out loud when she heard Blair curse in the back seat and grab the handle above her head. Max loved to drive, and she was just glad to be back on the road.
Over an hour later, the SUV’s gas gauge was falling and they were nearing the end of town. Max had the basic needs in her bug out bag for siphoning gas. But she needed more gas cans to take some with them. The girls were hungry, and Max could also use a break for a meal. She drove into a small strip mall that shared its parking lot with a gas station.
Keeping the vehicle running, Max sat and waited for something to move. Since they had left the car dealership they had seen many living people. Most just avoiding each other, working to get where they felt safest. The number of infected was more than the living and that saddened and angered Max. The numbers told her that the living were losing.
Now sitting outside the gas station she wondered about power and she wondered why there weren't more people there trying to get gas. Thinking back to the dealership, Max laid on the horn of the SUV.
"Momma!" Jack exclaimed.
"I need to know if any of those things are here," Max said, hitting the horn again.
A movement in the gas station caught her eye. It wasn't the movement of an infected. More someone watching them as they sat outside. Max didn't want to take what anyone else needed. However, they would have to share to continue surviving. The question was, did the people inside the gas station agree with that sentiment.
"Jack, pull out some of the jerky we have packed. I'm going to try to trade to get into the gas station. There are people in there," Max explained.
"You think they will let you in for some jerky?" Blair asked from the backseat.
"Smart people know that food is going to be scarce unless you are growing, killing, or gathering it yourself," Max said.
"And if they aren't smart?" Blair continued.
Max thought for a moment before answering, "Then I'll make the decision for them."
She didn't take off her weapons, on the chance the people inside weren't friendly. However, she held her hands out in the open as she exited the SUV. Holding the beef jerky above her head, she waved toward the gas station. A single face could be seen peering out at Max. Doesn't mean he's alone, Max thought to herself as she slowly walked toward the gas station doors.
"Hello?" Max called out when she reached the doors. She tried them once and as expected they were barricaded.
"Go away!" A woman shouted from inside.
"My daughter and I just need some gas cans. We don't want to take anything else you have," Max called back.
"Just go away. I'm not letting anyone in!"
"I have beef jerky here. A trade for some gas cans," Max replied, not giving up. She would bust out a window if she had to. The SUV was their way to get to Montana and she would do what she needed to keep it moving.
"I don't need beef jerky," the woman called through the window.
"Ok. What do you need?" Max asked.
There was a pause on the other side of the glass. Max thought the woman had walked away, but suddenly she appeared in front of Max at the glass doors. She was middle-aged in an employee shirt for the gas station. Her hair was wild and blood stained one of her pants legs. Max studied her through the glass, trying to determine if she was bitten.
"The attendant," she said, motioning to her leg. "He was attacked. I tried to save him. But he died."
"Died? Or...." Max asked, trailing off.
"He wasn't attacked by those things. He was attacked by healthy people battling over gas. Well, now we're out of gas. So, they left."
"Jesus. He was attacked by people getting gas?" Max repeated disbelievingly. Instinctively, Max knew the living could do much worse. But being faced with the terrible didn't make it easier to understand or accept. The woman didn't say anything, just nodded at Max's comment.
"So, what do you need?" Max asked again.
"A ride."
"A ride? To where?" Max asked. She wasn't starting up a taxi service. A part of her though felt if she could help the woman get to where she was going, she should try.
"About twenty minutes out of town. My parents live on a farm. I want to go there," she replied.
"Are they still alive?" Max asked. The question hit the woman like a blow. The terror showed on her face and Max felt a little guilty for not having the social etiquette to make it less upsetting.
"Yes. I talked to them yesterday before the phones went out. They were going to lock themselves up in the farmhouse. I was going
to try and leave, but someone stole my car. And then the other employee...well, I couldn't leave."
"Ok. Well, we're heading out of town. Going....North," Max said, deciding at the last minute. The question had rolled around in her mind since she began studying the road atlas the day before. Was Griffin alive in North Carolina? Could she just leave the East Coast without checking? She hadn't realized the decision was made until she said North to the woman.
"Perfect. That's the way the farm is. So, will you drop me?" The woman asked her hand on the door. Max just nodded, and she opened the locks and removed the bar that was barricading the door from the inside.
Inside the station, the store section looked ransacked. Products were haphazardly tossed about. Except in one corner where souvenir blankets had been thrown. The woman's bed for the last two nights Max assumed. Survivors had swept through much of the food, medical and tobacco products. Max spied a few items left behind and bagged them in a souvenir reusable bag.
The gas station employee followed Max around as if she thought Max would run out the door and not fulfill her end of the bargain. It was like having a noisy shadow. As Max watched where she put her feet, never stepping on anything other than the floor, the woman slogged through all of the spilled items. The noise grated on Max's nerves and she had to rein in a smart-ass comment to the woman.
"What's your name?" Max asked instead.
"Ruth."
"I'm Max."
"Nice to meet ya, Max," Ruth replied.
Falling back into silence Max found herself in the small aisle that held car items. She found herself quite surprised by what people decided to take and not take. Tobacco products seemed to rate higher than batteries, chargers, jumper cables, or gas cans. Better for us, Max figured as she grabbed two ten-gallon cans. She also packed batteries with the food items she had in her bag. She could find a use for most items in the store, but they were on limited time. And once they reached Montana they would have everything they needed.
Survive (Sundown Series Book 2) Page 8
