by Fitch, E. M.
Darkness engulfed them and corn below fell eerily still, infected filled quicksand waiting for its next victim.
Chapter 4
"A bomb," Kaylee whispered. She felt Anna stiffen beside her.
"What? Where?" she hissed. Kaylee reached back and wrapped her hand firmly around Anna's wrist. She tore her eyes from the front of the store, from the jeering faces and the spots of blood scattered over the floor.
"We should make one. Now. Somewhere in the back."
Anna's eyebrows drew together but Kaylee ignored her. She turned, bringing Anna with her as she moved back, away from the front. Her feet flew over the stained linoleum floor. Her eyes scanned through the darkness. She didn't head back in the direction from which they came, she knew what was there. Toys and linen piles, stationary and shoes. She wanted the camping supplies, the haircare aisle, anything with pressurized cans, with things that would explode when lit.
"We don't know how to make a bomb," Anna whispered, falling into step beside Kaylee.
"It will distract them, give us a chance to get Andrew and Bill out of there," Kaylee said. She moved into a jog, catching a gleam from rounded canisters down one of the aisles. She dragged Anna sideways, skidding to a halt when her eyes landed on a cardboard display in muted red, white, and blue. Rows of sparklers, all encased in patriotic cardboard, caught her eye. They were dusty from sitting so long, she felt the particles linger on her skin as she grabbed as many as she could, stuffing cases in her pockets. Anna took her cue. She took a lighter from the hanging display next to it, one of those long ones used to light summertime bar-b-cues. The row directly across was what had initially caught her eye, cans of hairspray and men's deodorant casting a faint sheen in the dull light of the store. She ran down the aisle, grabbing armfuls of cans as she went.
The thuds from the front of the store were slowing. Kaylee couldn't even hear the grunts of distress from Bill any longer. She raced up the far side of the store, hearing the soft slap of Anna's shoes behind her. They ended up in a lawn and garden section and Kaylee stooped low to line up her cans. Anna's breath came heavy and fast, the aerosol cans chimed softly against the floor as she lay hers out. Kaylee took her boxes of sparklers, ripping the cardboard and pouring the festive sticks of flammable magnesium and gunpowder into the bottom of a metal wheelbarrow. She mixed them around in the bottom, crossing the pieces over one another like a bizarro version of pick up sticks. Then she threw the shreds of cardboard on top for extra fodder. She placed the cans next, neatly, side by side, on top of the debris.
"Is that going to work?" Anna asked, her features lit briefly in the flash of flame from the lighter.
"No idea," Kaylee answered honestly. Jack had showed her how to make a bomb, it seemed like so long ago. But those were real bombs, using fertilizer and gasoline, making fuses and crimping the ends, having actual explosives to set the whole thing off. This was nothing like that, this was a quick fire, short lived and hopefully hot enough. This was Kaylee having read Contents Under Pressure and Highly Flammable on the back of the hairspray her mother used for years and hoping now that it was true. She pulled a single sparkler from the pile, held an open flame to the tip.
It lit with white sparks, crackling and dancing in the dark air before them. She could have written her name with the tip, or drawn funny faces like her sister used to. Instead she touched the tip to the corner of the debris at the bottom of the wheelbarrow. It started to hiss and smoke. For good measure, Kaylee tossed the lighter in. She felt Anna's small fingers grasp the back of her jacket and she turned, cutting across to the middle of the store, finding a position under a rack of dusty women's nightgowns.
Her breath came fast and heavy, Anna's grip still twisting on her back. They could see the men, see Bill in the fetal position on the floor, the freezer that held Andrew still chained shut. Kaylee had a moment to wonder how long someone could breath in there, how much oxygen was held in the air tight space, before one of the men looked to their right.
"Do you smell smoke?"
He just had time to ask before an explosion sounded, deafening in the otherwise quiet space.
Chaos. Some men ran towards the explosion, only to be knocked back as another sounded. And another. Kaylee didn't count how many cans she had lined in the wheelbarrow and she was losing count of the explosions, they burst in random pops. One, then another, a pause, and then two more. The men pulled their guns out and went towards the improvised bomb, only to jump as another went off. Some ran in different directions in the store, several close enough for Kaylee to have grabbed if she wanted to. She and Anna stayed silent, not moving until the path to Bill was cleared.
It didn't take long. They were able to use the darkness, the flashes of light that distracted everyone, to run crouched to the prone figure on the floor. Anna reached him first. He was groaning as she got to him.
"I'll get Andrew," Kaylee whispered, moving quickly to the freezer. Up close, she could see that the shelves that once held food had been removed, leaving an airtight space just big enough to contain Andrew's slumped body.
Her fingers had just wrapped around the lock that hung open on the chain when a staccato of noise came from outside the store. Bullets pierced the plywood covering the front doors, lancing the store with points of light. The light came through like laser beams, shifting through clouds of dust and smoke.
"Who the hell is that?"
Shouts erupted amidst the gunfire and the last of the explosions. Bursts of fire lit the store from firing gun barrels. The plywood erupted in shards and splinters. The outside light was blinding. Kaylee's fingers slipped on the lock. The shouts changed from bewildered anger to fear. The plywood cracked, something pushed through. It wasn't until the first painful shriek that Kaylee realized what was happening.
A horde of infected was directed into the store. The shouts from behind the horde were triumphant, the shouts echoing off the walls that now enclosed them were panicked and fearful. Moans and growling rose like tidal waves, crashing over the people trapped in the chaos of the dark store. Kaylee couldn't see Anna or Bill, men were running and the infected were stumbling closer. Smoke rose in faint wisps from where Kaylee had set off the canister bombs and the daylight fought through the swirls, leaving misty imprints that hung in the air.
Andrew lay slumped in the freezer. She could see him now in the dim light from the outside. He was heavy, taller than her and more muscular as well. There was no chance of her moving him, not if she had to do so quickly, running from the infected. But she couldn't leave him either. She unhooked the lock and gripped it in her sweaty fingers. Leaving the chain in place, looped between the door handles, she pulled the glass door open a crack and ducked under the chain to slip inside.
The air in the tight freezer smelt of blood. She twisted back, reaching through the doors to the chain. She clamped the lock over two links, leaving enough room to crack the door for air if they needed it. It didn't matter if it trapped her inside, that was good, it would keep them safe. She could always shoot her way out afterwards, the glass wasn't bulletproof. The doors fell into place as Kaylee withdrew her hand. The shouts and explosions muffled as the doors sealed shut. She crouched low, reaching for Andrew.
Her hands landed on his chest. It rose and fell, and she let out a quick breath of relief. He was warm and damp, his shirt sticky with what felt like cooling blood.
"Andrew," she said, shaking him lightly. "Can you hear me?"
He grunted in reply and coughed. It sounded wet. There was nothing left for her to do. Something stumbled into the side of the freezer and jostled them. She tensed, reaching behind to grip the handle of her gun. She had lost the hatchet along the way and was sorry for it.
"Where's Dad?"
Kaylee brought her gaze from the glass to Andrew. The smoke was intensifying, even curling a bit under the glass. She could smell it now. It made it harder to tell what was going on. All she could hear was bangs and screaming and the occasional pop of gunfire.
"Anna's with him," she answered. It was all she could say. She had no idea where Bill was, where Anna was. She could only hope they had run.
Andrew was coughing again. Something warm and wet sprayed Kaylee's neck and when she brought her fingers there to wipe it away, they came back smeared a dark red.
"Drew," she whispered, leaning over him again. He opened his eyes and caught her gaze. His face was bruised and his lip split. He grimaced, though Kaylee thought he was trying to pull off a grin.
"I'm looking that handsome, am I?" he murmured before lapsing into a coughing fit again. Kaylee's hands fluttered useless. She had no idea how to help and it seemed that every part of him was injured, she couldn't even find a safe spot to put her hands.
Something collided with the freezer forcefully, rocking Kaylee back against the opposite wall. She landed on her butt, her legs tangled with Andrew's and her eyes flew wide in surprise. Fingernails scratched along the side of the freezer. She could hear the snarling, ripping noise coming from the creature's chest. It pushed again, this time from behind, and the whole freezer rocked. Kaylee had a sudden, awful idea, picturing the freezer tipping forward, the doors hitting the concrete and trapping them, entombing them in a way that Kaylee would never have the strength to free them from.
With a surge of fear she knocked her shoulder into the back of the freezer. She heard groans from outside, mangled fingers beating at the freezer and trying to pry their way inside. She scrambled to her feet and slammed herself into the back, tipping the freezer. It didn't fall, but it rocked. She hit it again and again and again until it caught, careening over. She fell with it, feeling weightless mid-flight before slamming into the ground. Her head connected with the back and bright bursts of light exploded behind her closed eyelids. Her groans mixed with the creature's outside.
The freezer landed lopsided. The infected man who had been beating at it was now pinned underneath. He was wriggling, trying to get free. The freezer tipped and pitched as he squirmed before falling flat with a thunk.
Andrew had been crumpled at the bottom and now his legs were completely tangled, his torso at odds and flung out. He was moaning, light noises of pain between breaths. Kaylee gripped him under his arms and hauled him up, cradling his back against her chest as she lay them both out along the length of the freezer.
"Are you okay?" he mumbled. She could feel the words vibrate through his chest. She pressed her free hand to his sternum, reassured by the movement of his breath. She laughed lightly into his neck, resting the gun and her other arm on his hip.
"I'm fine," she muttered, "but lay quiet. We're safe enough for now."
Her eyes sought out the undefined shapes of the store. There wasn't much to see but swirling light. A hand slapped at the glass of the freezer doors and Kaylee flinched, tightening her grip on Andrew.
Slowly, the creature crawled over the doors. Her hair was tangled and matted with mud and blood, it hung in strands over the glass, sweeping against it and leaving damp streaks. Her breath clouded the door, making harder to see the yellow shards of her teeth. Kaylee couldn't see her eyes, just that they were sunken in the rotting flesh of her face. She growled, low and intense, as her fingers pawed at the doors.
The click of the gun as Kaylee cocked it sounded loud in the enclosed space. She wouldn't shoot unless she had to, unless she was absolutely positive the glass was about to break. She wasn't even sure if Andrew was aware of what was happening. His body had collapsed into a state of relaxation that most only knew when deep asleep. He was hurt worse than Kaylee had thought. He would not be able to run.
"Drew," she whispered, her lips close to the skin of his neck. He shifted in her arms, grunting. "Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere," he murmured. She frowned, her attention pulled momentarily back to the glass. Dead teeth were scraping along the glass, like nails on a chalkboard. She cringed against Andrew's neck.
"Be more specific," she urged. Her hand ran the length of his chest. He was damp, but she thought with sweat more than blood. His face was a wreck, she knew that from the brief glimpse she got of it. But it was the coughing, more than anything, that worried her. She remembered the warm spray of blood that hit her neck. He was bleeding, though not from any wound she could see. He needed Anna. Kaylee's eye flit to the glass again, to the infected woman squirming on top. Her clothing gaped and dead flesh pressed to the glass, sliding over the smooth surface in flat planes as her teeth scraped.
Where were Anna and Bill?
They were ten yards away at most when the infected broke in. Bill was a crumpled heap on the floor. Did Anna lift him? Could she? Kaylee wouldn't have been able to. Anna may have run, left Bill. Or she may have stayed, armed with six bullets.
The explosions from the store had stopped, the gunfire had ceased. There were still occasional screams, though Kaylee couldn't recognize the voices. They were mostly male, she thought. She could make out the shuffling gait of the infected, roaming through the store, knocking things over, groaning.
Something knocked into the freezer and a new set of hands slid over the glass. Soon his teeth were scraping the smooth surface as well, his lips pressed in a circle as his grey tongue wriggled, flat against the glass. Kaylee felt her stomach turn and she moved her eyes from the door to Andrew.
"Are your legs hurt?" she asked. She curled over him, using the hand that held the gun tight to prod down his legs. He shook his head.
"They kept mostly to my stomach and face. It hurts to breathe."
"Okay, just rest then," she whispered, nervous about the way his words gurgled at the end.
The scraping on the glass was distracting. She tried to focus on the sounds behind it. A scream sounded and then died out. There were no guns, no boots on the ground. All she could hear was shuffling. She wasn't sure who had been shooting the plywood to bits. Someone who hated the men who held the store. Hated them enough to sic a horde of infected on them. They didn't want survivors. She wasn't sure what that would mean for her and Andrew if they were found.
The air in the freezer was warm and dank. She didn't feel lightheaded or dizzy, so there was enough oxygen. But Kaylee wasn't sure how long that would last. They would need fresh air at some point. And then she would have to fight her way out past the two crawling over the doors. She put her foot against the jamb and pressed, lifting the door open a small crack. The groaning became louder, sharper, and she let the door fall back into place, a swirl of smoke and acrid air filtering through.
"Who was shooting at us?" Andrew asked. Kaylee shook her head, unsure. "I heard guns. Were they shooting at you? My Dad?"
"No, at the front of the store. They shot the plywood over the doors to break them apart."
"And they're here now?" he asked faintly.
"I'm not sure."
"They'll find us, if they are. They'll know someone's in here because of the biters crawling all over it."
"Yeah, probably," Kaylee answered. Even as she finished speaking, she heard the shouts. Men yelling and laughing, a random burst of gunfire.
"Clean them up, boys!"
Kaylee tensed, gripping her gun and hovering closer to Andrew. Bullets ripped through the store and Kaylee and Andrew crouched together, trying to press back into the freezer and make themselves as small as possible. Something dinged off the side of the freezer, leaving a ringing that shook Kaylee to her teeth.
It happened so fast that at first, Kaylee wasn't sure what was happening. The infected couple on top of them were pawing at the glass, groaning and scraping, and then they were gone. Smears of red coat the glass in their wake. There was a loud snap as something cut through the chain and then the doors were wrenched open, drops of blood flecking over Kaylee and Andrew.
She pressed her lips tightly together and stared up, blinded by the powerful flashlight someone shone into her face.
"Hold up, Jim," someone grunted. "It's another girl."
"Kaylee! Andrew!" It was Anna's voice and relief swamped Kaylee. But her curly hea
d didn't appear and it sounded like she was struggling. "Let me go!"
"Hold her, let me check them out," the male voice was deep and calm. The flashlight moved and Kaylee blinked up into the dim light that filtered through the store from the busted front doors. Shapes appeared blurry before her eyes, a circle of heads all peering down at her. "You, girl, how are you feeling?"
"Cramped," she answered, closing her eye tightly and then opening them again. "But I'm not hurt, he is. He needs help."
"Is he bit?"
"No, we're both fine. We barricaded in here."
Someone grunted but no one moved to help them up.
"This mess of infected were wrecked, blood all over them; if they were bit, they'd turn pretty fast." The voice was calm, reasonable, a different cadence from the one who moved the flashlight from her face. Kaylee could just start to make out the features. Someone, a man with short, sandy colored hair, was scrutinizing her closely. She tried to lock eyes with him, sensing that what he said would matter.
"Haul them out," the man she was staring at muttered, moving back from the freezer door edge. Hands reached in, gripping Kaylee about the shoulders and legs and pulling her out. She scrambled to her feet as soon as she touched the floor, aware that they hadn't taken her gun. She tucked it in her back waistband, wanting it out of sight before one of them thought to relieve her of it. Anna raced towards her, pulling her tightly into an embrace.
"Bill?" Kaylee whispered into her neck.
"I had him, Kay. I dragged him to the back. I shot four of them. And then-"
"Is he dead?"
"I don't know!" Anna whispered, her words sounding tortured. "All the men raced towards me, I couldn't tell who was infected and who wasn't! I was knocked down and dragged and I lost sight of him. I can't, I don't know-"
"Okay, okay," Kaylee soothed, pulling Anna tight to her chest. "We'll find him. It's not your fault."
