Surviving Rage | Book 1

by Arellano, J. D.

  These efforts brought his progress to a slow crawl, and it took them the better part of half an hour to cover three miles. Giving up on the freeway, Daniel exited, working his way around more abandoned vehicles as he made his way up the offramp. At the top, he saw the way to the street he was trying to get to was mostly clear. Relieved, he looked both directions before turning onto the street. Taking this route, he would arrive from the side entrance to the parking lot in front of the sporting goods store.

  Driving down the street, he watched ahead as he gave directions to Paul. “Alright, when we get there, you’re going to grab a shopping cart and get camouflage gear for everyone.”

  “Camouflage gear?”

  “Yes. We might need it in the mountains, if not, it will help with warmth and protection. Get the heavier stuff, with long sleeves. It should offer a first layer of protection without weighing us down.”

  “OK.”

  “Now, when you’re grabbing things, start from the head and work your way down: undershirt, shirt, pants, belt. The women are all size small. I’m a large. Got it?”

  “Got it. What else?”

  “That’s the priority, so if you only get that, you did good. If you can get more, grab hydration packs for everyone, then look for any freeze dried food they may have, and or any water filtration systems.”

  “Okay.”

  Pulling into the nearly empty parking lot, Daniel looked at the building. It looked empty, but the lights were on inside the store, which was a good sign. He didn’t want to break in, but he would if he had to. Pulling up next to the curb in front of the store, he shut off the engine, then reached under the seat and pulled out a foot long heavy duty steel covered flashlight. Holding it, he looked over at Paul. “Take this. Keep it up at your shoulder height, ready to come down on someone if they threaten you. Like this.” He demonstrated, then had Paul repeat the hold.

  Daniel opened the door to the Prius. “Let’s do this.” He climbed out, with Paul copying his motion on the other side of the vehicle. Daniel slid the gun behind his back in the waistband of his pants before grabbing a cart, passing it to Paul.

  Entering through the sliding glass doors, the smell of death assaulted them. Around the store, displays were knocked over, their items strewn about the floor. Looking over the register, Daniel saw the body of a young woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood, her lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. The woman’s throat had been ripped open by something, leaving a gaping hole where her esophagus should be. Her right hand was missing two fingers, which laid on the floor a few feet away. ‘Shit’ he thought to himself, reaching over and grabbing Paul by the shoulder. He brought a finger up to his mouth, signaling that they should be quiet. Paul nodded in understanding. Daniel pulled him closer and whispered in the teenager’s ear. “If you see something, hit first. Don’t ask questions, understand?”

  The kid nodded again, then walked slowly away, pushing the cart as quietly as possible, breaking off to the right towards where paintball gear was.

  Seeing the racks of camouflage gear, he eagerly began grabbing what they needed, temporarily letting his vigilance slip.

  It nearly cost him his life.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  A snarling sound came from Paul’s left, followed by the crash of a clothing rack hitting the floor. Paul whipped around, holding the flashlight up as instructed. A thing that barely resembled the man it had once been lunged forward, reaching out towards him, its fingers extended.

  Paul froze in fear.

  The creature ran headlong into the floor display that was directly in its path, crashing to the floor on top of it in a loud crash.

  Paul backed up and tripped himself, falling hard onto his butt, jarring him and causing him to lose his grip on the flashlight, which spun away from him along the tile.

  His legs churned as he tried to crawl away from the approaching threat, desperate to put distance between himself and the thing that sought to kill him.

  The thing’s hand grabbed onto his right leg, clamping down hard, pulling him back. Paul’s fingers clawed the floor in an effort to gain purchase, but the tile offered nothing to grab onto. He looked down towards his feet and saw the thing’s bloodshot eyes fixated on him, filled with rage. In terror, he lost control of his bladder, feeling the warm liquid cover his crotch and legs.

  The end of an aluminum baseball bat came down hard on the back of the thing’s head, scrambling its brains and knocking it out. It collapsed on the floor, releasing its grip on Paul’s leg.

  Daniel looked down at him. “You froze.”

  Paul could only nod, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I know. I’m so stupid.”

  “You’re not stupid, you’re scared. That’s natural. You’ll need to learn to accept the fear and manage it, just like any other emotion.” Daniel stuck his hand out. “Get up. We still have work to do. You’ll have opportunities to redeem yourself, I’m sure.” With Paul on his feet, Daniel handed him the bat, looking down at the rabid creature at his feet.

  “Why didn’t you shoot him?”

  “Too noisy. We don’t know if there are more of them close by, and I wouldn’t want to alert them to our presence. I had a clean shot with the bat, and I knew he’d be out with the force I used.” Daniel reached behind his back, checking to make sure the gun was still there. He took it out and verified the safety was still engaged before putting it back.

  “I know I should probably kill this thing, but I don’t think I can, not like this. I’m gonna tie it up, though, and put it in the closet over there.” He pointed to a door near the back of the store.

  Pointing to the infected man, he said, “Keep an eye on this thing.” He grabbed Paul by the shirt, forcing the kid to look into his eyes. “If it moves, smash its fucking head, understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Daniel walked away, leaving Paul there to watch over the thing. When he returned, he secured the thing’s wrists behind its back, using thick zip ties he’d found in the camping area. He tied its ankles as well, then tied the upper arms together behind its back as well, followed by the upper thighs, making sure to put the knots on the backside of the legs. Once he’d put a single set of zip ties around each area, he went back and added a second set of zip ties, doubling up everything. Finally, wanting to be sure the thing didn’t bite anyone, he put a lacrosse helmet on its head, securing the chinstrap tightly. If somehow the thing came back to its senses (unlikely), it would be able to talk just fine, but unable to bite anyone in the more likely scenario that it remained the rabid beast it was.

  Keeping positive control on the creature, Daniel lifted the thing up, remaining behind it as he pushed the thing forward towards the utility closet. Once there, he pressed the thing against the wall, putting his weight on it with his right shoulder, while he opened the door with his left hand. He walked the thing into the room, then lowered it to the floor, trying not to do unnecessary harm to what may have previously been a decent person.

  Daniel turned to walk out, then stopped. Turning back to the man, he flipped the guy over onto his back. There was a name tag that said ‘Stephen.’ Under his name were the words ‘Store Manager.’ Daniel felt the outside of the man ’s front pockets and felt what he was looking for in the right one. Quickly dipping his hand inside, he pulled out a ring of keys.

  “Bingo.”

  He looked past Paul, gazing over the young man’s shoulder as he looked around the store, searching for movement. Seeing none, he nodded, satisfied. “New plan. Follow me.” He walked to the front of the store and used the former manager’s keys to lock the doors. Turning back to Paul, he said, “First, we clear the store. Keep the bat. I’ll take...this.” He reached over and grabbed a pool cue, unscrewing it and leaving the pointed end behind, keeping the heavier end.

  Together, they swept through the store, checking every corner, looking under and around every fixture to ensure there would
be no surprises. Reaching the back of the store, they entered the stockroom, where they found another victim next to the door to the loading dock. A young black teenage boy, similar in age to Paul, lay face down on the unfinished concrete pavement. The back of his skull had a large dent in it. Nearby, a kettlebell lay on its side, blood and hair covering its base. Paul looked like he would be sick, so Daniel sent him back to the front while he moved the body further down the aisle. Finding snow jackets in a box titled “winter gear”, he covered the body before turning and heading back to where the kettlebell lay. He grabbed the weight and carried it over to the trash, where he gently dropped it inside, wary of the noise it would make. ‘No sense making more noise than necessary,’ he thought.

  He stepped through the door to the sales floor and found Paul sitting on one of the benches near the shoe area. “Alright, here’s the deal. I’m going out the front door. Lock the door behind me. I’ll pull the car around back, near the loading dock, then come up to the door and knock. I’ll knock exactly three times, then wait a second, then knock twice more, OK?”

  Paul nodded. “Okay. Three knocks, wait a second, then twice more.”

  He rose from the bench and followed Daniel to the front of the store. Together, they carefully looked outside, remaining out of sight as much as possible. Their eyes scanned the area, looking for life. They saw seagulls and pigeons, along with a stray dog, but nothing else close by. Double checking his gloves and mask, Daniel quietly opened the door and slid outside. He looked around again, this time crouching down to look low as well, wanting to be sure no one was hiding behind one of the vehicles in the parking lot. Seeing nothing, he turned back to Paul and nodded. The young man turned the lock to the door, engaging the deadbolt, then disappeared into the store.

  Paul hit the button on the FOB to unlock the doors, causing the car’s alarm system to chirp, making him wince. He wished that feature could be disabled. Looking around the parking lot again, he saw the stray dog looking in his direction, evaluating him, holding its tail completely still. The seagulls and pigeons paid him no attention.

  He got in the car and started it, appreciative of its silent engine. Pulling forward, he again kept the speed at the absolute minimum to minimize noise, driving down the driveway and turning right before turning right again to pull into the loading area behind the store.

  He backed the car up close to the loading dock so that he could open the lift gate for easy loading. Leaving it closed for now, he stepped out of the car, looking around again before bounding up the steps to the back door of the store, where he knocked as they’d discussed. After a few seconds he heard the deadbolt disengage. The door opened slightly, exposing a sliver of Paul’s face. Once the kid recognized him, he opened the door the rest of the way.

  Daniel entered the storeroom area, closing and locking the door behind him. “Alright, let’s dim the lights as much as possible, load up our carts, and stage them here. You know what to get right?” Paul nodded. “Let’s get to it.”

  The split up, with Paul heading to the front part of the store, where he’d previously been getting paintball gear, and Daniel headed over to the gun department. He used the keys to unlock the gun rack and grabbed two Mossberg Model 930 pump-action shotguns, two AR-15 rifles, and two Savage Model 10 long range rifles with matching scopes. He had hoped to get more of the AR-15s, but the lightweight design, ease of use, and rapid firing capability had made the rifles extremely popular over the last several years.

  Moving to the cabinets he grabbed a pair of Glock Gen-5 pistols and three Smith & Wesson M&P Compact Pistols. After that he grabbed all ammunition in stock for each weapon, along with gun oil, rags, and four ‘elite’ gun cleaning kits, which allowed for cleaning of multiple types of guns.

  Overall, it was already a tremendous haul, and it convinced him the trip was worth the risk. Staging it required all the available space in the cart and then some, but he managed to move everything back by the rear door before returning to the sales floor of the store.

  Paul came down the aisle, his cart loaded with all the camouflage gear he’d found.

  “Anything you couldn’t find?”

  Paul shrugged. “I couldn’t find the right size pants for me, but I got the larger size. I can belt them tightly. Otherwise, I found everything.”

  “Great job. Alright, next round. Let’s get the other stuff and get out of here. It’s already four thirty and I want to be home before dark.”

  With that, they split up again. Daniel went to the camping area and grabbed maps, compasses, binoculars, both compact and the larger, long range ones, and compact flashlights before grabbing several hunting knives, as well as five tactical knives, which, while deadly in the right hands, were only to be used as a last defense. The goal was to keep the infected as far away as possible.

  Grabbing all of these weapons, he realized he had a lot of work to do to train Serafina, the girls, and Paul in how to use them. Serafina was proficient with their Glock, but that was about it. She’d shot a rifle a few times for fun, but hadn’t worked to develop accuracy. When it came to knife handling, though, she was probably the best among them. He never asked where she’d learned her skills, but he’d seen the way she handled the karambit she’d bought at a knife store, and he knew she’d be deadly - if she could accept the prospect of killing another living being. He felt confident she’d be able to, but he also knew it was not only something a person has to face in the moment, but something a person has to deal with afterward.

  Next, he grabbed emergency blankets, disposable hand warmers, and balaclavas, before heading to the shoe area, where he grabbed tactical work boots for himself and the women. “Paul, what size shoe are you?” He called out.

  “Ten and a half!”

  He found a pair of boots for Paul as well, then added socks for everyone.

  Certain that the Prius couldn’t carry much more, he moved his cart to the back area, then returned to the floor to look for Paul.

  The young man came around the corner, his face beaming with pride . “I found the hydration packs and water filtration systems easy, but then I really hit the jackpot.” Reaching into the cart, he lifted out a big square plastic container. On the side it read ‘Emergency Food Kit - 60 servings.’ There were five more containers in the cart. He looked at Daniel expectantly.

  Daniel reached out and patted him on the back. “Damn. Nice find. You did good. This will really help.” He lifted one of the containers, checking the weight. It was heavy, but not too heavy to carry. He decided if need be, they could leave behind some of the canned food to make room for these.

  He checked his watch. Four twenty-five. “Alright, this is it. Let’s get this stuff loaded and get out of here.” He led the way to the back, Paul following close behind with the cart. Daniel removed a shotgun from its box, cleared the plastic inserts, checked the chamber, and tested the pump action before loading it. The gun had been well oiled before shipment, which was a plus. After that, he took out one of the Smith & Wesson pistols and did the same, handing it to Paul.

  The young man looked down at the gun like it was an alien. “I’ve never even held a gun.”

  “Time to start. Things will get bad before they get better.” Daniel pointed to the safety button. “This is the safety. Don’t disengage it unless you intend to shoot. Don’t shoot unless you intend to kill. Understand?” He extended it to the teenager, holding it by the barrel. The kid reluctantly took it.

  “Yes.”

  “Alright. We don’t have time to go through lessons, so don’t take it out unless I tell you to. If I tell you to shoot, don’t pull, squeeze the trigger and shoot a little lower than you think you need to.” Daniel held up his hand, palm facing in, over his chest and stomach area, making a circular motion. “Aim here. Biggest target.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. Now, let’s get ready to load the car. Let me check to make sure things are clear first.” Daniel checked his pistol again before replacing it and grabbing th
e shotgun. He racked it, putting rounds in the chamber, then walked over and listened at the door for about thirty seconds before opening it slowly, stopping when it was nearly wide enough for him to fit through. He looked around as much as he could see before pushing it open a bit more and sliding through, bringing the shotgun up to his shoulder as he did so.

  As Daniel stepped outside, Paul heard a deep voice. “Who the fuck are you?”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Do you think Dad will be OK?” Brenna asked her sister, working to wrap a hair tie around her favorite pair of jeans. She’d finished packing the dried and canned foods as she’d been instructed to, putting most of the items into leftover Amazon boxes at her stepmother’s suggestion, in case they did need to strapped to the top of the jeep. What hadn’t fit in boxes had been carefully packing into reusable shopping bags. It didn’t seem like much, but the dehydrated soy and vegetable proteins would go a long way.

  Ashley barely looked up from her phone. “He’ll be OK.” She was trying to get through to her friends from the cheerleading team, but so far she’d only managed to get through to two of them: Sierra and Brittany, who were only casual acquaintances, not the friends she was hoping to get through to. She hadn’t heard from her closest friends, Jenelle, Macy, or Carla in two days, and she was starting to suspect the worst.