Infected

by Michael I. Rolfe

  “Let’s go.” said Dan, they made their way around the edge of the waste ground, keeping out of sight as much as possible. Dan was leading, rifle slung and his sword at the ready. Peter would back him up with his rifle, but only if Dan got into trouble, or if there were too many Infected to deal with effectively with the sword.

  The waste ground was clear, but the two men could see the Infected in the car park, some roaming around while others were stood stock still, almost as if they were sleeping upright. The two men crossed the car park using the abandoned vehicles as cover, they were halfway across when they had to hide behind a van as an Infected walked very close to them, then stopped and did not move on, effectively trapping the pair of them. Dan turned to volume on the radio down and whispered in to the microphone “Amanda, can you see if any other Infected would see if I took out the one in front of us?” There was a pause, then her voice came back over the radio saying, “I think you would be okay.” Without hesitating, he made his way around the van, stepped out behind the Infected and dropped it with one slice of the sword through the back of the neck.

  As they got closer to the building there were rotting bodies littering the car park and the pavement area near to the supermarket entrance, Dan ignored them, but Peter could not help staring at them. It was obvious that animals had been feeding off them and he wanted to be sick. “Keep checking behind!” said Dan to distract the younger man from the morbid sight.

  They arrived at the main entrance and quickly saw that an attempt had been made to barricade doors, but it had not held, so there would be an unknown number of Infected inside. Dan said, “keep me in sight, cover me, but only fire if you have to, we don’t want to invite too many to the party!” Peter just nodded “Right,” said Dan “let’s go shopping.” and they stepped through the threshold.

  As soon as they stepped in to the building the shopping spree was brought to an abrupt halt by a second more substantial barricade made up of numerous shopping trollies which had not been breached. Dan quickly took cover and motioned Peter to do the same, this was not good! Dan whispered to Pete “Keep a look outside, if the Infected come this way we will be trapped in here.” Peter nodded and moved to take up a position where he could observe the approach to the entrance.

  Dan peered through the tangled mess of stacked shopping trolleys but could see no movement, so he moved stealthily to Peter’s side and asked, “Any movement out there?” “Yes, but none in this direction.” Replied Pete. “Keep a lookout, I’m going to try and get a reaction from the inside.” said Dan as he moved back toward the trolley barricade. Dan tapped on the metal of a trolley with the hilt of his sword and called out “Is there anyone in there?” almost immediately he could hear running footsteps and the unmistakable sound of an infected as it made its way quickly toward him from deep within the supermarket. Dan stood, withdrew swiftly, tapped Peter on the shoulder and whispered, “Let’s move out, we don’t want to be trapped here!”

  They made their way around the outside of the building and found the staff entrance. This door was also barricaded, and an attempt had been made to black out the windows but there was a gap, so while Peter kept watch Dan squinted through, it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the gloom but then he could pick out piles of canned food and bottled water stacked high in a large room, possibly the staff canteen. Dan looked through the room toward an internal door, the door was closed, and a vending machine had been pulled across, effectively sealing off the room, as far as Dan could tell whoever had barricaded the room was still in there but the question was, were they infected? Dan quickly brought Peter up to speed. “So how shall we go about this?” asked Peter, Dan smiled as he replied, “I think it would be polite to knock, infected or not, we should get some kind of reaction!”

  Dan gave a friendly knock on the door and he and Peter waited to see what would happen, Dan could see movement, but no one came to the running to the door to claw at it, this led Dan to the conclusion that whoever was inside was not infected. However, someone who was infected came around the corner of the building, Peter tapped Dan on the shoulder and said, “We have company.” then he stepped to one side and took up a firing position but held his fire to allow Dan to despatch the new arrival quietly with the sword. The Infected dropped to the floor unceremoniously and Dan knocked on the door again before turning his attention back to the interior of the building. Peter said, “I am beginning to think they are ignoring us, shall I knock again?” “No need, someone is coming.” said Dan.

  There was the sound of a table scraping across the floor, then the door unlocking before it was pulled inwards to reveal a pale looking youth of about eighteen who was squinting in the sunlight. As his eyes adjusted he noticed the blood-soaked body on the ground and stood transfixed, unable to tear his eyes away from the bloody spectacle, “W-what happened to him?” stammered the lad. “Shaving accident.” said Dan as he and Peter quickly stepped into the building, pulling the lad in with them, then closed and locked the door.

  Before the lad could recover Dan quickly pumped him for information with a series of quick fire questions, “How many are you? What weapons do you have? Is this the only secure room? The poor lad just stared at Dan with tears in his eyes but did not reply, but asked a question of his own “Are you here to rescue us?” Dan did not answer the question, but his eyes were searching the room as the lad’s words reverberated through his head “Are you here to rescue us?” so there were more people here than just the lad. Dan indicated to Peter that there were more people here and Pete took up a position from where he could cover the room with his assault rifle. Dan called out “It is okay, you can come out, unlike our friends outside, I don't bite!”

  Salim, a stocky and physically fit looking Asian man of around thirty-five years of age, stepped out from behind the canteen serving counter with his hand held high and said, “Don’t shoot!” “Walk towards me.” ordered Dan. Salim complied and approached, still with his hands held aloft, “Stop there and turn around.” commanded Dan, then seeing that he was unarmed asked the man his name. Salim told him, and Dan said “Please, lower your hands, we are not your enemy, my name is Dan and my friend over there is Peter, pleased to meet you.”

  Salim looked relieved and even tried to smile and said, “Seeing as you are not going to shoot us you had better meet the rest of us.” he turned around and called out to the others that were still cowering in the kitchen area. One by one a small band of people emerged and walked towards Salim and stood a little behind him, it was obvious that he was their leader. The group consisted of seven people including Salim and the lad that had opened the door. They all looked pale and tired, but well fed and hydrated, with the exception of Salim they all appeared nervous, they reminded Dan of a flock of frightened sheep and he was obviously the wolf.

  Dan had spent his life hiding his true self from other people so reassuring this small group should not be a problem. He smiled at them and said, “Don’t look so afraid, I really don’t bite, my friend over there might, but me, I’m a total vegetarian.” the “sheep” started to relax and one or two even smiled, in fact the only one in the room who looked a bit wounded was Peter, he had basically been accused of being a cannibal.

  Salim looked from Dan towards Peter and then back to Dan. He noted the lack of uniform, and the fact that there was only two of them, and said “I guess you are not an official rescue party?” Dan replied “No, and I don’t think they will be coming anytime soon, if ever.” There was a collective moan from the group stood behind Salim, but Salim himself tried not to show any emotion.

  Salim was not totally surprised that no government help would be forthcoming, too much time had elapsed since the start of the apocalypse. He and his small group had taken refuge in the canteen when people in the shop had started killing each other and they had been trapped there ever since. They had made forays back into the shop to collect food and water, but each time they had lost members of the group, now those very same people were behind
the door and waiting in the shop to attack anyone who was brave, or stupid enough, to venture in. Other members of the group and had gone stir-crazy and opted to leave, the first to leave had never returned, then after a while more had elected to go. Watching through small gaps in the window covering, the remaining group had witnessed the leavers being torn apart on the grass verge outside the building. No one else had attempted to leave after that.

  Salim had emerged as the leader of the group, it was not a position that he had sought or relished, but he did feel a sense of duty toward his small group. At first, he had quelled small disputes, and then as time went on they would naturally come to him to seek solace or advice. Realising that sooner or later they would have to go back in to the shop or leave their sanctuary when the food or water ran out, and to keep up morale he started a daily keep fit program that all had to attend. To his surprise everyone did, and they seemed to enjoy it. He organised a guard rota and sorted out the toilet facilities, also a method of disposing of the waste.

  Dan looked at the stockpile of food and water and noticed that it was nowhere as substantial as he first thought. This is not going to last you much longer.” Salim shrugged and said, “There is plenty more in the main store.” Lee, the young lad, blurted out “I’m not going back in there!” Salim looked at him and said, “When the time comes, I’ll go.” Tom, a slightly built man of 55 stepped forward, and placing his hand on Salim’s shoulder in a fatherly way, said “I think we both know we cannot go back in there,” Then pointing towards Dan and Peter he continued, “but it seems to me that with their help we may be able to.” Dan said, “We came here to get supplies, it seems you have them but cannot get to them, my suggestion is that we work together and share the spoils.” Tom looked at Salim, who knowing that he had little choice, nodded his assent.

  The others in Salim’s group came forward for introductions, amongst them Kevin, a heavy set overweight man of forty years old who had been the store manager. Then there was Trish, she worked on the checkouts, she was also forty but had been a heavy smoker for years and consequently looked much older. And Helen, an attractive woman of 25 who had been shopping at the time of the outbreak. Lastly there was the thirty-five-year old Heather, and she had questions. “Are you in a group or is it just you two? Where have you come from?” And the one the made Peter laugh out loud was when she asked Dan “Are you married?”

  Dan replied, “I am with someone, and before you get any other ideas, so is laughing boy over there!” I’ll answer your questions later, but we do have others waiting for us just outside, so we need to bring them in to safety as soon as possible.

  Dan had noted a loading compound at the rear of the building, gates open and the Infected were running amok in that area. His plan was simple, first clear and secure that compound, clear the Infected from the shop and work their way back toward the canteen. He outlined the plan to Salim and asked, “Who do you want to come with us?” Salim thought for a second and replied, “If Kevin is willing, him and me.” Kevin was not a brave man, but he did not want to appear cowardly in front of the others, especially the women, so doing his best to look heroic he said in a rather contrived way “I would be happy to accompany you on your quest.” Dan managed to keep a straight face, but Peter broke in to a wide grin. “Have you got all the keys to this place and the loading compound?” Dan asked Kevin “Right here!” Kevin replied as he patted his own pocket dramatically.

  Dan looked around and soon found what he was looking for, he lifted the fire extinguisher from the wall and handed it to Salim who looked at him enquiringly, “The Infected don’t like water.” Dan answered the unasked question. Peter called Amanda on the radio to warn her that they were returning, then the four men left the canteen and made their way outside. Dan took the lead, Salim and Kevin were in the middle with Peter bringing up the rear. Slowly, carefully, they made their way back across the car park. Dan signalled a stop, and they took cover behind a car while an Infected walked past.

  Almost as soon as they left the safety of the building Kevin regretted joining this dangerous escapade. Why had he not made up some excuse and stayed where he was, why should he take the risk when others were willing to do so? As he lay on the floor he watched the feet of the Infected shuffle by on the other side of the car. He was riveted, not noticing that the two men in front had moved on, then screamed out loud when Peter prodded him to move him onwards. The horde of Infected in the car park were instantly alerted by the scream and started running towards the sound. “Shit!” said Peter “Get moving!” as he dragged the heavier man to his feet and pushed him forward “Run!” he shouted.

  Dan and Salim had reached the edge of the car park and were climbing over the fence when they hear the scream and looked round. Salim started to turn around to make his way back, Dan noted this, it was a very brave thing to do but it was also foolhardy. He held Salim by the sleeve and said, “I’ll take care of it, but we need to get over this fence first!”

  Peter could easily outpace Kevin, but he was dragging the older man along, but he knew that they would never be able to outrun the Infected. Then he heard Dan shouting “Peter, leave him. Get over this fence, then we can cover him with the rifles from here!” so Peter let go of Kevin and ran on, concentrating on the fence, not daring the look back to see how many Infected were coming for them. Peter practically hit the eight-foot fence at full run and climbed like an ape, the whole time expecting to feel the grasping hands of the Infected on his ankles. Peter got to the top of the fence, and, as he threw himself over the top he heard Dan’s rifle in action. Peter landed heavily and fell to the floor, he did not waste time trying to stand up, but started to fire from a seated position. He fired rapidly into the baying mob as they were rapidly gaining on the lumbering Kevin.

  Kevin was crying as he ran, he looked back to see how far behind the monsters were only to see one reaching out towards him, just as its fingers were grasping hold of his shoulder there was a crack, crack thud, thud sound and the monster was thrown backwards, Dan’s first two rounds had hit home. Kevin sobbed his relief and trundled painfully forward, the breath was rasping in his windpipe, it felt like he was inhaling sandpaper, and this thought only served to make his throat constrict. He was exhausted, and his pace was little more than a stumbling jog, he wasted more time by looking back and he saw that another monster was almost upon him, and he knew he was doomed.

  Kevin stopped running and turned to face the inevitable, as the Infected approached him they were cut down by well-placed shots but as each one dropped it was a little closer to him than the one before. Kevin knew there was no escape, and for the first time in his soon to be over life, he was decisive. He knew just what he must do, he would go out like a man, like a hero!

  Kevin turned around, reached in to his pocket and pulled out the keys to the supermarket, then with turn of speed he did not know he possessed he sprinted forward towards the Salim and the others, he used the last of his strength to throw the keys over the fence, then stopped and stood with his arms out stretched, striking a dramatic pose and shouted, “Tell them what I did here today, now, if you have any mercy please shoot me!” The shooting continued for another thirty seconds, then there was silence.

  Kevin was still stood there, arms out stretched and a wet stain on the crutch of his trousers and a puddle by his feet. “Being dead is not that bad, it did not even hurt.” he thought, then he heard Dan, saying in a conversational manner, “Kevin, would you please get your arse over this fence, and while you are at it, pick up those bloody keys!” Kevin opened his eyes to see Dan, Peter and Salim looking at him, he looked down and saw the keys which had bounced back off the fence lying on the ground just in front his feet. He did not dare look behind to see what horror would be there.

  While Dan and Peter covered him, poor Salim had to climb back over the fence to try boost the overweight and ungainly Kevin over the fence. Kevin finally got a grip on the top of the fence only to find that, even with Salim pushing, he could not
ascend any further. He was going nowhere, and after a few more minutes of pushing an exhausted Salim had to give up and left Kevin dangling from the top of the fence. Not being able to take Kevin’s weight the fence peeled away from its supports and Kevin ended up lying flat on his back, on the floor, still grasping the fence to his chest.

  Kevin struggled from under the fence to his feet and stepped over the now flattened section of fencing, voicing his opinion by saying “That was easy!” to Dan as he walked by, who in turn looked at sweaty Salim, still recovering from the exertion of trying to push Kevin over the fence, not much agreement in that quarter he thought. Peter followed Kevin, to keep an eye on him, and Dan said to Salim “Remind me again, why did you bring him along?” Salim who had Kevin’s foot prints on the shoulders of his shirt, and with sweat pouring from his brow, replied as he walked along “He has the keys to the place and knows the layout.” “Good call!” joked Dan as took one last look at the pile of bodies littering the car park then turned to follow the others towards Amanda and the vehicles.

  Dan took Peter to one side and said “Pete, there are some people you should take risks for, and others you most certainly should not, Kevin would fall into the latter group.” Without hesitation Peter responded, “I totally agree, but which group would the keys he is carrying be in?” Dan paused then smiled and said, “The student becomes the master.” A smiling Peter walked off to give Amanda a hug.

  After simple instructions on its use, Salim took up station on top of the Road sweeper, pressure washer lance at the ready, Amanda in the driver’s seat with Peter riding shotgun. Dan drove the 4x4 with Kevin as passenger. With the 4x4 leading the way, they drove into the supermarket car park and then Amanda stopped the road sweeper and waited. Dan drove in to the loading compound then drove slowly out, using his Pied Piper routine to lead as many Infected away as would follow. As soon as they were clear Amanda drove in to the compound and, Salim using the jet wash, “encouraged” many more of the Infected to leave. Dan drove the 4x4 back in to the compound and he and Peter covered Kevin while he closed and locked the gates, then to save ammunition, Dan cleared the remaining infected using the sword whilst Peter covered him with his rifle.