Infected

by Michael I. Rolfe

  Dan said, “So far, so good. But clearing the inside of the building will not be so easy and will be more hazardous.” then looked at Salim and wondered if could he trust him with one of the spare rifles? Dan knew his own group needed to expand to survive and prosper, and Salim had shown bravery and real concern for Kevin, so it was obvious that Salim was a decent bloke. Dan thought he would be a useful addition to his own little group, so taking Peter and Amanda to one side, he asked their opinion. Amanda said she did not know him well to form an opinion but would go with whatever Peter thought. Peter, who also knew they had to expand, said “Yes, I think we should ask him if he would like to join us, but you do realise he will insist that the others join us too.” “If he didn’t then I would not want him to join us, so that will be the deciding factor, are we all agreed?” they both nodded their assent.

  They put their proposal to Salim, listening gravely when he said he would not leave his group “We were hoping you would say that, because we would like them to join us too.” said Peter. Dan would not trust Kevin with a rifle and simply handed him the same fire extinguisher that he given Salim. Then as he gave Salim an SA80 rifle he asked, “Have you ever used one of these?” “No, but I am a quick learner.” replied Salim. Peter and Amanda spent half an hour showing Salim how to use the rifle and where to aim, in the meantime, Dan went through the layout of the building with Kevin and asked him how many of the infected he thought were inside.

  After something to eat and drink they were ready to start. However, before they went into the building they would try to draw out as many of the Infected as possible. Kevin unlocked and opened the door, then took cover in the road sweeper. Salim and Peter acted as bait and stood in the middle of the compound and making enough noise to lure the Infected out, Dan stood by the door to despatch them as they emerged. Amanda covered the door with the jet washer in case it all got out of hand.

  The first of the Infected appeared at the doorway and hesitated at the threshold blinking in the sunlight, Peter shouted “Come on!” and then ran back a few paces, the movement was too much for the infected to resist, it sprinted out of the building, intent on ripping out Peter’s throat but it ran straight in to Dan’s sword and collapsed in a heap only four feet from the door. After that the exodus from the building happened in such a rush that Dan could not keep up the slaughter, the sword was not quick enough, so he joined the other two, firing into the horde as they exited the supermarket. They were so many rushing through the door he had to issue “Fire Control Orders”, thereby regulating the rate of fire to stop their magazines running out of ammunition at the same time.

  Just as Amanda thought she would have to douse the exit with water to discourage the Infected from coming out, the doorway almost became blocked with bodies and this reduced the flow of Infected to a more manageable rate and enabled Dan to resume his bloody work with the sword.

  The last Infected to drop was a young woman wearing the remnants of a supermarket uniform. She emerged screaming from the doorway before Dan had cleared his sword from the body of his previous victim, he kicked out and caught her in the midriff propelling her backwards so her back slammed against the wall, Dan had the sword at the ready as she started forward, there was a bang and a small hole appeared dead centre in her forehead, the back of her skull and the contents exploded in a red mist, painting the whitewashed wall behind. Once again, she was thrown backward, then slithered down the wall and sat quiescent at its base. Dan looked around to see Salim, still holding the rifle in the firing position, Dan smiled and said, “You were right, you are a quick study.”

  They closed and secured the shop door and then pulled the bodies of the fallen to the side of the compound, Dan used the sword to stab each of the corpses through the head before he would allow Peter or Salim to drag the body away. Dan wanted to make sure that they were no longer a threat, there was absolutely no point in taking any chances.

  Kevin was still sitting in the cab of the road sweeper, marvelling at how cool and efficient these men were as they dealt with the Infected rushing out of the building. He knew he could have never done that and was glad to be in the safety of the cab. However, he felt inadequate, and started to worry about his future. Once the supermarket was cleared, he or his keys would no longer be required, his usefulness to the group would be greatly diminished so he saw an uncertain future. Perhaps they would abandon him here on his own, leave him to his fate, he knew only too well that he could not, and would not survive on his own. He needed to be in the group, so he figured, he would have to prove his worth and the time to do that was rapidly running out.

  Unseen by the other men, Kevin opened the door of the cab and half fell, half jumped to the ground and almost sprinted over to the pile of bodies and grabbed the nearest one by the shoulders, it was covered in blood and as he pulled more blood seeped through the bullet wounds in its chest. Kevin did not enjoy the sight of blood, so he closed his eyes and walking backwards heaved the body towards the outer wall.

  Amanda was still on the road sweeper cab roof and she felt the lorry rock as Kevin’s weight left the vehicle, she did not think too much about him leaving the cab. But when she saw him dragging an Infected she shouted “Kevin, wait until Dan has made sure it is dead before touching it.” but it was too late, Kevin had already dragged the body halfway towards the perimeter wall, leaving a bloody snail trail in its wake. As it was being dragged the Infected opened its eyes and glared at its prey, it tried to move but the bullets had done massive damage and had severed the spinal column paralysing it from the neck down, however, it could still move its head and as its eyes swivelled to look at the hands that were gripping its shoulders so did its head and mouth, a mouth full of decaying but infected teeth and those teeth started to snap at Kevin’s hands.

  Kevin still had his eyes closed and was mumbling to himself “I must appear to be useful, much show I am willing to help, don’t want to be left behind.” he did not hear Amanda screaming at him to let go and get away from the body but Salim, Dan and Peter did, and they ran towards Kevin and got to him just as he arrived at the perimeter wall. He dropped the shoulders which caused the Infected’s head to bang on the ground, hearing the thud Kevin opened his eyes and looked straight into those of the Infected, seeing it was alive and awake Kevin said, “Oh I’m so sorry”, an apology for his rough handling. Then the realisation dawned about the danger that he was in, and Kevin suddenly developed a great desire to getaway as fast as possible, he turned and ran straight in to the wall, knocking himself out cold in the process.

  Dan arrived at the scene just after Peter and Salim and thrust his sword through the Infected’s head, then looked at the unconscious Kevin, and then up at Salim and said, “Just remind me one more time, why did you bring him along?” Salim opened his mouth to say something, but then realising that that he no longer had a good answer, closed it again. Peter started laughing and said, “We had better get sleeping beauty here into the 4x4”.

  They deposited Kevin in the back of the 4x4 and as they walked away he started to snore. Dan groaned and shook his head, Salim look embarrassed and Peter was in hysterics and said, “This just gets better and better!”

  The three men cleared the last of the bodies to the edge of the compound, then opened the door of the building to see if any more would emerge and made enough noise the encourage them, but none were forthcoming, “I think we will have to bite the bullet and get in there.” said Dan. No one really wanted to go into the store, it was dark in there, and even from the outside the smell emanating from within the building was appalling. But the main reason for their procrastinating was that it would be dangerous as hell in there. It was not surprising that the smell was so bad, there would be decomposing bodies and rotting food, the whole place would be a health hazard in more ways than one, but if they were going to get their supplies, there was no choice, they had to go in.

  Dan said “Stay together, but don’t crowd each other, don’t waste ammo and remember, we are j
ust clearing the place of the Infected. Shopping comes later, but if you see any torches grab them. Let’s go!” Dan led with the sword, Peter in close support, Salim bringing up the rear. Amanda was tasked to stay with the vehicles, with a radio to warn of any movement outside and she would be ready with the jet wash to cover the men if they had to retreat. Kevin would continue to take a “well-deserved” nap in the back of the 4x4, this being a job that he seemed to be good at…

  As soon as they stepped through the threshold the smell was almost overpowering and even Dan thought he would vomit, he stopped a little way from the door for a few minutes to allow their eyes to adjust to the gloom, then moved on slowly, deeper into the superstore. Salim whispered, “It would have been useful to have Kevin to show us where the torches are.” as he struggled to see much of anything in the dark. Dan did have a head torch and replied, “We will make finding them our priority.” The store was basically a large rectangle and Dan led them to the nearest corner from where they slowly worked their way methodically up and down the aisles, it was not long before they were stepping over decomposing bodies, some of which had been torn apart, Dan did not take any chances, he thrust his sword into the head of each body, twisted and then retracted the blade. Salim heard a sound behind and swinging round to face the threat, but he could see nothing. Then he looked down at the floor and could see an Infected pushing itself along, useless legs slithering along behind it. The cripple reached out for Salim’s leg and he quickly stepped backwards, aimed the rifle at the head and took up the slack in the trigger, but remembering his instruction not to waste ammo, he paused, removed his finger from the trigger, stepped forward and stamped down hard at the base of the skull, killing it instantly. Both Peter and Dan noticed this action and were impressed, Salim was proving to be a good man to have around.

  They were halfway through their sweep of the store before they found the display shelf that contained the torches and the batteries were nearby, so it was not long before they had good light to work with, meaning they could clear the remaining store at a faster pace and soon found themselves at the barricaded door to the canteen. Salim came forward, knocked on the door, and in a loud whisper said “Tom. It’s us, open up!” They could hear the barricade being removed, the door unlocked and opened, and the three men stepped into the room, closing the door to keep the smell from the main shopping area out of there. Lee, Tom, Helen, Trish and Heather all looked relieved to have Salim back, but then Tom noticed the Kevin was missing and asked where he was? Salim said “Kevin is fine, we left him in the compound with the vehicles and a friend of Dan and Peters. We think we have cleared the store of the Infected, but it is a big place and it is dark in there, so we cannot be sure. For safety, we are going to work as group and salvage what we can, no one should ever be on their own!” Salim then continued “Before we start to strip the shop we have to make a decision, Dan and Peter have asked us to join them, I would like go with them, but this is something each member of our group will have to decide for themselves. If you have any questions for Dan or Peter you should ask them now, I’ll then ask them to leave us for a while so that we can talk amongst ourselves”.

  Tom said, “How many are there in your group?” Peter answered, “There are eight of us.” Heather asked hopefully “Are there any other men in you group?” and Peter smiled as he answered, “Only Frank, but he is too old for you and besides he is married.” Tom asked another question and this time he directed it towards Dan “What are your plans for the future of your group?” Dan explained they had both short and long-term plans and that the two main things were to find a safe place and then expand their numbers. “We have a lot to offer you, and as a larger group we all stand a better chance, but if you want to stay here then that is your choice. We will take half the supplies and leave you in peace. However, be warned, there is at least one other group out there, they are armed, and from what we have seen, are not friendly!”

  Amanda’s voice came over the radio to inform them that Kevin was awake, so Dan and Peter went to fetch him. They escorted him back to the canteen and then returned to be with Amanda while Salim’s group debated whether to join them or not. Peter said to Dan “You do realise Salim still has one of our rifles?” Yes, but one rifle and a little ammo is a small price to pay for half the contents of this supermarket.” said Dan.

  Back in the canteen Salim said “Well, what does everyone think?” Tom said, “You have spent more time with them that anyone else, what do you think?” Salim thought for a while and said “Dan, Peter and Amanda seem to be good people, they saved Kevin and without them we could not have cleared the store of the Infected. They have been on the road and survived, they have a plan for the future and they have trusted me with this rifle. I think we are lucky that it is them that found us and not another, less friendly group. I want to go with them. But go with them or not, we cannot not stay here, the store is crawling with rats and I don’t know what else, we will have to leave, and it would be better to leave with them than on our own. I really don’t think we have a choice.” They all knew that he was right. They had to leave, and it would be better to be in a group with others who had survived out on the road. Salim took a quick vote by a show of hands and there were no dissenters, they would all join Dan’s group.

  Salim and Tom walked to the compound found Dan and the others loading the lorry with supplies, Salim said “We all would like to join you.” Dan smiled and said that is great news, our two groups really will be better together as one.” But then the smile faded as he heard screaming and shouting coming from within the store…

  Trish had been a heavy smoker for years and had suffered badly with cravings for weeks after the outbreak of the infection, the hankering for a cigarette had eased as the weeks had gone by. But now that the store was safe, and cigarettes were again a possibility, the cravings had returned in earnest. The cigarettes were just out there and available to her again, all she had to do was take them. But Trish knew that she was the only smoker in the group and once they all started to strip the store of its goods there would be little inclination for the others to help her collect all the fags that she could, in fact they would probably actively dissuade her from doing so. So now would be her only time to act, the others were busy packing what little items of personal belongings they had, so Trish slipped through the door and in to the store. The smell was overpowering and standing in the dark she leant forward and retched, and the contents of her stomach splattered on to the floor, any other person would have turned back, but driven on by her addiction she ignored her fear and the rancid smell and made her way deeper in to the shop. She knew which way to go and was guided by the dull glow of the daylight shining through the large windows at the front of the store and as she drew closer the light strengthened and this only served to embolden her. At last she could see her goal and any lingering fear left her, the craving was now absolute, and she only had one thing on her mind, that was to inhale the smoke from her favourite brand. It was light here, she easily found her brand, she knew just where to look and with trembling hands she ripped the cellophane from the pack and opened the carton. With an action practised thousands of times before she tapped the bottom of the packet and a single cigarette emerged out of the top and stopped at the perfect length allowing her fingers to pluck it from where it nestled between it clones. She placed the cigarette between her lips and reached in to her pocket to retrieve her lighter, she brought the lighter up and gave it a flick, sparks ignited the gas and a perfect flame hovered before her eyes, her pupils contracted as her stared in to it. She drew the flame toward the end of the cigarette and the tobacco burned red as she inhaled, the white paper of the cigarette and chemical laden tobacco was eaten away like a fuse burning toward oblivion. She closed her eyes in near ecstasy as the nicotine hit the bloodstream and her hands stopped shaking. Trish opened her eyes and said “Man, I was dying for that.” As the teeth of an infected sank in to her calf muscle, proving her right, she really was dying for that ci
garette!

  Kevin saw Trish slip through the door and into the store, and in the absence of Salim or Tom he felt responsible for the remaining group so after hesitating for a moment he followed her in, picking up the fire extinguisher as he went. He slipped on something on the floor, not realising that he was slipping on Trish’s vomit, but managed to remain on his feet and he continued after her. Kevin knew that Trish was a smoker and assumed that she was heading for the cigarettes, so he walked in that direction. His assumption was confirmed as he saw the sunlight from the windows flickering as someone moved in front of them, as he got closer the bright flame of a lighter momentarily shone like a beacon to guide him to her and as he approached he assumed she was talking to him when she said, “Man I was dying for that!” then she let out a scream that made Kevin jump backwards. At first Kevin though she was screaming out to relieve frustration or in relief that she finally had a cigarette but then he saw her trying to stand and pull her leg away from an Infected that was holding on to it, Kevin did not even think, he rushed forward and swung the extinguisher at its head crushing the skull. The Infected lay still but Trish was still screaming, so Kevin tried to console her, but then she started to convulse and he realised that he should be running, Trish was infected and would soon be attacking him! Kevin started to run shouting as he went, he had only gone ten paces when he tried to corner but both his feet slipped out from underneath him and fell to the floor stunning himself as his head hit the smooth inflexible surface. The fire extinguisher dropped to the ground and went off as it rolled along the aisle, the Infected that used to be Trish sprang forward in pursuit of Kevin and would have caught him but was dissuaded from attacking as water from the extinguisher was spraying in all directions.