Aftermath (Book 2): Chicago Calling

by Duncan McArdle

  “Ready to check out the store?”, Sonja asked, as Andrew too re-entered the vehicle.

  “Might as well”, John replied.

  Slowly the Ford pulled forwards towards the edge of the property, emerging from the open chain-link fence at the perimeter and moving back onto the street. Checking behind to make sure nothing had stirred or began following, and also looking around to make sure there were no obvious threats out on the street, Sonja made sure all seemed safe, and then reversed back onto the neighbouring property; the hardware store’s car-park.

  The mostly brick building in front had blue painted features all over, and might have looked like a reasonably friendly place, if not for the numerous smashed windows and odd pieces of debris strewn out all around it. The premises seemed to have borne the brunt of the chaos that had ensued nearby, and now stood looking much worse for wear, though hopefully with something of value still inside.

  “You sure about this place?”, Sonja asked, herself noticing what she was fairly certain was movement inside, something she knew everyone else had seen too.

  “I doubt there’ll be much in the main part of the store”, John replied, “But it’s got a gardening section, and if they’ve got seeds, it makes this whole trip worth it”, he explained.

  “And if they haven’t?”, Andrew asked from the rear of the truck.

  John turned to look at the now-nervous figure sitting in the rear of the cabin.

  “Then I hope they’ve at least got a hammer and some nails, because I don’t think anybody’s gonna cross a bridge put together using string”, John said, drawing a chuckle from Sonja up front.

  The engine of the F150 quietly mumbled to a halt, and three of its four doors opened, before the usual figures slowly emerged onto the waterlogged concrete. The trio made their way over to the entrance, taking shelter under the overhead awning so as to shield themselves from the elements, and began peering in through the various nearby windows. Immediately all three caught sight of figures, some by the cash registers, others further into the depths of the building, and some just dotted randomly around. It wasn’t going to be an easy raid, but with a bit of luck, and a lot of caution, it might just be a profitable one.

  Slowly John made his way over to the once electronically operated sliding doors that separated them from the store’s interior. He withdrew his knife and jammed it into the gap, using it as a lever to prise the doors ajar, before Sonja and Andrew each jumped in to pull them fully apart. It was a welcome change of pace from the usual system of smash and storm, and meant John was once again able to conduct a raid using stealth, rather than surprise.

  Preparing to enter, Andrew flicked on the flashlight of his shotgun, and did a quick check to make sure his knife was well seated. John did the same, placing his blade firmly back in its pouch before checking the magazine of his Ruger and then looking to Sonja, who resisted the urge to use her bow – which would be less useful in such a close quarters situation – and instead stuck to her pistol.

  “Everybody ready?”, John asked quietly for what seemed like the thousandth time.

  Sonja and Andrew each nodded, before looking into the darkened store in front.

  “Let’s go then”, John whispered.

  Chapter 15: Advance

  John walked confidently in through the store’s entrance, pistol gripped tight and ready to unload on a moment’s notice. Within a few steps, he halted the group with a single raised hand, held up two fingers, and pointed to the left. Immediately his followers each looked over, and they too saw the two bodies, huddling over by an emergency exit on the left of the entrance, shuffling aimlessly around at a snail’s pace. John then switched to holding up a single finger, and pointed a little further inwards, to a lone biter crouched down behind a shelf filled with DIY magazines and an empty snack-display. Finally John held up three fingers, and gestured to the tills on the right of the group, where three of the undead stood firmly, one of them looking almost exactly in their direction.

  With his fellow scavengers blindly following, John led the group left towards the initial dual threat. Upon arrival, he stood watch and instructed the others to take care of them. Andrew moved first, heading for the partially rotten and much taller biter, before sinking his blade several inches into the side of its skull. The cracking noise drew the attention of the other, smaller being, but before it could turn all the way round, Sonja had arrived and dispatched it with a similarly ruthless manoeuvre.

  Once John was sure the threats were down, he took his turn, locking his gaze on the lone biter just a few metres further into the store. His target was of average build, but wore some kind of workman’s helmet, made John hoped, out of plastic, and nothing tougher. Arriving at the scene, John slowly and cautiously flanked the ill-aware target, before arriving to its rear. To Andrew and Sonja’s surprise, John then carefully wedged the blade under the rear of the hard-hat and then flicked it off, before stabbing into the now exposed skull with the quickly repositioned blade, and then catching the falling hat before it hit the ground. Impressively, it was all done in one swift, incredibly smooth, and most importantly silent, motion.

  John now pointed to the three figures on the right, and the trio began to approach, regrouping just prior to coming within striking distance. John took the left-hand option, a large lumberjack looking man, his once red and white checked shirt now stained completely red with blood, and a series of tools still attached around his belt. John tapped gently on the counter nearest, causing the being to turn and face him, before placing the blade below its chin and then lunging upwards, cutting straight through the neck and jaw, right into the lower brain mass.

  Sonja meanwhile took the central target, a middle aged woman of burly size, who was quickly taken care of thanks to her still position and outward facing rotation. It was a combination of factors that meant sinking a blade into the top of her already deceased head was an incredibly easy feat, so much so in fact that she had to delay the action by a second or so in order to time it correctly with her fellow attackers.

  Finally, came Andrew, who moved to the right much in the same way John had gone to the left, himself too tapping a nearby counter to draw his target’s attention. Andrew however chose to wait slightly longer, until the being faced him head on, so that he could stick it face first, rather than go up or down, or in from the side. It was much more gruesome to put a blade through the front of the undead’s face, not least because of the inevitable splattering it caused, but sometimes, it was the most effective way of dealing with them.

  All three bodies fell in almost complete unison, the sound of three heavy masses collapsing to the ground condensed into only one, and thus reducing the risk of biters further into the store from hearing the approach. John took a moment to issue a simple nod of congratulations after the kills, keen to at least acknowledge the good work of his troops, before grabbing and holstering the hammer from his own target’s tool-belt, and then continuing to scan the room ahead.

  The next few metres were mostly empty, and had previously been used to house busy queues of people waiting to pay. After that however, the shelving began, and thanks to its reasonably tall height meant that the group wouldn’t be able to get to each other without returning to the start of the current aisle. There were however only three aisles in total, so the work was at least split evenly.

  John moved first, making his way to the right-hand side and then moving across to the left, inspecting each option in order to figure out which had the most work involved. Quickly he decided to take the left one, itself housing two of the undead, with the central one having just one, and the right-hand having none. Andrew and Sonja took these aisles respectively, though John could see the look of nervousness on Andrew’s face, and disappointment on Sonja’s, an observation that almost led to him suggesting they switch.

  Instead though, John began moving forwards, sizing up his first kill – a smaller and younger man wearing a blue apron that John imagined meant he probably worked here – a
s he went. Without thinking a great deal about it, John lunged forwards and buried his blade deep in the cranium of the smaller figure, barely breaking his stride as he continued to move forwards and towards his second target, who he then dispatched in an almost identical fashion. All in all John had cleared out his aisle in seconds, and after stopping to wipe off his blade’s excess blood on the clothing of the fallen, he continued to move towards the end.

  Andrew meanwhile inspected his first and only target, a now seemingly gender neutral being who was almost completely dark-red with blood and gore, save for a large chunk of flesh that was missing from its left hand side. It appeared as if this particular biter had been the feeding ground for many others, and yet somehow, it had still managed to come back and do some feasting of its own, by the looks of its flesh-matted teeth.

  Andrew advanced, just as a loud clatter of thunder sounded from outside the building, dividing his attention. In a brief moment of stupidity, he focused too much on the would-be kill, and too little on where he was walking, causing him to lose his footing courtesy of a pool of somehow still wet blood on the floor below. Andrew landed hard on his back, staring up at the now fully alert being in front, and watched in horror as it proceeded to turn to his position, and lunge.

  On the far right aisle, Sonja had rounded the end and halted, checking briefly to her left to confirm what she had already assumed – that she would be the first one out – before ensuring that there was no threat from the front, and then holding position. Shortly after a crack of thunder however, she heard the familiar sound of someone falling, seemingly coming from the middle aisle. With little thought for anything other than the group’s survival, she made her way to the centre and saw the beast near-jumping on top of her fallen friend. Straight away she broke into sprint, ignoring the various objects on the floor and instead barrelling through, blade in hand, and pistol ready if necessary.

  Back to the left, John too now finished his responsibilities, and after having also heard the noise, made his own way to the centre, just in time to see Sonja arrive at the sight of the two wrestling bodies. John watched as a combination of two knives – one travelling up from the ground and one travelling down from above – simultaneously cut through what little remained inside the biter’s head, a slight clinking sound of steel on steel marking the point where the two blades had evidently met inside the now very much dead man’s skull. John then turned round to look forwards once more, happy that the threat had been neutralised, and waited for his companions to catch up.

  “You alright?”, Sonja whispered as she helped Andrew push the body off of his chest.

  “Yeah”, Andrew replied, “Just slipped is all”, he insisted, before gratefully accepting Sonja’s now extended hand, and climbing back onto his feet. “Thanks”, he added finally.

  “No problem”, Sonja replied, “Now c’mon”.

  Together the pair made their way to the end of the aisle and regrouped with John, who without another word, pointed to the next set of three aisles running along the length of the building, and ordered they split up once more.

  This time he took the centre, having again identified it as being the most deadly due to its single but much larger inhabitant. Andrew meanwhile moved to the left, happily finding an empty aisle ahead, a fate that was shared by Sonja on the right at roughly the same time. All ears were therefore on John, as the other two listened to his footsteps, moving along their own aisles at a similar pace but ready to sprint round and assist if necessary.

  Approaching the Lester-like seven foot giant in front, John quickly looked around to establish what nearby objects he might use to his advantage. Immediately he spotted a step-ladder near the target, and with a plan formulating in his mind, he readied his blade. Arriving at the foot of the ladder, he quickly ran up the steps in a two-at-a-time pattern, before leaping from the top, his blade stretched out in front and pointed downwards, promptly met by the thick skull of the individual in front. But for the second time in a few days – and yet still much to John’s surprise – the being failed to react, apparently un-phased by the sudden presence of several inches of steel in its head.

  John landed irregularly, having assumed the mass in front would drop to the ground but finding quite the opposite result, and soon landed hard on the ground, staring up at a now angered figure which quickly turned to face him.

  “Shit”, John said with little care for his volume.

  He knew that what he was about to do was the worst possible thing he could in an up-till-now stealthy situation such as this one, but at the same time, he also knew it had to be done. Thanking his lucky stars that he’d kept his pistol ready throughout the duration of the raid, John steadied the aim of the small Ruger, and pumped a single shot through the forehead of the large man in front.

  The shot was loud, seemingly amplified by the presence of empty aisles and various metallic objects all around. It was enough to echo even outside the building, and so was more than enough to get the attention of Andrew and Sonja, who immediately quickened their pace and rounded the ends of their respective aisles. John meanwhile rolled to one side just as the giant’s body dropped to the ground, so big was he in fact that John was sure he would have been crushed if he hadn’t gotten out of the way. Now though he got up to his feet just as his fellow raiders arrived, and immediately began to give out fresh orders.

  “Andrew you’re on the front with me, have that shotgun ready, Sonja you take the rear”, he instructed.

  Two nods quickly followed, and between them they got into formation. Almost immediately the first figures appeared; a duo of the undead emerging from the darkness just up ahead, disturbed by the loud noise of gunfire. Andrew was first to shoot, unloading a shell forwards which spread so wide it not only decimated his intended target, but embedded a decent amount of shrapnel into the right-hand individual too. Keen not to take any chances though, John finished it off with a single shot to the upper-right cheek, following which it fell down to the ground.

  A few seconds passed between this wave and the next, before two further beings emerged, this time split between the front and rear. Sonja wasn’t sure how they’d managed to miss a target up till now, but she had neither the time nor the interest to be asking questions, and so instead diverted her energy into a well-placed shot through the forehead of the approaching monster. The sudden pop from behind rattled Andrew slightly, causing him to check to the rear, before John angrily coaxed his attention back forwards, with a combination of spoken words and the act of him taking his own shot, which promptly put down the other advancing attacker.

  The group had now taken out a grand total of fourteen of the store’s previous inhabitants, a high number that each member of the group was hoping would be the sum total. But before long, more noises began to stir in the distance, and hands were once again tensed on weapons. This time however, nothing advanced, and so after some delay, John eventually took the decision for them to move forwards.

  Slowly he led the trio on their advance, arriving at the end of the aisle but seeing nothing ahead – even with Andrew holding up his shotgun’s attached flashlight – leaving them all a little concerned. Once again though they moved up, step by step, being as quiet and cautious as possible, until eventually they reached the end of yet another aisle, and had just one left to go.

  “Hold here”, John ordered, apparently unwilling to lead the group into the dead end of the store until he was sure it was safe.

  The trio now stood in the inter-aisle space, open air present in all directions, meaning an attack could come from any place at any time, a position John knew they needed to get out of as soon as possible.

  “What do we do?”, Sonja asked, her own weapon still pointed to the rear.

  “We have to lure it out”, John said, “Let’s split up and-“.

  The biter came out of nowhere. It had lunged from the dark on the left hand side, most likely hiding out in-between some of the more stocked shelving, and had picked John as its primary
target. In the brief glimpse John caught of the being, he saw it run, sprint even, at a speed he hadn’t seen since the start of the infection, marking yet another strange sighting he could add to the list of those he’d experienced in recent days.

  John landed on the ground under the weight of the dead man, and promptly propped his hands under its shoulders, holding it just far enough off of him to avoid it catching flesh with its first few swinging bites. Immediately Andrew sprang into action, quickly taking aim with his shotgun and crouching down to the side of the bodies in an attempt to minimise the risk of hitting John with any stray segments. Finally he pulled hard on the trigger, and unleashed the shell forwards.

  The being in front flew sideways with much the same speed as it had used on its initial approach, and its head disintegrated into a spray of blood and bile that coated a nearby wall, leaving a near-headless monstrosity laying there on the floor beside John, who continued to stay in position for a while. He chose to stay there partly out of shock, and partly so that he could wait for his hearing to return, but while he did the group fell into a shared silence, as each of them tried to process the events that had so abruptly led up to this moment.

  Eventually, Andrew helped John to his feet, and waited for his well-earned thanks.

  “You know what”, John began, “I’d tell you how much of a fucking idiot you are for firing that thing so close to my head”, he said angrily, “But we both know what happens when you use a pistol instead”.

  John pointed to the deep scar that remained on his cheek from the time Andrew had accidently grazed him with a pistol round back in the early days, just in case he’d forgotten. A combination of rage and anger was brewing inside, mixed in with relief and adrenaline, causing a fiery cocktail of emotions.