The damn Walmart and giant box chains had been pilfered first, as well as the membership clubs and do it yourself places like Home Depot and Lowes. Tosha couldn’t remember the last real meal she’d had or the last thing of value she’d found.
A few days ago she’d stopped at a damaged jewelry store, ignoring the intact display of wedding bands in search of a candy bar or warm soda in their back rooms.
Money and gold didn’t have any value out here now. A filled, unopened bottle of water or a bag of stale potato chips was all the rage.
Tosha followed the signs for the food court, knowing she’d be disappointed when she arrived but going through the motions.
Large sections of the mall were dark with no overhead glass or view, and she had to move quietly, kicking debris and God knew what else as she walked.
Something scraped ahead.
Tosha stopped and stepped into a ruined shoe store, tiptoeing over the stock on the floor. She could even see some pairs of sneakers and knew she’d need to explore once she figured out who was sharing the hallway with her.
The back door to the store was ajar and natural light filtered in. When Tosha got to the stockroom, she realized it was wide open to the parking lot. Not a good sign. From the amount of dried blood and debris, she knew the breach had occurred months ago, and whoever tried to close it had failed.
This mall was unsecured and could be filled with zombies. She doubted anyone was still alive inside.
Tosha put a hand on the door and peeked outside. A few zombies were out there, oblivious to her presence so far. She could easily walk away and be done with this place.
When she turned, her sister was standing at the other end of the stockroom and scared the shit out of her.
“How many times do I need to tell you to stop doing that?” Tosha asked, holding her chest and trying to settle down.
Mathyu turned her head and looked away.
Tosha was about to give her sister a piece of her mind when she heard what had to be a zombie crashing around in the shoe store.
Chapter Four
It would be dark soon, and Bri wouldn’t be able to see the zombies below anymore. She’d killed the last hour watching a zombie trying to walk up the street, his right arm wrapped around a shopping cart without wheels, dragging it inch by inch as he moved. The cart was overflowing with junk and Bri imagined he had been a homeless man before all the shit happened.
It made her sad to think this poor man, maybe suffering from mental problems and living in the park under a bush or a tent in an alley, had woken up from one bad day and right into another. Maybe he was better off now.
Hayden had kept to himself, standing at the window in the other office and tuning in to everything around them, as he liked to call it. She’d given up trying to chat. She was getting hungry. He hadn’t been a zombie that long in the grand scheme of things but he sometimes forgot she was still human and needed to eat, sleep and poop.
Shit. I’m not ten anymore, Bri thought.
The zombie was almost out of sight down the street and she’d have to switch offices to get a better look at him, but she didn’t know what the point was.
Bri wondered where Darlene and John were right now. She’d stolen their baby and they’d be looking for him. Bri knew they’d probably kill her for doing it, too. She didn’t blame them. Some nights she had nightmares where John had beaten her to a bloody pulp before Darlene, grinning, had shot her in the head with her Desert Eagle.
It was all too much. Bri leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Maybe if she slept while it was still light out the bad dreams wouldn’t come.
She must’ve dozed off because someone walking in the room woke her up and she was swinging even as she moved.
Hayden caught her fist and smiled.
“You’re getting better. I was trying to sneak up and kiss you on the lips.”
“If I keep getting better, I’ll finally connect and knock you out. Is it possible to knock you out?” Bri asked.
Hayden shrugged.
Bri felt the tears coming and threw herself into her boyfriend’s arms, squeezing his shoulders. “I’m so sorry for fighting with you and being mean. I know you’re just trying to keep me safe. I’m… I feel really bad. We don’t have much time together, and I’m spending it fighting with you. The baby’s been quiet for an hour but we didn’t take advantage and talk or just have some fun. I’m sorry.”
The baby was always quiet and always awake. If it wasn’t for sporadic movements, Bri would think it was a doll. She watched him, sometimes for twenty minutes, until he finally blinked.
“When he gets older, will he be able to talk?” Bri asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re supposed to know. You’re my authority on all things zombie. If you don’t have the answer, who can I ask?” Bri tried not to smile.
Bri stared at the baby. She admitted for the first time she was scared of it. Was it a zombie? It wasn’t breathing and never ate or drank. Never slept. It was already able to move its head and the deep gray eyes stared at you until you had to look away.
The baby wasn’t like a normal zombie, though. It didn’t seem to have the bloodlust and wasn’t trying to attack her whenever she picked him up. It seemed content to just be wherever they were, looking around and taking everything in.
Bri could see the teeth were already growing out, but they weren’t sharp pointy vampire fangs or giant werewolf choppers like she imagined they’d be. They were… baby teeth.
“The only people who might know the answer to what this baby is are the most dangerous people in this world,” Hayden said.
“Powerful zombies.” Bri sighed.
“I’m still human,” Hayden said defensively, not for the first time. They’d gotten into a heated argument a couple of nights ago about whether or not Hayden and the other zombies were no longer part of the human race. His argument was simple: they were the newly evolved human race, and Bri and everyone breathing was the old, outdated model.
Bri knew he was right but it didn’t keep her from arguing they were monsters, trying to fight with Hayden. She knew in her heart he was right and it made sense. She would die and be gone eventually, or turned into a zombie and live forever. Why didn’t he want her to live forever?
She’d bring it up again. Soon. It was the biggest argument they had.
“We need to leave at first light in the morning. I think he’s found the baby,” Hayden said.
“Who?” Bri asked but she already knew. The big bad zombie living in the nearby stadium was all Hayden talked about when they weren’t arguing and he wasn’t staring out the windows.
“He wants to know why I’m traveling with you and he wants the baby.”
“It’s none of his business. The baby isn’t going anywhere near him, either,” Bri said. Her mind was jumbled with thoughts on what they needed to do. “We need to distance ourselves from the stadium, don’t we?”
Hayden nodded.
“Canada is a long way to walk. I’ll never make it. Every zombie will know I’m coming and want to eat me, right?” Bri knew it wasn’t so simple but it was very dangerous to keep moving, especially north right into a line of zombies.
“We have to keep going north if we want to escape and find our own spot. Trust me. If we stay in Florida, we’ll have to fight more and more of them off each week. At some point, the saturation point will tip the scales and everything will be run over and everything destroyed. A great battle is coming,” Hayden said.
“You think the humans will rise up?” Bri asked hopefully.
“No. I think the human race, for the most part, is doomed. Some people might live and I can even see several generations in the future, but it will become a slave state for them. The top tier of the evolved will rule everything in their territory. I’m talking about those evolved fighting one another over turf, and using the zombies as pawns in the fight,” Hayden said.
“Zombie versus zombie wars?” Bri s
hook her head. This was all too much right now, and Hayden sounded so positive it was the way the world was going to go for her and anyone else left behind. None of this sounded good. In her mind, she assumed the humans would rise up and push back the zombies like in every movie she’d ever seen. They’d triumph in their darkest hour and someday the zombies would be a distant idea, a story used to scare children at night.
But… looking back out the window she couldn’t help but wonder how long she’d survive and even if she died of old age, how many other humans would be left as well?
Bri glanced once more at the zombie baby. He was a zombie, wasn’t he? Or was he more like Hayden? She looked at her undead boyfriend and thought to herself how cliché are you, bitch? You can’t even find a guy who can breathe?
“I need to find some friends,” Bri decided out loud.
“Friends?”
Bri nodded. “I want to find normal people I can talk to. People who understand what I need. You’ve forgotten already what it’s like to be human.”
Hayden looked like he was about to protest. Bri put up a finger and stared at him.
“It’s true. There’s a bunch of weird shit going through your head all the time. Stuff I can’t even comprehend and the Hayden from before, the guy I wish I’d known, wouldn’t understand any of it, either. I get this is all new to you, too. I try to follow along when you explain things but let’s face it… I don’t get it. None of it, in fact. I want to talk to other people. I want to eat and drink and sleep with the living,” Bri said.
Hayden smirked. “You want to sleep with other people?”
Bri laughed. “You know what I mean.” She wondered, for the hundredth time, if sex was even possible with Hayden. Was this going to be her fate: in love with someone who couldn’t truly love her back, especially physically? He was like a gay friend. Someone to laugh and shop with but not be intimate.
Hayden looked at his feet. “I can’t give you what you need. Maybe you’d be better off with other people. You could find your way in this world.” He looked up, staring with his gray eyes. “You’re a beautiful young girl, Bri. You need to find someone to love. Have babies with and keep the human race going. Just be happy.”
“I’m happy with you,” Bri said and went to Hayden, throwing her arms around his cold neck and pulling him close. She clamped her eyes shut to keep in the tears.
Why was this all so hard?
“I only want to be with you,” Bri whispered as Hayden hugged her back.
Chapter Five
It began to rain an hour after nightfall, but Darlene and the group were already safe.
One of the men, Ted, was standing guard in the parking lot while the rest of them hid inside the office space of the industrial park.
Darlene had turned off I-95 onto Route 1 a few miles up the road and wandered past a torched Dunkin Donuts and crumbling Taco Bell to the office park behind a strip club.
The group had followed and caught up. No one said anything as Darlene found the rental office for the park with its windows still intact. It wasn’t hard to get the door unlocked and slip inside.
The space was stuffy but no one had ransacked the offices. The small break room in the rear yielded bottled water and rotting food in the fridge as well as stale crackers and two sealed bags of coffee.
Darlene claimed what was probably the main office towards the front, a large wooden desk stacked with work orders that meant nothing now and a computer that was worthless.
She pulled open the drawers and found snacks and diet microwave food as well as bags of M&M’s and melted candy bars. Darlene sat down in the stuffed chair and put her feet up on the desk, staring at the pictures of happier times on the wall.
A blonde woman worked here, probably the office manager. She was married and had four kids, two sons and two daughters. The girls were the youngest, maybe eighteen and fifteen. They all looked so happy in their pictures.
They’re all long dead, Darlene thought soberly. Every person who worked here is now a zombie. Their entire families and friends, too. Their neighbors they barely talked to except when they went to get the mail at the same time. Every person who worked in this area is gone. Dead and gone.
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, calming her nerves and pushing down the anger. If she dwelt too long on the evil and chaos around her, she’d do something stupid. She just needed to sleep and relax and not worry about anything for one lousy night.
“Did you find anything good?” Bernice asked from the office door, hands behind her back.
Darlene nodded. “Melted candy bars and microwave dinners. You?”
“There’re two waters in the break room for you. Warm but still sealed, which is a score. I found this in the secretary’s desk,” Bernie said and pulled her hands in front to reveal an unopened box of Oreo cookies. “I’m sure they’re stale.”
“I’m sure they’re still delicious stale,” Darlene said and sat up. She grinned. “I have a bag of M&M’s, too.”
“Tonight we feast.” Bernie pulled over a chair and added her dirty boots to the desk. She took a moment to look around the office before her eyes stopped at Darlene.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in a normal room and imagined everything outside these walls was also normal,” Darlene said, knowing what Bernie was thinking.
They opened the box of cookies and Darlene put her nose to it while Bernie laughed.
“You can almost imagine what they smelled like fresh. I can remember buying a box on my way home from work and showing them to my dad, who had done the same thing. We’d polish off a half gallon of milk, eat both boxes of Oreos and watch a bad movie on TV.” Darlene patted her flat stomach. “I was a bit bigger back then. I guess there’s a silver lining in everything, right? I lost weight I could never take off. I gained confidence and got my shit together.”
Bernie laughed. “I never looked at it that way.”
“I’m sure there are people who thought they knew what they’d do if this shit really happened. Women who thought they were going to survive and be bad ass. Guess what? Most of them are dead now. You know why?” Darlene asked.
“They were turned into zombies?”
Darlene laughed. “Obviously. But I mean the real reason why? Because they forgot who they were. They forgot how to be a woman. I don’t know about you but I get excited when I find a pair of clean undies. I’ve been wearing the same thong for too long.”
“I finally gave up and threw my panties away. Not worth the hassle, although some nights I scratch my raw thighs until they bleed,” Bernie said. “But I do know what you mean. Hell, when I see a cute guy I still play with my hair. It doesn’t matter what’s going on. Human nature keeps you alive.”
Darlene nodded and pulled an Oreo apart.
One of the guys came in and traded his bottled water for a small bag of M&M’s and two cookies before leaving.
“He likes you,” Darlene said to Bernie.
“I guess.”
“I guess you don’t like him?” Darlene asked.
“He’s alright, I guess. Not really my type.”
“There aren’t many choices and the gene pool gets smaller all the time,” Darlene said.
“What about you? I saw him check out your stomach when he was in here.”
“Not interested,” Darlene said quickly.
She didn’t want to talk about John and what had happened. She didn’t want to talk about her baby, either. Some things were too personal right now. The wound was still so raw and painful, and she didn’t feel like she was close to where she needed to be in her head and her travels.
How far had Bri gotten? If she’d decided to turn west, Darlene would never find her. Why did she assume they were heading north, anyway? What if they’d gone due west a few miles up the road and were a hundred miles in the wrong direction? They could be nearing Tampa by now.
Darlene knew it wasn’t true, though. She knew she was on the right path and she knew the blo
od mixed with hers was helping her to gauge in which direction she needed to go. It was a power she didn’t want to think too hard about or else she’d go insane.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, smiling as they took turns stuffing cookies into their mouths. This was a box that would’ve been thrown out a year ago without a thought. Now it was like gold.
Her father would’ve playfully fought her for the last cookie, slipping his fingers slowly into the bag so she didn’t hear the rustle of the packaging.
Darlene always caught him with a laugh and they’d split the last one, Darlene getting the side with the cream filling, too.
“Where’d you start out?” Bernie asked.
“Maine.”
“Holy shit. That’s far. I thought coming from Louisville was bad,” Bernie said. She stuffed a cookie in her mouth and smiled, closing her eyes. “I think I’m going to cry this is so good. I can’t remember the last time I had junk food. If I see another dented can of corn, I’ll scream.”
“It’s amazing what you take for granted. Simple things in life like easy access to food, clothing and entertainment,” Darlene said.
The last two Oreos were eaten and Darlene was ready for a nap on a full stomach.
Darlene didn’t want to play what do you miss most?
She was satisfied after eating Oreo cookies and thinking about her father. How long had it been?
“What do you miss most?” Bernie asked.
Chapter Six
Tosha swung the axe, but the boxes and junk on the shoe store floor was awkward and she only managed to graze the side of its head, knocking it down with the flat of the blade.
She got her footing and was about to finish it off when she heard the groan, which zombies didn’t do.
Tosha put a foot on the chest of the zombie female and could hear and feel the quick breathing now.
“You’re not a zombie,” Tosha said.
“No kidding.”
Tosha smiled and pulled her flashlight, suddenly shining it in the woman’s face. The same woman who’d been following her for miles, since the diner.
Dying Days 6 Page 3
