by J. R. Knoll
Zoe tried to scream, but nothing came out as she looked up into those pale eyes that had her in their sights. There were not even pupils that she could see. Her mouth open in a terror induced gape, she found herself unable to act once again as he grasped her arms in his powerful hands. Something snapped within her and she twisted with all her might to get away from him, backing away as he continued to advance, but she could not get away.
He moaned again and looked past her, then he moved her aside and kept walking.
Breaths still shrieked as they entered her and she watched the big zombie just walk by her and continue down the aisle. The other was still coming and she retreated again, this time looking over her shoulder before she turned to bolt away from them.
At the end of the aisle she stopped suddenly as she confronted two more, a thin man and a woman, both of whom were dressed like they had worked in an office building. Unable to think clearly, she backed away, her wide eyes locked on the man, the closest of the two, as he staggered toward her.
With a horrified, child-like cry, she wheeled around again and ran the other direction, toward the other end of the store.
There were no zombies to be found on this end and she stopped near the refrigerated bays just outside of the butcher shop window, retreating into the corner and grasping the cold metal of the meat displays with both hands.
Both of the zombies she had just evaded were still coming at her and they both seemed to be staring right into her. Looking down the aisle to her right, horror gripped her features as she saw two more turn into that aisle from the front of the store. Her attention snapped back to the other two and that child-like cry escaped her again as she saw they had been joined by the two she had encountered on the canned food aisle. Another woman zombie emerged from an aisle much closer to her, and turned toward her as well.
Zoe found herself cornered and her mind and emotions overloaded. She found herself crying, and as they closed in on her, she sank to the floor, dropping the can of Spaghetti-O's and hugging the teddy bear to her chest with both arms as she helplessly watched them close in on her. She drew her legs to her and tried to ball herself up as small as she could, her eyes darting from one to the next as they closed in on her.
The monsters closed around her and she buried her face in her arms and teddy bear to await the worst as she cried out loudly, her body racked by quakes as she wept and hysterically screamed. The inevitable was coming.
Moments passed and she calmed, and slowly raised her head in response to rustling plastic, creaking Styrofoam and a smacking sound. To her bewilderment, she saw all of the zombies eating the meat out of the cooler. They were ignoring her and just eating the raw meat from the coolers. Once again her wide eyes darted from one zombie to the next, and hesitantly she lowered a hand to the floor and pushed herself up. She stood slowly, afraid of attracting their attention, and she continued to glance about at them as she turned and backed away. Her eyes found the Spaghetti-O's and she stopped, and hesitantly she approached again and crouched down, her gaze finding the busy zombies again as she groped for the can, and finally grasped it.
Though they did not seem to be interested in her, Zoe backed away from them and still feared they could turn and attack her. Confident she was far enough away from them, she turned around to flee, then shrieked as she found herself confronting yet another one and backed away a few steps. Moving aside, she watched with all of her attention as he staggered by her toward the others. She drew a breath and backed away more, running into one of the shelves and stopping as she watched the creatures feed. They were tearing into packages of raw meat, forcefully tearing away mouthfuls with their teeth. They were feeding like a pack of animals, even moaning and growling as they ate their grisly meal. She stood perfectly still as she watched them, still fearful of drawing their attention, and she felt a little more secure as she hugged the teddy bear to her chest.
Movement to her right ripped her attention away from the feeding zombies and she barely moved as her eyes panned that way.
A big man in olive green and black commando gear and wearing a full gas mask over his face stalked toward the zombies. He had a weapon, some kind of machine gun, poised to shoot and was clearly taking careful aim at the zombies at the meat cooler as he advanced on them with cautious steps. His were stealthy, silent movements and his weapon was held level and steady. As he passed, Zoe saw that he even had a black hood over his head. He was completely covered and pouches and pockets on his vest and trousers seemed laden with equipment or supplies. He had more on the belt he wore, though the only thing she saw that she could recognize was the big knife that was on his hip.
She saw another enter her field of vision ahead of her, coming out of one of the aisles there and moving in the same way. Still another one beyond that one.
When they were all within about twenty feet of the zombies, they stopped and the big man shouted, "Let 'em have it!"
The loud, sharp crack of the weapons hurt Zoe's ears and she grimaced and raised her hands to her ears, cupping one hand over one and the can over the other. All of the zombies were hit in the head and they dropped quickly. In seconds it was over and the last of the zombies slumped over the cooler and then fell backward to the floor. Black-red blood splattered the wall and butcher's window, the floor and more ran from the bodies that were heaped up where they fell.
"Not too shabby," another man commended as the four of them approached the downed zombies.
"Okay," the first ordered as he lowered his weapon. "Let's load up on the supplies we need." He turned and headed toward the canned goods aisle, the others following as he continued, "We're going to want anything that will last us a while, anything—"
"Another one!" a younger man's voice shouted.
As one raised his weapon toward Zoe, she wheeled around to look behind her and around the end cap she had backed into. When the weapon fired, the burst of bullets hit and shattered the jars she had backed into and she flinched and spun back, seeing them all taking aim at her! Barking a scream, she turned and darted down the aisle right as the weapons fired again, and again she covered her ears as best she could.
She made it to the end of the aisle and looked back as she saw two of them reach the other end and take aim at her and she screamed again as she turned blindly and fled. Something caught her foot and she tripped, instinctively throwing her hands down to break her fall before she hit the tile floor. She had dropped the can and watched as it rolled away from her, and her thoughts shifted fully to it as she scrambled after it, stopping as it was caught under the sole of a big black boot that had lifted up to catch it. Slowly, she turned her eyes up to the big man who stared down at her. He held his weapon at the ready, but not trained on her. Still, with that gas mask on he was a big, imposing sight, a frightening sight, and she whimpered and shrank away from him. Hearing boots coming up behind her, she half turned and looked to see two others had caught up to her, and they were training their weapons on her. She cried out and fell to her side, curling up as small as she could as she hugged the teddy bear to her. Her wide eyes were fixed on the two soldiers who aimed at her and the terror on her face was very easy to read as she began to cry.
"Hold your fire, guys," the big one who had stopped her can ordered.
"She's clearly infected," another pointed out.
"Yeah," the big man agreed, "but this is the first time I've seen one act like this. She's scared out of her mind. Moaners aren't scared of anything. They don't know to be."
Hearing the voices, even from behind the masks, calmed Zoe a little and she was able to stop crying, but she did not move otherwise.
The fourth soldier came up from behind the other two, holding her weapon ready, but this one lowered the muzzle upon seeing the girl. This one was smaller and shaped differently, clearly a woman, but she was just as imposing as the other three.
Daring to approach, though with hesitant movements, the woman slung her weapon behind her and crouched down, holding a palm toward
the girl as she ordered, "Just take it easy. Don't move, okay?"
Zoe nodded in quick motions.
"How long ago were you bitten?" the woman asked.
Another whimper escaped the girl as she just stared back with wide eyes.
"Just shoot her," one of the men growled.
The woman reached to her face and tore the gas mask off, looking up at one of the men. She had a pleasant face that showed irritation, and she appeared to be around fifty years old with icy blue eyes. "Would you just back off a minute?" She snapped, then she looked back to Zoe and repeated, "How long ago were you bitten?"
The girl shrugged a little and managed in a very meek voice, "They came at dinner time on Sunday."
The woman raised her head, staring down at the girl as she absently said, "Four days ago. She should have lost all of her cognitive abilities within a few hours."
"You sure she's telling the truth?" one of the men asked.
"She wouldn't have a reason to lie about that," the woman replied. "And look at her eye color. It usually fades to gray or white a few hours after the disease takes hold."
The big man behind took a step to the side and bent down to have a closer look, and when Zoe's attention snapped to him, he drew back and confessed, "That's the first green eyed zombie I've seen."
"This may be what we've been looking for," the woman informed. "Okay, sweetie. Can you tell me your name?"
With a nod, the girl responded in that meek voice, "Zoe Rebecca Templeton."
"Can I call you Zoe?" the woman asked.
Zoe nodded.
"My name is Rachel," the woman introduced. "I'm with the Zombie Response Team. I need to know how you feel right now."
"I'm scared," Zoe whimpered.
"I know you are, sweetie, but how do you feel? Are you cold or hot or do you hurt anywhere?"
Zoe shook her head.
Rachel looked over her shoulder. "Would you lower your weapons?"
The gruff sounding man barked back, "Like it or not, that's a zombie and—"
"Colonel!" she shouted. "We have an opportunity here. If you want to fight off this threat then we need every advantage and this is one advantage we'd better not let go!"
He looked to the other man, and nodded, and both lowered their weapons.
Looking back to the girl, she stood and offered her hand. "Come on, Zoe. Let's get you up."
Zoe's eyes widened and she shook her head.
"Come on," Rachel urged in a voice that sounded like she was talking to a puppy. "Get up off of the floor. Nobody's going to hurt you."
The girl's eyes shifted to the men behind the woman.
With a heavy sigh behind his gas mask, the gruff sounding man growled, "Okay, men. Let's set up a perimeter and secure the area.
Zoe watched as the two men departed, then she hesitantly took the woman's hand and, still clutching her teddy bear to her, she got to her feet, backing up a step as she huddled herself as small as she could get. She tensed up and half turned as the man behind her tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up at him with horrified eyes.
He offered her the can and said, "I believe you dropped this."
Looking down to the can, she gingerly took it, then bowed her head, drawing her shoulders up as she shuffled away from him a couple of steps.
He reached up and took his gas mask off, revealing quite a handsome face with powerful features, dark green eyes and a clean shaven face. The cleft in his heavy chin caught the girl's eye as she glanced up at him, but she would not make eye contact with him.
Also pulling the hood from his head to reveal very short brown hair that was military cut, he looked to Rachel and raised his chin as he informed, "We'll have the perimeter secure in a few minutes, Doctor Caswell. You may as well get started with the operation so that we can get out of here quicker." When she nodded to him, he grasped his weapon with both hands and added as he walked away, "Just shout if you need anything, and remember to shoot for the head."
"Thanks, Sergeant Morris," Rachel offered as he strode away. "I think I can handle it."
Zoe finally raised her eyes and watched as this biggest of the men went to join the others.
"Okay, Zoe," Rachel started, "we came to collect supplies. Do you want to help?"
The girl looked to the floor and nodded. She usually liked to keep to herself, but under the circumstances a little company was a welcome thing.
**
Within the hour, they had about five shopping carts full of food, bathroom supplies and a few other items pushed up to the front door. Zoe found herself enjoying Doctor Caswell's company and the Doctor discovered how much this girl loved to laugh, and she took every opportunity to say something to make that happen.
Still brandishing his weapon, Sergeant Morris strode through the front door of the store and looked over what they had collected, raising his brow as he nodded. "Nice job, ladies. Looks like we'll eat okay for a while."
"We got, like, a hundred cans of Spaghetti-O's!" Zoe reported with girlish enthusiasm. "We got the ones with the meatballs, too. Those are my favorites!"
"Sounds good," he commended, then he raised his chin and looked to her with a little suspicion in his eyes. "Wait a minute. You eat…" his eyes shifted to the doctor.
Rachel raised her brow and informed, "There is quite a bit about this young lady that might surprise you, Tex."
"Well, we're about ready to load up and go," he said straightly, "so let's get with the program."
Zoe watched him turn and stride out and she bit her lip a little, and this did not go unnoticed.
"He is quite a looker, isn't he?" Doctor Caswell asked with a little smile.
Turning her eyes down, Zoe smiled shyly and just shrugged.
"Well," Rachel urged, "we need to get going. Can you help us load all of this?"
Something very solemn was in the girl's expression as she glanced at the Doctor, and she drew her shoulders up slightly.
"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked as she gently took the girl's shoulder.
"Can, um," Zoe started hesitantly, "um, can I, um…"
Doctor Caswell seemed to know what the girl wanted to ask her, and she seemed to know that she could not somehow, so she raised her brow and said, "I was hoping you could come with us."
Zoe's attention snapped to the doctor and she did not seem to know what to say.
"We have all of the Spaghetti-O's," Rachel pointed out, "so you may as well come with us. I think Tex would really like you to come, too."
Biting her lip again, Zoe stared back for long seconds before she asked in the voice of a little girl, "Really?"
"I think so," the Doctor confirmed, "and so would I. So are you coming or do you intend to stay here with the zombies?"
"I'll come!" the girl barked. "I just have to run to the back to get my stuff and my teddy bear and I'll be right back!"
Rachel watched the girl turn and sprint to the back of the store, and she had a strange little smile on her face as she shook her head.
Outside, the three men in the commando gear stood watch. Three eight wheeled armored attack vehicles—Strykers—were backed up outside with their rear hatches open. There were other men out there as well, one each on machine guns on top of the assault vehicles and a few more who had established a perimeter further out. These were all dressed in jungle camouflage and armed with M-16's. More men similarly dressed were in the front seats of the Strykers, one driving and a passenger who kept his M-16 directed out the window.
All of these armed men about made Zoe uneasy and as she pushed a shopping cart full of food outside beside Doctor Caswell, she drew her shoulders up as she glanced about with a tense brow and her lips parted nervously.
"Just relax," Rachel advised. "Nobody's going to hurt you, okay?"
Zoe just nodded and continued to glance about.
In no time they got all five shopping carts pushed inside one of the Strykers and the men closed in the perimeter to mount the machines and be on their way. No
ne of the men who looked toward the girl did so with anything but mistrust and suspicion.
The gruff sounding man finally removed his gas mask, revealing bushy white eyebrows and a face that had some deep wrinkles in it around the eyes especially. This was a man of many years of experience in the military and all of them were evident on his face, as was the suspicious look in his eyes as he approached and demanded, "Doctor Caswell, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm taking her with us," Rachel insisted as she turned to face him.
"You really think that's a good idea?" he grumbled.
"First of all, Colonel," she began with a harshness to her words, "yes, I do. I'll not just leave her here by herself. Second, she may just hold some of the secrets we've been looking for and with her we may finally have the advantage we've been looking for to stop this epidemic."
The Colonel kept his eyes on the girl as he seemed to consider.
"She can ride with me in the truck with the supplies," Rachel offered.
"We can't afford anything happening to you," the Colonel pointed out. He considered a moment more, then he rubbed his mouth and face with his hand and barked, "Corporal Jackson."
One of the men in camouflage ran to him, brandishing an M-16 and smartly reported, "Sir!"
"This moaner's coming with us," the Colonel informed. "Get her cuffed and strapped into Ranger 2, and make sure she's secure."
"Now wait a minute!" Rachel shouted.
"Doctor!" the Colonel shouted back. "I'm allowing your pet zombie to come with us. She either gets secure for the ride or I shoot her and leave her here. Your call."
Zoe whimpered and took the Doctor's hand.
Rachel's eyes radiated anger and defiance as she stared back up at the Colonel, who was half a foot taller than she was, then she half turned and looked to the girl, then down, and she nodded, conceding, "Fine." Her eyes slid back to the Colonel and she insisted, "I don't want her mistreated."
The Colonel looked to the corporal and nodded, then he turned and strode away, toward the other Stryker.
