by Fitch, E. M.
"Are you okay?" he mumbled. She could feel the words vibrate through his chest. She pressed her free hand to his sternum, reassured by the movement of his breath. She laughed lightly into his neck, resting the gun and her other arm on his hip.
"I'm fine," she muttered, "but lay quiet. We're safe enough for now.”
Her eyes sought out the undefined shapes of the store. There wasn't much to see but swirling light. A hand slapped at the glass of the freezer doors and Kaylee flinched, tightening her grip on Andrew.
Slowly, the creature crawled over the doors. Her hair was tangled and matted with mud and blood, it hung in strands over the glass, sweeping against it and leaving damp streaks. Her breath clouded the door, making harder to see the yellow shards of her teeth. Kaylee couldn't see her eyes, just that they were sunken in the rotting flesh of her face. She growled, low and intense, as her fingers pawed at the doors.
The click of the gun as Kaylee cocked it sounded loud in the enclosed space. She wouldn't shoot unless she had to, unless she was absolutely positive the glass was about to break. She wasn't even sure if Andrew was aware of what was happening. His body had collapsed into a state of relaxation that most only knew when deep asleep. He was hurt worse than Kaylee had thought. He would not be able to run.
"Drew," she whispered, her lips close to the skin of his neck. He shifted in her arms, grunting. "Where does it hurt?”
"Everywhere," he murmured. She frowned, her attention pulled momentarily back to the glass. Dead teeth were scraping along the glass, like nails on a chalkboard. She cringed against Andrew's neck.
"Be more specific," she urged. Her hand ran the length of his chest. He was damp, but she thought with sweat more than blood. His face was a wreck, she knew that from the brief glimpse she got of it. But it was the coughing, more than anything, that worried her. She remembered the warm spray of blood that hit her neck. He was bleeding, though not from any wound she could see. He needed Anna. Kaylee's eye flit to the glass again, to the infected woman squirming on top. Her clothing gaped and dead flesh pressed to the glass, sliding over the smooth surface in flat planes as her teeth scraped.
Where were Anna and Bill?
They were ten yards away at most when the infected broke in. Bill was a crumpled heap on the floor. Did Anna lift him? Could she? Kaylee wouldn't have been able to. Anna may have run, left Bill. Or she may have stayed, armed with six bullets.
The explosions from the store had stopped, the gunfire had ceased. There were still occasional screams, though Kaylee couldn't recognize the voices. They were mostly male, she thought. She could make out the shuffling gait of the infected, roaming through the store, knocking things over, groaning.
Something knocked into the freezer and a new set of hands slid over the glass. Soon his teeth were scraping the smooth surface as well, his lips pressed in a circle as his grey tongue wriggled, flat against the glass. Kaylee felt her stomach turn and she moved her eyes from the door to Andrew.
"Are your legs hurt?" she asked. She curled over him, using the hand that held the gun tight to prod down his legs. He shook his head.
"They kept mostly to my stomach and face. It hurts to breathe.”
"Okay, just rest then," she whispered, nervous about the way his words gurgled at the end.
The scraping on the glass was distracting. She tried to focus on the sounds behind it. A scream sounded and then died out. There were no guns, no boots on the ground. All she could hear was shuffling. She wasn't sure who had been shooting the plywood to bits. Someone who hated the men who held the store. Hated them enough to sic a horde of infected on them. They didn't want survivors. She wasn't sure what that would mean for her and Andrew if they were found.
The air in the freezer was warm and dank. She didn't feel lightheaded or dizzy, so there was enough oxygen. But Kaylee wasn't sure how long that would last. They would need fresh air at some point. And then she would have to fight her way out past the two crawling over the doors. She put her foot against the jamb and pressed, lifting the door open a small crack. The groaning became louder, sharper, and she let the door fall back into place, a swirl of smoke and acrid air filtering through.
"Who was shooting at us?" Andrew asked. Kaylee shook her head, unsure. "I heard guns. Were they shooting at you? My Dad?”
"No, at the front of the store. They shot the plywood over the doors to break them apart.”
"And they're here now?" he asked faintly.
"I'm not sure.”
"They'll find us, if they are. They'll know someone's in here because of the biters crawling all over it.”
"Yeah, probably," Kaylee answered. Even as she finished speaking, she heard the shouts. Men yelling and laughing, a random burst of gunfire.
"Clean them up, boys!”
Kaylee tensed, gripping her gun and hovering closer to Andrew. Bullets ripped through the store and Kaylee and Andrew crouched together, trying to press back into the freezer and make themselves as small as possible. Something dinged off the side of the freezer, leaving a ringing that shook Kaylee to her teeth.
It happened so fast that at first, Kaylee wasn't sure what was happening. The infected couple on top of them were pawing at the glass, groaning and scraping, and then they were gone. Smears of red coat the glass in their wake. There was a loud snap as something cut through the chain and then the doors were wrenched open, drops of blood flecking over Kaylee and Andrew.
She pressed her lips tightly together and stared up, blinded by the powerful flashlight someone shone into her face.
“Hold up, Jim," someone grunted. "It's another girl.”
"Kaylee! Andrew!" It was Anna's voice and relief swamped Kaylee. But her curly head didn't appear and it sounded like she was struggling. "Let me go!”
"Hold her, let me check them out," the male voice was deep and calm. The flashlight moved and Kaylee blinked up into the dim light that filtered through the store from the busted front doors. Shapes appeared blurry before her eyes, a circle of heads all peering down at her. "You, girl, how are you feeling?”
"Cramped," she answered, closing her eye tightly and then opening them again. "But I'm not hurt, he is. He needs help.”
"Is he bit?”
"No, we're both fine. We barricaded in here.”
Someone grunted but no one moved to help them up.
"This mess of infected were wrecked, blood all over them; if they were bit, they'd turn pretty fast." The voice was calm, reasonable, a different cadence from the one who moved the flashlight from her face. Kaylee could just start to make out the features. Someone, a man with short, sandy colored hair, was scrutinizing her closely. She tried to lock eyes with him, sensing that what he said would matter.
"Haul them out," the man she was staring at muttered, moving back from the freezer door edge. Hands reached in, gripping Kaylee about the shoulders and legs and pulling her out. She scrambled to her feet as soon as she touched the floor, aware that they hadn't taken her gun. She tucked it in her back waistband, wanting it out of sight before one of them thought to relieve her of it. Anna raced towards her, pulling her tightly into an embrace.
"Bill?" Kaylee whispered into her neck.
"I had him, Kay. I dragged him to the back. I shot four of them. And then-“
"Is he dead?”
"I don't know!" Anna whispered, her words sounding tortured. "All the men raced towards me, I couldn't tell who was infected and who wasn't! I was knocked down and dragged and I lost sight of him. I can't, I don't know-“
"Okay, okay," Kaylee soothed, pulling Anna tight to her chest. "We'll find him. It's not your fault.”
The men were in the process of hauling Andrew from the freezer. He was coughing again, blood spraying from between his teeth and the men cried out, dropping him to the floor.
"He's not bit!" Kaylee called out, wrenching free from Anna when she saw the gleam of a gun barrel pointing towards Andrew. "They beat him. He has internal bleeding. But he's not bit, I swear it!”
&nbs
p; The man with the short, sandy hair looked from Andrew to Kaylee. He frowned. "Strip him, make sure.”
The men began pulling at Andrew's clothes. They ripped his pants as they struggled to pull them off but didn't bother with the shirt, just lifting it to show segments of his body. Kaylee moved towards him, but a hand on her forearm stopped her.
"You too, girl.”
She frowned, puzzled at first, but then hands tugged at her shirt and she understood. She backed into Anna instinctively.
"They made me, too," Anna whispered.
She handed Anna her gun, keeping the weapon out of sight. Anna understood and held it low, her eyes on the men as Kaylee undressed. Her jacket fell to the ground and she yanked her shirt over her head and then lowered the zip of her jeans. She did not remove her underwear, but she revolved in a slow circle as flashlights lit her body in glaring, bright circles.
When they were done, a man in the circle declaring her clean, she turned towards Anna and marched to the nearest clothing rack. The filth that coated her clothing could remain on the floor. She grabbed a set of dusty jeans, a cleaner shirt, and a new winter jacket. She grabbed the same for Andrew, his torn clothes in a heap beside him, his shirt ragged with bloodstains.
Anna was bent over Andrew, her head resting gently on his chest. The men gave them a wide berth, the smoky beams of flashlight flitting over them intermittently. Kaylee watched as Anna took in his chest, the rise and fall of it, as her eyes scanned upwards towards his throat. It looked wrong, something off about it, but Kaylee couldn't pinpoint exactly why that was.
A random burst of gunfire sounded and Kaylee jumped, her fingers reaching for her gun before remembering that she had handed it off to Anna. Anna didn't look up.
"We don't have all day, sweetheart," the man with the sandy hair growled. "Are you coming with us?”
Anna started and looked up, her mouth bobbing open. She looked from Andrew, lying quietly, his eyes shut, to Kaylee. They both thought the same thing. It was Kaylee who said the word.
“Bill."
"There's no one else here," one of the men said, seeming to understand. "Some of them got out the back, but we swept the rest of the store, cleaning up the biters. No one is left.”
Pain, sharp and fast, lanced through Kaylee. Her lips twisted and her brow contracted as her gaze fell to Andrew. Andrew, her friend, who lay there hurt, not knowing his father was missing. Anna's head hung.
"We can take the boy. We have a camp-“
"No," Kaylee interrupted. They started and looked at her. "I mean, thank you. Honestly, it would not have been easy to get away without the," she faltered, it wasn't really help. The distraction they provided had ultimately lost Bill. She frowned and continued, avoiding their eyes. "We left others a day's journey away. We need to get back to them. If you had a car, some kind of transportation we could borrow?”
Several of them chuckled, but the one with the sandy hair stared at Kaylee quite seriously.
"Where did you leave them?" he asked. Kaylee felt her mouth fall open, at a loss for words. She couldn't name the place, she didn't know its name. She struggled to explain, describing the roads they took, the direction she could make out from the way the sun had set last night. He nodded, understanding. He gestured her to follow him.
Anna was back to staring at Andrew, her eyes flitting professionally over his prone, still body. Kaylee pat her shoulder as she walked by, following the man to the front doors. As he came more fully into the light, she could examine him closer. He was tall and sturdy. He loped with an easy grace, someone who had either known battle before, or who had come to it naturally in this new world. He was dressed in what could have been fatigues, rough material and blended colors, he could have disappeared into the forest or blended with a mess of rusted cars on the side of the road with equal measures of ease. His boots were worn but in good repair, the back of his neck was tanned and she could see the tight rope of muscle that worked under his skin and up towards his hairline. If he was aware of her scrutiny, it didn't show. That, or it didn't bother him. He seemed used to being looked at.
He didn't turn until they had stepped through the shredded plywood, Kaylee needing to lunge forward to avoid the large splintering wood. The noise got her immediate attention and she recoiled.
There was a makeshift fence built. It had been intact before Kaylee stole into the store, now she could see where bits of it had been torn down and hastily put back up. Men guarded it, prodding the infected horde that lined the fence back when it looked in danger of collapse. And it did look in danger of collapse; it could fall at any second.
"The whole area is flooded with them," the man explained. "I know because we did it.”
"You?" Kaylee asked. “Why?"
"For them," he answered simply, gesturing behind to the dark store. "They lived like animals. I don't normally care how other people conduct their business, but when they start attacking my people, well..." He cut off with a shrug, his eyes on the distant fence and the men defending it. Kaylee felt sick to her stomach. A small line of Jeeps idled close to the front doors, two had large guns attached to their racks. The man walked forward, waving Kaylee towards him with a brief flick of his wrist.
Someone jumped to attention and brought out a large, rolled sheet of paper. He pointed at it as he addressed her.
"My guess is you came from this direction," he indicated. She leaned forward and peered at the dirty map. She let her fingers trace over the edges, the forest lines that looked so clean and precise, the river that cut through it. With a small intake of breath, she noticed The Mill, clearly marked next to the river and the small patch of swamp that she knew to be laced with infected humans. He mistook her gasp, reading it as confirmation. And it didn't matter anyway, because he was right. She didn't know exactly which small town, he indicated a large section of the map, but Emma and Jack were there somewhere and the way he was currently shaking his head made Kaylee think the precise location didn't matter.
"We flooded it with biters.”
Kaylee frowned, shaking her head. He was pointing at miles and miles of map. They couldn't have possibly…
"There were fences, lots of them, keeping them out of this area," he spoke low and again his finger traced around where Emma and Jack were waiting for her. "If you came from there then you know, it was pretty isolated, there weren't many of them walking around, were there?”
Kaylee felt her brow furrow in confusion. But she couldn't deny that he was right. She had thought it herself, that last night when she had left Jack to fetch water. She hadn't see many at all since their group had barricaded in the attic. Was this why? Were they in a fenced in area, protected, and they had just not realized?
"It's our land. We fenced it. We drove them out. Not for these perverts to stroll in and take it over, pillage and steal," his voice rose now in fervent anger and she caught his gaze. His eyes were blue and fierce in their anger. She didn't look away and he took a short, deep breath, controlling himself once more. "We took down the fences here, here, and here," he continued, in control once more. His finger pointed bluntly to the map, enclosing the area Kaylee had come from before sweeping to exactly where they were standing now.
"Now they have no where to run to." The cold reality of his intent rang in the air but Kaylee grit her teeth and looked from the map to him.
"My sister is in there, the rest of our group. I'm going to go get them.”
"You won't make it," he said, not moving his gaze from her face. "I'm sorry for it, but I don't think they could have made it either.”
The words stung, but she held strong, sucking a deep breath before answering. "I'll wait until dark, they could have hid." He was shaking his head and she paused.
"We knocked the fences down yesterday, drove as many as we could this way, thousands of them, before securing the fences at the other end and looping around to meet them here. It'll be a mess in there. Even if your friends made it through the day, hiding somewhere dark, if they're in t
he middle somewhere, it would be more than a twelve hour hike to any of the bordering fences. There's not enough darkness for them to make it. And there's not enough darkness for you to make it back. The biters would wake before you found them. And then what?”
Slow horror was washing over Kaylee. Her feet felt rooted to the spot. In an area the size of a small city, Emma and Jack were fenced in with thousands of infected people. Emma may not turn when bit, but she could be eaten alive just as anyone could. And Jack, sick and still unable to run due to the injury to his side, how would he escape? They had no gun, Kaylee had taken that from them. And there wouldn't be enough food in the attic, if they even were in the attic when the biters flooded down the street. Kaylee could picture it easily, Jack and Emma stumbling up an empty street in the daylight, a mob of groaning, shrieking infected chasing after them. She swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. She had to go back. She had to find them.
"We can take you with us," the man was saying. "My name is Michael Paylor. I am second in command. I can offer you safety.”
She couldn't process the words, her head was spinning, arguing logic against the resounding denial that was roaring in her head. She locked eyes with him once more, found a pitying, if not sympathetic, gaze regarding her. She shook her head, her lips parting.
"Kay! I need you!”
It was Anna's voice, scared and startled. Andrew's face flashed in her mind, his chest taking sharp, ragged breaths, coughing blood, the way his throat at looked just off. She turned from Michael and ran back to Anna, leaping over the shards of plywood to find her friend ripping Andrew's ragged shirt to shreds.
Chapter Five
Emma and Jack sat hunched together, Jack's back pressed against the cold, corrugated metal siding of the grain silo. Emma would have faced away from him, kept her eyes to the door just in case cold fingers were able to pry it open, but she was afraid to turn her back. He looked as though he might topple over at any minute.
