Other Side

by Rose, Isabella C.

  Jaime set a steady pace, and after ten minutes my chest burned. I didn’t run. I had always kept to moving slowly so I wouldn’t get home any sooner than I needed to. I wanted to stop, but fear kept me moving.

  “How much further?” Roth demanded.

  His voice so loud in the silence, yet no one answered. We all just kept running.

  Roth bumped me on his way to the front, almost making me stumble.

  “I asked how much longer until we get there? I should lead!” he said rudely, stepping in front of Jamie, slowing us to a walk.

  “Get back in formation, son!” Hale ordered.

  “I’m not your son, and don’t think you can order me around,” Roth argued back.

  Hale moved to the front, sticking his finger in Roth’s face. “I’ll order you if I want to. You going to be a man and protect these ladies or be a little boy scared?” Hale taunted.

  We had come to a halt with them fighting.

  “Stop it, both of you. Argue later, I don’t want to be out in the open any more than we have to,” Jaime tried to intervene, pushing between them.

  There, I heard it. A faint rustle and another sound I couldn’t make out. The argument got louder.

  “Shhhh, listen!” I yelled over them.

  Everyone grew silent. “There, do you hear it?” I whispered, trying to gauge the direction.

  All hell broke loose. Roth took off running toward the strip mall with Brandi’s gun leaving us. Not for long. We all took off running faster than before. I ended up in the back, Brandi and Julia in the middle, and Jaime leading. Hale behind Jaime. Behind me, the rustle turned into a rhythm. Rustle, grunt, rustle, grunt. I dared a look behind me. A man in a jogging suit was coming for us, a sweatband on his head and that same awful gray skin, and next to him a chubby lady with a brown dress tattered at the ends. Her skin was gray too, but she had blood all over her face and chest. I didn’t want to imagine where the blood came from.

  Up ahead, I saw Roth almost reaching the strip mall. From his left, a black man with ashy-gray skin that I glimpsed under a hoodie and sweats threw himself on Roth. They struggled, and Roth got off a shot to the man’s leg, making him crawl. Roth moved away and shot the man in the head, leaving him dead. Roth ran off, disappearing. Had Roth been bitten?

  More zombies came out of the darkness. One came from our left and ran at us. Jaime took the shot, hitting the zombie in the head. Two more zombies that looked to be construction workers came at us, and Hale took out one with impeccable precision. The other I aimed for, but only grazed his temple.

  “The head, girl!” Hale said.

  “I did!” I said angrily.

  I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger on the release of my breath. Smack! Right between the eyes, and the construction worker toppled over.

  “Violet, behind you!” Jaime yelled.

  I turned to see the two from earlier seconds from biting me. I swung my gun around and fired, hitting the jogger. The chubby lady zig-zagged, making it hard to get a lock on her. I took another shot, barely missing her. This time, she did something strange. She stopped and turned, running into the darkness. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that one bit. It gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  We made the turn into the strip mall, bright construction lights illuminating the parking lot and buildings. Roth was nowhere in sight. I don’t expect him to stick around for us, the bastard. And after I let him on the bus with us, he abandoned us.

  “There! Try the snack shop,” Brandi said pointing to the first store in the strip mall.

  No one waited to see if that was the right place to go. Jaime reached the door that was propped open with a paint can. He had his gun up and ready for anyone inside. It looked empty from the doorway. We all huddled in the front while Jaime went to the back of the shop and returned with his gun down. I watched outside to make sure no zombies came from behind us. Kicking the paint can, I swung the door closed with my hand on the lock.

  “It’s empty,” he told us.

  I was watching the closed door for zombies, but all I could see was the empty construction site. I turned the lock and slid to the floor, leaning back on the door. No need to let any zombies stroll in. I breathed a sigh of relief. I rested my head on the glass pane, trying to catch my breath.

  “Is everyone okay?” Jaime asked.

  Bang! My heart almost exploded out of my ribcage. I jumped from the door, sliding on the floor, and turning to see the chubby lady swaying from side to side with a bloody handprint right where my head had been seconds ago. Her mouth had drool falling out the side, and she locked those glazed-over, white eyes on me.

  “Ugghh.” A shiver went through me.

  “I’ll handle this,” Hale said, bringing his gun to the shooting position.

  I was on my feet in mere seconds and placed my hand on the barrel. “Wait, Hale. Think about this. If you shoot her through the glass, who knows how many more are out there, Plus, it will weaken the glass. We need a better plan.”

  His pale, gray eyes looked at me and he shook his head. “You’re right. Feel like I’m back in Vietnam.”

  “It’s okay,” I said, patting him on the back.

  I didn’t want to be the leader. I thought Jaime more adapt at it—he was good at keeping us safe. I had a better handle on keeping everyone’s emotions under control. I could do that. If being a leader meant we stayed alive, I would gladly do it even if I avoided human contact at all costs.

  “Does it seem to anyone else that the zombies are learning? Like they are not running around mindlessly, but picking up skills each time we interact? Just like her?” I asked as I watched the chubby lady.

  Her creepy white-colored eyes still on me, her tongue flicking along her lips, making the drool drip down to the cement in front of her.

  Julia said, “It seemed like that back at the bus stop. They seemed to run wild at any movement. Now, she looks like she is calculating something. She is different from the first ones we encountered. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

  “Exactly! If this is where we will stay for the night, we need to fortify this place, and glass windows aren’t my ideal fort. Is there a way to get to the other shops without having to go back outside?” My brain was finally starting to work again and thoughts flew sixty miles a second.

  I took in my surroundings. The snack shop had a bar with bright-orange plastic swiveled seats that reminded me of a fifties diner. The tables and booths were covered in plastic, and the ceiling above the booths had wires hanging out from them. Behind the counter, a fry grill and deep fryer sat next to a big silver refrigerator. The cash register sat by the door, covered in plastic too. A wooden saloon door, like the ones you see in a western bar scene, led to the back. A restroom sign pointed to the back of a short hallway.

  “Down by the bathroom is a door. Not sure if it leads to the back or to the rest of the shops. It was locked when we came in,” Jaime said.

  “Okay, Julia, why don’t you look for any food and water bottles you can find and bag them up for us to take with us? Hale, I want you to keep an eye on that lady, and if any more zombies are out there getting close, let us know. Jaime, you and I will go check out that door. Brandi—” She cut me off before I could tell her what to do.

  We had a way of reading each other, even though we weren’t as close as I wanted us to be.

  “I’ll monitor things here,” she said her eyes landing on Hale.

  I nodded my head to her. She had a way of making people calm down when their emotions got the better of them. I trusted her to make sure Hale didn’t do anything stupid and start shooting zombies and waste our ammo, or leave us vulnerable in this glass building. I knew she would protect Julia and Connor if need be too.

  Chapter Seven

  I followed Jaime toward the hallway that led to the back door. On the inside of the door, a paper hung with the words, “Not an exit. Trash compactor.”

  I hoped that we might find another exit, just in
case the front of the diner was not an option. The sign might be there to deter patrons from trying to go out this way. I would keep my eyes peeled for an exit just in case that was the purpose of the sign.

  “You sure you want to go with me, Violet?” Jaime asked in a soft whisper.

  I would not let him go out there alone to face possible zombies; he had been there for me in my house with my crappy step-dad. I looked into his swirling brown eyes, determined to not show how scared I really was inside.

  “Jaime…” I hesitated because I had never been good at expressing my feelings. Would I never be free of my step-dad’s torture? “You were there back at the house with Jes—” I couldn’t complete the sentence without a sobbing hiccup escaping.

  Jaime’s warm hand caressed the underside of my chin. “No words are necessary. Okay, then let’s get this show on the road.”

  His hand let go of my chin, leaving a chill there as he placed his hand on the doorknob. I watched as he turned the knob slowly, giving the door a slight push to crack it open to peer into a dimly-lit hallway. He stood there for a minute as we both took in the new surroundings.

  Jaime leaned down from his six-foot height to my five foot five, bringing his mouth next to my ear. “Stay close, Violet. I don’t want to lose you.” Then he bolted into the hallway.

  His words took me off guard for a mere second. Lose me? I pushed into the hallway, right on Jaime’s heels. We seemed to be at the end of a long hallway that must have run along the back of all the shops in the strip mall. Doors lined the right side every few feet. Those must be the back doors to the other shops. It was hard to see all the way to the end of the hallway, only a few fluorescent bulbs hung along the ceiling, and a few were out. We clung to the wall with no doors, moving around racks and shelving as we hurried in silence. The first door we came to was locked. Each door had a sign that showed what the shop was. This one was Becky’s Boutique. We needed nothing in there unless we wanted to have a fashion show with the zombies. I laughed out loud at my own dumb joke. I clasped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment, scared something else might have heard me.

  We both froze at a noise coming from down the other end of the hallway.

  Scraping? Scratching? I couldn’t make out what it was as we listened. If it was a zombie, we would know soon enough. He looked at me with a finger to his lips and then a gesture to follow with my gun, ready for whatever the noise was.

  We didn’t make a sound as we approached the next door, Deerhead Sporting Goods. I prayed the door was unlocked. I felt like a hitman as we both moved with ease to the opposite wall and Jaime turned the knob. Our luck got better with this one—it opened with a squeak. Jaime pulled me into the store, shoving me down by a rack of coats as he shut the door quickly and then joined me.

  “There was someone here when I opened the door. I’m not sure if they were a zombie yet or not,” Jaime whispered.

  “Calling them out might show if they are still human. But if they aren’t, we risk there being more than one?” I tell him as I consider our options.

  We needed this store—it was bound to have more ammo and supplies to keep us alive on our trek to Jaime’s parents’ cabin. Winter was only a few months away. Keeping warm would also be a part of our survival plans. We huddled close in silence. I felt his body pressed to mine and I took comfort in the fact that I was not alone in this apocalypse. If that was another human, they must have been scared too.

  “I think we should announce ourselves. We can use all the back-up we can get—it might also be Roth. We need that gun back,” I tell him before I stood up so my eyes were right at the top of the rack scanning the store.

  Jaime was right there with me. My mind took in everything thanks to my photographic memory. On the right, I could just make out a glass case with guns, I assume, and ammo on the shelf behind the counter. Across the floor, clothing racks and various items sat on shelves. I spotted the register by the door that was thankfully closed. Mannequins lined the front windows; one of the female mannequins had been completely stripped. Could the culprit have done that, or was it because of the renovations? The left side of the store had a large beige canvas covering everything, and paint supplies sat on the floor. I couldn’t see the human or zombie. Maybe we got lucky, and they left or Jaime mistook a mannequin for someone. I laid my hand on Jaime’s that had his gun. He nodded for me to go ahead.

  “Hello, is there anyone there?” I whispered.

  We waited a few minutes, and nothing happened. I touched Jaime to tell him I was moving in. I had my gun up and Jaime was right behind me, watching my back. I tell myself if we survived this, I would plant a kiss on Jaime’s soft-looking pink lips. I had avoided boys because of my plan to escape my life here, but now there would be no leaving, only survival. I wanted more than to survive. I was no expert because I had never kissed anyone besides my sister’s cheek, but I assumed Jaime would kiss me back from all the touching he had been doing without having to. This had to be flirting, right?

  We slunk to the next rack with thick brown coats. This will be a good winter coat. I’ll come back and put a few in a bag for me and Brandi. I moved toward the renovation canvases. This would be a good place to see the whole shop and there might be an office that way because I didn't see any other doors. Working at the pizza place, I knew stores or restaurants always needed a private place to count the daily income. The office might have cameras of the shop, we might catch a glimpse of this mystery person. My steps were silent on the green linoleum. There was a canvas hung over some shelves and a ladder on the other side. I could see part of the ceiling—a crisp white and the rest a pale orange. This must have been where the painters stopped before the change started. I wonder if they were here at that time or at home with their families. My heart ached for my baby sister. Could I have saved her if I was home after I got out of school instead of going to the library to avoid my step-father? I would never forgive myself for that. My thoughts dragged me inside my head, and I missed the foot at the bottom of the canvas-covered shelf when Jaime grabbed my arm, stopping me and pointing. Jaime took the lead and shuffled around the ladder. I followed hot on his heels. We had found the person Jaime saw and my mouth dropped open.

  Chapter Eight

  “Jaime!” a girl our age shouted, rushing into his arms and planting a deep kiss on his lips.

  The fact that he kissed her back didn’t escape my stare. I turned around to keep myself from showing the hurt on my face. That was my kiss. That little part of me that wanted to let him in closed shut with a loud slam.

  A hand turned me back. “Violet, this is Tiffany. My ex-girlfriend.”

  Tiffany pulled me into a hug too, a bit too rough, and said over my shoulder, “I’m so glad you came to save me Jaime, I missed you.”

  I had no idea what to say. Tiffany was gorgeous, long flowing blond locks, baby-blue eyes, perfectly clear skin, and a body any guy would die for, she even had perfect hand-sized boobs. Who was I kidding thinking Jaime had any interest in me? When this was so the type of girl he would be with. Not a short nerdy nobody with my twig legs, and I didn't need to be thinking about this when our town—and possibly the world—was in a zombie apocalypse. I needed to focus on getting Brandi and the rest of us safe. Not thinking about stupid romance.

  I tell Tiffany, “Nice to meet you, Tiffany. Are you the only one here?”

  She put on a pouty lip and sidled up to Jaime wrapping her arm around him. “Yes, my dad went to get the car and left me here, but I think whatever is out there got him because that was hours ago. I knew you would come for me, baby.” She caressed Jaime's arm starting at him and he played right into her French manicured hands.

  I just watched them, my emotions running the gauntlet of disappointment, hurt, and acceptance. How did I let Jaime get so close, so fast? I always kept myself so closed off because feelings only gave you heartache. My step-dad had proved that for me more times than I could remember. Jaime moved away from Tiffany.

  “Tiffany, we
need to gather supplies. We are heading to my parents’ cabin—you can come with us,” Jaime said as he looked around the store.

  “Oh, Jaime, thank you so much!” Tiffany grabbed his back, wrapping a hug around him. “What do you need? I can help you find anything here. My dad stocks this place pretty well for serious campers.”

  “Violet?” Jaime asked me, but my eyes had gone to the window.

  “Shhh, get down,” I whispered.

  Outside the window I could see a mob of zombies gathered through the racks of clothes, the fat lady who stopped running earlier at the center. They were just lingering by the cars with their mindless roaming. The fat lady tilted her head up and I swear she sniffed the air. I watch her intently. There was something about the way she acted that I couldn’t seem to gauge. Not like a mindless zombie you see in the movies that only chases you when you make noise or sees you. She moved a little more and sniffed the air again. What is she doing? I thought as Jaime whispered the same thing to me. I turned to look at him and Tiffany. I took in all of his face, from the coffee-color eyes, to the sharp point of his nose, and the plump lips that seemed strained. His eyes met mine in a wordless conversation. We both knew we needed to get out of there and back to the others, and something else lingered between our stare. My belly heated up, making my cheeks feel on fire. Jaime’s mouth parted slightly, and his tongue swished over his lips in a slow motion. I was paralyzed for a moment, watching the pink of his tongue.

  “Oh my God, she’s staring right at us!” Tiffany screeched in a low voice.

  I broke my gaze from Jaime, seeing a look of regret pass his face before shaking my head. I must have had a death wish; I needed to stop being a hormonal teenager. Out the window, the fat lady had moved to the window in front of the sporting-goods shop, and was staring at the racks we were hiding behind. There is no way she can see us, is there? We really had no clue what they saw or felt. She reminded me of an animal tracking its prey. I had to do a report on feral wolves’ hunting rituals. I saw the same instincts in the fat lady. If that was true, combined with her human side, she would be deadlier than just a brain-eating zombie. None of us spoke as we watched her. She went from side to side of the glass window, rubbing the glass with her bloody hand. She reached the door and stopped, looking down at the handle as if she wanted to open it.