Randy entered the store first, with Tyler close behind him. I followed Tyler in, leaving no room for a zombie to go in behind him. Randy and Tyler went to the left, and Tara and I went to the right. We all remained quiet, careful not to attract any undead that may be lurking in the darkness.
So far, the stock room was clear, and there was something in there I wanted. There was a pallet, filled with boxes of Little Debbie’s of all kinds, and they were big boxes, which made it even better. Kind of made me whish that we had brought the box truck. This small grocery store seemed to be well stocked, and it didn’t appear that any other survivors had been inside. I made a mental note to bring the raid team back to this location, and soon.
Randy and Tyler came to the double doors leading into the front of the store at the same time Tara and I arrived.
“It’s clear.” Randy whispered.
“So far, but we haven’t made it into the front of the store yet.” I added. Randy and I looked through the windows of the double swinging doors. The store still looked well organized. Things weren’t laying in the floor, and there were no undead bodies lying around.
“You go left, and we will go right.” I instructed. Randy nodded that he understood.
We moved carefully, opening the double doors and walking out.
“You two hold those doors and close them slowly.” I told the twins. As the twins came out, they did as they were told. So far, I was proud that Tara was following orders. It didn’t surprise me that Tyler was such a trooper. I had expected as much from him.
We slowly made our way through the back isle of the store. So far, there wasn’t a walker or person in sight. Tara and I made our way up the last isle toward the front of the store. So far so good. Everything appeared to be fine, but I maintained my guard. I knew better than to let it down.
The air around us was heavy with the foul odor of rotted meat. Like all other stores, the electricity was out, and the coolers where the meat was displayed for sale failed to do their job without electricity. I placed my flashlight in the holding strap on my belt so that I could cover my nose. Tara followed my lead and covered hers as well. I couldn’t say that I blamed her. The smell was absolutely terrible. I looked to the shelves on my left, and was thankful there was nothing there that we needed to come back for.
Tara and I made our way to the front of the store. There wasn’t a single zombie in the store. The doors to the store were open. I quickly moved to close the sliding doors, and turned the locks on them. We were in a safe location to do a raid and I wanted it to stay that way.
I turned to see Tyler and Randy come up through isle one. When they saw me, they sprinted to where I stood.
“The whole store is clear.” Randy said in a normal tone of voice as he holstered his gun. I too placed my gun in the holster.
“Everything was clear on my side as well. This raid is going to be fast and easy. I didn’t even see any undead outside.” I stated.
“Things are quiet.” Randy said.
“Yeah, too quiet. I don’t like it. Let’s each fill a shopping cart and get the hell out of here.” I commented.
“Everything is fine Mom.” Tyler said.
“Everything is never fine.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth, we heard the sound of a roaring truck engine. We turned to look out of the window. I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a Dooley pickup truck flying into the parking lot with a horde of zombies chasing after it. We watched in horror as the truck lost control and came plowing through the sliding glass doors.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Everyone Run!” I yelled as I took off down one of the isles. The truck came crashing into the store, and the driver jumped out. I hadn’t realized I had lost my footing and fallen down until Tara was at my side helping me to my feet. I scrambled to stand and immediately looked toward the crashed vehicle. A man was running in our direction.
“Run fucking Run!” he yelled. He didn’t have to tell me twice.
A horde of the undead came rushing into the store. I grabbed Tara’s hand and took off for the swinging doors in the rear of the store. I took my gun out of the holster, expecting those things to be around the truck when we made it outside. I heard someone running beside me. I turned to see if it was Randy and Tyler, but it wasn’t. It was the stranger that was driving the truck. He was following us. I didn’t think much of it. Hell, he needed to be safe too. If that meant him crawling in the truck with us then so be it.
Tara and I made it to the double doors. I turned back again to see if Tyler and Randy were close by. They were coming around the corner of one of the isles. I was relieved to see my son, but we weren’t out of the woods yet. I turned back to watch where I was going in enough time to see the stranger take a lead on me. I watched as he took a running leap and landed on the bed of the truck. He quickly scrambled to the front, near the cab and jumped off. He crawled into the driver’s seat.
My first thought when he got into the driver’s seat was simple; that bastard better not try to leave us here. I will drive back to the village with his brains splattered on the windshield. Randy, Tyler, Tara, and I made it out the back door of the store at the same time.
“Hurry the hell up!” the stranger called to us as he opened the back door on the driver’s side. Tara and I went to the driver’s side and climbed into the back seat. Randy and Tyler went to the passenger side and jumped into the already opened doors. One by one, the doors on the truck slammed shut, and the stranger squealed tires away from the store.
I sat back against the seat and tried to catch my breath. I really need to quit smoking.
“Holy hell now that was a rush.” the stranger said.
“Who are you?” I asked, still slightly out of breath.
“The name is Jay Blackburn. Pleased to meet you ma’am.” he said. He sounded like your typical Georgia redneck with his thick southern accent.
“What happened to your truck?” Randy asked. Like me, I am sure Randy was wondering how in the hell the man, Jay Blackburn had lost control and come crashing through the sliding glass doors.
“Damned tire blew out and that old Ford just couldn’t keep straight.” Jay said.
“Where were you headed in such a hurry?” I asked.
“I was headed back to the hotel where my group stays. Those damned things are fast and I didn’t want to lead ‘em to us.” Jay replied. His story made sense. We had done something like that before, only we didn’t take out any buildings in the process.
“Ok, we will take you back to your hotel, but then we are headed home. I think we have all had enough fun for one day.” I said matter of fact.
I didn’t know about the twins and Randy, but I was sure that we could all go home and have no problem calling this a botched raid. I had no problem with it at all. As long as my twins were safe, that was really all that mattered to me. I turned and looked at each of them. They both looked fine except from being out of breath from all of the running. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I turned my attention to the man driving the truck. My heart was not racing nearly as badly, and my breathing was calming down. He was an average looking redneck, about six feet tall, with a lean yet muscular build. He had jet black hair that he still managed to keep cut military style. I looked into the rear view mirror and I could see his crystal blue eyes fixated on the road as he drove. He was definitely handsome.
“So how many are in your group?” I asked Jay.
“Seven. We like to keep our numbers small. It seems we do better that way.” he stated. I was surprised by the statement. I hadn’t noticed a difference either way. I had been part of a small group, and was now part of a large group. Either way, we managed just fine. However, there was a lot I could tell about Jay Blackburn simply by the comment he had made. He was a bit of a loner, humanity didn’t matter to him. He was all about his own survival and fuck anybody else. I wasn’t sure I liked that.
We continued to travel down Highway 20 toward I-75. The
roads seemed pretty clear. All of the vehicles had been moved to the sides and almost every one of them was touching another one. It looked as though Jay and his group had been busy clearing their path to town where all of the stores were.
It was a smart idea. My group had done almost the same thing, but we did leave vehicles we had to dodge. We only moved what we absolutely had to. Work smarter, not harder, that was my motto. Besides, in these trying times, too much effort could get you killed as quick very little. One thing I had learned in the past seventeen months was that there was a certain level of work that had to be put into anything that needed to be done. The truth was, too much of a good thing makes it bad, and that was my opinion of the work that Jay and his group had done in clearing the roads.
I saw several hotels up in the distance, but it wasn’t difficult to pin point which one was Jay’s. There is a hotel up ahead with a fenced in court yard area. Corn and other crops grew within the fence. I could also see what looked like two soldiers sitting on the top of the building, one looking out in our direction with binoculars. I watched as Jay flashed the headlights in the direction of the hotel.
We turned to cross the highway to the left side of the road where the Best Western rested.
“Here we are. Home sweet home.” Jay said with a pearly white smile as he parked my Tundra. He turned off the ignition and stepped out of the truck. He looked up to the top of the building, covering his eyes with his hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight.
“Hey there, Mark! How’s the view up there?” he called out.
“What the hell are you doing? You know noise attracts those things right?” Tara stated as she came to stand beside Jay. Jay turned his attention to Tara with a grin on his face.
“Now you are a smart little kid aren’t you? Yes I know that noise attracts zombies, but I don’t think they have supersonic hearing. The herd won’t be able to hear us. I think we got away from them.” Jay stated matter-of-factly.
I exited the vehicle. Randy came around to stand beside me, adjusting his pack on his back. Trey came out behind me. Jay looked up at me and smiled.
“You know Mama, this is the first time I got a good look at you. You are one hot little cookie darlin’.” I cast him a sly little grin. I also caught the look on Randy’s face when he heard what Jay had to say about how I looked.
Jay looked down at his watch.
“Well, people, its noon. Now I don’t know about you but where I come from, noon means it’s time to eat. Who’s hungry? You four are more than welcome to grab a bite to eat and rest up before you head back home.” Jay said.
“You don’t have to do that.” I stated. Not so much that I wasn’t hungry, but for the simple fact that I wasn’t sure I liked this guy’s company. I just wanted to load up my kids and get us home. They had come close enough to danger for one day in my book.
“No, now I insist. It’s the least I can do for you givin’ me a ride back to my place here.” Jay said. I rolled my eyes. He was a true southern redneck. The problem with that was that I am southern too, a true Georgia peach, and I wasn’t one to turn down southern hospitality. It just wasn’t good southern manners.
“Hey Jay, we got worried about you. Expected you back two days ago.” I heard a voice call out. Jay turned to see who was speaking to him. I also turned to see who was approaching us; always on my guard no matter where I am or what situation I am in. considering my kids were with me, my guard was solid. Nothing could break it down.
When I turned to find the source of the voice, I was facing a man about five foot eight and slender with a shaved head and sunglasses covering his eyes. He was also chewing tobacco (gross). He spit and it landed just at my feet. I was surprised it didn’t splash on my shoes it was so close to me. I felt my stomach churn.
“I got held up in Marietta. Couldn’t find a way back through for a while. Had to abandon the Camaro and go it on foot for a while until I got through the traffic jam.” Jay said.
“Uh-huh. Who’s your friends?” the stranger said. Jay turned to us.
“You know, I hadn’t got their names yet. Ran into ‘em when I wrecked into a grocery store about two miles or so up the road. They saved my ass from a herd of zombies.” Jay informed.
The strange man turned and looked at us, still chewing as he propped the shot gun on his shoulder.
“Well, thank you for bringing him back to us. My name is Jim.” he said as he stretched out his hand. I looked down to make sure he didn’t have any dried spit on his hand before I took it and shook it.
“I’m Amber. This is Randy, and my two children, Tara and Tyler.” I stated, introducing everyone.
“Pretty name to go with that pretty face.” Jay said with a sly grin. I knew what was going through his mind about me, and all I had to say to that was no fucking way. If I wasn’t going to get to close to Randy, a dear and trusted friend that had saved my ass more times than I could count, then I sure as hell wasn’t letting this strange guy with a lack of compassion in my pants. Oh hell no.
“Well, it’s nice to meet y’all. I’m the leader of this here outfit. Jay here is like our scout. We send him out when we need to move a distance to see what we have to look forward to when we venture out.” That was strange. I honestly would have pegged Jay as the leader of the group. He had that sort of demeanor about him. I guess you learn something new every day.
“I was just telling Amber here that they should stay and grab a bite to eat with us. It was the least we could do for their help.” Jay informed. Jim nodded his head.
“Yeah, it sounds like a good idea. Miranda has already whipped something up. She’s a damned good cook. Y’all come on in and grab a bite to eat with us. You don’t want to go back out right now anyway. That herd you guys avoided is headed this way. Might want to stay inside until the coast is clear.” He didn’t have to tell me twice. The last thing I wanted to do was try to plow through a herd of zombies as they called it. I turned and looked at Randy. I could tell by the look he returned to me that he wasn’t sure about this. I nodded to assure him that it would be ok. We would just do as we always do, keep our guard up.
“It sounds like it’s dangerous to be out right now. I guess we can join you guys for a bit until the herd clears out.” I said hesitantly.
“Sounds good. Y’all come on in here and we will get you settled in.” Jim said as he turned to lead the way inside.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I was surprised when we walked inside of the Best Western. It appeared to be untouched by the apocalypse. It looked the same as I would have expected any hotel to look upon entering. The front desk was still completely intact with the computer still resting on the desk. The carpets were clean and the furniture unstained by blood or any other undead nastiness. It appeared as though this place had never known what it was like to have the undead lurk within its walls.
I looked around and noticed a woman sitting at the registration desk, and she seemed to be playing on the computer. That is when it hit me. This place had power!
“You have electricity here.” I stated to Jim and Jay.
“Yes ma’am we do. It’s nice too. Even during a God damned apocalypse, we still know what it’s like to have a hot shower.” Jim informed.
I was suddenly extremely jealous. Me, and everyone in my village had been taking baths either in the nearby creek, or giving ourselves a wipe down with baby wipes or wet wash rags, (most commonly known of as a whore bath). I wasn’t sure I liked these people, but I wondered if I could make nice with them enough to talk them into allowing us to take a real shower before we left.
“You are more than welcome to take a shower if you like. We have plenty of rooms. For all I care, you guys can hang out until morning if you want. Hell, we got plenty of room. There are only seven of us in this entire fucking hotel.” Jay stated.
I wasn’t sure about staying all night to rest up, but I was definitely going to take them up on that shower offer. I knew that Tara would be pleased. A real hot shower w
as one thing that she had been complaining about since we left the old school in Kingston. The only thing that would make it better was to have some clean clothes to put on afterward. Still, I would take what I could get.
“The food’s this way. Hey Valerie, chow time.” Jim stated as he led us into the restaurant of the hotel. Randy led the way for our group, and I brought up the rear, still refusing to let my guard down even if a hot meal and a shower had been offered to us.
We made our way into the dining room of the restaurant. I could smell a familiar aroma in the air. It smelled like freshly cooked pork and steamed vegetables. For a moment, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Jim led us over to a table and gestured for us to take a seat, and that is exactly what we did.
“Y’all wait here and I will help Miranda bring the food out.” Jim said.
“I smell pork chops.” Tyler said, announcing what I was already thinking. Jim smiled at my son.
“Well son, that’s because we have pork chops.” Jim informed.
“How is that possible?” I asked.
“When we found this place, the power and the gas was still on. After we cleared the zombies out and got everything secure, we went browsing through to see what was here that we could use. The coolers and freezers were still working, and full of fresh meats. I told you we eat good around here, and Miranda is the best damned cook there is.” Jim stated matter-of-factly.
I personally didn’t care how good of a cook she was. At this point, the aroma in the air was triggering my stomach in to enforcing my don’t-give-a-shit attitude. All I cared about was eating some real pork chops. My mouth was watering for them, and that was just from what I could smell from where I sat. I was sure it would get worse once the plate rested under my nose.
The Fall: The Apocalypse Diaries Page 8
