Dead Life (Book 2) (4 page)

              “I doubt there's any police left to alert.”  Gina replied.

              “Let me check to make sure it's all clear in there.  I don't want any accidents.”

              Al went in and looked around.  He came back and stood at the counter wearing a pharmacist's jacket.

              “All clear and open for business.”

              The girls had four school book bags they'd taken off the shelf.  They went in and started loading them.  While they were raiding the pharmacy Al and I got a bag of charcoal and a small barbeque pit off a display.  The shelves in the meat department had been wiped out during the rush on the store the previous day so we headed back to the cooler.  Fortunately, there was still plenty of meat in back.  I cut four nice fillets and we headed for the roof.  While I barbequed, Al shopped for the rest of our meal.  Forty-five minutes later the steaks were done.  We convened in the conference room and ate while we discussed our plans for the next few days.

              Al and I disagreed about when to leave the store.  I wanted to leave the next morning.  Al, on the other hand, wanted to stay a few days.  We still had electricity and fresh water and he was in no hurry to get back on the road.  I was worried that if we waited too long we could get stuck in the city.  Gina couldn't get through to her father in Boonville and was anxious to find out if he was okay.  Cell service was worse than spotty and the land lines were still dead.  She was naturally worried about him and needed to get to Boonville as soon as possible.  We decided it would be best to be prepared.  We needed to get the truck loaded with as many cases of canned goods and water as it could hold.  Propane tanks also needed to be loaded from the front of the store.  The last part was going to be tricky because we would have to go outside the store to get the tanks. 

              There were cases of vegetables in the back so that wasn't a problem.  It was just a matter of loading them up.  We wanted some soup and were able to find plenty of that in back also.  Canned meat was going to be a problem.  There was none in the back at all and very little left on the shelves.  We loaded everything that was there into empty boxes along with some dry beans and pasta.  With everything we had stock-piled in the truck, it would be a while before we'd need to go foraging for supplies.  Winter would be here soon and all we wanted to have to worry about was finding a defensible place to hold up.

              Now was time for the tricky part which was getting the propane.  There were two sets of entry doors in front, an east and a west entrance.  The propane tanks were outside by the east doors.  The plan was for Al and I to go out the west side, make a little noise to draw as many zombies over there as possible, and then hurry back through the store to the east side.  There, we could defend the girls while they loaded up three carts with propane tanks.  We were going out with baseball bats because we didn't want to draw any more zombies to the store.  Of course we would take pistols with us but would only use them as a last resort.  I was going to bring my sword along because I wanted to try it out. 

              Gina had the other key to the store and I told her to lock the door behind us if we ran into trouble.  There were only six zombies by this side of the store and around thirty out on the lot.  We weren't going to wait for the thirty on the parking lot to get to us.  We just wanted to draw them in closer.

              Gina opened the doors and we went out swinging.  The entrance doors swing in so we went out the exit which swing out.  I used my bat to push the two zombies by the door back and Al followed me out.  We each took one of the first two.  I swung for the fences and hit mine on the side of it's head.  He went went straight down.  Al hit his in the left knee then gave it a couple shots to the head to finish it off.

              I switched my bat to my left hand and had my sword in my right hand.  “Come on you son-of-a-bitches.”  I was scared as hell but didn't want Al to know it.   All I wanted to do was pull my pistol out, shoot a few in the head, and get back inside.  “I'll take the two on the right.  You get the ones on the left.”

              “Alright kid.  You got the old lady and her ugly sister.”  Al shouted.  “I've got Mama Cass and Phil Collins.”

              Al was right.  They did look kind of like Mama Cass and Phil Collins.  He stepped up and hit Mama Cass on the side of the head.  Al tried to catch Phil Collins on the back swing but he reached up and grabbed the bat.

              “Oh shit.  I think Phil wants to make a fight of it.”

              Al let go of the bat and dropped to one knee.  When he came back up, he had his boot knife in his hand.  Al drove the knife up under Phil's chin and into his brain.  “I guess there won't be any reunion concerts this year.”  Al shouted.

              While he was doing this I was busy with old lady and her ugly sister.  I pushed ugly back with the bat and took a swing at the old lady with my sword.  I buried the sword in the side of her head about eye level.  It got stuck.  When she went down, the sword was yanked out of my hand.  By this time ugly sister was on me.  Her teeth were inches from my face.  I got the bat under her chin and was able to keep her from biting me.  Her forward momentum was enough to knock me to the ground.  I landed hard on my back and pulled ugly sister down on top of me.  She was snapping her teeth and trying to bite my face.  I pushed her back with the bat just as a booted foot kicked her square in the mouth.  Broken teeth flew everywhere.

              “You fucking bitch.”  It was Gina.  “I'll take that.”  Gina said reaching for the bat.

              I handed her my bat and she finished off ugly sister.  Al had to pull her off the zombie.

              “They call that overkill, kid.  Pre-zombie world you'd be in trouble.  Ugly was dead after the second time you hit her.  The last five weren't necessary.”

              “They were necessary for me.  She almost killed Steve.  Honey, are you alright?  Were you bit?”

              “No, I wasn't bit.  Thanks baby.  You saved my ass.”

              “Are you sure?”  You've got blood all over you.”

              “That's it's blood, not mine.”  I said as I reached down to pull my sword out of the other zombie's head.  I had to put my foot on it's head and pry my sword out.  After wriggling it back and forth, I was able to get it loose.

              “You need to practice with that thing some more.  Let's get back inside.  Here come the rest of those bastards.”  Al said.

              Cindy let us in and we ran to the other doors.  Cindy, Gina, and I grabbed the three carts we had ready by the doors and Al led us out.  I unlocked the propane storage tanks and the three of us started loading them with tanks.  Since all the zombies had gone to the other doors, Al didn't need my help keeping them off the girls.

              “Are we done yet?  Here they come.”  Al asked as quietly as possibly.

              Gina pushed my cart and pulled hers so I could hold the doors.  Cindy followed her in while Al watched our backs.  Just as I was able to pull the door shut, the first zombie made it to the door.  He ran face first into the door leaving a trail of blood and drool on the glass while trying to bite me through the door.  I turned the lock.  We were home free.

Chapter 8

              The day was over and night was almost upon us.  The zombies at the doors and windows grew weary of trying to get to us.  As long as we stayed away from the front of the store, they would eventually shuffle off to the parking lot to wander pointlessly around.  We could stand at the edge of the roof and watch them as long as we remained quiet.  Zombies rarely looked up.  Our scent must have dissipated before reaching the ground or maybe it rose to be carried away with the wind.  Either way, it was clear the zombies were unaware of our presence.  The earlier confrontation had already been forgotten. 

              Of course, Al was hungry again so I fired up the pit and got ready to barbeque some steaks.  The girls prepared the rest of the meal.  Al and I were able to relax and have a beer while the steaks cooked.  It was just like any weekend cookout.  If it wasn't for the sound of constant moaning coming from below, it would have been a pleasant evening.

              “I've been thinking about it Steve,  Maybe you're right and we should get out of here as soon as possible.  There's no telling when more of these fuckers are going to show up.  We could get trapped here.”

              “Why do you think the thirty or forty zombies down there hang around?  The horde left.  Why didn't they?”

              “I was thinking about that too.  Maybe they stay because the store is something that's still familiar to them.  You know what I'm saying?  In life, they came here a few times a week.  Hell, some of them might have been here everyday.  Maybe when they got here, something inside of them recognized where they were.  Do any of them look familiar?”

              “There was a couple earlier that I recognized but other than them, no.  It was usually pretty slow at night though.  Maybe all of them were regulars and came here during the day.”

              “Yeah, well, the steaks are done.  Let's get downstairs and eat.”

              As I took the steaks off the grill, I remembered there was something that had been bothering me.  A question I had to ask Al.  It really wasn't any of my business but I had to know.

              “So what's the story with you and Cindy?”

              “We've been friends for years.  You know all you dumb asses on the street should have done more than sit on your porches and stare.  You should have gone and knocked on her door.  That's what I did the first time she cut her grass after I'd moved in.  You know what they say.  'He who hesitates is lost'.”

              “Well, most of those guys were married and had families.  Besides, she seems pretty smitten with you.”

              “That's true.  She does have good taste in men.”

              “I wouldn't go that far.”

              By this time, we'd reached the conference room where the girls were waiting for us and our conversation ended.  Gina and Cindy had prepared a meal fit for a king.  There was a fresh salad, fresh green beans, baked potatoes, and cornbread. 

              “We won't be able to eat like this once we're on the road so we went all out.”  Cindy said.

              The television was on and one of the local news stations was still on the air.  The broadcaster looked a little rough.  I was betting he hadn't left the studio for at least two days.

              “Marshall law is still in effect.  Government officials are advising all citizens to remain in their homes.  National Guard sources say house to house sweeps are being made.  Evacuation centers are open and citizens are being moved to these now.  We repeat.  Remain in your homes and wait for help to arrive.”

              “Access to major highways and bridges have been blocked.  Highways are impassable.  Side streets are congested with abandoned vehicles.  We're being asked not to make matters worse by trying to make it to evacuation centers in our personal vehicles.  Once again, remain in your homes.  Help will be there soon.”

              I reached up and turned the volume down.  “Seems to me they're feeding people a load of crap.  I haven't seen any National Guard troops since that bunch got slaughtered this morning.”

              “Whatever help was out there before, ain't there now.  The only hope people have is if the government gets the Army or Marines active in this area.  Even then, it's going to be a long time before they're going to be able to offer any help to anybody.”  Al said.

              “I think we should stay here and wait for help to come.  Maybe the Army will come soon.  Then they can get us to an evacuation center.”  Cindy said.

              “Baby, nobody's coming to help us.  You saw what happened to that National Guard unit.  And the regular army is spread too thin to be of any help to us.  Our only hope is to get somewhere in the country with less people and less zombies.”

              “Gina, have you been able to get a hold of your father?”  Cindy asked.

              “No, every time I try, the call won't go through.  I think the cell service is out on his end.  I'm getting three bars so I assume the problem is between here and Boonville.”
              “Then why the hell are we going there?  For all we know, the place is crawling with zombies.  We're better off here,” Cindy said.

              “Honey, no matter what, we need to get out of here.  There's too many people in St. Charles that translates to more zombies.  Eventually, either they're going to get in here or somebody's going to break down these doors trying to get in.”

              “Besides that, the power has to go out soon.  We've been lucky so far.  The phones went down right away and the electricity will be next.  When that happens, it won't be too pleasant in here.  It wouldn't be so bad now with the weather being nice but in a few months winter is going to start.  We can't even build a fire in here.”  I was trying to get Cindy to understand that no matter what happens, we are leaving.

              “Hey, let's quit arguing about this.  We can leave at any time.  Everything's loaded and we can bug out at a moment's notice.”  Al said.  “I've got an idea on how we can shoot some zombies and not draw any attention to ourselves.  We could all use the target practice.  Everybody's in.  Go up on the roof. I'll be right there.”