Dead Life (6 page)

             
“You think?”

             
“Yeah, and get one of those ball bats while you’re at it.”

Chapter 12

             
On my way up to Meyers I called the help desk.  I wanted to let them know I was going in so I wouldn’t set off any alarms.

             
“Help desk, this is Marty.  Can I help you?”

             
“Hi Marty.  This is Steve Downs, badge number SD315.  I need to break the perimeter at St. Charles 725.”

             
“Okay, hang on a second.”

             
By the time Marty came back on the line I was already parked outside the store.

             
“Are you already in the store?”

             
“No, I’m sitting out front.”

             
“Then you can’t go in.”

             
“Why the hell not?”

             
“There’s armed security in the store and they won’t let you enter.”

             
Just then I heard gun shots.  They were close.

             
“What was that?” Marty asked.

             
“Sounded like gunshots.”

             
Two police cruisers went by with their sirens blaring.

             
“What’s going on there?”

             
“I don’t know.  Just let me in the store.  If you don’t, I’m going in anyway.”

             
“Okay, let me call the manager on duty so he can tell the security guards to let you in.  I don’t want them shooting you.  Give me your number and I’ll call you right back.  Don’t go in until I call.”

             
“Thank you.”

             
I gave him my number and hung up.  I wasn’t going to wait long.  I couldn’t see anybody in the store and was getting worried.  If there was security in there, they should have been watching the doors.  My cell phone rang.

             
“Hello?”

             
“Hey Steve, this is Marty.”

             
“Can I go in now?”

             
“I guess.  I think the lines are down.  All I got was a busy signal.  Just go ahead and go in.  I turned off the alarm.  Call me back when you get inside.”

             
“Alright, I’ll call you back.  Thanks.  Bye.”

             
I tried Gina’s cell phone one more time.  It rang and went to voicemail.  I hung up and went in.  The store was too quiet when I got inside.  The Muzak wasn’t playing which was unusual.  It made it eerie.  The only time the Muzak went off was when there was a thunderstorm.  It wasn’t even raining.  I was going to call out and try to get someone’s attention but decided maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.  I’d left my bat in the Hummer but I had my 45.  I drew it from the holster.  I felt ridiculous creeping around the store carrying a pistol but I was scared and having the gun made me feel a little safer.

             
The checkout area was clear so I went to the bakery.  No one was there.  Gina’s purse was there and her cell phone was in it with three missed calls.  I went across the front of the store checking down all the aisles and didn’t see anything. I went over to the produce aisle and couldn’t see anyone there either.  In the back of the store was the dairy section.  I went along the dairy case checking down each of the aisles again and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

             
Next I’d check the backroom.  It would be dark back there.  The lighting was motion activated and I wasn’t looking forward to going back there.  I went through the doors and the first set of lights came on.  There was blood on the floor right inside the doors.  I could smell gun powder mixed with the metallic smell of blood and was overcome with nausea.  Several spent gun casings littered the floor.  There was a gun on the ground and the slide was locked open.  I continued into the darkness.  To the left was the receiving dock.  When I approached the area, the lights came on but it was empty.  Going back the way I came, I could see that the lights were on at the far end of the long hallway that led to the meat coolers.  I could see at least two people down there.  They were the security guards and were bent over the prone figure of Mary the assistant night manager.

             
I held the gun out in front of me and started their way.  Every fifteen or twenty feet another overhead light came on announcing my arrival.  They never looked up.  They were too busy eating.  One had his head inside Mary’s stomach eating her entrails I guessed.  At this sight, I had no control of my thoughts and something sick involuntarily  popped in my mind.  Was Mary pregnant?  That would be too much to take.  I mentally berated my mind.  The other was eating her right leg.  He‘d already finished her left leg, picking it clean to the bone.  Again, my first thought was how close did it taste to a chicken leg.  That was when my cell phone rang. 

              Chapter 13

             
The security guard that was munching on Mary’s leg looked up at me and growled.  His eyes were clouded over and I didn’t know if he could even see me.  He lowered his face down to Mary’s leg and bit off a huge chunk.  He had to shake his head back and forth like a shark to get the piece of flesh to tear away.  That’s when my phone rang again.  I should have silenced my ringer.

             
This time he stood up and started coming towards me.  I was terrified.  I couldn’t even move.  Half his face had been chewed off.  I could see his skull.  His left eye was completely exposed and was rolling around in it’s socket.  His ear and most of the scalp on the left side of his head was gone.  He stumbled over Mary’s outstretched arm and fell to the ground.  That snapped me out of my temporary paralysis.  The zombie struggled back to his feet.  He was moaning and began shuffling towards me again.  I took careful aim and fired.  The shot hit him dead center in the chest.  The impact blew him off his feet and he landed on top of Mary and the other zombie.  He got right back up and I remembered I had to shoot the head.  My son’s words came back to me.  The only way to stop them was to destroy their brains.  I brought my gun up.  This time I aimed for the head and pulled the trigger.  It must have been a good shot because his head was disintegrated and this time when the zombie went down, he didn’t get back up.  “Take that you son of a bitch.”

             
Now it was time to take care of the other one.  I’d have to get closer to kill this one because I couldn’t see his head.  He had his entire head inside Mary’s body.  It was like he was trying to crawl up inside her.  I couldn’t stand looking at this.  Between the sight and the smell, I started retching and was about to throw up when Mary’s eyes opened.  They were opaque just like the security guards’ eyes.  She looked up at me from the ground, grinned like a crazy woman, and tried to grab my leg.  The other zombie security guard pulled his head out of Mary’s abdomen and hissed at me.  I think he was upset with me.  Maybe zombies don’t eat each other and now that Mary was one of them, he thought I’d ruined his feast.  I blew his head off.

             
I backed away from Mary.  I’d never really liked Mary.  She was a backstabbing little bitch and was always trying to get me in trouble.  It wasn’t as if I was doing anything wrong.  I think she just wanted my job.  I could never understand that.  She didn’t realize that I wasn’t making that much more money than she was.  Hell, I didn’t even want my job.  Still, I didn’t think I’d be able to shoot her.  She kept trying to get to her feet but she couldn’t.  There was too much damage to the one leg.  All the muscle tissue was gone so the leg couldn’t work.  I kept backing up.  She kept crawling after me.  At one point I could have sworn she was trying to talk to me.  Was that my name she was trying to mouth?  Maybe it was just my imagination.  Surely she was just making guttural noises.  Right?  While her eyes were clouded over, was that pleading I saw in them?  Did she want me to help her by killing her?  Was she in pain?  Did she even know who I was anymore?  I thought what the hell.  She was already dead.  I’d be doing her a favor.  I shot her too.

             
I had to find Gina.  I just hoped she wasn’t a zombie too.  I didn’t know if I could shoot her.  I had my doubts. 

             
My phone rang again.

             
“What?”  I screamed into the phone.

             
“You were supposed to call me right back!”  Marty whined.

             
“I’ve been a little busy.”

             
“Well, since I couldn’t reach you, I tried calling the police.  I kept getting a recording that says all circuits are busy.”

             
“That doesn’t surprise me.”

             
“What’s going on out there?”

             
“The security guards and Mary Simms are dead.  And I can’t find Gina.”

             
“Who’s Gina?”

             
“She works in the bakery.  I’m pretty sure she’s here somewhere.  I found her purse.”

             
“Did you try calling her on the intercom?”

             
“Oh, no.  I didn’t even think of that.  I’ll talk to you later.  And don’t call me again.  Wait until I call you.”

             
“Wait!  Are you going to call the police or should I ?”

             
“You just keep trying.”

             
I hung up. I should have told him what was going on but I didn’t have time for all the questions he would have had.  Besides, he’d figure it out sooner or later.  Right now all I cared about was finding Gina.  I went back down to the receiving desk and got on the intercom. 

             
“Gina Johnson, you’re taxi’s here.  Please come to the front of the store.”

             
I felt relief when I heard someone coming down the aisle and the person was crying.  That had to be a good sign of humanity.  I looked to the left and there stood a little girl.  Her long blond curly hair was all matted with blood and her dress was shredded in places.  She must have been in the restroom this whole time.  I gripped my gun and asked her, “Where’s your mom little girl?”

             
She just kept looking at me.  What was that she was clutching in her hand?  Oh God.  It looked like someone’s heart.  The crying turned into moaning.  She began shuffling towards me while lifting the organ to her mouth.  Her eyes never left mine.  It was the hardest decision I had to make so far but I pointed my gun at her head and pulled the trigger.

             
Where in the hell was Gina?  And who did that heart belong to?