In Hiding: A Survivors Journal of the Great Outbreak (6 page)

With
the back doors finally secure we started to talk about any other possible way
out. But after only a brief discussion it seemed like those that initially
wanted to leave had changed their minds. Maybe they had seen just how bad it
was out there, or they knew that there was still no way that traffic would have
cleared up at that point. But there was a growing desire to stay inside the
store and wait a while for things to settle down outside. Staying in the store
for a while seemed like the safest option. Our only option really.

The
number of infected outside the store had grown and even if we did fight our way
through them nobody really had any ideas on where we could go or where would be
safer then where we already were. We weren’t sure how long it would take for
the authorities to restore order. At least if we waited it out in the store for
a while we had security, we had food, water and enough supplies to see us
through this. So we decided to stay for what we thought would only be a night
or two.

Now
I am sure that everyone has been in a store similar to this at one point in his
or her life. But maybe all of these stores will be gone by the time somebody
reads this. Maybe future generations won’t remember what these monuments to
consumerism were like. So I guess a brief description is in order.

It
was a big store, but they came much bigger then this one. This was an older
store and was in desperate need of a renovation to catch up with most of the
other locations like it. It had one main entrance, but the larger stores
generally had two. It sold everything from groceries to car parts and
everything in between. It literally sold almost everything a person could
possibly want or need. From camping supplies and sporting goods to televisions
and clothes. You name it the store sold it. It also meant that the store had a
large stock room that stored what looked like an endless supply of anything we
could possibly need. Originally I thought the store would have the necessary
resources to help us survive the outbreak. Especially considering I didn’t
think we would be here that long.

But
there was one obvious down side that came with our decision to stay. We were
leaving the ones we cared about on the outside as the outbreak spread. We may
have believed that it was only going to be for a short period of time, but even
leaving them out there for one night was a terrifying thought. With no cell
phone service and the world falling apart all around us we would all have to
hope that our families and friends were somewhere safe. It would weight on all of
us.

We
had a few other major issues that we needed to address now that we were
committed to staying inside the store. There was Bruce’s injury that looked to
be more sever then we originally thought. He needed professional medical
attention and there was no possible way of him getting it, so he was going to
have to make due with whatever we could do for him.

The
other issue was we needed to finish securing the store. We needed to check the
other doors in the building and make sure that they were locked. That and check
the rest of the store to make sure that there were no other Zeds that had found
there way in that we might have missed. Some of the others had sworn they could
hear noises coming from the sales floor. We needed to make sure that we were alone.

But
before we could search the building, we needed to find a way to safely handle
anything we might find. Running around with a few pieces of metal and a broken
broom handle wasn’t exactly the optimal situation. The truth is we really
didn’t know what to do if there were any more of them still inside with us.

The
infected that we had encountered, well that hadn’t gone very well. We already
had one injury and despite our best efforts to not kill any of the Zeds, we had
two dead already. I don’t think that anyone of us was eager to kill again, not
then, but we were all well aware of the dangers they presented. We had already
witnessed what they had done to Bruce. We had seen what they did to that truck
driver. We knew that they attacked without hesitation and what they were
capable of. But we were afraid that close contact with any of the infected
would put us all at risk of infection. Well that’s at least what we thought at
the time.

So
we debated on what to do. We needed to be safe, and we needed to protect
ourselves. But we were reluctant to just run around killing the infected. It
was still early in the outbreak. We didn’t know if there was a cure coming, we
didn’t know if they would get better over time. Common sense told us no, I mean
we saw what they were doing. Some of them were missing limbs or had half of
their insides hanging out. But there were some in our group that were still
holding out hope that there was a fix in all of this. Even if all the evidence
pointed to the contrary.

As
it turns out many of the governments around the world had been through the same
debate. Maybe that’s why it took them so long to bring in the National Guard,
why it took them such a long time to respond to this crisis with force. I guess
that could be one of the reasons this thing was able to spread as quickly as it
did. It’s hard to blame them. It’s hard to wrap your head around something
turning people into mindless monsters that were walking around killing
indiscriminately. They still looked like people for the most part and deep down
we had no idea what was left of those people.

I
mean when you think of it, if you saw a family member, a friend, even somebody
you barely knew injured, hurt, bleeding or wounded. Your first instinct isn’t
to put a bullet in their head. It was to try and help them. People were only
trying to help and with that they exposed themselves to this terrible virus. I
wonder how many times basic concern for another person’s well being led to
death in all of this. It was an issue that everyone had to get past. It was an
issue that we certainly needed to get past if we had any chance of surviving
this.

But
we weren’t at that point yet.

So
I will spare you the details of our arguments for now. The name calling and
shouting about what was right and what was wrong. I will only tell you that our
discussions eventually led us to the sporting goods department and we managed
to get there without incident.

The
reason we ended up in that particular department was because as one of the
employees mentioned, there would have been plenty of options for weapons there.
We found there was still ample stock of baseball bats, golf clubs, and a wide
variety of camping tools that we could choose from to defend ourselves. Not to
mention there were still a few shotguns and hunting rifles left in the hunting
department and despite our reluctance to use them, they were at least an option
for us.

 
From there we came up with a plan to
search the rest of the building in the safest way possible. We would break off
into groups and each group would be responsible for a different area on the
store. We decided that if any of the groups did encounter a Zed they should try
and contain them or restrain them. Block them down an aisle or isolate them in
a confined area and wait for others to come so we could handle it together.
Killing them was supposed to be a last resort.

We
divided up into small groups. We left Bruce behind in the sporting goods
department with an elderly woman named Sandy. She was in her late fifties and
looked much older then that. So it was probably better that she remained back
while the rest of us went out into harms way.

Each
group was armed with one baseball bat or golf club and one gun. The guns were
not to be used unless it was absolutely necessary. We were afraid that if a
group encountered a huge number of Zeds out there, baseball bats might not be
enough. But with that many guns out there we had another major concern.
Friendly fire. So each group would follow a very specific path to and through
the department they were responsible for searching. That way one group wouldn’t
catch the other by surprise and well you get the idea.

Especially
since very few in our group had actually used a gun before. Anne and Paul were
the only two that had any real experience with firearms and only a handful of
the others had actually fired one before. I had only ever fired a handgun once
at a range a few years back. I was a terrible shot then and I was pretty sure
that hadn’t changed. But Paul felt that experience was enough and he handed me
one of the shotguns.

So
each group went their separate way. Kerri was partnered with me. Paul went out
with a young African-American woman named Tanya. Anne went with Ray and Cody,
Trevor and a young man named Adam headed off together looking for customers we
had missed or something much worse.

I
have to admit I felt a little safer with the shotgun in my hands. However, the
quick tutorial that Anne had given me did very little to calm the uneasiness I
was feeling about actually having to use it. I was also a little worried that
if we did run into something out there, the young woman standing next to me
could do much of anything. She stood about five foot-six and weighed about
hundred pounds or so and I doubted she could muster enough force with that bat
to stop anyone.
 
But I was hopeful
that it wouldn’t come to that.

Kerri
and I made our way through our section with no real sign of anything. We
checked behind every corner and searched anywhere someone could be hiding. We
were very cautious, we moved slowly and constantly checked our surroundings. We
only stopped once. It was at the front end of the store as we passed the front
doors. Kerri said something that I couldn’t make out and then suddenly she
stopped.

At
first, I didn’t see what she was looking at. The group of Zeds that were
pressed up against the outside set of glass doors were still there and it
appeared that there were more of them then before. Shatterproof glass I
remember telling myself. I felt the need to tell Kerri that as well.

But
that wasn’t what she had been looking at. She pointed out to a silver car that
looked like it had to be from the eighties. The driver’s side door was wide
open, but there was no sign of anyone inside the car. When she told me that the
car belonged to Scott, terrible thoughts filled my head. I tried to tell her
that he most likely had to run away before he could get into his car and that
he was probably safe somewhere down the road. Of course I couldn’t know that
and I don’t think she believed it, but it was enough for both of us to keep
moving.

The
gun was heavy. I had never held a shotgun before and I remember the weight had
caught me by surprise. The store was a ghost town and except for the faint
sounds coming from the other groups it was completely silent. That was about
the point that I realized that the two of us hadn’t really said a word to each
other since we had seen Scott’s car abandoned outside. I think it was probably
because we were both so on edge. The eerie silence was unnerving and my
imagination was running wild with what could be around each corner. So I tried
making small talk despite how forced it must have seemed to her.

Then
as we approached the far end of the grocery department we both heard something.
We stopped. Then we heard it again. It sounded as if someone was banging on a
sheet of metal or pounding on a metal door. My first thought was that it was
one of the other teams trying to force something open but once we realized that
it was coming from the section we were supposed to be searching, we knew it
couldn’t be them. So we did what we were supposed to do. He walked towards the
noise, both scared, both nervous and both unsure of what we might find when we
got there.

We
were able to pin point where the sound had been coming from with relative ease.
We found the exact area where the noise was coming from and found a small
hallway that led to the customer washrooms. It was well lit and had one door on
our left and two on our right. As we moved down the hallway we could tell that
the banging was getting progressively louder. We should have done what we were
supposed to do. We should have gone back and waited for the others. But we
didn’t.
 

I
put my ear up against each of the doors and it was clear as day that the sound
was coming from inside the women’s washroom. I looked back at Kerri waiting for
her to talk me out of what we were planning on doing. She didn’t. So I put my
shoulder into the door and slowly pushed it open. Once inside I aimed the
shotgun at the space in front of me only to find that there was nothing there
except for a white concrete wall and it was forcing me to go to my right. I
could hear the sound much clearer at that point. My heart was pounding and I
could feel my palms getting damp.

It
felt like an eternity passed in-between each and ever step as I moved along the
wall and prepared to look around the corner into the main part of the washroom.
Kerri followed close behind with her baseball bat in the air ready to swing. I
was just hoping it was a woman trapped in a bathroom stall.

I
turned the corner and raised the shotgun trying to remember not to pull the
trigger unless I had too. That was when I saw it. A man roughly six feet tall
and very stocky was pounding on the door of the middle stall. The lack of color
in his face and his clumsy movements told me that he had been infected. We
should have gone back. We should have went and found the others. But instead I
made a stupid mistake.