Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (14 page)

We
finally break the group up and everyone but Greg heads to bed. He
insisted on being the one keeping watch, saying the rest of us need
to get sleep since the majority of us will be going out and the
others will be taking care of the kids.

It
took some time to convince Jake he would be alright, but after Greg
explained he had gotten plenty of sleep after they got back from
Nebraska and insists he can sleep tomorrow while everyone else is
busy, Jake finally agreed-although he didn't go further than the
couch in the family room. Everyone else piles upstairs. Somehow, Will
and I got the room to ourselves-
and don't think we aren't
going to enjoy it. Wink! Wink!

Exhausted
but satisfied-we fall into a deep sleep.

The
next morning we're startled from sleep by very loud screams and the
sound of running feet. Will and I fly out of bed, him in his pj
bottoms and me in a long nightshirt. Grabbing my handgun, I fly to
the door, yank it open and jump out into the hall, gun pointed....at
all the kids!

The
kids stop instantly, complete fear on their faces. I shift my eyes
around the hall looking for undead when it hits me that they can't
even get upstairs.

"What
the hell is going on?" I bellow at the kids. The kids look too
terrified to move or talk. Slowly, I lower the gun to my side, and
ask them again in a softer tone.

"We're
just excited cause it's Halloween, Aunt Canada," explains
MaLayna.

My
body sags with relief. Will places his hands on my shoulders and the
kids look dejected, still thinking they are in trouble. I grin at
them and tell them they aren't in trouble and I'm not mad.
Just
scared the living hell out of me, is all!

"You
guys can't be screaming like that, anymore. We will think you have a
zombie chasing you, ok?" They nod and head back down the stairs
much quieter than they came up. Will and I go back inside our room
and I get what I need for a shower while Will makes the bed and gets
dressed.

Downstairs,
Mom checks, cleans, medicates, and puts a fresh bandage on my throat.
Still burns like a bitch!
We
all eat breakfast, and then the ones of us going to St. Thomas head
outside and gather round the trucks. Dad and Mom are taking one of
the semis, Toby and Andy the other. Will and I are taking our Hummer,
Jake is taking his, and Ryder is taking Dad and Mom's Hummer, while
Rose and Kurt are taking Kurt's truck.

Sara,
Bianca, John, Sam, and Helen are riding with Jake. Kally, Ricky, and
Norman are riding with Ryder, which leaves Coco, Lindey, Greg, the
kids, and Ma at home.

Jake
makes sure my sisters and Ma can get to the guns easily and remembers
how to load and shoot. Finally, we're ready to go. We follow the
semis and the other vehicles out to the road where the guys secure
the fence-after everyone's through-with the ropes and chains, taking
extra care to make it as secure as possible.

Once
on the highway, I'm shocked at how many more abandoned vehicles there
are now. There are so many that we can't get through at all! We see
Dad running back to our vehicle and he jumps in the backseat. Seconds
later, Jake jumps in from the other side, right behind me.

Dad
tells Will to turn around and go back to the little town that's at
the same exit as Rose's but turning left instead of right. Will takes
us there and Dad guides him to an old run-down building and tells him
to go around the back. Will parks in the back lot and I see a couple
beat-up tow trucks. I grin.
Nice!

Dad
runs inside the building and comes back with keys. Tossing one set to
Jake, they jump inside the tow trucks and lead the way back to the
others. The others, who are at this moment, shooting about a dozen
undead.

A
dozen. No biggie. We just wait for the others to finish them off and
then Dad and Jake start clearing cars. The ones of us with Hummers
get on our roofs and keep watch. We see heads and torsos bobbing
behind vehicles all up and down the highway but fortunately, they
aren't all in one large group.

After
they get the road cleared, Norman jumps into the tow truck Dad was
driving and Dad gets back in the semi. John takes over Jake's tow
truck and Jake goes back to his own. The back door of Jake's truck
swings open hard and we watch as Sara dramatically slams the door
then runs to John's truck. She gets in without asking and I see John
shake his head. But apparently, he gives up and lets her stay.

Someone
in Jake's vehicle must have pissed her off again.
Fun times!

We
follow the tow trucks, stopping every once in a while and wait for
them to clear the road. A trip that should have taken only an hour
ends up taking three-but, finally, we make it.

All
of us except Jake, Toby, Andy, John, and their passengers, head to a
large shopping center on the edge of town. Jake's group heads toward
an industrial park, which has a lot of construction companies inside.

Dad
backs the semi up to the loading dock at the back of the store and we
all get out, carefully clearing the back lot. The back is surrounded
by a large security fence, and we close and secure the gate, keeping
the surprises from out here to a minimum.

When
everyone's ready, we start for the double loading doors. Both are
locked, but the single employee door nearby is propped open by a
medium-sized box. Dad kicks it out of the way and pulls the door open
wide. He looks inside and listens while we strain to see past him.

Finally,
he goes inside and we all follow. I'm next to last in line with Will
being the last. We all have our guns drawn and clear the back
storeroom by splitting up, with instructions from Ricky to lock or
block every door we find. It will be safer and easier to control just
one set of doors. The storeroom is set up with the area we are at now
as the main aisle to reach the shopping area. On each side are two
large aisles separated by floor to ceiling shelves, all stocked with
items.

Will
and I take the first hall on the right. We slowly walk down the
aisles, looking between large stacks of boxes where anything could
hide. The overhead lights are so high in the rafters that the glow
barely cuts through the darkness, and it's so quiet. I know that
should make me feel better but sadly, it doesn't. It actually worries
me
more
not hearing anything.

Will
and I are about halfway down the aisle when we hear the noise of the
zombie. Sounds like just one.
No big deal.

We
follow the sound to the end of the aisle, staying as quiet as we can.
At end, we creep forward, our backs against the inside shelves and
peek around the edge.

We
are stunned by what we find.

At
least fifty zombies are hanging from their necks in a line on a
rafter. They are all moving but only one is making any sound. We
watch in shock as they kick their legs and flail their arms.
Obviously the others aren't making any noise because their throats
are a mess. They look as if they've been up there for awhile, except
the one making the noise.

He
looks like he's been freshly hung. That scares me. By
whom
and
where
are they now? He's wearing a store uniform and looks to
be-
have been?-
in his late twenties, early thirties. One of his
shoes have been kicked off and the other looks about to go at
anytime.

Will
and I check for others behind us, living
or
dead, before we
leave the aisle. We walk toward the line of zombies and then down the
row, studying each one in sickened fascination.
Who would do
something like this?
At least shoot them.
Don't keep
them like
this
!

Ryder
and Norman walk out as we near the other aisle. Like us, they are
shocked by what they see, as well.

"What
the hell is this?" Ryder asks. Will and I just shrug our
shoulders.

"Should
we shoot them?" asks Norman.

I
shake my head no. "If we do, it could bring everything in the
front of the store after us. Undead and whatever the hell did this. I
think I would rather deal with the undead over those sickos, any day.
We need to get back and let the others know about this."

They
all agree and we take off at a run. Running, because we are afraid
something worse than the undead is going to find our family first.

We
come to the open center area and see Kally and Ricky running toward
us from the opposite aisle. They stop and beckon for us to follow
them. We do and when we come to the end of the aisle, it's like we
are seeing a mirror image of the other side of the storeroom.

Zombies
strung up by their necks. But these are different in one way. Some
have been stripped of their skin-
large
strips of skin.
This
is shit you see in the movies!

I
can't believe it, after all I've seen and done, but I start gagging.
Bending over, I throw up until I can do nothing but dry heave. Once
I'm able to move again, Will pulls me away from the others. We go far
enough down the aisle that I can't see the zombies anymore and I
fling my arms around Will's neck, sobbing into his shoulder. He holds
me tight and rubs my back in soft circles.

"Shh,
Honey. Don't think about it. I love you," he tells me in a soft,
gentle voice. I stop sobbing and sniff a few times, then release him.
Wiping my face of the tears, I shake my head.

"I
just don't understand, Will. I mean, what the hell?"

"I
don't know. I wish I did but I just don't freakin' know what that
shit was all about."

The
others join us and we walk back to the main aisle. Ricky and Ryder go
to the double swinging doors leading into the actual of the store,
while Will goes to the back door and locks it from inside.

We
gather near Ryder and Ricky-so they can be a part of the group, yet
still able to watch for whatever comes our way-and we all try to
figure out what to do next. Considering we have blocked or locked all
ways back here but the swinging main doors, there's no need for us to
worry about danger from behind us. Ricky reports that he can see some
undead in the store but of course he can't see the
entire
store. So we know there are some out there, just as we expect there
to be.

I
speak up, saying, "I think we need to use the silencers, sneak
in, and take those things out as we come to them. We should have had
the silencers on to begin with."
Actually, I forgot all about
them.

Rose,
my brothers, Norman, Kurt, Dad and Mom all look at me wide-eyed.
What?
What did I do?

Then
I remember only Will, Jake, Sara, and I know about the silencers.
We've never used them around the others.

"There's
silencers? And you're
just
now
mentioning it?"
Ricky hissed at me. I shrug.
My bad...damn.

Will
defends me, "I knew, too, and I didn't think about it. It's not
like we've done this shit all our lives. Give Canada a break."
Aw, my hero!

Will
and I go out the back door to our truck and grab a silencer for each
gun. I also grab a stack of ammo boxes and we go back in. As we all
ready our guns, Ricky and Ryder take another look and tell us it's
clear. We've decided to stick together so none of us will be caught
in a horde.

We
follow my brothers out the door, everyone ready to shoot. We make our
way to the front, hoping to block the main doors and prevent more
from coming in. On the way, we take out several of the undead. I can
see the head of a woman over in the lingerie section.
Must have a
hot date tonight.

Finally
we make it to the front of the store and separate into two groups,
one taking the left entrance and one taking the right. We are very
happy to see metal security gates that we can just pull down and
lock, instead of having to mess with trying to get the doors blocked.

Meeting
back up near the customer service desk at the middle of the front
part of the store, just after the registers-we take a moment to look
around.

"So.
Where do we start?" Kurt asks.

"Food
last. We're going to need coolers from Sporting section and ice to
keep it all cold. So let's start on the opposite side," Mom
says.
Sounds reasonable to me.

We
all head that way and grab two carts each. One we push, one we pull.
We will get the hand trucks for the heavier items later. Shooting the
undead as we go, we come first to the pharmacy where Rose, Mom, and I
stock up on meds and hygiene products. Kurt loads one cart full of
dog food for Bianca's dog, and then we go through the Sporting Goods
section.

We
grab fishing equipment, coolers of every shape and size, and I even
catch Dad throwing in some sports items.
Hey,why not?
Ricky
busts into the gun case and gets every one of them, along with the
ammo.

He
also picks up some of the targets, "For the kids," he says.
Ironically, most are cut-outs of zombies. We leave the sporting
section and go to the tools and auto sections. Filling the remaining
carts, we head back to the storeroom.