The Infected Dead (Book 3): Die For Now (14 page)

The Chief looked around the corner and studied the next couple of blocks. There was a parking lot on the left and homes on the right. Most of the homes were turned sideways to the street, which was a common form of architecture in the city. He leaned out a bit more to see what kind of building was connected to the parking lot, and he could just make out a few shopping carts mixed in with the cars that had been randomly abandoned at the store. Shopping carts meant supplies if the building hadn't already been looted, but judging by the number of infected that had swarmed the parking garage after the car alarm began blaring, not many people made it out of this area, and not many people would have chosen to come here for supplies. The Chief certainly wouldn't have chosen this place.

"Allison, there's some kind of store about a block from here. Judging by the number of shopping carts it might be a grocery store. If we have to fight our way out of trouble, don't let yourself get cornered. Try to stay on the ground if you have to run, and try to stay in the area by circling back on this spot. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it, Chief," she said. "What if I see a chance to get inside the building?”

"That's what I'm hoping for, Allison. If you see a way in, let me know so we can go in together. There's likely to be something bad roaming around in there that hasn't been able to find its own way out, so we're going to help it find another way out."

Strangely enough, Allison's question gave the Chief an idea.

"Allison, you're a genius," he said.

"Seriously, Chief?" She gave him a look like he had to be choosing the wrong time to be kidding around.

"Seriously," he answered. "We need to get around behind the store. I can't think of many stores that have their loading bays at ground level. If we can get into the storage areas, we can find a way to attract the attention of the infected out the back door. They'll eventually fall off of the loading dock, and they won't be able to get back in."

"That was my idea, Chief?" asked Allison.

He smiled at her and said, "Not directly, but your question about getting inside the building made me think we aren't likely to be able to walk right in the front door, and if you had seen this area when the whole world went to hell, you would know that there wasn't time to loot for food, water, and batteries. The infection spread through here like wildfire."

"Do you think they had a chance to lock the doors?" she asked.

"There's a possibility of that, but if the store was really modern, the doors could have also been automatic. Once power failed, they would shut, and I don't know if the infected would have had a reason to push them open, but I know they aren't smart enough to pull them open. Let's circle around behind the store and see if we can get in through the loading dock."

They stayed close to the wall and went to the end of the street. Not far away the horn continued to call to all of the infected dead in the streets. Hopefully, they would all find their way up to the third level of the parking garage before the battery finally died.

When they circled the block of buildings and were able to see the back of the building, they also saw that large numbers of people had tried to escape using the street behind the grocery store. It really wasn't a street, and with the exception of the place where trucks could back up to the loading dock, it was only one lane. Most of that lane was filled with cars, dumpsters, and human remains.

There were no infected wandering around behind the building, and what few may have been in the front parking lot were being drawn down the street to the parking garage.

"Allison, if not for the plane crash, I'd say you have some unbelievably good luck. Even running up the ramp inside the garage turned into a good thing."

"I planned that all along," she answered.

The Chief gave her a sideways look to see if she was serious and caught just a hint of her grin.

"Let's go," he said, "and here's the plan. If we can go in the back door, we have to make sure the front doors are closed tight, and then we have to get all of the infected to walk out the back door. The main problem is getting trapped inside somewhere between the front and back doors with infected blocking our exit."

Allison looked like she was thinking about it for a moment, and then she said, "Chief, I was in line at a Walmart once. You know, one of those times when it's really packed but they only have two registers open. I was about twelve carts from the front when they announced something was on sale at the back of the store. I wouldn't have given up my place in line if it had been free, but almost everyone in front of me took off."

"What are you talking about, Allison? Not that I would seriously think you're suggesting a sale announcement would get them all out, but I don't see what you're saying."

"I'm just saying, Chief, that no matter how good the sale is, you're not going to get all of them to come out the back door. Some are going to stay right where they are, or they're going to go in a completely different direction."

The Chief understood what Allison meant. It was likely that they would have to flush out as many as they could, but then they would still have to dispose of some inside the building.
 

They reached the loading dock and found the steps that led up onto the platform. On the opposite end was a ramp that was used to drive a forklift up onto the loading dock. The concrete loading dock itself was close to six feet from the payment below.

The Chief studied the layout and said, "I think they had to have a higher loading dock than normal because of the possibility of flooding. We're only a block from the river, and a surge through here would wipe out a lot of inventory. They must've used the forklift to unload trucks and then drive up the ramp."

Even though they would have to find a way to block the ramp and the stairs, they were happy with the height of the loading dock. Anything that went over the edge wasn't going to make it back up onto the same level as them. Because the horn in the garage had worked so well, they also had the time to get the stairs and ramp blocked without having to deal with infected dead coming at them from those two directions.

The Chief went over to the large door of the loading dock and checked to see if it was locked. When it wouldn't move he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to go inside to unlock it. He checked the solid metal door to the right of the big door, and the handle moved easily to the open position. Since he couldn't see inside the door, he put his ear against the cool metal and listened...not a sound.

Allison had been standing off at a distance watching how carefully the Chief was doing everything, and she didn't see they had company. Three of the infected walked up the forklift ramp without a sound and were practically on her before the Chief even turned in her direction. All she saw was his reaction and the way he bolted at her, and for just a moment she thought he was attacking her.

That was probably what saved her life. The Chief looked big when he was standing still. He looked even bigger when he was charging at you like a bull. Allison turned and started to run from him all in one motion, and she collided with the three infected dead that were right behind her. The first one was already reaching for her, so Allison got a face full of stinking, rotting hands as her momentum carried her directly into them.

The infected dead could still reach, grab, and bite, but they couldn't react quickly, especially those that had been decaying for a long time. Those that had died at the beginning were even likely to pull apart like an over cooked roast. Allison's sudden reaction knocked them backward and over the edge of the loading dock, and the Chief grabbed Allison just in time to keep her from going over with them. He pulled her back from the edge and held her in a big bear hug as she shook uncontrollably for what seemed like an hour.
 

When the Chief finally knew he could let her go, he held her out at arms length and checked her face.

"Were you bitten or scratched?" he asked.

She shook her head and he saw that the tears were pouring down her cheeks.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded but said, "One of them stuck its finger in my mouth, and I think I'm going to be sick."
 

Allison turned and went to her knees and started retching so hard the Chief thought she would tear a muscle in her abdomen. Breakfast had been a long time ago, so it was mostly dry heaving, but the taste had to be awful. The Chief knew he had to get inside the building and find her something to kill the taste, and probably even some hydrogen peroxide to rinse the germs out of her mouth.

The Chief looked along both ends of the building and saw there were no more infected coming their way, so he helped Allison to her feet and half carried her across the loading dock to the farthest corner. If any came along while he was inside, they weren't likely to see her where she was sitting.

"Allison, you need to stay really quiet until I get back. The forklift is most likely inside the door, so I'm going to have a look around. I'll get you some mouthwash and see if I can find a way to deal with whatever's inside the building. If you have to get away from anything while I'm gone, come inside and find me. Do you understand?"

Allison nodded that she understood, so the Chief went back to the door and eased it open. It looked pitch black inside, but there were no sounds of movement so he slipped inside and closed the door shut behind him.

The smell inside was awful, but without power and a few months to rot, there was plenty inside the store that could smell bad. Even worse, it was an unimaginable cocktail of odors from many different sources. Standing in the darkness the Chief thought it over and came to the conclusion that the front doors must be shut, and the windows must be intact, or the place would have had time for the odors to dissipate.
 

The Chief waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before moving from his place by the door. He was happy when he saw there were two forklifts instead of one. That meant he could block the stairs and the ramp, and if the front doors were really secure, they would at least have a safe place to spend the night.

The double doors that led from the storerooms to the main floor of the grocery store were directly in front of him. Each door had a circular glass window in it, and there was enough light coming from the store for him to see if it was safe. As he quietly stepped closer he saw a side that reminded all Harris Teeter employees to wash their hands before returning to work.

He thought to himself, "That won't be a problem anymore."

From his vantage point, he could see down two aisles, and he thought it could look worse. Shelves were in disarray, and the floors were covered with boxes and cans, but it was obvious that no survivors had been able to resupply from this store. The littered aisles were evidence that there had been struggles, probably when the infection started, and there had been or still were infected dead blundering around inside the store.

A crashing sound somewhere far off in the store confirmed the theory that something, whether living or dead, was in the store. The only question was how many. The Chief slipped the lug wrench from his belt and moved without a sound through the doors. It was like stepping back into daylight because there were skylights as well as windows. Something was moving on an aisle to the left. He could tell because it kept bumping into items that had been knocked from the shelves.
 

From the sounds he could tell the infected was moving toward the back of the store, and it was nearing the end of the aisle. His best choice was to wait for it to come around the corner where it would either turn away from him or toward him. Because he would have a longer reach with the lug wrench, he raised it above his head and waited.

He heard the slow, shuffling sound of the infected only a few feet away. It was still moving but it didn’t appear at his corner. A quick look around the corner revealed the infected had made a right turn and was heading for the next aisle. The Chief took one long step to close the gap and brought the lug wrench down on the back of the infected dead’s skull.
 

Even as it went down, the Chief realized he had just stepped into clear view down the next aisle without checking to see if it was clear first. A glance to his right showed an empty aisle, but the fine hairs on the back of his neck had already caused a shiver to race across his scalp and down his back. He had seen too many infected dead bite outstretched arms, and his were extended as far as they could be. He made a mental note that he must be getting tired if he was going to make that mistake, and he made himself a promise that it would be the last time. It had been a long day.

The Chief stepped into the aisle so he wouldn’t be so exposed and began listening again. There were sounds coming from several locations now. Maybe the sound of the infected hitting the floor was louder than he had thought. He tilted his head to one side and tried to focus on the most distinct sounds, hoping they were also the closest. He also saw that the shelves that were lit by the light from skylights were now a bit more in the shadows. That meant the sun was going to go down before he could clear the entire store unless he got moving. He needed to take the hunt to the infected instead of waiting for them to come to him.

With that decided, the Chief also decided it was more likely to find the infected spread out rather than in a group. A smile crossed his face as he thought to himself there was no rational reason to believe such a thing, and maybe it was just what he hoped. There was also his gut, and he trusted his gut feelings to keep him alive better than almost anything else. His gut was telling him to get on with it, and it was telling him to get back to Allison before it was too late.