The Returners (19 page)

The blast of the shotgun echoed outside the store, even though it was indoors the sound still carried. A quarter of a mile away a large horde of Returners turned and began moving to where it had come from.

Jacob, Emily and Jessica moved Briella away from the door of the storage area. Jacob shut it and put the dead bolt back in place, doing his best to not look at Joe's corpse. Briella was lost to the world at this point, they couldn't move until she came around. All they could do for now was wait.

It was close to an hour before Briella's eyes opened. She didn't speak, only sat up and looked around. Tears ran down her face, realizing what had happened. Jacob and Jessica each offered her a hand and helped her get to her feet. Jessica couldn't help but shed tears at the pitiful, heartbroken face she was looking at.

"I'm sorry," Jessica said as she hugged Briella. 

Jacob looked at Emily and motioned for her to follow him. He wanted to give the girls a few moments alone before they left. They couldn't stay here long and he knew it. It was just now becoming clear to him the shot may have brought unwanted attention, but he didn't want to cause panic or worry. He put his hand on Briella's shoulder, looked at Jessica before he and Emily moved to the front of the building.

After a few minutes of tears Briella wiped her eyes. She knew she needed to be strong right now and she would have time later to mourn. "I know we need to get going, I'm sorry." 

Jessica wasn't sure what she was sorry about. "It's alright hon, you don't have anything to be sorry about. We do have to get going though." 

Briella nodded that she understood, Jessica was amazed at how quickly she'd pulled herself together. It must have been extremely difficult to do so.

“You ready?” Jessica asked.

“I think so.” Briella knew she had to keep it together. They still had to make it to the house.

The two women walked to the front of the store. As they rounded the end of one of the isles they saw Jacob and Emily crouching down looking out the busted window. Both of them crouched down and moved slowly towards them. When they reached their side they could see why they were antsy. Somewhere around thirty Returners stood within fifty feet of the building.

Jacob looked at both of them and put his finger to his lips. He pointed back to the isles, the whole group moved as low to the ground and quietly as they could.

Once they had made it he spoke, his voice hushed and nervous. "We're in a lot of trouble. The shotgun blast must have caught their attention." 

"Do you think if we got the main door shut we could defend the building and pick em off? We have enough ammo." Jessica knew it wasn't a probable solution to the dilemma, but at the moment she wasn't sure what else to suggest. 

"The only problem with that is the door won't stay shut if we don't have anyone to keep it closed. It's in pretty rough shape. Those things may be slow, but you know how strong they are. They'd knock it down in no time." Jacob responded to the question as best he could. "I'm afraid we aren't going to be able to get out of this without a fight. We'll have to use the guns."

Jessica began to speak, “What if...” The sound of dragging feet entering the building stopped her. The Returners were in the building now, they had to figure out something and quick.

Briella pointed to the back of the building and whispered, "Back there, they're getting closer." 

The group stood up and moved back as far as they could. The problem was the building wasn't that big. Even though they were at the back they were still only fifty feet or so away from the front. The isles provided very little cover, sooner or later they would be spotted. Jacob scanned the area for a side exit or emergency door. There had to be some other way they could escape the building, but he couldn't see any. The sound of items being knocked over, feet shuffling and low moans now filled the store. His thoughts raced for a solution to the problem at hand, their choices limited at this point. A light bulb went off in his head as something hit him that might work. He leaned over and whispered into Jessica's ear and she nodded her head. He turned to Briella and Emily, getting as close as he could.

"Listen, Jessica and I are going to go to the very end of the isle up there." He pointed to his right. "I want you two to go to the other end. We're going to make noise and try and distract them. We'll draw them away from your end and when things clear out enough, you guys make a break for it and run. If you need to shoot do it, but whatever you do don't stop."

Emily didn't like the sound of this plan. "How are you and mom going to get out?" Tears ran down her face.

"We'll get out, we just can't all do it at once. You know how to get to your house from here, right Emily?" Emily nodded her head. "You and Briella run as fast as you can and don't stop until you get there. We'll catch up to you." 

Emily hugged Jacob and then went to her mom and hugged her.

Briella hugged Jacob. "Just make sure you two get out safe as well." She let go of him, turned and hugged Jessica. 

The four of them stood together in silence for a moment. None of them wanting to split up, but deep down inside they knew they didn't have many options at this point. The longer they waited the less likely any of them would make it. The sounds filling the store were becoming even louder as more Returners entered the building.

"It's time," Was all Jacob said as both he and Jessica raised their guns and stepped out from behind the isle. Both of them began to scream and holler to draw the Returners attention.

Briella and Emily ran down to the other end of the isle as soon as Jessica and Jacob stepped out and started hollering. Briella peeked around the corner and could see the building was now full of Returners. Most of them were moving towards Jacob and Jessica. The sound of gunfire erupted as Jacob and Jessica began to fire. Now was their chance to make a break for the door.

There were so many Returners in the store it didn't leave them much space to get through, but there was a small opening. 

Briella looked at Emily and grabbed her shoulders. "Have your gun ready, but remember what Jacob said, don't stop. On the count of three we run." She didn't wait for Emily to respond. "1........2......3." 

The girls took off towards the door as fast as they could. Flailing arms of the Returners barely missing them as they ran by. 

Jacob saw the girls dart by and both he and Jessica began to make as much noise as they could to keep the Returners distracted. They held off on firing afraid they might hit the girls. As soon as the girls hit the door and were outside they raised their guns and began to fire again. Bullets tore into the Returners, but many of the shots weren't direct head hits and only slowed them down.

Jacob grabbed Jessica's arm. "Follow me."

They ran down to the other end of the isle, Returners began to fill the end they were just on.

"I'm out of bullets, I didn’t have many to start with." Jessica looked at him confused. "What I'm telling you is you need to run for the door and catch up with the girls." He leaned in and kissed her.

The Returners were only a few feet from him now.  He dropped his shotgun and pulled his knife from its sheath. He looked at Jessica one last time and saw her mouth the words,
"Don't."
Handing her his backpack he smiled and kissed her on the forehead. He turned and ran towards the horde of Returners. 

Knowing she only had a small window left to get out of the store, she turned and ran as fast as she could. A few Returners were now blocking the door. She raised her 9mm and took careful aim as she moved towards them. Both were clean head shots and dropped the Returners to the ground. Hurdling the fallen Returners she made it outside the building. While she was still in the air an arm reached out and knocked her to the ground. She hit hard but immediately scurried to her feet. A female Returner grabbed at her, barely missing. She kicked with all her strength and knocked it backwards. Quickly aiming her gun and firing the female Returners body fell as the bullet ripped into its skull.

There were several more Returners near her, but she'd used both of her clips and only had a few shots left. She couldn't risk stopping to reload, so she ran, running faster than she'd ever done in her life.

The only thing Jacob could think about was Jessica's safety as his knife blade slashed at the Returners blocking his way. That thought was fueling his fight right now. He managed to knock a few of them over when he charged, but the crowded confines of the narrow isle weren't enough for him to maneuver around in. After dropping a few with the knife he began to think about escape.

He began to back up, but realized a few had come to the opposite end of the isle. There was nowhere to go, he was blocked in and it wouldn't be long before the Returners overwhelmed him. Jacob tried to figure out what to do, anger and sadness filled him as he spun towards the ones behind him. Driving his knife into the skull of one, he saw several more had filled the isle taking the place of the one he'd just dropped.

This was the end for him and he knew it, there was nothing else he could do. He was exhausted and running on fumes. There were too many of them to fight and the Returners were only inches from him on both sides. He would be damned if he'd go down without a fight. With the last ounce of strength he could muster he drove his blade into the head of the closest Returner. The others overwhelmed him and pulled him to the ground. Their teeth and nails ripping into his flesh, tearing him apart.

When the pain hit, he screamed as his eyes rolled back and his last breath escaped his lips. His last thoughts flashed to when he'd first met Jessica and Emily. He smiled as Flash ran towards him his tail wagging happily.

Jessica heard Jacob screaming from inside the building, tears ran down her face as she ran. She wasn't sure how far she had run, but she didn't stop to look back. Briella and Emily were ahead of her, she could see them now.

"Wait for me," Hollering as loud as she could, she hoped they'd heard her.

The girls stopped and turned. They looked around to make sure no Returners were near. It didn't take long for her to catch up with them and she immediately hugged her daughter and Briella. It was then both of them realized Jacob wasn't with her. They looked at each other, faces filled with sadness. There was no time for them to be sad right now, they needed to get to the house.

"Run," Jessica said, not wanting to waste anymore time.

The three women continued to run as fast as they could towards the house. It seemed like it took them hours and time had slowed around them. When they finally reached the house, they stopped on the front porch and caught their breath. Their lungs ached for air, but they knew they couldn't stay outside. Jessica reached above the overhang of the porch and pulled a key down. She unlocked the door and opened it. The girls went inside first, Jessica following behind them. Before shutting the door she turned and looked back in the direction they had come from. The thought of Jacob, Joe and all they had been through overwhelmed her. Tears began running down her face as she broke down and sobbed.

The cool air of winter had come to Greenstone late this year. It was almost the end of December and today was the first day it had actually felt cold. The temperatures had just started to dip below fifty degrees and no snow had fallen. No large hordes of Returners had been seen in the area for four months now, just the occasional straggler. Two months ago a handful of people had arrived seeking refuge from the road and had said the same thing. They hadn't seen many or any hordes of Returners for several months. It seemed the plague of the century might be coming to an end.

Jessica stood staring out the window of her room looking at the garden they had planted in the backyard. It had long since been picked, the food preserved for their winter supply. It was a reminder of how far they had come since last spring. Emily was outside taking clothes off the clothesline and putting them in a laundry basket. Seeing her mother looking down at her she waved before heading into the house.

Jessica smiled and waved back before turning and walking to a small bookshelf in the corner of the room. Taking a book from it, she sat down on the edge of the bed and opened it to the last page which she had bookmarked. It was Jacob's diary, she had found in his backpack. She'd read the whole thing except for the last entry. Up until now she hadn't been able to bring herself to read his last thoughts. Today she decided it was time, hopefully it would give her closure.

"After everything that's happened. All the bad things, I finally feel like I have a family again. I just hope once we make it to Greenstone we can get back to some semblance of normalcy. At least whatever you want to consider normal in this day and age. I can honestly say I've fallen in love with Jessica, she's an amazing woman. It’s weird to think we've only known each other for a few days. It feels as though I've known her for a lifetime. I think once things have settled down I'll tell her so she knows how I truly feel. It's nice to know love can still grow in this shitty existence. Briella and Joe seem to be in love as well. You can tell by the glow those two have when they're together. If I were to ever have a daughter it would be Emily, she's such a smart and great kid, tough as nails like her mom. Our little family gives me reason to look forward to tomorrow and beyond."  

Jessica closed the book and placed it back on the bookshelf, tears ran down her face. Even though Jacob had never told her he loved her, she had known. It was weird how two people who had just met could feel a spark like that so quickly. She was glad she had finished reading it, even though it made her heart ache. 

The sound of a baby crying and a light knock on her door made her look up. Briella came in holding a baby. Shortly after they had gotten back Briella found out she was pregnant. Briella told her about the day her and Joe had made love in the pool by the stream, it must have happened then. The baby arrived a few weeks ago and had been a little early, but he was healthy.

"Hey hon, everything okay?" Briella asked as she walked over and sat down on the bed next to her. She handed the baby to Jessica who began to rock it back and forth. 

"How's little Joseph doing?" Jessica asked as she played with the baby.

"He's doing good. Just wanted to make sure you were alright. I heard you crying." 

Jessica stood up with the baby and looked at Briella. "I am, just thinking about some things is all." 

Briella understood what she meant. They had all often reflected back on the last few years lately. "Why don't we go downstairs and see how Emily's doing. Casey and Brian are coming over for dinner in a little while. They're bringing some venison with them."  

Jessica liked the idea of a nice meal. Casey and Brian were twin brothers who had come to the town a few months back with the group seeking refuge. Both men were always willing to help them out, splitting wood, helping with chores around the house or whatever else needed to be done. Both of the boys were excellent hunters and helped keep them stocked with game. The girls had worked out a barter system with them and returned the help by mending clothes, canning food and having them over for dinner whenever they could.

Jessica handed the baby back to Briella. "I'll be down in few minutes."

"Don't be long," Briella said as she left the room. She could hear Emily humming a song downstairs as she folded laundry. 

Jessica walked over to the window once again, and stood there with a smile spread across her lips. Despite her sadness and all they had lost, she knew things would be alright.