This Would Be Paradise (Book 1) (14 page)

We headed back to our fort, which would make any kid proud, only to be grilled by Taylor.

“Why we’re you lookin’ at toys?” he asked.

“None of your business, that’s why,” I retorted and I saw his left eye twitch.

“The little one asked you, didn’t she?” John grinned around the pepperoni stick he was eating.

“We figured she’d asked you to,” Ethan laughed.

“She asked for some Oreos so I packed a few boxes for her,” John grinned. “Hope that’s okay.”

Ethan shrugged, “Why not.”

“So y’all find what you need?” John asked.

“Think so.”

I plopped down on one of the futon mattresses. It was comfier than the cot bed back at the cabin, which was rather sad.

“We were just discussin’ the plan for tomorrow.”

Taylor sat down on the mattress opposite from me.

“We were talking about that too,” I replied. “I think we should still go to Duson for their police station. Maybe we can get a transistor radio there.”

“I was thinkin’ the same thing. Maybe start lookin’ for other survivors,” John nodded in agreement.

“I think we should go back,” Ethan added. “Look how much stuff we got. And the police station isn’t goin’ anywhere.”

“But we’re only like half an hour from Duson,” Taylor pointed out.

Ethan clenched his jaw, frustrated that again he was going to lose out.

“You could take one of the vehicles back,” I suggested.

Without hesitation, John retorted, “No, we should stick together.”

“I don’t like leavin’ Chloe,” Ethan ground out through gritted teeth.

“I understand that son, but we’re so close that we can’t pass this up,” John said calmly. “And we could sure use the ammo, unless you want to make another long trip back to my store.”

Ethan glared off into the distance, then got up and walked off. I guess he needed some time to cool off.

“I’m sure he will come around,” John said as we watched him walk away.

“I’ve been wondering this since we met you at your gun shop. How come your store is called Bobby Joe’s Gun Shop when your name is John?” I finally got around to asking.

John chuckled, “Bobby Joe was my father. He started the gun store and when he passed, I took it over after I was in the military.”

I nodded, accepting his answer, “So we would be back at the cabin by tomorrow night right?”

“Easily. Duson is only a half an hour away, give or take,” Taylor answered.

“Might be longer dependin’ on if we run into trouble or not,” John added. “But if we leave bright and early tomorrow, I don’t see why not.”

“Do you think there are other survivors out there?” I asked both of them.

John grinned at the thought, “There has to be. We don’t have a military for nothin’.”

“Then how come we haven’t seen any military presence? Not even an armoured vehicle on the interstate?”

“Maybe we just haven’t gone far enough. This country is filled with people who were in the military; chances are they’re hunkered down waitin’ out the storm, too.”

“Plus, we don’t even know if this is global or not,” Taylor piped up.

“True, but I haven’t seen any planes in over two months. So even if they are untouched by this plague
elsewhere, they sure as hell haven’t come to lend a hand,” I pointed out.

“Let’s leave the ‘are we alone’ debate until another time, kids,” John butted in. “We have more immediate concerns.”

We decided that we would leave at first light for the Duson police station. If the journey became too much, then we would turn right around and head back to the cabin. When John and Taylor began discussing firearms, I started to zone out. I’ve taken all the gun talk I can over these last few months. I’d like to think I’ve become rather proficient in my knowledge of them, which I suppose is a necessity now. Ethan still hadn’t shown up by the time they started talking about high caliber rounds, so I slipped away with a nod to find him.

Ethan had headed off toward the left side of the store, so I started that way. With my knife in hand, I looked around for signs of him. I caught the faint sound of rustling, like metal on a rack, and quietly followed the noise. The aisle marker showed
Sporting Goods
when I shone my flashlight over the sign. I found Ethan comparing two different fishing rods.

“You fish, too?” I said.

“Yeah, so which one do you think?” He held them up for me to inspect, knowing full well I knew nothing of fishing. The name of the one caught my eye.

“The black one labelled The Ugly Stick; at least you can hit someone with it and get a few jokes out of it.”

Ethan looked me in the eye. “I’m taking the van back tomorrow.”

“But John–”

“Who made John leader? We sure as hell didn’t take a vote.”

“He’s not our leader.” I frowned at the term because in a way, John kind of had taken charge.

“Really, so that’s why he’s the one callin’ the shots?” Ethan was starting to get louder.

“Look, I know you’re upset that we’re not heading right back to the cabin, but we have come this far already,” I used the calmest tone I could manage, hoping that Ethan would stop his fit.

“Why are you takin’ their side?”

“It’s not a matter of sides, you idiot. We’re all in this together. By getting a transistor radio and maybe even a police scanner, we might be able to locate other people; don’t you want that too?”

Anger was starting to slip into my voice. I just didn’t understand how Ethan, who had always managed to see reason before, was so opposed to adding on an extra couple of hours to our trip for such a worthy cause. My hand clenched around the handle of my knife in frustration.

“Of course I do, but I have family back there that I hate to leave.”

“So you’re the only one who gets to worry about your family? What about my family, huh? They’re practically a whole country away. I don’t know if any of them are alive or dead!”

He turned to me in an angry rush, “I don’t know if my family is alive either! For all I know, all I got left is Chloe!”

I opened my mouth to yell my retort, but John cut me off as he appeared around the corner. “What in God’s name are ya’ll hollerin’ about?”

“Ethan is taking the van back tomorrow while we go to the police station.”

John looked over at Ethan’s angry face and sighed.

“Son, this is a free country so I ain’t gonna stop you, but think of how much we need you out here.”

“Chloe needs me.”

“Yes, but she’s safe at the cabin with two adults watchin’ over her. We’re out here in the middle of nowhere, full of infected and no idea of what else is out there; we could use you more.”

Ethan yanked his hand through his hair, “Fine, but we get in and out. No more side trips. No more stallin’.”

“That’s more than fair. Now come on, we need our sleep.”

We trudged back to our home base in silence. I was mad that Ethan kept freaking out and somehow, I managed to be the recipient of it. I refused to acknowledge him the whole way back and even as we settled down on our futon mattresses for the night.

John had managed to get Ethan to see reason, where I had failed. This kind of pissed me off since Ethan was only moments ago complaining about John. It was clear that John had military training and maybe that extended to dealing with difficult soldiers. To answer Ethan’s earlier question, I guess that’s why John sort of had become our unofficial leader. He managed to organize us all, while in the middle of this mess and keep a level head. I still had a lot to learn on that front.

The next morning came too fast. I felt like I had been run over by a bus, having been up most of the night tossing and turning, as my thoughts drifted toward my family once again. My throat constricted at the thought of never seeing them again. As much as I complained about them, I still loved my family. Up until now, I had never lost anyone I was close to, besides my grandma. Wondering if they were dead created a panic in me that had my heart racing all night long.

I poured out a water bottle into the ladies’ washroom sink that I had plugged and washed my face, waking me up a little bit. I stared into the messy mirror. My appearance hadn’t really changed; my blonde hair was slightly longer and the paleness of my skin was replaced with a minor tan. Well, it was a tan to me. Those pesky last few pounds had disappeared thanks to our new lifestyle, which was probably the only benefit.
The apocalypse diet.
I giggled at the thought, which turned into full-fledged laughter. I had to bend over the sink I was laughing so hard.

My family always complained about my ability to laugh at the worse times, but I suppose it was my version of crying. I wiped at my moist eyes, feeling even hollower on the inside. There was nothing funny about this situation; it was the polar opposite of funny. I missed my family, my home; hell, I even missed my crappy part-time job. What I missed was regular life, the way you could go to the grocery store without a weapon. Well, at least in Canada that wasn’t an issue.

I finished washing my face, feeling a bit back to my normal self. When I left the women’s washroom, I passed near the front doors to get back to our fort. The sound of banging caught my attention. I fumbled with my bathroom stuff as I whirled around at the sound. The morning light was blocked off by a barricade off bodies pounding at the glass doors.
Shit!
I held my stuff to my chest and ran like the devil was on my heels. I rounded the furniture display aisle and ran face first into Taylor, who went flying back.

“What the hell, Bailey?” Taylor demanded, as he rubbed his face.

“There’s a whole bunch of infected crowded at the front door,” I said in a rush, my eyes darting between the guys.

John hopped up instantly, and we ran back to the entrance with our weapons in hand. The crowd was still banging on the glass doors insistently.

“They must have heard us drive here and all that noise we made yesterday,” John gritted. “We need to get a bird’s eye view of how many are out there.”

“I saw a ladder and roof hatch in the back,” Taylor mentioned.

John nodded, “All right, Ethan and Bailey, you stay here and keep an eye on this bunch. Taylor and I will go to the roof to see just how many are out there and see if our escape route in the back loadin’ area is blocked off.”

Before we had a chance to answer, they took off toward the back, leaving Ethan and my terrified self to keep watch on the front doors. We stood there powerless, unable to do anything about what was going to happen. The sound of glass starting to crack reached my ears, and that’s when I noticed the snake like fissures slithering over the first set of doors.

“All that pressure is going to shatter the doors.” I took a step back.

“We still have the second set to hold ‘em off,” Ethan offered.

As soon as the words left his mouth, two panes of glass exploded in a mess of glass. The horde poured into the cart lobby, only to be met by the second set of doors. Their grabbing hands banged and their teeth scratched uselessly along the glass, as smears of blood and other substances started to coat the inside of the doors. It was hard to see at this point, but it looked like the lobby was full to the brim of infected, like a mosh pit of rabid teen girls at a One Direction concert. The pushing of the crowd was starting to make the doors groan with the increased force.

“I really don’t think us standing here is doing much good,” I pointed out. I was starting to sweat from the mixture of the heat and fear.

“There’s nothin’ we can do, unless we want to go down with the first wave. Screw John, we’re not waitin’ here. Let’s go.”

Ethan grabbed my arm and we ran back to our camp. We hoisted our backpacks on and grabbed John and Taylor’s bags. Even though we were in the middle of the store, I still heard the sound of the second set of doors give way to the horde in a spectacular crash. I looked at Ethan, my eyes wide. I had never seen so many infected all at once, not even when we were still in the city. There must have been at least fifty of them. Ethan used his head to nod toward the back, and we sprinted to the swinging doors.

“Did you see that ladder Taylor was talking about?” I asked, panic saturating my voice.

There was no sign of either John or Taylor or even the roof hatch he was talking about. For a brief second, the uncharitable thought that they had left us for bait while they escaped crossed my mind. Our heads whipped up toward the ceiling as the distinct sound of gun fire erupted. They must have been trying to shoot the infected from the roof.

“Those idiots! The sound will just draw more in!” Ethan yelled angrily.

He looked like he could punch someone at the moment while I started to seize up, unsure of what to do. We had maybe a couple of minutes before the infected spread out in the store, and there was no telling how long it would take until they got back to where we were. I looked around wildly, searching for any kind of answer. The ray of sunlight that was shining down caught my frazzled attention. There stood the brightly painted yellow ladder Taylor must have been talking about, illuminated from the sun leaking in through the roof hatch. My fingers dug into Ethan’s arm, and he jerked at the pain. I pointed toward the ladder and a small smile flashed across his face.