Love in the Time of Zombies (6 page)

“I
see it.”

The
vehicles were like a solid mass, now.  Other cars were driving on sidewalks and
median strips, trying to pass each other.  Horns honking and people screaming
and the rapid fire of guns.  A pick-up sideswiped them, the driver not seeming
to even notice.  Scotlyn swore as she braked to avoid a BMW and a Hummer
slammed into her from behind.  That sent the SUV jolting forward into the BMW,
the BMW into a Saturn, and the Saturn into a Lexus.

The
driver of the Lexus got out, raised a pistol, and started wilding firing at the
other cars.

“Get
down!  Get down!”  Zeke grabbed Scotlyn and pulled her sideways.  A bullet
impacted the windshield, spider-webbing the glass.  Several other drivers burst
out of their cars to tackle the guy, beating him with their fists.  At this
point, the panicked humans were almost as dangerous as the zombies.  The whole
situation was unraveling at a faster pace than even he could’ve predicted and
Zeke wasn’t an optimistic guy.

They
had to get out
now
.

Zeke
reached over to turn off the SUV and then popped the lever to open the rear
hatch.  “Climb through the car and out the back.  We’re about to start walking.” 
Up ahead, more gunfire sounded.  “Scratch that.  We’re
running.
”

Bright side
to the zombie apocalypse:

You’re now
the only one who remembers how dorky you looked in your eighth grade class
photo.

Shopping
at Wal-Mart during a zombie attack was a bizarre experience.

The
twenty-four hour store was filled with an uneasy mixture of panicking people
grabbing everything they saw, oblivious late night shoppers wondering what the
hell was going on, and apathetic clerks listening to headphones while they
stocked the emptying shelves.

Scotlyn
had no idea what she and Zeke were even doing there.

She
hurried after him, doing her best to keep up with him in her super expensive,
super uncomfortable heels.  They were made for looking cute, not jogging. 
Getting to the store had been agony on her toes.

“What
are we looking for, again?”

He
sprinted by the toy section and into hardware.  If Zeke passed up the opportunity
to browse for new plastic robots, you knew he was focused.  “We need duct tape,
tarps, and flashlights.  Grab those batteries, too.”  He unzipped the duffle
bag he carried and started stuffing in more supplies.

Scotlyn’s
mouth fell open.  “You can’t just take that stuff!”  She sent a quick glance
around the maze of aisles, expecting store security to be bearing down on them
with handcuffs.  “We’ll get caught!  I always get caught when I do something
wrong, so just…”

“I
don’t have time to pay.”  Zeke snagged a screwdriver and added it to his haul. 
“If we live through tonight, I’ll mail Wal-Mart a check.”

She
highly doubted that.  “No, you won’t.”

“No,
I won’t.”  He agreed.  “Do you have a hammer at your place?”

“A
hammer?  No.  Why would I need a hammer?”

“To
barricade doors.”  He grabbed one and some nails, then moved on to air masks. 
The most expensive one on the shelf got ripped open.  Zeke tossed the box aside
and scanned the directions.

Scotlyn
cast a look towards the cameras set up in the ceiling.  Insane as it was, she
was more nervous about getting busted for stealing than the zombies.  Petty
theft was at least something real and normal and
human
to focus on.  “We’re
going to get arrested.  They’re probably taking our pictures and calling the
police, right now.”  She gave the camera a sheepish “sorry we’re looting you”
kind of wave and hoped she didn’t look as bedraggled as she felt.  When it came
time to show the tape in court, she at least wanted the evidence to prove she
wasn’t an ugly felon.  “I told you I once got busted for shoplifting, right?”

“Yeah,
I saw that you dutifully confessed to the lipstick robbery on your employment
application.  You’re a real criminal mastermind, Trix.  Luckily, I think the
cops have bigger problems today than your reign of terror.”  Zeke finished
fiddling with the mask and handed it to her.  “Put that on.”

A
loud scream came from the direction of the greeting card aisle, the sound of it
cutting through the muzak playing over the speaker system.

Scotlyn’s
head whipped around, her heart pounding.  “Zeke, they’re inside the store.” 
She whispered fiercely.  “They must’ve figured out the automatic doors.”

Zeke
seized her arm and pulled behind a rack of light bulbs.  “Do you know how to
shoot?”

“Of
course I do.  You pull the trigger.”  It wasn’t nuclear physics.

Zeke
stared at her for a beat and then shook his head.  “I’m gonna call that close
enough.”  He handed her the revolver.  “Just try not to shoot
me
. 
That’s the safety.  Leave it off.”  Not satisfied with her pace, Zeke adjusted
the air mask over her face himself.  His hand briefly touched her hair.  “Whatever
happens, you stay right behind me, got it?”  He repeated.

Scotlyn
nodded.

Zeke
yanked his own gas mask on and then started off again, passed the automotive
and paint departments.  Rather than go towards the front of the store, he led
her parallel to the back wall.

Looking
down the length of the aisles, Scotlyn could see zombies gathering at the
registers, grabbing at fleeing shoppers.  One woman plowed her shopping cart
into a creature dressed in torn jeans, knocking it off its feet as she raced
for the door.  Scotlyn didn’t see how that would do her much good.  The zombies
had to be in the parking lot, too.

Two
guys in sporting goods had broken open a glass gun case and were fighting over
the last rifle.  The taller of the two wrestled it away from the other man and
sprinted off.  The smaller guy cursed a blue streak and started after him, only
to pause when he spotted Scotlyn’s revolver.  His eyes glowed with something
like gold fever; a lustful, insane need to possess.

He
lunged at her and she saw he was carrying a hunting knife. 
“Give me that
gun!”

Scotlyn
stumbled back in fear and surprise.  The swinging blade missed her by about two
inches.  She instinctively raised the gun and yanked back on the trigger.  A
bullet went ricocheting off the back wall, missing the guy by a mile.

He
ducked to the side, looking shocked.  “You tried to kill me!”

“
Son-of-a-bitch.
” 
Zeke backtracked to level the sawed off at the guy.  “Back the fuck
up
,
before I shoot you right here in aisle ten.”

“That
bitch just tried to kill me!”

“You
tried to attack me!”  Scotlyn shouted back.

“I
need that fucking gun!”  The guy raged.

“And
I need
her
.”

Scotlyn
blinked at him, amazed that Zeke would say something like that.  He didn’t need
her, at all.  Obviously, he would be doing much better on his own.  She was
only alive thus far because Zeke hadn’t abandoned her back at TGW.  It was so… gallant
of him.  So different than she’d ever expected from her careless employer.

“Move
at her again and I
won’t
miss.”  Zeke kept the shotgun aimed at the man,
even as he turned his attention to Scotlyn.  “Trixie, start walking away from
him.”

Scotlyn
backed up, swallowing hard.  “I shot, but my aim sucks.”  She looked over at
Zeke.  “Sorry.”

“We’ll
work on it.”

A
frantic voice crackled over the intercom: “Attention shoppers, we are experiencing
a mild disturbance and we’d like to ask all of you to exit the store in a calm
and orderly… Oh my God!  
Oh my God, NOOOOO!!!
  Run, Betty! 
RUN,
RU…!!!
”

The
announcement cut off on another scream and the cheery boy band music
automatically started back up.  All around them, hysterical people began racing
for the exit.

The
gun guy took off towards the front of the store, randomly waving around his
knife like invisible enemies were encircling him and he needed to fend them off
from all directions.  Two zombies tackled him as he passed a display of back
massagers, dragging him to the ground.  The guy clawed at the floor as they
pulled him towards the pharmacy.

Scotlyn
cringed.  “We have to help him!”

Zeke
lowered the shotgun and looked at her like she was crazy.  “You don’t help people
at the end of the world.”

“What
better
time to help them?”

“The
zombies just ripped out the guy’s goddamn throat.  He’s already gone.  Even if
he wasn’t, you think I would risk our safety for
that
dickhead?  He just
held a knife on you, Scotlyn!”

“I
know, but…”

“Forget
it.  We’re leaving.”

The
store was huge, with a hundred things all happening at once.  Zombies were
staggering through the furniture department, picking off the shoppers and
employees who were trying to climb up the shelves of computer desks.  In
electronics, three men continued to loot TVs, piling them into shopping carts. 
A crying woman in crafts was trying to hide beneath a pile of fabrics.  Displays
were knocked down and merchandise scattered as people fled through housewares
in terror.

Zeke
propelled Scotlyn passed all of it, dragging her towards groceries.  As they
went speeding by the pet section, Scotlyn grabbed a box of cat food off the
shelf.

Zeke
shot her an incredulous look.  “Really?”

“We
might need supplies.”

“I’m
not eating cat food unless I’m
really
hungry and completely out of…”

“For
Pucci, not
you
.”

Zeke’s
eyes scanned down the aisles as they passed them.  “Fine, but…”  He stopped
abruptly, his hand coming up to stop her progress.

Scotlyn
ran right into his arm, barely noticing.  All her attention was on the zombie straight
ahead of them.

It
was dressed in a nightgown and was missing half its arm, but that wasn’t
slowing it down.  It had climbed into the refrigerated meat case and was crouched
there, eating raw steaks straight from the packages.  It gnawed through the
styrofoam and cellophane, ripping free bloody chucks of meat with its teeth.

Zeke
swore softly.

The
zombie’s head slowly swiveled around to face them, blood dripping from its
chin.

Zeke
gauged the distance to the emergency exit on the far wall.  “It’s in our way.” 
He lifted the shotgun, again.  “We don’t have time to screw around.  That pink
shit is headed this…”

The
front of the store was suddenly rocked with a hail of automatic gunfire.  Scotlyn
dropped to the ground, her arms coming up to cover her head.  At the same time,
she heard the wail of sirens and the shrieking of humans and monsters alike.  The
police were outside, firing at the zombies and mowing down Wal-Mart shoppers as
collateral damage.

“
Fuck.
” 
Zeke flung himself on top of her.  His body covered hers as debris rained down
on them.  He rolled them both behind a refrigerated case full of cookie dough
and tubes of unbaked dinner rolls.

Scotlyn
could hear bullets impacting the other side of the metal freezer.  “I told you
the police would show up!”  She shouted.  Her eyes squeezed shut against his
chest and she instinctively brought up her palm to shield the back of Zeke’s
head, trying to protect him.

He
shifted his face so it was right above hers and she could tell that he was
smiling behind the mask.  His own hand went back to cover Scotlyn’s, his
fingers sliding between hers and locking tight.  “Yeah, you were right.  They’re
fucking tough on shoplifters around here.”

The
man was insane.

Whatever
caliber ammunition the cops were using, it was powerful enough to shred the
clothing department and everything south of the snack aisle.  Bits of fabric
flew everywhere, mixing with glass and potato chips and blood and bone.

The
zombie in the meat case gave a hissing sound of fury, its attention swinging
towards the police.  It sprang from the case and went lurching towards the new
threat.  It charged up the main aisle and was cut in two by gunfire.  The top
half of its body kept pulling itself towards the police.

“Path
is clear.”  Zeke started crawling towards the emergency exit, tugging Scotlyn
along by the collar and keeping them behind large displays of soft drinks. 
“Let’s go.”

She
swatted him away, staying low to avoid the bullets.  “I’m coming, alright?  Don’t
rip my dress.”

“Who
cares about the damn dress?!”

“Me! 
I’m still paying for it.”

“Well,
nobody’s opening their VISA bill again for loooong time, so don’t worry about
it.”

Somehow
that didn’t cheer her up.

Scotlyn
edged along behind Zeke, her attention on the front of the store.  She could
see through the shattered front windows out into the parking lot.  It was a scene
straight from a war movie.  The bright flashes of muzzle flare lit the night
like a strobe light.  The zombies and the police were fighting between the cars
and shopping carts.  Something exploded in a huge fireball that took out a row
of SUVs and at least a dozen people and zombies.  Even with their skin burning,
the monsters kept moving.