“Calm down! You’re gonna be okay,” Cliff said as he stood
back up.
“Cliff, what the hell is happening?!” Tina’s voice had
become strained.
“I don’t know! Keep the kids back there!” Cliff’s eyes
focused on the commotion outside the glass doors. More of the infected people
were running around attacking people in the parking lot. “Goddamn it!”
A sports car peeled out and ran over two infected humans.
They scraped across the ground and slammed into the sidewalk outside the store.
They popped right back up onto their feet and chased down the sports car. Chunks
of their bodies were left on the ground, but it did not slow them down. They
ran with a determination Cliff had never seen before.
The woman’s teeth chattered from fear. She held out and
examined her sticky, blood soaked hands. She talked quickly, “Someone bit my husband.
Then he tried to bite me. I ran. I think I’m going to throw up.”
Darleen raced back from the manager’s office. She was out
of breath from the short run. A first aid kit rattled in her shaking hands. She
slid down next to Tom and popped open the small plastic box.
Both Tom and Jake’s bodies started to convulse on the
floor. It looked like they were having seizures. Cliff stepped back and watched
as the skin pulled tight around their mouths and their eyes filled with black
blood. The reality of the situation sunk in. Whatever this infection was had
spread. Cliff’s legs would not move even though his brain was screaming.
RUN!
“Tina…?” he called over his shoulder.
Jake grabbed the old man next to him as Tom latched onto
Darleen. They bit into their victims at the same time.
A collective scream rocketed through the store.
The woman at the front door ran back out into the parking
lot and was gobbled up by a pack of infected humans.
Jake tore the larynx out of the old man. Tom chowed down
on Darleen’s eye. Cliff grabbed the cane next to the old man and swung it onto
the back of Jake’s head. The old wood snapped and the handle flew across the
floor.
Infected-Jake let go of the old man and eyed the tasty
treat that was Cliff.
“What the fuck is going on?!” Tina screeched.
Infected-Jake sprang toward Cliff.
“Aaahhhh!” Cliff cried out as he backed away from the
attack, he eyed the sharp point of the cane in his hand. Infected-Jake got within
a few feet. Cliff’s grip tightened.
Tina pointed in her children’s faces, “Stay here with
your sisters!”
She rounded the corner of the aisle and saw her husband
square off with the teen. The palm of Cliff’s hand wrapped tight around the
rubber tip at the end of the walking stick. He plunged the newly formed weapon
at the kid’s face. The sharp point slid easily into the eye socket of
infected-Jake. It came to an abrupt stop when the cane hit the back of its
skull. The body dropped to the floor. Taking the cane with it to the floor.
Tina watched in shock. “What did you do?!” she yelled at
him.
Just beyond her husband she saw Tom ripping Darleen to
shreds. In a flash it occurred to her just how serious all of this was. Over
the last ten years she had developed a morbid obsession with disasters. Natural
or man-made. She was smart enough to know that the groceries on the shelves were
all the store had and if the supply lines were cut, there would be no more food.
Between the twenty some people watching the drama take place a unified idea
began to form. It went something like this.
This shit is insane! It’s time to loot!
The group scattered in all directions. They left poor Darleen
to her demise.
Cliff dashed back down the aisle and joined his wife,
“It’s an infection! If they bite you, you get it! The kid had whatever it is! I
had to kill him!” They ran together and reunited with the children. Cliff’s
face had gone pale and his knees felt weak.
“Daddy you have blood on you,” Eve pointed to the red
dots that speckled his old gray t-shirt. Cliff looked down at the red. All he
could see was red. His eyes fluttered and he gasped for air. In high school
Cliff had been in a few fistfights. Even though he won most of them, he always
hated how he felt after. The adrenaline charged through his body. The
realization of how badly he could have been hurt. The fear of death. These
feelings pounded in his head and the truth of what just took place had crippled
him for the moment.
Tina pulled Cliff by the wrist, “We have to grab supplies
and get home!” She turned to the children, “Climb in with your sister!”
“We won’t fit!” Eve talked back.
“Do it now!” Tina slapped her hands together hard enough
to make her palms sting and the kids jumped. It only took a few seconds for
them to squeeze into the toy car at the front of the cart. There was only space
for two kids, but they made it work. “Think baby, what do we need!”
All around them people screamed and emptied shelves.
Cliff’s computer needed to reboot. It was slowly coming back online, but like
most old processors it took time.
“Food and water.” The words stumbled out of his mouth.
“We need things that won’t go bad.” She rubbed at his
shoulder to get him back on track.
“Dry foods. Like rice and beans!”
“Let’s grab what we need and get the fuck out of here!”
Tina gave him a hard punch on the shoulder and he was back. Out of his panicked
state and ready to function.
A set of shoes raced down the aisle toward them. It was infected-Tom.
His mouth soaked in blood. Eyes black. Hands reached out in front of him. A few
digits swung back and forth.
Cliff grabbed the handle on the cart and started moving.
It was even harder to push with ninety more pounds in the toy car. Tina gripped
the metal edge of the cart and helped him steer the damn thing.
Infected-Tom gained on them.
The children in the toy car screamed at the top of their
lungs. Cliff hoped he could outrun the infected body chasing his family. The
last thing he wanted to do was stand and face it unarmed.
They rounded a corner that led them to the bulk food
aisle. He checked over his shoulder at the monster hot on their trail. Cliff
searched the store for something to use as a weapon and defend his family. It
was all bags of chips, soda cans, beef jerky and batteries. There was nothing
here that could help him take the beast down.
Tina reached out and pulled bag after bag off the shelf
and dumped them into the cart. Rice, flour, sugar and salt. She grabbed boxes
of pasta, bags of beans, tubs of peanut butter and honey. All the staples she
could get her hands on. It reminded her of a game show she used to watch on TV
in Mexico, an old school, grocery store giveaway. Where couples raced down the
aisle filling up their carts as fast as they could to see who could get the
most food the fastest. The thrill of grabbing all this food and knowing she was
not going to pay for it was almost worth the threat of death.
In the rows across the store they could hear the sounds
of people screaming as the infection spread one bite at a time. The cart moved
slower and slower with every item she dropped into the wire-framed basket.
They rounded another corner close to the meat section of
the store. Cliff could not ignore infected-Tom any longer. The snapping sound
of the monsters teeth told him just how close the danger was.
He turned to face the infected.
Tina felt the cart come to a stop the second Cliff let
go.
“What are…?” she was cut off by Cliff’s strenuous scream.
Cliff stood feet shoulder width apart, his back to the
butcher shop and ready for the impact. The moment infected-Tom was about to
strike, Cliff side stepped and used the monster’s own momentum to shove the infected
into the glass case of seafood.
Infected-Tom, face-planted hard into the solid glass
surface. Cliff wasted no time and put his size twelve boot right into the back
of its skull and smashed it into the glass. The window shattered and a large
sliver found its way into infected-Tom’s face. The body went limp under his
foot as shellfish and ice spilled out onto the floor. Cliff was not a violent
man. Now that he was an adult he hated most forms of conflict. But no one fucked
with his family.
Tina pointed behind him, “Grab some knives!”
Cliff pulled his boot out of the display and checked out
the butcher shop behind the meat section. In two steps he was up and over the
counter. On the far wall a magnet strip held a full set of butcher knives and
one monster sized meat cleaver.
In a snap Cliff was back over the counter with a large
shiny butcher’s knife and a well-used meat cleaver. He liberated twenty pounds
of prime steak from the cold shelves outside the meat department.
Maybe I’ll get one last great meal.
He rejoined his family, dropped the meat off and handed
the knife over to Tina. The cart was getting pretty full. Tina did some fast
math in her head and calculated that if they stretched out the portions it
might be enough to feed them for a month. They would not be stuffed every day,
but they would not starve either. It was enough for now.
She pulled at the cart, “We should get medical supplies!”
Cliff took his position back behind the rig and gave it
all he had to get it rolling again. They headed down the aisle with toiletries
and snatched up some extra toothbrushes, shampoo and lady products. Tina made
sure she grabbed a couple medical kits, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and
some Ace bandages.
They had enough food to take care of their mouth holes
but what about the other end of their bodies. Cliff grabbed two of the largest
toilet paper cases and Tina tossed a big box of baby wipes onto the pile. The
last row they headed down was produce. Tina tossed bags of fruit in. They
sprinted to the front of the store. An end-cap filled with batteries and
flashlights caught Cliff’s eye. He seized a couple flashlights and a dozen
batteries to power them.
Infected-Darleen got up off the floor and chugged like a
locomotive for Tina. She could feel her heart climb up into her throat, “Ay
guey! Un zombie!” Tina reverted to her native tongue.
Cliff was busy tossing the last few batteries into the
basket and did not see that his wife was in danger. Infected-Darleen’s eye had
been scooped out and the left side of her face had been torn open. Her jagged
smile was open so wide that Tina could see her back molars. Tina was raised in
a pretty tough part of Mexico, but it had been a long time since she had been
in a fight. Infected-Darleen spotted the three children at the front of the cart
and made a move for them.
Don’t touch my kids!
Tina was not afraid to cut a bitch. She backhanded
infected-Darleen with the knife. The culinary tool designed for slicing meat
did an amazing job of rearranging what was left of infected-Darleen’s features.
A chunk of flesh was stripped off the right side of her face. She was
practically all skull and unrecognizable now, but the strike was not enough to
finish the job. Her snapping teeth were relentless as she pulled Tina to the
floor.
“CLIFF!”
The children cried and helplessly watched from inside
their plastic toy car.
Tina was able to get the edge of the knife up against
infected-Darleen’s neck. It was the only thing stopping it from taking a bite.
The blade sawed deep into the soft flesh as the creature fought to get closer
to its prey.
Cliff landed a kick into the side of the monster’s head.
A second later he brought all eight inches of the cleaver’s blade down onto the
back of its skull.
The body went limp.
He had to put his foot on Darleen’s neck to pull the
blade back out. He lifted Tina to her feet.
“You okay?!”
“Yeah! I’m fine! I almost had her!”
“I know.” Cliff looked over the gash that resided in the
back of Darleen’s skull. A hunk of her gray matter was exposed, “You have to
get the brain to take these people down.”
The other humans in this store had finished filling their
baskets and were making their way to the exits.
“Is there anything else we need?” Cliff wiped the sweat
from his forehead.
“To get the fuck out of here!” Tina hovered over the
scared children.
A few infected stormed toward the family. Cliff stepped
in front of his wife and plotted his next move. He couldn’t aim for the skull
because it would get stuck again and the second monster would get him. He
tightened his grip on the cleaver’s worn handle. The weight was close to the
hammer he used at work. Every tool had its intended job. This one’s job was to
chop through bone. His plan was complete. Go for the neck. Separate the head.
He swung his powerful arm horizontally at the first
infected and his plan worked perfectly. The cranium left the neck in one move. He
twisted his wrist and the blade faced the other direction. He swung his arm
backwards and the cleaver hit its target.
The noggin rolled across the floor. Cliff double-checked
the area and it looked clear for now. Most of the people had run outside. He
took a step forward and stepped on something metallic. It was soaked in blood
but he could easily spot the pearl handle of the switchblade under his foot. He
picked it up and closed the blade. As he pushed the cart to the front of the store
he slid it into his jeans pocket.
He kept the cart far enough back from the door so it
would not set off the sensor and open it. He snuck up to the edge of the glass
and looked out into the parking lot.
It was absolute chaos.
Half of the people that had escaped had been bitten. The
vehicles at the front of the lot were all covered in blood. Unmanned carts rolled
without purpose across the asphalt. Their van sat ten spaces deep into the lot.
It was extremely clear that it was safer in the store now than out there.
“What are you doing? Let’s go!” Tina was ready to charge.
“You need to stay here with the kids! I’ll go get the
van!”
“Are you insane?! You can’t leave us here!”
“Look!” He pointed out the window.
She joined him and took a peek. Cliff was right. There
was no way they could get through the lot with this cart, unload the kids and
the supplies without one of those bastards taking a chunk off them.
“I’ll hide behind the counter with the girls.” They pushed
the cart behind the counter that sold lotto tickets and cigarettes. The cart was
completely hidden behind the display.
“Hold tight!” He begun to push her down behind the
counter as well, but she grabbed him by his shirt collar and planted a deep
kiss on him.
“Be safe!”
“Always am.” He had to rip himself away from her. He
pulled the keys from his jeans and had his thumb ready to hit the door lock.
Cliff had to psych himself up for this. It felt like a suicide mission, but
what other option did he have? They couldn’t live in the Safeway. He got his
game face on and rushed out the door with the cleaver ready for action. It took
every fiber of his body to keep going and not freeze up from fear.
The parking lot looked like a warzone, like a warlord’s
rampage on the people after a coup. Bodies lay across the ground and shook as
they made the change from human to infected. The people that made it to their
cars were smashing their way through the parking lot. They hit every parked car
as they made their escape.
It had been a long time since Cliff played high school
football and when he did it was on defense, so making his way through a net of
dangerous monsters was quite foreign territory. He wasted no time and charged
hard out from under the store’s covered sidewalk.
Cliff veered to the right and zigged past a pack of
infected. He laid down a few strategic strikes with the cleaver. Blood splattered
with every chop. Gallons of bodily fluids doused him.
The infected heads rolled.
He approached a shaking body on the ground. Bite marks
crisscrossed the woman’s face. Her mouth pulled tight. Eyes were already black.
Why wait for her to get up?
Stomp! Cliff’s boot crashed down onto her head. The skull
cracked and her brains shot out of a ragged split in her scalp. He tapped the
button and the brake lights flashed on the van. He hit the button again and the
side door began to slide open on its own. Cliff had never been so happy that the
salesman up sold him on that feature. Cliff darted into the side of the van and
slammed the door shut behind him. A set of teeth crashed into the tinted window.
The infected clawed at the glass.
Cliff stepped and fought his way over the captain’s
chair. After a push of the start button the V6 engine came alive and the seat
belt sensor beeped over and over. Should he have taken the two seconds to click
the belt into position and silenced the stupid thing?
Nah.
Cliff watched as a truck sped through the parking lot. It
was on a collision course with a gas station at the edge of the shopping
center. It rammed the pump on the front row. The metal box folded in half and
gas sprayed into the air. Cliff ducked down below the dash in anticipation of
the explosion. Nothing. From across the parking lot he could hear the trucks
engine revving. Its horn blasted.
He sat back up. The front of the truck rested on top of
the pump that had been pushed over onto its side. He put the vehicle into
reverse and didn’t even check to see if someone else was pulling out. He just
stomped on the gas.
The station erupted into a colossal fireball. Cliff had
been to Nine Inch Nails concerts that were not as loud as this explosion.
Inside the store the ground under Tina’s butt shook from
the massive explosion outside.
“Come on girls. Be quiet,” she whispered, “Daddy will be
right back. I promise.” Doubt crept in.
What if he didn’t?
What if he was dead right now?
How the hell would she get out of here safely with her
three children? She couldn’t possible carry them all.
A set of bloody hands crashed down on the counter inches
from her head. She vomited out a scream. The nasty creature pulled itself over
the counter. It was about to drop down on her. Tina clutched the knife with
both hands and forced the blade up into the jaw of the beast. She was blasted
with blood. The warm sticky syrup drained down her chest and formed a waterfall
of blood between her C-cups. Its body went limp and fell on the floor next to
her. The three little ones cried and reached out for their Mama. Tina extracted
the knife and rolled back over to her children, “It’s okay! It’s okay. Mama’s
okay. Where the hell is your father?!” she wiped the blood off her face.
CRASH!
The backend of the van exploded through the sliding glass
doors. The back hatch opened and Cliff climbed out.
“Tina!” he ran to the counter. She popped up and gave him
another round of thankful kisses.
“You’re okay!”
“I’m fine.”
The dead body blocked the cart from getting out from
behind the counter. Cliff grabbed the body by the belt and dragged it across
the floor. It left a black streak across the tile. Tina and Cliff slipped a
little on the slick surface as they maneuvered the cart for the back of the
van. They crashed it right into the back bumper.
“Get in!” Tina pulled at her children. Eve got out first
and climbed up into the back of the open hatch. She helped pull up her sister
Alex by the wrist and got her into the van. Cliff pulled Brea out of the toy
car and handed her over to his oldest.
“Get her in her seat!” he told Eve. Brea was terrified
and cried uncontrollably. The children climbed over the back row and got themselves
strapped in.
Tina and Cliff moved with haste and unloaded the cart
into the back of the van. It took them no time at all to empty it. An infected
shuffled toward them. It was the old man that owned the switchblade. Cliff hit
him with a back kick and the old infected man fell over a display of beer at
the front of the store.
Tina loaded the last bag of rice, “Grab some of those
brews!”
“What?” Cliff pulled the cart away from the back of the
van.
Tina had started to climb in herself. “It’s like liquid
bread!”
“Good point.”
The infected old man got back to his feet. Cliff chopped
down onto his skull so hard that it split it in two. He kicked the old body in
the stomach again and pulled the cleaver out as it fell to the floor. Cliff
muscled up four cases of the finest Tecate. It was a brand of Mexican beer that
they both loved. Somehow he found room for them.
Once all of the food and supplies were secure, he pulled
himself up and over the pile. He hit the button that automatically closed the
hatch and made his way over the kids and dropped his tired body down onto the driver’s
seat.
A group of infected scratched at the hood of the van as
Cliff shifted into drive and smashed his boot to the floor. The infected were
thrown off the hood.
Blood sprayed up onto the windshield.
Cliff hit the wipers and windshield wash. The van dropped
down with a crunch off the sidewalk and sparks flew as the suspension system
bottomed out.
“Get us home safe!” Tina grabbed his forearm and squeezed
it tight.
The gas station fire had grown so big that it had caught the
bank next door on fire. From inside the van they could smell the smoke. The gas
fumes were undeniable, but there was something else in the air that their
brains couldn’t identify. It was the smell of burning money. The other smell they
couldn’t quite work out was the smell of cooked human. The infected stepped out
of the flames. They looked like
The Human Torch
. The van raced past the
structure fire. They counted at least thirty souls that had been set ablaze.
“Girls, keep your eyes down!” Cliff wished he could do
the same, but someone had to steer. He weaved the van through the parking lot
and tried his best not to hit a body straight on. The last thing they needed was
to blow the radiator or to have a burnt body crash through the windshield. The
front of the van crunched down onto the street as they pulled away from
Safeway.
“What do you think this is?” Tina pulled her seat belt across
her lap.
Now that they were sitting still they could feel just how
badly the stress and horror was affecting their bodies. They were both
trembling with fear. Their chests heaved as they struggled to catch their
breaths. Cliff’s knuckles were blanched white on the steering wheel. He shook
his head and thought about saying it looked like “The End” but the truth was it
was only the beginning.