The Returners (18 page)

He couldn't find the words, standing there in a stupor he just nodded his head while she waded into the pool. Joe couldn't do anything but stand there staring at her. 

"You going to just look at me all day or are you coming in?"

Her words snapped him out of it, quickly he undressed and waded out to her. Wrapping her arms around him Briella pressed her lips against his. They kissed passionately as Joe's hands began to explore her body. Pulling her closer their bodies now pressed together. Passion overtook them and their bodies joined as one.

It had been almost an hour and a half since Briella and Joe had left. Jessica was beginning to worry, her motherly instincts always on alert. She was about to say something to Jacob when the two of them came back into the campsite. Briella's hair was wet and both of them were grinning from ear to ear and had a glow about them.

"I've seen that glow before," Jessica said with a smile.

Briella's face began to turn red. Wanting to change the subject she told them about the pool. "We found a nice clean deep pool of water and it's actually pretty warm. We decided to take advantage of it and clean up." 

Jacob stood up and grabbed Jessica by the hand pulling her to her feet. "How far down there is it?' 

"Not far maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. If you walk along the edge of the stream you'll see it," Briella said as she sat down on one of the piles of fur boughs. Joe sat down beside her still holding her hand.

Jacob looked at Jessica, then back at Briella and Joe. "You mind keeping an eye on Emily? Jessica and I want to take a look, I know I wouldn't mind cleaning up." 

Jessica looked at him and winked. "Me either." 

"No problem, I'll start cooking up what we have left for food," Briella said.

“Thanks,” Jessica said.

Jessica looked at Jacob and winked, and he did so back with a slight chuckle. They headed off down the stream to find the pool. A smile on their faces, enthusiasm in their step, knowing a chance to be alone awaited them.

The night went by without incident, everyone awoke energized and in good spirits. Today was the day they would make it into town. Knowing they would need the energy, the group ate what remained of their food supply. Once finished eating they headed out to the road that would lead them into Greenstone. They walked for a few miles passing abandoned houses, places that had once been so full of life were now eerily quiet.

It seemed almost surreal to be wandering by houses again. Everything seemed so bleak and lifeless, and pounded home the fact life as they once knew it was nothing but a memory. So far there hadn't been any sign of Returners, that didn't mean there weren't any around though. Everyone kept themselves on extra alert and paid careful attention to their surroundings.

The fact they had been in the woods for months made it even stranger to be back amongst where people once lived. In the woods there were animals and birds that brought the forest to life. It seemed strange to see and hear nothing, not even the occasional cat or dog. Jacob thought to himself that was strange, as far as he knew Returners generally didn't bother animals. Maybe because the human populace had declined they were turning on those now. He didn't know how they functioned or what drove them so it was hard knowing what they would or wouldn't do.

They had traveled a little over a mile and houses were becoming more frequent, which told them they were getting closer to town.

Jessica pointed to a small building just up ahead of them. Even from this distance you could see the windows had been smashed out.

"That's Davis Family Quick Stop. It looks like it's been hit hard, but maybe we'll find something in there we can use," She said.

"I don't see why not, I cant see anything that should cause us a problem," Jacob said as he scanned the area for signs of possible trouble.

After determining it was safe the group began working their way towards the store. They were out in the open and vulnerable, moving slowly and cautiously to be sure nothing caught them off guard. They were about a hundred yards away when they saw a Returner come around the edge of the building. It stopped and seemed to look around searching for something. A second Returner appeared from the far left of the first one. The group was out in the open and exposed. If they made any quick movements they would give themselves away. Jacob signaled for the group to lay down where they stood. Everyone dropped down as quietly and quickly as possible.  

Jacob looked at Jessica and whispered to her as loudly as he dared, "You think you can pick them off with your .22? Shouldn't be so loud it draws attention if more are around." 

"I think so." Sighting the gun on the first Returner that had come out, she took careful aim.

The Returners somehow seemed to be aware of the groups presence and began to amble towards them. These ones appeared to have been returned for a long time as they moved stiffly and slowly. That was a lucky break for the group, it gave Jessica time to take them down. The first one was now only thirty-five yards away. 

Taking a deep break and exhaling Jessica squeezed the trigger. The gun crackled and the Returner dropped to the ground. Her aim dead on, the bullet striking it in the head. A third Returner had come from behind the building and was now visible.  

"Another one just came from where the first one did." Joe's eyes were fixed on the one that had just appeared. "What should we do?"   

Jacob responded his voice still low, but audible enough for everyone to hear him.

"Stay put for now, keep your eyes open in-case anymore come out. Let Jessica do what she can."  

Jessica squeezed the trigger again. The second Returner stumbled forward a few steps, but didn't drop. The shot had gone low and struck it in the neck.  A trickle of blood poured out from the wound. Refocusing her aim she fired again, this time striking her mark. The Returner moved a few steps forward seemingly unaware it had been shot before dropping to the ground.

The last one that had appeared was now moving towards them. This one seemed to move faster and with more purpose than the others. Jessica put the cross-hairs of the scope between it's eyes and squeezed the trigger. The shot missed, the Returner continued moving briskly towards them.

“Shit,” Jessica said. She aimed and fired again, missing for a second time. The Returner's shambling and stumbling movements were making it hard to zero in accurately.

Taking a deep breath she took aim once more and when she squeezed the trigger it stopped it where it stood. Blood ran down from its forehead as it dropped into a pile on the ground. Jessica sighed with relief.

The group stayed motionless and continued searching the area for anymore Returners. After several minutes Jacob stood up, and the others followed his lead.

"Keep a sharp eye out and be extra alert." Jacob was still on edge, not a hundred percent sure they were safe yet.

They moved the last hundred yards to the store, passing by the Returners Jessica had dropped. The door to the store was partially open and looked like someone had kicked it in. Bloody hand prints stained the wall around the door frame. Jacob approached first while the others stood a few feet behind him. He peered in, looking and listening for any movement before stepping inside. When he was sure it was safe he motioned for the others to join him.

"Everyone stay together in here, no one wanders around alone. Emily can you watch the door and make sure nothing comes in behind us?" Jacob said as everyone stepped inside the building.

Emily enthusiastically replied, "Yes!" to his question. She was proud Jacob trusted her enough to stay on guard while they searched the store,

"Thanks, lets see what we can scrounge up that might be of use to us. We're only about a mile from your house aren't we Jessica?" Jacob said as he looked around the store. The store seemed to have been fairly cleaned out, but there were still things on the shelves and items scattered about on the floor of the isles. 

"Yeah, my house isn't far, why do you ask?" Curious as to why he'd asked that specific question.

"Well I figure we can take some stuff now, then some of us can come back later and get more. Doesn't make a lot of sense to bring everything until we know what's ahead of us," Jacob said. He didn't want to have to drop it if they got into trouble. They might lose it permanently if they got caught out in the open and had to do that. "Everyone only take what you can throw in your backpacks for now. If we find enough stuff, we'll stash what we don't need in a hiding spot." 

Moving through the store together, they made sure to look back at Emily when they could to check on her. After searching the clutter they found several cans of food, dried pasta, feminine hygiene products, matches, batteries, half a case of water and some toilet paper. Most everything had been picked over, but whoever had done so had done so in haste. It was obvious they hadn't taken time to look over everything thoroughly, leaving behind plenty of useful items. Most of the stuff wasn't items they needed right at this very moment so they left it alone, but it would be worth coming back for.

After spending twenty minutes searching they had gotten everything they could use and thrown it in their bags. Not wanting to stick around any longer then needed they were just about to leave. That's when Joe thought of something.

"I used to work in a store like this after school. It had a small storage area they used to put some of their better selling items in. That way they would have it on hand between deliveries. I'm thinking maybe this place might have something similar." Joe figured it was worth mentioning. It might end up scoring them more things they could use.

"Maybe we should take one last look around before we leave. I saw a door over that way that had a dead bolt on it." Briella pointed in the direction of where she saw the door, "It was over by the coolers."

"All of us don't need to go and check that out. This place looks pretty secure for the moment. Joe if you and Briella want to go and check that out go ahead. We'll wait with Emily." Jacob was a bit hesitant about staying any longer, but it might prove useful if there was a storage area and it hadn't been cleaned out.

Jessica and Jacob joined Emily who was staring out the shattered window of the store.

"You see anything?" Jacob asked as they walked up to her.

"Nope, nothing at all. Haven't heard anything either." She continued to look out the busted window.

"Good." That was a positive sign. Something he hoped stayed that way on the last leg of their journey.

Briella and Joe walked back to the door she had seen. The dead bolt was stuck and Joe was doing his best to get it to come undone. Putting all of his force behind it he managed to pop the bolt open, but jammed his hand in the process. Pulling it back he winced and shook it.

"Dammit, that hurt." He looked at his hand to see where the bolt had pinched it. 

Briella grabbed his hand and looked. "You big baby it's just a little cut." Laughing as she teased him about it.

He couldn't help but laugh as well. "Lets see what’s in here. Stay close to me."  

The room was fairly dark, but with the door open there was just enough light for them to see. It was a storage area like he'd thought, there were cases of canned food as well as other items. He couldn't tell for sure what they were in the low light.

"Looks like we might have hit the jackpot, can't believe no one else found this. Guess we lucked out." It was right then the smell hit him. It was faint, but putrid. "Briella do you smell that?" 

"Must be rotted food or something, hard telling, I can't see that well in here." Briella pulled her shirt up over her nose to cover up the smell.

The smell was becoming stronger the longer they stood there and seemed like it was getting closer. It was odd and they couldn't figure it out.  

"I think we better go back and tell Jacob and the others about this. Can't take it with us right now anyway," Joe said.

Briella put her hand on his shoulder. "Do you hear that?" 

He wasn't sure what she was talking about, he didn't hear anything. "No." 

They both stood there in silence, a faint scrapping sound could be heard and it sounded like it was right in front of them.

"I hear it now." He was about to suggest they leave when he felt teeth sink into his leg and screamed out in pain. Hands grabbed ahold of his leg as broken fingernails clawed into his flesh. He could feel it being torn from his leg.

"Run!" Joe screamed as he was pulled off his feet.

Briella heard Joe scream, her mind filled with terrible thoughts about what was happening. She ran towards the door, as she made it into the store area she saw Jessica, Emily and Jacob running towards her. All she could manage to say was, "Joe."  

Joe felt teeth sink into his leg, his whole body began to burn. Pulling his knife from its sheath he began to flail wildly at whatever was biting him. He felt it sink into flesh, he pulled the knife out and swung down again. This time the grip on his leg loosened as the knife drove into whatever was attacking him. His heart felt like it was going to explode, liquid bile came up in his throat. He could only gasp for air when he tried to breathe.

He heard Jacob's voice call out his name as he lost grip on the knife. He convulsed a few times, blood filled his lungs as darkness began to engulf him.

"Briella, I love you." Blood spewed from his lips as he forced the words out.

"Joe," Jacob spoke loudly, but didn't holler as he stood in front of the door. He got no response.

Briella stood beside him and they both heard Joe's voice brokenly say, "Briella, I love you."

The sound of his voice gurgling in death spasms were so loud they filled the room. It was something they had all heard before and Briella began to sob uncontrollably. Jessica grabbed ahold of her, afraid she was going to pass out. Emily grabbed Briella as well, helping her mother steady her.

Jacob knew it was only a matter of seconds before Joe would return and come after them. He'd seen it before and knew it was inevitable. The least he could do was end his suffering when he did. It seemed like forever, but the sound of feet shuffling quickly towards them came soon enough. The returned corpse of Joe stood before them in the doorway, blood running from his mouth, his eyes glazed over and void of life.

"Girls look away," was the only thing Jacob said as he raised his shotgun. "Sorry kid," He said, pulling the trigger as Joe lunged towards him. The blast echoed throughout the store. Joe's body was flew backward as the pellets struck him and knocked him into the supply room.

Briella crumpled into Jessica's arms, her emotions overwhelming her. Jessica and Emily managed to keep her from falling and helped ease her gently to the floor. Both Jessica's and Emily's eyes filled with tears and they began to sob. Tears ran down Jacob's face as he lowered the shotgun. Wiping them away he turned to the girls, the three of them stood there silently looking at Briella.

How quickly a situation could go from good to bad. One minute you were alive and full of life, the next gone. That point was hitting all of them hard at this moment. A gruesome reminder of what life now was.