“Oooh look at all them,” Lane said, rolling the van to a stop.
“You think they've got gas? One of them is upside down.” I said, looking at the upturned vehicle in
the field.
“Looks like an accident, which means they didn't break down or run out of gas.”
“Well, you're the gas expert.”
Lane bumped the van over the side of the road and slowly drove across the field. There was a large
SUV with a smashed bumper and another smaller car upside down.
I stuck my head through the hatch checking on Ozma.
“Is she still asleep?” Lane asked.
“Yep,”
“How can she sleep through this?” he asked as the van bumped over the uneven landscape.
“She sleeps through anything.” I said, closing the hatch.
Lane pulled up near the SUV.
“It's your turn to siphon.”
“Yay!” I said unenthusiastically.
Lane quietly eased the back door open and grabbed the jerry-can. I picked up the two tubes and rag.
Lane directed me over to the SUV. He reached up and in through the open window, trying to be
careful of the broken glass.
“Keys?” I said.
“Yep, still in the ignition.”
“Good.”
At least, we didn't have to break into the fuel tank this time.
He unlocked the gas cap and I stuck one end of the tube into the jerry-can and the other into the fuel
tank, then I pushed the other tube inside the tank, crammed the rag into the hole to cover it and
leaned down to blow.
“Don't swallow.” Lane chuckled.
“There will be no spitting or swallowing, please refrain from your usual dirty jokes, and just for the
record I never swallow... you already know that.”
Lane patted my butt with the bat.
“Stop that! We're here to siphon gas, remember?”
I blew into the tube, and after the second go the fuel flowed through the tube and into the jerry-can.
“Voilà!” I said, straightening up. I looked up at Lane, he looked tensed and had his eyes focused
back on the road.
“What is it? I can't see past the van.”
“Zombies.”
“How many?” I asked.
“Three.”
“Newbies?”
“No, but um...”
“What?” I left the jerry-cay and joined Lane at the end of the van.
“Huh,” I said, looking at the situation.
One overweight zombie wearing a business suit that included a tie. The other was a thin bony
female zombie, straggling behind, it looked almost dead... and the other
littl
e one close behind.
“I've never seen a kid zombie before.” Lane said, not in any rush.
“Lane,” I tried to get his attention. “You take care of tubby and twiggy and I'll deal with the little
ankle biter, okay?”
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“What do you think I'm going to do?” I said, picking up the bat and quietly closing the van doors.
I had managed to get my hands on another bat which I preferred using compared to the golf club.
“Lane, anytime this year.” I cocked my head at the approaching zombies.
I left Lane and walked around the van. Tubby beelined for me, I ducked around him, and cracked
him on the back of the head and sent him off in Lane's direction. The female zombie followed tubby
and the little one came charging at me like a possessed doll. I hated the little ones, they went
straight for the legs.
I took care of the situation and turned back to see how Lane was getting on. The female zombie was
already dead on the ground and Lane was letting tubby-zombie chase him around.
“Seriously?” I said.
“It's so funny, he can't keep up.” Lane laughed.
“No, Lane, that is wrong on so many levels. Please deal with it.”
“Spoil my fun. She always spoils my fun” he said, talking to the zombie.
He stopped and let tubby catch up to him so he could take a swing at him. I left Lane to finish him
off and went back to check on the fuel. Lane came around the van and handed me his bat, I held it
away from me, it was dripping wet. Lane filled the van and I cleaned the weapons on the grass the
best I could, then I placed them inside a garbage bag and put them on the floor in the front of the
van. I didn't want to take any chances, Ozma liked to gnaw on anything she could get her hands on.
I heard the doors at the back of the van open and close, and a moment later Lane climbed into the
front with Ozma in his arms, and he carefully passed her to me.
I lifted her into my arms, she was still fast asleep and didn't even stir she was so out of it.
“She's still out, do you think she's sick?” he said.
“No.” I laughed. “I think she's having a growth spurt.”
“Okay, but don't let her sleep too long, I don't want to be up all night again.”
“Lane so grumpy.” I teased.
“That's what happens when you don't get any sleep.”
“Oh, the joys of kids.” I said, offering Lane a piece of gum.
Thirty minutes down the road, we came across a turning off, which led into a large parking lot, with
multiple stores. A clothes store, hardware store, a store that sold camping and outdoor equipment,
and a pet store. I tried not to look at the pet store, the thought of dead animals made me feel queasy.
Then there was the larger building positioned in the middle with a shopping cart bay outside.
“It's probably been raided a thousand times before,” Lane said, parking two spaces back, in front of
the supermarket.
He killed the engine and we both leaned forward looking out the windshield.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I think I need clean underwear.” I said, looking over at the clothes store. “But we need to check for
food first, I can live with dirty undies, but I can't live without food.”
“What about Oz?” Lane said, looking at my arms.
Ozma was fast asleep, all she did was sleep, I think she loved the motion of the van.
“Help me get her into the back.” I said, lifting her up so I could carry her.
Lane got out and came around to my side and opened the door for me. We managed to get her into
the back without waking her, which was going to make this whole process a lot easier without a
screaming toddler left behind in the van. There was no way I was taking her inside an unknown
building.
“It's going to be dark in there.” Lane said, picking up a flashlight and handing one to me.
We retrieved our weapons then stood in front of the van looking at the building.
“We should make a list.” I said.
“I don't have any paper.” Lane said thinking I was being serious.
“No, a mental note, dummy! Think of what you need, only essential items.”
“Right,” he said, creasing his brow as though he was concentrating.
“Hopefully, the supermarket will have a few essential clothing items so we don't have to detour over
to that store.”
The front of the clothes store had smashed windows and clothes strewn all over the ground out
front. I wasn't sure whether humans had caused it or zombies. Most of the stores had broken
windows which meant zombies could have wandered inside.
“I want to do this as quick as possible.” I said.
“You're not the only one.” Lane said.
“You might wanna add a toothbrush to your list.”
“Have you got your gun?”
“Of course!”
We walked toward the store and a crow flew overhead and landed on one of the parking lot lights.
It squawked and Lane shifted beside me, lifting the baseball bat to his shoulder. Most of the
windows had been smashed in, but the sun reflected off the two that remained. The automatic doors
were open and store items and trash littered the ground outside. I carefully navigated my way
through the front doors, trying not to make too much noise.
“What's that smell?” Lane asked.
“Do you really need to ask?”
“It smells rotten.”
“It probably is. Stay clear of the produce section.”
Lane pulled up his neck tube, covering his nose, and I tried to breathe through my mouth.
The store was dark, but I didn't plan on going too far down the aisles. Lane managed to stumble
over a box and crashed into a stand of sunglasses. He gave me an apologetic look, and I looked
around for any sign of movement. Nothing.
I switched on my flashlight and had a look around. Lane went over to one of the checkouts, jumped
up, and shone his flashlight down the store. He shrugged and shook his head, not seeing anything. I
picked up a basket from the floor and walked over to the first bin I saw which was full of socks.
“Score,” I said to myself, excited over clean socks.
I picked out what
we
needed, deciding I might as well do Lane's shopping, I did everything else for
him.
Lane was busy behind me somewhere, I could hear him moving stuff around. I held my flashlight
up above my head looking down the first aisle. All clear. I searched the shelves, most of the stuff
had already been cleared out. When the disease started to spread and the world went into panic,
stores everywhere got raided, only back then people weren't stealing for survival. They were
stealing expensive items, electronic equipment, alcohol. Most of which is pretty useless now. The
toiletries aisle smelled rank, and I had to pull my hoodie up to tuck my nose into. I managed to find
toothpaste, shower wash and chucked a shampoo into the basket as mine was running low. As I
moved along the aisle the smell grew stronger. I quickly scanned the shelves for deodorant when
my foot nudged something. I shone the flashlight over the floor and saw a half eaten zombie, its
face was decaying and maggots crawled around inside its eye socket. I tried not to gag and quickly
moved away. Lane's flashlight came around the corner, blinding me.
“Stop it.” I hissed.
“I was just checking it was you.”
“Who else were you expecting?”
“I dunno a
zombie
.”
“I don't think zombies need moisturizer,” I said, picking up a small pot of face cream. “Did you find
anything good?” I asked.
“Underwear. I picked out some for you, is this okay?”
I glanced at the packet. One size too big. I wasn't going to make a fuss, though.
“Yes, that's fine.”
“And I found some toilet roll and wipes. Is this stuff okay? I thought while we have the van we can
carry the extra stuff.”
I looked at his basket, it was overflowing with toilet roll and other random household items.”
“No that's really good.” I was impressed. “No food?”
“I haven't been that way yet. It stinks over there. Are you nearly done here?”
I wasn't, I was still looking for something.
Ah, there it is.
I picked up a box of
Tampax
and Lane gave me an odd look.
“What?”
“Nothing.” he mumbled.
“Look, the world got overrun with zombies. I still get my period. Get over it!”
He fidget around and rearranged the things in his basket.
“Lane, you've seen me naked. I've seen you naked. It's just a box of
Tampax
. Why are you getting
weird?”
“Because it's girl stuff.”
“Girl stuff?” I laughed quietly. “Well, seeing as we're going to be living together, you're just going
to have to get used to it. Now which way to the bottled water?”
“I already checked. That whole area has been cleaned out.”
“Damn. Is there any other liquids we can drink, other than milk. Obviously!”
Lane ducked around the corner, and I quickly added another three boxes of
Tampax
to my basket,
then I searched the floor that was littered with all sorts. I found a packet of sterile wipes and put
them in my basket, and it reminded me we might need some more medical supplies. Lane came
back around the corner with a pack of juice boxes and a bottle of alcohol.
“That's it?” I asked.
“Yeah, the drink section has been desolated.”
“We need First Aid supplies, and anything edible, then I wanna get out of here.” I said.
Lane nodded in agreement and we quickly found what we needed. Gauzes and antiseptic cream,
then we ventured over to the food area.
“I think I'm gonna puke.” I said, covering my face with my arm.
“Where's the dry food? This
was
all fresh, and it's had it.”
I followed Lane and nearly slipped on some spilled liquid. We managed to find a few packets of
cookies, a box of cereal, a canned tin of baked beans and a squeezy bottle of ketchup, other than
that the shelves were bare in the food department.
“I can't believe there's nothing left.” I said, searching the floor.
“It has been two years. I'm sure everyone who passed by this way took as much as they could
carry.”
I was still looking around by my feet when a high pitched squeak filled the air. I jumped and my
heart pounded inside my chest.
“What was that?” I asked, pointing my flashlight over at Lane's feet.
“Dog toy.” he said, kicking it away.
I exhaled loudly, trying to bring my heart rate down again, but noises coming from the back of the
store had me on edge again. Another loud crash, and what sounded like pots and pans falling to the
floor.
“I think it's time to get out of here.” I whispered.
I scanned the floor with my flashlight, making sure I didn't stand on anything squishy or dead, and
Lane kept his pointed ahead of us. As we got closer to the front of the store the flashlights were no
longer needed and I switched mine off and shoved it in my basket. I was near the checkouts when I
realized Lane wasn't behind me.
“Lane?” I called, trying not to shout.
I kept moving, heading for the doors, and another loud crash sent something scattering around the
floor, not too far behind me.
I whistled, hoping he would hear that instead.
“I'm here.” he called back.
I turned around and saw him walking out from the magazine section.
“Where'd you go?”
“Spotted this.” he said, showing me his basket which now had comic books stuffed down the side.
“Really?” I said.
“What? You got moisturizer that you don't really need, and I wanted some comics.”
I shook my head and turned around to leave again and saw a zombie standing in the entryway.
“Ah, hell!” I said as it started moving in our direction.
It wasn't running which was a good thing because Lane looked unsure what to do.
“Give me that,” I said, taking the basket from him, one of us needed our hands empty to kill
zombies.
I shoved my bat into my basket, I couldn't carry everything with only two hands.
I hurried in-between the checkouts, keeping a watchful eye on the zombie, with Lane trailing me.
The zombie stopped along one of the checkouts, confused, unsure how to navigate around the
shopping belt to get to us. Stupid zombie! Lane and I had nearly made it to the doors when another
one came around the corner. It slipped on something but quickly regained its balance.
“Lane!”
He was the one with the weapon and he was hiding behind me. I was trying my best to hold onto the
two baskets without dropping anything.
“Get it!” I said, backing away as it lurched across the debris. I looked back over my shoulder, the
other zombie was still trying to work out how to get around the checkouts.
“Aaagh!” Lane charged at the one in front, swinging the bat, but he somehow missed and fell over a
box.
I regretted my decision to hold the baskets as I watched Lane rolling around on the floor.
The zombie ignored him and came straight for me. I reluctantly put down the baskets and grabbed
my bat.
As it ran toward me I ducked under its arm. It spun around confused and I used it as my chance to
take a swing at its head, knocking it to the floor.
“Move!” Lane shouted.
I barely had time to jump out of the way. Lane swung the bat behind him and brought it down hard
on the zombie, again, and again.
“Lane, enough. I think it's dead.” I said, noticing half its head was caved in.
I picked up the baskets. The other zombie closed in on us, strange gurgling noises came from its
mouth, followed by saliva dribbling down its chin and spit flying out. Lane swung the bat behind
him ready for the next one and I made a run for the doors. Something flew across the store in my
periphery vision.
“What was that?” I asked, glancing back at Lane who was catching up to me.
“Nothing.” he said, half grinning, half laughing, grabbing my arm and guiding me over the garbage
on the floor, and out of the doors.
“Was that a head?” I asked, looking up at him.
He smirked at me, but didn't answer, then his grin dropped.
“Fuck.” he said.
I looked both ways along the path and saw more zombies. Two to the right and one to the left.
I ran ahead and Lane stayed a few steps behind me. We both scrambled into the van and Lane dug
around in his pockets for the key.
“Hurry up!”
“Where is it?” he groaned.
He pulled out numerous gum wrappers before finally locating the key, and jammed it into the
ignition. Outside the three zombies limped, walked, and shuffled toward the van. He turned the
key... the van wouldn't turn over. He waited a moment, keeping his eyes on the zombies as they got
closer with every second.
“What's wrong? Why won't it start?”
“I don't know.” he said, trying it again.
My eyes drifted back to the store. Zombies started trickling out the doors in numbers.
One, two, three, four...
I looked sideways at Lane, who was looking at the same thing.
Five, six, seven, eight...
“I can't believe they were all in there... with us.”
The other zombies had reached the van and were pounding on the hood. They slowly moved around
to my side, and I moved away from the window where all three of them had grouped together and
were thumping on the glass.
“Lane,” I urged.
“I'm trying. I don't know what's wrong with it.”
Then I heard the screams. I looked out the windshield and saw two newbies heading this way.
“Newbies!” I said, informing Lane.
“Crap,” he responded, turning the key again.
One of the zombies outside the window thumped the glass with such force that the glass shattered,
falling into the van.
“Shit!” I said, reaching for one of the baskets as zombies' hands came into the van. I chucked the
contents onto the floor and used it to push the zombies back out the window.
One of the newbies crashed into the front of the van, placing both hands on the hood, watching us,
and screaming. The other zombies outside kept trying to push their way in through the window and
I used the basket as a weapon and rammed it into their faces. The newbie came around to my
window and screamed at the other zombies to move and after they refused it grabbed one of the
zombies and bit into its face. The zombie didn't react to been bitten and was still trying to get to me.
The other two zombies suddenly became frenzied by the blood and dragged the zombie away.
Ozma had woken up and was screaming in the back.
The newbie turned its attention back to me. I backed away from the window, as long arms with
black fingernails frantically clawed at me. The engine finally turned over.
“Drive!” I screamed.
Lane pressed on the gas and the van shot forward ploughing through more zombies. The newbie at
the window clung on desperately. I switched from the basket to the bat and gave the zombie a good
jab in the eye as the van swerved and bumped over something, probably another zombie. I used all
of my strength and tried jabbing the zombie in the face again, this time, its head shot back and it
forgot about holding onto the van and disappeared from view. The van swerved again, and I started
to slide sideways, grabbing onto whatever I could to avoid sliding across the seat onto the glass.
“Sorry!” Lane said.