Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 1): Nicole's Odyssey (9 page)

“What the hell,” she said and scooped up the other four rifles and placed them in her cart. 

On a display across from the rifles were the rifles’ counterparts.  Seven boxes of Ruger SR22 pistols sat untouched, untouched until Nicole placed them in her cart.  Seeing another cart, she grabbed it and went back to the ammunition.  Bend, grab boxes, repeat.  She spent several long minutes filling up her cart with thousands of the high velocity rounds.  As she stood up, she noticed a display containing accessories for the guns, its position strategically chosen to maximize add-on sales.  Nicole selected a twin over the shoulder holster rig for two of the pistols.  Seeing laser sights for both pistol and rifle, she grabbed them.   On a lower shelf were stacks of twenty-five round capacity magazines for the rifles and ten round magazines for the pistols.  She grabbed them and dumped them into her gun cart.  She unslung her rifle and tore open one of the ammo boxes.  Nicole loaded one of the magazines then grabbed a laser sight and mounted it.  She turned it on and swung the rifle around the store.  The laser cut through the shadows and the red dot touched everything her eye saw.  Nearby was a mannequin sporting the latest in hunting apparel.  The red dot laser stopped on the mannequin’s eye and Nicole fired.  The plastic head shattered.  The report from the rifle was sharp and not overly loud, but Nicole stopped and listened just the same.  Nothing emerged from the darkness, no moans echoed from the depths of the mall.  Satisfied, Nicole slung the rifle over her back and opened two of the pistols.  These also received full magazines and laser sights before finding their new home in the two nylon holsters at her sides under her arms. Nicole surveyed her take and was satisfied.

Pausing to rest, her mind drifted back to Sam.  She needed to lose him, pure and simple.  Saving him from the store was a product of saving herself, but now she had to make miles.  She told herself she could not do that with a hanger-on, especially one who seemed to have had a complete break with present realities.  She had gotten him guns and ammunition; the rest would have to be up to him.  Nicole took a breath and sighed.  She would tell him when she got back.  The mall was cleared out.  He could supply himself as he saw fit then go his own way and she could go hers.  There was just no other way, she thought, as she grabbed the two shopping carts and pushed them out of the store. 

Nicole was out of breath by the time she reached the GTO,  She went straight to the trunk, popped it open, and began loading the boxes of ammo.  Nicole kept several boxes out and these she placed in the back seat with the guns and magazines.  Taking a rifle, two magazines and five boxes of the ammo she looked to the front seat. 

“Listen, Sam, we need…” Nicole started, but Sam was not there. 

Nicole dropped the rifle and boxes and stood up.  Unslinging the rifle from her back she readied it and with the laser sights began turning, scanning the mall in all directions.  Not seeing any signs of the Dead, she went around to the passenger side of the vehicle.  There was no sign of a struggle, no blood, no Sam.  The car door was closed and it looked like he was never there.  Still keeping the rifle tight against her shoulder and her eye staring down the barrel, she moved off in the opposite direction from the way she came.  If Sam had wandered off in her direction, certainly she would have seen him on her way back, she thought to herself.  She heard a noise behind her and spun around.  The red dot of the laser sight came to rest on the back of Sam’s head as he stood in the Scented Candle store.  He was motionless and except for being decomposition free, could’ve easily been mistaken for one of the Dead.  Nicole breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her weapon.  She approached Sam and struggled with what she needed to say. 

“Geez, Sam, you scared the crap out of me,” Nicole said.  She came up on the side of him. 

Sam stood staring at the lit flame of a pumpkin spice scented candle.  His ax handle rested between them, against a display table.  At her approach, Sam moved the ax handle to his other side, never breaking his gaze from the candle.    The flame danced slightly as Nicole’s movement sent a waft of air over the wick.  Nicole shifted nervously. 

“So, what are your plans, Sam?” she asked.  Sam said nothing as he continued to stare at the flame.  “I mean, if you need me to drop you somewhere, I can do that… maybe, you got relatives somewhere…”

Nicole let her words drop off.  In all likelihood, even if he had family someplace, they probably were not taking visitors.  She thought reminding Sam of that almost certain fact would not improve his state of mind and she mentally kicked herself for it.  Remembering the guns, Nicole hurried back to her car, returning with the rifle, magazines, and ammo. 

“Hey, Sam, I got you a gun.  The magazines hold twenty five rounds each, so count them off as you…”  Again, Nicole’s words stalled. 

“This candle smells really good,” Sam said, not taking his eyes off the flame.  Nicole shifted again then placed the gun, magazines, and ammo on the display table. 

“Listen, Sam, there is no easy way… we gotta be smart now and the smart play for me is to get to Colorado, okay?”  Nicole looked away as she broke the news to Sam.  “You need to figure out what you’re gonna do and start being smart too, but you’re gonna have to do it without me,” Nicole said.  She steeled herself then turned and walked out of the store. 

Sam did not acknowledge her.  Nicole went to her car, unslung her rifle and climbed in.  Cranking the ignition, she looked over her shoulder and backed out of the mall.  The throaty roar of the GTO’s engine grew softer in the distance as Sam continued to stare at the candle’s flame.

☣

Nicole gripped the steering wheel and stared out at the road ahead.  Her face contorted, reflecting the battle of emotions raging within her.  She thought getting away would quell her angst about doing what she had to do and pressed down on the gas even more.  The GTO hit four thousand RPMs before Nicole hit the steering wheel. 

“Shit!” she yelled as she pressed the brakes and cranked the car back around, the tires squealing in protest.  Nicole headed back to the mall. 

She stopped the car at the curb outside the gaping entrance and sat staring out the windshield at nothing.  Sam stood on the curb.  In one hand he held the pumpkin spice candle.  He clutched the ax handle closely to him with the other.  He stared at the ground, not saying a word.  Nicole turned and looked over at him.  Through the open window, Sam handed her his candle.  Nicole sighed and took it from him, setting it in the seat beside her.  Sam opened the passenger side door and climbed in, easing the door closed.  Nicole stared at him then realized what he was missing. 

“Where’s your gun and ammo?” she asked.  Sam stared at a spot on the floor and said nothing.  Nicole looked to the mall, then in a huff, she drove the GTO back into the mall.  She parked by the candle store and got out, retrieving the rifle and ammo.  She tossed both in the back seat, then dropped the car in reverse and hit the gas.  Neither said a word to each other as Nicole whipped the car out of the parking lot of the Fair Valley Mall and headed back towards the highway.

Thirteen

Nicole’s head began to nod as she fought sleep.  At first the vibrations from the safety tread on the side of the road would bring her back around, but eventually she became immune to even that.  When she went down for the count, it was almost the end.  The GTO drifted  and would have gone out in a blaze if not for the front wheels suddenly cutting sharply to the left.  The squealing tires and radical serpentine course the car took brought her awake in an instant. 

Nicole fought the wheel as the car spun around and came to a screeching stop.  Now fully awake, Nicole white knuckled the steering wheel and stared East on the West bound lane.  She regained her composure and decided that now was a pretty good time to stop for the night.  Nicole cranked the wheel around and pointed the car West, coming to a stop by the side of the road. 

She had not planned to find a motel to stay in anyhow, not after Friendly’s.  Any fear of others coming upon her while she slept in the car had been allayed by driving all day and not seeing another living soul.  She almost wondered if finding Sam was an anomaly.  Maybe there really was nobody else left.  The thought almost made her start the car up again and try to drive straight through to Colorado, but common sense prevailed.

She looked over at Sam, who just sat there. 

“Hey, I need to sleep in the front seat.  If something happens and we need to bolt, I can’t be climbing over seats and pushing you out of the way, understand, so you got the back, yeah?” she told him. 

Sam just stared out the side window and Nicole stared at him.  She was too tired and blinked first.  In a huff she turned and climbed in the back. 

“Fine!  But you know what, Sam.  You’re making it real easy to work up the nerve to leave you by the side of the road!” she hollered as she flopped into the back seat . 

Nicole punched some throw pillows and lay down, pulling a curtain over her.  A second later, she popped her head back up and stared at Sam.  He hadn’t moved. 

“You got the front seat and you’re not even going to go to sleep?” she said.  She slammed her head back into the pillow.  “I don’t know what good it will do… keeping watch,” her words trailing off.  “People on watch have to actually say something if…they…”  Fatigue sapped her will to fight  and Nicole drifted off to sleep.

☣

The morning light streamed through the back window and lit Nicole’s face.  The sun was not what woke her though.  Nicole’s nose began to twitch.  As she began to come around, she rubbed it.  Sleep retreated and her eyes opened, squinting at the brightness.  Nicole made a face and sat up in a hurry.

“Dammit Sam, did you fa-”  Nicole froze. 

A herd of Shufflers approached the car.  She stared at them in rapt silence.  She counted eleven.  They were in varying stages of decay, but none were capable of quick movement.  They came up on both sides of the car slowly but did not touch it.  Nicole watched the first of them pass.  She looked at Sam who was still sitting in the front seat.  She noticed him watching the Dead shuffle by, his grip tightening on his ax handle. 

“Sam, if there was ever a time to check back in, now ain’t it.  Just keep on being you for a few more minutes, okay?” she said. 

For the first time she was relieved when he did not respond.  The last of the herd passed the rear of the car and Nicole turned and looked at them through the back window. 

“Okay, Sam, just another minute and--” Nicole turned and her words cut short as she watched Sam reach for the handle and open the door. 

“No, no, no,” she whisper-shouted as Sam stepped out and closed the door behind him. 

Nicole spun around and stared aghast out the back window as Sam fell in line behind the Dead. 

“Sam!  Sam!” she whispered.   She could not yell out of fear of alerting them, her words escaping as a frantic hiss. 

She pressed her hands against the window and watched helplessly as Sam neared the closest Shuffler.  Before she could do anything, Sam swung his ax handle and crushed its head.  The Shuffler went down and Sam stepped over it.  Panic seized Nicole as she saw the rest of the Dead sense his presence and the meal he represented.  Slowly, one by one, they turned and advanced on him.  Nicole wasted no time.  She turned and climbed over the seat and landed behind the wheel.

“You just made my decision a whole lot easier, you crazy-”  Nicole looked in the rear view mirror as she was about to crank the engine. 

She was prepared to see Sam being torn apart.  Part of her had wanted to look, to confirm in her mind that she had no choice but to leave him.  What she was not prepared to see was Sam swinging for the fences and hitting grand slams.  She turned quickly, her eyes locked on the scene out her back window. 

The Dead were slow and not in a tight group.  As they approached, Sam laid into them, knocking heads clean off shoulders and busting others wide open.  Two, three, then four went down.  Seeming not content to wait for them to come to him, Sam waded into the group and was soon surrounded.  The Dead were oblivious to all but their hunger and did nothing to avoid the danger in Sam’s hands.  He swung the ax handle in a wide circle, keeping them at bay.  He brought it up in vicious upper cuts that broke their necks.  Their heads flopped uselessly on their shoulders before they went down.  They reached for him but Sam did not flinch or retreat.  Like a whirling dervish, Sam batted arms away, smashed teeth and crushed skulls.  Soon, all but two lay on the ground around Sam.

Nicole found herself again.  She grabbed her rifle and jumped from the car.  Placing her arms on the roof, she drew a bead on the lead zombie.  She was about to shoot when Sam stepped into her line of fire.  He swung and the zombie’s head crushed.  It went down in a heap at his feet.  The last zombie approached, its legs so badly damaged it could only hobble in a twisting motion.  Sam walked up to it and stared at it full in the face.  The zombie locked eyes with Sam and hissed in anticipation of fresh kill.  Sam did not move, not when the Shuffler was ten feet from him, not when it was five.  It reached out and grasped Sam’s shoulder and yet Sam did not blink. 

“Sam!” Nicole screamed.  Sam brought up the ax handle fast and shattered the thing’s jaw, sending its head back, a loud crack signifying breaking vertebrae.  The Shuffler’s head lolled  and its body swayed as Sam took a step back and swung.  A vicious crack sounded, and the zombie’s head left its body, sailing out across the road.  It bounced twice then disappeared down the embankment. 

Nicole let out her breath in a long sigh.  She pushed off the car and approached Sam, cautiously.  Sam stared at his ax handle.  No longer recognizable as wood, it was covered in blood and gore.  Nicole stood and looked at Sam.  Sam did not seem to notice her as he spun and hurled the ax handle across the road in the direction of the Shuffler’s head.  He did not say a word as he walked back to the car, opened the door and climbed in the passenger side.  Nicole stared after him, watching him close the door behind him.