Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (15 page)

We
load the semi and still have plenty of room. Dad and Ryder grab some
of the large hand trucks and we spend time in the store room, getting
whatever we can from there but still leaving room for food. We get a
lot of canned food and other food that doesn't need refrigeration
from the back, too.

Leaving
the storeroom with the carts and the large hand trucks, we head down
to the food section. The other women and I, stop at the clothing and
shoe sections-loading our carts with sensible clothing, shoes, and
boots. We take our full carts back to the semi and unload them.

I'm
the last in line to go back inside, but before I do, I take a look
around and see the entire side of the fence where the gate is,
swarming with undead...a hell of a lot of undead! I suck in a sharp
breath of air, filled with fear that travels the length of my body.

My
sister, Rose, sticks her head out the door and her, "Are you ―"
is cut off by, "Oh shit!"

I
snap out of my fear-paralysis state and head toward the door. Pushing
Rose inside, I shut the door behind me. We tell Mom and Kally what we
saw and Mom says it's time to get the guys and get out of here. As we
leave the storeroom, Mom is slammed to the floor by an undead who
comes at her from the side.

Rose
screams-
Oh, lovely! Now we should gather a crowd!-
and Kally
raises her gun. I stop her and remind her she might hit Mom, so
instead, Kally goes over and kicks the undead with her boot as Mom is
struggling with it, holding it up and away from her face.

His
head shoots to the side-that kick probably would have knocked out a
normal man-but it doesn't do much for this guy, and he goes right
back for Mom. I stand behind Mom's head and Kally straddles them
both, standing behind the zombie.

Grabbing
under his arms, Kally pulls him back and up. She leans him to the
right away from herself just enough for me to be able to shoot and
not risk the bullet passing through and shooting her. I shoot him and
he relaxes. Kally shoves him off to the side and we help Mom stand.

Before
we even have time to breathe a sigh of relief, we're being
surrounded. Forming a circle with our backs to each other, we start
shooting. My gun and then Rose's gun runs out of ammo, and my heart
stops for a few beats. There are too many for two of us not to be
shooting! And then disaster strikes. Before I can even get the ammo
out of my pocket, Mom, and then one shot later, Kally runs out of
ammo.

I
scream at them to make a run for the storeroom door and we kick and
push our way through. My mind is racing the whole time, trying to
figure out what to do.
Climb the shelves?
No. They would have
them knocked over in no time.
Go outside?
Maybe.
Sure.
Why not?

"To
the back door. Hurry!" I scream at them. Light floods the room
as Mom slams the door open. We all fly inside the back of the semi
and I shut the back door of the store. Immediately, we hear banging
and watch in horror as the door shakes hard in its frame.
Good
God!
Is it going to hold?
Why take a chance?

I
look around and realize there is no way we can lock ourselves from
inside the back of the truck.
Would we be safe in the cab?
Damn it!
Then Mom yells at us to climb to the roof.
Duh!
I guess that's why she's the mom and I'm the kid.

We
all climb up the ladder to the roof and sink to our butts, exhausted
from the adrenaline rush and the fight. I just pray the guys are on
alert when they come back to the storeroom.

Mom
pulls out her cell, and I immediately know who she's calling and,
once again, I have a "Duh" moment. When Dad answers, she
explains what's happened and where we are. She tells him to finish
getting what they can and then come back, that we are safe now. We
have all reloaded our guns and I'm currently loading Mom's for her
while she's on the phone.

Suddenly,
the speakers high on the outside of the wall and inside the store
squeal to life. Shocked, we all stare at it with part fear, part
confusion.

"Hello,
Shoppers. I hope you are finding everything you need as the store
will be permanently closed for business as of today. Please excuse
the less savory customers as they are unaware Black Friday is still
about three weeks away. I must commend you all for staying alive. No
one else has managed to do so."
Who the hell is
that
?

"Oh,
and one more thing. Hello, Canada. Nice to see you're alive and
well."

I
start shaking.
This is just too weird.
So frikken
nuts
!
Who the hell
is
that?
It's not anyone in our group, I
know all their voices. This is one of those voices you could never
mistake for someone else. A low gravelly voice with a southern
accent.

I
hear the other women on the truck's roof with me gasp. I turn toward
them, shock evident on my own face. They're all staring at me,
wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"
What?
I don't know who it is!"

Mom
and my sisters scoot closer to me. I'm not sure if they are coming
because of
my
terror or their own. Mom puts her arm around me.

"Are
you sure you don't know who that could be?" she asks me.

"
How
would I know who it is? I haven't lived around here for, what, ten
years? And that was only for a year! Even then I didn't know all that
many people, certainly none with a voice and accent like that!"
My voice rises as I finish, unable to comprehend why they didn't
believe me.

"Alright,
I was just asking."

We
hear a loud crash, followed by a clang of metal against concrete. I
scramble to the end of the semi and watch in dismay as the undead
pour out the back door. I look back at the others and tell them to
get ready. We all take one side of the semi and start shooting the
undead. One by one, they go down.

I
estimate a good fifty or sixty came through that door. Fortunately,
from our position we could easily take them down and still be safe.
We've still got about twenty undead left when the men pile out the
back door, guns raised and blazing. Once the zombies are all down,
the men load all the food they had gotten as we climb down from the
roof.

Will
holds me tight as I throw myself into into his arms. He hugs me tight
then pulls back enough to see my face.

"Who
was that and how did he know you?" I roll my eyes.
This
again?

But
before I can say anything, my sisters, in unison, say, "She
doesn't know!"

I
smirk at him and say, "Did that answer your questions?"

Will
gives me an irritated look and I can tell he's about to let me have
it. "I really don't find this all that damn funny. Some unknown
person knows you and called you out. Does that not worry you? I don't
know how you can act like it's no big deal."
Oh, no he
didn't!

"Look,
Honey
. You weren't here when I heard him on the intercom. You
don't have any damn idea how I reacted. You also don't know how damn
scared I was or
am
! Do not tell me how I'm supposed to act and
react. So what if I want to laugh about it? Or make jokes? At least
I'm still able to function while I have a sense of humor. Would you
rather I curl in a ball on the ground, whimpering, and crying in
fear, expecting big strong guys take care of me?
Shit!
If I
did that, I'd be dead for sure!" The rage is boiling inside me.
I growl at Will and then walk away from the entire group, seriously
needing to calm down.

I
stomp toward the fence lined with zombies. Best guess would be at
least a hundred are outside, with even more still coming. I suck in a
deep breath.
Why can't these bastards just leave us alone? I hate
these damn things! Why the hell did I think this would be the
ultimate awesome scenario? This sucks ass!

In
my anger, I finally realize that I have come too close, and the
undead start going into a hunger-induced frenzy when they notice me.
Fear shoots through my body as I watch them become more aggressive in
trying to get through the fence. I hear metal shriek and the sound of
bolts popping. In horror, I watch as one side of the fence moves
inward and then the undead move toward me.

I
let out a shout to warn the others as I turn and race back to them. I
hear Rose scream-
again, not helping!-
and see the guys hurrying
to close and lock the semi's loading doors. Kally grabs my sister and
shoves her into Kurt's truck, then runs to Mom and Dad's Hummer. Kurt
gets in with Rose, and Dad helps Mom inside the semi while Will,
Norman, Ricky, and Ryder scream for me to hurry up.

What
the hell are they screaming about? I know my fat ass can't run very
fast, but I'm damn sure faster than zombies!
I look behind me and
I almost fall on that fat ass of mine.
What. In. The.
Hell
???

This can't
be! This can't happen! Oh, shit! Just shut up and run!

Those
damn undead are faster than they used to be-not an all out
let's-run-a-fifty-yard-dash kind of run, more like a fast
shuffle-stumble-shuffle. And boy, can they shuffle-stumble-shuffle
fast
! I'm running full speed now. Will and the other guys are
screaming. Rose, Kally, Mom, and Dad are screaming. I just wish
they’d all shut
up
!

And
then, guess what happened?
Did ya guess? Yep, I fall. I feel a
whole layer of skin rip from my hands on the asphalt, and my knees
are
on fire
! Oh, and what's this? A screwed up ankle? Of
course! Why not? DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!

I
struggle to my feet and hear footsteps running toward me. I'm praying
they are from in front of me and not behind. Hearing gunshots very
close and above me, I cover my head instinctively. Looking up, I see
Will and my brothers almost to me. I start hop-running to them.
And
ok, yeah, I'm bawling like a baby wanting her momma. Bite me.

I
stretch my hand out to Will and my eyes latch onto his. The sheer
terror I see in his eyes freaks me the hell out. They all scream but
I can't understand what they're saying. Then, I feel a very sharp tug
on my hair. Will grabs my wrist just before the bastard behind me can
pull me back much further, but by then, the flesh-starved zombie is
already on me.

Will
shoves the zombies forehead back away from me and my brothers
practically-
or maybe they actually do-
break his hands to get
them off of me. Finally I'm free, but glancing back, I have just
enough time to suck in a short shallow breath and take off. Will and
Ricky help me as I hop to the Hummer. Ricky looks back and tells Will
to lift and run.

"Wha...
whoa
!"
I yell as my body is lifted a foot off the ground and I'm propelled
faster than I could go even with both ankles working. Ryder opens the
back passenger door and I'm being thrown inside, my head banging into
the opposite door. I feel three full-grown men land on my legs, butt,
and back.

I
can hear the ever-present banging whenever those damn rotted things
are around. Then the weight is off my back and legs. I turn my head
and see Ricky and Will climbing into the front of the Hummer. I look
back as much as I can to see who is still sitting on my butt.

"Ryder,
can you get the
hell
off already!"

"No.
It's all big and soft. Most comfortable seat in the vehicle."

"Asshole,
get
off
!" I roll to my right and he's dumped to the
floor. I twist and wiggle myself into a sitting position, making sure
to give him a few "accidental" kicks as I do. Not with my
hurting-like-hell foot, though.
Not that stupid!

"Norman!
Oh my God! Where is he?" I cry out.

"He's
fine. He's safe. He took off to the tow truck just before we got you
in," Will tells me.

"Yeah,
thanks
for that by the way. The headache, too."

They
all snicker but avoid my eyes.

Looking
out the window, Will asks what we should do now. There's too many to
try to drive through, and even the semi can't break through this
crowd. I would guess there are,
at least
, two hundred and
fifty now, and who knows how many we can't see behind all of these. I
climb up to the roof and the guys follow.

Kally
is all by herself in the other Hummer and I catch her attention,
motioning for her to get up on her roof. She does and looks
terrified, as I'm sure we all do, but she's all
alone
.
But then again, she's safer up there, unlike Rose and Kurt who are in
the truck with no access to the roof. Although it's a fairly high
truck, it's not high enough to feel very safe. Norman's truck is even
lower. Dad and Mom I'm not too worried about, being in the semi like
they are.

Ryder
aims his gun to shoot some of the undead near our vehicle, but Ricky
stops him.

He
tells us, "No use shooting them here. Better to use it on the
undead going after the ones who can't get high."