This Would Be Paradise (Book 1) (7 page)

Ethan and I froze at the sound.

“Now, ya’ll turn around slowly and don’t do anythin’ stupid, you hear?” a very Southern male voice rang out.

Ethan and I shared a look of dread before we put down our haul and turned around slowly. I could hear the blood pumping frantically in my ears and had no doubt that the color had drained from my face.
Oh god, what about the others?
I hadn’t heard any gunshots, so I could only hope that they were unharmed.

A well-worn cowboy hat was the first thing to come into my peripheral. Our captor wore blue jeans, a tight plaid button down, and a pair of old cowboy boots to finish off the Southern look. Judging by his face, I placed him in his fifties. His lips were set in a grim line and his muscles moved under his sleeves as he kept his gun trained on us.

“Now, I don’t want no trouble, okay?” his voice was calm and collected.

If I had to venture a guess, I would say he used to be police or military. There was something about the air around him, the way he carried himself. He was confident holding the handgun and had no qualms about pointing it at us.

“We don’t want any trouble either,” Ethan replied in an equally calm voice. “What did you do to the others?”

Confusion washed over the man’s face before he answered.

“I didn’t do anythin’ to ‘em; only saw you two so far.”

Ethan visibly relaxed at the man’s words.

“What’re your names?” he asked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat before replying,

“I’m Bailey, and this is Ethan. We don’t mean any harm. Just needed something to protect ourselves.”

“Well Bailey, my name’s John. I’m the owner of this here establishment.” After a second, John lowered his pistol and placed it the holster on his belt.

The relief I felt when he lowered his weapon was unparalleled. It was like I had been taken off of death row right before I was due to face the executioner.

“Look, we didn’t know anyone was in here. We would have never come in otherwise,” Ethan reasoned.

“A bit late for that, isn’t it, boy?” John said, raising an eyebrow at Ethan.

“Um, we don’t have the money to pay for the guns, but maybe we could work something out?” I said, trying to defuse the situation. “We could make a trade, or put them on… layaway?”

I silently cursed myself for making the stupid comment, but John cracked a smile.

“Don’t think credit works anymore,” he grinned at me. “I’ll tell you what, ya’ll can keep the guns and ammo you have if you take us with you.”

Ethan narrowed his eyes, “How did you know we were goin’ somewhere or that we even had a plan?” 

“Ya’ll got that truck loaded up in the back and a map on the dashboard with an area circled,” John replied. “Plus, last I heard most people were headin’ into the cities for the refugee areas.”

“They’re all gone,” I said. “Well at least the school we were at is. The city was overrun, infected people running rampant and shots going off everywhere.”

“Wait you said
us
, who else is there?” Ethan eyed John.

“Just me and my son Taylor,” John said.

A high-pitched scream echoed through the small store. John looked at us then bolted toward the sound and we followed right behind him. In the middle of the sales floor, Zoe had her arms wrapped around Chloe with Darren beside them. A few feet away was a guy who looked freshly eighteen, holding them at gunpoint.

“Pop, I found three,” the guy said to John.

John raised his arm and made a motion to put down the gun, “It’s all right Taylor, they ain’t gonna hurt us.”

“But they stole a bunch of our guns,” he said, with his eyes quickly darting to Ethan and I behind his father.

He was the spitting image of his father, except the younger version that was barely out of high school. Cowboy to the max, complete with boots and a hat.

“Not like we can use ‘em all,” John said, staring Taylor down until he lowered his own pistol.

Chloe unlatched herself from Zoe and ran to Ethan, who grabbed her immediately. I glared at the asshole that had the nerve to hold a kid at gunpoint.

“What’s your problem?
You
broke into
our
store,” he sneered at me.

“Just wondering what kind of asshole would point a gun at a child,” I sneered right back at him.

He had the good graces to look ashamed, and I hoped he felt it.

“Now nothin’ happened, Taylor was just doin’ what he thought was right,” John reasoned. “We had no idea who broke in.”

“Well, what now?” Darren asked, still giving Taylor an accusing stare.

“We were going to make a deal,” I said.

“What kind of deal?” Zoe looked at me, questioningly.

“John said we could keep the guns and ammo if we let them come with us,” Ethan restated the terms.

“Hell no, this guy just pointed a gun at us!” Darren yelled, stabbing his finger toward Taylor.

“How was I to know you weren’t gonna hurt us?” Taylor yelled back.

“What did you think we were going to do, send the nine-year-old after you?” Darren retorted.

“I’m nine and a half!” Chloe piped in, and Taylor looked stunned that she even spoke.

John chuckled at that and got in the middle of the two.

“That’ll be enough. We’re all keyed up from what’s been happenin’. Let’s calm down,” John looked at both of them.

Darren reluctantly nodded at him, whilst Taylor placed his gun in his own holster.

“All right then how to you suggest we do this?” Darren asked.

“Do what?” John asked.

“We don’t have enough room in the truck or even enough supplies for ourselves,” Darren answered.

“We got a car and there’s a small grocery store down the road some,” John suggested. “It’s like our own small community this far out. There’s even a gas station in the same parkin’ lot.”

“All right, grab your things and we’ll meet outside,” Ethan said, tugging Chloe toward the door.

“We’ll only be ‘bout five minutes,” John said motioning for Taylor to follow him.

Once we were back to the truck, we all tossed our duffels into the back.

“This is a bad idea, Ethan,” Darren said running his hand through his hair. “We should just take off before they get out.”

“We can’t do that. They let us keep the guns,” Ethan said back.

“They just held us at gunpoint; you really think we can trust them?” Darren kept trying to make his case.

“Plus, we’ll need them to show us where the grocery store and gas station are,” I added.

Darren looked away, defeated.

“Look, I agree that we can’t just blindly trust ‘em, but we owe ‘em for the guns and extra bodies could come in handy,” Ethan sighed, leaning his arm against the truck.

“And that guy seems military or at the very least, has training,” I added.

“That would be useful,” Zoe added.

We saw them emerge from the door, both packing giant bags on their backs. They opened the Mazda’s trunk and stashed their stuff before starting toward us. I was expecting a big, obnoxious redneck truck, but instead they had a small sedan.

“So what’s the plan?” John asked as soon as they approached our huddle.

“We need supplies so we can at least stay put for a week or so,” Ethan said. “My family has a cabin west of here, but we only have so much canned goods and supplies there.”

“Well if it’s out in the woods, we could do some huntin’,” John added.

“Yeah, the game is pretty good out there, and we just fixed up the property ‘bout a year ago. New fencin’, solar panels, and even a meat smoker."

I perked up at the sound of that. I hated the taste of wild meat, it was to gamey for me, but a smoker meant jerky which tasted better and lasted longer.

“Sounds good,” John said, impressed. “How’s the water situation?”

“We have a well that the cabin draws from, but since we will be needin’ lots from it, we’ll need more water softeners to keep that rust taste out.”

“Good thing we’re goin’ to a grocery store,” Chloe added.

“Good thing we have an extra vehicle, hey?” John smiled down at her and she nodded.

“You should lead the way since we have no idea where we’re goin’,” Ethan said opening the truck’s driver door.

“It’s just down that road,” John pointed to the road heading to our left. “’Bout a three-minute drive due south.”

“We’ll be right behind you,” Ethan said.

John and Taylor headed to their car and started the engine. Once they pulled out of the parking lot, we followed closely behind. I could hear the gravel crunch under the tires, then the sound stopped once we hit pavement. The road was cracked and worn, definitely in need of a new layer of asphalt.

People must have really all fled into the main part of the city. There was not a soul anywhere, not even an infected person. The buildings were all locked up and dark inside with no vehicles sitting out front. I was half expecting a tumble weed to go rolling by.

“Wow, it’s like a ghost town,” Zoe muttered.

I could see the big sign that read Brookshire Grocery Company and John’s car veered off in that direction. The parking lot was empty except for a few cars and shopping carts. The small Shell station that shared the parking lot was not lit up either. John pulled up right in front of the doors and Ethan followed right behind.

“How are we going to get in?” Darren asked. “Your shop may not have had an alarm, but I’m guessing this place does.”

John looked at the door for a second then walked up to it, the doors parting open for him.

“Well that’s kind of ominous,” I muttered.

“Ya’ll should grab some of those guns you
borrowed,
” Taylor motioned to the truck.

We rummaged through our bags and picked our weapons. I grabbed one of the Beretta’s and fiddled with it until the magazine fell out. I looked to see what Ethan was doing and started to copy him. Grabbing a box of bullets, I popped a bunch into the magazine until it was full. I had counted fifteen bullets which I hoped was more than enough. I slid the magazine back into the handgun, impressed with myself but when I grabbed the silencer I realized I had no clue how to put one on.

Taylor held out his hand, “Pass that here.”

I gave him a narrowed look. In response he rolled his eyes and kept his hand out for the gun. I grudgingly handed him the pieces which he put together with practiced ease.

“You make that look easy,” I sighed.

“Well I’ve been ‘round a gun or two before,” he said with a smirk, handing the assembled gun back to me.

The silencer added some weight to the gun and made it feel even more awkward thanks to the increased length. I examined the gun and found the switch, which I assumed was the safety; after all, I had seen a movie or two. The small light beside it was green and when I moved the switch to the other side, the light went red. I had no idea which color meant what. Green usually meant go, but did that mean go as in ready to shoot? Or green as in the gun is okay to move without accidently shooting it? There was no way in hell I would ask that out loud, though; I had
some
dignity.

“You guys ready?” John prompted.

Everyone nodded except for Ethan. He was going to stay in the truck with Chloe to make sure nothing happened to her while we were all inside the store.

“Maybe John and I should go in first,” Darren said peering into the store.

“All that will do is put you two into danger and waste time,” I said. “Safety in numbers, remember?”

Darren looked back at me and nodded.

“Well if we’re worried about safety, maybe you shouldn’t wield that gun,” Zoe pointed to me.

“I’ve got to learn somehow,” I retorted. “But to be on the safe side I’ll stand off to the side,
not
behind you.”

“Wait, haven’t you ever shot a gun before?” John eyed me warily.

“Well, not a real one,” I admitted and I could see the concern flash across his face.

“I swear to God, I better not end up with a bullet in my ass,” Taylor said pointedly.

I flicked the safety to green, secretly praying that was the way to arm the safety and tucked it into the front waist band of my jeans. I held up my empty hands.

“Happy now?”

“Well happy wouldn’t be the right word, but I feel a hell of a lot safer,” Taylor admitted.

I could just tell he was going to be a drama queen.

With John in the lead, we entered the quiet store. The emergency lights were on, and muted sunlight leaked through the front windows, but the store was still a bit too dark to see properly. The shelves and displays gave off elongated shadows, making the space appear sinister, like a cheap haunted house. I couldn’t hear any movement except for the sounds of our group’s footsteps as they hit the linoleum. We all split up, going into different areas of the store in the interest of time. I had claimed the pharmacy; after all, I’m sure the guys wouldn’t think to grab tampons.

I picked up a handbasket along the way and started to peruse the aisles. I grabbed all the first aid items I could, focusing on bandages and anti-septic. I peeked around the corner to see Zoe adding items to her shopping basket with all the hygiene items we needed. After filling my own basket, I sat it down on the pharmacy counter and hopped over the counter, careful not to pull on my scratches again. Somehow this felt more wrong than breaking into a gun shop.

The shelves were still stocked with all the different kinds of medicines, and I had no idea where to start. I started to skim-read the labels and grabbed anything that sounded like it would be an antibiotic or pain killer. I tossed all of the bottles I could into a new basket and jumped back over to the customer side. With both shopping baskets in hand, I went in search of Zoe.

As I rounded one of the corners, I ran straight into another body; the force and shock knocking both of us down. The baskets contents spilled all over the floor, surrounding us, like insects scurrying away from light. I looked up into the discolored face of an infected. I quickly scrambled back as the thing snapped at me, my hands slipping on the linoleum with each stride. My back hit the pharmacy counter and I used it as leverage to get myself onto shaky feet.

Once up, the infected reached for me as it stumbled forward. Its eyes were clouded over so bad that I couldn’t even see the iris’ color. There was a big chunk missing from its neck, and the wound leaked discolored blood onto his grocery store uniform with every step. In my panic, I had completely forgotten about the gun holstered in my waistband. I pulled it out and flicked the safety until I saw the small red light. I pointed it at the infected, but my hands were shaking so badly that I couldn’t hold it steady. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. I missed and the bullet whizzed by the thing’s head, embedding itself in one of the shelves.

It was still coming at me, and I only had time to make one more shot before it was on me. Never taking my eyes off of it, I shot again. This time the bullet hit its mark, well, sort of anyways. It caught the infected in its left shoulder causing him to spin around from the impact. It landed on the ground with a hiss and pushed itself back up again, not bothered by the bullet hole now adorning his body. I raised the gun to try again when the infected’s head whipped to the side, brain and blood spraying in the air along with it. I looked to my right to see Taylor lowering his gun.

“You okay?” he asked as he ran up to me.

All I could do was nod dumbly, too shocked from what just happened to speak at the moment.

“Oh my god Bailey, are you all right?” Zoe dropped her basket and ran over to me.

“She’s in shock, I think. I don’t see any blood,” Taylor said giving me the once over.

Everyone else ran over to the scene at the sound of Taylor’s pistol. After deciding I was fit to go, John spoke up.

“We need to hurry. That shot was loud, who knows what else heard it.”

The others flew off into their areas to finish, while Zoe stayed behind with me.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Zoe asked, placing her hand on my shoulder.

“Yes,” I said weakly then cleared my throat. “I’ve just never had to shoot a gun before and the fact that I actually hit that thing freaks me out.”

“They don’t seem to feel it or even notice it,” Zoe tried to reason with me.

“Yeah,” I said and looked up at her, not realizing I had been staring at my feet. “It just got up and kept coming for me.”

“But you’re fine,” she stated again.

My hand flew up to rest on my side where my scratch wound was still healing.

“I could have been one of those things,” I said quietly.

I’m sure the others wouldn’t be too keen on finding out I had been attacked before.

“You’re not though. We saw how fast it turned Mike and all those other people. If you had been infected you would have turned by now,” Zoe pointed out.

I wasn’t sure how convinced I was of Zoe’s words, but I nodded and bent down to gather up the supplies I had dropped. Maybe I was immune or maybe a scratch didn’t work the same as a bite. If that was the case, then at least we wouldn’t have to worry about being scratched in the future. The fact that my wound was healing like a normal cut would made me feel relieved, but how would other people react? The last thing we needed was for people to go around killing each other because they thought others were going to turn when they might not.

Once Zoe and I had finished stuffing all the supplies back into the overflowing baskets, we headed back to the front doors. As we walked out I gave one last look to the fallen infected on the floor, content with the fact that he was no longer moving. At the entrance Darren was handing out plastic grocery bags and we started to stuff our looted supplies into them. Taylor propped a mesh bag against the wall.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“A tent. I’m assumin’ we all can’t fit into a huntin’ cabin,” Taylor grunted as he added the other camping gear and sleeping bags to the pile that he had found in the small supermarket.

“We’re goin’ to need more supplies like gas stoves, but time isn’t somethin’ we have right now,” John added.

“Once we get settled, we can make a run back into town,” Darren said, hauling all his bags out the doors.

We divvied up the bags between the Mazda’s trunk and the back of the truck.

“We need some bungee cables or something to hold all this down,” Zoe said, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

The sun was right above us, glaring down on the parking lot pavement. The temperature was perfect this time of year, but the closer it got to the summer months, the closer we got to experiencing that Southern heat. Zoe and I were too Canadian to deal with that much heat. Hopefully, this would all be resolved before that time came.

“All right, I saw some in the back of the store with the campin’ gear,” Taylor said. “I’ll head back in and get some.”

He took off back into the store before anyone could answer and John followed in after him.

“Where are they goin’?” Chloe asked, as she stepped out of the truck behind Ethan.

“Just ran to grab some ties for the back of the truck,” Ethan answered, as he gave the area another once-over.

“Did ya get anythin’ good?” Chloe asked.

Darren smirked, “Define
good
.”

I snaked my arm over the truck side and rummaged through my bags looking for the items I had grabbed on impulse. Once my fingers found what I was looking for, I pulled them out and handed the pieces to Chloe, not realizing everyone was staring at me. Her eyes lit up when I handed her the Scooby-Doo mystery books I had spotted in the pharmacy waiting area.

“Thank you!” she squealed and launched herself at me.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome,” I muttered, slightly embarrassed.

She took the books and skipped over to the passenger seat to flip through them.

“Awww,” Zoe smirked at me and I flipped her the bird.

“Thanks for that,” Ethan said, flashing me an appreciative smile.

“Yeah well, it wasn’t completely unselfish. I just didn’t want to listen to ‘are we there yet?’
the whole way,” I waved it off.

“Fair enough.”

We had just finished tossing in the last bag when Taylor and John re-emerged from the grocery store with the bungee cables in hand. John had empty red gas canisters in both hands and tossed them into the back of their car. 

“So, are the gas pumps even working?” Zoe asked as we climbed back into the truck.

“Only one-way to find out,” Ethan said.

The truck pulled up to pump number one while the Mazda took pump number three. We all jumped back out of the truck, except for Chloe who was engrossed in her books. Ethan lifted up the nozzle and the machine sprung to life. He grinned triumphantly as he placed the nozzle in the gas cap opening of the truck. Three canisters later, we had a good amount of gas that would hopefully last a while.

“Good thing we don’t have to pay for this. It would have been more than the guns,” Darren remarked.

“So now do we just head out to your cabin and wait?” I asked, propping myself up against the side of the truck.

“Wait for what exactly?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know. Order to be restored. The infected to be cured,” I listed off. “What I meant is: what’s the plan?”

Ethan raked his fingers through his hair and glanced briefly at Chloe before answering,

“There is no plan. Gettin’ to the cabin was the plan.”

“Maybe the military will start taking over,” Zoe said hopefully.

“That’s not necessarily a good thing,” Darren muttered.

“It’s better than chaos,” Ethan said.

Darren didn’t answer, but I could tell he was not one to be easily convinced.

“Why isn’t the military here yet anyways?” I asked.

“Too much ground to cover,” John answered me as they approached the truck.

“There’s got to be safe zones set up or something,” Zoe said.

“Probably somewhere, just not here,” Ethan sighed.

“Although, it would probably end up just like the school did,” I said.

“Not necessarily. The military have trainin’ and fire power, plus they would be more organized than a bunch of volunteers trying to run an emergency shelter,” Ethan said back.

“I have an old radio I grabbed on the way out,” John said. “When we get to your cabin, we can fire it up and see if we hear anythin’.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ethan nodded relaxing at bit at John’s words.

“How far is your cabin from here?” Taylor asked.

Ethan reached into the truck cab and pulled out the map. We followed him to the hood of the truck and he spread it out.

“The cabin is here,” Ethan said pointing to the circled spot on the map. “And we’re here.”

“Hmm, looks about three or four hours, dependin’ if we run into anythin’ or not,” John said eyeing the trail Ethan made with his finger.

How he could tell that from looking at a map is beyond me. I needed Google Maps for that.