When the Dead Rise (Book 1): The Beginning (13 page)

"Does he look bit?" Bill called from the cab.

Cory couldn't tell; the boy was covered in blood. "Are you okay kid?" The boy didn't answer, only stared from Cory to Veronica and back again.

Veronica held out her arms. "It's okay," she cooed, taking a step closer to the boy. "We're here to help you if you'll come down from the tree." Still the boy didn't speak, but Veronica had captured his full attention. "What's your name?" She made little come here gestures with her outstretched hands. "If you come down we can find somewhere safe to rest and get some food. You must be tired and hungry." With the mention of food, the boy's eyes went wide.

Cory wondered how long it had been since he'd eaten. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a half-eaten energy bar. "Here try this," he said, handing it to Veronica.

The food worked like a charm and soon they had the boy in the truck, checking him over for bites. After determining the boy was clean, they all climbed into the cab; Veronica, with the boy on her lap, sat in the middle while Cory sat on the passenger side and Bill drove.

"Where are you two off to?" Bill asked, as they slowly made their way around the abandoned vehicles cluttering the street.

"My house wasn't safe, so I finally had to leave," Veronica answered first. "I didn't know where I was going when I climbed out the window tonight, but thankfully I ran into Cory."

"You two just met?" Bill took his eyes off the road, giving Cory and Veronica a look of disbelief. "Then it's serendipity that our paths crossed. What about you?" He nodded to Cory, "What made you pick tonight to leave the safety of wherever you'd holed up?"

Cory shrugged, "I was running low on food and ammo. I have a storage unit on the northern end of town with supplies and I figured if I could make it there then I'd figure out my next move after getting some rest."

"Sounds like you're the one with the plan then; mind if I tag along?" Bill smiled warmly, "I was just out gathering some supplies for myself when I noticed him," he nodded to the boy who had his arms wrapped tightly around Veronica's neck, "climbing that tree with a pack of those things not far behind. I couldn't very well leave him."

"I'd be happy to have you along," Cory said after Veronica gave him a slight nod of consent. "I've spent the past week thinking I was the only one left in this God forsaken city, and tonight I've found three more survivors. I don't think I could bear to be on my own again so soon."

Slapping the wheel of the truck, Bill grinned and said, "Then it seems we'd better make a stop at your storage facility. We won't get too far on what we have with four mouths to feed." With a nod, Cory gave directions.

The stupid woman...

"And thank God for my time served in the military," Bill was saying as they crossed over the highway; the storage facility was just ahead. "If I didn't have the army training that I do, I don't think I would have lasted that first day."

"Look!" Veronica pointed out the front window, at approaching headlights. The boy stirred in her arms, but didn't wake. "Someone's on the access road, heading this way."

"Damn fool," Bill spat. "Trying to get himself killed driving around with his lights on." Earlier, Bill explained that nighttime was the best for scavenging - provided you didn't turn on your headlights, which acted like a beacon for zombies to follow.

"Pull over and we'll see where they go." Bill did as Cory asked, and they watched the small blue car pull into the gas station on the corner.

"Now what in the hell are they doing?" Bill squinted through his window as Veronica and Cory craned their necks to see through the front.

"Getting gas?" Veronica asked, disbelievingly.

They watched as the car came to a stop in front of a pump and the door swung open; a woman with dark hair emerged from the car. She glanced around with a confused look on her face before hurrying around to the pump. Watching whatever her hand was doing, the woman didn't look up as she reached for the pump and stuck it into the tank of the car.

"That ain't going to work for her and when she realizes that, she's going to go inside and try to get it running," Bill said, reaching for his ignition keys.

"Wait." Veronica put her hand on his arm. "She's doing something. Look."

They all looked and Cory felt his mouth fall open. The woman stood beside her car with a video camera in hand. She slowly panned the camera along the road before turning it to face herself. Saying something, she then put it on the roof of her car, facing the entrance of the store. Jogging across the parking lot, she slowly opened the door and called out to anyone inside. The door closed and the woman disappeared from view.

Bill cranked the key and the engine roared to life. "She's going to get herself eaten." Throwing the car into drive, Bill made a left hand turn at the intersection, and a right into the gas stations parking lot. The three survivors stared through the stores front window; there was no sign of the woman but they could see a zombie stumbling towards the register from the back.

"You two wait here, I'm going in." Cory pulled his pistol from the front of his backpack and before anyone could say a word, jumped out, slamming the door behind him.

He crept up to the door, searching for the woman through the window. Knowing she could already be dead, Cory opened it slowly and cringed when the bell above the door chimed.

"Who's there?" a quavering female voice asked from behind the counter.

Okay, not dead.
The hallway zombie shuffled closer. Strangely, it hadn't moaned yet. "I'm here to help. It looked like you didn't bring any weapons in with you," Cory whispered.

"Weapons? I'm just trying to get this pump to work." The woman poked her head above the counter, ducking back when she noticed the gun. "You don't have to shoot me. I'll pay for the gas." She raised her hands.

Cory glanced down each aisle; checking to make sure, they were clear. "I'm not going to shoot you but your money's worthless here," he said, finally peering over the counter. "We need to go now."

The woman, still not noticing the approaching zombie, glanced up at Cory. "I need gas first," she said after reassuring herself that the gun was no longer pointed in her direction.

Cory cringed when she spoke,
Too loud
, his mind screamed.

The zombie moaned. Knowing it was now unavoidable, Cory turned and put a round into the zombies head. The shot echoed in the small building and the woman screamed.

"What the hell are you doing?" she poked her head up over the counter again.

"Saving your ass," Cory replied, motioning to the dead-again zombie. "What's your name?"

She stared at the zombie on the floor, fumbling in her pocket for something. "You just shot him!" Pulling out a cellphone, she began to take pictures of the heap on the floor.

"Better him than you," Cory replied, growing irritated with the woman. She was obviously in over her head and didn't know what she'd gotten herself into. "We really have to go." Just as he finished the sentence, a loud banging began from the back of the store and gunshots came from the front. "We have to go now!" He grabbed the woman by the arm but she wiggled free. Running behind the counter, she grabbed several cartons of smokes and stuffed them into her purse. As the zombies continued their assault in the rear, Cory could hear the door holding them back begin to splinter. "Now!" he growled, grabbing her arm again and propelling her out the front door.

"What the..." she began, stumbling out ahead of Cory.

Five,
No,
six zombies rounded the corner at the front of the store, moaning as they turned, noticing new, easier prey.
She's going to get me killed.
He pushed her towards the truck.

"Are these things everywhere?" The woman's voice had gone shrill, agitating the zombies even more.

Bill sat in the driver's seat, taking careful aim at the growing crowd. When he noticed Cory, he waved and shouted, "We have a problem. There's a whole group coming out of the mall and if we don't make tracks, we'll end up zombie chow."

A loud crash came from within the store and Cory knew they were about to have too many to deal with on their hands. "Into the truck."

"But my things," the woman tried to move towards her car.

"We have no time," Cory shouted.

A hand grabbed the back of his shirt; he shrieked, letting the woman go. A shot rang out and Cory felt the grip loosen, then it was gone. Ashamed for his girly scream, he turned to look for the woman, but caught Bill's smirk from the corner of his eye. She'd made it back to her car and was pulling a bag from the back seat.

"If she ain't gonna come, leave her," Bill shouted at Cory's back.

A zombie stumbled between the pumps, heading straight for the woman. He shouted, "Watch out!" Lifting his gun, he took aim and shot, dropping the zombie. She spun around, eyes wide and panicked. Cory looked to the truck then back to the woman; despite Bill's best efforts, the zombies were closing the gap between him and his new friends.

"Come on!" Veronica shouted.

Grabbing the video recorder off the roof of her car, the woman dashed back to Cory. "Thanks for shooting that thing," she panted; Cory wanted to smack her for being so dumb. She obviously didn't understand the urgency of their situation.

"We have to get to the truck," Cory said, shooting a zombie in his path. "Now."

They ran.

Upon reaching the truck, the woman threw her bag into the bed and Cory jumped in, turning to give her a hand up. "Hang on!" he shouted as he banged on the roof. The truck lurched forward and cleared a path through the zombies.

They peeled out of the parking lot and back onto the road. "Where are we going?" the woman asked as they sped north.

Cory pointed to the large white building just ahead. The building had a fenced perimeter, and he knew that once they were inside the gates, they'd have a minute to finally relax and regroup. Bill made the hard left into the parking lot and skidded to a halt. Jumping down, Cory jogged up to the gate, fishing the key card out of his back pocket, thankful this part of town still had electricity. The gate rattled open and the truck pulled through. With one last look to the gas station and the growing crowd moving in their direction, Cory slid the gate closed.

The passenger door swung open and Veronica jumped out, running to Cory and throwing herself into his arms. "I thought we were going to lose you!" she cried into his shoulder.

"You ignorant fool!" Bill was yelling at the woman as she climbed out of the back of the truck. "You almost got our friend killed because of your stupidity."

"Now Bill," Cory said, stepping away from Veronica and towards the growling old man, "we all got away. We're safely fenced in now and after clearing the building, we should be safe to spend a few day's here. No harm, no foul."

"What is this place?" Veronica sniffled from behind Cory.

The sun peeked over the eastern horizon and Cory turned, finally taking in the state of the storage facility; it was a disaster. There were tarps hung from the fences, blocking the view from the street. Appliances lined the interior of the fence, reinforcing the chain-link. The lower units stood open and empty; litter covered the driveway. "I think someone's already taken up residence here," he said, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

"I can't believe this is really happening." Holding her camera, the woman turned in a slow circle.

"Who are you anyways?" Veronica snapped. Cory couldn't blame her - it would have been an easy trip if they hadn't stopped to help her.

The woman turned, gave Veronica a friendly smile, and held out her hand. "I'm Allegra Lozano, investigative journalist."

Resident survivors...

The door of the facility swung open and a man with a gun stood in the entryway. "You need to move on friends," he said flatly; the four survivors gaped at him.

"I just need into my storage unit." Cory walked forward, raising his hands. "As soon as I have my things we'll be on our way." He motioned back to the truck.

"We have a small boy with us, and if we could just rest here today..." Veronica began, but was cut off by a second voice from above.

"There's a large group moving this way from the Exxon station and drawing more from the mall."

The man with the gun sighed heavily and motioned for everyone to come inside. Cory got his backpack and helped Veronica carry in the now sleeping boy they'd rescued; Bill and Allegra were already inside introducing themselves to the other survivors.

"...and I'm Allegra. I came here from Austin to do a piece on what's happening in San Antonio."

"Well my name is Mike; I used to work here pre-z." Mike pointed to each member of his group as he introduced them. "This is my sister Amanda, her daughter Robyn and this is my buddy Stu; he worked down the street at the gas station. Zach's up on the roof doing guard duty, so you'll have to meet him later."

"I'm Cory and this is Veronica. We're not too sure what the boy's name is because he hasn't spoken since we found him stuck in a tree."

Amanda walked forward slowly, with her arms held out and an expression of pity on her face. "Oh the poor little thing. Here, let me take him from you while Mike shows you guys around. If he wakes up, I'll radio and have Mike send you back down." After getting an almost imperceptible nod from Veronica, Cory handed the boy over to the plump woman. Amanda propped the sleeping boy over her shoulder and checked the back of his shirt.