Alive? Read online

  “This is going to be hell,” Joe groaned, sounding like a little boy.

  “It might not be too bad out there,” Matt suggested.

  Joe shook his head. “No, a whole day with Tom. If anything, I’m praying for zombies just to give us a break from his voice.” He winked and headed out of the door. Violet laughed so hard she snorted.

  Attractive. Good one.

  Matt’s eyes were still on her. “I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

  He didn’t look convinced. “Stay close to me.”

  Violet raised an eyebrow. “Of the two of us, who lasted outside for the longest? I think I can handle myself.”

  No, Violet, you got bitten on day one by the second zombie you met.

  Sam unlocked the gates, handing the chain and padlock to Amy. He, Violet, Tom, Matt, and Joe stepped outside into the cool air. According to Matt’s watch, which he held out for Violet to read, it was only eleven. They had the best part of the day to hunt for supplies. Ben stood at Violet’s side. He wasn’t on his leash anymore. She thought he’d probably be useful to have around; he might be able to warn them about the dead before they got too close.

  Sam had wanted to find a car, but it was easier said than done. None of the group exactly had any experience jacking a vehicle. Their best bet was to find one with the keys still inside. Sam was glancing in the windows, trying the doors of each one they passed. They’d been walking for a while now, and so far, no luck.

  “Violet, you said we should avoid South Street, right?” Joe asked, looking at the map they had constructed before leaving.

  “Yes. We might just about be able to get past now. We could climb over the wreckage. But if we do find a car, there’s no way we can get through.”

  “Getting a car seemed like such a simple idea,” Sam muttered, trying another locked door. “Not having any luck with these.”

  “It’s weird that no one was considerate enough to leave their cars for us to steal after the dead came back to life…” Joe mused.

  “Let’s just see what happens,” Matt said. “We’re not too far now if I’m thinking of the right place?”

  Violet looked ahead, pointing with her baseball bat. “It’s just over there.” She could see the store in the distance, so she needed to come clean. Not completely—she wasn’t insane—but she had to let them know what they were about to find.

  “There’s something I should tell you all about this place.”

  “There’s a dead body in there?” Sam guessed immediately.

  “Yes.”

  “Someone you knew?”

  “No.” That was true at least. “He was dead when I arrived.” That part was less true.

  “Any biters around?” Joe asked. “He didn’t get bitten, right?”

  Uh-oh, getting into dangerous waters here. Time to get a little vague.

  “I think he did,” she began. “I’m not sure, but he was definitely dead. Like, not-getting-up dead.”

  The others seemed happy enough with that, which was good, as they were now at the store. Sam went first, cautiously opening the door. The rest of the group followed behind. Violet was last inside. She could see him now. The corpse looked even worse in such bright light. The blood had pooled around his body, and the remains of his face stared at her accusingly. There were bite marks all over his face and neck, as well as on what was left of his arm. Violet sucked in her breath, hearing Joe do the same.

  “Wow. Yes, Violet, I’d say he was definitely bitten.”

  “I tried not to look,” she muttered, heading to the back of the store and beginning to load up her bag with food.

  “On the neck as well,” Sam was still examining the remains. “And the wrist, but it’s the head injury that killed him. My guess is he fell onto part of a broken shelf—the metal went straight through the back of his head, which is why he hasn’t turned. Violet, you didn’t see any biters in here when you arrived?”

  She shook her head, not able to meet his eyes.

  Sam continued, “Hopefully whoever chewed up this guy’s face got distracted by something else and left, but I’ll check the back of the store just in case. Joe, come with me?”

  “Great, love to, thanks.”

  Violet turned in time to see Joe grab a candy bar, rip open the packet with his teeth, and follow Sam out of a door behind the counter and up a set of stairs. She, Matt, and Tom stayed downstairs, splitting up to collect supplies. Violet was confident Sam and Joe wouldn’t find any biters—seeing as the zombie who chewed the guy’s face off was currently in the store loading up on cans of soup—but she knew they had to be sure.

  Ben sat beside her as she filled the bag with as much as it would hold. She glanced over at Tom, who appeared to be trying to reach the dirty magazines on the higher shelves. Matt came over and stood on her other side.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, fine. It seems to be going pretty well.”

  “Oh yeah, of all the group pillages I’ve been on during the countless undead apocalypses, this is at least in the top five.” He grinned. “How long were you here? The first time, I mean.”

  “Not long. I came in to get away from the zombies…I mean, the biters.”

  “Zombies. I suppose that’s what they are,” Matt considered. “I haven’t been able to call them that; it just always sounded weird, like the ones you see in films where they’re all green and eat brains.”

  “And walk slowly.”

  “Yes!” Matt agreed enthusiastically. “Why are these so fast?”

  Violet shrugged. “I guess we—”

  “Get out! Get out! Get out!”

  Sam and Joe came barreling into the room at full speed, both shouting for the others to run. Violet soon saw why; there were three biters close behind them. The guys were already at the door, running back out into the street. Violet forgot about her bag, sprinting for the exit, too. Ben darted ahead, slipping out first. Tom and Violet reached the door at the same time, and he shoved her aside to make sure he got out first. Matt swore at him loudly, pushing Violet through next. Then he was out, and Sam pulled the door shut behind them. He and Joe held it closed as the creatures pounded against it.

  “Why the hell did you open that door?” Sam asked Joe angrily. “It was covered in blood!”

  “I forgot!”

  “Who forgets not to open a door covered in blood when there are monsters literally everywhere?”

  “I don’t know why you’re asking that question, because we both know the answer is obviously me!”

  “Wait.” Matt eyed the glass door, interrupting the heated exchange. “I think you can move away.”

  Sam followed his gaze, and then seemed to understand. He and Joe both stepped away. The door only opened inwards. While the creatures threw their weight against it, they had no chance of getting it open.

  “I guess they haven’t mastered handles yet,” Joe noted.

  “Where were they?” Violet asked, trying to catch her breath after ten seconds of cardio.

  “Up in a room upstairs ” Sam said, without so much of a bead of sweat on his forehead. “Might’ve been his family.” He motioned toward the store, to the dead man on the floor. Violet took another look at the ones by the door: a woman, an older man, and another one about the same age as the one she’d half eaten.

  “No chance of getting the food now.” Tom groaned. “Our bags are still inside.”

  “But…” Sam said, a trace of a smile on his lips. “All is not lost.” He held up his hand, jangling a keychain from it. On it was an electronic car key. Violet felt her whole body lighten; she’d feel safer in a car. Sam pressed the button triumphantly.

  Nothing.

  He frowned, pressing it again.

  Still nothing.

  “This is a little anti-climactic,” Joe muttered.

  “It might not be parked here,” Matt suggested.

  “It could be close,” Violet said. “Those keys don’t have a long range. Let’s check the cars over t
here.” She pointed to a cluster further down the road.

  Sam agreed. “It’s got to be one of those. Things are looking up. Our luck’s changing!”

  The positive mood was immediately broken by the sound of glass breaking. The group spun around instinctively, but the door to the store was still intact.

  What was it?

  Then she saw it; a nearby house had a broken downstairs window. There was someone on the ground—a living person. The woman was getting to her feet. Violet realized she must’ve fallen through the window. Or maybe she threw herself out, because she had her eyes fixed on the house, as if terrified she would be followed.

  “Why did she—”

  Before the question had left Violet’s lips, it was answered when one after the other, several biters jumped out of the window after the woman. They forced her to the ground, then proceeded to rip her apart. She screamed, but only for a second.

  Violet and the others said nothing. As if they were too frightened of making a single sound. They couldn’t do anything but watch. At least until the biters saw them. It was just one at first, but it screeched loudly, and then the others snapped their heads up. They forgot their meal, jumping to their feet and flooding toward the group.

  “Go!” Sam yelled, and they ran for the parked cars at the end of the street. Sam held out the keys, pressing the button repeatedly. “Come on,” he cried, his voice full of exasperation. Violet’s legs were already beginning to wobble, and she felt the familiar burn in the back of her throat.

  If I survive this, I need to start running laps. This is just embarrassing.

  Sam was still jabbing at the button on the keys. Success! One of the cars suddenly lit up, unlocking.

  “Get in!”

  “Hurry up!”

  “They’re almost here!”

  “Move!”

  Matt opened the back door, letting Violet get inside first with Ben. Sam and Joe got into the front, with Sam behind the wheel and Joe riding shotgun. Tom ran around the other side, getting in to sit beside Violet. Matt climbed in last, sitting on her right. Matt slammed his door just as the creatures arrived. They pounded on the glass hungrily.

  “Go!”

  “Sam, drive!”

  “Go!”

  “Come on!”

  “Why aren’t we moving?”

  “Driving would be good, Sam.”

  “Shut up, Joe!”

  The car wouldn’t start. Sam swore loudly, trying again. Nothing. It choked and spluttered, but wouldn’t move. There were more zombies now, drawn by the noise. They surrounded the car. Ben whined on Violet’s lap. Joe and Tom were still yelling at Sam, but Matt just looked at her. She knew what he was thinking.

  We’re going to die in here.

  “Try again,” Joe cried.

  “Turn it slowly,” Tom shouted.

  “No, slow and then fast!”

  “Pop the clutch first!”

  Sam pounded his hands on the wheel in exasperation. “Do you want to drive? Just shut up!”

  Matt was holding Violet’s hand. She couldn’t remember when he had taken hold of it, but she was clutching his just as tightly, aware she was probably cutting off his circulation.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the car spluttered to life, and she took a breath for probably the first time since they’d gotten inside. Sam edged the car forward, pushing back the dead. Once he had cleared a little room, he accelerated, leaving the monsters behind. Violet’s heart rate finally began to return to normal. She glanced down at her hand, realizing she was still gripping Matt’s. She smiled awkwardly, letting go. His lips curved up, but she caught sight of him stealthily rubbing his hand, as if trying to get the blood to flow back into it.

  “We’ll have to try the supermarket,” Sam said. “We can’t go back with nothing.”

  The others agreed, and they spent the rest of the journey in silence. Violet couldn’t help but think they had just been incredibly lucky to get out with no one being bitten. Would they be that fortunate again?

  Sam drove into the supermarket parking lot, which was surprisingly full.

  “End of the world and we can’t even find a parking spot,” Matt muttered. “Now that’s depressing.”

  Violet shook her head. “Not as much as you calling it the end of the world. Don’t do that.”

  Sam stopped the car at the edge of the parking lot, and they all climbed out, heading silently toward the back of the store. There was a door next to the huge shutter at the back. Violet knew from her brief time working there the summer before that the shutter was for unloading deliveries from the large trucks. The back door was shut and locked, but there was a small gap under the shutter.

  “What do you think?” Violet asked.

  Sam studied the gap, considering it. “I doubt the biters would know to squeeze under that. It could be clear. Still, let’s be careful.” He went first, laying on his stomach and sliding into the darkness. The rest of the group followed.

  It was pitch black inside the warehouse. “Let’s go into the store,” Sam whispered, “I don’t like the idea of stumbling around back here. It’ll take us five times as long to find what we need.”

  Plus, we don’t know what’s hiding in the darkness.

  He didn’t say it, but Violet knew it was what he was thinking. It was what they were all thinking.

  When Sam opened the door to the store, the smell hit like a wave. Each of them clapped their hands over their noses. It was rotten and putrid—the foulest thing Violet had ever smelled—and she’d eaten a dead person before. The air seemed to hang, sour and heavy, all around them.

  “What is that?” Tom choked.

  “Power’s out. It’s the food rotting,” Sam replied, moving his hand away from his nose and gesturing to the lights on the ceiling with his bat. “It’s not too bad when you get used to it.” He paused. “Be right back.”

  He quickly moved out of sight. Slowly, the others took their hands away from their noses, tentatively taking small breaths. The smell was still there, of course, but Sam was right. It wasn’t so bad after a little while.

  Sam reappeared.

  “Where did you go?” Violet asked.

  “The front of the store is all glass,” he explained. “I wanted to make sure none of them were out there.” He gestured for the others to follow before heading back in the direction he just came. They fell into step behind him.

  “And we’re okay?” Violet asked.

  “Yeah, I can’t see anything. I did a quick sweep of the aisles, too. There aren’t any of them here. Besides, Tom would’ve led them straight to us with all his heaving.”

  Violet glanced over her shoulder. Tom didn’t seem to have heard. He was still holding his nose, his eyes darting rapidly back and forth. Sam led the group to a small collection of carts at the front of the store, and they each took one. Violet glanced outside; it was completely deserted. A few of the bordering stores had their windows smashed, and there was a lot of garbage blowing around in the wind. There were corpses, too, or what was left of them, rotting on the ground. But no walking ones, at least not yet.

  “Our priority is food and water,” Sam began. “We’re fine for water right now, thanks to all the rain we’ve collected, but we won’t always be so lucky. Get as much as you can.” Violet and the others nodded. Sam continued. “There are the other things almost as important. Matches, candles, batteries, anything you can think of.” He addressed Violet. “You’re in charge of those.”

  She nodded again. They dispersed, all heading in different directions. Joe whistled for Ben to follow him. Violet knew the sorts of things Sam wanted her to get, but she also had a very clear idea of the other things they needed. Her first stop was the magazine section. She didn’t check the covers, just grabbed one of everything and threw it into the cart. She suddenly had the feeling she was being watched, so she turned to find Matt regarding her with a strange expression—half smiling, half confused.

  “Can I help you?”
she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I need more reading material. We need more reading material.”

  “Right, it’s just that we live in a school. There’s a library.”

  Violet smiled. “Matt, I’m not sure you understand. Amy and I need to know what the celebrities are doing…or were doing. We need to read seedy real-life stories like…” She grabbed the nearest magazine and read aloud. “My boyfriend stole my kidney and ran away with my sister. We need those to be entertained. I’m afraid our library is severely lacking in material of this caliber.”

  Matt considered this for a moment, then grabbed at least five different music magazines. “Okay. In that case, we need these, too.” He gestured toward the back of the store. “I’m going to get as much water as I can. Then I’ll take it to the car and come back for more. Sam’s going to come with me.”

  Violet felt a slight pang in her stomach. “Be careful.”

  After giving her a reassuring smile, he headed off.

  She picked up another magazine. Reading them wasn’t just about entertainment—it was escapism. If she could read about what celebrities wore to a party ‘last week,’ she might be able to kid herself they weren’t drooling monsters right now.

  As she made her way toward the batteries, Violet passed Sam. He was loading up on canned food, and his cart was practically groaning under the weight of the cans, bottles of sauce, and dried pasta.

  “This is great,” Violet said. “All that stuff should last forever.”

  “Going to try to take as much as possible, especially now we have a car. We don’t want to have to come back. Joe found a camping stove, too, so we’ll be able to cook.” He began to push his cart toward the back doors. “I’m going to take this to the car with the water Matt’s got, then we’ll be back.”

  Violet hated the idea of the two of them leaving, but it wasn’t like they had a choice. Besides, if anyone was able to take care of himself, as well as Matt, it was Sam. She could see why the others respected him so much. He was a born leader.

  Violet moved on to the next aisle, which was pet food. Ben was already there, shredding some poor toy that happened to be on a low shelf. Violet put three huge bags of dried dog food into the cart, as well as some treats. Sam might argue it wasn’t ‘essential,’ but she was willing to fight her corner. She unwrapped a bone and passed it to Ben, who wagged his tail excitedly and ran off with his new prize.