“There’s nothing here Joey. Why the fuck are we looking?” Gemma whispered harshly, stepping over a fallen box of rice krispies. “The infect are all over this area.”
“Calm down, we will be fine.”
“Jesus, you’re going to get us killed.” Gemma groaned.
“Look.” Joey turned abruptly and grabbed Gemma’s shoulders, shaking her gently. “If we don’t go back with something none of us will be eating tonight. So we’re double-checking this damn store. If anything lures out the infected it will be your complaining. So shut the fuck up and look for some food.”
“Fine.” Gemma snorted, heading to the next isle. She scanned through the empty shelves. Most of the processed foods had been taken when the outbreak first came around a few months before. Most of the things on the shelves were either spoiled, or just empty bags. She came across a bag of Twinkies and grinned as she snatched it up and held it high above the rusted shelving for Joey to see. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Thankfully it wasn’t meat. She almost gagged just thinking about any sort of meat. If anything, she was more a vegetarian now than she had ever been before the outbreak of dead people eating flesh. To each their own. She shrugged at her own thoughts.
Suddenly she was falling forward, tripping over something on the floor. Pushing her hands out in front of her to catch her fall, she hit the linoleum with a crash, her foot still stuck on whatever it was that tripped her. Her heart thudded in her chest as she looked back at the mass in the middle of the isle. She stifled a scream as she scampered back from the mess. Half of a body was laying in the isle. The face was mutilated, pieces of flesh torn from the cheeks and forehead. The eye lids were almost completely gone, and one of the eye sockets was empty. Gemma went to cover her mouth by stopped when she realized her hands were covered in blood. It took her a moment before she could think clearly. Usually she wasn’t like this, but caught off guard by the grotesque scene in front of her, her mind needed a moment to adjust. The body was clearly being eaten, and it was relatively fresh. Which meant the infected weren’t far. They never strayed from their meals. Especially one with this much meat still left in tact. It also meant the body was a survivor not 3 hours earlier. But where was the bottom half? If she and Joey had any luck left in them, the infected would have taken it off somewhere and were feeding on it far away.
But Gemma highly doubted that was the case. Quickly getting up, she grabbed the Twinkies and made her way through the store looking for Joey. She found him crouched down, peering at some canned goods that were still unopened. Thank god he had found something other than Twinkies. She kneeled down next to him, handing him the bag of processed food.
“There’s half a body a few isles down.” She whispered into his ear. “It’s pretty fresh. A few hours old, maybe, if we’re lucky.”
“Shit.” He cursed under his breath.
“We should get out of here before they come back for the rest.” Not 3 seconds after Gemma finished her sentence, a crash came from a few isles down.
“Fuck.” Gemma mouthed the word to Joey who nodded in agreement.
“Your gun?” He mouthed back to her, taking his own pistol out of its holster.
Gemma shook her head, pointing to the baseball bat she had brought along. The infected were drawn to sound, so she preferred just beating their heads in. Once you were seen, or heard, they stopped at nothing. They were nothing like what you would see in movies. These infected were intelligent beings, still capable of thinking for themselves. Just not as fast as a “normal” person. But they are still capable of problem solving, and once instinct takes over… that’s the end of it.
Joey nodded, pointing his chin to one side of the isle, gesturing for Gemma to head in that direction. She nodded back and the split. They had used this tactic many times. Corner the infected, and while it’s busy trying to take care of one person, the other attacks from the back. It’s a pretty shady move, but it hadn’t failed them yet. Gemma crept through the isles, closing in on the infected. She waited for a moment, to let Joey get ahead. He had the gun, to let him be the distraction was easier. Plus she hadn’t bashed a zombie’s head in for a while and she was itching to do it again. Another crash. Gemma made her move, lifting the bat above her head.
“Don’t shoot! I’m not infected!”
Gemma and Joey exchanged looks as the girl stood between them, arms outstretched. She was holding a can of something that was clearly bad, part of the can peeling away. Joey looked at her and then to Gemma.
“Who are you?” He inquired, gun still pointed at her.
“They call me Eddie. I come in peace.” She grinned and Joey slowly lowered his weapon. Gemma held her bat at her sided, white knuckles gripped the handle.
“Be any louder, and you’ll attract the entire town of infected.” Gemma hissed. “And I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”
Eddie looked down at the can she was holding and tossed it back on the shelf. Then she nodded at the Twinkies sticking out of Gemma's bag.
"Feasting like a queen."
"Back off." Gemma growled, protecting her food like an animal protects its prey. "What should we do with her Joey?" She looked up at Joey, who was deep in thought.
"Well we can't leave her here..."
"Hey, I'm right here! I can hear everything you're saying."
"And she might be resourceful." Joey continued, ignoring Eddie's retort. Her face twisted in a scowl, eyebrows furrowed.
"I doubt it. Judging by the fact she was about to eat rotten food." Gemma grinned taking great delight in the anger setting on Eddie's features.
"I'm more than resourceful! I've got a motorcycle for fucks sake!"
"She's more dumb than I initially thought." Gemma looked over at Joey who was nodding in agreement.
"How the hell does that make me dumb?!" She squealed.
"Shut your goddam trap." Gemma hissed. "The infect are attracted by sound. Your squealing is going to get us killed. Your damn bike will do the same."
Eddie straightened her back with pride, crossing her arms. "I'm aware of that you condescending bitch. That's why I keep body parts with me. Hang them off the edge of the bike. They stay away since it smells like rotting meat."
"I like her. She has spunk." Joey grinned and Gemma's mouth fell open.
"You've got to be shitting me."
Joey ignored Gemma, grabbing Eddie's arm gently. "Come with us. We have a somewhat safe home. There's two others there. Nicole and her brother, Evan. They're nice enough. Watch out for Nicole though. She bites."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Did you guys find any fo-" Nicole was sitting on the barricade of boxes when the threesome walked through the door. She stopped mid sentence when she saw Eddie trailing behind Joey and Gemma. "No. No fucking way. Nope. She has to go."
"Nicole, Evan, meet Eddie. We found her at the store downtown." Joey pushed her forward slightly, encouraging her to introduce herself.
"Hey." Eddie grinned.
"Are you fucking serious Joey? She's what? maybe 18?"
"I'm 19!"
"You shut your fucking mouth kid." Nicole pushed passed Eddie and stomped over to Joey. Evan tried to stop her but she was able to shimmy from his grasp. "We can hardly feed the four of us. We don't need another bitch to feed. I want her out and I want her out now."
"Nicole, please..."
"I don't need this from you Evan. Back off." Evan cowered back to his seat.
Joey stayed surprisingly calm even though Nicole was in his face, screaming at the top of her lungs. "We can't leave her alone out there. The infected will get her. The ones you are going to attract with your incoherent screaming."
"You know what! Fuck you, and you, and you." She pointed to the three of them who were watching her have her screaming fit. "Fuck this, I'm going out for a cigarette. Get that bitch out before I feed her to the fucking cunt infected."
She reached for her cigarettes that were sitting on a crate nearby, then headed out the front door. Evan got up to go after her. He cared for his sister a little too much, but rightfully so. Nicole had been a heroin addict before the outbreak. She never had a chance to go to rehab, but this apocalypse thing might have just been the next best thing to help her. But since she had run out of drugs, Nicole sort of went off the deep end. Even though Evan wanted nothing more than to help his sister, that was no problem a 21 year old boy should be dealing with at all.
"You sit. I'll go talk to her." Gemma pushed Evan back down into his chair and made her way to the porch where Nicole was lighting her smoke.
"You know that's going to kill you."
"I'll die one way or another. Rather get hit by this," she held up her cigarette, "than one of those bastards. Need a hit?" She held it out to Gemma who took it, taking a long drag before handing it back to her.
"We can't leave her out there you know."
"I know." Nicole sighed heavily before taking another drag. "How many problems you think she's gonna cause with that piece of shit?" She gestured to the motorcycle sitting amongst the overgrown grass. "Infected are gonna be hearing that for miles."
"She hangs parts of the infected she's killed from the back. Apparently it keeps them away."
"Hum. Smart little shit." She nodded, putting her smoke out against the railing. "Fine. She can stay. But the second she fucks up, I'm feeding her to the cannibals."
"On a lighter note, Guess what." Gemma grinned.
"What?"
"I found Twinkies."
Nicole grinned from ear to ear, silently cheering. "You're my best bitch, you know that?"
"I'm your only bitch."
“Calm down, we will be fine.”
“Jesus, you’re going to get us killed.” Gemma groaned.
“Look.” Joey turned abruptly and grabbed Gemma’s shoulders, shaking her gently. “If we don’t go back with something none of us will be eating tonight. So we’re double-checking this damn store. If anything lures out the infected it will be your complaining. So shut the fuck up and look for some food.”
“Fine.” Gemma snorted, heading to the next isle. She scanned through the empty shelves. Most of the processed foods had been taken when the outbreak first came around a few months before. Most of the things on the shelves were either spoiled, or just empty bags. She came across a bag of Twinkies and grinned as she snatched it up and held it high above the rusted shelving for Joey to see. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Thankfully it wasn’t meat. She almost gagged just thinking about any sort of meat. If anything, she was more a vegetarian now than she had ever been before the outbreak of dead people eating flesh. To each their own. She shrugged at her own thoughts.
Suddenly she was falling forward, tripping over something on the floor. Pushing her hands out in front of her to catch her fall, she hit the linoleum with a crash, her foot still stuck on whatever it was that tripped her. Her heart thudded in her chest as she looked back at the mass in the middle of the isle. She stifled a scream as she scampered back from the mess. Half of a body was laying in the isle. The face was mutilated, pieces of flesh torn from the cheeks and forehead. The eye lids were almost completely gone, and one of the eye sockets was empty. Gemma went to cover her mouth by stopped when she realized her hands were covered in blood. It took her a moment before she could think clearly. Usually she wasn’t like this, but caught off guard by the grotesque scene in front of her, her mind needed a moment to adjust. The body was clearly being eaten, and it was relatively fresh. Which meant the infected weren’t far. They never strayed from their meals. Especially one with this much meat still left in tact. It also meant the body was a survivor not 3 hours earlier. But where was the bottom half? If she and Joey had any luck left in them, the infected would have taken it off somewhere and were feeding on it far away.
But Gemma highly doubted that was the case. Quickly getting up, she grabbed the Twinkies and made her way through the store looking for Joey. She found him crouched down, peering at some canned goods that were still unopened. Thank god he had found something other than Twinkies. She kneeled down next to him, handing him the bag of processed food.
“There’s half a body a few isles down.” She whispered into his ear. “It’s pretty fresh. A few hours old, maybe, if we’re lucky.”
“Shit.” He cursed under his breath.
“We should get out of here before they come back for the rest.” Not 3 seconds after Gemma finished her sentence, a crash came from a few isles down.
“Fuck.” Gemma mouthed the word to Joey who nodded in agreement.
“Your gun?” He mouthed back to her, taking his own pistol out of its holster.
Gemma shook her head, pointing to the baseball bat she had brought along. The infected were drawn to sound, so she preferred just beating their heads in. Once you were seen, or heard, they stopped at nothing. They were nothing like what you would see in movies. These infected were intelligent beings, still capable of thinking for themselves. Just not as fast as a “normal” person. But they are still capable of problem solving, and once instinct takes over… that’s the end of it.
Joey nodded, pointing his chin to one side of the isle, gesturing for Gemma to head in that direction. She nodded back and the split. They had used this tactic many times. Corner the infected, and while it’s busy trying to take care of one person, the other attacks from the back. It’s a pretty shady move, but it hadn’t failed them yet. Gemma crept through the isles, closing in on the infected. She waited for a moment, to let Joey get ahead. He had the gun, to let him be the distraction was easier. Plus she hadn’t bashed a zombie’s head in for a while and she was itching to do it again. Another crash. Gemma made her move, lifting the bat above her head.
“Don’t shoot! I’m not infected!”
Gemma and Joey exchanged looks as the girl stood between them, arms outstretched. She was holding a can of something that was clearly bad, part of the can peeling away. Joey looked at her and then to Gemma.
“Who are you?” He inquired, gun still pointed at her.
“They call me Eddie. I come in peace.” She grinned and Joey slowly lowered his weapon. Gemma held her bat at her sided, white knuckles gripped the handle.
“Be any louder, and you’ll attract the entire town of infected.” Gemma hissed. “And I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”
Eddie looked down at the can she was holding and tossed it back on the shelf. Then she nodded at the Twinkies sticking out of Gemma's bag.
"Feasting like a queen."
"Back off." Gemma growled, protecting her food like an animal protects its prey. "What should we do with her Joey?" She looked up at Joey, who was deep in thought.
"Well we can't leave her here..."
"Hey, I'm right here! I can hear everything you're saying."
"And she might be resourceful." Joey continued, ignoring Eddie's retort. Her face twisted in a scowl, eyebrows furrowed.
"I doubt it. Judging by the fact she was about to eat rotten food." Gemma grinned taking great delight in the anger setting on Eddie's features.
"I'm more than resourceful! I've got a motorcycle for fucks sake!"
"She's more dumb than I initially thought." Gemma looked over at Joey who was nodding in agreement.
"How the hell does that make me dumb?!" She squealed.
"Shut your goddam trap." Gemma hissed. "The infect are attracted by sound. Your squealing is going to get us killed. Your damn bike will do the same."
Eddie straightened her back with pride, crossing her arms. "I'm aware of that you condescending bitch. That's why I keep body parts with me. Hang them off the edge of the bike. They stay away since it smells like rotting meat."
"I like her. She has spunk." Joey grinned and Gemma's mouth fell open.
"You've got to be shitting me."
Joey ignored Gemma, grabbing Eddie's arm gently. "Come with us. We have a somewhat safe home. There's two others there. Nicole and her brother, Evan. They're nice enough. Watch out for Nicole though. She bites."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Did you guys find any fo-" Nicole was sitting on the barricade of boxes when the threesome walked through the door. She stopped mid sentence when she saw Eddie trailing behind Joey and Gemma. "No. No fucking way. Nope. She has to go."
"Nicole, Evan, meet Eddie. We found her at the store downtown." Joey pushed her forward slightly, encouraging her to introduce herself.
"Hey." Eddie grinned.
"Are you fucking serious Joey? She's what? maybe 18?"
"I'm 19!"
"You shut your fucking mouth kid." Nicole pushed passed Eddie and stomped over to Joey. Evan tried to stop her but she was able to shimmy from his grasp. "We can hardly feed the four of us. We don't need another bitch to feed. I want her out and I want her out now."
"Nicole, please..."
"I don't need this from you Evan. Back off." Evan cowered back to his seat.
Joey stayed surprisingly calm even though Nicole was in his face, screaming at the top of her lungs. "We can't leave her alone out there. The infected will get her. The ones you are going to attract with your incoherent screaming."
"You know what! Fuck you, and you, and you." She pointed to the three of them who were watching her have her screaming fit. "Fuck this, I'm going out for a cigarette. Get that bitch out before I feed her to the fucking cunt infected."
She reached for her cigarettes that were sitting on a crate nearby, then headed out the front door. Evan got up to go after her. He cared for his sister a little too much, but rightfully so. Nicole had been a heroin addict before the outbreak. She never had a chance to go to rehab, but this apocalypse thing might have just been the next best thing to help her. But since she had run out of drugs, Nicole sort of went off the deep end. Even though Evan wanted nothing more than to help his sister, that was no problem a 21 year old boy should be dealing with at all.
"You sit. I'll go talk to her." Gemma pushed Evan back down into his chair and made her way to the porch where Nicole was lighting her smoke.
"You know that's going to kill you."
"I'll die one way or another. Rather get hit by this," she held up her cigarette, "than one of those bastards. Need a hit?" She held it out to Gemma who took it, taking a long drag before handing it back to her.
"We can't leave her out there you know."
"I know." Nicole sighed heavily before taking another drag. "How many problems you think she's gonna cause with that piece of shit?" She gestured to the motorcycle sitting amongst the overgrown grass. "Infected are gonna be hearing that for miles."
"She hangs parts of the infected she's killed from the back. Apparently it keeps them away."
"Hum. Smart little shit." She nodded, putting her smoke out against the railing. "Fine. She can stay. But the second she fucks up, I'm feeding her to the cannibals."
"On a lighter note, Guess what." Gemma grinned.
"What?"
"I found Twinkies."
Nicole grinned from ear to ear, silently cheering. "You're my best bitch, you know that?"
"I'm your only bitch."