Zombie Story

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: Stuck (Day Three)
Dedicated to Shawty

I didn't get far, I've gotten to comfortable with the lack of zombies we've come across. The clang of the cans on top of my yells attracted zombies, lots of zombies. At this rate I would run out of ammo before even half of the zombies were taken care of. Amidst my struggle, I spotted the car, missing window and all, drive away. David that bastard.

I was officially stuck here. My finger pressed the trigger. Nothing came out. Cripes. That pathetic traitor. I didn't have time to contemplate the situation any more. I had to go. Maybe Heather was still here. She'd be on the other side of the store. I couldn't risk going over there without any protection, alone, with the possibility that she was half way home in a new car by now.

So I did the only thing I could, I ran. I leaped over the fallen cans, past the shelves. I ran straight past the aisle, hyper aware of the mob of zombies on my trail. Is this how it ends? I wouldn't even get the dignity of a human death. I'd be one of them.

A bike rack. This isn't the end. I didn't get this far just to die here. I placed an unsteady foot on top of the bicycle seat of a bike in the ground row before reaching for the bike on the mid row. I shrieked when I felt nails digging into my feet. The shake of my foot managed to kick the creature away, but it left long scratches over my shoes. They weren't deep enough to reach skin and I had bigger worries. My previous shrieks would attract more zombies, I was sure. I wasted no time in reaching for the third and highest rack of bikes.

I was safe, but I couldn't stay here forever. Without any food source, I'd starve. And those zombies aren't leaving anytime soon. I couldn't stop my mind from wandering back to David and his betrayal. Screw that traitor. If we ever met again, I won't hesitate to shoot him down dead.

The groans and snarls below me reminded me that I still had to survive in order to contemplate shooting David down. He better hope we never meet again if he wants to live. Ugh, I was so stupid. It seemed that my mistakes were endless. Again and again I make the wrong decision.

I felt the rack of bikes I was on start to shake. My hands, already sweaty from fear and the labor of climbing the bike racks, were starting to slip from their grip on the thin metal bikes. I hesitantly peered down, the zombies couldn't quite climb the racks, but with the amount circling the bike racks, they would certainly knock it down. I frantically looked around, searching for anything that could be my salvation. Nothing. So this was it. What a shame.

Baby Luke would be cared for by Heather, I could count on that. I wonder what they would say about me, when I'm gone. The stories they'd tell. I lasted here a good three days. Spectacular.

I hope in the next life, I see Ethan again. I'd tell him and Zach I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't save them. Im sorry I let them down. I'm sorry that their time was cut so short. I didn't realize I was crying until I felt the tears sting my eyes. I leaned my head back, bliking furiously, trying to clear my vision.

A vent. How did I not see that before? I carefully put my gun in my waist band with my left hand while my right hand held onto the bike I was perched onto as if my life depended on it. And it did.

I had no pack to slow me down, I pushed the vent open before attempting to haul myself up. I really need to work out my upper body more, my muscles strained at the effort I made. My upper torso was in the vent but I was struggling with pulling the rest of myself up. I shrieked when I heard a thunderous crash below me, I could only assume that the rack of bikes finally gave through and collapsed to the floor. If I were to fall now, it would be over. I kicked my legs back and forth before kicking them up with a jolt to get me a few more inches into the vent. Once my lower torso was in, I had little trouble lifting my legs in one at a time.

Once in the vents I collapsed against the cool metal. The easiest part was done. I had just enough room in the vents to turn myself, my face pushed against the vent walls, so I was facing the area that I had entered through. I was right about the bike rack falling, a number of zombies were left smushed to the floor, crushed by the bike racks. The remainder were stumbling over the racks, reaching up at me. I could see at least 20 or 30 zombies make their way towards the fallen bike rack. When it fell, the sound must've rang throughout the store. I could watch the zombies gathered below without fearing for my life. Well, I wasn't quite out of the store yet, so maybe I shouldn't be so hopeful. We all know where that gets you.

My main focus was on getting away from the herd below me. Once in the vents I did my best to silently armycrawl elsewhere. The vents were cramped, there wasn't too much room to move around. I had barely managed to turn around earlier. Slowly I was sliding farther and farther away from the bike racks. My arms were starting tinfeel irritated from brushing against the metal of the vent floors. The dust going into my nose constantly triggered a fit of coughs, but I couldn't risk it. What if my coughs echoes and redirected the zombies from the bikeracks to under wherever I was currently?

I closed my eyes tight and continued to army crawl in silence until I was met with a sharp pang on my head. A wall. I was met with a cross path in the vents. Left or right? I didn't know where either side went so I guess I can't choose wrong. I chose left. Through my crawling I finally found a slit. Below was a door that led to a bathroom. A perfect place to be trapped by zombies. I carefully went over it and kept going. I didn't know how much time passed, it seemed like hours. Thats the thing about army crawling in such a tight area, it was unbelievably slow. After a while, I found another opening vent. Shelves of camping gear. The shelves were spread out apart from eachotjer and seemed to be made of metal. Too high for the zombies to climb, and sturdy enough to not shake. I carefully opened the vent, making sure not to let it crash down, before doing my best to quietly jump down. From there, I could see the exit. It was night time. Shoot.

I wouldn't make it far outside with no weapons besides my empty gun, especially at night when zombies were noticeably more active. I had no choice but to stay here for the night. I was on the top shelf though, so I'd be okay. I took a look around before spotting a set of hiking bags. Perfect, I could replace the one I lost with an even better one.

I wasted no time in ripping off the tags and searching for more equipment that could be useful all while sitting comfortably on the top of the shelf. I picked up a camping blanket as well as a flashlight. A first aid kit caught my eye but it was too far below me to reach for it. I packed the equipment I did manage manage grab into the hiking bag. If I made it out alive, I wouldn't come back empty handed. I zipped my bag closed before setting it aside.

I needed to preserve energy. I forced myself to try to sleep but the passing snarls kept me awake. If I rolled off the shelf in my sleep, I'd be dead before I even woke up. The anxiety convinced me to crawl back into the vent to sleep in for the night. I left my bag on the shelf I was just on, I doubt I could fit it in with me. The shelves were higher than the bike racks so I had less trouble making my way inside. The vents, although they were my protection, felt suffocating. I had no idea how baby Luke slept being swaddled like how he was. My heart hurt at the though of baby Luke. Although earlier I was so ready to hand him off to Heather when I was about to be mauled by zombies on the bike rack, it was much harder to do when I was safe in the vents. I missed him.

I forced myself to shut my eyes, I needed all the sleep I could get for tomorrow especially if I wanted to come back home to the baby. My baby.

I attempted to reassure myself as I was falling asleep,

"Everything is gonna be alright"

The snarls below me seemed to argue with me.

"Or not"