Outbreak

Chapter 14

Michael

We've been driving for about two hours. It's early afternoon, and I'm in the middle of listening to Eric, Jason, and Ivy talk about their journey from Australia to Canada.

"And you're telling me," I say with my eyebrows raised. "That you guys didn't even know each other before you met around Australia?" Eric nods. 

"Yep. I used to live in Adelaide, and once I escaped I found Ivy and her brother Charlie in Melbourne. Then about a week later, we found Taylor and her siblings. We met Mal, Jason, and Emmett on the ship, with their friend Freddy. Quinn and Ezran were in Michigan." The car becomes quiet, and I see Eric's miserable expression in the rear-view mirror. It's no guess as to why I don't recognize most of those names.

"Who were the others?" I ask tentatively. "The ones that... didn't make it?" Ivy lowers her head in grief. "Taylor's brother and sister, Jake and Emily. Freddy, who was Emmett and Mal's friend. My... my brother Charlie."

"Oh, look! There's a petrol station coming up!" Eric says loudly, pointing to his phone. He's right, a gas symbol is approaching the car quickly. I turn back to check that Ezran's car is still trailing us, and grin when I see Ezran and Emmett pulling faces at me. They must have been waiting for that opportunity for a while. I turn back to face forwards the front of the car, and catch sight of the petrol station.

Eric slowly pulls in, and the Forester comes to a stop besides the grocery store. The sliding doors are open, and the windows dusty. We clamber out of the car, and meet Ezran's group as they pull in. 

I pull out my handgun, the one that Eric gave me, and hold it up while I cautiously inch towards the gaping doorway and stand with my back against the window on one side of the door, Eric standing ready at the other. We look at each other, nod, and suddenly jump into the doorway. My heart is pounding; this is the first time I've been in action since I was brought back into the living world. 

I remember Mal teaching me how to shoot, and replay his voice in my head. 

"Plant your feet firm in the ground, to absorb the shock of the fire. Keep a solid form, and hold the gun tightly with both your hands. Keep the top of the gun in line with your target, Aim, and shoot. When you pull the trigger, try not to flinch."  

I take a deep breath, and scan the room. Unfortunately, there are two tall shelves blocking a small section of the visible shop. I sneak into the shop silently, Eric behind me. He motions to check the back of the store, and I follow him. He stand behind the shelf while I peek behind it. I jump in shock when I see a zombie standing almost motionless, pawing through the scattered remains of foods. 

It stands, still having not noticed me or Eric, and begins to climb the shelf, sniffing.

I open my mouth to yell out a warning to Eric, but it's too late. 

"ER--"

A toolbox tips off of the shelf and crashes onto Eric's head with a sickening crack. He crumples, and the shelf tips over. The zombie whips its mutated head towards me at the sound of my cry, and begins to crawl at a terrifying speed towards me over the overturned shelf. I shoot twice at the monster, and it comes to a crash, dead, at my feet. Not even bothering to double-check that it's dead, I place my hands on the underside of the shelf and start to try to move it. 

"GUYS! GET IN HERE NOW!"

Ezran

There's a loud crash from inside, a few shouts, two gunshots, then... silence.

"GUYS! GET IN HERE NOW!" 

The rest of us run inside at Michael's frantic shout, guns at the ready. 

"What happened?!" I say worriedly as I reach him. He's trying to lift up an overturned shelf, probably the source of the crash. 

"The zombie tipped over the shelf -- it fell -- Eric's trapped underneath!" 

Jason and Emmett run to the long side of the shelf and life it up while Michael lifts from the end, and I see Eric's motionless body appear from underneath. My heart nearly stops - is he even breathing? "Oh God..." I exhale in fear. As soon as there's enough space, I grab his arms and pull him out. Once his body is completely free, the rest of the group run to us, and Quinn crouches next to me, looking worried. I almost cry in relief; his chest his still going up and down with each breath

"No broken bones as far as I can tell," Quinn says while examining his limbs. "But he probably has a concussion, so Michael, Jason, and Ivy - you guys should keep an eye on him for signs of a major concussion, like nausea, drowsiness, confusion, or minor memory loss. Ez, let's move him to the truck." I nod, and look to the rest of the group.

"Everyone else, fill up the cars and grab any food or supplies you can find. Batteries would be good, we're going to need them for our flashlights. Also, we need to keep that radio in good condition in case the survivor colony relocates. " 

I grab Eric's legs while my sister gets his arms, and together we carry him out and set him in the passenger's seat of the truck while Ivy fills the tank with petrol. "You alright to drive?" I ask her, and she nods. "Yeah, I've driven a few times. I can't guarantee I won't kill them all, though." I laugh and head back inside. I grab a cool looking pair of blue sunglasses from the window display, and start for the chips aisle but perk up when I notice the bright lights of the slushie machine out of the corner of my eye.

How is it still even working? No matter, I won't question fate.

A few minutes later, we're pulling out of the gas station behind Ivy's car, raspberry slushie in hand and sunglasses over my eyes, ignoring the exasperated looks from my sister. I look at my phone, and see that it's only three in the afternoon, with six hours of driving left. 

"Get comfortable, guys," I say dryly. "It's going to be a long trip."