The stagnate air within the store was almost enough to choke me, the stench of rotten food and flesh hanging throughout the aisles like an almost perceivable fog. The ground beneath out feet was coated in a fine sheen of dust, barely disturbed bar for the shuffled footsteps of the dead.
Our group split up, each given a specific job. Bob and Zach were to find anything we could use as medical equipment, whilst Sasha, Michonne, and Tyreese went in search of perishables.
Mason, Daryl, and I were halfway down the hygiene section, pulling a handful of toothbrushes off the shelf, when I noticed the sign. The sounds of a walker shuffling its way into our aisle was what brought my attention to that area of the store.
The faded red vest and name tag that dubbed him “Steve” indicated that this wandering corpse was likely once a worker here. I pulled my dagger from the sheath on my hip and slowly approached it, grinning to myself as I quietly remarked, “Clean up on aisle four.”
The blade pierced through his head easily, as if he had been dead quite some time and the bone density of his skull had horribly deteriorated. It was as I was watching him fall to the tiled floor, yanking my blade free, that I saw the dusty sign hanging from the ceiling a few aisles over.
Without warning either of the boys behind me, I began to make my way towards it.
Daryl noticed almost immediately, quietly jogging down the aisle and coming to a stop by my side. He grabbed my upper arm and gave me a curious look.
I gestured towards the “pharmacy” sign. “Drugs.”
His eyebrow lifted quite impressively high as he gazed evenly back at me and shook his head.
I gave him an over dramatic pouted frown. “Merle would’ve let me.”
Daryl’s expression immediately shifted to one of both restrained bemusement and exasperation. “You gotta stop using that.”
I chuckled quietly as he let his hand slowly fall from my arm. Unsurprisingly, Daryl fell into cautious step beside me as I began to make my way down the strip of aisle entrances towards the Pharmacy section of the store.
Also unsurprisingly, Mason appeared behind us before we reached the area, quite loudly asking, “What’re we doing?”
Both Daryl and I turned, our fingers to our lips to signal his silence.
“Oh, sorry,” he whispered. “What are we doing?”
I pointed up to the rather large sign a few metres in front of us, dangling from the ceiling.
Mason’s mouth opening into an “O” shape as understanding seemed to dawn. “Right.”
If I were going to keep good on what I’d told Rick, this would be where I needed to go. There were a number of pain killers and other types of medication that would work alongside grapefruit juice to illicit a fatal effect.
I could hear the distinct sound of creaking, dead bones echoing through the stale air from the other side of the pharmacy counter. After putting my finger to my lips and indicating to the two men behind me to be quiet, I silently climbed atop the counter and peered over. A walker was crawling on its hands, dragging its partially dismembered torso along the tiled ground. Its back was covered by a torn, white coat, indicating he had once been the resident pharmacist. Ironic he should spend the majority of his afterlife behind the same desk he’d likely wasted away behind in life.
YOU ARE READING
The Monsters Among Us ➳ Daryl Dixon
Fanfiction𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯/𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 Not human. She was not human. They all knew it. Could almost feel it, but couldn't make sense of it. That was why they were afraid. Not because of what she used to be Before. But...
