Solare Flare

Chapter 3

At the sight of the grocery store, I realized it was going to be more difficult than I had imagined when I embarked on this mission. The grocery store was surrounded by zombies. Many people must have gone to get food and found themselves surrounded by zombies. Maybe there were other survivors inside? The zombies were all stationary; without the sight of a human, they wouldn't move from the main entrance. Perhaps a sound diversion would make them move? I visually searched for an object that could be thrown far and would make enough noise to attract them. Finding nothing, I decided to search in a nearby blue car. I walked towards the car and hid near the co-pilot's door, keeping a vigilant eye on the zombies a little further away. I put my hand on the handle and prepared to open it. What if I opened the door and the alarm system went off? I took a few minutes to think about the best solution. I was about to take my hand off when I remembered that the electrical circuits had completely exploded during the outage. So, I opened the door and looked inside. There was an empty child seat, a bag of chips, and a rubber dog toy. The child seat was too big, the bag of chips would make too much noise if I threw it, the rubber toy was perfect. I picked it up and threw it as far as possible through the crowd of zombies. The zombies immediately pursued their new targets, but when the toy stopped moving, the zombies froze too. At least, they were all looking in the direction of the toy now, not facing me and leaving me a path to the grocery store. Quietly, I emerged from my hiding spot behind the car, finding myself about fifty meters from the door. When I was very close to the door, I prayed it wouldn't be locked. I pulled the door, and it opened, then closed quietly behind me. But as I closed it, the door creaked. In one movement, the crowd of zombies turned towards me without a sound and began sprinting in my direction. I knew what I had to do: disappear from their field of vision as quickly as possible before they broke the glass. The first zombies were already hitting the glass with all their might. I launched myself behind a row of fruits and vegetables. Immediately, the sound of their blows stopped. I decided to risk a look in their direction. The large glass door was in good condition and wouldn't give way, but it was covered in blood, and the silhouettes of the zombies stood there, motionless, staring through the glass, waiting for me to reveal myself to them. I had to act fast; I didn't want to stay a minute longer here and also had to find another way out.

I crawled to the other side of the row of fruits and vegetables. The zombies remained calm, but I felt their eyes watching me. Arriving at the canned goods aisle, I grabbed what I could fit into a gym bag I found on the floor. Then, I headed towards the water bottles, put as many as possible into my bag, and grabbed a large one in my hands. I then headed towards an emergency exit, but in front of me was a zombie inside, and it had seen me. I ran as fast as I could towards the back, hearing its footsteps dangerously approaching behind me. I only considered one solution: the caretaker's office, which was the nearest door. If it was locked, I was dead. As I pulled on the door, it opened easily, but when I closed it, the door brake mechanism slowed down my efforts. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the zombie was only two seconds away from me at most. So, I pulled with all my strength on the door, which finally closed with a small click. I breathed heavily due to exhaustion. This short run, although brief, made me vomit. I had vomited mostly bile, but also blood?! What was happening? I must have contracted what Lena had. Another reason to return to the café to access the medicines the nurse would bring. When I raised my head, I realized my mistake. There was no way out; I was trapped. I had to fight the zombie at the door or die here.