We walk down the road at a nice pace. It's been a few hours since we left.
"How long do you think it'll take to get there?" Sam asks.
"It all depends on how fast we move and if we have to take any detours," I respond.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" I ask.
"For not listening to you. If I had listened to you before Taylor died, she'd still be here. If I listened to you, I wouldn't have fell and hurt myself in that grocery store. Everyone should have listened to you about that new family. I hate to admit it, but you're right almost all the time," she says.
I hear a car engine up ahead. We hide behind a dumpster. The car zooms by. I notice a white skull painted on the hood and side. We emerge from cover. I hope that car wasn't headed to the summer camp. We continue down the road.
"I've never seen that truck before," Sam says looking over her shoulder.
"Let's just hope they're not traveling to the summer camp," I say.
The road further down is blocked by broken down cars.
"I don't like the look of this. Zombies like to hide in and under cars. Let's find a way around," I say.
"A detour is going to make this trip so much longer though," she says.
Sam is right, but our lives are way more important than a few hours of time saved.
"We can find a way around," I say.
There is a small gift shop a little ways down the road. We both agree to scavenge some supplies from there before we move on.
I open the door. A bell above the door rings. There goes the element of surprise. I silently step inside. Sam follows along. Everything but a small shelf for food is fully stocked. Maybe there is more in the back. Sam looks over the counter. A man jumps up from behind the counter, scaring both of us. He's pointing a shoutgun at Sam.
"What are you doing in my home?" he asks.
"We were just looking for supplies. We'll leave. No one has to die today," I say as calmly as possible.
"Where are you from? I saw you come down the road."
"We're from a camp that was destroyed. We've been on the road for months," I lie.
"That's an awful lot of supplies for you to have scavenged," he replies.
"We came across a bunker a few miles back and we took everything," I lie again.
I don't want him to know about the camp. He'd probably ask to stay there. After our last encounter with new guests, I don't think we will let anyone else inside.
"Give me the bags."
"No! Find your own food," I say.
"It seems I'm the only one with a gun drawn. Hand it over," he says. I pull out my pistol.
"I offered to just leave. For us to just walk away peacefully, but you didn't like that. We can play this one of two ways. You let us go or I shoot you," I say.
"You're going to regret saying that." More people rise from their hiding spots. Only now do I realize my poor choices.
"Lower the gun, slowly," The one behind me says. I comply.
"Don't you remember me? You killed my brother! You stabbed him in the head!" the man behind me says. What is he talking about?
"We're the cannibals," he whispers. "You called us sick! We are desperate. We always have been. You came along and ruined everything! I've even waiting for this moment for months. The moment I make you pay for killing my brother. Tie them both up outside. I know exactly how I want them to die," he says before walking in the back.
"What do we do?" Sam whispers.
"Don't fight them...not yet," I whisper back.
Two woman take us outside. They handcuff us to a stop sign. They walk back in giving us some time to think up a plan.
"Handcuffs are going to be harder to get out of. Any ideas?" Sam says.
"No...I mean what can we do? We can't shoot them, we can't run. This is looking pretty hopeless," I reply.
"Well, if you didn't threaten that man, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation," she says.
"We'd be here no matter what I chose. They know me. Everything he said about me was true. His group kidnapped us and tried to eat us. I had no other options."
They all walk outside. The leader takes our bag of food and water. Two of them walk over to a car. They open the hood and start messing around with it.
The car alarm starts blaring. It's like their trying to attract zombies.
"What the hell are you doing?" I yell. He shows me a key then tosses it over his shoulder.
"You're going to die here," he says.
They walk away as zombies exit the tunnel further down the road. The key, I'm guessing, unlocks the handcuffs. I sit on the ground. I try reaching it with my foot. I can almost reach it. Sam tries. She slides it straight to me. I unlock myself than her.
The cannibals turn around. Their leader pulls out his gun. We pull ours out. I take a look behind us. The zombies are now running full force at us. I grab Sam's arm. I pull her behind a car. Bullets hit the car.
"What do we do now?" Sam asks.
"I'm using the zombies to our advantage."
Zombies run past us barely noticing our hiding spot. The cannibals scream as the dead attack them viciously. The tunnel is our only option we walk towards it. Hopefully, the majority of the dead were drawn outside.
I turn on my flashlight. It barely illuminates the path ahead. The batteries have been going dead for a few days now. I would change them if I could find batteries. The walls are covered in dirt and blood. I see a figure move in the distance. I point my light at it. It's a woman.
"Who are you?" she asks. Can we trust her? Is she really a person?
"Behind you! They're coming. We need to go. Follow me," she says.
We follow her as she runs in between the tightly spaced cars. Sam can barely keep up with woman and I. We finally reach the other side of the tunnel.
"Your eyes...they look like...mine," the woman says. Her eyes are blue mine are green. What does she mean by that?
"What are you talking about?" I ask.
"You're partially infected. I am, too." I do notice that her pupils are slightly enlarged.
"I'm Jade. This is Sam," I say.
"I'm Sarah," she says. "Where are you two headed?"
"A place up north," Sam says.
"Would you mind me coming along?" Sarah asks.
"That's fine," I reply.
The sun is setting. We should find a place to sleep. There is a small shopping center ahead. There is a grocery store, clothing store, coffee shop, and nail salon. The grocery store would be the best choice. It's spacious and easy to hide in if zombies come around. Everyone else agrees.
We walk up to the doors. Its locked. Sarah starts lock picking it. That's a good skill to have in the apocalypse. She gets the door open after a few minutes. We search the entire store. Afterwards, we roll out our sleeping bags.
"How did you become partially infected?" I ask Sarah.
"The first time I was bitten, I found out I was immune. I've gotten bitten two more times since then. The last time I was bitten I became infected.," she says.
"The same thing happened to me. Is it only immune people who become partially infected?" I say.
"So far, I've only heard it being immune people," Sarah says. Sam comes back from the canned food aisles.
"Please, tell me you found something," I say.
"I found nine cans of soup and six water bottles. It's not much but at least it's something," Sam says.
"That's not going to last very long. That will only last maybe three days," I say. We ate this morning so we're not starving.
YOU ARE READING
The Dead Walk Among Us
Science FictionIt's been ten years since the fall of humanity. I was only ten years old when the zombies took over. The military told us to flee underground, explaining that it was safer. The zombies are smart, too smart. They can learn to hide themselves. Some of...
