A Walk Among The Dead

Chapter 9

"Drop the bag."

Dad slowly set the bag down on the worn floor. The giant man watched him closely as he did so, pushing the barrel of the gun hard on the back of Dad's head. I began shaking, fear shooting through my body like lightning.

"Now, what are your names?" The colossus man asked with the most devious of grins. Dad was smart enough not to give him his real name, so I copied his actions.

"Dan." Dad said quickly. The grizzly man looked at me now. I swallowed nervously.

"Abby." I squeaked. The man laughed at my nervousness.

"Dan n' Abby." The man chuckled. Dad and I exchanged a worried look. This man is psychotic.

"Now, Dan? Abby? What makes you think you can come waltzin' in my gun shop and just take whatever you like?" The man's chuckle faded and turned into more of a growl.

"We're just tryin' to survive like everyone else." Dad whispered. The growl turned back into a chuckle.

"Survive? Ha!" The man laughed and bellowed. "You have no fuckin' clue what it takes to survive. Ya'll think the dead people walkin' around are the problem? The real monster out their isn't dead, it's alive."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I snapped. Dad shot me a look but I blew it off. The big man smirked at me, taking the gun away from Dad's head and aiming it to mine.

"What didn't you understand, sweetheart?" I cringed. What a disgusting human being. He noticed my look of disgust and laughed again.

"Pleasant smell, isn't it?" He asked. I looked at him, confused before finally realizing he was talking about the pile of dead mass sitting in the corner.

"It's my so-called effigy. It's to keep people like yourselves out of my damn shop, but that didn't work now did it?" He shouted angrily. I was beginning to feel like this man had something seriously wrong with him.

I jerked my head quickly when I heard the sound of the front door opening. It was Daisy. She turned her back to close the door before she saw what was going on.

"Sam, I think I can help now. The smell just-" Bang.

I screamed as I saw Daisy's blood splatter on the door in front of her. I fell to my knees, still screaming due to the horror I'd just witnessed. Dad stared at her lifeless body for a while before finally using this to his advantage.

"Son of a bitch!" Dad yelled, throwing his elbow back and hitting the giant man square in the nose. The man fell back against the wall behind him, cursing as he did. Dad ran up to him and grabbed him by the collar, throwing a few punches in before finally letting the guy catch a break. The man's nose was gushing blood and his face was beginning to turn purple.

"I-I didn't mean to kill her man! I-she-she scared me! I just shot-I-I didn't know!" The man stuttered. Dad scowled at him, increasing the grip he had on the man's collar.

"You pathetic piece of shit! You're a fucking murderer!" Dad screamed before finally hitting the man in the temple, knocking him out cold.

Dad ran over to Daisy and kneeled by her side. Her body was leaning up against the door, eyes wide open with fear, the last emotion she felt before she was shot. He looked her over frantically, spotting the bullet hole in her abdomen. With shaky hands, he checked her pulse and applied pressure to the wound in attempt to stop the bleeding, but we both knew it was too late.

"Oh God. Oh shit, shit, shit." Dad whispered to himself as his hands began to sink in a pool of blood. I was still on the floor and watched Brady walk up to the shop, clueless about what had just happened, through the window.

Brady opened the door, causing Daisy's head to hit the floor. He stared at her lifeless body with shock before throwing himself down beside her.

"Daisy? Daisy?" Brady shook her shoulders thinking he could wake her up. He looked over at Dad then down at his hands. Dad lifted them off of Daisy's body, revealing the blood soaked patch that surrounded the bullet hole. Brady cried out and began to sob. Dad's eyes were also filled with tears.

Tears stained my cheeks as I stood. My knees throbbed from being sat on for so long. Brady was now laying his head on Daisy's wound, soaking it with his tears. I slowly approached him and layed my hand on his shoulder.

"Leave me the fuck alone, both of you! Just go!" Brady shouted.

"Brady," I whispered.

"Go!" He shouted between his sobs.

Dad and I exchanged a look before retreating back to the display counter in the back of the room. I watched with sad eyes as Brady pitifully stroked Daisy's bloodstained hair.

"We have to go get Bill." Dad whispered. He wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffled.

"Just let Brady have a minute before we go get him. After Bill sees her, he won't let anyone touch her, or near her for that matter."

"You're right. Good thinkin'." Dad said. We both turned away from the horrible scene and leaned our forearms on the glass counter.

"NO! Fuck!" Brady screamed. I spun around to see him scooting away from Daisy's body.

"Shit." Dad whispered to himself as he ran over and pulled a knife from his backpack.

Daisy's body moaned and growled. Her skin had changed to a pale grey color, and her eyes had become cloudy. She wobbly stood to her feet and started snapping her jaw.

She turned.

Brady's sobs caught Daisy's attention. She made a weird crackling noise as she limped toward him.

"Brady, look away!" Dad shouted. Brady turned his head, now soaking the wall with his tears. Dad ran up behind Daisy and put the knife through her skull, plunging it into her brain. Her body went limp and slumped to the floor. Brady heard the sound and screamed.

The door of the shop opened. Bill and Amelia rushed in and froze as soon as they saw the scene.

"No..." Bill whispered.

"Bill, I'm so so-"

"No! No, no, no!" Bill shouted and rushed to Daisy's dead side.

"You're all I had left!" He shouted in Daisy's face. "You can't leave me, not like this! You hear me? Daisy Grace, wake up! Please...wake up..." Bill leaned down and sobbed into Daisy's shoulder. All of us were crying at this point, even Amelia.

Right when everything starts to get better, things go horribly wrong. This world was doomed, we were doomed. I didn't realize how bad everything was until Daisy's death. Reality was just now starting to hit me.

Maybe grizzly man was right,

The living is what we have to fear.