Of Axes and Red Glasses

Chapter 3

Macon was about a two-hour journey away from Atlanta, even the suburban area. As luck would have it, Kenny's truck seemed to stop on its own right at their destination.

"Well, this is as far as we're goin'," Kenny commented with a low sigh.

"Then it's far enough," Lee replied, getting out from the passenger side of the car. He walked over and opened the back door so that Sarah could get out.

"Thank you," the young teen said kindly, smiling up at Lee.

"No problem."

Lee smiled back at her, then turned to his right. He realized, with a sinking feeling in his chest, that they were right beside Everett's Pharmacy, his family's drugstore. This made him wonder, was his family all right?

The street was pretty much deserted, a few ruins here and there. People must have had to evacuate rather quickly.

Duck walked forward and, seeing something, pointed. "Look!"

"Hello?" called out Sarah good-naturedly.

Lee watched as the figure turned slowly around...it was a walker.

It groaned loudly, and immediately began staggering towards the group. More walkers emerged from the surroundings, making a beeline straight for them.

"Everyone, get to the drugstore!" Lee yelled.

Sarah was breathing rapidly as Lee pulled her along with him. Katjaa was right behind them, while Kenny had managed to pull Duck away from an advancing walker in the nick of time.

Lee reached the doors, and barreled straight through them with a powerful shoulder barge.

"Hurry!" he prompted the others.

Duck was towed through the door by his father, who helped Lee to slam the doors shut.

After they were securely inside, Lee placed his hand on the wall, panting a bit. Then, he looked over at the others. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Kenny said. Then, he frowned, looking around. "Doesn't seem to be anything in here, but we should probably check the other rooms to make sure." He turned to Katjaa. "Honey, you stay with the kids. Lee and I'll check this place out."

The main part of the store was, obviously, empty, but there was the office and the bathrooms that needed checking. Lee could see from the lack of people - and from the alarm not going off - that the medicine area was safe.

Kenny was the first to reach the door - which was labeled "Alive Inside" - and with a bit of luck, it was unlocked. However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed what was in there, his mouth opening and eyes widening in shock.

"Holy shit."

Hearing this made Lee feel a pang of worry, hoping that the other man wasn't referring to what he was fearing. He approached the office door, and unfortunately, his fears were confirmed.

His parents were lying in a heap on a mattress, blood surrounding that and the floor. From their unmoving positions, it was easy to tell that they were dead. Lee's heart sank, and the look on his face meant that he was obviously crushed.

Kenny turned to him. "Lee, man, are you okay?"

"I, uh..." Lee trailed off. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Ken."

Far from it.

"You know these people?"

"Yeah." It was probably best to tell the truth. "These were the owners. We were close."

"Shit, Lee, I'm sorry," Kenny said. Both he and Lee were silent, paying respects, before the former spoke up again. "We should move them."

A few moments later, Lee was resting in the main room. Coming across his dead parents had taken a toll on him, and having to move the bodies had probably not helped much.

"Lee?"

He turned to see Sarah standing nearby, fidgeting nervously.

"Yeah?" he asked, trying to compose himself.

"Who were those people?" Sarah asked softly.

Lee hesitated. While he hadn't technically lied to Kenny earlier, he had completely avoided revealing that the drugstore owners were his parents. He considered his options, but in a sudden burst of emotion, he blurted out, "They...they were my parents."

Lee placed his hands over his face, controlling his breathing.

"What happened to them? Did the monsters get them?"

"I don't really know, Sarah. Maybe."

He took a deep breath, before sitting upright.

"I didn't really see them much. I think that may have been a mistake. Seeing them like this made me realize that I should have made an effort to change things."

Sarah listened contemplatively.

"I'm sorry, Lee. That's so sad," she said, getting on the verge of tears herself.

"Don't you worry about them, Sarah. That's not gonna happen to any of us. That's not gonna happen to your dad. We're gonna be okay."

Sarah cheered up instantly, beaming at Lee before turning her gaze to the floor and blushing slightly.

"Thanks, Lee," she said.

Before Lee could say anything more, both jumped at the sound of gunshots coming from outside.

"What the hell?" Lee asked himself. He got up, leaving Sarah where she was, and looked out the boarded-up window. To his horror, he noticed about five people killing the walkers that were on the street, yet even more seemed to be coming. It was obvious that the streets of Macon weren't so dead - no pun intended - after all.

"Shit..." he trailed off. Quickly, he approached Kenny. "Kenny, there are people outside. We need to help."

"Livin' people?" Kenny asked, going over to the window himself before Lee could answer him. "Ah, hell. Okay. Lee, find anything sharp, a weapon or somethin'. We'll try to help these folks."

"Got it." Here, Lee nodded, and then he turned to look at Sarah, who looked worried. "It'll be alright. Stay here with Katjaa and Duck, okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

Lee ran back to the office, noticing his father's cane perched up against the wall. It looked good enough for bashing a dead person's head in, at least. Unfortunately, it was all he could find anywhere in here. However, when he got back out, Kenny had found a kitchen knife and taken it out of the package. Hopefully it would do at least some good. When he noticed Lee, he nodded.

"Let's get out there."

The two men opened the gate, weapons ready, and set out.

An older-looking man was bashing a walker's skull against the wall of the drugstore, using its hair, and in three tries it was down. Two walkers were beginning to advance on him from behind, but a younger woman in a black tank top stopped them by plunging her knife in both of their skulls.

"You two, get in the drugstore!" shouted Lee.

The two seemed extremely surprised at the presence of two helpful strangers, but they darted for the door of the drugstore.

Meanwhile, an Asian man had been surrounded by walkers, and he was trying desperately to find a way around them.

BANG!

A dark-haired woman fired at the walkers with impressive accuracy, hitting the head each time and sending them slumping lifelessly to the ground. As she was distracted by saving the Asian man, however, a lone walker shambled towards her from behind. The woman was completely oblivious as the monster lunged forwards to bite her.

"CARLEY!" screamed the final member of their group, a slightly overweight, geeky-looking man, who charged forwards and plowed into the walker, knocking both of them to the ground. It was a very heroic gesture that subverted the obvious stereotypical assumption that he would be a coward, but now the creature was on top of him, and it was clear that he wasn't going to win the fight.

"No!" he cried as the walker finally overpowered him, dipping its head down above his chest.

Suddenly, something hit the walker's head with a sickening splat, sending blood and brain matter pouring onto the poor man. Lee swung again with the cane, striking it in the head a second time, before Kenny caught up and finally silenced the walker with a stab through the brain with his knife. Kenny hauled the walker off of the blood-soaked man, and Lee hauled him to his feet.

"Everybody, get into the drugstore!" Kenny yelled.

With a vast horde of walkers advancing towards them, Kenny, the Asian man, and the woman (who appeared to be called Carley), sprinted into the drugstore. Lee was last, helping the other man along.

"What's your name?" asked Lee.

"It's...it's Doug."

"I'm Lee. Come on, Doug, I'm gonna get you inside."

Once they had all finally made it inside, Kenny went to close the doors.

"Wait!" cried the Asian man.

He darted outside and scooped something off the ground just outside: a padlock. He slid the metal gate closed before slipping the padlock onto it just as the nearest walker crashed into it.

"Good thinking!" Kenny noted, as the Asian man dashed back inside, and together they closed the doors with a loud slam.

After everyone was able to compose themselves, Lee was the one to speak up. "Everyone alright?"

"We were fine without the help," the old man replied quite rudely.

"Dad!" the woman with long hair chastised.

"We're alright," Carley finally answered, briefly giving the old man a sideways glare for his ungrateful attitude. "Thank you. I thought we were all fucked out there."

"Good, good," Kenny said.

"They all just...came out of nowhere," the Asian man added. "It seemed so deserted. Guess not."

"Well, if y'all are gonna be stayin', you might as well introduce yourselves," Kenny spoke up. "So far we got a Carley and a Doug. I assume that's you two?"

Carley and Doug nodded.

"Name's Glenn," the Asian man said.

"Lilly. My dad's Larry," the other young woman added. At least she seemed to be more grateful than her father.

"This here is Kenny, and I'm Lee."

"That over there is my wife, Katjaa, and my boy, Duck. The girl is Sarah," informed Kenny.

"Well hey there, Duck and Sarah," said Glenn, sitting down next to them. Unsurprisingly, Sarah flushed, and looked down at her lap.

"Hi," she said softly.

"My dad saved you guys," chirped up Duck happily, a wide smile on his face as usual.

"I don't want us to be a burden on your group," said Lilly. "We won't stay here any longer than we have to if you don't want us here."

Lee thought that was a very admirable statement. Lilly was looking to be a strong, but caring leader.

"It's no trouble for you to stay here," responded Lee. "We're probably all safer together as part of a larger group."

"Thanks, Lee. We really appreci-"

"Hold it!" yelled Larry all of a sudden, breaking the relatively calm, quiet atmosphere.

"Hey!" cried Kenny. "Will you be quiet?! Those things are out there!"

Larry ignored him. His eyes were fixed firmly on the blood-splattered Doug. They widened as he worked himself up.

"Doug..." he spat, "is fucking bitten."