Still breathing | Original story

Chapter Seven: Shop

Word count: 2117

I felt like I had been walking forever, up familiar streets. It almost felt like I was walking to school, like seeing Logan wasn't the most challenging adventure in the world.
My feet already ached and the cold was seeping through my thin jacket, gripping me tightly like a frozen blanket. The streets were empty, the only noise was the wind sweeping past my ears as it tried to knock my cap off. The only thing that kept me going was Logan, the thought of seeing him and not being so alone. Even seeing an infected would've given me a little hope that something that moved was still on this Earth and it wasn't just Jack and me around. I wondered if Jack even was in the area anymore, I had no real concept of time but he could be far away from there and I wouldn't have known. I cursed myself for thinking about him. He'd left me all alone. I kicked a bit of rubble out of the way, scraping my foot against the ground as I did so. It landed not far away, giving me a chance to carry on kicking it. Again and again up the road. It was soothing almost.
I heard a rustle near a bush in someone's front yard and froze. My feet scraping on the floor as I made a stop, I surveyed the area quickly but nothing showed up. My heart was thumping a little louder and I stooped down low as the noise sounded again. 
The wind, I realised and straightened up. I looked again once more to make sure everything was safe, to make sure no infected were coming my way. I kept walking, on high alert. Five more minutes and I would be safe... with Logan.
I approached the shop and I felt a weight lift off my chest. Like I had been holding my breath the entire walk and then all the air around me was going into my chest and making me feel light. A smile spread across my face and I felt like I could skip over to the shop because of how happy I felt inside. I couldn't believe I had made it, and without any trouble along the way. I sped up a little bit, jogging at a steady pace and going up the disabled walkway as it was closer and more efficient than the stairs. I looked around the shop just to be sure no one or no thing saw me going in and opened the door. My smile was quickly wiped off my face.

Blood. Blood was the first thing I saw. On the counter, a bloody hand print on the ice cream freezer, blood sprayed across the chocolate bar wrappers. The smell of it overwhelmed my nostrils and stung my eyes. I shut the shop door before taking a look around. My footsteps seemed too loud as I walked to the first small aisle of the corner shop, it was filled with drinks in freezers, confectionery goods, and stationery. Nothing else. Items were sprawled on the floor and most of the stock was gone but I could tell what had been there before. Next aisle was the same, and the next, and the next. Nothingness.
"Shit!" I screamed and lashed out. Knocking the little stock off the shelves in one big sweep of my arm, I kicked the shelves and didn't care how much it hurt. "WHY WON'T ANYTHING GO RIGHT! I HATE THIS!" I cried out.
Over my yelling, I hadn't heard the sounds that occurred from behind the till. I stopped hitting suddenly when I heard a few moans.
"Logan?" I questioned, hoping he had been sleeping and I had woken him up. I doubted that was the case but still a spark of hope hit me hard. I rushed towards the counter as he appeared. A corpse of a man in a work uniform.
"Crap," I hissed, realising I had no weapon and the man that was in front of me must've been at least 17 stone. He had a massive beer belly and he could just about fit through the divide that cut the counter off from the rest of the store. I looked around quickly at what the shop held and saw a child's toy section not far away. I had run out of everything but desperation by that point and ran over to it, finding a plastic rounders bat. I ripped the package off as the infected man finally managed to get out from behind the counter. I held the bat with both hands and got ready to swing. It approached quickly.
I swung and it broke in half over its head but the infected man kept coming. 
Cheap toys! I panicked and ran, the thing inches behind me. I found my way around the next aisle and down to the alcohol section. I picked up a bottle of some really expensive whisky and waited for it to arrive. It rounded the corner, my heart thumped in my head loud and clear. I had never felt more alive than right then; when I was staring death in the face. If only I was in America and had a gun, the thing would already be gone. One swift bullet.
I threw the bottle at its head but it missed and hit the shelf behind it. I grabbed another and threw it again, this time, it hit the man and it staggered backwards. It looked angry, its face snarled, teeth showing and then gnashing down. I threw another bottle - wine I think it was but every bottle seemed the same. I just grabbed the neck and threw. I threw another straight after and kept throwing them, letting my hand guide me as it hit the infected's head. Smashing glass sounded all around as they crashed down on the floor from the head of the man. Liquid pattered at its feet but nothing was working, it kept coming. My palms became sweaty and I felt heat rush through me. I grabbed the next bottle but my grip was loose and it fell to the floor, it was a strong one as it didn't break on impact like I had expected. It rolled out of reach and as I grabbed for another I heard a loud noise sounding from the infected. It's foot skimmed up in the air as it stumbled over the bottle on the floor. It crashed into the shelving unit which fell apart under the weight. I'm not a religious person but at that moment, I swear I prayed for something bad to happen to it.
The infected starting getting up again and I cursed, grabbing another bottle even though I knew it did no damage. As it stood on its feet the liquid from the floor had seemingly made the surface slippy as he fell over once again, his head was impaled by the recently broken shelves. Wood and metal smashing through its skull. Instantly it stopped moving. I cautiously made my way over, gripping the bottle tighter and holding it above my head. I looked at the infected and saw its head had gone through the metal of the shelf, straight through the eye. I sighed in relief and fell to the ground. Exhaustion swept through me as the adrenaline wore off. I slid my foot along the floor and kicked it's thigh. Its body moved closer to my foot and I jumped up as I prepared myself for another attack. But it was indeed dead, the movement of my foot had been the cause of it. Its mouth was clearly open and its eyes were boring into me. I shuddered. I looked closely at the teeth and saw flesh. I covered my hand over my mouth as a taste of bile filled it. My first thought was of Logan.
I looked over the counter and there lay a body. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, a man or a woman. Its flesh had been totally eaten away and all that was left was a skeleton. I remembered the smell of death that I had encountered on the way in and understood why it had been so strong. It wasn't from the little bit of blood that littered the place but from the body itself. I hoped it wasn't Logan but even as I thought that it couldn't possibly be him I felt like I was lying to myself. I wondered how on earth that monster could strip someone of their flesh so quickly, it hadn't even been a full day. I had seen enough death!
I needed to believe that Logan was still out there, somewhere. I wiped my tears away and turned away from the body. I decided to leave, I couldn't stay there any longer.
I opened my backpack and squashed down my supplies to make some room. I managed to fit in just enough to keep me going for the day. I zipped up my bag and was about to leave when I heard a noise from outside. I moved back the 'closed/open' sign and peeked out to see the street filled with infected. They were coming up the side roads and out of alleys, probably attracted by the previous noise. I quickly locked the top and bottom bolts of the shop door and looked around to see what I could use as a barricade.
I decided to use the shelf next to the door, knocking everything off and not caring about the noise. I pushed the shelf in the way of the door and then piled stuff on top of it to make it a little bit heavier. I saw the shadow of the infected on the door, the outlines of their hands as they battered the windows, I hoped they wouldn't break in. I rushed to the back of the store and found a back door. I pushed for it to open but it was locked down tight. I unbolted it and took the chain off but it still wouldn't budge. I saw a key sized hole in the door and realised why it wouldn't open. I was stuck in there. 

I went back to the front of the store to see how the door was holding up and it seemed to be doing fine for the moment. The door wasn't budging and perhaps the strong smell of death was warding them away. Masking my living scent. The outlines started sniffing at the door and attempted to push it but it didn't move. A few more hands did the same and I flinched at every impact. Thinking that the small plate of glass was going to smash and infected would burst through the door. I sat on the floor, far away from the front door. I had found a corner off to the left of the alcohol, and hid in the shadows. Waiting.
"I'm sorry Logan," I whispered. "I'm sorry Ella. I'm sorry mum and dad. I'm not strong enough to make it." I produced the picture out of my pocket and cried into it. I saw the faces of Ella and Ava. Ava was my best friend and for the first time, I wondered if she had gotten out alive, along with her shitty boyfriend Elliot perhaps. I missed Ava, she had stopped talking to me after Elliot appeared in her life but I still considered her my best friend, we had gone through too much together to call her anything else.
I looked at Ella's face and images of her pale, empty shell flooded my mind. I wondered if it wasn't a zombie apocalypse... not like the ones we see in the movies anyway. I decided that if I survived long enough to leave the shop then I would give anyone bit a chance of living and I wouldn't kill them - unless they were in so much pain they asked. I felt like I had to know exactly what was going on. Maybe you just die after a bite, maybe you become one of those things. Nobody knew.
I put my head back and thought of Logan. Wondering if he was the body behind the counter, if he had been eaten alive by the worker. Or if he had escaped and was searching for me the way I was searching for him.
I fancied him, I knew that for sure. I had never admitted it to myself before, but if I was going to die I wanted to die letting the truth out. Tears softly streaked my cheeks as another hand hit the door of the building.