Bite

The Bathroom

I led her around the corner of the building, where a small motion-sensor light was triggered. The light was dim and greenish, nothing to attract much attention. But still, I was alert, walking on my toes, eyes raking over every detail, the safety off on the handgun. Around the corner, a chain-link fence and some weeds separated the back of the gas mart from a dead strip of grass and the beginning of an empty parking lot. The bathroom doors were shrouded in a muted orange porch light.

Hailey stuck the key in the door.

"Carefully now," I whispered.

"What?" Hailey asked, dumbly.

"Give me a second," I said, doing another 360, and then finally aiming the gun for the bathroom door, cocking the gun. "Open it slow—"

Before I could finish, Hailey whipped open the door quickly, causing it to slam backwards against the wall. The sound of the crash startled whatever was waiting inside, and with a hollow roar, something flashed in the darkness of the bathroom. A hulking shape was leaping out of the opening—coming right for me—growling, saliva spewing out of a gaping mouth.

I didn't think to let Hailey get out of the way. I just squeezed the trigger, just barely, the energy exploded out of my hands and the kick from the gun shoved me backwards.

The sound was too loud—I should've be wearing earmuffs. I went deaf momentarily, the zombie-thing—what used to be our gas station attendant—slumped down to the ground, surprised at its own wound, blossoming out of it's collarbone in a murky brown blood. A yellow smile grimaced, and hollow eyes looked up at me—the man, on his knees, in his last moments, smiling at me as if I had given him a present.

I could hear Pedro as he ran around the side of the building, cursing.

Hailey stood by the door, terrified and frozen. The moment felt too sharp to be real life. As if I had never been alive before. Adrenaline flickered in my throat, closing it up tight. I was having trouble breathing and my heart felt as if it were skipping. I'd never felt so startled—nor relieved—in my entire life.