The Dead Zone

May 1, 2016 Part II

I parked the Durango near the street, and the five of us chose weapons. Nick and Lana didn't know how to shoot a gun, so they stuck with knives and a crowbar for Lana. My dad had taught me how to hunt a few years before, and I was a good shot. However, the guns would be a backup. They caused a lot of noise and would probably attract attention. As my main weapon, I chose a long tire iron. Tyler and Wes had matching metal baseball bats they had brought from their apartment.

"Shall we?" Tyler drawled. Looking around often, we approached the glass doors of the dealership, weapons clutched in our hands. The doors were locked. Shit. "Stand back." Tyler stepped up to the doors, and spun the bat in his hands. He shook his head, and swung.

The glass shattered, with enough falling out of the frame for us to walk through. Tyler held the bat ready, and stepped through the remains of the door. I followed closely behind, along with Nick, Lana, and Wes. My hands were slick with sweat. I had no idea how we would find the right keys. A moment later, I decided to stop thinking about it and just deal with everything as it happened. Twisting the tire iron in my hands, I readied myself to fight the dead people lying on the floor. They had heard the glass break, and were now unsteadily rising to their feet.

"Remember, go for the heads," I found myself saying. The creatures came toward us, and it was the first time I was seeing one this close. The zed that was coming toward me used to be a man, a Ford mechanic. His clothes were shredded and his arms and legs were gnawed on. His body wasn't yet rotten, and there was still blood dripping out of him. Most of the floor was also slick with blood. The zombie's eyes were glazed and dead, cloudy and white. It was only a few feet away from where I stood. Without another thought, I stepped forward and swung the tire iron as hard as I could at its head.

My adrenaline gave me even more power, and the thing's head flew across the room. It landed on a desk twenty feet away. The body wavered on its feet for a moment, then collapsed. I turned to find my fellow survivors staring at me with wide eyes.

"Jesus..." Wes muttered.

"Hot damn, good shot, girly." Tyler's eyebrows were so high they almost flew off his face. At their feet was the body of the other zed, with its head bludgeoned. A shudder went through me.

"How about we just go find those keys now?" I suggested, feeling uncomfortable with my first kill. Wes and Tyler both shrugged and went off towards the manager's office, opening doors and scouring the place along the way. Lana went along to help, leaving Nick and I standing alone.

"Don't worry about it, Rose. They're already dead." He patted my shoulder.

"What if they have some little piece of humanity left in there, and they just can't get out?" I frowned.

"They don't. They're dead. When something dies, the soul leaves the body. Any animation after that is completely unnatural and should not happen. Really, we're doing them a favor."

"I don't usually do favors for things that try to kill me..." I trailed off and stared at the body of the zombie I had killed. "Gross."

"Yeah." Nick agreed. Just then we heard a shout coming from one of the offices, and both took off running toward it. Then came a laugh, and Tyler came running out of the manager's office. "Jesus, Tyler! You scared the crap out of us!"

"Eh, sorry. Even though you should be thanking me for finding the keys." He lifted his left hand and we saw the key ring dangling from his finger. Looking over his shoulder, he addressed Wes and Lana. "Come on you two! Got the keys here, so move your butts!" A moment later, Lana came out of the women's washroom, and Wes from the break room.

"Hey Lana, good idea," I called over to her, and began making my way towards the bathroom.

"Uh, Rose..." I looked questioningly at her. "You might want to avoid the third stall." I frowned but nodded, then pushed open the door. The body of a recently decapitated zombie lay in the third stall. I winced and went into the stall furthest away.