The Virus

Forty Seven

The journey to the supermarket drags and my mind keeps working and creating ways that everything could go wrong. I try to ignore it, but it's impossible. I have nothing else think about except for the road ahead. We get there and both Marley and Kay seem energetic and excited. I wish I had that much energy. I barely got two hours sleep and now I am definitely paying the price for it.

My head thumps and throbs constantly. I squeeze my eyes closed, trying to ignore the pain. But I feel nauseous and exhausted, my body was struggling.

We walk up slowly, since big buildings like these could easily be infested with Roamers, we had to be extremely careful. There are few in the front lot but nothing that we can't handle. I've put Marley on a strict no guns rule. I learnt not to use in places like this when Noah and I got split up months ago.

We edge our way up and I stand at the front of the lot. Marley gives me a look that tells me she's ready and we advance. She takes down the first one that gets to us and she gives me a cocky smile. As if to say she was trying to be better than me. Which would never be true, unfortunately for her. I smile back at her and kill two Roamers with my back turned. Her smile falters while mine brightens. "Whatever." She says rolling her eyes. She gives me a playful glare and we advance onwards to the entrance of the building.

There's a few more, but they are split up and so easier to kill. It would be a lot harder if they came all at once which luckily didn't happen. I edge the door open and see a few dotted around everywhere. We spend the next twenty minutes clearing it and by the end Marley is very happy with herself and bordering on cocky as she rounds the corner to me. "Took down four back there." She announces, proudly.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. We have work to let's go. And be careful." I warn. She nods. "I'm gonna get food. You go get some water." I order. She nods reluctantly and leaves.

I get to work picking as much as I can. I stuff it in my backpack and my pockets. I need her to get medical stuff to. I go around the back to ask her to go over the pharmacy. As I come around, I realise there's a back door. The large double doors are wide open and inviting for any creature of any size.

Suddenly I hear screams and several gunshots as well as a deafening crack of something. I run over to where Marley should be. But I don't know where the drinks section is. All the signs are either faded or torn down, so I'm forced to follow the screaming. I run down the shop and look into each aisle checking for her. "Ophelia!" She screams. I keep looking and finally find her at the end aisle. She's fighting a Roamer.

I begin running over when I realise what's happened. One shelf has been pushed over onto two Roamers who are now squirming beneath it. But Kay is also under there. I go to save her when I realise Marley needs my help. I jump up to face the attacker but realise the screaming has stopped. The walkers are no longer attacking. They're feeding. Marley lay in a bloody heap on the floor, her eyes still wide with shock and fear, while two Roamers claw at her insides.

I stare at her lifeless eyes for a moment, and choke, my throat catching, before averting my attention to everything unravelling before me.

I stab both of them and then reluctantly stab Marley. Teary eyed, I go to rescue Kay. When I get there, I assess the damage, she's not breathing. I pull her out and pump at her heart again and again. I push against it and I will her to wake up but she doesn't. The shelves are huge and she probably died instantly.

Tears stream down my face with no sign of stopping. Kay is dead. Marley is dead. I sit by Kay's side and cry and cry. I stroke her and ask her desperately to wake up. I want her to jump up and lick my nose and jump up and down in excitement. But she doesn't.

I lean on my knees, doubled over, struggling to breathe. Nothing moves, I am alone here. Tears stream down my face and I scream, I scream and scream until I have no voice left. Then, I collapse onto the floor and sob uncontrollably.

From somewhere within me, I find the strength to collect myself. I stand up and start walking. I don't know where but i just walk. The blinding light of the sun stops me. I pause in the lot and look around. We were here, just half an hour ago. Marley was alive. Kay was alive. The tears keep on coming and I don't care anymore. I've lost them both. I grip my bag and walk down the street. And I keep going and going until I realise it darker. I jump into a nearby car and settle down, slouched in the seat, hugging myself. 

I stare through the windshield absently, wishing to wake up from this nightmare. I'm numb all over. I can't feel anything anymore. I lost Jayden, then Noah and then Claire. Now I've lost Kay and Marley. I have no one. I'm alone. I sit there for hours just staring through the windshield and for once, my mind isn't occupied. It's completely empty of anything. I can't feel anything anymore.

A Roamer comes by and starts hitting the glass. It does it over and over until I can't take it. I jump out of the car and stab it in the face. Again and again. And I can't stop because there's so much anger in me, all stored and finally I'm letting it out. All the unfairness and the grief and the death. Everything that has happened to me since the day i was born. All of it. I let it out.

When I'm finished and I realise what I'm doing is pointless, I get back in the car and cry for hours. By the time I'm finished the sun is up and I'm exhausted. I fall asleep nearly instantly. Only to see their lifeless bodies once again.