Virulence Immune

~ Chapter Fourteen ~

Perri landed on the cold, hard ground. But, hers wasn't the only body on the floor.

There was someone, something beside her.

She rolled away from it and scrambled to her feet.

For a few shaky breaths... nothing but silence was present. Silence and darkness.

Trying to calm herself now that she knew she was alone and that whatever, or whomever, that body on the floor belonged to, it wasn't a threat.

In the pitch black, a sliver of light reflected off her tomahawk making it easier to find.

It still wasn't fun feeling about the area for her weapon's handle. The axe was near the body and parts of it were coated with something slimy.

The light that seeped in came from beneath a door. Perri could tell by the lines that the light drew along the floor and made a sharp 'U' shape that only went a few inches away from the ground.

She moved slowly to the door with her free hand stretched out in front—just in case—and searched blindly for the knob or handle.

Once found, she turned the knob and opened the door.

A bedsheet had been draped across the door frame. She tried to gently tug it to one side but there was a click and suddenly the bar above her head, that held the sheet in place, came tumbling down.

Perri attempted to catch the metal pole, except she only made the whole situation worse.

The pole flung off her elbow when she spun around to catch it, sending it careening through the air and into a pile of empty tins.

Perri hadn't had the chance to so much as gasp as the tins came crashing down.

Her heart skipped a beat at the sheer amount of sound. All of the clinking and clanging that seemed to reverberate in the mostly empty grocery store she hadn't fully noticed she was standing in.

When the noise finally ended, she found herself unable to move. She only gripped her tomahawk tightly with both hands and held in a breath.

Wide-eyed, she waited. Listening. Not even realizing she'd already become lost in thought. Lost in her worry about all the possibilities of horrible outcomes if even a handful of infected had heard her racket.

Perri nearly jumped out of her skin when something touched her shoulder.

She spun around to find an unimpressed Max peering down at her.

"You okay? I saw you slip and fall into the creepy, black hole. Then, there was a shit ton of noise. What the hell happened?" He asked.

"I just—"

Perri paused and winced at Max as he coughed onto the back of his hand.

He winced too.

Not because of the chunky sounding cough. But, the blood on the back of his hand because of it.

Something like fear flashed across his face before he quickly wiped his hand on his trousers.

"You don't look so good, man." Perri stated in a dry tone.

"I'm fine." Max growled back.

"Maybe we should—"

Interrupted by the loud crashing of a window, both Perri and Max whirled to the sound.

All along the shop front were glass panes, they'd all been painted just like the windows in the apartment building. Now, there was a gaping, bright hole that illuminated the entire store.

Any shelves had been pushed against the far wall. There was nothing left in the main area except for the checkouts by the front of the store and that pile of tin cans that were now scattered across the floor.

Perri had noticed the rear exit, but in her peripheral vision she could see that Max was edging back towards the way they came.

Time seemed to slow as a hunched figure rose up from behind a checkout counter, the shattered glass flecked its body.

They couldn't run back to the ladder, they'd lead the infected right back to the group. Perri didn't know what to do. She didn't even know if the rear exit was unlocked. Or what would be waiting for them on the other side.

The hunched figure looked in their direction. They were still partially concealed by the darkness.

It tilted its head to the side. Those wide, unblinking, dead eyes never shifted their gaze as it stared. Waiting for confirmation of life.

Perri could see Max struggling to suppress the cough that tickled his throat.

Maybe the infected could see it too. Those subtle movements in the dark.

Its limp shoulders rose as it sucked in a breath, then dropped as it flung its head back and the most frightening scream escaped its lips.

"Run!" Perri shouted as she gave Max's sleeve a tug and started towards the exit.

All Perri could hear as she ran was the smashing and crashing of glass that accompanied the shrill, lasting shriek.