We Are Risen

Chapter Eleven

We made it to the town after stopping for a lunch of granola bars. I was driving around town, being cautious of biters. There seemed to be a lot of biters in this town, and that made me extremely uneasy. 

"We should probably pick up some workout clothes for ourselves," Bryson commented as I drove around yet another biter. 

"I think you're right," I agreed. "All I own are tight, torn-up jeans. I don't think they'll last through me working out."

After about ten minutes of driving through the town, I found a Walmart with a nearly empty parking lot. 

"Frickin' hell yeah," I said, grinning as I turned the steering wheel. 

I pulled into the reserved fire lane, and we got out of the truck. Dirk stopped the motorcycle behind my truck before climbing off of it. 

"What if the store is filled with biters?" Toby asked me, grabbing hold of my hand. 

I laughed nervously. "I really hope that's not the case."

We walked up to the automatic sliding glass doors, and they opened for us. We walked inside into the entryway, and Ally grabbed a shopping cart. We walked through the second set of doors, and it was eerie how empty the store was. There was rotting fruit sitting in stands to our left, and I wrinkled my nose at the sickly sweet smell. I brought my fingers to my lips and let out a loud, sharp, shrill whistle. I heard a loud groan, and I immediately tensed up in fear, automatically thinking I'd made a huge mistake. Three biters came around the corner, having been hidden by the tills, and I felt my stomach knot up in fear. My hand hovered near my hatchet. 

Toby cut his eyes at me. "Dee. Grab the hatchet."

"I-I can't," I said in a small, shaky voice. 

"You can," he assured me. "I know you can. You're beautiful, you're smart, and you're strong. Grab the hatchet, Dee."

I nodded, feeling a bit better, but still petrified. I grabbed the hatchet just under the blade, slipping it out of my belt. I tried to muster up some confidence, raising it towards one of the biters stumbling towards me. They were creepily slow, twitching their jaws as their eyes rolled around in their heads. I nudged my biter back with the hatchet. 

"Does that bother you?" I asked, nudging it back again as it snarled at me, reaching its arms out to grab me. "Yeah? Well, you bother me."

I kicked the biter back, before bringing my hatchet back and swinging it as hard as I could at its head. The blade sunk deep into its skull with a sickening 'crunch', and the biter froze, its mouth still open. Blood was splattered across my face. It slumped to the ground, and my hatchet, stuck in its skull, caused me to be yanked down with it. I gave the hatchet a yank, and it wouldn't come free. 

"Fucking- goddammit," I grumbled, yanking it again. "Shit, come on!"

I grimaced, bracing my converse-clad foot against its head and yanking hard. The hatchet finally came free, and I fell backward, my knee hitting the tiles hard. I winced as I felt a new bruise forming, and I hauled myself to my feet.

"Are you okay?" Toby asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

I nodded before I turned and let out a loud dry-retch. I coughed and gagged, but luckily nothing came up.

"I think some blood got in my mouth," I groaned, spitting on the ground. 

Sure enough, a disgusting reddish-brown liquid came up with my spit. 

"Oh god," Ally uttered out. "That's disgusting!"

"Let's just go," I said. "I'm already so done with this run."