At Emily's scream, James whipped his head around, staring hard at the dark silhouette that had appeared. Helena. She held a small pistol away from her body, two hunting rifles resting on her back. The scene was frozen, even the remaining three zombies had ceased movement.
"Get the other ones!" Rory finally broke the silence. He ran out of his hiding place and sprinted at the closest zombie with renewed courage, leaning back and lashing out with a well aimed kick. The zombie crumpled over and wailed in fury. Rory laughed trimphantly.
Sam, Brendan, and Salar came out of their hiding places, all of them with hope fresh on their faces, and relief at Helena's return.
James struggled to get up and join the fighting, but Emily held him firmly down. Pain lanced through James' arm at the struggle but he pushed it away in frustration.
"Don't move, you'll make it worse," Emily was right, as usual. She leaned in and kissed his cheek, her breath warm and sweet in the cold Wallmart. "You need to heal if you want to be useful later on."
Sam knocked over a big metal shelf display, pinning down two of the zombies, and Helena shot them both in the head. The gun shots were impossibly loud, much louder than portrayed in movies or video games. James felt his eardrums ring every time it went off.
Rory had kicked the third zombie down, and held its arm in a lock. Brendan took the knife out of the zombie's stiff white hand and cut a clean gash through the back of its neck.
The four of them paused for a second, catching their breath. The zombies didn't move. Helena dropped her two rifles onto the floor.
"Helena," Brendan looked over at her, relief bubbled up in his dark eyes. He walked over and folded the frail girl in his arms.
James smiled at the sight and pulled Emily closer to him. Sam giggled in the girly way that only Sam could pull off.
Rory looked down at his feet, kicked at the pocket knife Brendan had dropped.
James got up on his feet, staying upright with Emily's help. His head swam with blood loss, his vision turning fluorescent at the edges. He addressed the group at large.
"We should probably camp out for tonight and figure out what to do in the morning." He smiled at Helena, who was tucked under Brendan's arm. "Welcome back to the squad, Helena."
Helena grinned back and gave him a peace sign. Her dark hair swam around her face, a bloody cloth was tied around her forehead. Her expression was fierce and brave, although the exhaustion was obvious.
The group of them walked down the ailes, and towards the back of the store. Rory pushed open one of the doors, revealing the staff lounge. Empty yogurt cartons littered the floor, turned over magazines and coffee cups that dripped over tables. The area looked like it had been evacuated with haste.
They settled down on the furniture. Helena and Brendan occupied one of the couches, Rory tucked himself into one of the lounge chairs. Sam went to the fridge and looked inside for anything salvagable. James was suddenly glad they had eaten so much at Five Guys, they probably wouldn't be eating a good meal anytime soon.
Emily took his hand and guided him over to the other couch. She forced James to lie down and rest, and James didn't have the energy to argue. Emily sat down in the crook of his legs.
"So what happened to you anyways?" Sam looked at Helena. He sat down crossed legged on the ground by Rory's feet, opening a big chocolate bar.
Brendan raised an eyebrow at Sam but didn't comment.
