SHTF (NOLA Zombie Book 0) (8 page)

C
OSTCO was officially a war zone
. It was utter and complete chaos. Shoppers were screaming their heads off and running at a full sprint to the front of the store. The ones that hadn't witnessed the scene from the back didn't need an explanation to panic; they just took off for the exits.

I watched as opportunists took advantage of the panic and threw things into their baskets that were definitely not provisions. They didn't care who they ran over as long as they got “theirs.”

I saw two men push a woman out of the way as they made a dash with a sixty inch television. She fell to her knees and I reached down and pulled her up, handing her the purse she had been carrying.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, assholes," she muttered.

"You need to get out of here, ma'am, there are infected in the back." Her eyes got huge and she nodded, went straight for the exit, pushing her basket in front of her with all her unpaid items.

"Is that what that was?" Alicia asked. She was jogging alongside me stunned, in a state of shock.

"Yes."

"So, this infection really is a zombie virus? I thought it was just like a metaphor or something."

"Seems it's rather literal." I shrugged as I pulled her out of the way of another group of looters. We ducked behind a display as a group of shoppers lost control of their baskets and they came barreling in our direction. When I peered out from behind the protective barrier, I realized the cause for their alarm. More infected were shuffling behind them.

"Come on, this way."

There was a side exit that I had just noticed. The inside of this store was a death trap. Between the shoppers gone mad and the infected, it would be almost impossible to get out of the front doors.

"Where's Hank and Barbara?" Alicia asked.

"Hopefully by the SUV." We passed through the home improvement section to get to the exit and I noticed a bin of multi-tool shovels. I grabbed two, handing one to Alicia by the hilt.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.

"Defense," I shot back and I saw her face go pale, but she gripped the tool with white knuckles.

I didn't stop. I just slammed into the exit door, hoping that it would be unlocked. An emergency alarm sounded, but the door slammed open without an issue. The bright light of day had me blinking in rapid succession to acclimate my eyes to the change in light. I looked around and took stock in my surroundings. We were on the side of the building, but actually closer to where we had parked, near the interstate. I pushed the cart in front of me and reached back with a hand to keep Alicia behind me, staying close to the concrete wall in case we were spotted.

"So are they sick, or are they dead like real zombies?" Alicia asked in a whisper.

"I have no idea, Leesh, that guy had his guts ripped out. I don't know anyone that can live through that. That's not a living person with a virus."

"And a bite? Is that what does it?" I turned to her and she was gripping her arm protectively, against her body.

"Did that woman bite you?" I asked, stopping short, remembering her cry of pain. I held the shovel tightly against me, instinctively and her eyes got big and she shook her head rapidly.

"No, she just sort of scratched me." She moved her hand to show a bright red scratch down her arm. “She had nasty long nails, will that turn me into a zombie?"

"I don't think so, Alicia, you're fine." She nodded shakily and I turned back to face the parking lot. Scanning the lot I saw our SUV in the back and what looked to be Barbara and Hank loading supplies into it. "Fast, I need you to be fast, Alicia...let's run to the car and get out of here, okay?"

"Okay," she said and we both sprinted across the parking lot, Alicia faster than me since I was forced to push the basket filled with food.

I only paused for a second when I noticed a group of people all converged in the center of the lot. I took in their demeanor and movements. They were infected. There were infected in the parking lot, I had to get us out of here.

They were crowded around a body on the concrete, blood pooling around their knees as they feasted on the intestines of what used to be a living, breathing human. When we ran past them, their heads shot up and one got to its feet to follow us.

"Go to the SUV, Alicia!" I pushed her forward and stopped in my tracks to face the infected. But again she froze in place and stared at them stupidly, obviously her fight or flight reactions were broken, she just froze.

The infected man ambled toward me. It was obviously injured. There was a bite wound on its face, its cheek bloody and ripped open. It was a male, but small in stature and its clothing was so covered in so much blood that I couldn't tell its age. The skin had the tell-tale sign of the infection, that gray, deathly tone that looked like dead skin. Its eyes were the worst though, those vacant eyes focused on me and they didn't see me, they only saw food. When it realized I was viable prey its pace increased. It came for me, arms outstretched, reaching to take me down. Its mouth opened wide and those teeth began to clamp open and shut as if it could almost taste me.

I stood my ground and held the shovel across my chest in an attack stance. This was a person, an infected, dangerous person that wanted to kill me and my family, but before it was bitten, it was just an innocent human being. It was no more aware of what it was doing than a rabid dog. But, it was him or me and I was a selfish motherfucker. When it got close enough for me to reach it, I took a swing. I aimed for the head and slammed it hard against the temple. It went down, but it got right back up. Arms again outstretched for me, feet shuffling forward in an ambling pace.

I swung again, this time not with the flat of the shovel, but with the blade end. I aimed it for the temple and it went in with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed everywhere as the shovel decimated the person's head. I almost scalped it I swung so hard and this time it went down hard. I didn't stick around to see if it would get up again. I ran for the SUV, pulling Alicia behind me.

Barbara and Hank had already loaded up their provisions and Hank was behind the wheel looking nervous. He had the vehicle idling, waiting for me and Alicia. I just picked up the boxes of food and threw them into the back of SUV quickly, then I slid into the back with Alicia and shouted, "Get out of here now!" before the door was even shut.

Hank was so desperate to leave the parking lot, now full of screaming people, that he spun the tires and nearly crashed us into another fleeing vehicle. He had to put it in reverse and back-up to get around the obstacle. I turned around in the seat to look back at the shopping center. People were running from the building and I cringed as I saw other limping figures jump on them and bring them down. The amount of infected must have increased significantly in the last ten minutes, they were everywhere. It had only taken a few minutes for the man in the baked good section to get up and start to attack. At this rate, the infection could spread across the city in just a few days. I didn't like these implications. It looked like the worst case scenario was in full effect.

I
held
on for dear life as Hank showed off his extreme driving skills. They were shit and I restrained myself from back-seat driving him into more stress. I loved my brother, but he needed to be taught some serious life skills.

My phone started ringing as we barreled down Carrolton Avenue and tried to merge into the ever thickening traffic. Looks like everyone had the same idea as we did. In just a few blocks, the traffic had us puttering to a crawl and I craned my neck back and forth scanning the area. Anyone who was walking along the street, out on their porch, or in the cars around us could be infected and a possible threat.

I accepted the call and brought it to my ear.

"Romeo," Zach said gruffly when I answered.

"James," I replied.

"I just watched a man eat a fucking old lady. He sat there and chomped on her in the middle of the street." Zach's voice didn't convey the stress that his words were hinting at, but I knew it was there.

"You should see Costco, it's like an all you can eat buffet." I regretted my words when Alicia started to sniffle next to me. I patted her knee awkwardly. I was never very good with the "children present" restraint.

"I'm official freaked the fuck out. I'm assuming since you've been at Costco you didn't go straight to the compound. What's your ETA?"

"One hour, if everything goes as planned."

"Good. I'm rounding up a few stragglers. I have Kirk, Tillman, and Martinez with me. We're at the uptown office. Have you spoken to Miller? Do you know where the fuck he is? Looks like he was here, but left, I can't believe he would leave, he knows protocol for FUBAR situations." Blake Miller, the M in MJ Security and notorious loose cannon. He was the instinct and Zach was the logic. Zach always said if we were playing poker, Miller was playing blackjack. But there was no denying that Blake Miller always led you right and had your well-being in mind. I would follow him to the ends of the Earth. He had saved my ass too many times to count. I just wouldn't want to be his partner, or the guy that wanted him to play by the rules.

"Haven't seen him since I left the office Friday morning," I said honestly.

"Dammit, I want to head to the compound, but I'm not going until I get a lock on Miller. I can't find Ito either, and Graff's team is still in Mexico, I don't even know what to do with that. If this infection reaches critical mass they'll close the borders. Baby checked in this morning, she's heading in too, so that's one less grunt to worry about," he sighed and I heard the voices of the other men in the background.

"It'll be fine, James, just head to the compound when you're ready. I'll meet you there. We have a better communication system there anyway. Grab Miller, I'm sure he's at his house. He's probably fighting with his wife on what to pack. Bet you the bitch has him all strung out."

"You're right. Fuck, I don't want to be holed up with Clara for God knows how long." I laughed at his honesty, none of us liked Blake's wife. Well, maybe Martinez, but he liked everyone. "Look, I've noticed cell phones are starting to get spotty, check in when you get to the compound. I'll be on channel three if you can't get a signal."

"Will do," I said.

"And Romeo," he said, worry in his voice, "Be safe. We've been through some shit together, hell, I thought I'd seen it all. But this is a new level of FUBAR."

"Oohrah, James. You too." I hung up the phone and looked over at my sister who was clutching her scratched arm. James was right. We had seen some shit during our time in the Marines, some really screwed up shit, but seeing a man get his intestines chomped on by a shopper at Costco was fucked up beyond all recognition.