The Survivor Chronicles: The Risen (28 page)

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it
of the disconcerting images flooding her mind. Another crash
reverberated through the store, causing her fight or flight
instinct to kick into hyper drive. She glanced behind her to see
the rack that had contained dozens of children's balls in the toy
section now on its side and the balls bouncing across the ground.
They were such a strange array of bright colors that were oddly out
of place in this nightmare store. The spectacle of a pink and
yellow ball fading away into the lengthening shadows created the
impression that the ball had been sucked into a completely
different universe. She couldn't see it anymore but she could hear
it as it continued its bouncing path across the floor before
hitting something with a small thud.

The ball may have vanished into the shadows
but something else emerged from the ones to her right. Reacting on
instinct, she lunged forward and shoved John in the back. A loud
grunt escaped him but even as he fell forward, she threw herself
back. The figure that had rushed at them crashed into the back
wall. Containers of electrical wires and other assorted things fell
on top of it as it sprawled upon the floor just feet in front of
her. The unsettling realization that the only sound it had made was
its impact into the back wall hit her as it began to rise to its
feet again. Xander grabbed hold of her arm as she swung her gun
up.

Lips skimmed back to reveal the black gums
and missing teeth of the corrupted human. A hiss escaped it, a
mottled pink tongue flicked out from between the missing front
teeth. She felt no remorse as she held its empty brown eyes and
pulled the trigger. The creature's head snapped back when the
bullet slammed into its forehead and it fell to the ground.

Its feet kicked on the floor for a few
seconds before they finally went blessedly still. "We have to go,"
Xander hissed in her ear as something clattered to the floor in one
of the aisles just behind them.

Riley nodded, her ears were still ringing
from the gunshot but she heard something else crash in an aisle
ahead of them. Her hands used to shake after firing a gun, they
remained perfectly still before her as she searched the shadows for
the impending next attack. There was no way to know how many of the
sick were in the store but she had a feeling the sick were only
trying to delay them until the ones that had been coming in through
the automotive center could join in the fun. Even with the guns
they would be overrun by a large number of those sick things.

"Hurry," she whispered as another loud crash
sounded from behind them. Josh jumped and swung his gun up, Carl
reached out to try and stop him from shooting but it was too late,
he'd already pulled trigger. Carl swore and threw his hand over the
ear that Josh had fired near. The bullet slammed into the shelves
across the way but nothing emerged from the darkness.

"They're playing with us until the others
get here, we have to go," Riley said frantically.

"Can you walk on your own?" Carl demanded of
Josh. Blood had soaked through Xander's shirt and was seeping down
the front of Josh's, he was still abnormally pale but he nodded in
response. "Don't shoot that again unless it's at one of those
things. We're going to need those bullets," Carl told him before
releasing him and stepping forward. "Let's go."

Riley didn't have to be told twice, she
stepped over top of the body of the one she'd just killed. Bent
over, she stayed low as she searched the tops of the shelves and
the beams of the ceiling for more of those things. Something ahead
of them fell to the floor with a rattling ting that caused Carl to
stop abruptly and throw out his arm to halt Josh. They all stopped
behind him as they waited for something else to emerge. Riley
strained to figure out what had caused the noise as a spinning
sound continued to echo through the store. It was difficult to make
out anything over the loud breathing of those around her. Those
things were closing in on them, she was positive of it.

"They're playing with us," Riley
whispered.

Carl hesitated for a few seconds but then
his jaw clenched and a muscle began to twitch in his cheek. It
seemed that he'd come to the same conclusion she had. These things
had enough reason to know how to unnerve and frighten them, how to
keep them afraid of moving forward when that was what they had to
do right now.

It took everything she had not to scream and
start firing at anything that moved; at any little sound as
something else crashed to the floor about twenty feet away from
them. Instead, she took a steadying breath and followed the others
along the back wall. John stumbled in front of her and nearly went
down, Riley moved to help him but he managed to catch himself
before he fell.

They arrived at a partition that blocked
their way to the door where they had entered. Riley stared at the
picture frames full of fake smiling families, and camera
accessories that hung from the hooks on the wall before them. A
self-developing digital photo booth sat to her left at the end of
the aisle. To her right was a photo desk with a scattering of photo
paper still spread out across the top next to the cash
register.

Frustration filled her as she stared at the
wall before them and then at the end of the aisle. The door was so
unbelievably close, they were almost out of here but she
knew
if they went to the end of the
aisle they would be pounced upon. Those things were there, she was
certain of it. They were waiting for them, playing with them.

She glanced at the photo desk again, she
could climb onto the glass counter and try to peer over the wall
but that would only confirm that those things were there and it
would probably cause the sick ones to spring into action sooner.
She turned back to the way they'd come but the aisles remained
empty and nothing sat on top of the shelves, watching them. That's
because they'd already laid their trap, she realized with a sinking
sensation in her stomach.

"We can push it over," John whispered.

"What?" Xander hissed.

John stepped closer to them. "Let's not
pretend those things haven't set a trap. We're not making it around
this aisle and out that door without being attacked. Those things
are smart but they're not going to expect us to push this thing
over on them, or at least I don't think they will."

Riley stepped back to examine the large
partition blocking their way. "This thing's probably bolted to the
floor," she whispered.

"I have no doubt it is but I'd rather take
my chances of not being able to get it over than walking to the end
of it. It's thinner than the shelves are, we should be able to get
it over."

"It could work," Carl muttered as he rubbed
at the stubble lining his chin and jaw. "It will also get them to
move out of the way. The door opened to the outside, we won't be
blocking it."

Xander started to respond but silence
descended over the store once more. Were those things trying to
listen to them she wondered as she continued to study the shadows
around them. She held her breath while she waited for those things
to emerge but the store remained eerily silent as the seconds
stretched endlessly on.

Something clattered to the floor, it was
close but she got the impression that it had been an accident this
time. These things were done playing; they were waiting for their
food to make a mistake now. Her skin crawled, her heart was in her
throat as her eyes continued to search the shadows but nothing
moved and no more sound followed.

"Push it over," she breathed.

It was the only way they were going to get
out of here, she was almost positive of that. Beside her, Josh
began to nod enthusiastically as he stepped back. His heel scraped
against the partition, the noise probably didn't travel beyond
their cluster but it sounded louder than the gunshots had in her
ears.

"Together," Carl said. "Now."

Riley spun, threw her hands out, and placed
them against the partition. She knocked some of the hooks aside,
picture frames clattered to the floor around her as the others did
the same thing. Glass shattered, wood splintered and bounced
against her sneakers but she didn't care about any of it. Those
things already knew where they were, keeping quiet now wasn't going
to do them any good. Adrenaline poured through her body, she
planted her feet and shoved against the partition as hard as she
could.

A wrenching noise filled the air, for a
second the wall didn't move but as the wrenching grew louder, the
partition began to inch its way backwards. A cry escaped her, her
feet started to slip on the floor but she continued to shove at the
wall.

John pulled away from the wall and scrambled
a few feet back. With a shout he raced at the partition, leapt off
the ground and slammed his shoulder into it. The partition
shuddered and then began to go over at a much faster rate. Riley
lost her traction on the floor, her feet slid out from under her
and her knees crashed down.

Pain lanced through her battered knees but
she scrambled back to her feet. Someone on the other side of the
partition cried out as it finally tipped over and crashed backward.
The partition didn't make it all the way to the floor; she didn't
have to see what was beneath it to know that some of those things
had gotten trapped under its weight.

Xander held his hand out to her, she grabbed
hold of it and he helped to pull her onto the toppled wall.
Something beneath them crunched and a low howl erupted. She felt no
sympathy for whoever it was; all of her sympathy for these
creatures had been left on the side of the road with Bobby's body.
These demented sick people were too far gone for them to be saved,
and in a fight to the death, she was going to do everything in her
power to make sure they all survived, even if it meant literally
stepping onto some of the sick ones to do it.

She kept hold of Xander's hand as Carl flung
open the broken door they had entered through. Light spilled in to
illuminate the store and the half a dozen or so creatures coming at
them. Toppling the wall had initially thrown them off but they were
recovering rapidly. Carl spun away from the door and started firing
his gun. She didn't know if he was aiming at anything or simply
trying to deter the monsters she could feel closing in on them.

A thud and squeal indicated that he'd hit
someone but she could practically feel them breathing down her neck
as Josh fell through the doorway with John close on his heels.
Xander tugged on her hand, pulling her before him. She didn't have
time to protest before he shoved her out the door.

The debris and bodies pinned beneath it had
created a three-foot drop to the outside that she hadn't been
expecting. She fell forward, smacking her already bruised knees and
right elbow off of the pavement. Putting her hand beneath her, she
pushed herself to the side, rolling out of the way in time to avoid
Xander and Carl as they jumped out of the doorway behind her.

Riley caught a glimpse of three of those
things almost in the doorway before Xander spun and slammed the
door shut. Carl pressed his back against the door with him, both of
their shoulders heaved from the force of their rapid breaths. Riley
pushed herself to her feet, she wasn't as swift to recover this
time but she limped rapidly toward the dumpster.

"No," Carl grunted as those things banged
loudly against the door behind him. They managed to push the door
open almost an inch before Xander and Carl were able to shove it
shut again. "Not this time. John, Riley, get against the door."

Riley was confused by the command but she
changed direction and added her weight to the door with John. "Just
hold on for a few minutes more," Carl told them and scurried out
from underneath them.

Xander slid up the door beside her as he
rose to his feet. Angry grunts and animalistic sounds came from the
other side of the door. The sick humans continued to beat and shove
against it. She could almost feel the resentment and frustration
emanating from them as their nails raked down the door in a
screeching sound that made her teeth clench and her ears ring.

The door pushed open again, fingers curled
around the edge of the door just inches from her face. Her eyes
crossed as the filthy, bloody tips crept closer to her nose. Blood
dripped from where the fingernails had been torn from their beds.
"Carl!" she screamed when the weight of the bodies inside began to
push the door further open.

Her back strained; her legs and bruised
knees screamed in protest as more pressure was placed against them.
She had no idea how much longer she would be able to keep this up
before her body gave way beneath the weight. A strong whiff of gas
filled her nose when Carl appeared by her side again.

Raising his gun, he fired into the hand just
centimeters away from her nose. Blood burst from the back of the
palm and sprayed her in the face. She blinked it away from her eyes
as a howl erupted from inside and the hand hastily jerked away.
Carl turned his gun, aimed inside, and released a rapid series of
shots into the building. The door crashed shut with a thud but she
wasn't fooled into thinking those things weren't going to come
back.

"Get the dumpster now," Carl commanded
gruffly.

Riley had no idea what he planned to do but
she hurried over to the dumpster and got behind it. Josh looked
like he was about to drop as he jogged over to help her, but he put
his good shoulder against the dumpster and helped her push it
toward the door. Another thud sounded against the door from inside
the store and loud shouts began to emanate from inside. Carl had
managed to get those things to move away for a little bit but they
were already back. She had no doubt that some of them were already
trying to get out of the store through one of the other doors in an
attempt to circle around and come at them.