Episode 5: Settling In

Ness threw me the duffel bag of weapons.

“The place is really open,” she explained, “so we need to be careful and quiet. I don’t know what’s in there, but it wouldn’t be hard for a biter to sneak up on someone who’s not paying attention.”

I pulled out my machete and strapped the sheath to my thigh. Then I took out my pistol.

“No guns,” Ness stated. “Too loud. Also, I’ll only be able to take a small group. We’ve got to be as stealthy as possible.”

I nodded and put my gun back in the bag.

“I’ll take no more than four,” Ness added.

John stood up and walked over. “All right, well, Erik this was your idea, you should go. Logan, you too. Also, Ellis and Rebecca. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things.”

Logan, Ellis, and Rebecca dug knives, bats, and metal pipes out of the bag. Robert stood in he background, eyeing John suspiciously. Lily gave me a kiss goodbye before we walked out the doors. Ness led the way with her bow at the ready. Logan and Ellis followed behind with metal bats at the ready. Rebecca and I took the rear.

There were only a few walkers in the parking lot today. Ness fired an arrow that hit a walker right between the eyes. One walker approached me, and I swung my machete, slicing its head in half. We killed a few more as we came to the doors of Home Depot.

They were closed, but they slid open easily. Inside it was dark. Very dark. High shelves were disorganized. Some were knocked over. Items were spilled everywhere ranging from  tape measurers, to paint cans, to door knobs, to screwdrivers. It looked as though the place had been looted, but only lightly. We waited, silently, for several minutes, listening.

Finally, I relaxed. “Okay, Logan, you and Ellis take those shelves over there. Rebecca, you take the front counters, Ness, you and I will take these shelves over here. What we’re looking for is…well…anything. If you think we can use it, take it; specifically tools, axes, duct tape, tarps, survival gear, or batteries.”

They nodded.

“If you hear anything,” I continued, “run.”

We separated on that note and carried our duffel bags to our positions. Ness kept her bow at the ready as I went through the shelves. I found an empty flashlight, nuts and bolts, a wrench, nails, and…

“Oh yes!” I said, and Ness shushed me. I smiled as I picked up a 24-pack of D-batteries. I quickly shoved two batteries into the flashlight, and it flickered to life. I put the rest in my bag. “With this, we could go deeper into the store.”

Ness agreed, still tense with an arrow nocked on her bowstring.

In the shelves near the back of the store, I found a toolbox, a hatchet, another pack of batteries, and a pair of bolt cutters. I also found a box of long, thin, wooden rods.

“Hey, Ness,” I said and showed her the rods before putting them in the bag. “You could use these for new arrows.”

She smiled and lowered her bow when we heard it: a steady moan, joined by a chorus of others. I whipped my flashlight around, peering into the hallways. The alarm bells in my head were deafening.

Ness and I crept around the corners. It was pitch black, and I wouldn’t have been able to see anything without the flashlight. We came across a dead body, bitten and picked clean. We found several more down the hallway, and we went around the next corner.

“Ungh!!!”

The horde of walkers moaned and moved slowly, but once they saw us, they advanced.

“Run!” I yelled, hoping Ellis or Logan would hear it too, if they weren’t dead already.

We ran as fast as we could, zigging and zagging through the hallways. We would often be cut off and forced to change direction. They were everywhere. It was as if we had rung the dinner bell, and walkers had come from everywhere. Ness had said before they got here, this place had been swarmed by walkers. How could I have been so stupid?

We rounded a corner, past a model of a kitchen, and ran into Ellis and Logan. They were startled and raised their blood-covered bats. Once they realized it was us, they relaxed, and we continued running. We were faster than the pursuing herd, but we needed to find the exit. Finally, I saw the glow of light. I ran for it. The others followed. Walkers reached for us, but they were too slow. Rebecca was at the glass doors, jamming a knife into a walker’s brain.

“Open the doors!” I screamed frantically. Rebecca heard me and slid the glass door open.

We ran through, and Rebecca slid the doors closed quickly. The herd wasn’t at the doors yet, but they were close.

“Here!” I heard Logan yell. He handed me a chain and a padlock, and I wrapped it tightly around the door handles. She clicked the padlock into place just and the herd hit the glass.

They hit hard. The glass cracked, the chains were strained, and we readied our weapons for a fight.

But it held.

We waited for several long minutes, but the glass held. We were safe.

For now.

While Ness led Logan and Ellis around to lock up the other entrances to Home Depot, Rebecca and I hauled the new supplies back to Target. Rebecca was in her twenties, very pretty with short brown hair always in a ponytail and dazzling green eyes. She had been one of the soldiers guarding the school when it fell along with Joshua and Samson. They had never talked about what happened that day, but considering those three were the only survivors, I can only imagine how horrible it must have been.

We got to the front doors, and Robert let us in. I handed off the supplies to him and was greeted by Reed.

“Hey bud,” I said to him. I looked around.

“Where’s Lily?” I asked.

“I think I saw her looking at clothes,” he replied.

I smiled at him and walked past.

Lily was sitting against a wall with some shirts in his lap. Her nose was red, and she was looking down. Her brown hair was hanging loosely. I sat down next to her and placed my hand in hers, but she pulled it away.

“What’s wrong?” She sniffled. Her hands were running over a silk shirt.

“I saw Cynthia kiss Brett today,” she said softly, and before I could say anything, she continued. “How could she do that? We only buried her husband and the rest of her family two days ago.”

“Well,” I said, “some people cope in different ways.” I looked at her, but something wasn’t adding up. “What’s really bothering you?”

She faltered.

“It’s just,” she began, “we’re fooling ourselves into being happy. I mean, how can we be happy? We’re eventually gonna become one of those things. It’s all just hopeless.”

Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks. I reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Hey.” I turned her face toward me. “You love me right?”

I noticed a slight curve in her lips as she nodded.

“And are you happy with me right here, right now?”

Her smile grew, and she nodded again. I smiled too.

“Then there’s hope.” I leaned in and kissed her. “We’re gonna make it. It’s not hopeless.”

We hugged and kissed again.

It’s not hopeless.

Right?