Inside: A Zombie story

  I slammed the door shut behind me as I ran inside the nearest open store. They had been close behind me outside, but it would probably hold them at bay for a while. What little survivors I’d met over the last few weeks had called them “zombies” but I didn’t know what the hell they were. They weren’t people anymore, that was all I knew.

  The wooden door shook as the things outside thumped against it, some of them banging against the lowered shutter too. The noise grew louder as more and more of them reached the point from which I had just vanished. The door looked sturdy but I couldn’t be sure. I darted around the shop, looking for something I could use to lay up against the door and maybe hold them back a bit longer. It seemed to be some kind of old pharmacy, not exactly full of things to use as a prop. I grabbed a couple of metal stands holding random packets and jammed them against the door. It wasn’t much but it might hold them back a bit longer.

  I stood back for a second to try to catch my breath. I needed a way out of this place. The thumping on the door was getting heavier and louder now. I was just about to turn and look for another door when I heard the click of a gun behind me.

  ‘Who are you?’ a woman’s voice spoke. It sounded harsh and ragged.

  ‘Easy, calm down,’ I replied, turning around slowly. Her appearance matched her voice. She looked tired, her clothes well worn. ‘I just came in here to get away from them.’

  ‘You led them right here, you stupid-‘

  ‘I had no other choice, they were right behind me, and this was the first door I saw. Where else was I supposed to go?’

  ‘Hnh,’ she replied. The thuds were getting louder now. ‘We don’t have time for this.’

  ‘Yeah, is there another way out of here?’

  ‘The back way should be clear. There’s a wall behind that leads onto some other street. But first you can help me grab my stuff.’

  ‘Woah, not so fast. We don’t have time for that. We’ve got to get out of here. There’s no telling how long that door will hold. I’m not waiting around to get eaten while you pack your suitcases.’

  ‘Well, it’s your fault they’re even here. I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave behind the only memories I’ve got left because of some eejit bringing those things in here. Besides, I’m the only one with the key for the back door.’

  She’d left the door locked? Her only way out? I’d met some unprepared people since the infestation had started, but this woman...

  ‘Fine, but we don’t have time to stand here discussing this. Just grab your stuff and let’s get the hell out of here.’

  She turned and ran through one of the two open doors in the back wall. As I followed her in she threw a backpack into my hands.

  ‘Here, make yourself useful,’ she snapped. ‘Put the clothes on the floor into the bag. I’ll get the rest.’

  God, she was a mess. As I ran about gathering clothes, I looked around the room and noticed an odd thing. There was only one door in here.

  ‘Hey,’ I shouted at her, over the rising sound of the thudding coming from the entrance. ‘Where’s the way out?’

  ‘It’s back in there, and then out the door beside this one,’ she hurriedly replied. Stupid, stupid, stupid. If there was one thing I’d learned since the outbreak it was to always have an easy and direct way out before settling anywhere, but I didn’t have time to go through this to her.

  Just as I stuffed the last bits of clothing into the backpack, we heard the door outside split, and the metal stands screech briefly. We both looked up to see a thin crack of daylight splitting the dusty air inside the door.

  ‘Let’s go!’ I shouted.

  ‘Okay, okay,’ she replied, stuffing one last thing into her bag, and zipping it tight.

  We ran back out into the storefront and through the other door, into what looked like the shop’s storeroom, just in time to hear the door snap again and for daylight to come spilling into the room. She froze for a second, seeing the furious faces of the things outside. I pushed her quickly through the doorway. I could see the way out on the opposite side of the room and we both ran towards it.

  ‘Open it!’ I shouted at her, while I turned back to look at what was now coming in. I pulled a handgun out of my chest holster. I’d taken it from some military guys I’d found lying in the street just a couple of days ago. I hadn’t used it yet for fear the sound might attract more of them, so I didn’t know what damage I could do with it. No sense in worrying about that now.

  There were two of them that had managed to climb over the lopsided door, the stands, and a few of their own who had tripped and fallen, and were now dashing through the store. I took aim carefully at the lead one, and fired off a shot. The sound of the gunfire echoing inside the small building was deafening. Somehow, I’d managed to hit it in the head. It went straight down, like they all did when hit in the head.

  I took aim at the second one, my ears ringing loudly from the gunshot, but not as successfully this time. I fired off two shots, but only caught it in the shoulder. It stumbled back for a second but then started moving forward again, almost to the storeroom’s door now. I took a breath and aimed my next shot carefully. It went down.

  I could see the others were still stumbling over each other trying to get in through the doorway. I turned to look at the woman’s progress with the lock and was surprised to see her on her knees, running her hands over the floor. I spun her around to face me but I couldn’t make out what she was saying over the ringing in my ears. I didn’t need to read her lips to tell what had happened.

  She’d dropped the key.

  I could tell by the white sheen on her face that she was panicking and she kept checking the same patch of ground over again. I was going to have to search for it for her. I glanced back over my shoulder. Some of them were crawling inside now and starting to get up.

  I picked her up, shoved my gun in to her hand and pointed at the crawlers. I didn’t have time to search for where she’d put her own gun. She nodded, but I didn’t hold out much hope that she’d be able to get any shots off, let alone be much use with it, she looked like she might be going into shock. I just had to pray they wouldn’t get in here.

  I looked around the floor, turning on the small flashlight I kept strapped to my own backpack. After what seemed like the longest half minute of my life I saw a flash of light a couple of feet away. It must have bounced more than she’d thought.

  Just as I reached for it, something caught the corner of my eye. I looked up just in time to see one of them dashing across the storeroom. Time froze as I looked up into her pale, almost ghostly face. Her eyes were glassy, and the creature was drawing closer.

  It seemed then, in agonizing slow motion, that her arm drifted upwards to point the gun at it. The creature moved closer and closer still, almost within reaching distance, when the bullet exploded from the gun, ripping through its skull. Time began to flow normally again as the body fell to the floor beside us.

  I glanced up quickly towards the entrance. The rest of them were starting to get through now. They’d untangled themselves and looked like they had somehow managed to push the fallen racking out of their way.

  I grabbed the key quickly, and slid it into the lock. I felt the relieving click of the tumblers falling into place as the key turned and I pushed the door open. Reaching back, I tapped her shoulder for her to follow me and saw her face was still a ghostly white. I ran out through the now open doorway.

  That was when I heard her let out a loud shriek. It was loud enough to cut through the almost deafening ringing that still filled my ears. I spun around to see her lying on the ground. Her legs had given way from shock when she’d tried to use them. The others were closing in on her quickly.

  What should I have done?

  What could I do?

  I turned back to the door.

  They were getting too close to me now. I closed the door and heard the lock click back into place.

  I ran.

 

 

  A.R. Deschain, Inside: A Zombie story

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