Brooklyn turned his body sideways to slip through a tight space between two driers. Amarillo did the same and sped up next to the kid as the isle widened.
"Do you have any idea where the others went?" She leaned her head to look at the boy's eyes.
He pursed his lips and turned his head slightly, recognizing her plea was sincere "I don't know."
"What about Evan? You were with him last."
"He ran off somewhere, I didn't follow him."
"He ran off? Without trying to help you? That's so unlike him. Wait, why are you bleeding?" Amarillo noticed blood shinning on his bottom lip.
"That's the thing, he kicked my ass."
"He what!?"
"Don't worry, I kicked his ass back." Brooklyn reassured as he peered around a corner.
"You-!? You two got in a fight?!"
The kid turned to Amber and held his hands out, ready to explain "Well you see, I kinda' pulled a gun on him and he didn't like that a whole lot and did some crazy Steven Segal shit and disarmed me-"
"Why?" She sighed and walked in a small circle "Why do you always do things like that?! That's- That's so like you!"
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"It's suppose to mean that every time something serious is going on, you pull some dumb stunt!"
"Really?" Brooklyn smirked and shook his head "Give an example, right now, just one."
"Let's see, where do I start. Oh, how about this: Back in Arizona, when we were leaving the state you thought it would be cool to run over a group of zombies and you just so happen to not see that giant hole in the overpass. We nearing went straight through it and plunged to our deaths!"
We. . . We didn't cover that. For obvious reasons.
"Ok. But the moral of that story is the front bumper caught the edge of the hole and bounced us safely over the gap. Beside all those inner tubes on the road concealed it from my direct line of sight."
"Ugh! I don't believe you! Can you not take anything seriously?" Amber threw her arms to her sides, hating the excuses.
"Sometimes you either got to laugh or throw up, and seeing that food is as scares as it is, you can't afford to throw up."
Amarillo pauses in her animation and held back a slight laugh "Let's just find the others."
"Let's." Brooklyn agreed and continued forth down the appliance section. He stepped over a refrigerator door and walked next to the stores outer wall. He paid close attention to not stray from the line where the wall and floor connected.
"I'm surprised you actually managed to stand up to my brother in a fight. He's a black belt in several martial arts." Amarillo commented as she carefully stepped over the unhinged door.
"I think I realized that the moment I left the ground." Brooklyn kept his head facing forward "Where did he learn all that? Some martial arts pilgrimage?"
"Hah, no. Our dad had us take self defense classes when we turned thirteen. He took the hand to hand stuff and liked it. So he continued to study them. I took the basics of hand to hand and firearms courses."
"What the hell?! Is your Dad like a hardcore ex-military guy or something?"
"No, we're just a survivalist type family, I guess. At least that's what he told me every time I asked."
"Jesus Christ. . . And I thought I was going to get lucky and not run across any psychopaths."
"He's not a psychopath, just a little heavy duty. I thought it was crazy too but I just grew used to it and rolled with it. What about you?"
"Nothing like your family, just standard street fighting, like a normal kid grownin' up in New York. Took a brief boxing class back in middle school, it was offered free. To keep kids away from drugs and violence I guess. Other than that, just several fights in grade school."
"Hmph, I would have never guessed."
"Yeah, well it came with it's fair share of principal meetings so I wised up real quick." Brooklyn nodded at his statement and walked forward. He noticed something strange in front of them and slightly gasped"What the hell?"
"What?" Amber questioned. She peered to the right of her partner to see a giant hole blown in the wall ten feet in front of them. Bricks scattered all over the ground, cracks scarred the off-white tile where the stone rectangles. Most likely from the bricks that landed when the large blue wall was first breeched. Brooklyn turned his head to the right, noticing a fork lift covered in bricks and dried blood. From the looks of it, this event occurred quite a while ago.
"Something happened here." Brooklyn spoke in awe as he stepped into the entrance of the hole. On the other side was a Sears store, the signs suggesting the name littered the interior of the new area. The boy looked to the dirt gathered on the ground and made out several shoe prints in it.
"Hey, what shoes does your brother wear?" Brooklyn snapped his fingers at the girl, signaling her over.
"I don't know, why?" Amber questioned, not seeing the meaning in the question.
"These are Converse, like mine, and I haven't been in here yet. Let's go have a look." New York nodded as he walked through to the other store.
"How do you know they're not old?"
"I don't, but do you have a better idea?"
The girl paused, taking some time to agree with Brooklyn "you're right, let's go."
Brooklyn led Amarillo down the center isle in the home décor section of Sears. He step silently forward, holding the plastic guitar out in front of him as he swept the area with his eyes. The store remained quiet as the only living visitors for months roamed around, almost as aimlessly as the dead ones.
"Er. . ." Amber groaned behind the boy.
Brooklyn turned his head to her "Is everything alright?"
"My shoulders just a bit sore."
"Don't be modest, that shit's probably hurting like a mother right now."
"Erm. . . Yeah, you're right. . ." She staggered to Brooklyn's side, her face riddled with the signs of painful distress.
"Here, let me help you." The boy dropped his guard and lifted the girl's right arm around his neck "How's this?"
"It'll help." Amber looked at Brooklyn and smirked faintly.
"Tell me if you need me to slow down or anything."
"Ok." The girl nodded.
Brooklyn stepped forward as he watched Amarillo's feet keep pace with his. The two steadily made it further into the store, in search of the person that left the footprints in the dirt. New York held his fake instrument tight as he helped his friend maintain an effective speed. It was weird helping someone that, more or less, betrayed him. Just yesterday he would have never envisioned himself helping her like this, or seeing her at all for that matter. Also it was strange being this close to a girl, he never really got within close proximity to one prior to the outbreak. The nervous jitters that came from lack of experience were nullified by the adrenaline in his body, ushered by helping another human being survive.
"Listen Brooklyn. I'm sorry for everything I did. I don't have any excuses for you because I know you won't want to hear them. I'm just sorry, for everything." Amarillo admitted as the two shuffled along the walkway.
"It's ok, I forgive you." Brooklyn answered, not entirely meaning it. He was still somewhat bitter inside about what happened in the Big Texan, you just don't get over something like that in one day.
"No, you don't, and I don't expect you to. It was just spur of the moment thinking. There was a million different solutions I could have picked, but I chose the wrong one."
Brooklyn studied her apology for a moment, whether it was heartfelt or not was vague, but he had a good hint it was real.
"Is that the pain talking or do you mean it?" He questioned her motives. Amarillo squinted her eyes and looked away, hiding her face from him. She was hurt that her apology was questionable, and that the receiver questioned it in that way. Brooklyn felt his heart sink, as if Amarillo's feelings transferred directly to him. She actually meant it, every word, but he tossed it in the dirt like it was nothing. Brooklyn began to get that douche bag feeling inside him as he pressed on. He hung his head slightly and sighed.
Yup, way to mess that one up Brooklyn. Homerun, homerun.
Suddenly large foot steps sounded from behind the two. Brooklyn looked over his and Amarillo's shoulder to see a massive dark figure behind them. He opened his eyes wider and stared at the behemoth. It was a zombie standing about seven feet tall with a muscular build, like some sort of pro wrestler.
"Oh. We might want to pick up the speed." Brooklyn said calmly before hurrying forward. Amber kept up as she continued to look away. The boy looked back to check on the gigantic bodybuilder and stepped even faster. The monster behind them remained unnoticed by Amarillo as New York tried to escape it's rage.
"Why do you want to go so fast?" The girl finally questioned, as they both were now practically running.
"RAAAH!" The monstrosity behind them finally let out a guttural roar. The noise was so loud, that the very volume itself shook the two's hearts.
"That's why!" Brooklyn cringed as he tucked his head into his shoulders. He tightened his arm around Amarillo's waist and ran, almost towing the girl behind him. The beast started into a dash for the two teenager's fleeing it's sight. Their current speed wasn't going to outrun the huge zombie steaming after them.
"Hold on!" Brooklyn yelled as he dropped the guitar and swept Amber off her feet. He picked her up with both arms and held her in front of him.
"What are you doing?!" The girl yelled, not too pleased about being picked up like a sack of potatoes.
"I'm trying to save our asses!" He exclaimed back, running as fast as he could with Amarillo in his arms. The zombie behind them grabbed a large chunk out of an aisles display shelf and hurled it at the two.
"Watch out!" Amber screamed as she saw the wooden panel soar at them.
"Aah! Shit!" Brooklyn roared as he took two large steps and leaped onto a mattress model. With a spring his foot impacted the center of the bed then bounced off. His face burst with surprise as he sprung into the air. His left foot then landed on the other bed and did the same. The thrown object smashed into the first bed display, decimating the entire set up. Amarillo watched in horror as the hulking undead gained on them.
"Whoa, whoa! Jeeez!" Brooklyn sounded as he skipped from mattress to mattress, all the while holding tight onto the girl. The zombie stepped in leaps and bounds till it was almost next to New York.
"Ah! I'm loosing it!" Brooklyn informed Amber as his legs began to land at weird angles. "Run!" He yelled as he heaved the girl to the left away from him. She careened to a king-sized bed and smacked straight onto it. Her body was engulfed by a mixture of large and medium sized pillows. Now with his hands free, Brooklyn flapped them around madly as he tried to stay upright. He looked to his right to see the giant next to him wheezing at him, staring straight into his eyes. The boy then shot a glance to the last bed of the display lineup, which was just four mattresses away. He strengthened his steps and finally jumped from the third bed. He planted both feet square into the soft bedding and left it with force.
"Hooo!" Brooklyn yelled as he catapulted higher than the zombie next to him. He flew over the crossing path that intersected the walkway that he and Amarillo were walking on just moments ago. He flew about twenty feet forward into a massive stack of boxed shoes. As Brooklyn hit the boxes, they all caved in and he planted straight into the middle. Finally he came to a complete stop as he was buried in the somewhat soft cushioning. Shoes rolled out of their packaging to the floor, white sheets of crumpled paper flew everywhere, and brown cardboard boxes jolted into the air and cascaded down in masses. The giant zombie stopped next to the pile of boxes and looked at it inquisitively. Then it began to dig, shoving it's fingers into the mess.
"Whooa!" Brooklyn exclaimed as he exploded from the pile, having been almost touched by this, thing searching for him. The boy looked back at the leviathan as he sprinted away. The zombie snorted in anger and plowed through the mess of shoes, it's speed unfazed by the dense ankle high pile. New York looked forward to see Amarillo limping onto the walkway he was sprinting on. She looked at him then his pursuer and began running as fast as Brooklyn.
"What now!" The boy yelled at his partner.
"I don't know, I thought you had a plan!" She said back.
"Just keep running! I'll figure something out!" Brooklyn instructed as he looked at the passing objects. He spotted a large metal rod on a glass desk to his right and swooped it up. He quickly turned around and threw the rod like a Greek peltast at the zombie. It simply swatted the metal pipe out of the air and kept running. It then ripped a post from one of the beds and roared before lobbing it at the kid. Brooklyn backed up a few steps before turning to run. He tried to get away from the projectile but failed. Instinctively he ducked. The post barely missed as it spun over his head. Amber stopped to watch the event unfold in terror. The elongated object shattered a glass shelf before spinning wildly just feet in front of the boy. It broke another glass desk before bouncing off that and smashing into a tall glass shelf holding mugs and china. All the girl could see was a cloud of glass and shards of debris. A second pasted before Brooklyn was spotted leaping over the post, and through the wall of broken glass. Shards pelted off of the kids hoodie as he held his arms in front of his head. His left foot hit the ground and he continued to route from zombie Godzilla.
"Run! Just keep running!" Brooklyn ordered as he waved his right hand forward. Amarillo turned and ran off into the maze of aisles several yards ahead. The boy looked around his surroundings to notice he was in the hardware section. He dodged the line of sight of the zombie as he tucked into one of the aisles. An eerie calm swept over the store as Brooklyn tried to keep his breathing under control, being as silent as possible. He looked behind him to make sure he wasn't followed. The kid kept watch on where he came from as he slowly stepped backward. He swallowed to ease his stinging throat then let out a heavy breath. As Brooklyn turned he slammed face first into a pillar that was covered in cloth. He shook off the hit and looked up to discover it wasn't a pillar at all. Instead, it was the massive zombie once again, towering over him. A sudden impact slammed into the boy's throat. Then he was lifted slowly into the air. As his feet parted from the ground Brooklyn gripped the gargantuan wrist attached to his neck. He couldn't breath as the zombie tightened its grip around his throat.
"A-Ack! Hel. . .Help!. . ." Brooklyn tried to speak but what came out was barely audible. The zombie grinned its nasty brown teeth as it looked at Brooklyn struggle. The kid kicked his legs but nothing was happening. His sight began to outline in black and a slight haze of rainbow netting swollowed his vision. The undead leaned its gapping mouth at New York's face. The pungent smell of decaying flesh and month old protein shakes blew into his nose. Before the undead could get within biting distance, it howled as something buried into it's back. The zombie let its chokehold on Brooklyn go and the kid dropped to the ground like a ballistics dummy. He fell to his knees and held his throat, inhaling deeply before coughing. The zombie spun around reaching for the thing lodged in it's back. Amarillo had swung an axe into the upper back of the zombie to save Brooklyn. The girl had already ran through the aisle parallel to the one the zombie occupied and reached for the boy's shoulders.
"We need to go, now!" She said to the recovering teenager who was knelt on the ground. Before New York could stand, the zombie snapped the axe out of it's back and hacked it into the wooden shelf. It set it's gaze back on Brooklyn and stepped closer. Amber picked the boy up from the ground and threw him out of the aisle behind her. As the boy hit the cold tile, out of reach of the zombie, he watched as the zombie targeted the girl right in front of him.
"Amarillo! No!" He yelled as he lifted from the ground. Before the sound of his voice faded from the air the zombie smacked Amber down the hardware section. She hit the ground and skid into the other tool aisle, across from the previous one. Brooklyn got up and grabbed a large garden weasel from the rack next to him. He spun the menacing looking device so the business end faced forward. As the muscular zombie stepped out of the aisle Brooklyn rammed the spiked weasel end into the being. He wheeled it up and down the zombie's body. It felt like all he was doing was rolling paint onto the surface of a wall. The enraged ogre roared and brought it's forearm down onto the wooden stick, snapping it in half. Then it backhanded it's attacker.
"Erm!" Brooklyn growled as he was flung to the side. He stumbled as he stubbornly tried to stay on his feet but crashed headfirst into the wall horizontal to the aisles. As he hit the ground a large box fell next to him. The boy felt like going to sleep right then and there. The firm, cool tile felt inviting to his aching body. It had been forever since he slept without his knees practically lodged in his ribs. The boy shook his head to snap out of the unconscious thought and lifted to his knees. Brooklyn looked at the box, it read "Husqvarna" in bold blue letters. Then he caught the words "Chainsaw". The box boasted about 119cc's of power, which even to Brooklyn seemed like a lot, and he was no expert on motorized equipment. The boy grabbed for the box panel and ripped it open. He dug through the contents of the box and pulled out the massive chainsaw.
"Damn. . ." He whispered as he looked at it. Then he looked to the zombie who was standing over the injured girl. Brooklyn ran to the other chainsaws and spotted a section of gasoline tanks. He stepped next to one hastily and opened the cap. He then twisted off the fuel cap to the saw and began pouring the flammable liquid into the power tool. A few seconds of New York holding the can of gas at a tilt over the hole and it was ready for action. Brooklyn then ran back to the aisle and stood in the middle of the garden tool section. He grabbed the pull string and ripped it back. The chainsaw buzzed for a second then immediately stopped. He then pulled it again, this time the saw roared to life.
Brooklyn revved it several times "Hey Big Show, I got somethin' for ya'!"
He then charged at the back of the zombie. As he got within a foot he cocked back his arms then rammed the chainsaw forward. He pulled it up in between the legs of the giant corpse.
"Aaahh!" Brooklyn yelled as the saw ripped into the zombie. On the other side Amarillo watched as the tip of the chainsaw sliced upward, blood splattered everywhere in the direction of the chain. Brooklyn pushed the saw higher and higher into the undead, ripping it in two. He revved the throttle, making sure to prevent any kickback. Blood coated the white tile on the ground and the shelves on either side of the kid. The saw's blade was now tearing up into the ribs of the towering undead.
"Eraah! Raah!" Brooklyn roared before he pulled the chainsaw down and out of the zombie. The corpse stood there for a moment, as if nothing happened. Then Brooklyn lifted his left arm and gently tipped the body forward with his index finger. With that push the bloody mess fell to the ground, next to Amarillo.
"Chainsaw-domy." Brooklyn cringed as he looked down at the dead zombie. Amarillo stood up from the floor to escape the blackish-red liquid that quickly coated the tiles. She stepped over the body to New York and hugged him. Brooklyn instantly dropped the chainsaw as the girl embraced him. He brought his arms up and wrapped them around Amber. He felt kind of weird hugging her after he just killed something, with a chainsaw. She clinched her fist, grabbing the fabric of his hoodie and some of his shirt underneath. They stood there for a moment, perfectly silent. Then the boy felt Amarillo release her grip on his jacket and a slight moan escape her lips. Then she went slack, leaning against Brooklyn.
"Hey, whoa. Whoa." He spoke as she didn't stop pushing against him and he began to fall backwards. He stumbled as he tried to brace himself but couldn't. He let go of Amarillo as he tried to catch onto something. She collapsed to the ground with an unconscious thud. Brooklyn jumped back into a rack of metal buckets and pottery.
"Ouch-Geez. . . Oww." He groaned as he sat in an extremely uncomfortable position, buckets falling over his shoulders. "Smooth. . . Smooth. . ."
Brooklyn walked to the cashier counters of Sears, Amarillo in his arms. He kept watch of the area around them. Still looking for the other humans. He looked down at the passed out girl in his grasp. Her eyelids flickered slightly as he waited for any sign of her waking up. Then he lowered his ear to her mouth and nose, listening for breathing. Amarillo was still alive, which was good of course, but her breaths were labored. Brooklyn lifted his head upright as he heard something in the distance behind him. Looking back he squinted to see what it was. Leaning his head he finally managed to see what it was. It looked like someone running at him, dressed in all black. For sure it was Evan, finally he found Amber's brother. Then, several more figures swooped in behind the darkly clad person.
"Not good." Brooklyn said to himself as he brought his head back. Then he turned to run for the door. His feet smacked with an echo on the tile, his stride looked like a turkey frantically waddling away. The roars of a lot of zombies started to come into range.
"Ooh man!" The boy yelled as he looked back to see just how many were back there. The guy in black was now closer than before, blue hair a definite indicator of him being Evan. The automated door slid open as Brooklyn escaped the building. The doors began to shut as Amarillo's brother slammed into them. He squeezed through the gap and continued out of Sears. Then Evan pasted Brooklyn, he watched as the black bolt ran past. They made eye contact then he looked down at his sister. New York looked back at the doors to see masses of undead piling out of the door. Like a deranged mob on black Friday, they plowed out of the store few by few.
"Jesus! What did you do!?" Brooklyn yelled at Evan.
He looked back at the kid talking "I opened a door! They must have been all back there trapped!"
"Why would you do that?!"
"They sounded like real people!"
"Rookie mistake. . . Here! Take you're sister!" The boy handed Evan the girl. The two made the exchange mid sprint. Now freed of the burden, Brooklyn pumped his arms up and down in a normal run. He took a quick look off to the left to see two more humans running from another boat load of zombies.
"Hey!" New York waved his arms in the air "Hey!"
"Brooklyn!" A familiar female voice yelled back. It was Havana, running with Amarillo's father. The two adults ran closer to the teenagers, Havana held three weapons on her, along with the backpack.
"Take this! I think it belongs to you!" The woman threw Brooklyn his M16. "Now help us kill a few of these bastards!"
The kid caught the firearm with both hands and nodded "Alright, but we need to get Amarillo into the car!"
"Roger! Just run and shoot!" Havana turned her upper body at the large congregation of zombies and let loose the M1 Garand on them. Brooklyn turned the safety switch off and pulled the hammer back of his rifle. He stepped into a backwards run and shot bursts into the crowd. Two zombies fell from the first wave of bullets. Then another burst struck a zombie that was exposed by the first two dieing. After the third spray a larger than normal zombie broke out from the crowd.
"Shit! Not another! Where do you guys come from!" Brooklyn yelled as he shouldered his weapon at the body builder. He shot a few rounds into the beast before the clip went dry. As he turned a bright colored flyer smacked into his face.
"Oof!" He ripped it from his face and looked at it. The paper advertised a body building convention down the road "That explains it."
"Brooklyn! Why aren't you shooting?!" Havana questioned as she watched the teenager.
New York tossed the poster to the ground and pointed at his assault rifle "Out of ammo!"
"Get over here and grab a clip from my pack!"
Brooklyn nodded and pedaled his feet toward the woman. He latched his left hand onto the spent clip and yanked it from the gun. He then slipped the metal brick into his back pocket and grabbed onto one of the zippers of the backpack. As he dug into the navy sack he stubbed his fingers on a flat metal surface. Brooklyn felt around for the edges and pulled it out. He fastened the new clip into his M16 and pulled the hammer once more. As he looked up from his task a field of grass belted toward his feet. Havana jumped to transfer from the pavement to the dirt, Brooklyn did the same a second later. As the bottom of his shoe sank slightly into the soggy ground he spun his shoulders around. Another volley of rounds pelted the horde of undead, taking out several. Havana spun around fully and held her ground against the menace descending upon them fifty yards away. Brooklyn did the same next to the woman on her left. Amarillo's dad also stopped and fired at the large number of zombies. As the muzzle flashes lit the brown grass with light, zombie after zombie fell. One jumped off the higher level parking lot only to be shot mid air, crashing down to the ground below. The Garand Havana was firing sung with a metallic ping. She quickly pulled an eight round clip and inserted it in the top of the rifle. She pulled the charging handle back and resumed firing. After a few more shots she turned around.
"Ok, fall back to the SUV!" She ordered. Brooklyn fired one last burst and followed Havana's instruction. Evan had already put Amarillo in the Suburban and stood outside the door.
"Take the front seat!" The woman pointed out the Suburban to Amber's father. He nodded and ran past her and Brooklyn toward the right side of the vehicle. Amarillo's father signaled Evan to get in the door next to him. As they entered the car New York jumped into the SUV's back seat next to Amber, then Havana opened the driver's side door and climbed in.
She slung the backpack into the space between Brooklyn's legs and back of her chair. She looked at the boy behind her "Hang on, this is going to get hot."
Brooklyn noticed the sly smirk on her face "You scare me."
With that Havana smiled and turned to start the car. The engine came to life smoothly and the woman threw it into drive. The tires spun and squealed as she pressed the accelerator. The SUV bounced as the tired caught traction and shot off. Brooklyn slammed his left hand in the ceiling handle and bit down on his teeth. Havana steered the rocketing Suburban onto the road and away from the zombies. The two boys in the backseat looked through the back window to see the horde right behind them, the zombies still running at top speed. Brooklyn turned around in his seat and sunk into it, not wanting to look out the window.
"Haha! Yeah baby! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Havana laughed as she looked through the rear view mirror.
Brooklyn put his hand over his eyes and sighed "I think I'm going to throw up. . ."