As always, thank you for the kind reviews and thank you for taking the time to read this story! And, most of all, thank you to those who are patient enough to wait while my procrastinating self takes my sweet getting out new chapters. I'm trying to be better about it, I promise!
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Walking Dead.
Chapter 25
Greenville
When Jenna woke to another cold morning, it was with a heavy feeling of dread in her stomach.
All night long she'd had awful, disturbing dreams about the group. Dreams where she was forced to watch Rick, then T-Dog, then Dale, and everyone on the farm (with the exception of Shane) as they died gruesome deaths one right after the other. It had been the same with each one – walkers would rip them to pieces right in front of her while Jenna was powerless to help them, restrained by the strong hands of someone she could not see and who would not release her so she could go to anyone's rescue.
Her cruel subconscious had saved Daryl for last, and his death had been the most grisly of all. His death had been tortuous and drawn out, nearly twice as long as the others' deaths. And as Jenna remembered the pure anguish that had been on Daryl's face, his deafening screams of pain and his pleading with her to help him, a lump formed in her throat and tears sprang to her eyes.
She had to press the heels of her palms into her eyes to make the tears stop, sucking in calming breaths and reminding herself it had only been a dream and that her friends were all safe on the farm. It was just a dream. The group was not dead – Daryl was not dead.
Eventually Jenna was able to get ahold of herself, but her thoughts were still far from peaceful. Not for the first time, Jenna found herself at that frustrating crossroads, torn between wanting to go back to the farm and her duty to her missing brother. It wasn't as though she'd put that much distance between herself and Hershel's farm – if she turned back now, she could probably be back with the group in a matter of days. Only then, when Jenna saw for herself that the group was alright, would this incessant worrying, the lingering fear in the back of her mind that came with not knowing what was happening to them, finally come to an end.
But, on the other hand, going back to the group meant letting go of Sam…for good. And that was not a thought that sat well with her in any way, shape, or form. Sam wasn't just her older brother – he was one of her very best friends, the only true, blood-related family she had left in this world. They had been through so much together growing up, what with the loss of their father and the tumultuous years that followed it. She couldn't just give up on finding him, especially not when she felt in her gut that he was still alive – he would have never given up on finding her.
It took some effort, but Jenna was finally able to push her doubts and her thoughts about returning to the group into the recesses of her mind where they belonged. As much as she cared and worried for the group, she simply could not abandon her brother. She owed it to their family, to their parents' memories – and to herself – to find him.
With that thought in mind, Jenna decided it was time to get up and get the day going, hoping that if she occupied herself that she wouldn't have the chance to start doubting her decisions again. Though the heavy feeling she'd woken up with didn't quite leave her, eventually it dulled enough to where she was able to ignore it.
Truth be told, she was actually a bit surprised when she saw that Erin was still soundly sleeping on the opposite side of the tiny cell-block they'd taken refuge in. Considering the way they had met and the fact that Erin didn't seem the most trusting of individuals, Jenna had fully expected the woman to ditch her the moment the storm stopped and run off without a word. She wasn't quite sure why, but the fact that Erin had stuck around pleased her to a certain degree. Jenna supposed it was because she was just happy to be around a live human again, regardless of the fact that they didn't even know each other.
She didn't know if Erin always slept like the dead or not, but almost two more hours crept by without the woman stirring even an inch. Though Jenna was anxious to get into the Piggly Wiggly and search the area for supplies, she decided to be polite and let the woman rest. She knew all too well that it was next to impossible to get a good night of rest whenever you were on your own. Unlike humans, walkers never needed to rest for the night, so you always had to sleep with one eye open, ever wary of your surroundings and ready to bolt at a moment's notice. It was very likely that this was the first good sleep Erin had had in who knows how long – Jenna didn't dare to do anything to interrupt that sleep, thinking it only right to let the woman enjoy it.
While Erin slept, Jenna went into the front office to take a peek through the one uncovered window, shivering and rubbing her own arms as she walked up to it and was hit with cold air. The storm the night before had made the temperature drop a few more degrees, making the already crisp air even colder – her breath puffed out in clouds as she breathed and, when she looked through the half-shattered window and surveyed the scenery around the police station, she saw that it had gotten cold enough to leave a thin, sparkly layer of ice on everything in sight. Her truck, she noticed with a heave, was one of these things. No doubt the inside was covered in ice as well, since there were no windows in the front doors to protect the inside from the elements.
Jenna shifted her gaze away from the truck and surveyed the street, checking for any walkers or humans that might have entered the area overnight. There were a half dozen or so corpses walking past the station, wandering aimlessly down the street, but not a single one of them seemed aware of the fact that two live humans were only yards away. Jenna still watched them go with alert eyes until she could see them no longer, only relaxing once she was certain none of them were going to suddenly backtrack and come after her and Erin.
Jenna turned away from the window and glanced around the room, able to see everything much better in the morning light, grey and grim and overcast as it was – she tried to remember the last time she'd seen the sun, but found that she couldn't.
With nothing else to do while Erin slept, she stepped between two over-turned desks and mindlessly wandered around the wrecked office space, letting her eyes roam lazily over the objects thrown about the room. She and Erin had already done a sweep of the station the day before and gathered up anything that could be useful – which hadn't been much – so she wasn't expecting to find anything else useful. But as Jenna meandered around the office, able to easily look into every nook and cranny, something caught her attention. Something that, in the dimmer lighting of the previous day, she hadn't been able to see hidden away underneath the large fake plant and various papers and office supplies that had fallen on top of it.
Jenna kneeled down and retrieved the medium sized radio from the rubbish, eyeing it contemplatively. It was an older model, reminding her very much of a little stereo she'd always take on beach trips with her friends as a teenager. She turned it over and found that it was battery operated – miraculously, when she popped open the plastic covering to see if there were batteries inside, there were.
It had been a long while since she'd heard an emergency broadcast, but suddenly that was exactly what Jenna wanted to hear. Maybe even needed to hear, even if just to renew her own hope a little bit and confirm that this daring trip of hers was not in vain.
Now too eager with hope to wait until she could reach her truck radio, she moved to turn on the radio to see if it still worked. Just as Jenna was about to press the power button, however, she heard pounding footsteps coming down the hall from the small cell-block. She surged to her feet just as Erin burst into the room, brown eyes frantically jumping around the room until they finally landed on her.
"What's wrong?" Jenna asked in concern, stepping closer and wondering what had given the woman such a fright. "Did you hear something?" She asked next, glancing toward the window again and straining her ear for any sounds of movement outside. She heard nothing that would cause alarm.
Erin stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before releasing a heavy breath and rubbing her forehead for a brief moment. "Nothing's wrong…" She said slowly. "I just…I thought…" Erin trailed off, looked to Jenna with furrowed brows, then shook her head to herself. "Nevermind, it's nothing," she told her with a note of finality, changing her mind about what she'd been thinking of saying. "What's that?" Erin then asked, nodding to the stereo in Jenna's hands.
It was painfully obvious she was trying to change the subject. Though Jenna was still a little unsure of what had just happened, she decided to just go with the flow and not ask questions. "I found a stereo," Jenna said, holding it up a bit more so Erin could see it better. "I was just about to see if it works," she continued. "I was thinking that if Fort Benning was still up and running, they might have an emergency broadcast going – if they do, we might be in range to hear it."
Erin seemed to forget about whatever had spooked her in an instant, her eyebrows raising a tick in interest. "You think?" She asked hopefully.
Jenna shrugged a shoulder. "Couldn't hurt to check, right?" When Erin just nodded in agreement, Jenna headed back for the cell-block, motioning for the blonde the follow her. "Let's test it out somewhere a little more secure," she suggested, afraid that the noise they were making would travel through the busted out window and draw unwanted attention from outside the station. Erin followed without argument.
In the dimness of the cell-clock, Jenna placed the stereo on one of the only pieces of furniture in the room – a chair. She and Erin then crowded in around the thing, looking to it as though it were a messenger from God holding all the answers they desired. Jenna turned the volume knob down – just in case – gave her temporary companion a sideways glance, then pressed the power button.
Static.
Well, at least they knew the batteries worked. Jenna shared a look with Erin before hitting the seek button, jumping from station to station. She tried every station on the FM channels before switching to AM ones, but the result of her searching was the same every time – more static. No monotonous emergency broadcasts, no people taking to whatever was left of the airways to look for others, no nothing. Just…static.
Jenna had somewhat expected it, but she still deflated a bit with disappointment. But if she looked disappointed, then Erin looked doubly so – the blonde was frowning at the radio now, all signs of the hope that had just been creeping into her gaze quickly disappearing behind a wall of bitter frustration. Jenna thought about saying something comforting or uplifting – just because there wasn't a broadcast now didn't mean there wouldn't ever be one – but before she got the chance, Erin turned the radio off with one determined jam of her index finger and stood to her full height again.
"Shoulda known," she said, not bothering to hide her resentment. "I'm goin' to the bathroom," she then announced, before turning on her heel and disappearing from the cell-block without another word.
Jenna didn't bother saying anything in response and let her go, easily able to recognize the fact that Erin did not want any coddling or comforting words from her. If she had to guess, she'd say Erin was not the sort of woman who liked having things sugar-coated for her.
When Erin returned about five minutes later, her eyebrows were still furrowed and there was still a small frown on her lips, but her brown eyes were flat now, no longer dark with bitter anger. Deciding to just pretend like the disappointment with the radio had never happened, Jenna went about getting together a decent breakfast for the two of them while Erin took a seat on the floor nearby and watched her in silence. Once they both had food in front of them – again, she gave Erin more than she gave herself – they dug in to their scant meal and started hashing out a plan for the Piggly Wiggly.
"The parking lot was chocked full of chompers the last time I went by," Jenna said around a bite of spam. The texture and taste of the meat – if you could really call it that – made her want to gag a bit, but she muscled through it. No matter how gross it was, she had food while others out there did not – Jenna wasn't about to complain. "If they're still there, they could present a bit of a problem."
Erin nodded her agreement. "I was snoopin' around there myself before you got to town," she revealed, shoveling another spoonful of peaches into her mouth. "There was a door near a loading dock on the back side of the building that was open – woulda gone inside and checked it out if I hadn't been afraid I'd get outnumbered in there by myself," Erin explained. Then she raised her eyebrows. "We could go in that way and just bypass all those flesh-eaters in the parking lot."
Jenna took a moment to contemplate the option. Sneaking in through the back sounded like a good enough idea, especially if it meant not having to deal with the dozens walkers in the parking lot (assuming they were still there). But there was one hole in the plan that didn't sit well with her – if they went in through the back, there was no telling what in the hell they were walking into. Jenna thought back to her own words of advice for Maggie barely a week ago, when they'd been in the pharmacy and she'd told the brunette to always make sure the coast was clear before going into any place. If the door was indeed open like Erin said it was, any number of walkers could have filtered into the store by now – they needed to make sure they weren't running into their deaths before they dared to enter that Piggly Wiggly.
"We need to get a look inside first," Jenna said with a shake of her head. "For all we know, that store's packed with walkers. We need to make sure it's safe before we go inside."
"Well, the only windows I saw were in the front," Erin told her matter-of-factly, "which is where all those other walkers are," she added pointedly.
Jenna pursed her lips for a moment. She knew she was a good fighter – and judging by the kick Erin delivered to her stomach yesterday, she'd guess she was too – but she was not cocky enough to believe the two of them alone would be able to take on an entire parking lot of walkers. "We need a distraction then, something to lure them away from the store," she said, already wracking her brain as she tried to think of what said distraction would be.
"Like what?" Erin asked, voicing Jenna's inner thoughts.
Jenna glanced around the room, then paused when her eyes landed on the radio. It was battery operated, which meant it could travel. It wasn't too big, so it was easy to carry. And with all the static on those radio stations, it would produce a steady, constant sound to attract the attention of the walkers long enough for them to get a look inside the store and, if it was safe, go inside.
With a smile, Jenna shifted her gaze back to Erin, feeling better about this upcoming run already. "I've got an idea."
After they finished breakfast, they packed all their belongings – the radio included – into Jenna's truck and then climbed inside to leave for the Piggly Wiggly. There was a small moment of panic when the engine of the large truck sputtered for a few seconds as she tried to start it, but luckily, after a few moments, it roared to life as usual. That didn't do much to calm her apprehension, though. It had been one day shy of a week since Dale had last fixed her truck, and in the days since then – no matter how much she had tried to deny it – she'd noticed that the engine was becoming increasingly more faulty the further she drove. She worried that someday (and maybe soon) the truck would stop working altogether. And if it did, well…that was going to present a bit of a problem.
She and Erin left the police station and headed for the Piggly Wiggly. Jenna didn't dare drive her truck too close to the store, but instead chose to park it by a little house a few blocks away so that no loitering walkers around their destination would hear their approach. She reversed her truck backward into the drive and then cut the ignition.
As she got out, Erin following her suit, she noticed that a few walkers about twenty yards away had spotted them and were closing in, fingers already grappling at the air in front of them. As though it were force of habit – and maybe by now it was – Jenna retrieved a hammer from her bag in the backseat then went to take care of the foul monsters. The grotesque-looking male, skinny as a skeleton and missing an eyeball, reached her first – she reared back and hit it in the head with the face of the hammer until the thing crumbled to the ground and ceased to move. When the female, who looked freshly turned, reached her, Jenna embedded the claw right into the walker's temple. The dead, discolored eyes seemed to bulge for a moment, then it too collapsed on the ground next to its companion.
Jenna pulled the hammer free from the walker's skull, then went to rejoin Erin at the truck. The blonde had watched her take out the two zombies in silence and was now eyeing Jenna with an unreadable expression as she approached. It was hard to tell if she was impressed by or wary of the efficiency with which she'd killed the walkers – maybe it was a little bit of both.
"C'mon, let's get ready," Jenna said, brushing off Erin's stare as she leaned into the backseat of the truck and started preparing for the supply run to come. Erin slowly nodded, then followed Jenna's lead and posted up opposite of her, digging around in her one duffle-bag of supplies for anything she might need.
As Jenna made sure her handgun was fully loaded and that the silencer was still securely in place, she couldn't help but notice Erin's lack of weaponry. It seemed the only two she possessed were the shotgun she'd hit Jenna with the day before and a fairly large knife that she kept tucked away in her belt. Jenna watched with growing uncertainty as Erin double checked that the rifle was loaded – it wasn't that having a shotgun was a bad thing, she just wasn't so sure it was the best choice of weapon for a stealth mission like the one they were on.
Jenna finally sighed and then picked up her bag of weapons, moving it closer to Erin. The blonde paused, glanced down at the bag, then turned a questioning look on Jenna. "We have no idea what we're about to be getting ourselves into – whatever we do, it needs to be done quietly," she stressed pointedly. "I've got plenty of silent weapons to choose from. Have your pick," she encouraged.
Erin looked down at her shotgun for a moment and frowned a bit, but nodded and set the gun down on the floorboard before pulling the bag closer. The blonde rifled through the various tools and weapons for a few moments, then decided to go with the wooden bat that Jenna had had since the very beginning. Jenna did not miss the way Erin eyed the dark bloodspots now permanently staining the wood of the bat, nor did the scrutinizing look she sent her way immediately after go unnoticed. Jenna said nothing, though, just continued getting ready.
Jenna shoved her handgun into the waistband of her jeans – the gun and its precious ammunition were for emergency situations only – and then grabbed some extra bullets, stowing them away in the pocket of her jacket. Her hatchet, as usual, was slid into a belt-loop so that it hung from her hip, but the hammer was chosen as her primary weapon today. After grabbing a few last things – namely the radio, a flashlight and an empty bag to stuff food and supplies into – Jenna and Erin took all of their valuable belongings and provisions and locked them up in the toolbox in the bed of the truck.
"Ready?" She asked, passing Erin the radio before sliding the strap of the thus-far-empty bag onto her shoulder.
After Erin gave a jerky nod, looking a little on edge but determined nonetheless, the two continued on foot.
There were plenty of houses to hide behind along the way, so Jenna and Erin took advantage and stealthily skirted from structure to structure to avoid being seen by any walkers out on the road. Jenna took the lead, only stopping here or there to peek around corners and check whether the coast was clear or not, while Erin stayed hot on her heels, eyes constantly darting all around as she kept an eye out for any stray chompers. Though they had only met a day ago and knew next to nothing about one another, Jenna had to admit that it was nice having someone covering her back again. At least now if something went wrong, there would be someone there to help her in a fight.
…assuming, of course, that Erin actually would help her in a fight if it came to it.
Shoving that dubious thought to the side, Jenna held a hand up as they ducked behind a car, motioning for Erin to halt for a moment. She then peered around the back of the car to survey their surroundings, knowing that they had to be getting close to the store by now. She was right – standing larger than any other structure nearby, only some fifty to sixty yards down the road, was the back of a building that could only be the Piggly Wiggly.
"What do you see?" Erin asked in a whisper.
"The store is close," Jenna whispered back. "Come on," she urged, before continuing on with Erin trailing right behind her.
When they reached the house closest to the vicinity of the Piggly Wiggly, Jenna once again stopped to peer around the corner and see what might be lurking nearby. The store was close, maybe only twenty or thirty yards away now, but unfortunately that relatively short path was not clear. There were at least ten walkers standing in the way of them and the Piggly Wiggly, none of which looked in a hurry to go elsewhere at the moment.
"We're here," Jenna said, turning a frown on Erin, "but we've got a wee bit of a problem."
Erin frowned and came to stand next to her so she could look around the side of the house and see what Jenna was talking about for herself. "Shit," she cursed quietly when she saw the walkers mindlessly ambling around. "Well, now what?" Erin then asked, turning questioning eyes on Jenna.
Jenna pressed her lips together and glanced around as she tried to scrape together some sort of plan to clear the way. When her eyes suddenly landed on the back porch of the house they hid behind, where a small trashcan full of dusty, empty beer bottles rested on the corner, inspiration struck like lightening.
Without saying anything to Erin, Jenna set down her hammer and flashlight and went to grab a few bottles. She cringed at the small clinking sounds that filled the air as the glass bottles moved about, but fortunately the sound wasn't enough to attract attention. With Erin watching on curiously, Jenna turned back around, holding a bottle in her right hand and juggling two more in her left. She then took a few steps back in the direction they had come, raised the bottle in her right hand over her head, and lofted it with all of her might. Moments later, the bottle hit the road about twenty feet away and shattered to pieces.
Jenna immediately rejoined Erin to see what happened next, feeling rather triumphant when she saw that her plan had worked – the sudden sound of the glass bottle breaking on the pavement had caught the attention of the walkers standing in the way of the store. One by one they turned toward the source of the noise before starting in that direction, gurgles of interest and hunger already sounding from their grotesque lips.
A little proud of herself, Jenna backed up to throw a few more bottles for good measure, throwing them further each time. The next time she peeked around the house, the walkers were out of sight the path to the door was clear.
"Good thinkin'," Erin told her lowly, looking a little impressed as Jenna collected her hammer and flashlight again.
"Thanks," Jenna said with a smirk. "Now let's go while we have the chance."
They both held the objects – and weapons – in their hands a little tighter before scurrying out from their hiding spot and making a stealthy, quiet run toward the building. The mob of distracted zombies was only yards away, but they were too busy looking for a possible meal to notice the two humans scampering past them with the quickness of frightened bunny rabbits.
They ran right past the open back door and made their way down the little alley along the side of the building, heading toward the front parking lot. One look at the parking lot confirmed all of their suspicions. Some of the walkers that Jenna had seen there had been lured away by the sight of her truck the day before, but there were still plenty lingering in the area – in fact, it seemed like new ones had arrived to take the place of the missing ones.
Jenna bravely poked her head around the side of the building so she could see the entire road. The bulk of the walkers were in the parking lot just feet away from her, which meant it should be safe enough to plant the radio a little further down the way and not worry about running into too many obstacles. Backing up again and pulling Erin a little further into the shadows of the building, she silently motioned for Erin to follow her and then started to backtrack, heading back the way they had come.
Instead of going straight when they reached the end of the alley again, the direction they had just snuck in from, Jenna turned left and started making her way down the road, thankful for the large grocery store and the abandoned shopping-strip attached to it for the cover it provided. Erin never strayed more than a foot or so away from her as they hurried along, following Jenna's lead without objection.
When they reached the end of the strip center, Jenna and Erin paused. There was about seven to ten feet of space between the end of the shopping-strip and the next building, but there was not a way to get through to the parking lot on the other side because of a chain link fence that had been put up at some point. Not like she would have wanted to venture out into the open right here anyway, seeing as there walkers all over the place on the other side. It seemed like a good spot to stash the radio, however – not so close that the walkers would be near the store when they went to check it out, but not so far that they wouldn't be able to hear the radio when she turned it on.
Deeming this as good a spot as any, Jenna motioned for Erin to pass of the radio. Erin did so without hesitation, watching Jenna as she crept forward into the foliage and positioned the radio right up against the fence with the speakers facing the parking lot.
"I don't know how loud this will be or how many it will attract," Jenna warned in a hiss, already turning the volume knob until it stopped at 'MAX' and would turn no more, "so get ready to run."
Erin nodded her understanding and held the bat in her hands a little tighter, her whole body tensing as she prepared to make a mad dash to safety. Jenna, palms suddenly very sweaty, counted down from three in her head and then, holding her breath, pressed play.
The loud static shattered the silence of the block as though it were on surround-sound. The noise bounced off the closely compacted walls of the two buildings surrounding the radio and reverberated into the air. The sound immediately drew the attention of the walkers in the parking lot, but Jenna and Erin did not stick around long enough to see how many ambled in the direction of the radio. They both turned and booked it back the way they had come, running along the back of the building until they could, once again, turn at the alley next to the Piggly Wiggly and head for the parking lot to see how much it had cleared out.
"Holy shit," Erin breathed behind her, panting heavily for air after their sprint from the radio. "It's working."
And indeed it was. The static was so loud that every walker that had been in the parking lot was ambling in that direction, growling hungrily and gnashing their teeth in anticipation of a meal that was not there. Jenna watched them go, feeling both triumphant and rather proud of herself for having come up with a plan to successfully clear the way into the Piggly Wiggly. Sam would have been proud of her – hell, maybe even Daryl would have been proud of her.
Once the last few stragglers had gotten far enough away for them to continue on without having to get their hands dirty, Jenna readied her hammer and flashlight, waved Erin forward, then started toward the door. Jenna could still see the outermost zombies lingering at the back of the crowd and didn't dare take her eyes off of them, just in case they became uninterested in the radio and started looking elsewhere. Erin, bat raised and ready to strike, followed close behind her as they crept along, moving quickly but quietly.
It felt like it took ages to reach the door, when really it probably only took seconds. Jenna looked to Erin as they came to a halt, pointed to her own eyes with her index and middle finger, then turned the same two fingers in the direction of the zombies, silently telling her to keep an eye on them. As Erin nodded her head and stepped around her to get a better view of the walkers nearby, Jenna shifted the objects in her hands around so she could free a hand to cup around her eyes and peer into the store. It was fairly dim inside, but from what she could see, there didn't seem to be movement inside.
"I think it's clear," Jenna whispered, moving back a step and glancing at Erin. The walkers in the distance were now crowding around that little chain link fence in the distance – she knew it because she could hear them hitting the metal fence with their decaying hands. "Let's go inside."
Erin nodded, took one last look at the distracted walkers, then hurried back to Jenna's side, watching in anticipation as she reached for the handle. Jenna said a silent prayer, hoping the door would be unlocked, then pulled.
It opened without resistance.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Jenna wasted no time to duck into the store. Erin followed right behind her, then turned and shut the door behind them.
Though her nose was immediately assaulted with the scent of long rotten food – probably old produce and old meat that had never had a chance to be sold – and though it was possible danger still lurked in the darkened aisles of the store, it was still a huge relief not to be out in the open anymore. Jenna glanced around the store, not feeling quite as on edge now that they were finally in the store, and listened out to check for signs of anything else being in there with them. She even gave a little whistle, just to see if it would draw walkers out of hiding. But nothing happened and there were no sounds except for her and Erin's breathing.
First the radio, then the door was unlocked, and now the store was (seemingly) empty? So far, luck definitely seemed to be on their side today.
"Let's do this fast," Erin said in a low voice, eyes watering and looking as though she were having a tough time stomaching the smell of the rotten food in the store. "If I'm in here too much longer, I might puke."
"Weak stomach?" Jenna asked in just as quiet of a tone, raising her eyebrows. Erin just blanched a bit in response, giving her all the answer she needed. "My brother is the same way…" She commented idly, before turning her eyes up to the signs hanging overhead so she could find out which aisle the canned goods were located on. When she found it, she nudged Erin with her elbow and nodded her head in that direction. "Come on."
Because of the large windows in the front of the building, the store was lit just well enough for them to see without the need of a flashlight. They walked past the check-out counters and turned left, heading for the aisle that had CANNED VEGETABLES on the sign above it – on the sign hanging above the aisle next to it read CANNED MEATS.
It was pretty clear that the residents of Greenville had come through the Piggly Wiggly more than once before they all turned into the walkers moseying about outside, because when she and Erin turned on the canned vegetable aisle, the supplies on the shelves had been seriously depleted. Jenna stepped a little further down the aisle, eyeing the small scattering of cans on the floor and the sporadically placed ones still lingering on the shelf. It wasn't nearly as much as she'd been hoping for – she'd hoped that since the town was so small and so out of the way that the place would be relatively untouched – but she supposed it was better than nothing.
With a nod to Erin, they began collecting what was left of the canned vegetables and shoved them into the empty bag hanging from Jenna's shoulder. When they had cleared out what was left of the vegetable aisle, they moved onto the canned meats. This aisle was even more emptied out than the last, but there were at least still a few things to grab – spam, Jenna noticed wryly, was one of them.
"How we lookin'?" Erin asked as she placed the last few cans of spam in the bag.
Jenna peered into the bag, which had got considerably heavier, sifting through the contents for a second or two. "This should be enough to see both of through for at least another week," she said, satisfied enough with the outcome of their search.
"Better than nothing," Erin said. It was probably the first optimistic thing Jenna had heard her say. "Anything else we should get while we're here?"
Jenna shifted the bag on her shoulder as she thought the question over. "We should check to see if there's granola bars and stuff like that," she suggested, moving back out of the aisle so she could read the signs hanging from the ceiling again and locate the cereal aisle, where granola bars would probably be located – it was about four aisles down. "There," Jenna said, pointing out the aisle to Erin. The blonde nodded in response. "There's a lot more than just food that we need, though. Stuff like soap, tampons, toothpaste, toilet paper…" Jenna listed off, turning back around to face the side of the store they hadn't ventured toward yet, reading those signs as well – the toiletries aisle was clear on the other side of the store.
Erin nodded. "I'll go check out the granola bar situation, you go find the toiletries," she said, before turning on her heel to leave. Before she made it very far, however, Jenna reached out and grabbed her by the arm to stop her.
"Hold on," Jenna said, eyebrows furrowed together uncertainly. "Do you really think we should split up?" She asked, not sure how she felt about them dividing forces. Sure, the store seemed harmless enough thus far. But it was a fairly big grocery store and there was still a lot of it that they hadn't explored, which meant there might very well be danger lurking around somewhere, just waiting for a prime opportunity to come along – like, perhaps, a woman wandering around on her own looking for toilet paper.
Erin just raised her eyebrows, not looking anywhere near as cautious or paranoid as Jenna. "If there was somethin' in here, I think it woulda gotten us by now," she said matter-of-factly. Jenna wasn't sure she agreed with that statement, but she pressed her lips together to keep from expressing her doubts. "I'll be right back," Erin then said, before turning and walking off.
Jenna released a sigh, watching as Erin disappeared down an aisle, then turned to head in the opposite direction. Erin's parting words of 'I'll be right back' rang in her ears for a moment, suddenly making her recall a movie she'd watched probably a dozen times as a teenager. In the movie, one of the characters claimed that anyone who ever said "I'll be right back" in any horror film ever made usually ended up dead. This wasn't a scary movie, of course, but with the world gone to shit and zombies running around everywhere, it was certainly close enough to it – Jenna tried to ignore the ominous feeling that filled her stomach, telling herself that it had only been a movie and that the rule did not apply to real life, apocalypse or no.
Jenna walked silently through the store, holding onto her hammer tighter and tighter the further she went. The light from the windows didn't quite reach this part of the store, so it was a little darker than it had been back on the canned goods aisles. Jenna, feeling a little uncomfortable with the lack of visibility, finally just decided to click on her flashlight. In her paranoia, she expected a monstrous face of a walker to immediately appear as she started shining her light around, checking the aisles she passed for signs of movement so that nothing could surprise her. She saw nothing out of the ordinary, however, and breathed a bit easier.
She turned right onto the toiletries aisle when she reached it, wasting no time to start stuffing skinny boxes of toothpaste and soap into her bag, which was rapidly starting to run out of room. Not wanting to dilly-dally in the darkness of this part of the store, she moved on to the tampons and grabbed a few boxes, shoving them into the bag with the rest of the supplies. With those securely tucked away, Jenna continued on to the toilet paper – she was just about to grab an 18-pack, however, when a noise on the next aisle suddenly caught her attention.
The unexpected sound made every muscle in her body tense, just as every hair suddenly stood on end. Jenna stepped back from the shelf, forgetting all about the toilet paper, and strained her ears to try to determine what the sound was. There was a faint squeaking sound, similar to the noise made when someone was crawling or being dragged over tile and their skin resisted the movement, as well as a slight ruffling sound, like moving clothes. But then, in the next moment, a low, unmistakable growl reached her ears. Jenna knew in a heartbeat that it was a walker on the other aisle.
With her jaw set determinedly, Jenna raised her hammer defensively and slowly started creeping toward the end of the aisle, listening as the thing slowly moved along on the opposite side of the shelves. Though her heart was pounding in anticipation she continued on, slowing once she had reached the end of the aisle. Jenna took the briefest of seconds to mentally prepare herself for whatever she was about to see, then rounded the corner, shining her light down the new aisle.
There was a walker on the ground only some five feet away, and the moment it saw her, its low growling turned into full-fledged hissing and gurgling. One hand raised from the floor and reached for her, but it was nowhere near close enough to grab her, nor was it moving fast enough to actually pose a threat.
Rather relieved that she hadn't walked up on a chomper in mid-snack, Jenna inspected the thing further. She soon discovered that it was crawling on the ground because it had no legs, only two stumps that ended in a bloody, shredded mess around mid-thigh – clearly the thing's legs had been devoured at some point in time. Jenna shined her light a little further down the aisle, checking for any other walkers, but there were none. She eyed the smears of blood on the white linoleum that indicated the path the walker had crawled, then turned the light back to the walker. Its dead eyes were fixed on her, eyeing her with unconcealed hunger, and its groans and hisses of hunger grew louder along with its eagerness for human meat.
The legless walker didn't pose much of a threat to a much faster Jenna, but she decided to kill it anyway in case someone else decided to come through at some point. She could imagine what might happen if she left the thing to crawl around the store – someone else would be scouring the aisles just like her and Erin, but because they would be busy looking for supplies on the shelves they might not be paying attention to what was on the ground and would end up getting their ankles bit by this creepy-crawler. Jenna knew she wouldn't want to go out that way, so she imagined other people wouldn't either.
Raising her hammer again, she stepped toward the thing and, without hesitation, swung at its temple. Its head jerked to the side, but the blow wasn't enough to kill it – it just turned right back to her, baring it teeth again and reaching for her legs. Jenna reared back again and struck for a second time, then a third, then a fourth. The zombie finally stopped moving on the fifth hit.
Silence filled the aisle again. Breathing a bit heavier, Jenna straightened up to her full height again, eyeing the blood dripping off the end of her hammer. Just as she was about to lean down and wipe it clean on the walkers torn, tattered clothes, however, the silence of the store was broken again.
"AHHHHHH!"
The scream of fear made Jenna shoot up to her feet, the blood in her veins almost instantly turning to ice. There was only one other person that could have made that sound – Erin.
Jenna didn't stop to think. She turned and ran full speed in the direction Erin had gone, heart pounding against her ribs. The closer she got to the aisle Erin had disappeared down, the clearer she could hear sounds of struggle. Erin was still screaming, the loud, blood-curdling sound echoing so loudly in the building that Jenna was surprised the windows hadn't shattered, but there were other sounds, too. Guttural growling, eager hissing, groans of hunger and determination – a walker, maybe even more than one.
Jenna skidded to a halt as she reached the cereal aisle and quickly swung around the corner, freezing for only a moment when she saw what was happening. Erin was on her back on the floor while one walker laid practically on top of her, snapping its teeth at her face – another was quickly closing in from the opposite side of the aisle. The blonde was screaming bloody murder, obviously terrified and only barely managing to keep the walker on top of her from sinking its teeth into her face by bracing the wooden bat that she had borrowed against its chest. It looked like she was losing strength though, and if that other walker reached them, there was no doubt that Erin Ashby would cease to exist.
The scene was eerily familiar and, for the briefest of seconds, took her back to that hardware store where Shane had tried to leave her for the walkers. Unlike him, however, Jenna didn't stand there and let the woman fend for herself.
She hurried forward and swung her hammer at the zombie on Erin. A sickening thunk sounded in the air as the hammer made contact with a skull, and though it wasn't enough to kill it, it was enough to have it toppling to the side. With Erin now free to get up and defend herself, Jenna went after the second zombie swiftly approaching. She braced herself as it stumbled forward at a faster pace, waiting for the right moment to strike. When it was finally close enough to swipe at her, she ducked under its flailing arms and then swiftly turned around to deliver a hard blow to the back of its head. As it stumbled forward, she hit again, ignoring the way her stomach turned with disgust when the back if its head caved in underneath her hammer – it was definitely dead, that was for sure.
Jenna looked over in time to see Erin swing the bat in her hands at the other walker, sending it sprawling to the ground. She swung several times more, nailing the zombie in the head each time, until the monster no longer moved.
Erin stood there for a moment, breathing heavily and shaking like a leaf from the top of her blonde head to her tennis-shoe clad toes. Jenna eyed her uncertainly, wondering if the woman had gotten bit or scratched, but didn't see any signs of injury. There was blood on her clothes, but it was dark and thick and obviously the blood of a walker, not a human.
Jenna took a moment to catch her breath then took a step closer. She didn't dare try to touch Erin in anyway, not wanting to startle her. "Are you alright?"
Erin, still shaking, finally turned to face her. There were specks of blood on her face and tears on her cheeks. "Yeah," she said, released a heavy breath, "I'm – "
But she never got to finish her statement, because at that exact moment, a loud BANG suddenly echoed through the store. Jenna and Erin both jumped at the sound, caught off-guard and unsure what was happening…but when the loud chorus of familiar groaning began to fill the store, it became pretty clear what had happened.
Jenna shot Erin a wide-eyed look then took off for the front of the store, her blonde-haired companion following her without needing to be told. As they reached the cash registers, Jenna chanced a look toward the source of the commotion – a pair of double doors near the back of the store were open and nearly a dozen walkers had just come piling through. She was confused as to where they came from at first, but then, with a sinking feeling, she remembered the open door in the back. Erin's screams had been so loud that they must have echoed through that open door, attracting any walker close enough to hear it. And between the walkers they'd distracted with the radio and the ones she'd lured away with the bottles, there had certainly been plenty of walkers nearby to hear it. That much was for sure.
"Back to the truck!" Jenna shouted, knowing that the time had come to get the hell out of dodge before they both got ripped to shreds.
Erin didn't need to be told twice. As Jenna turned and ran for the door, she followed right behind. Jenna reached the door first and immediately threw her weight into. They burst outside and went running into the parking lot, but almost immediately skidded to a halt when they realized that nearly half of the walkers that had gone after the radio had made their way back to the Piggly Wiggly – perhaps they too been able to hear the screams over the static of the radio.
The already riled-up crowd of walkers got even more excitable at the sight of the two humans and immediately surged forward, heading right for them. At the same time, the door behind them swung open again as the walkers inside reached it and came pouring through. With there being only one direction for them to go now, Jenna grabbed Erin by the arm and ran left, the two of them just barely managing to escape the area before the two groups of walkers met and merged right where they'd just been standing.
The bag of supplies slowed her down, but Jenna pushed her legs harder as they ran back down the little alley. When they reached the back of the building, they had to take a sharp right turn to avoid running into another large crowd of walkers swarming the open back door. Jenna was fairly certain it was the other half of the walkers that had been in the parking lot – they must have busted through the weak little chain-link fence, discovered there was no food with the radio, and then been attracted by the commotion she and Erin had stirred up in the store.
Like the other zombies already in pursuit, these ones immediately sprang to action when they saw the human – Jenna felt fingers that did not belong to Erin grip her jacket and swung her hammer blindly, making contact with something that immediately sent blood splattering in every direction. The fingers on her jacket loosened, though, and Jenna surged forward again, leaving the crowd of zombies behind her as she and Erin took off.
They took the same path back to the truck, only this time they didn't bother ducking behind cars or hiding behind houses – there wasn't time for anything like that. They flat out sprinted, darting right past the group of loitering walkers that Jenna had distracted with the glass bottles before going into the Piggly Wiggly. The walkers gurgled in surprise at the sight of the humans and then quickly joined the pursuit taking place, but Jenna and Erin barely paid them any mind. Her legs burned, her back ached from the heavy bag, and her lungs felt like they might pop at any moment, but she pushed forward, refusing to slow down even a fraction out of fear she'd fall behind and fall victim to the horde trailing not so far behind.
She could have cried with relief when the house she'd parked her truck next to came into view. Catching her second wind at the encouraging sight she ran even faster, overtaking Erin despite the added weight of the supplies they'd just found on her back. They reached the truck about twenty seconds later and Jenna carelessly threw the bag into the bed, not caring that it landed with a loud BOOM and some of the cans fell out, clattering loud as they rolled around and clinked against each other. While Erin clambered into the passenger seat, Jenna pulled herself up into the driver's, mindlessly throwing her hammer and flashlight into the backseat before fumbling around in her pockets for the keys.
"Hurry…" Erin urged, eyes peeled as she stared through the windshield, watching as the herd slowly but surely closed the distance between them.
Jenna finally got the shaking of her hands under control long enough to shove the keys into the ignition. But when she turned them, the engine began to sputter in protest just as it had when they'd left the police station. Jenna cursed loudly, turning the keys again and stomping her foot on the accelerator, hoping it would bring life to the engine – Not now! Not now!
"Come on!" Jenna shouted in frustration, hitting the steering wheel.
"They're getting closer!" Erin warned, her breath starting to come in heavy pants. If they didn't get out of there before the walkers reached them, there was no doubt they'd be completely and utterly screwed. There were no windows to protect them and very little options as far as escape routes were concerned. If the truck got surrounded – and there were plenty of walkers there to surround them – they would be nothing more than two juicy pieces of walker bait.
Jenna turned the keys again and again, listening as the abused engine whined and protested as it tried to start. The walkers were getting closer and closer, perhaps only some twenty to thirty feet away. Erin was starting to shout at her frantically, eyes wide with panic as she looked from Jenna to the incoming zombies and back again. Jenna kept trying, her own heart feeling dangerously close to exploding right out of her chest.
Just as she was about to give up and suggest they make a run for it before it was too late, she turned the keys one more time and then shouted with triumph as the engine finally started, roaring like a loud lion. With no hesitation at all, Jenna threw the shifter into drive and slammed her foot on the accelerator, pulling away moment before the horde reached them. They drove right past, bypassing some walkers and clipping others that stood in the way, then took off down the street, leaving the zombies – and Greenville – behind.
Neither Jenna, nor Erin, was able to relax until they Greenville was no longer visible in the background. Though she wasn't entirely sure where they were headed at the moment because her map was still in her bag, Jenna found that she didn't really care – they had escaped Greenville with supplies and with their lives. At the moment, she was simply too relieved to worry about how far off course she was getting.
Erin peered at the side mirror, then released a long heave and slumped heavily in the passenger seat. "Well," she said, turning a wry look on Jenna, "that was an adventure."
Jenna couldn't help it – she laughed. Though the situation had actually been fairly frightening, now that it was over the relief was so overwhelming that laughing was all she really could do. "You can say that again," she said, smirking at Erin once her laughter had died down and she'd collected herself. For a moment the blonde seemed mildly disturbed that Jenna was laughing off their near-death experience, but then she too smirked and shook her head, a distinct look of relief filling her brown eyes as they drove further and further away.
They drove in silence for a little while after that, headed nowhere in particular. With the time and the quiet to reflect on everything that had happened, Jenna found herself wondering where she and Erin would go from here. They had talked about going into the Piggly Wiggly together, but they hadn't discussed what would happen after. Would Erin want to go her own way now? Was this the end of their partnership? Did Jenna want this to be the end of their partnership?
She knew the answer to the last question already – no. Erin might've been a little brash in the start, but they seemed to work together easily enough. Plus, it was nice to have a companion again. There was still a long way to go before she reached Fort Benning, and no doubt the road would be dangerous – she'd much rather have someone there to watch her back instead of braving the trip alone. But whether or not Erin wanted to partner up – or if she was even interested in going to Fort Benning or not – remained to be seen.
"Thanks for saving my ass back there," Erin suddenly said to break the silence, looking to Jenna with grateful eyes. Jenna was taken a bit by surprise by her open gratitude, but quickly concealed it. "If you hadn't turned up when you did…"
"It was no problem," Jenna said, smiling at her gently.
She wasn't sure if she was just seeing things or not, but it looked like Erin actually offered a ghost of a smile before turning her eyes forward again. "So…now what?" Erin asked, voicing the same thoughts Jenna had just been having as she watched the scenery jumping past the window while they drove along.
Jenna eyed her for a moment, then shrugged a shoulder. "I guess it depends," she said matter-of-factly.
Erin looked over at her with a quirked brow. "On what?"
"Whatever you decide to do," Jenna answered simply. "If you want to do your own thing, then we'll stick to the original plan – we'll divide the stuff we found and go our separate ways," she explained. Jenna paused for a moment, watching as Erin's eyebrows furrowed together intently. "But," she continued, raising her brows at the blonde, "if you don't want to do your own thing, you could always come with me to Fort Benning. It's a long, dangerous road and I certainly wouldn't mind having someone around to watch my back – and I'd watch yours in return, of course," Jenna quickly added, making sure Erin knew the door would swing both ways.
Erin pressed her lips together, a pensive expression overtaking her face as she thought the offer over. Jenna waited in patient silence, giving the woman all the time and silence she needed to consider the options laid before her. Finally, after a few minutes, Erin looked back to Jenna. She could tell by the firm resolve in the blonde's brown eyes that she had reached a decision.
"Okay," she said with a single nod. "I'll come with you to Fort Benning."
It felt as though a weight had suddenly lifted from Jenna's shoulders. "Yeah?" She asked, just to make sure she hadn't misheard her.
Erin nodded and shrugged, a wry smirk spreading across her lips. "Where else do I have to go?" She asked pointedly, the tone of her voice plainly stating that the answer to that question was 'nowhere'.
"Alright then," Jenna said with a pleased expression. "To Fort Benning we go." They shared a nod to seal the deal.
But before either of them could even think to start celebrating their new, more permanent partnership, Jenna's truck suddenly gave a lurch and made a strange sound before abruptly beginning to slow down on its own accord. Jenna frowned, pressing on the accelerator, but the truck would not speed up again. They coasted for another five feet or so before finally coming to an unceremonious halt in the middle of the road. The engine made a pitiful whining sound, then fell eerily silent.
They sat in silent disbelief for a second, neither wanting to accept what had probably just happened, but when steam started pouring out from underneath the hood, there was no way to deny the truth. As she had feared would happen, the strain of travel had proven too much for the fragile engine. The truck had finally given up the fight and was now – officially and forever – dead.
Thoughts?