Rain started to fall down hard and heavy, the cold water rushing down drainpipes and gutters, seeping into the parched earth, ripping leaves from the trees. Ally stood before the broken window of Harolds Gun Emporium, her hair plastered to her pale face, her eyes squinted, blinking away water. She didnt mind that she was right in the middle of the city center, she took off running the minute she noticed the clouds darkening, heard the slow rumbling of thunder overhead. She didnt mind the rain seeping into her clothes and making her shiver slightly. She closed her eyes for the very first time outside a shelter...for the very first time out in the open. She closed her eyes, tilted her head to the heavens and let the rain fall on her face. She smiled.
No, she didnt mind. Didnt mind at all.
Rain was sensory overload for the undead, to them it was like trying to walk in a tv static world. All they saw were billions of water droplets streaking down the sky, like getting bad reception on your tv.
'All they hear is the sound of the wind, the sound of the rain hitting things; roofs, cars, the street...their heads. Its too much for them, all they can do is stand mouth open, staring at the sky.' She remembered the soldier who told her this, he himself staring fixed at the heavens, cloudless and burning with stars.
He had given her her first cigarette that night, laughed when she coughed and patted her back when tears welled up from her hacking and laughing at the same time. It hadnt rained for over a month then.
'Rain, our secret ally, he had said in a gruff voice. 'If it had rained for even five minutes when this all started, we couldve prevented the rise, held it down, controlled it...yeah. Somethings wrong with the world alright, when the rain wont fall anywhere in the world, and if it did, hell it wouldnt last, what, ten seconds?'
Despite this, she had never felt so safe, he was a big bear of a man, with smiling eyes and a crucifix necklace that twinkled in the dark. He had taken her in, shielded her, taught her everything he knew about...well, whatever they were. She smiled remembering the way he barked at the other soldiers when they got too touchy feely. He was like a second dad to her...He had died the very same night, after their rain talk, attacked in his sleep. Ally fought the constricting pain in her throat, the burnin in her eyes. And where was she when he needed her?
She had tried, she told herself, she had ran down to the encampment and shot her rifle at them like crazy, whipping it this way and that, her arms bruised, battered, her eyes streaked with hot...hot tears. Only she had to give up, there were too many...far too many of them. She had reeled and made a run for it, she ran like a coward. She shouldve stayed to fight, shouldve died with those men, with him...
But he had taught her something valuable. This time, she wouldnt run away, shed go back and take what was hers...her pride.
Ally balled her fists and stepped over the open window, avoiding the sharp glass that stuck out from the sides of the frame. She scanned the darkened shop for any sign of movement, softly she padded her way to the gunracks. She trailed a hand warily over boxes of bullets, remington, winchester, federal...shivering, she picked up a case and stuffed it in her right pocket. Crouched on the floor, she examined the bullets that had been ripped from their boxes and littered the floor in what looked like haste and panic.
She closed her eyes, imagining the men and women who had come in here before her, seeking the temporary safety of weapons...and from the looks of things, it didnt seem to have worked a whole lot. She shifted her foot away from the crusty brown stain of blood that had hardened and coated the floor beneath her.
And thats when she heard it...the unmistakable shuffle of feet behind her...
"Huh." she said under her breath. The nausea settled itself slowly in the pit of her stomach. She balled her fist. She heard it...smelled it...sensed everything all at once. Her back stiffened and she dug her nails into her palms, the flimsy bandages strained...the blood starting to pool...Bracing herself, she spun around quickly, just in time to see the little zombie girls head explode just as it lunged for her...
Ally sat shell shocked, trying to come to grips with what had just happened...
She heard a metallic ping and the soft click of what seemed to be a lighter, in the dark a flame shot out and lighted a cigarette. She scrambled to her feet.
"Good evening." The man said slowly, exhaling smoke into the air, blue eyes shining almost luminous from under a black cowboy hat.