Jessica
Jessica and her family were not in as bad of a position as a lot of people were. They had high walls, solar power, clean water and plenty of food. Jessica thought a lot about how RickyJo had insisted on putting in all those solar panels and how expensive they were and how big of a waste Jessica had told her it was. Now she felt stupid. And wrong. And it made her miss her cousin something terrible. RickyJo had been the dependable one. She had been the one in the family everyone turned to when a hard decision needed to be made. And now she was gone. Maybe Merle and Daryl found her and maybe they didn't. Or maybe they were all dead. Either way none of them were here, so it was all up to Jessica now. She had her grandmother and her two young children to worry about and no one to turn to for help.
She sat staring at the empty pill bottles, turning them around in her hands like they might automatically fill themselves. Her nana had started cutting her pills in half when they realized they might not be able to get any more, but now they were all gone. And Desiree was down to the last few puffs on her asthma inhaler. Jessica was going to have to go out, and she was going to have to go out alone. At first she had thought about taking Cassie with her. Her older daughter was a good shot, maybe better than her. RickyJo used to take the girls out shooting and hunting all the time. They had learned a lot from her. But if she took Cassie, that would leave Nana and Desiree here alone. And that didn't feel right. She wanted Cassie here in case something happened while she was gone.
Jessica loaded up with every kind of weapon that she thought she could carry. She also took an empty backpack and a bottle of water. She took out one of the smallest and quietest motorcycles they had. It would take less gas and if the roads were blocked, she could get around the cars with it. Cassie rode with her down to the end of the driveway, hugging her mother tightly around the waist. While her sister was too young to understand what was going on, Cassie knew her mother was risking her life to go out for the medicine. When they got to the end of the drive, Cassie climbed off and latched the gate after her mother had gone through. She watched her drive away with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Then she walked back up to the main house to keep an eye on things until her mother got back.
There was a smaller local pharmacy Jessica was going to try first. If that was a bust she was going to Walmart. Fucking Walmart, she thought, better not have to go there because I hate that place. There was no one around at the smaller store. She found asthma inhalers there for Desiree, but none of her Nana's medications. One of them was a painkiller for her athritis and Jess had a feeling that was going to be hard to come by. The first thing people looked for to steal from a pharmacy was narcotics.
She headed back out of the store and got a little fright when she saw someone was milling around by her bike. At first she was scared the person might be trying to steal it. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest she could her it in her ears. Then the man turned. One of his eyes was hanging out of the socket, dangling by the cord and swinging around. She breathed a small sigh of relief. It was just one of those sick rabies people. On the tv it said to hit them in the head to stop them, so Jessica got her bat out of the side pocket of her pack. She stepped on a leaf, making a crunching noise, and the thing started coming at her. Trying to control her breathing, she made herself wait until it was close enough and then swung as hard as she could at its head.
The side of the monsters head smooshed in with a sickening crunch and it fell to the ground. Jessica poked at it a little with the toe of her boot. It was wearing the last few shreads of what have once might been a shirt. Part of the flesh on its side was missing and she could see most of its ribs. Rabies my ass, she thought, that thing is back from the damn dead, just like they were saying on those crazy internet videos. It even smelled dead, like three day old road kill or that squirrel that died up in the heat vent and stunk the whole house up. RickyJo had been ready to call a company out to clean it out of the vents, but Daryl would have none of that. He fished the nasty stinking thing out himself and then chased RickyJo around the house with it. They had been screaming and laughing. Cassie had been yelling for him to get her and little Desiree had been crying for him to stop, making Cassie laugh harder. It was nice to think about RickyJo, but Jessica shoved the memories down. She needed to stay focused. Firing her bike back up, Jessica headed for Walmart.
They were hiding in the trees on the edge of the parking lot when the woman pulled in. She was alone, which was good. But groups often sent someone in first to check for safety. They would wait and watch a while longer before they grabbed her. The tall man looked to his left, where a man with greasy hair was scratching at his head again. He was sure the man had fleas or lice or some kind of bugs and had to fight the urge to move away from him. They were all a little dirty since fresh water for washing wasn't always available now, but that guy never washed even when he had the chance. It was making him itchy just to look at the man.
Jessica took a look around the parking lot. There were some abandoned cars and a few of those dead/sick people wandering around. But no one else. She felt a shiver go up her back. The strange feeling that she was being watched came over her. She took a better look around and still didn't see anyone. Just get in get out and get this done quick, she told herself. Taking a deep breath, she headed inside the store, stepping over items that were thrown about and trying to be as quiet as she could. Those dead people may be stupid, but from the one she had seen outside the other store, she knew they responded to noise. Where is the pharmacy in this goddamn dump? She tried to look up at the signs, and finally she saw one that said pharmacy, with an arrow. She headed that way.
A bunch of the smelly dead people were milling around in front of the pharmacy area. The metal shade was still down, which was promising. If it was up, the place would probably be empty. Jessica grabbed an empty can of corn from the floor and chucked it over the tops of the aisles as far as she could. It landed with a clatter and the monsters all perked up, heading towards the noise. Jessica smiled. She could kill them, but she would rather if she didn't have to risk getting too close to them. She knew on tv they said the sickness was transmitted by a bite from an infected person, but she was still worried she might get sick if she got too close or touched one. Sometimes viruses mutated. And these things looked like some nasty mutants.
The door to the pharmacy was around the side, down a little dark hallway. There was a naked dead person lying in the way. It looked like a woman. Jessica kicked at her a few times to be sure she was actually dead and not going to wake up and grab at her. The woman did not move, so Jessica stepped over her and headed for the door. It was locked, another good sign. She got out the crowbar she brought and jammed it into the thin gap between the door and the frame. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she tapped at the bar a few times with her bat, making sure it was jammed in as tight as it would go. Then she put the bat away and got a good grip on the crowbar. She had seen Merle do this once. A girl Jessica had hired to work at her salon had stole some money and a bunch of expensive equiptment and supplies. Jessica had been ready to call the cops on her until Merle asked her if she knew where the girl lived. They had watched her house and watied for her to leave Then Merle had popped the door open and Jessica had gotten her things back.
Jessica pulled down hard and fast on the crowbar. The door popped open much easier than she thought it would and the force she was using sent her flying into the opposite wall and then onto her ass on the floor. That had not happened to Merle when he had been popping that other door open, she thought with a smile. At least he wasn't here to laugh at her. She got up and brushed herself off, then headed into the pharmacy, holding the crowbar up in readiness. One of those things was in there, and she took it out with a few hard hits to the side of its head. It had a white pharmacy coat on. Of all the places to die, she felt bad for this man, who had to die at work instead of at home with his family. There was some dim light coming in from around the edges of the cover that was over the drive through window, but not enough to read the pill labels. Now Jessica wished she had brought a flashlight. RickyJo would have remembered to bring one.
It was her luck there was an emergency flashlight on the wall by the pharrmacy door. Jessica flicked the switch a few times, saying a silent prayer that it would work. She had to tap it against her palm a few times, but then the light came on. Slipping one of the straps of her backpack off, she swung it around and opened it. Then she got out the list that her grandmother had made for her. The handwriting was small and neat, with even cursive letters. Her Nana had been appalled to find out that Jessica's daughters were not even learning handwriting in school anymore. Cassie had laughed at the woman. Don't you know everyone just uses a phone now Nana. Jessica knew technology had made good handwriting a useless talent, but she still loved to look at her Nana's beautiful even script.
She headed down one of the aisles, throwing anything she saw on the list into her bag, and anything else she thought might be useful, like things she knew where antibiotics. And a few xanax for herself for after this awful road trip was over. The small blue football shaped pills always made her think of her cousin. RickyJo had never taken up with a lot of heavy drinking or drugs, but boy did she love her anxiety medications. She had a sudden image of the woman, sitting on the back porch tossing one of the pills down her throat and chasing it with a glass of red wine. Her feet had been bare and dirty, like they almost always were unless she was going to work. And she had been wearing her old cowboy hat, the white one with all the stains that was unravelling on one side. One or two of these and a glass of wine and I forget every bad thing thats ever happened to me. Jessica had tried one, but it had just made her tired.
She had the tamoxifen and the tramadol that she knew she needed, and a bunch more inhalers for Desiree. Plus a bunch of other shit. Now it was time to go. She tightened the straps of her pack and peeked out the door and down the hall. Those nasty things were back and there were a lot more of them now so she darted back into the pharmacy and closed the door behind her with a soft click. It would stay closed, but since she had already bent it, she knew it wouldn't hold under any kind of pressure. Luckily the things had not seen her or heard her yet so she should be alright for a minute. This place had to have another way out. She looked around in the back, hoping for an emergency exit, but there was not one to be found. Then she remembered the drive through window.
The woman had been inside the store for a long time and no one else had shown up to help her. That meant she must be by herself. The tall man knew it would be smarter to wait and follow her. She might lead them back to her camp. But these men were not that patient. Once they knew she was alone, they wanted to grab her now. She was the best looking woman they had seen in a while. The tall man also noticed she was the cleanest. She looked freshly bathed and her clothes and bike were clean. She didn't have food or supplies with her, which meant she had to be set up somewhere good. But the tall man knew from past experience these men were not going to listen to any of that. They just wanted to rape her. None of them ever thought beyond the present moment. The man knew that eventually he would kill these men and take over the group, but for now he needed them. Plus if he could stop them from killing her, he might be able to find out where her camp was without following her.
A few of the men were waiting by the front door of the store and the rest were spread out hiding behind cars in case the woman got past the men by the door. Despite trying to avoid him, the tall man had ended up hiding behind a car next to the dirty man, who was breathing through his mouth and making a lot of disgusting jokes about the carpet matching the drapes and talking about ass fucking and biting while he occasionally clutched at his crotch. Maybe he was grabbing himself because he was aroused thinking about the woman, or maybe he was just really itchy from being so dirty. Either way the tall man wished he would knock it off and shut the fuck up.
Most of the men were getting bored, and some were talking about going in to get her, when they heard the unexpected noise of a motorcycle starting up. The woman had not come out the front door, and must not have gone out the back either, since there were a few people waiting by that door that had not sounded any kind of alarm. Jessica had gone out the pharmacy drive through window. She had peeked out first, to check for the dead, and seen the men. She had waited until they were not looking in her direction and then bolted for her bike. Before they knew what happened, she was heading out of the parking lot and onto the road.
A lot of them were cussing and kicking at the ground, but the tall man ran for his truck and fired it up, following her. He made sure to stay back so she would not see him, almost losing her a few times in the process. But soon she was out on a country road and he was a few miles behind her. Once he saw the tall brick wall he didn't need to follow her anymore, she had to be going somewhere inside this wall. He would go back for the other men and then they would break this wall down and take what they wanted, including the woman.