Chapter 4 : Back in Business

When I woke up for the second time in this hell hole, I smiled as I felt Josie's body against mine. I opened my eyes and saw she was observing me, a wide smile on her face. She blushed I bit when she saw I was awake, then smiled again.

''You've been awake for long?''

''No... Only a few minutes...''

I got up slowly, my head trying to focus on our happiness, instead of the whole nightmare that surrounded us. If this was meant to be our new lives from that point on, I was alright with that. Of course, we had lost friends, and family.

Then, for the first time since the start, I thought of my parents. Were they okay? Had they turned in to these mindless monsters?

I shook my head, trying to forget about my family. They were part of my old life. They didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was our survival.

''Matt?''

I turned to see Josie. She had a look of concern in her eyes. The second I had felt sad, she knew it.

''I love you...'' She continued. A beam of light made it's way in the darkness of my heart. I smiled.

''Me too...''

We kissed. The passion of the kiss made me feel alive. Then, all of a sudden, life couldn't have been better.

I got up, got dressed, and walked slowly to the door, Josie on my heels. The moment I entered the cafeteria, I felt the heavy air that was filling the room. We had a problem.

''Alright everybody, we can't deny it any longer. We are out of food. We won't resist long without enough supplies for us all. Does anybody has a plan?''

''Well... We could just go to the grocery store... We'd take a car from the staff parking and fill it with goods, then just speed back to the school.'' Kate said.

''Yeah... That seems the right choice, but how are we gonna get a damn car? Even if we reach the parking in one piece, we won't have the keys.''

Everybody started talking in a nonsense clatter.

''Everybody, stay calm...'' I instructed. ''Does anybody knows which car is the principals?''

''Yeah... The dark blue BMW right by the side door...''

''Cool... Now all we have to do is to find the keys.''

''Maybe he lost them...''

''The office... He must've had them in his pockets!''

I walked to the stairs case, explaining the others to stay there. I walked to the large door. As I stepped into the room, I could tell the feeling of death in it had something changed. The dead principal was still hung in the corner, but there was something more sinister in the room.

The hanged man moved a bit. I stepped back, feeling a fresh wind to my face. A big noise was heard, and the rope broke. The body fell onto the floor, still unmoving. The wind blew once more to my face. What the hell was making so much wind?

The window! I had left the window open after dropping the zombie out. It was only that. I breathed more easily. As I turned around to close the window, I saw something I wished I had never seen. Some kind of creature was climbing inside by the open window. It had missing patches of skin on it's brain, and it's muscular body was of a reddish color. It was a bit like a spider, but long claws extended at each of it's hands.

Before I could make sense of what I was seeing, it jumped forward and landed a few feet in front of me. I backed up slowly. As it emitted some screeching sound, I knew it was going to attack. Back up again, but bumped into a wall. I felt something cold in my back.

The gun. I had completely forgotten about the gun. I pulled it out of my pants, my hands shaking. I pressed the trigger accidentally, and a loud detonation was heard. Of course, the shot missed. I pulled up the pistol, and leveled it to the monster's head. I shot once more, hitting it in the arm. It did virtually no damage to the muscle.

''Damn...'' I cursed at the approaching creature.

I squeezed the trigger once more. The bullet made it to it's neck, hitting it and bust through the throat. It stumbled back a moment, and I thought it was finished. The creature got back to it's feet and opened it's mouth. A long, snake-like, tongue slipped out, spiky darts covering it. For what I could tell, this thing was over a meter long.

As it readied itself to dive at me, I heard a loud sound. My eyes blinked, and then, I saw the monster with a heavy-looking wood drawer smashed onto it's head. I aimed my gun, and shot it one last time, hitting it straight to the brain. It collapsed to the floor, emitting one last scream. I turned to look who had thrown the drawer at the thing's face, and saw Kevin, a worried look on his face.

''Kevin... Thanks man, this thin would have killed me for sure...''

''That's nothing... But where did you get the gun?''

''The janitor had it near him.''

''Cool...''

''But, hey, don't talk about it... Neither the gun or the god-damned monster. I don't want anybody to panic. I'll find an opportunity to do so myself.''

''Alright man.''

I got back into the room, and saw that the principals corpse was no longer there. I looked around in a paranoid way.

''Where did he go?''

''Who?''

''The principal...''

I advanced carefully in the room. The flooring was dark, so I had t keep a close eye on it, to make sure the corpse wasn't there. A heard a faint sound coming from behind. I turned around, but the thing had already popped out of under a desk, and grabbed Kevin's leg.

I lifted my pistol, took aim carefully so I wouldn't harm my friend, and fired a single shot. It ripped through the flesh and bone of his head, and busted the brains into pieces. Kevin cleaned himself the best he could.

''Sorry for your clothes... I had no choice.''

''I don't matter. None of us has clean clothes anymore...''

''Yeah... If at least we could clean ourselves.''

''What about the gym showers?''

I had forgotten about those. After that day, we'd all need a good shower. I snatched the keys from what was remaining of our principal, and we got back to the hall. I explained the situation to the other students.

''I go get some food alone'' I said, persuasive as I could ''In the meantime, you all get a shower at the gym, and wash your clothes the best you can. I'll be back in a few. Just in case, if I'm not back in an hour, consider me dead.''

I walked to the door, but, half-way through, Josie's soft voice spoke behind me. I turned around reluctantly, scared that I could be right about what she was about to say.

''Matt... I'm coming with you.''

''No... It's not safe...''

''It wasn't a question. I am coming with you.''

''Alright, but be careful. I don't want to lose you baby.''

We walked outside, silent. Tom and Mitchell replaced the barricade after us. There was no turning back from this point. Her hand slid in mine, a comforting presence in my palm. My other hand ready to grab the gun, I was ready for any scenario. We reached the parking without much problems. I slid the first key in the lock, and turned it. It refused to budge. It cursed, trying another key. It didn't work. So did the one after. The fourth one slipped in, the lock clicked, and I jumped in. Josie hopped in by the passenger side, and I steered out of the crowded parking. I drove toward the corner to main street. The car sped fast and sharply took a turn, the speedometer over 150 km/h. I had learned to drive on country road during the previous summer, but it was different. I had pressure. If I failed, there was nobody to help me out. Josie wasn't gonna drive in this situation, I was sure about it. I turned to the left, and the car engaged in the mall's parking. I parked it in a fast way. I took a deep breath. Josie and I exchanged a encouraging look, and we hopped out.

Outside, a few zombies were roaming aimlessly in the large parking zone. The supermarket was a little bit further. We jogged to the door, evading the few zombies in the way. As I approached the double door, it didn't budge. A red sticker read ''Automatic doors, stand clear''.

''Looks like we'll have to break in...''

''Yeah...''

Josie nodded, looking at our surroundings. A few columns of fire lifted from buildings at distance. I turned back to the doors. They were solidly built out of steel, and it was unlikely that they could be broken down just by ramming them.

I kicked the lower window of the door, cleared it of any glass shards, and motioned Josie to pass through. She crawled inside. I followed her. Inside, a deadly calm was taking place, even more disturbing than the zombies' groans and moans.

''Okay, we take a cart, and get the most stuff we can take. Meet you back here in fifteen minutes.''

''Alright...''

''You'll be okay on your own, Josie?''

''Yeah...''

''You sure?''

''Yeah.'' She said, lifting her eyes to meet mine.

''I love you honey...''

''Me too...''

We kissed quickly, and went in separate directions. As I pushed my cart in the first alley, I wondered what was the thing we needed the most. It had to be nutritive, in in energy, but it was no good if it tasted like shit. We needed the little comfort we could get, no matter how little this actually was. My eyes passed over a shelve full of chocolate bars. Not only was chocolate excellent, but it would provide us some energy when we would need it the most, and when coffee was not an option. A coffee machine is not the kind of thing you keep in your backpack, ready for use. I stacked the entire stock of chocolate in my cart. We needed some sore consistent meals, as diner.

I grabbed a few large sized packs of spaghettis, and stowed them into the cart. These would always stay fresh, and were full of energy. As funny as it sounded, it was actually going to be our breakfast for a few weeks. We needed our energy in the morning, not in the night.

I grabbed a few boxes of energy drinks, and tossed them in the cart, along with a few packs of cakes, and a few bags of bread. Whole wheat bread... I used to hate that thing... But that was before the incident. Since then, I had more important matters in my life than arguing on which sort of bread to eat. I met Josie at the end of the fifth row. In her cart, cereals were buried along 3-liters juice cans, coffee and coffee filters, and a few boxes of long-lasting meat, such as bacon. We made it too the cash registers.

''Keep the money...'' I joked.

''Thanks sir, have a good day...'' Josie answered, mimicking a corny 50-years-old cashier.

I chuckled at bit, and we arrived to the door. I forced it open, using emergency handles inside. As we rushed outside, we evaded the zombies which were still not so numerous, thought more than when we had arrived. We had to get out of there before there were too much.

I popped the trunk, and we stashed the goods inside it. I locked it securely, and we hopped back inside the ride. The trip back to school went well. A few stupid zombies tried to grab the car, and fell onto the street.

As we stepped out of the car, which I had parked the closest I could to the front door, Tom, Kate, Kevin, Mitchell, and at few more students went out. Jen was holding the door open. They all took a box. Even Phil, the fat nerdy guy, came out of his hole to give a hand. I dropped my bags inside the hall, and turned to Josie. She was alright. Kevin and Jen were behind me. So was Phil. Kate rushed in a few seconds later.

I turned around to see Tom, standing still, his eyes unconditionally locked on an approaching flesh eater. I ran back outside, as the zombie grabbed Tom. At that moment, he started realizing the situation. He tried to lose the zombies attacking him, but in vain. I flipped the gun out of my pants, and aimed at the monster.

''Stop moving Tom!''

He tried to stabilize both him and his assailant. I aimed carefully, holding the gun tightly within my hands. I was starting to sweat. I pulled the trigger, and the bullet dug it's way into the thing's cranium, blowing it's forehead and a part it's brains. A fine reddish mist covered Tom, who ran instantly to the safety offered by the school. I followed him, sliding the gun back in my pants.

''Thanks man... I... I just paralyzed when I saw those things closely.''

''Matt, were the hell did you get that gun?''

''The janitor had it...''

''The janitor?''

''Yeah...''

''Why didn't you told us?''

''I was afraid it would freak out some of you...''

''It would've reassured us.''

We proceeded to the kitchen, and stashed the food inside the fridges and freezers. This time, it was real. We were safe. We had food, weapons, and were in a relative safety. My eyes passed on Josie. She had a little something gone in her eyes. A sinister darkness, almost invisible, covered her beautiful eyes. She looked sad, deeply sad. Something was on her mind, destroying all of her positive thoughts, feeding the negative ones. There was such a chemistry between us both I knew all that in a second. I had no idea on what was terrorizing her in a such way, but it was important.

''I haven't nothing else to propose for today... You might want to get to your room and get things in order there... It will be more interesting if you feel at home in your room.''

Everybody approved. Most of them were positive, due to the new arrival of food. Even a few had a smile their face. In fact, I had suggested this partly to be alone with Josie, to know what was troubling her like that. I steeped in our room, and she followed. We sat face to face. I looked at her in the eyes. Still, this tone of darkness, almost of death, was sticking.

''What is it?''

''What?''

''You can't hide anything from me...'' I said, my voice at it's softest. ''I know there's something on your mind...''

''Nothing... Just... Nothing.''

''Seriously, what is happening?''

She looked torn apart. A part of her seemed to want to tell me what she feared, as another seemed to fight to keep it secret. She looked on the verge of falling in tears.

''Matt... I really want to know... Do you really love me? Or is it just because of the situation?''

I made a relieved smile. It was only that. I passed my arms around her, and she placed carefully her head on my shoulder. She cried silently for a few moments.

''Josie...I understand what you're feeling, we got closer to each other in two days than I ever got with anybody... But still, I truly love you... Don't ever doubt about it. No matter what happens, you can always count on me to be there.''

We stayed like that a while. Our bodies so close I could feel her heart beat through my body. My hand on hers, her head leaned on my shoulder. Time is relative to the observer. Einstein had said it. But there, I experienced a much stronger version of it. As seconds flowed, passing so fast I couldn't see time fly, my love for Josie grew stronger. Time was passing so fast we could have stayed like this for hours without getting sore of it.

Josie was so natural, and so courageous at the same time. I explored a feeling I had never really experienced before. Beyond love. Beyond passion. None of the languages neither spoken nor written had words powerful enough to describe what I was feeling...