"Stewart? Are you ready to leave?" I called as I walked into the store, remembering about the biter we'd taken care of earlier and stepping over it. I was soon followed by Jackson, while Andy and Drew trailed behind.
"He's not replying, guys." I said nervously, starting to worry that he'd gone already.
"Don't worry Hayley, he did that last time remember?" Andy said half-heartedly.
"But all of the shelves still have stuff on. Wouldn't he have packed it all up to take with him?" Jackson asked. He was right - the shelves were as full as they were before we left.
"That's not good," Drew muttered under his breath to Andy, not realising I could hear. "Maybe we should leave."
"Give her a chance man," Andy replied. "We can wait for a while."
"I'll check behind the counter." Jackson said, hopping over the counter and slipping onto his back. "Shit!" he yelled.
I rushed over to him and had to bite my palm when I saw what he'd slipped on.
"That's blood.." I shivered, pointing at the floor. Jackson helped himself up and started to follow it.
"Stay back," he warned, putting his hand infront of me. "I think I hear something.."
He was right. Stewart ran towards us, but it was't Stewart - he had a gaping bite on his cheek and his eyes looked infected. Meanwhile, my eyes were welling up.
"It's too late for him," I sniffed. "We were gone too long." I put my head in my hands, oblivious to the situation unfolding before me. All I knew was that I was a bad person - I hadn't persuaded him to come along with us, I'd faffed about at the supermarket too long, I'd got caught up in stupid little things that prevented us from getting here sooner. I wept for a while, trying to block out the sound of Drew and Andy beating Stewart's reanimated corpse to death.
"If Stewart's been bitten and we've found him, where's the biter?" Andy asked nervously. We all looked around and saw nothing.
"Jackson, be careful." I warned as I watched him venture even further behind the counter and into the storage room. He soon returned holding a still-biting head, smiling.
"I think poor Stewart managed to take this guy out before it was too late. It's a shame." he said. A shame? That was an understatement. We'd gained one man and lost another. I was with 3 other people, but I felt more alone now than I had even when I was.
"Hayley?" Drew said, seeing how distraught I must have looked. "Do you want to go?"
I asked myself the same question. I wanted to be home again, but then it hit me that the only home I had was a bunker in the ground that I shared with 2 strange men. A home that was awful, cramped, smelly and terrifying. But I had to be grateful and make use of it.
"No, let's take what's here first. I guess it's no use to him now," I sniffed, gesturing to Stewart's corpse. "I'm gonna go check see if there's any gas left to scavenge. Meet me at the car when you're done." And with that, I left.