Chapter 10: Shopping

The convenience store itself was quite small, only five aisles across, and the team had the shop floor secured in less than two minutes. The back wall, however, yielded another problem for Bill and Francis, who both came across the closed door at the same time. Presumably, it led into some storage room or employee space.

The two hard-headed men shot challenging looks at each other. Without a word, they each balled a fist and engaged in a silent game of rock-paper-scissors. Bill's rock crushed Francis' scissors, and he smugly trained his M-16 on the closed door while the biker erupted into a livid but quiet tantrum, cursing the old man through his breath with every colourful name under the sun. Regaining his composure, he squared his shoulders and gripped the doorknob. There had better not be a Hunter back there...

"While we're young, son," Bill grunted.

"Your ship has sailed then," he shot back, swinging the door open and raising his shotgun immediately.

Dead silence. A quick sweep of the dark storeroom revealed that it was empty, save for a few empty cardboard boxes, and another closed door. However, the daylight shining in under it gave rise to the fact that it was a back entrance. Finally satisfied that they were alone, the four survivors regrouped at the front counter of the shop. Bill briskly walked over to the entrance, looked up at the sky, and then closed the door, locking it behind him. Not that it would do much; the Infected would have no qualms with coming in through the front windows.

"Okay, it's about midday, but we need to work fast," Bill said quickly. "We can't be caught outside after dark." Bill nodded to Francis and Zoey's backpacks. "You two pick an aisle and start scavenging."

"Can you fit any more into that med-kit?" she asked, motioning to the red bag on the old man's back.

He shook his head. "But that's a good thing. Medical supplies are priority. Now, get moving."

Zoey sighed in annoyance, gazing down the third aisle she had hoped to plunder. So far, the only useful things she had been able to find were a hairbrush, a small bottle of antimicrobial hand-wash, and a forgotten packet of Doritos. All other food items had been looted, smashed, or otherwise rendered unusable. As she dropped the hairbrush into her alarmingly-empty backpack, she eyed the corn chips down hungrily. She knew that she should save the small packet to share with the others, but it was only a snack-size, small enough as it was...

Zoey shook her head clear of the temptation and wandered down the aisle, sorely disappointed. It appeared that the director of this movie was a cruel one, making them waste time, energy and valuable daylight to loot an empty convenience store!

The former student blew out a breath in frustration, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. At least she could now use her new brush to restore some semblance of order to her dark brown hair. Suddenly, a small purple box caught her attention. It was sitting, almost deliberately, on a shelf devoid of anything else.

Zoey gazed at it thoughtfully. Should she grab some... feminine supplies? That was something the directors always neglected in horror movies. They were all probably men. Without a second thought, she reached out and snatched the purple box up off the shelf, stuffing it into her backpack. Her eyes wandered down the aisle and caught something else that made her smile with glee.

"What's got your skirt so high?" came Francis' low voice from behind her.

She jumped in shock, before realising who it was. "Don't do that!" she scowled, to which she was answered with a smug grin.

"Sorry. Won't happen again."

Deciding not to unload a can of whoop-ass on him, not that it was even possible, given the height and strength difference, Zoey took a few quick steps down the aisle and picked the items off the shelf. Footsteps could be heard as the other two came around the corner to join them.

"Look what I found," she said happily, presenting a tube of toothpaste and four packaged toothbrushes to the group.

"Sweet!" Louis exclaimed, grabbing one eagerly.

Bill and Francis were slightly less enthusiastic, but grateful nonetheless.

"Typical that there's no food in here," the burly biker said sullenly, stashing his new toothbrush in the practically-empty backpack under his care.

Louis opened his mouth to speak, but Bill cut him off. "No use sittin' around moping. Let's keep going. The hospital should be only a few blocks away."

He made to move off but Zoey quickly dashed in front of him. "Hold up," she blurted out. "I've gotta find a bathroom. I don't care if there are a million Infected hiding in it, I've gotta brush my teeth."

"That can be done later – " Bill started, but stopped himself short when the girl shot him a look of daggers.

"Basic human hygiene, Bill."

He sighed in exasperation, but then made to follow her. "I suggest you two do the same," he said over his shoulder to the others. "I'm tired of nearly gagging every time one of you opens his mouth."

Francis did not bother to reply; he was otherwise preoccupied rummaging through a sticky mess of smashed sauce bottles on a nearby shelf in a vain search for something to eat.

"Hey Francis," Louis piped up cheekily from behind him. "You ready to be cheered up?"

"Not by you." Without warning, Francis felt something hard hit him on the back of the head. "Ow! What the fuck!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head as he turned angrily. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he was met with the sight of Louis tearing open a packet of beef jerky. "Where... Where did you get that?"

The former business man did not answer; his mouth was already full of the dry, salted meat. However, he motioned down at the floor, where a second packet of jerky was lying.

"You beautiful son of a bitch..." Francis gushed, scooping up the packet, eagerly ripping it open and popping a whole piece into his mouth in all but a few seconds. He chewed slowly, savouring the glorious taste. "I take back everything I said about you. You're not completely useless."

Louis smiled at the "compliment", although he hoped that Bill and Zoey had nicer things to say when he shared the rest of the jerky with them.

Bill left the bathroom and found Zoey waiting near the front counter of the store. "Good find with those toothbrushes." He frowned when there was no response. "You okay?"

He came up to the former student and followed her gaze; a couple of disembowelled teddy bears sat on the counter, their stuffed insides spilling out over the wooden surface and onto floor.

"I'm so glad I haven't had to shoot any children yet," she said tentatively. "I don't think I'd be able to do it."

"You'll have to do some bad things before this is all over," Bill replied in a grim tone, keeping a weathered eye on the door and windows. "We'll all have to, if we want to stay alive."

"Yeah," Francis boomed suddenly from behind them. "And if all the kids in this city are now fucked-up little monsters, we don't have much of a choice do we?"

The others stared at him, appalled by his choice of words. Zoey seemed particularly enraged. Without thinking, she stepped forward and swung her fist, striking him in the face with all the strength she could muster. Though he hardly flinched, he still looked surprised as hell.

"Those are people you're talking about!" she yelled. "Sick people! Not monsters!"

"Keep it down!" Bill hissed, raising his assault rifle to point it at the door.

A loud, soulless moan rose up in the street outside, followed by a sorrowful chorus that made the hairs on the back of Louis' neck stand on end.

"Get away from the door," he whispered.

Everyone slowly backed away into the dim store; the thumping and banging started on the door moments later. There was no way of knowing how many Infected were out there, but it sounded like a lot. The crunching of broken glass could be heard, and Bill realised that the intruders were climbing in through the shattered windows.

"We'll leave from the back," he hissed urgently.

"Why? We can take 'em," Francis protested quietly, to which the older man furiously shook his head.

"There's no tellin' how many are out there, and we're low on ammo. We're leaving now."

With that, the survivors crept down the aisle to the storeroom. Zoey carefully turned the doorknob, doing her utmost to make as little noise as possible. She felt extremely guilty; her outburst at Francis had brought this danger down on all of them. Bill could hear the sound of footsteps and shuffling throughout the store as the intruders came closer. Once everyone was through the doorway, he quietly closed the door behind them.

"It seems like they were just investigating the noises they heard," Louis observed as they crossed the dark storeroom. "I don't think they know we're here."

"Let's keep it that way," Bill grunted. "If we broadcast ourselves any more than we already have, they'll be on us like bats outta hell."

Francis reached the back door first and recklessly yanked it open all the way, earning a disapproving scowl from Bill, illuminated on his wrinkled face by the light streaming in through the doorway. The biker blatantly ignored this however, the silhouette of his head swaying as he checked the alley outside for danger, before motioning the others through. They cautiously moved down the alleyway back to the street, where Bill carefully checked around the corner. Luckily, there were only a few infected people shambling along the roadside, and they were quite far away. Most of the others must have entered the convenience store.

"Let's go," he said urgently. "Take it slow and easy, and let me handle any stragglers with the knife. We try not to make any noise, but if you gotta shoot, make Goddamned sure the first burst does it."

The party made their way through the streets slowly and carefully. There were no incidents, save for a couple of times where the others waited out of sight while Bill crept forward to dispose of a lone Common Infected in the road. Fortunately, with the element of surprise on his side, the engagements were kept quiet and brief. Francis was chomping at the bit to put them out of their misery with his shotgun, but the glares Bill had given him had prompted him to yield begrudgingly.

"You almost seem like you're enjoying this," Zoey hissed at him while Bill moved to silence another infected woman further up ahead.

Francis did not say anything to that, his face unreadable.

"These are sick people we're killing, Francis," she persisted, undeterred. "How would you feel, knowing someone enjoyed killing you if you were infected?" She looked to Louis for support, but he merely shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

"You're right, I am finding this fun," the biker replied casually. "Better than any video game I've played."

This isn't a video game, Zoey thought to herself, quite disturbed by what she had just heard. Fun? Really? She looked over to see Bill ushering them forward, and glanced at Francis once more before resuming the march. Not for the first time, she found herself wondering about one of the men in whom she had placed her trust for her survival.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Bonus Round: See if you can spot the Zombieland reference.

Thanks for reading this far. Hopefully I can do the game justice as we approach the finale.