The First Days (As the World Dies 1)

Ralph swept his gaze over the few buildings that made up his town and motioned it was clear. One by one, they passed into the small grocery store through the rotating door. Inside, it was in shambles. Dark brown blood smears were everywhere. Bits of flesh were rotting on the floor.

Katie coughed and covered her mouth with her hand. Travis pulled a bandanna from a stand near a sunglass rack and tied it around her head, making sure it covered her mouth and nose loosely. He then did the same for himself. Bill and Ralph just seemed to deal with it. Katie could still smell the stench, but not as strongly. Mostly she smelled the fresh, starchy smell of brand new cloth.

Grabbing a cart, she started to walk down one of the four narrow aisles.

There were lots of cans and boxes on the floor, but there was still a lot of stuff crammed on the shelves. She looked for the medicinal/hygiene area and began to load up. All sorts of vitamins, cold and flu remedies, allergy medicine, and cough medicine all went into her cart. The men busied themselves sorting through the food items.

It was still cold in the store, the air conditioner whirring away. How long the power grid would stay up was anyone's guess. They were all surprised it had lasted this long. She started shoving shampoos, deodorant and all sorts of hygiene items into the cart. It filled up pretty quickly. She returned to the front of the door, trying not to look at a small gray hand tucked under the edge of the front counter, and took another cart.

It was about ten minutes later she heard a noise coming from the back office. She motioned to Travis and he crept up beside her. She motioned to the door and took a stance that showed she was ready to shoot. Ralph had said the store was clear, but they couldn't take a chance.

Travis leaned forward, turned the knob, and shoved the door open. It was the manager's office and two little black and white TV sets were on. The office looked empty. They both looked at each other and shrugged.

Then they head the whispering. "Not fast…enough…not fast…enough… not fast…enough…"

Both of them slid into the office, nearly filling the narrow space with their presence. Drawing close to the desk, Katie and Travis both looked over.

They saw the tip of a woman's pink shoe.

"Hello?" Katie's voice cracked slightly.

"Not fast…enough…not fast…enough…"

A woman's pale face drew out of the shadow's long enough to gaze up at them then she retreated back under the desk.

"Not fast…enough…not fast…enough…"

Katie moved slightly to peer further under the desk and she could see the woman's eyes glinting with the light from the twin TVs. She looked over and saw that the security videotape was on. It showed what had happened on that horrible first day. It would play a scene, then rewind. Katie saw the little red light of the remote control glowing under the desk. The woman had it clutched in her hand.

Looking back at the screen, she saw the security camera point of view of the entire store. A man was lying on the floor, having a violent fit. People were gathered all around him. Then he stilled. And even though she knew it was coming, when he sat up and grabbed the nearest person and bit into him, Katie jumped. Some people ran as others just stood and gaped. The man stood up after wresting a huge chunk of flesh from his first victim.

A woman turned and ran. Behind her, a boy turned and followed. They were almost to the back of the store and out of view when the first zombie grabbed the boy.

The VCR rewound.

"…not fast…enough…" the voice whispered from under the desk.

Travis looked at Katie and then back at the screen. "Oh, God. "

Katie took a deep breath. "Ralph! We found a survivor!"

The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wondered if it was true. For from beneath the desk came a voice devoid of life whispering "Not…fast…enough…"

2. The Abyss

"…not fast…enough…not fast…enough…"

Katie wedged past Travis and moved so she could kneel down and see the woman hunkered under the desk.

The young woman flinched when she saw Katie and turned her head to one side, her body quivering. She kept one eye firmly on the TV sets as she tried to draw her legs under the desk.

"C'mon," Katie said.

"…not fast…enough…" she said again.

One hand was curled around the remote

control. The other hand was thrown up against the side of the desk. She was a young woman who now looked very old. Her skin was stretched tight and taunt over her facial features, her arms and legs emaciated. She reeked of urine and shit and Katie could see she was sitting in a nest of her own filth.