Felix moved in right behind him as Bill climbed to his feet and joined Jenni. He wiped his eyes and cheeks with a bandana, then nodded to her. His eyes were still smarting, but he looked ready.
Jenni slid into the darkened interior slowly.
4. The Store
The front of the store was empty except for a line of small shopping carts. Both checkout stands stood empty. Jenni walked cautiously toward the first aisle to the right as Ed and Felix moved to check out the left side of the store. Bill peered behind the checkout stands just to make sure they were truly empty. He held his machete at the ready, but with a swift motion of his head, indicated nothing lingered there.
Jenni lifted the ax a little higher as she headed down the first aisle.
It was loaded up with makeup and all sorts of lotions. A lone bottle of shampoo lay in the middle of the aisle. She scooted it out of her way with the tip of her boot. Bill moved up alongside her, close enough for Jenni to hear his steady breathing. It was comforting. Slowly, she edged around the corner, looking into the aisle that cut down the side of the store. It was empty.
Together, they advance slowly to the next aisle.
Ed and Felix were obviously not finding anything as well, but the stench and low moans told them all quite clearly something was dead in the store and still moving. The aisle packed with baby supplies made Jenni's head swim for a moment, but she shoved any thoughts of Benji out of her mind and set her jaw determinedly.
The aisle was clear.
Bill moved up toward the next aisle.
Another low moan reverberated through the store.
“Is anyone alive in here?” Felix's voice called out.
Another low moan, not a screech, but a moan, answered.
“If you're human and hurt, say something,” Felix went on.
Somewhere, the moan grew into a hungry growl.
“Yep, zombie,” Ed said.
“For sure,” Felix agreed.
Bill froze for a second as they reached the aisle full of photo books and frames. A lot of merchandise lay on the floor, broken and smashed. Slowly, Jenni lifted her eyes upwards. An arm dangled off the shelf over the display of cheap, but cute frames. It was savagely bitten in several places. A low moan came from the shelf.
“Found one,” Bill called out.
The zombie moaned. Its arm twitched.
“I bet he crawled up there to get away,” Jenni whispered.
The zombie, wedged tightly between two metal shelves, wiggled anxiously, knowing human flesh was nearby.
“How do we do this?” Bill looked perplexed.
Jenni motioned to the zombie's foot. “Drag it down and deal with it?”
Bill frowned deeply. “Could go wrong on the way down. Could twist around and land on us or something. ”
The zombie thrashed around still unable to free itself.
“Let's go to the other side,” Jenni suggested.
Bill and Jenni crept around to the other aisle, this one loaded down with all sorts of household supplies. The zombie's other leg and arm were hanging out on this side. It was a young man, probably in his late teens. If he hadn’t such a slim build, he may have never wedged himself between the two metal shelves. He saw them and thrashed even more, growling. Jenni looked around her and spotted a small stepladder used to stock the higher shelves. It was toppled over on its side and she bet the kid had used it to climb up out of the way of a zombie. Grabbing it, she dragged it over in front of the zombie. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see its decaying hand reaching out desperately to get her, but she was out of reach.
“Hold me,” Jenni ordered Bill, then stepped up to the top step.
Bill's big hands grabbed her hips and held her tightly. Jenni was now face to face with the zombie. Its hand waved in front of her eyes, straining desperately to reach her. The kid's face was stained with his tears and blood. She felt sorry for him. He didn't look that much older than Jason. But, regardless of his youth, his time was done on this earth. She was ready to send him on.