Chapter 2

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and found herself on the bare floor, a few toys scattered around her. She propped herself up on her elbows and her head spun. She looked around, wondering where she was and how she got there. Memories of the night before came rushing back to her. The zombies, the running, her aunt, the strangers and the pain that shot through her leg. She looked down at her leg, seeing stitches and dried-up blood where the shard once was.

She moved her leg a bit and she felt some pain but it was nothing compared to the pain she had felt the day before. Physical and emotional. She felt sick knowing her aunt had become one of those monsters. Cursed to limp around with the sole aim of killing and spreading the virus in them.

She heard footsteps coming toward her and she lay back down out of fear. She remembered the strangers that saved her. She only saw their faces for a split second before she lost consciousness. The person stopped and stood in front of her, watching her. It made her nervous and uncomfortable.

'Get up, I know you're awake,' a deep female voice said but she didn't move. 'I don't have time for this.' She pulled her up by the arm and Lucy quickly opened her eyes and found her footing. She got scared and embarrassed. Her parents always fell for the same trick.

She looked up from the ground and to the lady who stood about three inches above her. She had a frown on her face. A thin eyebrow was raised over one of her dark-brown eyes and her long brown hair covered the other and was cut just below her chin. The rest of her hair was held back in a low ponytail. She was slim and looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She wore ripped high-waist jeans and a yellow crop top.

'We need to get as many supplies as we can before any zombies come.' She let go of her hand and handed her an empty shopping basket. 'Make yourself useful.' With that, she turned around and picked up a half-full shopping basket from the ground. 'Follow me.'

Lucy stood frozen. No one had ever been that harsh to her. As the only child, she was used to being pampered and treated like an egg. The initial shock left and she quickly followed her, knowing better than to delay the obviously annoyed lady. Her leg stung as she walked but she thought better than to complain, keeping a reasonable distance from her.

She looked around, seeing different kinds of soaps and cleaning agents littered on the floor. She quickly realised they were in a supermarket. It was much bigger than the one in her town but it looked like it had seen better days. The lights were flickering. Some bottles of liquid soap had spilt, creating a mess. Most of the shelves were empty and some had fallen over.

The lady picked a bottle of soap that was still intact from the floor, placing it in her basket. They got to a section that had bottled water and she picked two packs, stacking them in Lucy's basket. They both walked around in silence, picking up supplies.

'Watch your step,' the lady said, stepping around a zombie on the ground with a large hole in its head. Lucy held her breath, seeing its characteristic pale body and white rolled-back eyes. She avoided stepping on it as much as she could, somewhat afraid it would suddenly come to life and jump on them.

'Miss?' Lucy finally found the courage to speak.

'The name's Helena,' she said, not sparing her a glance. Lucy gulped.

'What happened here?'

'You didn't think your town was the only place destroyed by zombies, did you?'

'Oh…' her voice trailed off. She shuddered at the thought of there being more of those monsters. She wondered what had happened to the people that left her town when the zombies came. She wondered if they too had been caught and turned.

They turned to another section of the supermarket near the deep freezers. The glass was broken and the foul smell of rotting meat filled the air. The zombies in that section were about five, lying on the ground in the same manner as the previous one.

Lucy stepped around them, wincing in pain as she shifted her weight on her bad leg. 'Were you the one that stitched me up?'

'That was Brad,' she replied after a second.

'Brad? He was the one that saved me yesterday?' She asked, trying to remember what her saviour looked like.

'No, that was Dave.' Lucy frowned.

'How many of you are here?' Helena sighed, seeming annoyed.

'Let's save the chit-chat for later,' she said, coldly and turned her head to a broken shelf. 'Grab those.' Lucy looked at where she was motioning and her blood ran cold.

'Knives?' Helena noticed the fear in her voice and turned to her, an unusual smirk on her face.

'Well, they don't sell guns or bullets at a supermarket.' Lucy's eyes widened at her and her smirk dissolved into a little smile. 'Relax, they're for the zombies and they're the only weapons we can find here.'

Lucy became more at ease when her cold demeanour disappeared. She inched closer to the large knives and grabbed a few.

'That's alright,' she said, then she looked at her wristwatch. 'Time's almost up,' she murmured and headed to the front doors of the supermarket with Lucy following behind.

'You're up!' a lady happily shrieked, walking up to Lucy once they arrived at the front doors. She had a huge smile plastered on her dark face. She was slim and had full short black hair with dark-brown eyes to complement them. She didn't look a day over twenty-seven. 'How are you feeling, dear?'

Lucy was taken aback by her concern. She was like the total opposite of Helena. She was welcoming and friendly. A breath of fresh air.

'I'm not too bad, thank you.' She smiled and the lady smiled even wider.

'That's great. I'm Ruby, what's your name?' Lucy paused for a short while, her aunt's face flashing before her eyes, and her face softened.

'Lucy.'

'Nice to meet you, Lucy. Let me introduce you to the gang.' She took Lucy's hand and pulled her away. Helena rolled her eyes and went the other way.

'There are five of us, plus you, making six,' Ruby said, enthusiastically. 'Three guys, and finally, three gals.' She winked at Lucy.

She led her to a tall fat man. He had full lips and his bald head shone in the flickering light. He wore red shorts and a white top with 'The Man' printed on it. He had a huge potbelly and he smiled at her, showing a set of brown teeth with a missing canine. He looked like he was in his forties.

'This is Brad,' Ruby said, smiling.

'How're you doing girl?' He extended his hand for a shake and she shook it, smiling back at him.

'I'm good. Thanks for stitching me up.' The feeling of being with strangers left her temporarily and she started feeling a bit comfortable.

'No biggie.'

'Brad drives most of the time; excellent racer but a little shaky in fighting,' Ruby said from behind her. 'Big glutton, buy him a burger and he's your best friend,' she joked and Brad turned to her, feigning hurt.

'Hey!' She laughed and dragged Lucy away.

'Now, where is Tyler?' Ruby looked around. Just a few feet away, Lucy caught sight of a man, instantly recognising him. He walked over to Helena and wrapped his hand around her waist, looking through her shopping basket.

'We don't have enough food yet,' he said and turned around, his hand still on her waist. 'Brad! Load what we've got in the sienna and the rest, search for more. We leave in fifteen minutes.' Brad immediately got to work.

'Well, it's kind of hard finding good things in this wreck.' Ruby motioned around her, still smiling. It was like her smile was tattooed on her face. He ignored her and set his eyes on Lucy. 'Meet our team captain, Dave.' Ruby introduced him and Lucy took a step forward.

'Thanks for saving my life earlier,' she sheepishly said and he smiled at her.

'I'm sure I won't regret it' —he looked approvingly at her shopping basket— 'glad to see you're working.' He finally let go of Helena and the group dispersed, leaving what they had packed on the floor for Brad.

Lucy picked up an empty basket near a shelf and began looking around for useful items. She wracked her brain for what to look for. She remembered the smell of rotting food and concluded that processed food was more desirable.

She loaded her basket with cereal, packets of sugar and milk, making sure not to stray too far from the entrance so she wouldn't miss her way. She heard a shuffling sound from behind her and quickly spun around.

She scanned her surroundings for who or what could have made that sound but didn't see anyone.

'Hello?' Her voice was a bit shaky, the feeling of being open and vulnerable plaguing her. She got no response which made her breathe a sigh of relief. She turned back only to come face to chest with a figure.

She jumped back with a squeal and looked up to see icy blue eyes staring down at her. The initial shock left her and was replaced by entrancement.

He had black neck-length hair tied back in a low ponytail and a few strands fell on his face, just above his broad jawline. He blinked slowly, a look of boredom on his face.

'T… Tyler?' she mumbled, still mesmerised by his eyes. His eyebrows came down in a small frown.

'You're in my way,' he said, his voice deep and callous.

'Oh…' she awkwardly moved away, her eyes finally leaving his. He put his full shopping basket in front of him and passed by the small space between her and the next shelf. 'Hi, I'm—'

'Doesn't matter,' he dismissively said. 'You won't last long anyway.' Her eyebrows went up and her lips parted in shock and hurt. Her fingers then curled into a fist as anger built up inside of her.

'Hey! What's your problem?' He kept on walking, paying no attention to her. 'Don't ignore me,' she said, hurt mixing with anger. Just when she started feeling a little comfortable with the rest of the gang, he came and spoilt everything.

He came to a sudden halt which shocked her a little but she crossed her arms and put on a brave face. 'I'm going to survive,' she said, knowing she was trying to convince herself too. Just the night before, she was ready to throw her life away when all hope seemed to be lost. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't even be having that conversation with him in the first place.

'Keep quiet,' he said in a hushed tone. Her shoulders dropped in defeat and she frowned at him.

'You really are a —' in the blink of an eye, his hand was over her mouth and he pulled her down as he quietly set his basket to the ground. She tried to pull his hand away, but it didn't budge. She struggled against him and breathed in deeply to let out a scream and then she heard an all too familiar snarling sound.

Her eyes went wide and her blood ran cold. Tyler let go of her once he saw she had calmed down and motioned for her to follow him. They quietly crawled to the end of the shelf. He hid behind the shelf on the left and she hid behind the one on the right just as a zombie limped into the aisle they were in.

Lucy held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut. The both of them were dead silent while the snarls from the zombie could be heard down the aisle. It paused for a few seconds, facing the corridor then began walking towards them.

Lucy's eyes snapped open and her chest heaved as she struggled to control her breathing. Tyler reached under his grey T-shirt and placed his hands on the grip of a handgun nestled at the back of his jeans, his breathing controlled.

The zombie's slow steps became louder the closer it got and Tyler slowly pulled the handgun out and placed it on his chest. Its steps halted just before it reached halfway down the aisle. It waited a short while, its snarls a low hum, and then it began to retreat.

Lucy's breathing calmed and she slowly sighed in relief. She turned her head toward Tyler and saw him looking down the corridor, his fingers still wrapped firmly around the grip of his gun. He then turned to her, briefly making eye contact before he pointed the gun toward her and pulled the trigger.

Her breath caught in her throat and she froze completely. The loud bang made as the bullet got fired resounded in her ears and the world seemed to slow down. Then the sound of a body hitting the ground behind her brought her out of her daze and she slowly turned around to see the broken skull of a zombie. Its brain was halfway out and its tongue hung loosely from its blood-stained mouth.

She scrambled away from it toward Tyler, her face distorted in disgust and fear. The zombie on the aisle turned back and saw her. It opened its mouth and let out a shriek and the shrieks from at least a dozen other zombies followed it.

Tyler cursed under his breath. He quickly stood up and pulled Lucy up with him by the arm.

'Run,' he said, and as if on cue, the zombie began advancing toward them in fast jogs with a few zombies appearing behind it. Tyler took off with Lucy close behind. They got closer to the back exit only to see about five zombies in their path.

Tyler levelled his gun to shoot through them only for a shot to come from beside them and Helena came into view.

'Come on!' An excited person from a little ahead of them said and the three other zombies were taken out in an instant. Ruby turned back with her signature smile on her face. They heard a loud thud from someone falling behind them and they turned back to see Dave aiming his gun at another zombie half-running toward them.

'Go, go, go!' he ordered and they ran out the exit. He finished off his zombie and ran after them but a few dozen zombies were already making their way toward them from outside. They began shooting at them and paving a way for themselves to the side of the building where they could hear the tyres of the sienna rolling to a stop.

Lucy ran in their midst, fear clouding her mind. All around her were people with guns, shooting at the monsters around them and all she could do was watch. Her feet became wobbly and her breathing was hard. Her eardrums were ringing from the loud noises and she became disoriented.

She tripped on her feet, and just before she could fall face-first to the ground, an arm wrapped around her, steadying her. She looked up and saw Ruby smiling down at her.

'Hold on a little more dear,' she said. Lucy nodded and the both of them ran together to the sienna, arriving last. Helena reached out her hand to Lucy and pulled her into the sienna in an all too familiar manner.

Dave rolled the door shut and Brad stepped on the gas. The sienna roared and sped away from the few remaining zombies running after them.