Day 04: Lawless

Elise drifted through darkness, floating weightlessly in an inky black void. Slowly she realized she must have passed out for some reason and was not quite awake. Muddled voices could be heard as her eyes blinked behind closed lids and she shook her head as she came to.

The first thing she noticed was a sharp stabbing pain in her head. Reaching up, she felt her hair matted in blood and grimaced as she ran her fingers over the jagged edges of what must certainly be a serious head wound.

In addition, her left arm, shoulder, and side were numb. Moving them slightly, she winced at small twinges of pain here and there, but was relieved to see that they were not broken though it did seem that she had been thrown down on that side recently and with significant force.

Sitting herself up against a wall, her eyes slowly opened and she took in her surroundings. The floor was hard wood with a thick layer of dust on top and from what she could feel, there was quite a bit of shattered safety glass laying around her. In the air she smelled a mix of smoke and ozone, like when an electrical outlet shorts. That and the heavy stink of blood, possibly her own, and something reminiscent of burning hair. All in all, it made it somewhat difficult to breathe, as if she was not quite getting enough oxygen with each breath.

“How is she?” said a voice to her right. Elise turned her head, a little too fast, to see who and instantly regretted it as she felt the throbbing renew with a vengeance.

“Elise, can you hear me? Hey?” Fingers snapped in her face and she tried to concentrate on them as she listened to the familiar voice. “Come on, girl, you with me?” Dominic’s face came into focus and he smiled when he noticed recognition. “Good. At least we know you’re all there.”

“We can’t stay here much longer. We need to go.”

“Relax, man! You almost knocked her head off. Give her a minute ok?” 

“Look, I said I was sorry about that. You’ve seen what it’s like out there. I didn’t know if you were friendly or not, alright?”

“Here, this might help,” Jeremiah said, handing Dominic a wet rag. “That looks bad. We need to get her home.”

The door to the shop opened and all eyes moved to the person charging in. “They’re heading this way,” Troy said, shutting the door and ducking behind one of the shelves.

“That’s what I’m saying. We need to get out of here.”

“Pete, will you shut up?” Dominic growled. “I already told you we’re not moving until I know Elise is fine, but you’re free to leave whenever you want.”

“Besides, that incoming horde is too close. We’re better off inside. We should be safe from them as long as we stay quiet,” Troy added, giving the newcomer a pointed look.

“Fine. Let’s wait for them to pass.” Pete moved away from the windows and took a seat on the floor beside Troy.

“What happened?” Elise asked, finally coming to enough to take a look at the room. Dominic was squatting in front of her, tending to her wounds while a concerned Jeremiah and Troy looked on.

“Pete there hit you with a tire iron when you walked in the door. Your head is busted open but, I think you should be fine. We will need to have Natalie take a look at it once we get back though,” Dominic replied, filling her in on the situation. “Can you stand? How do you feel?”

“Like I was hit in the head with a tire iron,” Elise responded with a grin. “Who’s Pete?” He waved his hand and whispered a greeting as she looked over at him.

“Can you stand?” Dominic repeated, offering his hand to test her balance.

“It’s getting dark, we need to get home before the raiders come,” she said, once she was on her feet. “Where’s my stuff?”

“I have it,” Jeremiah replied, and tapped the bag beside him.

The sound of wailing grew closer and their attention fell on the number of zombies closing in on their location. “They’re coming here!” Pete exclaimed, seeing the pack of putrid people veer off the road and move into the store’s parking lot.

“Hide!” Dominic hissed. Everyone ducked behind what little cover the barren shelves could offer. Troy and Elise lowered themselves beside a checkout counter while Pete sought refuge near the frozen foods fridge in the back of the store. Across from him, Dominic and Jeremiah hid beside an empty display case. Pete watched as Dominic revealed a large carving knife from his boot and twirled it in his hand in anticipation.

“What are we going to do now? Fight them all?” Pete asked, reaching for the closest weapon he could find: a broken mop handle.

“Dom,” Troy called from across the store, “There’s another way out of here. Grab your stuff and let’s go.”

Moving as stealthily as possible, Dominic, Jeremiah and Pete made it over to the checkout counter. “There’s a back door leading from the storage room here,” Troy said. “We can slip out and get around to the cars from there.” 

“Wait! You don’t want to go out that way,” Pete said, grabbing Troy by the arm as he attempted to open the back door.

“Why? The front is blocked by a horde. This is our only means of exit.”

“Just trust me. We are better off fighting the mob out front.”

“What could possibly be worse than an army of undead?” Dominic asked, looking skeptical at Pete’s reasoning. He nodded at Troy who pushed the handle on the fire exit and was instantly greeted by three mangled corpses, arms stretched and shuffling toward him. They hissed and growled loudly, clumsily trotting on their wounded legs. But the zombies weren’t what caught Troy’s attention. Just as he was about to slam the door on the bloodied undead, he spotted it in the corner. Hidden from view, bound by rope and gagged with duct tape were two men, still alive, and staring right at him.

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