This is the twelfth chapter of the zombie serial The Dead Life. You can learn more about the story over at the project hub. This series originally ran on Haunted MTL but is being edited and updated in the lead-up to new installments to continue the story.
You can read the prior chapter here.
Day 17
The drive to Walman’s Pharmacy was quiet, uneventful, and eerie. The street was littered with debris and a couple of abandoned cars, but no ghouls appeared in the immediate area. Whatever instincts motivated the ghouls to wander in and out of a given area Dani had no clue about, but she was thankful it had worked in the supply run’s favor. Looking down Lyon Avenue, past the highway that served as the main street through Emmett, she could make out movement – distant idle wanderings. As long as she and the guys kept the noise low and got in and out, then there wouldn’t be a need to worry about the living dead, at least on the street.
The turn into the parking lot of the pharmacy was cut off by two cars that had collided. Jimmy braked and looked it over. The small strip mall looked abandoned, and none of the businesses appeared to have any movement within. As for the pharmacy, it faced the highway, so there was no telling what the condition was within.
“Maybe we can squeeze in beside them?”
Edgar shook his head. “Just go over the fucking curb, man.”
Jimmy thought about it for a second. “Let’s just try around the corner.”
Jimmy stepped off the brake, and the car crept forward.
Dani leaned over to the middle of the space between the front seats, eyes scanning the area. “I don’t think we should move any closer to Orange than we are now. I see some of those things down the road ahead. Who knows how many may be on the main street here that we cannot see.”
“Do you want to get out and move the cars?” Edgar snorted.
“No, I think we should just park right here. Put some distance between us and the shop if anything goes wrong.”
Jimmy parked the car. The brakes squealed, and Dani winced. They’d need to find something quieter down the line.
“Good idea. We won’t be stuck in a parking lot if shit goes south.”
Edgar opened the passenger door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Alright. Let’s get going.”
Dani and Jimmy hopped out and grabbed some weapons from the back seat. Jimmy had found a heavy wrench in a storage unit. He handed Edgar an aluminum bat. Dani had grabbed an old fireplace poker and had her gun tucked into an inner pocket of her jacket. She didn’t want to risk calling anything over with a gun if she could help it. Dani had her screwdriver, too. Jimmy had picked up a dulled army knife from one of the units and kept it tucked into his belt.
The trio stepped away from the car and onto the grassy divider between the sidewalk and the parking lot. It had already been a little over two weeks without consistent water, and the lawn had rapidly dried up. Emmett sat in Jacinto County, a desert, technically. Dead grass was everywhere. Dani heard crunching with each step they took.
Water was going to be something important to consider for the long term, she thought. She’d already begun collecting buckets and basins from around the units for a rain catch, but that still depended on the rain. She didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Not anymore.
Dani and Jimmy were already a few feet from the smashed-in front door of the pharmacy when they noticed Edgar had not kept up with them. He was hard to miss, given his size.
They saw Edgar staring into a car that was parked in the lot. The window remained rolled up, but the movement inside the car seemed loud given how quiet the streets were. Dani saw thrashing through dirty windows.
Jimmy called back, “Edgar, man, what’s up?”
Edgar stood near the car, watching a ghoul slap at the driver’s side window; it rattled with each strike.
Edgar looked over to Jimmy and Dani, still standing right at the driver’s side door. The ghoul continued to thrash.
“I think she went to my high school…” His voice started loud but trailed off at the end of the implication.
Dani glanced over at Jimmy. His brow furrowed, and he walked over to Edgar. She stood near the entrance, peering around, wary of any other motion. Nothing inside, yet.
The entrance consisted of three doors: the one-way entry, the one-way exit, and a doorway that was used for the shopping carts. The glass across all three doors had been shattered, and well-trod shards littered the tiled entryway inside. This place had been hit before, she reasoned. Probably during the initial panic when everyone knew shit had hit the wall.
Daylight was still bright enough that the interior was illuminated, but just barely. She saw no movement inside, but that didn’t mean the pharmacy was empty. She also saw empty shelves and began to worry.
It’d be risky. Anything was risky anymore.
…
Jimmy had stepped up to Edgar and the parked car.
“You good, man?”
Edgar sighed and looked back at Jimmy. Edgar shrugged.
“I mean, it’s hard to tell because that was a few years ago and she’s dead, but… yeah. I fucked her once, and now she’s just… dead, but not. What the fuck.”
Jimmy peered inside the car. The ghoul was at one point a blonde woman with delicate features. Now her skin was leathery and sliding off in places, discolored with rot and moisture from the inside of the car, a small hatchback. He glanced down and noticed a pool of gunk had been seeping into the fabric of the seat, and the floorboards were slick with something that probably smelled foul. He gagged, almost smelling it here in the crisp January air.
She was held in place by a belt, but her repeated motions ended up dragging the fabric deep enough into her flesh that her torso seemed to have deep, bloody grooves that bled through her worn clothes. She had died wearing a black tank top with sparkling stones that had spelled something at one point, now dulled by rot and grime. Some of the fake stones had rubbed off the shirt from the belt. A large chunk of her right arm seemed to be missing near the elbow.
As near as Jimmy could figure, it was a bite. Black putrescence ringed a crater of gooey, wiry flesh.
Jimmy looked through the rest of the car. It wasn’t packed with supplies or any sign of an escape attempt. There was a bag in the passenger’s seat. It was unclear what was in it. She must have been attacked early on, maybe just after New Year’s. He wondered what the scene had been like when it happened.
The ghoulish moaning continued as the woman rocked in her seat. But motion from the back seat, a subtle motion, drew Jimmy’s eyes.
In the back, he saw a baby seat, stained brown, and a thin, discolored blanket draped over it. The seat looked like it had been pried from where it was meant to be, and it had fallen to its side. A tiny, desiccated hand peeked out from under the blanket and twitched slightly.
At least what seemed to be left of a hand.
“Jesus Christ,” he whispered.
Edgar looked over at him and followed his gaze.
“Fuck.”
The two men stood in silence. What could be done? Jimmy put a hand on Edgar’s shoulder and tilted his head toward the store. It was time to move.
“Should we… I dunno. Handle them?”
Jimmy shook his head. “They’re… fine where they’re at. We need to get the stuff and get out of here.”
Edgar looked at his friend, Jimmy thought he looked a little more tired than usual – almost pained.
“But leave her like that, man? She deserves better…”
“Everyone did. Everyone.”
Edgar trudged away from the car. Jimmy took a position just behind him.
…
Dani watched the men approach. Edgar’s eyes were wide and red, as though he were holding back tears. Jimmy glanced back at the car, shook his head, and locked his eyes on the back of Edgar’s shaved head.
“What was it?” she asked.
Edgar shrugged. “Thought I knew her… in the car.”
Jimmy said nothing.
Edgar stepped up to the entrance of the pharmacy, swinging the baseball bat over his shoulder.
“It’s not us. Let’s keep that up,” he said.
And that was that.
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