Induction

I awoke to the sounds of rifles cracking. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in this new life, but something was different. I realized they were closer than usual, and they sounded muffled. Adam was standing by the roof door looking back at me, fear evident in his eyes. “What is it?” I asked him.

“The shots are coming from the store. Inside the store.”

“Oh my God, we need to go help. Do you think they got in?” I looked over the edge of the roof and found the gate intact. The parking lot was clear. If they hadn’t breached the wall that meant they came from within. One of us had either gone mad, or worse… turned.

Adam had figured it out too. “Sanchez,” he uttered. “That motherfucker must have gotten bit and then lied to us about it.”

“That was over twelve hours ago. The longest I’ve seen anyone go before turning is three hours. That means he could have been zombified for over nine hours.” I felt a twinge of relief that I had slept on the roof but immediately berated myself for being so selfish.

My mind was in overload. So many questions came bubbling to me at once that I had to hold onto the wall for fear of fainting. Could people turn without being bitten? Do some last longer than others before turning? For a moment, thoughts of a vaccine bombarded me, only to be shoved aside with the reality that we still knew nothing about the infection.

“Stay here,” Adam ordered.

“The hell I will!” There was no time to fight. We could hear the screaming now—screams of terror, screams of pain—as our friends were eaten alive. Adam threw open the door, closing it quickly to keep Daphne out of the fray, and we ran down the narrow stairs that led to the back room. Meg stood weaponless at our backs.

As we passed through the double doors to the store, we were met with a scene so horrific it would be seared into my memory for eternity. Tent city looked like a bear had attacked. The tents were ripped apart and bloody viscera lay in heaps around the camp. To my right, a group of children feasted on several residents of the compound. Straight ahead, toward the front of the store, another group of those we had begun to call friends bore down on several terrified soldiers.

They weren’t shooting anymore, no doubt out of ammunition. Instead they stabbed at the infected with bayonets, while others wielded their rifles like bats and swung wildly into the attackers.

It was too late. There was no coming back from this. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and turned to find I was being stalked by Mr. Talbot. I raised my rifle and fired off a burst on automatic. One of the shots caught him in the eye and the bullet exploded his face. As he dropped, I saw a small group huddling in the corner. Margie held Gabby in one arm and used the other to hold a crazed Mrs. Talbot back from running to her husband. I yelled for them to get to the roof.

They ran along the back wall and disappeared behind us into the back room. I heard Mrs. Talbot screaming her husband’s name as Margie dragged her along. It was then, as she yelled Jim, that I realized I never knew their first names. They had just been the Talbots. I made a random mental note to learn her name if we survived. I turned to Meg and demanded she get to the roof.

There was no room for negotiation. She saw it in my face and turned to run. After losing Jake, I would hold on tight to Meg and make sure she lived even if it meant I died in her place.

Sounds of struggle and death were all around. I saw Lieutenant Dan dragged down as a group of undead piled on top of him and began tearing him apart. “No,” I whispered. He’d been our savior, our rock. I couldn’t let him become one of them. Raising my rifle, I took careful aim. Under the pile of writhing bodies, his face was visible. His features contorted with pain as they tore at him. He saw me right before I pulled the trigger. His quivering lips formed the words do it just before I ended his life.

Adam and I advanced further into the store and began picking off the group ahead of us. We created a gap large enough for Seth and four other soldiers to run through. The sound of whimpers from one of the still-intact tents spun me around and I peered in to find the pregnant woman and her husband cowering at the back corner. “Run,” I shouted at them. “Get to the roof.” They wasted no time and fled in the direction of the stairs.

Seth’s group was almost to us when the last soldier was tackled by Sanchez. He screamed in pain as Sanchez bit through his arm. I raised my rifle to shoot, but Seth grabbed me before I could. “There’s no time.” The truth was I hated Sanchez in that moment. All the pent up rage I’d been suppressing for the last week bubbled over and was aimed at him. I wanted to break free and shoot the fucker until he didn’t move, and then shoot him once more for good measure. We had become the main course in this fucked up meal.