At least, as safe as you could get in a zombie apocalypse. The undead didnât do well in the cold, limbs with no blood froze, fell off, slowed them to an essentially inert state.
But when you didnât need to worry about horrifying, rotting, infectious dead people, you had to worry about starving.
When the news broke that the cold slowed them down, just about everyone migrated north. What that meant, though, was basically all of the stores were totally raided.
So here you were, in your fingerless gloves (that used to have fingers) digging through the wreckage of a 7-11 youâd been to before trying to find anything edible enough. Youâd take something even technically edible at this point. The gloves catch on a broken shelf, sending your frustrations over the edge. You rip them off and throw them on the ground.
It was the fifth store you had tried today. You were getting desperate enough to start trying the same places again. In the summer, you could forage in the forest, maybe even catch something in a snare if you were lucky. But right now? The forest was deader than the zombies. Youâd have to rely on something canned pre-apocalypse. Or you could die. That was looking pretty appealing right now.
Your doom-and-gloom thoughts were interrupted by a loud rattle by the door. On instinct, you ducked and pulled your knife from your belt, making yourself small behind a shelf. Sure, winter slowed them down, but that didnât mean a persistent straggler wasnât possible. You couldnât let your guard down.
You were tense, ready for any scenarioâŠuntil you heard voices. Accented voicesâat least to you in mountain-town USA.
âBloody hell, this place is a ghost townâŠâ
They were human, but you still didnât dare poke out. The apocalypse did nasty things to people. Made them compromise their morals for survival. Some people leaned into that more than others and there was no way to know.
âJust see if thereâs anything salvageable, sergeant. Map says this is the last town for a while.â
Sergeant? Military? Last you heard, they were all wiped out in the initial push-back. Not to mention they were passersby, which was incredibly rare. People in general were getting rarer by the day, but most people clung to the safety of the cold, and towns they knew. Unknowns were dangerous. Trained ones, even more so.
As far as you knew, this place didnât have a back door. But, if you could get to the front undetected, you could get the hell out of dodge, belly no less empty, but still very much alive. Youâd take that trade-off.
As they rounded the shelves, you paralleled their movements, snaking around them to stay out of sight. Curiosity was a beast of its own, though, so you risked a peek.
There were three of them, all large men. One was older with mutton chops and a bucket hat, holding a gunâa large oneâand looking around while the others dug through the mess. The other two were younger. One shorter, but no less built, with a Mohawk of all things. The other, very pretty with a Union Jack on his cap.
They all had guns (another rarity these days) and tac vests, clearly military and clearly not American. Definitely wanted to avoid them.
They seemed occupied with their search, which benefited you. They didnât seem overtly concerned with their noise levels either, so it was easier to sneak away. By the time you made it to the front door, you almost felt like it was too easy. Still looking back to make sure they hadnât seen you, you didnât notice the hulking figure in front of you. But boy did he see you.
He grabbed you by the straps of your backpack before slamming you against the brick wall of the building. OhâŠthey left a scout. You realized a little too late. He was the scariest of them all, face fully covered by a skull mask. He had to have been well over 6 feet, and struck an intimidatingly muscular figure. You were so so so incredibly fucked.
âCaptain!â His low voice cut through the silence of the outdoors, making you flinch. You canât remember the last time someone had yelled in your presence. Frankly, itâs been a while since youâd seen anyone at all.
His comrades responded rapidly, flying outside with their guns up ready to defend him. They deflated at the sight of you, whichâŠwas sort of offensive. Sure, you probably didnât look as intimidating as them, what with no gun, and you were clearly outnumbered, but still. They didnât know what you could do.
âWell, what do we have âere, Ghost?â Mutton chopsâthe captain?âasks.
Your brows furrow, âghostâŠ?â You canât help but whispering inquisitively.
His gaze turns back on you, âgot a problem?â
âNo!â You speak louder, head shaking, âno problemâŠjustâŠghost?â
The one with a Mohawk snorts before Pretty Boy stomps on his foot.
Youâre confused at the dynamic here. Are you in danger? You canât tell. Ghost still has you pinned, but they all seem very relaxed and Mohawk even seems to find humor in the situation.
âAreâŠyou gonna kill me?â You were always told that speaking your mind is best.
The captain lowers his weapon fully, hands coming to wrap around the front straps of his vest before rocking on his heels and smirking a little. You try to ignore the way it crinkles his eyes and how that makes you feel. âNo, sweetâeart, weâre not that type of folk. Just needed to make certain you werenât a threat.â
Thereâs silence for a moment. Your gaze sweeps from the captain to Ghosts hands, still wrapped around your backpack straps and pinning you to the wall, before back to the captain in a silent plea.
âAlrighâ, Ghost, release.â He lets you go, dropping you the inch he had you raised back to the ground, before backing up.
You fix your jacket and bag and clear your throat, wiping your hands down the front of your shirt. âWellâŠgentlemenâŠif thatâs allâŠâ you move to leave before the captain jerks you back by the hook on the back of your bag.
This is getting old quick.
âWhat!â You flip to face him, exasperated and no longer caring, âwhat could I possibly doââ you stop at the sight of a granola bar in his outstretched hand. You look down at it and then back at him. Was he really offering this to you? Food was so scarce and kind people even scarcer. What did he want in return?
Before you could ask or just grab it and run, the sound of a motorcycle revving in the distance interrupted your thoughts.
You flinch hard, looking the direction it came before backtracking rapidly. âShit. Shit, shitââ
Theyâre confused but youâd be damned if you had another run in with him. Youâre about to take off when you think about them. Clearly unfamiliar with the territory and kind enough to offer you food (âŠand not kill you). The least you could do is save them from this fate.
So, you grab Pretty Boyâs bicep and tug him along with a âcome with me!â
âHey, wait a secondââ Ghost is gripping his gun and taking a defensive step forward, but you donât have time for his suspicion.
Youâre still holding Prettyâs bicep when you swoop past Mohawk and grab him too, âif you want to die thatâs fine by me!â The two in your hold are sharing a glance over your head but seem inclined to listen. You donât spare a look to see if the other two are following, if not, itâs their funeral.
Youâre pretty sure the gas station has a secondary building around back for overstock and snow supplies. Last you checked all the food was gone, but hopefully the door was still in tact. You had to be out of sight before they got here.
The sounds of motorcycles were getting closer, and your window was closing. Luckily, you could see the shed still standing with a door. You abandon the hold on the boys in favor of tugging the latch and opening the door to the shed. Looking behind you, the other two ended up following, both seeming more suspicious of you than they had when you were pressed to a wall. There wasnât time to explain, though, so you just ushered them in before following and closing the door.
It was about a quarter of the size of the actual station, with some closets and nooks and crannies, but they stayed huddled by the entryway, reluctant to venture further into the dark unknown.
You turn to face them, feeling claustrophobic at the way they are towering around you. You take off your backpack, shoving it into the chest in front of you. âHold this.â
You start to rummage through before Ghost interrupts, âare you going to explain anything?â
Your head whips up in the dark, âshh!â You pull out a flashlight and flick it on, zipping your bag up and flinging it onto your back.
You break out of the circle, giving the room a glance over to make sure no zombies had made this their hibernation home. When youâre certain itâs clear, you turn back around to answer.
âListen, thereâs only one group in town that have motorcycles and you donât want to cross their path.â
They share a dubious look with one another before shouldering their guns higher. âI think weâd be set, love.â
You scoff, âyouâre not the only ones with guns. And from the looks of it, youâre a lot nicer than they are.â
âWeâre only nice to people who look on the verge of starving. Itâs not like you pose much of a threat.â Ghost again.
Theyâre not getting it. âJust!âtrust me. Youâre passing through, right? Not from around here?â Youâre looking at each of them in the eye, trying to impress upon them how serious you are. âThese guys rolled up at the very start. People were making a community here. With walls and laws, trying to make something of this mess. They tore it all to shreds. Pretended to join the community and then opened the gates to a bunch of undead. The things that they didââ you take a breath and look away before continuing, âtheyâre not good, okay? If they saw the gear yâallâre sporting, theyâd never let you walk away.â
You can only hope you got through to them because the motorcycles are here. You turn off the flashlight and punch through their group again to peek out a gap in the door. Please donât stop here, please donât stop here, pleaseâ
They park the bikes in front of the 7-11.
âAlright! Split up, see if this fine establishment has what weâre lookinâ for!â His southern drawl makes you shudder, thinking back to how callous he was in the wake of the destruction he caused.
âHis name is Graves.â You whisper, not taking your eyes off of him. âWas U.S. military before all of thisâŠdeserted when the shit hit the fan.â
They donât ask how you know so much about him.
Suddenly you jerk back with a hissed âshit!â
Suddenly youâre turning around and pushing on their chests to get them to move. âGo, go, go! Someone is coming.â
You had seen plenty of hiding places when you were checking for undead, you just had to hope they wouldnât check too thoroughly.
You all scrambled for a place to hide, silently directing them to places you had spotted. Everyone squeezed into gaps or took closets, and then it was just you, standing in the middle of the room, spinning helplessly. Footsteps approached from outside, about to reach the door, when someone stuck their hand out and jerked you into their spot.
Ghost squeezed you into the cabinet he was in, chest pressing to yours, before shutting the door and plunging you into darkness.
âIââ you try to whisper, but he just brings his hand up to cover your mouth as the door to the shed creaks open.
Your breathing picks up as someone enters to room, sweeping a flashlight back and forth, momentarily illuminating the crack in the cabinet. You can hear his boots scrape the floor and the click of a gun as he leisurely makes his way deeper into the room.
Eventually he stops in front of your cabinet. Your eye flickers from the crack to Ghostâs eyes. His gun is nuzzled between the two of you. He brings his finger up to his lips before reaching down to your thigh holster for your knife, not yet pulling it out, just hovering with his hand pressed against your thigh and waiting for the door to open.
âWalkowski!â You hear Graves yell from the main building. The man retracts his hand from the handle of the cabinet and runs back to his master.
Ghost drops both of his hands from you and you finally feel like you can breathe again.
You all give it a moment before emerging from your hiding spots. You approach the door that is still ajar, looking out to find no one in sight.
You look over your shoulder and gesture for them to follow before shooting out and jogging for the back of the gas station.
As you all take refuge behind the back wall, Graves finally re-emerges with his crew.
âAny clues on our little deflector?â He asks his goons as they flood back to him.
âNot sure, sir, but we did find this.â One of them holds up two glovesâyour gloves.
Graves chuckles and takes them from his hands. âWell Iâll be!â He holds them up and waves them at his other comrades, âlooks like weâre on the right track, boys!â
Your head drops, eyes squeezing shut at your stupidity. A barely audible fuck leaves you. The boys share a look, starting to put some dots together.
You all stay silent as they all get back on their bikes and start up the road. The tension only minimally leaves your shoulders, you honestly look on the verge of tears as you stand.
âWellâŠit was nice meeting you. Thanks for the granola bar. If youâre trying to get out of town youâre going to want to follow the highway so you donât get stuck in a snowed-out overpass.â You point in the direction of a large road, not turning around to face them before staring the opposite direction Graves went.
âCome with us.â Ghost stops you before even fully considering what heâs saying. He spares a look at John, forgetting chain of command for a moment. All heâs thinking about is that he knows what itâs like to be running from something. To be scared. But John doesnât protest, in fact they all look to be in agreement.
That does get you to turn back. âWhat?â You say incredulously.
âWe could use a guide.â He offers.
âIâmââ you look around like youâd find someone to protest, âIâm not just dropping everything I have here forâŠfor some strangers I met 30 minutes agoâŠâ despite your arguments, you look contemplative.
âEverything you have here? Like what? The lack of food and a sociopath on your ass?â Tough love it is.
You scoff and shake your head. Of course they caught that. Your brain tells you that thereâs no argument, that obviously you canât go with them. ButâŠbutâŠ
To tell the truth, you had nothing here. Just the memory of what was before Graves took everything. He was right. You were starving and terrified Graves would find you everyday. You were sick of watching your own back, sick of having no one to talk to, and sick of Graves looming over you.
You open and close your mouth a couple of times. ââŠokay.â
Youâre not sure how, but felt like you had just irreparably changed something.
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