Free The Dead Walk The Earth II by Luke Duffy Page B

months to rely on all her senses and not to trust any of them on their own. Until she could see, hear, smell, and feel that the place was clear she would assume that the infected were there, waiting for them in the darkness.
    They reached the end of the first fallen aisle and entered into the main walkway that split the warehouse in two. From what she could tell, they were in a wide channel that ran the length of the building and dissected the storage area with smaller aisles branching off to the left and right at ninety degree angles. In her mind’s eye, she imagined forklift trucks moving up and down the central passage as they collected pallets of stock from the rows of steel shelving. Behind her, she saw an area of wall that looked much lighter than the rest of the interior and she made the assumption that it was the large loading bay doors where the trucks would wait to be loaded by the forklifts. A thin shard of light that managed to penetrate through the bottom confirmed her assumption.
    Their intention was to clear the building systematically, beginning at one end and making their way along the rows. She stepped back to check along the aisle to her right and Christopher followed closely. His eyes never left her dark silhouette and wherever she went, no matter if it was a single step to the side, he stayed in extremely close proximity.
    Starting at the bay doors, they slowly made their way down the centre of the storage area. The racks of burnt and crumbling goods towered high up towards the ceiling and the light crunches of charred debris beneath their feet seemed to echo on for an eternity. The oppressive darkness and eerie silence were playing havoc with their nerves and they needed to stop regularly to allow their senses to clear.
    The faint ping of the drips continued to resonate from somewhere deep within the dark warehouse. They resounded at five second intervals and Tina found herself relying on their frequency as a way of preventing her from losing her nerve. It was something for her to cling on to and so far, it seemed to be working.
    Each aisle gaped out at them like a terrifying cave holding an untold number of horrors that lurked within their dark recesses. It was virtually impossible to see into them and Tina needed to rely on each of her senses to judge if they were clear. She watched intently as they passed by and scrutinised the wall of blackness that greeted them from between each of the high stacks of shelving.
    She paused and cocked her head. She was sure that she had heard something other than the light crunch of their footsteps and the steady drip. Before she was able to identify the sound, her brother ploughed into the back of her. He had not noticed that she had stopped and as they collided, the scream of terror that he had been holding back for the previous fifteen minutes erupted from his mouth.
    Tina froze as the cry shattered the silence and thundered around within the confines of the spacious room. Her blood solidified within her veins as she corrected her stance to prevent herself from falling over after her brother’s colossal weight had knocked her off balance. She remained immobilised for a moment, rooted to the spot with every muscle tensed and all her nerve endings virtually protruding from her flesh. She listened intently as she held the crowbar aloft, ready to swing at anything that came towards her from out of the sinister curtain of blackness enveloping them.
    As the echoes of Christopher’s squeal subsided, the smothering silence returned. She straightened herself and turned to face him. His dark bulky shape loomed over her, but despite his immense size, he appeared to her like a little child. Her rage was at the point of bubbling over and her hands shook as she fought hard against the urge to hit him.
    She was about to say something to him but then stopped as she detected something moving close by. She sensed it more than anything else. She reached out and grabbed her brother