Free Wormwood Dawn (Episode VI) by Edward Crae

brother.
    He was “comfort company”.
    “I’ve never even heard of some of this shit,” Jake said. “It’s all got labels, like I’m supposed to know what it is, but nope.”
    “Some of it’s probably foreign,” Toni said. “Or specific to southern Indiana and the South.”
    “Regional shit,” Jake said off handedly. “Riiiiight.”
    “You ever heard of Shooby-Doos?” she asked.
    Jake stopped, rolling his eyes up. “Nope,” he said.
    “Ghetto gum,” Toni said. “You don’t even unwrap it; you just shove the whole thing in your mouth.”
    “Eww,” Jake said. “You grew up in the ghetto?”
    “No,” she said. “But I went to middle school in the ghetto. Integration, you know?”
    “Yeah,” Jake said. “Putting kids from all over town in equally diverse schools. Nothin’ like forcing people to get along.”
    Toni chuckled. He had a point. “We got along just fine back then,” she said. “But yeah, maybe that was just because we were supposed to. We all did what we were told back then.”
    “I never did,” he said, stuffing his mouth with candy. “Fuchhh thhhat ffffittt.”
    Toni wagged a finger at him, and walked behind the counter to look at the herbs stored there. There were hundreds of large jars containing herbs of all types; most of it hippie crap and herbal teas. She ignored them after seeing there was nothing really useful, walking through the beaded door that led into the back.
    There on the floor, lying against the wall, was a corpse. It was a woman, bloated and rotting, wearing a dirty sundress. Her mouth and eyes were open, and her head was leaned to the side. Toni crouched down to examine her, seeing that she had been dead for quite a while. But, as she neared, the corpse began to moan.
    Toni backed away and drew her knife just as the corpse turned its face toward her. Though she shouldn’t have been surprised, or afraid, her heart began to race. The corpse attempted to stand, moaning and grunting with the effort. Toni stepped forward and plunged her knife into the top of its head, finishing it off for good. Its lifeless body fell face down on the floor, black, rotting blood leaking from its skull.
    Jake popped his head through the beaded curtain. “You alright?”
    Toni wiped her knife off on the sundress. “Yeah,” she said. “But we have to watch ourselves around the bodies we see. They’re not staying dead like they’re supposed to.”
    “Well,” Jake said. “Maybe they just don’t know that.”
    “Somebody should tell them,” Toni said, putting her knife back in its sheath.
    They returned to the storefront, and Toni looked out the front windows. The street was growing dark, and the shadows were beginning to take on that horrifying density that made it dangerous to continue on. It would be a good idea to rest for the night, she thought. They had everything they needed to survive until morning, when they could continue their search—for whatever it was they were searching.
    “Let’s chill out here until morning,” she said. “I think it’s pretty safe now.”
    “Good idea,” Jake said. “I always wanted to spend the night in a candy store.”
     
    There weren’t many guns left by the time Dan, Drew, and Max arrived. While Drew went searching for ammo and a new piece for Max, Dan went straight for the back counter where the rifles would have been displayed. There were a few shotguns left, along with a single semi-auto rifle.
    Dan reached up on the pegboard to retrieve it, examining the chamber and the stickers that adorned its tactical stock.
    “Ruger 10/22,” he read out loud.
    It was a beautiful rifle; stainless steel barrel, pistol grip, and a long picatinny rail across the top. It had no sights, as it was likely built for a scope, or maybe a red dot sight. Either one would work just fine. The rifle would be perfect for Toby. A .22LR had very little, if any, recoil, and would be sufficient for taking down any shuffler or shambler with a well-placed