Free Sometimes We Ran (Book 1) by Stephen Drivick Page B

piled on the ground beneath the sign. The store itself was made of brick, with small rectangular windows near the top of the wall. Those windows, and the two sets of automatic doors, were the only glass at the front of the store. A few large trucks were parked in front of the store along with a few wrecked cars. A huge pile of metal shopping carts filled in the spaces between the trucks. It looked like it was done on purpose.
    It looked like a barricade. It almost looked like someone had tried to build a fort out of Mollie’s Place.
    I handed the binoculars to Claire. “What do you think?”
    “Looks pretty blitzed. That’s a lot of bodies.”
    I thought about our situation for a minute while she took a look around. We were running low on food and water. Without food and water, we were dead. However, the presence of a barricade might indicate someone was inside. I didn’t want to risk a war with another survivor that might get Claire or myself killed or wounded. Then again, I didn’t see any guards or people walking around, so it may be empty. I think we had to try and get inside.
    “John, I got a zombie,” Claire said handing the binoculars back.
    I took a look where she was pointing. Sure enough, I saw a figure stumbling through the wreckage of the lot. It was a fireman dressed in full fire jacket and helmet. Poor guy. Came to help and wound up becoming a walking corpse. I hoped he was alone, as I would hate to see an entire battalion of zombie firemen walking around.
    Claire looked at me. “What’s the plan, Tiger?”
    I thought for a minute and looked across the street. “I think we have to try to get inside. We need a place to stay for the night.”
    “All right. Sounds good. Let’s do it,” she said with determination. Claire was such a brave young lady.
    We broke out of the bushes, and started across the street. Fireman-Zombie saw us and began to walk over. He was moving pretty fast. We might have to take him out.
    “Claire, stay near my side and don’t get too far away. We’ll make a beeline for the door. We not going to run, but don’t dawdle. Oh, and one more thing…”, I paused.
    “Yeah, what?”
    “Stop calling me ‘Tiger.’”
    Claire could only giggle.

Chapter 10
Mollie’s Place
    Claire and I crossed the street into the mall parking lot. We were trying not to run, but walking very fast was recommended.
    The fireman-zombie saw us, and began to move in our direction. I took a quick look at his eyes, and saw that they were yellow. Good. Maybe he might be a little easier to kill. I hoped he was alone. He was walking at a slight trot perpendicular to our path to the door and slowly coming into range.
    I raised the rifle, aimed, and fired. Fireman-zombie’s helmet came off taking most of his head with it in the process. He crumpled to the ground and moved no more.
    “Nice shot,” Claire said with a little admiration in her voice.
    “Thanks. I don’t think he felt a thing.”
    We continued to make our way to the doors. We passed busted cars, huge piles of debris, and bodies. A whole lot of decayed and broken bodies. Some of the bodies looked like they were shot in the back. Many of the poor souls had groceries and supplies scattered around them. They had been shot while trying to escape the store.
    “John, another zombie, dead ahead!”
    I swung the rifle to the front. It was a teen age girl, a little taller than Claire. Her neck was broken, and her head was tilted at an obscene angle. Blood covered her lower jaw and and clothes. The earphones from her portable music device were still stuck in her rotting ears.
    There was even more bad news. She had red eyes. I silently prayed she wasn’t like the two we met back on the road eating the deer.
    The teen aged zombie saw us, and began to make the usual animal sounds the Red-Eyes all make. I breathed a quick sigh of relief. This Red-Eye was like the old favorites I knew and loved.
    “Claire, get behind me. I am going to try and take cover