Free Thrust & Parry: Z Day by Luke Ashton

didn’t know how to deal with this. It wasn’t something she’d ever put much thought in to. Jim rammed his working parts back and a slightly bent round pinged out bouncing off the glass. He hit the release catch and the working parts moved forward again. He pulled them back slightly to check it had pick up a round before stepping into the store once again but this time with Paula on his heels. He turned and put his finger to his lips to signal her to stay quiet. She nodded looking terrified. He spotted the hand sticking out again and started moving towards it, still checking every isle for any sign of life. He was straining his ears of any other sounds but he could just hear his own breath and Paula’s terrified whimpers. He was only one isle away now and he had the weapon pointed at the hand as he rounded the corner. But that’s all it was. A hand. A severed hand. He sighed.
    Jim brought his weapon up and cleared the rest of the shop. Isle by isle. He was in there nearly every day so he knew the layout. Once finished he turned to Paula.
    “That’s the shop floor clear.” He pointed to a door at the back. “Now we need to do the storeroom. You ready?” Paula nodded. Jim moved to the door and flattened himself against the left doorframe. It was a double door with a small window in each door. He peered through the glass and could see all manner of boxes and trolley’s stacked with tins packets. There was no movement. He gave the door a push. Locked. There was a worn looking keyhole in the middle. Jim was about to give it a hearty kick when Paula put a hand on his chest. She pointed to the isle the dead zombies were on. One of them was wearing a Tesco polo shirt. Clipped to his belt was a chain. Jim walked over and unclipped it. He gave it a yank and the body moved with the chain for a minute and then it came free revealing a set of keys.
    He walked back over to the door and, after several attempts, found the right key. He placed the keys on top of the refrigeration unit to his left so he knew where they were and raised his weapon. The store room was a long thin room with a delivery hatch on the left and a fire escape on the right. Between the two was several cages and a stack of boxes that looked to be spare beans. To the right of the stack was a small metal door with a locking handle. Obviously the chilled storage. Jim checked left then right and called “Clear!” Once more as he moved to the metal door. He checked the handle and it moved. He slid it open slowly. Weapon ready for whatever was on the other side.
    The cold hit him instantly. It must have been below freezing in the room as there was bits of ice hanging from the metal racking that surrounded the square room. He swept the room and caught sight of a pair of white eyes in the corner and went to fire. Something stopped him. He looked closer. The body that they belonged to wasn’t moving or breathing or anything. It was just stood there. Jim swept the rest of the room with his rifle and stepped forward. There was a small button on the right with an electronic thermostat next to it that told them it was -1 degrees. Jim hit the button and a strobe light flickered on. The figure was a slightly balding bakery worker who had obviously got been trapped in here and froze to death. This either meant that someone else had been here or he had locked himself in here for safety and turned while he was here.
    A shot from behind him brought him back to reality. The zombie’s eye disappeared. Paula had been covering the rear as Jim cleared the freezer and came in to see what was taking so long. She spotted the zombie and assumed Jim was about to be attacked so she’d fired. She was now stood in the doorway breathing heavily. The air rifle was still in her hands and pointed at the zombie.
    “It’s ok. He’d frozen to death in here.” Jim explained as Paula tried to control her breathing. Seeing his own breath reminded Jim that he hadn’t had a fag since he woke up