Fighting to Survive Read Online Free PDF

”
    Her
voice echoed.
    A
low moan from the back of the store answered.
    “ Sounds
like we got another one, ” Ed called out.
    “ I
figured that. This one climbed up on a shelf to escape something, ” Bill answered back.
    A
more desperate moan answered.
    Jenni
dropped off the stepladder and held her dripping ax tightly in her
hands. She felt a little sick about the death of the kid. The first
death, not the one she had given him. The world was just fucked and
awful.
    The
next area was full of hanging clothes and bedding supplies. Jenni
and Bill made sure to study any shelving above eye level. The moans
they kept hearing were from the back of the store, but they were very
cautious as they moved on. They had to be. It was far too dangerous
to let their guard down.
    “ Found
her, ” Felix called out. “ She's
on your side. And you won't believe this. ”
    Bill
and Jenni finally reached the back of the store and turned the
corner.
    A
female zombie was reaching toward Felix and Ed who were approaching
her from the opposite side of the store.
    “ You
have to be fucking kidding me, ” Jenni said and almost laughed.
    The
ground was covered in overturned trash bins of all sizes, plastic
clothesbaskets, and plastic storage containers. They were splashed
with blood and it was obvious a struggle had happened here. At some
point, the female zombie had stepped into a bucket and caught her
foot in it. As she had tried to pass between the metal shelves and a
support column, her foot in the bucket had become wedged. Unable to
move her foot, she was simply standing there moaning. Jenni couldn't
see her face, but her body looked slim and young. She wondered if
this was the one who had bitten the boy.
    “ Kinda
dumb, ain't they? ” Ed smirked.
    Jenni
heaved the ax over her head and brought it down hard onto the
zombie's head. It wedged halfway into the thing's skull. The zombie
slowly collapsed down to the floor and Jenni yanked the blade out of
the dead girl.
    Bill
leaned down and looked at the zombie thoughtfully. “ There
is a bite on her hand. Only mark other than her head being split
apart. ”
    “ So,
she gets bit, dies, attacks the boy here, he gets bit up, she gets
caught, he goes and climbs onto a shelf. ” Felix nodded his head. “ And
he dies. Makes sense. ”
    Jenni
frowned down at the body. “ But
who bit her? ”
    “ They're
both wearing vests and name tags. Boxes are open in the aisles.
They were early morning stockers. Do you think she came in bit? ” Bill looked thoughtful.
    Slowly,
they all looked toward the door to the storeroom.
    “ Great, ” Felix moaned.
    “ We
do this right and careful, ” Ed said firmly.
    The
four of them slowly moved toward the swinging metal doors.
    The
battered metal doors swung open into a long narrow room filled with
boxes piled along one wall almost to the ceiling. At the far end was
the open door to a narrow bathroom.
    “ Hello? ” Jenni called out cautiously.
    They
all jumped when the metal doors that opened to the loading dock
outside began to shake as something on the other side beat on them.
Snarls and growls that set their hair on end emanated from beyond the
closed doors.
    “ Okay.
We got one outside. Those doors are locked and holding. Check the
storage room, ” Ed ordered.
    It
took ten long minutes to scour the narrow room. They moved slowly and
purposefully. They checked the shelves, the boxes, the small
bathroom, and the small manager's office. Nothing appeared. Nothing
was hidden. They made as much noise as possible to try to get
something to come out. Nothing.
    “ One
more sweep through the store, ” Ed ordered.
    In
twenty minutes they stood outside in the street.
    “ Got
the empty stores now, ” Ed said.
    Jenni
nodded and hoisted her ax up. “ Let's
do it. ”

Chapter 3

    1. Army of One

    Nerit climbed down
the ladder slowly. Juan looked down at her with concern as she
lowered herself into the blocked off street.
    “ Be
careful, Nerit. ”
    “