Pipe Bender Chapter 2
“Both.”
I got as close as I could to the
break-room door with a little window in it to see what the zombies were huddled
around. Dreading what I was going to see I took it really slow. On my knees I
peeked up to look and when I saw the zombies huddled around several bags of
beef jerky relief spread through my system from head to toe. Across the room I
saw the snack machine and low and behold Janice had climbed inside and must
have used the contents of the machine- every type of beef jerky known to man-
to lure the zombies away from her. She saw me looking through the window and
motioned with her finger near her mouth for me to be quiet. I really didn’t
need the advice. She then pointed to the other side of the room; there was a
door that was opened to the outside. Was she trying to tell me to make a break
for it without her? Even if she were there was no way I was going to leave her,
once the zombies finished off the jerky, she would be next. I shook my head no,
but she more aggressively pointed to the backdoor. There was only one way I would
be able to get her out of there and that was a distraction. What does every
good distraction need, bait. I didn’t have anything or anyone else so I decided-
I’d be the bait.
Slowly I checked the door knob
trying to not make a sound, thankfully it was open. I stood up and prepared
myself for a quick dash across the room to the exit door. Just then I heard a noise
from behind me and it was Mrs. Johnson riding on a handicap shopping cart. She
was coming straight for me and hitting everything in her path. I motioned for
her to stop but she wouldn’t, she just kept coming. “Billy, you forgot the
screws with my order,” she yelled out. I
put my finger up to my mouth to get her to be quiet. “Don’t shush me you adolescent
punk, if it hadn’t been for you I’d still be home and not tied up in this…” Out
of the corner of her peripheral a zombie jumped out, and without even flinching
Mrs. Johnson pulled out a shotgun and stopped the zombie in its tracks with one
shot. The zombie hit the ground, and because of all the noise any sneaking
around for me was over. The zombies in the break-room ran to the door,
thankfully I got there sooner and jammed it with my foot. Like it or not,
Janice used the opportunity to make a run for the backdoor. She climbed out of
the vending machine and ran. One of the zombies in the room noticed and took
chase but Janice was faster. When she got out of the break-room and into the
alley she slammed the door. At least one thing went my way, she had escaped,
but I didn’t feel great about it. For one; she left me, and for two; I was
supposed to be helping her, and now I had the zombies and Mrs. Johnson to
contend with. Mrs. Johnson rolled up on her cart, “If you had got my order
right, I’d be home right now enjoying my shows, but because of your nitwit
abilities as a stock boy, I have to pop these dead things in the head.”
“I’m
sorry but I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” I pointed to the eight to ten
zombies in the room trying to get out. “Never mind them, what do you need in
there for anyway?” She was right, Janice was out and all we needed to do was
make sure those zombies didn’t get out.
“Could
you hand me that chair,” I asked Mrs. Johnson. She gave me a look like, “Really,
do you think this cart is just for looks?”
I thought it was.
“Fine,” I said.
I wedged my pipe
bender under the door knob as the zombies pressed harder on the door and then I
was able to get the chair and bring it back. I quickly replaced the pipe bender
with the chair. Mrs. Johnson and I turned to leave the back part of the store
but she took a wide turn and knocked the chair away from the door and the
zombies lurched with enough force that the door frame gave way and they came
crashing out. Mrs. Johnson’s cart lurched forward as I ran. The zombies fell
over each other trying to get up which was Mrs. Johnson’s only saving grace. We
got out of the backroom, but there wasn’t a door between the front of the store
and the back just some big rubber strips that hung from the ceiling. We reached
aisle one before the zombies caught up with us. One zombie running behind us
didn’t see it coming; Mrs. Johnson slipped the shot gun over her shoulder and
pulled the trigger hitting it in the chest knocking the zombie down, sending
the next few toppling over it. I was a good twenty feet ahead of Mrs. Johnson
and there was no way she was going to be able to keep up because her cart wasn’t
made for speed. More zombies must have heard all the racket and came running
from all parts of the store. I had a moral dilemma; either run leaving Mrs.
Johnson unprotected, or I could try to keep her safe, but she didn’t seem to
need my help with her knowing how to use the gun and all. She shot a few more
times and a few more victims hit the ground, but there were more coming and our
only way out of this was to get to the exit and find a way to lock the doors
before they all spilled out.
I
reached the door first and looked for a way to keep the exit from opening once
we got out, but it was just the one door, and there were so many others that
this would just slow them down a bit. It was the only hope we had; I knew it
wouldn’t stop them, but it might have given us enough time to get somewhere
safe.
Mrs.
Johnson was rolling towards the door, about ten feet away now, and she was
almost consumed with zombies. She fired, reloaded and fired again, but every
time she reloaded she had to stop. I thought about just picking her up and
running with her, but I didn’t think I’d get very far with her on my back. I
heard her scream as one of the zombies bit her, she finally got up from the
cart and started smacking the zombies with the butt of her gun, “If it wasn’t
for you Billy, I wouldn’t be here, I hope you can sleep at night boy.” She was then
engulfed in zombies and then there was a huge barrage of gun fire as the
zombies around her fell to the ground. She was on the ground and looked at me
and said with what looked like a smile, “I always wanted to do that…” She
closed her eyes and I ran out into the parking lot. The whole parking lot
seemed like a state fair; there were all these cars parked all crooked and
people running mad all over, but it dawned on me slowly that the ones running
were no longer people but zombies and most were running towards me. The zombies
in the store were now making their way out, and now I was surrounded.
I
heard a car horn being repeatedly honked and heard the screeching of tires and
a blue sedan came barreling through a small grouping of zombies. The car was
being driven by none other than Mister Willard. The only reason I knew that was
because his picture was everywhere in the store. Like I said before we started
to believe he was more myth than real. The car came to a sliding halt in front
of me. The passenger’s door flung open and Janice was inside yelling, “Get in!
Get it!”
I ran for the door and had to take
out a few zombies on the way; they went down relatively easy. I jumped in and
before I could shut the door Mr. Willard was burning the tires. The door
slammed shut without me even trying but as it did a crazy old lady hit the side
of the car and hung on for dear life. It was Mrs. Johnson, but not. She was a
zombie now but still looked as bitter and sour as she was in life. She tried to
ram her head into the window but thankfully the glass held. Mr. Willard spun
the car to the left and slammed the right side of the car against another car
and Mrs. Johnson got pinned between the two cars. Mister Willard then drove
away leaving Mrs. Johnson there to chew-out any other zombie that was within
earshot. I yelled for Mr. Willard to stop which eventually he did. I quickly
jumped out of the car, “What are you doing?” Janice yelled.
“I
can’t leave her here like this,” I ran back to where she was, gave her a quick
pop to the head and down she went. Getting back to the car Janice asked, “Couldn’t
leave her like that, or couldn’t leave her to torture other zombies for eternity?”
“Both.”
Leaving the parking lot I saw one
thing that brought my day to a new level of low; my mom’s car was sitting at
the entrance for the parking lot.
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