Dead Outside (Book 1) (2 page)

“I
better get out of here.” I said to myself and headed for the rear of the store.

The
only set of doors at the back of the store was some swinging double doors that
lead behind the meat counter. There were all kinds of rotten smells radiating
from there, but it was better then fighting my way back through the front
doors. I took out my bandana and wrapped it around my face, I couldn't risk
dehydrating myself by vomiting now.

I
was about to push the doors open when they swung my direction. A large figure
took clumsy steps toward me. His white coat and apron were splattered with
blood, guts, and some things that were now so discolored I had no idea what
they used to be. He had to be pushing seven feet tall, and an easy 250 pounds.
There was a meat cleaver stuck in its shoulder, and the wound was leaking this
thick black ooze. His breathing sounded  more like a grunting bear than
anything human.

“This
store sucks,” I complained, and raised my shotgun to take him out.

Before
I could raise it high enough, the beast let out a roaring growl and charged at
me. I tucked to the left as fast as I could, dodging its clumsy grasp. It
turned its head rather unnaturally with a snarl and turned to follow me. I
fired my shotgun at its right knee, blowing its leg in half, but it was already
close enough to me to take me down with it, causing me to drop my shotgun.

His
heavy body landed on my feet, and he began crawling up my body, jaws snapping.
My shotgun was about two feet too far away for me to grab, not that I could
have reached for it anyway. The hulking monstrosity was clawing its way up my
body trying to get a chunk of flesh. I held its head just high enough away from
my body to keep that from happening. I couldn’t reach for my pistol that was
holstered to my leg either, it seemed like any weapon I had would take me too
long to get a hold of.

I
punched him in the face, which didn’t even seem to faze him, but it did bring
my attention to the meat cleaver still stuck in its shoulder. I grabbed the
handle and pulled it from his shoulder.

I
swung it down as hard as I could on the top of its head. The blade split the
skull and dug in about halfway down the forehead. Its body went limp after a
moment and I pushed its body to the side and sat up.

“Butcher
killed by his own cleaver,” I let out a sigh as I stood up. “That’s fucked up.”

I
went through the swinging doors hoping to find an exit I could use. There were
five other bodies, or at least, what used to be bodies, now barely piles of
bone, on the floor of the meat section. The guy I just took out wasn’t exactly
going hungry.

I
found a backdoor and as I reached for the handle, something red caught my
attention. I turned and saw it, my favorite soda. There was one six pack left
on the shelf. “Dr. Soda.” I thought out loud. I snatched it, and it just barely
fit in my backpack.

I
reached for the handle of the door. Outside there were only two Infected. They
wore blue coveralls, names sewn on the right chest. One had a screwdriver
sticking out of his heart. They were both right outside, and they must have
heard the racket inside. I took care of them with two swings of my bat to their
respective heads. I looked out to my left and saw a parked delivery truck.

To
my right was another delivery truck flipped on its side. The bottom and front
were covered in bloody smears and handprints, and there was one wide trail of
blood leading from the truck into the bushes in front of me. The extra weight
of the food in my bag was bearing down on me a bit, I’d get used to it soon
though. I pulled out my map and slid my finger along the map and found where I
was. I placed a red X with my pen where the supermarket was.

I
took a quick glance from right to left, checking for any Infected that might be
trying to sneak up on me, but the parked truck caught my eye. I walked up to
the truck slowly, and pulled out my 9mm pistol. I didn’t want to take any
chances. my shotgun was too unwieldy when opening doors and my bat couldn’t
help me if something jumped on me.

I
dropped to one knee and checked under the truck, no bodies, no blood, and the
tires were inflated. The back was latched but there was no lock on it. I
unlatched it and jumped back aiming my pistol into the back of the truck. The
door slid open. The smell of rotting flesh hit me instantly. I covered my nose
and mouth with my sleeve, the bandana wasn't going to cut it by itself. There
were three dead bodies, an adult and two kids.

It
looked as though the Adult had killed the kids while they were sleeping, and
then shot herself. I looked around and saw dozens of open boxes and food
containers all over the floor. When they died they voided their bowels, which
only added to the smell. I closed the door and threw up. So much for avoiding
that.

The
steady moaning of several Infected filled my ears. I saw their shadows coming
from the sides of the market. They must have heard me open and close the truck.
I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and ran to the driver’s side door and shook the
handle. Of course it was locked, so I smashed the window in with my bat and
unlocked it. I brushed the glass off the seat and hopped in. The Infected were
getting closer.

They
had just come into view, so I slammed the door. I looked frantically for the
keys, first the glove box, console, floor, finally the flap above my head. They
dropped into my hand. The truck let out a beep when the keys went in the
ignition, the battery was charged at least. I turned it, praying that it would
start. It puttered but nothing happened. I tried it again, looking frantically
at the approaching Infected that were nearly at my door. There were twice as
many as there were in front of the store, I turned the key a third time with my
eyes closed.

“Come
on! Come on!” I muttered to myself. I glanced to my side and saw there were more
Infected coming around the side of the building, “Start you son of a bitch!”

I
glanced again and saw the Infected closing on the side of the truck. I didn’t
have long, if this truck didn’t start, I was going to have to fight my way out.

I
turned the key again, thinking about Sarah’s face, hoping I could at least see
it one more time.

Chapter Two: Innocence

17
Days earlier.

2:00
PM June 12

A
loud ringing vibrated through my pounding head. My eyelids were heavy. When I
opened them it took me a minute to realize where I was, and that it wasn’t my
ears that were ringing. It was my alarm clock. I reached over and hit the
snooze button, hoping for a few more minutes of rest. It was almost halfway
through summer already and being a substitute teacher couldn't pay the bills
when there were no classes to teach. My attempts to find a temporary summer job
had failed so far and had no sign of improving in the immediate future.

The
sound of my alarm going off again interrupted my moment of stressful self
misery. After hitting the alarm clock again, this time shutting it off, I
glanced around and saw the familiar sight that was my bedroom. I felt like I
only got two or three hours of sleep. I glanced at the time. It was two in the
afternoon. It took me a few seconds to calculate it in my head that I'd
actually had about nine hours of sleep.

I
was at a party last night. My head was throbbing enough to give me slight
vertigo, and my body ached. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed. I looked down
and saw that I was completely naked. I let out a sigh, “Well it looks like I had
fun.” I glanced at the other side of my bed, which to my dismay was empty.
"Then again, maybe not."

After
getting dressed I came out of my room and looked into Nick’s. He didn’t even
make it to his bed. He was asleep in the middle of the floor. I laughed a
little and shut the door. Then I noticed my keys were in the fish bowl, along
with my wallet.

What
in the hell happened last night? I thought to myself as I pulled everything out
of my wallet to dry. I couldn't help but think about how my life was going
nowhere. I spent most of my time worrying about when I'd get my next paycheck,
or how I would pay my soon to be overdue bills. It didn't help that my roommate
and best friend Nick still hadn't found a steady job as police officer, despite
having a degree and having graduated the police academy. His lack of experience
caused him to be passed up more times than I could count. Not that I had done
any better. I'd been turned down by every retail store for 30 miles because of
a few bad references from when I was fresh out of high school.

 I
was looking for my phone when it began to ring. I found it in the fridge, which
in retrospect isn’t as unusual as it might sound, considering some of the other
places I’ve found my phone. Roxie was calling. I flipped it open and answered. “Hey
Roxie, what’s up?”

Luckily
my sister Roxie was helping us make ends meet. She was still in college,
working as a barista at the local coffee shop and actually made decent money. 
Our parents had moved back to our home state of Ohio after we graduated high
school when our father was transferred. Roxie and I decided to stay in Florida because we'd lived here most of our lives, all our friends were here, and more
importantly, Sarah was in Florida, at least she was when I decided to stay.

“Hey
Sam, not much, just wanted to make sure you guys were ok after last night.” She
laughed, “You two could barely get your bedroom doors opened. Is Nick still on
the floor?”

“Well
I managed to make it in my bed somehow. Yeah, he’s still curled up on the
floor. I was going to give him a pillow, but it’s funnier this way,” I chuckled,
last night's events slowly coming back to me. Nick was barely able to stand,
let alone walk coherently. He made it two steps before stumbling over himself
and falling asleep on the spot. “How did you get up in time for work?”

“Well
I didn’t drink nearly as much as you guys,” She responded. “I had to work
today, plus somebody had to drive you two idiots home, so I took it easy.
Otherwise I’d probably still be in bed too.”

“Well
that’s true I guess, so what are you doing today?” I asked as I poured myself a
cup of coffee.

“Not
sure,” she said. “Why, you want to do something?”

“Well
I was hoping to get everyone together for a little get together at the bar
before I leave tomorrow.” I was leaving to go to Ohio to help stock, clean, and
fix the family cabin. My family had been making these 'work weekend' trips
every couple of years whenever the firewood gets low, or if part of the siding
is damaged from the weather.

When
Roxie and I were kids we would just play in the woods, but now that we were
grown up we actually had to participate in the manual labor of the trip. Roxie
didn’t have to go this year because she couldn’t get off work, or so she said.

“I
don’t see why not.” She said, “I’m not doing anything after work.”

 “Alright
cool.” I said, “Nick and I are both free.”

“Fantastic!”
she said excitedly, “Well I’m excited. What time you want to go?” She asked.

I
thought for a second before answering, “Six o’clock sound good to you?”

“Sure,”
She answered, “I’ll be home around 4:30.”

“Okay,
see you then” I added.

“Bye,”
she said before hanging up.

After
I hung up I took a sip of my coffee. Nick came strolling out of his room slowly
and sat at the kitchen table. His dark brown hair was sticking up on one side,
and he had the rug texture imprinted on his left cheek. Not wearing a shirt
only drew more attention to his slender frame. He was taller than me though not
by much, though my shoulders were broader then his.

“You
look like shit.” I said as I took another sip of my coffee.

“Thanks,
you’re not too bad yourself.” He replied nonchalantly. “What’s for breakfast?”

I
opened the fridge and looked around, “We’ve got Chinese, Pizza, and oh look at
that, more pizza.”

“I’ll
have the Pepperoni if there’s any left.” He yawned, “Who was that on the
phone?”

“Roxie,”
I answered as I tossed him a box of pizza.

Just
then my phone started ringing again. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at
it. This time Sarah was calling. I flipped it opened and answered it, 

 “Hey
sleeping beauty,” I heard through the phone, “I heard you partied pretty hard
last night.” She laughed.

“From
what I remember at least,” I laughed nervously. “So when are you getting back
in town?”

“Sunday,”
she said. “I tried to get there last week, but couldn’t get away.”

“Well
am I going to see you before I leave tomorrow?” I asked, pulling a slice of
pizza out of the box on the table..

“Maybe,”
she teased.

I
took a bite of the cold and slightly stale slice of pizza, “Come on, you’ve
been gone for so long.”

“I
visited last Christmas break.” She reminded me, "It wasn't that long
ago."

“Yeah
well it's felt like a lot longer than that, besides do I need to have a reason
to hang out with you before I leave for a week? I mean come on the summer is
only so long, then you're gone for the rest of the year again.” I looked into
the laundry basket and found my shoes and a slice of pizza. “Besides, you owe
me. You were supposed to be back for the party last night.”

“Well
I got into a college out of state,” she apologized. “You know I only get to come
back a few times a year.”

“Yeah,
I know,” I said with a sigh. “But this Fourth of July is going to be awesome. Nick
and I bought like two hundred dollars worth of fireworks yesterday. It’s going
to be epic.”

“Sweet!”
She exclaimed. “I can’t wait to see you guys blow yourselves up again!”

“Hey,
I only lost one eyebrow that time.” I thought back to last year’s fireworks
display when the fuse burned a little quicker than I thought it would, and
singed my eyebrows quite a bit. “And it wasn’t my fault, the fireworks were
defective. Plus, there’s only so much fun you can have without the world’s
worst karaoke singer."

“When
are you going to let me live that down?” she asked with a frustrated laugh

Her
laughter made me smile. It always had.

“Never.”
I replied with a smirk that she couldn’t see, but could hear in my voice.

“Fine,
I have to go. We’ll finish this discussion when I see you when you get back
from Ohio!” she said with excitement in her voice.

“Alright,
see you then!” I replied, returning the excitement.

“When
are you just going to tell her you love her already?” Nick asked as I hung up.
“I mean come on. You guys have been beating around the bush for years. Just ask
her out.”

“It’s
not that simple.” I argued. I’d been holding a torch for Sarah since I first
met her, but something always managed to keep me from taking the next step,
either her constant stream of boyfriends beating me to the punch, or simply
being too nervous to say the words out loud.

“Yeah,
it is,” he countered. “All you have to say is, ‘Sarah, will you go out on a
date with me?’ and then she says yes, and you guys can finally have that sex
you’ve been dreaming about.”

I
shook my head, “Why is everything about sex with you?”

“Isn’t
it with everyone?” he quipped as he took a bite of his pizza. “Wasn’t it Freud
who said ninety-nine percent of our actions are influenced by our penises?”

I
laughed, almost spitting bits of pizza out of my nose, “I don’t think he said
it quite like that, but you’re close enough.”

“So
what are we doing today?” he asked as he finished a slice of pizza.

“Oh
yeah, we are having a get together at the bar tonight, one last hangout before
I go to my grandfathers cabin in Ohio.” I answered, finishing my own slice.

“Thanks
for asking me,” he said sarcastically.

“Your
welcome,” I responded. “Now go put some pants on. You’re embarrassing
yourself.”

We
pulled up to the local bar in Nick’s Mustang. Roxie had called saying she needed
to work a few more hours, and that she'd meet us at the bar. When he got out of
the car he puffed out his chest and had the usual goofy cocky look on his face.
He loved that car.

“Would
you lose the goofy ass face?” I laughed. “We passed six other mustangs on the
way here.”

“Shut
the hell up,” he came back with, “Its better then your shitty ass truck.”

“You
were singing a different tune when we needed to move something bigger than a
few bags of groceries.” I shot back, patting him on the shoulder, “Calm down
dude, it’s a cool car. You’re making all the other middle aged men jealous.”

He
just shook his head and smirked a little. “Alright come on, and let’s get
inside so you can lose all your money to me at pool.”

“Sounds
like a plan,” I replied accepting the challenge.

The
bar had a misty appearance to it from the combination of low lighting and cigarette
smoke. There were the usual bar patrons, old drunks, middle aged singles trying
to find partners, and quite a few college aged kids who had just reached the
legal drinking age.

"How's
it going boys?" Our waitress greeted us.

“So
Jenny how busy has it been tonight?” Nick inquired.

“Not
too bad, we had to deal with a couple of rowdy guys a few hours ago, but other
than that it’s the same old same old.” She said with a smile.

“Well,
we’re meeting Roxie here in about a half hour we just figured we’d play some
pool till then,” I explained. “Could you send her over there when she get
here?”

“Sure
Sam, no problem,” She agreed. “Have fun losing your money to Nick.”

As
we walked away I turned to Nick. “Am I that bad?”

He
laughed. “Let’s just say you’re about to make my next car payment.”

The
building is split between the main Bar and a gaming section, with pool tables,
dart boards, and quite a few old arcade games. Most of the tables were empty,
but it was a little early. They would fill up rather quickly in the next hour
or so.

We
walked up to one of the pool tables. It was the type that you put quarters into
and the balls dispense, though they were rather old so you had to kick it after
you put the quarters in for all the balls to come out, otherwise some of them
might get stuck.

It
didn’t take long for Nick to beat me in the first game. Nick would never admit
to practicing, but he’s had a lot of free time since he graduated the police
academy six months ago.

“How
is the job hunt going man?” I asked him while he was racking the balls for the
second game.

He
let out a sigh, “Not good. The sheriffs department wants someone with
experience, just like all the others. I keep saying, how the hell am I supposed
to get that experience if nobody will hire me?”

“That’s
true,” I agreed. This had been the same story for the last few departments Nick
had applied to. Neither of us could seem to catch a break lately, and sooner rather
than later we would be stuck on the streets. “Hopefully the next place will
work out.”

“Yeah
me too,” He sighed again, “Roxie’s been hammering me again about getting
married. How am I supposed to marry her when I’m not working?”

“Yeah,
I know what you mean,” I chuckled. I don’t know who Nick was trying to fool.
Roxie had been talking about getting married for a while, and Nick always had
an excuse for putting it off.

“Speak
of the devil,” Nick said, noticing that Roxie was walking over. “Hey babe, how was
work?”

She
was a lot shorter then me, with the top of her head reaching just over my
shoulders. She walked over to Nick, who had to lean down to kiss her. Their
height difference was pretty dramatic, a foot and a few inches. Nick could
practically put his arm on her head to use as an arm rest, though Roxie would make
him regret it.

“Good,”
she smiled as she gave Nick a hug. “Oh, and you not having a job doesn’t
matter, my dad didn’t have a job when he asked my mom to marry him, and they
were twenty-one when they got married. We’re twenty-four, time to move
forward!”