Desire to Survive

“You missed a spot,” I laughed as I rubbed bar soap into a filthy orange shirt.

“Bullshit!” Kaden said while looking over the garment he had been washing. “It’s like new!”

“You’re right. It must just be you stinking.” I shot back playfully.

“Right, and you think you smell like a basket of roses?” He asked with a chuckle. I made a scene of sniffing my armpit and wrinkling my nose.

“I guess not huh? Well, when you live in the land of the dead, you’d expect it to stink at least a little.” I sighed, rinsing off the soapy shirt in the gurgling water.

Kaden and I were washing our load of soiled laundry in the river behind camp. We stood knee deep in the slow moving water, our pants legs rolled up to mid thigh. Each of us had a small bar of soap from our supply bin, which was specifically used for washing blood, dirt, and walker juice from our clothing.

“Never thought I’d be washing clothes like this,” Kaden said as he hung the blue t-shirt he had just washed on a line tied between two trees. “It’s surprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be.” He said. I nodded.

“Yeah, there are a lot of things I do normally now that I never thought I’d do. Hand washing clothes, being armed at all times, squatting…” I listed with a tiny smile. “Even though everything we do nowadays is a pain in the ass to complete, it’s a much more simple life.”

“Yeah, don’t gotta worry about getting a job,” Kaden told me.

“Or what outfit to wear to school.” I focused on scrubbing a blood spot about the size of a quarter for a minute or so until it was barely noticeable. Things were quiet for a moment until I heard Kaden rustle in his basket for something else to clean.

“Oooh,” he laughed. “Look what I found.” Kaden was holding up a pair of red panties from the waistband. “Wonder whose these are,”

They were mine. Of course, they had to be mine. Before anyone went to go do laundry at the river, they had to pick up all the left over clothes around camp, just to keep it clean. Sometimes, other people’s clothes wound up in your basket. I remember changing in my tent last night but must’ve forgotten to pick up the dirty pile. I felt my face go as red as the underwear.

“Kaden, those are mine. Give ‘em over,” I said.

“Nah, I’ll wash them.” He snorted jokingly.

“Like hell you will!” I said, reaching for them. Kaden dodged me, lifting the undergarments above his head with a laugh.

“Fine. Here,” He said, tossing the panties to me. They hit me square in the face and then fell into the water. I tossed them back into my basket while he burst out in laughter.

“You douche!” I shouted, trying not to laugh. Quickly, I splashed him with water. He splashed me back, again hitting me in the face. I was stunned for a second. Then, it turned into an all out war. Clothes completely forgotten, we were splashing and kicking water at each other until we were almost completely soaked.

“You don’t act forty-something…” I gasped while catching my breath. I shielded my face from another wall of water.

“Why would I want to?” Kaden laughed.

“Hey losers, aren’t you supposed to be doing laundry?” A girl’s voice called from the bank of the river. We both looked up to see Hannah and Elizabeth with their arms crossed.

“We’re almost done,” I told them.

“Yeah, well Rick says the raid will be in a few hours. Get your asses in gear if you want to go.” Hannah called out.

“Just thought you’d want to know. Oh, and stop with all the racket. We can hear you from camp. You’ll attract walkers like flies to shit.” Elizabeth called out after Hannah and they both turned and walked away in unison.

I looked to Kaden once they were out of earshot. “Such attitudes. You going on the raid?”

“Hell yeah I am! Jive and I need a good dose of adrenaline. Plus, you never know what’s inside. Maybe the whole damn store is intact. Other survivors, a hoard of supplies, you never know.” He explained with a smile. I nodded, continuing to wash the rest of my clothes. “Are you going?” Kaden asked, sounding hopeful.

“I dunno, that last run in with the walker scared the crap out of me. I’m still all bruised and battered. I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for Daryl.” I explained. Kaden frowned.

“You can’t let it get to you, Oak. You’re strong, able bodied, and good with a weapon. I don’t want you in danger, but I also don’t want you hiding away here, letting those talents go to waste. We’ve all had run-ins, and we learn from them.” He explained to me as he hung up his last item of clothing on the drying rack.

“You’re right. I’ll go,” I said after a few minutes of thinking. I smiled at him while I wrung out the last pair of wet pants.

“And you’ll stick by me, kiddo. I’ll protect you.”

“Thanks Kaden. Let’s get going.” I said, picking up my basket. Our laundry was done for the day.

It was about a ten minute hike up a shallow, forested hill to get to camp. We both got out our weapons and looked around as we walked. The dead could be anywhere. It was easy for them to sneak up on you from behind trees and bushes. If a herd came through, we would have to lead them away from the main camp, to protect the safety of others. And with miles of forest in every direction, it was easy to get lost. It was quiet for a few minutes, though nothing was in sight. Suddenly, I heard Kaden shout and a loud thump as his body hit the ground.

“Shit!” He yelled out. I whirled around, ready to lash out at anything attacking him, but nothing was there.

“Kaden! Are you alright?” I asked, falling to my knees beside him.

“Damn it! I’m okay Oak, I just tripped over a tree root.” He said and tried getting up. He winced in pain and rested on one knee. “Alright, I sprained my ankle. Damn that smarts! I’m alright.” He reassured me.

“Shit, Kaden. Will you be able to walk uphill? Here, let me help.”

“I might need a brace. I’ll lean on you while we walk. Crap, my basket rolled down the hill.”

“We’ll get it later. Keep your weapon out. Don’t let your guard down.” I demanded as we trudged up the hill as fast as possible. I wanted to get out of the dense trees fast, nearby walkers could have heard all Kaden’s yelling. Plus all our noise earlier probably attracted walkers. “Joshua might have a brace for you. Let’s get you into your tent.”

I could see the top of the tents from where we were. We must’ve been twenty feet away when I heard hissing and loud foot steps dragging through fallen leaves behind us.

“Shit,” I gasped and dragged Kaden faster. He hobbled as fast as he could, hearing the sound too. “Shit, shit, shit.” I muttered. So close to camp. I turned my head to see a skinny male walker jogging toward us, maybe fifteen feet away. I could see the campground, but nobody was outside. Must’ve been in their tents, preparing for the raid.

“Oak, kill it! It’s gaining on us. Let me go,” Kaden called.

“Fine,” I told him, leaning him against a thin tree and turning around with my knife raised just in time to catch the beast in the neck with the weapon.

The hunting knife slid easily through the grey, rotten flesh of its esophagus, missing the spine and jabbing an inch out the back of the neck. Black blood gurgled from around the wound. My eyes were wide, taking in every millisecond in slow motion. My heart raced, every pump fueling my adrenaline. The walker kept trying to push against the hilt of the knife, which protected my fingers from being bitten while it snapped at them, less than an inch away. I stared into its milky yellow eyes for a moment, stricken with fear.

The walker roared in my face, the putrid stench of its breath waking me from my frozen position. I needed to kill this thing. I braced myself and kicked the thing in the chest to drive him off my knife. I heard and felt rotten bones breaking as the skinny monster stumbled and fell backwards onto the floor. I stepped forward to crush its skull in, but Kaden beat me to it. A large rock came flying down, crushing its face like a brick crushing clay. Its body convulsed and then lay still.

Panting, I looked to Kaden. He looked equally terrified.

“Let’s get to camp,” He said. I nodded and let him lean on me the rest of the way.

“There’s too many close to camp,” I told him. “Shane was right; we need to move.”

Rick came flying out of his tent. “What’s going on? I heard some yelling. Kaden, what’s wrong?”

“Kaden sprained his ankle. And then we were attacked by a walker. They’re everywhere, Rick. I don’t want to wait until one of ours dies to move.” I told him sternly. He nodded.

“We will scout for a better location tomorrow. Kaden, you can’t go on the raid with an injured foot.” Rick said softly.

“I know. Damn,” he answered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I was going to go with you, Oak.” He frowned.

“It’s ok, I’ll do fine without your protection.” I assured him.

“Wanna bring Jive?” Kaden asked.

“I think Jive would be better off with his master. I don’t want to be responsible for anything that could happen to him.”

“Alright, kiddo. Next raid, I’ll come. Promise.”

“Let’s get you to Joshua’s tent. He’s got medical supplies.” I said quietly, wondering if I’d really be alright without him.

Me, Andrea, Ben, Carl, Sam, and Glenn all stood in a semi circle at the bed of the camp’s big red truck. I was decked out with my bow, quiver, hunting knife, hand gun, extra ammo, and a small ax attached to my belt. The rest had similar weapons. Five or six empty duffel bags lay in the back of the truck, ready to be filled – or not – with priceless supplies. Glenn and Rick stood in front of the group, giving orders and going over the plan.

“Alright people, the doors are blocked in the front, so we will go through the back. Like I said, there’s a fire escape. There are tons of walkers in the parking lot too,” Glenn explained.

“How will we get to the back without being seen in the front?” I spoke up.

“This,” He smiled, patting the side of the truck. “This baby is loud. I’ll drop these guys off beforehand with all the stuff less than a block away. Then, I’ll drive around the parking lot honking to get their attention. Drive them away far enough while you guys run to the back, and I’ll drive around the block to get them off my tail. Then I’ll meet you all in the back.” He told us.

“Sounds good. What if there are loads of walkers on the inside?” Andrea called out.

“Well, the ladder will take us up to the top of the building. The ladder to get down inside will likely be in a separate room. We can scope out from there.”

“We’re going to need partners,” Carl said while stepping forward. “Someone to watch each other’s backs.”

“Good thinking, Carl.” Rick smiled and put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Each partnership should have someone specializing in weapons and someone to be gathering.”

“Ben, you get Andrea. Carl takes Sam. I’ll partner up with Oakley.” Glenn said, looking towards me. I nodded my agreement.

“Wait a minute. What about you, Rick? And what about Shane and Daryl? Why aren’t they coming?” Sam asked.

“Shane and Daryl are staying here to protect the camp, since there have been so many walker encounters lately,” Rick said firmly.

“And as for Rick,” A woman’s voice interjected. “He needs to stay here regardless.” Lori stepped up to her husband. “You shouldn’t be going either, young man.” She pointed to Carl.

“Honey – I,”

“No Rick! You two are going to get killed.” She argued.

“We’ll all die of starvation if you don’t let us go, Lori.” Rick said softly. “We’ve only got a week’s supply left.”

“You go around risking your life too much,” She hissed. “You have a family.”

“A family that I need to protect!” He yelled.

“Carl is just a boy.”

“A boy that wants to help. And is old enough and smart enough to.” Rick said, pointing to the boy.

“What the hell else are we going to do, mom?” Carl yelled suddenly. “Go out to eat at a restaurant? Order groceries online?” The kid was fuming. “Let me go! This isn’t as much about family as it is about survival.”

Everyone was astonished, not daring to speak. Rick looked from his son to his wife. She stared at Carl, open mouthed.

“I…” She muttered. “Fine! Go, Carl.” She hissed with a red face. Then, she stormed off, pushing past the group. Rick followed her, trying to comfort her.

There was one last thing I had to do before we headed off though. I jogged to Kaden’s tent where he was resting.

“Oh, hey kiddo!” He smiled when I unzipped his tent. Jive, who was sitting by the man, looked up at me. Kaden’s foot was wrapped and there was a pair of crutches against the tent wall. “Look what Joshua dug up for me in the RV. Apparently I really screwed up my foot. Can’t walk on it for a week or two.”

“Hey Kaden. I’m glad you’re getting all fixed up. Can’t stay long. Leaving on the raid in a few minutes here.” I told him, looking at my imaginary watch. “Just came to say goodbye.”

“Oh, well good luck Oak.” He told me. His brown eyes flashed, the corners of his mouth pulled down a bit. “Wish I could have come.”

“Yeah…”

“You be careful out there, Oak. Be wise.”

“Of course,”

The big red truck bounced along the heavily forested highway at about fifty miles an hour. Sam, Ben, Carl, and I sat in the bed of the truck, the wind whipping our hair as we hung on tight. Andrea and Glenn sat up front, figuring out a plan B if something didn’t go as planned. The trip took about fifteen minutes, but we finally stopped in an alley half a block away from the store.

“The town looks empty…” I mumbled.

“The walkers probably left looking for food.” Carl shrugged as he hopped out of the back of the truck.

“Yeah, or they’re all at Wal-Mart.” Glenn said.

“I only saw three as we came through town.” Ben told us while adjusting his sunglasses.

Andrea jumped out of her side of the truck with her weapon drawn.

“Remember, only use your gun if absolutely necessary. Once we get inside we wait for Glenn.” She said and we all nodded.

Glenn drove off once we got the duffel bags from the truck and we began to run, crouched and in single file, between buildings and through alleys. We laid low behind some dumpsters when we heard the truck’s horn honking. For ten long minutes we sat in silence until the truck whizzed by, followed by about sixty walkers. They jogged after the slow moving truck, roaring and hissing for flesh. After the last one passed, we peeked around the corner. Nothing was in sight.

We began running again and didn’t stop until we were in position at the ladder. I looked up. It was a long, long climb.

“I hope nobody is afraid of heights,” I laughed nervously.

“How are we supposed to get up the ladder? The first step is like six feet off the ground.” Carl exclaimed.

“You’ll see. Wait for Glenn,” Andrea smiled. “He’s got this all figured out.”

Another lengthy ten minutes passed and, finally, the truck rounded the corner slowly. Glenn smiled and waved from the driver’s seat before backing the truck up so the bed was directly under the ladder. That way, we could climb from the bed to the first rung with ease.

One by one, we climbed the rickety, rust-stained ladder. The white paint was peeling, flaking off into the eyes of whoever was below. I held on tight, daring not to look down. When we made it to the top, I looked around. The roof was covered in gravel, trash, and weeds. There was a large metal trap door on the floor about ten feet from where we stood, but it had a thick metal padlock chained around the handles. Without saying a word, I set to work on it with my ax until it fell away.

“Come one guys,” Carl said, backing down the next ladder, into the dark. We followed suit, into a damp room where semi trucks would drop off their shipments. The double doors leading into the main store was shut. When I jumped onto the dusty concrete floor, I jogged to the windowed doors to see through. I couldn’t see much through the dirt-caked glass.

The room we were in was damp and leaky. The high ceilings made our voices echo and moss grew on wet pipes. Some trash littered the corners of the room and stacks of wooden pallets were pushed against the wall. There were several unloading docks lined against the wall that led to outside, but the heavy sheet metal was locked tight. A couple concrete ramps led up to a platform where I stood. Ever so gentle, I pushed on the handle. Miraculously, the door opened a tiny bit.
“The door is unlocked, guys.” I whispered. Glenn nodded.

“Let’s get going. I’ll scope out what’s out there.” He adjusted his pack and carefully tip-toed out into the main store. I got my ax out and watched him scan a few isles down. A few moments later, he came tip-toeing back at a faster pace. He looked like he had just seen a ghost – or worse.

“Walkers everywhere. There must be forty or something.” He panted, wide eyed. “I don’t think they saw me though.”

“Do you want to just find a high spot and lay ‘em out?” Carl spoke up.

“Don’t have enough ammo for that.” Ben told him.

“Well we all have axes and machetes. We could just,”

“No. We’re not going to risk it, Carl. There’s way too many. Our goal here is to get out with supplies, not a dead group member.” Glenn said sternly. “There has to be a way to evade them.”

We all sat in silence, thinking. Walkers usually identify humans by sound and scent. Especially the scent of blood. If we could mask our scent somehow, we might be able to get around them. But then again, they are curious and would probably follow us around even with no scent.

“Glenn, what was in those isles you went down?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Uhm, I saw mops and brooms and dishwashing soap… Laundry detergents. Not much is on the shelves though. Why?”

“Good. We’re in the cleaning supplies. Awesome.” I smiled, mind whirring. “I’m going out.”

Before anyone could interject, I was out the doors, sneaking past the cleaning supplies. I searched the isles, watching out for walkers at every step. With my ax raised, I turned into the correct isle. I could see and hear distant beasts hissing and hobbling around. When the apocalypse began, nobody thought to grab air fresheners. The shelf was full of them. Quickly, I grabbed as many cans of Febreze as I could hold and ran back through the doors.

When I got inside, Glenn laughed. “Listen, I know I stink, but this is overkill.”

“The scent will cover our smell. The walkers won’t be able to tell we are living. I’ll even try it out.” I said, excitedly ripping the packaging off the nozzle. I sprayed down my entire body and my hair, the fresh smell of lavender filling my nose. Everyone watched me, skeptical. After sneezing several times, I was ready.

“Cover me,” I whispered quietly and raised my weapon as I walked out into the store. Three isles away, I spotted an ugly female walker. Her wispy brown hair was missing chunks and her left arm was hanging by dried out tendons.

Slowly, I approached her while I matched her hissing. The thing stared at me with yellowed, filmy eyes. I grunted and hobbled over closer until I was two feet from her. My ax was raised and ready to attack. The walker got close to me and I could hear her sniffing me. My heart beat so loudly I wondered if she could hear it. I grunted again and she shied back, hissing lowly. Then the walker turned around and left.

Once she was around the corner, I let out a long, shaky breath. My plan seemed to have worked, but I wasn’t ready to tell the others just yet. In the next isle over, another walker was standing. This one was a skinny male with a bald head and a long, red beard. His ripped blue flannel was stained with dried blood and opened to expose decaying flesh. Its lips were torn back, revealing black gums and yellowed teeth.

Approaching him, I hissed loudly. I limped as if my foot was broken. The thing stared me down with black beady eyes. I stopped about five feet away and the bloody walker closed the distance, reaching out for me with a growl. My frantic heart skipped a beat and I stepped backwards, hissing louder. It roared and inched forward. The thing wasn’t acting like it was trying to bite. More like it was shooing me away. I took two steps back and hissed softly. It didn’t follow me this time, only stared. I backed away and walked to Glenn and the others. Panting, I shrunk to the floor once the doors were closed.

“Jesus, that was terrifying! They didn’t attack me,” I said, smiling to Sam and Ben.

“That’s amazing! Everyone grab a can!” Ben said and they all obeyed.

“Keep spraying yourself every ten minutes or so, so the smell won’t wear off.” I demanded and everyone nodded. I sprayed myself with my lavender Febreze and shoved the nozzle trigger through my belt loop. “And also, I noticed that one walker I encountered was very submissive and walked away when I hissed at her. The second one seemed dominant and made me back off, but didn’t try to bite.” I explained.

“Like… Pack animals or something?” Glenn wondered.

“No, more like territorial.”

“Alright, keep the talking to an absolute minimum out there, and only use your weapons if you are attacked.” Carl said. “Spray yourself occasionally and don’t walk into a crowd.”

“Hobble and hiss like them. They could be suspicious of sudden movements.” I said.

“Be smart. Let’s go.” Andrea whispered.

Once everyone smelled sweet, we filed into the store and spread out to look for supplies. Glenn and I trudged slowly past monster after monster, towards the food isle. Ben and Andrea had the same idea. The shelves were practically empty though. I looked around, desperate. Since there were no walkers in this particular isle, Ben got onto his hands and knees to search the bottom shelf.

“Guys,” He whispered. I leaned down to look on the shelf. There was three cans of pumpkin, a can of artichoke hearts, a tiny can of sliced jalapenos, and two cans of lima beans along the whole isle. The rest was gone. He looked up at me. “It may be gross but it’s food.” Quickly, we shoved the cans in our duffel bag. Over in the next isle, there were two large cans of enchilada sauce.

“It’s something,” I shrugged and heaved them into my bag. My stomach growled, probably in anger. I didn’t want to eat pumpkin or enchilada sauce. I longed for black beans, or corn. I hadn’t had either in weeks. All this stuff was leftovers that nobody wanted. But I couldn’t complain. Food was food, and survival was the name of the game. In the next few isles, Glenn and I found a few boxes of expired crackers, a jar of pickles, some expired ketchup, and the jackpot: A five pound bag of white rice along with a jar of coffee, which had been stashed in the very back of the highest shelf.

“Not a bad haul. There’s one last isle for food.” Ben said quietly, right behind Glenn and I. But when we peeked around the corner, five walkers were walking around slowly.

“I’m not risking it.” Glenn mouthed silently. I nodded.

“Refrigerated isle.” I mumbled almost inaudibly. We trudged along the dirty linoleum until we rounded the corner of the correct isle. There weren’t any walkers in this isle. The place smelled awful. Old, rotting food in each freezer that lined the walls. We didn’t dare open any of the doors. We chose this time to spray ourselves down with Febreze.

“Where to next?” Glenn asked while spraying his hair.

“Uh,” I pondered. “Clothing section.”

“Why?”

“Because, when the apocalypse began, did you think about going clothes shopping?” I asked him. He thought about it.

“No, not really.”

“I bet there’s still clothes there.”

There was. The whole area was practically untouched, filled to the brim with brand new clothes. I went a little crazy, grabbing whatever I could find in my size. Underwear, bras, shirts, pants, shorts, socks, even a swim suit. Glenn did the same, filling his duffel bag with shirts and pants. We grabbed sweaters and shirts and pants in every size. Too soon, our duffel bags were full.

“We need to find a basket.” I whispered while spraying myself down again. I packed beanies and scarves and gloves into my too-full bag, thinking ahead to winter.

“Oh, what a prize!” I laughed. When I looked up, Glenn was gone and a walker was jogging towards me. My heart pounded in my ears. The thing had heard me talking and was suspicious. The fat female beast bobbed her head left and right, hissing viciously and sniffing for flesh.

“Shit,” I breathed and took my ax from my belt. I looked around; there were no more in sight from what I could see The thing leaned towards me, growling I raised my ax. She knew I wasn’t one of them. It snapped its teeth, and once it was a foot away. I came down hard with my weapon onto its skull. The thing’s head split like a watermelon. She fell to the carpeted floor in a puddle of blood. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest.

“You were almost attacked!” Glenn whispered and I practically screamed. He came hopping out of a clothes rack “I saw it coming and didn’t want to draw suspicion by talking.”

“Yeah thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes and searching for a basket. We found one a few isles down with a mostly eaten body on the floor next to it. Flies circled the dried flesh and the stench burned my nose. I sprayed myself with Febreze to fend off the smell. We took the cart and checked what was inside. Under a pile of clothes, feminine supplies and makeup, there was a ten pack of canned green beans. I smiled to Glenn. He was beaming. I wondered if anyone was finding good stuff like we were.

Suddenly, Andrea came jogging around the corner.

“Guys,” she whispered, out of breath. “Get to the camping section of the store. Now.”
We pushed our basket as fast as we could without drawing suspicion. In the outdoors section, at least twelve tents were set up in the isles.

“It looks like a big group lived here.” Glenn whispered. “And then they were all taken over.” He mumbled, pointing to the bloodstains all over the insides of the nylon walls.

“Must’ve been awhile ago, because look.” Andrea said while unzipping a tent. The cloth fell away and a huge stash of food, medicine, and other necessities was revealed. Our mouths hung. Without a word, Ben, Andrea, Glenn, and I started stuffing our bags even more with canned goods.

“Think it’ll last us through winter?” I asked Glenn.

“Maybe. There’s really not much here. It just looks like a lot because we’re so hungry. This 24 pack of pears will realistically only last us three or four weeks with rationing.”

“We’ll definitely have to ration smart.” I said, concerned.

“Can’t we just clear this place out and set up camp?” Ben asked.

“No, there’s no access to fresh water, and walkers will be on our doorstep every day.” Glenn explained, rubbing his temples.

“I wonder if there’s any survivors,” I pondered, looking around. All of the other tents were barren except for trash and a few sleeping bags. I grabbed another shopping cart from a few isles down and stuffed the blankets in. We’d need them for winter. There were absolutely no guns or ammo left in the camping section, but I did find a couple battery powered lanterns, a portable toilet, some expired fishing bait, and a flashlight.

When each of our carts and bags were full, we wheeled slowly out of the isles. A group of walkers watched us curiously. I held my breath as we passed them. We stopped in the electronics section to spray ourselves down with Febreze again. Suddenly, Carl came around the corner with his basket brimming. His duffel bag lay in the front of the cart where babies sit, and it too was overflowing.

“What’d you get, hun?” Andrea asked him after we checked if there were any walkers around.

“Useful stuff. Rope for general use, a garden hose for siphoning gas, a jar of aspirin, a few rolls of duct tape, tons more of Febreze, the last gas can on the shelf, two rolls of paper towels we can use for toilet paper,” Carl stopped listing his items only to clear his throat. “Then I found loads of candles stashed in a microwave box, various soaps stashed in the same fashion, jumper cables, and gardening seeds.” His smile was gigantic. Our mouths hung open.

“Carl! You smart cookie! Jumper cables? Seeds? Those are great finds!” I said. “What kind of seeds did you find?”

“Tomatoes, corn, pumpkin, zucchini, peppers, strawberries, carrots, and potatoes. Nobody thought of farming when the apocalypse began.” He explained happily.

“This is too good to be true.” Ben said.

“About time we had some good luck,” Andrea chimed in.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here before we jinx ourselves.” I said while ruffling Carl’s hair.

“Wait!” He mumbled. “I wonder if there’s any toilet paper left in the bathrooms. They usually have huge rolls in the supply closet.”

“Carl, stop being a genius!” Glenn laughed. We rolled our carts, six in total, to the double doors where we started and left them there to sneak off to the restrooms. The walkers were more curious than ever and some were following us now.

Andrea and I silently killed off the tag-alongs when we got into the hallway where the bathrooms were located. The men’s room graced us with five heavy rolls, but the women’s restroom was locked. Glenn kicked the door in and we stared into the darkness – right at the figure of a crying woman.