Red at Day

The only noise that can be heard is the soft purr of our engines and the sound of small rocks crunching against the asphalt as we drive carefully into the Walmart parking lot. I can't imagine this place being full of anything, but it doesn't hurt to look. It's more nerve wracking that not everyone had made it here yet. Only one other car is waiting for us in the parking lot. Bruce and Paris sit in their van, the engine off and windows slightly cracked. I pull up next to them and roll my window down.
“Are you guys okay?” I ask.
“We're fine,” Bruce says casually. Paris just sits next to him, staring down at the floor as if no one is really here.
“What about Paris?” I ask. She doesn't look up.
“She's fine,” He says.
“I'd like her to tell me that,” I say.
“An, don't get involved,” Cain whispers to me.
“No, fuck that,” I say to Cain, then look back at Bruce, “Let me talk to Paris.” He rolls his window up.
“I would so fucking honk my horn until he opened his window if there wasn't the threat of zombies,” I quickly mutter, “Fucking shark.”
It takes about ten minutes for Clara and Issa's cars to pull in beside us. Everyone is safe and unharmed. We exit our vehicles and make sure to bring our weapons inside. Adriel's watch says it's about eleven o'clock. We keep our eyes peeled for any monsters, feeling vulnerable after our home had been vandalized by corpses. My knuckles turn white from how tightly I hold onto my knife.
We all gather around the door, keeping as close together as we can to stay out of sight. The glass doors that once stood together are now smashed in, shards of it's contents littered on the inside of the building. The lack of lighting inside the Walmart gives off a worse feeling than when it's open at three in the morning. Issa stops us before we enter the building.
“Do we all know what we're looking for?” Issa asks.
“Food and water and stuff,” Clara says.
“Shelter,” Kali says.
“A sense of purpose?” Adriel says.
“He's got the right idea,” Issa says, motioning to Adriel.
“Do we all get our own tent or do we share tents?” Rupert asks.
“I'm fine with sharing a tent, but I would like it if I shared it with other girls,” Zaida says, “But I can also have my own tent if that seems unfair.”
“No, no, dude,” I say, “That's perfectly fine.” Zaida smiles in relief.
“Can I share a tent with my girlfriend?” Bruce asks.
“You can do whatever the fuck you want,” Cain says.
“I wanna share a tent with my cute girlfriend!” Clara whines. Machi smiles and laughs awkwardly. She enjoys the attention, but doesn't know how to react to it.
“I'll just grab two big tents if there are any and you guys can grab smaller tents to accommodate what you want,” I offer. Everyone seems to agree with that.
“Okay!” Issa says, “So now that we know what we need, if there's anything else you would like to take with you, now is the time to get it. You want toothpaste? Awesome! Loot! You feel a strange attachment to that stuffed animal? Loot! Just remember that everything we take will go in Bruce's car and you will be responsible for lugging it around. Yes, even that really cute teddybear can become a burden to bear. Understood?” Issa's shoulder's tremble. He is more than happy with that pun. Everyone else is unsatisfied.
We turn the flashlights of our cellphones on, illuminating the path in front of us. We split into small groups, trying to scavenge anything we can. I stay with Uma and Zaida. Zaida holds her phone close to her chest and has her arms folded together. Uma and I point our flashlights around, making sure to see all that's around us. Honestly, it just feels like we're in an abyss, swallowed up by darkness. I feel uneasy.
Uma leads us to the camping section. There is a small selection of tents available to us. There is a large, a medium, and two small tents. I know some people will want more tents, but beggars can't be choosers. We take the boxes of tents and head back outside to put them into Bruce's van.
We open the back of the van and put our items into it. I hear sniffling on the other side and tell the girls to head back in without me. They nod and go to gather more items.
I walk around the van and see Paris leaning on the hood. Tears are trailing down her cheeks and her lower lip is trembling. She wipes a tear away with one hand and slaps her hand down onto her thigh angrily, sighing as she does it. Paris looks up at the stars.
“Are you okay?” I ask gently.
“Annabelle, go away,” Paris says, turning her head from me.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask, my eyebrows knitting together in concern.
“No, I want you to go away,” Paris orders.
“Okay...” I say, backing off, “Let me know if you need me, okay?”
“Yeah,” Paris says quickly. I go back into the Walmart. I feel like I should have tried to help her more.
Inside I try to navigate myself back to the camping supplies to get a sleeping-bag. I walk down the isle and look at my choices. Honestly, I'm torn between living my dream and finally becoming a burrito or sleeping in the strong arms of Darth Vader. There's also this bag that says it's “contoured” but it looks nothing like a refined cheek bone. After a strong talk with myself, I decide that even though Darth Vader could protect me from a hoard of zombies, I need to do what's best for me and live out my dreams. I will be a mild burrito that can stay warm in freezing temperatures. Maybe one day I'll hatch from the burrito life and become a beautiful butterfly. One can dream. I take the sleeping-bag and look for more things I'll need.
So a time skip later and I've grabbed what I needed. Shampoo, a hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and all of that good stuff. It's all neatly tucked away in my new super-backpack. It's more than your average backpack, it can hold my sleeping bag. It's the Spider-man of heroes. Spider-man being the best superhero in my opinion.
I'd like to assume that when everyone is done, they just wait outside to figure out the next step. I walk through the dark building with the new flashlight I snatched. Oh yeah, an entire assortment of shit in my bag. It's like I'm the grandma from Halloween Town.
A hand from behind grabs me and I spin around. I just react and ball my right hand into a fist. I punch as hard as I can and knock whatever grabbed me onto the floor. I shine my light onto it. It writhes and twitches, trying to get up and bite me again. It's intestines are spilled onto the floor, but I'm pretty sure he was like that before I punched him.
“Nope!” I yell, stomping my heel into it's skull, “Fuck! This!” Blood from the zombie sprays everywhere. It's old and smells disgusting. I want to take a shower.
I turn to leave and slip on the blood. My face slams hard onto the floor, only to be cushioned by rotting organs. Disgusted, I try to stand up, but only manage to prop myself up onto my knees. I lurch forward and vomit onto the ground. I get onto my feet and try not to focus on how rotting guts and my stomach acid smell together. Oh god, I just thought about it. I try to control my breathing and walk outside, dry heaving.
Everyone is waiting for me by the cars. Their reactions are different when they see me covered in blood. Some cover their mouths, some pull out weapons. That's a fair reaction to seeing me.
“Are you bitten?” Rupert demands.
“No,” I call out. I hold onto my stomach.
“Why are you covered in blood then?” Rupert asks.
“Zombie,” I say, “I fell on him after I killed him.”
“And how do we know you're telling the truth?” Rupert asks.
“Do you need to fucking look me over, dude?” I ask. His eyes flicker to my chest.
“Unbelievable, dude,” I say, waving him away.
“We don't know if you're safe!” Curt yells, pointing his blade at me.
“No, dude,” I say, “I have been cleansed by bathing in this zombie blood. It's the only way you can ward off infections.”
“So you've been bitten!” Curt yells.
“No,” I say, “The virus is so bad that if you so much as look at a zombie you become one. I saved myself from becoming one of them.”
“She's fine,” Jackie laughs.
“What other supplies did you guys grab?” I ask.
“We were just going over that!” Clara says, “We have more water, food, rope, lighters, toilet paper, medical supplies, car supplies, tools, maps, coolers with ice, fishing supplies, board games, actual water filters, walkie-talkies, and Issa found a generator! What'd you find?”
“The same stuff, more or less,” I chuckle, “I have toy dinosaurs in here.”
“Which one's your favorite?” Clara asks.
“Obviously the long neck ones,” I smile.
“You wanna hear something dumb?” Rosa asks.
“No, not this,” Adriel sighs.
“No, this is important,” Rosa says.
“Tell it!” Uma says excitely.
“Okay,” Rosa begins, “So I was at school and we were learning about dinosaurs- that's why there's the relevance.”
“Yes,” Uma says, already enthralled by this story.
“This kid named Cormac just says he doesn't believe in dinosaurs,” Rosa continues, “And we're all like 'yeah, okay. Some people just don't believe in dinosaurs' but this fucking guy tells us his reasoning behind it.”
“Wait, Cormac?” Machi asks, “The guy who looks like a caveman?”
“The same,” Rosa says, “He said he didn't believe in dinosaurs, not because of any faith he has. He made it clear he was an atheist. No, he doesn't believe in dinosaurs because he doesn't know who really put the bones there!”
“Who the fuck would put the bones there?” I ask.
“That's not how that works!” Uma says.
“How's he gonna say there weren't any dinosaurs when he fucking lived with them?” Issa asks.
“This shit ain't boneless,” Paris cackles.
“Does... does he not know that when something fucking dies there's dirt stacked onto dirt, stacked onto dirt?” Kali asks, “There is no putting fucking bones there that's just how it is!”
“I get so angry just thinking about it,” Rosa huffs.
“What do you think Cormac's up to now?” Cain asks. No one wants to admit they're thinking “becoming a fossil.”
“Our next move should be finding a new place to stay,” Rupert says, breaking the silence.
“Well, we could drive more north until about four then set up base,” Zaida suggests.
“That sounds like a good idea,” I say.
“Kamloops is about four hours away,” Uma says, looking at a map.
“Sounds like a plan,” Issa says.
“Can I change first?” I ask.
“Yeah, dude,” Kali laughs.