Dearly Departed

The late summer heat was burning down on the once great metropolis of London. The sun was a spiky ball of flame, reaching the earth’s surface and soaking it in a hellish heat. Sweat had started beading on her brow as she dug around the garden center of a superstore. Letting out a breath, Rose Kavanagh wiped the sweat on her brow with her forearm. She glanced up at the sky and shook her head, it was high noon, the hottest part of the day. Combing her chocolate-colored hair into a high ponytail, Rose pulled it tight and walked over to the dusty glass doors that lead into the superstore.

Her rich caramel eyes stared at the door for a moment. She was debating if she should slip into the store or keep poking around outside. When she licked her lips she gagged at the saltiness from her sweat. Scrunching up her nose, Rose reached for her trench knife tucked into her russet boot. Pressing her lips together, she stepped closer to the door and peered inside the store. Letting out a steady breath, the young woman glanced at her trench knife and slipped her fingers through the loops of the knife’s handle.

Sticking the tip of the knife in the split of the glass doors, Rose wiggled it through. The doors split apart far enough for her to stick her hands in between and push them apart. Stepping through the threshold of the door, Rose glanced around cautiously. Her breathing was steady, ears alert, and eyes scanning every nook and cranny critically. The store was a total mess. The linoleum floors were covered in a thin layer of dust, various items had been knocked onto the ground such as shampoo bottles, empty boxes, and newspapers.

There were sacks of bird food and plant fertilizer that had been cut open and spread across the floor. Rose stepped carefully, the less noise she would make the better. All she wanted was some toiletries and she would be on her way. The sound of dripping water echoed in the store. The ceiling above was covered in mold and water damage, but that was to be expected after nine months of no maintenance. Taking in a deep breath, Rose walked down the aisle and ventured to the pharmacy section of the superstore. She was amazed by the amount of damage the building had incurred in less than a year of people being gone.

Many shelves were left with very few items and what remained were knocked over or damaged. Rose stood at the edge of some metal shelving and peeked around into the aisle. Sucking in her breath, Rose pulled back quickly when she caught sight of two of them. Closing her eyes tightly, she cursed and shook her head. Rolling up the sleeves of her sheer red plaid flannel shirt, Rose knew she had to do this quickly and quietly. The last thing she needed was to bring on a hoard. She swallowed hard and came around the corner with no hesitation.

She held her knife high and slammed it into the skull of the monster in the aisle. It went limp and she yanked the knife out quickly, letting it fall to the ground. Black goo oozed from the wound of the mutilated creature as it lay lifeless in the aisle. Rose stumbled back and looked at the gray being covered in ripped clothing stained with dried blood and other bodily fluids. Her nose scrunched up at the horrible stench and she lifted her gaze to the second creature—a biter—limping towards her.

Rose lifted her knife and moved forward swiftly. Grabbing the creature by the back of the neck, she yanked him forward into her blade. With one powerful strike, Rose stabbed the biter right in between the eyes. Letting out a breath, Rose pulled the knife out with a disgusting slimy sloshing sound, and watched the biter fall lifeless to the ground. She stared at their bodies, skinny, boney, gray in color, stained with dried blood, eyes sunken in, teeth yellowed, hair tangled, and gums black and purple. Rose closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath, she hated killing these things, it always freaked her out.

“Ro?” she heard her sister calling out as quietly as she could.

Turning around, Rose quickly walked to the other end of the aisle and saw her sister edging down carefully with her make-shift spear held out. “Be quiet,” Rose warned and put her index finger up against her lips. “There are biters in here.”

“There are biters everywhere, Ro,” her sister, Zoey, whispered. She rested her spear against her shoulder and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Her hazel eyes drifted over to the two biters laying in bloody heaps on the ground. They were disgusting and she hated that the world had become overrun by them. She lost count of how many they had put down just from scavenging around the outskirts of London. “Let’s hurry up, it’s gonna be dark in less than two hours.”

“Keep watch, I’ll get what we need,” Rose said, walking down the medicine aisle carefully and quietly. She grabbed a bottle of chewable vitamin C, a bottle of aspirin, and a bag of cough drops. Stuffing it all into her backpack, Rose moved to the next aisle and saw a box of tampons. “Thank God,” Rose muttered in relief as she grabbed the box and stuffed it into her bag.

Moving along down the aisle, Rose stopped when she saw some basic first aid supplies. A few boxes of cheap Band-Aids, a tube of antiseptic, a bottle peroxide, and some gauze; they needed more than that, but she’d take what she could get. Once she filled her bag with the few items she found, she closed the bag and slipped it onto her shoulders. She made her way back to her sister a few moments later and saw her poking around the shelves.

“I found some tooth paste and a travel size bottle of mouth wash,” Zoey said with a smile. It didn’t sound like much, but it was better than none at all. “Did you find any soap?” the older girl asked when Rose got over to her.

“No, but come on. We can’t stay much longer.” Rose walked around her sister and started for the garden center doors. She heard her sister sigh and follow after her. When they got to the door, she slipped through easily and looked around before carrying on. Glancing over her shoulder, her caramel eyes caught sight of her sister’s copper-brown hair waving in the stale breeze. “Let’s head back, it’s getting late.”

“We still need some stuff though,” Zoey pointed out, stopping in her tracks. “We can’t keep putting this off, Ro.”

Rose, the younger of the two, sighed heavily and looked back at Zoey. Her hazel eyes were unwavering and Rose knew that Zoey would not be persuaded. There was no denying that Rose had been trying to put off leaving the city, but she feared their chances out in the wilderness. It would be harder to find medicine, or food for that matter, which meant they were as good as dead. By the looks of things though, the city was on its last legs. Eventually they would have no other choice, but to leave.

No one understood how this all happened. It was like one day the world gave up and the dead rose. Within a few weeks they had taken over major cities and those who survived had to fend for themselves. Rose could still remember three months in, she and her family had been attacked. Every night when she tried to go to sleep, she could see all the blood, hear the screams, and would wake up with tears streaming down her face. Her brother, mother, father, and grandmother had all been killed by the biters and never stood a chance. All she could think was that she and her sister wouldn’t either—even though they had made it this far.

“Do you really think we’ll survive out there, Zoey?” Rose questioned and sat down on what was once a shelf for flowers. Her eyes were piercing into Zoey’s, expecting an answer. “We’re lucky we’ve lasted this long.”

“Stop being so pessimistic,” Zoey scolded with an eye roll and walked over to her sister. She sat down on the shelf beside her and rested her spear next her. “You want to live don’t you?” she asked harshly.

“What’s the point of living anymore?” Rose shot back bitterly, causing Zoey to scowl in frustration. The past few months Rose’s will to live had dwindled down to almost nothing. “The whole point to life has faded into nothing. Every day we just scavenge and hope for the best, that isn’t living.” Rose shook her head and dug the toe of her boot into a pile of soil that had come from some broken pots.

“We have to make a life,” Zoey replied firmly. “What we’re doing now, you’re right! That isn’t living, I want to live and we can’t do that here.” She sighed softly and brushed her hair behind her ear. Placing a hand on Rose’s shoulder, Zoey gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I’m not having this argument,” Rose stated and stood up quickly, leaving her sister alone in the garden center. She ducked through the hole in the chain link fence and started heading in the direction of the housing development they were staying at. It was about a mile from where they were, just pass the place where the farmers market used to be held on weekends.

“Someone help!” a voice echoed from the right side of the intersection, the opposite direction of which Rose and her sister were heading. “Please! Someone! I need help!” the person shouted loudly and Rose whipped around, her eyes scanning the area. She spotted Zoey by the chain link fence, looking down the road.

Running over to Zoey, Rose came to a stop and looked down the road as well. A woman came scrambling out of the alleyway a block down from them. The woman fell onto the ground and the biters nearby started moving towards her. Screams and wails erupted from her throat and she tried to run away. She looked like a complete mess, her body was covered in sweat and grime, her hair was matted, and she looked very skinny.

“We have to help her, Rose,” Zoey announced.

“No!” Rose grabbed her sister and pulled her back in the direction of the housing development. “We can’t save her.”

“Please! No! I need help, anyone! Don’t!” the woman wailed, her voice cracking and going hoarse the more she wailed. “Please!”

Rose flinched every time she heard the woman crying out for help.

“Rose we have to help her,” Zoey said softly, watching as the biters started closing in. The woman would never make it out of there alone. She was boxed in between some cars and a building.

“How Zo?” Rose questioned. “We have one pistol and I’m down to fifteen bullets.” The younger sister swallowed hard and looked to the woman.

“Help!” she screamed so loud it made Rose tremble.

BANG!

The woman fell lifeless in the middle of the road and the biters piled on top of her. They ripped her apart, limb from limb, leaving her as blood heap. She was gone now, she wouldn’t come back and she wouldn’t have to face this life anymore.

“Who in the world...” Zoey breathed and shook her head as she watched the biters fighting over the woman’s body. The blood splashed all over them, turning their usual gray skin dark red.

Rose looked up at the roofs of the building. Her eyes fell onto a man at the edge of the building, slowly lowering a rifle down to his side. She gasped and shook her head. That was the first living person that she had seen in almost two months. The way he stood on that building, calm and collected, watching the biters devour the woman. Rose swallowed hard, something in the pit of her stomach said to go to him. With that feeling burning inside of her, Rose bolted towards him.

“Hey! You!” Rose hollered as she started running towards the building he was on, but when he saw her coming he quickly evaded her. “Wait! Get back here!” Rose yelled and followed after him.

“Rose! Are you insane?” Zoey shouted and chased after her sister. “Rose!”

When Rose got to the end of the street, she rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. The air in her lungs froze and her eyes widened in horror. There crowding the street were dozens of the dead, shuffling around with no place to go. They all started turning towards her and she cursed under her breath, backing away slowly.

“Rose!” Zoey snapped, but quickly covered her mouth the moment she saw the hoard of biters coming towards them.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The two girls yelped when a machine gun fired off. Five of the biters fell to the ground in loud thuds, but the other biters didn’t seem fazed at all. Rose shook her head, she knew it was the end for them.

“RUN!” a man’s voice came from a nearby building. “Hurry! Get out of there!”

“Ro come on!” Zoey grasped her sister’s wrist and pulled her back down the road.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The two girls came to an alleyway and found a fire escape. They quickly started climbing up as the biters started herding into the alley. Zoey was in the lead, climbing as fast as she could with Rose trailing a couple of steps behind her. When they got to the rooftop, Zoey fell to her knees and panted heavily. Rose stood at the edge of the building, staring down at all the biters, looking up at them.

Those miserable creatures reached for her with boney fingers, their foggy eyes staring at her with a fierce hunger, and their moans were so loud it made her head hurt. Rose closed her eyes tightly and began teetering towards the edge of the building. She was feeling light headed from all the running. Her lungs were burning and her legs were trembling.

“Get away from the edge, do you want to die?” the man, who had saved their lives, barked at her as he came trudging over. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her back from the edge of the building. “Are you stupid? Running after me like that?” he shook his head, his dark curls falling into rich green eyes. He was young and handsome with a gun slung on his shoulder.

“You shouldn’t have run then,” Rose panted as she fell onto her butt and laid back. Once again she had managed to escape death.