Ill

“Hey, hey,” Zeke whispered, grasping my head in his hands. “Don't do that. We need to focus right now and try to get the others out.” I nodded erratically, trying to steady myself and take in the damage. Shelves and carts were knocked over, blood was spattered on the walls and cabinets, and it was...surprisingly quiet.

“Do you hear that?” I walked gingerly past the counter and Zeke trailed behind, nodding.

“Nothing.” We hid behind the few shelves that were still standing and peered around the side, trying to see what was going on. My heart was beating painfully against my chest, the adrenaline kicking in and making me aware that I was now in survival mode. It was clear, but as we ran across the opening to the back of another shelf, it was apparent that we could now hear chewing. Similar to the sound of a busy food court. I clamped my eyes shut, mentally prepping myself for whatever lie around the corner. My lungs rapidly filled up with air as one does right before they're about to scream. Zeke's right hand roughly covered my mouth, his other arm wrapping tightly around my shoulder as he began quickly backpedaling towards the cafe. I sobbed uncontrollably at the sight of carnage that will forever be engrained in my mind. There were pieces, body parts of adults and children strewn across the floor and staining the pale green carpet.

Directly behind us came a garbled growl. Zeke spun around and clumsily tripped over Walter's torso, which had managed to crawl a hundred feet over to us. Zeke paced back and forth, forehead creased in despair as I stepped on Walter...or at least what was left of him. It was good to know that physical handicaps do weaken whatever the hell these things were, as I hardly had to put any pressure for Walter to stop moving forward.

“I'm so sorry, man,” Zeke cried before plunging his knife into Walter's skull. In the distance, I spotted three more people gunning straight for us. I screamed in horror as I yanked Zeke's hand towards the backroom. Through the swinging doors, we could see Candace, Axel, and Lindsey sitting terrified in the ledge above the walk-in cooler. They had pulled the ladder up there with them and merely cried and looked away as we burst in.

“Guys what the hell?” Zeke yelled, furious. Panicked, I pulled open the cooler door as fast as I could manage and tugged Zeke inside, closing it just before those things reached us. Zeke and I pulled tightly on the inside door handle as a precaution. Who were we to assume they couldn't open doors? But they didn't, fortunately enough. The door was heavy and made of steel, but one person could still open it relatively easy. They scratched and they growled and faintly over that I could hear the sounds of someone crying and whispering, “What the fuck...What the fuck...What the fuck...”