Static Screams

Somewhere in the midst of the nightmares, I must have fallen asleep. One second Logan was brushing the hair off my face, the next I was shaking. I wondered if I was cold or just in shock, but when I opened my eyes I realized someone was shaking me.

“Scarlett!” They hissed, looking over their shoulder as they tried to wake me.

I blinked a few times, eyes blurry. “Hol?” I pushed off the dirty ground, sitting up to look at him. He shushed me.

“We have to go.” His eyes were flat, but somehow full of fear. The lines on his face seemed deeper than normal, but they were merely darkened with soot.

“What’s happening?” I sat up completely, trying to see what was behind him that he was frantic over. I almost wish I hadn’t. Through the furniture we’d pushed against the door, I could see the creature beyond the glass. Maybe it was a dog before, but now it was something more. Black scraggly fur covered it, patchy and missing chunks in some spots where it was falling apart. Chunks of its flesh gone, ribs showing through its chest. Its eyes were somehow black and red at the same time. In the lines between its teeth dangled what used to be someone’s skin. As I watched, two more of the creatures joined him. He chomped back at one of them as it bumped into him, and it snapped its jaws back.

“Oh shit.” I cursed under my breath, ducking back behind Holland and the shelves. “Go!” I shoved him towards Darren, and turned towards Logan, slapping a hand over her mouth when she started to shout. I held a finger on my other hand over my mouth, shaking my head, and then pointing it towards the door. Her eyes grew wide, and she nodded. I moved at the pace of a snail as I carefully put my backpack on, and slid across the floor towards Natalie and Sawyer.

Logan, still unsure what was happening, moved over to Cosmic, shaking her awake while I did the same to Nat and Sawyer. Sawyer peeked his head around the shelf before I could stop him, and turned back to me slowly, fear covering his exhaustion.

I crawled across the floor towards the back of the store, the others followed as they gathered their belongings. Reaching up to the door of the breakroom, I swore. It was locked. I moved on, opening the door to the cooler, and rolling the drink organizer out of the way. I glanced in, making sure no undead were inside, and then held the door open, beckoning my friends forward.

Natalie, Sawyer, and Cosmic were inside before the sound of claws dragging across the glass pierced through the store. I winced at the sound, before pulling myself up into a crouch and trying to see over the shelf. One of the creatures had its front paws on the window, and it was tall enough on its hind legs that it saw me. Immediately it bared its teeth, and a growl sent vibrations through my spine. “Oh fuck. Go go!” I screamed, shoving Peter through the cooler door in a panic.

Holland, at the end of the line, reached past the glass door, grabbing the shotgun strapped to Peter's backpack, and whirling around as the sound of the window shattering filled the room. The first creature appeared as it jumped on top of a shelving unit, the one with the skin in its teeth. Without missing a beat, Holland fired. The undead dog howled in pain as it crumbled to the floor, paws skittering as it tried to regain its balance.

It was only as the second one rounded the corner to my right that I realized Wren was nowhere to be seen. She had been at the counter before I passed out, but I couldn’t see it from where I was crouched at the back corner of the store.

“Wren!” I screamed, yanking my gun from the strap on my leg. Logan was gone too. She must have gone to get Wren after being woken up. “Logan, sound off!” I fired two bullets into the shoulder of the creature as it stalked towards me. It fell against the soda machine, but regained its footing and charged at me, far quicker than the undead humans would.

Standing up now, I jumped forward, yanking open the door of the ice cream freezer, and letting it crash into the dog's skull as hard as I could. It did the trick, and it buckled to the ground. “Logan!” I screeched, as I moved around the door and slammed my heel as hard as I could into the skull of the dog. Once. Twice. Three times. Until its brains were nothing but mush on the linoleum.

Looking back at Holland, who was battling his demon dog with Darren at his side, I jumped over the one I’d killed, and charged forward. I was not losing someone else.

I slid around the corner of the last aisle, and came face to face with the final dog. It was bigger than the other two, and seemed to be waiting for someone to find it. Its jaw opened, head tilting backwards, and let out a spine chilling howl before looking at me again, and sprinting forward.

“Dammit!” I shouted, scrambling backwards and tumbling towards the hallway leading to the bathrooms. I slammed against the first door, stumbling into the women’s restroom, swearing at the fact that it wasn’t a single room with a lock, but a room with two stalls. One stall was closed, a human leg sticking out from under the door. I shoved open the other one, praising the designers for the toilet being one with a tank. Grabbing the top of the tank, heavy and porcelain, I whirled around, just in time to see the demon dog stalking into the room, growling. I stepped out of the stall, trying to give myself space to back up, and held up the lid, trying to catch my breath.

It seemed to be playing with me, entertained by my fear the way the zombies outside didn’t.

“Scarlett!” The scream of my name got louder as it echoed down the hall, before Holland appeared in the doorway, hair on its ends, clicking the gun shut as he finished reloading.

The demon dog turned to see what was behind him, and Holland pulled the trigger. The shot hit the dog in the neck, spattering black blood everywhere. It howled, head half decapitated, before collapsing partly, trying to stay up. I lunged forward, swinging the heavy porcelain in my hands, and when the sound of its skull being shattered confirmed my hit, it hit the ground, and didn’t move again.

I crumpled to the floor, panting and fighting a sob. Holland stood in the doorway, leaning on the frame, breathing as hard as I was. He looked about as dead as I felt.

Peter appeared next to him. He looked between us, then gestured at the demon dog. “What the fuck is going on?”

I ignored him. “Where are Logan and Wren?” I asked, using the sink to pull myself to my feet. I dropped the lid on the dog's head, making sure it was dead. Moving out of the bathroom, Holland and Peter followed me towards the front.

“Logan!” I shouted. “Wren!”

The counter where Wren had spread out her work was empty save for the trash, and one bright orange sticky note. I picked it up, and then turned and climbed out of the broken window, note crumpled in my hands. I screamed Logan’s name into the darkness, knowing the likelihood she’d answer was low.

Holland had climbed through the window after me. “Where did they go?” He asked.

I handed him the orange paper. “Back to where this started.”