Chapter 7

"Don't move." The voice is uncertain and scared as it commands me to stay put.

I stop moving and glance towards my new attacker. It's a thin girl, and for a moment, my mind flashes back to the last time I looked in a mirror and the resemblance that her features hold. Sunken eyes and baggy clothes only accentuating the fact that it has probably been a while since she had any sort of nourishment. I slowly set my basket down and raise my hands above my head to show I had no weapon in them. The girl fumbles with the gun a little, her nerves showing her inexperience. Clearing my throat, I try reasoning with her.

"Look, you look hungry, I already took care of the things that could get to us in the aisles. Maybe we could work together for a while? Are you looking for someone? I'm looking for my family." I say as calmly as possible to diffuse the situation.

Suddenly, she collapses to the ground and begins bawling. I rush to her side to see if she's okay. Her shoulders shake violently as tears roll down her face and drip from her chin to the linoleum floor. Little puddles of passionate despair that will soon evaporate and be forgotten, just as the people in this world, possibly even us.

"How is someone like me supposed to survive?" she wails into my shoulder, hot tears soaking through the fabric of my t-shirt. "I couldn't have shot you even if I had too. I've never even killed an animal let alone a person."

She is inconsolable and I am not a social person. I have no clue what to do or say other than pat her back gently, but I decide to try anyway.

Geez, I couldn't get any more awkward if I tried. I mentally face palm myself.

"Umm, well, I had never killed anything either. It's not so hard when you have no choice. Granted, I've never had to face another live human before either." I shrug my shoulders as I say this and wish that I was better with words as her crying quiets down.

She looks up at me, her tearstained face and the vulnerability in her eyes making her appear no older than 10 or 11 years old. She whispers to me, so softly that I almost don't catch it.

"My parents are gone. I have no one left. I'm alone and I don't want to die alone."

Her words leave me shocked. I hadn't given much thought to what I would do if I ended up in a situation I couldn't escape, with no one to know that I was gone or had lived. The very thought shook me to my core. I need to help this girl. Pulling her into a hug, her hands grasp my shoulders as if I will disappear the moment she lets go. It's crazy what the end of the world can do for humans fighting to survive. We no longer have the option to focus solely on ourselves and our priorities.

I pull away and look into her tired eyes once more. The determination in my voice giving us both hope. "You don't have to be alone anymore. Neither of us does."

Silently we both stand, and I grab my basket from the ground as she puts the safety back on her handgun and slips it into her backpack. Gesturing to the aisles ahead of us I turn to her.

"Shall we gather some more supplies while we can?"

She nods eagerly before grabbing a basket by the front door. We work in unison, grabbing things that may prove to be useful and occasionally emptying our baskets into my car. Suddenly she stops and turns to me, the slightest smile gracing her face.

"I'm Mikayla, by the way."

I smile back at her and it feels good to use muscles that have laid dormant for so long.

"I'm Alexis."

We move to the back of the store and there's a door marked with a plaque reading employees only.

"I wonder what's in there." I don't realize that I said that out loud until Mikayla walks up to me.

"Let's check it out?" She offers uncertainly.

I look at her blankly for a minute before nodding. I move to the door and test the knob, pulling it open after noticing it's not locked. It's a lot darker inside this room but so far so good. We move further in and I send Mikayla back to the car for a candle so we can see if there is anything worth taking in here. She hurries to the car and I try the next doorknob. As soon as it opens two corpses come rampaging out and once again, I'm on my back on the ground using my weak noodle arms to hold death at bay.

What a joke.

I push myself backward, almost in a crab walk, in the direction of the door that goes back into the store. I manage to get back to my feet but one of them lunges, a teenager it looks like, with shaggy blond hair and I am pushed onto the ground on my stomach this time. Before the corpse can dig into me though there is a loud thud and the body collapses. I panic, struggling to get him off me and look up to see Mikayla looking frenzied holding a hammer. The body on the ground next to me has its skull caved in.

She is still in shock when the second one begins running and she brings her arms up defensively, dropping the hammer. I grab it and push myself up fast, bringing the hammer up towards the undead's face as I go. There is an audible crack as the jaw breaks and the head is flung back from the force. The body drops to the floor just like it's counterpart and I drop the hammer next to it.

Panting I grab her arm and pull her from the room, shoving the corpse in the doorway with my foot until I can shut the door completely. We don't say a word as we finish loading the car and set off on our journey.