Chapter 15

“It’s so empty out here now,” noted Christie, as she looked out of the window.

“Yeah, for some reason the mutants have moved on from this area,” stated Joe, as he pushed a clip into his automatic rifle.

“Hopefully, the supermarket is the same. I just want one mutant free trip,” said Megan, and Amanda looked at her through the rear-view mirror.

“Right,” she said, slowly, and Megan laughed.

“It’s been too long,” said Josh, as he looked at DJ.

“For what?” he asked, and Josh gave him a knowing look.

“That we are doing something as a group again. Our thing was that we stuck together no matter what, and once we finally got settled, you are not around anymore,” stated Josh, heatedly, as he smacked the back of his hand.

DJ gave him an apologetic look, and he sighed heavily.

“You are absolutely right, I haven’t been, and maybe we can change that,” he said matter-of-factly, and Megan grinned at him.

“Do you mean it?” she asked, eagerly, and DJ grinned back at her.

“Scouts honor,” he said, and Josh, Joe, Amanda, Megan, and Christie chuckled.

“Sounds like a plan,” said Amanda, as they sped down the old country road.

At that moment, Joe’s eyes widened as he looked out of the windshield. He didn’t say anything, he just pointed, and everyone looked. Out in the field, they saw what looked like a gigantic, brown caterpillar, lying on its side, and there were a few clouds of thick black smoke billowing into the sky from two fires that were burning in front of the beast.

“What is that?”

Slowly, Amanda pulled the truck to the side of the road, and stopped.

“Is it still alive?” asked Megan, as they all got out of the vehicle.

“I am not sure,” said Amanda, as she cautiously headed toward the monster.

Quickly, she crossed the road, and then she looked back at the others. They all looked at her with nervous looks on their faces, and then Megan looked at her as if she was crazy. Thoughtfully, Amanda looked at them, and then she nodded.

“Could be a trap. DJ, Christie, would you stay with the truck while we go down there?” she asked.

“Nah, I’m staying. I am not going to follow you two into another suicide mission,” he said, and Megan looked at him in surprise.

“You don’t want to come? You know you want to see that thing,” she said, as she batted her eyes at him, and he sighed.

“Fine,” he said, as he grabbed his rifle, and scoffed.

Megan grinned at him, and then she, Josh, and Joe crossed. Cautiously, they walked through the field, and walked up to the creature. Immediately, they covered their noses, and made noises of disgust.

“Ugh, that’s rancid,” said Joe, and Amanda nodded.

Surprisingly, the creature's belly was ripped open, and its blood and guts slowly dripped to the ground. Strangely, the blood inside the monster was coagulated, but the wound looked fresh. There were two barrels that had fires inside of them, and there was a message written in blood in the dirt.

“The living shall rise, but the dead must fall,” read Josh, and he looked at Megan in question.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping noise coming from inside the creature, and Amanda and Megan walked over to it to investigate. At that moment, both girls saw the wires and they were attached to a black metal box. Quickly, they both looked at each other, and then they turned away from it.

“Bomb!” they yelled, and Josh and Joe looked at them in surprise.

“Run!” yelled Megan, as she and Amanda ran past them.

Immediately, Joe and Josh ran after them, and they ran for the vehicle. Suddenly, the bomb went off, and the creature exploded into a million pieces. The four of them hit the ground, and they covered their heads with their arms. Disgusting, bloody and charred mutant goo, and chunks of its body landed everywhere, and then everything went silent. Josh coughed, and everyone uncovered their heads, and looked around.

“See, suicide mission,” stated Josh, breathlessly, and then he got to his feet.

“No, someone did this,” said Amanda, as Joe held out his hand to her to help her up.

“Are you guys okay?” asked DJ, as he ran across the road.

“Yeah,” breathed Amanda, as she wiped her face with the back of her arm.

“What happened?

“Someone is out there. They planted a bomb in that thing, and they left a message. The living shall rise, but the dead must fall,” explained Megan, as she brushed herself off.

“What does that mean?”

“The only thing I can think of is that there is someone out here torturing mutants. The animals that have gotten infected don’t understand what is happening to them,” said Amanda, angrily, as they walked back to the truck, and got in.

“That thing didn’t just die. It was left to bleed to death,” Joe said, sadly.

“I mean I am not a fan of the apocalypse, but the mutants shouldn’t be tortured. Kill them if you must,” said DJ.

“Let’s just get this supply run done, so we can get back. I don’t like this at all,” said Megan, and Josh threw his arm around her shoulders.

***************

After about an hour, Amanda pulled into the parking lot of a building that once was a popular supermarket, and she pulled close to the front door.

“Okay, everyone keep an eye on each other,” said Megan, and they all got out.

“Always,” chimed Amanda, and the girls grinned at each other.

Cautiously, they opened the door, and walked into the old store with their guns drawn. Surprisingly, the store seemed to be untouched from looters, and it was so silent that it hurt their ears.

“Okay, let’s spread out and see what we can find,” said DJ, and everyone nodded.

DJ and Christie walked toward the end of the store. Megan and Josh took the middle, and Amanda and Joe scouted out the other end. Luckily, they had found plastic shopping bags at the registers, and they used them to fill up with supplies.

“How do we get stuck in the worst smelling sections all the time?” whispered Joe, and Amanda chuckled softly.

“Because we are the strongest,” she whispered back, and he rolled his eyes.

Soon, Amanda and Joe’s bags were full, and they carried them out to the truck. They secured the bags in the bed, and then they went back inside to find the others.

****************

“Hey, look. Shampoo and conditioner,” Megan whispered, happily, and she opened the bottle to inhale its fragrance.

Josh smiled as he chuckled.

“Listen. You smell fine, and when this is all over, I will buy you all the best smelling products that you want,” he whispered, and Megan put the bottle back on the shelf as she grinned at him.

“You are so sweet, you are giving me a toothache,” she whispered, and he rolled his eyes.

“You are so corny,” he chuckled, as they continued to fill their bags.

**************

“I really have missed this,” whispered Christie, as she and DJ filled their bags.

“Yeah, now that we are out here, I really missed this too,” he said, softly, as he smiled at her.

“Yeah, it’s a reminder that we are still alive,” she said, and he nodded.

At that moment, they both heard clicking sounds, and then everything went silent. They both looked at each other, and Christie swallowed hard.

“Hurry. Let’s fill these bags and get back to the others,” he said, and she nodded, as she pulled her gun.

*****************

Quickly, Joe and Amanda ran through the store, looking down each aisle for Megan, Josh, DJ, and Christie. Joe was just a few steps ahead of her, and at that moment, she saw something out of the corner of her eye, as he looked down one of the aisles. It was a dark clothes figure, and he was running through the store. Surprisingly, the figure didn’t move like a mutation, and she realized that it was another survivor.

Swiftly, Amanda pulled her handgun, as she cautiously turned down the aisle, and she ran after the figure. Quietly, she followed the mysterious person through a doorway, and then she lost him in the back of the store.

“Damn it,” she breathed, and then she turned around.

Heavily, she sighed as she realized that she didn’t know her way back, and she jogged around looking for the entrance that would lead her back into the store.

**************

“There you are. We have been looking all over for you guys,” whispered Joe, as he reached Megan and Josh, and they looked at him oddly.

“We?” Megan asked, as she raised an eyebrow, and looked behind him.

Slowly, Joe turned his head, and he was surprised to see that Amanda wasn’t behind him.

“Where did she go?” he whispered in surprise, and Megan looked at him.

“You lost her?” she whispered in shock, and Joe shook his head.

“No, she was right behind me,” he said, softly, and then he ran back down the aisle.

Quickly, Megan and Josh grabbed their bags and followed him. They didn’t see her when they rounded the corner, and they all looked at each other nervously.

“Where could she have gone?” he asked, and Megan shrugged her shoulders.

At that moment, they heard a series of beeping noises echoing through the building, and Joe looked at Megan curiously.

“What is that?” he asked, and Megan listened carefully for a moment.

Horrifyingly, she realized that the noise was signaling another bomb was near them, and her eyes went wide.

“We have to go now! There is a bomb in here,” she said, frantically, and they all ran for the front door.

Suddenly, the beeping stopped, and Megan inhaled sharply, as the building exploded around them with them still inside.

****************

DJ and Christie filled their bags, and then they suddenly heard the beeping noises echoing through the store.

“Wait, what is that?” asked Christie, as they stopped walking, and listened.

“That sounds like a timer for a bomb,” he said, and she looked at him with wide eyes.

“Bomb?” she stuttered, and they immediately ran for the front door, but they weren’t fast enough, and the store exploded around them.

************

Finally, Amanda found her way through the maze in the store’s warehouse, and she ran into the main part of the store. Swiftly, she ran through the aisles, scanning for the others, but she didn’t have any luck. At that moment, she heard the same beeping noises, and she immediately knew what that sound was.

Whoever that dark dressed figure was, he had planted a bomb in the building, Amanda realized.

As fast as she could, she ran for the front of the building hoping her friends had got out already, but before she could think another thought, the building exploded and she was swept up into the aftermath.