I swallowed nervously as I turned to Chloe. Her stare said more than words ever could. She looked terrified of me; like she was worried I needed a next victim.

"It's clear now," was all I managed to croak out.

It took a few seconds before Chloe tore herself from her corner.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

She looked at me for a second and then nodded, "I'll be fine."

I should really give her more credit.

I managed to get a lot of the surface goop off, but my clothes were pretty much trash at this point. Still, I tried to get most of it off.

"Do you think we will be able to dig through this?" Chloe asked, as she bent down by some fallen goods.

"I don't think we have time for that. Just the essentials."

I continued down the clear aisle, aiming for the non-food items that looked like they were at the back of the store. I heard Chloe un-zip her backpack and shove some stuff in.

"Stay close," I prompted and she ran to me as she slipped her pack on again.

The back of the store had some skylights, which was rather lucky, considering the sun from the display windows didn't reach back here very well. The back shelves were out of the line of fire and were still upright.

This place was pretty picked over. Gaping holes adorned the shelves where product should have been. I slipped off my backpack and started stuffing in soap and a few other hygiene items. Clearly I would need that tonight.

"Look!" Chloe exclaimed and I grabbed for my axe that I had set down.

She was pointing to a white metal, spinning rack. Maps. And there were still some left. I hurried over and patted Chloe's head,

"Good job."

"Eww, you didn't get stuff in my hair did ya?" She wiped at the top of her head.

"Now you can smell like me," I managed a small grin and her face scrunched up.

There was one map of Louisiana left and a couple of different local maps. And they were the laminated ones too. I quickly stowed them safely into my backpack. Now, that meant we could grab what we wanted. They had a small pharmacy area that had been picked clean, but I scavenged some gauze, Benadryl and basically everything I could. To my surprise, they had some generic clothing as well. This really was a general store.

I found a grey hoodie, sweat pants and some V-neck t-shirts, which I rolled up and stuffed into my bulging bag. I guess I was going to stay looking like a college girl for a little longer. I suppose when shit hit the fan all those months ago, people weren't looking for clothes. We went back to the food area and grabbed what we could still reach. In less than ten minutes we had gathered a collection of canned and packaged goods; nothing that would be considered particularly nutritious though. I had spotted some of those reusable mesh bags and we each filled one to carry.

I needed to be able to swing into action if need be and Chloe could only carry so much. I threw the bag over my shoulder, grunting at the extra weight. Chloe was able to wear her backpack and the bag with more ease. Dreading the next part, we creeped back to the front of the store. New infected had appeared further down the main drag. Right where we needed to go.

"Shit."

"What?"

"The infected have already started to migrate here."

There were only three that I could see, but I was willing to bet more were on their way. How was I going to pull this off?

"Alright, you really have to stay by me this time."

"I've stayed by you the whole time." Chloe shot me a droll look.

Did nothing faze this kid?

I gave the bag on my shoulder one more heave for good measure and tore down the stupid silver bell above the door. The last thing we needed was literally for a dinner bell to ring. I bid this place fucking ado and tore through the door. We kept up a brisk walk, not wanting to tire out in case we really did have to run. I directed us away from the few infected that started to stroll down the main road.

Rounding the corner to the building on the edge of the street again, I ran into a group of infected, immediately stopping and twirling to the side. Using the few seconds of confusion to my advantage, I grabbed the strap of Chloe's backpack and yanked her to me and basically pulled her around the infected. They started after us, some moving faster than the others.

"I think we're going to have to run some."

I picked up my pace, making sure Chloe was right beside me and could keep up. I spotted the alley entrance we needed just a bit down, but proving with my theory that the universe was out to get me, it was blocked with a good few infected. Basically there were infected in our way and behind us. The street was beginning to become saturated with them.

"Bailey, I'm scared," Chloe tearfully exclaimed.

Even she could see how screwed we were.

"We're almost at the alley."

I didn't have time or the capacity to make meaningless reassurances at the moment. I jerked to a stop a few meters from the alley, planning on using my axe again. The bag I was carrying slid off my shoulder and scratched down my arm, leaving angry red welts in its wake. I suppose it was heavy enough to use as a weapon.

I tossed my axe towards the infected guarding the alley entrance and they peered down at it as it clanged to the ground.

"You just threw your weapon away!" Chloe screeched.

"No I didn't."

I ran to the infected and swung my heavy, filled to the brim bag at the first one. I had the odd urge to yell this is my purse at them as I brandished the bag like a weapon. Maybe I was starting to lose my mind. The infected went flying into the other two and they all fell down in a mass of limbs. A few cans popped out the top, but I didn't bother retrieving them.

"Come on!" I yelled as I bent to pick up the axe I had thrown.

Chloe ran to me, her bags jerking up and down. The alley had more infected lying in wait for us and the others had started to catch up and were now pouring into alleyway after us. I used my axe to poke at the ones that got too close, having to only stop to take one out that was directly in front of us. I couldn't afford to get bogged down.

The house we were aiming for loomed in the distance.

"I see it!" Chloe huffed.

I had to crack open the skull of one female infected blocking the fence we needed. I thanked my past self for having the foresight to toss a chair over. My brain must have been working overtime. Using all of my reserved strength, I tossed my heavy bag over the pointed fence, then Chloe's.

"Hurry!" Chloe yelled.

I had to knock back an infected that had snuck up on me with the butt of my axe. Seeing no other option, I stomped my heel down on the middle of its skull. A flash of a memory shot through my brain, reminding me of the time Darren did that and how disgusted I was.

Chloe climbed onto the chair and I gave her a boost. Her leg and arm latched over the ragged boards at the same time I was steam rolled by an infected. I heard her scream as I hit the ground, shoving at the body trying to tear into me. Drool and foul breath hit me, but I was able to shove it to the side. I scrambled to pull the hunting knife from my pants.

By the time the knife was clear of the sheath, the infected had crawled back to me. I shoved it back and rolled on top of it, rearing up to bring the knife down. It landed in the things mouth and went out through the back of its head. It gargled for a bit, and then stopped moving. I hopped up and saw that Chloe was no longer on the fence. She must have fallen to the other side.

I jumped up on the chair and threw my backpack and axe over. I don't know where the strength came from this time, but I was able to pull myself up enough with my arms that I could hook my leg over. My pants snagged on the pokey fence when I brought my other leg over, tearing right down the seam. This made me lose my balance and I toppled the rest of the way down, landing on my side. Pain shot up my whole right side, especially in my elbow, which I had sticking out as I flailed down. I quit breathing as the pain made my eyes water. I had to force my lungs to start again, praying that nothing was broken.

Wheezing, I managed to sit up. New pain shot down my body. I was able to focus long enough to stand up and spot Chloe. Dragging my backpack onto my screaming shoulder, I went to usher her into the house.

"Bailey," she said weakly.

I looked down at her. She was clasping her left arm tightly and bright, red blood was pouring from her arm, staining her clothes and dripping onto the overgrown grass.

 Oh god. 

A/N: Hey guys! I wanted to thank those who have told others about this book. Nothing beats word of mouth! You guys are awesome!