When We Were Humans | Book I

Chapter 6: Together

Viewpoint: Eli

"There. All done," I said as I wiped sweat from my brow.

"How long did that take?" Zoey asked as she stretched her back.

"I dunno," I said with a shrug. Really though, what time was it? How long has Nate and the rest been out? I couldn't wait until they came back with more supplies.

"Annie better have gotten me clothes in my style. None of that prissy shit," Zoey said as she sat down in a chair we uncovered while cleaning the garage.

I chuckle slightly. "What? You don't think Annie knows about fashion? It's kinda what she's known for," I said as I tossed a rag over for her to wipe her face.

"I just have a feeling she'll give me a pink fucking dress. It's honestly not my color," Zoey said as she wiped her face.

"That'll sure be a sight. Seeing Zoey White, star softball player, wearing a pink dress," I said as I motioned my hands to mimic that of a billboard sign. She just glared at me. "Chill, I was just kidding," I said with a slight smile.

________________________________

Viewpoint: Nate

I started to run out of the back, barely zipping up the duffle bag all the way.

"Annie! Chloe!" I call out disregarding my voice level.

"What the hell happened?" Annie asked in an elevated tone as she tried to compete with the alarm.

"The alarm went off when I went into the back room. There were meds that we needed there," I said in between pants for breath. Chloe comes out from an aisle with her duffle bag completely filled up with water.

"Got what we need?" Chloe asked as she ran to us.

"Let's go," I said as I started to run out of the store. The alarm rang all over the mall. The sound could attract Lurkers for miles. We ran through the mall like mad trying to escape as quickly as possible. We turned the corner and we were on the home stretch to the outside doors. We stopped in our tracks. The way out was blocked by a huge mob of Lurkers.

"Shit," Annie swore under her breath.

"What do we do Nate?" Chloe asked me. What the hell do I know? I had no leader qualities. I would probably get them killed.

"I... I..." I said desperate for an answer. I honestly didn't know what to do. We couldn't go out because the exit was blocked and we couldn't stay because the noise would attract more.

"Guys... how much ammo do you both have?" I ask Annie and Chloe. They both check their pockets and pull out two magazines of rounds.

"We have 24 rounds spare each plus 12 already loaded," Chloe said as she put the extra magazines back in her pocket.

"I have an idea," I said as I took out some of the clothes I had. "Have any of you ever shot a battery?" I asked with a little grin. They just looked at me like I was crazy.

"I'm assuming they explode," Annie said with a slight expression of confusion.

"Exactly!" I said beaming, "We start a fire with that explosion from the batteries we have from the flashlight. I'll go back to Hollister, shoot a battery or two in a pile of clothes, and hopefully it will spread. The fire will draw those idiots away from the entrance, plus the gunfire," I said as I checked the entrance again to see how many Lurkers there were.