The Rain (Book 2 - The Constant Fight)

Chapter 29 - Perdre espoir et métal froid

The shop was still. Jane had been crouched behind a car for half an hour, too scared to go inside. There were only a few cars in the car-park, most open and abandoned. The glass windows were smashed and Jane could see the blood splattered all over the inside from where she was.

After some brief words of motivation in her head, she pressed against the car and stood up. The wind whistled and it was the only thing that gave her a sense of comfort. She made her way through the car-park and pushed the once automatic door of the supermarket open.

As it closed behind her, it dragged shards of glass against the ground, alerting whatever may be inside that it was no longer alone.

Jane stood with her head up, scanning the aisles and listening for any sounds of life. After a few minutes, Jane made her move. She let her hand brush over her thigh, feeling the cold metal of the gun brush her fingertips, easing her that she still had a weapon to defend herself.

Jane turned down the first isle that held food which she knew would have a longer date on it, the isle that was most likely to be picked clean.

It was. She sighed in defeat as she walked down it. Shelves had been pushed onto the floor and copious amounts of blood stained the once clean flooring. Jane furrowed her brows at this. So much blood but no bodies, no bones.

Her stomach growled in hunger and she placed her palm against it, hoping to quieten it. She stopped in the middle of the isle, knowing that she didn't need to see the rest of the shelves to know that they held nothing of value.

She ran a hand through her greasy hair and let her palm rest against the chain around her neck.

What would Courtney do? She asked herself, trying to think like Courtney would of. She held the silver cross in her hand and dragged it along the chain.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" She asked, her voice just above a whisper. The hopelessness evident in her voice, her eyes vacant and lost. "What do I do now?" She asked again, waiting for some type of answer. She didn't get one. She clenched her jaw and spun around to looked up the isle in anger. The cross lay back against her neck and her hands rubbed her pounding forehead.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." She mumbled helplessly as tears pricked her eyes. She'd been pushing the feeling of loneliness to the side but she couldn't hide it anymore. She pinched her eyes and rubbed her chin. "I don't.....I have no idea what to do anymore." Her voice shook, and she sniffed the tears away.

Jane shook her head in disagreement, rubbing her eyes dry before any tears could escape and admit defeat. She walked back up the aisle with her head held high, determined to at least find one thing in the massive store.

She stopped in her place immediately, one foot in the air ready to be brought down. Her head swivelled to the direction of the sound. She was quiet, as was the shop. Then it came again. A bark, only one, bringing Jane a sense of relief. Her heartbeat had slowed down significantly, though.

She'd only ever killed two or three dogs, she wasn't very good at it and knew that she would end up using most of her bullets just to take one down.

Jane stepped to the side until she felt the shelf press against her shoulder. She let her fingers run over the icy gun. Jane leant forward and peered around the corner.

It was a brown labrador. Its coat sticky with wet blood. Jane looked down to her feet. She was standing in fresh blood, she lifted her foot to see it cling to the sole of her boot. She pursed her lips and looked back to the dog that was now sniffing the air.

Panic set it. She didn't have much time before it found her, it was pointless running. The dog was faster and much more agile. Jane held the gun in her hand and reluctantly switched the safety off.