Shot Through The Heart

Chapter 3

3rd chapter! Sorry it's late took a while to break it up :P The picture on the left is of Jackson.

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Caroline lifted her head and looked up at Big D. “What? How could they turn on the lights?” she asked, assuming they were zombies. 

Jackson shrugged slightly and held her tighter, listening for Big D’s answer.

 Big D held open the door as they walked in. “Well, either they’re human or this place has an automatic lighting system?” Just then they heard a crash upstairs, where Old Man Watson lived.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s not an automatic lighting system,” Jackson said weakly as they walked further into the store. 

Caroline rolled her eyes but didn’t make a comment about that. “So, uh, should we go up and have a look then?” she asked standing up straight so Jackson no longer had to hold her up. 

Big D shrugged. “Well we’ll have to check it out sooner or later. Might as well get it over with,” he said and moved to the back of the store where the stairs upstairs were. 

Caroline followed Big D quickly as Jackson lagged behind, not really wanting to go upstairs and potentially have to fight another zombie. He could hardly believe this was all real. 

They all thumped up the stairs, Jackson being the only one trying to be quiet and absolutely failing at it. They came to a door at the top of the stairs and Big D hesitated before opening it.

 Inside there was a loud shriek that sounded as if it was coming from a female. Caroline grabbed the door and pushed it wide open so they could all see inside.

The giant upstairs that served as Old Man Watson and his daughter’s house was divided into different ‘rooms’. There was one curtained off that was obviously his daughter’s. A stove and a counter portioned off another part of the huge room, making a kitchen. A table sat off to the side and a bed across from it that was Old Man Watson’s.

 And in the center of the room, screaming her head off was Old Man Watson’s daughter, Alicia, kneeling down next to her father who lay on the floor in pain.

 Jackson frowned slightly and pushed ahead of the two of them. “Alicia, what happened?” he asked, ignoring her screams.

Caroline rolled her eyes and walked in past Big D and past Jackson. “Shut up!” Alicia stared at Caroline for a moment before closing her mouth. It was oddly quiet without her screams.

Big D finally walked into the room, standing just inside the doorway awkwardly. “Er, I guess your name is Alicia? Sorry to intrude…” He glanced down at Alicia’s father. “What happened to him?”

Alicia sniffled slightly and ripped open her father’s shirt, exposing a bite mark on his chest. “I-I don’t know wh-what it is,” she stuttered looking like she was close to tears. “One of those z-zombie things came after him.”

Caroline frowned and dropped to her knees next to Alicia, examining the bite. Old Man Watson was still alive but his skin was tinged grey and the wound did not look good at all. She’d seen dozens of neighbors with bite marks on arms or necks but was never fully devoured. 

“He’s going to turn into one of them,” she whispered quietly. The whole room froze except for Alicia’s father whose breathing was starting to get shallow.

Big D was the first one to speak. “We…we have to kill him,” he murmured. “If we don’t, he’ll kill us first.” 

Alicia looked up at Big D with brown eyes shining with tears. “You can’t,” she whispered. “I won’t let you!”