Two Alive, стр. 82

“Because! If you shoot you could call more infected or call back that hive from yesterday. Loud noises attract the infected. They attract infected.”

“Oh yeah… right.” The man with the patch over his eye nodded and tried to look confident.

Everyone ducked under the shutter and stepped out in the daylight. This was the first time many of them had been outside in months or a year. Miles couldn’t imagine never going outside. The small boy took a minute to look around at everyone in the group. The nice psychology lady, Julia, was blinded by the light and closed her eyes. Castle and Torrez, who helped with the hive yesterday, walked out with their heads up and eyes open while Burrows looked around the parking lot with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun.

The strange Dr. Manson took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. The scrawny man, Lance, looked hesitant coming outside. But when he saw Miles watching him, he swallowed his fear and squared his shoulders. The older man with the patch, Clint, licked his lips and sweat was already trickling down his forehead and into his gray beard.

“Let’s hurry and get to the van and be on our merry way.” Manson clutched the strap to his duffle bag tightly.

Julia motioned for everyone to get moving and the shutter door started to close behind them. She blocked her eyes with her hands, blinded by the sunlight reflecting off the asphalt. She was also saving herself from the horror scene that was the Costco parking lot. Being out here, in person, gave the disaster a whole new feeling that was ten times worse than what Julia had watched in the security room. Bodies were thrashed everywhere, and red and black ooze covered everything. The smell was the most assaulting part of the parking lot. It was foul, like walking into a meat locker after everything went bad. The psychologist wished she had brought a face mask but just pulled up the collar to her shirt to cover her nose.

“This is disgusting.” Burrows was hunched over with his hands on his knees, dry heaving and spitting on the ground. “How the hell did you guys survive out here?” The military man dropped his M16A2 rifle on the ground in his sick fit.

The old man would have smacked Miles up side his head if he had been so careless with his weapon. If I see you drop your gun, that means you were being careless with it. And if I see you being careless with your gun, I’ll take it from you and tear yo ass up. Miles closed his eyes, remembering the old man’s words.

Miles took a deep breath and knelt on one knee as he began to pray. When the others noticed the small boy drop down, they stopped and watched him in silence. Torrez pulled his rosary from his shirt and kissed it as Miles spoke.

“Thank you, heavenly God… father. Thank you for another day. Thank you for the sun. Thank you for keeping us alive. Keep us safe on our way. Keep us… keep us safe and watch over us. Give us one more day.” Miles stood up.

Torrez crossed himself and said, “Amen.” Castle spat and turned around to continue across the lot. Manson looked at the young boy with low regard. Religion wasn’t something the doctor found relevant even before the world went to hell. Burrows was still trying to keep his breakfast down and was saying a prayer to himself to not throw up. Dr. Manson watched Burrows intently and wondered if the sample that he had injected in the soldier was reacting and making him feel sick. Burrows spat again.

“That was a nice prayer,” Julia said. “Do you guys pray every time you go out?” She remembered watching the boys on the monitor the day before.

Miles again went tight-lipped and just nodded.

“Let’s hurry the hell up.” Lance pointed at a monster leering at the group from no more than fifteen feet away. “These things are gonna get close if we don’t get moving.”

“Don’t worry. It’s only one.” Miles thought for a minute, “We can take our time and do a in-venna… in-venna… in-venna-tory check. We can check our ammo and check our supplies to make sure we have everything we need before we head out.”

“We got everything!” Lance snapped back.

Miles swung his JanSport backpack around and opened it. “I have my water and two granola bars you guys gave me. That’s a full day’s meal so when we run out, we should probably start heading back. But we absolutely, have to head back before it gets dark.”

“Two granola bars?” Clint was looking around at members of the group, hoping not to be judged as he opened his backpack. “I brought my breakfast and a bag of apples.” He was nervous in the parking lot with so many bodies all around and hoped the group would move soon. The freaks moaning nearby were making him uneasy.

“I got a few bottles of water.” Torrez was holding open his bag. “Though I honestly brought them all for me. But I can share.”

“That’s good. But we shouldn’t be greedy.” Miles noticed a lurker starting to make its way towards the group. They still had at least eight minutes before the lurker got close. There was no need for concern. “Don’t drink and eat everything if we don’t have to. Don’t be greedy.”

“Well, with the extra food and extra water, we won’t have to worry about rushing to come back.” Manson was inching towards the gas station to the far right, eyeing the freak approaching.

“No. We still have to get back before it gets dark. You guys wouldn’t make it if it gets dark. Too dangerous at night. I can protect you. I’m the map, it’s my responsibility so I can protect