Love in the Time of Zombies by Cassandra Gannon Read Free Book Online Page B

Scotlyn grabbed a box of cat food off the
shelf.
    Zeke
shot her an incredulous look.  “Really?”
    “We
might need supplies.”
    “I’m
not eating cat food unless I’m really hungry and completely out of…”
    “For
Pucci, not you .”
    Zeke’s
eyes scanned down the aisles as they passed them.  “Fine, but…”  He stopped
abruptly, his hand coming up to stop her progress.
    Scotlyn
ran right into his arm, barely noticing.  All her attention was on the zombie straight
ahead of them.
    It
was dressed in a nightgown and was missing half its arm, but that wasn’t
slowing it down.  It had climbed into the refrigerated meat case and was crouched
there, eating raw steaks straight from the packages.  It gnawed through the
styrofoam and cellophane, ripping free bloody chucks of meat with its teeth.
    Zeke
swore softly.
    The
zombie’s head slowly swiveled around to face them, blood dripping from its
chin.
    Zeke
gauged the distance to the emergency exit on the far wall.  “It’s in our way.” 
He lifted the shotgun, again.  “We don’t have time to screw around.  That pink
shit is headed this…”
    The
front of the store was suddenly rocked with a hail of automatic gunfire.  Scotlyn
dropped to the ground, her arms coming up to cover her head.  At the same time,
she heard the wail of sirens and the shrieking of humans and monsters alike.  The
police were outside, firing at the zombies and mowing down Wal-Mart shoppers as
collateral damage.
    “ Fuck. ” 
Zeke flung himself on top of her.  His body covered hers as debris rained down
on them.  He rolled them both behind a refrigerated case full of cookie dough
and tubes of unbaked dinner rolls.
    Scotlyn
could hear bullets impacting the other side of the metal freezer.  “I told you
the police would show up!”  She shouted.  Her eyes squeezed shut against his
chest and she instinctively brought up her palm to shield the back of Zeke’s
head, trying to protect him.
    He
shifted his face so it was right above hers and she could tell that he was
smiling behind the mask.  His own hand went back to cover Scotlyn’s, his
fingers sliding between hers and locking tight.  “Yeah, you were right.  They’re
fucking tough on shoplifters around here.”
    The
man was insane.
    Whatever
caliber ammunition the cops were using, it was powerful enough to shred the
clothing department and everything south of the snack aisle.  Bits of fabric
flew everywhere, mixing with glass and potato chips and blood and bone.
    The
zombie in the meat case gave a hissing sound of fury, its attention swinging
towards the police.  It sprang from the case and went lurching towards the new
threat.  It charged up the main aisle and was cut in two by gunfire.  The top
half of its body kept pulling itself towards the police.
    “Path
is clear.”  Zeke started crawling towards the emergency exit, tugging Scotlyn
along by the collar and keeping them behind large displays of soft drinks. 
“Let’s go.”
    She
swatted him away, staying low to avoid the bullets.  “I’m coming, alright?  Don’t
rip my dress.”
    “Who
cares about the damn dress?!”
    “Me! 
I’m still paying for it.”
    “Well,
nobody’s opening their VISA bill again for loooong time, so don’t worry about
it.”
    Somehow
that didn’t cheer her up.
    Scotlyn
edged along behind Zeke, her attention on the front of the store.  She could
see through the shattered front windows out into the parking lot.  It was a scene
straight from a war movie.  The bright flashes of muzzle flare lit the night
like a strobe light.  The zombies and the police were fighting between the cars
and shopping carts.  Something exploded in a huge fireball that took out a row
of SUVs and at least a dozen people and zombies.  Even with their skin burning,
the monsters kept moving.
    Zeke
reached the emergency exit and leaned up to shove it open.  An alarm blared. 
He ignored it and peered out into the darkened rear parking area.