The Rise of Macon: A Zombie Novel (Macon Saga Book 2) by Micah Gurley

head back to the big man beside him, still smiling at
him, and grabbed his hand. The big man quickly pulled him back to his feet and
Abe took a minute to make sure he could stand before he did anything else. The
giant bearded men were all standing among Abe’s friends, both groups looking at
each other, tension floating around them.
    One of the black leathered men, this one regular size,
stepped forward and nodded his head at everyone. The man carried a knife, which
he wiped off on his jeans, then put back in his belt. He was older than the
others in his group, his beard and long hair completely grey. "Hey guys,
we were coming this way and heard the commotion, hope you don't mind that we
stepped in."
    "Who are you?" Billy said, stepping toward the
older man, holstering his Beretta.
    A loud, craggy voice spoke up, "Can't you see? He's an
Outlaw," said Old Ben, moving beside Billy.
    Patrick moved up, shaking his head knowingly. He put one of
his hands up, as if to calm everyone down. "Old Ben, We don't call them
outlaws anymore, we call them criminals, but I'm sure they're just good
people."
    "No, you purple headed canker blossom!  They're
Outlaws, bikers," said Old Ben, pointing at their vests.
    All eyes turned to the old man with the grey beard. The
survivors from the fort looked from his face to his black vest, which sported a
skull on it. The skull seemed to be grinning, showing a lot of teeth, and in
his mouth he was biting something that extended to each side of his teeth.
    "He's right, we're Outlaws, but not criminals. We own
a bike shop near Raleigh. We were just here for a holiday weekend at the beach,
when all this started. We've been lying low at the beach house for the last two
or three days. The town was flooded and we couldn't get through. Then, we saw
someone lead all the diseased away today and we decided to get some food. We're
near starving. That's why we're here."
    "That was our man drawing them away, we needed some
food also," said Billy. "We don’t want any trouble. I'm sure there's
food enough for both groups in this store. Sound alright?"
    The man smiled. "Sounds more than fair." He
turned to his bikers and they headed into the store. The group from Macon
watched them enter, walking slowly to make sure there weren't any diseased left
in the storage area.
    "Let's get this done," Old Ben said. "Time's
a wasting."
    Abe entered the building, the storage area dark, with only
emergency lighting still up, giving it an evil feel. His nerves were already
frazzled from the fight at the loading dock, but he knew the store was probably
being cleared by the bikers. He'd almost died ten minutes ago and was trying to
forget that, to push past it. But how could he?  How did people just forget
about their entire existence almost ending, then keep moving ahead, acting as
if it didn't matter?  He needed to learn and learn quick, but wondered if his
brain just wasn't wired that way.
    He followed Patrick, unusually quiet, and Billy, who pushed
through a pair of swinging doors into the front part of the store. The front
was lighter, with natural light flooding through the large glass doors in the
front of the store. The place was quiet. Abe saw the bikers in front of him who
had split up, each taking an aisle and moving down it. He followed his own group,
not wanting to take the lead. Billy motioned them over.
    "We need to get things that will last and a lot of it.
Think rice, flour and canned goods. Let’s break into teams and get moving. Jack
and my son will stay near the loading dock, covering our rear. Let's go."
    Abe watched the college kid, Jack, and Billy's son head
back out the swinging doors, then turned to find Patrick smiling at him.
"Let's go man, got to get some fruit roll ups for the kids."
    Abe smiled, thankful to Patrick for reminding him there was
still humor in the world.
    ***
    The finding and loading of food went more quickly than Abe
would have thought. Everyone moved with a purpose, and that purpose