Trudge: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse by Shawn Chesser Page B

Raven’s hand as Brook lugged the shotgun and her shoulder bag. Some of the dead weren't as lucky crossing the roadway.  Looking back, Brook was relieved to see half of the pursuers get mowed down by a speeding passenger car.
    A sign on the first building they happened upon read “Gunderson Tile Works”. The door was locked and the metal garage door was closed. On they went deeper into the business park; the undead still hunting them, their moaning and stench carried on the wind.
    Brook rounded the corner and caught a whiff of rotten flesh. There was an undead man in coveralls sitting on its butt; he was holding a human leg and gnawing on the foot. Lying near the feeding ghoul was a one legged corpse dressed in the same type of coveralls; the logo read “Grimes Heating and Cooling.”
    The open garage door beckoned to the fleeing trio, the sign above read “Grimes Heating and Cooling” and in small print right below it read “specializing in rooftop installation.”
    Noise discipline went out the window; Brook shot the zombie in the face at point blank range before it could stand up. Everything evaporated from the neck up, the now decapitated corpse rolled over unmoving next to its deceased co-worker.
    Brook followed Carl and Raven into the building. Carl grabbed the chain next to the door and pulled it hand over hand until the door kissed the ground with a metallic clang.
    "Raven come this way and stay behind me" Brook said while she felt for the light switch. The smell of death wasn't as bad inside the building. Interior details emerged as their eyes adjusted to the dimly lit garage. Most of the bay was occupied by a very large, bright red, industrial truck with a 40 foot cherry picker basket on top. The “Grimes Heating and Cooling” logo was painted on the trucks door. Boxes were stacked everywhere. Some of the boxes were open revealing tin pipes used for HVAC installations.
    Carl felt for the door knob and intuitively groped up and to the left for the light switch. With an audible click then a hiss followed by a faint hum, the overhead fluorescents warmed up.
    More was revealed. Heavily frosted skylights were spaced in intervals on the ceiling. A glass window with closed metal mini blinds was next to the locked office door. Around the back of the small office were two vending machines, one full of snacks and candy and the other held cold beverages. A closed door led deeper into the building.
    Brook opened the breech of the Ithaca and replaced the spent round with a new 12 gauge shot shell. She opened the door and ventured into the store room, gun barrel leading the way. Satisfied that the building was walker free, Brook sat down heavily on a plastic folding chair. Raven plopped on the floor by her feet, sighing loudly and touching her cheek to her mom’s thigh.
    Brook asked Carl, "How long do you think we are going to be safe in here?" As if in response to her question a series of loud bangs made her visibly jump. Her nerves shot, she flipped the source of the banging the finger. Raven whimpered.
    “I figure that the garage door will hold for a while, it's the small side door that worries me." Carl started sliding a box containing a large commercial air conditioning unit towards the small door. Brook and Raven added some muscle and together they positioned it in front of the door, and then for good measure they piled still more boxes on top of the larger one. Carl ran his hands over the door, "this is a steel core door; it's the frame and hinges we have to worry about. It'll only take a few of those things to forget about the roll up door and start in on this one. If they do we are hosed."
    Carl kicked the door to the internal office, the wood around the lock splintered and the door flew inward. He flicked on the light and looked around the twenty by twenty foot room.
    BANG.
    A cheap particle board desk sat in the center of the room. They rifled through the drawers and found a number of full key rings.
    BANG.