THE ENTRY (Book one of two)

Chapter 8: Loranna.

My skin crawled as we walked around dead Poppers in the middle of the street, the flesh rotting and sending off an extremely putrid smell. We trudged through the hot Texas weather, our hair sticking to our faces as humidity settled in. There were murmurs up ahead, but they were barely audible.

"Guys, listen." Alyssa spoke softly. I stopped, turning around. "What is it?" I asked curiously, slinging the shotgun over my back, adjusting the strap.

We had been supplied with guns to keep ourselves protected, since Riya happened to have a case full of them in her garage.

Alyssa pointed off into the parking lot of H-E-B, focusing on two people in the lot. "There's someone there, I can't tell if it's a popper or not." She spoke quietly. "Hey!" Devin went running towards them. "Oh my fuck, seriously?!" I screamed, yanking the shotgun off my back, running after him. We all followed, yelling at him violently. Once we made it to the two people sitting down, we all nearly passed out.

"Maggie?!"

Maggie whipped her head around, staring at all of us. "You're here?!" She yelled, standing up. She ran over, pulling all of us into a hug. "What the fuck, you're not dead?!" We all began to panic. "Wait." I stopped, pulling away. "If Maggie's, still alive, then who did we kill?" I asked, my voice breaking. We all stopped, catching our breath.

"Oh my god, you mean to say it some random person?!" I covered my face, groaning loudly. "Marissa, Madison, Riya and Aiden all don't know. They all think she's still dead." Alyssa spoke softly. "We need to go back. Right. Now." I said, pointing back the way we came. "Agreed," Alyssa turned, beginning to walk away. Devin grabbed her arm, yanking her back. "Uh, hello? Food, water?" He asked, clearly impatient. She rubbed her temples, scanning everyone around her. "Right, right..." She nodded, pivoting to go and enter the store. "Well, come on then!"

We entered the store, slinging the guns out of our belts and off our backs. "Be ready to shoot anything in sight." I said, flagging some people to the left, and some to the right. "I feel like we're a S.W.A.T. team." Samantha muttered under her breath, her feet crunching over broken glass. "Oh, hush. At least you're not dead." Maggie spoke, running a hand through her hair. "I don't have a gun." She blurted suddenly, making us all stop in our tracks. "Oh, uh, shit..." I grumbled, holding my head. "Here, stick with Devin for now. Devin, keep an eye on her." I glared at him, making a slitting throat motion with my hands. He rolled his eyes, nodding as he took Maggie's arm and yanked her along. Maggie grunted in protest, but followed along anyways.

I crouched along the right wall of the grocery store, covering my mouth to keep quiet and listen for any popping nearby. From what I could tell, I was in the clear. I moved along the slick hallway, leading to what seemed to be the bathrooms. The lights flickered up above me, sending sparks of embers sputtering down to singe my open flesh.

My feet crunched against what I presumed to be broken glass, but my mind said otherwise. I slowly looked down to see I was standing on a snapped, decaying bone which was mushy to the touch. I cringed, holding my mouth, hoping not to vomit.

Shining the flashlight around, I made it to the end of the hallway. There were loud groaning noises from inside the woman's bathroom, and the rattling of chains. I shone my flashlight against the door, and it read; "DEAD INSIDE, DO NOT ENTER." Chills were sent down my spine as I checked the men's bathroom, which was unlocked and hopefully zombie-free.

I stepped inside, shining my flashlight on the smashed tiled walls. I scooted around the corner, yanking my revolver out of my pocket. I smashed the safety off, aiming it. Keeping the flashlight in my left hand, I aimed the gun with my right. I inched around another corner to the bathroom stalls, glaring at the pit of darkness surrounding the parts I couldn't reach with the dimly lit flashlight.