We're Still Alive(Book1)BEING REWRITTEN

Forty-Seven

   "Did you really think we'd find a lot here?" Cora asked as Tom chucked an empty water bottle at a shelf.
   "Well I was hoping for more than useless spices." He grumbled.
   "Hey, we could use spices. Our food's boring enough." Laina added, stuffing some into a shopping bag.
   "Spices aren't gonna fill everyone up." Max said as he climbed onto an obviously unstable shelf.
   "I'm gonna laugh when you fall." Cora called up to him. He glared at her but didn't say anything. So far all they'd found was a few cans of baked beans, tuna, and pears. Not a lot, but better than nothing.
   "We're gonna starve at this rate." Tom said.
   "We'll have to start spreading out soon." Cora added, more serious now. "We've picked most of these stores clean already."
   "We may have to." Max jumped off of the shelf before it could tip on him. "How long have you been here?"
   "Not long." Laina answered. "Only a couple weeks."
   "Long enough to clean out  few stores." Cora mumbled. "I already checked the back. There's nothing left. Just a few bodies."
   "Let's go." Tom said.
   "How many stores is this today?" Laina asked.
   "Five." Max answered right away. He'd obviously been counting.
   "Let's just get back then. It's almost 2:00 and the closest stores we haven't been in are in the next town over. We won't have enough time to go there, search them, and get back." Tom suggested.
   "We can send another group out tomorrow if we need to." Cora added. They all agreed and walked out to their jeep. Cora was the first to hear the faint call made by the monsters, and she stopped in her tracks.
   "You guys heard that right?" Laina asked. They all nodded.
   "It's coming from the other team's direction." Max said. We need to get over there.
   "Do you think we could make it before..." Cora didn't have a chance to finish before she heard a crackling sound and then a voice. Max took out his handheld radio and talked into it.
   "What was that?" He asked, and was met by Lynn's accent.
   "Do you hear the shooting?" She asked urgently.
   "No, but we heard the zombies. Do you want us to investigate?" He answered.
   "No." It was Miles this time. "We'll get a group ready to go out. You make your way over here, and we'll go in together."
   "Better hurry up then." Max said.
   "Same to you." Miles replied. When he didn't say anything else, the four of them piled into the jeep and started driving towards the mall.
   They'd cleared a path on the road, so they were able to get back to the mall as Lynn's group was starting one of the trucks.
   "Follow us." She called out to Max as he drove up. She pulled the truck out of the parking lot, and the jeep followed. Cora's hands were sweating against the handle of her pistol now, and she shifted them
uncomfortably. They followed Lynn for what felt like forever. Where were the others? Why was it taking so long to find them? Were they dead? Did they get away? The thoughts running through her head were
almost too much to bear.
   They’d already searched possible places before they pulled into the gas station where Bill's team had parked their truck. Cora was quick to get out of the jeep, but after searching the whole place with everyone, she knew they weren't going to find anyone there.
   "What now?" She asked as she leaned against the jeep. Jared joined her.
   "I don't know." He said. "Lynn's searching the shop, but we went over it at least three times. We just gotta hope that they got away."
   "At least there's no bodies." She replied.
   "I don't know about that." Max called. "Come look at this." Cora and Jared, along with the rest of the group, walked over to Max. He was standing over a body. It had been mostly hidden from their view
behind a car across the street. It had a hole in its head, and it was almost completely bones. She could see its face well enough to know that it wasn't one of their group.
   "Looks like they made a good meal outta him." Laina said.
   "There's another one!" Joe called. He was standing behind another car that was a little farther away. This body was the same; bullet to the head, eaten almost completely, and not one of theirs. After a few
more minutes of searching, Cora found what may have been a third person. There wasn't a body, but instead a giant pool of blood and bone, with an arm laying to the side.
   "Do you think these guys saw Bill's team? Maybe talked to them, tried to help them..." Cora cut Joe off.
   "The shooting started before the zombies came." She said. "I think they saw Bill's team. But I don't think they helped."