22. Tori

22

TORI

The zombie’s decomposing flesh flew from its face as my golf club cracked its skull, and it dropped like the bag of bones it was. “Two!”

“Three!” Calix shouted as his arrow split open another zombie’s head, and I tried not to watch it splatter everywhere from the hit.

“Four and five,” Nathan shouted as he shot two zombies, one behind the other, with one bullet.

“Six!” Micah’s axe split open yet another undead skull.

Daisy swung her bat, cracking the head of a zombie without arms and knocking it on its back. She screamed as it groaned and tried to roll, but Jay smashed the head all the way in with his bat.

“Seven,” he croaked, turning pale as he stumbled back from the seventh and last zombie in the spot we decided to set up camp.

We’d left behind the forest only about an hour ago, and the rolling hills were pretty, but the ground was hard and cold underneath our feet. The vast area was empty of everything and anyone except for the small group of undead we’d taken care of.

The sound of rushing water signaled the river just up ahead. I wouldn’t have noticed the sound if not for Micah, and he was the one that suggested we run down and catch the attention of any zombie we could find around it.

In total, there were only seven that could be spotted.

We led them a good distance away from the river and the small level area next to it we planned to set up camp at.

“Let’s head back and set up camp,” Micah ordered gruffly, and nobody argued as we trekked toward the river.

The sun peeked through the gray clouds, casting a dull glow over the landscape. We went over the last hill that dropped straight down to the river, and I watched my step as I walked.

“Hold on to my arm, honey,” Calix murmured as he held out his arm, and I grabbed onto him to help steady myself further.

“Thanks, Calix.”

The water rushed through the earth, the surface rippling and tumbling as it flowed. The leaves that lined the bank were brown and decaying over the mud. Chilly evening wind picked up my hair, stirring the strands in my field of vision as we stepped onto the flat, grassy spot near the water’s edge.

I squeezed Calix’s arm before letting go now that we weren’t walking downhill.

“We’ll start working on the tent.” Micah tossed his bag and tent gear down as Nathan walked over to him. “Calix and Tori start a fire, and Daisy and Jay go looking for more sticks to keep the fire going.”

“On it,” Jay muttered, turning and walking down the bank with Daisy trailing behind.

They weren’t completely terrible to deal with on the trip so far. I knew it was probably because of the guys. The first half of the day was tense, but the longer we were forced to deal with each other, the more bearable it became. That or it was just easier to ignore them.

The biggest downside of the two of them coming along was the fact that the tent would be shared by all of us. It was big enough for us not to be piled on top of each other. Walking a good distance through the day had tired us out, so I was hopeful there wouldn’t be any arguing.

Calix and I kneeled close together as we found the driest spot near where Micah and Nathan were building the tent. The ground was still damp and cold, though, and the moisture seeped through my leggings as we got to work on the fire. Calix placed five or so smaller sticks on top of three larger pieces of wood and some dry nesting he’d found in a tree on the way here and placed it in a circle. He’d thought ahead and brought a few dry pieces of wood that he was able to find on the way. I handed him the flint and steel I carried in my bag, and he took it.

I loved the comfortable silence Calix and I fell into. It made me feel safe and accepted in a way I hadn’t felt in silence with someone before, and I craved the feeling.

Tiny sparks flew from him working the flint and steel, and I leaned forward and blew gently, encouraging the wood to catch flame. After a few tries, the sticks crackled and burned, spreading over the kindling and heating the wood until it all started to catch fire.

“Fire’s started,” I called over to Micah, who gave me a grunt of acknowledgement. I turned back to Calix with a small smile. “Good job.”

“You too.” He got to his feet and held out his hand, and I took it as he helped me up.

“We have more sticks,” Jay said as they walked back to us, both carrying armfuls of sticks.

“Place them next to the fire,” Calix told him.

He did as he asked, and Calix and I went to help Micah and Nathan finish putting up the tent.

Once the tent was secured, we grabbed the canned food for tonight, and everyone’s bags were placed inside.

We found a few dry logs and set them down next to the fire to sit on. The guys and I sat on one side while Daisy and Jay sat on the other.

“Do you think we could fish in the river?” Daisy spooned around in her can, the metal clanging as the utensil hit the side.

“We could in theory, but it’s probably not a good idea,” Nathan answered after he swallowed his bite. “With as many zombies that were walking in it, we’d be risking infection.”

She frowned but nodded and glanced at me. “This reminds me of the time we camped out by the river on the farthest part of your ranch when we were teenagers.”

The memories smacked into me hard, ones I’d tried to forget. I gave her a stiff nod. “Minus the fox den we stumbled upon.”

She cracked a smile. “They trapped us in the tent all night, and your dad came looking for us the next morning.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask,” Nathan interrupted, setting his empty can down. “Why did you have an affair with Tori’s boyfriend? Seems like you were close.”

My heart thumped uncomfortably in my chest as I frowned. I’d wanted to ask the same thing but never had the courage to.

Daisy’s face twisted before she let out a groan. “Tori always got everything she wanted. I just wanted something too. She didn’t even appreciate Jay. I honestly didn’t think she’d care that much.”

My lips parted as my eyebrows rose. Sure, I hadn’t wanted to have sex with Jay after my surgery, but it was more to do with my lack of sex drive. I still showed him affection. The only time I complained to Daisy about him was when he would be distant with me, and looking back, she was the reason.

“Wow. Narcissistic answer,” Calix muttered.

“So what’s your reason?” Micah asked Jay with a scowl.

“She wasn’t interested in sex anymore.” Jay shrugged. “She went from doing it a lot to none, and it made me feel like she didn’t like me anymore.”

“I still showed you affection,” I muttered bitterly, shaking my head. “I was still trying to make it work.”

“But I also wanted kids, and you went ahead with the surgery even knowing that.”

Anger swept through me, and I gripped the can so tight I shook. “I was in constant fucking pain, and I kept dealing with the pain until you told me if it would help maybe I should do it. And Daisy pushed me to do it too. I don’t know why you use that as an excuse. You both just wanted each other. You should’ve broken up with me and dated her if that’s what you wanted!”

“How long?” Nathan asked as the two of them slumped their shoulders and stared at the fire.

“A year,” Jay admitted.

“A year?” I let out a whooshed breath. “How long after my surgery?”

“The day of.” Daisy swallowed hard and glanced up, her eyes hardening. “I went over to be there for you when you were done with the surgery, and Jay was so upset over not having kids now. One thing led to another, and…”

“It never stopped because I fell in love with her,” Jay finished.

It didn’t hurt me to hear like I thought it would, but it did make my anger feel validated. They were two people who should’ve been honest and protected me. What they did reflected on them, not me.

“You two really are fucked up,” Nathan muttered.

“We loved each other,” Daisy told him, but he shook his head.

“We should get to bed before the fire goes out. I’ll take first watch.” Micah got up and unzipped the tent. “And for the record, if you hadn’t fucked up, we wouldn’t have Tori. You’re idiots, but she’s amazing.”

“And for the record, lack of a sex drive is totally normal after a surgery like that,” Calix told him. “Even if she didn’t want sex, we would still be with her.”

“It’s just a really hot bonus that she has a healthy sex drive.” Nathan winked before helping me up.

They kept their mouths shut as we all piled into the tent. I moved in between Nathan and Calix, and Daisy and Jay went as far as they could to the other side and cuddled up. Micah sat next to the three of us and looked out the small screen window.

Nathan’s hand slipped up my shirt, and he rested his hand on my stomach, and Calix snuggled into my front, and I breathed in his clean scent.

Even with the conversation with Daisy and Jay, I fell asleep wrapped up in the comfort of the men who I knew cared for me while the river flowed outside the tent, a soothing presence in the darkness. I couldn’t even stay angry knowing how long their affair lasted. Whoever they were in the past was irrelevant. I knew I didn’t want anything else to do with them. I’d survive next to them, but that was it.

I just wanted to move forward with Calix, Micah, and Nathan, and that was exactly what I was going to do.

“Watch where you’re going!”Calix snapped at Daisy, stumbling to the other side of me as he swatted at his shoulder where she’d bumped into him.

“Woah, chill.” She held her hands up and raised her brow. “It’s not like I have a disease or anything.”

“But you could,” I retorted. “He doesn’t like being touched.”

“I see him touch you all the time.” She rolled her eyes.

“That’s me. You’re different. Respect his space.”

“Whatever.” She jogged up ahead of the group a bit.

The temperature dropped last night, and it hadn’t come back up yet. The mottled sky ranged from dark gray to dirty white, and it looked like it was going to snow any minute. I hoped we could make it back before that happened, but that was unlikely. We still had to camp somewhere tonight before we could make it to town.

My heart dropped as we came up one of the lower hills. “Oh, shit.”

Uncoordinated shuffling of the undead swayed back and forth, heading toward the direction of the town. It was a larger horde of at least thirty, and one look at Micah had my stomach twisting.

His lips were in a thin line, and his grip on his axe was so tight his knuckles were white. He scanned the area and paused toward the left. “Let’s take that path. It’s more southeast, but if we follow it, surely we’ll find something. If that horde is going to the town, we may want to consider other options.”

“But we need supplies,” Nathan told him, running a hand through his hair. “What if the path leads to nothing?”

“Then we have to go northeast a bit until we can recognize the scenery toward town.” Micah scratched his beard with a sigh. “We have no choice. We didn’t bring enough ammo to take out a horde of that size when they aren’t cornering us.”

“Yeah.” Nathan sucked in a deep breath before blowing it out and watching his breath swirl into the air. “You’re right.”

Changing course, we made our way toward the very small dirt path and kept our eyes on the horde that had been clueless of our presence.

It only took an hour before we came across a looming warehouse with broken boarded windows and crumbling walls sitting in the middle of nowhere.

“I’ve never seen this place on the map,” Nathan muttered before digging through his backpack and pulling the map out.

“There it is.” Micah pointed toward the warehouse on the map. “It’s weird that we’ve never noticed it before now.”

“That’s a tiny spec. I didn’t think it was a damn warehouse. There could be a ton of supplies in there.”

“But it could also have been scavenged already,” Calix reminded him. “I mean, look at it.”

“It could have been abandoned before the apocalypse.” Jay shrugged.

“Maybe.” Nathan stuffed the map back in his bag and put it back on his back. “Let’s see if we can scope the place out. Just stick together and watch out for any people that could be hiding out in there.”

“No kidding.” Calix shivered. “It’s probably a mess in there.”

Micah led us carefully to the entrance, and with a deep breath, he went to push on the door, but it didn’t budge. “It’s locked.”

“Let me.” Nathan pointed his handgun at the lock, and we all stepped back before he shot it, and the loud metal clang made me jump. “You okay, killer?” He placed the gun back in his holster and glanced at me.

I nodded, my hand over my chest, and I felt my heart thundering beneath my rib cage. “Fine.”

“Stay alert,” Micah barked the order and kicked the door open with a loud creak.

We funneled inside, weapons ready. Our footsteps echoed within the large building, and the air was musty. The floor was littered with debris, but there were large shelves with a ton of different supplies stocked, kind of like a regular store but in bulk.

Thick layers of dust covered the packaged objects and totes, and the only sound was our footsteps and breathing.

After a few more minutes, we cleared the building. It was easy to do going aisle through aisle since there was no other room in the structure.

My muscles relaxed, and I let out a long breath after knowing we were alone and scanned the shelves. “There are so many supplies. How are we going to carry everything?”

“Just have to carry what we can, darlin’.” Micah shot me a grin before his eyes widened.

He walked toward a section of axes and other tools that could be used for weapons. Rows of different size axes, arrows, baseball bats, and even a few machetes lined one side of the aisle.

We each started looking in the different aisles to see what we needed to bring, and I found an aisle with all kinds of fertilizers and seeds packed tight.

I reached out and grabbed a few spring seed packs, and excitement rushed through me. There were a ton of gardening supplies in the aisle too from tillers to water cans.

“Kind of an agricultural dream, huh?” Daisy walked down the aisle with her arms crossed over her chest and a pensive expression. “You really haven’t changed much.”

“I think I have.” I shrugged, looking around to find a bag or something to put all the seed packs in to make it easy to carry back. “My love for gardening and self-sustainability makes more sense now that the apocalypse happened.”

“Yeah.” She smiled softly and glanced down. “I guess that’s true.”

I noticed a waterproof tote on the top shelf and stepped on the second shelf to give me a boost to grab it. The shelf creaked as I came back down, tote in my grasp, stumbling backwards and losing my footing.

“Shit, Tor!” Daisy reached out and grabbed my upper arm to stop me from falling into the shelf behind me. “Watch out.”

I steadied myself while staring at her before she let my arm go and cleared her throat. “Thanks. That would’ve hurt.”

“No problem.”

“Guys, I found so many medical supplies! Hygiene, medicines, ointments, and literally anything else you can think of!” Calix’s excited voice echoed through the warehouse. “Oh my God!” He let out an excited squeal, making a giggle bubble out of me. “There’s hand sanitizer! I haven’t seen any since after the first year the apocalypse started! And it’s industrial size! This is the best scavenging trip ever!”

Nathan’s chuckle came after. “That’s great, man! Gather as much as you can! There’s some bags and even a wagon or two over here you can grab and fill up.”

“Awesome!” Footsteps hit against the concrete floor as I assumed Calix rushed toward Nathan’s voice to get a few bags.

I giggled and started putting the seed packs in the tote.

“You do look happier now,” Daisy muttered, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear. “But I do love Jay. I really do.”

My smile faded slightly, and I let out a sigh. “That’s good. I’m not upset about you two finding happiness in each other. I’m upset about the way it happened. There was no excuse for it, especially with how long it lasted. It was more than disrespectful. It was just wrong. I will never understand how you don’t get that.”

“And I’ll never understand why you chose him to date. I’ll never understand why you continued to flaunt your relationship in my face even though I was uncomfortable.”

“I never flaunted our relationship, Daisy.” I started grabbing more of the summer and fall seeds as well. I even threw in some sealed tight containers of other types of seasonal seeds that would be great to can next year after growth. “I was just in a relationship, and you were my best friend so you saw most of it. Plus, he asked me out. I even asked you if you cared, but you said go for it since you were dating his cousin.”

“But you should’ve known I wasn’t okay with it,” she insisted. “We were best friends, Tor!”

“I’m not a mind reader.” I set the bag down and turned to her with my hands on my hips. “If you had a problem with it, you should’ve told me when I asked. I wouldn’t have said yes if you told me.”

Her fists shook at her sides, and she turned her head away from me. “I probably should’ve. Maybe then we wouldn’t be like this.”

“Maybe.” I frowned and turned back to the seeds, hearing her footsteps as she walked out of the aisle.

“There’s so much ammo over here!” Nathan shouted from somewhere near the back. “This is fucking awesome!”

“I found some clothes and blankets!” Jay told us, and Daisy let out a squeal of glee.

“They have dresses!”

My lips curved into a smile as I continued filling the tote to the brim with seeds.

The Oasis did have a small garden a little ways from Benjamin and Sally’s treehouse, but it was nowhere near big enough to be able to start canning for the winter months.

I grabbed another tote and threw different types of fertilizers in it, listening to the excited chatter of the group. I couldn’t believe all of these supplies had gone untouched for so long.

My parents would be so ecstatic to see all of this. I had to make sure to bring the seeds, fertilizer, and a few watering cans if I could find a big enough bag to store them in. Maybe I could find one of the wagons Nathan had mentioned.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the door was thrown open, and I knew it slammed off the wall just by the sound. Moans and groans reverberated through the warehouse, and my heart thundered in my chest.

Sucking in a deep breath, I placed the totes on the ground against the shelves and held my breath in as I moved toward the back of the warehouse, slipping behind the side of the aisle.

I jolted as my shoulder bumped Micah’s, and he put his finger to his lips. I slapped my hand over my mouth when I looked forward. I took in the skeletal remains slumped against the back wall with a gun next to it. Its skull was shattered like a bullet went through it, but I didn’t see the bullet.

Calix and Nathan stood behind another aisle a few rows down, and their eyes were calculated as they seemed to have a silent communication about what to do.

We had no idea how many zombies had come in, but it sounded like a good number of them.

My heart lodged in my throat as the moans got louder, and a small crash of something falling off a shelf caused them to groan and shuffle toward it.

“Jay! Move!” Daisy’s shouts bounded through the structure, and my blood froze. “Jay!”

A louder series of groans sounded out.

My bottom lip quivered as I stared at Micah. His gaze hardened before he made eye contact with Calix and Nathan. They raised their weapons before quietly walking through the aisle I’d been in, and I crouched down to grab my golf club that I’d discarded when I noticed the seeds.

I peeked out of the aisle to see five zombies surrounding Jay and Daisy, but Jay was standing facing a zombie with its back to us, and his face was so pale.

Nathan raised his gun and started shooting them, but he let out a stream of curse words as a few changed direction toward us.

“It fucked up. Cover me.” He smacked his palm against the gun.

Daisy yanked Jay’s arm, but he wasn’t budging. “Jay, it’s not her anymore.”

The zombie woman, dressed in a pencil skirt and one high heel with a blouse on, limped closer before a growl tore from its throat.

I swung my golf club into the skull of the decayed zombie that had stepped in front of me, and its entire head flew off its shoulders before the body fell to the side.

My gaze swept back to Daisy and Jay just as the zombie lurched forward, and Daisy flung herself in front of Jay’s stunned body.

An arrow whizzed through the back of its neck, but not before its teeth tore into Daisy’s throat and landed on top of her.

My entire world froze as time seemed to slow. The zombie lifted from Daisy’s gushing neck, her flesh between its teeth, and it glanced behind us.

It was a freshly turned zombie, and it was Jay’s mother.

Turning back to Jay, it moved forward as Jay held his arm up, and her teeth sank into his forearm as a bullet hit her in the head.

“We need to amputate, now!” Micah barked an order, and Calix blinked at him.

“We don’t know if that will stop the infection. That was only a rumor at the start.”

“We have to try.” My voice croaked, and I couldn’t move my gaze from Daisy’s body. Blood continued to pour from her neck all over the concrete. Her blue eyes were wide and starting to turn milky.

Calix shook his head before rushing to another aisle. “I’ll grab a tourniquet and see if I can find a medical saw and a splint, but we need to watch him carefully the entire time. You need to have gloves and a mask on.”

Jay’s body was so pale he looked like a ghost, and he looked at his mother’s corpse in horror. Blood trickled down his arm from the bite, but he didn’t seem to notice. Janet was a prim and proper woman, so it didn’t surprise me that she was dressed so fancy even in the apocalypse. She had always been cold to me, but even so, she didn’t deserve to become undead.

Nathan got up and rushed over to the metal door he’d shot open and cursed. “It’s a small horde.”

“Fuck.” Micah got up as Nathan held the door closed and barricaded it with a large metal cabinet that was sitting beside the door. “Let me find more to barricade it.”

Daisy’s fingers twitched before a gurgled moan left her.

My heart dropped as I leaned down and grabbed Micah’s axe he’d left by Jay, switching my golf club for it. It would be easier to deliver the final blow since she was so newly turned. My stomach churned. “Jay…”

He barely blinked as his gaze was locked on his mother still.

Micah pushed another large piece of furniture toward the door Nathan held closed with the file cabinet, and Calix still hadn’t returned from the aisle with the supplies.

I was on my own here.

Daisy pushed off the ground before stumbling back a few steps and locking her milky white gaze on me, her head tilted to the side as the gaping hole in her neck opened and closed with each step closer she took.

I gripped the axe tighter, and sweat dripped down my spine as my nerves seemed to heat my body. “I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes widened, but she lunged forward, mouth open as her own blood still pooled inside it.

I swung the axe and embedded the sharp blade into the side of her skull, and a small groan escaped her mouth before her body convulsed. It felt like minutes watching the woman I used to call a best friend die for a second time in front of me. Then, she fell, and the axe slipped from my hands as it went down with her.

My throat burned as I held in a sob and stumbled backward. I’d just killed Daisy—zombie Daisy, but still. I’d killed plenty of undead corpses before, but I’d never put down anyone I knew when they were still alive. And Daisy was just talking to me in the aisle only minutes before.

“That should hold.” Micah slapped the furniture holding the door shut. “At least until they move on.”

“As long as they don’t notice us in here,” Nathan muttered.

“I have everything except a medical saw,” Calix said as he came from the aisle but stopped short as he noticed Micah’s axe in Daisy’s skull and my probably horrified expression as I stared at her. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. I should’ve put her down before she could rise.”

Calix set the supplies down next to Jay, who still hadn’t budged, and then came over to me. His arms wrapped around me like a blanket of comfort, and I turned into his hold and buried my face in his chest.

“Damn it, darlin’. I’m so sorry,” Micah murmured, going over to where Jay was with Nathan.

“You did good, Tori.” Nathan quickly kissed the back of my head before moving over to Jay. “Alright, Jay, we need to amputate the bottom half of your arm before the infection sets in. Honestly, we may need to amputate the entire arm.”

Jay didn’t respond, and I was worried he was already dying.

“Entire arm,” Micah rasped before getting up and grabbing a new axe after seeing his embedded in Daisy’s brain.

Nathan used the tourniquet on Jay’s shoulder before laying him down on the concrete, and as soon as his mother’s corpse was out of his field of vision, his eyes fluttered shut.

“Gloves and masks,” Calix reminded them, moving us a good ways away from them.

Nathan nodded and put gloves and a mask on, handing the extra to Micah as he came back with a saw and a new axe. Once they were covered, Nathan grabbed a bottle of whiskey Calix had brought with the medical supplies and shoved it in Jay’s mouth, and Jay drank it like water without even opening his eyes. Nathan placed a piece of something in his mouth to bite on right after.

Everything else unfolded in front of me in a blur. I was watching it in the same room as it happened, but it didn’t feel like I was. When Micah began to saw Jay’s arm off, my hearing went static, and Jay’s eyes flew open as he screamed. Even with his scream being muffled, it was still piercing.

Micah continued sawing his arm as Nathan jolted up to run and hold the furniture in front of the door as the horde outside began to bang on it.

The saw hit concrete, and Nathan rushed back over with the blow torch Calix had left in the pile. He put the flame against the head of the axe till it glowed a deep red, then passed it to Micah so he could cauterize the wound.

Jay’s screams had stopped sometime between Nathan securing the door and heating up the axe since he’d passed out.

“There’s antibiotics too,” Calix murmured. “We have two bags full of pain relievers and antibiotics.”

The horde finally stopped banging on the door a few minutes after Jay passed out.

“We need to finish gathering supplies. There are two decent-sized wagons in the back. Pile them up with as many bags of supplies as you can,” Micah told us, and I nodded numbly before turning with Calix and going to retrieve all the supplies we could while I tried to block out the reality of what had just happened.