Alternia Comics

Part 1

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   “Maria!” Andy called out, ten minutes after he left her. He was pushing a cart full of hunting rifles, pistols, ammunition and melee weapons with the receipt taped to the front, through the grocery aisles.
   Maria laughed when she saw him. “Did you find enough stuff?”
   “It won't seem like so much when it runs out and there are blood thirsty zombies all around us.”
   “Is that a receipt? Are you really that much of a boyscout that you had to pay for your loot?”
   “No. Well, yes, but not at a time like this. The short version is a crazed cashier with a shotgun made me pay for it before I could leave.”
   “I heard that!” Diana called from two aisles over.
   Andy lowered his voice to a whisper and shepherded Maria toward the exit. "She's been bitten. She'll turn soon."
   "So kill her first. We know what kills the walking dead, and it tends to kill the living too."
   "Until she turns, she's still an innocent human." Andy's thoughts turned to what Diana had said about some of her victims begging for their lives. "Well, a human at any rate."
   "Is this really the time for semantics?" Maria was beside herself with incredulity.
   "Yes. And anyway, if we can get out of here without having to kill her, that's one more bullet we have for later."
   "I suppose you've got a point. Let's just get out of here. I've got this cart will perishables, and another full of canned goods by the front door. Shopping is a lot easier when you can pull the car up along side the stuff you want and just sweep things off the shelf with your arm."
   Jim was waiting outside the front door, the car's windows down and the engine running. As soon as he saw Andy and Maria with three carts of stuff, he popped the trunk and got out to help them load it. "Shoulda brought Steve's truck instead!"
   "Agreed. And I'm starting to wonder how we'll get it all inside quickly, but I suppose we'll have more help at the library." Andy started loading the guns and ammo into the trunk.
   "How much longer do you think we can stay here safely?"
   "Not long." Andy could see Jim was thinking about something, likely another crazy idea. "What do you have in mind?"
   "Well... If we run in and get a couple of tarps and some rope, we can cover the food buggies so nothing bounces out, and tie them to the car to drag behind as we drive. The big concern would be if they tip, but if we lash 'em together side by side, that should minimize their yaw."
   "Sounds good. Go get what you need." Jim ran inside as Andy and Maria found creative places to stash the ammunition. "And watch out for an employee with a shotgun!"
   Jim waved over his shoulder as the automatic doors closed behind him.
   "I didn't see these holsters in the cart before." Maria held one up inquisitively.
   "Gotta have holsters for the pistols. Rifles will have a strap, but there's no better way to keep a pistol handy. And speaking of..." Andy trailed off as he opened the box Maria held, strapped the holster to his hip, and loaded a pistol. He checked the safety before sliding the weapon into its slot. "Much better."
   "I used to think you were weird... some kind of right-wing gun nut."
   "And now?"
   "Now, you just might save my life." Before Maria could do more than smile at Andy, they heard a shout as the front doors opened.
   Jim threw a shopping bag toward the car and stumbled. The bag landed at Andy's feet as Jim hit the pavement. Diana stood behind him, the shotgun pointing where Jim had been standing.
   Diana raised the gun to pump it, ejecting the spent cartridge and loading a fresh one. Andy felt time slow as months training took over his body. He stepped around Maria, placing himself between her and the shotgun, as he drew his new pistol. He drew the slide back with his left hand, chambering a round and cocking the hammer as his body slid effortlessly into his preferred shooting stance, his torso twisted slightly with his left shoulder forward.
   He took a breath, thumbed the safety, and squeezed the trigger lightly.
   His aim was true and Diana fell back. The shotgun clattered to the floor as the doors closed.
   "Holy crap! You never told me that was so loud!" Maria's ears were ringing from the shot.
   Andy holstered the pistol and ran to Jim. He was no medic, but he'd learned enough to know a fatal wound when he saw one. The back of Jim's jacket and shirt had been torn to ribbons as the shot scattered and tore into his body. He coughed once at Andy's footsteps, adding a small amount of blood to the spreading pool.
   "Go. Save ... the others..."
   Andy stayed with Jim until he could no longer feel a pulse, the span of a few short moments, and solemnly returned to the car. The shopping bag held one large tarp and four bundles of rope. He worked in silence, lashing the food carts to each other and to the bumper.
   "Is there anyth--" Maria started tentatively, the stopped herself. "What do you need me to do?"
   "Keep watch." He didn't look up from his hands tying knots as he spoke.
   Maria nodded and walked over to Bridget. "I've never seen someone move like that," Bridget mused. "No wasted movements. He just moved and she was dead."
   Maria glared at her friend and motioned her to lower her voice. She spoke in a hushed tone, "I don't think he's had to kill anyone before. We even argued about killing that girl specifically in the store." She nodded toward the door. "He said he couldn't because she was still human, even though he knew she'd been bitten and would turn soon. She was still human and he refused."
   "In the car. We're going." Andy's voice was quiet, but carried an urgent authority. He strode to the open driver's door while Maria and Bridget got in on the passenger side.
   The ride back to campus passed in silence. As the pulled up to the parking lot near the library, Maria finally broke the stillness. "Do you want to talk about it?"
   "Not now. Let's get everything inside and make sure we're safe."
   She nodded and they piled out of the sedan.
   Andy passed out pistols to the girls. "Let's get to the library and get a couple of folks to help us with these carts. It isn't far, but I want to make the trip as fast as possible. Try to keep up." He took off at a dead run, stumbling slightly on the uneven terrain. A small, quiet corner of his mind realized it wasn't uneven terrain because of rubble, or naturally undulating ground, but because of the bodies of his fellow students. He pushed that thought away and ran on.

* * *

   "Cody! Open up, we're back!" Andy thumped on the heavy oak door for what felt like ten minutes before Steve finally opened it.
   "Good to see you, Andy. Come inside, quickly." Andy chalked Steve's somber tone up to habitual reverence for the library and the quiet study afforded by the usual silence.
   "Thanks. Good to be back. We could use some help with the supplies. Where is everyone?"
   "Just me and Lauren. JD ... he lost his footing. Tripped down the stairwell on the way here. Snapped his neck."
   Bridget and Maria slipped through the door and Steve closed it again.
   "I'm sorry to hear it. Jim was attacked at the Wal-Mart."
   Maria looked around quickly. "What happened to Cody?"
   Steve hung his head. "Went to the cafeteria after we got here to try to bolster whatever you brought back. We haven't seen him for half an hour."
   "But the cafeteria's just across the quad! It can't take more than three minutes to get over there."
   "I know, Bridge. We assume he's not coming back, but we've been too scared to go look for him."
   "Nothing for it now. One of you want to help us with the groceries? We've got some heavy carts."
   "I'll go, Steve. Stay here, in case Cody comes back." Lauren hugged Steve tightly.
   "Okay. We'll be back soon."
   The trip back to the library was much slower than the run there, owing to the sheer mass of the carts. Andy pushed the canned goods, the heaviest of the carts, while Bridget pushed the perishables. Maria had her arms full carrying the guns and Lauren dragged the tarp, folded into a sort of bag/sledge dragging the ammunition and the guns Maria couldn't hold.
   Halfway through the trip Andy looked around and saw Laruen wasn't with them. He told the others to go one while he left his cart and doubled back to find Lauren still struggling up a small hill.
   "Thanks," she said once they were at the top. "Dragging it seemed like a good idea, but there's so much stuff in the way."
   "Yeah. Tell you what, we'll tie the bag around my waist and I'll drag it while pushing the cart. You lighten Maria's load."
   Lauren nodded and scratched idly at her left arm as she ran ahead to catch up with the girls. The three of them made it back to the library ahead of Andy; Maria held the door for him as he made his way up the path.
   They locked the door and unloaded the gear before finding places to sleep for the night.
   Maria woke up to use the bathroom during the night and saw someone else standing in the dim light that filtered in through the windows. She called out in a whisper, "Steve? Is that you?"
   Steve mumbled sleepily from behind her, "Yuh, s'me. C'mere baby..."
   Maria just rolled her eyes and walked toward the figure. As she came around the corner of the half-height bookshelf, she could see the figure was standing over someone lying on the floor. She fumbled with her flashlight and shined it at the pair. Andy lay sleeping, his chest rising and falling in regular breaths, and Lauren stood over him. She turned her gaze from Andy to Maria and in the flashlight's beam her face looked vacant. Maria could see Lauren's eyes, like Jim's eyes before Andy closed them, like the eyes of the walking dead she'd seen before the sun went down.
   Lauren's mouth opened in an imitation of a grin and she fell to her knees next to Andy, ready to sink her teeth into him. Maria dropped the flashlight and ran, unthinking, into Lauren. As they fell, one of them kicked Andy and he woke with a start. The flashlight cast an indirect light on the two women as they wrestled on the floor and Andy could not find a clear shot with his pistol.
   Maria screamed in pain as Lauren's teeth sank into her neck. Lauren rose and Maria managed to spit "Shoot her!" through the blood. Andy fired his pistol for the second time that night and Lauren fell lifeless to the ground.
   Steve came running with his flashlight and shone it on the two women. "Oh ... Oh God!"
   "Keep that light steady!" Andy barked, skinning out of his shirt and pressing it to Maria's neck.
   Bridget ran to get a first aid kit without being asked, thinking it wouldn't be much use but that she had to do something.
   "Andy ... I .."
   Andy shushed her, "Don't. It's bad, but I've seen worse. If we --"
   Maria choked on a laugh, coughing blood through her smile. "Liar."
   "No! Maria I can't ... I can't lose you too. I can't..." he held her close as her life drained away and she finally stopped drawing ragged breath.
   Steve put his hand on Andy's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
   Andy gave Steve a hard stare and held Maria closer to him, hugging her body tightly to his chest.
   When Bridget returned with the first aid kit, Andy had given up on his stoic facade and wept openly. "We'll be here if you need us," she said, and gently coaxed Steve away to leave Andy in peace.

* * *

   Morning came with its usual fanfare: birds chirping to greet the dawn. Andy still knelt with Maria in his arms, his left hand stroking gently through her hair, his pistol gripped tightly in his right.
   Bridget padded over to him, barefoot and wearing Cody's jacket draped over her shoulders. "Andy..?" she prompted softly.
   "I had to," he sniffed back some tears, "to make sure. To be sure she wouldn't..." His body wracked with a silent sob, "wouldn't come back."