Chapter 28: Shattered Supermarket
Hanks and Glenn returned to the motel with their heavy load of parts and tools, carefully setting everything down in the empty space beside the RV.
"Kenny!" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Kenny, who was standing watch on the second floor.
Kenny immediately stuck his head out. Seeing the supplies on the ground, his eyes lit up and he quickly ran down.
"Hey! You got the good stuff!" He crouched down, examining the various parts carefully.
His face showed renewed hope. "With these parts and tools, my truck can have a second life."
"That's what I wanted to hear." Hanks nodded. "How long do you need?"
Kenny estimated. "If everything goes smooth, an hour or two should do it."
"The slow tire leak's a bit of a pain. Gotta find the exact leak point to patch it, or get a spare."
"We'll figure out the spare on the road. Fix the core problems first." Hanks decided quickly.
"Start working on the truck right now. Glenn and I are making another run to the supermarket, then hitting the gas station for fuel."
"After we reach the gas station, we'll contact you through little Clem's walkie-talkie. Drive straight over to pick us up."
Kenny nodded seriously. "You two be damn careful. I'll get this beast running as fast as I can."
"Glenn, let's move." Hanks wasted no time, motioning for Glenn to shoulder his now-empty backpack again.
The two slipped silently out the gate once more, their figures blending into the shadows of the street leading toward the town center.
With a clear objective and pickup plan, their pace was faster than before.
Hanks took point, Glenn followed close behind.
The two used ruins and abandoned vehicles for cover, moving quickly toward the supermarket.
The closer they got to the town center, the stronger the stench of decay became. Abandoned cars multiplied on the streets. Some shop windows were smashed. Occasionally they could hear bone-chilling chewing sounds.
"Right turn at the intersection ahead takes us to the supermarket." Glenn kept his voice low, pointing toward a crossroads up ahead.
Hanks signaled. The two pressed against the wall base, cautiously approaching the intersection.
Just as they were about to turn the corner, Hanks stopped abruptly, yanking Glenn back into the shadows.
"Shh!" His sharp gaze fixed on what lay ahead.
The supermarket's glass doors were already shattered, the interior a complete mess.
What made their hearts sink were the fresh packaging bags and footprints scattered near the entrance. Clear signs that people had been active here recently.
People inside? Or walkers?
Both men's eyes showed a trace of wariness.
Hanks gestured. They paused at the entrance, listening carefully.
Hiss...
More than one walker's growl came from inside, along with sounds like gnawing on cartilage.
Hanks gently pushed the iron door. The hinges produced a nerve-wracking creak.
His movements froze instantly. He held his breath and waited.
Fortunately, the chewing and hissing sounds inside didn't stop because of the tiny noise. They didn't seem disturbed by the minor disturbance.
He slipped sideways through the door. Glenn followed in a crouch, constantly looking down at the glass underfoot, terrified of making the wrong kind of noise.
The supermarket warehouse was darker than the parts store, almost pitch black.
Only the double glass doors leading to the sales floor let in a bit of pale light. The air reeked with a suffocating stench.
Shelves tilted. Boxes had toppled. The floor was littered with broken packaging and dried, blackened stains.
Hanks used the weak light to make out at least four walker silhouettes.
Two in a far corner had their backs to the entrance, heads buried in a fresh corpse they were devouring. Another wandered aimlessly near collapsed shelving.
The nearest one was less than five meters away, enjoying another fresh body all to itself.
Hanks's eyes went cold. He signaled Glenn to guard the entrance and watch their backs.
Glenn nodded tensely, gripping his baseball bat with both hands, staring hard at the direction they'd come from and the safety door.
Hanks moved. Like a silent shadow, he went for the nearest walker feeding alone.
The walker seemed to sense something. Just as it lifted its head, the screwdriver tip, carrying lethal precision, drove hard through its temple.
Thunk.
The walker's body shuddered, then went limp, collapsing against a nearby cardboard box with a muffled thud.
That sound alerted the walker wandering nearby. It whipped around and came at them with a hiss.
Hanks didn't retreat. Instead he advanced.
He sidestepped its grasping arm, his left hand flashing out to seize its wrist and yank it down hard.
Simultaneously his right hand drove the screwdriver up from below, punching through the underside of its jaw and into its skull.
Crack.
Another one down without a sound.
Two kills in quick succession, movements flowing like water, almost no excess noise.
But the sounds of bodies hitting the floor caught the attention of the two walkers feasting in the distance.
They stopped eating, raised their heads—rotted faces smeared with chunks of flesh and blood—and locked their cloudy eyes on Hanks. Low roars rumbled from their throats as they staggered forward.
Hanks's eyes hardened. He knew he couldn't eliminate them completely silently anymore, so he crouched low and moved to meet them head-on.
The instant before contact, his left hand seized the first walker's arm and gave it a light push.
His right hand drove the screwdriver upward in one smooth motion, stabbing hard up through its jaw and piercing the brainstem.
He wrenched hard, using the corpse to slam into the second walker. The screwdriver descended from above, shattering its skull.
Splat.
The final howl cut off abruptly.
Hanks breathed slightly harder, his nostrils filled with the thick, inescapable smell of blood. The supermarket fell silent again.
Glenn stood at the entrance, palms drenched in sweat, heart hammering like it would leap from his throat.
He knew Hanks was capable, but every time he witnessed this efficient, cold, precise killing firsthand, he felt utterly shocked.
Hanks shook the foul blood from his screwdriver, quickly checking the bodies on the ground. They looked recently dead. The blood was still warm.
He didn't dwell on what had happened. His gaze swept the entire warehouse, confirming once more there was no danger.
"Clear." His voice was calm, as if he'd just done something trivial.
"Quick, find food and water. Priority on high-calorie, shelf-stable stuff. See if there's a warehouse key anywhere."
Glenn nodded.
The two immediately split up to search the warehouse.
Hanks used his mechanics knowledge to quickly identify the labels and part numbers on the shelves.
"Over here!" Glenn called softly. He pointed at a shelf. "Crackers and candy. Independent packaging."
"Glenn, over here, pack these." He called out.
Glenn hurried over and began stuffing individually wrapped chocolate bars and energy bars into his pack.
Hanks found the real treasure—a small crate of canned meat.
His spirits lifted. He crammed the cans and water into his large backpack.
Just then, Glenn made a discovery in another corner. "Officer! There's a locked metal cabinet here."
He pointed at a gray cabinet against the wall. "Looks like it might hold valuables or weapons?"
Hanks walked over and examined the lock. He shook his head. "Too time-consuming, and prying it open would make too much noise. Now's not the time for complications."
"Food and water first. Load up and move out."
The two picked up the pace. Soon both backpacks were stuffed full of food and bottled water, impossibly heavy.
Hanks tested the weight, then looked around. He spotted several empty plastic storage bins.
"Use these." He grabbed the two largest ones. "Load more cans and water in these."
Moving would be even more awkward, but opportunities were rare. Better to take what they could.
They'd just finished filling both storage bins with food and water when the locked employee room door suddenly began getting violently battered from inside.
The wooden door groaned under the assault. Cracks appeared in the door panels.
Scratching and howling sounds poured out from within. Whatever was inside had been completely riled up by the noise they'd made.
"Damn it!" Hanks's expression changed. "Grab everything! Move!"
He snatched up one heavy storage bin. Glenn strained to hoist the other.
Both men, backpacks stuffed full, carrying heavy bins in their hands, moved quickly but awkwardly toward the warehouse exit.
BANG! A tremendous crash. The employee room door lock flew off and the wooden door burst open.
At least a dozen walkers shoved their way out in a frenzy, howling as they charged the two retreating men.
"Run!"
Hanks exploded with speed far beyond normal human capacity, pulling Glenn hard toward the exit.
They could already see the shattered glass doors.
BANG BANG BANG!
A burst of gunfire suddenly tore through from outside.