Snippet #2349748

Eventually, after the deputy scourged the whole food court for any nonperishable items, Judas walked towards the front entrance of the mall. Daylight was slowly dwindling away and that hoard was growing ever closer. It made him on edge thinking about it, his mind swaying towards pessimistic as he imagined how screwed they’d both be if those geeks somehow busted their way through.
He didn’t realize how paranoid he was making himself until a hand grasped his shoulder. Judas jumped back and turned, his knife at the deputy’s throat. Silence strung out between them as Judas calmed down his heavy breathing and lowered the weapon. He tucked it into his belt and turned away, his head held high as he tried to conceal his embarrassment.
There was a pregnant and awkward pause between the two of them until the deputy asked, “You got a family outside these walls, kid?”
Oh great, Judas growled inwardly, small talk. “No. You?”
“A wife and a son.” He responded, his voice laden in nostalgic happiness and worry, “He’s not much younger than you, my boy is. Reminds me of you in a way.”
“You’ve been raisin’ him wrong then.” Judas quipped.
The deputy let out a warm chuckle as his eyes drifted out towards the outside. His gaze suddenly fell on a person in the parking lot just outside the door they’d barricaded. His laughter fell short as he leaned across the tipped over vending machine to get a closer look. It was a girl. A high school girl from the look of it. And she was hurt. He couldn’t tell how badly from here but her leg was definitely part of the problem.
Judas looked at his companion from the corners of his eyes, his gaze following that of the deputy’s and falling on the wounded girl in the parking lot. His face dropped, “Don’t even think about it.”
The deputy sprang into motion, moving to the end of the vending machine to clear the door. “Come help me with this.” He commanded without looking up to meet Judas’s frazzled stare.
“We don’t know this girl! What if she’s turned?”
“Do you see that hoard coming into the lot?” The deputy hollered, dropping what he’d managed to lift to gesture to the outside, “If she is alive then they’ll tear her apart.”
“Good! That’ll give us plenty of time to get the hell out of here!”
“I won’t let an innocent little girl die!”
“We can’t afford that luxury!” Judas argued. “Like you said, we don’t have any means of protecting ourselves. What if the hoard gets too close and we end up dying just because you want to stick your neck out for some girl you don’t even know?”
The deputy groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically as he wielded his pistol, pressing the barrel into Judas’s forehead. “My job is to protect and serve, boy.” He enunciated in a threatening tone, “Let me do my job and help me unblock this door.”
They engaged in a silent battle of will, glaring at each other until one of them finally gave in. It was Judas. He relented, cursing under his breath, heaving the vending machine up vertically again with the deputy’s help. The officer reached for the door but Judas held him back with a firm grip on his arm.
“Give me your gun.” Judas told him, his face composed as he was met with the deputy’s disconcerted expression. “I’ll cover you while you bring the girl inside.”
He reluctantly obliged, handing over his only means of protection to a kid he could barely trust. Judas cocked back the hammer and followed the deputy out, jogging behind as he sprinted to the girl’s aid. The hoard was approaching fast but he wouldn’t waste bullets when they were far enough away. He glanced down at the girl as the officer cradled her in his arms. She was nearly unconscious, with bruises and open wounds from having dragged herself all the way here. Judas shook his head, turning his focus back on the oppressing hoard, aiming at the walking corpse at the front.
“What’s your name, darling?” The deputy whispered, barely audible under the groans and moans of the undead.
The girl shifted weakly, “L-Lauren…”
“Ugh…hey, guy…?” Judas interjected, his voice wavering in anxiety as the hoard traveled closer faster than he’d originally anticipated.
“We’re going to get you inside, Lauren. Don’t worry.” The deputy insured her, lifting the girl up bridal style in his arms.
“Can we hurry this along please?!” Judas shouted, firing off two bullets into the heads of the two corpses leading the hoard. The deputy’s head snapped up as the zombies broke out into a run, screeching and roaring in bloodthirsty hunger. The cop ran towards the door, girl in tow, while Judas fired off shots left and right, never wasting a bullet.
“Judas!”
Judas turned at the sound of his name to see the deputy struggling to open the door. The distance between them and the zombies was lessening considerably as seconds ticked by. Judas slung his attention back to the hoard, crying out when he was met with a zombie face to face, its breath reeking of guts and rotten flesh. He wacked it upside the head and made a beeline for the door, opening it and launching himself inside. The deputy followed shortly after, handing Lauren off to Judas as he felt the undead beasts grabbing him by the back of his shirt.
The sound of his agonizing cry tore through the empty air of the mall as the zombie gnawed at his neck. Judas quickly set Lauren down a considerable distance away and rushed for the door, taking out the geek and running up to shut the door behind the deputy. Weakly and bleeding profusely, the deputy made his way to the opposite side of the vending machine.
“Kid! Move!” he hollered, panting heavily. Judas jumped out of the way and the vending machine came crashing down, blocking the front door.
Judas looked back at them, scratching at the glass door and pounding away, adrenaline surging through his veins. That door wouldn’t hold them for long, he realized. He looked to the deputy for guidance and his gut clenched at the sight of the man before him. He was laid back on the floor, a pool of blood staining the tacky carpet beneath him as the gaping wound pulsated. Judas knelt beside him, reaching up with a shaky hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The deputy stopped him.
“Don’t bother, Jude. I’m not coming back from this.” He told him, his voice tired as tears ran down his pallid cheeks.
“What do I do?”
The deputy looked over to the girl a few feet away, “Get her to safety.” He managed, his gaze finding Judas’s once more. “Take the girl and haul yourself in a store and hide. Don’t come out until they’ve cleared out of here. Take my bag, it’s got a first aid kit in there and the supplies we found at the gas station a while back. Don’t let that girl die.”
Judas faltered a moment but nodded nonetheless. He stood, pointing the gun at the deputy’s head. He didn’t say anything as he pulled the trigger, killing the man with mercy.
The gunshot alerted the undead outside, making their efforts all the more determined. Judas looked at them in utter disgust, walking away with the gun tucked into his belt. He rushed into the food court and grabbed the bag before coming back for the girl, heaving her up in his arms the way the deputy had carried her. Jogging swiftly, he found a bookstore towards the back exit of the mall. He knew he couldn’t make it outside lugging this girl around. So he opted for the store.
Judas took the girl inside, laying her and the bag down behind the counter. Moving quick in consideration for time, he knocked over bookshelves and piled them up strategically in front of the doors and windows. There was an emergency exit at the rear end of the store they could run out of just in case, of that he made certain.
Letting out a sigh, Judas fell to the ground on his rear, leaning up against the barricade. With a shaking hand he pulled out another cigarette.