Zombies part 5

Thump. A zombie rounded the corner. The commander shot it in the head.

"Let's go!"

The mismatching group headed out, angling toward a small side door that led into the first floor of the Wilk. Gunshots sounded.

"Remember, citizens," the commander's voice rang out, "only shoot if you're sure you'll hit a zombie." On they ran, the soldiers shooting zombies and the citizens occasionally helping.

Zombie in front of her. The girl brought up the gun and let out a round of bullets. She barely stopped herself from squinching her eyes closed as she pulled the trigger. Like the girl in I, Robot, she thought in grim amusement.

Her boyfriend grinned at her. "A little overkill, but nice job." She blushed and smiled back at him.

The next ten minutes were a nightmare. More and more zombies swarmed around them, alerted to their presence. The girl had many opportunities to fire more shots. "This isn't what I was thinking of when we said we'd go shooting together," she told her boyfriend.

He managed a chuckle. "Me either. Nothing is turning out quite as we expected it to."

There wasn't any time for talk after that. The going was painfully slow and by the time they were in the Wilk, three more soldiers had fallen. They'd been able to grab guns from two of them, but the third one had been surrounded by zombies. His agonized screams still echoed in the girl's ears. It seemed so callous---taking guns from the dead or dying soldiers. But they needed those guns to survive.

They stumbled inside the building and kept running. "That was the worst of it," the commander gasped out. The girl looked at him in concern. One of his hands was pressed to his side and blood trickled between his fingers. "I'll be fine." He'd noticed her gaze and straightened up. "Keep going people. We're almost there."

The one remaining soldier was worse for wear, with numerous cuts and scrapes, but his injuries weren't severe. So far, none of the employees had fallen, though several looked faint.

"Were's the door?" the commander asked.

"It's on the other side of the Wilk," the girl answered. She took the front of the line, next to the commander and her boyfriend.

They cautiously proceeded down the hall. Wait. Was that...a whimper? The girl looked around for the source of the sound. "Is someone there?" she called softly. A little head poked out from beneath the table and large eyes regarded them tearfully.

"Hey, come out from there. You're safe now," the commander said. He extended his hand toward the child. She let out a small cry and ducked back into her hiding place. The commander frowned and stepped forward, but the girl restrained him with a hand on his arm.

"I'll get her, commander." She walked to the table and knelt in front of it. "Hello there," she said gently. "I like you hair. It's so shiny and blonde." The child stared at her with wide eyes. "And that bracelet. I have a charm bracelet like that too. Mine has a ring, and a castle, and a heart . . . What does yours have?"

Hesitantly, the child lifted her arm. "A . . . a Micky Mouse and a fish . . . and . . . I have a heart too."

The girl listened patiently. "My name is Kristi," the girl said. (Authors note: yes, it took me that long to think of a name for the girl. But I didn't expect the story to go on this long and it's getting confusing without names.)

"My name is Rachel," the child said shyly.

Kristi smiled widely "We're going to find your mommy, Rachel. But right now we need you to come with us. We're going to keep you safe, I promise."

"O-okay." Rachel slowly scooted out from underneath the table, then threw her arms around Kristi. "I was scared," she said, her tears starting anew.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay." Kristi lifted the child up and rejoined the group.