It should hold.
Probably.
I crouched at the edge and tested it with one hand. It felt solid enough, so I swung a leg over and started down.
The metal creaked once under my weight.
I froze.
Waited.
Counted.
Nothing reacted, and I felt my heart rate decrease.
I kept going.
One hand, then my foot. Keeping my movements slow and quiet.
Halfway down, the smell hit even stronger if that was possible. Both rot and heat rose from the pavement to greet my nose.
I was close.
Suddenly, an infected shuffled into view beneath me, drifting along the wall. Its head tilted slightly, as if it was listening to something I couldn’t hear.
I stopped moving, barely breathing.
Seconds stretched.
The thing lingered, then turned and wandered back toward the front of the building.
I let out the breath I’d been holding and dropped the last foot to the ground without a sound. I crouched beside the wall and scanned. There was no clear path that I could see. Bodies were everywhere, some moving, some not.
I slipped along the wall, staying tight to the building, using parked vehicles as cover.
The car I’d seen from the building sat about ten feet ahead. I slowly began to move toward it.
An infected stumbled between me and the car. Close enough that I could see the film over its eyes, and the way its jaw hung loose.
It turned slightly.
I moved before it finished, closing the distance between us as I swung my knife in a swift arc and drove it into its temple. I caught the body before it hit the ground, lowering it gently. The smell made me gag silently. I dragged it just enough to clear my path, then slid in after making sure the backseat was clear.
The keys jingled, and I stilled my hand.
I stepped out and looked across the lot. The majority of them were still clustered near the front and back of the store.
If I got this right, they’d leave, and I’d be able to save my stepson and his friend. If I didn’t, then Taryn and I would be on our own.
Either way, I’d make sure my daughter survived.
I had an idea and reached into the back seat for the rag I’d seen a moment ago. It was already stiff with dried blood.
I stepped back out of the car, moving quickly. Grabbing a piece of broken glass from the ground, I winced as I stabbed it in my hand.
I didn’t want to use my knife because it was covered in infected blood, and I wasn’t sure if that would make me become one of these things.
I soaked the rag, then dragged it along the pavement, leaving a dark streak from the driver’s side door toward the open lane between cars. Then I opened and closed my hand, causing blood to pool in my palm, and dripped it all over the hood.
