She gasped. “I’m sorry.”
“They were undeads, or whatever you call them.” He cleared his throat. “My lil’ sister, too. She was six.”
Claire teared up. “Oh, Thomas. I’m so sorry.” He nodded. She decided not to probe anymore when she saw him withdraw even more than he already was.
They made it to Urgent Care without any issues. It was far too quiet for their comfort. “Have you raided here yet?” she asked him.
“No. I’ve been camped out at the gas station for ‘bout a week.”
“Hopefully we can find what we need for Maria.”
“You know what we’re lookin’ for?”
“Yeah. My father was a doctor. I’m not, but I spent many days with him while he practiced. I wanted to be one for a while, but I changed my mind after…” She couldn’t finish the thought. If she did, she would have had to acknowledge their death, and it wasn’t the time. “Anyway, you ready?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Claire looked behind her and saw a shotgun. She grabbed it, not knowing if it was loaded. They jumped out of the truck and stalked toward the front entrance.
Thomas stood guard while Claire peered in through the tinted glass and saw nothing but rotting, partially eaten bodies strewn all over and piled up near the entrance. She knew the smell was going to be nothing like she had ever experienced before.
“Thomas, do you have a strong stomach?” He shrugged. “You might want to find it. The entrance is blocked by bodies. We’re going to have to break in.” They both looked around for a large rock of some sort. Then it dawned on her.
Claire walked back to the windows and started swinging the shotgun like a baseball bat. It took quite the effort, but she managed to bust through after several blows. Then the smell hit her like a truck.
The pungent odor attacked her sinuses and overwhelmed her. It was the worst that she had smelled since the whole madness began. She jumped backward and bent over, trying to hold in the contents of her stomach. She failed miserably. Thomas stood next to her, unsure of what to do while she vomited. He kept a careful eye on the situation around them.
“Umm… Claire?” She held her hand up. “There are a couple tryin’ to get through the broken window.” He said it in such a nonchalant way, zero emotion behind it. “I’m gonna shoot ‘em.”
Claire stood up and wiped her mouth with her shirt. She needed to recover and get down to business. She saw three trying to get through the broken glass, but they were hindered by the metal rail in front of the windows.
“Let’s play some baseball, Thomas.” Claire grinned.
She grabbed the shotgun again, putting it over her right shoulder, and fiercely walked toward the three undeads. She raised the shotgun, holding the muzzle in her hands.
“Want to see a homerun, motherfucker?” With one quick, vicious swing, Claire took off the heads of two undeads. They were in such a bad state of decay that their heads exploded when she hit them.
The third wasn’t as close to the window as she needed him to be to swing at him. She never thought all of that softball she played as a kid would pay off. Thomas walked up to the third undead, which was still further inside, and waved at him.
“Hey, asshole. Let’s do this!” The undead stumbled closer. Thomas dove out of the way and Claire hit the undead and his head exploded like the other two. They both screamed and jumped up and down with excitement. Their adrenaline was rocking through their bodies.
“Anything that looks useful, grab.”
“Yup.” She could tell Thomas wasn’t new to looting. They both covered their noses with their shirts and worked their way through the broken glass and rotting corpses.
In silence, they powered their way through the building, sneaking past some roaming undeads. They found a supply room that was virtually untouched. It was like hitting the lottery.
There was everything from antibiotics to intravenous supplies, including the fluids that they needed. They grabbed everything they could. Unfortunately, neither one thought to grab a bag or box before they left the house in case they did hit the jackpot. Thomas took off his shirt and tied the neck and sleeves closed.
“There. Instant bag.” Claire smiled at his intuitiveness. They loaded up his shirt with everything they could.
“Good thing you were wearing a huge shirt.”
“Some advantages of losin’ weight and wearin’ too big clothes to begin with, I guess.”
Just before they walked out of the office, they saw a couple water jugs, full and still sealed. Somehow, Thomas hoisted one on each shoulder, and they took off. They made it back to the truck unscathed. As soon as they both slammed the doors, they yelled, “WOOOO!” Claire fist bumped Thomas. “Now, that was awesome. Not a single bullet spent. Pleasure working with you, Thomas.” He blushed. They drove back to the house. She figured they were gone less than an hour.