“Everyone ready? We’ll start on the left and move to the right.” Justin took a deep breath. “You alright, mate? Regretting your decision?”
“No, just a little nervous.”
“Follow my lead and you’ll do fine. You were brilliant at the school.” Henry patted Justin on the shoulder, then jumped out and slammed the truck door.
Immediately, the undeads sniffed the air and turned toward Henry. Nick, Thomas, and Justin joined him. Henry whistled, and they began staggering toward them. He tilted his neck from side to side, making it crack. Then he smiled and shifted into program mode.
“I’ve got this,” he said in a monotone voice.
Henry broke away from the rest and made a run for the undeads. Justin started to go, as well, but Nick grabbed him. “What?”
“Just watch and learn from the master.” Justin watched as Henry approached the first undead male, who was swatting at him.
“Is that all you got?” Henry yelled. The undead swatted at him again, and Henry dodged him. Then he lunged, and Henry came back with a knife to the skull. There was a sickening crunch and the undead man hit the ground.
“He’s fucking batty, isn’t he?” Justin was stunned. Nick and Thomas laughed.
“Just keep watching.” Henry ran to the next one. Her clothes were torn and she was dragging her leg, which was obviously where she was initially attacked. He drove his knife into the female’s head. He yanked out his knife, and took off after two that were staggering together.
They had to have been in that state for quite some time because both were missing chunks of flesh on the exposed parts of their bodies. They were gray, and the smell of death was heavy around them. Henry jammed the knife into one while delivering a roundhouse kick to the other. The body split in two, mid-chest.
“Oh, shit!” Nick yelled. The splat of rotting flesh and organs hitting the ground made Justin retch. Henry dropped to his knees and jammed his knife into the two piece, gutted undead man. “Eleven o’clock!” Nick yelled.
Henry got up and jumped over the gory piles of the true deads. With amazing precision, he threw the knife across the way and it landed in the side of the undead man’s head. Henry stood there for a moment and surveyed the corpses on the ground, making sure they were all true dead. He walked over to the one he just finished off and, with a shudder, yanked the knife out of the man’s head. He slipped back into reality.
“Shut the fuck up,” Justin muttered. “How did he do that?” Thomas and Nick laughed.
“He’s a badass. What can I say? Hey, Daniels!” Nick shouted. Henry looked at him. “You got those,” Nick nodded toward the other side of the road, “or do you want us to get them?”
“Go for it.” Nick didn’t hesitate for a second. Thomas and Justin followed behind.
Henry picked the lock at the general store, while the others finished off the undeads. He opened the door, and the smell of death hit him hard. He bent over from the sudden onslaught. He felt his stomach lurch and he started coughing. He let the door shut.
“You alright?” Nick ran over and knelt down to Henry. Henry wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
“It’s bad in there. Really, fucking bad. Worse than the school, for some reason.” The coughing slowed down.
“If you think it’s bad…”
“Yeah. I’m not sure if I can go in there.” Henry stood back up and looked at the storefront. “But I don’t really have a choice. If there is food and drinks in there…”
Thomas pulled the scarf off that he had hanging on his neck. “Here.” He handed it to Henry, who tied the scarf around his nose and mouth. He took a couple deep breaths, jumping up and down to get his adrenaline pumping before he opened the door again. The pungent odor rolled out of the store and took his breath away.
Henry was in the shop for about five minutes. Nick was standing at the door, watching him run up and down the aisles, grabbing whatever he could. He saw Henry stop toward the back of the store, and his whole body sagged. He stood there for a moment shaking his head, and then he blew back out through the door, ripping the scarf from his face. He fell to his knees, vomiting.
That was a first for Henry. He had seen a lot, done a lot, but never once had he thrown up. He had felt queasy or gagged a few times, but never vomiting over anything but pain or drunkenness. Nick helped Henry up, walking him over to the Tahoe. He opened the door so Henry could sit down for a second.
“Thomas, Justin, gather what he brought out and put it in the back.” Then Nick focused his attention on Henry, who was still was reeling. “You alright? Let me get you a bottle of water.”