Read Online Jacob's Odyssey (The Berne Project Book 1) by Russ Melrose - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Russ Melrose
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glass and doing a grab and run. But smashing the glass would surely draw them to me, and that's the last thing I wanted. The moaning intensified and seemed to mirror the growing intensity of the alarm. They were getting close. I knelt down behind the cabinet of drawers that had the cash register on it and tried to slow down my breathing. I could feel myself tensing up.
I thought about spending the night behind the cash register and simply waiting for them to leave. But what if they lingered around for several days? There was no way to tell how long they might hang around and I hadn't packed any food. The sink in the bathroom would have running water, but it would be contaminated. And I doubted there was any food around. Then there was the back door. If one of them wandered around back and started pushing against the door till it opened, I'd be trapped. But as much as I hated the idea of moving an inch from the safety of my position, I didn't see cowering behind the counter as much of an option. I had to get a lock pick set and I had to get it now.
I could hear them clearly now; their urgent, strident moans nearly drowning out the sound of the rain. I stood up behind the counter and waited for them. I didn't have long to wait. A half-dozen of them shuffled into view, their focus directed down the street, mesmerized by the insistent blaring of the alarm. While I couldn't see them clearly, one of the infected clearly stood out from the others. He was at the front of the group and he was quite tall. But what was striking about him was the way he walked. He walked with a normal stride as if he weren't infected at all. And for a moment, I thought my mind might be playing tricks on me.
Soon after, a large group followed, at least twenty of them. And they kept coming. I set the bat down on top of the counter and strode quickly to the front of the shop. Then I began banging my fists as hard as I could on the huge wall of glass to the left of the front door, though with the rain and the alarm and their own moans, I wasn't sure if they'd hear me. But they did. An infected woman stopped in her tracks and slowly inclined her head in my direction. With what had happened earlier with the girl and now with the woman, I knew their auditory sense had to be highly tuned. I banged on the glass a few more times and she began to totter drunkenly toward the shop. When she was within ten feet, she must have sensed my presence amidst the shadows because she suddenly moved with a crazed desperation toward the window. Her gray face was deeply furrowed, shriveled like a plum and her dark eyes had virtually disappeared into their concave sockets. When she arrived at the front of the shop, she moaned excitedly and threw herself into the window with fanatic abandonment. I took a step back. Several other infected broke ranks. They seemed to have a communal understanding that a meal was nearby.
I tried to be patient, but my chest and stomach were freezing up. I remembered to breathe as they closed in on the front of the store. It was important for them to be focused on the front when the time came for me to break the glass case. I was afraid that if I'd simply broken the case and tried to run, some of them might have gone down the side driveway to the back parking lot. But if they saw me in the front of the shop, that's where their attention would be focused. And that's where they'd try to get to me, and all the others would simply follow suit. And that's exactly what was happening. They were all converging on the shop now, pounding frantically on the window and pressing against each other, desperate to get to me. Their moans were clamorous, like an asylum of madmen without tongues, relentlessly insistent upon being heard. I knew they would never stop coming. In the midst of the onslaught, I did my best to keep focused on my breathing. By now there had to be at least twenty-five or thirty of them at the window and countless others were flocking to the
I thought about spending the night behind the cash register and simply waiting for them to leave. But what if they lingered around for several days? There was no way to tell how long they might hang around and I hadn't packed any food. The sink in the bathroom would have running water, but it would be contaminated. And I doubted there was any food around. Then there was the back door. If one of them wandered around back and started pushing against the door till it opened, I'd be trapped. But as much as I hated the idea of moving an inch from the safety of my position, I didn't see cowering behind the counter as much of an option. I had to get a lock pick set and I had to get it now.
I could hear them clearly now; their urgent, strident moans nearly drowning out the sound of the rain. I stood up behind the counter and waited for them. I didn't have long to wait. A half-dozen of them shuffled into view, their focus directed down the street, mesmerized by the insistent blaring of the alarm. While I couldn't see them clearly, one of the infected clearly stood out from the others. He was at the front of the group and he was quite tall. But what was striking about him was the way he walked. He walked with a normal stride as if he weren't infected at all. And for a moment, I thought my mind might be playing tricks on me.
Soon after, a large group followed, at least twenty of them. And they kept coming. I set the bat down on top of the counter and strode quickly to the front of the shop. Then I began banging my fists as hard as I could on the huge wall of glass to the left of the front door, though with the rain and the alarm and their own moans, I wasn't sure if they'd hear me. But they did. An infected woman stopped in her tracks and slowly inclined her head in my direction. With what had happened earlier with the girl and now with the woman, I knew their auditory sense had to be highly tuned. I banged on the glass a few more times and she began to totter drunkenly toward the shop. When she was within ten feet, she must have sensed my presence amidst the shadows because she suddenly moved with a crazed desperation toward the window. Her gray face was deeply furrowed, shriveled like a plum and her dark eyes had virtually disappeared into their concave sockets. When she arrived at the front of the shop, she moaned excitedly and threw herself into the window with fanatic abandonment. I took a step back. Several other infected broke ranks. They seemed to have a communal understanding that a meal was nearby.
I tried to be patient, but my chest and stomach were freezing up. I remembered to breathe as they closed in on the front of the store. It was important for them to be focused on the front when the time came for me to break the glass case. I was afraid that if I'd simply broken the case and tried to run, some of them might have gone down the side driveway to the back parking lot. But if they saw me in the front of the shop, that's where their attention would be focused. And that's where they'd try to get to me, and all the others would simply follow suit. And that's exactly what was happening. They were all converging on the shop now, pounding frantically on the window and pressing against each other, desperate to get to me. Their moans were clamorous, like an asylum of madmen without tongues, relentlessly insistent upon being heard. I knew they would never stop coming. In the midst of the onslaught, I did my best to keep focused on my breathing. By now there had to be at least twenty-five or thirty of them at the window and countless others were flocking to the
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