Carver Pike - Scalp

A blast so loud he thought it might have blown out his eardrum screamed next to him, and the big man’s head exploded like a ripe melon. Blood and bone fragments sprayed across the cards.

Hal stood stunned, not only shocked at the creature’s explosion, but at the realization that he had been willing to die right now.

“What’s wrong with you, buddy?” Grant asked as he tugged on Hal’s shirt at the shoulder.

“I don’t know,” he replied, and as his eyes drifted down to the fallen cards, he read another one.

It was covered in blood and read: Live life to the fullest.

A shriek came from only a few aisles away and pulled Hal out of his trance-like state. He shook his head, cleared his senses, and ran ahead of Grant toward the others.

Clementine found the permethrin and held it up. It was in a yellow bottle with a black nozzle. Grant handed her an empty duffle bag and she shoved about ten bottles of the stuff in there. Grant grabbed two big jugs full of the stuff and Hal grabbed one himself. Clementine slung the duffle bag over her shoulder and kept her shotguns pointed out in front of her.

The sound of items being knocked off shelves was heard near the rear of the store making its way toward them. Clangs, clattering, bangs… something was making its way toward them quickly.

“We should go out the exit by the patio furniture,” Sally said, pointing into the adjoining room where Hal knew the store kept its lawn chairs, barbecue grills, and outdoor decorations.

She was right. They should get out of the store as quickly as possible.

“One of ‘em’s coming,” Clementine announced, speaking the obvious.

“I think we should try this stuff out,” Grant said.

“You go right on ahead,” Hal said. “I’m headed toward that exit. Ain’t no need to be getting ourselves killed so soon. I’d like to live to fight some more.”

“You sure about that, buddy?” Grant asked. “Didn’t seem like you were up to fighting a second ago.”

Hal glared at him. The man was right, but there was more to it than he knew. It was only a moment of self-reflection. Now, he knew what needed to be done. He needed to kill these things.

“I know I want to fight,” Grant said as he pulled one of the spray bottles out of Clementine’s bag, turned the nozzle to “on” and held it out in front of him. “So, might as well start now.”

Sally scratched at one arm nervously. She looked back at Hal and Clementine and then glared at Grant. “Grant, you’re not seriously planning to stand there and meet that thing head-on with a fuckin’ spray bottle.”

“If not, then what did we come here for?” he asked.

He barely finished his sentence when hands shot out from the next shelf over, swiping all its contents off as one of the creatures, a skinny man wearing overalls, with scraggly hair encircling the bald crown of his head, emerged and headed toward them. Barbecue grill spatulas and tongs clattered to the ground. Bottles of lighter fluid toppled over next. Grant held the spray bottle out and his eyes went wide as he waited for the limping creature to finally reach him.

“Grant, come on!” Sally yelled.

Clementine stepped away from Grant and moved to Hal’s side with her shotguns raised and ready. “I think it’ll work,” she said to Hal, “but I’m not sure it’ll work.”

The scrawny man, furious with infected rage, held his fingers out in front of him like claws and snarled as he grew closer. He was only about ten feet away when Grant pulled the trigger on his spray bottle. A stream of liquid flew about six feet away and was showering down generously when the creature stepped right into it.

“Take that, motherfucker!” Grant yelled, holding that spray bottle out in front of him like a kid with a super soaker water gun.

The infected man stopped in the stream and howled. Grant laughed and kept squirting.

Other infected came from around nearby shelves. Back in the makeup area, lipsticks and eyeliners fell to the ground. Boxed hairdryers toppled over and smacked against the tile floor. In the pool supplies, the entire shelf moved. It rocked as if being pushed from the other side. A pool pump fell from the shelf. Several boxes of floaties and innertubes came down next.

Grant’s eyes went wide as he realized other creatures were coming. The one he was squirting with the permethrin growled and leaped through the stream. Grant stepped back and his boot heel touched the puddle at his feet. He slipped and fell on his ass hard. He scrambled backward as the skinny man hit the ground and started crawling after him. The permethrin had done nothing. It didn’t even faze the man other than to make him pause for a second. Now, he was crawling forward while the others were coming from the left and right.

“Look out!” Clementine hollered.

The creature was about to grab Grant’s boot when Grant rolled out of the way and Clementine sent a shotgun blast that took the insect-infested man’s head clean off his body.

Sally was at Grant’s side quickly, pulling him to his feet as the other creatures came from behind their shelves.

The pool supply shelf rocked one final time and then fell forward slowly. The rest of its contents showered the floor before the metal structure struck the ground with a loud clatter sure to bring any other creatures in the store their way. On the other side of the shelf, now crawling over it, were two more of the infected creatures, each wearing the blue smock that read: How can I help you?

“Go!” Grant yelled.

Clementine threw the duffle bag full of spray bottles to the ground and turned to run with them. She was the slowest in the bunch but hefting that heavy bag would have made it nearly impossible for her to escape. She spun and caught the closest creature right in the chest, shredding him with a burst of her shotgun.

Hal caught the next creature right in the middle of his forehead. He’d always been a good shot. Guns seemed to like him, even if he couldn’t stand the things. Right now, he appreciated the ones he had and was happy he’d decided to work as a park ranger. If he hadn’t, he would be unarmed right now.

Rushed footsteps echoed throughout the store. They were coming from all directions.

Hal and Clementine had started falling back the second they heard the things coming, but Sally and Grant were too far from the exit, and Hal couldn’t leave them behind. Clementine had given up shooting.

“Get to the truck!” she screamed. “They’re fuckin’ everywhere!”

Like ants shooting out of an anthill, hellbent on spreading their infectious disease, the creatures rushed through the aisles, leaped over cash registers, shoved through spinning sunglass racks, toppled towers of towels, and pushed over piled-up plastic storage bins. It was like a tidal wave of hissing, gnashing, howling beasts storming through the store, and headed right for them.

“Come on!” Hal yelled over the sound of clicking that arose from the oncoming horde.

It was so loud. Like they’d stepped into the loudest forest known to man. Like all the insects in the world were about to rain down on them.

Grant and Sally ran toward the back exit, narrowly missing the clawed hands of one creature. Hal stopped her with a bullet in the throat. The beast fell to the ground, clutching its neck, and still trying to attack.

Hal fell back, his gun still pointed at the swarm. If he didn’t turn and run now, he’d never get the chance. There was no way he could shoot them all.

He spun and saw Sally and Grant ahead of him, running through the automatic doors. Hal wondered if there was a way to stop those doors from opening but quickly realized it didn’t matter. The time it would take to figure it out was too much time. They’d charge him before he had the chance to lock it, and even if he could get the doors jammed shut, with so many bodies coming so quickly, they’d probably smash right through that glass.