I cannot remember how long I had been working at Reason’s when Zero Hour hit. I want to say seven years. In that span, I had two different bosses running the department. My first boss was literally the best boss I had ever had. He was my friend, he kept me insulated from all the corporate crap, and we would have lengthy conversations about absolutely nothing. So, when he decided to move on, it was a pretty rough day for me. Even now, I have to assume that Dave has been lost to this apocalypse. I would go and see him often on lunch when I wanted to get away from the store (if he wasn’t at school) and we would discuss World of Warcraft. He only lived a few minutes from the store by car. I would think most people would consider this place one of the few refuges in Langley so if he hasn’t made it here by now… he is not going to.
My second boss – Dave’s replacement – had some big shoes to fill. But I liked Holly and over the last year, she had performed quite well. My biggest complaint about Holly was that she was a smoker. Smoking killed my mother. I have no doubt that it caused her cancer and robbed me of years with her. I don’t know how many times I told Holly and those guys from the Meat Department to quit. It is easy for me to say having never been a smoker but because of Reason’s Breathe Easy program, smoking was not permitted on store property. So the smokers would head off property to smoke, generally right at the property line. It is not so far that you are not within shouting distance but it is too far a distance to run when a shamble of zombies emerge from around the corner…
When Kasondra’s call went out to lock down the store, I was in the produce cooler so I was the first one to the roll up door that leads out to our back dock where we unload our trucks. When I poked my head out of the plastic flaps that keep the air conditioning in to wave Holly inside, I emerged just in time to see her being overpowered and drug to the ground by three of these things.
I have to admit that I froze in my tracks. I mean your mind can barely comprehend what you are seeing. I mean I have seen all kinds of zombie movies and Alex plays that zombie level on Call of Duty but you never imagine that you are going to get thrown into that nightmare. I mean this is the kind of horror story that you only see in the movies, right?
But when those things turn their dead, yellow eyes on you, reality sets in pretty quick. If not… well, I wouldn’t be writing this. So I saw Holly drug to the ground and these guys are sinking in their teeth. I am sure that doctors can tell you (or at least they wouldn’t be surprised by this) but the human heart is a miraculous machine. And the force at which this wonderful vessel pumps our blood… I say this because on that day, I was shocked by how far blood squirts out when zombie teeth get sunk into an artery. That is what I remember most. I remember that blood spray. Thankfully, when Holly was hit, she went down fast and these monsters jumped on top of her so that I could not see her eyes. Truth be told, I am not certain if I even remember her screaming. She was gone so fast and there was nothing I could do.
I wanted to rush out there and save her but when I screamed her name, one of the three looked up at me, blood running down his chin and a savage look in his eyes. Then he jumped up and charged at our produce dock. I am ashamed to admit it but I was frozen solid in fear. Thankfully Lance responded fast to Kasondra’s call. He yanked me back inside and has the wherewithal to shut the roll up door. Thankfully, that door slammed down a split second before that zom collided with it.
We lost our manager but produce was secure.
