Chapter 208 One Step Closer to Death
“He also brought a horde of zombies to our front door!” Jack snapped.
Dawn rolled her eyes. “There were already tons of zombies out there! If you’re so great, why <b>don’t </b><b>you </b><b>go </b>kill them? You can’t, so what difference does it make how many there are?!<b>” </b>
“Dawn Gand!”
“I’m just stating facts! You don’t have Quentin’s skills, yet <i>you </i>act like you own the ce. If you’re <b>a </b><b>man</b><b>, </b>then go kill some d*mn zombies. Don’t try to act tough in front of me!”
Jack’s fury red. “So, you really don’t want to be with me anymore, huh?”
“I haven’t wanted to for a while now! You’re a pathetic loser–get lost!” Dawn shot him a look <b>of </b>pure contempt, then turned to Quentin with a bright smile. “Quentin, where were we? Right, the person <b>I </b><b>saw </b>it was definitely a woman…”
Jack couldn’t hold it in anymore. With a snarl, he raised his fist and lunged toward Quentin.
Just then, the sound of a rolling shutter being thrown open echoed from downstairs.
Everyone froze. <b><i>Was </i></b><i>it</i><i>… </i><i>a </i><i>person</i><i>, </i><i>or </i>a zombie?
The sharp tter of the shutter was followed by an eerie silence in the dim pharmacy. Then came the unmistakable <i>clink </i>of something metal, followed by the soft roll of a round object across the floor.
From their perch on the stairs of the second floor, they all saw it: a severed zombie head, its hair matted and stringy, rolling across the tiles.
The girls screamed in unison.
Out back, Theresa had just finished clearing thest stray zombie at the rear entrance when she heard the shrill cries. Her brow furrowed immediately.
Things had officially gone off the rails.
She had originally snuck into the old town pharmacy without using a gun, quietly taking out the undead one by one with clean de strikes. The n was to collect what she needed and leave the same way— quick, quiet, efficient. But those four piercing screams? They might as well have fired a re into the sky.
Now the zombies from both the back alley and the front street were being drawn toward the noise.
With a curse, Theresa yanked the shutter door down with a <i>bang</i>.
<i>Seriously</i>–<i>how </i><i>are </i><i>people </i><i>still </i><i>this </i><i>dumb</i><i>? </i>
No sooner had the shutter mmed shut than the metal door shuddered under the weight of several zombies throwing themselves against it.
<i>Bang</i>, <i>bang</i><i>! </i>
The heavy steel panels rattled violently.
…
<b>Chapter </b><b>208 </b><b>One </b><b>Step </b>Closer <b>to </b>Death
Theresa quickly locked the <b>ss </b>doors too, jamming them shut for extra <b>security</b><b>. </b><b>But </b>as she <b>turned </b>around, she <b>was </b>greeted by the sight of four young meh–armed with short knives <b>and </b>baseball barg standing about ten feet away<b>, </b>eyeing her warily. Behind them, on the stairs, four girls <b>gripped </b>fruit karyer equally on edge<b>. </b>
Theresa nced over the ragtag group–young, clean–faced, well–fed. Still just kids, <b>really</b>. <b>And </b><b>judging </b>by their toy–like weapons, it seemed that they thought they could intimidate her.
“Is it just you guys in here?<b>” </b>she asked, unimpressed.
“Who are you?!” Jack barked, puffing himself up in a pitiful attempt at authority. “What <b>are </b>you <b>here </b><b>for</b><b>?!</b><b>” </b>
Theresa couldn’t even be bothered to reply. She scanned the looted shelves–most supplies were <b>gone</b><b>, </b>the first floor ransacked. But the pharmacy section was still mostly untouched.
Without a word, she walked over, opened her bag, and began sweeping medicines inside, though of course, most of them were slipping into her domain.
The others watched in disbelief as she ignored thempletely, methodically looting the shelves. The boys exchanged looks, uncertain.
Then, Jack stepped forward again. “Stop! This <b>is </b><b><i>our </i></b>ce! You’re not allowed to take anything!<b>” </b>
Theresa didn’t even blink. She kept going, clearing one aisle after another.
Jack elenched his jaw and took a step forward to confront her.
<i>ng</i><i>! </i>
A katana flew through the air andnded upright, its de embedded into the floor directly in front of his foot.
“Take one more step, and you die.” Her voice was calm, almostzy. But the threat was unmistakable.
Everyone froze, especially Jack. He stared at the gently vibrating de, its steel glinting coldly in the light. The malice radiating off it was suffocating. And in that moment, he knew–if he moved, he <i>would </i>die.
She had blood on her hands. Real blood. The kind they had only seen from afar, the kind that came from actualbat. Unlike them–their survival owed more to luck than anything else.
No one dared make another sound as Theresa moved from shelf to shelf, cleaning the pharmacy out with terrifying efficiency.
When she reached the locked ss cab that held prescription meds, she didn’t even flinch–just shattered it with a punch. The ss/exploded outward.
The others involuntarily swallowed hard.
The pressureing off her was unbearable. None of them dared move as she continued pa thest of the medicine.
<b>away </b>
Finally, she looked up. “Any more medicine?”
“U–Uh… there’s still some on the second floor,” Dawn stammered, still stunned.