We ate the remainder of our food reserves today, which is probably not as dire as it sounds. So we decided to head down to the supermarket. It’s within walking distance, if we were to walk anywhere any more. We drove. And we pulled up in front, avoiding many of the infected out in front of the building. Keeping up with a super market is a chore. For whatever reason, even if there aren’t any more people inside, there are always more of them there. They eat some of the food inside, which is all rotten by now, but I guess it sustains them. There haven’t been many since the first time we cleared it out, which was a desperate move. At that time, the fast ones were still around, and we needed the food. Zoic and I had barely met up and we were running out of food in the houses nearby. Rather than find more houses, we, foolishly, decided it would be better to hit the store. It was packed. It’s difficult for me to remember what happened exactly because of the fluidity of the moment. We did what was necessary for what felt like five minutes. By the end of it, we’d racked up two thirds of the kills we had, and we weren’t going easy on them before. That was the biggest bonfire ever. I don’t think my body can even produce that much adrenaline now.

Today was not so difficult. They were there, as they usually are, and always surprised to see us. I know they’re not intelligent enough for coherent thought, but I feel like that look always says “Holy shit. You’re still here? I thought we ran out of you months ago!” The surprise doesn’t usually last long.

We took everything off the shelves that we wanted for the next month. We’ve nearly cleaned out their cereal supply, even though there’s no milk. Frozen foods are priority one, as the canned foods will last longer. Zoic brought her cart to my aisle. She had an assortment of things from throughout the store. Some very old beer, frozen vegetables, and some spices. She also had several cans of dog food.

“For Mabel?” I asked. She nodded. “Lead the way.”

I followed Zoic to the deli section of the store. The smell in that area is… difficult to describe. She opened the cans of dog food and placed them in a large bowl. She took a deep breath and looked at me.
“I’ve got your back.” She nodded again and opened the door quickly. She slid the bowl inside, as Mabel, the decomposing corpse of the sweet deli lady, charged her. She stepped in the bowl and fell, and Zoic closed the door.

After the fight that took out the entire population of the store the first time, Zoic and I found Mabel standing behind the deli counter, as if nothing had changed. She was infected, and not moving, but she wasn’t posing a threat. Zoic had a vague memory of visiting the store when Mabel was a human, and didn’t want to kill her. I wouldn’t say she’s a pet, but the symptoms are there.

Having done our duty for the month, we finished loading up our carts with as much as we could safely store at home. When we came out, they thought they were going to mob us, but they’ve grown soft. And we were expecting them. There weren’t many. Just a few. And then there were none. We loaded the car and drove home.