Maybe that was why help hadn't shown up yet. Or maybe the Army was tied up in a war against whatever country the virus had come from.
That was what had happened, he was sure of it.
Danny got lost in his thoughts for hours. He hardly spoke to anyone. He just felt like there was no need to speak.
Everyone must have felt the same.
Then he fell asleep on the sofa.
Finally it was time for the volunteers to start another dinner to feed the survivors. Mark called into the hidden room that dinner was ready.
Danny woke up with a startled expression on his face. Samantha, Mark, Danny and William all headed to the break room together.
Without realizing it Danny had left his crutches behind and was putting full weight on his injured ankle.
He found that he was running low on smokes, so he walked to the front of the store, got behind register sixteen, and grabbed the most expensive brand he could find.
If you were going to smoke for free, you might as well make it an exotic blend.
Danny made his way back to the break room and sat down in the smoking section. He shared his new cigarettes among his friends.
He couldn't believe that out of all the survivors only three of them actually smoked. He didn't mind. He actually liked just having the smoking section to himself to share with his friends.
It seemed that this has been the longest day of Danny's entire life. He went to the hidden room and fell asleep on the sofa.
He dreamed of the zombies and he got no rest. He tossed and turned and awoke several times in the night.
The clock crept on to 12.00AM.
Day 8
Danny awoke at 6:30AM with thoughts of his wife flooding his head.
He tried to remember the last things he said to her that day. All he could hope was that he had told her how much he loved her and how much she meant to him.
He decided that he should go shopping in order to take his mind off of the pain and loneliness that he felt in his heart.
He limped to the front of the store with his ankle brace wrapped around his ankle. He grabbed a buggy and began to push it down the personal hygiene aisle.
He grabbed some new shampoo, body wash, a scrubby, and a tooth brush, some mint tasting tooth paste, some deodorant, razors, aftershave, and a few more odds and ends.
He walked around for hours, just taking his time, looking at shelf after shelf.
He went back to the men's section and picked out some shirts, some more pants, socks, and a couple of pairs of shoes.
He had no need for the things he placed in the buggy. He just wanted to feel like there was something normal about this new life, so he shopped just like he had in the days before the dead started to walk the earth.
He had always used to hate going shopping, but now it makes him feel like there is nothing wrong in this world. Zombies were only fictional creatures. His wife hadn't turned into a monster, she just died.
He lied to himself a lot these days.
After his shopping spree he went for a nice shower.
He put his new clothes on the counter next to the sinks. He put his towel on the sink as well. He stripped down and sprayed himself with the hose.
He was feeling refreshed after his shower, nice and clean. He put on his new Mortal Kombat shirt and his new cargo pants. He also put on fresh clean socks and he slipped on his high dollar Nike shoes.
All and all he was a fairly happy person. He still had his three new best friends.
He went to the smoker's section of the break room, pulled out the box of exotic blend smokes, and lit one up.
He enjoyed the mellow flavor. He enjoyed the head rush too. He hated to admit it but he was addicted. No force on earth, heaven or hell, could make him give up his smokes. He knew the health risks involved.
Danny had only started smoking after he lost his wife and his good friend Tom. Now he'd made it a daily habit.
Samantha and Mark had started smoking at about the same time. The only one of the four with enough brains to turn the smokes down was William, who got enough second hand smoke to kill an elephant.
After Danny's smoke break he went on yet another shopping spree.
He put things in the buggy just because of the high prices. He was not pretending to be rich, he just wanted to know what it felt like to put items in the buggy that he could not afford.
He was starting to get hungry, so he made his way to the grocery isles.
He picked up a two liter bottle of cherry cola, unscrewed the cap and put the open bottle in his mouth, and chugged himself a good liter of cherry cola,.
He put the bottle in the front seat of the cart and made his way to the electronics department. He searched through all the latest and greatest electronic gear.
He found an e book reader that took a small memory stick and he opened it up and charged it.
He then opened a laptop computer and set it up for the internet. He was shocked when he found the internet was still on.
He pulled out his credit card and searched online for some books that to fill his newfound toy with.
He was able to find a lot of e books for anywhere around 2.99 to 5.99. He searched for his favorite authors and, sure enough, he found many of them for a good low price.
Once the others heard that the internet was up they started pulling lap tops off the shelves and opening them.
They saw the internet as a way of getting to know how bad the country's losses really were. They also used them to read about whatever chemical warfare was being used.
The only information that they got from the internet was that there was an accident in a lab in America, where the chemical was being tested.
So all the information they had heard on the news was a lie. It was an accident in a lab in the USA that had caused such madness.
They started searching for the Army's rescue operation, and they couldn't find anything about that either. They also discovered that really big bombs were going to be used on the “hopeless” areas of the map.
Danny couldn't believe what he was reading. The news was very hard to swallow. Just a couple of days ago they'd seen a news broadcast that said the US Army was going to aid the survivors.
He couldn't understand why the government would lie about something so huge and try to blame it on someone else. He also wondered how big the bombs were going to be and just where the hopeless areas on the map would be.
They didn't give times or dates as to when they would drop these bombs. He started to fear the worst. What if they were trying to clear out the American population altogether? What if the bombs turned out to be Nuclear bombs? Danny felt sick to his stomach.
He could sure use a smoke right about now. So he made his way to the break room and paged Samantha, Mark and William. He told them about what they'd found out on the internet.
Danny had downloaded more than a couple of books to keep him busy for a while. He just plopped on the sofa, and he read for hours. He only stopped reading when it was time for dinner and when the battery needed to be recharged at 11:00PM.
A new day was fast approaching.
Day 9
He read until 11:30AM. He finally got off of the sofa and picked out some clean clothes and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower under the water hose. He didn't stay in the shower as long as he usually did. He stayed in long enough to get clean and that was it.
He got dressed in a hurry. His ankle was feeling so good that he didn't even put the brace back on.
Danny thought it would be fun to hang out with the kids today. He made his way to the youth's hang out spot at the front of the store and challenged anyone who would take him on to a game of air hockey.
He had challenges left and right. He spent most of the day playing against all of the kids at whatever game they wanted to play.
He found out he was a terrible shot at basketball. He got on the phone and pressed intercom and paged Mark to the front of the store. When Mar
k arrived he asked if he would shoot some hoops with the kids for a while and Mark said he would love to shoot some hoops.
Next Samantha was paged to the front of the store and he asked her if she would like to play with the kids and she said that would be great. He gave her the choice between air hockey and Foosball. She thought it would be great to play air hockey.
Danny paged William to the front of the store. When William showed up he saw the other two playing the games with the kids so he automatically walked to the pool table and set up.
This is great, Danny thought, just a day with the kids.
Samantha, Mark, William and Danny switched games so it didn't get too redundant. The kids were having a great time playing against the “Old People”.
Other adults thought it was a wonderful idea to play with the kids today as well, so new faces and challenges arose as the day went on. Everyone was having a good day. The young youth pastor brought board games for the kids and adults that were waiting for their time on the big games.
Danny thought it was good to see everybody getting along in such a way. He went to the party supplies and started filling up helium balloons. He tied strings to them and he made enough for all the kids to enjoy. He then took the balloons to the front of the store and tied them to a rail next to the game area.
When the kids saw the balloons their smiles brightened. The teens that hung out in electronics made their way to the front of the store and got into the gaming as well. It was just a day filled with friendly competition.
The way all things must come to an end, so did the wonderful game day. Eventually they were all in the break room, eating dinner. Everyone was still