The morning had slipped into a pleasant sunny afternoon as Jace drove the sedan down a tree lined road. He had the windows down and the stale, garage car smell had all but dissipated. The boot was full of canned food from the farmhouse pantry, but he was happy not to think about it, or the new set of tools he had pilfered. Instead Jace was happy driving along enjoying the moment and pretending like the world was okay again. Something had left him as he killed the fat woman and it felt good, so he was going to enjoy this alone time, especially as there didn't seem to be any dead around to spoil it.

It was another twenty minutes until he saw his first zombie and from then on he kept seeing more. One at a time at first and then two, until he was passing by buildings on the roadside and he had to pull over to wind the windows up. The town was rather small however, so small that he hadn't even caught the name of it before he was crossing a train line and driving away from it. As the roads quickly became tree lined again, Jace wondered if he should just keep going and find somewhere else. But he still needed to get clothes and various hardware if he intended to go back to the others. Every step of the way he had considered leaving them, taking the food and driving to the coast maybe. His hand throbbed reminding him that, had the others not been there for him, he would have been in some serious trouble. Carl saved him majorly, had even snapped him out of hysteria and patched him up with steri strips. It was a nice pipe dream to think of running away to the beach, but that was all it was, and on that thought he pulled a U-turn.

The town was Brockenhurst and was a lot harder to drive past from the other direction. A large white pub stood on the curve, where it had been camouflaged coming from the other direction, and it stood as a beacon, lighting up a fork in the road. Jace slowed down to take the turn keeping his eyes peeled for anything unusual. So far the town had been as deserted as a Sunday morning, but then looks were always deceiving. He hadn't gone more than a hundred meters down the street when a hardware store jumped out at him. It had a small frontage but the name 'Street Ironmonger' and the stuff hanging in the window gave it away.

After a brief internal discussion, Jace drove up to the entrance for a closer look. The street didn't seem that populated, but further along he could see former people wandering. The entrance was recessed and a good place to park the car, it allowed for the door to be opened and even some room to move while blocking the shop from the street. The place looked deserted, as were most places of work, employees pulling sick days as they came over ill as the world slowly turned into a walking plague. Inside, he could make out the ladders and wheelbarrows, normally they would be out the front, instead they had been pulled inside at night away from potential thieves.

The old style wooden frame door was locked but the design was no match for a jimmy bar and  Jace popped it open with surprising ease. Inside he could make out the rows of hardware and the checkout, while outside the car had drawn some attention as the dead slowly made their way over. They weren't much of a threat by themselves, but in a group they could be devastating, the less he tempted them the better, and with one last look around he slipped inside letting the door swing shut behind him.

The inside was dark and quiet, the abcence of ominous smells that signaled walking corpses  made Jace breath a little easier. After a minute of letting his eyes adjust, he moved the barrows enough to give him access down an isle, and after a quick look at the back section of the shop he began grabbing stuff and stuffing it into a basket. Shopping was so much easier when you don't have to worry about prices and he filled the basket quickly with whatever took his fancy. Like a child in a sweet shop he grabbed a basket full of every kind of battery, cleaning out the stores stock in one go. Like many modern hardware shops, there was a range of camping gear which he pillaged mercilessly until something caught his eye as he was making his way to the fitting and he did a double take. It was kind of stupid at the same time as being awesome and probably just as dangerous for the user as for the victim, still he couldn't go past it without at least a look.

The chainsaws were new with bold lettering down the bars, the bright colors giving them an almost playful look and it matched Jace's mood. Feeling the weight of one, he imagined cutting through the flesh of dead people and how he wished he'd had this at the farm. The dead were as brutal as they were unforgiving, able to function without a limb and keep moving where a human would long have passed out from pain. Jace didn't think that using a chainsaw on something that could possibly turn the tables on you, was a good idea, but he put it on the counter with the rest of the stuff to go in the car, regardless.

He was half way back to the fittings when a tall, dark figure appeared at the end of the aisle, making him freeze. The initial shock slowly faded only to be replaced by a violent, sickening fear that made Jace shake involuntarily. He found it hard to breath, as if the dark figure had sucked all the air from the room and he had to heave extra hard just to get some. His hands fumbled at his belt for the hammer and he pulled it free not feeling any better for having done so. He wished that the chainsaw wasnt so far away all of a sudden, it sat at the front of the shop, petrol-less. Anything would have been better than a claw hammer but all around him were only boxes of screws and nails.

The creature stood silently, not moving, it's bright blue eyes piercing his own and after a minute Jace could stand it no longer. Slowly he backed away down the isle, trying to remember what he had passed on the way up and if any of it would make a better weapon than the hammer. He had only gone a couple of meters when the humanoid monster started to walk towards him, slowly, only just keeping pace. The effect was instantaneous, Jace stopped looking for a weapon and focused on the approaching enemy. As he stopped retreating the creature stopped too, its blue eyes unwavering in their stare, making Jace want to turn and run, but he knew to do so would be fatal. His brain told him to move forward, to stand his ground fearless and rise to the challenge, but his heart was weak and his legs wouldn't move.

Before he could do either the creature started forward again, first a small step followed by a larger one. Jace matched each step with a back step of his own, the situation fast getting out of control. With each step it advanced, the creature's confidence grew, and Jace found his own diminishing. His only chance was to back away until the end of the isle and make a run for it up the next isle. His heart beat deafened his thoughts, as a sharp chest pain stabbed at his ribs and he covered the last couple of meters, turning to run, only to be blocked by a second creature.

The creature lunged forward, catching him from the side and he had just enough time to realize the setup he had fallen for, when he came crashing down. Strong hands ripped at his clothes as he flailed, trying to get his arms free enough to defend, his hammer having been knocked clear from his grip in the attack. With one arm he held the creature back, letting his elbow dig into its chest as it forced itself down and the other he scanned for the weapon, his eyes desperately searching tor the feet of his other attacker.

He knew he was fucked, that didn't mean he was giving in lightly, as he struggled against the dead weight atop of him. wherever his hammer had gone, it was out of reach and may as well have been off the edge of the world. In desperation, he hit at the creature as it drooled a black bile on his face, opening and shutting its mouth slowly as if its brain was a separate entity from its mouth, which ran on autopilot, gnashing until it was full. Just when Jace was thinking he couldn't hold out any longer, a loud gunshot rocked the shop and he was hit with a spray of dark blood.

The weight atop him went limp and a pain shot up Jace's arm as he struggled to wipe the mess from his vision and attempted to free himself from under the truly dead flesh. A hand found his own as a man's voice spoke, but Jace's ears still rang from the shot and he missed what the guy was saying. The pain on his arm killed and it didn't help that the guy was dragging him from under the body, whose head was now covering his own face.

"I think you shot me." Jace managed as he clambered to his feet.

"Sorry about that." The guy spoke, his eyes were glaring down the aisle. "I used buckshot, you probably caught a pellet."

"Thanks anyway, at least I'm alive." Jace joined the mans gaze watching as the other dark figure backed away and disappeared out the back of the store. "What the fuck are they?"

"That was the breeding partner of this one here." He kicked at the partially headless corpse while it leaked black viscose fluid onto the floor. "I'm Danny."

"John-Jules!" Jace took his outstretched hand shaking it in shock. "I just realized who you are."

"I'm not much of anything anymore, and I hate to be rude, but you have to go."

"Why?" Jace asked, concerned with the serious look Danny had.

"You are attracting the dead and that creature will be back for us, they can take things kind of personal." If Danny was acting, then it was better than good. "Grab what you need, I will cover you."

"Are you coming?" Jace asked hopefully, as he began grabbing at the stuff piled on the counter.

"I have people here I'm looking after, it's why I don't want the dead about."

"People?" Jace wished he had more time.

"Yeah, a couple of twins, they need me."

"We are at a hotel..." Jace started but John-Jules cut him short.

"Thanks but we are good here. Have you got what you need?"

"I need clothes, but there are none here." Jace called out as he tossed random stuff on the back seat.

"I have a place." Danny's rugged face softened slightly, somehow he still looked strained. "Head south and take the second turn on the right after you make the main road. A bit further along you will see a big house, that's my place. You will find clothes there, lots of them."

"And you?"

"I wont be needing them, help yourself."

"Thanks." Jace was in awe and shock and still bleeding from the buckshot in his arm.

"Don't mention it, I saw them go in after you and I couldn't not help. Are you ready?"

Jace gave him a nod climbing back across the seat and behind the wheel. The car thudded lightly as Danny vaulted over the boot and ran across the road disappearing over the fence. Several zombies turned to give chase, but he was already gone and Jace silently hoped he was alright. Looking up at the house where the star had vanished, Jace spied two faces in an upstairs window. Two young girls, both blond and identical stared down at him. Without any regrets Jace started the engine, it was getting late and he still had to pick up the clothes. Gently he drove forwards knocking a thin lady over, not wanting to damage the radiator, he rolled slowly over her body, the car lifting as her bulk went under the tire.