Fort Harris Teeter, during the Great Collapse

Night had fallen across the city, but it made no difference for the defenders of Fort Harris Teeter. For the past few weeks, they had sealed themselves away in their personal fortress, resolved to wait until the police and National Guard managed to restore order throughout the city. Internet access had become spotty, just like everywhere else, so that meant the defenders' main contact with the outside world was through the old timey radio. And the news was not good. By now the Herd had begun to rampage unchecked across the city, torching and looting neighborhoods. The roads were packed solid with cars as residents tried to flee the chaos.

But there was no safe place to go. The Herd had spread like an unsightly rash across America. The newscaster had been describing carnage on the freeway, where the Herd had setup roadblocks to stop traffic. Panicking drivers would attempt to charge through the barriers and only a few managed to make it. Most would end up being gunned down in their own cars by the Herd. But there were people who had given up and willingly surrendered themselves to the mob. The Herd would take these folks away and after that, no one knew what became of them. All in all, life in Fort Harris Teeter was rather more pleasant than the hellscape raging outside its walls. The toilets might have gotten themselves backed up and the power cut a few days ago, but these issues were minor inconveniences, all things considered.

"What day is it now, Sir?" Tobias groans to his supervisor as he listlessly plays with his ration of baked beans. The entire store had been plunged into darkness ever since the power went out. Tobias had lost track of whether this was breakfast or dinner.

"Dunno." an unhappy grumble is the only response his supervisor can muster. Time had begun to blend together for the defenders. Everyday was like the last. Eat, shit, hear the Herd wailing in the distance, then sleep. Rince and repeat.

Tobias could feel himself start to go stir crazy from the confinement. Everyone might be safe in Fort Harris Teeter, but the crushing weight of monotony was starting to take its toll. The darkness didn't help either. The defenders had torches and candles, but those were poor substitutes for real light. With a long sigh, Tobias stretches out over the ground, falling into a restless doze. There was no other way to spend the time anyway.

The first few days in the fort were terrifying. Herd were banging away at the barricade that had been setup at the entrance, and everyone needed to put their backs in holding the marauders back. The barricade shuddered from the assault but held, Tobias had done a good job building it after all. Not a single member of the Herd had managed to take a step into Fort Harris Teeter. And after a few nights spent fruitlessly beating at the walls, the Herd mercifully left. But the defenders could always hear the noise of fighting and violence in the distance. The Herd had simply decided to seek out easier prey.

"When will help be coming, Sir?" Tobias asks again, not to anyone in particular, letting his voice travel through the darkness.

"Soon." that same indifferent grumble, "It has to be soon."

Soon. That was the only answer anyone had. Help was coming soon. The military would deal with the Herd soon. Everyone would be able to go back home soon. But there was an unspoken question that weighed heavily over the everyone's mind.

What if no one was coming?

"I need a bath." Tobias finally mutters and gets back to his feet. The sweltering darkness of the fort was like sitting in a sauna, and not in a good way.

"Could you refill the buckets while you're at it?" the supervisor says, "We need to store water while the pipes are still running."

"Sure." Tobias agrees and heads to the washroom, walking past the butcher setting up a grill while his assistants bring out slabs of fresh meat from the freezer. With the power out, the perishable food was not going to last long. On the upside, it meant that rations were more varied and doled out in more generous portions. Use it or lose it had become the rule of whomever was handling the catering for the fort.

Tobias was fine with that. He was sick of eating from cans and bags of cereal anyway.

Lined up outside the washroom were several rows of large plastic buckets filled to the brim with water, prepared as a contingency measure. Inspecting each bucket, Tobias brings those that were not filled to the brim into the washroom, closing his nose to the stench of the backed up toilets.

"Should be around here somewhere." Tobias comments, his hand groping about the darkness, finally landing on a can of air freshener.

Fixing the backed up toilets was a low priority job thanks to the Herd roaming around the city. Everyone's hackles had been raised so the decision was made to concentrate on strengthening the barricades and gathering weapons. Tobias himself kept a pair of kitchen knives on him at all times, secured in makeshift wooden holsters at his hips, just in case. It was really low end ghetto, but beggars can't be choosers.

Spraying the air freshener liberally about in the washroom, Tobias strips off his sweaty clothes and starts to douse himself with water from the buckets using a ladle. How had things ever come to this? He knew that setting out by himself would be difficult, but never expected something like, well, this.

"Should have stayed in Maine." Tobias groans to himself. His father was right, Tobias should never have left town. He was no closer to making a success of himself and would actually be lucky to survive this crisis with his life.

A final splash of water on Tobias's face drives off the last of the sticky heat and he begins to dry himself off with a towel. After a bit of fumbling about in the darkness for his clothes, Tobias bends to refilling the buckets of water. The work kept his mind off other, less pleasant things. Like what the Herd was doing right now. Or the possibility that the virus had made it to his hometown. The news said that Maine was safe, but how true was that really? Would he ever be able to make it home?

Who knew.

"HELP!" a loud scream breaks the silence and Tobias rushes out of the washroom to the sight of the fort's defenders congregating at the barricade protecting the entrance. A loud, almost rhythmic banging shakes the structure while animal grunting drifts from the opposite side of the wall.

"Herd?" Tobias asks as he falls in behind his supervisor.

"Who else?" the older man nods as the banging noise intensifies, "They're back for a second round."

"We've done this before." Tobias replies as the defenders lean into the barricade, putting all their weight on it. The shock of the Herd's blows travels up his shoulder, but the barricade doesn't budge an inch. The animal grunting becomes angrier, more impatient.

"Keep at it!" the supervisor urges, sweat running down his flushed face, "They can't break through if we stay firm!"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Why aren't they trying to break through the boarded windows?" Tobias pants, "Come at us from different angles?"

"Because they're stupid?" the supervisor rolls his eyes, "I don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Just keep putting your back into it!"

And soon enough, the banging stops as the Herd drifts away once more. Blessed silence descends over the defenders and they breathe a sigh of relief.

"We did -" the supervisor cheers but is cut off by a massive impact against the barricade.

Tobias is thrown to the floor as the defenders a staggering backward, like a wave that had dashed itself against a concrete wall. There's the sound of smashing glass and the entire barricade is pushed backward, the assorted shelves and furniture comprising the structure screeching noisily across the floor. From the edge of Tobias's vision, he sees a small truck had been driven through the main entrance and managing to punch partway through the barricade. The driver snarls angrily at the defenders as he slams down the gas, causing the truck to keep pushing forward.

"On your feet!" the supervisor yells, "We need to force the Herd back!"

The defenders throw themselves at the barricade once more as the truck's tires squeal furiously. The truck's advance is inexorable as it pushes at the barricade and the defenders start to lose ground. Tobias blinks the sweat out from his eyes as he tries to dig his heels into the ground. But as more and more defenders regain their wits from the initial shock and rejoin the struggle, the truck's forward momentum slows, until both sides become deadlocked, neither able to make any headway.

"No one's getting through!" Tobias shouts as the truck's engine begins to sputter before completely giving out.

There's just a chortle in response from the driver and he pulls a cord attached to the truck's dashboard. The next thing Tobias knows, a miniature sun is tearing its way out of the truck, sending him flying backward with most of the survivors and dashing aside the barricade. An earsplitting roar tears its way through Tobias's senses as the explosion reduces the barricade into matchwood. Smoke and the warm scent of fresh blood fills the fort.

Tricked. They had been tricked by the Herd. The defenders had underestimated their enemy and were now paying the price.

As he sprawls across the ground, Tobias sees figures tear into the fort, leaping past the wreckage of the truck bomb. The Herd fall upon the shell shocked defenders, tearing them apart before they have a chance to recover. With his sense of balance shot thanks to the explosion, Tobias gets on all fours and crawls away as quickly as he can, heading toward the rear of the store.

"Please don't spot me." Tobias begs incoherently, panic threatening to overwhelm him.

The young man ducks around the deli counter, as the sounds of death spread through the fort. But a strong hand clamps around one of Tobias's legs, dragging out of his hiding place. A leering Infected towers over Tobias, dressed in a hoodie with a baseball bat casually leaning on its shoulder.

And without hesitation, the bat is slammed into the young man's back, eliciting a shriek of pain. Tobias rolls over just in time for the bat to smack into his torso, driving the wind out of his lungs. The Infected lets out a cackle, clearly enjoying the sport.

"I don't want to die ..." Tobias moans as the Infected winds up again for another swing. His legs instinctively kick at the shin of the Infected, causing his opponent to hiss in pain and stumble, aborting the attack.

Giving Tobias the opening to reach for his knives.

The young man's body lunges forward as the Infected bears down with the bat held over its head in a doublehanded grip. There's a soft, wet impact as the kitchen knife pierces the Infected unprotected torso and Tobias twists the handle, screaming in a mixture of fear and rage. The youth's senses had narrowed to this single moment, for all he knew, the only two people in the world were him and this Infected. Tobias barely notices the bat clattering to the floor as it falls from his enemy's hands.

A flash of hot pain spreads over Tobias's wrist as the Infected grabs at it, struggling with him over the knife. Without hesitation, Tobias sends the second knife straight into the Infected's side and the creature howls in pain, thrashing about as its body gives up.

And just like that, the Infected falls to the ground, dead.

But it did not matter. The day was already lost.

The Herd stride over the battlefield victorious, finishing off the last pockets of resistance among the defenders. Already some members of the Herd had begun to loot the fort of anything they could take away with them. It was only a matter of time before the Herd caught up with Tobias and ended him as well. The young man sinks to his knees in despair, the finality of his fate too much to bear. And as the Herd begin to hoot in triumph, Tobias cries silent tears.

It was never meant to end like this.

The sound of the hooting draws closer. Tobias's death approaches. His friends and colleagues were all dead. No one was coming to save him.

Evil had triumphed.

And in a flash, Tobias recalls the lessons taught by his father. You could not overcome Evil, only live with it.

Swallowing hard, Tobias reaches for one of his knives, and cuts out a lump of flesh from the deceased Infected. There were no reasons for the things that happened in this world. You just had to make the best of things, come what may.

Shutting his eyes, Tobias slips the piece of corrupted flesh into his mouth and swallows. The slick piece of meat oozes down his gullet and the moment it hits his gut, there's an explosion of pain that wracks Tobias's entire body. Fire flows into his lungs as the virus begins its work. Tobias curls into a fetal position as his chest seizes up, causing him to coof. His mind becomes muddy, like there are multiple different people shouting all around him.

" - that's the last place in this dump. Pack everything up as quickly as you can."

Tobias opens his eyes and sees a white man in a soiled business suit walking leisurely toward his location, scanning the fort. Infected follow obsequiously behind the man, serving as an ad hoc bodyguard.

Pack Leader.

Yes. That's what the man was. Tobias just instinctively knew it as he struggled back to his feet. The Pack Leader finally takes notice of him and stares silently at the youth. Fear grips Tobias's heart as he waits for the ax to fall.

"Get to work. We're leaving this city." the pack leader's voice echoes in Tobias's mind and the entourage departs without another word.

Tobias makes a stupid grunt in reply, his head lowered in deference. He then without hesitation joins the Herd in looting the store that he once worked so hard to protect. Tobias is a good worker with a good attitude.

Some things never change.