The dust rolled in like a fog bank, enveloping everything and everyone within the stairwell as it surged in and up. I get my shirt up just in time to save myself from a mouthful, but that isn't enough to completely stop the grit from finding its way into my mouth on the first inhale. Several people behind me cough, making it clear that most of us are not well enough equipped for this level of air pollution.

“What ‘Cough' ‘cough’ the hell?” Toby asks.

“Dust from the fallen buildings. Way thicker than it looked from up there. Can we even get through this?” Greg asks.

“We’re going to have to, the building is slowly coming apart.” Robert replies, before stepping into the dust bank.

The rest of us follow, several coughing fits ensue. One of them was mine. The dust is so bad I can't see more than ten feet in front of me, and that’s with Robert’s flashlight illuminating the area in front of us. Thankfully Robert seems to have this place memoried, as we weave through a couple of hallways no problem before getting to a large open room we cant see the other side of due to the dust. We follow along the wall of that room until we hit a desk, which we go around then continue on our path. Eventually we reach the doors of the building, or what left of them anyways. It was clearly one of those fancy mostly glass fronts at one point, but now most of the panels have been reduced to chunks on the floor, save for one left standing with more cracks in it than intact glass.

With the crunch of the glass shards underfoot the only sound disturbing the eerie silence of the city, we make our way out of the building. The street isn't any better, everything outside of ten feet obscured by the choking dust, with only the faintest bit of illumination from the three pillars seeping through. Not enough to see by, just enough to increase the ambient light level by a noticeable amount.

We make a right as we exit the building, following the street in silence aside from the occasional coughing fit or crunch of trash under foot. We only stop once we reach the intersection, the street signs on the stop light pole just barely readable when we shine a flashlight on them.

“So, has anyone thought of anywhere we could go?” Robert asks as we stop at the intersection for a quick rest.

Seymore leans against a gray four door sedan that's partially up on the sidewalk, while Karen checks on his condition. He seems to be moving better, but I get the feeling the old dude will act tough until his knees literally stop working if we're not careful watching him.

“Anything, a nearby store, an apartment?”

“Why don't we just pick a place and break in, I don't think anyone will give a shit at this point.” I reply.

“Somewhere familiar would be preferable. And if we break into a place we might not be able to properly resecure it.” Robert replies.

It's quite for a moment as everyone seems to think it over. Finally George speaks up, finally contributing something positive to the groups efforts.

“There used to be an old mom and pop shop a little north north of here. If it's still there I might know how to get in.”

“Might?” Toby replies.

“I haven't visited in a few years. But I used to work summers there during high school. Old folks that ran it never moved where they hid the spare key.”

“Anyone else have any better ideas?” Robert asks. Only to be met with silence from the group.

“Isn't there the old Walmart on Berkley? Bit run down but was still open last I checked. It should have plenty of supplies there.” Sara responds.

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That's actually a good idea, I didn't even know there was a Wal-Mart around here. And apparently I'm not the only one.

“Wait, there's a Walmart on Berkley Street? I've been going across town to the Food Mart the whole time I've been living here!” Toby replies.

“How do you miss a whole ass building?” I ask him? I've never been in a Walmart, my mom always dragged us to the Food Mart near our house. I wonder if it's the same one Toby goes to, probably.

“To be fair it's tucked away in the corner at the dead end of the street. They don't exactly advertise like they used to.” Karen replies.

“I remember when we had three Walmarts in town. Those were three days.” Seymore says from the side in a reminiscent tone. Please tell me he isn't going full crazy old man on us, that's the last thing we need right now.

“So, is everyone in agreement for the Walmart then?” Robert asks, getting a chorus of affirmatives in response.

While everyone starts arguing about the fastest way to the Walmart from here, I turn keep my eye on Seymore and Karen. And thank god I am, because right as I look back I see something scuttle under the other side of the sedan. Oh…. Hell…. No! I take off, trying to rush the five feet in between us before it's too late.

“Get away from the car!” I scream while bolting towards them.

Karen just snaps her head up in a confused daze but thankfully Seymore is on the ball. He grabs Karen and tackles her away from the car, sending both of them tumbling to the ground just as the head fucking little shit pops out from underneath. Normally being on the ground against these shits would be a bad idea, but it works in their favor as the jellyfish launches off the ground and subsequently misses because they were falling. Well, almost misses. It manages to hook a tentacle into the screaming Karen’s hair, flailing wildly through the air as she and Seymore hit the ground. It slams to the ground between me and them a moment later. It tries to extend another tentacle towards Karen, but it's already too late for it. I finish closing the distance, and promptly introduce the brain fucking little parasite to the front end of my shoe.

My poor right shoe finally gives out and practically desintigrates as the jellyfish gets turned into a splatter of blue blood being launched across Seymore, Karen, and the sidewalk. Karen of course continues screaming, not that I can blame her with all the guts now covering her. Seymore, in a surprising show of agility for an old man, throws Karen off him and springs back up, ready for a fight.

"Jesus fuck!?” Toby yells.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! It's in my hair! Get it out, get it out! ” Karen screams while trying to bat the remainder of the tentacle out of her hair.

“Karen, stop screaming, it's dead. Lucy, what the hell was that thing?” Robert asks over the crazed screaming of Karen.

“That was one of those stupid jellyfish that turns you into a zombie.” I reply.

“Crap, OK. We’re taking Sara’s route to Walmart since it's more open. Toby, George, Greg, help me keep a lookout. Lucy, Sara, check them and get everyone up and moving again, as much as I want to give them a moment I’m afraid we don't have the time.

And he was right about that last point, because the moment he finished his sentence a loud screech shattered the relative calm around us. The sound echoed from up the street, causing all of us to turn our attention that way just in time to see four figures come lumbering out of the dust. After over a day infected, the zombies clearly weren’t doing as well. They all had visibly gaunt figures, and each step was seemingly forced as the bodies twitched and jerked with every motion. The jellyfish on the backs of their heads meanwhile, have swelled up to double in size, becoming as large as the victims heads and seemingly melted into the skin. This seems to have freed up the tentles, which are now moving freely through the air around their victim.

“Oh fuck those are even uglier up close!” George says. Greg just responds by gagging, trying not to lose his dinner while Toby just stares on in horror.

“Don’t just stand there, shoot them!” Robert says, leveling his shotgun at the closest zombie.

It lurches forward with another scream, but unlike at the beginning of this mess it seems out of energy. Its lurch turns into a sad stumble as it flails its way towards us, desperately trying to keep its balance every step as the host body clearly can't keep up with whatever demands the jelly is placing on it. A loud bang deafens me for a second as Robert fires his shotgun. The zombie never stood a chance, instantly being turned into a mix of red mist and tenderized torso as its front explodes from the hail of buckshot slamming into it. It its knocked backwards by the force of the hit despite originally going forwards, slapping into the ground with a wet thud as the whole thing, jelly included, twitches for a second more then stops altogether.

A second bang, quickly followed by a third rings out from George as he shoots another one of the shambling puppets. His first shot misses but his second nails it in its right side, causing it to flinch and stagger, but still continue to stumble forward at a moderate pace. I turn and leave Karen and Seymore to Sara as she comes running over to help them. Robert shifts his aim and turns another one of the zombies half into paste while George shoots again and misses. At the same time Toby finally snapped out of his stupor, raising his gun and letting off a shot at the same target as George. His shot actually hit something important, as the zombie staggered one more step then crumpled to the ground.

The last one was almost to Robert, who had moved the farthest forward, when he shifted the shotgun to its head and pulled the trigger. The now headless corpse hit the ground, and silence fell over the street once again….. for all of three seconds until even more fucking screeching came from up the street.

“Oh for fucks sake!” I scream aloud.

“That’s not good.” Toby says.

“Could this get any worse?” Greg asks, sarcastically.

Well apparently he pissed off the universe with that question, because moments later we hear the distinct sound of glass shattering, followed by a weird popping, and what sound like mini explosions coming from the direction of the skyscraper we just evacuated. The sound rapidly intensifies as the ground starts to shake, getting worse and worse until I can't stand anymore and end up on my ass. Moments later a new wave of dust washes over us.