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sure what we
were walking in to.
    “Okay, here’s the
plan, guys. Cowboy, open the back of the jeep and head right for the
gun counter. Ammo first. .40 cal, 9mm, 5.56, 2.23, and some slugs for
the shotguns.”
    “What about my gun?”
Luther interrupted. “I’m gonna need ammo too.”
    I looked down at
Luther’s rifle, “That’s right, I forgot. You’ve got that
Russian piece of shit. Cowboy, you better grab some 7.62 for Luther
too. Cowboy let me make myself clear. You need to get everything
they’ve got. I don’t know when we’ll have an opportunity like
this again.”
    “You got it, hoss,”
he agreed.
    “Luther, you and I
are headed to Target. Our mission is food, anything that doesn’t go
bad. We need boxed and canned goods. Oh, water too, as much as we can
carry. We have to assume everything not in a bottle is contaminated.
Cowboy, you’ve got fifteen minutes to load up. Then bring the jeep
around to the other side of the mall. We’ll be waiting at the
Target entrance with shopping carts full of food, so don’t be
late.”
    After throwing out
orders like a Civil War General in the middle of a battle, I spun
around and charged forward smacking my face against the sliding glass
doors. I had expected them to slide open, but they were locked.
    “I think they’re
closed.” Luther chuckled.
    My first thought was to
shoot Luther right in his foot for laughing at me, but a moment later
when the anger passed, I had to laugh too.
    If the power were out
here, the doors wouldn’t slide automatically. I thought I might be
able to use the barrel of my M4 to pry them open. That didn’t work…
they must be locked. I considered pulling my Glock out and shooting a
round through the glass, but that would alert any zombies in the area
to our location. I wanted to get in and out of this place without it
turning into an epic gun battle.
    “Here, try this,
Two-gun,” Cowboy said.
    He was holding out
Chevy’s SOG Tomahawk.
    “Where the hell did
you find that?” I asked.
    “I left it under the
seat of the Humvee.”
    “The wrecked Humvee?”
I asked confused.
    Cowboy was at a loss
for words, “Ah…yesterday…when I took it off Chevy. You know, in
the car dealership.”
    I felt the blood
rushing to my face. Cowboy put up both palms and stepped back, “Whoa,
whoa, Ty. Don’t get upset. It was back when I was with Kane. We had
orders to kill you, but I couldn’t do that. We just hit you with
the tranquilizer darts remember? I’m sorry, brother. That was when
I didn’t know you. Now we’re all friends and on the same side.
Besides, if you’re going to get mad at anyone, get mad at Luther he
wanted to kill you inside of the dealership.”
    “What! No, I didn’t.
What are you talking about?” Luther shrieked.
    “Ha, ha, ha.”
Cowboy chuckled, “I’m just fuckin’ with you Luther-man.”
    I snatched the tomahawk
from Cowboy’s hand. “We’ll talk about this later, Cowboy.”
    I brought back my arm
prepared to smash the glass with the awe side of the tomahawk. I
paused for a moment and thought. Smashing the glass on this door
would be almost as loud as shooting it with my Glock. I thought for a
second and opted to make a second attempt at prying the doors open.
To my surprise, they popped right open. The blade fit right in
between the doors giving me better leverage than the M4.
    “Well done,” Luther
said.
    Cowboy cut him down
without hesitation, “Ass kisser.”
    I slid the doors apart,
and stale air slapped me in the face.
    “There was something
rotten in Demark.”
    “What?” Cowboy
asked.
    “Nothing. I was just
thinking back to an English Lit class I flunked out of. I think we
may not be the only ones at the mall today.”
    Luther stepped forward
and got a whiff of the foul air, “I think you’re right. I smell
zombies.”
    Cowboy racked his M4
behind me as I stepped inside. Not seeing any danger, I glanced back
at him, “Fifteen minutes, and don’t be late.”

Chapter 8
    Corporal