“In one sense we are immortal, in reality we can still be killed.” # Chapter 11 Arden and Corinne sat inside the truck dealership off of Atlanta highway. *Why does one city need so many?* Corinne had pointed it out before, the pair passed 3 and stopped in the fourth, but saw signs for at least 4 more. They were waiting on Scrap to finish his breakfast, before they headed across the street to clear out some warehouses. “He’s a good old man.” Arden said aloud, Corinne sat on the floor, legs crossed, petting Scrap’s dark brown hair. She’d dyed it again the night before, a weird mix of red, purple, and orange. When he’d finished, he followed them quietly out the front door. The street was oddly clear, a contrast to the last couple days. Arden looked around to find some Slackjaws a hundred yards or so away, milling about. They were raiding different places along Atlanta highway, trying to find signs of survivors. *This place survived a civil war.* The girls hadn't yet come across any survivors. *They can't all have left for Atlanta*. The place they went to first was a furniture warehouse across the street from the dealership. The back doors were left open, allowing easy entry. Much in contrast to other places they had been, this place was spotless. No clutter on the floor, no trash, bodies, half eaten food, nothing. “*Why is it so clean?*” Arden signed. “*Someone was here before us, and nobody has been here since then.*” Corinne returned. The signs of survivors were few, aside from a guess, there were several mattresses missing, all the drawers and cabinets In the displays were open, and the furniture seemed moved to make larger rooms. There were 5 distinct ones, 2 large bedrooms, a main room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, Arden spotted light gleaming off of some shiny coated paper. It lay under a side table next to a dining room set. Corinne signed something Arden didn't catch, and Arden pointed at the paper. She squatted down, Corinne following suit. It was a pamphlet, maybe 30 pages thick, the front cover read “Intro to Ironsoul.” Arden opened it, flicking through the pages. “*Seems like some mythology club.*” Corinne signed. Arden looked inside the front cover, and was pleased to notice the address, formerly near Attica, now read “Publix 129 North” with a backwards N. “We need to go there at some point.” Corinne's fingers moved excitedly, “This is our first actual lead.” Arden smiled and nodded in reply. Corinne patted Arden’s knee, then helped her up. After thoroughly raiding what little was in the furniture store, they left out the back doors, and walked a hundred yards or so, to the front doors of the Orkin office building. In all this, Scrap just patiently followed, not barking or making any sort of noise, at least per Corinne. The front door was locked, but mostly made of glass, so Corinne had an easy time breaking it open. *Warehouses, dealerships, a shopping mall. Gods.* Arden could guess why the Union bombed Athens. Had to have been a large center of commerce. The first room was on their right, through the Lobby, and was a small office. Arden kicked the door in, revealing a tidy little office. Keys hung on the wall, as did a cat themed wall calendar. The pair trod over the welcome mat, shaped like a sun flower, and left out the side door. There was a rather large office space inside, desks and chairs lined the walls. An old TV sat in the back corner, nearest the little offices behind the girls. Several ceiling tiles were damaged, broken and lying on the floor. Past that was a large door, presumably to the warehouse. Corinne opened it, Arden heading in first. There were several roll up doors in the warehouse, the first was shut, but the other 2 were open. As Corinne and Arden went around the dividing wall, Arden immediately knew where all the undead had gone. Corinne stood staring at the horrible sight, Arden grabbed her hand and brought her to the chemical storage room just nearby. Corinne collapsed onto the floor once the door was shut, covering her ears. Arden left the room again to see in more detail. A deer, young by the looks of it, was stuck in a broken part of a wire fence, it looked like it had tried to jump it, but was now stuck. Its legs on either side were being pulled on by a hundred rotting hands, and it was moving violently trying to escape. The dead surrounded it in a circle 12 deep, maybe 30 or 40 yards from the back door. When Arden returned to the Chem room, Corinne had a flashlight, and was rummaging through boxes of pesticides. “Contrac?” Arden asked aloud. “*Or something similar*” Corinne signed in reply. After a second more searching, she pulled a notebook from her back pocket, and wrote. She handed the notebook to Arden. It read “Bromadiolone, 0.005%” Arden smiled. *Crazy girl.* Bromadiolone was the active ingredient in rat bait. It was an anticoagulant, which stops rodents from repairing their own bodies. A lethal dose causes small hemorrhages inside the creature, such that even normal wear and tear would kill it within days. Concentrated, however, even a very small amount of 5 percent would be lethal. Arden surveyed the other containers, most flammable items, but then she saw the fumigation shelf. “Aluminum Phosphine” she read. *Good stuff, that.* Enough of it was also lethal, a Phosphine gas bomb would be very dangerous. The deer was still struggling out back, so Corinne had decided to pull the truck over from the dealership. The women loaded the truck and safely secured the pesticides. Arden managed to find 50:1 fuel and several respirators in the Service Manager’s office. “I have an idea.” Arden stated. Corinne turned to face her, half in the driver's seat. “Yeah?” She asked, tilting her head. “They usually have crawl suits in places like this, what if we could hide ourselves from the dead?” She’d seen it in a pre-war television show, she wasnt sure how these Slackjaws found their prey, but it was worth a shot. “Why not. We can try it eventually somewhere safe.” The pair retrieved the crawl suits and finally left the building behind them. “Lazy old man.” Arden said to Scrap, “Getting that cool shade?” He looked at her with no expression on his face, bar some movement from his tail. His dark brown eyes were clouded with age. *If the world hadn't ended, I wouldn’t have met you. Guess I should count myself blessed.* The mall was the next thing on the docket, Arden opened the passenger door to let Scrap into the middle, then got in herself. They took the back roads toward the mall, Corinne shielding her eyes from the slackjaws now feasting on the fawn. A sign read “Georgia Square Mall,” as they drove the back roads to it. The sign was weathered and faded, surely not replaced since before the war. As far as she could tell, the mall was open even through the blitz, having shut down soon before the end. It was now mostly used for movie sets. It had an access road surrounding it, 2 lanes in either direction, rather bumpy and unmaintained. The building itself had large entrances and loading bays everywhere. *Security nightmare.* Corinne circled the building slowly driving, avoiding the dead, as well as cars. They had bullet holes all in them, an odd sight, but they were in Athens. It was impossible to tell how long it had been there. The difference between pre-fall and now was only a few months. As Corinne started her second pass, she began to rapidly speed up. The front windshield shattered and something punctured the door and sunk into Arden’s abdomen. The pain was overwhelming, sending Arden out of the present, and into a dazed state. *That had to be a rifle.* She thought, physically she was grunting against the pain, but she had no concept of pain at the moment. *I hope Scrap is okay. NO. WAKE UP. YOU GOT SHOT. You need to wake up.* Arden knew she was right, she had to stay alert and keep herself alive. When she came to the present she gritted her teeth against the pain, turning to grab a rifle. Not the best decision with a wound such as hers, but she had to do something. She caught the glare of a scope in the back glass, leveled her rifle, and took 2 shots at the perpetrator, who was on the roof. The shots kept coming, 2 into the back glass, one into the driver's side window, and another into Corinne's Mirror. “Dammit.” Corinne swore, catching a couple bullets of her own. Arden saw the flesh turn up in her left leg, blood pooling at her feet. Scrap was trying his best to fit at Arden’s floorboard, the dog was much too big, but it was a novel attempt. Corinne swerved down the same road they’d come out of, several bullets impacting the tires and truck bed. The road they took spilled out onto the same road as Orkin and the furniture store. She blew the stop sign, not like it mattered anymore, and came to a stop at the dealership. By now Arden’s adrenaline rush was wearing off. “Dammit, dammit, dammit.” Corinne said under her breath. She pulled Arden’s shirt off, tearing it into a makeshift bandage. Before she slipped into unconsciousness, Corinne signed, “*Publix. I’m taking you there.*” ___ “Shit.” Corinne swore, struggling to seat Arden back in the truck. She hadn’t the time to switch trucks, even though she’d lost two tires. *And now I might lose Arden. FUCK.* She was glad however that her Narcolepsy had taken a day off. Scrap jumped into the back of the truck, Corinne raised the tailgate, and took off down the highway. *Dammit dog. I love you but you gotta sit safer.* Corinne floored the pedal, temporarily ignoring the old dog in the back. She took the second exit to the east, to the north part of the loop. It was eastbound, so the traffic wasn't so bad, it was much worse to the north, south, and west, due to people rushing toward the interstates. The traffic in the opposite lanes was a hellscape. *Ugh shit. North bound is gonna be hell.* Since the lanes were now 3 in each direction, it made avoiding the dead and stopped cars much easier. About 2 miles into her trip around the loop, she ran straight into a hoard around a bend. “Fuck!” She swore again, a slackjaw head flying through the broken windshield, and into the back seat. She floored it in reverse, sparks from the wheel lighting several shirts of the dead. She backtracked a quarter mile, taking an exit much earlier than the plan. *Dammit dammit dammit dammit.* She floored the pedal once more, flying down ordinary streets, trying her best not to hit any more Slackjaws. She eventually came upon prince avenue, where the exit she wanted would have spat her out. She eventually came upon prince avenue, where the exit she wanted would have spat her out. Corinne was right about the northbound traffic, opting to head down the southbound lanes. She hit several more slackjaws, more body parts flying into the back seat. Arden was losing a lot of blood beside her, and she tried her best to hold pressure to the wound, while also speeding down the highway. 129 was clearer than the loop, but still the traffic northbound was horrible. There were stalled cars strewn across the southbound lanes, but easy enough to avoid for the 2-mile stretch before Publix. She came up to the intersection, taking the turn rather fast, dislodging another half corpse from the push bars. She sped the truck through the gate, which was already open. Armed guards stood at the front, wielding guns, spears, bows and swords. Her two flat tires were on the right, but she had no choices left. Corinne slammed the wheel down to the left, pulling the emergency brake at the same time. The truck itself almost rolled over, metal screeching against asphalt. The truck stopped not 10 yards from the entrance, passenger side to the storefront. “Got a really bad injury here! I need help!” She pleaded to the guards out front. One of them ran inside, then several young men and women rushed out from the doors. “Got a gunshot or two to the abdomen, through the door, and I have a shot to the lower thigh, and my shin area.” She could finally feel pain in her leg, a dull deep throbbing. She could feel herself crashing from the extreme adrenaline high. *Arden better live dammit.* Corinne thought, letting herself succumb to sleep and shock. [[12 Scourge]]