Broken World by Clayton Smith

Author:Clayton Smith [Smith, Clayton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dapper Press
Published: 2024-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

36.

“Why did Patrick give us a shopping list?” Jimmy frowned. “Doesn’t he know how the apocalypse works? You don’t just drive to the store and get everything on your list, you know?”

“Quiet,” Brett said, “I’m reading.”

“Yeah, and he needs all his concentration,” Lucia said. “Some of the words have two syllables,”

The team of three stood at the edge of a wide suburban parking lot that was littered with dead cars, rusting shopping carts, and a few hundred brownish-greenish glop piles that used to be humans.

“This is the most depressing Home Depot has ever been,” Jimmy decided. “And that’s saying a lot.”

They skirted around the edge of the lot, watching the doors beneath the tattered orange awnings warily. “Think there’s anybody inside?” Jimmy asked.

“Always assume there’s somebody inside,” Lucia replied. “Always assume you’re being watched by an army.”

Jimmy and Brett exchanged looks. Is she more badass than we are? Jimmy’s look said.

She’s definitely more badass than you are, Brett’s face replied.

They darted between banged-up cars, keeping low and trying to stay out of sight of anyone who might be inside looking out. The only windows were the two banks of doors, one at either end of the building, so they swung wide around the edge of the parking lot, where they could approach from the blind spot to the side of the building.

“No one in their right mind would hole up in a Home Depot,” Brett decided. “You don’t live at the Home Depot; you raid the Home Depot, take the hatchets and the hammers, then go live it up at the Chuck E. Cheese across the street.”

Jimmy snatched the shopping list from Brett and read through it again. “I don’t care about the hatchets and the hammers. I just hope they left the rest of this stuff.”

“Should we keep making small talk out here in the open, or should we get a fucking move on?” Lucia said, rolling her eyes and scooting toward the entrance.

Jimmy frowned as he watched her go. “Today is going to be a hard day,” he decided.

They crept up to the busted-out doors with their backs pressed against the wall and their weapons in their hands. “All right, I’ll go first,” Brett whispered as he moved toward the doors.

Lucia grabbed his arm. “Why do you get to go first?” she demanded.

“Because I know Home Depot.”

“We’ve all been to Home Depot, Tim Allen.”

Brett smiled confidently, crossing his arms. “But not like I’ve been to Home Depot.”

“Brett used to be a plumber,” Jimmy explained.

“Oh wow,” Lucia said. “You plunged other people’s shit professionally, or was it a hobby?”

“Professionally, baby. Construction-level. I laid a lot of pipe.” He winked.

“Ugh,” Lucia grimaced. “Gross. But you know what? Do go first. Tell whoever’s in there how good you are at Home Depot while they beat the shit out of you with a wrench.”

Brett gave her a salute. The he slinked up to the doorway, holding the two-pound hammer he’d brought as his weapon of choice. He took a deep breath, rounded the window bay, and stuck his head through the open-door frame.

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