Dead Frontier/Issue 109

This is a preview for Issue #109 of Dead Frontier, titled ''Revive. This is the first issue of 'Volume 19. '''

Issue 109 - Revive
“Don’t lose sight of whoever you’re with, don’t use your gun unless you absolutely have to, and don’t go off alone. Make this quick, but don’t make it a waste of our time,” Adam says as one last reminder. His face is burdened with apprehension, but he manages to get rid of any traces of nervousness in his voice. He has his hand on the defunct automatic door in front of him, its surface covered in a layer of dust; he holds himself off on opening it, waiting instead for confirmation from the faces to his right: Mae, Dre, Lucy, Lienne, Duke, and Winston.

They nod quickly, and without wasting anymore time, Adam pushes the door open. The store stretches far across the lot, encompassing a significant area. The big, white letters that made up the word WALMART at the top of the building have since fallen to the lot below, bits and pieces of metal scattered around. Bricks have fallen out of the foundation, and vines have intertwined wildly to create lush, green patterns on different sections of the outside walls.

Inside, the scene is just as battered, only made more eerie by the lack of light. The broken windows with jagged pieces of glass lining the border provide sunlight for just a few feet. Once they’re completely camouflaged in darkness, the bright circles of their flashlights burst to life, bouncing around in front of them.

They wouldn’t be doing this if they weren’t so desperate. From experience, they know big stores like this are too risky; they’re easy hideouts for infected, or people, but, because of their size, they’re also bound to bring in big rewards, if you’re thorough enough.The hunger alone was enough for them to unanimously decide to take the risk. Not to mention the need for medicine. Just last week Ivy came down with something, but it passed quickly with nothing more than the symptoms of a common cold. Hoping that they’ll be just as lucky next time isn’t practical in times like these.

“Split up,” Adam whispers. They disperse to cover a wider area in as little time as possible. Adam, Dre, and Lienne go left; Mae, Lucy, Winston, and Duke scramble right. Broken shelves and glass litter the area in front of them, so they step over carefully, wincing as the debris crunches loudly under their feet. They beam their flashlights along any shelves that still stand upright; they’re taunted by the sight of dust and cobwebs.

Dre, Lienne, and Adam have migrated to the electronics section of the store. Their light illuminates cracked and useless television screens. He fills a little silly thinking it, but Adam can’t help but wonder how amazing it would’ve been to own one of these flat screens. Back when you could actually use one.

There’s a sudden tug on his pant leg, pulling him out of his daydream. Lienne and Dre halt when he does, frightened enough by his sudden stop that they don’t say a word. Adam looks down; he sees a hand sticking out under a pile of shelves and TVs that had tumbled to the ground sometime before. Moving his flashlight to the ground, he inspects the scene further. The body attached to the rotten arm is nearly completely covered by the wreckage. He can only make out a head, the bottom half of the face crushed by a big block of a television. No wonder they didn’t hear any groaning. Dre gives a quick stomp to its head, and they move on.

The other side of the store holds a completely different set of items. Old fridges and freezers line the aisles, but they’ve been cleaned out long ago. Mae’s flashlight shines onto a large crate in the middle of one of the aisles. A cereal advertisement is plastered on it, but she focuses on the contents inside. She smiles and whispers Lucy over. They both revel in the sight inside: two jugs of powdered milk, three bottles of water--one nearly empty--and a box of cereal. They toss the cereal; its expiration date was months ago, so Lucy holds open her bag for Mae to stuff everything else in.

Winston and Duke move on, toward a section that looks like it was once a bakery. Duke leans close to boxes that sit on display, but they’re all empty, or filled with stale, moldy baked goods. He’s moving on to the next display when he slips on some pool of liquid coating the floor. He lands on his back hard and Winston rushes over to him. “Shit, you okay?” Winston mutters. He helps Duke to his feet; the back of his hoodie coated in a gooey red substance that drips to the floor. Winston looks at it in disgust, until his eyes drift to the floor, where the streak of red snakes around behind a box.

He follows it warily, behind the box with the word FRAGILE stamped on it in big red letters, and almost laughs at himself for expecting something, maybe a body, or an infected ready to reach out at him. Still, as a precaution, he takes another look around, but sees nothing. His focus turns to the box. “The hell is this…?” he mutters. He puts his hands on both sides and, instead of picking it up, slides it over a little. It’s lighter than he thought…

There’s the sound of something whizzing past his head, then he feels something sharp collide with his ear. He grabs his left ear, already feeling the blood dripping down the side of his face. Duke’s eyes follow the object; an arrow sticks out of the wall directly behind Winston.

“What the hell?” Winston mouths, but Duke shrugs. Then, Duke looks up, his eyes wide.

“Holy shit, watch out!” Duke shouts. Winston’s eyes drift upward. The large shelf looming over him begins to lean forward. He jumps backward, landing directly on his backside, as the shelf slams onto the ground where he was just standing. His foot was nearly caught by it, but he’s unscathed. His breaths come out heavy as he stares at the shelf in disbelief.

The sound of the falling shelf echoes throughout the store. Everyone freezes where they are. Mae is just swinging her bag back over her shoulders when she and Lucy hear a strange voice to their left appear out of the darkness:

“You coulda rang the doorbell before you came in. It’s only common courtesy.”