The group cleared the way forward the best they could, removing obstacles and pushing them aside as they stumbled on them.

They all had different levels of sticky fluids clinging onto their skin and clothes, however they were starting to realize how pointless it was to try to avoid getting splashed with it during their altercations with the zombies.

Danny and Carl had already completely given up on remaining clean. If they could avoid getting blasted on their mouth, nose and eyes with whatever it was that flew their way they were already satisfied. Cracking skulls with a hammer was not the most hygienic of jobs after all.

The group had managed to form a relative safe perimeter around the store without too much trouble after getting rid of the enemies inside it. Despite the fact that some new arrivals indeed had been attracted towards the action during the period of the fight, they had managed to deal with the situation without too much suspense.

As they cautiously approached the previously crowded backdoor, the group also consistently straightened overturned shelves in order to make sure their escape route was unobstructed. They did not know what they would find upon opening that door, so prudence was still at the top of their priority list.

They figured that if a fellow survivor was still alive in there, upon hearing the commotion they had made and the subsequent calm, he or she would already have come out or tried to ascertain whether the coast was clear or not. Therefore, every passing second that the door remained still gave more and more credence to Janice’s theory that if someone had been in there once, they would probably be already dead as of now.

Danny measured his steps carefully as he approached that uninviting doorway, his plans of subtlety dashed by the crunching sounds his foot made every time he trampled on plastic bags, potato chips, glass fragments or any other miscellaneous items that completely littered the ground.

He reached his hand forward and placed it gently on the door knob once he reached the end of the corridor. Danny then raised his hammer high in anticipation for whatever lied hidden and took a quick glimpse backwards to confirm his companions’ preparedness.

Once he received their nods of confirmation, Danny turned the knob and pulled the door in one swift motion, however, he failed to open it since it was locked from the inside.

Danny then realized that someone had indeed been stuck in there, given that there was no place to insert a key on their side of the door, which meant that it could only be locked from the inside.

That was immediately confirmed afterwards, as a weary and husky voice came from the other side of the door. “Is someone there? Please tell me that someone sane is out there.” Upon seeing the doorknob being twisted, Mr. Lee’s hopes of being rescued were rekindled, as none of the ‘mad people’ from before had tried to do that.

Danny turned around and saw the relief on everyone’s face upon learning that there were no threats inside, only another human being.

Danny did not reflect the sentiment though, as he knew that sometimes humans could be the most vicious and unfeeling of creatures but he did not let that show on his expression, neither did he said his thoughts out loud. Instead, he merely responded in a reassuring tone.

“Yes, you can come out now sir. We already secured the area on this side.”

In response to his proclamation, Danny instantly heard the sound of shuffling limbs and clothes coming from behind the door. The click that soon followed, indicated that the resident of that room was coming out.

“Oh, for heavens’ sake, I thought I would die in here for sure. It was about damn time that you moved your asses and got here you… wait a minute, you are not with the police, are you?”

Mr. Lee started saying as he opened the door. He was about to go on a tirade and berate his saviors for their tardiness in assisting him and prolonging his suffering, before stopping himself dumbfounded upon realizing that he had not been aided by the authorities, but by a bunch of kids instead. To Mr. Lee anyone under the age of 40 was just a kid, of course.

He was so desperate to place anything in his belly and to take a nice big breath of fresh air that he did not even wait for a millisecond once he heard that the party on the other side was sane. It did not even cross his mind that Danny and his group might bear ill will towards him, so anxious he was for freedom.

At the same time that the old man stopped to stare at them at the doorway in astonishment, they were assailed by the disgusting stench that was released from within.

Danny and the others were not so clean and devoid of smell themselves given that they had been running around and getting dirtied even further as they dealt with the undead, but the vile odor of the enclosed room was on another level.

The ones at the forefront of their line scrounged up and covered their noses and mouth the best way they could, while Donovan started gagging and Jane beat a hasty retreat in order to avoid vomiting inside the store.

The stink of the accumulated excretions sealed in a tiny closed space and left out there exposed to the open air was no joke.

Fortunately, the situation’s awkwardness was mitigated due to Mr. Lee’s thick skin and the fact that Danny managed to remain rooted there in front of that stranger, suffering with just a frown and squinted eyes plastered on his face.

Mr. Lee quickly closed the door back again to protect himself and his benefactors from further suffering, before expertly changing the subject. “Where are the police and what happened with those crazy people? I saw them murder and assault some of my clients just a few days ago! We have to hide in case they return! They had been hounding me ever since!” Mr. Lee said rapidly, as if he was a machine gun firing words. Panicked and afraid that his captors would return.

“Do you mean the zombies? We dragged their corpses outside to prevent them from getting in the way.” Carl said, approaching Danny from behind.

As the rest of their team either beat a hasty retreat from the store or took many steps back to avoid the terrible smell, Carl had remained behind and approached Danny both as moral support and to help him if needed. They did not even the name of this stranger after all. You could see someone’s face, but not someone’s heart in the end.

“Zombies? What are you talking about? Kids these days, my god! This is no time for pranks I am… wait… what did you mean by corpses?” Mr. Lee was about to go into his frantic mode again when he stopped himself and looked at the duo with apprehension, as if afraid they would murder them any second now.

Carl and Danny merely looked each other in confusion as to how to proceed. How could this elder be so oblivious about what was going on? How should they explain it to him?

On Mr. Lee’s defense, it was not that he was dumb or anything like that, but he did not have the chance to see any dead people rise up during all this time. At the time he had locked himself ‘proactively’, not one of his former clients or staff members had changed sides yet.

Moreover, during the one time he reopened the door to check the situation, due to the poor lighting at that moment and the speed that everything that followed unfolded, Mr. Lee also could not connect the dots and realize for himself the unnatural strangeness of the situation.

Thus, when he heard his armed rescuers say the words ‘zombies’ and ‘corpses’ he could only react with distrust and suspicion. It was all too much to take and too unreal after all.

Skepticism was the natural response for anyone in those circumstances in the end. That was the reason Danny had kept everyone around him in the dark as well, as no one would believe such absurdities based only on his words.

The best way to make someone come around the idea was to show it to them and let them see it for themselves.

“For how long have you been stuck there Mr…?” Carl said, his tone lingering towards the end.

“You can call me Mr. Lee. This is my shop.” Mr. Lee introduced himself filling the blank, while still keeping a healthy distance between himself and these strange kids at the same time. His eyes sweeping the store looking for clues about what happened.

“Oh, so it is Mr. Lee. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Carl and this is Danny.” Carl introduced the both of them.

“Nice to meet you.” Mr. Lee responded neutrally, not showing neither animosity nor friendliness. Danny and Carl did not let Mr. Lee’s ungratefulness get to them though.

“Well, sir, the situation is a little complicated right now. We aren’t too sure on what is the cause for all of this.” Danny said plainly before continuing.

“We also haven’t seen any rescue teams or police patrols ever since the earthquakes stopped so we don’t have a clue as to what could be happening and what is holding them for so long”.

“The phones and the electricity are also out if you did not know about that already, so we could not seek any answers there. No internet as well.” Carl complemented.

“Why don’t you come outside with us for a bit so that we can introduce you to the others before we continue this discussion.” Danny suggested.

“Very well, let’s go then. Let me just get a few things first. I had nothing to eat these last few days so I am starving.” Mr. Lee agreed to follow them before pouncing on the nearest food package available.

He wolfed down two packs of instant noodles without caring about the fact that they were uncooked, swallowing more than he chewed while pushing everything down with mouthfuls of water. He then took a lot of candies by the handful and filled his pockets with them before going outside to meet the full group without the presence weaponized aroma for the first time.