Chapter 07

         Twenty minutes later we’re in place. Cassie stands in the front of the partitioned glass at the Dillard’s entrance, and I’m standing about a block and a half away next to an abandoned car.  I nod at Cassie and she nods back.
        I slam my bat against the car’s glass window, shouting at the same time.  The glass breaks and I run to the next car.  I shatter that car’s back window and run on to the next one, shouting all the time.  The idea is to make as much noise as possible and hopefully confuse the zombies about where I’m standing.  Yes, it’s really stupid and I can’t believe I’m doing this – but it’s this or go back to the convenience store and hide.
“It won’t break!  It won’t break!”  Cassie shouts.  I glance over my shoulder and it turns out that the broom is useless against the glass storefront.
        The zombies that were standing around before are now heading towards me.  I can already see small groups coming from around the corner of the mall as well.  Thanks to the various cars I’m smashing  they’re spread out a little, but there are still a bunch of them.  A few heads turn towards Cassie, then a few zombie feet head her way.
        “Watch out!”  I shout.  I need to help her, but how?  I look around and get an idea.   Keeping my eyes on the zombies headed towards Cassie, I open my mouth and moan, a loud, long moan as close to theirs as I can get.  I moan again.  The zombie heads turn away from Cassie, towards my sound.  I moan again, louder.  They turn my way.
        “Cassie,” I hiss in a low tone, and throw the bat at her.  I continue to moan as she bashes the glass in.  I moan louder, throwing my head back, drawing the zombies to me.
        “Delilah!”  Cassie is on her hands and knees in the store, poking her head out of the glass opening.  I moan a couple of more times, running around a car.  Then I grab an arm that’s disconnected from a nearby body.  Grimacing in disgust, I run straight towards the zombies nearest the door.  Right before I reach them, I moan again and throw the arm into the middle of them.  They turned inwards as one to grab the arm.
        I slam to the ground and crawl quickly into the store.  They’re still fighting over the arm and don’t notice. 
Cassie’s staring at me, her mouth wide open.  “That was freaky!  You sound just like them!”
        I grin and crawl further into the store.  Then I jump to my feet, run to a nearby display, and push a mannequin over.  I take the box that it had been standing on and put it in front of the hole that we made.
        “There.  Good as new,” I say.  Then I realize the bat is on the other side of the glass. “Crap.”
        “What?”  Cassie asks.  I just point at the bat.  Our strongest weapon is out of reach.  A few of the zombies give up on getting the arm and shuffle towards the bat.   
        “Should we go get it?”
        I slowly shake my head, looking at the zombies.  Would they come to the glass?
        “No, we leave it there,” I put an arm against her chest and start backing us up very slowly.  A zombie head pops up and looks through the glass, attracted by the movement.
        “Crap crap crap” I say under my breath.  We keep backing up even as the thing advances.  It hits the door and stops.  I stop too and hold my breath watching it.  It clinks against the glass.  I watch the box, hoping it won’t move.  The zombie bumps into the glass again, and this time I can see what’s causing the light “clinking” noise – it’s still wearing a pocket watch on a chain that’s swinging free.  Could it break the glass?
        I watch its movements, wondering how much force would be needed for the watch to break through.  Surely it wouldn’t be enough for the zombie to realize it might break more to get through.
        Then another zombie hits it from behind.  The Watch zombie turns to the second one, and they do this weird bumper car thing until they both seem confused and bump each other into different directions.  I let out my breath.
        “Let’s go,” I say.

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