บท 34: Store
Brick kept warning Homer about making various preparations before certain things ran out like resources and the things that had been able to hold on due to there being a backup power supply to keep them up for a longer duration.
Among them was the landlines and mobile communications which Homer had been using to keep in contact with Shane which lead Brick to warn him about conserving the battery and that it would not last forever.
Soon handheld phones would become useless and their only real use would be to provide a little entertainment or to lure away zombies before they ran out of power.
Even if there was a skilled electrical powered human to try to charge them, it would take a greater level of control and power to charge them without damaging the batteries.
It would soon become an era where ordinary batteries were needed for certain useful devices like walkie talkies.
They continued until they found themselves passing through one of the more ordinary streets so they could cut through to stay away from the more busy streets.
They came across a convenience store on the corner which was open so Brick had nudged Homer to slow down to let him out.
Homer coldly said. "I will circle around but if you take too long then I will leave you."
Brick nodded. "I know."
The car came to a stop by the open convenience store that seemed to have zombies lurking around it within and there were some others wandering around the street.
Brick stepped out of the car before they got close and the car started up again, Brick removed a small object from his pocket and threw it far away to the other side of the road where it fell onto some grass. 'Now I can just wait.'
A noise began to come from the thing he threw as it played a childish kids song and attracted the zombies over there and away from the convenience store.
It was a part of one of the toys or teddies that Brick took from some of the children's rooms but he had removed the inner parts while not keeping the rest of them.
The main parts that created the noises were what were needed and so long as they worked, they could be used as lures.
Even if he did not use other tactics like throwing stones to break things in another direction, the small things he threw were enough to create a distraction to enter the store.
So long as they were triggered before they were thrown away, they could be useful for drawing the zombies towards certain areas and providing distractions.
Brick stayed hunched over by a car and stayed quiet to avoid being found but his positioning was not the best.
A zombie appeared as it came around that side of the car and wandered towards him as its movements quickened a little and a snarl was released from its mouth. "Hrrk."
The gloved hand reached forward and reached towards the throat of the zombie once it got closer and lowered its body to reach him then a knife silently pierced through its eye.
It died right as it was pushed in deep enough and fell down slower due to Brick lowering it silently.
Once he had seen that it was safer, he kept himself low and quickened his pace towards the door of the convenience store.
There had been some signs of damage from the zombies and possibly some humans that tried to loot the store but there was a lot that was untouched.
Brick picked up a small basket and moved through the aisles quickly and started grabbing all kinds of things ranging from water bottles, sugary sweets and other high energy snacks before reaching the aisle where there were many healthcare products and cleaning products.
He took many painkillers and many other useful medications while even filling in some other products that were more suited to women which made him a little glad that nobody was around. 'I know that these are important for girls even in the apocalypse and can be used tactically too but it is still awkward buying these…'
Blood was one of the main attractions to zombies besides sounds they heard that helped to identify their prey so an open wound, bloodied clothes or a single woman on that time of the month that had been within a certain range of them would be detected and would make them very excited.
For others to escape, some that intended to sacrifice themselves for the group would cut themselves to use themselves as bait which could buy enough time for them to escape.
If a woman did not have the necessary products then their clothes would become bloodied and their smell would be picked up by the zombies which became a big problem for hunting or looting parties that relied on their stealth and would be exposed by a single female.
It was one of the reasons why females gained even less opportunities in the apocalypse and more cruel people would use those poor women as lures during the time they were on their time of the month so they could either kill the zombies who attacked the women or they would use the opportunity to slip into wherever they needed to get to.
If a tactic could be thought of and used to survive then there would be some cruel people who were more than willing to use them.
There was an additional but gross tactic that could be used by using used pads to lure zombies towards others to let them be attacked or to send them in another direction like Brick had when he used the noises to lure them away.
Some had instead chosen to soak them in their own blood or the blood of others as an alternative but it required them to open up wounds on their bodies and would only draw nearby zombies towards them unless they had prepared it beforehand.
One method to effectively use that tactic was to seal them in a zip lock bag or something secure so the smell of blood could not escape.
In the later parts of the novel and in some other novels, some groups had already developed lethal weapons that were excellent zombie lures and were made from artificial blood and other ingredients.
They were used in warfare against other bases and could cause large zombie waves to wipe out weaker bases that could not fight against the waves.
Brick had filled up the basket and took another to fill up then placed it near the door in preparation for him leaving.
He saw that the zombies no longer gathered in one spot and seemed to have lost interest so he thought to himself. 'Either they broke it already or it has stopped playing but it has done its job well enough. Now I just need to remain vigilant.'
A new lollypop was in his mouth from the large amount of packets he stuffed into one of the baskets and he quietly waited until the sounds picked up nearby and came closer.
The sound of the engine of the car had caused the zombies to turn towards it and Brick ran towards the back holding the two baskets, the back opened up and Brick jumped in with them before pulling it shut. "Gogogo!"
The car did not remain for long and drove onward leaving the zombies that almost got close to it and tried to chase before being left behind.
More zombies that followed the car from the trip around had joined up with the zombies and loitered around after they lost their target.
Brick did not know that there was someone looking through the window on a higher floor opposite the store and was using binoculars to watch him enter the store then leave in the car.
They seemed to have learned something from watching Brick and nodded in approval. 'It seems that he threw something to draw them away, from what I have observed so far they only seem to be attracted to movement, sound and certain smells near them so I guess it was some kind of thing to release some noise.
Not bad… I am running low on supplies and will have to go over there at some point. If I can lure them away then that would make it easier to go there and back with less chances of encountering danger. He used a knife right? I have quite a few of those and they could be used if I am in any danger.'
He looked towards the plates and other things that could create some noise that could be thrown then went on to separate some other things he could use like his phone, tablet and even a music box.
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