Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 92

Chapter 92 The local grocery store

next twenty minutes were spent on absolute high alert. The team moved in tight formation, silently absorbing the escalating horror gripping their neighborhood. The palpable sense of destruction and fear hung heavy in the air. Down one block, a middle-aged woman wept openly, desperately holding her blood- stained husband on a front lawn. Just ahead, flashing red and blue lights illuminated a frantic scene where police officers were urgently shouting, waving their arms to force terrified civilians back inside their homes. Other families ignored the orders entirely, packing cars in a desperate bid to flee for their lives.

Spotting the chaotic police blockade up ahead, Joanna made a quick executive decision. She signaled the group to veer left, leading them away from the madness and down a quieter side street lined with brick townhomes.

The relative silence here felt even more ominous. As they crept past a row of units, they passed a concrete stairwell smeared with dark, wet blood. A young woman lay slumped across the steps, completely still. Her throat had been brutally ripped out. High above the grim scene, the blinds of several townhome windows twitched; pale, frightened neighbors stared down at Joanna’s armed group, too terrified to speak or leave their apartments.

Nobody spoke. They simply tightened their grips on their bats, shovels, and hatchets, pushing through the suffocating dread. Finally, after another tense ten minutes of brisk walking, the familiar neon signage of the local grocery store loomed through the gloom just ahead.

The sliding glass doors of the grocery store stood wide open, welcoming them into an eerie, suffocating silence. Blood was smeared across the white tiled walls, and several display stands were overturned, scattering dented cans and squashed fruit across the floor. The bodies of several staff members and customers lay scattered on the ground, completely still.

Joanna scanned the area, keeping her hatchet raised. “The power is still on, but it won’t last,” she whispered. gesturing toward the displays. “Prioritize the fresh produce before it spoils. Pack it up.”

Before anyone could move, a heavy, dragging footsteps echoed from the back of the store. An older, heavily overweight man stumbled out from behind the bakery counter. His face was smeared with fresh, bright blood, looking as though he had just been feasting on someone in the back room. A jagged, deep bite mark torn into his forearm confirmed his fate.

Julian, still secretly furious and annoyed at almost dying a few blocks back, didn’t hesitate. Wanting to prove himself, he charged forward with brutal force. He gripped his aluminum baseball bat with both hands. brought it back, and swung it with everything he had straight at the zombie’s head. A sickening crunch echoed through the silent store as the older man’s skull caved in. The heavy body collapsed instantly onto the floor, motionless.

Joanna nodded approvingly. “Nice work, Julian.”

With the threat neutralized, Raven and Uncle Nate immediately stepped forward and began grabbing bags of fresh produce. Jolie walked up beside Joanna, lowering her bat slightly. “Hey boss, why aren’t we taking everything?” she asked quietly, eyeing the large inventory of the grocery store.

“Because I’m not going to be heartless,” Joanna replied, her voice firm but compassionate. “The survivors in this neighborhood are going to desperately need the non-perishables in the coming months. Most of what I am taking will stay perfectly preserved in my space.”

Turning her attention to the rest of the team, Joanna called out, “Jake! Allen! Grab the seafood and the fresh

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Chap 92 The local grocery store

meat before it goes bad. Leave the canned goods entirely.”

then turned back to Jolie. “Let’s only fill up a few bags of everything else. Bread, rice, pasta, and some canned meat. We leave the rest for other survivors.”

While the team packed the supplies, Joanna walked over to a refrigerated display, grabbed an ice-cold soda, and cracked it open. The sharp hiss of carbonation echoed in the quiet store as she took a long/refreshing drink. Suddenly, she stilled. A faint whimpering sound was coming from behind a heavy metal door in the corner of the room.

Setting her soda down, Joanna cautiously pulled the door open ripping the locks off with the hinges. Inside, three terrified grocery store workers jumped and scrambled backward into the corner, their eyes wide with panic. All three were young teenagers, looking like this was their very first summer job.

“Please don’t hurt us!” one of the girls cried out, her voice trembling. “Can you help us? We’ve been trapped

in here.”

They quickly explained that they had locked themselves inside when the chaos erupted. Joanna listened patiently before offering a reassuring nod. “There are police officers managing a blockade just one block away,” she told them. “If you want to leave, we can escort you there safely.”

The teenagers looked at each other in relief. One of them pointed a shaky finger toward the dead man by the bakery. “That zombie… that was our manager. He just started violently attacking customers out of nowhere earlier today.”

Raven, ever practical for an eleven-year-old, stepped up and looked past Joanna at the scared teens. “You should grab some food before you leave,” she muttered.

Taking her advice, the teenagers grabbed a plastic grocery bag each, frantically filling them with whatever snacks and supplies they could reach. The team chipped in to help them pack quickly. While they were distracted, Jolie gathered all the heavily filled duffel bags the group had collected so far and hauled them over to Joanna in the next aisle, completely hidden from the kids’ sight.

With a silent nod, Joanna used her pocket dimension to instantly sweep all the supplies out of the duffel bags and into her spatial inventory. She handed the now-empty bags back to Jolie to redistribute to the group, keeping up the illusion that they were just ordinary scavengers. For appearance’s sake, Joanna grabbed her soda, a small bag of rice, and a few tins of canned meat, wordlessly handing them to Uncle Nate

to carry.

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