Chloe Zombie Apocalypse series (Book 2): The Journey Read Online Free

smell of mustiness that always came with territory that hadn’t been touched in quite some time.
    There was food. Water. Supplies.
    And not a sign of life.
    “It’s a gift,” Suzy said, grinning from false tooth to false tooth. “A sign from above.”
    “Heaven sent,” Harvey muttered. Dave and Dan held hands, laughed, their voices echoing in the nothingness. Hassan and Anisha wrapped their arms over one another’s shoulders. The delight of the group was clear to see. The joy of the discovery.
    But still, Chloë couldn’t feel good.
    She couldn’t feel good because something wasn’t right.
    “What’re you thinking?” Dad asked.
    Chloë looked over at the supermarket to her right. Looked at the spiral door just waiting to be pushed open. Beyond the glass, which was covered in bird dirt, she saw food. Lots of food.
    Real food.
    “Hold back before…”
    But it was too late. Jackson and some of his mates, Colin and Arnold, hurtled towards the supermarket doors. They pushed them open, spurring on many other group members to follow. When the spiral doors swirled around, Chloë caught a sour whiff of rotting vegetables, of decaying meat.
    But the tins in there. The water bottles in there. The shelves stacked with biscuits and cereals and long life milk.
    They had supplies.
    They had food and water.
    They had somewhere.
    Chloë saw Alice jogging towards the shop. They exchanged a glance, then Alice shrugged. “Never thought I’d crave baked beans with mini pork sausages again. But hey. I’m sorry. Allow me this one.”
    Chloë nodded.
    It didn’t take Alice a moment to rush inside the supermarket.
    Chloë stood outside. Stood beside her dad. She looked around the empty street. Looked at the silent roads. She glanced up at the buildings. The flats. No sign of life. Not even a sign that anyone had tried to board themselves in. Cars still parked up on the kerbs. No smashed windows. Nothing like that.
    “Like this place just went to sleep and never woke up,” Dad said.
    Chloë nodded. She didn’t speak her mind, but she could only think one thing.
    But if they didn’t wake up, then where did they go?
    She walked down the pavement at the left hand side of the main street. Followed it right down. Past bakers. Past locksmiths. Past an old video rental shop that had a few films in the window she’d really wanted to see. She saw all this stuff. All these clothes. All these books. And she started to wonder if maybe this was the place. Maybe, if nobody had found this place, they really could settle here.
    Maybe they could be safe here.
    But something still didn’t feel right.
    She heard a cheer back at the supermarket. Looked around, saw Simon covering himself in Coca Cola, a crowd circling and whooping. She saw her group. Saw the happiness of her group.
    “You led them here,” Dad said. “You should be back there. Celebrating with them.”
    And Chloë wanted that. She wanted so much to be with her people. Because that’s who they were. Her people.
    Then she heard the crackling sound to her left.
    She stopped. Looked back where she’d heard the noise.
    “Chloë?” Dad said.
    Chloë ignored him. She walked back. Back to where the sound had been most prominent.
    A door. A cracked old wooden door. Partly ajar.
    Coming from inside, something crackling.
    Chloë turned. Looked across the street. Saw a garage door. She thought she saw movement behind one of the parked cars. But the longer she looked at it, the more she realised nothing was there. Everything was okay.
    No. Everything wasn’t okay.
    Something was wrong.
    She pressed her hand on the wooden door.
    Pushed it open.
    “Chloë, what—”
    “Ssh.”
    Chloë walked inside the building. It looked like the entrance to a flat. There was a lounge area to the left. A kitchen area up ahead.
    Some wooden stairs on Chloë’s right.
    Chloë calmed her breathing. Listened for the crackling noise.
    And the more she listened, the more she realised where it was coming