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A low rumbling emanates from the interior of the Super Duper Mart. Though feint, you can hear the pulsating vibration get stronger as you near the back of the store. Each time the sound drawls its low growl through the echoing aisles of the once family friendly establishment, the walls tremble and bits of drywall are knocked loose from the cracked, broken, and weather-worn interior.
A few ghouls are scattered around the aisles. Some have already perished to starvation, some are locked in place waiting for someone or something to rip apart. But something is different about these ghouls. They seem more vicious, more hungry than normal.
A man and a woman, desperate for supplies, open the front door cautiously. They carry laser pistols, minuteman issued, and wear the insignia of their faction on the back of their coats. They both carry a mostly empty duffle bag carrying only a few extra rounds for each of their pistols.
As they step over the threshold and into the building, they are greeted by the grunts of three ferals whose attention their presence attracted. They both drop their bags and aim. The woman tags one in the leg, breaking through it's bones and crippling one in rags. It falls uselessly and claws in her direction in vain. The man manages a clean shot to the skull of a the one closest to them, while the other fumbles forward and knocks into him hard enough to knock the air out of him briefly.
She turns and swings a sharp elbow into the jaw of the last attacking feral, knocking it back. As her partner recovers, she lets loose three shots into it's chest, putting it down for good, then turns her aim to the one on the floor, putting it out of it's misery.
He regains his composure and straightens himself, scanning what he could see of the room. Slowly and as quietly as they can, they move across the front of the store, eyeing each aisle as they pass.
One or two ghouls lay within the aisles but were already deceased. Still, they kept both hands on their pistol as they made their way through the building, scanning and looking for sign of more ferals.
As they reached the far side, they split up. The woman made her way to the pharmacy hoping to gleam some leftover chems for the group of survivors they brought back from Quincy. Bandages, medical supplies, and equipment were also collected and shoved into her duffle.
The man who had traveled with her scuffed through the mini diner for anything that may have been skipped by previous scavvers. He found a couple of boxes of Blamco mac-n-cheese, a can of pork and beans, and a bottle of purified water. It was a decent haul, but not nearly enough to feed their ever dwindling group.
He snapped his finger to get his partners attention and pointed to the aisles, indicating his movements. She nods and he moves away from the diner and into the aisles. The closest shelves held a single bottle of wine which was carefully bagged. The second aisle was blocked by the body of a feral that had been assumed dead. As he neared it, he kept his pistol trained on it's skull. It never moved. He allows himself to relax slightly as he scoops a few more cans of pork and beans into his bag.
She had given him a nod and watched as he left the diner, moving out of sight. Confident that he would be safe, she continues digging through the nearly empty shelves for undamaged product. It was pretty sparse. A bottle of Med-x, some buffout, and a single stimpack were her rewards.
She turned to leave and join up with her partner when a door she almost missed caught her eye. Hoping it to be a storage room, she sets her duffle bag on the counter and twists the knob of the door.
He had scoured every aisles and made his way back to the entrance where he scored a few bottles of Nuka-Cola left in a box in what was the cooler section. So far, it had been a decent haul. They would eat for a couple days off what he'd managed to find.
Feeling confident that he was safe, he carries his increasingly heavy load to the back of the store. He peered through the long deli windows and was able to make out another hallway toward the back. He sets his duffle bag down on the floor near the door to the back and steps through.
She opens the door and is disappointed to find an employee bathroom. On the floor was a skeleton who held a single bottle of Med-X grasped in it's finger bones.
The front of the deli was empty, not a single can or box was found among the myriad of shelves and debris. As he makes his way toward the back, the sound of the rumbling, which had been softly shaking the building grew louder.
She reaches down and plucks the bottle from the skeletons hand, smiling wryly. It wasn't much, but at least it was something. She stands, turning toward her bag, only to be greeted with a large heavy weight slamming into her torso. She cries out in surprise and pain as she tumbles backwards into the toilet. The impact jars her spine and makes her drop her weapon.
A large feral leaps on top of her, clawing at her face and tries to use its weight to press her down and keep her from escaping. She manages to draw her legs under it and kicks out as hard as she can, flinging it back into the pharmacy. In the time it takes for it to regain it's balance and renew it's charge, she's back on her feet.
She swings with her right followed by her left making hard contact both times. It staggers back with each hit then pauses, letting out a terrifying yowl. All around her she can hear the grunts and moans of other ferals in the aisles. Other ferals that should be dead.
He stops moving as the building shook a little harder this time, his ears filled with the sounds of softly falling dirt and debris. There was something else though, something just at the edge of his hearing. He felt like if he closed his eyes and strained his senses, he might just be able to make out what that sounds is. The harder he strained the more he became aware of a low hum. A distressed scream startles him from his investigation.
He spun toward the door that led out of the deli and stopped. Three feral ghouls stood at the doorway watching him. Their eyes were a glowing green, like they were on the verge of mutating into their glowing variations. He lifted his pistol and in the same instance, two of the three ghouls descended upon him. The larger one, covered in scav armor, stayed back, watching as the other two overwhelmed the minuteman.
He managed to squeeze the trigger once, sending a single beam into the shoulder of the one on the right. It didn't stop it from rushing into him and slapping the weapon from his grip, slinging most of his weight to the right. The feral on the left flung itself into his legs making him lurch forward. Between the two attacks, he's spun onto his back against the wall without a weapon. The armored feral takes a couple steps forward, emits a guttural hiss and lunges.
She swings again to shut it up, but the damage had been done. Dumbfounded, and panicked, she continues to work into it's face with her fists. It drops but is replaced by another set of grasping clawing shriveled up fingers. It is not alone.
The building rumbles, the walls shake, a scent emanates all around her that smells worse than any bloated-decayed body or refuse she's ever encountered. She scrunches her nose and blinks her eyes that are now furiously watering. It burns her nostrils and makes her choke. She struggles to fill her lungs as she desperately fends off the handful of re-animated ghouls that had piled into the already tiny space.
Their eyes glowed green but she could still see her reflection in them. The terror on her own face staring back at her was burned into her mind. In her last few moment before their fingers reached her, she could hear her partner struggling against his own small hoard of ghouls. She heard him gasp and sharply draw in air as he hit something hard. She heard the visceral sound of his belly being ripped open, his chest cavity cracking and popping as they tore at his ribcage. She closed her eyes to escape her reflection and send a silent apology to the survivors she'd never see again as the sound of her own flesh being rendered under sharp broken nails and gnashing teeth flooded her ears.