Moving much more quickly than I would have given them credit for, they were almost upon me before I thought to act. As quickly as my untrained reactions could make it happen, I brought the shotgun up and pointed it at the lead creature's mid section, braced the butt of the gun against my hip and pulled the trigger. The sound of that gun going off in the enclosed confines of the store may have startled me more than my attackers, but the result of the blast was even more shocking. It was fortunate that I had aimed at the thing's chest, as I had forgotten how much of a kick these weapons maintained.

As the gun exploded, sending '00' buckshot screaming toward my adversary, the 'kick' caused the barrel to jump several inches from where I had been aiming, so the spray of shot struck the creature full in the face. To my shock and horror, the ball-bearing sized shot literally exploded the Unlucky's head and the force of the impact lifted the creature from its feet as brains, blood and bone sprayed in a wide arc behind it. The nearly decapitated body slammed to the floor and slid several feet backwards in the gore, even as I was pushed back by the recoil of the blast and had to regain my own balance.

The second Unlucky paused only long enough to lick the fresh blood and flecks of yellow brain matter from its lips and chin and it was charging me, again. I was momentarily stunned by the result of my own violence and by the extent of destruction I had caused, but I had little time to contemplate taking a single life, as the second creature was suddenly on top of me. I had the sense to point the shotgun at it and pull the trigger, but to my dismay, discovered that I had neglected to pump another shell into the chamber.

With its claw-like fingers only inches from my face, I rammed the barrel of the gun into its gut as hard as I could. It gasped fetid breath at me and staggered back a step, so I quickly slammed another shell into the breech and attempted to bring the barrel up to target the creature. It had already recovered, however, and reaching forward, grasped the barrel of the shotgun and tried to pull it from my hands.

I nearly panicked, as its strength was formidable, despite the emaciated look of the thing. Before I could react, it succeeded in jerking the gun forward, but since my finger was still on the trigger, that motion only caused the weapon to discharge; the blast at such close range nearly taking the creature's legs off, just above the knee. The force of the blast threw it backward and the creature landed on its stomach amid a pool of blood and gore that spread out in a widening circle across the floor.