by Riva, Aline
Sweeping the first floor was as tough as the second, both floors were full of bodies and clearly there were no survivors...All the while, David's thoughts shifted between the two missing members of his group - Lauren and Maxie. As he thought about Maxie's injuries it was more than he could bear to imagine those creatures bursting in and Maxie unable to defend himself. As for Lauren, all he knew for sure was that she had been unarmed – surely when the attack had happened, Rick must have let her out? Maybe she had been given a weapon, maybe she was still alive...
He wanted to call their names, but calling out, in light of the recent invasion, could prove to be a very bad idea. Judging by the state of the corpses the undead had enjoyed a real feast here and then moved on – but that didn't mean the odd one or two would not still be lurking...disguised within the shifting shadows as the suns rays shone bright through the length of the food court.
On reaching the top floor, most doors were open and the apartment looked empty. There were no traces of blood up here save for the spare room across the hall where a blood stained mattress had been partly torn and an empty bed tipped at an angle.
David and Toby stood there looking about the room, seeing no trace of blood or a struggle, no evidence that the Mall King had even been present when the attack had happened...
David went over to the dresser and picked up Rick's spare metal hand, the one he had fashioned with an opening blade to be used in battle.
“So either he didn't have time to use it or...he wasn't here?” he wondered, setting the hand down once more.
Toby shook his head.
“It would be most unlike Rick Lester to go off and leave the mall especially after the breach the other day...Unless it was something exceptional, some reason why he chose to go out for a while. He took a liking to that woman we brought back here...Lois. Maybe they went somewhere, I'm grabbing at straws here, I'm just hoping...”
“Me too, I have people to look out for too,” David said quietly, his gaze shifting again to the bloody mattress as he recalled Rick telling them all that Maxie had been moved somewhere comfortable after his fall. The blood looked too dried to be that recent, if Maxie had been resting in that bed, it had been after the beating, not the fall...
“Maxie?” he called out, now taking a chance that the place was really free of the undead invaders.
Then he caught a sound, a weak sound coming from behind a closed door on the other side of the room. He exchanged a glance with Toby and the two men ran over, Toby with his gun raised to keep him covered in case it was a creature lurking.
“Maxie? Are you in there?” David said up close to the door.
“It's locked...can't reach it again...” Maxie called back weakly from behind the door and as Toby lowered his gun, relief was clear on the face of both men.
“Keep back,” David called out, and then he slammed his shoulder against the locked door that almost gave way, then he stepped back, gave it a kick and the door flew open as wood splintered and the lock snapped.
Maxie was on the floor, fully clothed minus his jacket, still wearing the same clothing he had worn when he fell. As he tried to pull himself upright, pain registered on his face as he tried and failed to move his legs.
“Don't just stand there!” he exclaimed, “Help me up, I've been hiding away in here from the new breed of zombie...the nude pervert! It was fat and naked and tried to eat the mattress!”
Despite the situation, David chuckled as he and Toby lifted Maxie to his feet, then both supported him as he tried and failed to walk a single step.
“Let's get you out of here,” David said.
“It's about time!” Maxie replied, then as they reached the doorway, as he kept his arms around both men's shoulders, Maxie looked about the empty upper floor in dismay.
“Where's Lauren?”
“When did you last see her?”
He thought for a moment then answered David's question.
“Right after the accident. She came to see me and then he had her locked up again. Told me he had a favour to ask from you, and said he wasn't letting her out until it was done.”
“Let's get you downstairs,” David replied as the two men helped him towards the empty lift, “We'll take you outside and then go back to the secure room...Oh god, I hope she's still in there!”
“If she is I know the code,” Toby replied, “And I doubt a corpse could work the unlock code so let's hope she's missed this nightmare completely!”
Then they half carried Maxie into the lift, closed the doors and headed for the ground floor.
Outside, as the sound of an approaching car made the others guarding the entrance look around, Tara saw David's car pulling up behind the sports cars, and then as Lois got out and Rick followed, Sandra gave a gasp.
“Oh no...this will kill him!” she exclaimed, “He can't go in there.. don't let him go in there!”
Ricks sights were set on the cars – especially the orange and black Lotus as the sunlight bounced off its sleek bodywork.
“I asked for water and you bring me a Lotus?” he said in delight, then he ran his hand along the side of each car as he passed it and laughed as he looked to the others.
“I take it I get to choose my car, right? Or are they all for me?”
He laughed again.
The others just stood there, backs to the open mall as they stood side by side, blocking his way. Then as he joined them, he saw the looks on their faces and his delight at the sight of the powerful cars swiftly faded as he realised the place was silent, then he looked back to the open gates and it registered: No guards on duty...
“What's going on?” he said as an anxious tone crept into his voice.
“Rick, something's happened -” began Nick, “You can't go in there – don't -”
Rick tried to push past him but Nick grabbed at him, Sandra did the same as he struggled.
“Let go of me! Take your hands off me, I run things around here. This is my mall my people need me -”
As he caught sight of the view over Sandra's shoulder of the inside of the mall and blood on the floor and bodies and body parts scattered, he stopped fighting as his body sagged and his face paled.
“NO!” he screamed, “NO! Let me in there, get them out...someone must still be alive.. there's women and kids in there too! I have to get them out!”
Tara joined Nick and grabbed at his jacket, holding on to his shoulders as the other two held him back. Shock had made his struggle weak, then Rick fell to his knees outside the mall, sobbing inconsolably.
Tara looked to Lois, who had tears in her eyes as she looked away, pale and shocked from the sight of the carnage within.
“A horde attacked,” Tara said quietly as she knelt down and placed her hands on his shoulders once more, this time to steady him, “There was nothing you could have done. If you had been here, you would have died too. David and Toby are in there now, searching for survivors. No one could have seen this coming. I'm sorry.”
He gave another sob and slumped in her arms, weeping heavily against her shoulder as she held him, letting him grieve for the terrible event that had happened in his absence.
As they reached the corridor that led to the secure room, the sound of chewing and greedy sucking filled the air. Both men stopped, looking on past the dead guards and the blood on the floor as the sight of death was all over this building and now nothing new, but here, as a lone creature sat on the ground in a pool of blood and gnawed on a severed arm, pausing to rip out muscle and veins as it chewed on a mouthful of human flesh, the sight was too much to bear as flesh hung from its lips as it fixed its eyes on the two men, snarling as its dead face screwed up in a mask of hatred.
David and Toby exchanged a glance, said nothing and raised their weapons, firing in unison, pumping two bullets into the head of the creature that fell back dead, this time to stay dead. Then they stepped over the bodies scattered about and went over to the locked door. Toby punched in the pass code and the lock slid back. H
e pushed the door open and Lauren stared at the sight of her rescuers entering the room, she was pale and shaking and tears streaked her face.
“What happened?” she whispered in a shocked voice.
“They're all dead,” David replied, then as she gave a sob he put his arms around her and held her as the frightened young woman wept in his arms.
By sunset, the group were packed up to leave.
David, Toby and Tara had gone back into the mall to retrieve what supplies could be taken with them – while they were loading up the cars with food and clothing and blankets and anything else they could fit in that wasn't blood stained that would be useful on the journey, Lois watched as Nick packed the boot of David's car with the clothing from the upper floor, along with weapons and the spare hand Rick had recently designed.
“It's all in there, Mr Lester,” Nick said as he closed the boot.
Rick stood leaning against the car, looking to the mall as the others came out for the last time.
“Are you sure they are all dead?” he said in a hushed voice.
“Yes,” Lois replied softly, “It would have been us too if we had stayed around...”
“Maybe I should have died with them,” Rick said, pain reflecting in his eyes as he looked to the open doorway and a pool of blood was caught by the fading sunset, making a horrible shimmer.
“No,” Lois told him, “It didn't happen that way. At least we're still alive and we can move on with David and the others.”
“But this was my home!”
Tears filled his eyes once again as he stifled a sob.
“All those people...Oh shit, I can't get my head round it... they're all dead!”
“We can't account for everyone,” she reminded him, “Toby said when he came out to pack the car that he thinks some of them might have got away. Maybe thirty, forty people...”
“Did the kids get away?” he asked as he blinked away tears.
She tilted her head and glanced at the gravel beneath her feet.
“I don't know...no one knows,” she replied, omitting the part where Toby had said there were so many body parts it was impossible to tell who had died because some had simply been torn to pieces...
“Maybe I should stay here,”Rick told her, looking so scared and lost in that moment that the man formerly called Mall King seemed a shadow of his former self.
“No, you're coming with us,” David said as he joined them, “We need to keep going.”
“And we need to do something about the victims in there,” Toby added, raising the subject he had been dreading, “It won't be long before some of them are up and walking again and that means yet more undead to worry about.”
“No,” David replied, “I have a solution for that.”
Then he glanced back to see the others had started getting into their cars. They were at a distance from the mall, so he reasoned it would be safe enough...
“I'll burn it,” he added.
Then he drew the petrol bomb from his pocket, lit the rag with a flick of a lighter and lobbed the bottle far into the mall, where it exploded deep in the building, igniting through the doorway of a former off license.
“That'll send the whole place up,” he remarked as the flames glowed brightly within.
Suddenly he was slammed against the car, Rick had him by the collar, his eyes blazing with rage.
“I TOLD YOU NO WEAPONS!” he yelled.
David grabbed his wrists, pulling back from his grip as Rick's metal hand enclosed about his collar caused the fabric to tear as he pulled free.
“It's gone!” he said sharply, “It's all gone, they're all dead! We have to leave! You're not the Mall King any more!”
Rick's anger slipped away as tears filled his eyes again, reminded of the immediate loss of lives.
“Then what do I have left?” he whispered.
“You're still alive,” David reminded him, “And so are we. So let's just keep going, it's all we can do now.”
There was a boom from inside the mall as the flames burned brightly and smoke began to billow out from the entrance.
Maxie gave a cry of pain as Lauren helped him into a nearby car. The journey would be rough on him, his back gave him constant pain, but at least he was ready to leave now.
“Where are we going?” Tara said as she looked to David.
“If you don't mind a suggestion,” Lois said cautiously, I know of a safe house – well, it used to be...I hope its still there... someone mentioned to me on my travels a few months back there's a place about thirty miles from here... a small town called Wintermarsh … its about eight miles away from the M25 and we could get there before midnight. There was an old theatre there, got turned into a bingo hall... parade of shops beside it... but years ago, beneath it there it used to be a huge world war two air raid shelter, under ground...The tunnels still exist and the shelter is intact. They say it was built for military use but then they moved operations further afield, they closed down the military part and kept the main shelter open for the public... I went down there a few years back when I was a teenager...okay, so maybe that was more like twenty years back...but trust me, the place would still be there. I heard some survivors had set up in there because I met someone heading that way...We should go for it.”
David nodded.
“It's a chance,” he replied, “And if it's over run with the undead, we can still keep going. You lead the way.”
Lois softly said Rick's name. He heard her, watched another explosion deep in the heart of the mall, then as more smoke billowed out along with the stench of burning flesh as the flames claimed the bodies, he turned away from the entrance, got into the car and set his sights on the road ahead, glaring towards the sun and pressing his foot against the metal accelerator as a means of expressing the remains of his anger and sadness, his rage transitioned through an almighty roar as the vehicles exhaust erupted with a popping flame.
“Don't look back,” Lois told him as another boom sounded from inside the burning plaza.
“I won't,” Rick whispered as a tear ran down his face, “I'll drive, you tell me the way to the safe house.”
“Sure,” she replied.
Then Rick released the brake, leading the way with a wheel spin and stench of burning rubber as the other cars followed, the convoy on the move once more, leaving the burning mall far behind them as the smoke from the building inferno rose high into the sky, the horror of it marring what could have been a beautiful sunset as the survivors went on their way, into the unknown with only hope to hold on to as they headed for the open road.
Chapter 9: Through Hells Mist
“I was their leader. They looked up to me. I promised everyone I'd keep them safe. I keep thinking about them, seeing their faces in my mind...I've got to take this hand off, it's pinching my wrist...I just want to sleep and wake up and find it's all been a nightmare. No, I want to wake up and find everything these past few months have been a bad dream. I just want the world back the way it used to be. Who packed my stuff for me, I can't remember? I hope they didn't forget my valium...”
“You can't take your hand off,” Lois reminded him, “You're driving, Rick!”
As she spoke, Lois glanced at him as he drove on down the darkened road, the bright headlights of the car shining a path through the darkness..
“I just don't want this to be happening...Why did they have to die...None of this is fair...Not on them, not on me...I have to survive and live with knowing how they died? I saw what happened in the plaza...I can't forget the blood...”
“Rick?”
He turned his head and met her gaze with a troubled look in his eyes.
“What?” he asked.
“Could you stop blaming yourself? You couldn't have saved everyone any more than you can put a stop to the undead roaming the whole of the world! You're not responsible. The dead were responsible for this, they took the lives, they breached the mall and they killed everyone inside. You couldn't have stopped it, you had
armed guards on patrol and they were killed too! It was a mass attack, it was sudden and beyond your control, have you got that?”
He blinked away tears as his heart ached as he thought again of the lives that had been lost.
“I just can't believe it ended that way so suddenly...I thought we were all safe.”
“I don't think safe has a real meaning any more,” Lois replied.
He shifted his head in agreement, now watching the road carefully as they drove on, over a bridge and then took a right turn and crossed a ghostly deserted junction, on to a wide road where Lois read the sign posts as they passed, keeping Rick informed, following the route.
In the car behind, David was following, driving carefully through the darkness along a road that used to be well lit - but now only their headlights guided them.
“What do you think about this safe house?” Tara asked, “It sounds like a good plan but if a plaza isn't safe, is an old underground shelter any better?”
“It might be,” he replied, “Lois said it used to be used for military work during the war – if it's solid the dead can't get in. I doubt if they will even know there are people underground.”
They sped on past houses standing ghostly and trees that clustered dark, as she wondered what was out there and how many of the reanimated dead might be lurking. Then a thought hit her and she drew in a breath, closing her eyes as she wished she could block it out.
“Oh shit no, no... Why did I have to think something like that?”
“Like what?” David asked as he kept his eyes on the road, wondering exactly when Lois was going to stop – they had passed a sign that said Wintermarsh over a mile back...
She glanced at him and then focussed on the view of the car in front as the headlights lit it up as she spoke again, hating the thought her mind had just conjured.
“What if we – the human race – end up living underground forever, the dead taking over the earth and us people stuck underground?”
“That won't happen,” David replied, “If there were no humans left they'd have no food source. They'd rot away to nothing, just degrade. I don't know how long it would take, but it would happen. They'd decay until they fell apart and that would be the end of it.”