by Brett, Cal
“There’s a door.” She said shoving on the emergency bar and wincing at the loud squeak it made as it slid in its long unused track. She heard the lock disengage but the door didn’t move. “Working on it.” She turned and put her back against it and pushed with her legs.
Whack! She heard Robbie strike down another zombie and it hit the ground with a heavy thud. She heaved with all her might and felt the door give but something seemed to push back against it. Not zombies, she thought, something heavy leaning against it.
“There’s something blocking it from outside.” She grunted. “Can you help?”
She could see Robbie’s silhouette just outside the doorway and the shadows of the creatures lurching toward him and knew the answer.
“No,” he said and lashed out at another undead cranium. “I can hold them here for a few minutes but if I move, we’re fucked.”
She heaved against the door and felt whatever was on the other side give just a little. The door slid open a few inches and she could see the gloom of an interior hallway through the crack. The high walls were unfinished drywall so she knew it was likely a back access for the retail shops in the building. She shoved again and something slid down clattering loudly on the other side of the door. The crack opened wide enough that she could press her boot against the door frame for better leverage.
If she had more time she would be more careful, more worried about what might be waiting in the gloomy hallway, but she could see Robbie swinging non-stop and knew they had to get through quickly. She could hear his breathing getting heavy and knew he couldn’t keep it up much longer. They would deal with the other side when they got there.
She let the door press back against her and she quickly counted “1, 2, 3…” before shoving with everything she had. She felt the strain from her calves to her thighs while sweat poured down her face from the exertion. She heard the cracking of wood and slowly something behind her began to give. Gradually the gap widened, 4 inches, 6 inches, finally to about a foot. Kelly didn’t wait any longer, she held the door with her hip while she unstrapped her backpack and slung it through.
“Any luck back there!?” Robbie shouted, no longer concerned about the noise.
“Throw me your pack!” Kelly called back.
Robbie snatched the pack from his shoulders and threw it towards the sound of her voice. He couldn’t stop swinging for long. A line of undead were now surging through the front of the store. Robbie kicked over a display to slow them down and keep them from flanking him. Luckily they were spread out and he was able to stop them at the office doorway but his arms and shoulders were straining. His muscles burned from the work out and he knew he couldn’t keep up the defense. It took a considerable effort to sink a hatchet into a skull, even an old rotted one, and quickly pull it back out. He knew he only had a few more swings before he would miss, or glance off or get the blade stuck. Then what?
Kelly shoved Robbie’s pack through the opening and shouted, “Come on!”
Robbie kicked hard at the two lumbering creatures in front of him sending them back into the arms of the three that followed. The group went down in a gnashing, flailing heap while Robbie spun and ran towards the back of the office, praying that Kelly had found a way out.
Kelly wedged herself in the door to keep it open and as Robbie neared, she pushed through. The door started to close but Robbie hit it as hard as he could and jammed himself into the opening. It was a tight fit. Almost too tight. He had to slow down to push himself through the narrow space. The creatures were right behind him and he could see their empty eyes and snapping jaws in the dim light. He pressed for all he was worth.
Half of him was in the hallway and half was in the office. One of the things grabbed his right arm while Kelly grabbed his left. Robbie was certain the next sensation would be that of teeth biting into him when he suddenly broke free and tumbled into the hall. Kelly scrambled around and slammed her foot against the door to close it before bracing herself against it.
She saw that a stack of bed frames, still wrapped in plastic, had been leaning on the door but had slid down, giving them just enough room to escape. The door began to vibrate as dead hands began slapping at it from inside.
“It won’t be long before one of them hits that exit bar,” Kelly said holding the door shut while Robbie got to his feet. “Push those bed frames back up against it.”
Robbie scrambled up and shoved the frames against the door. Then he braced one against the opposite wall of the narrow hall to keep them in place. “That won’t hold long but might buy us a few minutes,” he gasped.
“Then we better get moving,” Kelly said as they both strapped their bags back on.
Along the hallway every 20 or so feet, in both directions, was a doorway similar to the one from which they had just emerged. Several of the doors, shops that must have faced the street, had small windows which let in narrow shafts of light that reflected on the pale drywall. The glow was just enough to see that the hallway was littered with furniture and items from the stores. Pointing towards the darker end of the hall, Kelly said, “This way leads away from the street. Maybe we can find a way to the other side of the building.”
“Ok,” Robbie snapped the last of his pack’s straps in place and motioned for her to go ahead. “Watch your step. This place is a major fire hazard. I hope the Fire Marshal doesn’t see this shit.”
“Shh,” Kelly hushed as she started down the hall.
As they walked away the sound of their pursuers groans and slapping echoed through the hall behind them. Their movement was slow but methodical as they made their way through the dusty junk and debris. Several times they had to stop and help each other over precariously stacked desks and chairs. They had seen this before. It was a sign of the last desperate struggle of some person or group. Furniture was stacked at choke points to hold back the undead long enough to retreat a little further. There were no bodies here and the dust was thick so whoever it was had either escaped or gotten up and wandered away a long time ago.
They followed the hall through several turns as it continued along behind the building’s retail space. Finally they reached an intersection where three halls came together in front of a wide service door. There was no window on the door but they guessed that it must lead into a public area of the building. Kelly quietly approached and leaned her ear close to the door. Robbie raised his eyebrow in an unspoken question of whether she heard anything. She shook her head, ‘no.’
Robbie looked back down the hallways coming into the intersection. They were dark. Being off the main street, those shops didn’t have the natural light shining in. He looked back at Kelly and used two fingers to point at the door and shrugged, another silent question. ‘Go through?’
Just then there was a click and clatter from the direction they had come. A door had opened somewhere behind them. Maybe not the door they had come through, but somewhere back there the creatures had found their way into the service hallway. The echoes of their shuffling feet scraping over concrete and their bodies impacting and dragging along the walls reverberated through the empty air. They both knew it wouldn’t be long before the animated corpses were tripping over the collected debris and discarded furniture scattered in the hall. They were far enough away to escape but the noise would raise the curiosity of any other undead who might be lurking in the area. They needed to go quickly.
“Crap!” Kelly whispered, raised her axe handle and pushed open the door. She held it open for a moment, just long enough to be sure there was nothing waiting immediately on the other side, before stepping through. Robbie followed her with his hatchet ready.
They stepped into a short hallway. On the left and right were cavernous openings, which smelled of earth and mold, marking entrances to what were once public restrooms. A large plastic garbage can sat near a set of water fountains. Robbie grabbed it and slid it over in front of the double doors they had come through. Kelly gave him a questioning look.
“It won’t s
top them,” Robbie whispered, “but we might hear them when they come through.”
Kelly accepted the explanation with a nod and they stepped to the mouth of the hall. Beyond, there was a large atrium and food court. Light streamed in from above through the clouded tiles of an ornate raised glass ceiling. Aside from a few overturned chairs and a layer of mold on the floor, the area was surprisingly undisturbed. Rows of small fast food counters surrounded the court. Their brightly colored facades were faded but still recognizable. They scanned for movement or human figures but saw none. Anything could be hiding in the dark recesses of the restaurants but that didn’t pose an immediate threat.
“I think that’s the main entrance down there.” Kelly said pointing to the right. Down some stairs was a long row of glass doors, a small gap and then another set of doors leading out onto the street.
“The security gates are down,” Robbie indicated the metal lattice that stretched down over the doors on the far side.
There was a clang and a crash somewhere in the corridor behind them.
“No way to get them up in time.” He said looking back.
“I think that takes us back to the main street anyway. Back where we started,” Kelly opined. “If we cut through the mall there has to be a back entrance or parking garage we can get out through.”
“Ok let’s go,” Robbie agreed as another crash sounded behind them, “we can’t stay here.”
Chapter 7
Keeping low they ran through the food court and out into the central concourse of the mall. Huge decorative planters filled with lush, fake grasses and trees gave them cover but also might hide other things. In the center of the concourse, a bank of rusted escalators lead to a second level. Robbie glanced up but didn’t see any movement there either. He hoped there weren’t any jumpers upstairs.
“There,” Kelly pointed. At the far end of the hall, just in front of a big box department store, a light was shining in from the side. That has to be one of the exits. Let’s go.”
They moved quickly down the wide hallway, trying to step quietly while keeping low and watching the corners. The corridor was about 100 yards long and lined with the famous brands and stores that had filled up so much of their lives back in the day. Each had large plate glass windows that once displayed the latest styles and products. The windows were now clouded with dust and mold making it hard to see beyond the signs hanging against them. In many, there were unmoving human shaped figures that seemed to be standing sentry over the long-closed shops. They hoped those were mannequins but kept their movement to the middle of the hallway just in case.
As they neared the end, they heard a thump and rattle that could only be the plastic trash can tumbling to the floor. Immediately after that, they heard the slapping and moaning that signaled the arrival of a large group of flesh eaters.
They reached the entrance to the retail store and turned left to follow the light into the side hall. Ahead they spotted another row of large glass doors and beyond that, the ground floor of a parking garage. They sped to the doors and skidded to a halt just in front of them.
“Shit!” Robbie cursed. Here too, the security gates were down. The metal bars were thin and they hadn’t seen them until they got close. The gates rattled as Robbie pulled on them but they were locked tight.
“Stop!” Kelly whispered loudly. “They’ll hear you. We’re going to be trapped.”
They turned and ran back to the main hall. Down by the escalators they could see movement as figures began shambling out of the food court
They looked around frantically for another exit but found that all the doors were locked and all the stores had their security shutters down.
“God damn!” Robbie said under his breath. “What fucking Mall Cop sticks around to lock everything up during a zombie, fucking, apocalypse?”
“We have to go back to the escalators,” Kelly said out of breath. “Maybe there is another way out upstairs. But, we have to go now before there are too many to get by.”
“Go,” was all Robbie said as they sprinted back towards the growing crowd of undead shoppers.
In moments, they were back at the intersection in front of the escalators, dodging through a few dozen tattered undead figures. The creatures seemed to be lost. Their faces had the vacant look of someone who has entered a room but forgotten what they came for, until Robbie and Kelly dashed into their midst. This seemed to give them renewed purpose and they suddenly began to jerk about to follow the tasty morsels suddenly almost in arms reach. The morsels didn’t slow though, they ran ahead, pushing and shoving the zombies out of their way before they could react.
Kelly was in front and bolted up the unmoving escalator, choosing the one on the right out of old habit. Right behind her, Robbie glanced over at the food court as they ascended and saw that it was filling up fast. A collective groan rumbled through the horde as a thousand dead eyes turned to watch their dinner disappearing upstairs. Less than an instant later the groan turned to a roar as the creatures bared their teeth and began a stampede towards them.
The pair reached the top and sprinted straight along the upper level. Robbie was thankful to find that this floor seemed as deserted as the previous with nothing but clouded shop windows along their path. Looking down over the railing, he saw that many of the zombies had stayed on the first floor and were following them from below. They shambled along with their arms outstretched as if begging their prey to jump down to them. He would have laughed except, looking back, he noticed that an equal number had managed to maneuver up the escalator and were spilling onto the landing behind them.
Their hearts raced as they reached the hallway leading to another exit.
“Dammit!” Kelly spat as they again skidded to a halt. A van had rammed into the gate effectively blocking the way.
Robbie dropped to his knees hoping to see a way under the van but the gate was tangled up tightly in its undercarriage. In his mind he did the math and realized they might be able to get it undone if they had time. But, looking back down the hall he realized they didn’t have that luxury.
Kelly frantically pulled at the doors leading off the hallway but they all seemed to be locked tight. Like Robbie, she considered, just for a second, that they might be able to work a door open but she came to the same conclusion. No time! Undead figures shuffled towards them less than 30 yards away. They would be fighting for their lives in less than a minute and given the size of this group she knew it would be a losing battle.
She pulled out her bow staff and set her feet. She knew they would die but at least they would go down fighting. She decided if this was the end, she did not want to be cornered so she began walking intently towards the creatures. She intended to greet them and introduce them to the business end of her stick.
Two approached her and went down with heavy cracks to the head. Behind them were three more and behind them at least a hundred. Kelly started swinging. She was so focused she almost didn’t hear Robbie calling her from behind.
“Kelly!” Robbie called. “Over here! Come back! What the hell are you doing?! Get up here!”
She glanced back to see Robbie scaling one of the large columns that ran all the way up to support the glass ceiling. It was made with interwoven crossbars that she had assumed to be decorative. In an instant she dropped back, darted to the column, grabbed the highest rung she could reach and began climbing for her life. The throng of hungry zombies slammed into the column right behind her. Swinging their arms at her feet, they desperately grabbed after her as she pulled herself up and out of range. They howled in starving frustration as the thing they wanted to eat got away.
“Oh shit,” Kelly gasped as she caught her breath at the top. “That was too close.”
“You ok?” Robbie asked.
“Yea,” she sighed breathing heavily. “Just another day almost getting eaten by zombies.”
“It’s not over yet,” Robbie said, apologetically nodding behind her.
Kelly swung her hea
d around half expecting to see the undead swinging after them through the rafters like monkeys. Instead, she saw that there was a lattice of girder trusses stretching out from each of the columns that held up the frames for the rooftop windows.
“Oh…” she said letting out her breath as she realized what was next.
“See that ledge over there above the store fronts?” Robbie asked. “We’ll have to go across hand to hand but once we get there we can break one those windows and climb out onto the roof. There has to be a service ladder or some way down from there.”
“Yea,” Kelly tried to sound confident but her uncertainty was clear. It was a long way to hand over hand and although she knew she was stronger than ever, she wasn’t sure she had the upper body strength to make it.
“You can do it,” Robbie said encouragingly. “It’s only what? 20 feet to the ledge? Easy day.”
“The only easy day was yesterday,” Kelly answered trying to reassure herself as she rested her head against the cool metal of the column.
“Come on, Kel,” Robbie said, “we can’t go down, and we can’t stay here. We can do this.”
“I know,” she said, “I just hate it. I’m starting to think we shouldn’t have killed Trent. At least we would be alive and safe.”
“You know that’s not true!” Robbie exclaimed. “You know he was going to kill us as soon as he got tired of us. Now stop talking shit and let’s get across that beam!”
Robbie scrambled around to Kelly and reached up to grab the truss. “I’ll go first. After I’m across, you follow. Ok?”
“Got it,” Kelly replied looking down at the surge of snapping ghouls that surrounded the column and seemed to fill up every inch of space below. She didn’t like the idea of climbing across the ironwork but didn’t see any other options.
Robbie grabbed the bar with both hands and pulled hard to test it. The ironwork didn’t budge so he lifted his weight off the column and slowly let himself hang freely over the hungry crowd below. He immediately felt the strain on his fingers and palms. He was strong but not used to holding all of his weight in this way. A shot of panic ran through him but he knew there was no way down and no other way to escape so he swung himself forward, grabbed the truss further out and began making his way across as quickly and carefully as possible.