by J. R. Knoll
The back of one opened and Zoe stood ready to jump out and go about her mission. Around her black belt were small pouches, her gun in its holster over her left hip and she wore a black utility vest that was closed and fitting her snugly over her white tee shirt. Tex stood behind her, his hand on her shoulder as they both looked to the shattered glass doors of the mall.
"Just remember everything I told you," he ordered. "Stay in contact and let us know what you find. Use your speed loaders and take shots sparingly. You have sixty rounds so try not to waste them."
She nodded and assured, "I'll be careful, Sergeant William." Her radio was in her hand and she looked down to it, knowing that it was her only contact to those who awaited her in the Stryker. She found herself not afraid, but anxious, and this showed on her face as she stared into the depth of the mall she was about to enter, a place she had been many times.
Looking over her shoulder to the Sergeant, she informed, "We used to come clothes shopping and stuff here. It's cheaper than the other mall, but I like the food court at the other one better. This is where I got my sparkly princess tee shirt."
He nodded and looked down to her. "Just remember we're looking for zombies and survivors this time, so try to stay focused."
"Okay," she sighed as she looked to the mall again.
There was shattered glass from the doors all over the floor and she walked gingerly over it, looking around her for any movement. With the .357 Magnum on her side, she felt rather safe and was sure that there was nothing inside that she could not handle. Turning right, she followed the pathway along shops that were familiar to her. Like the last mall, many stood open, but many had the cages down and were locked down tight. Bad memories of the last two times were still with her and her eyes panned around nervously as she felt her confidence begin to shake, and just the inklings of a nervous crawl in her belly.
Reaching the end of the path where a major department store sat, she looked to the cages that sealed the glass doors, gently grasping one with her hand as she looked inside. There was no movement, but there was quite a mess in there. She tried pulling up on the door, but found it locked. Time to move on.
Halfway back to the middle of the mall, she saw something ahead of her that was very familiar, a tee shirt shop that had always been one of her favorites. This one she went into and her mission would have to take a back seat to something else for a while.
Zoe strode a few steps into the store and stopped to look around her. It was much as she remembered with circular racks on which hung hangers of shirts. Hundreds of them! Along the walls were shelves and above them were shirts that were splayed out to be seen by all, and they were displayed all the way to the ceiling. This was a colorful, festive place and she had always loved to come in here. Now, though still colorful as she remembered, it seemed empty, somehow hollow, only an echo of the place she had enjoyed going so many times with her family.
She strode in further with slow steps, looking around her for what she sought. Rounding one of the circular displays, she panned back and forth to see everything, and when she looked ahead again, there was something on the far wall, someone! Seeing the zombie girl that stared back at her sent such a fright through her that she screamed and retreated a step. Reason returned to her quickly and she grasped her chest and drew a deep breath as she realized she was looking at her reflection in a mirror. With a little smile and a shake of her head, she turned her attention to one of the racks of shirts, these all red, pink and purple, yellow and orange, and she began to sort through them, moving them to one side one after another, and finally she found what she was looking for. A big smile found her lips as she pulled it off of the rack and held it in front of her, gazing at her hot pink prize that read Princess in silver glitter across the front. Hanging it back up, she reached for her vest and unfastened the three buckles that held it in place, then she lowered her arms and held them behind her as she allowed the vest to fall from her to the floor. Reaching to the bell of her shirt, she grasped it with both hands and quickly stripped it off, laying it on top of the display rack behind her, then she took the pink shirt from its hanger and slipped it on.
"Sergeant Morris to Zoe," her radio summoned. "Come in, Zoe."
She turned toward her vest and took the radio from her belt, looking to the vest that lay at her feet as she answered, "Hi, Sergeant Morris." She crouched down and picked up the vest, continuing with an enthusiastic tone, "I got a new princess shirt!"
"That's great, Princess," he commended patiently. "Find any zombies in there?"
"No, sir," she replied, still looking down at her vest. "I saw my reflection in a mirror in here and I didn't expect to. It scared me so bad I almost peed myself. I guess I'm still not used to how I look, that and I really wasn't expecting to see someone in here looking at me." She clipped the radio back onto her belt and shrugged back into the vest.
Tex had clearly been laughing when he spoke again. "Well, stay in contact, Kiddo."
Back into her vest, she took the radio from her belt and assured, "I will."
After taking the time to fasten the vest back, she wandered from the store and continued her search of the mall.
Reaching the other end, where the food court was, she made the full circuit and started around to the other side. There was a shop at the corner that held many edible gift selections, including many different cheeses, summer sausage, spices and the like. It always had an interesting odor about it and she liked the smells of the many spices mingling with the peppermint and other candies they kept in bulk. Her eyes were that way when she saw movement, and she froze.
A dog stepped into view from around one of the displays, a really big dog! What kind it was she was not sure, but it was black and looked something like a Rottweiler with a huge head. Its eyes were white with small dots that were the remnants of its pupils and it had lost a few patches of hair. It was not just sick. It was clearly infected, and a zombie dog was a threat on an entirely new level.
It looked right at her and just stared for a moment, then it lowered its head, its lips sliding away from its teeth as it growled a deep, menacing growl.
Zoe swallowed hard and backed away a step. As the dog advanced, she reached for the revolver, just grasping the grips of the gun as she retreated a little faster.
The dog stopped and so did Zoe. They stared at each other for a moment, then the dog sniffed, turned back the way he had come, and simply walked away.
Zoe found her heart pounding again and just watched as the dog disappeared into the store, and watched a while longer even after she could no longer see it. Swallowing hard, she drew a calming breath as she turned to continue her search of the mall, but twice she looked over her shoulder to make certain the dog was not following her.
After arriving at the starting point, she looked over the rail to the downstairs and scanned the floor below for a moment before she reached for her radio and called, "Princess to Sergeant."
"Go ahead, Princess," he replied.
"Found a dog," she reported.
"Infected?" Tex asked.
"I'm pretty sure," she answered. "I'm going to go downstairs now, okay?"
"Sure thing, Kiddo. We're going to come on in and set up a perimeter."
With a nod, she confirmed, "Okay," then she put her radio away and walked toward the stairs.
The downstairs was a mess. Debris, clothing and other merchandise was strewn everywhere. Windows were broken, store fronts were a wreck and the fountain that fed the pool in the center of the mall was not running, though water remained in the pool. There was a horrible smell as well, the unmistakable odor of rotting meat.
It just did not feel right. She slowly made her way along the walkway, moving around the debris that was cluttering the floor. She could only imagine what had happened, but it looked like someone had put up quite a fight.
At the end of this section she stopped to look around her. She heard a faint shuffle from a shop ahead and her eyes fixed on that broken doorway. Sh
e did not even take note of what kind of store it was, only that it was a mess within.
"Hello?" she called in a meek voice, hoping to find survivors. Though not really afraid of the zombies anymore, she could not shake off a feeling of foreboding that had a grip on her. Her spine stiffened as she heard something slide on the floor within, she heard that familiar moan. Unsteady footsteps drew closer and she backed away a few steps, her wide eyes locked on the store.
It came out wearing a tee shirt and tattered blue jeans. Its gray skin made it look like a shadow within the half darkened interior of the store and its dead eyes were locked on her in a distant stare.
New feelings welled up within her. This was the kind of thing that had killed her parents, her brother, her entire family! The medication she had taken began to falter and her anger boiled to the surface.
Zoe's eyes narrowed as it staggered from the store, and her lip curled up as her imagination showed her images of zombies killing her parents and her brother, the zombie that had bitten her. This overrode any fear she still felt. More than anything, she wanted to get even and needed nothing and nobody to justify to her that this thing and all like it did not deserve to live. With her lip curling up in an angry snarl, she reached for the revolver, pulled it from its holster and held it at her side. Slowly, her thumb pulled the hammer back and she stared back into the eyes of this monster that approached her. It was only about ten feet away. She could smell it, and when it moaned again, her anger was roused beyond her ability to control it.
Payback time!
She raised the gun as she strode toward the zombie a couple of steps, then she pulled the trigger and her weapon responded with a deafening bang and a flash of fire that gave way to a puff of white smoke.
A hole formed in the zombie's forehead and the back of its head blew apart. It staggered backward a few steps, then fell straight back and hit the floor flat on its back.
Zoe stared down at it for long seconds after. This was not a person. It was a thing. A murderous thing. It and creatures like it had ended her life, killed her family, brought the whole world down around her. In her mind, these nightmarish things had met their match, and she would get even with each and every one of them. This singular thought surged up from the recesses of her mind and began to take over what she thought about.
"Come in, Princess!" the radio called in Sergeant Morris' desperate voice.
Reaching across her belly, she took the radio in her free hand and raised it to her mouth, replying, "Yes?"
"We heard a shot," he informed. "Are you okay down there?"
"Yeah," she confirmed, still staring at the vanquished zombie.
"Did you shoot?" he asked.
"Yep," she replied.
"Is there a zombie down there with you?" he pressed.
Raising her chin as she stared down at the still form before her, she replied, "Not anymore."
Though her ears were ringing a little, she did not put her weapon away. She liked the feel of it in her hand, the sense of security it gave her. As she continued her search, she looked down at the weapon, its pink grips, cylinder and trigger. It was power. It was vengeance against the creatures that had killed her family. Still, that power was a little frightening, though in the moment she did not care.
The odor of decay grew strong as she approached another store, some kind of discount store that had many small items from sewing kits to toothbrushes and much more. That store was also torn apart on the inside and the smell of rotting flesh was strong within. It was an offensive, rancid smell, and she knew what it meant.
Squaring up on the store front, she looked inside and finally shouted, "Come out of there!"
Something within responded to her voice and she could hear movement. Something was knocked over and crashed to the floor and she held her weapon in front of her, right about belly button level. With narrow eyes and her brow low over her eyes, Zoe watched for movement, and finally saw it at the back of the store.
"Come on!" she shouted, pulling the hammer back on her gun. "I have something for you!"
Two of them were in there and seemed to be responding to her voice, and they both staggered toward her.
"Yeah," she snarled. "Come on out where I can see you."
When they were only twenty or so feet away, she raised the gun, took careful aim, and fired, hitting the closest of them right above the eye. As he fell, she aimed at the other one and fired as well, striking it right at the bridge of the nose.
"Come in, Princess," Morris called over the radio.
Staring down at the zombies, she took her radio from her belt and raised it to her mouth. "Yes, Sir?"
Amusement was clear in his tone as he asked, "You going to save any for us?"
She smiled and replied, "Nope."
Arriving at the lower level exit, which opened to a parking lot on the other side of the building, she paused to look out into the desolation there. Those doors were not broken and stood closed as she found herself walking slowly toward them.
As she pushed one open and strode slowly outside, she looked around at the empty and quiet parking lot. She had never seen it empty before. It was eerie and gave her a chill as her eyes panned from left to right, then right to left. But for the wind blowing about some of the small trees that were scattered about the medians, there was no movement, no sound but for the wind. The city seemed dead from here and for a moment she felt absolutely alone.
Zoe walked to the edge of the driveway that circled the mall, stopping at the curb to see what she could see. To her right she saw a motor home parked right at the curb about fifty feet down the road from where she was. It was facing away from her and she was largely looking at the back of it, and she noticed that the windows had plywood over them, and each small sheet had a small slit cut into it. She blinked and leaned her head.
Sergeant Morris summoned over her radio, "Hey, Princess."
She absently raised the radio to her mouth, her gaze fixed on the motor home as she answered, "Yes, Sir?"
"Where you be?" he asked.
"I'm outside on the other side of the mall," she replied. "It's weird quiet out here."
"Did you finish your sweep of the inside?" he asked."
"No sir," she answered. "There's one of those R.V.'s out here with the windows boarded up and it's parked right at the curb. That's a fire zone."
"Sure is," he confirmed. "Stay put and keep an eye on it. I'm going to come down and we can have a look."
"Okay," she complied. As she waited and watched the motor home, it rocked ever so slightly as if someone had walked from one side of it to the other. The slit in the plywood that covered the back window had a shadow fall over it and she felt that creeping in her stomach. Someone was looking at her from in there and she found her grip on the gun tightening. Swallowing hard, she walked toward it a few steps, stopping when she was about twenty feet away.
Something growled near the building and she looked that way. The landscaping was a little neglected and the shrubs and bushes were starting to grow out of their manicured forms. Her eyes panned back and forth, then her spine went rigid as something in there growled again. Turning fully toward the landscaping, which was only a few feet from the brick veneered wall of the mall, she approached a couple of steps, holding her revolver ready as she scanned the bushes for whatever was in there. With the gun in her hand, she felt like she had an advantage over anything that would try to get her, but a little fear still crept into her, and that nervous crawl began in her stomach again.
When the breeze shifted, she got a whiff of that familiar carrion odor, then a breath shrieked into her as one of the shrubs moved.
Something shuffled in the dead leaves and twigs behind the shrubs.
Zoe backed away, her wide eyes searching for the terror that she felt was stalking her.
It exploded from the bushes with an animalistic roar and sprang at her with speed that she did not expect and a ferocity that was worthy of her nightmares. Dressed in a tattered red t
ee shirt and black running shorts, its black hair was a ratty mess, its hands dirty and its skin a lighter gray than the others. Its eyes were black pools surrounded by a little white and its teeth were stained black and brown and yellow. Something dark stained its shirt, something that could only be blood and it moved too fast for Zoe to react.
She backpedaled and raised her weapon, only managing two shots before it was upon her. Both bullets hit it in the chest and did not even slow it.
It knocked her hand aside and the gun from her grip as its other hand found the nape of her neck and clamped on with the grip of a hawk.
Zoe screamed as they fell, pushing back against its chest as it bore down on her, its teeth snapping at her face and throat. Its breath stank of death and growls and snarls erupted from it as it pressed her to the concrete, pressed its attack on her. One of her legs was pinned beneath one of the zombie's and she kicked at it with the other. It tried to lift her toward it with the grip it had around her neck, but she had it at bay, though barely. Its other hand clawed at her, catching her shirt at the neckline and it tore her new shirt away from her neck and shoulder.
Another scream exploded from her as she fought back as best she could, trying in vain to push it off of her. She knew she was no match for it and found herself starting to cry, and finally she screamed, "Help! Please help me!"
It got its hand and arm around her back, the other around her neck, and slowly she began to lose the battle to push it away.
"Hey!" an unfamiliar man's voice shouted from the motor home.
The zombie stopped its attack and looked that way, its lips sliding away from its teeth as it found a new target.
Zoe also looked, seeing a young man dressed in jungle camouflage, combat boots and a camouflage hat with a white skull and crossbones in the middle of it. He walked on big black combat boots and finally stopped about ten feet away from them. In his hands was a huge shotgun with black pistol grips front and back, a flashlight mounted beneath the barrel. The butt stock was black metal and folded over the receiver. Tearing her eyes away from his weapon, she saw in his face an intensity that she had seen on the faces of the soldiers. He was clean shaven, rather young and had long black hair and rather dark eyebrows. Icy blue eyes bored into the zombie and that dark brow was held low over his eyes.