Tristan:"Welcome to the mall," Chuck says as the four of us approach the ruined shopping center. Surrounded by empty parking lots and dead trees, the mall is nothing more than a bunch of broken store windows and torn posters everywhere."So the battery and the spark plugs are in there," Rebecca says, looking at Chuck."Yup," Chuck replies, his shotgun resting over his shoulder."Hmm," I say, holding my shotgun. "I'll admit, I haven't been to a lot of malls, before or after the chimera's invasion, but malls don't usually have car shops. Do they?""They don't," Chuck says as he walks toward the front door. I look at Rebecca and Bailey. The two of them look at me. I shake my head and shrug my shoulder before following Chuck."Hey," Bailey says as she too follows after Chuck. "Wait. I don't get it. If this mall doesn't have a car shop, then how do you know there's a battery and spark plugs in here?""Because a few months ago, Lincoln and I saw a military helicopter crash through the mall
Tristan:"What do you mean by you don't know where the hell the stairs are," I ask. "How the hell can you not know if there are stairs or not?""Did you not hear the part where I said this part of town is filled with infected," Chucks says, "Because it's filled with infected, I don't come here a lot whole. So excuse me if I have no darn idea where the stupid stairs are."I roll my eyes."I saw that," Chuck says."I wasn't hiding it," I reply. I get up and look around. "Stairs. Stairs. Where the hell are the stairs?"I keep on looking and looking until I see a sign. There, flat on the floor, covered in trash, is a sign with the words "stairs" printed on it. It seems to be pointing toward the right hallway."There's a sign on the floor," I whisper, pointing it out. "Assuming it just fell and no infected kicked it around, the stairs are to our right.""That's a big if," Chuck says before he shrugs his shoulders. "Then again, what the hell?"Chuck is the first to make a move. He silently
Tristan: "Hold on," I say, holding onto the inside of the helicopter as the infected outside shakes back and forth. "Son of a bitch," Chuck shouts as the shaking causes him to fall over. Tumbling over and over, he finally manages to pick himself up. "Hey! Knock it out!" Chuck pumps his shotgun and places it against the window of the helicopter. "No," I scream, rushing forward and slapping the gun out of the way. "We don't need arms in here swinging at us, trying to grab us!" "What do we need then," Chuck asks, falling into a seat and struggling to sit still. "An exit," I answer, looking around. "What we need is an exit." "As far as I can tell," Rebecca says, grabbing onto a seat. "There are two exits, and they're both blocked by hungry, hungry infected! Idea? Anyone?" "Don't look at me," Chuck says, "I didn't even want to come here in the first place, and Old Man Jenkins won't allow me to shoot my gun." "You shoot your gun," I say, "You open a door for them. I'll figure somet
Bailey:The infected seeing the blood from Rebecca's hand drives them even crazier and they start to shake the whole helicopter. As they shake it, they tip it over, and before I can do anything, I slide off."Crap," I yell, barely managing to hold on. One hand grabbing onto the other, I keep both of them wrapped around the helicopter's tail.Struggling to keep from falling, I look at Rebecca, Tristan, and even Chuck. Rebecca and Drifter are also hanging, trying their best not to fall."Hold on," Chuck says, pulling Drifter back on. "Ahh fuck. You're one heavy bastard.""Wait, wait, wait," Drifter says, hitting Chuck's back. "Stay still! Stay still!""What?"Without answering, Drifter fires at the infected once more. He shoots and kills about three infected that were grabbing Rebecca's foot. Now that there's nothing pulling her down, Rebecca can pull herself up."Way to go, hero," Chuck says, "You saved the damsel in distress.""I am going to kill Chuck for calling me that," Rebecca wh
Tristan: Slowly walking up to me, Chuck turns around and looks at Lincoln. "Damn," Chuck says, staring. Like me, he notices the revolver in Lincoln's hand. "His favorite gun," I say, pushing Chuck aside. Bending down, I pry the revolver from Lincoln's hand. Pushing the clip open, I look inside. "Careful with that," Chuck says, "There's a reason why that was Lincoln's favorite gun. It may look like just a simple revolver, but that gun had enough power to shoot through a dozen infected." "That explains Lincoln," I say, putting the clip back. "One bullet is missing." Chuck and I look back at Lincoln. "Thanks," I say before clearing my breath. "For everything." "Likewise," Chuck says. "I mean, you were an ass when we first met, and you were an ass a few hundred times afterward, but still, thanks for everything." Chuck and I nod our heads and leave. Walking back into the hallway, we see both Rebecca and Bailey standing side-by-side. "Hey," Rebecca says. "What was that? Is someone
Tristan: "This is bad," Chuck says before slamming the hood down. "Well, it's bad but it's not so bad." "Define not so bad," Bailey asks. "Well for starter," Chuck answers, "All our fixes yesterday almost completely drained the battery. There isn't much juice left in it." "Fuck," I say, shaking my head. "What does that mean? Another trip back to the mall?" "You blew up the helicopter," Rebecca says. "Whatever parts were left in there are gone." Once more, I shake my head. "Don't have a heart attack, grandpa," Chuck says. "I said almost. The battery is almost drained. Almost drained. I also said there isn't much juice left in it. Meaning there's a little bit left over. Not enough for the three of you to drive out of here but enough to jumpstart her if you give her a push." "Give her a push," I repeat. "What the hell are you talking about?" "Come on grandpa. Haven't you ever heard the phrase pop a clutch?" "Pop a what," Rebecca says. "If you call me grandpa one more time, I'l
Tristan: "Chuck," I scream as the infected bites down on his arm. Chuck screams as he shakes his arm but the infected wouldn't let go. Eyeing the car, Chuck grabs the infected by its head and slams it against the car over and over. After the fifth time, the infected opens its mouth and falls to the ground. "Chuck," I yell, running to see Chuck's arm. With a gun in my hand, I prepare to do it. I prepare to shoot Chuck. It sounds cruel. It sounds harsh, but it's better than being an infected. It's better than being a mindless zombie, only focusing on finding and eating. As I approach Chuck, I notice his wound. "What the hell," I say, not seeing any blood. Instead, I see something soft and white. "Relax," Chuck yells, seeing the gun in my hand. "And don't shoot me. At least not yet." "What the hell," I say again, pointing at what is supposed to be a bite mark. As I look closer, I realize what is going on. "Are you, are you wearing some sort of body armor?" "It's called padding," Ch
Bailey: "Will you knock it off," Rebecca yells from the front passenger's seat. "No," Tristan yells from the back seat. "Come on Bailey! Stop the car! You've been driving for hours! It's time to call it a night." I look out the window and see the moon floating high in the night sky. It accompanies by a bunch of stars around it and some dead trees beneath. "I'm not tired," I say. Tristan kicks the back of my seat and jerks me forward a bit. "Real mature." "I don't care if you're tired or not," Tristan says, "I care that it's nighttime. Don't you remember what I said before? Don't you remember anything? During the night, the infected are more active. They come out and hunt for food. Us!" "We're in a car," I say, "By the time any infected see us, we'll be five miles from them. You don't have to worry." "Of course, I have to worry," Tristan replies. "It doesn't matter if we're on foot or wheels, the infected will not stop us. They will see us and they will chase us until they are e
Tristan Harlow:"Get out of here," Marcus screams before swinging his hand. Looking right at me, I stop sneaking toward the soldiers and look closer at Marcus. He's holding up his hand, and I can see something small and silver hanging from his finger.Just as I realize the thing hanging from his finger is a pin, an explosive kicks me into the air and knocks me back. Screaming as I hit the ground, a loud ringing sound pierces my ears."Ahhh," I say, slamming my hands against my ears. "Fuck."Despite the ringing sound in my ears, the overwhelming headache, and the aching chest, I still push myself up."Marcus, what the...hell?"As I push myself up and look, I don't see Marcus anywhere. Instead, I see three dead soldiers lying on the ground near me."These are the three soldiers that surrounded Marcus," I think, "But where the hell is Marcus?"About to run to where I last saw him standing, I stop
Rebecca:"What the hell are you talking about," I ask. "Marcus, come on! Get over here.""How," Marcus asks. He lifts his camouflage shirt and shows me his bloody chest."Son of a bitch," I say, covering my mouth as I step back. Marcus's stab wound is worse than I expected. Even though it's wrapped, there is still blood flowing out of it. The area around the wound is black. Looking at Marcus, I finally notice him. He is barely standing straight. His body and face are drenched in sweat and he's as pale as a ghost.Biting his tongue as he pulls down his shirt, Marcus looks to the right."There," Marcus says, pointing at one of the bunker's walls. "That, over there, is the maintenance tunnel I mentioned earlier. 20 years ago, when the bunker was being built, the construction workers used it to move supplies and vehicles in and out of here. Afterward, the bunker was constructed and they sealed the entrance.""They sealed the ent
Marcus Fellow: "Get down," I yell, jumping over Rebecca and shielding us. A second later, gunfire destroys the wooden pallets, and wood chips are raining down on us. Staying on top of Rebecca, doing my best to protect her, I look behind when the wood chips stop raining. Pushing myself up, I look through the wooden pallets and see the soldier who was shooting at Rebecca dead on the floor. As I look at his dead body, I see his weapon, an assault rifle, lying beside him. "Rebecca," I shout, "There's an assault rifle! Grab it now!" Rebecca nods her head and hands me her double-barrel shotgun. "Cover me," Rebecca says. Running directly into the line of fire between the bunker people and the traitorous soldiers, I do my best to cover Rebecca. Runni
Rebecca: I scream as I crouch down and cover my head. "Fuuuccckk," I yell as the soldiers keep shooting at us. They keep Marcus and I pinned down, not giving us a chance to fire back. Among all the gunshots, I can still hear footsteps quickly approaching. "They're advancing," I think, crouching down even further when a piece of the wall comes off and almost hits me. Still hiding behind the wall, I stick out my hand and blind fire. I fire two shots and then pull back my hand. "I'm not even sure if I hit anyone but at the very least, I stop them a little." I look down at the handgun. "I can't waste shots. I only have half a clip left." Listening to the footsteps as they keep advancing, I look at Marcus who had his back slammed against the wall. He keeps trying to fire back but is always forced back into hiding. "Marcus," I yell, cupping my mouth. "Marcus!" Marcus looks at me and I point at the two of us before swinging my hand. Marcus stares at me for a few seconds before finall
Jacob: I scream as I pull back my head. My cry echoes throughout the bunker as I look down and see myself bleeding. "Ahhh," I yell. I slam my hands on the bullet wound and push down. I stop screaming and bite down on my lips as I try to endure the pain. While enduring the pain, I look up and see the barrel of a handgun pointed right at me. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells. I try to answer him but when I open my mouth, all that comes out are screams. Jim shakes his head as he shoots in the leg. I scream even louder as blood pours out from my leg. "Why were you trying to steal food," Jim yells again. He aims his handgun at my head. I can't answer him. I want to answer Jim but I can't. It hurts too much. My body is on fire. Everything burns, and all I can do is shake uncontrollably. "Come on," Jim says, waving his gun in front of me. "Say something! Why were you trying to steal food?" I look around a
Marcus Fellow: Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I then shake my hand clean. From high up, I keep a close watch on the soldiers guarding the motor pool. Looking at the old commander's building, I smile and nod my head when the bunker's bell rings. "Midnight," I say. "Finally." Inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth, I prepare myself and push myself up. Biting my lower lip as my waist burns, I fight through it and walk toward the others. "Hey," I say, lightly kicking Rebecca on her leg. "Hey!" "What," Rebecca says, her eyes snapping open. "It's time," I answer. "Wake up the kids." Rebecca rubs her eyes and cracks her neck before getting up. She walks over to where Nicholas and Bailey are and lightly shakes them awake. "Hey, kid," Rebecca says as she shakes Bailey. Not responding at first, Bailey slowly opens her eyes. She moans as she places some fingers on the bandage around her head. "
Marcus Fellow: Pushing Rebecca and Bailey into the empty apartment room as fast as I can, I turn around and slam the door shut. Grabbing a nearby plank, I place it underneath the doorknob. "Marcus," Rebecca says as soon as I turn around. "What the hell happened here? I mean, we weren't gone for that long! A few hours at most!" "Yeah, well," I say, putting my handgun in my back pocket. "A lot happened in those few hour--" As I walk toward the kitchen, a sharp pain kicks me to my knees. I cry out and slam my hands over my stomach as I drop down. "Marcus," Rebecca yells. She runs to me and helps me back onto my feet. As she helps me up, she must have noticed the bloody bandage around my stomach. "Okay seriously," she says, lifting my shirt up to see the bandage. "What the hell happened here?" "It's that damn soldier's fault," I answer. Taking in many deep breaths, I limp over to an old, rusty table and chair in th
Tristan: As the soldiers open fire on me, I keep running while keeping my head low. "Crap, crap, crap," I shout as I run for my life. Having to jump left and right as bullets hit the ground and throw dirt into my face, I reach the city and turn a corner. Crouching down as the soldiers keep shooting, I cover my head. "Ahhhh," I scream, squeezing my head in between my hands. As the gunfire dies down, I look around the corner and see the soldiers all reloading. They switch the empty magazine for another magazine and run toward me. "Crap," I shout again as I look around. In what looks like a small neighborhood with makeshift houses, I turn around and see myself against a small house, not even half my height, made from sheet metal and broken wooden posts. I look through a nearby window and see
Tristan: As I slowly push the manhole cover up, I look out and scan the surrounding area with my pistol. Thankfully, I don't see any more infected wolves. "It's clear," I say, looking down at Rebecca. Rebecca nods her head and I push the cover off entirely. Throwing it to the side, I climb out first before turning around to help Rebecca up. Wiping her sweaty forehead after climbing out of the damn hole in the ground, Rebecca looks around and sees a very familiar forest with red smoke everywhere. "I can't believe I'm going to say this," Rebecca starts, "But I've missed this place." "You know what? So have I." I take a few seconds to enjoy the peace and forget about the damn sound of howling and gr