Dead Air (English Version)

Chapter One: Part Three [2]

Nigel and Joseph stepped out of the room and realized the explosion had more damage than they expected. They covered their mouth and nose when the burned smell of the flesh of zombies filled the air. The room was still hot and the smoke began occupying and clouding their sight.

"We should go. That explosion may have saved us from these three, but not from the others, Joseph said headed out of the room.

"Who threw the bomb?" Nigel whispered as they walked through the alley full of clothes while anxiously looking around, trying to spot any zombies.

"I don't know. Whoever saved us probably ran away after making that much noise—"

A loud screech echoed and tore the silence inside the mall. They both turned around and their eyes landed on the zombies charging towards them. They have few hairs on their head, with skin paler than ever, and a malnourished body. In a split second, they sprinted away.

Nigel's body felt so light, like a feather tearing through the air. They climbed up the broken escalator, rushing to the second floor. They went inside the gadget store and headed to the backdoor that was luckily open. They went in and locked the door behind them. They stayed silent; breathing heavily through their nose. They waited and listened to any movements on the other side, but luckily, after a few moments of silence, there were none.

"That was close—"

"Hey," someone interrupted.

They turned around and saw a lad, along with the other three teenagers, pointing their weapons at them. One guy has a gun, two women have improvised spears, and the other guy has a machete.

"Are you infected?" the guy holding the gun asked.

"Do we look like we're infected?" Joseph asked.

"No...we're not infected," Nigel answered.

"Alright. Lower your weapons, everyone." He lowered his gun, tucked it on his side, and covered it with his shirt. His other three companions followed his order, they put down their weapons and surrounded them both.

"Who are you? How did you end up here? And what happened?"  the guy acting like their leader asked.

"I am Joseph and this is Nigel," Joseph answered. "We have a hideout a few kilometers from here. We're looking for a radio here but we're chased by zombies."

"We have what you're looking for. We have a radio." The guy looked at his companions, all communicating through glances.

"Have you called for help?"

"Since day one. But no one responds."

Nigel glanced at Joseph and right there he felt he was disappointed. Nigel began feeling hopeless, all their hopes of finding rescue slowly disappeared realizing they had nothing to save them.

"I am Derek," the guy with the gun said. He had dark brown hair and a well-toned body. "This one is Noah." He pointed at the tall guy with black and slightly curly hair. "This sweet girl is Era, my girlfriend. And this silent one is Czarina ." Era just smiled and Czarina, the girl wearing glasses waved her hand. "What do you know about this infection going on?"

"Given that the internet is gone and no one answers your call. The whole country must be affected by this sickness," Joseph shared.
Nigel cleared his throat. "So far, it was said that only the adults were affected by the sickness. So if you'll see teenagers and kids, they're fine."