ZOMB-POCALYPSE BOOK 2

Chapter Seven

As I step out of the truck, the first thing I notice is that the night air has cooled considerably. I draw in a deep breath, then wrinkle my nose as rot and decay fill my nostrils. I'm pretty close to jumping back in the truck and resigning myself to a night spent in the zombie gut hotel, when I remember, belatedly, that Silas and I killed a massive amount of zombies here today. That must be the source of the smell, right?

Even if I wanted to protest, it's too late. Silas is already moving forward like a man on a mission. It makes me doubly glad Ryan was driving because he was considerate and parked as close as possible to the entrance of the mall... If it had been Silas, he probably would've parked us around the block for shits and giggles. We move at a fast jog and cover the distance quickly. We don't bother opening the doors. We just step over the broken glass that the zombies knocked out when they breached the mall earlier. Our boots make loud crunching sounds on the glass, and I break into a sweat as I imagine that the noise is drawing every zombie for a quarter mile.

Silas snaps on his flashlight, and my stomach does a triple flip. It's not that I'm a fan of stumbling around in the dark, but the light is a beacon that doesn't leave much guess work for the zombies.

"Silas," I hiss, and he looks at me, making me want to shake him and yell don't look at me, look for zombies. "Do you think that light is a good idea?" I ask forgoing the dramatics, and he lets out a snort.

"You really want to go feeling around in the dark Blondie?" he asks in a tone that somehow makes me feel foolish. This is a bit of a rock and a hard place situation.

"Let's just hurry up," I mutter, choosing to ignore him all together.

My gun shakes a little in my hand as we move quietly, but quickly, through the mall. We hear a moan from somewhere deep in the building and freeze, straining our ears, though I find it hard to hear anything over the loud pounding of my own heart. The zombie moans again, but it doesn't sound very close, and it's not the excited moan of a zombie that's spotted someone tasty to eat.

We pass the fountain and, as Silas's light sweeps over the area, I see several bodies bobbing lifelessly back and forth in the stagnant water. Ryan sees it too and puts his hand protectively on the small of my back. They aren't splashing around and raising hell, so I assume they are the zombies that Silas took out when he tried to save Ryder.

We reach the imposing metal gate that separates the camping store from the rest of the mall, and I'm relieved that it's still intact. I'm surprised to see Silas pull a large set of keys from his pocket, rather than his lock picking set.

"Where'd you get those?" I ask, staring at the jumble of keys.

"I found 'em in the truck's cup holder, those assholes took the keys with them when they left," Silas mutters as he begins the daunting task of trying to find the right key.

I feel slightly less bad for the people that stole our truck. Not only did they steal our truck and leave us stranded, but they didn't even leave Ryder with access to most of the mall.

I turn back to Ryan as he fans his flashlight across our surroundings; this is the most critical time. If we have to run now, we will be running blind through a mall full of zombies, with no safe zone. Everything seems deserted though, and it's a creepy feeling, waiting to be attacked is actually worse than just getting it over with.

I'm so relieved when I hear the lock click, and Silas starts to slide the gate open. "Hurry up," Silas prompts us, in agitation, and I'm so excited to be done with this day that I don't even mind his bossy tone. Silas shuts the gate behind us and locks it up tight.