Black Summer - Seven and Ten Thousand

Part Two - What's in the Basement?

The doors began to shake behind Seven, she pushed back on them with force, knowing she wouldn't have the strength to hold them for very long. She knew of only two more exits in the mall, but she had no idea whether they were accessible or not and if she'd be able to reach them in time. But she had to decide and she had to decide now.

Seven inhaled deeply then on the count of three, she held the flashlight up along with her machete and she sprinted up the hallway and around the corner. The doors bursted open not half a minute later. Seven ran to the exit doors by the food court on the first floor and came to a sudden halt, her arms flailed to keep her standing. The doors were barricaded by tables and chairs.

"The cinemas." She whispered then was off and running again, straight for the escalators. She piked a couple of the fast zombies on the way then bolted up the non-moving escalators. At the top she saw a table flipped on its side, its top surface facing her, she knew she'd be able to climb it without difficulty. She glanced back to see the zombies were running up the steps just behind her. Seven's feet fumbled but she made it to the top.

Hastily she went to climb over the table, a zombie grabbed hold of her shoulder. She struggled and went to turn and push it, only another grabbed onto her vest also. On instinct, she shrugged her vest off and then kicked the zombie's chest, they fell back with her vest and like a line of dominos, all on the escalators toppled over.

Seven then climbed over the table and ran around the corner, she sighed in relief when she saw the glass sliding doors but she froze when she realised that everything she came here to collect was in her vest and her vest was with the zombies that weren't wasting any time climbing over the table.

"It's not worth it." She told herself then ran for the doors. When they didn't slide open, she used the handle of her machete to create a hole, then she kicked the rest of it down. She wasted no time in getting out, running through the top empty car park and down the slopey road. She peaked around the corner to see the main front parking lot, not a zombie in sight. She ran. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, all the way back to the high school.

Eventually Seven made it back to the school, empty-handed and minus her vest. Disappointed and now left wondering how to pick a padlock with nothing but her fingers, she wondered the empty hallways. Ten K and Aiden not yet back. She worried for Ten Thousand. Worried about his life, and what nonsense Aiden could be filling his head with.

Seven found herself stopping outside her old history classroom door. It was shut, but not locked. She opened it and walked it. The desks were still set up how she remembered them. She recalled how she sat in the forth row next to Benjamin Snider. A troublesome rascal who always found it amusing to distract her. Seven walked over to the teacher's desk and sat down in the cushioned, spinny chair. She had always wanted to sit in one.

She placed her handgun on the paperwork on the wooden desk so it wasn't digging into her side.

Paperwork scattered the desk along with a broken and dusty computer and other classroom appliances. Out of curiosity she began to dig through the draws, her hand latched onto a stack of paper, clung together by a paper clip. She pulled the papers out of the draw and began to read through them. They were notes about each of the students. She read the first one,

Benjamin Snider.

Pain in the ass, never attempts at classwork let alone homework.

Total of 35 detentions, 8 of which given by me.

Will ring parents if he screws up one more time.

Last week he threw an apple pie at the black board. This week it was a rotten tomato.