“Do you think they can get in?” Phoebe asked, looking up but still hugging her knees.
“No, I doubt they can.” Daniel said. “Shall we?”
He began to move forward and the rest of us began to follow him down the long dark hallway into the unknown.
Chapter 12
We made it about halfway down the hallway when we came across what must have been some kind of storage area. The big double doors were chained shut from our side. There was dark, almost black blood on the chains and across the door. A big bang came from inside. Then the moaning started. They could sense food on the other side. I swallowed hard. I heard Jamie let out a yelp. Phoebe shushed her.
I noticed someone had written “Don’t Open” in black marker across the doors. It was written so big that there was no way anyone could miss the message.
“Let’s hope that’s the only ones in here,” Daniel said.
We continued through the dark hallway leaving the banging and moaning behind us. I felt the goose bumps all over my body. I had an uneasy chill running down my spine.
We made it to the end of the hall and went carefully through the door letting us out into the mall. All the stores were still open but there was no one left in the building except the undead it seemed.
It was decided that we would try the sporting goods store for safety. I think it was also for the potential stuff we could find to help in our journey. I wasn’t happy that we would be settling in for the night but it’s not like we had any other options with the hoard of zombies outside.
“There’s no way they got all the zombies,” Freddie said.
I hated to say that I thought he might be right.
“Just be observant and cautious. I do agree that this seems a little too perfect,” Daniel replied
“It might be alright,” Phoebe suggested. “I don’t hear anything.”
There were no noises coming from anywhere, which in a mall was a little weird. I’d never been in an empty mall and it was extremely unsettling.
We made our way upstairs and past the food court. Robert suggested after settling in we should have a team raid the food court for dinner so we wouldn’t have to get into our food supply. Leave it to the chef to have the best plan involving the food supply.
It didn’t take long to get to the sporting goods store. There were already two tents set up for display, so it wasn’t necessary for us to use ours.
Robert, Daniel, and Phoebe decided to be the raiding food team. I was disappointed to be left with Freddie and his negative attitude. Jamie seemed to be overwhelmed by everything that was going on so I knew she wasn’t going to talk much. I wasn’t worried about help with the watch since the plan was to keep the gate closed while they were gone.
After they left, Jamie retreated into one of the tents. Freddie joined her.
I walked around the store, listening carefully for any sign of the undead. I didn’t want to sit still for I was scared I would fall asleep. My emotions had made me exhausted. If I kept busy I could ignore it for the most part. I knew then I probably should have gone with the group raiding the food court because there was only so much to look at in the store.
I noticed some blood by a display of hiking boots. The uneasy feeling that was just staying at bay now came up to the surface. I pulled out the gun from my holster and followed the trail of blood. It led to a storage room in the back. There was blood all over the floor in front of the door and on the handle.
I reached out and opened it with caution. There was a zombie sitting on the floor with what looked like guts all over its lap. It was still eating from the pile of intestines and didn’t seem to notice me open the door.
I decided shooting it might be a mistake. The noise would be too loud and might draw other zombies that might be hidden away. I put the gun the holster and took out my knife. I went up to the zombie. It looked up then and growled at me. It made to move for me but I stabbed it through the skull before it could. It stopped moving immediately. I pulled out the knife and cleaned it with a towel on one of the shelves.
“Is everything alright?”
I jumped at the sound of the male voice. I turned around trying to catch my breath. My heart was racing. Which I realized was ridiculous; a zombie wouldn’t ask if everything was alright.
Though a zombie might’ve been a more welcoming sight than that of Freddie who stood in the doorway.
“Sorry,” he said.
“It’s okay,” I replied.
He nodded and looked at the zombie on the ground.
“Is that the only one?”
“I think so. I don’t know where anymore would be. There’s not a dressing room or anything.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
I came out of the storage room and walked awkwardly next to Freddie.
“How’s Jamie?” I asked just trying to make small talk.
“Scared and I don’t blame her. We shouldn’t be out here. This was a stupid idea that Daniel had.”
“Well, I’m happy you are. I’d be dead without you guys.” I said and it was the truth.
He smirked, “Yeah, sure. You sure it’s not because you’re dying to bang Daniel?”
“Excuse me?” I asked taking aback by his suggestion.
“I saw you two talking earlier so don’t try to deny it.”
“What exactly is your problem? Do
