Calvin tilted his head back and forth. “Good point,” he said. “So you ready to do this?”
“Let’s do it,” Zion replied.
They shared a fist bump, and Calvin popped the truck into gear. He crept along the parking lot, lining them up with the hole in the entrance. As they approached, several zombies began coming out of the hole, attracted to the noise.
“Hang on!” Calvin cried and punched the gas. The vehicle rapidly picked up speed, and he flipped on the headlights as they approached the entrance. Several more zombies emerged, creating a soft wall of rotting flesh.
The truck bounced as they hit the curb, sending it and the trailer flying a foot or so off of the ground, landing hard and slamming into the first creature. With a rapid thump, thump, thump, they plowed over the ghouls, sending them crumbling underneath the vehicle.
As soon as they cleared the entrance, Calvin made a quick left turn, running over the clothing displays, one of which cracked the windshield. He hit a couple more before finding the walkway leading through the department store.
Calvin got on it, looking straight through the store to see the entrance to the main part of the mall. Several zombies still remained in their way, but they were no match for the massive truck. They cleared the threshold and reached the main part of the mall.
The second floor was a rim around the gigantic first floor, where hundreds of zombies spread about like undead Christmas shoppers. The engine revved, echoing throughout the cavernous structure.
As Calvin navigated, doing his best to avoid hitting too many ghouls and kiosks, Zion fixated on the second floor.
“Shit,” he growled.
Calvin didn’t peel his eyes away from his task. “What?!” he demanded.
“There’s a whole lot of those fuckers on the second floor,” Zion replied.
The sniper glanced up, seeing a few dozen lining the rails, and then looked back to his task, gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. The job had just gotten a lot tougher, but there was no going back now.
As they passed the food court in the center of the mall, they saw a horde of creatures walking between the tables, every one of them heading their way. Calvin sped up, attempting to put a little distance between them. Finally, they saw the Super Garden Center at the end of the hall, the entire front entrance wide open, and dozens of zombies in the way.
They sped past an escalator, about forty yards away from the entrance to the store.
“That’s our way up to the second floor,” Zion said, motioning.
Calvin glanced in the rearview, seeing hundreds of creatures all heading their way. “We’re gonna have to haul ass, then, if we’re gonna make it back in time,” he said, and sped through the front entrance to the garden center.
He knocked several creatures to the ground and then skidded to a stop just inside the store. “Where are the mowers?” he asked.
They looked around frantically, and Zion finally pointed to the display towards the back right side of the store.
“There!” he cried. “To the right!”
Calvin didn’t even look, just hit the gas and headed that way, slamming through a display before finding the walkway again. As they raced towards the mowers, there were two more zombies in the aisle. He sped up, crashing through the two of them before slamming on the brakes beside the display.
Four large riding lawn mowers sat in a row, sales stickers still displayed on the front of all of them. The two men quickly jumped out of the truck, and Zion grabbed his bludgeon from the back while Calvin quickly checked his rifle.
“Follow me through them,” Zion said, and took off running.
The sniper followed close behind as they headed up the aisle, and zombies began to emerge from the displays. Zion stepped up to the first one, a former Super Garden Center employee who had numerous bite marks all over her body. With one swing, he put her out of her misery.
As the weapon hit, Zion saw another eight zombies directly in front of him on the walkway. He quickly darted off of the path and into the displays, giving them some minor cover. As they ran, the creatures adjusted course, reaching through the potted plants and tools, clawed fingers grasping at them as they went.
They tore towards the front of the store, reaching ten yards away when Zion spotted a mini-horde blocking the path at the entrance. He tossed his weapon behind him.
“Catch!” he cried, and Calvin managed to snatch the weapon out of the air despite his surprise.
With his hands free, Zion picked up a large metal display that stretched out in four directions holding gardening shirts. He put it in front of him as he ran, slamming the crossed end into several ghouls and clearing a hole for them to fly through.
Once they cleared it, he threw the metal rack aside, taking out even more creatures. They broke through into the main part of the mall, giving themselves about five yards of distance from the zombies at the entrance before they turned to follow their running meals. Hundreds headed towards them from the center portion, closing in on the escalator.
“Keep up, playa!” Zion barked, and they broke into a dead sprint, running straight for the escalator. Hearts pounding, legs pumping, they ran as hard as they could, ducking the outstretched hands of the few creatures reaching for them on the way.
As they reached the escalators, Calvin followed Zion up one side, just before the horde reached the bottom. At the halfway point, several creatures from upstairs started to come down their side, filing one after the other.
Zion stopped, Calvin barely smacking into the back of him. “What are we waiting on?!” he demanded.
“Get ready,” Zion replied, holding up a hand, “cause we’re gonna jump over to the other side. When we do, haul ass, because it ain’t gonna take them long to catch on.”
The sniper slung his rifle over his shoulder, looking at the three-foot gap
