“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 between the two sets of stationary stairs. Zion remained focused on the creatures ahead of them, shambling their way down. When they were within five steps of them, he made his move.
“Now!” Zion yelled, and the duo moved in sync, leaping across to the other side of the escalator. Zion landed perfectly, but Calvin’s foot caught on the median, and he stumbled. His companion grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up to a standing. They quickly rushed up the stairs, as the zombies reached from the other side, confused that their meal had escaped.
The creatures at the top that hadn’t filtered down the other side had changed course, moving towards them. Zion snatched his weapon from Calvin’s hand and whipped it in front of him, using it like a battering ram to send a couple of them flying back as they reached the landing.
The duo made a hard left towards the wall of stores before continuing towards the center of the mall. There were about two dozen zombies behind them, with a smattering of creatures in front.
“Anytime you wanna start shooting!” Zion barked. “We gotta get them out of the store!”
Calvin didn’t wait to be asked a second time, aiming towards the center of the mall, selecting a target and squeezing the trigger. The blast echoed throughout the large space as one of the creatures dropped to the ground.
Zion turned his attention towards the escalator zombies that were following them. He delivered several quick, decisive blows that dropped them to the ground. Before too long, however, the ones on the escalator had cleared the stairs, and were quickly becoming too much for him to handle on his own.
“Let’s head up!” he yelled. “Gotta keep ‘em moving.”
They took off about twenty yards, Calvin stopping and firing twice in rapid succession, keeping the noise up and the threat ahead at bay. As he aimed for a third one, he paused, drawing his companion’s attention from the trailing horde.
“What is it?” Zion asked.
Calvin gulped. “We’re in trouble,” he said.
His friend looked ahead and saw about sixty zombies coming around the corner at the center of the mall. “Where the fuck did they come from?” he demanded.
“Doesn’t matter, they’re here!” Calvin cried.
Zion looked back, noticing several zombies had poured out of the storefronts, increasing the number pursuing them. He frantically looked around, seeing a clothing store with an open gate just ahead, a small chain with a door about twenty feet wide.
“There!” Zion pointed. “Into the clothing store!”
They tore towards it as the zombies began to close in from both sides. Zion ran in first, quickly working his way through the displays to make sure they were alone inside. There were plenty of bloodstains and overturned displays, showing that at one time there’d been a hell of a struggle in there, with someone not coming out on top.
While he did his sweep, Calvin grabbed the metal pole and used it to close the gate. He slammed it shut moments before the zombies reached them, securing it to the ground. He took a few steps back as dozens of creatures pressed up against it, scraping the flesh from their fingers as they tried to stick them through the small metal openings. Zion came up to join him.
“How we looking?” he asked.
Calvin swallowed hard. “Trying to remain hopeful that there is a back exit,” he admitted.
“Haven’t checked,” Zion replied, “but we’re alone in here unless something is in the storeroom.”
They backed away from the gate, relieved that it was holding, but concerned they may be trapped. They went to the storeroom door, and Calvin put his hand on the knob as Zion readied his weapon and nodded.
The sniper threw open the door, and Zion burst inside, looking around at the horrific scene. A mangled bloody corpse sprawled on the ground, mostly eaten but still moving. He shook his head as he walked over to it, unable to tell at all what the person had looked like before they’d been attacked.
“Don’t know who this was,” he muttered, “but they were a hell of a fighter if they were able to lock themselves up with that kind of damage.” He stood over the zombie as it gave a gurgled moan and tried to reach for his ankle. He brought his weapon down on top of its chewed-up head, destroying it.
The two looked around the darkened storeroom, unable to see much of anything without any lights. Calvin headed back out to the register, fumbling around the shelves underneath until he found a flashlight.
“Got a light,” he said, returning to the dark room.
He flicked it on and scanned the room, and both men’s hearts soared as they spotted a back door.
“Hope that’s not just a closet,” Zion said, and they approached it carefully. He unlocked it and then cracked it open, peeking through. There was a long cinder block hallway with several other doors, a dead end about forty yards ahead with a door. He gently closed it and backed up. “We got a way out,” he said. “But first, I think we need to draw
