Chapter 1
Dark clouds threatened with rain all around the Crossroads Mall. The black and gray clouds lit up occasionally with lightning that stayed within the dark mass most of the time. It hadn't rained in a long time and it would be well welcomed.
A cool wind blew around Terry as he stood on the roof of the mall. The wind wrapped around him like a blanket that covered him up completely and it made his body shiver from his head to his toes. Kenneth stood next to him, holding his shotgun and wearing his reflective sunglasses.
"You sure you wanna to do this, kid?" He said it in his deep and bellowing voice.
"I have to", he said. "She needs me." He said like a true hero. He started to the door and Ken called out to him. Terry spun around and Ken handed him the shotgun.
"Be careful Terry. Those things are dangerous and don't you forget it."
Terry nodded and started down the stairs with a frown spread across his face. He wished that he could put on a mask and hide the fear but that was impossible.
What was she doing? He thought to himself. Why would she leave the mall? She must have just freaked out. She took one of our armored trucks and took off outside. She would have been okay too if she hadn't crashed into the side of that damn building. Now she's stuck in that car and it's my job to go and get her out.
He got to the ground level and everyone watched him in silence as he walked to the doors. He opened them quickly, without thinking, and walked outside. He tried to stay quite as he moved; those things hadn't noticed him yet.
Nicole was a good three or four blocks from him and he really didn't think that he'd make it there. He'd only traveled a few yards before one of them, a female with torn clothes and missing patches of skin, noticed him. She was one of the slower ones because her legs had both been fed off of. She wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't been for the moans that she made.
Before Terry realized it there were six of the quicker ones running after him. Everything seemed to slow down for a second. The breeze blew up pieces of paper that lined the ground and, in a slow motion haze, they blew around him like a tornado.
He lifted the shotgun and pumped it. He pulled the trigger and he was rewarded by the closest one falling to his knees and then over on his side. Two shotgun shells later the entire lot had noticed him. Everything stayed in its slow motion as he turned and started running against the wind.
He could barely hear the chants and moans from the group behind him over his pounding heartbeat. Even the sound of his own feet on the hard pavement seemed like it was coming from miles away. The adrenaline was pumping like it had never done before and all he could think about was the truck that was just ahead.
When he looked behind him there were at least two hundred of them chasing after him. He dropped his gun just as the rain started to fall in thick sheets of water that made it almost impossible to see. He almost slipped and fell a few times but he knew that if he did he'd never get to help Nicole.
He'd already made him mind up before he went out there that the plan was simple. Get to the truck, find Nicole, run outside and attract all the monsters while she made a run for the mall. It was a suicide mission but he'd already decided that it was the only way to get her back to the mall.
He final got to the wrecked car and to his surprise there weren't any reanimated people standing around the outside. He reached out for the door and opened it quickly. The world suddenly fell down around him and tunnel vision closed his view off to nothing but the truck.
He could hardly see Nicole in the back of the truck and then she started to move towards the opening.
"Nicole, its me!" He yelled out so that she wouldn't think he was one of those things.
She stopped out into the light and it hit Terry like a tightly closed fist to his gut. Nicole was naked and covered in bites and scratches from head to toe. He was missing several patches of skin and she was missing an eye. He didn't know what else to do but just stand there and look at her.
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he said his final word. "Nicole?"
Just as she sank her teeth into the skin in between his nose and his upper lip, ripping it off with one quick movement, he woke up.
It had all been a horrible nightmare. It had all been a dream that he'd been having every night since they decided to make the armored cars. He was covered in sweat and he was sitting straight up in his bed. His breathing was heavy and his heart hurt because of how fast it was beating. The mall was quiet as usual and he looked over at Nicole, who was sleeping peacefully.
"Another dream", he said under his breath before he laid back down. "Just another dream."
Dark clouds threatened with rain all around the Crossroads Mall. The black and gray clouds lit up occasionally with lightning that stayed within the dark mass most of the time. It hadn't rained in a long time and it would be well welcomed.
A cool wind blew around Terry as he stood on the roof of the mall. The wind wrapped around him like a blanket that covered him up completely and it made his body shiver from his head to his toes. Kenneth stood next to him, holding his shotgun and wearing his reflective sunglasses.
"You sure you wanna to do this, kid?" He said it in his deep and bellowing voice.
"I have to", he said. "She needs me." He said like a true hero. He started to the door and Ken called out to him. Terry spun around and Ken handed him the shotgun.
"Be careful Terry. Those things are dangerous and don't you forget it."
Terry nodded and started down the stairs with a frown spread across his face. He wished that he could put on a mask and hide the fear but that was impossible.
What was she doing? He thought to himself. Why would she leave the mall? She must have just freaked out. She took one of our armored trucks and took off outside. She would have been okay too if she hadn't crashed into the side of that damn building. Now she's stuck in that car and it's my job to go and get her out.
He got to the ground level and everyone watched him in silence as he walked to the doors. He opened them quickly, without thinking, and walked outside. He tried to stay quite as he moved; those things hadn't noticed him yet.
Nicole was a good three or four blocks from him and he really didn't think that he'd make it there. He'd only traveled a few yards before one of them, a female with torn clothes and missing patches of skin, noticed him. She was one of the slower ones because her legs had both been fed off of. She wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't been for the moans that she made.
Before Terry realized it there were six of the quicker ones running after him. Everything seemed to slow down for a second. The breeze blew up pieces of paper that lined the ground and, in a slow motion haze, they blew around him like a tornado.
He lifted the shotgun and pumped it. He pulled the trigger and he was rewarded by the closest one falling to his knees and then over on his side. Two shotgun shells later the entire lot had noticed him. Everything stayed in its slow motion as he turned and started running against the wind.
He could barely hear the chants and moans from the group behind him over his pounding heartbeat. Even the sound of his own feet on the hard pavement seemed like it was coming from miles away. The adrenaline was pumping like it had never done before and all he could think about was the truck that was just ahead.
When he looked behind him there were at least two hundred of them chasing after him. He dropped his gun just as the rain started to fall in thick sheets of water that made it almost impossible to see. He almost slipped and fell a few times but he knew that if he did he'd never get to help Nicole.
He'd already made him mind up before he went out there that the plan was simple. Get to the truck, find Nicole, run outside and attract all the monsters while she made a run for the mall. It was a suicide mission but he'd already decided that it was the only way to get her back to the mall.
He final got to the wrecked car and to his surprise there weren't any reanimated people standing around the outside. He reached out for the door and opened it quickly. The world suddenly fell down around him and tunnel vision closed his view off to nothing but the truck.
He could hardly see Nicole in the back of the truck and then she started to move towards the opening.
"Nicole, its me!" He yelled out so that she wouldn't think he was one of those things.
She stopped out into the light and it hit Terry like a tightly closed fist to his gut. Nicole was naked and covered in bites and scratches from head to toe. He was missing several patches of skin and she was missing an eye. He didn't know what else to do but just stand there and look at her.
A single tear rolled down his cheek as he said his final word. "Nicole?"
Just as she sank her teeth into the skin in between his nose and his upper lip, ripping it off with one quick movement, he woke up.
It had all been a horrible nightmare. It had all been a dream that he'd been having every night since they decided to make the armored cars. He was covered in sweat and he was sitting straight up in his bed. His breathing was heavy and his heart hurt because of how fast it was beating. The mall was quiet as usual and he looked over at Nicole, who was sleeping peacefully.
"Another dream", he said under his breath before he laid back down. "Just another dream."