"Okay, what should we eat?"
"Well, there's pizza, fish, obviously, uh som-"
A girl shrieked. The food court hushed instantly.
"What the hell?" The initial shock settled itself into steady worry in Genevieve's stomach. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Silas, like most of the crowd, craned his neck to the entrance to find the source of the shout. The front of the mass backed up quickly as the poor girl blundered into a Gatherer's Garden bloody and… decaying? "Oh my god," he breathed.
The girl stumbled to the floor; an instant circle formed around her. She moaned and snarled. No one knew how to help. Stopping, suddenly, the girl pulled herself up to look at the crowd. They gawked in silence at her grotesque figure. Her clothes were torn and bloody, and her face was an atrocity in itself. The skin was deformed around her black, sullen eyes. She did something that made the crowd gasp that Silas couldn't see, but she also threw her head back and coughed violently, spewing blood among the viewers. They shrieked. The girl fell.
"What? What happened?" Genevieve asked, begging to see.
"The girl…" he answered, "coughed blood at the people. She's not moving now; I think she's dead." She gasped.
"Oh no. What was wrong with her? She looked like a zombie or something," she backed up to avoid the writhing crowd. Security guards arrived to settle the people and purge the body. A medical blanket covered the infection and darkened with the blood slowly seeping from her mouth. The group broke apart and dissolved. Many ran for the restrooms to clean themselves.
"Oh, that poor girl! I wonder what could have happened to her. Silas, what do you think was wrong?" He shook his head, staring at the body being slowly carried away.
"I have no idea. Ugh, that's disgusting," he turned his head as new men in medical masks wiped up her blood. "I'm not so hungry now. Can we— Gen? Gen? Genevieve? Hello?" He waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention, but it was fixed upon someone else. She gently pressed a hand to his chest and pointed with the other. "What? What is it?"
A man with bloody napkins in his hands stumbled out of the restroom area. He moaned and knocked over a table. He raised his fingers to his face and felt his gnarled skin. His tattered persona dripped blood onto the tile. He spread his arms and howled. The people around him turned in his direction.
"He's infected!" A woman screamed. "It's contagious!" Two more people stumbled out of the bathroom and fell to the floor in the same condition. All hell broke loose. Genevieve and Silas watched in horror as the whole of the food court erupted into chaos. People fled to the doors. Others fought anyone who came near. The three infections squirmed and screamed in agony.
There are only three, Genevieve thought. "There are only-"
"WHY AM I FINE?" A teenaged boy yelled. "SHE COUGHED ON ME. WHY HAVEN'T I CHANGED?" He ran to the mirrors in a nearby jewelry shop and pulled at his face. He seemed healthy. A siren blared and nearly everyone stopped in surprise.
"THE DOORS!" A woman screamed. "THEY'RE LOCKED. THEY'VE LOCKED US IN!" People flooded in Silas's and Genevieve's direction.
"Gen, we have to get out of here. Go. GO!" Silas yelled and pulled her further into the mall.
"Where are we going? We can't get out!"
"I know! We're going in here! We can hide in the dressing rooms!" The two ran breathlessly into the darkened shop. There were a few people hiding in the clothing racks. They barreled into the men's dressing room and locked themselves in the largest stall as music poured from the intercom and echoed in the empty room.
"There's nowhere to sit! They'll be able to see our feet!" Genevieve yelled in a whisper.
"Shit," Silas breathed, "where are we going to go?"
"Uh, uh, the department store down on the end! There are benches in the big fitting room stalls!"
"Gen, it's a risk going out there."
"It's a risk staying in here, too. If we're quarantined, it'll be too easy for them to find us." She turned around and unlocked the door. They creeped silently through the store to the exit.
"What are you doing?!" A man whisper-yelled at them. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Not today," Silas answered, "I'm not fucking dying today. Go now, Gen, go!" They tore through the halls towards the store. A few more seemed to be already infected and were grabbing at the people. They were manic. The two made it to the store and found the stall with the bench.
"There's not much room," Genevieve said, worriedly.
"We'll make room, sit on my lap," Silas sat down.
"You gays and your lap dances," she climbed into his lap.
"Is now really the time to joke?" He hugged her to him.
"I 'hide my emotions with humor,' at least that's what Alex told me when I dumped him," she could hear his heart pounding behind her.
"He's such a nice guy. I miss him," Silas whispered quieter. They sat breathing silently as a new song over the speakers started.
"Oh, I love this song," Genevieve whispered as Silas silenced her. They sat for hours.
"What was that?" Silas heard a growl. Something was snarling and stumbling about outside of the fitting room. Gen felt his heartbeat quicken and his grip tighten. The creature crashed into one of the fitting room doors, the hinges screaming. Genevieve's entire body jerked. The creature bashed into their door. It groaned and started banging. A whimper escaped Genevieve's lips. It stopped. They could hear its shallow, ragged breaths.
"I know you're in there, dearie," it sang. Genevieve put a hand to her lips to keep from screaming. It was a young woman. "Come on out. Come on out and play." It scratched catlike at the door. Hearing silence, she grew angry. She tugged at the door forcefully.
"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR. LET ME IN, YOU BITCH. LET ME IN!" A gory hand reached in from under the door. Then another. She peeked her head in and looked up at the two. "Boo," she sneered. The creature let out a bloodcurdling scream and scrambled to get in.
"NO!" Genevieve screamed in defiance. She leapt out of Silas's lap, kicked off a shelf, and bashed in the creature's head. The slumped, macabre body moaned and finally sighed. Gen threw the shelf on top of her and wiped nothing off of her hands. Silas sat on the shelf dumbfounded.
"I—It's okay. Nothing got on you. It's all right," he whispered in attempt to calm her. She whimpered and did not stop. "Gen, Gen. Gen, calm down. Gen," he got up, "Gen, stop," tears rolled down her cheeks, "Genevieve!" He grabbed her wrists and her head dropped in a sob. He sighed and pulled her to him. Holding her tightly, he tried not to cry when the shock wore off. "You're okay. We're okay. It's okay." She sobbed slightly louder.
"But I…killed…her," she muttered between breaths. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her face up to look at him. He sighed solemnly.
"She was already dead." Her face contorted, but she didn't cry. She took a deep, watery breath, nodded, and wiped at her face.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. Let's see if anyone else is okay." Silas grabbed her hand and carefully led her out of the scene.