Disclaimer: All characters and etc. pertaining to the XBox 360 game "Dead Rising" are property of Capcom.
Chapter 4
It was a pain in the ass to reach the food court via vents only. Kasey had to travel through all the store vents in the Entrance Plaza and Al Fresca Plaza. The whole time she could hear the constant moans of the zombies outside. As she approached an opening leading into the food court she started to hear loud sounds coming from different directions. Like gunfire. But way too much gunfire, are there people fighting out there? As she peeked out of the opening she could only see the half of the food court that was near the doors leading out to a park. She saw the same man from before firing at some higher up target that apparently had a sub-machine gun. Great, zombies AND crazy people. You're a little out of your league there, guy. Wait a minute, super reporter-man's shown up, backup maybe? The reporter walked in while the enemy was reloading, not knowing that he'd become a target, but quickly ducked to the side after being shot at. He went to talk to the other man, they both had handguns. Guess they're coordinating a plan or something. She saw the reporter run into the other half of the area while his buddy distracted the enemy. That's my cue! Go while they're busy!
She used the screwdriver to quickly remove the vent cover and clumsily fell down onto the floor headfirst. She stood up and saw all the dead zombies that had gotten caught in the crossfire. She looked into the other half of the food court area and saw that it was an old western themed dining area. Who comes up with this stuff? My dining area's just-what are you thinking?! Move it! If I were a maintenance access, where would I hide? She managed to slip behind the fake store fronts into a small empty area practically covered in cables and wires. The gunfire raged on. There were what looked like pulley cables hanging around, meant for lifting equipment to the ceiling. But how do they work? She went to the nearest one and gave it a quick yank, then hung on for dear life as the cable rapidly retracted, lifting her quickly towards the ceiling. When she reached the top, she clung onto the metal beams that she could use to cross, glancing straight down only a moment noticing how high she was. So it's like a window shade… Well that was interesting. She saw that the gunfight had progressed to the eating area and that a Hispanic man had the sub-machine gun. He was using restaurant signs as cover while the other two men fired at him. He finally got worn out with pain and used one of the pulley cables to escape, right to where Kasey was. "Oh shit." Was all she could say as the man approached, gun still in hand.
She didn't have much time to move anywhere, so she was in plain sight when the man stood on the beams. He pointed the gun at her, and Kasey lifted the only hand that wasn't holding onto a beam. "I'm not armed! I'm not looking for a fight!" The man's face looked angry but also contorted with pain. All he said to her was, "Stay out of my way." His Spanish accent was heavy. He then slowly made his way in the opposite direction. This is nuts. I'll risk it down with the zombies rather than do a balancing act with a psycho and his gun. She shuffled off to the side, carefully keeping her balance, and used a different pulley cable to reach the top of a storefront. She saw that the reporter and his friend were still there, so she quickly hid behind one of the fake walls and listened to their conversation. Can't be too sure about these guys either…The one man was just thanking the reporter for his help when he retorted, "The name's Frank West, photojournalist, and I'd rather have an explanation than your thanks, Brad."So would I. So your name's Frank huh, super reporter-man?