Chapter 7: To The Mall

The machete was brought down like an axe on a stump, and Marcus was the stump. The spotter let out a bloody cry, but was suddenly cut off as he spun and missed Marcus by an inch. Marcus took several steps back, wondering what had happened. Seconds later, a pool of thick, crimson blood began to surround the spotter's head.

Anthony and Marcus turned to the source of the mystery, only to find Akira leaning against the door with Marcus's silenced MP7 in her grip.

"Reinforcement has arrived." She said with a weak and tired voice. Her arms dropped, leaving the weapon to fall out of her hands and onto the ground with a loud clatter. Her knees buckled and she to the floor, clutching her side. Anthony could see blood through the gaps of her fingers and it didn't look good.

"Akira! I thought you were dead!" Marcus exclaimed, barely containing his surprise. "What happened?" He walked hastily toward her. She lifted up her school uniform just enough to reveal the body armour underneath.

"No body armour could withstand a sniper bullet." Anthony was close enough to inspect it. She quickly covered it and sat up against the wall.

"Looks like it grazed me..." She said and gazed upon the dirty, torn painted ceiling. "Lucky." She added a second later.

"Can you stand? Can you move?" Marcus asked, worried.

"Yeah, I'm slightly winded that's all." She answered reassuringly. Marcus stretched over to pick up is fallen MP7. It was duty but still in good condition.

"Sorry about that." She pointed at it and apologized.

"Never mind about this," He tapped it with his fingerless gloved hands. "Your life's more important." He had never said anything like that in his life and this would probably be the first. He never knew how awkward it felt. It looked so natural in the action mangas he had read. He suddenly blushed and looked away, realizing how stupid he had sound.

"Are you guys okay? I mean, look at this mess." She said with a gesture of her hand.

"Thanks for the concern, but we're fine."

"I'm still having the shakes from just now. I think my life flashed before my eyes." Marcus said jokingly. Both chuckled at his nonsense. "Right, shall we move on?" He inquired with a smile. He resembled that of a tourist guide; young, energetic, comical and cheerful on the job he's doing.

"Yeah, let's go."

XxX

The streets were no longer safe but they had managed to leave the building unnoticed and enter a car park that's connected to one of the malls nearby.

"Just look at them," Akira commented with disgust. "Uncoordinated and just..."

"Dumb?" Anthony finished.

"Deadly..." Apparently Anthony's words were wrong. It still fitted but it was not the right choice of words for Akira's sentences. Anthony spotted a light blueish hue coming from Akira's palms. Does she have powers? Anthony himself was curious. He leaned forward to get a clearer view only to spot a phone in her grip. She lifted it up and thumbed the screen.

"What're you doing?" He asked, nonplussed.

"Facebook." She answered briefly. "There's nothing but help posts and texts on how useless the police are.

"There's still people on Facebook?" Marcus entered from the corner after his quick scout ahead. "That's incredible!"

"Not really," Akira disagreed. "There's not even a single useful post here."

They knew they did not need any. The green zone was not too far off and all they had to do was cross the mall and head past three more blocks to get there.

"Is the coast clear?"

"Clearer than any sea." Marcus informed with a thumbs up. "Had to take out a few though." He added, raising the gun into view. "Let's go."

They jogged the length of the car park seeing very little parked cars. Dust could be seen on almost every car, turning the brightly coloured cars into a dull mix of grey. The shadows of the survivors could be seen in the hot afternoon, stretched out on the concrete floor. Anthony swung his newly obtained machete as one cadaver had stumbled out from its spot, behind several parked cars. The blade cleanly sliced through the decay and with a kick, Anthony sent it down to the ground. It picked itself back up and relentlessly followed them until they turned the corner and up a slope to story 2A. The next floor was the floor they needed to get to to reach the mall up ahead but on the sky bridge, were more cadavers trudging their way toward them with empty eyes and wide open mouths.

"What the heck? I thought I had cleared that bridge!"

"Looks like more came." Anthony stated the obvious.

There were about twenty of them, making their way toward the car park and the survivors. Marcus couldn't bear to use his MP7 in such a ridiculous situation. He holstered it and brandished out a pigging knife.

Akira had left her kitchen knife somewhere and had nothing to use. She had to simply sit back and watch as the boys did all the hard work.

"Shall we?" Anthony asked, just to make sure.

"We shall." Marcus answered confidently.

Both strode forward with a weapon in hand. Anthony took the nearest one with a single lunge of his machete through its face. Marcus leapt to the side and jabbed his pigging knife deep into the socket of his target's eyes. Both now had one kill. Anthony pulled his machete back and swung it horizontally, missing three cadaver by an inch as they reeled back.

What the? Did they dodge it?

Before he could understand what had happened, the tree cadavers lunged ahead with their arms outstretched. One of them caught hold of his white, buttoned up shirt and brought him closer toward them with ferocious strength. Anthony panicked and began to punch and kick almost wildly at them. The bloodied machete managed to slice through the decayed arms and set him loose. He staggered and nearly tripped over his own foot as he moved back. Marcus was now deep in the centre of the mass of decay. Anthony was supposed to keep his back clear, but now, he's dazed and quite disoriented.

"Anthony, what are you doing! Keep them off Marcus's back!" Akira screamed, no longer caring if the cadavers could hear her.

Marcus was now surrounded with several of them clawing for a part of his hoodie. He ducked, swerved, twisted and dodged through the crowd, managing to kill only a few. Anthony came seconds later with the bodies flipped over the railings and down to the crowd of the dead. Anthony soon caught up to him and finished the rest off, clearing a path to the mall's entrance.

"Akira! Hurry!" Marcus gestured. Several bodies were picking themselves up and would soon continue their attack. Akira ran past them before they could even get to their feet. The glass door was the only thing that stood between them and the mall. Marcus slammed against the glass panel, only to find that it was locked. Pull of push, the door wouldn't open.

"Shit! It's locked!" Marcus screamed. He turned back only to find that the cadavers were on their way.

"We'll just have to do this!" Anthony let out a howl and swung at the glass with his machete. The glass shattered into pieces opening the way. They hopped over the glass fragments and pulled the shutter down with a loud slam. The metal shutter reverberated around the huge mall. The sound echoed and soon died down, leaving nothing but silence.

"We made it..." Anthony wheezed the words out.

"We just crossed the car park." Marcus reminded and he too took a breather. Akira didn't say a thing. It was not her place to complain; all she did was stand there and gawk. "Right, let's see if there's anyone in here." They nodded and walked toward the safety rail.

Being on the second floor of the mall had its advantages; they could see the huge atrium from there.

"Can you see anything Akira?" Marcus asked, still scanning the spacious area.

"What's that grey thing over there?" Akira pointed up ahead. Marcus and Anthony couldn't see anything that had the colour grey. All they spot were several mixed of colours but none of them grey... or black. "Oh.. sorry, never mind it's nothing." She said with a hint of embarrassment.

"What? What did you see?" Anthony asked, curious.

"It's just a toy gun." She answered.

"A grey toy gun?" Anthony pressed.

"I said it's nothing!" She retorted and walked away. Both Anthony and Marcus looked at Akira then back at each other, puzzled.

"Do you think..." Marcus wondered

"That Akira is..." Anthony guessed

"Nah!""Nah!" Both denied in unison.

"It can't be." Marcus let out a dismissive wave

"Should we test it out?" Anthony suggested.

But before Marcus could answer, a loud clatter caught their attention. It echoed deafeningly in the mall, frightening them for a brief second.

"Akira!"

"I'm fine!" She yelled back in response. "And there's someone else here!"

High School of the Dead. Surviving Z Day 2.


Next time on SZD 2!

"I was looking around but then a figure darted past..."

"Guys! They've broken in! We have to get out of here!"

"Let's just go!"

"We're trapped here! In this mall!"

"I'll scout ahead and bring any information you'll need with my camera."

Chapter 8: Aphrodite


So what is wrong with Akira? Find out in the future chapter!

Ugh! I feel like I'm writing shit here! I know I was supposed to publish yesterday, but I had no motivation whatsoever. I'm just tired and it's the fasting month. School has been a drag and blah.. and nanana and pineapple!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Who's the next OC? Here's a hint, it's a she. Find out next time! Thanks for reading!