Another chapter! Hope you enjoy this!

Chapter 10: Escape the Mall

The corridors were packed with survivors, screaming and begging to be let through. The once bright hallway has now turned into a dim red. The alarm blared deafeningly as the three main survivors, Anthony, Aphrodite and Marcus ran. Akira was carried on Anthony's back, unconscious.

As they turned a corner, the dead had already blocked the way with their bloodied bodies and eaten survivors. The many escaping survivors panicked and turned the other way, pushing the main survivors aside.

"Egah!" Anthony turned his body and prevented Akira from hitting the wall. A fire extinguisher fell from its place and slammed against the concrete floor before it rolled to Marcus's feet.

He picked it up from its handle and threw it at the walkers. After taking careful aim, he pulled the trigger of his suppressed MP7, sending the fire extinguisher to explode in a cloud of cold, white smoke. Other metallic shrapnel drove into the walkers, sending them reeling back a few steps but other than that, they seemed unharmed.

"Let's go, they seemed pissed." Marcus stated as he hopped away from his spot.

"Now I wonder whose fault it was?" Aphrodite said with sarcasm. "Let's go Ant." She tugged at his sleeve and retreated. Ant followed behind, never straying too far.

They continued to run along the bloody, dimly lit corridors, past the dead bodies that littered the floor.

After minutes of running, they have reached the exit door. Marcus slammed at it, only to find that it was jammed and unable to open.

"Shit! What the fuck?" He kicked at it but all it did was budge, nothing more.

"They're here!" Aphrodite yelled as four walkers turned the corner and in their sight.

"We're trapped!" Anthony screamed, his eyes never leaving the rotten walkers. More emerged from the corner and completely blocked the way they had came from.

Marcus continued to kick and tackle the door, hoping it would loosen and eventually break open but it did not. Feeling frustrated, he backed up and pointed his MP7 at it. With a smirk, he pulled the trigger.

Click

An unsatisfying click returned from the empty chamber. The gun's empty.

Da fuq? He pulled the bolt revealing nothing in the barrel. He released the magazine, letting it clatter to the ground and felt for more in his pockets. There was none.

"Cover me while I reload!" He screamed and slung his black back around. He crouched down and dug into it. He took out the magazine for his MP7 and loaded it in. After pulling back the bolt, a satisfying cling of slammed metal resounded in his ear. "Opening fire!" He screamed and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bullets drove into the door's frame, hinges and handle, breaking it apart in shrapnel of metal and sparks.

"Leeet's gooo!" He kicked the door off its hinges and beckoned to the others. Aphrodite was the last to leave, covering Anthony's back.

They're now running the length of the parking lot with more of Them outside. The dead had heard the ricochet of the bullets and now proceeding toward the main survivors. There were still other survivors, some on the roof of parked cars, others a happy meal for the dead.

"The green zone's still quiet a ways ahead!" Marcus pointed at the buildings ahead of them.

"Then let's take shelter!" Aphrodite suggested, swinging her katana at the advancing cadavers.

They left the parking lot and entered the nearest building. Aphrodite slammed the door shut behind her, letting Marcus block it with several furnitures.

"Damn..." Anthony put Akira down on a couch and gasped heavily. "What... now?" He clenched his chest and continued to breathe heavily. Aphrodite viewed through the window seeing masses of the dead pooling out from the mall.

"Let's stay for the night." Aphrodite suggested as she checked the almost blood red sky through the window. "It's getting dark soon."

"Where are we actually?" Anthony asked, standing up from his seated position. He held onto his camera and raised it up. He took pictures of the area and noticed that they were in a house where the owners had already been long gone.

Photo albums, picture frames and jewellery had all been packed and taken, leaving nothing but heavy furnitures and the kitchen sink. Marcus sat by the base of the couch and pulled his hood back, revealing a black beanie that held his black messy hair down.

Aphrodite sat at the opposite end and cleaned her blood caked katana.

"Hey, I found a gun." Anthony informed. It was a Colt 1911 hidden in the kitchen drawer.

"Do you know how to use it?" Aphrodite asked, curious.

"Yeah, just like a camera. You just point and shoot."

"You're so simplistic Ant." Aphrodite stated and chuckled.

XxX

"Ugh..." Akira stifled a moan, feeling sweaty and hot. She sat up and pulled the collar of her uniform, revealing her collarbone. It was uncomfortable and she desperately needed a shower to cool off.

Something suddenly caught her attention. It was unclear to her, so she waited. The sound of a page being flipped sounded once again and it piqued her interest.

She silently crept up and over the couch to see who it was. A hooded figure sat with a book in hand.

It was manga. Action manga to be precise.

With interest, she watched him as he read the pages quicker than her.

"Can't sleep hoodie?" Akira muttered.

"Gah! Hoeee shii..." Marcus jumped after hearing her sudden voice and the sound of ripped paper caused him to turn back to the book. "Ohhh noeeesss. I ripped a page." He pulled the book closer to see the separation.

"S-sorry." Akira apologized. Marcus shut the book and laid it aside. Even though the night was cold, Akira was feeling stuffy and warm.

"How are you feeling?" Marcus asked, turning slightly only to see his side profile. "How's the wound?"

"It's fine but there's still a sting." She answered as she felt her wound. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I'm not good at that." He answered briefly.

"Why is that?" Akira asked curious. She adjusted herself comfortably with her arms on the backrest and her chin upon them.

"Slept through the start of this outbreak. When I woke up, I had to fend for myself. It was just so sudden, you know? Who knows what would happen if I sleep again. End of the world, maybe?"

Speaking to him like this took her mind off her hygiene. It has been a long time since she could have a normal conversation like this. Chuckling, giggling and talking about things that didn't matter. The apocalyptic world around them didn't even seem to exist.

Marcus had been chatting on, talking about how action mangas were better than anything else, how he had survived on the rooftops and how he'd learned to free run in his free time. It lulled Akira to sleep and watching her like that really eased him.

"Thanks for listening, Akira." He said with a soft smile across his face. He gingerly pushed her back to the couch only to feel her sweaty shoulders. "Eugh..." He uttered as he laid her down.

Snap! Click.

"Whose there?!" Marcus turned immediately to the sound of the mechanical click. It was Anthony with his camera.

"Fantastic!" He whispered and smile before showing the LCD to Marcus.

"All I see is blackness." He said and pushed it back to Anthony with annoyance.

"Huh? Kaaah..." His soul seemed to have escaped out from his mouth as he exhaled with disappointment and disbelief. "I didn't turn the flash on! How unprofessional!" He pressed a palm to his face, embarrassed. Marcus chuckled at his mistake.

"I guess even the best can slip up. Hahaa."

"Guh huuu..." Anthony cried himself to sleep with his camera in his hand.

XxX

"Okay, everyone is prepared?" Aphrodite asked. Marcus chewed on his last piece of cracker and wiped his lips clean of crumbs. Everyone nodded in almost unison. "Ant, what do you have?"

"A pistol with a full clip, a baseball bat I found upstairs and some fire crackers." Anthony told them his possessions. "Marcus?" Anthony turned to him.

"An MP7 with two magazines left, a pigging knife, three bottles of water, two first aid kits and one torn manga. Akira?" He turned to her.

"A pistol with three rounds and... uhh... that's all." She answered.

Aphrodite was the last. "A sniper rifle with ten rounds, my katana and a pocket knife." She flicked it open, letting it shimmer in the morning light.

It was eight past ten, and the dead had already littered the streets after lingering aimlessly through the night. There was no other way than to proceed through the streets and past the park ahead.

It was only ten blocks away to the entrance of the green zone, but ten blocks felt like ten thousand as many obstacles hinder their path.

"When we leave, don't stop and keep going. How are you feeling Akira? We can hold this off until you're feeling fine." Marcus asked, worried about her health.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." She answered with a clenched fist and a confident smile.

"Right, that is that. Now here is the plan..."

XxX

The sun continues to rise and each of the survivor held their position for their escape. The clock on the wall ticked with unison to their heartbeats.

We can do this. Akira thought with sureness.

The first fire cracker popped with a deafening start.

"Let's go!" Marcus screamed as he kicked the front door outward and into the face of the nearest walker. It staggered back but seemed to be unharmed. It howled at him with its jaws wide open.

Driving the suppressor into its mouth, Marcus pulled the trigger sending a bullet into its throat and up to back of its brain, ending its life like a period to a novel...

High School of the Dead. Surviving Z Day 2.

I hope you have really enjoyed that! Thanks for reading once again! Put your reviews in the review section below on how'd you like it! If you guys want anything improved, do tell me and also do inform me if you want any character changed or modified. You guys like the new story cover? Do review about that as well in the review section! More OC's will be introduced in the future, so don't worry all you OC senders out there! See ya!

Next time on SZD 2!

"Hurry Anthony!"

"Snipers! On the rooftop!"

"Kyah!"

"Are you an idiot?"

"Runners!"

Chapter 11: The Green Zone