The station was much bigger than they had expected.
"Why doesn't anyone ever listen to the beautiful one in the team?" Walking closely behind Arthur and Matthew, Francis muttered in a mix of resignation and fear. "My hair is too perfect for me to die today."
"Shut up Francis, we're not dying." Arthur scoffed in a hushed tone, eyes diligently tracing after the slightest sound in the darkness as he talked. "But any more of your death monologue and I will not hesitate to use you as bait when necessary."
Audibly offended, Francis gasped. "Tell me Arthur, what did you eat for lunch today?"
"What." Arthur furrowed his brows at this guy.
"I want to know what savages eat on a regular basis." He replied, and Arthur actually stopped in his tracks to glare at this guy. Lord give him patience, for if given strength Arthur would strangle the Frenchman on the spot.
Watching them, Matthew could only smile helplessly; they must have been such close friends. As the two bickered among themselves in a whisper, Matthew carefully evaluated the area with his dimmed torch. They had made their way up to basement two with little to no problems, and things had been quiet so far. Granted, the level was covered in a mix of debris and rubble, but it was fortunately zombie-free. Before long they had reached the gantry area, and at the other side of it was the tunnel leading to the mall. The entrance to the tunnel was sealed away by a metal shutter, and to the very left of the shuttle was a small staff-only door. Locked for good measure, fortunately.
The three agreed with a silent nod that as long as they left the shutters alone they would be fine. Taking a turn down the other tunnel, they walked in the silent darkness for a while before Matt's torch reflected against another metal shuttle in their way. This, unlike the first, was less rusted and bloodstained. Yet, just like the other metal shuttle, it was tightly shut.
"This leads to the third floor, oui?" Squinting at the shutter, Francis confirmed.
"Unfortunately so." Beside him, Arthur clicked his tongue in annoyance. Of course Alfred would dump an obstacle here. Thanks, shithead. With another sigh the Brit examined the shuttle, checking the bottom for any lock or bolt. None. Grabbing Francis by the shirt, he yanked him along. "Come help me lift it."
"Arthur, mon ami, does your language not have a polite word for asking for help?" The latter was not happy being manhandled, but scoffed and crouched down to put his hands on the shuttle bars anyway.
"You assume I am asking." Arthur snorted and took position too.
"Let me help too." Feeling bad for finding humor in their bickering and even worse for not helping, Matt volunteered. Yet he barely moved before Arthur waved a hand at him.
"It's fine, you keep the light on the shuttle for us. Francis is blind as a bat."
Francis, who had no smart retort to what was a fact, muttered some french under his breath and focused on the shutter. "Ready when you are." Oh he was ready alright - ready to bail the moment a zombie hand was to reach for them through the gaps, but Arthur didn't have to know that.
Dutifully keeping the shutter area lit, Matt watched intently as the two began to lift at Arthur's signal. Yet, yank as they might, the shuttle refused to budge.
"Its- Not- Woooorking--" The Frenchman stated through gritted teeth.
"Try- Harder-" Arthur hissed..
"Mon ami- I'm about- to pop- a vein-GAH!" Accidentally losing grip, Fancis fell backward at the sudden loss of tension and stayed on the ground for good to catch his breath. Pointing at the shutter with visible frustration, he huffed. "It's dead."
Arthur too, gave up and recovered to his feet. "Dead shut, it is."
Matthew held the light in place for Francis and fumbled for the map with his free hand. Unfolding it, he raised the paper to eye level and tilted his head to scrutinize the notes and markings. Then, with furrowed brows, he stated. "It can't be a dead end; this is the only way to level three."
Francis sighed and sat up. "So maybe it's not completely dead, Matthew, the torch please." He made sure to send a glare in Arthur's way at the use of the word please, but Arthur pretended not to see despite the night vision. Regardless, the Frenchman shone the light on two sides of the shuttle frame, and then up at the top corners. Arthur and Matthew watched in silence, waiting for an explanation.
It did not take long before Francis stood up with another sigh and circled the light on the top left corner of the shuttle frame. "See that lid up there with the two small bulbs below? Circuit box. No wonder we can't lift it; it runs on electricity."
Arthur, whose expertise in electrical matters peaked at changing a light bulb, was completely convinced. So was Matthew, for that matter. But the speaker was Francis, so Arthur had the obligation to retort anyway. "Didn't know you're an electrician now."
"No, but the malls at my place like to schedule surprise strikes once in a while." Francis replied, squinting at the control box as he spoke. "Important to know which switch to flip when the lights are suddenly out and you hear angry French chanting in the background."
"But if it's remotely operated by electricity, there has to be a switch somewhere." Arthur was about to say something sassy when Matthew very seriously followed up on Francis' discovery, so now he had to be supportive.
"Should be at the controls room, right by the gantry." He suggested, pointing back to where they came from.
There was an itching feeling that their solution was not in the room, but with nothing else to work with, the three made a trip back to the control room after all. A body fell out of the door when Francis cranked it open, earning an unceremonious yelp and prayer from the Frenchman before it flopped to the ground and never moved again. Snorting at Francis, Arthur entered the room. The other two followed.
"Seems like whatever was 'alive' must have been lured away by the screamer already." Muttering to himself, Arthur gazed around in the slightly-cramped room. Three sides of the room were lined with big tables and rows after rows of buttons and levers. At the other end was a glass window and a mic stand, through which operators could usually announce matters to the entire station. The only free wall of the room housed a massive notice board that was covered with notes and papers.
Pushing the old office chairs out of the way, Francis looked around for the right switch while Arthur and Matthew scavenged for anything useful. For Arthur, the answer was a big no. He ransacked the only cabinet in the entire room and only salvaged a box of instant coffee and a small bunch of keys. Oh well, beggars can't be chooser. Arthur kept the coffee and held the keys in hand.
Approaching Matthew in front of the notice board, he asked with a smile. "Anything good?"
The latter was just flipping papers over and reading the covered content when Arthur asked. Returning the smile, he was just about to reply when a loud AHA demanded the two's attention. Francis had apparently found the switch. The two waited till they heard the Frenchman flick something, and then waited some more.
But that was it. No rumbling, no flashing, not even a single beep of recognition. As expected, this place was bone dry. Arthur sighed and looked back at Matthew; boy was their only hope now.
He did not disappoint. Pointing at a bunch of overlapping post-it notes at one side of the board, he gestured for the other two to take a look. It seemed to be a conversation between colleagues taking different shifts in this room. Read in order, the conversation went as followed —-
"Anyone know why one of the B3 lamps keeps flickering? Got some complaints about it. "
"Tried changing the bulb?"
"Larry did. Good for 2 nights, then that fucker was blinking again. I called in an electrician, said he'll check tomorrow."
The next note was in a different handwriting compared to the first two: "Direct him to the generator room bottom of the mall. Probably just some wiring problem."
That was the end.
Matthew explained. "I believe this station is jointly powered by the generators in the mall— likely in the basement. If we could get the generator running..."
"... We can power the shutter!" Francis's face lit up with an eureka moment. Arthur on the other hand, scrunched his face up at this revelation. That means they will have to enter the mall; not a three-people task. In fact, a possibly fatal task no matter their numbers. He needed to make sure.
"Wait here." He stated before walking out of the room on his own. Crossing over the gantry, Arthur silently made his way to the staff-only door leading to the mall, and steadily tried the new-found keys on the keyhole. With each failed attempt his emotions became more complicated. If this door cannot be opened then they would not have to risk it in the mall. But if not the generators, then their lead was dead again. One by one he tried fitting the keys against the lock, and bit by bit he weighed the pros and cons. Till, inevitably, the last key fitted the lock perfectly.
Arthur froze, silently inhaled and exhaled, and then carefully pulled the key out without unlocking the door.
Turning round, he raised the key at Francis and Matthew, who had left the room to look at Arthur from the other end of the gantry to witness this moment. With the single ray of light from Matthew's torch shining in his way, he announced the verdict.
"I have the key— let's regroup."
If the game wanted them to enter the mall, then it was time to devise a plan.
A/N:
If this update could bring even a small spark of joy to anyone in this stressful times, I'd be more than happy to keep writing for this otherwise forgotten title. That aside, it has been an absolute joy to be able to write for this story again. I'm a little rusty, but I cannot wait to go on Zombie-gaming adventure with the crew again. If you're reading this, I hope you'd enjoy the mall trip with me. Cheers, please take care and stay well during the Covid crisis!