Bruce finally arrives back at the Entrance Plaza as Gordon opens up the security gate for him, allowing the former gamma scientist to slide in from underneath it as it then lowers behind him.
"Well...did you get any food?" The security guard asked, to which Bruce answered by nodding his head and then opened his backpack, showing Gordon and the group that it was now full of apples, bagels, juice, soda, and some baguettes.
"Dude, nice!" The security guard exclaimed with a smile. "All that should hold us over for a couple of days." Bruce nodded at this quietly before going around and passing out food rations to each person in the Entrance Plaza. Once Bruce made sure everyone had gotten some food, he sat down at a nearby bench and just stared at his hands, thinking back to when he fought Kent. He couldn't believe what he had just done; he killed a man. Sure, he was a true psychopath and he totally deserved it, but the whole thing just didn't feel right in Bruce's mind.
"Puny Banner did what he needed to do. Crazy Man give him no choice." Hulk said, his voice rumbling from within their shared mind.
Bruce sighed at this, saying, "I know, big guy, but it still feels wrong somehow." He was still feeling a little gloomy over the whole ordeal and glanced back down at his hands before adding, "I wonder how Steve or Logan deal with it..." Suddenly, Bruce heard someone approaching him, prompting him to look up and see a beautiful Hispanic woman standing in front of him. "Um...hello. Can I help you with something?" The former gamma scientist asked.
"My name is Isabela." The woman, Isabela said, speaking with an accent as she introduced herself. "I was amongst a group of people that you saved earlier, and I personally wanted to thank you."
"Oh..." Bruce said, a little surprised that someone just thanked him for saving them, Praise wasn't something he received very much back on his Earth. "Well, you're welcome and I'm glad that you're alright."
Isabela nodded, but she seemed to notice that Bruce's mind was elsewhere at the moment and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing's wrong. I just...have a lot on my mind at the moment." Bruce replied. "Whatever it is, I'll deal with on my own." He quickly added before standing up and headed off, leaving Isabela quite confused and suspicious.
(Willamette Mall: Entrance Plaza - September 19, 2006 - 11:42 A.M.)
Some time passes as Bruce walked in front of the barricade, glaring at a crowd of zombies gathered outside of it. Seven days have passed since the outbreak had started in the mall and so far, a rescue party hadn't arrived to help the survivors yet. Things have gotten a bit tense among the survivors, but everyone was hanging on.
Bruce turned away from the barricade and glanced around at the survivors. Most of them were trying to occupy themselves with anything by reading magazines, talking to each other, or in the case of an older woman named Lindsay - looking for her lost dog. All in an effort to avoid looking at the dead wandering outside the mall. Bruce thought about changing into Hulk and getting everyone out of there safely, but he vetoed that idea because he had no idea how these people would react to him, and aside from that, Bruce had briefly seen a few military helicopters flying around out there for the past couple of days. The last thing he wanted was to be hunted by the government again.
Hearing sounds of chatter, Bruce glanced over and sees Ryan, the group's unofficial leader, speaking to a man with short black hair and dressed in a brown suit, who was clutching a camera in his left hand. "Where'd he come from? I don't remember seeing a photographer in the group..." The former gamma scientist wondered to himself in his mind before walking towards the two men. "I really hope this guy isn't a crazy whack-job like the last one..." He added, shuddering at the thought as he remembered his fight with Kent.
"Wait, back up. Did you just say 'zombies'?!" The man with the camera asked Ryan in the middle of their conversation as Bruce walked over.
"Well, take a look out there!" Ryan said loudly, directing the man's attention towards a huge horde of zombies on the other side of a security gate. "If those freaks ain't zombies, what would you call them?"
"My God..." The man gasped at the amassing horde of undead trying to get in.
"There's been more and more of them since last night." Ryan tells the man as he glares at the hungry zombies. "Now...they're all that's out there." The older man added before roughly patting the man on his shoulder. "Eh, look on the bright side, though. Zombies are stupid and slow. So we should all be safe in here...as long as someone doesn't open the door for them. Alright then. Feel like making yourself useful? If you are, then take a look around the mall, and see if you can find anything we can use to fortify the barricade back here." Ryan said to the photographer, who seemed reluctant to get involved at first, but he decided to help anyway and headed off to find anything that could help to improve the barricade's durability.
Later on, just as the photographer had found some items to place at the barricade by the security gate at the end of the Entrance Plaza, Bruce had caught up to the man and extended his hand to him. "Excuse me. I don't think we've met before, but I'm Bruce. Bruce Banner." He said, introducing himself to the photographer.
"Frank West." The man, Frank, said as he shook Bruce's hand. "Photojournalist." He added, holding up his camera so Bruce could see it.
"Where did you come from, Frank? I don't remember seeing you among the other survivors in the group." The former gamma scientist asked.
"I arrived by helicopter. From the roof." Frank answered. "I came here because I was given a tip that something 'big' was going on here in Willamette, Colorado and I decided to investigate so I could be the first one in on the scoop."
Bruce nodded at Frank's answer and then asked, "What is it like outside, Frank? Is it as bad as it looks?" He asked, wondering if the whole town was overrun by the undead as well.
"It's...better if I just show you." Frank said before pulling up his camera and showing Bruce several pictures that he had taken while flying into town. Each picture was worst than the last, such as a man being attacked from atop his car, a bus full of kids surrounded by zombies, a gas station exploding, and a woman falling from a building to her death after being grabbed onto by some zombies. Bruce looked at the pictures with a look of horror at what had occurred outside of the mall.
After seeing all of the pictures, Bruce sighed and handed the camera back to Frank, saying to himself, "Seems like everywhere I go...trouble isn't far behind."
"Huh?" The photojournalist asked, hearing what Bruce had said to himself.
"Nothing." Bruce quickly replied, not wanting to talk about it. "Is the military doing anything about this? Does the country know anything of what's going on here?"
Frank just shakes his head. "No. Apparently, the entire town is under a military lockdown, and as far as the rest of the country is concerned...they just think a huge riot is going down in Willamette." He added, but then spotted an older man with a cane walking around behind the security gate.
"Typical cover-up story..." The former gamma scientist muttered, feeling very annoyed that the army seemed to be doing nothing about this whole mess as Frank started snapping pictures of the old man. Bruce looks over and spots the old man, asking himself, "Wait a minute...that old guy...didn't I see him with that woman, Jessie...?"
"You!" The old man growled, spotting Frank taking pictures of him. "Stop right there!" He yelled as he marched over to the security gate and jabbed his game through the security gate at Frank. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! Why did you summon me to this place?! What are you planning?!" He loudly asks Frank.
"Will you calm down?! I don't even know what you're talking about, old man!" Frank shouted back at the old man defensively. The old man grunted before pulling his cane out of the security gate and walked off in a huff. "Crazy old man." The photojournalist said, earning a chuckle from Bruce.
"You've got that right." The former gamma scientist said, before loud crashing sounds were heard. Bruce and Frank both looked back at the front gate. The older woman, Lindsay, was pushing aside and knocking over the objects that were placed at the barricade so she could get to her dog Madonna, who was stuck outside amongst the zombies. Two men tried to stop Lindsay, but the older woman shoved them aside and opened the door. Before she could even get to her dog, however, Lindsay was grabbed by a couple of zombies and was savagely torn apart. With the barricade now destroyed, the zombies began to swarm in, attacking and killing everyone in sight, including Ryan.
Bruce and Frank, seeing all that transpired, were stunned by all this, but before they could do anything, a voice loudly called out "Run!" The two men looked up, and Bruce saw Jessie's partner on the walkway, who was shouting at any of the survivors that hadn't been ripped apart yet. "Everyone run to the Security Office! Move now!" He called out, before running off himself.
Seeing people need his help, Bruce rushed into action, charging at the undead horde and - while summoning some of Hulk's strength - bought any living survivors time to get away from the zombies and run away to the Security Office. Frank was shocked by Bruce's brutal but heroic actions, but he started helping as well, grabbing a nearby baseball bat and swinging it at a couple of zombies that tried to grab him. Once a couple of survivors had managed to get away, Bruce and Frank headed off to the Security Office as zombies continued to flood into the mall from outside, their growing numbers seeming to never end.
(Willamette Mall: Security Office)
Bruce and Frank finally make it to the Security Office. Both of them were relieved to get out of the zombie infested plaza, though they wished everyone made it out like they did. "Where are the others?" Jessie's partner questioned. "Did anybody else make it?"
"I don't know..." The former Gamma Scientist replied, while sharing a concerned look with Frank. "But hopefully some of them got away."
"Yeah...Hopefully." The photojournalist said.
The dark-skinned man sighed at that, before giving a nod to an older African-American man with a blue mall security coat on. The older man nodded back and pulled out a blowtorch and began welding the door shut.
Both Bruce and Frank glanced at Jessie's partner with questioning looks. "As long as those things are roaming the mall, we better not use or even open this door." He responded as the older man finished welding the door shut.
The former Gamma Scientist nodded when the door leading into the monitor room opened and Jessie walked in. "I'm really glad to see that you've made it out alive, Bruce." She said, relieved at seeing a familiar and admittedly extremely handsome face was alright.
"Jessie?" Bruce said, surprised by her very sexy appearance. "So, is this where you've been the whole time?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time, given the circumstances." She replied with a smile and a shrug as her partner, Brad, opened one of the air vents.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Frank asked.
Brad glared at him, slightly annoyed with Frank and responded, "The air ducts. They'll get us back into the mall and apparently, those things back there aren't smart enough to use them."
"Wait a minute, you wanna go back in there!? What for?" The photojournalist inquired, but Brad didn't answer him as he had crawled into the ducts.
Frank shook his head, frustrated by Brad ignoring his inquiries as Jessie spoke to him. "Nice camera. Are you a photographer?"
The photojournalist glanced over at her and held his hand out for Jessie to shake. "As a matter of fact, I am. Frank West, photojournalist." He stated.
"Could you show me some pictures, Frank?" Jessie asked, gesturing towards his camera. Frank was hesitant, but complied and allowed Jessie to look through his camera. Bruce, however, thought it was a little odd that she asked to look at Frank's camera.
"You seem to know what you're doing." Frank said, crossing his arms as he watched Jessie toy with his camera. "Who are you guys anyway? And what are you..." He stopped mid-question when Jessie spotted a picture of the old man from earlier and her beautiful blue eyes widened slightly; something Bruce took immediate note of. "I took that photo near the entrance. Did that guy...do something?" The photojournalist asked.
Jessie schooled her features and handed Frank back his camera. "Nope, but thanks for showing me, though." She replied, before she headed back into the monitor room, but Jessie did throw a small smile towards Bruce as she walked past him.
"Hey, we're not done talking yet." Frank said, stopping Jessie in her tracks. "Just who are you guys?" He asked.
"I'm Jessie and the man you saw earlier was my partner, Brad." Jessie responded. "Sorry, but that's all I'm authorized to tell you." She added in a professional tone, before entering the monitor room, leaving only Frank, Bruce and the elderly man.
"Authorized? What did Jessie mean by that? Is she an FBI agent?" Bruce wondered to himself, but didn't think on it long, when Frank crawled into the air vent. "Uh, Frank...What are you doing?" Bruce asked.
"There's something big going on out there, Bruce, and going to get to the bottom of it." The photojournalist replied, before disappearing into the air ducts.
"Journalists..." The former Gamma Scientist muttered frustratedly at Frank's obsession to get answers.
"That man is one crazy fella for heading back in there." The elderly man stated.
"Definitely." Bruce agreed with a light chuckle, before holding out his hand towards the older man. "Hi. My name's Bruce Banner."
"Otis Washington." The elderly man, Otis, said, shaking Bruce's hand. "I suppose you're gonna follow him into the mall as well?"
"Yeah, if only to keep Frank from getting himself killed." The former gamma scientist responded before getting into the air vents to try to find out where Frank had headed off to.
"Before you leave, take this with you." Otis said, handing Bruce a transceiver. "I have the other one. If I spot any survivors in need of help from the monitors, I'll give you a call."
The former Gamma Scientist nodded at that, before disappearing into the air ducts.
(Willamette Mall: The Rooftop)
After crawling through the air ducts, Bruce steps out onto the roof and dusted himself off, then glanced around the area for any zombies, but it seemed none of them had managed to make it to the roof of the mall.
"Thank God for small favors." Bruce thought to himself before a truly rancid smell blew past his nose; it was so bad it almost made him gag. "Ugh, what is that awful smell?!" He groaned, trying not to upchuck his lunch. Bruce, hearing the moans of the undead in the distance, approached the chain-link fence lining the roof and stared at the distance, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. Beyond the confines of the Willamette Parkview Mall...was nothing but a sea of inhumanity. From what he could see, there had to be thousands of those zombies staggering around out there, and they were still pouring into the mall with every passing second, almost like they were just magically appearing out of thin air. Not only that, but he could still hear the sounds of struggling survivors, police sirens, gunshots...and the dying screams of people being torn apart. "Hopefully, a few people made it out of Willamette okay." Bruce says in a concerned tone before shaking his head at the thought. He walked towards an elevator and took it down, hoping Frank hadn't gotten too far and maybe to help some people that needed assistance.
(Willamette Mall: Warehouse)
Once the elevator dinged, Bruce cautiously stepped out of it, ready for an attack, but much to his relief, there were no zombies waiting for him. He looked around, finding himself in a warehouse filled with shelves of boxes, barrels, building supplies and other miscellaneous goods for restocking the numerous stores around the mall. Suddenly, the elevator dinged again - which means someone was coming down, so Bruce quickly hid behind a shelf and grabbed a lead pipe, waiting for the person to come out of the elevator. When the elevator doors opened, Bruce swung his lead pipe, specifically aiming for the person or zombie's head, but the person, a woman, let out a startled yell before falling backwards, narrowly making the lead pipe miss her head.
Bruce's eyes widened with shock when he saw it was none other than Jessie, who was laying on the elevator floor with a handgun pointing at him. "Jessie?! Oh, shit, I'm so sorry, I thought you were somebody else." Bruce apologized before helping Jessie up to her feet. "What are you doing down here, anyway?" He added, wondering why she was there to begin with.
"Brad and Frank are pinned down by a gunman in the Food Court. I have to help them." Jessie replied, but when she tried to walk, she grunted in pain.
Bruce, realizing that Jessie won't be able to make it to the Food Court on a twisted ankle, held his hand out to her. "Here, give me your gun. I'll go help them." He said.
Jessie gave him a look of shock and said, "What?! No, I can't let a civilian endanger themselves, Bruce. It's against regulations." She stated, not wanting the handsome former gamma scientist to get hurt.
Bruce merely scoffed at that and responded with, "Trust me, I've faced far worst than a crazed gunman. Please...let me help."
Jessie was quite hesitant, but something in the gorgeous woman's mind told her that Bruce could help, so she relented and gave Bruce her firearm. "Do you know how to use that?" She asked.
Bruce checked her handgun, which was a standard 9mm pistol, and switched the safety on before tucking it in the back of his pants. "Yep. Also, after I'm done helping your partner and Frank, we're gonna have a chat about that old man with the cane from earlier. Understand?" He said in a serious tone of voice.
Jessie nodded in understanding and watched as Bruce headed down a hallway that lead into the Paradise Plaza.
(Willamette Mall: Paradise Plaza)
When Bruce walked out of the warehouse, he noticed a lot more zombies roaming this plaza then earlier, which was going to make it harder for him to bypass them in order to get to the park and then the Food Court. Channeling some of Hulk's strength, Bruce tightened his grip on the lead pipe he still had, and with a determined and angry glare on his face, stomped forward into the horde and started striking any zombie that tried to snack on his flesh.
(Leisure Park)
After killing dozens of undead in a very brutal fashion, Bruce made it outside to Leisure Park and started sprinting his way towards the Food Court, only to stop when he saw a ton of zombies blocking the door to the Food Court. He groaned in annoyance, but then saw a soccer ball laying next to a tree and he suddenly got an idea. He picked up the soccer ball and bounced it a few times in his hand before setting on the ground and kicked it towards the zombies with such force that it knocked several of them off their feet.
"Goal!" Bruce exclaimed with a chuckle of amusement before heading into the Food Court.
(Willamette Mall: Food Court)
Once inside the Food Court, Bruce looked around cautiously, though the area seemed to be devoid of any zombies and that put Bruce on edge as he crept toward the stairs leading to the inner area of the Food Court. It was deathly silent and Bruce felt tempted to call out for Brad and Frank, wanting to make sure his trip had not been in vain and that he wouldn't find them full of bullet holes. Before his foot could touch the bottom step, Bruce suddenly noticed the shadow in one of the windows of the 'Wild Range' exterior setup and heard the clicking of a gun.
"Shit!" Bruce hissed upon noticing this and immediately bolted as a volley of submachine gun fire followed him until he dove for cover behind a partition. The former Gamma Scientist reached for his gun and listened for movement while creeping towards the corner. Peeking his head out, Bruce was sent scurrying backwards as another volley of automatic fire pelted away at the wooden surface that he hid behind for safety.
Gunfire came from his left and he looked over to see Brad firing a few shots from his own handgun before ducking behind the railing in front of a food store called Chris' Fine Foods, along with Frank. When Brad looked back to see Bruce hiding across from him, he could only shake his head in annoyance at Bruce being in this dangerous situation. The former Gamma Scientist quickly made a mad dash over to the two men, joining them behind the railing.
"Hey! Your partner, Jessie, she sent me to help you guys out." Bruce spoke as the agent reloaded his handgun.
"Jessie? Damn it! OK, we'll have to talk about this later. You know how to use that gun?" Brad demanded with a white knuckled grip on his own firearm.
"Yeah, but...Well...I've never fired at a person!" The former Gamma Scientist confessed as he shot back at the gunman. "Although, I'm not a marksman like Natasha or Clint." He muttered to himself.
Brad groaned frustratingly at that as Frank chimed into the conversation and asked, "So, what's the plan, guys? Do we wait for him to run of ammo or something?"
Bruce looked over and spotted a stack of crates next to the Wild Range setup and a plan came to him - If he could get around, climb up onto those crates and make it up there, he could take out the shooter. Hopefully without getting shot.
"Here." The former Gamma Scientist said, passing Jessie's handgun to Frank. "You two can both cover me while go around and try to take him out with a sneak attack."
"Are you crazy!? That guy will drop you before you make it there!" Brad said, not liking Bruce's plan at all.
"Yeah, it's suicide, pal." Frank says, agreeing with Brad. "You'll get bullet holes all over your body before you can even get halfway to him."
"Guys, just trust me." Bruce replied in a serious tone, before getting into position to run for the crates. He looked back at Brad and Frank, both of them were ready. "On my count...1, 2, 3!" Bruce loudly yelled, then started running for the crates as Brad and Frank shot at the shooter to keep him from firing on Bruce.
By sheer luck, Bruce managed to make it to the crates unscathed as the shooter continued to shoot at Brad and Frank, before Bruce climbed up the crates and onto the Wild Range setup. He quietly snuck up behind the shooter and, before the man could react, jerked his gun away from him.
The shooter, who was a tall, well-dressed, hispanic man, was surprised by Bruce being able to get the drop on him, but it didn't last long, as he then attacked the former Gamma Scientist in hand-to-hand combat. Bruce dodged his punches and kicks, before he caught the man by his ankle when he swung in it a roundhouse kicking motion and, channeling a bit of Hulk's amazing strength, squeezed it slightly, causing the man to yell out in pain, before Bruce punched the man across the jaw, then grabbed him by his shirt and threw him from the Wild Range to the roof of another restaurant like he was nothing.
Bruce glared angrily at the man, with his teeth seething and his eyes glowing a little green, before the man picked himself up off the floor and pulled out a grappling gun and shot it towards the rafters, then zipped up and disappeared from sight. "Coward!" Bruce shouted out, a tiny slither of Hulk's personality breaking through for a split second before reeling it back in.