Chapter 2
"Please, K-Mart, try and keep up," Claire urged, as K-Mart lagged behind fumbling through her bag.
"Wait, I need to find some chap-stick. My lips are dried."
Claire drooped her shoulders in defeat. Teenagers, she thought, as she patiently waited for K-Mart to find her chap-stick in her mess of a bag.
"Ah! Found it!" K-Mart said victoriously, and applied the strawberry-flavored balm over her bottom lip. "Much better," she giggled, and clutched onto Claire's arm. "Want to test the flavor out, Claire?" K-Mart teased, knowing that Claire's favorite flavor has, and always will be, strawberry.
Claire felt her knees weaken at the suggestion, but pushed the urge aside. "We're going to die in this mall if we don't press forward."
K-Mart sighed dramatically. "Oh, you and you're uptight attitude. It's a wonder why I even like - no, love - you so much."
Claire gulped at the word love. Love? She thought. K-Mart, loves me?
K-Mart saw the distracted look on Claire's face. "Hmm? Is something the matter?"
Claire snapped out of her own thoughts and blinked back to reality. "N-no, I just…" Claire trailed off. Did she hear something?
K-Mart had stopped to listen too. There was a low growling coming from one of the darkened department stores.
Claire immediately pulled her pistol out of the holster and cocked back the trigger. K-Mart had taken the sawed-off shotgun strapped behind her back and clutched it to her shoulder. "Claire," K-Mart whispered worriedly.
"Shhh," Claire hushed her, and held onto one of K-Mart's hands. "We have to go, now," Claire whispered urgently, and pulled K-Mart along in a frantic run.
Just as they started running, a large, putrefying, zombie popped out of the sports store before them. It was well above six feet tall with a solid body of a football player, and it was growling vehemently as it immediately chased the two of them with amazing speed.
"Ahh!" K-Mart yelped out as the gigantic zombie pursued the two of them with ferocity.
Claire pulled K-Mart's hand in the opposite direction, nearly popping her arm right out its socket, and immediately fired two shots at the zombie's neck and temple, but it appeared her pistol bullets were having no effect on it's sturdy skin.
"K-Mart, shoot it with your shotgun!" Claire cried out, as she looked behind her to see the zombie rapidly closing in on them. It's mouth was curled up in a snarl as it growled grotesquely with determination.
K-Mart frantically tried in vain to aim at the pursuing zombie and took a shot, but missed by an inch or two - leaving the zombie's torso only slightly scarred.
Claire groaned in frustration as soon as she saw that K-Mart's shot had missed. The zombie was nearly catching up and there was no more room for any kind of error.
Without K-Mart's permission, Claire grabbed the shotgun from out of her shaking hands and took accurate aim at the monster. She fired a blast square at it's head - blowing it's face into a messy explosion of gore.
The zombie's massive body dropped to the floor of the mall with a sickening thud as Claire sighed a breath of relief.
K-Mart held onto Claire's arm in a tight grip as she stared at the headless zombie with wide eyes and her face covered slightly by the zombie's putrid blood.
"Ugh!" K-Mart groaned in disgust, as she realized what was on her face. "Gross," she muttered, wiping the blood off of her face with a towel she kept in her bag.
Claire couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of K-Mart covered in zombie blood as she frantically wiped at the nasty liquid, but missing most of it on the side of her cheeks.
K-Mart noticed Claire trying to suppress her laughter and threw the bloody towel she was using straight on her face.
Claire's vision suddenly grew dark as the towel landed over her eyes. She swatted the towel off and nearly gagged at the smell of the rotting zombie's blood. "K-Mart!" Claire yelled out furiously as she continued to dry heave in a bent over position with her hands on her knees.
K-Mart couldn't help but double over in laughter herself as she saw the usually tough and stoic Claire overreacting from a lousy towel.
Tears started falling from Claire's eyes from all the choking she was doing from the rank smell the towel permeated.
K-Mart was starting to feel bad for what she had done to Claire, so she walked over towards her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'm sorry, Claire, but you deserved it for laughing at me," K-Mart playfully said.
Claire raised an eyebrow and tried to regain her usual steely composure. "Whatever, it didn't bother me much."
"Yeah, right," K-Mart said, unconvinced by Claire's words and looked back over to the fallen zombie.
"Do you think there's more," K-Mart asked worriedly.
Claire surveyed the dark mall for any more signs of movement, but she could barely see in the low lighting. "I'm not sure, but I'm not waiting to find out."
Claire took K-Mart's hand once more and lead her towards the mall's front entrance.
K-Mart couldn't help but look at the various clothing stores they were walking past and felt a strong urge to go into each and every one of them to search for another new outfit, but she knew Claire wouldn't allow a shopping spree at the moment.
Claire could almost see the front entrance and felt the worried knot that was forming on her chest start to vanish.
She looked back and smiled at K-Mart to signify to her that they had made it out alive and K-Mart sweetly smiled back.
Claire pushed back the heavy doors and put up a hand to block out the harsh rays of the sun as her pupils readjusted to the bright lighting.
The vast expanse of Las Vegas in ruins made the knot of worry reappear back on Claire's chest as soon as it had left. They had a long way to go before they could reach the safe haven that was located all the way in the Mojave desert.