《Generic Zombie survival Wuxia Cliche story》


 Zombies at the local Macys... What else is new?

    Grey Allen looked at the crumpled body in front of himwondered for a brief moment if there was something truly wrong with him. Surely, it wasn''t normal to be feeling this way? After all, there was a friggin corpse laying there and not just any corpse, but one he had personally sent to the grave. Maybe it just hasn''t hit yet..? Perhaps he should just wait a bit?


    Yet as the minutes ticked by the feeling still persisted. A numbed detachment. Resting athis feet was a young girl, probably 16-20, it was so hard to tell these days with everyone using makeup or getting implants. Honestly wasn''t those two new singers, Billy something or bad barbie in their early teens? He didn''t listen or keep up with their stuff, but some of his friends showed him their pictures and they werestacked... Oh, he was getting off track, maybe he was affected!


    ... Nah, he was always like this.


    Anyways, a young girl was dead and he didn''t care, so that was bad, right?


    "Whatever..."


    Giving a mental shrug, Grey decided to give up on his inner monologue/moral dilemma. He could deal with it after figuring out what the fuck was going on and why zombies of all things were attacking. The last thing that could be remembered was going to the nearby mall to check out some stores to buy Christmas gifts. He had just gone into Macy... and passed out? That in itself was alarming, but not as much as having woken up to everyone in the surroundings collapsed on the ground along with him.


    Attemptingto wake everybody up proved futile. They were already dead.


    Problem was not all of them decided to stay dead. An employee working by the clothing section almost got him by surprise when he shook her shoulders.It took a bit of effort to subdue her, but manageable enough to tie her up. His phone broke during his impromptu nap, so that called for a trip to call security on the "crazy who was probably on drugs".


    A grave mistake as more dead rose up and attacked once he approached.


    Having seen enough movies and read enough novels to know where this was going he took quick actions, besides on the off chance he was wrong and just brutalized some people he could always just claim self-defense. Thankfully whatever was inflicted the dead also made them as slow and uncoordinated as a drunken sloth. While making sure to not even get a scratch on him, as he wasn''t sure if these zombies were the type that could only infect by a bite or transfer of body fluid, or any contact could do him in, beating them took more work than he was willing to admit.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    And he was pretty damn sure now that these were, in fact, zombies as they didn''t even flinch when he snapped one of their arms with a palm strike to the elbow. God, he hoped this wasn''t necromancy or magic-induced zombies. Supernatural ghost shit like The Grudge can''t be beaten, but it if was normal zombies humanity and himself wouldn''t have a problem getting rid of it. He also prayed it wasn''t the bullshit resident evil''s evolving crap.


    After getting rid of the 5 walking corpses he promptly assembled himself an outfit for the apocalypse. The stolen items consisted of a pair of gloves, a leather jacket, and a scarf before making an impromptu face mask to complete his zombie ready uniform. Grey wasn''t sure if this thing was airborne but sure as hell wasn''t willing to risking it. He even went inside the changing room to change so that he wouldn''t be caught with his pants down. Who would''ve expected that a girl would''ve been sleeping in the back? It was lucky that the zombified girl couldn''t manage to bite through the thick leather and managed to break her skull on the edge of a bench in the room.


    "Are you serious? Is nobody picking up because something is scrambling the signals... Or are they still unconscious?" There was also the third possibility that his friends were all already dead, but he''d rather not dwell on that thought. Putting away the various pilfered cell phones along with his broken one into a backpack that had been stuffed with watches, candy, and clothing.


    It was 2 P.M according to his watch, which means Grey had been knocked out for 3 hours as he had gone to the mall first thing in the morning to avoid the evening rush. Considering how long it has been and the fact that the police aren''t here yet, he could safely assume this isn''t an isolated incident.


    A quick Google search and look through the news app wasn''t showing anything though... Strange.


    Is this limited to the town? He took a few pictures and posted them online along with a brief warning/question to a couple of different social media along with the phones of the other people. Never before was he more thankful of the laziness of some people, because the iPhone touch fingerprint passcode made it so much easier to hack their phone. Holding their previous owner''s thumb to the scanner and he managed to get in and remove the passcode. All their information already saved on the phone so he managed to share the photos to at least a few thousands of people.

 A Deadmans Tale

    This time Grey made sure that there wasn''t any other zombie lurking around and gathered all the bodies in one place. It was a bit gross, but he made sure they were all stripped of anything useful and tied up. He wasn''t sure if whatever zombification process simply failed on them for some reason, or they would turn later.


    Better safe than sorry after all.


    So far he managed to swipe a little short of 1000$ in cash, some credit cards, a packet of cigarettes, a lighter, a couple of bucks in loose change and a pocket knife. All in all, not a bad haul. Depending on whether society completely collapses later the money might or might not be completely useless, but maybe he could probably use it to bribe some idiots.


    He wasn''t sure what the hell was going on, but he was going to survive and meet up with the gang. Whatever could possibly be useful he''ll take it, even if it was bolted down. For now, all that is certain was that it wasn''t safe in the mall and he had to get out. This called for a check to scope out the situation.


    The Macy was located on the second floor with the back entrance leading out to a built-in parking lot, there was nobody there in sight. He sneaked through the many mannequins and tables and saw that the front entrance leading into the mall had a small number of zombies, just one shy of a dozen.


    "Shit," While Grey was pretty good at fighting if he was to say so himself and beating such clumsy creatures would''ve been a walk in the park even on his worst days, but factor in the numerical advantage, the fact that they had no self-preservation nor pain receptors, and the fact that all they needed was one glancing hit to potentially do him in and even he wasn''t that stupid enough to charge in.


    "How many of those things are there? Were there other survivors besides me?"


    He couldn''t do this blind. This required more info. Setting up a facetime call between two of the stolen phones, the young boy placed hid one on a table between two stacks of T-shirts before crawling back to the back entrance. Looking through the staff room he managed to pilfer a PB&J and a bottle of Gatorade. There was other food in the mini fridge, but he wasn''t sure how long they''ve been there and would rather not risk getting cramps during the apocalypse. At least that''s what he told himself, it had nothing to do with the fact that he hated pickles. and tomatoes. And olives. Ok, so he was a picky eater, bite him. Besides, there was a food court 5 minutes away that he was planning to raid and go through anyway.


    "Know thy enemies... I really hope you''re right on this Sun Tzu, cuz I really can''t afford to lose even once." Grey muttered as he carefully watched the movements of the zombies on his phone while eating lunch. He had made sure to only grab what was sealed and also use hand sanitizer. It took 30 minutes for him to finish resting and compiling what he saw.


    1. Zombies have no sense of touch.


    He learned this first hand from the initial encounter. None of them so much as flinched even as he systematically broke their body. From broken arms and legs to fractured ribs and toes, nothing phrased them if not head blows.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    2. Zombies have no sense of spatial awareness.


    One of the idiots walked right off the second floor. Nuff said.


    3. Zombies are undead.


    The last one might have sounded redundant or even idiotic, but it was very important to confirm. Watching a woman with missing legs groan and drag her bloodied torso around mindless was disturbing, to say the least. This wasn''t induced by mind control or some strange fungus taking over the brain such as the zombie-ant fungus. In those cases killing the host even if they ignored injuries would still stop them and they would still need food or rest. Undead won''t ever stop.


    4. Zombies don''t convert the already dead.


    If a zombie finds a corpse it merely eats it, and the leftovers, if there even was any, of the meals don''t become reanimated. Of course, this is just a hypothesis, perhaps it simply needed more than the hour spent so far, or there are some other unknown factors at play. He didn''t think that was so, but it needed more observation, for now, he shall make a note to be careful and to confirm it after getting out.


    Tossing his trash carefully in the bin, because the end of the world is no excuse to leave his trash hanging around or litter, he took a deep calming breath before getting up to do he has been putting off this entire time. The store was quiet as he was the only person in the store, however, as he walked further in there came a low guttural growl. Step by step he slowly approached the source of the sound, walking pass an escalator which he had blocked off with a heavy wooden table. Barely a meter away from the escalator was a zombie, except unlike the ones shambling outside, this one was tied up and dangling over the balcony by a piece of rope.


    "Yo! How''s it hanging?"


    Evidently not too well if the roar in response was any indication. The sight might''ve been humorous, a man being hogtied and dangling as if a fishing tackle. That is if he wasn''t covered in blood and missing a pulse.


    "Yeah, I know, that was bad."


    Grey walked closer to the undead as he stared at it carefully in consideration.


    "Don''t worry old man, I''ll put you out of your misery soon, I just need you to help me get some answers first.¡± He was almost thankful he was seemingly all alone in this hell hole so that nobody could see the atrocity that was about to be committed here.


    After all, even by his standards of moral ambiguity, this was going to be pretty inhumane.


    As he approached the creature he pulled out a lighter from his shirt pocket,bright blue eyes gained a hint of steel. For a moment he simply watched as the flames danced between them, watched as the monster didn¡¯t so much as blink with the sudden change in light and heat. Even as he brought it ever closer until he could practically smell the nauseating scent of roasted meat, there was only unseeing glassy orbs staring back at him. He made a mental note in his Zombie Survival Guide 101- Zombies can not track through thermal fluctuations. Thank god for small mercies.


    He placed the lighter away and slowly pulled out the pocket knife next.


    He admired how the iridescent blade gleamed beautifully under the fluorescent lights. That was until he decided to give it a fresh crimson coating. 3 inch of cold steel sank into unholy flesh without so much as a hint of resistance. It seems the creatures didn¡¯t become more durable after coming back from the grave. Not that he had stabbed many people to be able to fully compare, but he had plenty of "volunteers" to chose from nearby after all so it wasn¡¯t an issue to double check later. Somewhere along the way it became aware of his presence, the thrashing was only mildly annoying as it couldn¡¯t very well move while tied up, but it was mostly the screaming that bothered him. Along with the flying spittle, talk about gross and rude much?


    ¡°Say it, don¡¯t spray it asshole.¡±


    Ignoring the mindless gurgling coming from the zombie he proceeded with his experiment. Two neat slices just below the rib cage and a final one down the navel and just pass the belly button and he had a very good view of the inner workings of the freshly resurrected.


    Dead men may tell no tales, but he had ways to make this little birdy sing.

 A Reality Check for the Arrogant Young Master

    A loud groan was heard echoing through the second floor of Macy''s, although this one lacked the low pitch of the walking dead it didn''t lose out in sheer intensity. The frustration it held was almost palpable.


    "I just stole these, damn it!" Grey swore beneath his breath even as he quickly stripped himself of his pants and gloves. It wasn''t because he was a sexual deviant by any means, he had zero wants to do a striptease for anyone zombie or otherwise, but he did not have much of a choice as his former pants soon developed a large gaping hole where the knees were. Even by today''s fashion standards were torn jeans were trendy it was a ridiculous size. Although he was quick, he didn''t manage to get away scot-free as he had a sizable acid burn the size of his palm on his right thigh. He was just glad that it wasn''t bad enough to hinder his mobility and his hands were perfectly fine. Being unable to walk during a zombie attack might as well have been a death sentence after all.


    He slowly walked back towards the staff room to rinse out his leg and treat his wound, the dissected remains of what was once a John Doe left behind him in bloody pieces. What was even more horrific was not only were guts and gore spread out on the floor, but that everything was melting as if they were made of wax on a hot summer''s day. A punctured stomach with a ruined pocket knife lying next to it was the culprit.


    "Seriously? What kind of brand name department store not keep a first aid kit around?" He grumbled to himself as he had to make do with cutting up a nearby shirt as makeshift bandages. He clenched his teeth as he poured a good amount of hand sanitizer on the acid burn, yet he couldn''t help the hiss of pain from escaping. He wanted to curse out, but he honestly didn''t have anyone to blame but himself for being so careless. These things were monsters that didn''t make sense, to begin with, it was truly idiotic of him to assume the thing was harmless after he tied it up and broke its limbs, but seriously high-pressure acid glands?


    Seriously?


    What the actual fuck? Definitely magic or sci-fi bullshit at work, there is no way for humans to suddenly grow what was basically an entirely new organ within 4-5 fours. This is ignoring the fact that the thing was eating at his steel knife. Still, it was a good thing he learned this now in a controlled environment than out there in the field. A slight shiver went down his spine at the thought of being caught off guard and accidentally showering himself in the stuff by mistake. Yes, he''ll take this pain, engrave it deep within his mind, and internalize it and let it be a lesson to him. Knowledge is power and he won''t be caughtby surprise again. After wrapping it nice and tight he got a new pair of pants and started on his plan.


    His little game of operation had yielded a goldmine of information and he was ready to go after testing out his leg and ensuring there weren''t any problems. Looking at the live feed of the entrance he could see there was only 3 currently outside, 2 had wandered into the Bed Bath& Beyond and the others had wandered around the corner.Normally the advice when facing zombies or escaping is to travel as light as possible, but considering how incredibly slow these things were and the fact that he recently learned regarding their bile, he decided to bring 2 backpacks with him along with a metal bar he detached from a clothing rack.


    It wasabout as long as his arm with a decent weight to it. Part of him had wanted to go for an even longer one for the extra protection the reach would''ve given him, but considering that he had fight multiple opponents in close quarters he couldn''t afford something so cumbersome. Plus the significant weight of the thing would''ve made him tire himself out quickly. His goal wasn''t to eliminate the zombies, so direct fighting was left as a last resort anyways.


    The plan was to get to stock up on supplies. He would first stop by the food court before making his way to Dick''s sporting good on the other side of the mall to get some gear. It was the coldest month of the year and he wasn''t sure how long water and gas will be a thing and the store had all he needed to camp.Time to make like a hoe and grab some Dick''s.


    From what he had learned the zombies react mostly to sound and if he was going to survive for any significant period of time in this fucked up place, he had to learn and fast. Deciding that 3 was manageable enough to handle even if he got caught, Grey slowly stalked towards one of them.


    He made sure to connect all his phones into a facetime call and placing them in a way that the zombies wouldn''t knock them over, but still gave a good angle so he could have a constant view of his path. It wouldn''t do if he somehow got caught between two groups while he was collecting stuff. It was a young girl, 16 or so if he was to hazard a guess, he could still see the bright red lanyard with a school I.D sticking out of her pocket. Probably a student from Saugus High who had decided to play hooky. Another reason to thank his lucky stars for deciding to come in early, or else there might''ve been anywhere from 3-5 times as many people which in turn meant a lot more would be zombies. He silently walked behind her while keeping in mind all the tips and tricks he has heard or seen over the years. Some from friends who enjoyed camping and recreational hunting, others from youtube survivalist videos and other stuff online.


    (i.e anime and web novels... Hey if zombies of all things were suddenly real whos to it wouldn''t work?)


    It was a bit hard to see as the sunroof of the mall was one of its main light sources and it was especially overcast today. The holiday lights weren''t due to turn on for another 2 hours. Hopefully, by then he would''ve gotten everything he needed and secured himself a safe haven until the night passes. He would have to bunker down somewhere in the mall because he was in no mood to drive in the dark with who knows what out there.


    It would really suck to escape from zombies only to die running into a moose, or worst, a zombified moose.


    Suppressing a silent chuck at the humorous image of a cartoon zombie moose prancing around in the snow, he managed to follow the female walker into a toys store, there were only 10 feet separating them now and he was so close he could easily make out more details about his practice dummy than her obnoxiously bright pink hair. Both of her ears had at least 3 piercing and he could see just the barest hints of a tattoo on the nape of her neck. He made sure to keep the other 2 walkers within his peripheral vision as he followed along.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    They walked into anaisle full of water guns and Nerf launchers and for a moment an incredibly stupid and gross thought wandered into his mind before he discarded it: What if he filled the water guns with the zombie''s acids? However, trying to gather it would''ve been far too messy and dangerous with what he has. It wasn''t worth the trouble, this wasn''t D&D or some litrpg where he could conveniently store anything he wants. He had to plan smart.


    He still took two Nerf funs and a bunch of ammo, backtracking to the front desk. Carelessly pushing aside the corpse there to rummage around until he found a pair of scissors to open the boxes. He took some of the leftover bandages he had stuffed in his backpack and wrapped them around one of the guns to muffle the sound. All these years of playing "Assassination" with his friends are finally going to pay off it seems. Looking through the mirrors placed around the store he quickly found his target and proceeded.


    With a dull click, a foam Dart sped through the air until it landed perfectly on the back of the zombie''s head... Before promptly falling to the ground, failing to find a surface to stick too with all the long hair in the way. It barely made a sound as it fell to the ground. Another confirmation. Zombies truly have no sense of touch it seems. This is completely a pragmatic move and not because he was feeling bored. Besides this is practicing his aim for when he has to use a real gun. He wasn''t sure where he was going to get an actual gun, but considering how he lived in America he could probably find one... or 3... or a dozen depending on how lucky he was in a single home.


    He chose to ignore the fact that shooting a toy gun well doesn''t mean you can shoot a real gun. Hey, he was great a paintball, that had to count for something... right?


    Half an hour later and a couple of boxes of fake ammo spent andGrey decided he was good enough. He could get so close that he could not only see the white of her eyes, now actually red from being bloodshot, but also the freckles on her face which now had a good amount of blue and orange darts sticking on it. He turned around to continue on his quest when suddenly a crash came from behind him. The undead girl had actually walked into a display. That wouldn''t have been so bad as they were deep in the shop, but unfortunately, that particular display was full of toy puppies.


    The annoying kind that your aunt gave your little brothers on their birthdays to punish you for some unknown slight. The ones that Never. Shuts. The. Fuck. Up.


    Except in this case instead of one incredibly obnoxious and loud toy, there was 20, and instead of merely attracting completely justified irritation and hate, it was flesh-eating monsters.Joy. Giving up all pretense of stealth he walked up to the lone zombie and smashed its head with a downward blow. One hit, one kill. Although he could by no means call it a clean one as the gross bits of grey matter coated this year''s "Hottest Game of the Year!" featuring some half-naked blonde chick on the cover. He tossed the toy gun away and crouched down to wipe his rod on the fallen girl''s shirt when he heard more groans coming closer. A quick glance at his surveillance phone showed a total of 6 incoming a good distance away. Plenty of time to clean up these two mob monster and get away.


    And so he nonchalantly took his sweet time cleaning up and getting ready, confident in his ability to take care of 2 "lowly zombies", after all, he had managed to take down 6 of them at once by himself unarmed.


    He wasn''t scared of these things and thatwas a big mistake. One he would quickly realize far too late in all his arrogance.


    As he took a loose stance against the two fleshy punching bag approach him he failed to notice a third shadow hidden behind the others. The pairmade quite the site. One was a lanky skater boy with a coffee stained shirt and the other an obese walrus of a man wearing asweater far too short and exposing far more belly folds than he had ever seen before.


    He idly watched them and positioned himself so that he was in a narrow aisle only big enough for one of them to come at a time. With his long legs, the former pretty boy reached him first and lunged for his throat with a bloody maw. It seems there were, in fact, other survivors. He had made sure to check whether zombies would eat other zombies "living" zombies, dead zombies, or animal flesh (although considering he only had some slices of ham and a cold sausage for the last one, he wasn''t quite ready to write that off just yet) and it all turned up negative. Heck, he even tested freshly dead humans from the initial contact with the virus or whatever!


    Adding a mental note to keep an eye out for other survivors he swung his pole as if it was a baseball bat, caving in its skull at the temple. It dropped like a sack of potatoes.


    As his eyes zoomed into where he knew the other zombie was coming from, but a sudden shriek caught him flat footed as between the legs of the re-corpses-ified man was a small girl in abright yellow sundress. He had seen some pretty disturbing things in his life even before the dead started to rise again. The action of the KKK, Videos or phone calls during and of the aftermath of 9/11, the tragedies of the Jim Crow laws. Whether it was history of ages long pass or the modern era, humanity has always been a fucked up species, and while logically he understood what he was getting himself in too when he decided to leave the relative safety of the Macy, planning his badass escape that could make any World War Zhobbyistzombie green with envy...


    Well, there was a stark difference between knowing and seeing, and the visual of a little girl looking as if she had gotten mauled by a pack of wolves jumping to get a bite out of him even with the fact that she was missing the lower half of her jaw shook him for a moment. The sudden weight crashing against his leg normally would''ve made him stumble at best, but the shock had left him dumb and the impact to his fresh wound made him instinctively backtrack. A poor decision as he ended up with a rabid murderous child on top of him wailing away as if its unlife depended on it.


    A long wet and slimy thing slipped under his jacket''s collar, wiggling as if a giant worm trying to crawl under his skill while he felt a sharp pressure at the side of his neck. Like a demented bobblehead from hell''s gift shop, the little girl raised what was left of her head back before slamming it onto his neck. Again and again, back and forth, with such force as if mimicking an axe trying to fell an oak tree. He watched her do it in a daze.


    Can that slender neck really keep up with all this abuse? He was a bit worried she would give herself whiplash if not outright snapping it considering what little amount of neck she even has left. A loud bang resulting from the bloated undead kicking his pole he dropped earlier woke him up. He shoved the thing off him and got up on his feet, eyes darting side to side for something he could use as a weapon, but all around him were only fragile toys in cardboard containers. A glance back told him that the shuffling tube of rotten lard was almost here and he had his back to the wall and no weapon to speak off. Zombies are stronger than they were in life with their body no longer limiting muscle performance to prevent hurting itself or so he presumed. Add that to the considerable amount of mass on his asshole and how narrow space was meant he wasn''t going to be able to take it down piece by piece like the others.


    Goddamnit Murica, why did 1/4 of the population had to be obese?


    His brilliant idea to take them down had backfired horribly. With how much fat that body had there was no way for him to move it and nothing able to break the skull he was fucked. His heart raced as he walked his death inch ever closer, the force of his pulse made his fingers twitch in rhythm as he strived to think of a way out of his current predicament.


    Time was running out.

 Another survivor?

    He promptly ignored the little girl trying to gnaw at his boot. She wasn''t a threat and he didn''t have the time to deal with such a minor annoyance at the moment. Grey''s mind raced through the possibilities until he finally came up with something. It was truly idiotic, the idea of a madman even, but as they say, desperate time calls for desperate measures.


    And so he grabbed the little girl... And threw her at the Plus sized undead, bowling it over. Rushing towards the downed duo he lifted up his human(?) projectile and brutally smashed her down on the larger zombie directly in the face, as if she was a pillow he was using at a particularly intense pillow fight against that one cousin you low key hated, but couldn''t afford to actually hit.


    Channeling all of his misplaced anger the amount of force he managed to unleash was impressive, to say the least. As if some part of their rotten brain was aware of what was happening the two zombies screaming in sync in the moments right before impact. The poor girl''s already damaged head couldn''t handle the abuse, especially considering how soft and fragile kid''s skull are compared to adults, and ended up for a lack of a better word exploding over both of them.


    The fat zombie didn''t get away from it scot-free either as it had been greatly stagged by the blow and lost its footing, knocking over boxes which it then tripped on. He pounced on the opportunity and raised his makeshift flail overhead and swung down repeatedly, beating the other corpse into submission. If his weapon wasn''t sans its head it might''ve knocked into the ceiling, as at one point he had decided to jump and leverage gravity and his weight with his blows, ensuring the Mr. I-Eat-Ass-Literally couldn''t get up as his knees gave out on him.


    A few minutes later and he was left heaving over the pulped remains of someone''s torso while holding onto the grisly remains of a femur, stripped of flesh and torn from its body from the force of his blows. The girl''s body flying who knows where. He didn''t see nor really care, not after his brief descent into madness.


    He stayed there on his knees staring at it uncomprehendingly for a few moments before quickly pulling down his scarf and hurling. The sight of the half-digested pink mess of his ham and cheese only made it worst. He did a few breathing exercises until he had calmed down a little and checked his surroundings for more zombies. Thankfully despite all the noise and his small break down not that much time had actually passed. He quickly turned off all the toy dogs and got rid of the lone zombie that got inside. Yet, when he went back to pick up his trust metal pole his eyes wandered to the fallen undead and he felt a hint of nausea and bile rising back up. A soft chuckle left his lips, but it was devoid of any humor.


    "I guess I''m not as tough as I thought I was, huh?" Grey muttered to himself in with self-derision. As always and with a hint of morbid curiosity he checked the body of the man and found another phone and a dark leather wallet. It was quite high quality and he actually managed to give out a laugh when a bunch of condoms fell out when he opened it. "Man, guess you really can''t judge a book by its cover," He noticed they were all different colors and began to read them out loud


    "Trojan, Durex, Skyn... and Trojan Magnum? Seriously dude? " He flipped through them and read their funny description as if they were comic strips and shuffled them like playing cards. It was a fun little distraction before he shoved them back in the side pocket they fell out of and checked the rest of its content. His smile froze on his face before shattering like glass as he stared morosely. There, right next to the owner''s driver license was a picture of him and his family, a little girl not unlike the one whose corpse he had brutalized just minutes prior sitting on his lap. It was a birthday party. The girl was about to blow out the candles and her eyes shined golden in the candle''s light. Everyone in the picture had happy smiles on their faces.


    They were happy. They had dreams. They had a future and yet now look at them, nothing but cooling bodies, killed by a punk kid in a God-forsaken mall with nobody to mourn them. Would their family ever find out? Are they even still alive?


    He used his newly acquired phone to log into his social media accounts to send everyone another message. If they were in this like he was then a sudden phone call was like announcing to every undead nearby of an all you can eat buffet nearby. It''s been 6 hours since the mass blackout and yet still no police presence nor any news coverage. His earlier posts had gotten more attention but were currently being treated as a hoax or a meme. It was mildly frustrating but understandable. He took some more pictures of his surrounding including the dismembered girl and the torso-less man.


    Maybe it was pointless and nobody would care, but he just wanted to leave something behind. Just in case he was going to die here he wanted his death to be meaningful and remembered, unlike the man.


    He got up and reached for his backpack before quickly changing his clothes and wrapping a new scarf to cover his face. He''d need more food soon, especially considering that he had missed breakfast thanks to the blacking out and that he had just puked up his lunch. It was almost 5:30 PM and he had to keep his energy up for such intensive activities. Grey had just put on his backpack and taken his first step out the entrance when he had a sudden idea.


    Half an hour, one trip back and forth from the Macy''s tothe toy shop, and a stupid amount of tapeand he was quite proud of his work. There laying in a neat row in front of him was 7 toy RC trucks with a phone attached them with a bunch of spares and other toys stuffed in his bag. One by one they left the safety of the store to scout out the path for him. Where it was impossible to continue without encountering any zombies, he merely used the toy to attract their attention. If the sound of the truck moving or bumping into things wasn''t enough then he would call phone. With strategic placement and crowd control, he had even managed to make 4 zombies fall to their afterlife.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Of course, he made sure to not leave himself complacent or fully relaxed as before and made sure to check every possible route. He even had one stationed on the parking lot outside to make sure there wasn''t something crazy like a horde amassing outside ready to trap him.


    He was basically strolling along at a rapid pace, only taking the occasional pause to check the bodies lying around for any survivors. Though you would think blasting Fallout boy on his phone would either wake people up or get them to notice him, but so far he hasn''t even managed to catch a glimpse of a single person. Was he just really lucky to be one of the few people to not instantly die at first contact or did the zombies do them in? Or did they escape already?


    He didn''t know the answer to any of them even after he walked over his 5th pile of corpses.


    Having learned his lesson from earlier he systematically lured and took down the zombies like clockwork one at a time. The young zombie slayer walked towards the bathroom and cleaned himself up, making doubly sure to thoroughly wash his hands with the scented soap, couldn''t very well make himself a meal covered in some man''s guts after all. That was just unsanitary and gross. A hesitant sniff made a smile grow on his face. It smelled of cream and summer berries. He decided to take the entire bottle, he was sure the staff wouldn''t mind, and if they did. Well, they were already dead so fuck them.


    A glance towards the mirror made him sigh and shove his head under the sink''s running water, lathering the handsoap liberally within blood matted raven locks.


    It was incredibly cold, an abrupt shock to his system, but exactly what he needed to stay awake. He hummed along to whatever mindless tune was playing in the Men''s room, however, his ears picked up an almost silence creaking next door. He had left most of his surveillance trucks to keep a perimeter. For a moment the black haired boy considered pulling one of them back in order to check the bathroom, but he shook his head at the idea.


    Those things wouldn''t last forever and he needed to learn to fight in all sorts of places. Playing it too safe wasn''t necessarily good for his development. With such thoughts, he crept towards the entrance and made sure to keep a safe distance from the hand dryer or the automatic paper towel dispenser. A peek around the corner revealed nobody at the sink. He carefully crouched down and glanced beneath the stalls to reveal no feet. How odd. There was nobody here?


    Was he too sensitive and tense? Being too relaxed had proven to be a mistake but jumping at shadows was a great way to pile up fatigue and stress, something that could prove equally fatal. There were three stalls in front of him.


    Grey took a few steps back until he was a good distance away from the door in case something jumped out at him before grabbing a few coins from his pocket. Picking a particularly shiny quarter which was apparently circulated in 2014, he tossed itat the one in the middle full force and watched as it flew past the top of the closed door and ricochet inside. The harsh clanks of metal against porcelain echoed loudly through the seemingly empty stalls when a loud shriek startled him.


    Unlike the undead''s which were filled with an animalistic rage, this one was full of surprise and fear. The voice was definitely a girl''s.


    Another survivor? How very interesting Grey thought to himself as he might''ve found someone who could answer some of the questions on his mind about what the heck happened while he was blacked out. Would she be useful? Maybe he would bring her along to escape his hell hole, he could always use an extra hand.


    "Hey, calm down. I''m human, the name''s Grey Allen, sorry I scared you." He uttered softly to avoid further spooking whoever was in the stall, suppressing his minor irritation at having to talk to a door and waiting for a reply. First impressions are important after all. Even if the girl was clearly impolite. He even apologized!


    "Go away!" She shouted with a hoarse voice while choking back sobs. He stood there for a moment blinking in surprise. He hasn''t been shouted at in years, and nobody had the balls to piss him off in twice as long. Well, ain''t somebody just plain rude. He even apologized!


    "Look, I don''t want to hurt you or anything, just want to talk for a bit. Also, can you open the door?" It was getting dark and he hasn''t eaten a proper meal in forever. He wouldn''t want to deal with a rude moody little girl who locked herself in the bathroom, and he really did not want to deal with this bullshit during the fucking zombie apocalypse of all times.


    Seriously, kids today have absolutely no manners. It also seemed that his attempts at gently coaxing her to grow up and stop hiding in the toilet like a big girl weren''t appreciated judging by her reply.


    "Are you fucking stupid? There are zombies out there! Fuck off and leave me alone."


    Bitch.


    What little of his patience evaporated like an ice cube under the summer''s sun. a vein pulsed angrily along his temples and he felt his right eye twitch ever so slightly. He took in a deep breath and held it in, counting to 7 before slowly releasing it. The boy walked up close to the door and spoke loudly so that every word rang through the room. His voice was gentle despite the volume.


    "Look, kid, you''re scared, angry even, I understand. One day you''regoing to the mall with friends having fun and eating ice cream, the next day zombies attack and they eat your friends'' brains. It happens. The world finds a way to bend you over and fuck you sideways without lube. Shit happens. I''m sorry your parents aren''t here to comfort, I''m sorry that your friends aren''t here to help, and I''m sorry that I... Don''t give a fuck."


    As he was speaking he could tell she was following along every word because she had gone completely silent, sobs and all. Grey''svoice, once a deep and rich baritone, suddenly lost all pretense of husky masculinity for a more skrill and boyish one laced with white-hot anger. He had to find his friends and get out of here, and nothing was going to get in his way. He wasn''t going to spare anything that got in his way come hell or high water. Not a horde of zombies, and definitely not a stupid girl''s feelings.


    The said girl gave a gasp of surprise at the sudden shift in his tone and what he said, but before she could begin her indignant tangent he continued where he left off.


    "Maybe your parents would put up with your tantrum, but guess what honey? They aren''t here right now and I don''t put up with disrespect, and I most certainly don''t put up with whiney brats and their bullshit breakdown. Now, how about you be a good girl and get the fuck out of there before I drag you out by your hair? And trust me when I say that a shitty Food Court bathroom stall might save you wrong the braindead fucks outside," He swung his rod and broke the nearby mirror to emphasize his point. "but nothing will stop me from beating your ass for wasting my time with this if you don''t get out by the time I count to 5."


    Grey didn''t even need to finish counting 2 when the stall door suddenly burst open, the girl having scrambled to unlock the hatch and did not even have time to get her feet off the toilet seat.

 Lemondrops, Scattered Brains, and Fried Garlic

    Large doe eyes stared back at him in fear and even hidden as they were behind her curtain of muddied yellow hair he thought they were quite beautiful. Twin orbs of bright emerald that shined even in the dim bathroom light, coated as they were in barely suppressed tears. They were absolutely enchanting and he took a brief moment to admire them, perhaps just a tad bit longer than was deemed polite before checking out the rest of her.


    And just as quickly as it came his levity died as he took in her full appearance. She was a small thing, only 5''3 or so compared to his 5''9, with torn and dirty clothing. Closer inspection told him that her hair was actually coated in a thick and quite frankly disgusting amount of congealed blood, while bits of flesh or other miscellaneous body bits caked her shoes up a quarter of the shin.


    His displeasure must''ve shown in his face as the small waif of a girl gave a loud squeak and wrapped her arms around the top of her head before burying it within her knees. Considering how she was swatting on the toilet seat it would''ve made a very humorous site if he wasn''t so exhausted both physically and emotionally. His anger drained out of him at the pathetic site and strangely enough, he even felt a bit bad, it wasn''t like him to lose his temper like that, especially not on someone who didn''t actually deserve it. It was unbecoming behavior for one such as himself.


    "Just... Just get out of there, please." He said in an almost exasperated tone. He took a step respectable distance back to not only give her room to get out of her ridiculous defensive position but also showed that he meant her no harm. A few moments passed with her peeking between her legs at him and ducking back down like an ostrich whenever she caught him staring. Still with much more good humor than before he merely let her go through the process.


    Finally, after a few minutes, she obliged his request and gentle got down, stumbling as she did and leaning against the wall for support. She wasn''t injured as far as he could tell, but perhaps she had sprained something? A darker voice in the back of his mind told him she might be hiding a bite wound, or perhaps the infection was air or waterborne after all? He kept up an amiable smile on his face even while subtly tightening his grip on his metal rod.


    "D-Don''t hurt me, please." She pleaded with him, and with the way her eyes water and her lips kept quivering he was certain she was doing her best not to break down into a mess then and there. At least she seemed aware and wasn''t going into shock, well not yet, so that was a point in her favor. He had absolutely no intention to bring along extra baggage after all, so maybe he would end up keeping her after he got all the information he needed out of her. He placed down his rod by the sink to help her calm down but making sure it was within arms reach in case she suddenly turned on him.


    "I don''t want to hurt you, miss..?" He trayed off meaningfully while making sure to keep his voice as gentle and soothing as he could. Perhaps it was his polite demeanor despite his earlier outburst, perhaps it was how clean his appearance was with naught a hint of blood on him, or perhaps it was his seemingly relaxedposition casually leaning against the wall with one hand in his pocket. It could''ve been any or none of these carefully calculated factors, but she quickly seemed to regain her wits about her enough to actually talk to him like a proper human being. Thankfully she caught his hint and quickly enough provided him her name.


    "Victoria Whitten"


    He gave a charming smile before offering her his right hand for a shake while his left fingered the scissors he had taken from the toy store. Her hands were slimy and the grip was weak, but he pointedly ignored it in favor of reading her body language and expressions.


    "A beautiful name. It isa pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Whitten. May I call you Victoria?"


    "I- er, yeah. I mean, O-of course!"


    It seems she was still scared of him from earlier. No matter, he could use that to his advantage. He was a firm believer in the carrot and stick method and while he didn''t know whether or not she would be leaving here with him it was convenient to start on the foundation of their relationship. Like most things in life, especially the establishment of a hierarchy, the sooner the better.


    "You can relax, as I had told you earlier, all the zombies nearby have already been taken care of by me. I''m about to make some food, why don''t you join me and I''ll fix you something up? I have a few questions that I hope you won''t mind answering in the meantime, and I''d be more than happy to answer any of yours."


    Her eyes immediately darted to the corner leading towards the exit with obvious fear, as if there were a horde of zombies waiting just outside ready to ripe her to shreds. Before she could give a reply he got up and picked up his weapon, resting it on his shoulds as if a baseball bat, and walked out. His back slouched ever so slightly, his gait as carefree and leisurely as possible as if he was going for a walk in the park instead of zombie-infested space. His steps were purposefully measured, slow, andloud. Humming along to a song he had hear on the radio weeks ago, but had forgotten both the name and lyrics as if he really hadn''t the slightest care in the world.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Whether it was the undead or the little girl he had left behind.


    He didn''t even manage to count up to 5 in his head before the sounds of hurried footsteps followed along. Hook, line, and sinker. Although she had been shaking in his presence not even five minutes ago, now she clung to him like a koala to its mother. Mentally blanching at the metaphor''s image he corrected himself hastily. Or rather, clinging to a rope in the sea.


    Yes, much better.


    "Wait for me!" She shouted before all but crashing into him. "Please, wait, don''t leave me behind."


    "You don''t have to worry, Victoria. I''m not going to leave," Not yet at least, "I was only checking to make sure there weren''t anymore undead lurking around nearby." With a reassuring smile, he gently patted her head before making a show of rubbing his belly.


    "So! I don''t know about you but I''m absolutely famished, but how about you clean yourself up first before I get us something to eat? Wait here for me I''ll be right back with some clean clothes" he said as he leads her to sit near "Master Wok" a popular Chinese restaurant.


    He went over to the men''s bathroom where he had placed his backpack and pulled out a neatly folded change of clothing sans underwear. It was nothing fancy, just a small sweater and some jeans, but it was miles better than the bloodied rags she was wearing. He placed them on the table for her before a sudden scream made him race out.


    There Victoria was with two zombies closing in on her. One was a small kid probably 12 or 13, the other an old grandma whose teeth he was sure had rotted away long before she decided to hokey pokey her way in and back out of the grave. She stared at them frozen in fear as they approached her at a snail''s pace, only breaking out of her trace when the kid was lunging at her within arms reach. Another scream before she tripped and fell. Fear and adrenalin overcame the pain of her sure to be bruised behind as she scrambled back in a pathetic display.


    He stared with a dispassionate gaze bordering on boredom and disappointment.


    "G-Grey! Help!"


    With her eyes glued on the two zombies, Victoria didn''t see his frown deeper ever so slightly. He was sure even the average anemic kid could handle if they were careful, however within the blink of an eye he wiped the look away and replaced it with panic and worry, making a show of dropping the clothes and running into "peril" and braving the dangers in order to save her with no regards to his own well being. With exaggerated efforts, he somehow managed to vanquish the two evil zombies!... Or something. Even though he wrote this script he couldn''t help but feel a sense of embarrassment.


    After all, he made her sit there precisely because he knew she would attract the two undead. He did still have a surveillance perimeter set up after all.


    He did it to first test out her reactions and to say it was a bad showing was an understatement. However, he wasn''t going to write her off so soon, who knows she might surprise him later or maybe she had some other talent that wasn''t related to fighting. His second goal was to indebt her. If society really is collapsing like the thought then people with specialized skills such as mechanics or farmers would be incredibly valuable and it would be far easier to gather them and acquire their loyalty in the early stages.


    It would be even easier to do, if slightly annoying if he hadto protect her. As long as she needed him, as long as he could become her pillar, then she would move according to his will. After all, it doesn''t take much for physical dependency to quickly include emotional. All you need is... a littlepush. And he was more than happy to oblige.


    Once more he found himself having to comfort the sobbing mess of a girl, patting her back and whispering soothing words as if comforting a child. However unlike in the restroom this time she recovered much faster. Whether she was simply getting used too it or she was simply tougher than he gave her credit for she stopped crying. When she lifted her face he cupped her cheeks. They were pale and cold in contrast to her puffy red eyes.


    He wiped her tears away with his right hand, his weapon dropped and rolled away to some far off corner. Grey softly rubbed her cheeks, long and slender fingers trailed along her smooth skin with a tenderness she couldn''t believe had come from a man whose fury was so intense mere moments ago.


    Staring into his intense blue eyes she lost her voice. Mistaking it for fear he pulled her closer to his chest, his chin resting neatly on the crown of her head and he rubbed small circles on her back.


    "There there, don''t be scared. I''m here. I''ll always be here."


    The promise within his voice soothed all her worry, letting its hypnotic tone take her, the exhausted girl was lulled her to sleep with the scent of honey and lemons.


    ...


    ...


    This bitch really fell asleep on me... The fucking nerve. Yet even with all his indignation he still continued his motions until he was sure she was deep within the land of Morpheus.


    The young boy carefully placed her down before grabbing his backpack. He pulled out the many change of clothings he had stuffed inside before making her a makeshift bed, cringing internally at the thought of his clothing being dirtied.


    "You''re lucky you''re cute." He muttered bitterly. Sure, he just stole those, and there was literally an entire store full of them five minutes away, but he absolutely hated people messing with his stuff, to say the least of actually getting bloody and zombie gore on them. He wasn''t a germaphobe! He just enjoyed cleanliness and a certain standard of living!


    He fixed the tables and chairs Victoria had knocked over before hopping over the counter of Master Wok. He thoroughly washed all the pan and knives along with his hands before starting to cook. He didn''t know what Victoria liked to eat, but she was asleep so fuck waiting for her opinion he wanted garlic chicken stir fry. He''d make enough just in case she wanted some.


    And so humming the song he had back in the restroom Grey started cooking while looking through his facebook, the two newly made corpse and the wall splattered with their brains ignored and forgotten about.

 Chicken Rice Stir-Fry For the Soul

    Victoria let out a groggy groan as she slowly woke up. Her small face scrunched up with eyes still closed as her nose twitched sniffing at the air and breathing in deeply the heavenly fragrance ofchicken and spices. She simply laid there and enjoyed the quiet ambiance. She wasn''t sure where she was or what was going on, but all she knew was she was warm, and comfortable, the sizzling of oil and the repetitive sounds of a knife on a chopping board as soothing as any seaside melody she had ever heard at this moment. She might''ve slipped back to sleep were it not for the fact her stomach decided to protest against such actions loudly.


    With a supreme amount of effort, she sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before they widened in shock at her surroundings. She was visiting her friend who works at the Sears on the first floor and had convinced her to take an early lunch break when it all began. They had just gotten their smoothies when suddenlypeople started passing out. While others ran away screaming about terrorists and poison they had gone to help the people. It was a mistake.


    She didn''t know who it was but afirefighterhad happened to be in the mall on their day off. The man had managed to rally everyone into organized groups to help tend to the victims until proper help could arrive. His calm had rubbed on the others around him. His was a reassuring presence.


    He was tall, good looking, and had the makings of a charismatic leader. At least he did until the woman he was tending too decided to take a chunk off his face.


    She winced at the memory of all the chaos and violence that had followed, a deep bitterness filled her briefly as she recalled how she and Julia, her best friend, had been separated. How Victoria didn''t try to follow after her and hid away in the toilet covering her ears and pretending she couldn''t hear all the screams outside.


    Yet, as she looked around there were no bodies as far as she could see. All the tables and chairs had been neatly picked up and arranged where they were supposed to be. The thick and heavy stench of iron had been replaced with the refreshing smell of oranges. If she didn''t know better she would''ve thought the past 24 hours were a dream, a horrible nightmare, because under the bright moonlight it looked as if she was just in an ordinary mall at night. All alone...


    Was she still asleep? Where did it all go? Who had done this? A shiver crawled up her spine at the thought of being by herself in the middle of the night surrounded by flesh-eating monsters. What had happened to Grey? Was he out fighting more of the undead? Was he alright? Did... Did he abandon her like the others..? Before she could drown in her own thoughts of her bleak future someone interrupted.


    "Ah, you''re awake. That''s good, you had me worried there, you know?" The familiar voice shocked her out of her rumination. Victoria turned around so quickly that she almost gave herself whiplash. She didn''t mind though, because she was too overcome with joy and relief. He was still here. Yes, he didn''t just leave her all alone. Another closer glance to her immediate surroundings clued her in on exactly how she had fallen asleep so soundly.


    She was laying on twowintercoats with a rather warmjacket acting as her blanket and a rolled up sweater as her pillow. She idly ran her fingers through the thick and luxurious fur. Her eyes flickered to Greys form, the young man who had not only saved her but made sure she was comfortable.


    The leather jacket she had seen him wore the entire time clutched between her fingers. It was the middle of December and Square One Mall''s heating had barely worked even before the dead started rising again, heck if she looked carefully she was sure there were signs of frost creeping on the glass ceiling, and yet here she was warm and comfy in his jacket while he had been out there...


    "Um, here you go. Thanks." She said a bit awkwardly, bashfully handing back her makeshift blanket which Grey draped over his chair. "You''re welcome, how are you feeling?"


    "Much better now thanks to yo-" Her sentence was interrupted and with eyes widened and her face flushed in embarrassment a slight rumbling was heard. The small growl coming from her stomach came as no surprise to him as she had been out for a while and probably missed lunch. While she covered her face in mortification he didn''t make a comment and politely pretended to not hear a thing. The black haired boy placed down his large plate on a nearby table before beckoning her over to take a seat.


    "Here, have a seat." He pulled out a chair for her as he continued setting up the table. "I just made some stir-fry, would you like some?" he asked even as handed her a bowl of rice and some utensils before she could reply.


    "Thank you." she softly muttered as she carefully took the bowl with both hands. Victoria woodenly sat down and stared at the plate for a moment. It was a chicken stir fry. Even without eating a bite she could tell it was masterfully done with a blend of a dozen different spices, with ginger and garlic the only ones she could recognize. She could almost taste the richness of the flavors dancing on her tongue just by inhaling its aroma.


    She took a glimpse at him and even though the hazy white steam his blue eyes stood out in the dark. They were just like the plate in front of her: Warm and inviting, full ofhidden intricacies, and left her just as incomprehensible in their making.


    "Please, go ahead. Let me know what you think." and without need for further prompting Victoria dug in. Ignoring the pair of chopsticks for the spoon she made sure to scoop some chicken and rice. The savory sauce combined with the tenderness of the chicken was absolutely divine and made all her taste buds sing. It was just a bit spicier than she normally would''ve liked, but the pleasant heat it spread was perfect to combat the how chilly it was. With a hearty meal in front of her to focus on she soon lost some of her somberness.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "It''s delicious..." She declared with a whisper, despite the strained smile she had on it was obvious she was feeling crestfallen. How couldn''t she be? Here she was enjoying such a wonderful meal while Julia was out there somewhere fighting for her life trying to not become one. How many people had died? How many more in the following days, weeks years? How long will it last, if it even ends, and will she ever see her family again?


    Her posture was stiff as a board as she mechanically went through the motions of eating, lost in somber thoughts. Seeing this, Grey gave a soft chuckle as he watched her eat with his elbow on the table and head resting on his palm for a bit before grabbing his own bowl and joining her. After all, sharing meals together was a great way to bond, a brief calculating glint in his eyes.


    He neatly rolled up the sleeves of his sweater andVictoria noted how toned his arms were. His fingers were as long and slender and his large palms no doubt radiating a considerable amount of heat despite the chill outside. She could almost feel their warmth on her cheeks just as they were earlier. A closer look showed that his pale skin wasn''t as flawless as she had first thought. Dozens of tiny fine scars wrapped around his arms and his knuckles were battered.


    He moved to pull his facemask and even before she finished she knew he was a looker just from the fine shape of his nose. She wasn''t disappointed. She was knocked out of her not so subtle observations when started talking.


    "I''m glad to hear that you enjoy it. I had learned it from my friend''s mother back when we were kids, it is authentic Chinese cuisine. A traditional family recipe from her home in Shanghai that took me years to weasel it out of her." She looked up at him in confusion. Where was this going?He then proceeded to give her an impromptu cooking lesson including all the ingredients he had used and how to best cook them to maintain fresh flavors.


    "So you see, thetrick is in knowing how to prep your ingredients and making sure to cut everything evenly so they all cook at the same rate. To be honest I mostly learned from her grandmother whose a much better cook, but don''t let her know I told you that." Here he gave her a playful wink with a cheeky grin and suddenly Victoria gave a laugh. This wasn''t like the forced smiles she had given previously and had none of the painful awkwardness she had felt. No, this was something real and refreshing, like a summer''s breeze.


    The sudden story from his past surprised her, it was such an utterly mundane topic. And yet it was exactly what she needed. There was no impending doom, no mentions of the countless dead seeking their flesh, just a casualness that one could find on an average day. As strange as it was, she felt safe here within this moment with him, this strange unknown boy who can slay zombies with the same grace and ease as he walked and who was apparently a skillful chef in his own right.


    She listened intently as he shared moretales of his foray in the culinary world, laughing at things such as when he was making cupcakes and once mistook salt for sugar when helping out at a local bake sales, or absorbed into his passion when describing certain methods of cooking. Breaking down the art and unveiling the science behind every action. She didn''t know when she let go of her weariness, but eventually, they were sharing stories and laughing like old friends.


    All too soon they finished their meal and she helped him clean up. Victoria didn''t really understand why they were washing the plates and tossing things in the trashcans when nobody was going to care. It''s not like anyone else was likely to be alive to lecture them on leaving dirty plates or littering amore cynical part of her whispered.


    "No, perhaps not," He agreed even as he wiped another spoon to place in the drawer. "We might very well be the only survivors left here and you''re right in saying nobody would bat an eye if we just left a bunch of dirty plates or trash laying around, but I''ve never been one for having others clean up my messes." She just nodded her head. It wasn''t like she was against it or anything, in fact, the repetitive actions gave her a sense of calm and normalcy she so desperately wanted-needed as much as she needed air.


    That yes, even in such a fucked up situation, things will be ok.


    Far too soon the chores were completed and as the last plate clank against the drying rack, she turned towards Grey and gave voice to the thoughts that had been eating her up this entire time. With her head held higher than its ever been the entire day she made up her mind.


    "Hey, Grey?" she tentative reached out for his attention. He gave a soft smile at hearing her call his name and looked at her from over his shoulders, drying his hands on a towel.


    "Yes, Victoria?"


    She looked at him in the eyes and for a moment her confidence wavered, however, she knew what she had to do. Taking a deep breath to steel herself she cleared her throat before continuing. Her green eyes blazed with life as they did their best to convey all the raw emotions she felt.


    "Please teach me," It was a simple request all things considered. A mere three words, with nothing being syllables. It wasn''t even the three magic words ''I love you'', and yet they were so full of earnest desire and hope. They did not lose out in intensity and meaning. She was going to change, she was going to become better, and she would do it by his side through this hell.


    The words and implication hung in heavy in the air for a few moments and as the seconds ticked by anxiety reared its head. Of course, he wouldn''t agree. How shameless could she get? This wasn''t some fairy tale, some Hollywood chick flick or novel, this was real life and expecting him to take care of and train her during such a disaster was completely ridiculous.


    Victoria was not his lover nor even friend for that matter and not only had she been saved by him she even tried to reach for a mile after taking an inch. She almost took back her words but decided to dig her heel in. She couldn''t assume they would just stay together to get out of here and even if they did what in the world was she supposed to do after? What if the world outside was just as bad, or even worse? Plus she still had to look for Julia.


    The thought of her bosom buddy gave her courage she couldn''t hope to muster by herself. And so she waited to hear the coming rejection she was all but expecting. It would''ve been a nigh death sentence, but one she couldn''t blame him for, after all, he had no reason to put himself at risk for such a clumsy and useless girl. In times of danger, it was only natural to look out for oneself and as much as she hated to admit it she was a burden. In the midst of her self depreciation and fear she didn''t see him draw closer.


    Her fears were soon put to rest however, as he laid a calloused hand on her head and ruffled her hair gently. The look in his eyes was enough to allay her worries, but hewent on to put it into words regardless.


    "Of course." He simply said and went back to the table he was at just a bit ago. Just like that, he agreed to her selfish request, as if it was a given and she didn''t need to get so worked up over something simple and obvious. She was caught flatfooted and didn''t even know how to reply.

 Man in the Mirror

    Realizing her mistake soon enough Victoria chased after his back. Her short legs struggled to match for his long strides, but thankfully he stopped a short distance away to rummage through one of his backpacks. Grabbing some fluffy towels, a change of clothes, and a bottle of the honey lemon soap he had stolen earlier, he had all but dumped it into her arms and sent her off towards the bathroom. She was a bit nervous to go back there especially in the dark as all the lights and music had been shut off.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be right outside. Theremight not be a shower but you could still use the water to clean up a bit."


    Now that he had mentioned it she became conscious of the state she was in. Much like how one doesn''t normally think about their own breathing, once someone brought it up it came rearing to the front of their mind. Victoria had gotten so occupied with everything going on that she didn''t even notice how filthy she was. She was covered in gunk in all sorts of places. Her plain white t-shirt had been splattered as if someone had made a print of Jackson Pollock''s work in red.


    An experimental flex of her arms sent a ripple of small cracks down the thin coat of crusted blood on them and another of her toes made her back shiver in disgust at the feeling of semi-congealed blood and other stuff she would really rather not think about, nor identify.


    So with liberal use of soap, she started on her task of cleansing herself. The water was incredibly cold, sharp and biting, nothing like the one back at her house. She held back a sigh as she watched the water turn a rusted brown as she scrubbed down her arms. Pulling her shirt over her head carelessly she tossed it away in the trash along with her pants. Theywere a designer outfit that she had brought just recently, but now nothing more than red stained rags. Now clad only in her bra and underwear she took her time, carefully making sure to get every trace of filth off her


    Next, she started on her beautiful long hair and placed it underneath the running water. Like digging for treasure, the more layers of dirt and grime she unearthed, the more strands of spun gold was found shining underneath. However, it seemed almost as if it was buried deep within the mantle of the Earth because there seemed to always be more.


    It was as if she was washing out a persistent cheap dye, the red kept coming out no matter how hard she rubbed.Victoria had thick clumps of red gunk piled underneath her nails. The overwhelming heavy smell of iron was palpable in the air and she had to bite back a gag.


    The sink had clogged from a mixture of the bits of dried blood and strands of hair and water was starting to fill it up quickly. While the drain was a bit disgusting, the sink was deep and the water still clear. Placing her long hair under the water was obviously going to take forever so she just took a deep breath and dunked her entire head into the sink beneath the flow and rubbed furiously. Tendrils of rich crimson spread out from around her hair like a fiery halo.


    It was strange being underwater. Although Grey had told her about how they had to be careful with how much noise they made least they attracted zombies to them, that had never stopped them from quietly having conversations. Even in the dark bathroom, she could still hear the running water and the sound of him humming from just beyond the doorway. Now, however, she could scarcely hear a thing besides the beating of her own heart. Strong and steady, the small engine of life beating within her chest drowned out everything else.


    As she relaxed to its melody, the strands of red began to disperse until there was a darkening cloud of red filling up her vision. It stung her eyes and she closed to hurry and finish cleaning up, but moments after she closed her eyes, a rotten face appeared in her vision.


    It had a horrible appearance.


    One of its eyes was missing and the empty socket was filled with worms, some as long as her entire hand. They crawled out and wavered in the wind as if seaweed dancing in the wind. On its head were wispy stands of thin hair connected to strips dripping skin, as if someone had attempted to scalp them and was too lazy to finish halfway through. The skin a yellowish green as if a mold covered mummy had been freshly uncovered from its tomb, its lone eye spun and rattled in its socket as if its skull was a magic 8 ball. Suddenly it came to a stop and stared directly at here. Its head jerked directly at her in an unnatural angle and a blood-covered grin was directed at her before it pounced.


    Her eyes snapped open and she tried to let out a scream, but soon found herself violently choking on the water she inadvertently swallowed. Victoria found felt panic seizing her as she quickly backpedaled and slipped on a puddle she had caused in her panicked flailing.


    Wheezing for air she did her best to expel the water that had gotten into her airways. Her nose burned something fierce as she got it out through all her passageways and all but puked over herself. A rancid taste filled her tongue. Her knees grew weak until they collapsed under her and she laid on her side shivering as she held herself, unminding of the growing pool of bile and tainted water around her. She felt tired and weak.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    She... Couldn''t do this. She looked exactly as she felt: Pathetic. Save Julia? Don''t make her laugh, she couldn''t even save herself. How many zombies are out there? How long will this last?How was she going to survive this?... And did she even want too? What was the point? The world has ended. Julia was most likely already dead, the only quest was whether she was on the ground or walking around. She will never see anyone again, never finish her degree, never go bungee jumping, never get married, never have a kid...


    Countless regrets and wishes filled her mind, as numerous as stars in the star, as uncountable as the undead outside thissmall damp safe haven she found herself in.


    No, she couldn''t do this. Her blank eyes caught a gleam of light from a shard of the mirror. She must''ve broken it during her panic. Perhaps... She reached a hand over to a particularly large and sharp shard. A glance at her hands made her puzzled. Had her hands always been like... This? Small, soft, smooth... and utterly weak. Lacking strength to even to protect or do anything. To even live.


    Yes, it doesn''t matter if she died, it wouldn''t make a difference, not to Julia, not to her parents in South Carolina, not the world.


    And certainly not herself.


    She should just end it here and now, save herself the pain and struggle. At least this way she could die with some dignity as herself instead of a mindless monster. Yes, just a couple inches. It''ll be quick, like a paper cut across the carotid arteries. She''ll bleed out in minutes and escape this hell. Yes, that sounded nice. She heard that it would be like going to sleep! Some people even say it feels good before the end.


    And it''d all finally be over. This nightmare would end.


    Sorry Julia, but your friend is a coward, you saved me for nothing... I can''t do this, not by myself.


    Just one quick motion and everything... Would be over.


    ...


    So why was she hesitating? There was no hospital nearby, just her and Grey. What were the chances he was a doctor? No, even if he was what could he do with no medicine? No tools? He wouldn''t be able to help her. He couldn''t save her as he did before...


    Thousands of thoughts raced through her head, yet one resonated loudly through as the answer of her predicament. She was afraid.


    She heard footsteps coming. It was Grey. He would be here any moment now so she had to do it soon. Come on! Just do it! Yet no matter how much she yelled inside her heard her hand wavered hesitantly. He was rounding the corner, now or never!


    "Victoria! Are you alright? What happened?"


    She couldn''t do it.


    Grey knelt down next to her in concern even as the disgusting pool of her vomit soaked his pants and seeped into socks and shoes. A shame, they were quite a nice pair too, she thought idly before something tore out of her throat.


    A broken-hearted laugh, full of mock and self-derision.


    Her grip on the broken glass increased until it bit into her palms. The tiny sudden flow of blood greatly startled the man who didn''t bat an eye even while painting the walls of the mall red with the undead. He ripped off his scarf as if its touch burned and wrapped her hand in it. While large, the care used in its making ensured that the makeshift bandages didn''t feel clumsy. He tossed the glass away and shifted his body in a subtle way so that she couldn''t reach for any more without going around him.


    He worked in silence and didn''t ask her any more questions after seeing her not reply. Turning off the overflowing sink he kept an eye on her as he went to retrieve what remaining clean towels were there. She didn''t respond and sat against the wall she was placed at like a puppet with its strings cut.


    After cleaning the glass he sat next to her and checked for any more wounds before washing her. His eyes and hands didn''t wander even as she sat there in nothing but her underwear. She wouldn''t have stopped him. Wouldn''t have cared if he did anything to her at this moment. Then again a girl covered in blood and vomit probably wasn''t very appealing.


    He finished cleaning her and tossed the towel away before kneeling next to her once more. They simply stayed there for a few moments, but a large hand plopped onto her head. The sudden weight surprised her and when she looked up she only saw Grey eyes, a look of understanding, void of the judgment and condemnation she had been expecting.


    He had worked so hard to save her, and she goes and repaid him by trying to die in a corner when he wasn''t looking. He should''ve been disgusted with such a woman, she knows she was.


    "It''ll be alright.Everything will be fine. You''re safe now." He said as if he was trying to comfort a child who scraped his knees instead of someone in the middle of the apocalypse. And yet it was effective just the same, as if his words weren''t empty promises but held the weight of convictions enough to change the world.


    A fresh wave of shivers racked down her spine and he pulled her close. She had thought she had cried enough for this life when she was determined to die, but somehow more kept flowing like a leaking faucet.


    She clung to him like a lifeline and knew her nails had to have dug painfully into his back, but he never let out a single complaint and held her close anyways.


    "I''m scared," Victoria sobbed into his chest. The muffled words were understood regardless. He tightened his grip around her, his armscaged around her as his chin rested on her crown as if sheltering her from the cruel world outside. "I don''t know what to do." She finished in a whisper.


    "It''ll be alright," Grey repeated, and Victoria could feel the vibration of his voice rumbling in his chest. He gave her a reassuring squeeze as he continued. "I''m here now. I will always be here for you. I''ll figure this all out. I''ll come up with a plan, so just follow me, ok?"