"In case you'll be asking, the whole mall's been sealed, though there are still some exits which are currently guarded by some other survivors." Kate said once we enter the department store.
"And while you guys are here, I guess you can change your clothes. Boarding school fashion era has ended ten years ago."
"Thanks. So, do you work here?" I asked.
"Did." she replied. "I used to work as a Starbucks barista. This morning, when I came to work, I was greeted by my zombified manager. So I grabbed the coffee machine, threw it at him, then proceeded to beat him with it."
"Wow. Spell fierce." Nina suddenly said behind us.
Kate chuckled. "Yeah. Anyway, I'll just go check on the front entrance, maybe another survivor will wind up here. In the meantime, you go find some clothes then meet me here after fifteen minutes." And with that, she left.
"She's a...fighter." Nina said after Kate left. "Well you are too." I replied with a smile. "C'mon, let's look for good clothes." I offered.
"Uhm. It's okay. You go. Besides, the women's section is on the other side. I always go here, you know."
"Okay. I'll meet you here." I said. She turned on her heel then left for some girls' clothes.
After ten minutes of looking around and trying on some garments, I was now wearing a dark blue cap, a black leather jacket over a blue checkered button down, dark brown camo pants and a pair of dark blue boots. Then I went to the bags section and got myself a black leather rucksack to carry my stuff. Then I held my pistol and went to the spot where I told Nina to meet me.
It turned out she arrived earlier than me. She was wearing a brown leather jacket over a pink sleeveless top, dark-shaded skinny jeans, and a pair of brown knee-high boots. She was also carrying a sling bag which I assume was holding her possessions. In the time being, she was wielding her pistol.
She smiled when she saw me. "Looking good there." I returned the smile. "You too." I said. "I put my Heaven Lads clothes inside my bag. I guess they're the closest to my past that I am holding." she said.
"Well. We better get moving. We need to meet the others." I said, taking her hand. Was it me or did she just held on tight on my hand?
We walked hand in hand to meet Kate outside. "So, I see you've both found decent clothes to wear. Anyway..." she said, batting Nina's hand away from mine. "I guess it's time to meet the others."
Considering the fact that the whole town seemed to be taken aback at what happened to the whole world, I expected the remaining survivors to be scared and hopeless. Again, irony striked. They were so composed when they met us. "So, who are these?" an asian teenager said.
"They were escaping a bunch of biters when they broke the chains outside and came in. Fortunately, they were in their right minds to tie the chains back. These are Wes and Nina." Kate said.
"We're students from the Heaven Lads Boarding School." I said.
"Ooh. We got ourselves a Harry Potter. British." a blonde in a ponytail said. She shouldn't be more than twenty years old. There were about five more others that laughed at her joke. "I'm Lucy." she said after getting over her joke. "I am the oldest in this group. We are a group of students from the nearby public high school, well except for Kate. We found her here. Let me introduce you to everyone."
"This one's Melissa. She's in my year." she said pointing to a girl wearing a shirt, short shorts, and sneakers. "This is Mike. He a school jock. And... he's my boyfriend." she was pointing to the Asian teenager I heard a while ago. "This is Felix. He's a freshman. He just sorta bumped into us when we were getting here. But he's an excellent runner." Then the list went on and on. There was Rose, a junior student who was also a cheerleader, Shawn, a cocky senior, Reese, an emo who never smiled at me, Cassie, a seet, bubbly senior, and Jacob, another junior who was apparently a member of the glee club.
"So, this is everybody. Oh wait, I forgot muscle dude." Lucy said.
"Muscle dude?" Nina said.
"Yeah. He's also a student of Heaven Lads, I think. Anyway, he went to get more supplies from the grocery."
"Well, what's his name?" I asked.
"You know I won't call him muscle dude if I knew his name." she said.
"You mean he didn't tell you?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. I mean he was as mysterious as a crow. He'll be back in a few minutes. He left about ten minutes before you came here."
"Bummer." was all I could manage to say.
"Anyway, we camp here in the foodcourt. It's location is strategic and food's always available. We have extra mattresses for you guys. You can lie down for a while if you like."
"Thanks, Lucy." I said.
Nina and I went to our 'beds' and tossed our bags. I sat down on the edge of the mattress and exhaled.
"I guess it's safer in here." she finally said.
"Yeah. I think we can trust these people." I said.
"I really have to take a nap. Can you watch over me while I nap?" she asked me. I nodded in agreement. She lied down and closed her eyes. In a minute, she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful, so heavenly, so...beautiful.
I was taken out of my daydream by a loud cry. In the midst of nowhere, I saw Lucy pinned on the floor by a zombie.
And I thought this place was sealed?
