The last man in the infested ruins

Chapter 3: the blob of the mall

With their flashlights shining through the dark corridors of the mall, Cooper and the brothers walked up the escalator that has long since broken down. At the second floor of the mall, they can see doors on each store that were melted into giant holes.

"I doubt that hole wasn't made by soldiers during the war" said Dawson.

"No, notice the traces of yellow slime on the melted parts on the door. This could be a mutants doing" Cooper pointed out.

"In any case, I wouldn't chance to get killed by mutants here. Even when my back is turned, I wouldn't want to get eaten nor melted down" said Lt. Kevin.

Suddenly, everyone heard gurgling sounds echoed down from where they stand. The two brothers looked down from the rail and saw a blob like creature slithering slowly like a snail at the first floor of the mall. They were scared since it is the first mutant they have seen, but Cooper has seen his fair share of mutants.

"Stay close to me, there is no doubt that the blob mutant is dangerous" said Cooper as he motions them to follow him.

The two brothers readied their weapons as they head down with the Sergeant, feeling scared on what the blob mutant would do to them. When the trio arrived at the bottom, they saw the blob mutant devouring a toy that was laying on the floor. Their flashlights shined on it, revealing that the blob mutant is fleshy, slimy, and almost slug like. It had left behind a trail of slime when it slithers like that of a snail or slug, in which it made even Cooper nauseous.

"Was that thing originally a slug or a civilian?" Asked Dawson.

"I don't know, but I can tell it is dangerous. I advise you to use your combat knife to sneak attack" cautioned Cooper.

Dawson nodded, and readied his combat knife as he tip toed towards the blob mutant. He was stepping into the blob mutants slime trail, from which it grosses him out since it felt cold and clammy beneath his bare feet (he he chose to walk around wearing only underwear and a harness from hypersleep). Once he got close to it, he immediately stabs it at the back. It let out a moaning noise as it turned it's eye stalks at him, watching him pull out his combat knife and the blade was eaten away by its corrosive blood. Dawson immediately discarded the hilt of his combat knife, and kicks the blob across it's gooey face.

"Sick! Now I'll have to wash myself!" He complained.

Cooper and Lt. Kevin joined in to fight the blob, their weapons are already loaded to shoot at it. Cooper fired his pistol at the blob, dealing some damage to it until it's corrosive blood splattered on his pistol and starts dissolving.

"Great, I've lost the only thing that can kill mutants!" Said Cooper as he discards his pistol.

"Don't worry sir! I've got my shot gun" said Lt. Kevin.

The lieutenant fired his shotgun at the blobs slug like face, creating a hole where its face was. It let out a groan before collapsing on the floor, and with it still moving, Cooper finished it off by stomping his bare right foot on where its heart is. He smiled at defeating a mutant, even the brothers felt relief at killing the blob mutant.

"Since you are covered in slime, looks like you need a well deserved washing" said Cooper.

"I think I've got some slime on my underwear" said Dawson.

"Don't you have an extra pair in the duffel bag along with your uniform?" Questioned Lt. Kevin.

"Probably, otherwise I would've worn my uniform without my underwear" Dawson replied.

His brother let out a disappointed sighed, while shaking his head.

"Does being in hypersleep screwed up your brain? Or did the chemicals from the tubes that attached to you rotted it?" Asked Lt. Kevin with a rhetorical question.

Without a word, Cooper checked inside the duffel bag and found an extra pair of underwear and showed it to the brothers. After that, he escorted Dawson to the men's restroom in order to wash himself while Lt. Kevin followed. At the men's restroom, Cooper waited outside as Dawson entered with the duffel bag. He heard clicking sounds coming inside, from which it's basically Dawson unbuckled his harness before taking it off. It took over ten minutes of waiting, eventually Lt. Kevin wanted to check to see if his brother was ok.

"Are you done in there?" Asked Cooper.

"Yeah, I'm putting on some clothes" responded Dawson.

"Make sure you put your slime covered underwear into the duffel bag along with your harness, since they are dirty" said Lt. Kevin.

After four minutes, Dawson came out of the men's restroom. He is now wearing the same uniform as his brother and Sergeant Cooper, but like Cooper, he is barefoot. Both Cooper and Lt. Kevin went into the men's restroom to use the restroom, leaving Dawson to guard outside. His eyes looked around as all he can see is the darkness of the mall, expecting a mutant monster to jump out of the darkness. He turned on his flashlight, and he saw the corpse of the blob mutant. He walked towards it while holding his flashlight in both hands, expecting it to rise up and eat him. He bent down and poked at it's slimy body, to see if it moves upon reaction.

Unfortunately, no movement. The blob mutant corpse lay still on the floor, with its flesh being eaten away by its acidic blood while giving off a pungent smell. Then Dawson heard the sound of flushing, and saw Cooper and Lt. Kevin coming out of the men's restroom.

"Come on Dawson, we should leave the mall" said Cooper.

"About time! I have my fair share of scares upon waking up from hypersleep, and I was scared that the blob mutant would came back and attack" replied Dawson.

Cooper helped the brothers navigate the dark mall until they reached the exit, and the brothers were astonished at the sight of ruined buildings of the city. It was already sun down, and the breeze blew through the remnants of the buildings that sounded akin to cries of many civilians during the war.

"Where do we stay at? I don't want to go back to the dark and abandoned mall, who knows what lurks in there" asked Lt. Kevin.

"Hmm... upon my observation: the downtown is crawling with mutated spiders that I had to run away, so it's out of question. The bunker that I woke up in, it is rather safe. The mall is out of question too, as we had to deal with that disgusting slimy blob" explained Cooper.

"So, we go back into hypersleep in that bunker that you woke up in? Well... Both me and my brother were put in hypersleep, and I don't think we can go back" said Dawson as he felt uneasy.

"Don't worry, we'll take turns. One of us has to keep watch until sunrise, since I get the feeling that there are mutants that come out at night" said Cooper.

Since they have no choice, the brothers followed Cooper while looking out for any roaming mutants that lurked in the darkest corners of the ruins.

One hour later

At the bunker, the trio walked down the hallway to the room where Cooper wakes up in. They can see the designs of the cryopods are the same as the ones they woke up in, telling them it was made by the same corporation. Dawson found a map of the city and showed it to his brother and Cooper, and they studied on it.

"So, there are over four bunkers in the city. Here we are, and up the street leads to the military weapon shop the soldiers were buying ammunition and explosives" said Lt. Kevin.

"Yes, so if we locate the radio station. We should be able to communicate the rescue team, but we don't know if we're the only ones left in the country" said Dawson.

"Alright, have you figured out on who should sleep in the cryopods?" Asked Cooper.

"I guess it should be me, I'll keep watch" said Dawson.

Cooper smiled before opening two pods, and then he and Lt. Kevin took their clothes off until they're wearing only underwear (but Cooper is still wearing his oxygen mask). They placed their folded clothes in front of their pods, before stepping in.

"Wake us, if you need us" said Cooper.

Then the lids of both cryopods closed, leaving Dawson to keep watch until sunrise. Even though he is alone, he has to keep himself awake by looking at the map and make himself coffee.

Authors note: what do you think of the fight against the blob mutant?