"Wes. I don't want to hurt you but I think-"
"You don't have to say it. I think I know what you're going to say anyway." I said. I knew this wasn't the time to be in some kind of drama but when you're in a time of crisis, especially like a zombie outbreak, it was very hard to avoid getting in some.
"I just meant that it would be better if we act, not just think. We don't need to know if there's a place safe, we just need to get searching right away." she replied softly, as if healing a wound.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just... well, I just didn't imagine things to turn out this way."
"Nobody did, Wes."
I exasperated a sigh then looked at her. Her eyes were trained on my face, and her eyebrows were curved slightly towards the center, ultimately suggesting that she was feeling me. To ease things out, I curved the edge of my lip to give an impression of a smile. "C'mon. We need to get out of here." I said.
After removing the plank of wood from the front door, I carefully opened the door as quietly as possible. Aiming my shotgun directly in front of me, we headed out again towards the square. The shining monument of a cavalier on a horse greeted us when we arrived on the center of the square. Bearing an old, bronze plate in front of it that contains the details about it, it stood tall and proud over the entire square, all ten feet of it.
"You know I never got the chance to know what that monument was about." Nina whispered, after she saw me looking at the statue.
"This was the monument of Frederick Ladfair. He was the hero that protected the town when the invaders came to colonize the country. He died with his horse named Rick, a brown stallion he owned since childhood. Since then, the monument symbolized both nationalism and friendship." I replied, remembering our History textbook.
"Wow. You really are great at this stuff. I mean history."
I laughed briefly, then continued walking. At this point, we knew we needed a permanent shelter, and we need to find survivors.
"So where are we going now?" she said, after walking for about ten meters from the monument.
"Well, we need to find a place where there are survivors. Then the rest will be up to the pack."
"Where exactly do we find survivors?"
"I don't know. But I'll bet there's some kind of evacuation center here. For survivors like us. We just need to find searchlights."
We continued walking up until we reached the parking lot of the mall.
"So. I know this is creepy. But I really think we can get stuff from the mall." I said, holding her back.
"Okay. But I want to go to the department store first. Try on some clothes." she said, smiling. I laughed, then said "Okay."
The parking lot was a huge space in front of the mall. From what I knew, this was at least fifteen feet from edge to edge. There were still some cars sprawled into the parking lot.
"Wait. Maybe we can get something from the cars? Or maybe some of them still run?" she said.
We found a red SUV that seemed like it crashed into the wall. The bumper was destroyed but the inside still looked unharmed. I checked if the doors were locked, luckily, there weren't.
After scouring the entire SUV, we found another shotgun and some ammo. I gave Nina the shotgun to keep but I kept the ammo inside my bag.
"What's that?" Nina blurted out, looking into the distance.
"Oh no. No. Not again." I said, finally seeing the disturbance. A herd of zombies were nearing our location. "Can they really smell us? Why do they know where we go?" she asked.
"C'mon. Let's get inside the mall." I said, grabbing her hand. We were still about five feet from the door when I saw that the door was barred by large chains. "Chains? Really?" I shouted. I took out my shotgun. "Stand back!" I told Nina. I aimed the gun onto the chains then pulled the trigger. Ugh! There's still more chains. "These chains are so strong!" I said. The zombies were now in the parking lot.
"That's why they placed them there." Nina said. She took out her shotgun too then fired on the chains. Now, only a single chain remained. "Let me finish this." I said. I aimed my gun directly on the chain then fired away. We started to run towards the door. Right before entering, I took the remaining chains inside. After getting inside, we closed the door shut then used the remaining chains to bar it again. This time, the zombies were now trying to pry the doors open. I found a security guard's checking table and pushed it to the door. Hopefully, that would hold them back.
"Great. The door's sealed. I guess we're safe for now." Nina said, out of breath. "Yeah, I think we can search the mall now." I replied.
I offered my hand to her. "Let's go." I said. She looked at me then to my hand. Then she took my hand. I was caught in shock when she gripped my hand hard then ran towards me. She dropped her bag on the floor then hugged me tightly. My initial response was to hug her too, so I did. My face was burning, I could tell. From what I could feel, she was crying. "I-it's okay. We'll make it." I said. "I won't leave you. I swear." I added.
"Thank you." she said simply.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a coolly female voice said. The voice was behind my back.
Another survivor?
Almost right then, we released our grip from each other then looked on the figure behind us. There was a black-haired girl wearing a plain red shirt, a pair of shorts, and a black converse. "So, are you two girlfriend boyfriend?" she asked.
"Oh. No. Uhm. We're uhm.." I seemed to be out of words. Nina was just silent. Apparently, her drama was still ongoing. "He's my special friend." she said.
That came out of nowhere. Wow.
"Mmmm. Well, okay then." she said, laughing lightly. "Anyway, I'm Kate. Kate Lee. This is our evacuation center for the meantime. There are others back in. Welcome to our place. Make yourself at home." she said, then she winked at me.
She winked at me?
"C'mon. I'll show you guys to the others." she finally said, taking my arm. Nina's eyes widened. "Hey, Nina, come on." I said, looking back. Kate took my face and made me look forward. "C'mon. We don't need to waste time, do we?" she said.
"So, what's your name?" she said.
"Well, it doesn't matter." she said when I didn't reply. "I'll get straight to the point. I like you. And from what she said, you're not an item. So I guess I can openly flirt with you from now on. Right, girl?" she said, looking back at Nina.
Nina looked at me. She was unsure of what to say. "Y-yeah. Sure. We're not..." then she broke her stare at me. "an item."
"I know right." Kate said. "Well, let's get going."
This is one sticky situation.
