State of Decay✔️

Chapter 05: Maya

Marcus and Ed raced around the building, keeping an eye out for any other zombies that might be getting nearby, but didn't encounter any. They ran around the wall that enclosed the entrance to the women's restroom. The door was closed almost all the way, a mere crack remaining. Marcus crashed through it with his shoulder, stumbling into the room, Ed behind him, breathing heavily. They both brandished their weapons.

Maya was standing in the middle of the tiled room over a pair of corpses, pistol in hand. She spun around, raising the pistol, then stopped. A look of anger flashed across her face as she lowered the black and silver gun.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?!" she snapped.

"I thought..." Ed began.

"We heard gunshots," Marcus replied.

"Well, yeah. There were a few of the jerkoffs in here. I was inside a building with almost no windows and a closed door, so I figured the sound wouldn't bring any of the others running, so I put them down. It's not like I've got a melee weapon on hand," Maya replied. Her gaze drifted from Marcus to Ed, then back to Marcus, and suddenly she smirked.

"Were you coming to rescue me?" she asked. Before either of them could say anything, her smirk disappeared and her expression became hard. "Because I don't need it."

Marcus sighed quietly. "Fine, let's just get the job done."

Maya seemed to find that assessment adequate. Marcus pushed the door open all the way to let some light in and told Ed to stand guard. Together, he and Maya searched the women's restroom. There didn't seem to be anything of value hidden among the stalls or on the two bodies that Maya had produced. They left the bathroom.

"Now what, move on?" Ed asked.

"No, I saw a door at the back of the building when we were coming in," Marcus replied as they headed out of the enclosed area. "Probably some kind of maintenance area or something, might be something useful in there."

"Fine then, let's go," Maya replied.

They made their way around the back of the building. Marcus glanced up at the sun. He was startled to see how far it had traveled since his time by the lake. He wondered what time it was. That thought sparked another and he fished his phone out of his pocket. It was off, so it should still have a lot of power left. Marcus booted it up, suddenly very excited, then his hopes fell. Who the hell was he going to call, even if he could get a signal?

Either way, the phone booted up. There was, indeed, no signal. But time told him it was now past seven o'clock in the afternoon. In another couple of hours it would be dark. He sighed and replaced the phone after turning it back off.

Ahead of him, he heard Maya grunt angrily. He looked up to see her at the back door.

"Locked," she said, then, before either of them could reply, she abruptly bashed against the door with her shoulder. She grunted and it popped slightly out of its frame. Twice more and the door flew inwards, slamming against the interior wall.

Marcus winced at the noise, but no zombies came running at the sound. Once again, Ed stood outside while Marcus and Maya went within to inspect. There wasn't much inside the dimly-lit room. A battered metal shelf, a big red toolbox on the floor, a desk and uncomfortable foldout chair. The desktop was scattered with all manner of paperwork, magazines, pencils, empty coffee cups. While Maya went over to the toolbox, Marcus found himself staring at the desk, trying to imagine having a job that required him to spend most or even some of his day in a back maintenance room in a public restroom facility.

"Ah-ha!" Maya said suddenly, standing up.

Marcus glanced over. She hefted a big, silver hammer.