Zoe strode a few steps into the store and stopped to look around her. It was much as she remembered with circular racks on which hung hangers of shirts. Hundreds of them! Along the walls were shelves and above them were shirts that were splayed out to be seen by all, and they were displayed all the way to the ceiling. This was a colorful, festive place and she had always loved to come in here. Now, though still colorful as she remembered, it seemed empty, somehow hollow, only an echo of the place she had enjoyed going so many times with her family.
She strode in further with slow steps, looking around her for what she sought. Rounding one of the circular displays, she panned back and forth to see everything, and when she looked ahead again, there was something on the far wall, someone! Seeing the zombie girl that stared back at her sent such a fright through her that she screamed and retreated a step. Reason returned to her quickly and she grasped her chest and drew a deep breath as she realized she was looking at her reflection in a mirror. With a little smile and a shake of her head, she turned her attention to one of the racks of shirts, these all red, pink and purple, yellow and orange, and she began to sort through them, moving them to one side one after another, and finally she found what she was looking for. A big smile found her lips as she pulled it off of the rack and held it in front of her, gazing at her hot pink prize that read Princess in silver glitter across the front. Hanging it back up, she reached for her vest and unfastened the three buckles that held it in place, then she lowered her arms and held them behind her as she allowed the vest to fall from her to the floor. Reaching to the bell of her shirt, she grasped it with both hands and quickly stripped it off, laying it on top of the display rack behind her, then she took the pink shirt from its hanger and slipped it on.
"Sergeant Morris to Zoe," her radio summoned. "Come in, Zoe."
She turned toward her vest and took the radio from her belt, looking to the vest that lay at her feet as she answered, "Hi, Sergeant Morris." She crouched down and picked up the vest, continuing with an enthusiastic tone, "I got a new princess shirt!"
"That's great, Princess," he commended patiently. "Find any zombies in there?"
"No, sir," she replied, still looking down at her vest. "I saw my reflection in a mirror in here and I didn't expect to. It scared me so bad I almost peed myself. I guess I'm still not used to how I look, that and I really wasn't expecting to see someone in here looking at me." She clipped the radio back onto her belt and shrugged back into the vest.
Tex had clearly been laughing when he spoke again. "Well, stay in contact, Kiddo."
Back into her vest, she took the radio from her belt and assured, "I will."
After taking the time to fasten the vest back, she wandered from the store and continued her search of the mall.
Reaching the other end, where the food court was, she made the full circuit and started around to the other side. There was a shop at the corner that held many edible gift selections, including many different cheeses, summer sausage, spices and the like. It always had an interesting odor about it and she liked the smells of the many spices mingling with the peppermint and other candies they kept in bulk. Her eyes were that way when she saw movement, and she froze.
A dog stepped into view from around one of the displays, a really big dog! What kind it was she was not sure, but it was black and looked something like a Rottweiler with a huge head. Its eyes were white with small dots that were the remnants of its pupils and it had lost a few patches of hair. It was not just sick. It was clearly infected, and a zombie dog was a threat on an entirely new level.
It looked right at her and just stared for a moment, then it lowered its head, its lips sliding away from its teeth as it growled a deep, menacing growl.
Zoe swallowed hard and backed away a step. As the dog advanced, she reached for the revolver, just grasping the grips of the gun as she retreated a little faster.
The dog stopped and so did Zoe. They stared at each other for a moment, then the dog sniffed, turned back the way he had come, and simply walked away.
Zoe found her heart pounding again and just watched as the dog disappeared into the store, and watched a while longer even after she could no longer see it. Swallowing hard, she drew a calming breath as she turned to continue her search of the mall, but twice she looked over her shoulder to make certain the dog was not following her.
After arriving at the starting point, she looked over the rail to the downstairs and scanned the floor below for a moment before she reached for her radio and called, "Princess to Sergeant."
"Go ahead, Princess," he replied.
"Found a dog," she reported.
"Infected?" Tex asked.
"I'm pretty sure," she answered. "I'm going to go downstairs now, okay?"
"Sure thing, Kiddo. We're going to come on in and set up a perimeter."
With a nod, she confirmed, "Okay," then she put her radio away and walked toward the stairs.
The downstairs was a mess. Debris, clothing and other merchandise was strewn everywhere. Windows were broken, store fronts were a wreck and the fountain that fed the pool in the center of the mall was not running, though water remained in the pool. There was a horrible smell as well, the unmistakable odor of rotting meat.
It just did not feel right. She slowly made her way along the walkway, moving around the debris that was cluttering the floor. She could only imagine what had happened, but it looked like someone had put up quite a fight.
At the end of this section she stopped to look around her. She heard a faint shuffle from a shop ahead and her eyes fixed on that broken doorway. She did not even take note of what kind of store it was, only that it was a mess within.
"Hello?" she called in a meek voice, hoping to find survivors. Though not really afraid of the zombies anymore, she could not shake off a feeling of foreboding that had a grip on her. Her spine stiffened as she heard something slide on the floor within, she heard that familiar moan. Unsteady footsteps drew closer and she backed away a few steps, her wide eyes locked on the store.
It came out wearing a tee shirt and tattered blue jeans. Its gray skin made it look like a shadow within the half darkened interior of the store and its dead eyes were locked on her in a distant stare.
New feelings welled up within her. This was the kind of thing that had killed her parents, her brother, her entire family! The medication she had taken began to falter and her anger boiled to the surface.
Zoe's eyes narrowed as it staggered from the store, and her lip curled up as her imagination showed her images of zombies killing her parents and her brother, the zombie that had bitten her. This overrode any fear she still felt. More than anything, she wanted to get even and needed nothing and nobody to justify to her that this thing and all like it did not deserve to live. With her lip curling up in an angry snarl, she reached for the revolver, pulled it from its holster and held it at her side. Slowly, her thumb pulled the hammer back and she stared back into the eyes of this monster that approached her. It was only about ten feet away. She could smell it, and when it moaned again, her anger was roused beyond her ability to control it.
Payback time!
She raised the gun as she strode toward the zombie a couple of steps, then she pulled the trigger and her weapon responded with a deafening bang and a flash of fire that gave way to a puff of white smoke.
A hole formed in the zombie's forehead and the back of its head blew apart. It staggered backward a few steps, then fell straight back and hit the floor flat on its back.
Zoe stared down at it for long seconds after. This was not a person. It was a thing. A murderous thing. It and creatures like it had ended her life, killed her family, brought the whole world down around her. In her mind, these nightmarish things had met their match, and she would get even with each and every one of them. This singular thought surged up from the recesses of her mind and began to take over what she thought about.