Zombie Mall Read online

  Zombie Mall

  by Pablo D. Garaguso

  © 2019 P. D. Garaguso. All rights reserved.

  Zombie Mall

  by Pablo D. Garaguso (2019)

  The zombie apocalypse is here. Society is gone. Cities fallen and governments vanished away. Alone in the open road, you seek refuge in a distant shopping mall, escaping an immeasurable horde. But appearances are deceiving. What secrets lay between these walls? Will you survive the imminent doom?

  Zombie Mall is an interactive story with 156 different endings. Make choices, change the story, live or die, all by your own hand in a post-apocalyptic world. With a touch of humor and a nod to pop-culture, this work is not based on real events.

  Any similarity with people living, dead or undead is mere coincidence. No zombies were harmed during the making of this book, however, many pizzas were consumed without regret.

  I hope that you enjoy this book, as much as I enjoyed coding and writing it.

  Live long and prosper.

  Pablo D. Garaguso

  Attention!!

  This is not a regular book

  In this book, you read the story and then make choices, then the story changes. There are many paths, many mysteries to discover. You can read the book like:

  An interactive fiction story

  Do #1, but fight monsters here and there

  Read the book like an interactive story

  Start with the first section. At the end of the section, you’ll have a series of options. Select one, and go to the section indicated. Eventually, the story will come to an end. Remember:

  When you play with zombies, you either survive or die.

  When a section starts with a monster card, ignore it.

  Read the book like a role playing story

  Read the book like an interactive story as just described. When a section starts with a monster card, go into “battle mode”. See the appendix for instructions for the battle mechanics. If you win, continue reading. If you die, go to the You’re dead section at the end.

  You will find the full list of monsters and battle mode information in the appendix.

  And so it begins…

  Section 1

  The end of days

  Tired. Exhausted. All night running, escaping the terrible doom of becoming zombie dinner. You can’t remember the last time you had a warm meal or the luxury of a shower.

  The horde is slowly closing in on you. You can outrun them, but only for so long. They don’t stop, they don’t rest, they don’t slow down, they have all the time in the world. They will get you, eventually.

  Leaving the city was the right decision some months ago. It was madness there. You barely made it out. The dangers of the open road lurk in every corner, but you have more room to escape. Now, at the limit of your strength, you need a safe place to rest. You lean on a car and take a moment to catch your breath. Then you notice a sign by the guard rail. It reads:

  Shopping mall secured. Survivors welcome!

  You resist the temptation to have hope, still you do. You need a place to stop, to take a break. This could be it.

  If you… Go to…

  Ignore the sign and stay on the road Section 2

  Head for the shopping mall Section 3

  Section 2

  Ignore the sign and stay on the road

  The road is long, littered with abandoned cars and burn corpses. Without water or food, you are about to collapse soon. In a state of semi-consciousness, you watch behind you as the horde of zombies keeps coming towards you. Not that far away now. Soon they will see you and sprint to get you. They do that. They seem slow and passive, until the get the sight of food. Then, they spring into hyperactive mode.

  With one last effort you try once again to run. You need to put distance between you and them, but you are far past the exhaustion point. Your legs betray your will and you fall heavily, face down to the asphalt. Blood now pours from your broken nose. With the last strength in your will, you push yourself crawling military style, but is all pointless now. The horde has catch your scent. A million zombies jump at you. Like wild dogs tearing apart a bunny, they consume you to the bitter end.

  You shouldn’t have ignored the sign.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start again Section 1

  Section 3

  Head for the shopping mall

  The sun is coming down by the time you arrive. The mall is surrounded by tall fences, much like a medieval palisade. There are no zombies around as far as you can see, but neither are there any humans. High above the fence, the watch tower remains intact and empty.

  Birds fly above you, breaking the silence and echoing tweets in the distance. The light of day dies in the horizon. You advance with precaution.

  You look past the open gate. Beyond the large parking place, the tall mall remains silent. The place looks nothing but deserted. You stay by the entrance for a moment, thinking what to do next.

  If you… Go to…

  Walk inside the fence Section 4

  Walk outside the perimeter Section 5

  Section 4

  Walk inside the fence

  The darkness of the night closes upon you. As far as you can see the fence is intact, save for one section. The mesh is nearly broken, leaning outwards as if something very heavy made its way through. You make a mental note about it. The place seems safe, with no immediate danger at sight.

  This all is just too quiet. Something is off, but can’t figure out what it is exactly. By the asphalt near the gate, there are signs of struggle, very common everywhere. Nothing fresh around, only some growing weeds here and there. Surprisingly, everything around you looks neat, well placed.

  The few last rays of sunlight hide in the horizon. Exploration will have to wait until morning. You need a safe place to spend the night.

  The night is dark, and full of terrors.

  If you… Go to…

  Spend the night in the watchtower Section 6

  Enter the mall through the main gate Section 7

  Section 5

  Walk outside the perimeter

  The light of day slowly hides in the horizon. You wonder if now is the right time to venture inside an unknown building. Zombies don’t fall asleep but they do tend to be quiet and roam through the night.

  The parking lot is deserted as far as the eye can see. The fence goes around the entire mall, and the area outside the perimeter has been cleared up, save for a large tree next to the entrance. You wonder why they decided to keep that one in particular.

  You pass the gates and close it behind you. It takes a few minutes to secure it with a loose chain. Zombies won’t surprise you from behind, but you can still get out in a hurry if needed. If any human comes along, they’ll know how to open the gate.

  Lampposts in the parking lot turn on. It surprises you. These work independent from the electric grid. Solar panels feed the lamps, but not all of them work. There is now enough spots of light here and there to check the fence. You take a few moments to enjoy the wonders of electric light, something you took for granted before.

  If you… Go to…

  Go to the right Section 8

  Go to the left Section 9

  Climb a tree and wait the night out Section 10

  Section 6

  Spend the night in the watchtower

  It’s too dark to venture into a strange building. It’s better to find a closed space so you can lock yourself in. Sleeping behind a closed door would make you feel safe. By the main entrance, the watchtower should offer such a place.

  You climb the thin, vertical ladder with caution. Some steps are covered with a smelly dark substance. It could be anything as far as you know. Most likely, some oil or dried
zombie blood. From this height, you can tell there was a battle here not long ago. At the top of the tower you find a small office. The door is open and the lock intact. You take a deep breath, feeling great relief. This is what you need to spend the night.

  With the last rays of daylight, you take a few moments to look around. The floor is covered with bullet casings, rugs and papers spread around. The place feels warm after a long sunny day. You guess that in clear day the view would be quite good from up here.

  Night comes, so you lock the door and pile papers on one corner to make an improvised bed. Your legs hurt. Your muscles ache for some rest.

  It takes you some time to find a position where you can sleep. You don’t know when, but soon you fall asleep anyway.

  Something wakes you. It is still pitch dark outside. You don’t hear anything, yet you can shake that awful familiar sensation you grew accustomed now: danger.

  If you… Go to…

  Ignore the sensation Section 11

  Check the source of the sound Section 12

  Section 7

  Enter the mall through the main gate

  You sprint to the main door. The revolving doors are jammed. You push yourself by a side door and welcome yourself into the main lobby of the mall. Moonbeams coming through the glass roof paint the scene in tones of blue and gray, filled with long dark shadows in the night.

  Careful not to make noises, you step in, attentive to any sign of danger. The place looks abandoned, yet it is clear that people lived here for a while. There are papers and flyers on the floor. On the distance, abandoned tents, turned tables and other items spread around. There is an ambulance parked on a side. If there are people still here, they are not in this area. The mall is huge and they may be somewhere else, but is too risky to explore in the dark.

  It may be tiredness, the long isolation, or your nerves, but you swear that you hear something.

  If you… Go to…

  Spend the night in the ambulance Section 13

  Improvise a torch and investigate Section 14

  Stand still and listen Section 15

  Section 8

  Go to the right

  Walking along the fence in the dark is not fun. You sprint between lampposts hoping not to find anything strange on the dark spots. You can’t see much in the dusk, but it is safe this far.

  After turning around a corner you see heavy movement of people and trucks. They are by the area, where trucks deliver goods. The military has a large setup there. Personnel moves here and there. Your first instinct is to run towards them but you hesitate. As you approach the area, a dozen zombies moves around carrying boxes from the mall into trucks. The whole scene is bizarre. Soldiers bark orders to the undead… and they obey!

  If you… Go to…

  Approach openly Section 16

  Sneak around and find out more Section 17

  Section 9

  Go to the left

  You follow the fence for a while, as it begins to encompas the area. Soon you find a service area, with a tunnel coming from under the pavement and outside of the fence. There is also a vertical entrance on this side of the fence, which is easy to open. You hear voices… voices!

  You stand still, making sure of what you hear. There are voices coming from the tunnel. Without hesitation, you open the hatch and enter the tunnel. The lights flicker, but are they are on. As you walk deeper into the building, the voices start to make up words, yet still can’t figure them out. Soon, the tunnel opens into a platform with stairs descending to a room full with machinery. There is also a ladder that takes you to a service catwalk close to the ceiling.

  If you… Go to…

  Follow the catwalk Section 18

  Go down the stairs Section 19

  Section 10

  Climb a tree and wait the night out

  You would not like to face a zombie in the dark. By the entrance, the tall tree will offer shelter for the night. Sleeping in a tree is an art, very handy in the apocalypse.

  You climb as high as you can. A pair of branches hold you well, so you accommodate yourself. You tie your jacket in between, and then find a position where your body rests without falling. You also wrap your belt around another branch. That should be your safety measure. It is not pretty, but it will do the work.

  The night is cold and you wake up several times. No matter how many precautions you take, you are still afraid to fall in your sleep. Suddenly a sharp pain on your leg rattles you off. There is a rat dinning your leg!

  You loose balance with the jump scare. You fall hard. Your safety belt snaps, and your bones crack when hitting the ground. A sharp pain in your spine makes you scream. Your spine is shattered. Unable to move, you watch in horror how hundreds of undead mutant rats surround you.

  The end will be slow and painful.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 11

  Ignore the sensation

  You cheat yourself into going back to sleep. The door is closed, you are high above the ground, you are safe. It must be the long stress of running wild, nothing more.

  Cuddling yourself, you turn around against the wall. You close your eyes again, and try to gain back to sleep.

  Rattling papers behind you. A chair pushed aside makes a noise. You turn around, heart pumping, eyes wide open. A mutant zombie rat jumps at you. You’re too slow to block the attack. The foul beast clings to your neck. Shaking his head violently, tears apart flesh and bone. It eats through your collar bone. Streams of blood spray around, as you fight to get the bloody thing out of you. Somehow, you manage to hold it away from you, arms extended. The best moves as nothing you’ve ever seen. It bites your arm, chewing upwards like a chainsaw cutting a tree. More of those come from a whole in the floor, eating out your legs. You smash one or two with your bare fists, but the fight is all but lost already.

  As the lights in your brain go dark, the last thing you see is the filthy rat coming at your face.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 12

  Check the source of the sound

  Mutant lab rat

  You are under attack and must fight this monster. If you win, keep reading. If not, find the You are dead page at the end of the book.

  You cannot risk it. Nothing can be left to chance if you want to survive. The mutant rat attacks you, but you deal with it fast. It could have killed you in your sleep. Good thing you took action.

  Once you recover your breath, it’s time to inspect this creature. This far you’ve only seen humans turn into the undead. This is something new. You approach the remains. The filthy corpse smells terrible. The skin is covered with an oily dark liquid. It seems to be the same substance you found on the ladder. This foul creature must have used this tower as his lair.

  In moments like this, you remember the lessons learn in Zombieland: “double tap!”. Without another moment’s hesitation, you kick the skull of the beast until it turns into a puddle on the floor. Next, you open the door and kick the thing as far as you can. It splatters on the ground with a wet sound.

  As you try to breath through the foul smell that lingers around, the first lights of dawn hits you in the eyes. Your venture with the rat must have taken the better part of the night.

  If you… Go to…

  Stay in the tower and observe Section 20

  Enter the shopping mall Section 21

  Section 13

  Spend the night in the ambulance

  Your mind may be playing tricks, but why to take any risk. You climb in the back of the ambulance, and silently close the doors. There is enough light coming through the dirty windows for you to move around. Inside, you feel secure. You climb into a stretcher and cover yourself with a blanket. Your mind wonders off through the silence. Sometime during the night, you fall asleep.

  You wake up sometime around noon. It has bee
n ages since you had such a good night of rest. Sitting in your improvised bed, you take a moment to think about the day ahead. It will be good to explore the place, and hopefully find some food.

  When you come out of the ambulance you notice that the main entrance is now blocked.

  If you… Go to…

  Explore the ground floor Section 22

  Explore the barricade Section 23

  Section 14

  Improvise a torch and investigate

  The moonlight through the sky glass taints everything in shades of blue. You improvise a torch with a stick, and an old rug you find around. The torch will only light for a few minutes, and not that far away, but it may just be long enough to find a place to secure yourself through the night.

  You light up the torch. You keep it away from your eyes so the light doesn’t blind you, even though it brights barely stronger than a table candle. The main hall opens up to three corridors, one ahead and two on either side.

  As you wave your torch, shadows dance on the walls. You hurry to figure out what to do. Your blood freezes as you hear the sound of chewing. It sounds like a dog with a juicy bone. Air brings the stale odor of rotten flesh. Not far ahead of you, a zombie kneels down on the remains of a corpse. He’s feasting on whatever he can peel off the old bones. Then he stops, slowly turns his head and stares at you. Beyond him, you see glittering eyes in the dark. Zombies rise to their feet, leaving the slaughter of the last remaining survivors on the ground.