Zombie Mall Read online

  And it does…

  Ahead of you, people stop running down and start running up. Someone felt down and was stomped to death by the multitude. Now, the entire group is trapped between flames above, and zombies below.

  Caught between the two masses, some people jump off the rails down to their death. Instead, you got clamped against the wall, unable to move. The human pressure crushes you in, keeping you from breathing. Your rib cage cracks, and you cough blood with the little air left in your lungs. Facing you, a man in your same situation turns. You stare at his eyes as his pupil dilates and turn white. His teeth begin to bite the air, slowly at first and then strong and desperate. He begins to eat your face at the same time your mind fades away for ever.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 146

  Stay with the main group

  No way you are going to risk your neck out again. You just got here, and you want to enjoy it even if only for a while. So, you stay behind as much as you can.

  Every month, a team of twenty or so volunteers form a group and leave looking for the fortified city of Eden. Meanwhile, you grow accustomed to life in the mall. You develop friendships, and even a love interest or two. You also get “friend zoned” a lot.

  One day, a military helicopter approaches the mall and lands on the roof. It turns out that there was a helipad there that nobody knew. One of the teams did made it to Eden, and did sent help. Evacuation will commence soon. There is a large safe zone up north, where normal life goes on.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 147

  Go with the expedition group

  You volunteer for the first group. You leave the mall with guns, supplies, camping equipment, and even some books. You can tell that these people have lived way too long in the comforts of a different life. They are not ready for the open road.

  The group walks up the ramp that leaves you to the highway. As you pass by, you see again the sign that started it all, still inviting survivors to the mall. You smile, and hope to come back soon with good news.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 148

  Join the retrieval team

  The chubby guy smiles at you. He looks like a car dealer who just got you scammed. You wonder what’s behind that smile, and fear for the worst.

  “The retrieval team… perfect.” He says, his face twisted by a creepy smile. “You see, we are running low on food and meat, and with all these death around us, well… we need the fresh meat.”

  You are the fresh meat.

  You look around looking for an exit door or some way out. Behind you, a couple of rough guys enter the room.

  If you… Go to…

  Fight your way out Section 182

  Escape through the exit door Section 183

  Section 149

  Join the clean up crew

  The clean up crew sounded like a safe job, something like a janitor work description. You couldn’t be more wrong. Soon, training begins.

  The remains of an army unit trains the heck out of you. You can’t change your mind. This police-socialist state is not your cup of tea. Training is brutal. After a couple of weeks, your get your assignment. Your task is to “clean” all the zombies from the mall, one section at a time. The community is growing and needs additional space.

  Incursion after incursion, store after store, your unit cleans up the place. When bullets run out, you use blunt weapons. Knives and blades are a last resource. You are good at this clean up thing. One day a zombie may get the best out of you, but each time you look death in the eye and say: “Not today”.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 150

  Join research and development

  “Excellent!”, the fat man says, “our lab needs new bodies”

  “Bodies?”

  “Yes, for tests. We are close to a zombie cure, minor some side effects though. Dr. Ortiz it’s a genius. You’ll like him very much”

  You struggle with the guards, but they overpower you. A blunt strike and they knock you unconscious.

  When you wake up, you are strapped in a bed. Around you, a myriad of large jars hold zombie heads, brains with blinking eye balls, and other body parts.

  The doctor walks in. He puts on some rubber gloves and stares at you for a moment.

  “Now, we are close to a cure so thank you for volunteering. Most of this will be painless, as what I need is samples of your blood… ALL of it”

  You loose consciousness as the blood leaves your body. At the same time, they put a green liquid in your veins. It is supposed to be a serum to remove the zombie virus, but as you can tell, it doesn’t work 100%. Your turn, but keep your thoughts. You feel the hunger for brains and flesh, yet you can control it. Then, another thought crawls into your brain, one more powerful than hunger: vengeance.

  Using you new found strength, you rip apart the shackles that restrain you. Stepping forward to the panicking doctor, you raise him by the neck and with a single movement rip out his head, spine dangling and all. The guards outside the lab rush in, but they are no match for you. You are fast, very fast. After crushing their rib cages, you strap them to the beds. You stick the needles on them, and pump the green fluid into their veins. The serum works different after someone has turn. It makes them your slaves.

  More than hunger, more than vengeance, you feel the need for power. And power you will have. Soon you’ll have more of these, foot soldiers to obey your command. The age of men is over. A new race is born today. They will call you: Zombie King.

  YOU MUTATED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 151

  Help create a diversion.

  As the assault team moves into position, you and another soldier sneaks to the opposite side of the deposit. Your plan is simple, just attack a mercenary and make as much noise as possible. If you are lucky, you may even take his gun.

  The first part goes well, and you successfully move into position. From there, you see the other team ready and waiting. But then, a patrolling mercenary spots you. He opens fire. You jump behind a crate, but one second too late. A handful of bullets gets you. The soldier jumps on the mercenary and after a short struggle, reduces him, capturing his gun. He runs next to you. You’re loosing blood fast. The world shifts up and down. You feel as your life abandons you. The soldier points the gun at your head.

  “I’m sorry buddy, but I can’t deal with a zombie at my back. We will fix this… Thanks and goodbye.”

  For a split second you hear a bang.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 152

  Help the assault team

  With the rest of the team in place, you run out of the office. Just as the distraction team starts a shootout, you climb the iron stairs and take position by the office door.

  Just as predicted, when bullets fly, the guards come out. You tackle the first one to come out. Struggling together, you both fall down the stairs. Lucky for you, the mercenary breaks his neck. Unlucky for you, he turns into a zombie while you are still on top. The morbid thing tries to bite you, but can barely move. You sprint back up, kick his head until his brains spill out. By then, the shootout ended.

  The soldiers gather around the defeated mercenaries at the center of the deposit. The army has recovered control. You think the skirmish is over, but is not. The soldiers execute the mercenaries on the spot. They all wear collars.

  Still shocked for what you saw, they help you to the back of a truck. A few of them will take you together with the first cargo back to their base.

  YOU SURVIVEDr />
  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 153

  Explore the deposit

  You explore the deposit end to end. Every door is locked, including the access to the laboratory. There are no chairs or anything that you can use to brake the glass in the lab. You try to kick it, but the thing is think and bullet proof.

  Next, you try the door where you came in, but have the same luck. Breathing heavily, you realize that you are trapped. You yell to the top of your lungs calling for help, but nobody hears. The place is built like a bunker, and you imagine it could withstand everything short of an atomic bomb.

  As days pass, you succumb to hunger and thirst and eventually die. Your zombie corpse wanders the deposit until all your flesh is consumed and your bones rest in a hallway close to the entrance.

  A hundred years pass, and all zombies and humans die alike in the world. The hibernation tanks now open, freeing the lucky ones who will rebuild the world. They find your bones by the door.

  YOU DIED.

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 154

  Enter the lab

  You don’t know for sure how long has passed. The tank screen in front of you marks an early hour of the morning, so you must have fallen asleep at some point. Nobody has come to the lab again, and all the noises outside stopped. Your alone again, surrounded by a thousand tanks with people inside.

  You enter the lab and look around. The scientist in their haste left things running behind. One sentence repeats here and there, in papers and screens:

  “Operation sleeping beauty”

  You look at the tanks. The name makes sense. You try the computers, but most of them have their disks fried. Useless. One, however, is still logged in and working. Before you touch anything, you look around. Resting on a large table, a capsule shaped like a dark cigar gets your attention. There is something inside.

  If you… Go to…

  Access the computer Section 184

  Inspect the black pod Section 185

  Section 155

  Accept the hibernation plan

  They inject you with many different substances, in preparation for your long sleep. A tank pod gets ready for you. As you step inside, many wires and tubes connect to your suit. The water in the tank is rich in oxygen, so you will breath it much like air. They explain that is safer than depending on a mask.

  As the special liquid covers you, first you gasp for air but then breathe normally. People outside wave goodbyes at you, as you slip into a deep slumber.

  You have many dreams. So many you can’t figure out when one ends and another starts. In those dreams you learn new skills and knowledge implanted in you. Much about science, medicine, art… You spend 100 years learning.

  You wake up from your deep hibernation as the water level drops. You step out of the tank, having some difficult to open your eyes for several minutes. Hundreds, if not thousands awake with you. Tall intelligent machines guide you out of the complex into your new home. A magnificent city awaits outside, filled with wonders. A city built by intelligent machines, devoted to preserve human life and repopulate the earth. The zombie plague long gone, a new world awaits.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 156

  Survive on your own

  Disappointed, the scientists try to reason with you, but you won’t change your mind. The second head of the phoenix consists in a colony of survivors located not too far away from the mall. The soldiers are preparing the last run of supplies for the colony, and they will take you with them.

  The military only has a limited number of servitude collars for zombies, but they plan to make more. Their idea is to use the undead to fight the undead, and hopefully, clear the world in due time. The first step is to survive long enough to make it happen.

  The soldiers welcome you in. They give you military clothe, and put you in a truck with other survivors. You all will be heading soon to “revival city”, the last colony for the living.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 157

  Use the pipe to hold the walls

  As seen on TV and countless movies, you take the pipe and place it across the closing walls. You hold it in place with both hands. Tension builds as the mechanism that pushes the walls struggles for a second with the resistance.

  But the struggle lasts only a few seconds. The walls continue to close in as the pipe snaps in half. Pieces fly all over the place, like bullet shards. A large one impales you right in the chest. Blood gashes out of you like a stream, as you are slowly crushed. The only positive side is that you never made it to the undead side.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 158

  Use the pipe as a lever

  In despair, you use the pipe to force the broken lever and pull down. Nothing happens. You try again. Nothing. You try once more, and then you feel some feedback. The lever feeds some kind of pneumatic pump. You keep pumping until suddenly, the heavy door opens!

  With only seconds left, you jump out of the room. As the walls close in, a pile of garbage accompanies you outside. Shaken, you gather your strength and stand up. In front of you, a skinny soldier operating the machinery still has the hand on the controls. His eyes, full of fear watch you walk out in the poor light.

  You raise your hands in the air, and before you can speak, the soldier reaches out for his gun and shoots at you yelling:

  “Zombie!!! Zombie!!”

  Bullets get you right in your heart, and you fall heavily to the ground. He misses your head though.

  To the injustice of this misunderstanding and mindless killing, you find a sense of poetic justice knowing that, in a few seconds you will turn into a zombie and crave for his flesh… and justice will be served because he has no bullets left.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 159

  Hear what the zombie has to say

  Surprised at the ability of an undead to speak, you ask what he wants. The sea of zombies opens up to let you and your host walk through. You follow him into the shopping mall, where more zombies await. All of them wear collars.

  Climbing to a made up throne, the zombie introduces himself as the king. With a wave of his hand, they all stand still.

  “These collars are all that is left of our former selves. Without them, we are mindless creatures, with no humanity left. Sooner or later, batteries will run out. We need your help to keep us functioning. In exchange, we will provide you with food, shelter, and we will search for other survivors to keep you company… and maybe repopulate the world. You see, you are the only one left. And we are the only ones of our kind”

  You adapt to the new life, half prisoner, half guest. You sleep in a comfortable showroom home, eat good food, and only work a few hours at day keeping maintenance of the collars. These zombies don’t talk much, but keep you company. They also protect you from the “wild ones” outside. Once you get used to the smell, it’s not so bad. They all decay, and when one finally turns to dust, you re-purpose the collar to fix others. In the end, is not such a bad life.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 160

  Fight your way out

  Disbelieving your eyes and ears, a rush of madness goes through your brain. You push the zombie aside and run straight into the mass of zombies pushing them left and right as you walk through. They don’t attempt to attack you. The only sound in the huge deposit is the one you make. When you reach the door, you pause. Then turn around to the horde of zombies. Their expression is one of sadness. They all wear bl
inking collars. One of them steps forward and says:

  “If you walk out that door alone, death awaits. The others will hunt you down and eat you… and the cycle will never end”

  You turn again and reach out for the door knob. You close your eyes and take a deep breath.

  If you… Go to…

  Stay and talk with the zombies Section 186

  Go out to the world Section 187

  Section 161

  Check the other doors

  You walk down the corridor trying door after door, but have no luck opening them. The doors that open, lead to empty rooms covered in blood wall to wall.

  The very last door looks different. You open it, but it leads to a dark room. The light from the corridor draws your shape like a giant ahead of you. A cold wisp of air hits. You hear distant voices in the darkness.

  If you… Go to…

  Venture into the dark room Section 188

  Close the door and head for the elevator Section 189

  Section 162

  Take the elevator and head for the surface

  You enter the elevator and push the button for the surface. As soon as the doors close, some old 70’s elevator music begins to play. Strangely, you enjoy it.

  Half the way through, the elevator begins to shake. The lights flicker, and you hear disturbing noises outside. It shakes some more, and then it stops. The “malfunction” sign lights up. The emergency lights turn on. You are caught between floors.