Zombie Mall Read online

  Your heart jumps. A rush of adrenaline floods your veins.

  Run, run!!

  If you… Go to…

  Run towards the food court Section 24

  Run towards the open sky plaza Section 25

  Section 15

  Stand still and listen

  Paralyzed by fear, you close your eyes and focus on the sound. A thousand voices march in the dark, closing on you. You know you are doomed. The hair in your arms stands up. You feel how predators surround you, left and right.

  The foul smell of rotten flesh hits you right in the face when dark teeth a bite off your nose. You scream in pain as you get knocked down. Like a flock of ravens, a horde falls over you ripping apart every inch of your skin. Bony hands tear up your belly and pull out your guts. The sound of your screams echoes in the corridors of the mall to die in the night.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 16

  Approach openly

  Walking into the light, you wave your hands drawing attention. A few soldiers react fast and point guns at you, barking orders for you to stop. You obey, still hands in the air. Before you can talk and explain yourself, the soldier knocks you unconscious with the end of his gun.

  You woke up with a major headache, strapped to a hospital bed and under a rather strong and uncomfortable light. A doctor of some sort is next to you, preparing an injection.

  “Great that you woke up, the obedience collar works best when the patient is transformed alive”

  You realize that some sort of collar is surgically attached to your neck and chest. The doctor injects you with a fluid that burns like acid through your veins. You see your body change to zombie flesh as the blood carries the poison.

  “Relax, it won’t be long. We need more slaves for this operation. We need fresh zombies. You arrived just in time. You should be proud to be part of this.”

  Your brain melts into a puddle inside your skull. You are hungry, very hungry… but you must obey.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 17

  Sneak around and find out more

  Sneaking through the shadows, you reach a nearby truck. Zombies in line, one by one deliver boxes to the trailer. One of them sees you, but ignores you and moves on. You’ve never seen a zombie ignore a fresh human like that. Each zombie wears an electronic collar, with blinking lights. When a zombie sees you, the blinking green lights turn blue. You wonder if that device somehow controls them.

  You can’t see much from where you are. You need to move closer. It’s risky. With some luck you can make it to another truck. A little further away and you can reach a white army tent in the opposite direction.

  If you… Go to…

  Head for the tent Section 26

  Head for a closer truck Section 27

  Section 18

  Follow the catwalk

  The catwalk goes through the engine room and into the museum area. You remember this mall. They discovered some ancient ruins when building it. So now, there is a museum in the basement.

  At the end of the catwalk, a ladder leads to the roof. You head towards it, amazed at the ruins, exhibits, and displays below. Oddly enough, by the ancient ruins people wearing red robes chant:

  “Su-Sa-Mun! Su-Sa-Mun!”

  If you… Go to…

  Go to the ladder Section 28

  Stand still and observe what’s going on Section 29

  Section 19

  Go down the stairs

  As you come down the stairs, you stop at the sight of people. They have not seen you yet. They are busy talking to each other. You sneak closer to them. The wear long red robes, jewelry, and goat masks.

  Beyond the engine room, hundreds of people chant:

  “Su-Sa-Mun! Su-Sa-Mun!”

  You sneak behind a large water boiler to hear what the couple says. The engine room makes lots of noises, so you can’t make up words yet. Their body language tells you that they are fighting over something. What, you don’t know.

  If you… Go to…

  Sneak closer to the scene Section 30

  Find a way around the arguing couple Section 31

  Section 20

  Stay in the tower and observe

  If there was a snooze button somewhere, you would hit it right now. You are still tired, and is not yet plain day. Covering the whole where the rat came through, and locking the door again, you go back to bed. Still, the smell is too strong, so you open a window enough for the gentle breeze of the day to clear the air.

  Now you go back to bed.

  Sometime around noon, you wake up. You feel rested, with energy, and in general with in a good mood. Every day you live through in the apocalypse is a good day to be alive. Stretching yourself, you look around. The tower offers a great view, prime real state.

  But nothing lasts forever… Over the hill that leads to the motorway, a small horde of zombies is slowly walking in your direction.

  If you… Go to…

  Stay on the tower Section 32

  Make a run for the shopping mall Section 33

  Section 21

  Enter the shopping mall

  You carefully descend from the tower, keeping an eye on the hill, where zombies are approaching. Beyond them, more zombies appear on the horizon. This is not good. The entire mall surroundings will be filled up with them in matter of hours.

  With a quick sprint, you look for the closest mall entrance, hoping against hope that they don’t see you. You find an open entrance through the loading area, where trucks used to deliver the goods.

  The iron curtain is half up, so you easily enter the building. Inside, you see many military trucks parked by the docking bay. The deeper you walk into the parking, the darker it gets. The place smells like a mixture of rotting meat and chemicals. You wonder if any of these trucks work. There are no signs of struggle with zombies as far as you can see, yet the place gives you the creeps. The air is cold, and distant water drops echo in an unnatural way.

  If you… Go to…

  Inspect the trucks. One may be road ready. Section 34

  Search for a way into the shopping mall. Section 35

  Section 22

  Explore the ground floor

  Surprised to see the main door barricaded, you look around for clues. You slept so well last night, that is no wonder something happened outside the ambulance without waking you up. Heck, the whole thing may have just blown up and you would still be sleeping.

  On the floor there are clean tracks. Steps coming and going, which you follow threading lightly. The tracks end behind a column. As you walk sideways to see what is behind, you see a corpse or someone with their back towards the column, the legs straight on the floor. You grab a good sized rock, and sneak from behind, ready to bust the skull of the zombie. But then, just as you hold the rock high above ready to strike the blow: the corpse snores.

  *“What the fudge?”*

  Is not a corpse, but an old man. With a bottle of liquor in his hand, hi’s sleeping off, drunk as a skunk. You kick him to wake him up. The drunk wakes up and throws the bottle at you. Slurping something about leaving him alone.

  “Hey! Watch out!” you warn him as you dodge the empty bottle. “And who the heck are you? Did you lock the main doors?”

  The old man seems to wake up now, at the sight of you.

  “Oh, yes, yes, … I did that. It is my job. Every night I close it by sunset, and open it by sunrise.”

  “It’s not sunrise anymore. It’s more like noon.”

  The old man jumps to his feet. He goes to the gate and removes the blocking stuff in a hurry. He looks at you.

  “Don’t wait there, help me out! This door must be opened during the day in case any survivor comes in.”

  You help the guy. You wonder how did he manages to put all that stuff in place, drunk and all as he must have been
. Once the task is done. He wipes his sweaty hands and extends one to you.

  “I’m Harry, the gate keeper. Welcome to Zombie Mall.”

  You shake his hand and smile. He strikes you as a funny man.

  “Now, let me give you the tour. We don’t get many survivors these days.”

  You follow Harry down the corridor into the open sky plaza. What you see amazes you. You smile and take a deep breath, letting all of it sink in. The plaza has turn into a small village. Children running here and there, people working in different things, women attending daily chores, even a school teacher marching the class on a field trip. For a moment, you feel like crying, touched for all things around you.

  “Alright then, don’t get all teary on me”, Harry says, “lets go and see the doctor… and it would be better if we avoid mentioning my tardiness. He’s very annoying sometimes. Or maybe you would like to get some food first?”.

  If you… Go to…

  Get some food Section 36

  Go to see the doctor Section 37

  Section 23

  Explore the barricade

  You heard nothing through out the night, still someone was able to move enough stuff to barricade the main door. Had this been this way yesterday, you would have spent the night outside. It may be a mystery, that needs solving.

  Taking a closer look to the tables, boards and crates against the door, you notice many marks on the floor. The dust around seems to indicate this has happened before. There are dust patterns, quite fresh. You distinguish your on tracks walking into the ambulance. A dozen others head down the main court corridor.

  Trapped in this place, you see no other option than to follow those tracks. But you won’t do it bare handed. You grab a crowbar from the ambulance. You take a moment to admire the red paint in the bar. It has never been used before.

  Down the corridor, you pass by the remains of a rather large camp of people. Tents and other stuff abandoned in place, their residents left, no doubt, in a hurry. During the long walk, you feel the cold stare of hidden eyes watching your every move.

  After several minutes, you walk into an open space. A plaza with a central fountain connecting different corridors. Oddly enough, the fountain is still running water. After a quick look around, making sure you are alone, you lean down to drink the crystal clear water. You enjoy it. It is a moment of luxury.

  The sound of a kicked can brings you back to the present. From each of the connecting corridors, a horde of zombies walks in. By instinct, you turn around to go back the same way you came in, but is also packed by zombies. You are surrounded by a perfect circle of doom.

  Did you just felt into a trap?

  If you… Go to…

  Charge ahead and make your way through Section 38

  Fight to the death Section 39

  Section 24

  Run towards the food court

  Walking corpses stumble with each other as they race towards you. Some howl and moan, others bite the air with each step.

  You run towards the food court, jumping over debris and moving corpses. The horde closes in on you. You can feel them racing behind, like a tsunami chasing you. Tired, scared, and trapped. It seems this will be the end.

  But it isn’t.

  As soon as you run into the giant hall that once was the food court, you trip over. You fall heavy and hit your head on some piece of wood. Bleeding, you crawl as fast as you can away from your hunters. To your surprise, you pass over branches and leaves, fearing at any moment the sharp grasp of dead hands.

  But it doesn’t.

  You reach the center of the court and stand with your back towards a giant tree, grown out of the center piece decoration. Your torch long gone, only the moonlight through the glass roof lightens the place. The zombies stop. The entire horde stands still by the edge of the hall.

  If you… Go to…

  Climb the tree Section 40

  Find a way out of the hall Section 41

  Section 25

  Run towards the open sky plaza

  Desperate, you run towards the open sky plaza. You can barely see your way through. Howling zombies chase you, stretching forward to get you. Out of the stores come many more, like players trying to tackle you.

  Run, run!! It’s the only thought in your head. Your heart pumps hard, trying to keep up with the physical exertion your brain demands from your muscles. If only your school gym teacher could see you now, jumping over obstacles like an Olympian. For a moment you gain some advantage, but the tsunami of the dead is not far behind. The mall will run out at some point. You can’t run forever.

  Ahead of you, the moonlight brights at the end of the twisting corridor. As you come out into the open, a heavy iron gate falls thunderously behind you, slicing the zombie behind you. You stop in front of a palisade that extends in a semi-circle surrounding the entrance. You turn around to see the gate holding up. A zombie torso, like an angry bulldog, crawls towards you.

  You look around for something to use as a weapon. You grab a huge flower pot and drop it on the zombie’s head, smashing it like an egg on the asphalt. The pot breaks and spills dirt all over the place.

  Leaning back to the palisade, you take a moment to catch a break. You hear people on the other side, and distant voices above the wall. Stepping back, you call out for them. There is no reply. After a few moments of silence, someone yells from atop the wall:

  “Quarantine”

  The tone invites no questioning or conversation.

  If you… Go to…

  Wait out the night Section 42

  Demand to be let in Section 43

  Find a way in Section 44

  Section 26

  Head for the tent

  You run under the reflector lights. You pass by a zombie line. They pay no attention to you. You sneak into the tent. You find yourself in a bright room, with many beds. Soldiers plugged to strange machines look as good as dead. They stare to the ceiling, not even blinking.

  Carefully not to touch anything, you find a dressing area and take military clothe. The tent is huge, with multiple rooms.

  You cover your face with a baseball cap and exit the tent. Nobody pays attention to you. Trucks come and go. People hurries here and there. Something big is going on.

  You could try to steal a truck in plain sight, or venture inside the mall.

  If you… Go to…

  Go inside the mall Section 45

  Steal a truck and run away Section 46

  Section 27

  Head for a closer truck

  Timing yourself carefully, you climb in the back of a truck and inspect the cargo. Half of the boxes are labeled with a bio-hazard sign. The others have inventory sheets attached. All of them have food, enough for a person to last for months. You still wonder what is going on.

  When you are ready to head out, a soldier from the outside opens the door and stares at you. He’s surprised to see you there, but doesn’t raise the alarm. He doesn’t see you well in the dark.

  “What are you doing here? Get back to work!”

  The soldier thinks you are a zombie out of line.

  If you… Go to…

  Pretend to be a zombie, and join the line Section 47

  Reveal yourself as a human Section 48

  Section 28

  Go to the ladder

  Down below the cultists laugh and make jokes. You don’t know what is going on in that strange altar, but they are having a blast.

  Half the way through the ladder, curiosity wins you over. From this new position, you have a better view of the situation down there. Leaning over, the shift of balance makes the ladder fall backwards. You hold on tight still, hit the catwalk rail, bounce on a statue, and land abruptly right next the circle of cultist. Needless to say, it was not an elegant landing, and most certainly not a quiet one.

  You are surrounded by cultist. They look down on you with very concerned faces. Suddenly, they cheer!

  “It’s alive! We have another survivor! Great!
We need another player!!”

  Surprised, you take a look at the altar. It is a large table, with a rather large diorama, full of miniature figures. It looks quite cool, actually. The cultist are nothing more than role players. They help you up, and invite you to join them in a game of Dungeons and Zombies.

  Hey, everybody has their own way to endure the apocalypse.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 29

  Stand still and observe what’s going on

  The dark ceremony continues. The chanting gets louder. The witch raises her hands, yelling some mystical words in a forgotten language. Her face, distorted by extreme emotions, reveal the evil within.

  Stone pillars with runes encircle the altar. A dense mist covers the floor. The mummies in the exhibit shake and tremble, screaming in desperation unable to break free of their cases.

  Flashes of light open up a portal floating above the alter. Gigantic tentacles enter through a portal from another plane of existence. A foul creature enters our reality.

  If you… Go to…

  Stay put and do nothing Section 49

  Move forward towards the ladder Section 50

  Section 30

  Sneak closer to the scene

  You move behind some boxes, just behind the arguing couple. There is still a lot of noise from the machines, but you pick up some words: