Zombie Mall Read online

  “These is us. Our collars connect us, and these here keep our minds alive”, he explains proudly, “But, mine is failing. I’m their king and director, without my mind they will fall into a feral state like the rest of my brethren outside”

  He then turns to you. His face serious.

  “The collars only work when wearing them while still alive. You are the last human we found, so it must be you”

  Before you can react, two zombies hold you down and the king clips a collar on you. You feel how micro wires pierce your skin and attach to nerves in your spine. In a few blinks, you are connected to all of them. Their memories, their ideas and their pain. It hurts to be a zombie, and it never ends. At first, all those thoughts manifest like chaos, but then you order them and your mind becomes clear again. As the horde prepares to migrate to a new location in search of survivors, you settle into your new role as monarch. Maybe life after life is not that bad after all.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 117

  Wait for the next food delivery and attack

  Hours pass, and at some point you fall asleep in a corner. When you wake up, by your side you find a crowbar a small folded note. It reads:

  Sub-level 47

  A guard walks in. When he sees you, he jumps at you, face distorted with hate. Out of pure preservation reflex, you swing the crowbar and hit him right in the face. The blow knocks him down and he plummets at your feet. You take a moment to make sure he’s out of commission, and take his identification card. Then you head out of the room, and lock the door behind you with the crowbar. You hesitate to walk around without it, but move on.

  You find yourself in a long corridor. One direction leads to an elevator, while the other leads to more closed doors. The wall has a sign that reads: “Sub level 23”.

  If you… Go to…

  Check the other doors Section 161

  Take the elevator and head for the surface Section 162

  Take the elevator and head for the sub level 47 Section 163

  Section 118

  Try to communicate with the guard

  You loose track of time, alternating between extreme tiredness and desperation. At some point, people dressed in hazmat suits enter the room. You are too tired and drowsy to fight. They inject you with some glowing liquid and then walk away in a hurry. They watch you through the glass. The stuff runs through your veins like acid. The pain is unbearable, it seems to never stop. You cry and scream, shake and twist. They watch.

  Your thoughts wander around a million places and fade away. Your body transforms into something else. Suddenly, the pain stops. A few minutes later, the guys in the suits walk in again and check your eyes, your skin, take blood samples. You try to talk but can only grunt. One of them narrates for the record:

  “Vaccination trials number 1368, negative results. The subject has turned into a zombie.”

  You desperately try to communicate with them, only to see them retreat at your attempts. You are trapped inside your own body, like a second mind. The zombie is in control, hunger for their flesh.

  “Subject ready for termination.” The narrator speaks. You know what that means.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 119

  Stay in character, and see what happens

  As the ceremony continues, the old witch calls out for several cultist at random. The bad luck chooses you among them. You follow along and form with the others a circle around the man. Each one lifts a ceremonial knife, ready to strike, but you don’t have one. The circle waits for you. The witch, annoyed, gives you her own knife.

  “Don’t worry sister. It happens to all of us. We all forget our knives at least once. Try to enjoy the sacrifice of man.”

  You are horrified. The knives go up again. The chanting resumes. You can’t take it anymore. You pull off your robes in one quick move. The circle brakes, for a moment not knowing what to do.

  You reach for the man on the altar and try to release him. A knife pierces you from behind. The tip coming out of the front of your chest. You stumble away from the altar. Before you hit the floor, you turn. The cultists scream. You eat them all.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 120

  Take action, help the man

  Doing nothing would make you an accomplice. You push those around you to the floor, and jump over the altar. The cultist hesitate. You pull off your robe and throw it to them, then kick the oil torches on either side of the altar. Fire spreads through the floor. The witch behind you stabs you in the leg. You fall to one knee. She comes at you again. You hold her hands, and drop the knife. The man in the altar picks it up, cuts himself loose and stabs the witch in the heart. All that in just a second. He mumbles a “thank you”, and heads towards the cage to free the children. The cultist jump on you.

  “Do you want a piece of me?!! Here I am!!!”, you yell at the top of your lungs.

  You swing your fists left and right. It is an unfair fight. You deliver a few good blows, but they over power you soon. Still, winning is not the plan. While they struggle with you, you see the good man running away with the children. You will die today, a hero’s death. If you turn, you may take a few of these with you down to… whatever you will go after death.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 121

  Create a diversion

  You sneak back into the machine room, searching for something to use. There must be something here to create a diversion. You find a gasoline can. Perfect. Empty beer bottles. Great. Old rugs. Jackpot. You can use all that.

  In no time, just like in the movies, you improvise a few “Molotovs”. Protesters around the world make them all the time, right? This should do the work. Time to jump into action.

  You bust the door open with a strong kick. You cream at the cultist, threatening them. They look at you, then continue. They ignore you. What the fudge? It hurts your feelings, so you do the next sensible thing. You throw a Molotov on them. That does the trick. The cultist run in disarray. The fire alarm goes off.

  A few burning cultist turn. They attack the others. It’s a mess. Perfect. You free the children and head for the exit when a cultist cuts your way out. It was too easy…

  If you… Go to…

  Fight the cultist out of the way Section 164

  Find another way out Section 165

  Section 122

  Wait for the right time to act

  Before you know it, a man appears out of nowhere. With a long whip, he lashes out to the huge idol statue and swings over like Tarzan. He wears a brown hat, white shirt and kaki pants. He lands on the altar, kicks the witch and the lamps around. Fire spreads, catching up in the cultists robes. For a split second he looks at you and winks. Nods towards the children. You can swear that you hear triumphal music in the background.

  Without hesitation, you run to bust the cage open. You take the children with you, as the man fights the cultist. Nobody chases you.

  On your way out, you carefully lock each door you go through. Once outside, you find a school bus in the parking lot and bust your way out of the place. It’s time to drive long and fast into the sunset.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 123

  Run with the children

  Silence is worst than the sound of battle. The mummy watches you, as if deciding what to do next. You rush with the children into the service room, and up the stairs to the exit tunnel. It may be an act of mercy, or your imagination, but you are certain the mummy let you escape.

  You find a vehicle large enough for the entire troop. Most of these were abandoned with full tanks. The zombi
es around the parking lot seek no longer for blood. It is a strange thing to see them standing quiet, as if a giant finger pressed the pause button on a life remote control.

  You drive away from the mall, riding north.

  YOU SURVIVED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 124

  Attack the mummy

  Mummy

  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.

  While the monster is still gathering her strength, it’s vulnerable. That was your theory. It works. The old bag of bones was no match for some good iron bar. You think you won.

  The children left the room as you told them. You hope them to be safe on their own. The zombies in the room, now out of control, focus on you. Crap. Atop the pile of ones, the undead charges at you. Good. You fence them off for a while. Is the time the children need to escape. You hope they can make it in their own.

  Today, you saved the day… and that was your last human thought.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 125

  Find a way down to the mall

  The restaurant lobby has an elevator and of course also stairs. Before opening either door, you reason with yourself about what you are about to do.

  The elevator doesn’t work, but with some work you can open the doors. There must be a ladder to climb down the shaft. However, there are dried blood stains coming out of the door, and some red claw-like marks on the edges of the doors.

  The stairs are locked from your side. There is also blood stains and foot steps coming out of the door. Maybe it was your old pal, zombie Carl, the one who closed the door and left those tracks there.

  Neither option looks particularly attractive, but you are determined to try one.

  If you… Go to…

  Climb down the elevator’s shaft Section 166

  Try the stairs Section 167

  Section 126

  Wait out for some rescue party

  You are done taking unnecessary risks. Here you have food, a warm place to stay, and you got rid of the only zombie around. Better to wait until food runs out. Waiting sometimes pays off.

  Days pass, and you go over the food like a kid in a candy store. You entertain yourself throwing rocks at the zombies below. Head shots are 50 points, shoulders 20, other parts 10. Your record for a day is 10960. Some times you wonder what would you do when you run out of rocks. Then you throw one more.

  You are closing your record, when a noise in the distance gets your attention. First a dot in the horizon, soon turns into a helicopter coming your way. Quickly you improvise a small fire out of broken chairs, rugs, and some solvent that the painters left. You throw some plastic to the flaming mix to make the smoke even more noticeable. The helicopter sees you and heads in your direction.

  It seems an eternity, but only after a few minutes the chopper is flying above you. A soldier comes down in a rope and straps you in. The rescue operation goes well, and soon you are flying away, surrounded by soldiers on patrol. They tell you about a colony up north, a safe place where civilization still exists.

  Soon you’ll be safe.

  YOU SURVIVED.

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 127

  Go right now, and ram the gate.

  The zombies are pouring in. There is no time to waste. You push the pedal and set the gear to drive. The truck chuckles at the violent command. It takes a few moments to gain traction. Then, gains speed and rams through the gates like a hot knife on butter. Slices of metal blow away, tearing apart a few zombies nearby. Blood splashes the windshield, and the wipers activate. The truck jumps up and down as it goes over debris and bones.

  The open parking lot is filled with hundreds of zombies. They are so many that you fear they may brake the truck, or push it on a side. You can’t ram through them. The zombies, fully aware of the meal on wheels, rush towards you. You make a U-turn heading away from the main gate. The horde running behind you.

  “Think, think… where do I go”

  Then, you remember that place by the fence that was weak, pushing outwards. It may be enough for your truck to get through. You head for that point. Not that many zombies. You run over them. Some begin to get stuck under the truck. You loos speed, but still moving forward.

  You hit the fence, and the truck almost comes to a stop. Praying under your breath, you keep going. Driving through the grass, on a slope, you fear to turn on a side, but you make it to the open road. The map you saw is in the habitat, but you don’t dare to stop to get it. Behind you, not that far away, the horde keeps coming at you.

  If you… Go to…

  Head towards the city. Section 168

  Head away from the city Section 169

  Section 128

  Make a run to open the gate, and come back

  Fearing that a broken truck will get you nowhere, better to test your luck one more time. You jump out of the cabin and make a run for the gate. The zombies are almost here. You can smell their stench. You pull the chain to rise the curtain, but the whole thing is locked. Without the electric motor working, the metal curtain will stay as it is.

  The noise attracts more zombies. They crawl under the curtain, flooding the garage. Your window of opportunity is closing down, and fast. You head for the truck, but they cut your way. Surrounded, you speed up and charge at the bulk of them. You throw several back, like bowling pins. The effort takes you off balance, and you fall. Dead hands reach out to you, holding your legs. Rotten teeth tear your flesh. More and more creatures feast on you. You scream in pain, drowning in your own blood.

  YOU DIED

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 129

  Go to the back of the habitat and get the map

  The first zombies walk into the garage. The moan, they stink, the seek for blood. You consider running over them right now, but then you remember the map. Once on the move, you don’t want to stop. With the engine rumbling, you run to the back of the truck into the habitat, grab the map, and jump back into the cabin.

  “Shoot.”

  Over twenty zombies surround the truck. They push, trying to get in. The truck begins to shake, rocking from side to side. You’ve seen zombies tearing apart a tank once, when the army attempted to contain the infection in the city. A tank got surrounded by the undead, who eventually broke in. The brute force that a mindless horde of zombies have is nothing to underestimate. You don’t want that to happen to you.

  Scared, but not frozen, you pump gas. The engine roars. Slowly, the truck moves ahead towards the exit. You can feel the resistance from the multitude. The cabin shakes up and down, as the wheels roll over skulls and bones. “Gosh, I hope not to get a flat tire”, you speak under your breath. As slow as the truck moves, it feels like driving over a field of pumpkins. Closer to the gate, you put the pedal to the metal, to get some momentum and blast through the iron curtain. It works. You are out in the parking lot. But here the situation is getting worse. There are hundreds of undead walking around. At the sight of the truck, they scream and charge towards you. The truck shakes with each hit.

  Screw it.

  Knowing this may be your only chance, you charge at full speed. This military truck is very well built. At full speed, it cuts through the zombie horde like a hot knife on butter.

  Hanging outside the cabin next to you, a resilient zombie holds on to the door handle. He tries to bite you through the bullet proof glass. Annoying, distracting, but harmless for now. At some point it will fall on its own. You ignore it. You take a side street, avoiding the heavily congested highway. With the map on your lap, you plan the best route towards the next evacuation center. It shouldn’t be that far away. Maybe just a few days of driving. You’r
e confident that you have enough fuel to make it.

  YOU SURVIVED.

  If you… Go to…

  Start from the beginning Section 1

  Section 130

  Drop the boxes, and make your way through

  You drop the boxes and charge on. You plan to knock down the first zombies, and make it into the habitat, whose door is still open.

  The boxes hit the floor and open up, letting out a dozen cans that roll out of the platform and into the parking space. The loud noise now gets the attention of all the zombies around.

  Before the cans stop moving, you hit the first zombie. He falls sideways and pushes another one out of your way. The last zombie between you and the habitat is now fully aware. He jumps out at you, hands forward, screaming loudly. You swing at him, punching him straight in the face. His neck brakes and his head falls backwards. Other zombies come at you from the sides. You see them through the corner of your eye. There are too many.

  The headless zombie’s body bumps into you, and you loose your balance. Not enough to fall, but enough to loose momentum. You were counting on it to make the jump from the platform into the habitat. Now, you fall short and only land with one foot. For a moment, you wave your arms trying to balance yourself on the edge. It feels like you are going to make it, when four more zombies come out of the habitat. They charge at you, pushing you down into the hungry crowd behind you.