CHAPTER TWO
I entered from the warm air outside to the warm air inside of the mall. No A/C either.
The “mall” was of course completely deserted. You are lucky to find more than two people in there either than yourself. Usually there is at least one other customer roaming the mall. But no, just me.
After several steps I realized that I didn’t hear the door close behind me. I stopped, looked back. I looked through the dust-coated glass wall of the mall, to the outside sunny world. And at the door there at its base. Wide open. It didn’t automatically shut. It became almost a survival rule to close doors behind one, especially when alone. But I was lazy. So I shrugged to myself and kept on going down the glass-ceiling’ed, sun-lit mall atrium.
I traveled along the short atrium, my broken shoes’ soles softly flapping against the floor kind of like flip-flops. I turned into the shoe store. No immediate sign of the funny sort of fat guy with spiky black hair who sells the shoes here. I looked around and saw only the few chest-high isles of shoes, and stout walls half-filled with shoeboxes. But the fluorescent ceiling lights were on, another sign that the mall must really be open, I guess. “Hello?” I called out into the silent shoe store. My voice kind of set me on edge. The silence in return didn’t really help. And the next sound I heard didn’t help, either.
I heard a metallic creaking sound from a distance outside the shoe-store, which could only be the mall door being forcibly moved further open or to being closed. I knew, but had to look, but was too afraid to. Human, hopefully?
I tried to step out to glance down the mall atrium at the distant door. It would have been in view just outside the cramped shoe store I was in. But I couldn’t get myself to move. I wanted to hide.
I heard heavy footsteps. Distant, but approaching. It was unusual – a clap of a shoe sole, a slap of a bare foot, in a stumbling pattern, not an even walking rhythm. Who or what it was, was only wearing one shoe, it’s other foot bare. Still distant, but still approaching.
And then I heard it groan inhumanly.
My blood went cold.
No, there is no way this could be a zombie. It would have had to traverse broad daylight and find it’s way into the mall. There is just no way. – That was me arguing with myself. I lost the argument.
It had to be a zombie. It just had to be!
Run. RUN! I felt the terror inside me yelling at myself.
Those awkward footsteps: trot, slap, trot…slap trot slap…trot, slap…
Closer, and closer.
Soon, it had to be only about 20 feet away from the shoe store doorway.
My terror took over. I turned, and darted into the shoe store, amidst the short, stuffy isles. I crouched behind the end cap of one of the isles, peering cautiously around the corner with one wide eye. I couldn’t feel my legs beneath me any more, but at the same time I was on auxiliary energy – fear – to run like crazy. My heart was thundering, causing me to feel my whole body pulsate with its force. The fear building up inside was agonizing, and only worse hearing it approach.
Trot, slap…trot…slap trot…
I practically was suffocating trying to arrest my heavy breath.
I heard it snort and grunt. It was a couple paces away from being visible through the doorway.
I could feel that funny feeling in the roof of my mouth and in my tongue. Just to make matters worse.
Oh – to let you know, just before I drop to the floor into an uncontrollable epileptic seizure, I start getting signals. My roof of my mouth and my tongue get this thick, thirsty, dead feeling. Head goes cloudy; Vision gets really weird, either blurry, or two-dimensional, or just black altogether. Then other things…
Well, I started feeling really cloudy in the head, sort of light headed and totally dull. But somehow I was still focused enough to breath and look to the doorway.
I saw it stumble into view.
It was horrible. I’ve never been so close to one.
It was not facing me, so it did not see me. But I saw it.
Its clothes were completely filthy, and forlorn – zombies don’t regard the clothing on their bodies. It did have only one boot on, and one sallow and bare foot. It’s milky and almost colorless eyes were deep in its sunken sockets, it’s cheek bones seem to almost pierce its lifeless sallow facial skin. Its hair was ratty and filthy, and it was hunched forward and leaning to one side.
My vision began to alter. Another dooming sign for me and my epilepsy.
The zombie stood there, a horrid animal version of what was once human. It’s eyes dullened further as it stood there, staggering in place (poor balance being a zombie), looking like it went into a trance. It let out a long, throaty groan, and snorted again.
Please don’t see me – please don’t see me…
I felt my arms and legs loosen. I was about to fall over. And pretty much helplessly turn into a convulsing and flailing zombie meal on the floor.
Somehow I maintained my position, leaning heavily against the small isle end cap, watching the zombie.
The zombie still didn’t see me. It was still seemingly in its trance. It staggered forward a pace or so, catching itself on its bootless raunchy foot, unable to stand in one place by its nature.
Then, with a forcible snort, it began to move. But not toward me; it continued staggering down the mall atrium.
I felt my consciousness waning. I had to move. If I could push myself, I probably could make it to the door and outside in the streets. Red the redneck wasn’t too far. I could probably reach him first, before the zombie reaches me. I could shout for his help. I could –
My legs gave way. I fell to numb knees.
No!
I slammed into the isle shelving, and it screeched noisily on the floor as my body weight shoved it about one inch. A couple shoeboxes fell off of its end cap, making more noise.
I couldn’t catch myself with my arms – they were totally rubber.
All I remember is the brown tile floor slamming into my face, and then my vision went down.