Day 3: The Girl in the Trunk

What happened to Chelsea had been a real tragedy. The civilians were talking about what happened and how she seemed to be one of the calmest women in the shelter. Who would have thought that someone like her, so young, would decide to end her own life? There were those who said that her suicide was a purely selfish act. Others believed that Chelsea had been so affected that she was a hopeless case that could not be fixed and that, in a way, it was a "win-win" for her and everyone at the shelter.

At least everyone agreed that she was the one who ended his life and not some degenerate of those who are still human but, are more dead and rotten than the mere dead or, those dead who lie walking among the living but find no rest.

Clark Kennedy had no time to mourn for a stranger. Yes, it seemed a tragedy to him that such a young life succumbed to the events that occurred around her, but she was beyond saving. The manager in sales went to the security room and, asked Megan and Ashley where this "Woman in the trunk" was located, since he believed that, if this woman was hidden for so long, with the weather and being cooped up she would probably die from dehydration. That was one of the reasons he took two bottles of water with him.

The Vallimorth parking lots were his next stop. As it happened, Vallimorth had several parking lots, including one located in front of Dark Horse Plaza and another far away, near some underground tunnels that connected to another area of the mall where visitors could enter with their vehicles.

Clark left the shelter and headed for these secluded parts of the mall. He had the description of the car: a dark sedan in front of an advertisement for a wedding venue that read "Happily Ever After." Clark could only laugh. His steps were quick and straight. He wasn't afraid of anything, so his great confidence made it easy for him to strategize how to walk among the dead, like throwing things to distract them or running when necessary.

The park was not pretty at all. All its beauty had been torn apart like a flower by inexperienced hands. He could see the remains of some unfortunate people scattered on the lawn, some cars that crashed into the walls and caused a big coalition, so that part of the walls of the squares were in pieces. It was strange for him to see shopping carts completely full of basic necessities, it was strange to see how time seemed to have stopped for a brief moment.

Arriving at the area of the tunnels was a real hell. Clark was passing by some of those zombies that had been run over and their limbs had been amputated by the tires that passed over them. Clark could clearly see how the seats of some of those vehicles, as well as their doors, were soaked in blood.

When Clark went at the car where the woman was located, Clark was very careful. First, he stood to one side of the trunk and began to give a few light knocks to see if there was any response. Something that struck him as very curious was that one of the taillights was lying on the floor, in fact the orange crystals of said taillight were scattered in the middle of a puddle that, Clark could believe was vomit.

The trunk opened and Clark found something incredible.

It was a very well-dressed woman, far too formal for a zombie apocalypse. The woman was drenched in sweat. She could barely open her eyes and was moaning. Clark looked at her with disgust.

—I'll get you out of here before you melt... chocolate woman —Clark smiled as he looked at a black woman lying in the trunk.

She could barely respond. She carved her eyes and looked for a few seconds at Clark without saying anything to him. Clark looked intimidating with his large stature, guns and all-black attire, but with that menacing air.

—What do you want from me? —She asked, trying to pull herself together.

—You must be too exhausted... I don't care how you ended up here, but one of my colleagues was quite worried about you when she saw you getting into the trunk. Would you like some water?

Clark held out the bottles of water, which the woman took without hesitation and began to drink without thinking. She soaked her clothes, she didn't care, it was the least thing she cared.

—Just as I imagined... Can you walk?

—I'm too tired... I can't... I can't... damn...

—Okay, okay. I'll take you then. Just don't die, okay?

Clark pulled the woman out of the trunk and carried her. She didn't weigh much and that surprised Kennedy who didn't have much trouble walking fast with her in his arms. He believed that, one of the reasons the dead didn't come to him was because they were too full or else.

Ashley, on the other hand, was taking notes of what happened and everything she saw through the cameras. She was very surprised by the ease with which Clark moved and seemed to have no problem with moving from one place to another, even pushing the dead that were in his way and they reacted by attacking another zombie that was close to him.

At one point, and after getting out of the park, Clark had to force the woman to climb the stairs that led to the roof of the shelter. The woman tried with all her might to climb up until she was finally helped by Harry who pulled her up so that she could climb all the way to the roof. Following her, Clark Kennedy laughed triumphantly at his first "mission" accomplished.

The woman got herself up off the ground and was attended by George who was working in the rooftop. George was surprised at the woman's dehydration and the signs her body was showing, so he proceeded to perform a check there. Since the rooftop had an "office," the survivors made that office a place to take care of the new arrivals and then bring them into the shelter.

The woman remained on a couch, being checked by the paramedic for bites, and he would ask her questions about how she was feeling and if she had any strange symptoms such as fever, nausea, dizziness...

But she said no, that she was just tired and that being in the trunk for so long exhausted her.

What a way to survive.