Day 1: Hell Kitchen

Jason had left the safe zone. As he reached the rooftop he looked up at the sky, it was still gray and seemed to be getting darker as time went on. Jason checked his watch and saw that it was 6:00 pm. Slater walked down the stairs and, guided himself to the restaurant via the map Megan gave him. Bellymorth was on the second floor of the plaza. When Jason entered, he saw that it was one of those expensive, fine restaurants with smooth, gleaming wood tables and scarlet velvet sofas.

As Jason walked around the tables he saw that there was half-finished food. Jason wouldn't eat or drink anything no matter how much he wanted to, there were already flies on the plates.

When he was in front of the kitchen door, Jason decided to crouch down, stand to the side of the door (with his body against the wall) and knocked carefully.

"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK."

No one answered.

"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK."

Still no answer.

Jason heard his walkie-talkie star to ring, it was Megan talking to him.

—Hey, Jason.

—What's up, Megan? I'm in the kitchen just like you told me. What am I supposed to find?

Megan was a little confused by what she was seeing on the cameras, so she decided to let Jason know what was going on inside the kitchen.

—They're not armed, Jason. You can go in.

—Oh... okay.

Still having the walkie-talkie on, Jason gently opened the door. There he could see three men in the corner of the kitchen.

Jason stared at them, and since he was armed, the tension was imminent.

—Don't kill us, please! —Said one of the guys.

—We'll do anything you ask, but don't kill us! We'll suck you off if you want! —Another one raised his hands as he did not want to be shot.

—Whatever you want us to do we'll do it! But don't kill us!

—Hey! There's no need to do any of that, no, oh, I see.... I see what's going on —Jason put his gun back in his belt and calmed down so he wouldn't look like a imminent danger. —I'm one of the good guys. Why so scared, guys? I'm here to help you. I'm Jason Slater.

—We don't think you can help us. We've been on the run for so many hours from this bunch of idiots who kill everything in their path. They just kill for the fun of it, the dead that came back to life, people... They already killed two of us! —A man who was dressed as a waiter commented, frightened. Jason looked at the guy's vest and noticed that it had an embroidery that read "Vallimorth Shopping Mall Employee".

—Can you tell me a little more about that? —Jason noticed how the men became uncomfortable, but one of them spoke up.

—These are groups of men who kill for the fun of it. We've been on the run since Black Card Plaza Massacre started... we haven't seen them in a couple of hours and we don't want to!

—Then what are you doing here? Is this your safe place? What's wrong with him?

Jason approached a man who was hysterical, he wouldn't stop crying and didn't seem to have any intention of getting up.

—As I told you, we are workers at Vallimorth's Shopping Mall, and we know some areas of the site. This is Kevin, he lost his girlfriend, Chelsea, one of the waitresses who worked in the restaurant and fast food area. He says they were with another group of workers, until these damn bastards from Black Card Plaza attacked. They kidnapped all the women and executed the men... but he managed to escape.

—From what we heard from other survivors who went to the gun store, there were dead bodies of women inside, all completely naked and with apparent signs of torture. Kevin thinks Chelsea may have been one of them, and we've practically dragged him with us. —Another guy joined the conversation. —Malcolm Hudson, used to work at the Third Eye Eyeglasses store in Pink Flamingo Plaza.

Malcolm Hudson—I'm Harry Wilkins, I used to work at El Compadre Mexican food restaurant in the restaurant and bar area of the mall. How did you find us?

Harry Wilkins—I've seen you on the cameras. You know the secure area of this plaza, don't you? The warehouse.

—Yes! We want to go up the stairs above the shoe store on the fourth floor. We are so scared by the gunshots that we don't want to go out. We already tried to go to the music store to open the door leading to that area, but it is sealed.

—It will please you to know that there are more survivors there. We rescued people to get them to safety and find a way to escape from Vallimorth. One of the civilians we met in the streets told us that all the roads are closed...

Jason elicited a collective sigh of disgust, despair... a heartbreaking sigh. Slater leaned over to Kevin, and grabbed him by the shoulder, placing his hand on the young man who couldn't stop crying.

—Hey, bro. We've taken care of cleaning up Black Card Plaza, those men won't do any more damage, we can swear to you. Hey... Did your girl happen to be named... "Chelsea Blackwell"?

Kevin, the grieving man, looked static at Slater.

—Yes! Chelsea Blackwell! Is she alive? How do you know that name? I...

—When we arrived at the gun store... unfortunately we found the corpses of the women who died before our arrival... but also a few who were still alive. Chelsea among them. They're all safe in the break room.

—Oh, man! Come on! —Kevin hugged the photographer, not caring how bad he smelled or that he was a stranger. —Kevin Beckley! I was a cook at the Happy Chicken in the food court, so what are we waiting for? Let's get out of this place!

Kevin BeckleyThe group of workers agreed to join Slater. As they exited the Bellymorth restaurant they looked around to analyze the situation and find a route among the dead to get up the escalators.

—Is it my idea or are there more every time? —Malcolm asked, surprised to see the second floor full of these creatures.

—They are the ones coming from the city. They come in from both the main gate of Grand Mont Plaza and Saint Michael's Park, from the parking lots —Jason replied, also seeing a route by which to elude the dead.

—I'd hoped to die some other way.... but in my fucking work uniform? This is pitiful —Kevin thought it was the last straw.

The men were attacking the dead with chairs and sticks, the ones higher up the stairs were falling straight to the ground and their heads were exploding, giving off a black liquid. Jason was asking Megan to set off alarms in distant locales to get the attention of the horde, so all the dead that crowded around the shoe store scattered.

—Let's go! Everyone to the stairs!

Jason ordered, waiting for all the men to climb up to the roof. He was the last one up and was helped by Malcolm, who patted him on the back and thanked him for the help.

As soon as Kevin saw the sky, he was able to realize something, as he looked at his watch.

—It's been a day since the massacre.

—A day? —Malcolm decided to close the glass that led to the roof.

—This all started a little after seven... I remember the time well because yesterday Chelsea and I would have been together for two years. We were having lunch with some friends... but all this happened. Zombies came out of nowhere, infecting everything in their path... eating people, killing people... and then the looting, people started looting the premises. We didn't think it would end like this...

—Kevin...? —Jason watched the parking lot with the young man from the rooftop. They saw the dead walking in the streets, in the surroundings... and the sound they were making in unison didn't help.

—It would be so easy to jump, but the fear of dying and worse; being one of them, won't let me do it. Just... let's go.

The group entered the safe zone. Everything was so quiet. One of the men saw how the hallway connecting to the music store was sealed off. They all walked to the coffee shop where there were barely a few people in it.

Holly and Bryan were still chatting as they smoked. Mia was chatting with Megan in the corner, and as soon as she saw the new arrivals in their uniforms she brightened up.

—Harry?

—Megan?

—Harry!

The duo hugged. Megan was overjoyed to see her colleague alive.

—Megan! You may have already seen them, they're restaurant workers.... Malcolm Hudson and Kevin Beckley.

—What's up girl —Malcolm greeted, extending his hand with Megan's hand.

—Megan! —Kevin continued, carrying Megan in the process.

—Guys, you must know Jason by now, he and his friends help me rescue civilians trapped in the mall. We've seen so many horrible things together... but we managed to endure for now.

—We'll work together to get through this, Megan. If things go this bad... we may need to expand our safe zone to the edges of the mall. When there are more of us, maybe we can take Grand Mont Plaza... lock down the entrance for good and block the entrance to Dark Horse Plaza and Saint Michael's Park —Jason commented. He was already very tired.

—What do you think, guys? Looks like it's Overtime... —Megan joked.

—They'd better give me the bills, because I'm quitting my job after today! —Harry played along.

—Jason! Nikolai was looking for you. I think he went to bed. You should see him later —Megan decided to take her colleagues to an area of the cafeteria to introduce Mia.

Kevin said he was going to go rest and, was desperately checking the other rooms. He wanted to look for Chelsea. He checked the cellars, the living rooms, the bedrooms... until he came to one last door, at the end of a hallway.

His desire was so great that he opened it without thinking.

A group of women looked at Kevin in confusion, as he was a stranger, plus he was someone they had not seen before.

—Chelsea? Where is Chelsea Blackwell?

They all turned their heads to one of the beds. One of the beds had a large lump on it as the person was covered with the blankets to sleep. Lexie approached the girl and, the girl woke up, quite tired. She thought she was still dreaming when she saw the man standing at the entrance of the room.

—Kevin?

Chelsea got up. She walked slowly, and fell to her knees in front of Kevin who held her, and fell beside her to the floor.

—Chelsea... What did they do to you, Chelsea?

She just cried in his lap. Kevin followed soon after when he saw that Chelsea's left hand was missing two fingers.

—Oh God... Chelsea... What did these bastards do to you? No! No, no, no, no... Goddamn it, no!

The other women remained silent, watching as a couple came together and, their shadows becoming one with the light in the room.