Day 3: Beauty and the Beasts III

Very carefully Nikolai took it upon himself to remove the golf club and, the door opened of its own accord. Inside was a woman on the floor, seated, as she folded her arms and legs together while appearing to be in some sort of fetal position.

—Young lady? We have come to help you. You're safe now —Clark entered the fitting room and knelt down to meet the woman who looked at him in fright and tried to crawl backwards, but it was useless since the wall of the fitting room was against her back.

—Who are you? What do you want...? Please don't kill me... please!

—We are a group of rescuers, young lady. Let me introduce myself. I'm Clark Kennedy and these are my partners: Jason Slater and Nikolai Kalinic. We're here to save you.

—To... save... me...? You guys... How did you get here? My dad and my brother wouldn't have let you....

Clark smiled.

—I have to tell you, with all my sympathy in the world, that your father and brother have perished. If I'm not mistaken, they were responsible for the death of many people who have tried to come to your rescue. Am I wrong?

—You... You... you... killed them?

There was silence as no one knew what to answer.

Until Nikolai spoke.

—That's right. We have ended their lives. We saw the crimes they were committing through the cameras and...

—Oh my goodness! Thank you so much! Thank you!

The woman hugged Clark in gratitude.

—Thank you a thousand times! Those bastards wanted to make me their wife... the pigs said we'd be the new Adam and Eve and we'd have to repopulate the world... Bastard sons of bitches!

The girl got up but soon fell to the ground as she had an injured ankle.

—Those bastards hurt me... they didn't want me to run away again. Thank you so much for saving my life! But... there is no safe place. The whole mall is infested... it's been about three days since the massacre and...

The woman was uneasy and started to get upset.

—Hey! Hey, take it easy. Look, we have a shelter, there are more survivors, there is a safe place where you can take a rest. We have a doctor, a nurse and for what it's worth... a vet to help you. We just need to get you out of here... but we need to protect you. —Jason leaned over and put his hand on the woman's shoulder.

—Can you trust us and let me carry you? Look at you... you look as light as a feather. —Clark held out his hand.

—Okay! Thank you so much! By the way... I'm Stacy Clinton. I honestly don't know what I can do to thank you. That idiot Matt and Rocky kidnapped me for days and... I'm so tired, I've only been starting to eat all leftover...

Stacy Clinton—We're so sorry you had to go through that. We'll have time to discuss this, so... Hang on, sweetheart!

Clark carried Stacy without much trouble, putting one hand behind her back and another on her legs.

—Now it's your turn to take care of us, folks!

—Work's done, Megan! Let's get out of Pink Flamingo Plaza. Do you think we can get out in one piece? —Nikolai spoke into a walkie-talkie, receiving an immediate response.

—I will activate the alarms away from your position, but you must leave the area immediately.

—Perfect! By the way, Megan. Tell one of the snipers to please keep an eye on the stairs. We have a woman with a fucked up ankle and we need someone to help her up to the roof.

—Done!

When Stacy came out of the fitting rooms she was surprised to see the remains of what was once her family.

—I hope you've met your god, Dad... —She put her face against Clark's chest so she wouldn't see the scene anymore.

—I don't think the dead would mind if I took their guns... and their ammunition. —Nikolai began to steal everything he could before the alarms sounded at the other end of the square.

—Time to go! —Clark was the first to leave with the girl in his arms.

The coldness with which Nikolai killed the zombies was to be feared as he didn't let any of them get close to Clark. He fearlessly drew his pistol and shot them straight in the head, even putting the barrel on their foreheads. The remains of the completely black brain were scattered on the floor while Jason was hitting those who approached with the same golf club that held Stacy prisoner.

—Thank you, jogging lessons! —Clark propelled himself through the park as he moved. His physical condition even allowed him to kick one of the zombies, who was later decapitated by Jason when he hit him in the head and his head shot out like a ball.

—I've seen this before... they detach very easily from the limbs...

Jason would add another note to his research as he helped escort Clark and Stacy. They all arrived at Dark Horse Plaza and, with much effort made their way to Grand Mont. Clark prepared himself for the challenge of carrying Stacy up the stairs to the upper floors. Fortunately he had Jason and Nikolai both in front and behind him to protect him.

They all reached the roof of the shoe store and, very carefully Stacy climbed the stairs as she was very tired and her ankle hurt every time she tried to lift it. When she reached the edge of the roof Stacy felt herself weakening, so her sound foot slipped.

Just when she thought it would be over, Markus Thompson's strong hand grabbed her.

—Not dying in my watch, lady!

Markus pulled her up and soon Stacy fell into his arms as the other members of the group climbed up.

—My God, this woman is a mess! What happened to her? —Lilly rushed over when she saw that Stacy could barely stand up.

—Her family kept her prisoner... Why, Lilly? —Nikolai asked in dismay.

—This woman has signs of dehydration! But what happened to her ankle? Good heavens... What did they do to you, sweetheart? —Lilly looked very pitifully at Stacy as she stroked her hair. —We're going to take care of you, okay? You'll be all right now.

—Help... me...

—Shh... Don't talk. Save your energy. Damn it! I need someone to take this woman to the infirmary!

Markus opted to take charge and carried the young woman into the shelter by carrying her on his arms.

—Well, as long as this feels like a successful extraction... I'll gladly be part of it —Clark raised his hands to high-five Nikolai and Jason, which they did.

—Beauty and the beasts... Ashley was right... only real beasts would do this to a woman. Under what idea do you think it's right to kidnap your own daughter? —Jason was disgusted.

—Whatever... she's already here and we need to focus on that. I have a feeling Megan will give us more of these assignments... so, let's go to Ashley's notebook to see what we can do to kill time. Hey! How are you guys doing with the shots? —Nikolai asked Harry who was just finishing reloading his rifle.

—Great! I've got a total of 79. Bryan thinks he's got it bigger than me because he killed 84.

—If my son were in any condition to come here... Oh Harry, we'd both lose. Who was that woman and why did they take her so urgently? —Bryan asked curiously.

—A civilian... in an unflattering situation. All right, ladies. Keep up the excellent work. When there are less of those pigs we're going to get down and start working for real... so... congratulations! —Nikolai took Harry's rifle and, after taking the safety off, all he had to do was aim and fire three perfect shots in less than ten seconds. —You're going to need those pills they advertise in porn, Harry.

—What the fuck?! Hey!

Nikolai triumphantly entered the warehouse.