Chapter 2: Those Left Behind

The next day Jason woke up next to Nikolai. He loved to feel the Serbian's chest puffing and deflating, his face brushing against the Serbian's hair was something it was worth it.

—Good morning, Jason! —Nikolai stroked Jason's back gently, running his fingers up and down.

—Niko! Good morning. How did you rest?

—Well, excellent. One night without risking my ass for ungrateful strangers is all I needed.

Nikolai sounded angry. He grunted, seeming to be unhappy about something in particular, but he wouldn't say what. Jason could only take one of the blankets and cover himself with it.

—I feel good next to you. —Slater said as he snuggled into the Serbian's chest. Nikolai just hugged him and kissed his forehead.

—Let's take a shower, and then let's go to breakfast. I'm very hungry, I think those are the effects of sex... being hungry and wanting to regain energy.

—Can we fix this whole mess first? So that when we get back we don't have to do any work. Hell, I just want to get back here and throw myself to the couch and sleep my ass.

Jason and Nikolai picked up the blankets from the floor and folded them, plus they also placed against the wall the mattress they used to start sweeping. They dressed only in their pants, as they headed to the showers shortly after, bringing their clothes with them.

As they showered, Jason could see the grime and blood on Nikolai's body coming off. He liked seeing him happy, getting the hot water and, Jason quite liked watching Nikolai run the soap over his body, leaving a trail of bubbles.

—How would you resume yesterday? —Slater asked, as he put some shampoo on his head and rubbed it in.

—Crazy. I think I cut my fingers when I stabbed that son of a bitch. I'm still mad at George, the idiot stopped the car to let two other idiots get in. Now we've got a dying fucker waiting for him to recover, and one more mouth to feed.

—You don't like the idea of bringing people here?

—Actually, I don't. I wish this whole thing had been just between Megan, Ashley, you and me. Now we have fourteen other people in need, just like us.

—I've been thinking about something... and I'd like to discuss it with Megan. This whole situation is crazy... but I think we should work as a team, because that's how we're going to get through this, together. If it wasn't for George we wouldn't have Ashley in good shape... I still think, this shelter is too big for four people.

—I see...

Jason was still in thought. He sort of understood what he was referring to, so Slater also decided to leave out the woman's suicide, as he didn't want to turn the situation into something really awkward.

They both finished showering, by the time they were fully dressed they decided to go to the cafeteria. Great was their surprise to see most of the survivors having breakfast. Missing from the group was Thomas, who was still recovering, and also George, who was probably treating him, judging from the situation the night before.

—Look! These are the guys who saved our asses —Malcolm pointed to Jason and Nikolai. All the people in the shelter turned to the direction where they were, some looked with a smile, others looked serious.

—Let's not forget Megan, who was actually the person who told us where you were —Jason emphasized, as he didn't want to take all the credit.

—Good morning! Would you like some breakfast? I was making people some Hot Cakes and milkshakes too —Holly was in the kitchen area, next to her was Molly, preparing eggs in a skillet.

—I'd be happy to, Holly! —Jason nodded, taking a seat at a table where Bryan, Michael and Harry were sitting.

They greeted him and also Nikolai who sat with them. By then Megan asked for everyone's attention, as she stood up from her seat and clapped her hands.

—Good morning everyone! As some of you may know, and some of you may not... let me introduce myself. I'm Megan Knox, one member of the mall staff. I think now more than ever is the time to tell you what will become of us as a group, and of the shelter. Taking into consideration that we no longer have workers at the Vallimorth Power Plant, and that there will no longer be anyone working for water distribution at the Vallimorth Water Center, we must act.

—What do you mean, Megan? —Lilly asked in dismay. She was eating a flan for breakfast as she looked at Megan, a bit puzzled.

—I mean that at any moment the mall will run out of water and electricity. At the moment all the resources we have at our disposal will seem infinite... but they are not. Because the dead have taken over, there will no longer be any resources left such as toilet paper, canned food, basic hygiene products... I think everyone will agree with me that the more people that arrive, the more resources will be used. So we must work as a group to do things right.

—That's exactly what I was worried about when I agreed to come here —Michael stood up from his seat, and everyone looked at him.

—What? —Mia looked at him intently.

—We're a big group. Eventually we'll be what? Thirty? Fifty people? A hundred? I think Jason, Nikolai and Megan's cause is a noble one to bring people here alive... but that means more resources must be invested in it. I talked to Jason and he told me that there were only four people here, initially. Him, Nikolai, Megan and this girl... Ashlin. The resources they had being four people could last them MONTHS, hell, even years. But now that we are here, those resources can be depleted in weeks.

—So you'd rather we stay out there? —Kevin replied, disgusted.

—Not at all! I propose something... we should start taking over the mall. Since help won't be coming, and after realizing that no one is going to save our asses, we should do things on our own. The rooftops are phenomenal to start using as a greenhouse... food will be months away, we know that, but we'll be preparing. What we can do would be to take all the resources from the food stores, hygiene, and that crap we can still salvage and save it. By then we have to manage the resources and get organized. We can start creating something great here at the Mall... it's just a matter of all of us committing to it.

—And regarding what you say, Michael... one of the options we have, should we wish to take Grand Mont Plaza as our starting point, would be to lower the fences that divide each plaza. This would prevent more zombies from entering from other plazas, or even the park. The fences cover windows and entrances, so we would make Grand Mont Plaza a completely blocked off place. —Megan gave the group food for thought.

—And then how will we get from one plaza to another? If they will be completely closed... or in case we have to go to Pink Flamingo Plaza, or to the food court —Kevin opined again.

—I noticed that the gates have specific entrances for these cases. The mall workers used to use them to move from one plaza to another when the mall closed. You see, a security guard told me that when the gates were down, they used keys to open some doors on these same gates. That way we can get in and out, even if the gates are active.

—I had completely forgotten about that! —Harry supported Megan's comment. —Once a colleague and I got stuck because we stayed late at the restaurant doing end-of-month bills. By the time we wanted to go from Black Card Plaza to Children's Heaven, there was a gate blocking our way. One of the guards arrived shortly after and opened a door that had the gate. We were able to get out.

—So what are you waiting for, girl? Lower the bars then. If it'll keep us from having any more of those sons of bitches in here... —Cindy had a brief idea of what the situation would be like.

—Regarding resources, there will be no other option but to go to the city... we must find things that can be useful to us from the different places and, for water... Vallimorth is known for having a lot of rivers with drinking water. Our region is surrounded by forests, vegetation and life. A very large group could go and collect water and fill jugs with the water, it would just be a matter of disinfecting it by heating it —Lilly said.

—Then I'll lower the bars. From now on if Jason and Nikolai want to leave, they must have these keys. That way they can move from one square to another.

—I'm fine with that —Nikolai crossed his arms and put his feet up on the table. —What will we do when more people arrive, then? Because you'll agree that this shelter, even though it's big... it can't hold that many people. By my calculations, this whole area of the mall we are in encompasses a total of one hundred to one hundred and fifty people. Some of them will have to sleep on the floors or in common rooms...

—Not to mention that the shelter has no roof to allow sunlight to enter. We don't want when the electric light runs out, there will be an infected that will kill everyone in the middle of the darkness. At some point this area will be uninhabitable, that is until we find a way to bring in electricity to make it habitable again —Holly made a contrast in which many people nodded, as they surely had that same fear.

—According to the manual, and also because of the amount of light the mall uses, we have a total of four to five weeks until the power runs out. The generators can be turned off at any time and the red emergency lights will only last a few hours until we are in total darkness. I have already turned off the lights in the shops, squares, park lights, I have turned off the power to all the squares, including Grand Mont. Only the shelter has electricity.

—This will doom the survivors... —Lilly covered her mouth, terrified by the idea.

—They'll have all day and part of the afternoon to realize there's no power. If Molly and Holly fucking barricaded a clothing store in Children's Heaven, the ingenuity of the survivors will be such that it won't be hard for them to start barricading the stores. I saw many Vallimorth workers alive... it won't be hard to believe that they have keys to close the shutters of the premises in the squares either —Nikolai expressed his point of view and, he really didn't care what happened to all these people.

—If that is the case, we should start clearing the roof and prepare the space to make it a place for harvesting and planting. I'd say the park... but now it's completely infested with zombies. Hey, Megan... Is there a possibility of closing the parking lots as well? —Michael had a question that needed to be answered as soon as possible.

—Including those gates, I'll take them down. No zombies or survivors will be able to enter the mall through the Parking Lot.

—We must take action for our group, the rest doesn't matter —Nikolai was imposing. —Right now our asses are the ones we must protect from any threat, ANY threat. I think the people with families here know what I'm talking about. You will do anything to keep this little peace we have now. And we must keep sure to check every new civilian, even ask them to strip if necessary to check for bites or scratches. I don't know if that shit catches from scratches?

—George and I as the medical staff could be in charge of it. A checkup wouldn't hurt... and I have to assume that everyone here wasn't bitten or injured, as I've personally seen people transform from bites, and they usually do it in seconds to minutes —Lilly raised her hand to ask to make herself present.

—I'll lower the bars then. And guys, I'll let you know if I see any new activity on the cameras. I hope you enjoy your breakfast, and if you have anything to say or do, it will be time, because we should take advantage of the day and evening hours.

Megan retired to the camera room, leaving everyone to eat breakfast in peace.

—Well, it looks like we have three weeks to clean up Grand Mont Plaza and make it a safe place. To which...we must kill all the dead that roam the plaza and make sure there are none left... Right? —Bryan lay uneasily eating his breakfast. He was worried about his son's condition.

—Can you get your fucking feet off the table, Nikolai? —Michael seemed angry about something. The Serb's attitudes didn't please him either.

—Whatever. If you're like this because I yelled at your man, you should tell him I don't regret it. Only an idiot would think of...

—Would think of what, asshole?

—Nikolai, please... let's not start this. Put your feet down and let's have breakfast in peace.

Kalinic agreed, reluctantly. Jason apologized for his behavior.

—I'm going to eat in our room. If you want you can come, Jason.

Nikolai walked away to the kitchen and ordered some Hot Cakes and muffins from Holly and proceeded to leave the cafeteria.

—He woke up in a bad mood, you must excuse him. He's been so stressed and... he's like this because of his brother. We don't know what has become of our families back in Sparks. As you may know... we are not from Vallimorth. We're from far away.

—I'd be mad as hell for my son, too. I understand. —Bryan seemed sympathetic to everything.

—Well, to clean Grand Mont we have plenty of ammunition. We left the gun store at Black Card Plaza practically empty. The best thing to do at the moment would be to use rifles, we have silencers. It might be a good idea to position snipers and kill as many dead as possible —Jason opted to eat a cake that Lilly brought him as a thank you.

—You can give us the guns then, and we'll take care of those rotten sons of bitches —Michael was ready to get his hands dirty, at least a little.

George joined Michael at the table. He was calm, and quite smiling. When he arrived he kissed Michael on the lips and sat down, taking his partner's plate and eating from the slice of pie on his plate.

—Bryan, your son is a warrior. Thomas is feeling better, but still somewhat obfuscated from the drug.

—Excellent news!

—Jason, I'd like to talk to you about something. I have some concerns that are of utmost interest and, you must address them. As the leader of the group that you are....

—Leader? Oh, hehe... I don't consider myself a leader. I think we all...

—We'll talk about that when we're all together, because Thomas' vote counts too, and Nikolai's and Megan's vote. What I'm getting at... we have to get medicine as soon as posible because I've come to the conclusion that they're going to run out soon. It's not like I have a problem creating them from herbs and also naturopathic medicine... but for serious and important things they must be brought to our shelter. Do you think there could be a possibility to go to the small pharmacies to get some of the stuff? We have enough, yes, but it won't last forever, let alone if a new Thomas arrives. Excuse me, Bryan.

—I know, I know what you mean. But my son is going to make up for it somehow.

—That's the situation, Jason. And by the way, check on that idiot Nikolai, we know he saved our lives, but that's no justification for him being a jerk.

—That's already the second complaint today, George... okay, I'm going to have a talk with him.

By then Megan arrived and told Jason the news.

—The gates are down, and the seats are secured. It seems to me that this time you'll be using your new keys too soon, Jason. You won't believe what I found at Children's Heaven.

—What did you find in the worst part of the mall? —Jason smiled, for he knew what kind of horrors were there.

—There are two adults... inside one of the attractions at Children's Heaven. Did you happen to see those huge pink and blue painted houses in the middle of the huge playground? The houses that pretended to be in a neighborhood. In those houses the children used to come in and play...

—Yeah... and I didn't like seeing who came out of them when I went to rescue the girls from the gun store, as we passed Children's Heaven.

—You see, Jason... the adults aren't alone. I saw them go into one of those houses... with a group of children..,

Jason stopped chewing and looked up at Michael and Bryan in surprise.

—Oh shit...