Chapter 1: Those Granted to Hell IV

The rest of the morning was passing quietly. Michael and George had gone to sleep in one of the rooms, as they were too tired after all they had been through. The group decided to have breakfast in the security room, as they also wanted to join Megan in her job of watching the cameras. Soon Ashley joined her, standing to one side of her to watch the cameras so she would have another set of eyes to find new anomalies.

—Thank God for one more day of life... —Holly had a bowl of instant noodles in front of her, she had removed the small pieces of meat from the soup.

—And thanks to Jason, Nikolai and Megan, Mom. It's because of them that we're here —Molly replied a bit disgusted to her mother, who was still a bit conflicted about that word.

—I know, Molly, I'm grateful to them too. How did you sleep yesterday? As soon as I came in all I did was cry...cry myself to sleep.

—Well... I could hardly sleep. My sister Tess is still out there, and I don't want to think something bad happened to her....

—Have faith, Mia... have faith and hope, it's the only thing that keeps us going —Holly tried to comfort Westerfield, who had also removed the small pieces of meat and peas from the instant soup.

—And what's new on the cameras, Megan? Have you seen any signs of life? —Nikolai asked, as he ate a piece of sweet bread from a vending machine he broke.

—I've seen horrible things, people... a while ago a group of people attacked a group of survivors... they killed them all and started to have sex with the bodies. It seems to me that we have a plague in the mall, one that is rotten but on another level. You should be very careful with these people, guys. I don't even want to look at the Children's Heaven cameras...I can't... I can't stand to see the bodies of those kids walking around.

—It was very difficult for me to get through the plaza —Nikolai commented. —Many of them got through the car, didn't they, ladies?

—Absolutely! Nikolai is telling the truth. Usually when we talk about dying, we think of adults, but... but not children, not such young children. It's so complicated to process what's going on around us. I don't know if it's a miracle to be alive, or if it's a punishment —Molly seemed quite pessimistic, as she didn't enjoy her life at the shelter, or in general.

—I also saw on the cameras the various robberies going on in different areas of the mall. Many people robbed the Pink Flamingo Plaza supermarket and the Spring Plaza supermarket, especially the food. Poor people... on the other hand, there are a lot of dangerous groups. I noticed two individuals in particular... one of them looks like a cop who murders anyone who crosses his path, and the other is a group of people who mug... and what they do to women...

Megan sighed, at the same time trying to stroke herself for comfort.

—Group? —Jason asked.

—Another group of survivors, just like us, but they roam freely around the mall killing anything that gets in their way, apparently they took the Black Card Plaza gun store as their base. I've counted them, they're like a total of ten people, they go everywhere together.

—Maybe you could set off the alarms at Black Card Plaza and lure all the zombies away? —Mia commented.

—It happens that, as much as I want to, there are still a lot of people hiding in the other establishments. For some reason in that plaza a lot of people gathered... I've also noticed that they like to bring women to the gun store, but they don't come out. At the moment they took a total of five, all of whom came in completely naked. I didn't warn you before because I didn't think you could handle the situation... —Megan felt responsible for that, plus there was a lot of guilt.

—And you can't see in the gun shop what's going on, Megan? —Holly looked scared at what her head was imagining.

—They broke the camera to the inside of the gun shop, but not the one on the outside, that's why I can see them. Last night they were mounting guards, and they shot anyone who tried to reason with them. That's why... that's why I wanted to let you know. If there's any ideas you have or anything you can do to get these women out... or at least neutralize the threat...

—Hmm... if we could just use the dead to our advantage... maybe...

—What's on your mind, Jason? —Nikolai was curious.

—You see... one tactic I used with you guys to rescue Michael and George was fireworks, I got them from a toy store, here on Grand Mont. Did you see the long cloud that was made with pyrotechnics? Maybe... maybe we could attract them using the toys. There are lots of dolls that make sound, especially crying babies... maybe we could lure them out one by one, or in small groups, and kill them.

—But we don't have good weapons... a golf club won't do anything against a damn shotgun... —Nikolai said, looking tired.

—We won't be able to save those women... —Molly carved her face, trying to think of what to do to cooperate. —These sons of bitches have eyes everywhere...

—Eyes... Molly! That's right! They indeed have eyes everywhere... I think there's something I could do... I could cut off their power, so they can't see anything —Megan commented, remembering that she actually had the power to do so. —Black Card Plaza is a plaza that is actually below the ground level of Pink Flamingo and Children's Heaven. In Black Card Plaza there are no windows as such, as the only light that comes is from the spotlights that are anchored on the ceiling and walls, in addition to the premises. Let me give you an example... you enter through Pink Flamingo, there are escalators that go down to Black Card, and there are other stairs that go up to Children's Heaven, but as such, the roof of Black Card is the floor of Children's and Pink.

—But then how do you get from Point A to Point B without being killed by zombies in the dark?

—Good question, Mia... —Megan thought of another alternative.

—In the war, when it was night, we used to make noise for the enemies to come to the trap... —Nikolai had something to share about him, about his dark past. —We used lights, pyrotechnics to attract attention and then... then what was supposed to happen happened.

—That's what you do with humans... And with the dead? —Molly contradicted.

—We could set up decoys, like some horns... and take night vision goggles with us. Is there a store that carries them?

—Nikolai... as a matter of fact... yes, there is such a place. At the Old Uncle McKane gear store you'll find everything from mountaineering gear to skiing gear. I'm pretty sure there will be night vision goggles you could use, so you'll be able to see better through the dark.

—How long does it take to turn the lights on and off in the premises, Megan? —Jason was writing down everything they said in his notebook.

—About thirty seconds. I can turn off the lights in the premises as I wish, sometimes we used to do this as a safety precaution when the technicians needed to make changes to the facilities....

—And can you listen to the group's conversations? At least something should be heard.... —Molly suggested, while eating a piece of sprinkles doughnut.

—I could... let me try.....

Megan was trying to look at the camera settings, even checking a manual for guidance, as she didn't know much about how to use them in their entirety.

—Maybe... maybe I could help —Ashley searched the control panel for something that might be familiar to her, so she could activate the audio. —My friend Kelly used to be really into this camera stuff, much more than I was. She literally had her apartment full of this stuff... she had whole GUIDES of this stuff... maybe... let me have a few moments with this.

—Maybe I can find something, Ashley, can you let me help too? —Megan joined in the search. In the meantime, they would both be looking for ways to operate the cameras much better.

After a while Michael joined in, and greeted everyone with a "Good Morning".

—Michael! Weren't you sleeping?

—I was, Jason. But I woke up because I'm still having trouble getting back to sleep. George on the other hand is sleeping like a bear. What are you people doing?

—We're looking for a way to take the guns from the gun store at Black Card Plaza. But there are some men... some guys who took possession of the place. We had a plan and well... we wanted to see the pros and cons," Nikolai commented to Michael who was watching the cameras, curious.

As Michael approached the screens, he completely ignored what Kalinic was telling him. Michael could see two guys arguing.

—Can we hear what they are saying? It sounds important —Michael asked, because from the cameras it could be seen that the argument was too loud.

Ashley managed to find the button to turn on the sound of the cameras, now it was possible to listen to what the cameras showed.