Day 4: Bulletproof II

"So Stacy is still alive..." Damien flashed a smile at the mention of her. "She's a nice girl. Stacy told me she's a novelist. She was supposed to publish a book soon, however with the outbreak..."

"How did you meet Stacy and her family? More to the point... How did you experience the early stages of this nightmare?" Megan showed particular interest.

"I was at the booth giving people their tickets, I saw a lot of families leave before this shit hit the fan. Things got gradually worse. Vehicles were increasingly rushing to get out and people are so stupid that they literally caused a big crash, which eventually triggered a series of spectacular crashes that blocked the exit. No one could leave the mall via their vehicles because the exit intended for that purpose was blocked."

"I guess Stacy's family was escaping in the vehicles, am I wrong?" Nikolai laughed.

"Quite the opposite. I saw that they were surrounded by those... things, and I directed them to enter the offices since they had no place to go. We kept the office area as a temporary shelter. Stacy is a good girl, very communicative, unlike her family."

"And then what we all know happened... took place..." Matthew sighed wearily. "What a nice couch... I could fall asleep here all day."

"Anyway. What happened next was... when I opened my eyes I touched my chest and saw my hands stained red. I thought I was bleeding out but realized it was the ink from a pen. My heart was pounding so fast, if you knew how I struggled to breathe as I tried to look for the bullet wound on my body... Eventually I went to check the outside but realized that everything was infested. I couldn't go out like that, so weak, I've barely even eaten anything!"

Damien leaned back on the couch and sighed, he was showing everyone the broken pen and, he smelled pretty bad as his clothes reeked of ink.

"And you guys... You guys are cops?" Damien looked at Greg and Matthew's suits and saw their badges, unlike Nikolai they did wear one.

"Sergeant Phillips and Officer Pockett. These brave people rescued us... There is no help and no salvation, Damien. The city has succumbed to the dead and sick people who rape and kill for pleasure. The army did not show up the way we expected... and from what we know, the roads leading to the outskirts of Vallimorth are closed."

"Ah..." Damien smiled out of nervousness. He looked at Greg and nodded. "Then in the end it will be us who must protect these people."

"That's our duty and that's what our ethics dictate. At the moment we are four members of the law, four if you wish to be part of our group." Matthew slammed his fist into Damien and wrapped his arm around the back of his neck. "No hard feelings for pointing your gun at me and making me your hostage."

"So you haven't seen the guy I described to you?" Nikolai pressed on whether Damien could see someone like Jason.

Damien looked closely at Nikolai and tried to remember if he had happened to meet someone like that. However he couldn't relate.

"Sorry. Anyway if I had seen someone alive I probably would have hidden. The reason I targeted your friend was because I thought you were alone...but when I saw there were more of you..."

"Then Jason is still out there" Nikolai was still motivated to find him no matter what.