J. Knoll - Zoe, Undead

Finding a clear direction she darted that way, but someone else, another woman who looked very young and appeared to have been a patron at the mall at one time blocked her path. She had a kitchen knife in her hand, a butcher knife, and her eyes were wild with rage, some kind of bloodlust as she squared off with the girl in front of her.

With a frightened whimper, Zoe spun around to see the man with the cleaver stalking up on her, the man with the baseball bat closing quickly, and the woman with the golf club taking aim with her weapon as she approached. She turned to face one, then another, and another as they all closed in on her, and she backed into one of the tables and stopped.

The man with the bat yelled as he charged and she dove to the floor, scrambling away through the tables that were set up before she got back to her feet and tried to sprint away. Another yell, this one from the young woman with the knives came from her left and she looked, then dodged away as the butcher knife slashed by, and she felt it cut into her arm, though it did not seem to hurt. Turning to face her assailants, she backpedaled away, running into a caged entrance, and that familiar smell of death reached her right as someone from within grabbed onto her shoulder. She screamed again and spun away, darting aside as the man with the bat swung it hard and barely missed her. Backing away quicker, she raised the radio to her mouth as he swung again, and this time the bat connected with her hand and knocked the radio from her grip, and she watched it fly the short distance to the wall where it struck the stone tiles there and exploded into many pieces. Breaths entered her in shrieks now as she looked with wide eyes to the man with the bat, and as he swung again she turned and ran, pushing past the woman with the knives and feeling one of the blades cut into her neck, though again she could not discern pain from the wound.

Her thoughts swirled around getting back to the Stryker where she knew she would be safe and as she ran toward the center pavilion where she knew she would find a wide staircase, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye ahead of her and stopped as she saw another man, this one in a button up shirt that was half open and blue dress trousers, charge out of one of the stores to her right and swing what appeared to be a metal baseball bat at her, and she spun around at a full run to avoid it, this time stumbling. She crashed to the floor and quickly scrambled back up. There was a bright flash as she felt something strike the back of her head and she yelled as she went back down, hitting rather hard this time. Her wits returned slowly as she lay there and she was aware of approaching footsteps. Rolling to her back, she found her assailants standing over her with their weapons ready. There was nowhere else to go, and as the first man with the bat seemed to raise his weapon, she balled herself up and covered her head with her arms.

"Hold it!" Sergeant Morris shouted from behind them.

They all spun around and Zoe sat up and looked to see six of the soldiers approaching, and all of them had their weapons trained on the people who had attacked her. Hearing more footsteps behind her, she turned at the waist and looked that way, seeing four more approaching from that side.

Tex motioned with his weapon to the wall and ordered, "Step away from the zombie. Drop the hardware and move over there."

All complied, and the man in the black tee shirt turned to face him and barked, "Oh, sure. The military finally shows up and they're here to look after the zombies."

Another of the soldiers barked, "Shut your pie hole and get against the wall!"

Rachel knelt down beside Zoe and took her shoulder, gently asking, "Are you okay?"

The girl raised a hand to the back of her head and looked to the Doctor, and she just nodded. Looking to Tex as he knelt down in front of her, she pointed to the closed cage and reported, "I found zombies."

He looked that way and nodded as he looked back to her, commending, "Good job, Princess. Are you hurt?"

Zoe looked down to her arm, cringing as blackened blood slowly oozed from the cuts there, then she turned horrified eyes up to the Sergeant.

"You'll heal up pretty quick," he assured. "Probably in an hour you won't ever know you were cut." He looked over his shoulder and barked, "Medic! Get her patched up."

"I'm right here," Rachel snarled as she reached behind her for her medical kit. "We're just going to bandage these real quick so you don't leak everywhere, okay?" When the girl looked at her, she smiled and winked.

"So what the hell's going on?" one of Zoe's assailants shouted. "I thought you were supposed to be killing those things!"

One of the solders, holding his weapon on the group, shouted back, "You'll be told what you need to be told when it's time for you to know."

Tex stood and kept his weapon at his side as he strode toward the group and through the line of soldiers who kept them at bay, and he ordered, "Lower your weapons, boys. Corporal, take them to the Stryker and get ready to go on my orders." He looked to the man in the suit shirt and asked, "Are there any other survivors in the mall?"

He motioned to the left with his head as the others were led away by the soldiers. "That way, the mall offices."

"How many?" the Sergeant pressed.

"Eight more," the man answered, "Six kids and a couple of women. We've been trying to fight these things off for a week. Where have you guys been?"

"We'll tell you everything when we have a better opportunity to talk," was Tex's answer. Looking over his shoulder, he barked, "First squad with me."

All of the survivors turned their eyes to the zombie girl as she approached.

Tugging on Sergeant Morris' sleeve, Zoe looked up at him and asked, "Which squad am I on?"

He looked down to her and ordered, "Just stay with me, Princess."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly and he asked, "Isn't she a zombie?"

"She's with us," Tex informed with harsh words. He looked to the food court, to the zombies that watched the activity from behind the cage, and raised his chin to them. "Can they get out of there?"

The man also looked, and shook his head. "We locked them in there four days ago and they haven't gotten out yet. I think we should just leave them." He looked to the Sergeant and warned, "We discovered that a whole lot of noise, like yelling, will bring more. We probably shouldn't stay in the open like this and I'd advise us to leave as soon as we can."

"Way ahead of you," Sergeant Morris assured. "Get us to these survivors."

Outside, at the front entrance where the Strykers waited, the last of the mall's survivors were loaded in. This did not leave enough room for all of the soldiers so Sergeant Morris and his squad plus three others remained behind to make another sweep of the mall, and he ordered before the ramp closed, "Get unloaded and get back here. If that guy's right then we can expect a whole lot of company in a hurry."

The Corporal smiled slightly and nodded. "Sounds like the makings of a T.R.E., Sarge. Just watch your ass in there and stay in contact."

"I'll let you know if we see anything coming," Tex assured. Turning toward the mall, he motioned with a sweep of his hand and ordered, "First Squad, let's go." As he entered, he looked down to the girl in pink who trotted to his side, asking, "You sure you wouldn't rather go back?"

Zoe shrugged and smiled at him. "I want to stay with you."

With a nod, he conceded, "Okay, Kiddo. Just stay close and keep your eyes open."

Back inside, the squad moved slowly as all eyes scanned every shadow, everywhere they could be attacked from. Nerves were on edge, but Zoe did not find herself afraid at all anymore. Walking at Sergeant Morris' side, she was a little giddy inside just to be close to him, just to be included, and her mind strayed from the mission at hand.