J. Knoll - Zoe, Undead

Zoe swallowed hard and backed away a step. As the dog advanced, she reached for the revolver, just grasping the grips of the gun as she retreated a little faster.

The dog stopped and so did Zoe. They stared at each other for a moment, then the dog sniffed, turned back the way he had come, and simply walked away.

Zoe found her heart pounding again and just watched as the dog disappeared into the store, and watched a while longer even after she could no longer see it. Swallowing hard, she drew a calming breath as she turned to continue her search of the mall, but twice she looked over her shoulder to make certain the dog was not following her.

After arriving at the starting point, she looked over the rail to the downstairs and scanned the floor below for a moment before she reached for her radio and called, "Princess to Sergeant."

"Go ahead, Princess," he replied.

"Found a dog," she reported.

"Infected?" Tex asked.

"I'm pretty sure," she answered. "I'm going to go downstairs now, okay?"

"Sure thing, Kiddo. We're going to come on in and set up a perimeter."

With a nod, she confirmed, "Okay," then she put her radio away and walked toward the stairs.

The downstairs was a mess. Debris, clothing and other merchandise was strewn everywhere. Windows were broken, store fronts were a wreck and the fountain that fed the pool in the center of the mall was not running, though water remained in the pool. There was a horrible smell as well, the unmistakable odor of rotting meat.

It just did not feel right. She slowly made her way along the walkway, moving around the debris that was cluttering the floor. She could only imagine what had happened, but it looked like someone had put up quite a fight.

At the end of this section she stopped to look around her. She heard a faint shuffle from a shop ahead and her eyes fixed on that broken doorway. She did not even take note of what kind of store it was, only that it was a mess within.

"Hello?" she called in a meek voice, hoping to find survivors. Though not really afraid of the zombies anymore, she could not shake off a feeling of foreboding that had a grip on her. Her spine stiffened as she heard something slide on the floor within, she heard that familiar moan. Unsteady footsteps drew closer and she backed away a few steps, her wide eyes locked on the store.

It came out wearing a tee shirt and tattered blue jeans. Its gray skin made it look like a shadow within the half darkened interior of the store and its dead eyes were locked on her in a distant stare.

New feelings welled up within her. This was the kind of thing that had killed her parents, her brother, her entire family! The medication she had taken began to falter and her anger boiled to the surface.

Zoe's eyes narrowed as it staggered from the store, and her lip curled up as her imagination showed her images of zombies killing her parents and her brother, the zombie that had bitten her. This overrode any fear she still felt. More than anything, she wanted to get even and needed nothing and nobody to justify to her that this thing and all like it did not deserve to live. With her lip curling up in an angry snarl, she reached for the revolver, pulled it from its holster and held it at her side. Slowly, her thumb pulled the hammer back and she stared back into the eyes of this monster that approached her. It was only about ten feet away. She could smell it, and when it moaned again, her anger was roused beyond her ability to control it.

Payback time!

She raised the gun as she strode toward the zombie a couple of steps, then she pulled the trigger and her weapon responded with a deafening bang and a flash of fire that gave way to a puff of white smoke.

A hole formed in the zombie's forehead and the back of its head blew apart. It staggered backward a few steps, then fell straight back and hit the floor flat on its back.

Zoe stared down at it for long seconds after. This was not a person. It was a thing. A murderous thing. It and creatures like it had ended her life, killed her family, brought the whole world down around her. In her mind, these nightmarish things had met their match, and she would get even with each and every one of them. This singular thought surged up from the recesses of her mind and began to take over what she thought about.

"Come in, Princess!" the radio called in Sergeant Morris' desperate voice.

Reaching across her belly, she took the radio in her free hand and raised it to her mouth, replying, "Yes?"

"We heard a shot," he informed. "Are you okay down there?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, still staring at the vanquished zombie.

"Did you shoot?" he asked.

"Yep," she replied.

"Is there a zombie down there with you?" he pressed.

Raising her chin as she stared down at the still form before her, she replied, "Not anymore."

Though her ears were ringing a little, she did not put her weapon away. She liked the feel of it in her hand, the sense of security it gave her. As she continued her search, she looked down at the weapon, its pink grips, cylinder and trigger. It was power. It was vengeance against the creatures that had killed her family. Still, that power was a little frightening, though in the moment she did not care.

The odor of decay grew strong as she approached another store, some kind of discount store that had many small items from sewing kits to toothbrushes and much more. That store was also torn apart on the inside and the smell of rotting flesh was strong within. It was an offensive, rancid smell, and she knew what it meant.

Squaring up on the store front, she looked inside and finally shouted, "Come out of there!"

Something within responded to her voice and she could hear movement. Something was knocked over and crashed to the floor and she held her weapon in front of her, right about belly button level. With narrow eyes and her brow low over her eyes, Zoe watched for movement, and finally saw it at the back of the store.

"Come on!" she shouted, pulling the hammer back on her gun. "I have something for you!"

Two of them were in there and seemed to be responding to her voice, and they both staggered toward her.

"Yeah," she snarled. "Come on out where I can see you."

When they were only twenty or so feet away, she raised the gun, took careful aim, and fired, hitting the closest of them right above the eye. As he fell, she aimed at the other one and fired as well, striking it right at the bridge of the nose.

"Come in, Princess," Morris called over the radio.

Staring down at the zombies, she took her radio from her belt and raised it to her mouth. "Yes, Sir?"

Amusement was clear in his tone as he asked, "You going to save any for us?"

She smiled and replied, "Nope."

Arriving at the lower level exit, which opened to a parking lot on the other side of the building, she paused to look out into the desolation there. Those doors were not broken and stood closed as she found herself walking slowly toward them.

As she pushed one open and strode slowly outside, she looked around at the empty and quiet parking lot. She had never seen it empty before. It was eerie and gave her a chill as her eyes panned from left to right, then right to left. But for the wind blowing about some of the small trees that were scattered about the medians, there was no movement, no sound but for the wind. The city seemed dead from here and for a moment she felt absolutely alone.

Zoe walked to the edge of the driveway that circled the mall, stopping at the curb to see what she could see. To her right she saw a motor home parked right at the curb about fifty feet down the road from where she was. It was facing away from her and she was largely looking at the back of it, and she noticed that the windows had plywood over them, and each small sheet had a small slit cut into it. She blinked and leaned her head.