on the subject of shops, brains and dead people.

[hopeburnsbright]

Jake was still convinced he was a moron. His entire life people called him a moron. When he moved his moronic ass from the UK over here, his Sister slapped him across the head and called him a super-fantastic-fudge-covered-moron-deluxe. And he couldn't think of any way to prove her wrong.
Except now she was dead and fudge was in limited supply.
But occasionally a good idea came to him. And this was one of them. Because really, where was better to go then a shopping centre?
Okay fine. He hadn't come up with anything. A voice on the radio said words to the effect of "come here. Its safe." there was more too it but Jake only really cared about the "SAFE" bit. So like a good little doggie to the Mall he went.
Frankly Jake was terrified at just HOW big these things were in the states. The town he grew up in was smaller than this bloody thing! There was only a certain amount of money you could spend on crap before he started to suspect all Americans couldn't sleep at night if they had more than twenty dollars in there jeans.
So anyway, here he was. Outside the massive shopping complex that was looming over him like a corporate mountain.
"Wow I am having a hard time staying focused." Jake mused from his hiding place in an alley near the mall. There was a LOT of zombies surrounding the place, and he was starting to think this wouldn't work. He couldn't walk past them, out run them, distract them.......
Oh. Ooh. Jake was the smartest person in the world. Grinning to himself, Jake turned and legged it, circling the mall until he found a car that was close to the mall and far from the two main entrances.
It was a sleek, black module that would have cost a few thousand at the very least. It was a testament to the old civilisation that they could build something so beautiful and functional at the same time.

Jake smashed the windscreen in with his bat.

Immediately the car alarm started beeping madly in protest of Jake's choice, and very shortly after that immediately took place, Jake was running again.
See his plan was obvious; the zombies would go to the car, meaning he could get into the mall. Sure there would be more infected in the area after, but once he was inside then all would be well.
He reached the mall just as the majority of the zombies were leaving. There was still infected there, those with damaged hearing, broken legs and the like. But that wasn't a problem. Weird, really close to the mall he found a really modified mall buss that had chainsaws and dead people inside.
Wonder what that story was? Sounded like something from a movie that.
And then more running. Jake bolted at one of the delivery entrances at full pelt. The infected nearby all started to head towards him and Jake resulted to wild flailing swings that knocked a few back. Something that did nothing to convince them to leave him alone.
The door (thank god in heaven for his holy blessing) was unlocked. But it was a bar that had to be lifted to open, something beyond undead minds.
The dead were so close that as he went through the door, one grabbed the hood of his coat and would have killed him if Jake hadn't managed to slide his arms out and let the ghoul keep it.
Shoving the door closed and franticly locking it. Jake huddled in the corner, gasping for breath and trembling.
Well. He made it.

[Jalen Steele]

Jalen's conservative fit

Jalen looked at her battery life on her cell phone. She had one earphone in her ear and the other dangled down lost in her shirt. She glanced at Trust who kept insisting they wait for his other friend Rox. Who was late? Jalen listened to the recording again stating that the Mall was safe and had weapons, supplies, and a way to get help. It was a fortress and dammit they were sitting ducks out here. Okay, they were two people crouched in an alley way staring at the East side of the mall. There was a small door that led inside, but she doubted that was opened. They needed to circle to the side and find the front entrance ...or was that too obvious to get in? Maybe they should try the side entrance? Jalen wasn't sure all she knew was that her world had been flipped upside down. She shook her head internally. She had thought these ... zombies were rioters. How stupid was she? Just this wasn't real? How could it be? This stuff didn't happen in real life. She wondered for the millionth time if she was in a coma or dead and this was her hell.

"Look. I think we should try the side entrance. We'll wait for your friend inside." Jalen whispered the words to Trust as she looked around with wild eyes. She tugged nervously at the backpack that was housing all of her clothes and shoes. Well all that Trust would let her take. Seriously, she only wanted to bring 3 more bags. Instead she had this huge backpack and 2 smaller packs filled with toiletries. That just wasn't enough stuff. Hell, she had one of her more conserverative outfits and was wearing as much as possible. The pants stopped just below her stomach and the jacket was one that buttoned just under the bust only with a matching white shirt that barely peeked through the jacket. The look was completed with over the knee boots. And with Trust's urging she had picked dark color clothing instead of the blues and pinks she was going to wear. Though truth be told she was getting tired of wearing black and grey though it did look good on her. She had to admit.

Seriously, those things could come after them and they were just sitting here like a buffet. Hell maybe she should ring the dinner bell. That was when the alarm went off. Jalen almost screamed, but she was getting better at this emotion thing. The alarm was from a car. Which meant that whomever the hell decided to set it off just literally rang the dinner bell. Jalen could feel that thing in her mind start to snap again. She tried to stay in control. She tried to push through the haze, but it was like being sucked under the tide. Or when one was very sleepy and they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. That's how Jalen felt. Besides it was easier to not fight.

"We have to go," she said. Her voice void of any inflection. It was almost cold as she looked at Trust with dead eyes. Her hand tightened on the backpack at the shoulder and she eyed the two other bags straps that were at her feet. "Either your friend is dead or she got lost. Either way we leave. Or I leave. You stay. Whatever."

With those words she simply got up, grabbed the straps on the bags, and walked across the lot. She made it to the door, but it was locked. She growled her frustration and from Trust's view it looked like the zombie came out of nowhere. It lunged at Jalen and she calmly stepped to the left. She looked down as it fell beside her and was moving before it recovered. She brought her stiletto heel down in his eyes going straight to the brain. She twisted her heel snapping her heel in his slushy brain. She pulled her foot out and her face contorted in rage. She broke her shoe. Her heel. She looked down trying to determine if she should actually go after it. That's when she saw about a horde of them coming around the bend. She looked back down at her heel covered in zombie matter and screamed; opened her mouth and screamed her rage at the fuckers.

Probably wasn't the smartest thing as the 'Runners', that's what she called the ones who could actually sprint and take down someone, broke away from the pack towards her. She didn't glance in Trust's direction as she took off at an awkward gait. She had on 4 inch heels and only one foot fit the height requirement, plus the extra weight from the backpack wasn't helping either. She climbed up on a dumpster and swung her toiletry bag connecting with the first zombie's face knocking him back into the other 3. She jumped down and ran to the door with a bolt that needed to lift up. She slammed into the door feeling the air knock from her body, but adrenaline kept her moving. She lifted the bolt, slammed the door close behind her, and latched it.

The zombies slammed after her knocking into the plexi glass. She gave them a one finger salute. They stared at her and then at once they all ran off. "Trust!" Jalen slammed her fist at the door screaming Trust name. Did they find him? Were they running after him now? Should she go after them? Fuck, he was her first friend and she had let him go. Jalen could feel herself coming back pushing through the fog. Something moved. She had the knife in her hand and was swinging toward the man before she realized what was happening. She stopped inches from his head and stared at him. He wasn't a walker, the shuffling zombie, or the runners. He was a normal human.

Jalen was back. She stared at the man and could feel her eyes water with tears as she slowly drop the bags and took off the back pack. "They broke my shoe. It was a Jimmy Choo. I think we should take a moment of silence for my shoe." Jalen lowered her head as she reached down and unzipped her over the knee boots and started pulling them off. "Oh and they might have gotten my friend Trust. Is there another way in here? Are you the one that sent the transmission? Where is the food? Where are the stores for shoe and clothing? Do you think they have a designer store in here? Than after I get new shoes I can go back for Trust. He's my friend. I must help him."

[Abby Kramer]

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[Makaio "Trust" Memorare]

Where is she?....Where is she? Where is she?! Makaio was crouched down in the ally way, his fingers were up against his mouth as his teeth clattered silently against his fingernails. Before he heard the broad cast his plan was to meet up with Rox at a certain address. But when he heard the broadcast he left a note on the door. He painted it on so that it wouldn't be ripped away. It told her there was safety at the mall. He just hoped she believed him and decided to follow. It had been a while since then. Now he was waiting for her. It thought that she would be here by now. Maybe she was inside, that was always a possibility but he wasn't sure about that.

Apparently neither was his new friend Jalen. She seemed to be ranting about not wanting to be out here and how they should wait inside. He figured she was speaking out of fear, not wanting to be eaten is a pretty good fear these days. But still he didn't quiet understand her. If she was so afraid then why did she insist on bringing so many things with her. Before they left her pent house she wanted to bring her entire wardrobe, they would have needed a Uhal! But After much explaining and pleading Makaio eased her down to the small army of clothing and accessories she had now. How does that make it easy to survive at all?

Either way, Makaio didn't share this fear of death she had. Part of him actually welcomed it. In his eyes he deserved to be dead for all his sins. But for some reason he was alive, and there were a lot of good people he met that were dead. Makaio began to wonder what it would be like. To be turned into a zombie, did they understand what was going on? Could they see but not control themselves? Maybe that was much more of a nightmare than his current situation after all.

Makaio's slightly morbid thoughts were interrupted by a stunningly loud sound. This sound caused Makaio to jump to his feet, his hand instantly flinging down to the brim of his pants here he grabbed the handle of his pistol. His mind scattered to figure out what the sound was. A car alarm, it was a car alarm and from the obnoxiously loud sound of it, a pretty nice one too. It could be possible that it was just a zombie who bumped into it, but that was unlikely. It was more likely someone who was looking for help, or someone who was creating a distraction. Or, was it possible, could it be that maybe Rox was trying to tell them where she was, or maybe that SHE needed help.

Before Makaio could form these ideas into words He heard her telling him that they had to go, that she might or might not be dead but it didn't matter. Makaio bit his lower lip and watched as she grabbed her bags and ran. Makaio's head turned behind him. What if it was her? What if she needed help? It was too late, he had to move. By time he turned around he saw Jalen basically curb stomp a zombie, Noticing her heal being broken in the zombie's.....eye?

Then, the horror just got more horrific. A horde could be seen coming down another alley way. they where becoming pinned. She began to run, more like wobble due to her lack of a heal. But the runners began to chase her. He pulled out the gun and was about to shoot but they were on her too fast, he didn't want to chance shooting her. He saw he hit the zombies backwards and escape into the door. He gave a small sigh of relief. Watching as the zombies slammed themselves against the now locked door.

The relief didn't last long. The zombie had now turned their attention to him. And some how, the zombies were now spilling into the area, it was like they were multiplying by the seconds. Like a horde of rabbits. Except this horde wasn't as fluffy....or cute...or...well...there was nothing they had in common, except the face that these zombies were multiplying. The runners had began to run at him, he could hear Jalen screaming his name. Makaio pulled his gun up, taking about five shots total, taking down three of the runners before he turned and the chase began.

Makaio ran with all his might, focusing on the sound of the car alarm as his direction to go. He could hear the moans and groans of the ugly hungry horde behind him and closing in. Makaio's legs brought him out to an opening that seemed to be a street and side walk. Running down the street he could see the car in the distance. But barely, because as he ran towards it the car became encompassed by the flesh eaters. taking the car out of his vision.

Makaio quickly decided that he was going in. He was going to go make sure that Rox didn't need help. Even if he died he had to make sure. As Makaio ran he held his gun in hand tightly, his dreads waved around behind him as his new white t-shirt cling to his body. His jeans made it a bit harder to run.

Makaio's hazel eyes instantly flickered to something else that was moving, it was a woman. She was running up towards the parking garage and the entrance to the Macy's store. That's when his instinct kicked in. His body turned and he ran behind her. He flicnhed as he saw her get knocked down by a zombie who came out from no where. she tumbled to the ground pretty roughly, but as quickly as she fell she was back on her feet and moving again. Disappearing into the deeper darkness.

Makaio followed her.as he grew closer he watched as she barely escaped into the sliding doors. The zombie woman now walking to the door and slamming against it as if a woman who wanted her money back from a bad sale Macy's gave her. Makaio raised the gun high and stopped running, he took a single shot with his silenced gun and watched the body fall to the floor. Turning to look behind him a good number of the zombies were still following him.

"Junk..." The boy said in his natural Hawaiian Pidgin tongue. He shook his head and turned as he began to run again. running up as he approached the door that she slipped into. Looking at her through the glass he waved his hands at her to let her know he was alive. When he reached the door and slipped his hands intot he crack as she did, pushing to open it. He wasn't sure if she helped or not, but it opened fairly easily and he quickly slid inside slamming the doors shut behind him.

Makaio was breathing heavily and twisted the lock to the door, looking up he saw the metal shutter to the door and shook his head. There wasn't enough time to find the right way to pull it down. The boy took a few steps back and ran at the door. Jumping as he grew close his feet planted against the glass, his knees bent only to extend instantly and propel him off the door back in the direction he came. His hand grabbed the edge of the metal shutter and gravity slammed his body to the ground. knocking the air out of him. Crawling slowly as he tried to lock the metal door in place before looking up at the female and smilingly weakly while trying not to grunt in pain.

"Aloha..."

ATTIRE Pic at top of post CREDIT sam ! of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS young – hollywood undead NOTES notes here WORD COUNT 1330

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[Cole Peyton]

Every additional minute he took to think about it, Cole thought this was a baaaaad idea. A mall that was supposedly safe? Yeah right, looked like a deathtrap to him. Trouble was, he was running out of options. His recent scavenging yielded nothing, he had no weapons spare a glock with a handful of shots left in it, and he had no mode of transportation except his feet. As stupid as this maybe was, it maybe his only choice.

He emerged from his hiding spot in a neatly arranged assortment of bushes and began his trek towards a back entrance of a random department store, thinking the coast was clear. It wasn't. From practically all corners, legions of the infected suddenly appeared in all their glory. Cole broke out in a massive sprint to the door, thinking and hoping he could beat them to it. He did, barely, but didn't have enough time to get inside and fully close the door behind him. He tried his best to force the door shut despite probably 30 other bodies leaning against it, as well as a ton of mangled hands reaching threw the small opening as well. At least the door was heavy. He frantically looked around the shelves within reach of him to see if there was anything of use. At first he didn't see anything, until he spotted a top shelf full of expensive china plates, conveniently directed right into the gap of the door. Cole reached up (thank god he was 6'2) and pulled the edge of the shelf, raining a large barrage of potential sharp china upon the horde, it seemed to be working, as the infected appeared unfamiliar with plates breaking on top of their heads, and thus Cole was able to finally force the door all the way closed, of course being sure to lock it.

Once that ordeal was over, he made his way out into the halls between shops and eventually found the food court...weird, there was nobody here. If this was a supposed safe haven, he would've expected tons of people to be here. He continued his walk through the complex to see if maybe he was missing something.

[Archer McQwin]

Archer never traveled so far so quickly in his life. Sure he hardly crossed through much of the big city since the outbreak, but it was the most exercise Arch had gotten in years. He regretted his near decade of couch potato-ing and sleeping in. Could there be anything worse than being a lazy, unhealthy, good-for-nothing during a zombie apocalypse? Being out of break every five minutes was not doing well for his self esteem. Archer may still look the muscle mass of a scarecrow, but be was hell of sure not healthy in any sort. He used to run track in high school, but those days were long gone.

He was thoroughly surprised that he had survived this long. Arch wasn't much of a looker survivor wise. No muscle, skinny, short, and jumpy. The only two things he had to protect himself with was his trusty aluminum bat, and a rusty switchblade he snagged from a dead corpse. Archer hoped with all his might that he would never have to use it (being inches away from an undead so he could use the weapon didn't seem like a pleasant idea).

Arch had been holed up in the first secure(ish) place he found, which was a well fortified (aka boarded the hell up) two story home, not far from the inner city. It took a lot of courage for Archer to even attempt to get inside (especially because he had to break the boards over the window (which must have been left open for air circulation purposes). Luckily for him the ruckus made did not attract zombies. Once inside he quickly moved the kitchen table and tipped it so it blocked the now unguarded window. It wasn't a good defense by a long shot, but that was as good as Archer could do at the time.

He had done a patrol of the house, with his bat ready to swing at any unsuspecting threat. All the entrances were well boarded up, and the first floor was free of residents. The upstairs was a different story. To Archer's dismay, in the bathroom lay a husband and wife in a tub of their own blood. They had slit their wrists. Archer had vomited at the site and the smell. He closed the door and never opened it again.

Archer spent weeks in the house, wondering about the couple upstairs in the tub. Why go through all the trouble to fortify the house just to give up in the end? They even had enough canned food to last a month if rationed sparingly enough. Arch constantly thought about it, and he never could come up with an answer.

The weeks were long inside the house. He had nothing more to do then poke around and try to find anything useful. He knew that he had to leave eventually, so he tried to prepare in advance. Once he was familiar with the layout in the house like the back of his hand, he decided to venture up to the attic. The pull down ladder made a considerable amount of noise when he yanked it down, but after minutes of listening he heard no danger. He spend the majority of the day looking through dusty old boxes full of old antique items and picture albums. They seemed like such a happy couple. Archer could never get over what he saw in the bathroom.

Eventually Archer stumbled upon a box of old technology, and at the bottom was an old radio. The radio was a glimmer of hope, and he raced down the ladder (almost falling in the process) and searched for batteries. After he stole the batteries from the remote and stuck them into the radio all he did for days was listen to that radio. Archer would turn the dial for so long that sometimes he forgot to eat. He was determined to find someone out there. It was the most dedicated he had been in ten years.

Archer had begun to lose hope after the third day when he finally heard something. "The mall is safe". After a couple of minutes of fidgeting and listening, he found out that (supposedly) the city's mall was a safe place to be (definitely safer then where he had been). Without much of a choice he found a black duffle bag with a shoulder strap and packed all of the canned goods he could find. It wasn't safe to weigh himself down, but he couldn't abandon resources like that.

The trek to the mall was quick and quiet. The home happened to be a twenty minute walk to the mall. However, once Archer reached near it, he noticed all of the undead. There were so many of them. They were sitting, shuffling around, growling. Archer gulped. You've got to be kidding me. He gripped his bat tighter. I suppose it was bound to happen, with all the good luck I've been getting lately. He was crouched behind a large truck, not too far off from the mall parking lot, which was infested with those lovable dead-folk. Okay, so that way's a no-go... He trailed his gaze over to the back way. It seemed bare.

Archer didn't waste time. He sprinted as quickly and quietly as he could (although it was hard with a duffle bag full of cans hitting his thigh). So far so good. He reached the side of the mall, which happened to be where they dumped the garbage for the mall cafeteria. He started walking to one of the doors when a car alarm ripped through the silence. Archer nearly yelped as he scampered behind a garbage bin, flinching as the food cans clunk together. Archer waited, beads of sweat falling from his brow. It took him moments to realize that the alarm was further off, and the growls and sounds of running were dimming. Thank the fucking Lord.

He stood up slowly; his shaky limbs were making it hard. Soon enough he managed to giggle the door handle to one of the back doors of a food place. Locked. He tried the next one. Also locked. Arch started to panic. He knew he didn't have a lot of time. Then he heard it. A snarl. It was coming from behind him. He turned to see one of the infected. dried blood crusted around his mouth and he weazed, seemingly excited to see a survivor. Mere seconds later the infected sprinted toward Archer. Without thinking Archer darted to the last door (which happened to be unlocked) and yanked it open, but before he could step through the infected grabbed ahold of the duffle bag and pulled on it. The shoulder strap moved up onto his neck and started to choke Arch. He struggled to get free and managed to slip his head from under the strap, and when the infected stumbled backward he used that chance to slap the door shut.

Archer slid to the ground and tried to get his breath back. God damn.... That had been the closest encounter with an infected so far. I am not cut out for this stuff. Arch would have sat for longer if the infected hadn't started to pound on the door. Quick to his feet, Arch looked at his surroundings. He was in the back room of an Arby's. He quickly opened the gate up, as it was left halfway open.

And there he was, inside the 'safe haven'. He stepped further inside. "H-hello?

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[Daryal Taylor]

Daryal had been travelling alone now for what felt like an eternity. He wasn't even sure what state or city he was in, but he just kept heading southwest anyway. He came from New York and was going to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, because the last thing he heard of his daughter was that his ex-wife, who lived across the country from him in Las Vegas, was taking her to a military safe zone there. She was the only thing that had kept him moving, so he had to believe that she was safe.

His NYPD uniform was soaked in blood and his baretta 9mm only had five rounds left, but he also carried an axe over one shoulder as he walked. He kept to the high grounds of the city, overlooking it in all its beauty. He walked upon a freeway exit that towered over the streets below, giving him a clear view of what lied ahead.

In the distance, to the north, he could see a large mall. He figured that might be a good place to hunker down and at least stay in for awhile. He memorized the road patterns from his viewpoint that looked the most beneficial, then he travelled down them. As he approached he could see the hordes of infected roaming about in the parking lot, as a car alarm sounded off nearby. Daryal took the long way around, avoiding the undead alltogether.

He approached one side of the mall that was seemingly clear, and it had a large sports store called Dicks which stood next to a JC Pennys. Every door he tried was locked, so he moved down the large building searching for an opening. He made it to what looked like the food court on the inside, and tried the doors.

"Damn," he said.
He figured he would have to break in and then cover up the hole. He readied the axe, but as he lifted it he saw someone inside. He pressed his face to the glass to get a better view...they looked human.

"Hey! Open up, I'm not infected!" he said, then realized he had spoken too loud.
Some infected nearby heard him, and they started to pour out from around the dumpster area. They moved slow, but their numbers kept increasing.

"Hey, open the door! Open the f*cking door!" Daryal started to plea.
He turned toward the undead and held his axe firmly. He ran up to the closest one and smashed the axe into its' skull, caving it in. He had his back against the wall, hoping the doors would soon open.

[hopeburnsbright]

Jake yelped when the door was swung open and started to scramble to his feet, only relaxing when he saw that it was a human who immediately locked the door. Jake was beyond thrilled to see a friendly.....
Holy hell she was that chick from the lipstick adverts! woah she was actually way prettier in real life without as much cheep make up on her face. Jake never liked girls that tried to look like plastic dolls, trying to hard for that kind of attention was an instant turn off for him.
"Hi!" Jake greeted, about to stand up when suddenly she had a knife in his face! Jake's face drained of colour and his eyes widened in fear. What the fuck!? was she a mind reader and knew he'd been mentally checking her out? (the dead were outside and angry. he no longer doubted anythings existence until proven wrong.)
Before he could say anything, she backed off and started talking. Did she apologize? no. did she introduce herself? nope. Did she say anything of any actually importance. Well yes, and it was basically an after thought that someone was still out there.
Usually Jake was a nice guy. he liked to think he was somewhat of a British gentleman. Jake had never hit a (none infected) woman, never cheated on one or treated them like some of his friends did.anything like that.
Maybe it was how close to being killed by zombies he had been. Maybe it was that he hadn't eaten in 30 hours. perhaps it was that she had waved a knife in his face? perhaps. or maybe it was that she was a damn moron? Yeah the last one felt right.
"look lady. Fuck your shoes." he snapped at her, getting to his feet he glared at the woman. "Why do you think i care about a pair of..... oh my god you're wearing heels? you have to run from 99% of the world and you pick heels as the best option?" Jake stared at Jalen before bursting out laughing until he was gasping for breath and doubled over from the effort.
"moment of silence? okay I'll have it at the end right after i find the time to have a moment for my friends and family. And your friend. maybe." He muttered under his breath before straightening up.
"Okay, out of all of your questions here are the answers i know. I have been here three minutes and don't know where anything is. the transmission brought me here too. If you want to save your friend, I'd suggest that weapons are more important then shoes. now stop being self obsessed or shut up. Either way leave me the hell alone." And with that Jake returned to his corner and started inspecting his bat. Huh, he probably needed a new one. this one was being held together with spit and a can-do attitude.

[Jalen Steele]

Jalen's mouth opened slightly when the man said 'Fuck her shoes'. It wasn't that he cursed at her it was that he cursed her shoes. She stared at him and held up her boots. Maybe he didn't hear her correctly. "These are Jimmy Choo! Jimmy - never mind." She sighed and rolled her eyes. He probably didn't know who Jimmy Choo was or how much these thousand dollar shoes cost her. Jalen doubted he heard her. He seemed actually appalled that she was wearing heels. Like what else would she wear? Sandals were out of the question and these were faux leather meaning you couldn't just bite through them. They protected a large portion of her leg. It made sense to wear them.

While he laughed she picked up her bags and slung them over her shoulder. "For your information these shoes makes me 4 inches taller. So I can see better. They protect 90% of my legs from bites, scratches, and knife wounds, and they make my bum look nice." Jalen who was barefooted stood on her tip toes and turned around showing her bum to the guy. "See how much better my ass looks like this. So thank you for the shoe lesson but fashion tips I got." She turned back and started to pad deeper into the mall.

"No, No maybe's for Trust. I have to find decent shoe wear and then I'm gonna go back for him. Though that is a good idea on weapons." She turned back to him watching him looking at his grungy bat. "Well, come on. You look like you could use some weapons too." She continued on into the mall.

They came to a huge water fountain and Jalen sighed. She had some shoes in her bag that would work, but the guy whom she hadn't asked his name and hadn't volunteered his had a point; she would need weapons to get through that horde to save Trust. She looked around, but the mall seemed vacant. "Are we sure it's safe here. Maybe the person who sent that transmission lied. What if there are walkers or runners in this place." Jalen looked at her phone. The battery life was almost dead.

"I have an idea!" She put her phone on speaker phone and turned on the volume. Than she scrolled to her favorite song. One that she played continuously. Why, because it reminded her of simpler fun times. Plus she always thought if she had a little girl she would dance with her to this song. Such innocent times. Right now this song would help her weed out the zombies. The song: The Gummy Bear Song. Put that song on loop and she knew she must have pissed off Trust more than once. Especially when her tone deaf self sang along. She slid her phone across the floor and waited for a few minutes. If any undead were here they would hear it and come to the phone. If any non-undead were here well they would come too out of curiosity or to tell her to turn it off. Either way it would help her determine if this place was safe or not.

Jalen would have waited longer, but then a store caught her eye. It was a athletic store that sold weapons, guns, crossbows, she could see a few on display. "Hey .. you uh mean guy. Look!" She pointed to the store and padded that way as she nodded her head to the song forgetting it was to weed out any zombies that may or may not be in the mall. She pushed on the door, but it was locked. She frowned and thought for a moment before reaching up and unlocking it from the top. The door swung open and she walked through. "Did no one come to the Mall at all during this crazy time?! It's like ... heaven!" She looked around and her eyes fell on the two most precious things she had ever seen in a display case.

"I found guns. Look aren't they cute? I'm going to take them. How do you know what kind of ammo they take? Hmm, I wonder how to shoot." She picked up the small glock with the pink trim, the pink barrel, and the black base with a studded fake jewel cat. It was so pretty. It went perfectly with the pink barrel and base and the lilac purple middle shot gun she found. She found a small case of shot gun shells. She assumed they were shot gun shells from the red case and the gold trim that looked like every other bullet that she seen in movies when they referred to shot gun shells plus they fit in the gun. It took a little longer to find a bullet that fit into the glock. Now she was ready to go save Trust.

She turned with the shot gun in one hand and the glock in the other holding them daintily as she walked back to her bag. Her phone was still singing the gummy bear song and she glanced up to see the hall was still empty. The song was echoing in the empty mall and she liked the sound of the acoustic as she dug into her bag looking for a new pair of shoes. She finally found a pair of Manolo's. They weren't boots, but they would do in this pinch. She started to strap one on. She stopped hearing another sound aside from the Gummy Bear Song. She looked down the hall and slowly reached for her new pretty guns.

"HELLO! YOU BETTER BE ALIVE CUZ IF YOU'RE A WALKER OR RUNNER I'M GONNA BLOW YOU AWAY!" She cocked her shot gun like they did in the movies and a bullet popped out. What?! Why?! She took her foot out of the shoe and ran after it with the shot gun in one hand held to the sky and the other gun pushed down into the back of her pants like she seen in movies. She had to get that bullet. Bullets were rare commodities that she couldn't afford to lose.


Hello Kitty Shot Gun
Hello Kitty Glock

[Cole Peyton]

Well, the place actually did look safe, there was nothing around and not one sound could be heard through the halls. At least a place like this would yield a break from the action. Cole continued his steady investigation of the mall to get familiar with the place. Going from department store to department store, hallway to hallway. It wasn't long until he finally did hear a noise, a banging of a glass door in fact. He turned to see a rather large figure with a voice he couldn't make out knocking at the door. He first dismissed it for being an infected, but the knocking was rhythmical, and infected didn't make rhythmical noises. He rushed to the door which must've been locked, took a good look outside to see if there indeed was a survivor there, and saw a big dude completely owning a few of the charging infected. He shoved the door open from the inside. "Get the hell in!" He called out.

As he held the door open impatiently waiting for the guy to make his way through, his other ear that was still pointed in the direction of the mall heard a very faint voice that he once again couldn't make out. So there were others here, just maybe in small numbers.

OOC: Yeah I know, short post, sorry

[Abby Kramer]

[/i] she reminded herself. That was why she had charged her when she nearly escaped, she plunged herself back into the heart because according to the radio call.... the heart was still beating. Her eyes wide and frantic while her body cooled and stilled. She was refocusing. She was calming, her breathing was returning to normal.

She pitied the dead, but no more than she pitied the living, this was Hell. Both types of moving humanoids were stuck in it. Both were suffering. One just happened to be after the other.

She saw more coming, they were 'on the horizon', Abby wondered how many of them it would take before they figured out how to pry the door open as she had, or how many of them it would take to break glass, either way, it was going to happen and she knew she would not be safe in Macy's much longer. The smell of the stale perfume, and dust was something unfamiliar to this trendy place. Usually the scent was overwhelming, with fruits and mints, and sweets, and musk. But anything was better than the smell of death, the smell of death came from corpses. Maybe there were no corpses here... which meant it just might be safe....which may have been why she was feeling so calm.

The first woman began to walk into the door, every time the doors shook and Abby flinched, run. She told herself, but her body didn't move,she just watched. That was when she noticed that someone was rushing behind this infected, in a much more graceful fashion than these had been known to move. Her eyes flickered the the tan man with dread locks, she mused of how different they were, then watched the infected's body crumpled to the ground, she hadn't even heard anything maybe just a- no. She hadn't heard anything, lost too far in her world, and this darkness, she took in the taller man who looked back to see the ones that were following him, she figured he wasn't infected. That part was obvious. He was holding a gun that he had just eliminated the infected with. He approached the door and tried to enter the same way Abby did.

That was when she acted; she quickly pried her fingers in and with his strength with the combination of her own the doors gave way as if almost back to the automatic ease. She stepped away as he forced them shut, she stepped to the side, and took in the sight of another living human being, he said the word "Aloha" and she nearly cried, this was the right choice, coming back here. There were abled body humans here, it wasn't an old broad cast. It was going to be okay.

"You heard it too?" she asked hastily, "The broadcast," She specified, she ran a hand through her short hair, and wiped the cooling sweat from her brow, "I'm so happy to see you!" it was an exasperated whisper, but really, were there any other words to describe the relief of finding another human being?

word count : a lame 570.[/blockquote][/justify][/size]
ooc:I love everyone's posts! gahh xP
[/ul]

[Makaio "Trust" Memorare]

Makaio slowly worked his way back to his feet. His entire body wanted to stay on the floor and curl into a ball. He was tired of moving, of running, and that stunt he just pulled ending with a slam to the ground didn't help him in the least. But something did help him. This woman, she was more than alive, she seemed sane. Which was something that he couldn't exactly confidently say about the only other two living people he had met so far. But then again. Three sentences weren't much to base sanity off of. As Makaio stood up and dusted himself off he looked at her, his hazel eyes instantly found hers. He recently discovered he had a fascination with eyes, after seeing so many undead eyes glaring hungrily at him. Everything about a living human's eye was beautiful.

Makaio's lips turned into a soft smile. The way the woman spoke, Makaio felt like she was about to burst into tears as she said how happy she was to see him. Makaio raised his hand and brushed some f hsi dreads back behind his shoulder and out of his face. His face was dirty, but for the most part well taken care of. Hers on the other hand, seemed pretty beat up. He didn't think she was hurt by a zombie, maybe just her chases didn't end up to well. Maybe she was with someone before who abused her? Who knew, but for now he knew one thing. He was just as happy to see her as she was to see him.

Makaio reached out and offered her his hand to introduce himself. Although he felt like he should hug her instead. He couldn't bring himself to do it. She was too attractive to him. If he embraced her now, he wasn't sure if he would be able to resist her at all later. He didn't want to go down that road again. Plus it was nice to be away from the provocative Jalen, Although he did worry about her and hope she was okay; even if she abandoned him to the zombies.

"Howzit? They call me Trust, and yo are?"

He said in a gentle yet playful voice. It was just in his nature. Even though on the other side of that metal closing were a horde of zombies, He always had a light heartedness to him and his attitude. Though on the inside the struggles were constant. As Makaio's eyes looked into hers he smiled softly yet sadly as he shook her hand if she offered it in return and introduced herself. He hated seeing women so badly hurt.

"Yo okay sistah? Dat look like it hurts. Jalike me to help yo clean up befo we look for around?

Makaio knew he should look for Jalen, that she might be worried about him. But she might not too. But right now he wanted to make sure the girl he was currently with was okay. This place seemed safe, If not their chances were greater with the two of them sticking together. But if she wasn't in top condition then they wouldn't be in a very good position. As he waited for her to answer his hazel eyes glanced around, looking for the nearest bathroom that they could wash off at. If she wanted help he would do so happily, but if not he would wait nearby to make sure she was safe. But there was always the option of her choosing not to clean up at all. He left the choice up to her But he continued to look around the dark store as he began to look for points of interest, such as bathrooms, possible weapons, any zombies, and the next exit.

ATTIRE Pic at top of post CREDIT sam ! of Confronting the Faceless. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS young – hollywood undead NOTES notes here WORD COUNT 645=/

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[Daryal Taylor]

Daryal calmed his nerves as he stood outside the food court, a group of walkers were heading toward him while stumbling on the way. He used the tip of the axe and began to knock to an old nursery rhyme, hoping whoever was inside would realize that zombies had no rhythm.
The closest undead to him was foaming at the mouth, as the white mess trickled down onto the formal brown sweater it was wearing. It semi charged with its hands forward, but Daryal was ready. He flipped the axe to the pick side and swung it sideways, driving the point deep into the zombie's temple, then he pulled the axe out quickly and shifted it to the axe side for the next walker.

"Come on playa! Come on!" Daryal said as he sliced at the next ones neck, trying to decapitate the creature but instead only severing halfway through.
The walker fell to the floor with blood spurting out its neck, but it was still 'alive' and trying to eat him. Daryal raised his steel toe boot and began to stomp repeatedly on the skull, smashing in its brains all over the sidewalk.

He started to get worried, though, as more and more began to pour out and started roaming toward him. It was too late for him to begin running, plus running wasn't really his strong suit. Once they overwhelmed him he planned on pulling out his gun and shooting the glass to get in, but then what? Then he would have the undead follow him in, and that was just as bad.
Another walker approached and this time he flipped the axe upward, bringing the pick up through the throat and adam's apple and driving it into the skull.

"You f*ckin' with the wrong mother f*cker," Daryal yelled and kicked the corpse from his axe, as the door suddenly swung open.
He turned to see a young man standing there with short blonde hair. He ran into the mall as the guy closed the door behind them. The undead walkers piled against the hard glass door, smearing blood all over. The glass seemed thick enough to withstand them, so Daryal wasn't too worried about it.
He bent over and gathered a few deep breaths, happily realizing he was in the food court and that there may be some canned goods piled in the back. The thought brought a smile to his face.
"Thank you, oh Lord Thank you," Daryal said to the new guy, then stood straight up. "Are you alone in here?"

[Cole Peyton]

Cole nodded in respect as he watched the guy take down several nearby enemies, but still was rather impatient considering a whole horde of them was now approaching. "Come on, man!" He prodded. Finally the big guy stepped in, and Cole slammed the door shut right as a cluster of them crashed against it. They had about a half of a second to spare there. He dragged some bar stools and other random items over to the front of the door, there would be more of those fools banging on it in a second, and although the door looked substantial, they needed everything they could get against it.

"Don't mention it." He turned back towards the what they both had in mind; the food court. "I have no idea, I just got in here a few minutes ago myself. Looks empty so far. I thought I heard something down that way though." He pointed down towards the hallway he believed he heard another voice from just seconds ago. He took a moment to look the man over. He looked kind of like the stereotypical apocalypse survivor. Big, muscular, and holds a demeanor that says 'I'm a badass.'

"Name's Cole." He extended his hand towards him. "I'll presume you're here for the same reason I am."He said in reference to the rumor this was the safest place to be . He had to admit, for a safe haven, he expected a lot more people and oh, I dunno, maybe a few security guards wandering around. He saw nothing, and if indeed that rumor turned out to be false, the people inside of this place could turn out to be in serious trouble.

[Daryal Taylor]

"My names Daryal," he said. "I'm just here to survive. I suggest we check the place."
Daryal helped him moved chairs and tables over to the doors, boarding them up against them. He stacked some tables on top of one another so that it blocked the view as much as possible.
He looked around at the food court, seeing the signs for all the famous restaurants from back in the day. Chinese, Mexican, hamburgers, hotdogs, the list went on as his mouth started to water. He hadn't eaten anything but nuts in a a very long time, but he didn't let his hunger overcome his senses. It was still dangerous within the mall, and that was his first priority.
He started walking toward the center of the mall, holding out his axe before him. He heard something, something unusual...it sounded like really bad music far off in the distance. The kind of music young teenagers listened to, but it might have been a sign of life.
"You hear that?" he asked Cole.
The sound echoed through the once silent halls, giving off a slight vibration. He walked further to one of the main entrances and walked up to the map of the entire building. A few feet away were stairs on both sides that led up to the second floor. The sound seemed to be coming from far off on the other end, somewhere near the large clothing stores.
"There's a sporting goods store over here," he said and pointed to the map. "They might still have some weapons. And a clothes store right next to it, I'd like to get out of this bloody uniform."
His police attire stank of death and flesh, and the blood was stained almost entirely over it. If there were no showers, the next best thing in his mind was changing into warm, clean clothes. Besides, he had some problems with people in the past about his uniform. People tend to hate cops more when the world has gone to shit and the rules go out the window.