Zombies Ate My Friends!

A Short Zombie Prom Story

01.

“Hold still!” Mom grimaced next to me. She was pulling the tiny zipper on my dress, and I wiggled a bit, letting the silk fall in place. She managed to pull it all the way up my side until finally the dress was safely on.

Prom was in an hour and half, and I was psyched. I turned and twisted around to look at my butt and the low back of the dress in the mirror. Mom leaned back with her hands on her hips surveying the dress and same area I was looking at.

“You look fine, Morgan, now sit down and let me do you make-up.” Mom ordered.

“Yes, ma’am!” I obliged and sat on the stool, hands clasped on my lap, ready for the war paint.

Mom and I had been preparing for this moment for the past two months. As a senior with excellent grades, she had given me the go-ahead to look for the dress of my dreams. I already had something in mind when I first went out looking, but nothing came close. It was Dad’s suggestion to get something that was custom made, and Mom had lit up like a light bulb.

Mom’s sister, my aunt, ran her own shop, and she was an excellent seamstress and after two hours of meeting with her, we had a plan and that plan was short of marvelous. Three fittings later and I brought the dress home and now it was hanging from my closet door, waiting for May 7th.

My school’s Prom was to be held in one of the many ballrooms of the Rosemont Lodge. It was huge, sitting in the middle of a man-made lake with three bridged entrances designed to make them look like drawbridges. It fit, since the theme of this year’s Prom was Castles in the Evening, as clichéd as it sounded. The tickets for it totaled up to 150.00 each.

Mom attacked my face with eyeliner, eye shadow and something else that smelled like strawberries. She said I didn’t need much of anything else. My eyelashes were thick and long already and I was tanned from the beach trip we took a week ago. Mom fussed with my hair, but at its short length we could do nothing much to it. Mom straightened my hair, until the spiky ends hugged the curve of my neck and my bangs fell into my eyes. My hair was short, an inch from my shoulders and it was cut into a sort of shaggy, spiky bob.

A knock at my door made my lean to the side to peek under Mom’s arm. “Yeah?”

Mom slid the silver heart-shaped earrings in and clipped the black ribbon around my neck.

Dad opened the door and grinned at me. “How’s the Morgue?”

The nickname he gave me when I was little annoyed Mom to no end. She rolled her eyes when I grinned back, excited. Dad had paid for the Hummer that was to take us to the lodge.

“Filled with dead bodies. What’s up, Pop?” I asked as Mom rubbed some sort of subtle glitter lotion on my neck and shoulders.

“Your friends are here, along with that Hummer limo. They’re all scary, armed with cameras.” He shuddered. Dad was petrified of my girl friends and even more scared of the guys. He had the tendency to scuttle to the basement when they came over.

“Sweet thanks, Pop. Mom?”

“Done. Can you get the shoes, Brad? They’re on the table.”

I jumped off the stool as Dad grabbed the black shoes from the box. Four-inch, open toe heels, two straps that crossed over my foot with an ankle strap that had a silver heart hanging from it. The shoes were surprisingly cheap and it was love at first sight.

“You’re going to trip on these, Morgan.” Dad handed the shoes to me and I made a face as I knelt to undo the strap on the shoe while Mom did the other one. I grew four inches when I straightened and grinned at Dad. He was six three, and with the shoes, I was just three inches away from that height. He looked surprised for a second before the fatherly habits kicked in. His eyes narrowed when he looked at the lace that decorated the bodice of the dress. The neckline of the dress was low enough to show a bit of cleavage, but it wasn’t slutty low like most of the dresses I saw at stores. It was a halter-top cut, with a black ribbon embroidered with red was tied behind my neck. The ribbon I wore as a choker set it off nicely.

“Isn’t that a little too low cut… and tight?” Dad looked like he wanted to put me in the baggiest potato sack. The dress wasn’t tight at all. It was just tailored perfectly so it looked like a second skin. The dark red silk gleamed slightly and the black and gold embroidery on the side glittered.

“You know the range is open tomorrow,” Dad said. Dad and I had our hobby of going to the shooting range fifteen minutes from here. Apart from video games, Dad and I had a passion for the range. He taught me how to shoot and aim until I was able to hit the Bull’s Eye perfectly.

“I know. I’ll go with you tomorrow. Promise, okay? I’ll hit a bottle from 50 yards.”

“But…”

“It’s fine, Dad, I just need my camera and bag.” I picked up the bag as I said it, and stuffed the camera inside, along with the smallest flip-flops, my wallet and my keys. Dad was still looking unsure when I turned back around, so I kissed his cheek and patted his head.

I walked slowly down the stairs and saw a congregation of colorful dresses and tuxedoes. My friends since grade school were talking excitedly between the coach and the sofa when Jessie finally saw me. Her face split into a huge grin.

“Oh, you suck. That dress is gorgeous!” She squealed and I flew he rest of the way down to bounce into the middle of the group where another round of hugs and cleavage jokes ensued.

“Thanks, my aunt made it.” I grinned and my mom exploded out of the kitchen with her camera pointed at us.

We did the usual crazy-mom-with-a-camera deal – group photo, couples photo, single photos until I looked at the clock on the wall and alerted everyone of the time situation.

“We better get going, Ma. It takes like thirty minutes to get to the lodge and we’re probably going to get stuck in a limo line,” I said. While we were filing out of the house, I hugged Dad and kissed Mom on the cheek for the last time in my life.

02.

Just like I predicted, there was a line of limousines at every entrance to the Lodge, and we were in the middle of the line of the second entrance. Nobody minded really; we were having too much fun inside the long limo. The Hummer came with Champagne and ice. We advanced slowly, not caring how long it took, and finally, when we were at the door, we got out and gasped. Even the garage was decked out with decorations. Green and silver balloons, along with streamers lined the entrance to the first floor lobby. A red carpet led to the lobby and I could see my classmates talking excitedly, a few looking miffed and some looking irritated but most of them were happy.

We went into the lobby and the tuxedoed security guards from my school scanned the bar code on our tickets. Our ballroom was on the second floor, and I saw several people on the escalators. I spotted several teachers in dresses, talking to students. I had expected a lot of us to come in couples but the number of groups was surprising. I opted not to have a date, even though I had been asked a few times, and my friends agreed. It was better for us to have fun together.

“We need a table,” Tammy said in my ear and we moved along up the stairs into the second-floor lobby and into the ballroom, which was decorated in a green and silver theme.

Prom started with a dinner. Once we were all seated in the circular tables at precisely 7:00 pm– our table was right next to the dance floor – and a speech by the Senior Class President. Our beloved President was aware that most of were staving – literally, some girls had shed at least twenty pounds to fit into their dresses – so he cut the speech to twenty short words, then the obviously microwave-prepared and generic steaks and then the music blasted.

I never expected my Prom night to be the beginning of the end of the world. I expected it to be quite the opposite, actually. I was glowing, laughing, and happy that I was graduating and Arizona State had accepted me with an athletic scholarship thanks to my track records.

I danced, amazing a few people who caught a glimpse of my death-trap shoes. Dresses rubbed against each other when bass-heavy techno blared out of the speakers. Music vibrated through my body and I laughed when Josh dipped me in a mock waltz. It was too much fun. One hour felt like three minutes.

Everything went wrong an hour after us arriving.

You could sense it in the air, the way the people closest to the door glanced around, and the way strangers scattered into the room and ran like prey.

I looked around for a moment, confused; in the middle of the dance floor were the others were halting their dancing as well. The looks were all similar. We were all confused t the commotion in the lobby. The suits were looking around worriedly. I was on the dance floor when they came in. The music was too loud and it hid the screams coming from the lobby. The music camouflaged the noises of wet flesh in crazed mouths. I was oblivious to their presence, only aware of the strange urgency around me until on of them jumped on the person in front of me. The lights where flashing too much, I could only make out bloody mouths and glazed eyes ripping into the body, Torn clothes and bloody hands.

Everyone was running and the music stopped so the sudden screams were everywhere.

I staggered back when the creature – was it wearing a tuxedo? – Snarled at me, blood dribbling from its lips. There were cuts and scratches along its face, and bite marks on its neck.

“Oh my god,” I breathed when it lurched towards me. A strong hand curled around my arm and yanked me away so the creature jumped on the girl behind me. He was already ripping into her throat even before they’d hit the ground.

I whirled around and Josh was shouting something but I couldn’t hear even though I could feel his breath hitting my face. Shock made me deaf and stiff until a hand slapped me across the face, sending stars into my vision. I shook my head; my palm on my abused cheek and suddenly the world was loud again.

“Run!” I heard it and staggered forward to obey the command, and looked back. There were more of them, attacking my class.

Girls in pretty torn dresses and guys in bloody suits were eating my friends.

Behind me, people screamed and pushed past each other to get to the exits. I stumbled against a chair and fell on my hip, my palms slapping the ground so I wouldn’t fall on my face. I looked up and saw the others running past me. Josh must have thought I was still behind him. After a second of looking frantically around, I scrambled between two chains and under the nearest table, squealing when I clashed against another body. There were four others hiding here, curled up next to the each other.

Stacy was holding a butter knife and looked ready to kill me.

“D - don’t scream!” I stammered and curled into a ball, hiding under the table. My companions were shaking, holding onto each other and staring at me out of wide, shocked eyes.

“What’s going on?” Stacy mumbled. Her blue dress was torn. I shuddered.

“I don’t know, they came out of nowhere, they attacked - ” I whispered and we fell quiet when a chair was violently pushed in and a body fell against our table. It shook under the weight of whatever was happening up there, but I had a fair idea.

“I need to get out of here,” I said and lifted the white tablecloth. Sparkly feet hurried past, and a few fell, but didn’t see me. I wasn’t paying attention the people who ran past but rather what was sprawled on the ground. Three feet away was the body of a security guard. His throat was still spurting blood, but his abdomen was ripped open.

03.

I turned away and my stomach lurched but I closed my eyes. I opened them again and my gaze landed on the handgun on his hip. There was a walkie-talkie, an extra clip and a flashlight, but my eyes were only for the gun.

“Morgan!” The voice was so close that I started and scrambled out from under the protection of table and looked around. It was Jessica. Her dress was bloodstained, her hair was disheveled and lopsided as she rushed at me, tears staining her cheeks. I looked around the ballroom.

There were bodies everywhere and creatures over them, tearing hungrily into their flesh. The ones who were eating didn’t pay any attention to us, but the ones who were standing began to lurch towards us. I shuddered and grabbed the handgun from the holster. It was a stock gun. I’d fired it at the range, but didn’t pay attention to the make and model.

Jessica grabbed my wrist and we began to run towards the big white doors. They were behind us, their bloody hands reaching for our backs when we burst through the doors and turned to jam them shut. I looked around for something to jam the doors when Jessica left and pulled the shoe off a body by us and jammed it in the space between under the door.

I leaned, breathless against the door. My face was flushed and I still couldn’t believe what was happening. “Where -?” I began but she shook her head. I wanted to ask where the others were and if they were okay, but the look on her face told me everything. The hard set of her jaw and devastated look to her body was like an open book. Everyone I knew was dead.

When I had been on the dance floor with Josh, the others had been at the bar by the door. They had been the first targets and Jessica had been quick enough to run or hide.

“I tried to get Tammy, but she twisted her ankle. God, they were on her so fast.” Jessica trembled.

I blinked.

The hall was empty, except for a few of those things far down the hall. They hadn’t seen us. The rapid footsteps of the ones who had escaped were fading, and I nodded to the hall that would take us to the second floor lobby and down the stairs.

Jessica’s green dress was dripping with blood at the hem, but she didn’t have a scratch on her. She wiped her face, smudging the mascara and turned so she was facing the hall were supposed to go into. The door behind us trembled under the pounding of those creatures. I closed my eyes when she counted to three and we ran and down the hall and turned left. There were bodies scattered through here and I whimpered at the sight of my art teachers sprawled on the ground, bleeding.

We skidded to a stop when we reached the second floor lobby. Right where the stairs and escalators were stood the creatures. They didn’t see us, but Jessica began to back up slowly as did I. My heel bumped into something and I squealed when I lost my balance. I tripped over a hand and they heard me. Excited grunts rose ahead of us and I groaned. Jessica swore and ran back down the hall we’d come from. They were coming from the lobby when I scrambled up after her.

I was not so far behind her when one of those creatures attacked from the adjoining hall and I stumbled to a stop, going to lean on the wall. My breath was coming in loud, fast gasps; my chest hitching and my eyes wouldn’t focus. I ended up doubling over, trying to get my breath back. I looked up.

The thing sent her stumbling and then flying backwards with the thing straddling her. Its mouth ripped into her throat and her scream was cut off into a grotesque gurgle. Her hands pawed at the ground limply and then abruptly stopped. When her eyes rolled back, I jerked.

“Jessica!” I screamed and pointed the gun. I fired, but it was pointless. There was already a hole in her chest and she wasn’t moving. The creature slumped over her, a hole on the side of his head and a spray of blood on the wall next to him. I stood over her body and looked behind me. There were too many of them for my little .9 mm. I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt something wet drip from my jaw and land on my chest and the way my shoulders shook violently. I breathed to calm my self and I pointed the gun with two hands and let out the breath from my body so I was perfectly still, aiming.

Guaranteed bull’s eye, my Dad’s voice echoed in my mind and I fired. They dropped like stones until the gun clicked empty. I took a few steps back until my back hit the wall. I didn’t have an extra clip. I closed my eyes and opened them.

Then I saw the other security guard and her gun. The guard was the one that always let me come in late without writing me up. She was sprawled in the hall where they were coming from, just thirty feet away and advancing.

I knew should run away as fast as I could, but I pushed off the wall and ran towards the creatures, towards the gun. I skidded to a stop when I was over her and dropped to my knees. They were just ten feet away, and my hands shook as I tried to unclip the gun from its holster, without looking at the empty blue eyes of the guard. I didn’t understand why it wouldn’t come loose until I heard a spray of bullets above me and my hands stopped shaking with surprise. I finally got it unclipped and I grabbed the extra clip. I didn’t get a chance to look at who was firing when a big, rough hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet and to a dead run. Whoever it was kicked open a door at the end of the big hall and pulled me into a big warehouse-looking room. My heart was pounding in my chest from the adrenaline from running and being so close to being torn to pieces by those things. I saw tables and chairs stacked into one corner and forklifts in a few places. Big metal shelves big enough for me to have been able to only slump a bit if I ever stood in one dominated the huge space. The hand immediately let go of my wrist and I turned to stare at my savior.

04.

I swallowed.

He towered over me by at least five inches, even in my heels and he was a bit broader that most guys I knew – but then I was skinny and I only knew high school guys. My eyes drifted from the eyebrow with the thin scar, to the bright hazel, almost green, eyes that bore into my face. I saw the big tribal tattoos that hugged his strong-looking arms and the white undershirt, all the way to the gray military pants, black boots and big black gun in his hand. I didn’t recognize the model.

The face I’d seen on TV plenty of times, mostly on the news. It was a face that would make my grandmother blush. I went over my options of turning on the spot and running away from him, pointing the gun at him – which would do absolutely nothing since he looked like he could snap me in two – or stick with him so we could get out. He was a well-trained Marine, and he probably had the higher chance of getting out of the Lodge, alive than I did with a measly .9 mm and heels.

“Thanks,” I said and he blinked at me. His black hair was a bit long and casually shaggy with bangs falling over his forehead. I would have called him drop-dead sexy if he wasn’t the ex-Marine Tyler Black who was supposedly on his way to being kicked off the Marines.

“You can run in those things?” His voice was deep and it had a sultry timbre, but still managed to sound surprised. It was hard to believe he was only five years older than me. He was staring at my shoes.

“I can run in anything.” It was true and I smiled, wondering why I suddenly felt like rattling off the number of cheesy jokes I know. I was wary of him, but I wanted to get on his good side.

Before he could say anything else, the door he’d kicked open for us shook. Someone was pounding on it. I took the safety off the gun and followed Tyler. We were backing away slowly, down the hall and a telltale growl behind us made me whirl around, gun pointed. There were ten of them, all dressed in gray jumpsuits with the Rosemont logo on the front.

“Holy shit,” I whispered. Tyler turned and saw the same thing. He looked up at the second shelf. These creatures were the workers of this place. But how did they get like this? I wondered.

With one hand, he lifted himself onto an empty metal shelf seven feet above me. I licked my lips, staring at the bloody faces of the workers who were slowly advancing. I tossed the gun and the clip on the shelf where Tyler was and I used both hands to pull my self up after him with a small jump and winced when the metal cut into my fingers. Tyler grabbed me around the waist and pulled me the rest of the way up. We crawled down the shelf. Dodging the feeble attempts by the workers, pushing things out of our way until we reached the end of the shelf and the room.

“What now?” I asked and Tyler nodded to the set of doors across the room. I was still clutching the extra clip that was responsible for my hands slipping and I undid the strap on my shoe, intending to slide the clip there so I wouldn’t have to hold it.

“Give it to me,” he said and held his hand out. I paused, unsure. “I’ll give it to you when you need it. Do you even know how to use that?” There was a hint of impatience in his voice. I narrowed my eyes, annoyed.

“Yeah, I do actually.” I dropped the clip in his open palm and he tucked it into one of his pockets. He glanced over my shoulder and then at the door. I was far, but I could see the lock on it. He looked at me, his eyes fierce.

“On three, and you better land on your feet because I am not waiting for you,” he said and I swallowed.

I waited two heartbeats. “Three!” And almost simultaneously, while Tyler lurched forward, leaped from the far end of the shelf, I rolled sideways, dropping to the ground and landing neatly on my feet and was running behind him less than a second later. I could tell he was slowing down for me when I passed him at first once then he sped past me, his gun aimed and a bullet later, the lock exploded and we barreled through the doors, into the second floor lobby. I’d led them away from the stairs, so after a quick check, he nodded to the stairs and I followed and crashed into his back when he stopped abruptly seven steps down.

His hands flung out and grabbed on the railing to keep both of us from toppling forward. I peeked over his shoulder. The limos were blocking the entrance. Having crashed into the glass and metal doors and there were a lot of those creatures in the lobby, staring at us with their mouths hanging open and blood pooling at their feet.

“Uh oh,” I breathed and took a clumsy step back when he slowly started to back up.

“Is this the only entrance?” He asked me when we were on the lobby again and still backing away.

“No. There are two more. One leads to River Road and the other to Ashland.” I turned, stopped and didn’t budge when he bumped into me. “Um. Tyler?” He turned and grabbed my wrist again. We were sandwiched between the ones at the entrance and these. Tyler cursed and he pulled me back into the room we’d come from and I immediately started shooting. They had been slowly advancing and towards us. My arms barely shook with the recoil.

I winced when Tyler nearly ripped my arm out of its socket when he started running again past them and down shelves, occasionally shooting. I grabbed a nail gun as we sped past and kicked over a plastic container of some kind of flammable cleaning product that smelled like lemons. I aimed behind me and fired a single bullet.

It was enough for the liquid to make a wall of fire behind us. Tyler kicked open another door and we burst into a half empty hall.

“We can just run past them, right?” I asked when they growled and turned toward the noise we made, limping. They dragged their mutilated bodies towards us and I shuddered. Tyler was looking behind us. I turned and saw the single word that made me nearly scream with joy.

Exit, with a single arrow pointing down the adjoining hall; the sign blinked red. We began to move towards it but I stopped at a tuxedo that was sprawled on the ground. The hair was shaggy blonde and too familiar for comfort. I knelt and turned him over while Tyler picked up the other clip and .9 mm from the guard down a bit further down the hall. My hand clapped to my mouth and I staggered back, landing on my backside. It was Josh. I closed my eyes. His chest was a grisly mess of blood and flesh.

The last I’d seen him was when he was loping away to safety.

“We have to go,” Tyler said and I nodded noiselessly. He helped me up and we hurried down the hall where the exit signs pointed too, pausing briefly at the guards for more clips. I’d forgotten we were on the second floor when he opened the metal door at the end and we stepped onto the metal fire escape. I shivered at the breeze. We were outside, and those things were behind us. He slowed down as we went down the rickety steps and I tried not to look down. I was terrified of heights and I think he noticed it from the way I clutched the railing and counted my steps under my breath.

At the bottom, where the last landing was and the steps stopped and we had to use a ladder, Tyler ignored the rusty ladder, jumped easily and landed on his feet, almost with cat-like grace.

“Jump, I’ll catch you,” he said ten feet below me. The dress swirled around my legs and I shuddered. I also hated falling but after a breath, I whirled on the spot and fell backwards. I didn’t want to see the ground rushing up at me. My fists clenched. It was only a heartbeat or two of falling, but my heart was pounding in my chest when he readily caught me.

I didn’t realize at the time that this meant I trusted him with my life. Normally when we do those trust tests when we fall backwards and someone catches you, I always said no, I couldn’t do it, but I had readily fallen backwards for him sure he was going to catch me when I was a good distance up.

I landed perfectly in the cradle of his arms and let out the breath I’d been holding. He set me on my feet when I finally opened my eyes.

“You don’t like roller coasters, do you?” He asked, grinning at me. I scowled in response and he laughed. I noticed he had a nice laugh. We were standing on a narrow cement platform that hugged the building. Water lapped at the edge. It would have been a nice spot if it weren’t for the circumstances. The streetlamps flickered.

I pursed my lips and looked around then nearly dropped the gun.

“Oh my god,” I breathed.

The entire town was in ruins more of less. Glass was broken and cars were crushed together in a twisted heat of metal and fire. A few bodies littered the ground.

There was no sound of life except for the crackling of flames licking steel and brick as the buildings burned.

It was so lifeless I pinched my arm to make sure I was still here.

“Jesus,” Tyler muttered. “It wasn’t this bad when I found you.”

He pulled me along the cement platform until we reached the other entrance. By the time we were halfway on the bridge, I was maneuvering by myself behind him, hopping over cars and jumping puddles of flaming oil and debris. Almost like it was being presented to us, there was a black SUV, almost unscratched, in the way, facing the street, and ready. Tyler and I scrambled in, he was nearly howling with relief at the keys still in the ignition.

He peeled out of the bridge and I slumped into the seat, my hands covering my face. My stomach scrambled with relief at the thought that we were out and alive.

“Are you okay?” I heard his voice through a haze of relief,

I nodded and then smiled.

“I’m Morgan, by the way,” I said. He grinned.

We drove mostly on the wide sidewalks of Rosemont because the streets were solid with accidents that we were for sure not going to maneuver around. When we were almost at the city limits, Tyler leaned forward, his forehead creasing.

“Oh shit,” he swore and I squinted and followed suit.

The Metra blocked the last railroad crossing before we reached the highway. There were small fires in random spots along the tracks.

“So… I think we should hop the train?” I offered when Tyler stopped the car, almost an inch from the train itself.

“I think so too, come on,” Tyler got out of the car and I twisted around for something of good use.

I got out empty handed and joined Tyler by the gap between the cars. “As soon as we’re on he other side, we need to find the nearest usable vehicle. Got it?”

I nodded, tensing for another round of running. He advanced into the gap and pulled himself onto the small bridge between the cars and deftly maneuvered over the chain railings. He turned to help me up.

His big hands enveloped mine and he nearly effortlessly lifted me straight up. I wriggled into position for me to vault over the chains so I was able to stand on the tiny bridge. I was amazed that the dress stayed together.

Tyler jumped over the chains when the train shuddered and began to move. I stumbled against the door and Tyler shouted something I couldn’t hear and he was out of sight and I was alone.

“Tyler!” I screamed leaning out to see him but all I saw was the ground rushing by. I leaned back and gripped the chains till my knuckles turned white.

Doors, the thought was as sudden as ever.

I needed to get to a pair of doors. With a clear goal in my head, I jiggled open the door and stumbled into a train car filled with those creatures. They were slow to react so I hurried up the stairs to the two aisles with upper seats and ran past them jumping down to the main doors. It took a hard hit of my shoulder for it to open and most of my courage to jump out and roll onto hard asphalt. I winced and stumbled backwards. I was in a part of the city I’d never been to. I’d never ridden the Metra this direction before so I had no idea where I was.

05.

Surely, I hadn’t gone that far.

I stood up and watched the train go by. I had no idea how it started moving, and even worse I had no idea where Tyler was. I felt ridiculously exposed without his presence. I was about to walk by a few parked cars, holding onto my stinging arm, feeling the desperation of being alone and exposed when I heard a familiar voice.

“Morgan!” The deep rumble made me whirl around, my eyes wide, my heart thumping.

And there he was, running at full speed, his boots thumping hard on the gravel. I took a slow step forward and then my arms were around his neck and I was nearly crying with relief.

I didn’t let go for a long time, and when I did, it was because Tyler urged me to, because we had to leave. We were sitting ducks for those creatures.

I followed him to a boulevard, whose name I recognized but had no idea where it went. After moving down the long drive for a few minutes of silence, I began to recognize it. I had gone this way before and there was a mall. I told Tyler this and he considered it – but before he could tell me, he grabbed my good arm. My other arm was the one I landed on when I rolled from the train. My shoulder stung.

I looked at him then followed his gaze to about fifty or so creatures were slowly but surely coming forward, their tongues lolling out and pieces of flesh missing from their faces. I cringed against his arm.

“Where’s that mall you said?” He asked and I looked around, my hand curled around his arm. I remembered if we followed the boulevard, it should be on the left.

“It’s right down there. On the left.” Tyler then took off and left me scrambling after him while I concentrated on landing on my toes. I was amazed I hadn’t twisted my ankle in these deathtraps.

As soon as the thought passes through my mind, I landed wrong and went sprawling sideways.

“Shit!” I screamed and scrambled to my feet. Tyler yanked me up and threw my bad arm around his shoulders and we limped to the entrance of the parking lot. I was panting, my fists were clenched and my teeth were gritted in pain. Tyler threw me to the ground and whirled around and fired a few rounds. It started a domino effect. The car exploded and I saw bits of metal go flying. I threw myself down and covered my head with my arms. I heard Tyler shout my name and I scrambled up, pure adrenaline making the pain of my ankle seem more bearable.

I pulled Tyler into the mall after breaking the glass door and we hurried to find the back hallways. We found them, white blood smeared with only two creatures and Tyler forced the door to Kohl’s open.

We entered through the perfume section and no sooner had we taken twenty steps, a creature launched itself at Tyler, throwing him back into the glass counters.

“Tyler!” I screamed. I couldn’t shoot; I’d risk hitting him. Tyler was holding the creature up while it spat at him. He turned his head so none of it would land in his mouth of eyes. I grabbed the biggest perfume bottle I could find and jumped over the broken glass. I threw my arms back put my whole weight into the blow – right into the back of its neck.

It instantly went limp and I kicked it away from Tyler who scrambled away.

“Tyler – Jesus Christ. Are you okay?” I wiped his face and stared at him. He nodded weakly and then winced. I helped him up and led him to very back of the store, by the dresses, where He dropped like a rock. I spotted a few first aid kits on the way here and went back to get it. I stared meaningfully at him. He groaned and rolled over to show that parts of his back and his leg were impaled with glass.

Tyler grimaced and hissed out a breath when I pulled the last bit glass from the back of his leg. It wasn’t in that deeply, but it bled freely once it was free. I reached for the med-kit I had found on the back hall and cleaned the small wound. I slowly bandaged his leg tightly while he watched my movements. I looked up at him.

“Better?” I asked.

“Thanks,” he stretched his leg, wincing a bit.

“I don’t know if you need stitches or not, but if you do...” I trailed off and sat down, slumping against the cold wall. The mall wasn’t empty. There were those things – zombies – crawling all over the place, but he insisted we were safe here. This shop was barred, and the only way was the one he’d cleared for us – which was through the back.

“I’ll live,” Tyler grunted and reached to the left where I hoarded some food and grabbed a random candy bar, which he promptly devoured.

I sat back quietly. Tyler had said that the Lodge was the last place to get hit by the virus and invaded by zombies. That meant they had attacked my house while I had been on the dance floor, blissfully ignorant of the events that wiped out the city. I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested my chin on my knees.

“You thinking of your family?” Tyler asked suddenly and I glanced up.

I shrugged. “Wondering if they’re still alive.” I studied his face intently. “Tell me the truth. What are the chances they’re alive?” I asked aggressively, and he stared at me, his gaze unwavering.

“The suburbs were first. Slim to none,” he said shortly. He was right. I buried my face in my knees and tried to fight back tears.

An hour must have passed before I was able to look up. He was still awake, twirling a knife with a glazed look in his eyes. I hadn’t thought about my dress until now. It was torn and dirty and not the best outfit to outrun zombies in.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, and he gives a small nod to acknowledge he heard me. I wandered to the shoes and then to the junior’s section, making sure I’ve collected everything necessary and then ducked into a small-enclosed space of jackets and trench coats to change. I made sure he was close by just in case a creature comes by. I hurriedly slipped out of the dress, letting it fall to the floor by me feet before draping it over a rack and then slid the lacy barely-there panties down my legs to be replaced with practical, bright blue cotton panties and sturdy bra. The khaki short shorts I’ve picked out go on next, along with the black leather belt and the black tank top along with the knee-high socks and black boots. I felt the relief from my feet. I tried to wipe off the make up from by looking at my dark reflection on the metal racks and I made sure nothing’s smudged before I went back to where we’re sitting in the dark.

He blinked up at my new clothes and his gaze and then went to the red dress over my arm. A small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I was getting used to the dress.”

I smiled. “Four inch heels and my prom dress are hardly the best things to go running around my apocalyptic town in,” I pointed out and he laughed. The boots I grabbed have a small heel, but nothing dramatic like the other shoes, and my feet are no longer hurting like a bitch.

I sat down again, a lot more comfortable now that I’m not wearing a silky dress with a provocative slit up the side. I folded the dress neatly and set it next to me and then lean back against a mass of a puffy dress.

“What are we going to do?” I asked once I’ve tucked the gun into a pocket after checking if the safety was on along with the extra clip he handed back.

“We… need to get somewhere isolated.”

“Like Alaska?”

“No. I was thinking the lake. We’d always be close by land to get more supplies and those things can’t swim,” he explained and I nodded, understanding his logic.

“We’d have to know how to use a boat and get enough food to lasts us for a long time.”

“Yeah. You up for it?” he was staring at me intensely, his eyes never leaving mine.

I already knew my answer.

“Yes.”

END