Previously:... When suddenly he wakes up and Ashley is standing beside him saying his name repeatedly.
Decker: What's wrong, Ashley?
Ashley: Someone keeps knocking on the door.
Decker rubs his eyes and gets up off the couch. He walks to the front door where the knocking is coming from. He left the eyehole uncovered when boarding it up earlier, so he could still see what was outside. He puts his right eye up to the door and freezes up.
Decker: Oh. My. God.
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Chapter Two: There's No Vacancy In HellDecker slowly backs away from the door and grabs Ashley. He runs upstairs with her and wakes Charlie up.
Decker: Charlie, we've gotta get out of here now. The neighborhood isn't safe.
Charlie: What the hell are you talkin' about? We're the only people out here. How are we not safe?
Decker points to the window and tells Charlie to look. Charlie crawls out of bed and gazes out the window in awe. Hundreds of zombies are standing right outside the house.
Charlie: We gotta get outta here!
Charlie grabs his shotgun and Dexter grabs his pistol and a box of ammo from a drawer in his room. The knocking on the door turns into loud thumps and the infected start moaning and groaning. They quickly run back downstairs and past the front door. The zombies are beating on the door so hard that the nails begin falling out of the wood. They run to the garage and the wood starts falling from the door. They all hop in the car, but Decker can't find his keys. He forgot that he left them on the kitchen counter. He hurries back inside to grab his keys and hears the door bust open. He runs back to the car and sticks his keys in the ignition. He presses the button on his garage opener and anxiously waits on the door to open. The door slowly creaks open and he yells "Come on!" He looks in front of him and realizes he forgot to close the door that leads from the kitchen to the garage. A large group of the infected walk through the door frame and enter the garage. But luckily the garage door opens all the way and Decker floors it out of there before the zombies can get to him. A flock of the undead pour into his house as he drives off down the road.
Decker: How do we get to the gun shop you were talking about?
Charlie tells him directions then asks "What's causin' all this?!" Decker sits in silence and continues down the street.
Charlie: You're the doctor, how does somethin' like this happen?!
Decker: I.. I don't know. We've never really studied it. Like you, we just thought this was something that happened in the movies.
They finally make it to the gun shop, but there's a large amount of zombies outside it now, blocking the entrance.
Charlie: Shit! What do we do now?
Ashley: Charlie!
Charlie: Sorry sweetheart, bad habit.
Decker: The closest place that I can think of is the mall. There's a gun shop inside of there, and there should be plenty of other necessities we could use too.
The drive goes on as they head toward the mall. As they sit in the car, they all notice most of the city has already been destroyed. Cars are wrecked and on fire, buildings are burning and broken into. They all sit in silence and stare at the destruction. The ride comes to a halt after the car begins puttering and suddenly slows down.
Decker: You've got to be kidding me. We're out of gas.
Charlie: Well this is just great. Now we gotta walk. How far is it to the mall?
Decker: Not very far. If we walk fast, we should be there in no time.
Both men grab their guns and hop out of the car. Ashley had fallen asleep, so Decker picks her up and carries her. It's quiet outside, the only sound is of buildings roasting. No zombies in sight. Decker reminds Charlie to stay quiet so they don't get noticed. They keep walking and finally catch a glance of the mall. Decker wakes Ashley up and lets her know they've almost made it. He sets her down and holds her hand as they begin walking toward it. Suddenly, they hear a strange noise; a sort of gurgling sound. They stop dead in their tracks as they see two white dots glowing in the dark.
Decker: Ashley, cover your ears.
A woman slowly walks into the small amount of light that the fire is making. She has a desaturated tint to her skin, and blood running from her mouth. She charges at Decker and he reaches for his gun. Ashley notices and quickly sticks her fingers in her ears to drown out the sound. BANG! Decker shot the woman dead in the forehead.
Charlie: Nice shot!
All of a sudden, more gurgling noises and groans are heard and about 15 infected come from the shadows.
Decker: Run!
Decker, Charlie, and Ashley all take off, booking it to the mall. The zombies are right on their tails. All 3 of them begin screaming while they run for their lives. They make it to the mall parking lot, where there are multiple abandoned and destroyed cars. Their screams get louder and they shout "Help us!" They make it to the glass doors and try to open them, but they're locked shut.
Charlie: We're fucked! This is it? This is how it ends?! Fuckin' bullsh-
BOOM! The group of zombies turn into nothing but separated limbs as a blue truck explodes.
Charlie: The hell was that?!
Decker looks around and notices a man up on the roof of the mall with a sniper rifle in his hand. He waves, and two people from inside the mall run to the doors to let the 3 of them in. They run inside and they're lead up the escalator and through a door. They head down a long hallway and eventually make it to a security room. There are a bunch of monitors that the security cameras run to.
Man: Have any of you been bitten, or scratched by any of those... things?
Decker: No, we're all fine. We were hiding out at my house a few hours ago and the infected started to overrun it, but we escaped safely. What are your names?
Man: I'm Marcus, and that's Jeremiah. There are a few others sleeping in another room, and another guy keeping watch on the roof.
Decker: The guy that saved us. Can you lead me to the roof? I'd like to thank him.
Just as the words leave his mouth, the man comes down a set of stairs and opens a door. Decker quickly walks toward him and shakes his hand.
Decker: Thank you, sir. If it wasn't for you, we all 3 would've been eaten alive out there. What is your name?
Man: My name is Dedric. You know, you're lucky I was still up there. I was about to call it a night. Just as I was heading for the door, I heard your screams.
Decker: Again, thank you. Is there any way I can repay you?
Dedric: Do not worry about it; you don't owe me anything. Come, follow me to the next room. There are a few others that you should meet.
Dedric walks with Decker and Ashley to the next room, while Charlie walks with the security guards.
Charlie: Hey, you guys got a firearms store in here, right? All I got is this shotgun, and i'm low on ammo.
Marcus tosses Jeremiah the keys and tells him to take Charlie to get some supplies. He reminds him to be careful and walks to the next room where everyone else is at, as they exit toward the hallway. Decker is in the next room and Dedric introduces him to the other survivors. First, he meets an old war veteran named Rudy that specialized in explosives. For an old man, he can still get around pretty well.
Rudy: How 'ya doing sir? Name's Rudy.
Decker shakes his hand and shows his respect by thanking him for fighting for his country. He introduces himself and tells him he's a doctor. He said if anything's wrong with him, he'll be sure to try and help him out.
Rudy: Thank you, but I should be alright. I'm 73 years old and still strong as an ox. Is that your little girl?
Decker: Not exactly, but I found her earlier on today and i've been taking care of her as if she were.
Rudy: That's awful nice of you. I got a grandson that's about her age. He's here with me, but he's sleeping right now. I bet you're tired yourself, huh little lady?
Ashley nodded her head yes. Dedric leads Decker to a bed where she can lie down. He tells her goodnight and she drifts off to sleep.
Dedric: So you say you are a doctor, huh? Well you should come in handy. There's an older lady here accompanied by her daughter. She's not looking too well; would you mind taking a look at her?
He walks alongside Decker and he takes him toward the woman. We go back to Charlie and Jeremiah who have made it to the gun store. They start grabbing as much as possible. Charlie had grabbed a duffelbag from another store beforehand, and he started filling it up with pistols, SMG's and a few more guns. Jeremiah had also grabbed a bag and loaded up on plenty of ammo, and a couple of large rifles. Charlie noticed some bulletproof vests hanging up on a rack, but unfortunately there was only 2. He tossed Jeremiah one, then put one on himself.
Charlie: Better to be safe than sorry.
The two made small talk as they gathered up the rest of what they needed. Charlie asked if any of the infected had made it inside the mall yet, and Jeremiah said "Not that we know of."
Charlie: Well good, 'cause I need to get to a clothing store while we're out here. These boots have about had the lick, and I could use some new clothes. These smell worse than a wet prostitute on a trailer hitch.
Jeremiah gave Charlie an awkward stare and bursted out laughing.
Jeremiah: Well you're about as goofy as a skinned sword swallower on the electric chair.
Charlie: Haha, I tell you what, I think we're gonna get along just fine.
Charlie patted him on the back and he two left the gun shop laughing. Jeremiah foolishly forgets to lock the gate back up and they head toward a clothing store. Their laughs and chit chat drown out the noise of a gurgling noise coming from the back room in the firearms store. Back in the safe room, Decker makes it over to the elderly lady. Her daughter wasn't by her side this time, no one had seen where she went to. The lady is very pale, and has dark black rings around her eyes. Her eyes are closed and she's breathing very slowly. He tries to wake her up but there's no response. He feels her forehead and her skin felt like it was boiling.
Dedric: She's been getting worse as the day has progressed. She arrived earlier today and told us that she went to get that cancer healing thing at the government building. I guess she got a bad batch of the medicine or something. What do you think we should do?
Decker stood in shock. He thought to himself "I can't believe this. She's lasted this long without crossing over. If I explain that this is my fault, i'm screwed."
Decker: Um.. I- I have no clue. Medical mystery I guess. Is there a bathroom around here?
Dedric stares at him strangely and sees a bead of sweat run down his forehead.
Dedric: Is there something you're not telling me?
Decker is silent. Dedric questions him again and gets closer to him. But luckily for Decker, Charlie whistles and yells "We're back!" just in the nick of time. Dedric is face to face with Decker, and says "I'm onto you..." then walks off. Charlie starts handing out guns and ammo to everyone as Decker still stands back in the same spot. He takes a deep breath, then looks back to where the old woman was at... She's gone.