As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Frater, Rhiannon

  “I hope the doors hold,” Raleigh whispered as the trucks roared into the gray dawn.

  2.

  The Floodgates Open

  Standing guard in the mall’s rear parking lot, Tom jerked his head up when he heard a distant thud that seemed to come from the main gate. The zombies outside the gate they were watching went into a frenzy at the sound. A few stumbled away.

  “Did you hear that?” Tom asked Arnold, the soldier next to him.

  The young private with the shocking red hair tilted his head. “Yeah. What the hell was that?”

  Tom scanned the huge back parking lot, which was full of parked vehicles and several National Guard helicopters. When he turned toward the front of the mall, he spotted smoke and flames.

  “Shit!” He began running for the mall, shouting at Arnold, “Get the trucks ready!”

  * * *

  The first zombies tottered cautiously past the remains of their burning comrades, heading for the front of the mall. They staggered to the doors and clawed at the unyielding glass. The zombies jostled one another, their masticated limbs sometimes breaking off.

  In the melee, one zombie stumbled hard enough into the bright, blue, wheelchair-access button to activate the motorized door.

  The door opened silently.

  Several zombies immediately lurched through the opening and into the mall beyond.

  * * *

  Zombies poured into the first two stores. The first people died silently, in their sleep.

  Then the screams began as people woke to the invasion of the undead.

  People ran, trying to escape.

  Chaos descended.

  * * *

  In the Left Corridor, Valerie woke, dived off her cot, and grabbed her gun and flak jacket. Struggling to clear her mind and her vision, she stumbled into the corridor and spotted zombies at the far end of the mall, greedily devouring their victims. Frightened people ran past her. More soldiers appeared out of side stores.

  “Stupid puta bitch,” Guadalupe hissed as her wheelchair zipped past Valerie, propelled by a teenage boy running at top speed. “She did this!”

  Valerie called out to the other soldiers. “We need to stop them! Barricade the hall!”

  Frantically, they shoved cots and anything else heavy or bulky into the corridor, trying desperately to slow down the zombies.

  At first, the newly fallen dead distracted the ravenous zombies, who greedily stuffed their ruined mouths.

  Then, slowly, some of the zombies rose and trudged toward the mall’s defenders.

  Valerie opened fire.

  * * *

  Major General Gordon Knox heard the screams and gunfire. He scrambled out of bed, shocked to find Paige gone. Confused by her absence, he snagged his holster and hurried down to the main floor. Quickly realizing that the mall was being overrun, he ran to the nearest exit, determined to reach the escape vehicles in the front of the mall.

  The doors were locked, but Gordon always carried a set of keys to all the outer doors. He’d fallen asleep fully dressed, so the keys were still in his pants. He intended to pull a truck up to the doors and start evacuating people.

  He unlocked the door and hurried outside, weapon in hand. Before he took more than a step, he was shoved to the ground and his throat was torn out.

  The zombie that had killed Gordon Knox bent down to eat him and was shoved aside and trampled by the undead throng. Soon the Right Corridor began to fill with the undead.

  * * *

  The first people out of the mall were Kevin’s soldiers. Bunked down near the entrances, they were quick to run to their assigned vehicles. Greta and another pilot ran to their helicopters. Other men and women leaped into driver’s seats and began to rev up the engines of the big trucks and buses.

  Soon survivors began to flood into the parking lot.

  “Get into the trucks!” Arnold shouted. He wasn’t sure anyone really heard him, but they did what he ordered. People ran past him, all screaming in terror.

  * * *

  The crush of people in the Right Corridor was almost unbearable. As those in the back of the mob fell to the zombies, panic swept through the crowd.

  In the Left Corridor, soldiers blasted the zombie throng as people streamed into the rear parking lot. The zombie corpses tripped their shambling comrades, but the horde just kept coming.

  Three minutes after the initial breach, a soldier in the Right Corridor was dragged down by zombies. As he fell, he pulled the pin on the phosphorous grenade he clutched in his hand.

  The explosion resounded through the entire mall. The surrounding zombies were engulfed in flame. They staggered about, setting anything they touched on fire.

  Black smoke quickly began to fill the corridor.

  Travis, Katie, and Jenni wrestled their way out of the store where they’d been sleeping and into the smoky chaos of the hallway. They’d almost immediately lost track of Bill in the struggle to get out of the store and barely managed to hang on to each other in the tussle of panicking people.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  1.

  Trapped

  Jenni felt like she was being squashed. She could barely hold on to Katie’s hand. Luckily, most of the smoke was rising to the mall’s high ceiling, but the fire continued to spread, and the crowd of survivors pressed at her from all sides.

  “Jenni! Jenni!” called a newly familiar voice. Amy was struggling to maneuver through the crowd with her three children. No one was trying to help the terrified family.

  “Keep moving, Amy!” Jenni cried out encouragingly.

  A second later, Jenni was shoved into the wall. The impact broke her grip on Katie’s hand, and Jenni glimpsed Katie’s horrified expression as they were swept apart. Catching herself against a store window, Jenni managed to stay on her feet. After a breath, she plunged back into the stream of people, trying to find her friends.

  * * *

  The first of the would-be escapees in the Right Corridor reached the exit only to find it locked. Panicking, unable to escape, the people tried to turn back, but were smashed into the doors by the flood of panicking survivors. Many would die, crushed to death at the exit, forming a second barrier in front of the sealed doors.

  Travis heard the shouts of “The doors are locked!” and immediately reversed direction, dragging Katie with him. Skirting the crowd and keeping close to the wall, he managed to reach the food court. Other people followed his example and soon a large group was running in the direction of the food court and the other side of the mall.

  “Travis, I lost Jenni!” Katie pulled on his hand, trying to turn back.

  “Keep moving, Katie; she’ll catch up!” Travis was determined to save his wife and their unborn child. Lydia had said there would be choices to be made and, dammit, his choice was for his family to live.

  * * *

  By the time Jenni neared the food court, the smoke had thickened and lowered and she was coughing violently. It was difficult to see as she struggled to keep up with the fleeing mob while avoiding the advancing zombies. Behind her, zombies were dragging people down, but instead of completely consuming their victims, they were now taking a few bites, then lunging after fresh prey.

  Two miniature figures emerged out of the black smoke: Amy’s youngest children, Holly and Troy, who were clinging desperately to each other. Jenni knelt and swept them into her arms.

  “Where’s your mom?”

  The little boy pointed back into the haze. Just then, the swirling smoke parted and Jenni saw Amy struggling with a zombie. Her elbow was up under its chin as she attempted to push it away from her throat. Sobbing hysterically, her eight-year-old daughter clung to her mother.

  “Margie, run!” Amy shouted, but the little girl held on.

  The staggering zombies closed in on the mother and child.

  Desperation on her face, Amy yanked Margie up into her arms and tossed her toward Jenni. The act sealed her fate, as the zombie she had been holding off bit down into her t
hroat.

  The throng of zombies was almost upon the little girl.

  “Stay right here!” Jenni ordered the little ones before darting through the grasping, shambling creatures.

  Shoving a zombie away from Margie, she grabbed the girl’s hand and ran back to Troy and Holly. She set Margie down and hoisted Troy onto one hip. Clutching the girls’ hands, Jenni ran ahead of the zombies with renewed vigor, determined to save Amy’s children.

  * * *

  The first fast zombies appeared, racing past the soldiers to feast on the people fleeing toward the rear parking lot. Tom, who was guarding the exit doors, opened fire and fell back into the mall, joining Kevin, Valerie, and six other soldiers who were attempting to protect the escaping citizens.

  Realizing they were on the verge of being overrun, Kevin ordered his troops into the corridor that led to the food court. “We’ll exit through the Right Corridor!”

  More sprinting zombies appeared.

  The soldiers turned and ran. The only thing that saved them was that the new zombies, ravenously hungry, dived onto the already-dying to feast.

  * * *

  Greta swung her helicopter low, trying to literally blow the zombies off their feet outside the mall. Cursing, she wished she had a nice bomb or machine gun, but the helicopter was intended for medical evacuation and general transport and was unarmed.

  Below her, the zombies stumbled and fell beneath the rotor wash. Then they got up and kept going.

  * * *

  Travis reached the thundering waterfall just as Kevin and his men did.

  “We have to go out the Right Corridor,” Kevin said.

  “It’s blocked!” Travis yelled in frustration.

  “What?”

  “We couldn’t get out!”

  The two men stared at each other in shock.

  “Fuck, we’re trapped!” Valerie exclaimed.

  * * *

  A doughnut shop saved the last people in the Right Corridor. The fire was spreading quickly; when the flames reached the shop, the oil used to make the doughnuts ignited. The resulting fireball killed a few of the living even as it flattened all the zombies in the immediate area and set them on fire.

  The resulting inferno brought the zombies to a halt. They cowered in fear, allowing people to escape into the food court.

  2.

  Fall to Grace

  “Where the hell do we go now?”

  Travis’s question hung in the air. Kevin looked around quickly, assessing the situation. He spotted the maintenance stairway that snaked up the side of the building toward the skylight overhead.

  Pointing to the metal stairs, Kevin said, “Up. We go up. There’s a fire escape that leads down to the parking lot from the roof. It’s our only way out.” He turned to his squad. “Bette, you go first and open that door up there.”

  With a nod, Bette obeyed. Tom swung open the gate at the bottom of the stairs, and the female soldier quickly climbed the three stories to the top.

  Valerie and Kevin began steering the crowd to the stairway, and soon a jumble of men, women, and children began streaming up toward the roof.

  * * *

  Katie’s gaze swept over the food court, anxiously examining each fleeing figure, hoping to see Jenni emerge from the smoke.

  “Katie, let’s go,” Travis said firmly, pulling her toward the stairs.

  “But Jenni,” Katie protested. “We need to find her!”

  Travis looked at her. Katie saw the anguish in his eyes. “Katie, I love you and you know I care about Jenni, but we need to get out of here now! Think of the baby.”

  Tears streamed down Katie’s face as she let her husband guide her into line.

  * * *

  Valerie and the other soldiers began creating a barricade in the Left Corridor, tossing chairs and tables into the hallway. The zombies tended not to pay attention to anything but their victims and were easily tripped.

  “Target the fast zombies first,” Kevin ordered as he and his team took up a position looking down the corridor.

  “Where the fuck did the fast ones come from?” Tom yelled angrily.

  “They’re fresh,” Kevin answered grimly.

  “Oh, shit,” Tom said in an agonized tone.

  Valerie didn’t want to think of how many fresh zombies there might be.

  * * *

  People continued to flee the smoke-filled Right Corridor. Some had been badly burned by the explosion of the doughnut shop, but others were unscathed. Among the last to appear were Jenni and Amy’s children. Half-carrying and half-pulling Amy’s kids, Jenni ran to the line of people ascending the metal staircase.

  Running zombies appeared from the Left Corridor, howling with hunger.

  The soldiers opened fire, their bullets slicing through the air. The zombies were eliminated, though several managed to get close enough to trip over the tables and chairs before they were cut down.

  * * *

  “I’m running low on ammo,” Valerie informed Kevin.

  Kevin checked on the progress of the evacuation. “We have to keep them covered until they are up the stairs,” he said somberly. “The zombies can’t climb.”

  The soldiers all nodded gravely.

  The stumbling, slow dead were moving toward them in a great wave.

  Valerie grimaced, reloading her weapon.

  * * *

  Nearly halfway up the stairs, Katie glanced downward and saw Jenni pushing some children onto the first steps of the narrow staircase. Clinging to the rails, she shouted over her shoulder at her husband, “Travis, she made it!”

  “Thank God!” Travis whispered fervently.

  * * *

  At the bottom of the stairs, Jenni’s attention was attracted by renewed gunfire. She glanced over her shoulder to see the slower zombies lunging for the soldiers who were defending the staircase. She looked up, hoping to spot Katie, but her gaze was drawn to a single black bird soaring high above the skylight. Instantly, she understood what she had to do.

  “Keep going,” she told Margie, setting the two younger children on the stairs behind their older sister. “Get your brother and sister out of here!”

  Jenni abandoned the stairs and her hope of escape as she shoved past the last few survivors on the stairs. Running up behind Tom, she grabbed his revolver from its holster and raced past him, toward the zombies.

  Behind her, she dimly heard Tom and Kevin calling her name.

  Amy had given her life for her children. Katie and Travis were going to have a baby and be a family. They had to live.

  This was Jenni’s time. Her choice.

  “Hey, fuckers!” Jenni waved her arms. “You stupid, gawddamn, muthafuckin’ zombies, c’mere!” She screamed at them, jumping up and down and waving like mad to draw their attention. “Look at me, you fuckers! C’mon, you fuckin’ cannibals. Prime rib Jenni right here!”

  * * *

  “What the fuck is she doing?” Kevin gasped as the black-haired woman danced terrifyingly close to the slowly advancing zombies.

  Valerie glanced at the people on the stairs and understood.

  “The right thing,” she said to Kevin before running after Jenni. “Hey stinkbags, follow us!”

  “Oh, shit, I don’t want to die,” Tom growled as he followed the women.

  “Awwww, hell…” The last soldier, William, hesitated for an instant, then joined Jenni and the others in their suicide run.

  Kevin almost set off after them, but instead became the rear guard for the people ascending the stairs. The runners were vanquished for now, but the slower moving zombies flowed relentlessly into the food court. He had to make sure all the civilians escaped.

  * * *

  Jenni and the soldiers created a powerful diversion. They teased, taunted, and lured the zombies away from the staircase. Low on ammunition, they held their fire, moving ahead of the mob, keeping them away from the stairs.

  Jenni screamed at the undead, releasing her hate and her joy, yelling her lungs o
ut. She knew she was doing the right thing. Glancing briefly at the stairs, she saw Katie and Travis near the top and Kevin at the bottom, with Amy’s children in between, slowly making their way to safety.

  “Hey, you stupid shits, come get me, you stupid muthafuckas!” Jenni shouted with glee.

  Their grisly faces and clawed hands reached for her, grasping at empty air as she dodged away. She moved toward the waterfall, thinking maybe she could circle it and then head for the stairs.

  It was then that the zombies from the Right Corridor made their appearance. None of the people in the food court had realized that the sprinklers had finally gone on in the hall, quenching most of the fire.

  Jenni whirled about as the dead began to fill the space around her. “Oh, hell,” she said sadly but calmly.

  * * *

  William went down first, firing until the last moment. Laughing hysterically, Tom was next to fall, also still shooting at the dead.

  * * *

  The waterfall rose to Jenni’s left. Glancing about in search of another way out, she was surprised to see a narrow staircase cutting through the rocks. Without hesitation, she began to climb the fake stone façade.

  * * *

  Valerie tried to follow Jenni but was cut off by a running zombie and then grabbed from behind. Without a second thought, she lifted her revolver to her temple and fired.

  * * *

  Jenni ascended swiftly as the zombies struggled to chase after her, moaning and wailing. More runners were moving through the horde. She paused once or twice to aim and fire the revolver, watching with satisfaction as disgusting, rotten heads exploded. Reaching the top of the waterfall, she stood on the edge, next to the rushing water. Looking down, she was horrified to see that almost all the dead were reaching for her.

  Even above the roar of the water, Jenni heard Katie screaming her name.

  I’ve done the right thing, she thought as she saw Kevin push the children through the doorway to the roof.

  The zombies had yet to go near the staircase. Her diversion had worked perfectly. Everyone was safe.

  She felt completely calm. Gazing down, she wondered if the water was deep.