Just then I heard the clatter of his boots stop. I paused briefly but I continued to push the heavy door open just enough for us to fit through. I was out and Kait was almost out when the sound of Wayne’s boots running toward us grew faster and louder.
“Run!” I yelled and with that single word we were all back up on our feet running in the mall. I had the nerve to turn and look over my shoulder. It was surely Wayne. He was standing outside Abercrombie & Fitch looking at us haul ass. He wasn’t running after us. He wasn’t pointing a gun at us. He was just standing there watching us. I turned around and realized we were running the wrong way, further away from our camp, our help and our stockpile of weapons.
I didn’t know where the hell we were or where we were headed. I was following Kait and Courtney was following me. We just kept running.
I had an idea. Maybe we should go upstairs and head back toward Macy’s. Wayne was on the lower level. Maybe we would be safer on the upper level. I could look down on the lower level and maybe spot the rest of Bolt’s gang. If we made it back to camp it would be helpful to know how many of them there are out here stalking around. I took the lead and when we finally made it to the steps I stopped.
“Let’s go upstairs and run back to Macy’s.”
“Okay.” Kait started up the three million steps that lead to the upper level. I put my hand on the railing to follow her.
“Hey!” A man’s voice hit us from a few paces around the staircase before he appeared. It was Nick. “Why are you running? I don’t see anything.” He frowned.
We all stopped our descent up the stairs. I grabbed Nick’s wrist as he approached me. “There are some guys in the mall with guns.”
“What guys?” Nick’s brow protruded as he waited for my answer.
“They’re bad news. Nick, they’re the ones that strung Courtney up.”
Nick looked from me to Courtney who was hyperventilating. I looked up at Kait and she was gripping the stair rail for support and catching her breath.
“How many?” Nick removed his Glock 19 from the holster under his armpit.
“I only saw the one guy but I know he’s not alone.”
“Did he see you?”
“Yes he saw us. He knows we’re here.”
“Don’t go upstairs. We need to warn Joe. He’s close by. I just left him and Tailyn in the food court.”
“You expect us to go back toward the danger.” Kait finally said something.
“We need Joe. I have no idea how many of them there are. Do you?”
“No butt--.” Kait faltered with her words.
“That’s all the more reason to find Joe. We need him. We have four people and two guns.”
I was silent as Kait walked down the few steps that she had already gone up. We all started to move back the way we came, all accept for Courtney. She was frozen firmly in place.
“Courtney.” I hushed. “C’mon.” She didn’t budge.
Kait grabbed her forearm and dragged her with us.
“We need to hurry.” Nick placed his Glock in the holster and started jogging. I took off behind him.
Nick and I were running a bit ahead. Kait was at our heels and Courtney was struggling to keep up. We were quite a ways away from the food court if I remember correctly. I turned back to look at Courtney and that’s when a hand reached out from a small hall corridor and grabbed Courtney by the waist.
I saw him before everyone else. It was the sadomasochistic monster. It was Bolt. He held Courtney with one hand and raised his gun with the other and shot off one clean round into the mall sky.
I had already stopped dead in my tracks. The gunshot alerted Nick and Kait to do the same. Nick had drawn his Glock as soon as he heard the gunshot. He had it pointed at Bolt immediately. I had my Colt in hand but it wasn’t pointed at Bolt.
“Damn Bunny, you still alive?” Bolt stated more than asked as he held Courtney in front of him as a human shield. “My energizer bunny, you just take a licking and you keep on ticking.”
Courtney was petrified of Bolt. I could only imagine the torture she suffered at his hands. The torture I had the privilege to barely escape from. Bolt eyes scanned the area and that’s when he noticed me. “Oh shit, the infamous, Jesse James.” He smirked and I was repulsed.
Nick didn’t flinch when the psycho claimed me as his own.
“Let her go!” Nick boldly ordered but he didn’t know what he was up against. At that moment I wished I would have filled Nick in on the other things I had experienced after the infection took over the world.
“Oh her, she’s mine, my personal property.” Bolt claimed Courtney. I was somewhat happy he hadn’t claimed me.
“Slavery is over. You can’t own people.” Nick retorted full of his usual bravado.
Bolt chuckled and I knew that chuckle. I hated that chuckle.
“I can do whatever I want to do.”
“No dude you can’t. Let her go. I got a gun and you got a gun. If you shot her I will shot you, so what’s it going to be?” Nick valiantly proclaimed. I was impressed with his heroism but I feared for his life more than my own.
“Wait a minute. I got this Browning and it looks like you got a Glock, impressive. What you got there Jesse?”
I was called out of my trance. I raised my Colt and aimed it at Bolt. He smiled. He wasn’t afraid of me or my gun.
“Let her go.” Nick barked with more authority.
Bolt fixed his eyes on me as he held on the Courtney. “Did you give her that gun?” He directed his inquiry at Nick.
“Yeah and I showed her how to use it.”
“That’s sweet but above you on the upper level I have a guy with an AK-47 pointed at you.”
Kait, Nick and I looked up. I knew he wasn’t bluffing. Above us, Bolt’s sidekick Bruce had an AK aimed down on our very location. There was no way for us to survive this. Bruce would make it rain bullets on us. I had just survived the infection and now I was going to be shot to death.
Bolt grinned. He had won whatever stupid game he was playing. Bolt removed his hand from Courtney’s waist and held her by her neck.
My eyes darted between Bruce and Bolt. My mind couldn’t conjure a peaceful resolution to our dire straits. Now that I think about it, it was impossible, unsalvageable straits.
“Jesse, I missed you but Bunny not so much.” With a speed that startled us all, Bolt raised his gun and BLAM! He shot Courtney at point blank rage. The barrel hit her temple and blasts a huge fraction of her face off. There was an awestruck pause while Kait, Nick and I processed the scene that played out before us. The gunshot was akin to the gunshot that marathon runners hear at the beginning of a race. Before Courtney’s body hit the ground we were off.
We all scattered in different directions. We took off for a death race. Nick ran backwards toward the JCPenney. Kait sprinted toward Carson Pirie Scott and my feet propelled me in the direction of Macy’s. I’m not sure if it was a smart idea to split off in different directions but we didn’t have time to confer with one another. I ran a long time without looking back. The only comfort was that I never heard another gunshot after the single round Bolt let off.
I had my Colt gripped so tightly in my hand that my fingers were cramping around the steel. I hit the corner where the pretzel store sat and I almost fell on my ass. My feet and brains were having a hard time working in tandem. I was trying to run and block the image of Courtney being shot in the head. The entire side of her face was blow off. Killing deadies is so completely different. They’re already dead. They’re just the shell of the human that once was. I know Bolt had to be a monster before the infection took over the world but now he is more than a monster. He is a cold blooded killer. There are barely many humans left but he has no qualms about killing what’s left of the human race. Bolt is dangerous for the living. He has to die.
My feet arrived at our camp. The first store I came to was the Sprint store. The gate was raised about three feet above the floor. I slide underneath without stoppin
g like I was sliding into first base. I was quickly back up on my feet and running for the back room.
Malik was sitting in a lawn chair watching a DVD on a flat screen TV.
“What the fuck!” Malik jumped to standing as soon as he saw me.
I was out of breath. “We got to get out of here.”
“Zombies?” Malik reached behind the flat screen and brandished a huge pistol. I was no expert but it looked like some kind of Smith and Wesson revolver. I didn’t know he had a gun. Does Nick know? I’ve been out of the loop for quite some time now.
“It’s not zombies. There are some guys out there.”
“Guys?” He looked confused.
“They just shot Courtney in the head. They’re trying to kill us?” The panic in my voice made it clear to Malik the urgency of the situation. “We got to get out of here and hide.”
“How many of ‘em?”
“I only saw three, Bolt, Wayne and --.”
“Hold up, you know these dudes?”
“Yes, no, they are killers. They kill humans. That’s what I know about them.”
“Where is everyone else?”
“The one named Bolt shot Courtney in the head. Me, Nick and Kait took off running. I don’t know where they are. Joe and Tailyn weren’t with us but they’re somewhere in the mall, probably the food court. I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave them in the mall alone. Kait doesn’t even have a weapon.”
“Fuck, okay.” Malik was disoriented by my overload of information.
“We got to get Doc and the others someone safe. They don’t know what’s going on.”
“Okay, let’s fuckin’ go!” Malik followed me under the gate and out the store.
My heart was beating a mile a minute. I wanted Nick to be safe. Bolt hadn’t come after me and deep down I knew he probably went after Nick. I was no threat to Bolt and his crew. He viewed all women as weak. He killed Courtney just because he could. I was sure he wanted to kill all our men. I hope Joe heard the gunshot and cautiously ran into the line of fire. Nick needs the backup and I’m not there.
The H&M store gate was shut all the way down to the ground. Malik and I raised the gate and ducked under it. We closed the gate all the way back down. There were lights in the back of the store. We could both hear voices coming from the fitting room so that’s where we headed. Our guns were drawn as we walked into the fitting room and into the open door of the large handicapped fitting room. We greeted Doctor Mark, Michelle and Brandon with our guns instead of a smile.
Michelle looked up from her two month old Vogue magazine. “What’s going on?”
“There are some other people in the mall with us.”
“Zombies?” Brandon asked as he stood.
“No it’s some bad guys with guns.” I clarified.
“What do they want?” Michelle asked and I wanted to reply, ‘how the fuck do I know’ but I refrained.
“They want to kill us.” I said flatly in an attempt to minimize the danger.
“Why?” Michelle asked and I just decided to ignore her like Nick usually does.
“You guys got to hide, while we figure out what to do.” Malik finally spoke up.
Doctor Mark stood. “Where is Kait?”
“I don’t know.” I reluctantly said.
“She was with you.”
“I know. We had to split up when those other guys shot Courtney.”
“They shot Courtney?” Brandon asked as he began to pace.
“Yeah, she’s dead. You guys have got to turn off all the lights and stay hidden in here. Me and Malik are going to go get Naveen and make sure all our cars are still out there.”
“We’re supposed to just sit here and wait?” Michelle and her many questions.
“We can’t leave the rest of the group here.” I said through gritted teeth. There was no way I would leave Nick. He never would leave me behind. He saved me the first day we met and I would die trying to save him. I owe him that much.
“I have to go look for Kait.” Doctor Mark put on his brave face.
“No, you stay here. I’m going to look for Kait.”
“She’s my daughter.” Doctor Mark stated the obvious.
“I know that but your son is here. We have to stick together. What happens if you get lost? Stay here and hide. I know you have a gun and I know you know how to use it. We will come back for you once we get the others.”
I took the silence as an opportunity to leave. Malik followed me out and we lowered the gate to H&M. We jogged over to Panera Bread. The gate was up but all the lights were turned down. I searched the back room and the kitchen. Malik checked behind the counter and the dining area. Naveen was not there. Now there are too many of us missing and scattered throughout the mall. I can only hope we don’t end up accidentally shooting each other. Malik and I had looked for Naveen and come up empty.
“He ‘aint here.” Malik said out loud.
“Yeah, let’s make sure the cars are still out by the dock. Then we go look for everybody.”
“We need to get the hell out of this mall.”
“We can’t just leave them.”
“Do you even have the keys to any of the cars?”
“Shit! Mark has the Escalade keys. Nick has the Camaro keys and Joe --.” I just stopped myself from delivering bad news.
“We can’t go no muthafuckin’ where without car keys.”
“Okay we’ll just go see if they slashed our tires or whatever and then we get the keys.”
Malik and I ran through Macy’s and we snuck out the dock door hoping not to find something or someone dreadful.
There was someone standing in front of the mail truck. They hadn’t heard the dock door open and they hadn’t turned to face us. They were just standing in front of the truck. I couldn’t see anyone else, just the one guy. I looked over my shoulder at Malik and he gave me the nod I needed to move me forward. Nick’s tattoo on his left forearm flashed in my mind. Non ducor duco, I am not led; I lead. I am a leader. I am badass. I am not a victim.
I inched closer to the guy in front of our truck. As I gained ground I could hear music. He had headphones in his ears, small earbuds. I glanced down. He hadn’t slashed our tires. I had raised my gun and I was just a few feet away from his head.
Feet turned into inches. “Don’t move motherfucker!” I said over the music. Then his Ipod went crashing to the ground. I heard it but I didn’t see it. I had my eyes and my gun trained on him. Malik had come from the other side of the truck and he had his revolver pointed at the right side of the guy’s head.
“Don’t shoot me.” The music lover’s voice sulked out in an unsteady falsetto. It was a voice I recognized. It was one of Bolt’s boys. It was the one that aided me in my escape. I didn’t know his real name. Bolt called him Tinkerbell or Tink. They all called him Tinkerbell because Tinkerbell was a fairy. Bolt and his bandits were homophobic bastards.
Tinkerbell slowly turned his face to look at me. “Jesse.”
“You know this muthafucka too?” Malik barked but never lowered his gun.
“Tink, what is Bolt doing here?” I asked hoping he would tell the truth.
“Scavenging, he doesn’t know you’re in here. He just told me to watch these cars as a precaution.”
“He knows I’m here. I saw him.”
“He didn’t kill you?” He asked with a glint of amazement.
“He killed Bunny. I got away.”
“Stop playing catch-up with ‘dis muthafucka. How many of you muthafuckas is in ‘dis mall?” Malik pressed the barrel of his gun to Tink’s temple. There was a little thud when the steel hit his skull.
I was impressed by Malik. I wish I had asked that important question.
“It’s only three of us. I mean four with me.” Tink stuttered in fear. I did believe him. I had only seen Bolt, Bruce and Wayne.
“Tink, bend down and pick up that Ipod. You’re coming with us.” I ordered.
Tinkerbell slowly retrieved the broken Ipod f
rom the ground. “Turn around and go in the door. Hands in the air.” Tink looked me dead in the eye.
“Put yo’ hands up before I blow yo’ muthafuckin’ head off.” Malik roared and I had my own personal hype-man.
Tink put his hands up and that’s when I noticed the gun in his waistband. Malik noticed it too and grabbed it and placed it in his baggy shorts pocket. We guided Tink to the dock doors and through Macy’s.
We took him into H&M and we were greeted with two guns pointed at us. Doctor Mark and Naveen had guns on us as we entered the dark back storage room. After everyone’s eyes focused we lowered all our weapons. All accept for Malik, he had his gun pointed at Tink.
“Who the fuck is this?” The doctor asked.
“He’s one of them.” Malik answered before I could. “Sit the fuck down.” Malik pushed Tink to the carpet.
“Why the fuck you bring him here?” Brandon asked a little too loudly.
“We couldn’t leave him out by our cars.” I snipped back.
“Get something to tie him up?” Malik delegated and Michelle was the first to move.
“Naveen where were you?” I asked.
Naveen moved closer to me I waited for his delicate voice. “I was just a few stores down when I heard a gunshot. I hid and then I came back to find everybody. That’s when I found out about Courtney.”
“Jesse, you didn’t see my daughter?” Doctor Mark was worried. I was also but I decided to keep my feelings under wraps.
“No, but I know she’s in the mall. I’m going to go look for Kait, Nick and Joe.” I had forgotten about Tailyn. I hadn’t mentally included her in our family of survivors.
“I’ll go with you.” Malik bravely volunteered.
“We don’t need to lose anyone else. They don’t even know you guys are in the mall. They know I’m here. They saw me and they will come looking for me.”
“I don’t care. I’m going.” Malik announced.
Michelle returned with a roll of duct tape. “This was all I could find.”
“That’s good. Do his ankles, his hands behind his back and his mouth.” Malik pointed with the barrel of his gun as he talked. “Jesse let’s go.”
I was the first one out and Malik was right behind me. I was overly confused by Malik’s bravery. He is such a lazy pothead. When did he start to give a shit about the safety of the rest of us? I’m an asshole for questioning his transformation. We all have changed. This world has changed us all and Malik is no different. I am not who I was and who knows what went on in the lives of the group before the infection flipped our lives and our sanity upside down.
Deadies: Book 1, 2 & 3 Page 21
