the fire alarms were going of near one of the stores but Andy couldn't see what had caused it, the sprinkler system had kicked in making the floor slippery as hell, at least a human would have a better chance on the slippery surface than a zombie, Andy scanned the monitors frantically looking survivors he saw a young woman running down a section of the mall that looked clear but just as Andy reached for the Pa mic she rounded a corner and slipped, nearly instantly about 4 zombies jumped on her from the entrance of a nearby store, he couldn't hear anything but he could imagine the noise of her screams, they bought back painful memories. wiping his eye and y repeated the same message over the PA hoping that the survivors would listen and be safe until they could all come up with a plan.

Despite it being probably the most disturbing, gross and damn all out traumatizing vision to ever assault her eyes, next to the hospital world from Silent Hill 4, Izzy was actually glad to see the rotting corpses go up in smoke, but my fucking God was that smell so fucking horrible, the wretched odor of flesh and hair being immolated and the rather stomach churning sound of brains and spleens swelling gruesomely and popping like blood and slime filled balloons, splattering all over the walls and the nasty floor under her feet, not to mention the crack of bones overheating and snapping in half like twigs. The girl almost wanted to throw up the sesame chicken she had from the food court for lunch, actually that was a natural reaction to anything from the food court, but this grim and disgusting, not to mention horrific altercation was already enough to make her gag a little. "I think...uck...I think that's all of them." They were all dead, a pile of smoldering remains upon the floor that Izzy and Michael trotted over carefully. Who knows if one of those fucks could survive a firestorm as intense as that.

As they fled the scene however, Izzy started to notice a shift in Mike's earlier demeanor. At first, he was loving this shit, killing undead motherfuckers left and right, it was all some crazy-ass RL version of Dead Rising for him, but once all that was done and they smoked the zombie hordes coming for their asses, he started to fall into this....worry...this fear for something. His family, Izzy presumed, since really...she was starting to feel the same way. Mama...Papa....I really hope you guys are okay... Despite how much they argued, despite how many doors she slammed in their faces or how many snarky remarks she made of her mom and dad...they were still her familia, and she wouldn't want it any other way. I know I said some shit to hurt you, but I love you very much. Please...please be ok mi familia.... Trying to hold back her own tears, she turned to the gas masked zombie slayer behind her, pulling back to rest a hand on his shoulder. "Hey? You alright, man?" There was a crackle of static through the mall's PA, followed by what Izzy could tell was...another human's voice. So there were survivors after all.

"Calm yourself," Michael thought to himself. It was true he was scared as shit now, but letting that take him over wasn't going to do him or anyone else around him any good. If he had to treat this fucking apocalypse likea video game Iin order to survive, then he was going to do just that. It was easy, Michael often day dreamed of what it would be like to survive this type of stuff, so he might as well put it into use. This new chaotic world would fit him well... he would fit in it well...

A deep breath, and Michael readjusted the gas mask over his face.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm ok," Michael finally said in response to Izzy. He looked around him, taking note of the burning zombies. He and Izzy had done this, they both had gotten themselves out of an otherwise fucked situation like it was as easy as flipping a switch.

"So stop fucking worrying," he told himself. "Mom and dad are probably ok..."
Afterall, if anyone was going to fight back like a rabid animal to protect himself and his loved ones, it was dad...

Michael looked back to Izzy and nodded.

"Sorry about that. We should go, unless you want to grab a few more things from here. Try and find a gas mask if you want, it's good for keeping zombie gunk out of your face. That's what I was checking you for, the mucus glands are perfect places for viral entry and infection."

He could hear a voice over the intercom too. If there were more survivors, they would be trying to find the source too...

"Yeah," John said, walking inside. He waited for Jen to come in before closing the security gate behind them. "At least they won't be coming in that way," he said, looking around the store at the clean clothes.

Andy had to find some way to help the other survivors if there were any then it hit him, it was a long shot but maby just maby someone in the mall might understand morse-code, Andy checked all the monitors and there it was," the jewelry store he said, it had reinforced glass and hadn't been touched and now with the shutters down it was safe, he was still repeating his voice over the PA but now he was flipping the lights in the main walk ways, only 1 per walk way so it wouldn't put anyone at risk, "on...off...on...off" Andy said to himself as he signaled J-E-W-E-L-R-Y S-T-O-R-E, he hoped if they couldnt hear him somebody might understand his signals, so Andy sat repeting his words and with a finger on the "jewelry store" security gate, he prayed.

John had just finished closing the gate when he saw the lights. Oh my god! That was... what was it... MORSE CODE! He had learnt it a few years back in military history class. He was pretty sure it said jewelry store. That meant someone was messing with the lights. And if he had heard a voice on the intercom then that meant there was someone in the security room. "Jen I don't think we're the only ones alive!" John shouted as he pointed to the walkway

"Well..it's a good thing you know about medicine and shit." Izzy said to Michael. "I'll see if there's any left. If not, a bandana or something might work, right?" Back to the knife shop she went, again grimacing at the sight of those burned and mangled cadavers in front of the exit. Wow...I can't believe we did that. But they were just zombies, it was all in the name of survival that Izzy and Michael torched those sons of bitches and left their remains to rot away on the ground. But...before they were overcome by this horrid and dreadful disease...they were human...just like Izzy and Mike...and just like anyone else left alive in this mall. Jumping back over the counter, Izzy couldn't find any gas masks, or even any bandanas or something to keep the gunk off her face. What she did find however, brought a wicked smile to her face, "Oh hells yeah!" The mask practically screamed her name, beckoning her to put it on. So this is what Michael felt wearing a mask like his. It certainly made Izzy feel like a badass too, almost like she was bulletproof.

Returning to Michael with her new face-gear, Izzy began to notice...things once again going from creepy to downright screwed up. The lights began to flicker in a certain part of the mall, a walkway that led to the other side, not to mention...it was quiet...dead quiet, a lack of noise that caused the fine hairs on the back of Izzy's neck to stand straight, and her heart-rate pick up pace a little. Resident Evil was starting to feel alot like Silent Hill, as the mall to Izzy was beginning to mimic the Central Square Shopping Center, dirty, covered in blood, but vacant...and eerily quiet. "Come on, man. I think we're done here." She whispered hesitant to Michael. "We need to find everyone else. Maybe they're locked up in a store like we were. Who knows?"

Andy could see 2 other survivours near the comic book store but he couldnt tell if they were both male because one was wearing a mask, he only hoped that they knew enough to survive, he continued to signal to any survivous when he heard a slam againsed the door, it caught him off guard and he span 180* and grabbed his wrench from the couter top then he cautiously crept towards the door, "help meee" he heard from the otherside of the baricaded door, as Andy started to remove the baricade he paused.."are you hurt?" Andy asked in a worrying tone.."yea i need help, some crazy asshole bit me" the second he said those words Andy had the decision to make.

"Pshhh, holy shit," Michael laughed as he saw Izzy approach him with her mask of choice. The thing was completely badass, and on top of that it would serve the protective purpose Michael had in mind. He gave her a thumbs up before turning his attention to his dragon blade, brandishing it. Michael was instantly reminded of the assassin Daud, and immediately his adrenaline and quick thinking came rushing back. He and Izzy were two badasses, they were going to be unstoppable in this rising hell.

Walking down the malls girsly corridors, Michael noticed what had gotten Izzy nervous. Flickering lights. Along with the filthy walls, it seemed that sirens would start blaring any second to signal the approach of the Otherworld. He noticed something else though. Patterns. The flickering seemed to come in specific intervals.

"See the way they flicker on and off? Looks like a code, Morse code I'm guessing. Unfortunately.... I have no fucking idea how to decipher it."

Damn. English, Spanish, German, and some French under his belt, and Michael was getting stumped by lights. Typical.

"You have any idea what it-"

Michael suddenly pushed Izzy aside, out of the way of a zombie doing some hugging motion in an attempt to grab her. Shit. These things could be quiet. Thankfully though, Michael managed to shove this zombie away with enough force to knock it down. Unfortunately, there were more following this one.

"Well shit... come on, I think I heard voices this way."

Michael pointed to to a clothing store. He could make out two figures in the store, one of them pointing down a walkway.

(The guys he noticed are Jen and John by the way)

"man im so sorry but your infected i cant let you in" Andy said with a tear in his eye, "please man i can hear them coming!" the stranger shouted as he banged on the door, then Andy had a moment of thought that would be called inhumane but he realized if the man was going to die anyway he might as well put him to some use, Andy shoved the last of the blockage away and unlocked the door, the stranger stumbled inside and fell to the floor, "help me with this" Andy shouted ash he saw at least 3 zombies round the corner into the corridor.
The men locked and barred the door, and just as the man was about to speak Andy grabbed the man in a "triangle hold" until he passed out, when the man woke up he was taped by the mouth and securely fastened to the radiator in the corner, as the man squirmed Andy calmly said "look you are most likely infected and going to die so this will tell me how long it takes for you to turn, but if not i just saved your life.

Izzy was already expecting to hear radio static acting up and see Closers and Numb Bodies lurching down the hallway towards her, when in actuality that meant more zombies, which really was just as terrifying as the creatures of the Otherworld, but Izzy was sure she could take 'em on. She already felt a great boost in morale donning her choice of battle-gear, and with Michael by her side killing off the undead hordes, they were absolute killing machines...they had become Death...Creeping Death. Izzy certainly liked the sound of that too, another morale booster for her. Also it turned out there was something amiss with the lights, as Michael pointed out the sporadic on and off as more of a pattern. Morse code, but who was trying to signal them. Duh, another survivor. Unfortunately though, they both were shit out of luck, since Izzy couldn't tell what it meant either.

She was about to speak, when out of nowhere this hideous freak jumped at her, nearly sinking his teeth into Izzy had it not been for Michael pushing her out of the way, pulling off some kind of hugging maneuver to keep her from barreling into the wall and hurting herself. It was good that he cared at least, but if this was some ploy, well....he might be in for a surprise when he sees Izzy going starry-eyed over some really sexy chick or any chick for that matter. "Shit!" Was the only word she could seem to muster as she was jerked about before regaining her stature and taking a deep breath after that nasty jump-scare. Didn't expect that at all honestly. Finally cooled down, Izzy followed Michael over to the clothing store, already looking like Black Friday blew in along with the fucking apocalypse. Thank God though....more humans discovered.

John noticed two other survivors coming towards the store and he opened up the gate, just enough that they could slide through. "COME ON!" he shouted.

Andy looked into the eyes of the poor man held captive but he kept telling himself it was the only way, "at least this way you wont get ripped apart and become a target for those psychos" Andy smiled as he pointed to the screen showing the outside of the clothing store, He was happy that at least 2 other survivors knew how to dispatch our undead friends, he repeated his message once again and signaled with the lights, hoping anyone would get his message.

"I'll go look for stuff while you get them in. Then we can all head somewhere else." Jen said as she walked further into the store until she found the check out counter. She then looked through drawers until she found a flashlight. Jen took the flashlight and climbed up the escalator to the second floor. She silently walked through the dark until she reached the woman's section. She began looking around for some useful items.

Michael motioned for Izzy to start running. They were about to pull off some Battlefield 3 sliding trick, they kind of needed to in order to get through that small space the two survivors offered them. If they tried to army crawl through, the riled up group of zombies behind them woukd be eating their legs in no time.

1, 2, 3.... Michael managed to time the proper moment to drop and slide along the slick floors of the mall, right into the store the other two were in. He quickly stood up afterwards, again adjusting his gas mask as he gave a mock salute.

"Thanks for that..."

He looked the two people over. One of them was a guy that Michael had seen working at Hollister a few times days ago. John was it? He was pretty sure they went to school together. The other one was a girl... wow. At this point Michael was thankful he was wearing a gas mask. Other than keeping zombie stuff off of his face, it hid any expression he could have had. Were he not wearing the head gear, Michael probably would have looked like a dumbstruck idiot when he got a good look at Jen.

"Focus."

Michael wasn't about to become distracted so easily, especially while there were zombies beyond the gate while his new friend, Izzy, had yet to come through. He wheeled around to face the gate, ready to pull izzy through and stab any undead assholes through the face...

As Andy lit up a cigarette he smiled as he saw the game inspire floor slide that was just pulled of, "hey buddy if you survive your gonna meet one hell of a bunch of survivors ahahah" Andy was disguising his emotions by making joke with his new bound up friend, well Andy knew there were at least a handful of survivors now only if they could get his message they could work on a plan the phone in the jewelry store was a secure line meaning he could ring it from the controls room, but first they would have to get there, "slam slam slam" Andy guessed that their was at least 5 of the undead assholes at the door by now so his only escape would be outside assistance seeing as tho the vent he used to get in was to high up.

"No problem," John said to the guy in the gas mask. "Make sure none get through. I'm gonna go help Jen look for supplies!" he shouted as he ran up to the third floor and started raiding the cafe.

Andy saw 2 of the survivors head up stairs, he remembered he had left his nail gun cartridges and other tool belt in the cafe whilst he was repairing a dry wall, he flicked a single light on above the cafe servery section and only hoped they would realize the tools would be useful and if they ever met up he would get the cartridges, his plan was forming.

What the fuck was that idiot doing yelling like that?! Didn't he know that any sound whatsoever attracts zombies like files on shit? And sure enough, here they came, the festering and groaning throngs of undead mayhem heading straight for Izzy and Michael, all thanks to that asshole no less. "Oh fuck this!" Izzy loudly interjected. Immediately, she took off sprinting behind Michael across the floor, all while the groans and screams grew louder behind them. She could feel their hot, putrid breath against her neck while she ran for it, her eyes only dead on the store just inches from them. "Fucking book it, man!" She yelled, as the zombies were damn near killing distance from them now. One fuck up would be all Izzy needed and she was a goner, one more splatter of blood and gore against the white tile.

Still tailing behind her new friend here, she was able to execute the same slide under the gate, but a little too far in and hitting her head against a metal shelf. "Oww! Conjo! That fucking hurt!" Izzy groaned, making sure the back of her skull wasn't fucking caved in and bleeding like stink, but thankfully no damage done, except for a major throbbing where her head impacted with the damn thing. She looked up rubbing the back of her head, and once she made eye contact with one of the survivors....she had a feeling she probably died and went to heaven. This girl, she was...in Izzy's most honest opinion of her....she was hot! Ooh damn...me gusta mucho... If this were anime, Izzy's nose would be spraying blood right now. Quickly, she got up and dusted herself off, removing the ballistics mask she stole from the knife store before introducing herself...mainly to this ravishing beauty. "Eh...hola. I'm Izzy." Wait....was she blushing? Oh shit....

It didn't take Michael long to make a few assumptions. A pretty attractive girl and a guy who worked at Hollister, a rather cliche couple one would find in movies.

"Ha, frigging typical," Michael laughed to himself as he waited by the gate. He had to admit, he kind of wanted for some zombies to get through. He wanted to hear the disgusting yet satisfying noise of his new blade stabbing through flesh and bone. It was quickly growing on him, killing zombies and all...

Shit... it was growing on him too quickly. He had enjoyed killing the zombies back at the weapons store just as much as he enjoyed watching Izzy slice off their arms and then send the undead bastards ablaze. It was okay though, right?

"I mean... they're not even human anymore... who gives a shit then?"

Izzy had gotten through as Michael thought to himself, prompting him to slam the gate shut and maybe... take a few more headstabs at the zombies against the gate.

"Haha! Assholes."

He quickly walked away from the gate to meet up with the others.

"Glad ya made it," Michael said cheerily to the now unmasked Izzy. Her face was red, but Michael assumed it was from the running.