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墨書 Inktalez
In Jiang He's impression, the first floor of Joy Valley was always crowded. Except for the morning hours when the flow of people was relatively low, the afternoon to midnight was the peak time, especially with the KTV on the top floor, making business booming.
Reflecting back, Cataclysm had occurred two months ago. If mutated corpses were to roam here, the consequences would undoubtedly be extremely bloody. Most of the people here were young, and their reactions to emergencies were clearly inadequate. Once a Zombie burst through the door, the vast majority would perish.
Thus, what Jiang He feared most was whether the entire mall would be filled with rotting Zombies wandering about.
The two of them held their flashlights in front of them, casting bright beams into the distance, illuminating the empty game hall. Directly ahead were two dance machines splattered with blood. Following the bloodstains led to a corpse hanging on the basketball machine net, its upper body nearly devoured. Further inside lay a scene of chaos, with faint sounds of metal clashing coming from behind three rows of arcade machines.
Jiang He and Song Yao dared not approach to investigate further; they slowed their pace and headed toward the central escalator.
In the darkness, their breathing sounded particularly clear. The short distance to the Escalator made beads of sweat form on their foreheads. Fortunately, the Escalator made no noise as they successfully reached the second floor and began searching for the Knife Shop that Jiang He had mentioned.
The second floor was divided into four Commercial Areas: A, B, C, and D, arranged according to cardinal directions. Each area was connected by multiple passageways. The Planner's design ensured that no matter which passage you entered from, you would end up in another commercial area. The elevators leading down were cleverly hidden in corners. If one was unfamiliar with this place, it was easy to wander around for an entire afternoon without finding an exit. Safe passageways were hard to find; the Fire Department would not approve. This meant that if an accident occurred, it would be difficult for people to escape and would hinder rescue efforts by firefighters. However, in this day and age, most issues could be resolved with money. Additionally, consumers generally lacked any sense of crisis and instead enjoyed this winding shopping experience.
Area A mainly sold trendy clothing for men and women; B Zone was filled with stalls selling underwear; C Zone served as a resting area with a spacious food court; while D Zone was a hub for various creative crafts and ornaments. Outdoor gear shops were located at the connecting passage between Area A and D Zone.
Normally bustling with people, making movement quite inconvenient, it had now turned into a desolate area where progress remained challenging. Those who had shopped in such malls knew that apart from wall vendors with storefronts, other stalls were set up in the central hall for customers to browse. What once appeared vibrant now became obstacles blocking their path.
Jiang He and Song Yao were on high alert, moving very slowly; each step required them to thoroughly scan their surroundings with their flashlights. Due to the overall layout of the mall blocking moonlight from entering, they could only rely on the beam of their flashlights to navigate.
"Is it far?" Song Yao asked cautiously in a low voice.
"Almost there," Jiang He replied in a hushed tone, signaling for Song Yao to keep up.
They emerged from the elevator into B Zone, where there were more storefronts—small shop fronts offering mostly mid-range products. As their flashlight beam swept across the area, a shadow flickered past.
Jiang He felt a jolt and grabbed Song Yao's arm. "Someone's here!"
In the darkness, Song Yao's face was obscured, but a suppressed gasp escaped her lips. "Is it a living person?"
Jiang He shook his head and made a shushing gesture. He turned the meat cleaver in his hand and crouched down, moving cautiously toward the shadowy figure. Song Yao tensed up, squinting to focus on the beam of Jiang He's flashlight.
The two of them slipped past a stall, their flashlight beams illuminating the area—what a false alarm! The figure they had seen was merely a plastic lingerie mannequin. The flashlight had moved too quickly, causing Jiang He to mistake the shadow of the mannequin for a moving person.
Jiang He let out a sigh of relief and glanced back at Song Yao, grinning. "Want to grab a few pieces of lingerie?"
Song Yao shot him a glare before taking off her backpack and stuffing some items inside. The tense atmosphere began to dissipate; Jiang He stood guard while Song Yao played the role of an underwear thief.
Just then, Song Yao suddenly jolted, letting out a startled cry. Jiang He quickly turned around to see her sitting on the ground, the flashlight beam illuminating a row of collapsed shelves.
A horrifying, grotesque face emerged!
The owner of that face appeared to be a woman, her entire body trapped beneath the shelves. If Song Yao hadn't crouched down to scavenge, they might not have noticed her at all. The female zombie could only poke her head out, her cracked mouth opening and closing as her teeth clicked together, unable to reach the two living people before her.
Both of them felt a pang of sympathy as they looked on. A yellow name tag hung from the zombie's neck, indicating she had been an employee at the mall. It seemed she had tripped during an escape and ended up pinned beneath the shelves, likely witnessing in horror as her exposed skin was torn away piece by piece by other zombies.
With a sigh, Song Yao plunged the boning knife into the zombie's eye socket. The zombie emitted a faint sound from its throat before falling silent.
"Let's hurry; it looks like there are still zombies around here," Jiang He urged as he pulled Song Yao to her feet. They wasted no time and followed closely behind him as they dashed toward a side passage.
The connecting corridor between Zone B and Area A was lined with resting benches, littered with discarded trash and shoes that had fallen during the chaos. As they passed through, they were met with an astonishing sight: a large group of zombies roamed throughout Area A. Attracted by the sound of their running footsteps, one by one, the zombies turned toward the passage where they had emerged, staggering forward in pursuit.
"Run!" Jiang He shouted as he yanked Song Yao along with him, turning on his heel.
"Aren't we going to grab anything?" Song Yao asked breathlessly, still thinking about the weapons Jiang He had mentioned.
"Let's check the other passage; there are just too many of them!"
At this moment, they couldn't care less about disturbing other Zombies. The Horde of Zombies behind them had already burst through the passage, crashing forward in pursuit of the two. Zombies didn't dodge or maneuver; anything in their path was knocked over and sent sprawling to the ground. In an instant, the once silent mall erupted into chaos.
"This way!" Jiang He shouted as he toppled a shelf to block the relentless Zombies behind them, directing his flashlight toward a passage on the right. Song Yao took off running into it.
In the midst of the chaos, Jiang He quickly fished out a bottle of vodka from his backpack, hurriedly stuffing one corner of a towel into the bottle's mouth before igniting it in a rush.
"Get in!" Song Yao had already entered the passage and was pulling up the safety latch to close the door.
Jiang He turned back and hurled his makeshift Molotov Cocktail at the Horde of Zombies. The flames shot up into the air as he dashed into the safety door.
With a loud 'boom,' fire erupted behind the safety door, engulfing the roaring Zombies in its fiery embrace. Even so, a large number of Zombies, still ablaze, crashed against the safety door, bringing forth yet another wave of danger!
Jiang He was sweating profusely as he swept his flashlight left and right, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. It seemed they had inadvertently taken the right path; on one side of the passage was an outdoor supply store.
The safety latch wouldn't hold for long. Together, they piled rows of benches against the door, estimating it would hold for a minute or so before stepping into the store.
"If Zombies come out here too, we're done for," Song Yao said, wiping away beads of sweat as he closed the glass door of the outdoor supply store.
"Better to die with our heads up than to die face down," Jiang He replied.
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