Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

It only took all of us a short moment to exhale a little bit of air to change the expressions we were wearing. It was like a switch we would flick the moment we would start placing a foot in the grave, taking down anything in order to pull it back. These few months felt longer than they should but the feeling was always the same when we're outside.

I just pulled my blade and my pistol, "Go."

We dashed down and broke off into our specific spots, clearing each stall along the way. We were currently on the 3rd floor but it didn't take long before we were getting ready to blitz the 1st floor from both sides. Leaving a member from each of our team on the roof, the 3rd floor, and the 2nd floor would lessen our firepower by a chunk but to quote Harold, 'We're enough.'

'More than fucking enough.'

Mikhail and I pushed down two loaded refrigerators straight down the escalators.

They slid down with force as they went for a few meters, pushing over the deadheads gathered around the escalators. Over a dozen bodies got swept away but a few got crushed the moment the refrigerators slammed on the concrete pillars. However, our little game wasn't over because we pushed more refrigerators on one side, slamming into more rotten bodies and creating a small divide because of how they lined up almost perfectly.

"GO! GO! GO!"

Kaley lined up a shot and took out biters one after the other before I jumped down ahead of everybody. I used the central structure between the escalators as a slide to hasten the process while Tatiana followed right behind me. Ibarra and Marina were trailing by running down the non-moving stairs but I just heard Mikhail's PKM locking and loading.

The dead were further divided by a rain of bullets while they were getting surgically targeted from one side. Almost every deadhead in the vicinity turned their heads to face us but another commotion came from the other side. Several explosions came one after the other and the undead on the first floor couldn't figure out where to give chase.

I wouldn't spend a fraction of a second to think about what they were gonna do next as my blade was already halfway to a dead manager's face. I lopped the top of its head off with parts of its eyebrows while a knife made its way to a fast-food employee's ear lobe. Tatiana just pulled it out before throwing it with force to a deadhead missing half its jaw.

We were advancing in the counterclockwise direction while Kaley was taking care of the ones coming from behind us. It was then that Mikhail made his way down, playing whack-a-mole as he stood above the refrigerators. Skulls were getting crushed and bodies were getting dismembered but the same sound as us was being produced from Ibarra and Marina's side.

Tatiana went ahead of the moment she brandished her sword and I caught a glimpse of what Ibarra and Marina were doing. Ibarra was the one fanning out opposite us while Marina was bridging the gap between our formations. Ibarra was doing well with his spear but he had to chuck it off to pin down a sprinter coming for him so he had to use his rifle.

Flashes of light came one after the other, following the same pattern as the one from above.

Kaley was now in the middle of the escalator, sending shots near my vicinity. It was dangerous, to say the least, but a bullet dangerously brushing past me was the least of our concerns.

More and more deadheads came from the outside because the walls we made didn't take into account the walkways around this mall. The ones that survived from last time came with a vengeance and several stitched-up deadheads came with them. They were a few sizes larger because of their armor and it was definitely time for some strategic retreat.

"TATIANA!!!"

"I GOT IT!!!"

"YOU TWO, KEEP IT TIGHT!!!"

"ROGER!!!"

"YES, BOSS!!!"

We've already made progress from the short moment we were down but we took several steps back so we could see everything much clearer. Once we got a general idea of where they were coming from, we simultaneously raised our rifles and fired incessantly. Their numbers thinned significantly but the stitched-up fuckers were soaking up more bullets than necessary.

I wasted half a magazine of bullets just to take one down because firing at the spot where the main head should be located proved to be not as effective as I thought. The cartridge might be tumbling into different skulls before reaching it but I couldn't be 100% sure. My first target was a deadhead that was top-heavy with several heads hanging like grapes and the time it took to put it down was longer than anticipated.

We had to retreat to the escalator before chucking a couple of grenades at the others and we saw them blow up into several pieces. The ones behind them fell like puppets but the main concern just shifted to our problem earlier. A small crisis was averted but snarling figures and crooked claws coming for us didn't stop.

The first floor was still infested with the dead and we needed to clear it as fast as possible. More and more deadheads were coming from the food court while a few were spilling out from the arcades. The arcades were closer to Artem's side but it seemed like several grenades were thrown in that direction. Bits and pieces of rotten parts were flying along with debris after the explosions, but the dead seemed neverending.

We got yanked back to the same place as earlier and all we could do was dig down and repeat the same routine as earlier.

"SAME PLAN! SAME PLAN! IBARRA!!! HELP MIKHAIL WITH TH-"

"ON IT!!! WHAT THE FU-"

Half of a torso came flying after another murderous swing came from Mikhail. His axe-hammer landed on one of the refrigerators we pushed down and it would be better off in the scrapper than to be repaired. With that said, the other half of the deadhead Mikhail murdered was still standing for a few seconds before it plopped with the rest of the bodies he took down.

I could hear gunshots coming from all sides but I had to reload because I just ran out of bullets. However, I had no time to do it so I just resorted to just switching with my Maxim 9 and then to my TX-22 at close range. It was quicker to switch guns compared to reloading them and I had a few dozen bodies by my feet the moment I was done. The small holes in their heads were leaking a viscous fluid but the problem right now was space.

"COVER ME!!!"

Tatiana and Marina closed the distance between me while I reloaded my guns. They gave me a few precious seconds and I even let my magazines fall on the floor. There was no time to nitpick with grime getting into them as I decided to get back into action. As I looked to my right, Ibarra and Mikhail were doing a great job of keeping the deadheads that were trying to go over the refrigerators to the other side, but they were running out of space.

The radius we could move freely was getting smaller and smaller so we decided to do something… normal.

We ran back up the escalator and sealed it before heading towards the spiral staircase for a quick rest and reset. Kaley handed me a few extra magazines she had on her pack while sharing a few boxes of 9mms with everyone. An ammo can that Lois brought down after a short call was eventually opened and it contained cartridges my group prepared for themselves. We quickly replenished our supplies and after wiping our handhelds, we unsealed the staircase and headed downstairs.

Artem and the rest were still busy from the other side of the mall but as soon as we went down, a few clusters were still gathered by the escalator we were in earlier while a few had already gone in the opposite direction. They were either slowly swaying as they walked or had their crooked hands stretched in front of them. Mikhail and I mowed them down while Marina and Ibarra fanned to the side.

Tatiana was still by the escalators with Kaley, waiting for the right time to take action. We only needed to lure the deadheads away from the escalator and we would have two access points to take care of them. Tatiana was agile enough to push a breakthrough even more with the help of Kaley giving her cover. I was back to using my blade and my pistol and I had a better time maneuvering at an area with fewer bodies littering the floor.

I cut down a zombie wearing a mesh suit that had started to be one with its leathery flesh but a VW Beetle suddenly came from the other side of the mall, mowing down anything that crossed its path.