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Post by JazzBuddah on Nov 19, 2008 8:42:43 GMT -5
This mall is the largest mall in the entire United States. The mall is four stories tall and has 4.2 million square feet in space. This structure has over 900 stores including an indoor theme park. After the outbreak people came in from the streets to take shelter and take advantage of the supplies that awaited them inside. The mall could not keep the creatures out forever and soon a unique BOW known as Plant 42 entangled and overrun the entire complex forcing many of the survivors to flee. The building still holds many treasures that were undiscovered by its previous occupants but perils do await anyone who enters.
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Post by JazzBuddah on May 4, 2010 0:58:53 GMT -5
The Hellecopter cut through a foggy dawn that covered the city like a blanket. Only the tops of the highest buildings were visable but the light refused to reflect off the broken and unkept windows. Elenor seemed a bit nervous and over-whelmed to Holland. He was more tired himself who had been flown in directly from Rome where he had recieved his orders. When the chopper finally touched down he got out and made clear of the blades. It was soon aparent why as he stood a good 7 feet while stretching. He tapped the roof twice with his toe.
"Solid Earth, though his spirit guids me I grow weary of such modes of transport." He said with a deep Irish accent. Taking the giant cross hanging from his neck he turned the top revealing a set of holes. He began to swing it and chant releasing insence into the air. "I fear nothing shall clense this building but swift justice." He then pulled out two customized desert eagles and breathed in the aroma.
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Post by NotAvailable on May 4, 2010 1:08:52 GMT -5
Eleanor had stepped out of the helicopter, raising a hand over her eyes and squinting, looking about at their surroundings. They were standing ontop of a mall and the all too familiar sounds of the undead had been drifting through the now, silent, air. She stepped toward the edge, putting her hands over the cement railing and looking down into the crowds of undead gathering below.
She frowned, her brown hair being pushed behind her ear with one hand. Glancing back, she watched Holland chant near the center of the roof then quickly returned her gaze at the undead in the parkinglot. She knew they were going to be gathering supplies before locating her husband. The priest was a little unorthidoxed, but he was still someone to help find her loved one.
"Um...don't you think it's gonna be a little...crowded inside the mall? I don't have enough ammunition to get through much, Holland..." she said quietly as he finished his chants.
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Post by JazzBuddah on May 7, 2010 16:07:18 GMT -5
"You must know the field of battle before taking the first step child. During the original outbreak this place was used as a haven and military strongpoint. For one rason or another it was over-run but the essentail equipment lay waiting for us inside." At that moment the chopper took off. "Besides, you have walked past the point of no return. You do want to find your lost love yes? So first we arm ourselves to wage war on these heathens and head for the hotel sweet inside." Walking up to the doubledoors he found it very decretive with two large panes of glass making a large window to the inside. Three zombies were standing dormant.
"Sloth is one sin I cannot stand." He said smilint and extending his guns. "That AND being an undead servant of hell." Three shots from the hand cannons hit there mark on the stationary targets, the massive bullets cleaning the heads right off each of the zombies shoulders. It wasn't till a moment later that the glass shattered and fell. He turned back to Eleanor. "So, how far are you willing to go for the one you love?"
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Post by NotAvailable on May 7, 2010 23:12:11 GMT -5
Eleanor listened intently to Holland speak and then watched him completely destroy three zombies and a set of glass, double doors. She held the strap of her rifle over her shoulder, clenching her fists over it. "Willing to go through hell and back, obviously," she said cautiously moving into the building. There was a long stretch of a hallway painted ivory and teal. There was some thick pipes running up and down the ceiling and walls, a few sets of doors and from what she could make out far off, a staircase.
She walked forward with the priest behind her, taking passing glances back and fourth at the blood stained walls and the flickering lights inside. There weren't anymore undead so far, so it was pretty quiet and slightly comforting to know she wasn't being threatened.
As they made it to their first door, she played with the handle, finding it was locked. She went for the next door and turned the knob, a click, and the door creaked open. It was only a broom closet with chemicals and cleaning tools. When they walked to their next door, it ahd been torn off it's hinges and several bodies were sprawled about in a bloody mess.
One corpse had been lying ontop of the other in such a way it almost looked like they died protecting the other. Another corpse had been slumped up against the wall, flaps of skin on it's face that looked like it was barely holding itself together. Then the other body that laid near the door had a shotgun in it's grasp and his head was completely missing. Eleanor had felt tears build up in her eyes, bringing her trembling hands over her mouth.
She had taken notice that there were spent shells scattered amongst the bodies. She knew the shotgun would probably be beneficial, but she couldn't bring herself to touching something that helped murder innocent people. Not even in this serious situation.
"Why would anyone...?" she said breathless.
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Post by JazzBuddah on May 8, 2010 12:26:26 GMT -5
Holland walked up and slowly pushed her aside. "His actions were noble, though the church looks down upon suicide." Grabbing the shotgun it took some time to rip it out of his hands. "The church says, however, there is a difference between suicide and taking action to prevent ones'self from commiting murder as a member of the undead." He knelt down and found a box of shells and handed them to her. "This is a test of faith and love my dear. No-one said that it was going to be easy." After handing the gear to his new partner he found a key-ring snd ripped it off the victems belt. "This should prove handy Come now child, it is time for action, not regret."
Walking north through the long hallway he spotted a wide staircase heading to what appeared to be a food courte of some kind. Undead were spotted in various locations. It wasn't a horde but at the same time there were enough that they couldn't just run past. The count was about 14 for a 30 yard floorplan. He looked back. "So, do we lay down vengence or try a less direct approach? I exist as the right hand of the ach-angel, what I know is how to battle the wicked. I must admit I never really went into a situation with a particular plan. Whatever you feel is safest and most to our benifit I will support.
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Post by NotAvailable on May 10, 2010 21:00:20 GMT -5
Eleanor had taken the shotgun and the box of shells. She winced when she put the box of ammunition away in her bag and saw some blood around the handle of the weapon. It had smeared all over her palm, forcing her to quickly wipe it away on her pants. When she listened to Holland explain it wasn't all that bad, she nodded in acknowledgment.
Upon descending a wide staircase, there was a food court with atleast 14 undead staggering around. Some were standing around, wobbling side to side and other slumped on the ground, looking around while the remaining trudged around, arms extended.
From where they stood, had she'd not smelled them, she'd probably think they were a group of intoxicated men and women. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Holland had asked what her course of action was. It really all depended on how much ammo they had stored away, but seeing as they could possibly scavenge for more in a sporting good store, then maybe it was alright to take a few out.
"I have some rifle rounds, the shotgun rounds and two clips. I think we can get rid of a few of them. The ones that try to get in our path...that sounds good, right?"
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Post by JazzBuddah on May 15, 2010 13:22:07 GMT -5
He thought for a oment letting his fingers graze his stubble. "I suppose we have to face the demons sooner or later. However the noise will wake up every walker in this cursed building. He held up his two Eagles. "Follow close behind me child. Do not stray from the path I will lay with the blood of the d@mned." Taking some deep breaths to phyche himself up he tirled away from their cover. Darting forward he chose thier path and approached a single standing drone furiously. The second the ghoul noticed him Holland raised up his steel toed boot planting it into its face. Stepping forward the scull was crushed beneath his feet as he brought his two pistols at point blank range of two zombies. Quickly pulling the tringer an explosion of gore shot out like fireworks. This caused the others to take notice. Holland soon found himself blocked by a table and surrounded by a handful of walker. "Lovely." Reaching down he grabbed the table and used it to push four zombies into the railing patially clearing a path to the escolators. "Show them what you got las."
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Post by NotAvailable on May 15, 2010 17:27:14 GMT -5
Eleanor had followed behind Holland as instructed, blasting a bullet through one's forehead as it attempted to jump on her. She knocked another one back with her firearm and managed to blast another bullet inbetween it's eyes before it hit the floor. Holland cleared a path toward the elevators, leaving four zombies darting after the duo.
One grasped her from behind, trying to bite into her shoulder, but Eleanor threw herself back, slamming it and herself into a wall. This confused it, forcing it to let go and fall haphazardly onto the ground in a slump. Another had gained entry from ahead, Eleanor not wasting any time, fixed her aim at the undead and shot what was left of it's jaw, off, then slammed the butt of the gun into it's temple.
She spun around on her heel as the corpse behind her tried to get back up, shooting another round off into it's face. The other two had been slipping on the blood of the fallen undead, unable to get up and pose much of a threat. She took the advantage to holster her sidearm and smash the butt of the shotgun into the back of their heads, the impact powerful enough to destroy the soft, rotting, skulls.
"Alright, let's keep going!" she said, adrenaline pumping through her.
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Post by JazzBuddah on Jun 2, 2010 16:22:48 GMT -5
"Don't have to tell me twice." He said still pushing the undead against the rail. Aiming down he shot off two bars on either side causing the railing toi give way sending four undead free-falling down to the next floor. "How bothersome." He mumbled. Lo0oking down the escalator he spotted a line of ghouls now stirred by the ruckus. "Follow behind me. From the inside of his coat he drew a broadsword with a cross engraved in the handle. "I have dealt with these creatures since I could walk. My family was intrusted in the supression of the unholy Ashford beasts years before Racoon city." Without warning he rushed down the escalator face forward with sword drawn. Upon reaching the first zombie he impated it with his sword and blew off his head. The rest of the way down he used the scewered body to block oncoming attacks and shot bullets through it's rotting body until he hit the ground floor. Once he reached the bottom he began looking for an opening as well as the direction towards the armory.
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Post by NotAvailable on Jun 11, 2010 1:50:15 GMT -5
((Sorry sorry! I'm drowning in RP messages!))
Eleanor stayed close behind Holland, wincing as he skewered through an undead and used it as practically a meat-shield. It wasn't anything she was used to seeing but it worked out pretty well. She couldn't see much of what was happening infront of them since she was behind the towering man. All she knew could make out were bodies that lied before them while moving passed them.
When crossing the mall grounds, Eleanor had taken notice that the crowds that she'd seen had began thinning out into small little groups of roamers. Some of them hadn't even noticed their presence up at this point. She took the safe time to reload her rifle, sidearm and her recently picked up shotgun since the last spent rounds were...well...they were elsewhere and used by someone other than herself.
"Oh, hey! Look, there's the food court, maybe we should stop there and see if there's any water or maybe some canned goods," she suggested, pointing at one of the shops.
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Post by Rhinn on May 2, 2011 13:31:34 GMT -5
[Entering from City Streets]
Jake jumped and caught the fire escape in his hands and pulled himself up to the stairs that led up the side of the 4 storied Mall of America. He was in Minnesota now and the cold outside was a blessing and a curse. The colder it was, the slower the virus running through his veins would move. This meant that he felt more human and controlled himself better. The flipside to that was that the undead, now really saw the human side of him and they tried to attack him. Also, his enhanced abilities would shut down as well.
Just as well, thought Jake, climbing to the roof of the mall. I didn’t ask for this crap to be done to be anyway. Once I get ahold of that Colonel, I’ll rip him a new one. He continued to climb until he reached the top. Hopping over the edge, he had his M16 in his hands ,reading to shoot. Jake had gone back to paramilitary clothing. It was just like his marine uniform, except that it was all in black. Other than that, he felt right at home and all his equipment was right where it should be.
It was getting colder outside and Jake knew that he had to get indoors. He made his way over to rooftop doors that were used by the maintenance crews and jerked them open. Inside, it was eerily silent. Slowly he made his way into the mall, shutting the door behind him. His steps echoed off the metal stairs as he descended into service and electrical areas of the mall. As he neared the door, he found a large directory posted on the wall. It showed every shop in the mall, floor by floor and also where the backdoor access tunnels were that only authorized personnel could use. While he knew that the dead had to be roaming around in there, they would not amount to the number of walkers out in the public areas.
He grabbed the map off the wall and stared at it. On the 4th floor, there was a hotel and several shops, along with a sporting goods store. That was just what Jake needed. He could pack up on cold winter gear, clothes, supplies and hopefully ammo. If not, then he’d just keep looking. At the first outbreak, Jake knew that the military used this building as a supply depot of sorts, so there was a good bet of military equipment and machinery still here.
He opened the door, taking caution to listen for any movement and then looked around. Across the floor, he could see the sporting goods store. It was locked up tight, with the rolling gate locked in the down position. It had blood smeared on the metal grate and he noticed evidence of a few bodies that had met their demise there. He could picture the scene. People racing to the sports store for ammo and weapons to find out that they were locked out. They turned back the way they came and were mauled.
The gate wouldn’t bother Jake… he was planning on coming in from the ceiling. He backed into the service door and shut it as forms began to move across the floor. There were a lot of them, but enough to give him problems. Walkers… from elderly people to little kids, had become infected in the mall left to wander their undead days away. Jake wanted to shoot them, put them out of their misery, but that would only attract more.
Backing up the stairs, he found the overhead ventilation shaft that ran above the floating ceiling. It was also take him to the support beams that held up the vaulted ceiling. While Jake could go the long way, from store to store, patience wasn’t his strong suit. So he found a door and opened it, stepping out onto the support beams that were as tall as he was. Slowly, making sure his footing was stable, he slowly but steadily made it across the deep cavern that was the 4 story mall. He stopped in the middle and locked his legs around the support beam, and leaned back on one. He had never been afraid of heights and his time in the military helped as well. Reaching into a pocket, he drew out a small package that was wrapped in foil. Opening it, he pulled out one of the Pop Tarts and bit off a bite. He was happy that it was strawberry and took another bite. Then he pulled out a water bottle and drank from it.
Taken out of context, he looked like a construction worker taking a break on a high-rise construction. Finishing off the pop tart he let the foil drop to the ground. Wiping his hands he grabbed the beam and made his way to the other side. He found another access panel and opened it up. He pulled out his sidearm, a Glock 23 with a tactical light and shown the light inside.
Nothing moved so he climbed inside and shut the door. If it came to it and he was going to be here for a while, he would sleep back out on the beams for safety. He had arrived above the sports store and made his way over to the access panel. Popping it off, he dropped into the sports store. In one hand, he had his pistol and in the other he had his K-Bar. Moving slowly and methodically, he searched out the store, looking for zombies first, then survivors… then equipment.
EDIT 05/04/2011 -
Jake was beginning to realize that with the gate down, there wasn’t many ways for the undead and the living to get in. In all, he found zero survivors and only 5 undead. They all wore the blue and white polo shirts that designated them as employees. Three had been wandering around the racks, knocking them over and stumbling around, while the other two were in the office. Jake fired one round into each of their brains, killing them. Once he was certain there were no other dangers, he wrapped his arms in heavy jackets and then drug them all to the office. Before shutting the door, he rummaged around the office. Though he didn’t like to think he was stealing… ownership of property nowadays was determined by if you could keep it. He managed to find the small safe and removed the deposits of cash that were inside. Then he shut the office door.
With the survivors and zombies out of the way, he was able to spend the better part of two hours looking through the merchandise in the store. Gone were the nice neat rows of clothing and equipment. Now, most of it was jumbled together. He found outdoor clothing and rummaged around until he found a couple of insulated pants with cargo pockets on them and a hunter’s coat. Glove and a facemask rounded out the collection. Then he loaded up on socks, underwear, another pair of hiking boots, and various other clothing needs. One tended to forget about undershirts and socks, but it was nice to have extras that weren’t pulled off a dead body.
Next he went to the camping gear and grabbed three sleeping bags and two hammocks. It would be difficult to move everything at once, but he had a plan for that. Then he gathered a few blankets with his growing pile of goodies.
The next section he went to was the hunting knife section. This had been picked fairly clean but there were still a few knives there. He tossed those on the pile. Out of the camping equipment, the only thing that he found useful was bottle of purification tablets and some MRE’s. Spending enough time in the military he had grown used to that sort of food. Gathering all his stuff into the corner, he then made his way to the climbing gear. He took down some rappelling gear and rope. His pile was getting to be large, but there was still one more section to look through.
When he got to the hunting section, he was disappointed in what he saw. Most of the guns were either gone, or broken. While there were a few shotguns and rifles that were intact, most were either broken, or were bent, like an angry mob had tried to wrench them from their locked racks. The handguns were gone, cases smashed. Ammo boxes were scattered all around as people, in their panic, had dropped them and not been able to recover them. This is where Jake spent most of his time.
He finally found a Ruger Mini 14. He was able to use his crowbar to break the locks holding it on the rack. Then he spent the next 30 minutes searching for enough ammo for it and found 2 boxes of .223 under the counter. Then he spent another 20 minutes hunting down a scope and attaching it to the rifle. Slinging it over his arm by the strap he looked at his pile of crap and smiled. Tomorrow, he could get most of this back down to his HumVee and pack it away.
Edit 05/05/2011 –
Jake sat back, looking at the sky through the glass ceiling of the Mall of America. The stars were beautiful; Jake had not just sat and looked at them in the longest time. This was one of the positive outcomes for the T-Virus outbreak… people tended to not take the little things for granted. The sun had set over an hour ago and the Mall had grown still, though the moaning of the undead filled the air. Jake had known people who went crazy listening to the incessant moans, but it didn’t bother Jake… he had earplugs.
The last 3 hours, Jake had been busy and now he laid back and relaxed, eating some of his ration bars and reading a magazine by the light of his flashlight. The swinging motion from his hammock was soothing and he knew that sleep was close by.
For the last three hours Jake had been reorganizing his stash. First he put all the small item in his backpack. When he realized that they wouldn’t fit, he grabbed another one and filled it up. Then he packed up his larger items in the sleeping bags, rolling them up and tying them shut with some of the rope. Then he took one of the hammocks and exited the store back out onto the support beams and attached the first hammock to it and then went back and grabbed the second one and did the same. Now both of his hammocks hung out over a 4 story drop.
Then he lost count of how many trips he made back to the store to get his wares, but slowly he moved them from the store to one of the hammocks. On his last trip, he hooked up the harness to himself and then climbed back out, shutting the hatch. Making his way over to the empty hammock, he tied the rope through the harness and tied it off on the support beam. That way if he rolled off the hammock in the middle of the night, he wouldn’t fall to his death. Then he crawled into the hammock and read his magazine, alternating between an old article about Justin Bieber and watching the sun set. When the light was too far gone, he used one of the hand cranked flashlights to finish the article and when that lit when out, he sat back, looking at the stars.
Slowly, sleep grabbed him and sucked him in and he pulled the blanket around him and fell asleep.
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Post by humiliated on May 8, 2011 22:46:54 GMT -5
<<out of character: I AM SO SORRY. I just finished my finals Saturday. Next post will be of better quality, promise.>>
Charlie’s trip south, heading down from Grand Rapids had inevitably taken her to Minneapolis and Bloomington, though the infection still hadn’t been half as bad when she arrived. It was interesting to see how the city’s contingencies towards another zombie attack failed so quickly, if not a little suspicious. Though honestly she didn’t really have time to care or play detective since any hopes of getting that degree for journalism were now null and void.
She inherently distrusted the band of survivors she had joined, if only because of the shifty behavior of the self-appointed group leader. The others were too naïve, too young, or too eager to bash brains in, to be people she could see surviving. They had only gotten so far because of Phillip, who really wasn’t so bad if you ignored the way he thought he was God’s gift to everyone, and his idea to go to the Mall of America for supplies and shelter wasn’t so bad, if only it wasn’t a tourist trap. He did, however, have on good word from his cousin that worked in one of the sporting goods stores that that place at least was safe, and with a group this size, what was the chances of the zombies taking them out? Sound logic, though she was really in it for the bullets. She had already used up two clips of ammo, and her faithful baseball bat had a dent in it from all the aggressive bashing she had been doing and was looking to invest in a new one.
They had been in for a surprise at the sheer immensity of infected in the bottom floor of the mall. It felt like everyone in Minneapolis had decided the Mall of America was the perfect hiding spot and then were promptly infected and half eaten. And here was a group of dumbasses standing at the entrance, all zombie eyes on them, rich moans filling the air. Then Phillip, the little coward, ran off, and the group fell apart, bereft of a leader and incapable of handling the situation. Charlie had the decency to stay with the group as they fought their way up the stairs, until the only ones left were her and a teenage girl, May, bitten in the shoulder and terrified of turning. Charlie was able to lock up in an empty bathroom, the girl staring at her with innocent blue eyes and Charlie bit the inside of her cheek.
“I don’t want to become one of them.”
Then the girl started crying and Charlie couldn’t stop her heart from clenching sharply as she pulled the poor thing into her arms. She was young enough to have been just a little girl during the first outbreak and she was pretty sure the girl probably had been protected throughout the entire time. Charlie didn’t consider herself a humanitarian in the slightest, but she did know when things needed to be done. She hummed an old lullalby, stroking the girl’s hair until she stopped crying and though of Mari.
“You’ll be fine.”
May’s lungs had stopped working and there was no solid heart beat. It was only a matter of time. She put a bullet through her head. Emotionally drained, Charlie set the body down and moved to the sink, washing her hands and her face before slumping against the wall and falling asleep.
When she woke up again, night had fallen. Zombies were always more active at night, but she was on the third floor and there was a service elevator just outside the bathroom. If the sporting goods place was as safe as Phillip promised it was, and if there was the slightest hope of ammo, it was worth the risk. Charlie was an odd kind of grateful that it was just her; the excursion would be much easier and efficient, if everything went to plan. She chuckled sardonically at the amount of ifs she was depending on, but there was only so much she could hope for. She planned on returning back to the bathroom if things didn’t work out at the sporting goods store and she dragged the poor body of May out, settling it against the wall. The infection had made the body inedible for the zombies, so the body could enjoy whatever sense of peace she could gain. Entering the service elevator, she pressed the fourth floor button, getting ready for whatever zombies would be waiting for her inside the hall to the bathrooms. Thankfully there were none and she dodged her way through the moderate number of zombies that scattered the fourth floor to the sporting goods store on the other side. She passed Phillip’s body on her way over, snorting a little at the irony before shaking her head. She put a bullet through the brain, an act of decency, before continuing across the catwalk.
It was the sight of mutilated bodies piled by the sealed door of the sporting good store that broke her. None of the bodies were even recognizable as once being human, just a pile of flesh and gore, and she felt nauseous. This wasn’t supposed to happen again, this wasn’t supposed to be real, god damn it. How anyone could let this happen was beyond her; locking these poor people out was inhumane. She glared at the door and hammered on the door with her bat.
“You BASTARDS! LET ME IN!”
The commotion stirred up the few zombies around and she kicked the door once before getting ready for the shuffling walkers heading towards her. In afterthought, maybe screaming hysterically wasn’t the best way to handle her problems, but she was tired, and Jesus Christ, this place was supposed to be safe. Giving the door one last look of resentment, she turned towards the zombies and mentally steeled herself for the journey back to the bathroom.
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Post by Rhinn on May 8, 2011 23:55:41 GMT -5
Jake had heard the battle the night before down below, but from his perch there wasn't much he could do. Gunfire, alot of screaming and crying and then silence... followed again by the incessant moaning of the undead. Being on the 4th floor, there wasn't anything he could do, so he just watched and waited. He thought they were all dead, so the next day he spent the day, tightening up his gear and then using the scope on the Mini -14 to look around the mall.
Down on the first floor, in between the rollercoasters and stores, the floor seemed to be a mass of undead walking around. Also, there was some sort of plant that seemed to had taken over most of one corner. Whenever an undead got close to it, the vines would snap out and rip it apart, pulling the pieces into it's gullet and then spitting it out. To Jake, it looked like the Sarlaac he had seen on Return of the Jedi.
That made him not want to go down to the first floor... even though the food court was down there.
The second floor was moderately filled with the undead and a few vines, and as Jake scanned up toward the 4th floor the threat dropped considerably. It looked like almost all ways to the top had been blocked off.
Sitting back in his hammock, he popped the top off one of his MRE's and picked at it. He had finished the magazine earlier and tossed it over the edge to the floor below. He spent most of the day back in the sports store. He checked it over again and there seemed to be no way for the undead to get in so he took apart his guns and cleaned them. Then he put them back together and loaded them up. He thought about taking some pot shots at the zombies down below, but it wouldn't do any good. There was no way to kill them all and it would just waste ammo... ammo that would probably be needed at some other time.
So he had past his time away by looking back through the sports store. Pretty much everything had been cleaned out, but there were still some things still there. So he gathered up all the knives in a pile and then spent the day looking through the gun section, collecting the ammo. He came up with handsful of .357 and some .22, but then he came across two boxes of 9mm. He didn't have a Nine, but he knew that he could trade it later. So he put it all in the bag and tied it up. Dinner was another MRE and Jake climbed back out on the support beams and was just settling in on the hammock when he heard a banging on the gate.
Just another zombie, he thought. They would soon go away. Then he heard a female scream.
"Oh s***, someones out there." Jake grabbed Glock and grabbed on to the beam, pulling himself out of the hammock. Then he moved to where he could see the front of the gate. As he came around the corner, he saw a female, probably mid twenties. She had just turned to face zombies that had been drawn to the banging and screaming.
"Hey", he called out to her. He was already move to the next beam over, his harness keeping him from falling to his dead if he missed. Then he began to let the rope down.
"Get the rope and no more yelling." Jake counted about 8 zombies closing in. He could shoot them, but that would bring more attention their way. If he could get close and use his machete, then maybe they could dispatch them... or pull them over the edge.
Edit : 05/19/2011 -
Jake saw that the woman was having trouble getting to the rope. The zombies had cornered her against the gate. Wrapping the rope around his arm, he swung out over the void of the rafters and cleared the railing. He grabbed two of the zombies by the back of their collar and jerked them backwards over the edge of the railing. Adrenaline was kicking in and he felt the alien virus run through his veins, making him quicker... faster... stronger. He swung his machete out and decapitated the next zombie. The body fell one way and the head the other... jaws still clicking together. He would deal with the body later. He continued his slaughter of the undead. There were 5 more, but they just shambled along and were quick work for Jake and his machete.
As the last one went down, Jake made sure that he was careful to not touch the blood or the jaws of the snapping heads. He picked up a trash can nearby and scooped the heads inside, using his machete like a hockey stick. He tossed that over the edge of the railing and heard it hit below. Then he tossed the other bodies over the edge, wiping his machete off on the last one before it plummeted over the edge.
Climbing back up on the railing, he hooked himself into the rig and attached the rope. Then he held out a hand to the girl, who seemed to be frozen in place.
"Come with me if you want to live."
Edit - 05/27/2011
(OOC - Moving on as no response from hum. Taking a little liberty as to keep the scene moving smoothly.)
The girl seemed to be just as scared of him as she was of the zombies. She was probably so shocked that her body just shut down, not able to comprehend the situation.
In the end, Jake went around and opened the gate and pulled her in. While he was securing the gate, she seemed to run off to the bathroom in the back and lock herself in. Jake shrugged. We all deal with adversity in our own ways. He had tried to talk her out of there but there was no answer. Finally, he just moved some of the MRE's that he wouldn't be able to take with him by the door and left, climbing back out to his position. Strapping himself back into the harness, he looked out at the bright night sky.
One good thing about the apocalypse was that smog and pollution were significantly decreased. He looked at the stars, recalling the constellations that he learned in his military training. He found an odd comfort in recognizing them. Even though the world was upside down and he has some form of alien virus running through his veins, he knew the sky. Slowly drifting off, he remembered to put his earplugs in to muffle the sound of the moaning undead. Then he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, he had decided that it was time to go. At first he had talked to the bathroom door to no avail. Then he took a quick shower in the public restroom and changed his clothes. Then it was a quick bite to eat and back to the door.
Still nothing.
Then it was back out to the perch. It took him a good three hours to get everything that he had claimed over to the other side of the mall, back to the duct that led to the ventilation system and to the roof. He spent another 2 hours sorting the gearing into three different packs, using the blankets and sleeping bags as containers. Then it was back up to the roof, carrying one of these packs each time. He set them down by the edge of the roof next to the ladder that he had climbed up just days previously.
Scanning the horizon, he gauged that it was close to noon and it would do good to eat a bite before leaving. Plus, he had to try one more time to get that girl to open up.
So one last time, it was back through the ventilation area, to the steel beams that held up the glass roof and over to the maintenance hatch that led to the sporting goods store. He grabbed one of the MRE's and pulled it open, eating the not great tasting, but manageable meal inside. Another twenty minutes of arguing with the door, and Jake decided it was time to go. He climbed back across the roof supports, the journey going quickly as he was only carrying his weapons. Then he made it to the roof. It took another 2 hours to rig the rope around each bundle and lower them down to sit beside his HumVee.
Now was the dangerous part...
He quickly descended the ladder. There were just a few walkers around but they didn't immediately move in his direction. He hit the button on his keys, unlocking the HumVee. Then he dropped to the ground and quickly wrestled the three bundles into the back of the vehicle. He shut the back gate and climbed in the backseat. He had thought about leaving right then, but he was in no immediate danger, so he set about reorganzing the packs.
First, he untied the bundles and rolled up the blankets and sleeping back, putting them in the front seat. Next he organized the food and water, putting into wooden crates that he had picked up so that it wouldnt' fall over during the drive and crush anything. Then he organized the ammo, putting the 9mm that was no use to him at the bottom. The next crate held his knives and clothes and the he made sure that this sidearm and 2 rifles were loaded and ready to go. In the backseat, he put the winter coat and other cold weather gear.
By this time, the sun was on its way down. Jake knew that it was a bad idea to travel by night, so he would sleep in the truck and then tomorrow he would head out. It would give that girl the night to get out of her funk and contact him. He had left a note taped to the door with his cell phone number on it. But if she didn't, he would leave at morning's light.
EDIT - 05/31/2011
As sunlight pierced the sky and shone down on the the HumVee, Jake awoke and looked around. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he immediately grabbed his phone and looked at it... nothing. No call from the female up in the sports store. Jake shook his head adn then started up his vehicle. The cold Minnesota air combined with the heat of the exhaust and formed a cloud behind the vehicle. While it warmed up, he ate another MRE and drank a bottle of water. Then he made sure the gear he would need would be right at hand before putting the HumVee in gear. Then he pulled out of the space he had occupied for the last couple of days and hit the road. While he didn't have a destination in mind, he knew that at one point, he would have to go back to Fort Belvoir. He needed to tell Lt. Collins that he loved her... and kill the Colonel.
[Jake is leaving the Mall of America and heading to the City Streets]
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