They have eyes
Chapter 31
With only a couple of hours left before sunset, the two of them put together a plan. Leo would head back to the security room and guide Duncan from there using the walkie-talkies they'd found, now that they had the key. Splitting up meant they could cover two things at once. Was it risky? Yes.
But it was still a whole lot better than spending another night in the mall.
Duncan made his way back toward the exit where they'd left the horde clawing at the door. Leo peeled off toward the security room. With no other way around the horde, Duncan was left with the obvious choice. He eased the door open, slow and careful, avoiding so much as a creak — until the frame finally swung wide enough to slam against the wall, giving him a brief, precious barrier as the horde surged in. All he could do was hold onto the handle and watch, his life riding on how long it held.
The commotion lasted a couple of minutes before it finally died down into silence. Without a second thought, Duncan slipped out and into the parking lot — far easier to move through now, with the lights back on. He could actually see what was coming from a distance, which gave him the edge he needed. He made his way to the nearest camera and waited for Leo to respond.
*That must be it,* Leo thought, watching the sudden swarm of undead pouring onto the first floor. *The guard must have caused a scene on his way out.*
Barely catching his breath, Leo burst into the security room, scanning screen after screen until he spotted Duncan flicking a flashlight toward one of the cameras.
"I see you," he said into the radio, already searching the feeds for the car.
"Alright, can you tell me where it is so we can be done with this shit already?" Duncan answered, voice tired. Neither of them had eaten anything since the day before, and the will to keep fighting the dead was wearing thin for both of them.
"I've got a couple that look close, but I'm not sure — try the fiftieth spot, and around there," Leo said, jumping between camera angles, hunting for anything that matched.
"Shit. Guess we're gonna be here a while," Duncan muttered, starting the long process of checking car after car, working to cover as much ground as he could while dodging the undead along the way. For a while it actually worked — the life-or-death tension easing into something closer to a tense, steady jog through the lot.
By the time the sun went down, he'd covered the entire underground lot — easily large enough for three hundred cars — and still nothing. Frustration was starting to set in.
Then the undead from the lower passage began pouring upward, drawing more of their own kind with the noise until the first floor became unusable.
Despite the groaning and the chaos rising from below — visible now on the cameras too — Leo stayed focused, methodically working through the footage. Then something at the edge of one frame caught his eye. He didn't want to believe it. He checked again, and his stomach dropped.
A freak. The last thing either of them needed. It seemed to be feeding on the other undead, which only raised more questions than Leo had time to ask.
More of the undead began climbing the escalator, heading straight for his floor. Shocked, he ran through his options — if the horde blocked the only way out, he'd be trapped, with nothing ahead of him but slow death from dehydration and starvation.
He was about to key the radio and tell Duncan to abort when Duncan's voice cut through first, hushed and urgent.
"I found it. Over. Do you hear me — I found it."
Leo checked the monitors just in time to see Duncan smashing through the driver's side window.
He didn't hesitate. He bolted from the room, sprinting down the hall, deliberately making as much noise as he could — hoping the horde would follow him and carve out a path he could use to reach the underground lot. He wove through store after store, cutting through side rooms, drawing the chase out across the entire floor before finally breaking for the escalator and sliding straight down to the first.
Just as he lined up his dash for the front entrance, the freak appeared out of nowhere — soaked in blood, breathing heavy, close enough that Leo froze where he stood, too afraid to even look behind him. It snarled, low and building.
He forced himself forward, inch by inch, closing the gap toward the door. The freak lunged. He dodged on instinct, firing wildly as he moved, catching it across the eyes and blinding it just as Duncan pulled up in the car — timed so close it looked staged.
"Punch it!" Leo screamed, still firing as the freak chased the car a few strides before finally giving up, falling back as they put distance between themselves and the mall.
They both broke into laughter, relief flooding out of them in waves, as they set off toward Alejandro's place.
