"Now, there are some things that we want to ask you, Zain," Clark said, folding his arms and puffing out his chest as if he was trying to intimidate Zain. Maybe this might have worked before, but an over-muscular gym teacher was the least of Zain's worries after what he had been through.
"How did you survive out there so far? What's the situation? What have you seen?" Clark asked.
"What have I seen?" Zain replied. "I don't think you will like my answer. The University was already run over by the zombies when I woke up, and from my dorm room, I saw destroyed buildings, many of which were engulfed in flames. And, ultimately, I decided to head here hoping to find someone."
For now, Zain thought he didn't need to tell this group of people about Buke and Skittle. At least not until he figured out what they were like and who they were.
From the answer, Clark clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed, and the older woman seemed to express it more openly.
"You mean you're not military and haven't seen them. Is no one coming to help us? What about the police?" Barbara asked.
"The police? I saw a few cars outside the University, but there was no one. And honestly, if you want to get out of this place, you're on your own." Zain replied.
Hearing these words, the old woman put her nails on her cheeks and started to pull them down, revealing her under eye, and it looked like her eyeballs were about to pop out. Then, turning around, she began to chew her fingernails as she ignored everyone and headed to one of the food sections, most likely to stuff herself—something the others had seen her do a few times whenever she got anxious.
After hearing that Zain was just a university student and knew nothing, most of the group members just shook their heads in disappointment and decided to go off and do their own thing. In the end, only Clark, Kelly and Mark, the young adult who worked at the store, were left.
"Sorry about them. They just haven't been able to sleep well." Kelly explained. "You should know how it is, and after seeing how skillfully you dealt with that Zombie out there, well, we thought you might have been part of a special operations team or something."
As soon as Zain heard her voice, he instantly knew it was this woman who had saved his life by alerting him about the other mutated zombie.
"I owe you one," Zain said without any context. Kelly looked confused, but then a smile appeared as she figured it out and mouthed the words 'You're welcome.'
"Alright, I better head to the CCTV room," Clark said. "It would be my shift anyway. Just so you know, we take three-hour shifts in turns so everyone can get a good sleep. As a group, we have decided to stay here and live off the food that should last us a few months until help arrives. So go and sleep, and we'll wake you up when it's your turn."
Inwardly, Zain was laughing at this comment because if he hadn't arrived, the most likely case was that they would last only a day here, with what he knew.
Kelly and Mark took it upon themselves to show the newcomer around and explain a few things. The two of them seemed to be the only ones interested in helping. On top of that, they couldn't get any sleep in the first place after what they had seen.
While walking around, Mark organised the shop and rearranged stuff by date of expression. For example, the food that would go out first was placed at the front, and they were allowed to eat these items, slowly moving back to the things that would last a long time, such as food cans.
Zain was really impressed that he could do this in such a short amount of time, but there were still a lot of holes in their plan. For example, what would they do when the electric grid shuts off? Then, all the frozen food, light, and cameras would be useless.
At the same time, he noticed none of them were holding weapons, even though they were in a supermarket full of things they could use to defend themselves in an emergency. But in the end, Zain had to remind himself that it hadn't even been a whole day since the start of everything, and since they hadn't expected it and were still hoping that the government would come and save them, they weren't fully prepared for it.
Eventually, the group came across a large blood stain on the floor. It was not just at one spot as Zain noticed blood trails, indicating someone had dragged the bodies across the floor.
"What happened here? And I don't just mean here in this aisle. What happened to the whole store when the attack started? Where are all the workers and dead bodies?" Zain asked.
Mark and Kelly looked at each other for a second, their eyes wide as if they were reliving a particular moment. They then gulped before one of them started to explain.
"You said you came from the University, right? Well, we don't really know what happened here either." Kelly explained. "There was an attack, and it seemed like it started in one of the houses. At least that is what people say happened.
"A woman ran out of her door screaming for help. The neighbours heard her and opened their doors to have a look, and the next second, who everyone thought was her husband, pounced on her and started biting her neck with her teeth and digging into other parts of her body."
"However, after speaking, we learnt that multiple people seem to have seen other events around the same time," Mark added. "So we have no clue where or when it started. We know that we had it somewhat under control until a whole wave of them came running out of the forest from the direction of the University. Thousands of Zombies were running in this direction, which was a total massacre."
What Mark was describing was commonly known as a Zombie horde. Zain knew of it well, and the closest thing he had come to experience it was at the University when he went to save his friends, but that horde was too small.
'I was wondering where the zombies went. So they headed towards this neighbourhood, but it's clear they're not here anymore, which means they must have left somewhere else...but why, is it just for food? Or is it something else?' Zain thought.
[New Main quest received]
[Find out the zombies' objective]
*****
1000 Stone goal for 2 chapters
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