Mallory leaned back against the cold wall of the library, staring at Clara's hand-drawn map. The rough sketch of the mall was simple—blocky shapes denoting floors and hazard zones—but something about it felt ominous, like the mall wasn't just another zombie-infested landmark but a lurking beast waiting to devour anyone foolish enough to enter.
"So, let me get this straight," she said, waving the map around. "We need to go into the belly of the beast to find...what exactly? A vial of magical cure-all serum?"
"It's not magical," Clara said, exasperated. "It's experimental. The lab was one of the last operational sites before everything collapsed. They were developing something to stop the spread."
"And you didn't think to mention this until now?" Greg asked, his tone dripping with incredulity.
Clara crossed her arms. "We didn't think we'd live long enough to make it there."
Mallory snorted. "Wow, inspiring. You should write motivational posters."
