Chapter 54: Shopping Mall
As soon as the danger was gone, Blake Blue switched into lockpick-master mode while Luna Dawson went into a full-blown shopping frenzy.
The first floor was filled with clothing stores, cosmetics shops, jewelry boutiques, as well as an electronics store and a children’s playground.
Luna Dawson wasn’t picky in the slightest; she cleared out every place she passed.
Evan Olson pointed to the directory next to the elevator. "There’s a large supermarket with a maternity and baby section on the second floor. The third floor is more clothes, and the fourth and fifth floors are all food and entertainment."
Luna Dawson nodded emphatically. "The fresh produce is probably rotted to mush by now, but there’s a huge variety of other goods! Let’s go!"
Kevin Keane added, "Everyone stay sharp. Something’s probably off in the supermarket’s fresh food section. Don’t let your guard down."
"Got it!"
Everyone answered in unison.
Luna Dawson and Kevin Keane took the lead, with Evan Olson and Blake Blue bringing up the rear.
Just as they were about to head for the escalator, Luna Dawson froze, her expression hardening. "Something’s not right. Something’s watching us!"
Kevin Keane frowned. "Zombies?"
"No," Luna Dawson shook her head, her tone firm. "There’s something over by the fresh food section, but it’s definitely not the presence of a zombie."
Steeling themselves, they made their way to the escalator and froze. The area was densely littered with zombie corpses, piled nearly knee-high. Each one had a dark, clean hole punched through its forehead.
"Holy crap, what happened here?"
Miles Dawson couldn’t help but curse as he carefully picked his way up through the bodies.
When they finally made it to the second floor, they were completely stunned.
The floor was still covered in zombie corpses, leaving no room to even set a foot down.
Rhonda Dawson’s skin crawled at the sight. "What could have killed so many zombies?"
Luna Dawson gave her a reassuring look. "Don’t be afraid."
The higher they went, the darker it became. The mall’s ceiling was completely covered in a thick web of vines. A "RUSTLE... RUSTLE..." sound echoed from time to time, as if some large animal was crawling around.
To the left of the supermarket entrance was the home appliance section, and to the right were clothes, shoes, and socks. Everything was neatly arranged, looking as if it hadn’t been looted.
Luna Dawson strode forward. As her Spirit threads spread out, vast swaths of merchandise vanished. In the area illuminated by their weapon lights, their field of view suddenly widened.
Luna Dawson pointed to the grains, oils, and seasonings aisle. "The fresh food section is behind this area, and the supermarket’s storeroom is over there too."
Luna Dawson then took out a flamethrower. After a moment’s thought, she handed it to Kevin Keane and Evan Olson. "Mutated plants and animals are probably afraid of fire. Use your judgment."
They lightened their steps and saw that open sacks of rice and flour were being devoured by fist-sized, black, soft-bodied worms. Something was squirming and writhing inside the still-sealed woven bags of rice as well.
A cold sweat broke out on everyone as they watched. The entire place felt unsettlingly bizarre.
After Luna Dawson collected some intact packages of rice, flour, grains, and oil, a faint stench drifted over. They walked to the deli and refrigerated counters to find them crawling with black maggots, a sight that made their stomachs turn.
This was the source of the rotting smell.
Suddenly, the sound of something bumping against a freezer came from behind them.
Everyone’s hair instantly stood on end!
They immediately spun around. Under a freezer in the distance, a carpet of thin purple vines, each as thick as an electrical wire, was undulating rhythmically, as if breathing.
Blake Blue kept his voice to a whisper. "That’s the pork and beef counter over there."
As if hearing them, the purple vines slithered toward the group from all directions, stopping about two meters away and encircling them.
Looking closer, they realized that at some point, the walls had become completely covered in a dense web of purplish-black vines, clinging to the surface like an octopus’s suckers.
Just then, a single vine rose up. Its tip was a tender white, sprouting two small, pale purple leaves. It probed the air in front of them tentatively, as if it wanted to get closer but was also a little afraid.
The more Luna Dawson watched, the more she felt the vine had a strange, puppy-like air to it, as if it were sniffing them.
Seeing that they were completely surrounded, Miles Dawson grew tense, and a small flame ignited in his palm.
The small vine was startled and instantly recoiled, but when it saw that no one moved, it crept forward again.
Rhonda Dawson spoke cautiously, "I don’t think it has any ill intentions..."
"Ill... intentions... pork..."
A strange, deliberate voice spoke, a bizarre combination of a child’s tone and a mechanical drone.
The voice it produced was mimicking Blake Blue and Rhonda Dawson!
"Over... there... beef..."
The halting voice continued, both bizarre and somewhat horrifying.
"What the hell? It’s learning to speak!"
Miles Dawson jumped in fright, and the flame in his palm flared higher.
"Hell... speak... learn..."
Kevin Keane tried to communicate with it. "We need to get through. Please let us pass."
"We... pass..."
Kevin Keane: "Move... a... side."
"A... side..."
He let out a soft sigh. "Good sprouts don’t block the path."
"Someone’s coming!" Luna Dawson warned in a low voice.
Two men and two women had entered on the first floor. Three of them were Superpower Users.
They were all students from a nearby university who had gone camping together to watch a meteor shower.
They never expected the meteorites to bring a virus with them. Their other classmates at the campsite mutated into zombies, and the four of them managed to escape in an RV.
They happened to be passing by today and, seeing that the zombie horde at the mall had dispersed, decided to come in and try their luck.
Fortunately, they had bought plenty of snacks for their camping trip and had scavenged more food and water from the campsite and surrounding areas, which was how they’d survived the last two months.
Their leader, a heavyset young man named Harvey Wright, had a Metal Ability. He started cursing the moment he entered the mall. "I told you I heard a helicopter! I said we should’ve come sooner, but no one listened! Now the whole first floor has been cleared out!"
Behind him, a tall, slim, and handsome young man named Eugene Palmer, who had an Earth Ability, spoke in a low voice, "It’s better to be cautious. There are still several more floors. We still have a chance."
"The escalator is over there."
Jane Rhodes, who had a scratch on the back of her hand, pointed the way.
She had also awakened a Space Ability. It wasn’t very large—only about two square meters—but it could still hold a decent amount of stuff.
The group arrived on the second floor, panting. They froze for a moment when they saw Luna Dawson’s party, then ran over with their flashlights, coughing repeatedly from the putrid stench.
"Did you take everything in the mall?"
Harvey Wright was the first to speak, his tone accusatory.
"What if we did?"
Miles Dawson was already annoyed. The plant kept mimicking them and wouldn’t get out of the way, and now these people were here questioning them.
After Miles Dawson’s reply, the newcomers all stared at them with condemnation in their eyes.
Jane Rhodes’s eyes blazed with resentment. "You’re so selfish! You took all those supplies and didn’t leave a single thing for anyone else."
Rhonda Dawson pointed to the third floor. "There’s still more upstairs. You can go have a look."
"Upstairs... supplies... selfish."
The strange voice sounded out again, this time mimicking Jane Rhodes.
"What was that?!"
"Whose voice was that?"
The newcomers panicked, sweeping their flashlights wildly around the area.
Hannah West, who was wearing a white down jacket, shrieked and dove into Harvey Wright’s arms.
Jane Rhodes spotted the purple vine peeking out from behind Kevin Keane. She pointed at Miles Dawson, then at the plant. "A mutated plant!? A plant that can actually talk! Why haven’t you killed it yet?!"
Before Miles Dawson could reply, Luna Dawson cut in coldly, "We’ll kill it if we want to, and we won’t if we don’t. It’s none of your damn business."
"Kill... damn business... damn business," Wisteria chimed in.
For some reason, Luna Dawson found this adorable. She glanced at the vine and let out a soft laugh.