“Shit,” William shouted, beginning to fire.
Jenni whirled around as the dead began to fill the space around her. “Oh, hell,” she said sadly, but calmly.
William went down first, screaming, firing into the crowd of zombies.
Thomas began to laugh hysterically and kept firing into the oncoming onslaught until he too submitted.
Jenni looked to her left and saw the waterfall rising above her. To her surprise, she saw a narrow staircase cutting up through the rocks.
Without hesitation, she began to ascend the fake stone facade away from the zombies below.
Valerie started to follow, but was cut off so suddenly by a runner zombie.
She staggered backwards and was instantly grabbed from behind.
Without a second thought, she lifted her revolver to her temple and fired.
Jenni climbed, moving quickly. Behind her, the zombies moaned and wailed. They struggled to push their way up behind her.
Glancing toward the staircase she could see Katie looking toward her, screaming her name. Kevin was almost to the top with the children.
Looking over her shoulder, Jenni saw the zombies climbing after her.
Lifting the revolver, she fired off a few shots, watching with satisfaction as their disgustingly rotted heads exploded. Reaching the top of the waterfall, she stood on the edge next to the rushing water. Her gaze swept over the food court and was horrified to see all the dead looking up at her, their hands reaching toward her figure.
Even above the roar of the water, Jenni could hear Katie’s voice screaming her name.
I’ve done the right
thing, she thought as she saw Kevin push the children through the doorway to the roof.
The zombies had yet to go even near the staircase.
She was eerily calm. Looking down, she wondered how deep the water was. Maybe she could dive into it and swim to the other side. Maybe she would have enough time to climb the staircase and escape onto the roof.
Maybe.
A growl behind Jenni startled her. Turning, she saw Amy step onto the platform. Raising her gun, Jenni fired at her zombified friend.
The gun clicked empty.
Amy lunged forward and her teeth snapped shut.
Horrified, Jenni rapidly drew her hand back, but she felt her skin tear.
“Oh, shit,” she said as pain erupted in her hand.
Amy chewed Jenni’s flesh, then lunged forward again for another taste.
Jenni brought the gun down hard on Amy’s head, so hard she felt the skull crack. A surge of anger hit her and she brought it down again. Screaming in rage, she slammed the gun into the zombie’s head until Amy’s skull splintered and shattered.
With rage, fierce and hot, Jenni reached into Amy’s head and ripped chunks of her brain out and threw it out over the zombie horde below her.
Amy’s corpse slid to the ground in silence, truly dead.
Exhaling, Jenni stood over the dead body, tears on her face. As quickly as the rage had hit, it was gone.
I made the right choice, she thought again. Bending down, she washed her hands off in the rushing water, watching it turn red with her blood.