The Apocalypse: Chapter 2 " New Friends"

After our traumatic experience in the restroom, we ran as fast as we could to report everything to the security guards. But before we could even reach them, we froze in our tracks.

The sight before us made our blood run cold.

The mall had turned into chaos. People were screaming, running in every direction, while dozens of zombies clawed and lunged at anyone in sight. Our adrenaline spiked. This wasn’t just one monster anymore—this was an outbreak.

“Get something to defend yourselves!” a man shouted from across the hallway.

Without thinking, we rushed toward the nearest hardware store. My eyes darted around until I found a long hammer. Jamester grabbed a machete, while Joseph scored an axe.

I couldn’t help but feel a sting of jealousy. Joseph’s axe looked ridiculously cool, like something straight out of a video game. Jamester shot me a look that said he felt the same way. But this wasn’t the time to be picky—zombies weren’t going to wait for us to choose our favorite weapons.

We were the prey now. But that didn’t mean we’d let ourselves get eaten without a fight.

“Come on, follow me!” the same man yelled again.

We followed him through a maze of hallways until we reached an office. Once inside, we slammed the door shut and barricaded it with desks and chairs, our hearts pounding from the chaos outside.

“Hi. I’m Stephen,” the man introduced himself, still catching his breath. “I used to be a clerk here.”

We quickly introduced ourselves back.

“Stephen, do you know what’s going on?” Jamester asked.

Stephen’s face grew grim. “While I was working, I overheard some coworkers. They said a virus-infected person escaped from a lab… and then all this happened.”

Joseph’s voice cracked with fear. “So it’s true… the world’s ending!”

Panic swirled inside me. My thoughts immediately went to my family. Were my parents safe? Were they even alive? The fear was almost too much to handle.

That night, we stayed inside the office. Luckily, Stephen’s coworkers had abandoned their lunch bags, so we had food to last us for a while. Together, we stayed up late, planning what to do next. We agreed to take turns—two of us would keep watch while the other two rested.

At some point, I dozed off. Hours later, I woke to the sound of furious pounding on the door. My heart leapt into my throat.

“Joseph, Stephen!” I whispered. “Who’s knocking?!”

They looked at me, equally startled. “We don’t know… we fell asleep,” Joseph admitted guiltily.

Slowly, I crept toward the door. Luckily, before sleeping, Jamester had carved a small peephole into the wood. I pressed my eye to it.

Two girls stood outside, their faces pale with terror. One of them saw me through the hole.

“Please! Open the door! Help us!” she begged, her voice trembling.

I froze, torn between fear and sympathy. My hands trembled on the lock.

I didn’t know who they were… or if opening that door would save us—or doom us.

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