Chapter Text
There was a loud smash, the glass of the entrance to the mall came crashing down, followed by the foul odor of decaying bodies, the power went out and the screaming started. Everyone was panicking, and then it came into view, a decaying, brain-eating zombie. Arabella was already having a bad day, after being dragged to the mall by her stepmom to get new clothes because the ones she already had were ‘too old’ and ‘getting holes’, this was just a drop in the bucket. The zombie apocalypse didn’t phase her, it’s not that she didn’t care, she did, seriously, she did, just…not enough to be yelling, screaming, crying, and throwing up like her stepmom. (Okay, maybe throwing up was an exaggeration). A zombie spotted Arabella and charged at full speed into the clothing store she and her stepmom were in. With quick thinking and a bit of luck, she grabbed a manikin's arm. She hit the zombie with it as if the manikin’s arm was a baseball bat, which stunned the zombie for just long enough that Arabella could grab the pole of a clothing rack, causing all the clothes to fall off and a loud crash from the rest of the flimsy rack toppling over, quickly stabbing the zombie in the chest with it, then grabbed her stepmom's hand and ran, pulling her stepmom, Amanda, with her. Bella didn’t think about where she was running until the Thai Castle sign caught her eye, telling her they were in the food court. Yikes. The food court was full of zombies, people yelling and running, and some on the ground crying as they bled, were dead, or were holding the body of a dead person. Arabella loved gorey video games just as much as the next depressed teen but actually seeing and smelling them in real life, especially in a mall food court, made her never want to eat again. She looked around and saw so many tragic scenes.
The one that she stopped on was a boy about seventeen, maybe eighteen? She couldn’t tell. Trying to pull another boy who looked like his younger brother who was probably ten away from their parents who were lying limp on the floor probably dead. For a second she flashed back, her ears starting to ring, remembering the flashing red and blue lights of the cop cars, then her stepmom cut in and grabbed her arm “Bella” her stepmom said, trying to snap her out of it because they could not afford to panic right now. Luckily, Arabella quickly snapped out of it and returned to a focused mood. A zombie tried to grab at the boys, Arabella threw a chair at the zombie, and a leg of the chair hit it right in the eye causing the eye to pop like a water balloon which made Arabella feel a bit sick but there wasn’t time for that, the zombie had luckily run off. The older boy and his brother looked at Arabella like she was crazy, which she probably did look crazy, so she couldn’t. Her hair was probably messed up, she could feel her ponytail falling out and could feel how she was breathing hard from the running, but right now, that didn’t matter, all that mattered was making sure, Amanda, herself, and now the two boys were okay, it didn’t matter that she didn’t know them, they just lost their parents, they didn’t need to also worry about themselves dying as well. So she did the most logical thing, she grabbed both boys by the wrist, hopped the counter of the Thai Castle, and dragged the boys in with her, a few seconds later her stepmom ran in as well and closed the door. They were safe… for now at least. Arabella let go of the boys, and leaned back against the wall, trying to catch her breath; that’s when the questioning and yelling started. The boys were yelling questions, asking what that was, and what was happening until Arabella yelled “Stop!” which made everyone go quiet and look directly at her, she took a deep breath now that she had calmed down and caught her breath she could properly explain.
“My name is Arabella. That’s my stepmom, Amanda.” She introduced herself and paused to motion at Amanda, who was leaning back against the door so it stayed closed. Then she continued, “We… saw what happened to your parents. If you had stayed there, the same thing would have happened to you both…”
The boys stayed quiet until the younger brother spoke up.
“I-I’m Karsyn… that’s Jasper…” the younger boy, now reviled by Karsyn, said quietly, to which the older boy shot him a silent glare before looking back at Arabella and Amanda.
“Yeah…thanks…” Jasper muttered still on edge about the whole situation which was understandable.
The boys had just lost their parents then almost killed themselves, and now were locked in the back of a mall Thai Castle with two people they didn’t know. Arabella sat down and crossed her legs, she looked up at the brothers.
“It’s gonna be at least a few hours before we can leave…” she told them.
“That’s gonna be so boring!” Karsyn complained. Jasper just stayed quiet, looking at the floor. Amanda smiled warmly, trying not to be awkward.
“We could play an icebreaker game,” she suggested.
“No icebreakers,” Jasper and Arabella said at the same time.
Arabella looked away feeling awkward and embarrassed, she hadn’t meant to say that at the same time as Jasper, it had just accidentally slipped out at the same time as Jasper had also happened to say it, or at least that’s what she told herself so try and calm her nerves. God, I’m seventeen, why the hell am I acting like a damn thirteen-year-old girl? She thought to herself until Karsyn broke the silence.
“That’s okay, I love talking!” He stated
“Syn, don’t annoy them…” Jasper scolded, letting out a soft tired sigh as if already exhausted from the idea of Karsyn’s non-stop talking.
“Syn?” Amanda questioned.
“Karsyn, Syn, it’s a nickname” Jasper explained sounding sarcastic, though it was clear he just didn’t want to talk.
Amanda smiled happily, probably thinking the nickname was cute or something. Then everyone jumped at the sound of a cell phone ringing. Jasper reached to check his until Arabella held up her free hand. It had been her phone, and she had already answered.
“Yes, I know my location says I’m at the ma-” Arabella started but didn’t get to finish, being cut off by the person on the other end.