Super Zombie Slayers - Chapter 8 (Patreon)

The Vale Valley Mall sat on the outskirts of the city, plopped down as soon as developers found enough space for a gigantic, sprawling building to take up the entire landscape.  The structure itself was bigger than most other buildings in Vale (except Schnee Tower, nothing was bigger than Schnee Tower), and acres upon acres of asphalt parking lots soaked up the sun while slowly fried zombies all day long.

This was another area they avoided at all costs, mostly because Weiss didn’t believe in having any fun, but also because the concentration of Z’s was...high, to put it lightly.  Apparently, humans were consumers in life and in death.  Or zombies really liked window shopping, hell if Yang knew.

“Think we’re good here?” she asked, parking across several spaces before glancing in the backseat.  They were near-ish to one of the mall’s side entrances - not too close, but close enough for a quick getaway.  The rule was at least thirty feet between the truck and the destination, that way they had enough distance to create separation if a horde was after them.

After receiving nods all around, Yang grabbed the keys and secured them on her necklace before hopping out of the truck and cracking her back.  “Just to go over the ‘plan’ one more time,” she said while following her companions to the back of the truck.  “We go in and look for a trap, or look for the person who set the trap.”

“If they’re not already with us…” Blake muttered, sending Nora a suspicious glance that was completely missed when Ruby opened one of the weapon drawers.

“Oh my god…” Nora gasped, practically drooling over the array of weapons.  “Can I take whatever I want?”

“Only what’s useful,” Weiss answered while picking up extra ammunition and hiding it in an array of clever places.

From Blake’s brooding expression, she wasn’t entirely happy about providing weapons to their acquaintance/possible suspect.  But what were they supposed to do - let Nora walk into a pit of zombies without protection?

“We’ll watch her,” Yang whispered before grabbing her trusty shotgun, hoping to ease some of Blake’s fears.  It worked too - Blake smiled and tapped the top of Yang’s gun.

“You’ll want more firepower than that today.”  Before Yang launched into a spiel on how a shotgun was the perfect tool for blasting crowds to pieces, Blake picked up one of her favorite submachine guns and looped the strap over Yang’s head.  “Just in case,” she murmured while tightening the strap.  Once done, she ran her hands down the front of Yang’s shirt, letting her gaze wander right along with them, before smiling and collecting several weapons of her own.

Spotting Weiss’ smirk - the telltale sign that a sarcastic comment was seconds away - Yang tried not to stare while Blake geared up.  Instead, she scanned the parking lot for any nearby danger.  But, besides several roamers hundreds of yards away, they were alone - for now.  That could change in an instant depending on their luck today.

“Anyone check their horoscope?” she joked while Ruby locked the compartment and gave a thumbs up.

“I did,” Weiss replied.  “It said you’re not getting laid.”

Yang’s brow shot up before she corrected with a scoff, but Ruby and Nora were already giggling, which was more than enough for Weiss to look pretty pleased with herself.  And Yang couldn’t stand it when Weiss looked pleased with herself, especially about something like telling jokes.  No matter how much Ruby laughed, giggled, or made those little huffing noises like she couldn’t catch her breath, Yang refused to believe Weiss was funny.

“I didn’t realize we had the same horoscope, Weiss!” Yang said, throwing on a big, friendly smile and patting Weiss’ shoulder.  She earned a Schnee-sized eyeroll in response, and Weiss muttered something under her breath while heading towards the three sets of double doors separating them from shopping wonderland.

Or what used to be a shopping wonderland.  These days it was more of a giant clearance department with only two prices: death or near death.  Which, honestly, was better than before the world fell apart; this place loved ripping people off.

“Keep your eyes open,” Blake whispered as they stepped through the broken outer doors.  Hearing Ruby’s giggle, she sighed and shook her head.  “You know what I mean…” she grumbled while treading across shards of glass.

Yang glanced at Ruby - who shrugged and mouthed ‘what?’ - before following Blake into the mall.  With Nora slightly in front of them - not far enough to be suspicious, but far enough to be easily observable - the five of them moved as a group down the middle of the wide hall.

The worst part about the mall was that every store had to be checked for hostiles, and there were stores every twenty feet.  Add in the danger of some psycho setting traps and...well, they walked really, really slow while searching high and low for signs of trouble.  Or signs that someone was giving out food to survivors.  Or...anything, really.

“It’s so dead in here…” Yang whispered only to roll her eyes when she heard another soft giggle.

Then she heard something much less welcome than a giggle.

Blake held up a hand first, and the rest of them instinctively froze.  Even Nora stopped walking, her eyes wide while they listened to raspy breathing and feet shuffling up ahead.  Holding her breath as the sound grew nearer, Yang raised her weapon and prepared for whatever was headed their way.

Moments later, a single zombie appeared in the hallway in front of them, dragging its feet and looking lost in the giant space.  Don’t turn, don’t turn, Yang silently pleaded, but it slowly turned and locked onto them.

Suddenly, it had a purpose.  Its jaw dropped, preparing to let out that low, creepy moan -

“Ruby -”

A soft pop echoed off the walls, and the zombie crumpled to the ground.  Lowering her weapon, Ruby grinned and gave another thumbs up.

“Surprised there aren’t more,” Nora quipped, not noticing the glances the rest of them shared when she surely jinxed this endeavor.  But, with the first threat neutralized, they continued towards the center of the mall.

“So if we find the trap…” Yang whispered to Blake.  “Do we get ourselves stuck in it?”

“Preferably not.  But maybe we can find a clue about who’s setting them...”

Their pace slowed considerably as they approached the end of the hall, where a balcony looked out over the food court and pathways branched off in either direction.  Before they reached the intersection, Yang checked the last store for movement and -

“Oh my god,” she exclaimed in a hushed whisper before hurrying to the window and pressing her hands to the glass.  “I need these boots.”

They were tall, brown, with straps on the side, and looked kickass.  Even better, they matched all of her outfits.  She had to have them.  More than anything in this world (besides Blake), she needed those boots.

“These can curb stomp the heck out of a Z…” she mused.

“That’s not what we’re here for,” Weiss said, creeping closer even though she clearly didn’t want to.

“But it could be what we’re here for.”  When Weiss sighed, Yang knew she was making progress.  “Come on, Weiss,” she said before gesturing across the hallway.  “I know you want to check out that store too.  It has ‘rich and snobby’ written all over it.”

Weiss pursed her lips, but Ruby glanced across the hall and giggled.

“You used to shop there all the time!  Let’s check it out?”

Weiss probably wanted a new outfit, but not with Yang’s blessing.  When Ruby made the offer, however…

“Quickly,” she snapped at Yang before lovingly taking Ruby’s hand and leading her across the hall.  Nora shrugged and flounced after them, leaving Blake and Yang in front of the shoe store.

“Want to come with?” Yang asked, gesturing at the entrance.  “It won’t take long, promise.  Just want to try them on.”

“Of course.”  After the two of them walked into the store, Blake stopped near the registers and smiled as Yang passed by.  “Wouldn’t mind seeing you in just the boots.”

Yang’s cheeks reached an abnormally high temperature imagining that fashion show, but she decided it was best for her health if she didn’t respond.  Instead, she grabbed the boots off the window display and turned them over.  If they were her size, this would be super easy -

“Damn.  Too small.”  Returning them to the stand, she turned around and looked at the door leading to the stockroom.  “Guess we’re searching back there.”

“A private showing?”

“Well,” Yang said, her blush deepening.  “Better back there than out here where Weiss and Ruby can see us, right?” she eventually concluded, glancing across the hall where the other two girls were walking around a clothing rack.

“I like how you think.”  Standing aside, Blake gestured to the stockroom door.  “Lead the way.”

Even though Blake said that in a super sexy way, she was also letting Yang walk into the potentially zombie-infested room first.  Which Yang would gladly do if Blake kept looking at her like that, but first she pressed her ear to the door and listened for shuffling feet or creepy, labored ‘breathing’ noises.  She heard nothing, but that didn’t mean the coast was clear.  Sometimes, zombies went into a hibernation-like state and stood around for hours on end, not moving or making a sound until disturbed.

Empty stockroom or infested Z-pit?  She was about to find out.

Slowly turning the handle, she waited for the soft click of the door unlatching before carefully pushing inward.  Her other hand held her shotgun in front of her, and her eyes scanned every inch of the room as it became visible.  Thankfully, she saw shelves and boxes but not much else.

“Clear,” she whispered before walking in and staring at the mess in front of them.

“Looks like someone was already here,” Blake mused as she stepped over a pile of open boxes in the middle of the floor.

“Looting a shoe store?  Why didn’t I think of that?”  After nudging the boxes with her foot, Yang frowned and looked around the room.  The shelves were still mostly stocked, especially the higher ones that required a ladder or stool to reach.

“Let’s hope they’re up there,” she said, craning her neck to read the descriptions on the boxes.  But, seeing as how they were far away and the font was microscopic, she couldn’t read anything at all.

“Looks like those are the ones.”

Turning in the direction Blake pointed, Yang found a stack of boxes on the top shelf on the other side of the room.

“How the heck can you read that?” she asked but, taking Blake’s word for it, grabbed the storeroom ladder and set it against the shelf.  Quickly climbing up, she pulled down one of the boxes and looked at the picture on the label.  “Damn.  You’re right,” she said before searching for her size.

“Did you really think I wasn’t?”

Chuckling to herself, she spotted the right size and grinned.  “Got ‘em!”  After hurrying down, she triumphantly held up the box before dropping it on a nearby bench and pulling out her new boots.  “Oh yeah...look at these,” she said while lifting them to her nose and sniffing the leather.

“You’re going to wear them now?”

“Of course!  I’m wearing these bad boys outta here.”

After tossing aside her old pair, she pulled the new boots all the way up to her calves and sighed while wiggling her toes.  There was nothing like new boots to make the day better!  Her old ones were worn out by now, anyway.  The heels were rundown, and the leather was a few years beyond broken in.  But these...these were stiff and sexy with tread to spare.

“How’re you going to pay for those?” Blake asked with a smirk.

“With my zombits!” Yang answered, grinning while Blake raised one brow.

“What are zombits?”

“It’s like money, but you earn it by killing zombies.”  After pausing for a second, Yang feigned a look of surprise.  “Wait.  You’re not earning bits for kills??”

When Blake laughed and shook her head, Yang looked at her new boots.  “This was such a good idea,” she said while standing and wiggling her toes again.  Satisfied with how they fit, she gave Blake a thumbs up before tossing the empty box aside.

It seemed like a harmless action at the time - toss the light, empty box on top of a stack of boxes.  But, as soon as it hit the ground, they both covered their ears when an air horn blasted through the room.  Once the noise stopped, Yang lowered her hands and heard something that sounded an awful lot like rolling metal before a thud hit the ground.

“What the hell was that?”

The question hardly left her lips before they sprinted to the front of the store.  As soon as they left the stockroom, however, she saw something unsettling.

The security gate had fallen shut, locking them inside.

“About this being a good idea…” Blake said as they rushed over to the gate.

“Spoke too soon.  Try to lift it?”  Shoving her fingers through the metal, Yang pulled up with all of her might but gave up when the damn thing didn’t budge.  “How’re these things held down??” she asked after they tried again, to no avail.  Motion on the other side of the hall drew her gaze then, and she found Weiss and Ruby stuck in a similar situation.

“How do we open them?” she shouted, watching Weiss and Ruby struggling with their gate.

Before they responded, the mall’s speakers crackled to life and started blaring holiday music for everyone to hear.  ‘Everyone’ including who knew how many zombies in the vicinity.

“This is bad,” Blake said while tugging at the gate again.

“I know.  This song is horrible.”

Unfortunately, god-awful music wasn’t the only horrible sound assaulting their ears.  Hungry growls grew in the distance - the unmistakable sound of approaching zombies.  Yet they were stuck here - her and Blake in the shoe store, Ruby and Weiss in the -

“Wait,” Yang said before looking across the hall.  “Ruby!” she shouted.  “Where’s Nora??”

Nora skipped into view before anyone answered.

“Look what I found!”  Nora proudly held out a bag of chips, but her smile fell when she noticed the metal gates separating them.  After looking left and right several times, she lowered the bag and frowned.  “What’re you doing in there?  Aren’t those things impossible to open?”

A loud crash drew Nora’s attention to the other end of the hall and, whatever she saw, she backed away from.  “Uh...you probably wanna get out of there...” she said before spinning around and taking off for the exit, chips still in hand.

“Wait - Nora!”

While Nora raced off, Yang looked towards the crashing noise and spotted zombies shuffling down the hall.  They saw Nora running away from them, and their hive minds instantly kicked into high gear.  The disjointed pace increased and their moans of hunger reached a fever pitch, all while cringe-worthy holiday music blared from the speakers.

Unfortunately, the blood-thirsty monsters would stumble across a few other meals before catching Nora.  And what were the chances the metal gate could withstand the weight of a few hundred zombies?

“Why does this always happen to us?” Yang groaned while the first Zs neared.  As expected, the ravenous fleshbags changed course as soon as they spotted an easier meal.  Before long, they reached their rotten fingers through the gate, sending Yang and Blake back a step to stay out of their withered grasps.

“Yang!”  Ruby waved a hand for Yang’s attention before pointing behind her.  “Try the back exit!  Meet you outside!”

“Got it!” Yang yelled back, adding a thumbs up before taking in the scene in front of her.  As more bodies pressed against the gate, it stretched further and further inward.  Even more alarming, the hinges started screeching under the increasing force.

“Run for it?” Blake asked.

“You know it.”

Without another word, they raced through the stockroom filled with boxes and burst through the back exit.  The doorway led them into a long, narrow hallway running behind every store in the mall.  It was dirty and cluttered, but the best part was the zombies already swarming inside.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

“This way.”

Blake sprinted to the right, so Yang blindly followed.  Three zombies crashed through a doorway in front of them, but Blake fired three rapid bullets to drop them where they stood.

“Nice!” Yang shouted as they jumped over the bodies and kept running.  Another hallway was up ahead.  If they made it there fast enough -

Before she could finish that masterful escape plan, zombies swarmed around that very corner.

“Dammit,” Blake breathed out as the two of them slid to a stop and spun around.  Plan B was booking it back the way they just came, but that plan also went up in smoke when another horde spilled into the space behind them.

“Shit.”

Standing in the middle of the hall, Yang looked back and forth as ravenous monsters stumbled toward them from both directions.  Whenever she imagined being trapped somewhere with Blake, it was somewhere remote, private, and alone.  There was no danger, no urgency, and no desire to blast a hole in the nearest wall to create an escape.  It was just the two of them, very little (if any) clothing, and a great time.

This was the exact opposite of that.  They were wearing too much clothing, and there was far too much company - so much so that they would be overrun if they didn’t fight their way out of this.  Fortunately, they were perfect partners.  Back-to-back, they could keep the zombies at bay until they found a chance to run for it.

“Oh!” she exclaimed before snapping her fingers.  “A perspective change would be cool right about now.”

“A what?”

“A perspective change!”

After glancing over her shoulder and catching Yang’s wink, Blake sighed and looked at the submachine gun in her hands.

“Let’s just do this.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Her focus zeroed in on one direction, but she felt Yang’s steady presence behind her.  While she would have no qualms facing this horde alone, she had to admit that Yang’s company offered some measure of comfort.  That, and Yang could be a wrecking ball of zombie obliteration when the situation called for it.  This situation definitely called for it.

Pinpointing the nearest threat, Blake lifted her weapon and squeezed the trigger - one bullet, one head, one crumpled zombie.  Two rapid shots rang out behind her as she turned her attention to the next closest threat and squeezed the trigger one more time.  She repeated this process again and again and again.  Each time a headshot, each time another crumpled corpse added to the growing pile.  She counted each bullet as it left the chamber, and knew to reload before reaching the dreaded click of an empty chamber.

Releasing an empty magazine, she smoothly kicked it out of the way while jamming a fresh one into place and spending the first bullet on another headshot.  A steady pop pop pop sounded behind her all the while, letting her know that Yang was taking care of her half of the work.  Using a submachine gun too - so unlike her but appropriate given the circumstances.  That shotgun would come in handy if they needed it, but they didn’t need it.  Together, the two of them were perfectly capable of fending off the advancing wall of bodies.

The first sign that the end was near was the sound of her breathing reaching her ears as the raspy moans faded away.  Gunfire slowed from rapid bursts to a moderate pace, and then to sporadic shots with more and more time in between.

When the last zombie fell and none took its place, Blake lowered her weapon and looked at the pile of bodies spread across the hall.  All dead, all headshots.  Satisfied with her work, she turned around to see how Yang fared.

After running an arm across her brow, Yang huffed and smiled.  As usual, she looked so unbelievably, heart-stoppingly attractive that Blake’s skin tingled and her mind raced in another direction.  Honestly, she didn’t know what Yang was waiting for.  Chivalry was nice, but Blake had done everything short of throwing herself at Yang and had nothing to show for it.  How obvious did she need to be?  Did she have to risk her life so that Yang could ‘save’ her?  Did she have to come right out and say ‘Yang, for the love of god, please sleep with me.’

That had just a hint of desperation, but she didn’t know how much longer she could take this.  It didn’t help that Yang was exceedingly hot on a daily basis.  Every outfit seemed specifically designed to fill Blake with longing.  The clinging shorts revealing long, toned legs...the tightly fit tops with plunging necklines and plenty of cleavage...

What Blake wanted?  No outfits at all.  Just skin-on-skin as the two of them moved together in -

“I think we should switch back now,” she said before her mind ventured too far.

“Yeah?”  While Yang grinned at that short departure from the norm, Blake focused on slinging her weapon back into place and tightening the strap over her shoulder.  “But that was fun, right?” Yang prodded, and Blake finally smiled.

“I think we can get out this way,” was all she said though, and gave Yang little time to respond before skirting around the pile of dead zombies.  Leaving that thought for now, Yang stayed on Blake’s heels as they sprinted down the hall and finally found daylight up ahead.  Or, at least, a pair of metal double doors leading outside.

Slamming through the doors, they suddenly found themselves running in the late afternoon sun, complete with zombies and pavement as far as the eye could see.

“This way,” Blake called out as they sprinted towards the corner of the mall.  Now that they were outside, they could hear another firefight nearby, and they could definitely see the entire population of Vale shambling towards the mall.

It looked like the biggest shopping day of the year, complete with bodies crawling over or under parked cars just to take a shortcut.  Yang had no problem throwing a few elbows for a great deal, but she didn’t want to be the deal.

“There’s Ruby and Weiss!” she said as they tore around the corner and spotted the other pair fighting their way to the truck.  Fortunately, there weren’t too many Zs around right now, but that was about to change in a big, horrible way.

“Weiss!” Blake called out, capturing Weiss’ attention so they didn’t get taken out by a stray bullet.

“Where’s Nora?” Weiss asked as they regrouped and sprinted the rest of the way to the truck.

“Right here!”

When Nora suddenly popped up atop the crow’s nest and grabbed the machine gun, the four of them skidded to a stop.  Without words, they all thought the same thing: if Blake was right, they were about to get mowed down by their own goddamn gun.

“Hurry up!” Nora yelled while waving them forward.  “I wanna shoot them!”

Accepting the invitation without question, they all dove into the vehicle.  “Did you just have a small heart attack?” Blake asked while buckling herself in.

“Nope.”  Jamming the key into the ignition, Yang revved the engine while the machine gun whirred to life above them.  “About peed my pants though.”

Sincerely hoping Nora strapped herself in, Yang threw the truck into gear and tore out of the parking lot, taking out a good dozen zombies before the tires stopped squealing.  Even more Zs fell while bullets sprayed everywhere, but eventually Nora concentrated on the ones in front of them and helped clear a path away from the mall.

It wasn’t until they sped onto the freeway that Yang’s heart started to calm down.  And it was a few minutes after that - once Nora dropped into the cabin - that Yang broke the silence.

“So was that a bust or what?”

Instead of answering, Blake rolled down her window and leaned outside.  “Yang, look.”  Falling back into her seat, Blake pointed towards the top of the windshield.  A few seconds later, Yang heard it.  A few seconds after that, she ducked her head and watched in disbelief as a helicopter flew overhead.

“What the hell?  Who has a helicopter??”

“That’s who took Ren!” Nora shouted before leaning forward and pointing over Yang’s shoulder.  “We have to get them!”

Yang tried to keep an eye on the helicopter while also speeding between abandoned cars and trucks on the freeway.  Not exactly the safest way to drive, but they had to figure out who was behind this nonsense.  And she needed to figure out how this person had such an awesome sense of apocalyptic humor.

“Yang,” Blake added while they raced after their target, the freeway disappearing under Xander’s tires while his engine roared.  “That’s a military helicopter.”

“Yeah?”

“Meaning it has guns.”

“And?” Yang asked, glancing at Blake and accidentally flattening a zombie in the process.

“And missiles.”

When the helicopter abruptly stopped and leveled out, Yang slammed on the brakes so they didn’t shoot past it.  “What’d you say?” she asked, her eyes never leaving the helicopter as it turned towards them.

“It has missiles -”

“Yang!” Ruby shouted.  “Back up!”

Throwing the truck in reverse, Yang put the pedal to the floor and felt the truck lurch backward.  Doing her best to navigate backward through the maze of traffic, she spared multiple glances at the helicopter that was definitely not going to shoot a missile at them.

“Shit, shit, shit.”  There was no space to turn around, but that didn’t matter because it was already too late.  A flash caught her eye, and she watched a thin, white missile disconnect before shooting toward them.  Slamming on the brakes, she threw the truck back in drive, making the tires squeal against pavement before they sped forward.

For a split second, she stared down the nose of a missile and saw her life flash before her eyes.

The next second, the missile glanced over them and landed in the middle of the freeway with a thundering explosion.

“Enough of them!”

Before Yang could offer thanks for still being alive, Nora shoved the roof hatch open and pulled herself up top.

“What’re you doing??” Weiss asked, but Nora was already gone, and the minigun was already spinning back up.

“I like this girl,” Yang said while bullets hurtled towards the helicopter, hitting the glass and pinging off the metal shell.  As multiple rounds connected, the pilot quickly turned tail and raced towards the city, deciding to live to fight another day.

“You better run!” Nora yelled after them while Ruby scrambled up top with her.

“Yang, stay here!”

The last thing Yang wanted to do was sit here, but she followed Ruby’s order and cast a wary eye at the thick billows of smoke rising from the wreckage behind them.  The more she stared, the more she swore the smoke was moving.  Almost as if -

“Yeah, we need to leave,” she said when shapes lumbered out of the smoke.

“Hold on!  Just a little longer.”

After sharing a look with Blake, Yang left them sitting on the freeway while a horde of Zs came to check out the commotion.  In a few seconds, they would be overrun, making a clean getaway more and more unlikely...

“Got it!” Ruby called out before dropping inside.  Nora fell into place immediately after, and Yang took that as permission to gun it.   Xander roared forward at her command, leaving skid marks and the undead in their diesel-fueled wake.

“What’d you see?” Weiss asked.

“I saw where it landed - on top of the filtration plant.  That’s probably their base!”

“And where they have Ren,” Nora piped in.

“Then it looks like we have our destination.”

“They have a military helicopter, Yang,” Blake pointed out.  “Who knows what other weaponry they have at their disposal.”

That may be true, but that didn’t mean they were outmatched.  Super Zombie Slayers were never outmatched.  They were just...at a temporary disadvantage...but that wouldn’t last forever.  That’s what temporary meant, after all.  In fact, she was so certain they could flip these tables that she reached into the center console and pulled out her sunglasses.

“Then it sounds like we…” she began before sliding on her glasses for dramatic effect.  “Need to go gun shopping.”

“Oh, that was a good one.”

Immediately dropping the act, she grinned at Blake.

“Yeah?  You think so?”

“Yes,” Blake answered with a nod.  “Very impactful.”

“Not like I’ve been practicing or anything…”  Shrugging like it was no big deal, Yang still smiled like a fool while they tore down the highway.

Another exciting day was over.  She found a new pair of boots, supremely slayed about a thousand Zs, discovered a possible criminal lair, and literally dodged a missile.  All in all, a pretty great day.

“You’ll have to stay with me again tonight,” Blake added before cracking the window to let in some fresh air.  And when she said nothing more than that, Yang gripped the steering wheel and grinned.

Scratch that previous thought.  It was a great day, but hopefully it would be an even greater night.