Sustenance

Chapter One: Surviving the first day of hell

Sorry I've been M.I.A lately, my internet was cut off and I have to go round my nans to update. So don't expect frequent updates.

Enjoy ;)

And please, all reviews welcome.

The undead groans and hungry moans rang in the air, a building was on fire, the flames swayed and the smoke rose into the midnight sky, dancing daintily as a bus was knocked over on the road, I watched helplessly as a zombie grasped onto a chubby man and I looked away when I knew what was going to happen, my hands shook as they clenched around my granddad's brand new shovel, I had found it in the shed, when all of this started.

I could hear the mans screams of agony and the ripping sound of his guts being ripped from his body. It was sicking. When it finally stopped, I slowly looked at the zombie, the shaking of my body growing more frantic when I saw his lifeless milky eyes staring hungrily at a woman screaming and trying to run from her car, but she should have stayed in it, because now a whole hoard was chasing her, all the zombies on the street in fact.

This was my only chance, no matter how wrong it was to leave the people on the street and no matter how guilty I felt, I ran like hell down the road and towards a short cut that lead round the back of the mall, clutching my shovel in my hands, my clothes had dried blood all over them, it was a bad day to wear white ripped jeans, now they were ruined, but I was more concerned about my life at the moment.

A lone zombie groaned and stumbled my way when I took a sharp turn into an alley way, I swallowed hard and slammed the sharp tip of the shovel towards his head, it drove right into his dead brain and split his head open, tears ran down my cheeks and a sob escaped my throat as I placed my foot on his chest and kicked him off the shovel, the zombie fell back onto the muddy floor with a thud.

My tired throbbing feet broke into a sprint and I took a sharp left, then after a couple of minutes of running, panting, I finally reached the mall, but I made sure to go to the stairs where no zombies were.

I swallowed hard when I saw the very tall fence that was guarding the front of the stairs, there was no other way in without going through zombies. So I swallowed down the fear and strapped the shovel to my back before climbing up, I hissed when I tried to grasp the top of the fence, only to cut my hand on the barbed wire.

Blood dripped and rolled down my hand but I clenched my teeth and ignored the pain for now. I swung my leg over, whimpering softly when I cut my leg on the sharp wire, but then threw the shovel off my back and onto the ground, then I jumped off the fence then just before I landed, I tucked and rolled on the ground to stop it from hurting too much.

When I stood up and held the shovel again, I gripped it tightly and climbed up the steps, hearing a faint groan and shaking with fear, I quickly opened the door and shut it behind me, no doubt there was probably zombies in here, but if I could just get a radio or any supplies that could be useful, I might just have a chance at survival.

I groaned in pain and annoyance once I ripped a piece of my top and wrapped it around my right hand, it had to be my right hand didn't it? My dominant hand, I hardly ever used my left.

I kept walking until I came up to a long narrow corridor, the floor a grey marble and the ceiling a plain dirty white, the walls on both sides were white, but the bottom of the walls were painted a dark red wine that looked like a little brown was mixed with it too.

As I walked down the corridor, which was 'L' shaped at the end, I sharply flashed out and quickly got into a defensive stance, but nothing was there, when I got to the end of this corridor there was a grey dirty door, on top of the door was an exit sign, written in glowing crimson letters.

I got into a defensive stance, gripping the shovel tightly and leaning it on my shoulder, getting ready to swing if a zombie came out, I cautiously stood on the left hand side of the door, then hesitantly opened the door, then opened it all the way to show there was not zombies, but the second level of the mall.

I walked out, gasping when I looked over the golden bar railing, no zombies, but real humans, breathing living humans on the bottom floor.

"People! living people!" I whispered to myself, feeling half cautious of them and half joyful; I wasn't alone.

Before I knew it, my feet were rushing towards the stairs that lead to the bottom level, which was slightly 'C' shaped as the stairs curved around a thick brick pillar and reached down to the bottom floor, but as I reached the bottom floor, my eyes widened in horror when I saw the front doors, the zombies were bashing their hands against the thick glass, creating thudding noises throughout the room, their milky blank eyes were angry and hungry, but there wasn't much of them, thank god.

The only thing keeping them outside was a barricade that the people were putting up, benches, chairs, big ass plants, a mirror, everything that they could move was blocking the doors.

"Hey! Quit screwing around! Are you going to stand there all day and catch flies or are you actually going to help and be useful?" A chubby looking man with a slight beard yelled at me when he caught me standing around on the bottom step, leaning on the golden balcony awkwardly. "Well? Or do you like being zombie bait?"

"Uh I-"

"Hurry up!" He ordered, a crazy paranoid look coming to his face as he interrupted me, he gestured towards the thick glass door and the other plastic one, he picked up another big ass plant and shoved it in my arms. "None of us want to be eaten!"

I looked down at the plant, an image of the scared woman frantically running away from the hoard, her pants and screams of agony played through my mind and I closed my eyes, tears still flowing, I shouldn't have left her, there must have been a way and I...I just left her.

"Excuse me? Have you seen my baby?" A shriek suddenly came at me, grabbing my forearms and shaking me frantically, I dizzily opened my eyes and looked at the panicked old lady. "Oh, where's my Madonna? She's a little poodle-"

"Lady!" A red haired guy came over, cutting her off, he gently pushed her off me, narrowing his eyes. "She doesn't know where your poodle is-"

"Oh! Oh my poor baby!" The crazy lady squatted off somewhere, shrieking about her precious poodle, she was insane.

I looked up at the red haired guy, he must have been around my age, he smiled at me grimly. "Are you alright?"

"I suppose," I whispered back, looking down at the big ass plant, I cringed away when the zombies groans grew louder.

He put a hand on my shoulder and I looked up. "Here, I'll take that," he took the plant from my arms and moved it over to the barricade, I stared at one zombie in particular, one who stared straight back at me, his little milky eyes were dull, dead, but they seemed so hungry, angry as he snarled like a rabid animal, saliva dripped from his crimson teeth, his skin was a light grey, he only had one arm and a rib bone was sticking out from his chest.

But the thing that got my attention, was that it was a little boy, not over the age of six. My throat closed up as I was reminded of my little brother, I didn't know if he was safe, I had no idea if the rest of my family was safe, I was only visiting my grandfather because my mum thought it would be a good idea to bond.

As I gazed intently at the little boy, coming to a realisation, this was all real, the world was going to be taken over by the undead, people, families was be torn apart to survive, people would have to kill their wife's, husbands...their kids. It would slowly eat up at them, like it was my grandfather.

I jumped and almost dropped my shovel when a hand touched my shoulder, the red haired dude held up his hands to show that he wasn't going to harm me, I sighed with relief. "Sorry, I'm...jumpy...with all this going on and all."

"It's okay," he reassured me, he held out his hand. "I'm Sean,"

"Elise, but people call me Elle," I took his hand and shook it, then gave him a small grim smile. "Or they used to."

"Right," he ran his hand through his messy spiky vibrant red hair, his eyes heavy. I could tell he was tired, but he was helping out with the barricade. I'd help out too, but I didn't want to get close to the zombies. "Elle, you seem like a nice person. Would you mind doing me a favour?"

I frowned, biting my lip. "What is it?"

"Can you look after my little sister?" He looked at me, his blue eyes hopeful, he gestured towards a little girl sitting under the stairs, playing with a Barbie doll, you could see the resemblance, her vibrant red hair was in cute little pig tails, curling at the tip. She was wearing a cute little purple dress that reached down to her knees, it was plain but white lace was wrapped around her little waist, she look up at us and I could see she had the same eyes as her brother, icy blue. "Please?"

"Sure," if I could be useful, I would, plus, I wasn't anywhere near the zombies. I felt like I owed these people for letting me stay here, even though they don't know I sneaked in from the stairs. "What's her name?"

"Rose," he smiled at me in relief. "Thank you."

"It's no trouble," I put the shovel on my back and gave him a little smile before walking over to the girl, she looked up at me as I sat down next to her, she shyly looked down and kept fumbling with the blonde hair on her Barbie.

I looked to the right, under the stairs and second floor, but I saw I could see I would be able to move around in the wide space, the metal security gate was closed and I was shut off from the rest of the mall, except from a shop or two that was still open for supplies. I also saw some useful things that could be used as weapons, plus the food scattered around the floor around the bins, a pile of objects laying around.

I looked back down at Rose, she couldn't have been older than six or seven years old, poor thing.

"Hello," I began, she jumped and looked up, startled. I smiled at her softly, calming her down, she returned the smile hesitantly. "I'm Elle,"

"Rose," she introduced quietly, I nodded, even though I already knew her name, I pointed towards her Barbie, awkwardly trying to find a way to talk to her.

"She's a pretty doll," Rose smiled up at me, she held out the doll for me to take, I took it and fiddled with the small blonde curls, I figured that she named it something other than just 'Barbie'. "What's her name?"

"Ruby," Rose answered, I held out the doll and she took it, hugging the doll, she fearfully glanced at the glass doors. "When are the monsters going to go away Elle?"

My heart broke right there, I swallowed before putting a hand on her shoulder, I wouldn't lie to her, but I wouldn't say anything about the truth either. "I don't know Rose,"

"I want to go home," she whispered, she looked away from the doors, down at her feet, I frowned when I saw she had no shoes on.

"Where are your shoes Rose?" I asked, her hand pointed towards the door...outside... "Oh..." was all I could say, I sighed and patted her head. "I'll find you some more shoes."

"You will?" Her blue eyes lit up, I smiled at her then stood up.

"Yeah, what size shoe are you?"

"Mummy said I was a size one," she told me, I nodded, then after I told Sean I was just getting his sister some shoes, I walked towards one of the shops that was still open.

I glanced around, holding onto my shovel tightly just in case a zombie jumps out at me.

As I slowly crept up to the counter, I lean over and looked down, but sighed in relief when I saw nothing there, I looked in every aisle, in every corner, but found no shoes.

Since I found nothing in that shop, I went to the other, my eye brows raising when I saw a girl about my age that was already in there, she glanced around cautiously every so often, on the look out for zombies I assumed.

She had dark brown hair that reached down to her lower back but it was put in a high pony tail, her eyes matched her hair, a brown colour, she was wearing a black tanktop with a Happy Bunny jacket (words "Not Listening, Blah blah blah on it, black sweatpants and dirty white Nike shoes with white socks. Around her neck was a fake gold karate girl necklace with a fake golden chain.

She glanced in my direction and as soon as our eyes locked, she jumped, realising that somebody else was here.

"Hi," I greeted, she nodded politely, I had a feeling that she was shy, I used to be too, I still was a little because I never just walked up to somebody I didn't know and started a conversation, though I did reply if somebody talked to me.

I didn't know what else to say, so I pursed my lips and walked around the shop, I glanced at the girl, then sighed. Sod it.

"I'm Elle," I gave her a small smile, she returned it.

"Brit," she replied quietly, shy still, I nodded to her, still smiling before I looked around for shoes, I eventually found a white pair of crocks, it wasn't much and Rose probably wouldn't be able to run in them, plus they were half a size to big, but it was something that she could walk in and keep her feet from cutting if she trod on something. I suppose I could adjust it somehow...

"I don't suppose you know where duct tape is?" I asked, looking up at her, she shook her head and I hummed, looking around the shop, it was a fancy little gadget one, with some shoes and hats in the corner-

"Oh! Hats!" I grinned half-heartedly, as you could probably guess, I loved hats.

Brit chuckled, I grinned wider, feeling a little happier in this hell for the time being, I savoured it, knowing that it probably wouldn't last for long.

I picked up a black hat that looked like it came out of a Mafia game then tried it on, I looked in the mirror, any hat had always suited me, as wells as any glasses or sunglasses, my mum said it had something to do with my face shape, my nan said I'd make a good model, of course I don't, I had a little ache and had a little chubby bit on my stomach. My nan said it was to do with growing up, that it was just puppy fat and I would have lovely curves when I'm older. My waist was small, but my hips were slightly big, I had an hour glass figure, it wasn't all sun shine and bunnies though at my age.

I turned around, grinning at Brit, she smiled. I'm glad that I could still cheer people up, even in dark times. "What do you think?"

"Awesome," she stated, then came over to me, I could tell she was warming up to me, as I her, I knew I shouldn't get attached to people, in case...

I didn't want to think about it, instead I put on a white cowgirl hat, deciding to keep it on, it kind of made me feel like a female version of Indiana Jones.

"I should give these to Rose," I declared, Brit nodded. "I'll be right back."

After I told Sean that I was helping Rose with her shoes, he allowed me to take her into the shop, I glanced back at the angry, starving zombies, shuddering before entering the shop.

"There," I said once I finished adjusting Rose's crocks, she smiled and jumped up from the chair, I placed a black cowgirl hat on her head, she titled it up since it was too big for her and grinned up at me, I gave her a bat too, it was something to defend herself with if we got cornered.

Rose and Brit walked along side me as we walked out the shop and sat at the bottom of the stairs, Rose looked tired, no wonder, it was probably past ten.

So I made Rose a type of bed, it wasn't really a bed, just my red jumper as a cushion and Brit's sweat shirt as a small blanket, but never the less, Rose looked comfortable as she hugged her little Ruby.

"Brit?" She looked up at me, I got her attention. "Can you look after Rose for me? Just while I look for some food."

"Sure," she nodded and with that, I climbed up the stairs, walking towards the other small gift shops that weren't closed. Managing to find some food, I also got a backpack, it was medium sized, it wouldn't weigh me down either.

It was black, crimson lacy patterns in the from of roses around on the entire thing, it had two straps, I put both of my arms through the holes and shrugged it on my back after putting food inside them, I also stuffed a first aid kit inside, I took my iPod out of my bottom pocket in my jeans and plugged an earbud in my right ear, then placed a book that I would read during any spare time, which I doubted I would get due to the zombies, and put a couple of water bottles in the side sheaths that were on each side of the backpack.

I looked in the counter draws as well, taking some scissors from it and cutting off the middle of my jeans so they only reached down to just above my knees, they were still ripped on my thighs due to the barred wire that I cut it on, but I actually felt as though I could move more freely now.

I cut one of the sleeves from my top off and tied my long wavy brown hair up, then looked in the mirror and tied it into a long plat. I grinned at my reflection, I was a lot happier and felt less heavy with all the clothing that I was wearing.

I turned around, deciding to go out the door and back to Rose, but I was suddenly face to face with a hungry zombie.

With my shovel by the door.

Bugger.