4 The Neck to Neck Encounters

To his right, there is a man wearing a white uniform running towards him like there is no tomorrow with a shotgun is swaying on his side. The problem is this person's clothes are almost turned red because of blood and there is a bite sized chunk of flesh missing on his neck. Another step is all it took and the man lunged at him like a hungry beast.

Even though he broke into cold sweat, his reflexes did not betray him. Stepping sideways, he dodged the zombie's pounce and while it is still mid-air in front of him, he gave it a heavy swing of his bat coming from above. The bat missed the zombie's head but directly hit the nape of its neck.

Cracking sounds of bones being broken creepily entered Mark's ears as the heavy metal bat made contact. The impact halted the momentum of its pounce directly hitting the floor with its neck bent back more than it normally would be able to.

Giving out a few twitches, it almost stopped moving. Why almost? Because its head is still moving! Mark's counter attack broke its neck bones severing all its ability to move its body but still, its brain remained intact and as such, its head is still 'alive'.

The head glared at Mark like it is looking at its prey growling angrily with its bloody mouth despite its condition.

Mark on the other hand glared back at the zombie but he is actually trying to get used to the sensation he felt just now. Even if Mark did not hesitate to give it killing blow, it is still the first time he actually tried to kill in real life. In video games, killing is an everyday matter as a large variety of games work by the system of killing enemies, be it be humans or monsters.

Also the feeling of being close to death is suffocating. After all, it truly is a close one. If his instincts did not kick in, just getting pounced on isn't the end of it.

The sensation of being near death and killing in real life is totally different. Mark is actually shivering and his heart is pounding loudly as he tried to hold his bat tighter. Getting a few mouthfuls of air, he made himself calm down.

He glared at the familiar zombie laid on the floor in front of him. It was familiar since he saw this person just a while ago. Failing to reload his gun on time, he got bitten on his neck by a zombie that pounced on him. It was the guard on the first floor earlier whose corpse vanished when Mark was not looking. As evidence, the unloaded shotgun that still had its chamber open lay beside it while still being strapped around its body.

This zombie guard has no other injury aside from the bite that he got earlier and the broken neck inflicted by Mark. This way, Mark was able to assure himself that like how it is in the movies. A single bite from a zombie can turn a person into one.

As time is very important, Mark decided to continue mulling over these things later. He raised his bat once more and mercilessly swung it on the head of the guard. The smell of iron scattered in the air as blood splashed on the floor.

Mark gave his bat another swing to the side to get rid of the blood on it and kicked over the body to make it lay on its back. Covering his right hand with a handkerchief, he carefully removed one end of the strap of the shotgun and pulled the shotgun off the guard's body. He then detached the buckle of the guard's belt and also gave it a pull taking the heavy duty security belt away.

Giving the contents of the larger bag behind the belt a quick look, he smiled as he took out several shotgun bullets fully reloading the shotgun he just took. He then buckled the belt around his waist as everything inside the pockets connected to the belt contain necessary stuffs like small flashlight on the first right pocket and the two way radio next to it. He just wished that the radio isn't broken after being carried by a zombie who would pounce and jump here and there.

Without further ado, not even giving the dead guard another glance, he ran towards the direction of the TechZone. It is because he already heard several screams at the third floor!

Three people gathering supplies in the east wing of the mall are running away screaming as they are being chased by a fast moving zombie. Further behind, there are more zombies that are following as they stagger.

Still, he commended these people in his mind. They did not want to fight as they were afraid. Still, as they ran away, they never had the impulse to throw away the supplies they gathered.

They are actually running away pushing two carts with several boxes of food on it!

As Mark who isn't that far away, since the sports store he just left is located at the southern wing near central area of the mall, saw this, he did not hesitate and ran towards the trio.

Seeing Mark holding a gun run towards them to help, the trio was elated. They are afraid of fighting this fast moving zombie and more zombies are coming from behind them. Still, they didn't want to leave the food they found with their efforts. They are lucky their job is to restock food at the stalls so they knew where they left their carts before. They found the carts and also emptied the stall they are about to restock earlier but before they can take everything, they saw zombies climbed the escalators unsteadily with fast one leading in front.

"Continue running!"

Mark ran past the three and shouted. Of course, the three wouldn't dare stop even if he didn't say this.

He then stopped running not far from the zombie rushing at him. Seeing the zombie, Mark thought how lucky those three was. If was a normal fast running zombie, the three couldn't have made it but the zombie running after them actually only had one foot! At the part where its left ankle should be is only a stump of flesh dripping with blood. There is no doubt that this is a zombie to the same standard as the guard he killed earlier but it is gravely hindered by its disability.

As the zombie tried its best rushing at him, Mark held the metal bat on his left hand and pulled out the shotgun with his right hand. As he found a gun, he is actually itching to try shooting it. This shotgun maybe short bodied but it still did not lack a good punch. A gun is just one in the list of an Otaku's most wanted items.

He stepped his left foot backward turning his body to the side as his right hand aimed the shotgun forward. As a gamer, he knew a lot about the guns recoils so he aimed the gun at the approaching zombie's chest even though he wanted to hit its head.

BANG!

Mark felt his right arm go numb after pulling the trigger while blood of the zombie splashed everywhere. The zombie's head flew off the terrace and its body was pushed about a step back before it slumped on the floor. Despite it was shot with a shotgun, the body was not impacted enough to push it back as wasn't directly hit with the gunfire…

…on its neck…