In the safe room made from a room with unknown purpose...

Applejack was now crying. She thought that she could possibly get help at the evacuation zone, but it's gone. Ellis was not really good in these types of situations. He, too was upset about the wrecked evac zone, but he had high hopes and confidence there was another way.

"My...friends. My...brother, my little sister, my granny. I'll never see em' again," were the words that Applejack said through her tears.

Ellis realized that this was the moment. The zombies finally broke her down. She lost all hope in seeing her loved ones again. He had to say something.

"Applejack...don't worry. There's always another way. I assure you that I will find a solution to this. You'll be with your loved ones again soon. I can feel it."

"You mean that?" Applejack asked, ceasing to cry.

"To be honest, I would fist fight one of those giant zombies if it meant that someone could return to their home safely. Just because I lost my family doesn't mean someone else should."

"Ellis..."

"If you don't mind, I have to ask: how did you get here?"

"Well, if you wanna know, it started like this: my friend, Twilight, had a spell she was workin on. While she was practicing, I walked in on her and she freaked out. She accidentally zapped me with her magic and I was taken to that flamin building."

"Sounds reasonable."

"Sorry Ellis. It's just...I'm under a lot of stress right now, and you're right: there's always another way. I just don't know what."

"Well, let's find out. Shall we exit?"

"We don't got much choice. Let's go."

With that said, Ellis gives the door a kick and they leave the safe room. After walking through the hallway, they noticed that the area was under construction before the zombies came.

"In the elevator." Ellis said, pointing to an elevator that seemed to be working.

They enter the elevator, and try to decide what to do next.

"Well, no one here is gonna save us. You got a plan?" Applejack asked, trying to forget about the corpses from earlier.

"Actually, I've been thinking...so I've been thinking that Jimmy Gibbs, the guy on those posters, has his stock car around here somewhere. We just gotta find it, gas it up, and I'll drive it to New Orleans my damn self."

"What's a car? And what's 'gas'?"

"A car is like a metal wagon, but it requires fuel to work. The tank inside the car is likely empty, so like I said, we should find some gasoline."

"What does it look like?"

"You'll recognize it. So as soon as the doors open, hustle and find some gasoline."

For the next five seconds, the elevator continued to go down. It then stopped, and the doors opened. There was a gas can right in front of them.

"Ok, look for more of those and bring them to the car right there!" Ellis yelled as he pointed to the car and grabbed the gasoline.

So the search was on. They were checking every nook and cranny for any cans of precious gasoline. The process was this: find a gas can, drop it by the car, and find more. They needed at least eight to be able to drive out of there. Applejack was on the ground floor, and Ellis was on the floor above. The first 10 minutes were pretty productive. They had already found three out of eight gas cans. Ellis was engaging combat with a charger, and Applejack was in combat with a hunter. Ellis filled the charger with holes, and Applejack beat the hunter to death.

"Ellis!" Applejack yelled.

"Yeah?" Ellis responded.

"How is the process?"

"Goin nicely. We already got three cans. We just need five more."

"Ellis...what's that noise?!"

Ellis looked down at the floor to see another one of those hulking zombies.

"Shit! Run AJ! Up here!" Ellis yelled down to her.

While Applejack ran her way up the stairs, Ellis looked for something to use. He spotted what appeared to be a Molotov. This gave him an idea. He lit it and threw it down onto the tank. It was engulfed in flames, but that didn't stop it from trying to chase down our two protagonists. While they were running, Applejack fell through a glass floor panel and onto the floor underneath. Being separated from her only friend in this world, she panicked and tried to look for him. She found one gas can along the way, so she threw it down to the car. That meant they were halfway done. Anyways, Applejack could still hear the booming sound of the tank's massive steps and Ellis freaking out. They finally found each other on the second floor, but the tank had them backed up in a corner. At this point, Ellis was holding on to Applejack and closed his eyes, waiting for what was to come. Suddenly, the tank let out a final roar, and it just dropped dead. Ellis opened his eyes and looked at the now charred tank corpse.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack said.

"Must've been the fire. It looks like it got to him." Ellis said.

They spot two more gas cans, so they threw them down.

"Just two more!" Ellis yelled.

At this point, they knew that speed was key. Another tank was coming soon, and they knew it. They needed to find the last two cans before things got worse. Twenty minutes passed and Ellis already killed a spitter, hunter, and even a jockey. Applejack already killed a charger, smoker, and a spitter. The two had their own forms of combat: Ellis was great with guns, and Applejack used her muscular legs. Both were effective. Things got real when the duo found the last two cans.

"I got one!" Ellis yelled.

"I got another!" Applejack yelled back.

"Ok! We got them all! Let's gas up the car!"

"Alright! Meet you there!"

Ellis was the first to reach the car, and was already starting to fuel it up.

"Hersh da cam." Applejack said with the gas can in her mouth.

She dropped it behind him. While he was fueling the car, she kept her eyes and ears open for anything suspicious.

One out of eight cans inside

"I hear one of them chargin things." Applejack said.

"I see em'." Ellis said as he filled the zombie with holes, "Got em."

Three out of eight cans inside

"I cannot wait to drive this." Ellis said, excitedly.

"Does this thing mean a lot to you?" Applejack asked.

"You bet. I loved the races that Jimmy Gibbs Jr. won with this. That and, I love the feeling of speed: the air tryin to hold ya back as it flows through your hair. Man, that's the life."

"Heh, that reminds me of one of my friends."

"Yeah? Well, maybe if I get the chance, I could meet your friends."

Seven out of eight cans inside

"Oh, man. I am too excited." Ellis said.

Applejack couldn't help but smile every time Ellis said something out of excitement. Maybe she liked the fact that it was hard to get rid of his good mood. Maybe it was his determination and dedication to do the right thing. Whatever it was, there was something about him that made her want to be closer...

"Alright! It's gassed up! Inside!" Ellis yelled as a tank could be seen in the distance.

Applejack stopped staring off into space and followed his instructions. She went in the back seat and Ellis shut the door behind her. Ellis found the key and he activated the car. He turned it and the motor started to work.

"Oh, yeah. Listen to that purr." Ellis said, trying to hold back the drool.

"THE TANK!" Applejack yelled as she pointed her hoof at the incoming tank.

"Oh, right!" Ellis said as he stomped his foot on the gas pedal.

The car accelerated forwards and Ellis smashed it through the doors of the mall.

"WOOO HOOO!" Ellis yelled into the wind.

The Survivors Have Escaped. To Be Continued

Author's Note

WHOOP WHOOP! And our two heroes escape Dead Center! Don't worry. This is not the end of the story. Up next is Dark Carnival.