Dead Rising: Hoof, Camera, Action!

Chapter 1: The Raw Reality.

September 19, 12:00 pm, 2006.

Frank was in the roof of Willamette mall checking his watch marking 12:00 pm, he walk to the roof entrance door and entere, he walk to a stair that go down, reaching the floor he look what it was a storage room since it have many big rooms with some boxes with some food in them, tables and shelves, lockers were at one end of the hallway plus there was a comfy green sofa with a chart above it next to the bathrooms.

Frank walk to the end of the corridor to the door that has label Janitor’s room on its glass window, entering a set of monitors who were connected to the mall’s security camera was set on the sealing and in a table below, it show everything that is happening in the store, Frank examine them to see anything that can answer his questions or give him a hint, then one of the camera at the parking lot showed how a woman was trying to get in her car only to be pulled out and pin down by other three persons to later be what it looks eaten alive.

Frank could not believe what he just saw. “What in the world…” Is the only thing he could say and thought, he kept watching the monitors for a moment before encouraging himself and continued on his way out of the room, he saw a giant A/C that was working and in its right side was a door were Frank entered, it was another hallway and in the end of the hall was a door, once Frank entered the door he was now in the mall.

Frank was now standing in the second floor of the mall, seen many stores empty with no personnel in them, he then walked downstairs and spotted a group of people barricading the entrance of the mall, so he walked to the group to get some information out of them.

“Hey! Bring it over here.” a man with green shirt and brown shorts said to another man.

Frank is now on the ground floor looking at how an old man was moving a small propane tank while bumping and scolding an old woman who seems to be shaking and looking for something.

The same old lady bumps into Frank and in a hysterical tone she asks him “Have you seen my baby? I can’t live without my little sweetie doggie! Oh, where is my Madonna? Where is she? OH!,OH! My Madonna.” The old lady continued looking leaving Frank alone.

Frank was confused but motivated to reveal the mystery this town is hiding.

Continuing, Frank saw a beautiful girl with long black hair, tan skin, wearing black slim pants that only reach to her knees, a white blouse with some pink strings revealing the belly button and some jewelry. He wasn’t watching her for her beauty or for anything like that, the reason is because she looks more calm and in peace than anybody here.

But when she notices him and he makes his first step towards her an old man blocks his way. “Hey! This is not time to ogle pretty girls, son!” the man said while Frank tried to escape but the girl walked away. “You lookin’ to get yourself eaten alive by zombies?” that last statement captured Frank’s attention.

“What? Did you just say ‘zombies’? said Frank, surprised to hear that statement.

“Take a look out there!” the man said, pointing and walking towards the entrance. “If those ain’t zombies, what do you call ‘em?”

Frank looked at the glass doors of the entrance and indeed, there were zombies outside becoming more and more each minute, just when Frank thought he had seen everything, these zombies had proved him wrong. No way! Frank thought, surprised.

“There’s been more an’ more of ‘em since last night.” the old man continued explaining. “Now, they’re all that’s out there.” Frank tried to take a picture with his camera but the man slapped Frank in his stomach, interrupting him and capturing his attention. “EH! Look at the bright side, zombies are stupid and slow. We should be safe in here.”
Frank once again tried to take a picture but the old man seemed to have another idea in mind by once again blocking Frank’s shoot and giving him a task. “Alright, then. Feel like making’ yourself useful? Take a look around the mall and bring anything that we can use for the barricade back here.” Frank uses this moment to take any picture he can before the man in front of him decides to block his view again. “Andale! C’mon! Pronto!”

For much of his discomfort Frank has to help with the barricade, on his way down the mall hallway he notices that some survivors and Willamette’s employees had baseball bats, lead pipes and one of them had a shotgun, later he saw a pair of girls crying for the zombie outbreak while others were very upset or injured. Man, I really hope I get out alive. Frank thought. Once Frank was at the end of the hall he noticed that the security grilles were blocking the rest of the mall.

While looking for something useful, Frank saw a thin old man on the other side of the grilles wearing a red suit with a white button shirt, gray formal pants with a black belt and a cane, Frank then decided to take some pictures of him.

The man noticed him and walked towards him. “You! Stop right there!” the man ordered angrily while using his cane to stick it through the grill in an attempt to damage Frank or his camera. “Do you have any idea of what you've done? Why do you summon me to this place? First those meat eaters appeared and now rainbow horses!? WHAT’S NEXT? WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING!?”

“WILL YOU CALM DOWN!?” Frank shouted to the man. “I don’t even know what you are talking about!”

The man gets a little tired, he retrieves his cane and walks away angry and grunting.

“What the-” Frank wanted to stop him for more questions but the old man had left. What was happening here? Where do these zombies come from? And why does horse have to do with all this? Those were Frank’s thoughts about the situation but they were interrupted when he heard something breaking.

“Madonna! My Madonna is out there!” the old lady from before was screaming and pushing the barricade to get her French Poodle back from the zombies that were outside the mall.

One of the mall’s staff and another survivor tried to stop her but somehow she managed to push them off. The dog was barking but the zombies looked like they ignored the animal, but the old lady successfully opened the main door and jumped to retrieve her dog causing many zombies to enter and of course pin her and eat her and the employee who was stopping her.

Now Frank was analyzing the situation, it was bad, no, more than bad it was a catastrophe, now he need to think how to get out alive and not end like food for the undead, and if it was like fate a man on the second floor shouted to the remaining survivors makin Frank to enter to reality.

“What in the hell are you people doing!?” shouted a black man in a long sleeve yellow button shirt with a gray tie, gray pants with black belt and brown shoes. “RUN! Quick! Move! Get over here!” he ordered while gesturing to everyone where to go. “Everyone! Move this way! Quick! To the stairs! MOVE!”

Frank took a glance to the path he had to take in order to survive this outbreak, running to the pile of junk Frank quickly took a 2”x4” wood stick and a baseball bat, he opened a path between the zombies by using the bat and swinging at them, causing them to fall backwards and pushing others zombies, then he use the map display as a platform to check who else still alive.

Unfortunately one-by-one the survivors were overpowered by the crowd of zombies causing them to fall to the ground, been pinned and eaten alive by them, Frank was shocked of how fast a little mistake cost the lives of all the survivors, if Frank want to live he had to think quick, in that moment Frank saw how the left side of the entrance has less zombies that the right but it still a big number so he search for the employee from before that had a shotgun, when he spotted his body close to the sculpture in the small water source Frank jump of the display and begun swinging left to right until he reach the shotgun and with one shoot he kill a good number of zombies while running to the stair and shooting again, once in his way upstairs Frank look back at the display of more zombies coming in from the entrance and start running again.

But when he reached the second floor he saw that a small group of zombies were disperse in the hallway. Frank understood that he had to fight his way to the storage room so he put away the shotgun and took out the 2”x4” and started killing the few zombies that blocked his path, even knowing that they aren’t people any more, Frank felt sorry for those who couldn’t escape from these monsters.

But before Frank could reach the door something caught his attention, three zombies were entering a clothing store. Is there another survivor alive in the store? Frank thought. He wanted to leave but his photojournalist instinct told Frank to enter the store and see if the survivor was still alive. When he entered he saw the three zombies standing in the middle of the store looking away then Frank smash one zombie from behind in the head with his 2”x4” and went for the next one, but in the moment when he hit the zombie his piece of wood broke causing him to stagger for a bit, unfortunately it was enough time for the last zombie to lunge toward him causing the both to fall, “Shit!” Frank said while he was laying on the ground, back in the floor while his hands where around the zombie’s neck, the undead was on top trying to bite his face off, Frank was struggling, waiting for the right moment to strike him when the zombie move back to gather impulse Frank use that moment to kick him off and stand quickly, he put out his bat and prepared to make a homerun with the zombie’s head, the monster run toward Frank ready to bit him but Frank was faster then him and hit him so hard causing the zombie’s head to explode.

Frank took a time to catch some air, after a minute he watched at his surroundings to try and find any sign that tells him that someone is still living, he moves to the dressing rooms opening one-by-one. “Empty.” said Frank, opening one dressing room. “Empty.” he opened another one. “Empty, Pony, Empty.” Frank stop his pace, processing what he had just said, returning to the dressing room with the mentioned animal and for his surprise indeed there was a pony and was laying in the floor alive but unconscious since he saw how its barrel was moving indicating that it was breathing, Frank shake his head to get out from his shock, then he proceed to kneel down to see the little foal, it have cream color coat and have brown mane and a short tail that was also brown, nothing weird until Frank saw its back noticing now that the little pony have wings!?

Frank stood up and did a double take not believing what his eyes were showing him, There is no freaking way that it is real, it must be one of those plushies that work with batteries or something!. Frank thought, so he decided to kneel down and get closer, noticing some facial features making him look more expressive and two teeth that came out from its mouth with a gap between them, then he began to touch and grab its front and back hooves, chest, head and wings.

After a pair of minutes Frank was sitting in the floor not knowing what to think now, after examining the creature that is laying in front of him, Frank has learned three things from it, number one is a he, number two he was thin and young but not a pony, a pegasus to be specific, and number three he was real. “Just when I thought zombies were going to be hard to believe.” he said to himself knowing that if he included something so weird and cute to his bloody and gory story no one will believe him. “Well a pair of shots and taking you alive with me as proof could make my story more believable.” Frank states, later he proceeds to taking his camera out and took some photos of the unconscious pegasus. Maybe when he wakes up I could tame him so he doesn’t run and get himself eaten. Though Frank, believing it was the best idea ever, with a goofy smile. FANTASTIC!! OUTTAKE. After taking some shots he put the camera away, the reporter began to carry the pegasus foal which resulted to be more easy since the pony was lighter than Frank expected.

Now Frank was running in the hallway back to the storage room with an unconscious pegasus that barely surpassed the height of his knee while surviving a zombie invasion. What could happen next? An evil corporation? An alien invasion? Interdimensional traveling? Bigfoot dancing sensually at the rhythm of 50 cent’s ‘Candy Shop’?”. Thought Frank trying to forget that weird last one.

Frank arrive, opened the steel door and entered the room only to be met with the black guy from early and a blonde girl next to him in which she dress a complete ash gray suit and skirt with a white shirt that reveal a bit of her chest, black heels and glasses that make her look like a business worker.

Suddenly an employee of the mall locked the door where Frank came in, the employee was black and looking older, around sixty years, partially bald with white hair and beard, he wore the mall’s blue uniform with yellow letters, pale green pants and brown shoes.

The three people were looking at Frank and then at the pony that he was caring in his arms, the guy from early broke the silent and pointed at the pony. “What is that?”

Frank looked down and answered “Is a pegasus that I found in a store on my way here.” Everyone could not believe what he just said but there he was holding a pony with wings that look very naturally attached to its body.

Putting that aside, the man in the yellow shirt changes the subject by asking Frank about the survivors “Where are the others?”

Frank shakes his head. “I don’t know… I hope they got away.”

With this the man in the yellow shirt rubs his head and shows some distress for the news. Then he indicates with his head to the mall worker to proceed, the worker nods and pulls out a blowtorch and begins to seal the door where Frank came from.

“As long as those things are in the mall, we’d better not use this door.” the yellow shirt man said to Frank while inspecting the giant A/C’s air duct.

“Um, What are you doing?” Frank asked.

Looking at him the yellow shirt man turned to Frank and said. “The air ducts.” he pointed at it. “They’ll get us back into the mall. And apparently, those things aren’t smart enough to use the ducts.”- he put his hands in the handle of the air duct’s door and opened. -“So they won’t be a factor.”

“Wait a minute…” Frank said. “You wanna get back in there? What for?” The man didn’t answer Frank’s questions, he entered in the air duct and crawled his way out. “Hey! Hey!” Frank tried to get his attention and failed, frustrated he looked to his left and saw the blond girl.

“So are you a zoologist or a veterinarian? The blonde girl asked calmly but professionally.

Frank realized that her question came from the pegasus he was holding . “Actually I’m a photojournalist, don’t let the little guy distract you.” said Frank, looking at the pony in his arms, then he move the foal’s body in way were he use his left arm to hold the pony’s flank while his body rest in his chest and the head in Frank’s left shoulder freeing his right arm, “I’m Frank West” he said while extending his right arm to the girl for a hand shake.

The blonde girl ignored the gesture. “Can you show me some pictures, Frank?” she asked, Frank understood that she doesn’t want nothing to do with him, so Frank reluctantly handed over his camera to the girl.

Frank noticed how well she was using his camera’s features. “You really seem to know what you’re doing.” he said calmly to later ask. “Who are you guys, anyway? And what are you-” Frank stops his sentence when he notices how the girl reacts by the photo of the old man with a cane from early. “I took that one near the entrance.” the girl was now looking directly at him. “That guy do something?”

The blonde girl hesitated for a moment before answering him. “Nope. Thanks for showing me, though.” she said it in a cold and serene manner while offering his camera back.

Frank took his camera while seeing her in the eyes, not convinced of what she said, the girl was walking to the janitor’s room. “Hey, we’re not done talking yet. Just who are you guys?”

The girl stops in front of the door and turns around facing Frank. “I’m Jessie.” she answered. “The man you saw earlier is Brad.That’s all I'm authorized to tell you.” She finished and entered the room leaving Frank with more questions to ask and a pony to take care.