“Up and at em’.”

Applejack found her eyes slowly opening as she felt herself being shaken lightly. She let out a yawn knowing well her time for sleep had passed for now. Getting up onto her hooves, she was greeted with a wide awake Otis.

“Mornin’,” Applejack said with a nod.

Applejack gave quick shake of her head ridding herself of any notion of still being tired, however during which she took notice that Burt was still lying on the cushions fast asleep. She tore her attention from Burt and followed behind Otis ready for the day leaving the snoring human to his rest.

“Frank already went back into that forsaken mall,” Otis explained as they walked towards and through the door to the vent room.

“Alone?” Applejack asked feeling a sense of worry come over her as they passed through the door to the vent room.

“Don’t you worry about him, Frank’s a smart guy… a little crazy, but he’s smart,” Otis said while stopping next to the entrance to the vents and showing the yellow object he held, “And besides, we’ll be in contact with him.”

“But what about her,”

Applejack turned back and motioned to the female human lying on the green cushion in the room Otis and Frank had slept in. She was still asleep much Burt was and in a fine moment of peace, but without the snoring.

“Well…after yesterday…I think the last thing she wants to do is go back into the mall,” Otis said with a sigh and began climbing into the vents, “Well, we best get goin’.”

“What’s going on?” Applejack asked while climbing up into the vents right behind Otis whom lead once they started on their way.

“While Frank’s on his search you and I are gonna go searching for supplies,” Otis explained as he crawled forward, “If we’re gonna last the next few days will need the stuff to do so.”

They proceeded further in the vents. Taking a left and right here and then long straight forward portions, they went a ways before coming up to another familiar opening the vents. Applejack climbed out of the vents behind Otis and was greeted with the roof of the mall, as Otis had put it. Applejack felt a slight chill come over her as she took notice to the sun. The large orange orb, with specks of red fading out, was sitting over on the horizon ready to rise up and bring its warmth along for the ride. Despite the chill in the air, Applejack was ready to help out anyway she could. The temporary silence that had settled between Applejack and Otis was suddenly broken when there came a sudden static from the object Otis held.

“Otis…Otis… can you hear me?” Frank’s voice said from the object.

“Loud and clear Frank,” Otis responded bring the object close to his mouth as they moved towards the two large panels not far off, “Applejack and I are headin’ out for supplies. Where you at?”

“Hold on a second…ERAH!” Frank’s voice replied before the sound of something colliding with something else followed a moan that faded quickly, “…jeez…um...I’m at the park and heading for the food court.”

“Alright, be careful out there Frank,” Applejack heard Otis say as they both arrived at the two large panels.

Otis pressed the same thing as before on the smaller panel nearby. The two waited patiently before the two large panels slide apart at the ding sound allowing them to enter the room inside. Otis pressed a similar thing on the smaller panel inside and the large panels slide shut before the room felt like it was descending. Applejack suddenly felt a sensation in her stomach as a light churn sound broke the silence in the room.

“Pardon me,” She said as she put a hoof to her stomach.

“We’ll have to find somethin’ for you to snack on in the Paradise Plaza while we’re gatherin’ supplies” Otis commented while turning to her while getting a bit nervous look on his face, “And given the facts and what I can guess….you most likely not a fan of meat.”

Applejack gave a nod as her stomach ached more for nourishment more intensely at the sound of the phrase ‘snack on’. Just as she shoved off the ach once more, the room shook in a stop of its descent. The two large panels slide apart once more as Applejack followed Otis ready for the day ahead.

“If I were someone wanting to get away,”

Frank made efforts to shift his perspective in hopes of furthering his investigation as he held his camera up to his face with the shotgun he had received from Burt lying on the ground next to him. Standing by the doors from the park which were still completely destroyed as he had remembered, he was able to get a good shot of the food court. During his trip over, he had taken a few pictures of zombies in the Paradise plaza and the park fulfilling the other aspect that came with his job. He kept his perspective shifted once he was done snapping the picture as he picked up the gun and began to walk towards the western structure of the food court, particularly the stairs under the giant banner logo. He looked to his left eyeing…a familiar corpse for a moment before turning his attention back to his work and on the zombies about the area. Scanning around once more, he eyed no conceivable way anyone could have left the area without using the two corridors or the park doors. He moved towards the area of wooden tables as his mind recalled…Burt’s description of his encounter with the man…particular the comment that the man had been attacking from overhead… before eyeing a stack of boxes next to a platform of the balcony above. Frank climbed up onto the boxes with the platform a few feet above his head. He threw up his arms while jumping and managed to get a good hold even with the shotgun held in one hand. Hosting himself up and getting a leg onto the platform, he was up on his feet before leaning the shotgun up against a wall and getting his camera ready before making his way towards the balcony taking in the new bird’s eye view of the ground below.

“If he was up here,” Frank mumbled out to himself while taking a look to his right seeing a dead end to the balcony, but when he turned to his left…

The balcony continued to a dead end like the right side but…off the left of the dead end was a small platform. After retrieving the gun, Frank walked towards the corner peaking around it to see the platform jut out over the stairs on the right side of the entire structure and towards one of the overheads of the food stands below. He walked over the jutting platform towards the overhead with the feeling in his gut encouraging him to venture father. He adjusted his balance slightly to compensate for the over head’s tilt once he was on it and found himself walking behind various logos and names while looking for…something…but…

Nothing…

He let out a sigh proceeding forward on the overheads with a quickened pace searching…

“Hey old timer,”

Frank came to a sudden halt at the voice breaking his concentration with…a voice his mind recalled very quickly…one drenched in ego…

“Hey down here!”

Frank turned his attention to the….over energetic Kent Swanson down below armed with all his camera equipment and…that same cocky grin.

“So how’s your quest for the truth?” Frank saw Kent say with a light chuckle.

Frank gave the area around him another look…hoping to find something and leave the cocky artsy photographer behind….but nothing…again…

“I have a lead,” Frank said bluntly not wanting to fuel the fire.

“A lead eh…well that’s fine and all,”

Frank let out a sigh returning his attention to the photographer whom in the middle of his pause… turned and leaped towards an oncoming zombie and swung one of his legs out. Frank watched as Kent’s foot made contact with the zombie’s torso and sent it flying back. Kent proceeded to draw out his pistol and plant one bullet in the zombie before it fell to the ground motionless. Frank began to walk back the way he came hoping to avoid the next part of Kent’s egoistical speech but found his footsteps still in well enough ear shot.

“But you’re up river without a paddle, grandpa,” He heard Kent continue while coming up on the platform suspended over the stairs.

Frank looked to his right and saw Kent change his direction towards the dining area of the food court. Frank began running through the options…before the feeling that been building began in the pit of his stomach. He kept moving forward figuring he would grab something from one of the stands, but the sound of Kent climbing his way up drowned out his stomach’s aches as he came up on the various platforms over the middle set of stairs. Kent was up on the platform blocking Frank’s way down to the boxes below, excluding the other more risky ways of getting off the balcony.

“Hey stay for a bit gramps,” Kent insisted, “How ‘bout we compare stills? I’ve got time.”

Frank just stared at Kent coldly as his mind recalled the first time he had heard that phrase from him. His mind was convincing him he had now every right to tell the young photographer to forget it and then be on his merry way, but… Frank recalled the headshot Kent had pulled off in the Paradise plaza….and the smile…not cocky…but…

Frank drew from his cold stare and let out a small sigh before taking his camera from around his neck and handing it over. Kent tossed the camera that had been around his neck to Frank before the two began looking through the stored photos. The first few photos Frank saw were of what he recognized as the streets of Willamette while recalling his trip on the helicopter. There was one showcasing the Willamette Mall in a very wide shot. Like the other street pictures, the grounds were littered with wandering zombies.

“Heh…nice explosion grandpa,” He heard Kent commented, enviousness slowly fading into his voice, “nice composition…for a bird eye shoot… I would have gotten it from the ground up close.”

Frank held back the irritation as he continued viewing the photos. The next series…was of the entrance plaza... capturing the scenes of zombies devouring those that had been left behind. Checking the time stamp on the photo and recalling the event itself…. the pictures had been taken just mere minutes after Frank had escaped. Clicking through the next few photos, Frank eyed pictures of more zombies noting a few places in the background and checking the time stamp for further reference. Then he came across one picture…a bird’s eye view of what Frank identified as the North Plaza but what caught his attention was the person in it….a man with long black hair and a white long sleeved shirt wielding heading for the supermarket... Frank felt a wave of hope come over him as he checked the time stamp to see…it had been taken recently. Instinct told him to take off but upon clicking to another picture in hopes Kent had taken another picture of the scene….the following picture however….caught him off guard and held his gaze longer than the rest. It was a woman. She was dressed in a green coat…being ripped open by several zombies. Frank took notice to the expression on the woman’s face…one of pure terror….and in her hand…she gripped what looked like….a pacifier. The sudden realization came over Frank in a chill running every inch of his body….just as he took notice to the angle of the shot….it was up close, but from a height only a…human had….Kent had…

Frank was brought back to reality at the sound of Kent’s laughter reaching his ears.

“Uh…gramps,” He heard Kent begin with a chuckle, “What the hell is this?”

Frank turned his attention to Kent who was holding the camera with one hand in such a way Frank could see the picture being viewed...consisting of orange…

Frank moved towards Kent shoving the camera to him before taking his camera back. Frank stormed past Kent and began to lower himself down over the edge of the platform.

“Ok, Mr. High and Mighty,” He heard Kent call out to him, “Go find your story, but art wise… You’ve got nothing! NOTHING!”

Frank had irritation come over fully as he hurried down the middle set of stairs before taking a left at the foot of them. He kept the way towards the Wonderland plaza in sight as he put the camera back around his neck. He shoved the cocky Kent out of his mind and focused his original goal once more. As his mind locked on with determination, he gripped the shot gun in his hand even tighter as he quickened his pace into a run…the sooner he caught this guy…the better.

Author's Note

Hello again everyone. Like before, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and you're enjoying the story so far. Also I want to apologize that this one took a while longer to get out and be sure to leave your feedback in the comments below. Finally, have a good day everyone.