When Your Hope Is Gone... Just Hold On.

We have been staying in the security office for at least three days now. We only go into the main parts of the mall if needed. We grabbed all of the beds, pillows, and blankets we could from the Mattress store. We decided if we're going to stay here, we're going to be comfortable.

While here I've gotten to know everyone here better. I guess thats all you can do when you're stuck somewhere. There was a little more than Joe thought. Thirteen to be exact(including me). Each with their own story.

Mrs. Pattison is here with her twin sons Jake and Blake. They turned twelve today and she wanted them to pick out their own presents this year. So she took them to the mall which is how they ended up in this mess.

Daisy Lement is one of the girls that has become a close friend of mine. She is here with her Grandfather Davis. Her grandmother passed away a couple weeks ago and she hoped to be able to keep his mind off things by getting him out of the house.

Linzi is here obviously because she works here. She actually wasn't even suppose to be here. She was suppose to be flying out of state to go visit her sister. One of her co-workers got sick, which linzi believes links to this outbreak, and asked her to fill in for them.

Jesse is here to buy an engagement ring for his longterm girlfriend. I think he is one of the most worried in my opinion. He is afraid that she may have changed too because she is at work.

Kevin, Nick, and Joe are here because of touring. They came here to shop and check out some of the places in Colorado before the concert.

The last two with us is a teenage boy named Derick, who is my age, and his little sister, Angie, who is seven. He came here to get out of the house and Angie nagged to go along with him. I think he was annoyed at first for her tagging along, but I think he is glad now to know she will be safe with him. He is really protective of her.

My eyes had barely just shut before someone was shaking me.
"Annamolly?" I opened my eyes and saw Nick standing there.
"We're all going downstairs to go get some stuff from the mall. We figure we should all just go. The more hands the better. The sooner we finish the sooner we can all come back up here safely." Nick added.
"Ok." He helped me up.

We headed downstairs with the rest and I stuck with Nick. We headed to the cafeteria with a few others and grabbed any kind of food we could that either didn't need to be heated or was microwavable. We have a microwave in the security room. We packed the bags as full as we could get it to with food and water.

"I'm going to go see if Joe needs help." I said.
"I think he is in CVS." He responded and I nodded.

I walked over to the CVS and noticed only a few people we're in here with Joe.
"Hey." I said and he looked at me.
"Hey, everything ok?" He asked.
"Yeah, just came to see if you need any help. What'd you get?" I asked.
"Toothbrushes, toothpaste, first aid kits, advil, tylenol, and soap. How'd getting the food go?" He responded.
"We grabbed everything we could pack in our bags along with water and some sodas." I said.
"Do you think this is necessary? To grab everything we can as if the zombies were in here?" I asked.
The response I received was a scream.

"Help!" It was a female. I recognized it to be Daisy.
I ran out of the store and saw the barricade was pulled down enough for zombies to push their way through. Davis was laying on the ground with zombies covering him screaming for help. I ran towards Daisy until I felt arms grab me around my waist.

"Let me go!" I yelled. I struggled in Joe's arms trying to free from his grasp. Daisy stood in shock as a zombie came towards her.
"Please we have to help her!" I yelled.
"We need to warn the others and get into the security room!" his grip tightened a bit as I struggled more. I looked back and saw just as Linzi shot the zombie.
"Joe get everyone in the Security room!" Linzi shouted to us.
"Come on." Joe spoke into my ear.
He dragged me along as he shouted to everyone around us.

When we reached the Security room, we all waited patiently for Linzi and Daisy. We prayed they were still alive. All we know is now there is only Twelve of us and thats if Daisy and Linzi are alive. Everyone stayed silent. I played with the loose string on my pants as Joe sat beside me on my bed. He bit his lip and played with his nails trying to think of something comforting to say.

"I'm sure Daisy is alright. There is a good chance Linzi saved her." Joe said and I nodded.
I didn't want to talk. I was thinking of the worse and if I said a word, I knew I'd start to cry.

Four Minutes turned to ten and then ten minutes turned to twenty. The door opened and I quickly stood up. Linzi came in but she was alone. She had some blood covering her. I looked at her with hopeful eyes. She bit her bottom lip gently and shook her head no. I looked away from her and my vision became blurry. I went to the next room and sank into the corner. I buried my head into my my knees and put my hands over my head. Tears flooded and stained my pants.

"What happened?" I heard his voice from the main room.
"She was bit... She changed, I had no choice." I heard a soft reply. I knew it was Linzi.
"We need to find a way to seal this door off. Nothing comes in, Nothing goes out." She added. I heard another voice offer to help and I guessed it to be Kevin.

Soft footsteps came through the doorway and towards me. The door shut and the footsteps continued.
"Get away from me." I spoke angrily as I looked up to meet Joe's sad eyes.
"Annamolly... I'm sorry. I didn't want you to end up getting killed with her." Joe explained himself. I stood up as I continued to glare at him.

"I could have saved her!" I yelled as I stood up. I glared at him but his expression never changed.
"How?! What could you have saved her with?! Your fists? You would be dead along with her!" Joe spoke the truth. I know its the truth, but I still felt like I could have done something.

"I could have." I said and tried to push past him. He grabbed my arm gently and I looked at him.
"Let me go." I said.
"Annamolly please..." Joe spoke silently.
"Let me go. All of this is your fault!" I spoke and tried to shove him away.
"I said let me go!" I yelled as I tried to shove him off.
Each time I would try to shove him, he wouldn't budge.
With one last attempt to shove him away, he pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me.
"Just let... me go." My voice changed from angry to soft and upset as he held me.

I didn't fight him anymore. I collapsed in his arms and cried heavily as he comforted me. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he had one hand around my body and one on the back of my head.

Now... There is only eleven of us...