... where Valya runs a trendy blog for Instagram, Tolya reviews cars, and Lenya tests firearms
A gray-brown haze hung over the city like fog spreading through the streets and creeping between buildings. As dawn approached, it became slightly less dense but still seemed to linger in the air. From the direction of the city hospital, short bursts of automatic gunfire could be heard through the pre-dawn mist. It seemed that Rosgvardia soldiers were still trying to stop the wave of zombies. But police sirens were no longer audible. The city had fallen into a deadly silence. For now, living people hid inside their locked and power-off apartments. In the absence of communication, Telegram channels were also silent. However, three young people who had been actively looting the shopping mall for several hours enthusiastically shared their stories, impressions, and theories about what was happening.
"I'm not going to put this on," Valya insisted, turning the gas mask in her hands.
"You want to turn into a zombie like your friend?" Tolya taunted her, mumbling from under his stylish rubber mask with a pair of filters and a large panoramic lens.
"But I haven't turned yet... And she's not my friend. I didn't even know her."
"Well, nothing's set in stone yet," the guy reassured her. "Did you see that fog outside? I don't think it's something useful. And you've been bitten too..."
"But you've been bitten too. And nothing happened."
"Maybe it doesn't spread through bites. But through the air... Still, check your luck. Take a risk!"
"This is so creepy, guys!"
"The main thing is that it works," noted Lenya, stuffing hunting cartridges for a smoothbore pump-action shotgun into his bag. "Don't forget to unscrew the silencer."
"All right," the girl finally agreed and pulled the gas mask over her head.
Tolyan snorted loudly and immediately took out his phone, taking a photo.
"LOL! Elephant!"
"You idiot," Valentina stated gloomily, but still didn't take off the gas mask.
"I'll post it in the chat when the network comes back online."
Moving between stores, the group gradually armed themselves. Valya acquired a baseball bat and a flare pistol. Leonid confidently grabbed a shotgun with cartridges. Tolya took a heavy axe and a cordless circular saw with a large toothed blade.
"I should have taken boots like yours," Tolya said regretfully, glancing enviously at his friend.
"You yourself said that you're more comfortable in sneakers," Leonid replied. "We're not going back now."
"What's your plan?" Valentina asked.
"We'll try to find other survivors. Ideally, they'll be military or cops. Most likely, we'll meet them. They have weapons. It's easier for them to survive. And they probably have an evacuation plan or something like that."
"That's a logical plan," Tolyan nodded. "But what if we don't meet any living people?"
"We'll take a car, stock up on food, and try to leave the city. Where there are fewer people, it's safer. That's Plan B."
Silently agreeing with Leonid, they left the mall parking lot. A pale disc of the sun was visible through the haze in the grayish sky. Fine cold snow fell from low clouds.
"It's getting colder," the girl said, zipping up her jacket tighter. "They said there would be a thaw."
"Hey!" Tolya suddenly shouted. "Yesterday's dead hipster has disappeared somewhere! He was lying there. Did he leave?"
"He probably froze," Leonid shrugged.
"Yeah, seriously! Do they come back to life multiple times?"
"How should I know? You're planning to chop everyone's heads off."
"Damn it! Now I'll definitely chop everyone's heads off," Tolyan said firmly, as if confirming his decision, and gripped the handle of the circular saw tighter.
But there was nobody around to chop heads off yet. The deserted street seemed quiet and peaceful. Only snow continued to fall from above, covering the sidewalk.
"Do you notice that there's no one around? Not even birds," Valya whispered quietly.
"That's good that there's no one," Tolyan replied. "Let's reconsider your brilliant plan and take a car now while we still have time."
"Yeah," Leonid agreed, starting to look around at the abandoned cars in the parking lot.
His gaze stopped on a black Ford parked nearby. The SUV seemed specially designed for surviving a zombie apocalypse: a massive bull bar in front, an automatic winch in the back, a spacious cargo area, and four additional round headlights on the roof. Its owner apparently enjoyed going hunting or fishing.
"Does anyone know how to break into cars?" Leonid asked his companions. Seeing their puzzled looks, he decisively smashed the rear window with the butt of his shotgun.
Through the resulting hole, it was now easy to open the door from the inside, but the alarm system screamed shrilly, tearing apart the surrounding space with its piercing wails.
"Wait a minute... I know how to do this," Tolyan said, opening the hood and fiddling with the wiring.
"Got it! Done! All that's left is to disconnect the block and reconnect the battery," the student replied confidently after the alarm finally fell silent.
The boy expertly crawled under the dashboard, but the sudden silence was abruptly broken by Valentina's loud scream, which wasn't even muffled by the gas mask.
"What's wrong now? I can't turn this off," Tolyan joked, fiddling with the wires, but when Leonid yelled "Hurry up, damn it!" right next to his ear, he realized that something serious was happening.
From the courtyards adjacent to the mall building, crowds of people began gathering from all sides. More precisely, creatures that had once been human beings. Bloodied and wounded, dressed in torn and dirty clothes, they moved like puppets or mechanical dummies wound up with invisible springs. Having joined together into a group of 100-150 people, they now approached, encircling the parking lot tightly.
"Damn it, Tolyan, hurry up!" Leonid shouted nervously again, preparing to fire but realizing that he wouldn't be able to kill them all.
His friend, having finished with the block, popped out to the open hood again and, with trembling hands, finally connected the battery terminal.
"It's done! Let's go!" Tolyan slammed the hood shut with a loud sound and, jumping onto the driver's seat himself, tried to start the engine—but it stalled again, frustratingly.
"Get in! Quickly!" Leonid shoved Valentina onto the back seat and sat down next to her.
The zombies had already approached the car closely. Many hands beat against the body. Crooked dead fingers scratched at the doors and windows with their nails. Someone's shaggy head poked through the broken window and opened its bloody mouth. Valya screamed again, covering herself with her hands. Leonid forcefully pushed the shotgun barrel into the gaping mouth and pulled the trigger.
The sound of the shot deafened those inside the car. The zombie's head exploded into fragments, splattering blood and gore onto the left side of the windshield. The engine roared to life, and the Ford sped away, crushing someone's crunching bodies beneath it.