Panicked friends and family members attempted to rouse the blood-covered people from their stupor to no avail. Minji hugged her sobbing daughter even tighter when she saw the woman wearing the hijab shaking one of her small sons and screaming while her husband attempted to check his pulse. The girls from the bachelorette party clustered around the woman in her bridal veil. Blood stained her face and the white t-shirt she wore with the word “Bride” written in glittery gold lettering. One of the bridesmaids was violently slapping the woman, but the bride-to-be remained unmoving.
“Why are they just standing there, Jake? Why are they bleeding?”
“Maybe its shock.” Jake guided her past the bridesmaids. “I don’t know. Whatever hit us must have had a more adverse effect on them.”
“I want to go home!” Ava announced. “Now! I want to go to Austin!”
“Ava, we’re going home. You just need to give Mommy and Daddy a second to figure out where to go next,” Jake said in a calming tone. “Okay?”
Ava nodded.
Another wave of pain and blindness hit Minji, sending her reeling. Pressing her palms against her forehead, she sobbed in despair and fear. The rapid fire assault of the icy needles threading through her brain ceased abruptly. Ava violently threw up her breakfast onto the floor at their feet and Minji fought the urge to follow suit. The reek of vomit filled the air as others lost their meals. The acrid smell made Minji’s eyes water. She fished some tissues out of her messenger bag to wipe Ava’s lips and make sure her mouth was empty so she wouldn’t choke.
“What is this?” Jake whispered. The horror in his eyes matched her own feelings. She could see and sense his desperation. They had to get their girls away from whatever was attacking the people in the mall.
In chilling unison, the bleeding men, women, and children crumpled to the red-stained floor.
Chapter 2
The fleshy thud of the bleeders striking the floor echoed throughout the shopping area. Instantly, hysteria cleaved the crowd in half. Some ran for the exits while others scrambled to help the wounded.
“Min, we need to keep the girls away from the infected!” Jake pointed toward a store and started weaving through the frantic throng.
Minji glanced fearfully at one of blood-soaked victims near her feet. “Infected?”
“Or whatever the fuck this is.” Jake used his size to plow through the human obstacles.
Minji stumbled after her husband, pressing Ava into her side. She was buffeted on all sides by the flesh of the fleeing. The blood seeping from the wounded created slick puddles that sent some people sprawling across th
e floor leaving florid red designs in their wake. Fear was a tangible force, growing, pulsating, filling the air already scented with blood, vomit, and sweat.
“Don’t look, baby. Don’t look,” Minji pleaded.
Ava’s small fingers dug into Minji’s waist, her whimpers nearly lost in the increasing clamor. The faces of the people orbiting the family were a blur of alarmed eyes and screaming mouths. Minji maintained a firm grip on her daughter, fighting to keep close to Jake as he pushed his way through the tumult while avoiding the fallen people.
Near a store entrance, the female tourist who had spoken to them earlier was sprawled in an ever-widening pool of blood. At her side was the man with the slicked back hair and tennis whites. Their slack faces, glazed eyes, and still chests heightened Minji’s terror.
“Jake, are they...?”
“I think so.”
Outside the casino, loud booms shook the building. Screams of terror echoed throughout the corridor, drowning out the whimpers and sobs of the stricken. Bloodied victims littered the floor, encircled by those attempting to revive them. Jake found a spot tucked behind a fake potted plant and gathered his family against the wall. Minji flattened her back against the cold surface, attempting to stay out of the way of those hurrying toward the escalators. Ava clung to Minji, but reached out to grip the rough fabric of her father’s shorts for reassurance. Jake lightly brushed his fingers over his daughter’s cheek before he fished his cellphone out of his pocket and tapped on the screen.
“I’ll call for help.”
Knowing her husband well, Minji understood he was striving to take control of the situation. Jake was always proactive. If there was a problem, he tried to resolve it. If a mistake was made, he tried to fix it. Surveying the surreal and tumultuous scene, Minji knew that it would take more than one stubborn Swede to set things right. Yet Jake would try because that was his nature and one of the things she dearly loved about him.
Stroking Ava’s hair with one hand and wiping away Bailey’s tears with the other, Minji struggled against the growing dread filling her. She couldn’t comprehend what was transpiring. It was difficult to even accept the current happening as reality. It was like being trapped inside a nightmare and unable to awaken.
“All circuits are busy. I can’t get through to 911.” Jake glared at the phone, and then pocketed it with a grunt.
“Everyone's calling.” Minji gestured toward several young men nearby that were on their cellphones.
“Then help is on the way,” Jake said, but his tone sounded doubtful.
“Mommy, I’m scared!” Ava whimpered.
“It’ll be okay, Ava,” Minji promised, though she wasn’t too sure if her words were true.