Charred paw prints marked the girls' path as they approached the zoo's front gates at last. All around, feral growls echoed through empty enclosures. Matsui gripped her staff tighter, senses alert for any surprise attacks. Their one driving focus now was escaping this death trap.

Passing beneath the crumbled entrance arch, Matsui froze. Three hulking figures blocked their way. Massive zombie gorillas pounded their chests before bellowing furious roars skyward.

"You have got to be kidding me," Reira groaned. She rotated her shoulder with a wince. Dark bruises mottled all three girls beneath shredded, bloodstained clothing. They were running on fumes after the relentless battle. But surrender was not an option.

As the apes thundered towards them, Matsui summoned the last of her waning power. With a sweep of her staff, jagged ice shards skewered into one gorilla's barreling form. It stumbled back with an enraged howl.

On either side, Reira and Jayla rolled desperately to avoid the other apes' hammering fists. Where brute strength failed, the creatures showed uncanny speed, too. Matsui cried out as a giant zombie tackled her from behind.

Before it could sink rotten teeth into her neck, she blasted its face with her staff's icy magic. Frost creeping across its contorting features, the gorilla reared back. Matsui scrambled clear of its weakening grip.

Nearby, Jayla zapped another ape into a spasming heap. But the electrocuted zombie soon shuddered back to life. "We can't keep this up, they're too strong!" Jayla panted, narrowly avoiding the revived gorilla's grasp.

Matsui's mind raced as she continually froze and shattered pounding fists while Reira bathed the apes in waves of fire. Their attacks barely slowed the terrifying beasts. They needed an edge before being crushed by the relentless assault.

Then Matsui glimpsed power lines drooping nearby. "The lines - bring them down with lightning!" she yelled to Jayla. Understanding her intent, Jayla aimed a sizzling bolt. The lines snapped free, thick cables whipping towards the concrete.

"Now fry them!" Matsui ordered. With an echoing crack, blinding voltage channeled into the water-soaked ground at the gorillas' feet. The creatures' bellows turned agonized as electricity arced through their giant bodies.

Pressing their advantage, the girls unleashed their combined power, obliterating the spasming apes in a cataclysmic surge. The charred corpses collapsed, filled only with merciful stillness now.

Wasting no time, they sprinted through the smoldering gates onto open city streets. Only distance would grant them respite. Chests heaving, they raced down block after block until the supernatural energy sustaining them ran dry.

Slowing to a stagger, Matsui glanced over her shoulder for pursuit. Only empty streets behind them. She laughed with relief. They had escaped the carnivorous menagerie at last.

Her laughter caught in her throat as a low growl rumbled from the alley ahead. Glowing eyes reflected the moonlight as a mangy zombie wolf slunk into view, decaying hackles raised.

Matsui's knees nearly buckled as despair crashed over her. Would this nightmare never end? Was there no haven left in their city, their entire world? She looked at her weary companions beside her. Together, they had come so far already. Surely their light could outshine the darkness gathering around them once more. It had to. The alternative was too terrible to comprehend.

*****

The girls fled from the alley, the zombie wolf's snarls fading into the distance. Hearts pounding, they finally stopped several blocks later, doubling over breathlessly beneath the glowing neon facade of a shopping mall. Behind its locked doors, the sprawling complex appeared devoid of movement.

"We should be safe in there for the night," Matsui gasped out. Reira tried the handle unsuccessfully. Cursing under her breath, she slammed a flaming fist against the glass, easily melting a hole wide enough to slip through.

Alarms stayed silent as the girls crept into the pitch-black interior. Dorki conjured an orb of pale light and sent it drifting upward. The massive complex stretched out before them, escalators and storefronts still and shadowy.

"Doesn't look like anything's lurking around," Jayla whispered. The others nodded, bodies finally relaxing as the first waves of exhaustion hit. Just off the wide central corridor, they stumbled into a waiting area with plush seats circling a tiered marble fountain.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Collapsing gratefully onto the cushions, the girls broke into their depleted food supplies. Some candy bars and potato chips from the convenience store hardly made a feast, but their growling stomachs didn't complain. Matsui munched mindlessly, letting her thoughts drift for the first time in what felt like days but was likely only hours.

Nearby, Jayla chuckled softly between bites of chocolate. At Matsui's questioning look, she said, "Can you imagine how nuts we'd be going right now if the world was normal and we had this whole place to ourselves overnight?"

Matsui smiled slightly. "I guess we'd be trying on clothes and makeup, raiding all the food..." The mundane fantasy felt bitterly sweetly nostalgic.

"Why can't we do all that now?" Jayla sat up eagerly. "I mean, we could use a serious break, and it's not like any employees are here to yell at us anymore."

Reira perked up at the suggestion. "You know, letting loose actually sounds kinda nice." She leaned back, gazing up at the cavernous ceilings. "When's the last time any of us just had actual dumb fun, like normal teens?"

Matsui wrung her hands uncertainty. Taking a frivolous detour still seemed unwise when threats lurked all around them. But before she could object, Dorki hopped down from his perch atop the fountain.

"I believe Jayla's suggestion has merit," he said. "It is important to relax and restore morale when the opportunity arises. Please, enjoy yourselves here." He waved his bushy tail encouragingly.

The girls needed no further convincing. Their earlier tension melted away as they raced up the motionless escalators to explore every wonder the abandoned mall held.

Matsui found the power grid at the back and switched the power back. The entire mall came to life with lights, sounds, and no alarm echoed.

Ducking into a clothing store, they piled on outlandish outfits. Jayla strutted down the aisle, voguing dramatically in a feather boa and oversized hats. Matsui nearly cried from laughing when Reira squeezed into a gaudy ballgown and attempted karate kicks.

Hitting the food court, they gorged on stale candy and soda until nausea kicked in. Matsui's earlier doubts felt trivial now - when had she last experienced such pure, silly joy with friends? She couldn't recall.

In the arcade, they challenged each other at racing games, skeeball, and zombie blaster shootouts. With the machines set to free play, their virtual tickets piled up endlessly. Matsui realized she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so unburdened and carefree. For this beautiful ephemeral moment, the horrors outside faded away.

When fatigue finally overcame them, they retrieved plush pillows and blankets from a gift shop to create a cozy nest on the floor. As Matsui snuggled between Jayla and Reira atop the pile of stuffed animals, she smiled up at the vaulted ceiling overhead. Just for tonight, they were kids again, safe in their private wonderland. Reality could wait until dawn.

*****

Sunlight filtering through skylights gradually pulled Matsui from sleep. Untangling herself from piles of plushies, she smiled softly at her still-dozing friends. Jayla sprawled out snoring while Reira hugged a unicorn pillow tightly. Matsui let them rest longer while she took inventory of their supplies.

Wandering to the hardware store, she grabbed a basket and placed potentially useful items inside - coils of rope, duct tape, flares, and a flashlight. An electric buzzing approaching from the distance interrupted her rummaging.

Matsui froze, listening intently until it repeated. That sounded like a power tool. Cursing under her breath, Matsui sprinted from the store shouting, "Guys, wake up! Something's coming!"

Her voice drowned out by a chainsaw's deafening roar as a pink and white blur burst out of the toy store ahead. Matsui skidded to a halt, heart seizing at the deranged rabbit mascot zombie bearing down on her. Black ooze dripped from its grinning mouth as it revved the chainsaw's sputtering blades.

Matsui reacted on pure instinct, launching a volley of icy shards that embedded into the bunny costume but barely slowed its advance. Its crazed shrieks and the spinning saw filled Matsui's senses as she fled the slashing attacks.

Nearby, Reira and Jayla rushed to her aid, unleashing fire and lightning on the pursuing psychopath. But it nimbly evaded their strikes with disturbing grace, continuing its relentless assault even as flames charred its fur.

This was no mindless beast, but a killer reveling in the carnage. Its laughs echoed through the complex between earsplitting saw revs. Matsui's gut churned at the nightmarish game of cat and mouse.

While backpedaling, she slipped on a frozen yogurt puddle, crashing down hard. The zombie pounced, pinning her with surprising weight. Hot breath assaulted Matsui's face as the saw blade descended...

A fiery blast knocked the creature aside just in time. Scrambling back, Matsui watched as Reira took the brunt of its rage next, deflecting the grinding chainsaw with the desperate parries of her staff. Matsui had never seen her friend's eyes hold such raw fury and disgust. This monster had crossed a line.

With a savage cry, Reira kicked the zombie off of her, sending it stumbling back. Jayla immediately stunned it with sizzling lightning. As the creature spasmed helplessly, Matsui focused her power, encasing it entirely in bitter frost.

The ice muffled its shrieks... until an axe blade smashed through, staggered but still dangerous. Reira stalked forward, eyes blazing, and wrenched the chainsaw from its frozen grip. With a roar, she tore the blade completely through its neck in one vicious stroke.

Silence fell over the mall, interrupted only by the girls' heaving breaths. Matsui placed a trembling hand against her chest, willing her pounding heart to steady. Nearby, Jayla picked frost-coated bits of pink fur off her uniform.

Distant inhuman shrieks shattered their respite. Through the skylights, dozens of undead figures came into view, staggering toward the mall in response to the disturbance. There would be no rest yet.

Grabbing their hastily gathered supplies, the girls fled just as the horde smashed through the front entrances in pursuit. The echoes of grinding saw blades and hungry wails pursued them into the morning light.