With your gun held ready, you undo the deadbolts on the heavy wooden door. With a final deep breath, you pull the door open, and a blast of air runs past you into the chill basement. There is a slight smell of burned meat in the air, as you look around at the surroundings.
All around you, nothing but wreckage. Not the kind of wreckage you see after a bomb hit, but the kind of wreckage you see after a riot, or a real good frat party. Scattered across the floor are the tattered remains of clothing and other accessories, most with slight to severe burn marks on them. The only light comes from some windows at the very top of the walls, which let in a faint radiance, which is obviously filtered from the outside..
Bucking up your courage, you head toward the nearest elevator. Unsuprisingly, it is not working, like all of the power. Unperturbed, you head towards the lightless exit sign, and the doorway beneath it.
"Okay, " you mumble to yourself, "Most of the maniacs will have been gone for days." You try to convince yourself of that, but since you survived, you figure others must have. As a result, your attempt at psyching yourself up fails rather miserably.
You boot the door open, and brandish your gun wildly, scanning for a target. Nothing is there. Merely a dark stairway leading up. Your nerves settling a little, you ascend the stairs, up to the first floor of the mall. As your hand settles on the handle, you suddenly hear a loud female scream from beyond. The sound jolts you, as you have gotten so used to the silence.
The question is, what do you do? A scream is a sign of humanity, but not the good kind of sign. Should you try to do a Galahad, or return to the basement and wait for a while longer.
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