A/N: Hello again! I apologize for the length of time it took for me to update this time, but I recently had exams and I am about to move, so my life has been very hectic as of late. Thank you very much to everyone who has read/read and reviewed this story, it means a lot. :) Well, then, let's get right to it, here's my first action chapter. Hope you all like it!

Don't forget to review!

Day 28:

The interior of the shopping center was dark and empty. All of the light came from outside. Sunlight streamed in, lighting up the darkness in short flares here and there. Most of the inside of the superstore was littered with shifting shadows, and in every alcove, nook and cranny, an Infected might be waiting to ambush her.

Kari stopped in the entrance, taking short, quick breaths as she fought against her fear. Her common sense was screaming at her to get out, and now. Logically, a building of this size could house dozens, maybe even hundreds, of the hairless, blood-sucking fiends. If she made the wrong move and alerted one to her presence, the Hive would awake in seconds. That is, if it was a Hive.

Stop it, Kari thought firmly, wrestling with her disquiet as she struggled to control her breathing and her traitorously beating heart. You came here for a reason. You need supplies. You'll be dead within days if you don't take care of yourself. You came here with a job to do.

So do your goddamn job, Kari!

The 13-year old teenager steeled herself and took her first, shaking step into the darkness of the shopping center. Then she took another, and another, and then she was slowly making her way forward into the darkened building, leaving the shifting patterns of comforting sunlight behind. The noise of the wind died down as she went further into the mall, and soon, Kari was enveloped in total silence.

Her breath came rapid and frightened in the dark. She flicked on the flashlight she had attached to the MP7's barrel, and soon a bright cylinder of white light was cutting a swath through the darkness. She aimed the gun to and fro, tightening her grip on it as it threatened to slip from between her sweating hands. The beam of light travelled across the floor, illuminating her path as she quietly picked her way past the row of gleaming shopping carts and a tumbled over pile of shopping baskets. She bent down and grabbed one, feeling the icy steel handle against her palm, before slinging it over her shoulder. Kari then stepped over the remainder, looking around and tiptoeing softly around the mess as she made her way through another grouping of doors and into the grocery/pharmacy section of the superstore.

Non-perishables, cereal, and bleach or detergent, Kari recited in her head as she entered the freezing, deserted mall. Goosebumps immediately broke out over her flesh underneath her sweater. She wiggled her toes to warm them up and ventured into the darkened grocery section.

She could feel the cold from the floor seeping into her shoes, numbing her feet. The stiff, dead air in the mall around her was likewise slithering inside her shirt, rippling across her chest and stomach and causing her to tremble in the cold. Kari began thinking longingly of her house on Oak Terrace, with bright lights and heated by a powerful generator...

Focus, damn it. You let your attention wander, and you die. Remember where you are.

Kari snapped to and hesitantly walked into the grocery store, coming to a halt at the fruit section, which was the immediate area closest to the entrance. She wrinkled her nose and suppressed gagging. The entire display of fruits and vegetables were brown, rotting, and dead. The stench of dead cabbage, rotting apples, and sour grapes met her nostrils in a sick blend.

"Ugh..." Kari couldn't help but release a small, tiny sigh of disgust at the stench of the fruit section. She immediately pressed her lips together, frightened that she had made a noise, but there was no ominous creak of footsteps, no low growl of the Infected. After a few seconds, Kari realized she couldn't bear breathing through her nose, so she opened her lips again and began to make her way through the dead display of fruit toward the pharmacy.

The entire store appeared to be deserted. As Kari moved through the dark aisles, she could see no sign of life, and no sign of the Infected. However, the store looked as though a tornado had swept through it. The pharmacy floor was littered with small bottles and boxes of pills that had been knocked from the shelves. Several bottles of cough syrup had been smashed open, and the dark, black liquid had pooled on the ground like blood. The thick aroma of Buckley's and other cold medicine hung heavily in the air, wreaking havoc in Kari's nose again. Toothbrushes lay unused in their plastic coverings all over the floor. Kari hesitantly picked her way through the pharmacy, looking around uneasily. It was quite possible that the wreckage had been caused by panicked survivors trying to loot as much supplies as they could before L.A. was evacuated, but the damage could also have easily been done by the Infected.

Kari cast a furtive look around. Still no sign of life. It was now or never. She turned towards the shelves again and began scanning the labels of the rows of medicine on the shelves, muttering under her breath as she read them by her flashlight. Every time she heard a noise, she jumped and whirled around, aiming her gun wildly. It always proved to be nothing, but Kari was too paranoid and terrified to calm down. Every shifting shadow appeared to be the writhing form of an Infected running straight at her.

Kari quickly heaped containers of medicine into her bag. Advil, Tylenol, cough syrup, toothbrushes, vitamins... everything she could think of, she took. By the time she had finished, the basket was almost overflowing.

Time to head back to the car. Carts were too risky; they made too much noise when wheeled around. They would draw the Infected like lice to a sweaty head in summer. Better to play it safe. She would just have to make numerous trips, that was all.

Kari cast another look around before starting back toward the store entrance. The huge windows that covered one entire wall of the superstore were covered with blankets, cardboard, and a plastic tarp, blocking the sunlight from entering. It looked to Kari like an incredibly poor defensive mechanism against the Infected. That meant that people had tried to hide in here... and were probably dead by now.

Don't get sidetracked, Kari. Go on, go back outside, to the car...

She did. She walked as quickly as she could, trying to move quietly, and suppress her quick and painful breathing. After several unbelievable tense moments, something gold came into view, shifting, changing...

The sunlight from the open doors! Eagerly, Kari walked even faster, attempting not to run for fear of making too much noise. Closer and closer and...

Fresh air! She was outside! Kari strode out into the bright sunlight and cold air, breathing deeply through her mouth and laughing wildly. She was outside! She was safe.

Kari ran over to Delphinus and popped the trunk before throwing the bundle of pharmaceutical drugs into the compartment. She turned back to the store, taking another deep breath. The bright blue sky and the streams of wispy clouds had never looked so inviting. She didn't want to go back inside. Inside was bad.

I've been in once before. I was fine. I can do this!

Kari squared her shoulders and moved forward, and the first steps were the hardest. But then she was moving quickly, purposefully, gritting her teeth. I can do this. Then the sunlight was gone and she was back inside, the soft whisper of the breeze executed by the strong, thick walls of the superstore.

Kari began to methodically sweep through the grocery store, moving up and down aisles and clearing them of produce before heading back to the car to deposit them. With each successful run she grew bolder, and calmer. She was doing fine. She was going to be okay.

Trip 1: Juice. Apple, orange, pomegranate. Grape, cranberry, fruit punch. Coca Cola. Mineral water. Soon her arms were buckling under the weight, and before long she was tottering back outside, weaving left and right as she struggled to support all the canisters.

Trip 2: Canned goods. Soup, pork and beans, tuna, and more. Trip 3: Packaged goods. Jell-O, packets of microwaveable noodles, Saltines...

Kari swept through the store, taking peanut butter and jam, honey, bars of chocolate and packages of gum, breath mints, coffee, tea, bleach, salt, sugar, until she had everything she had come for. She even took a minute to stop off at the alcohol shelves. She filled the basket with bottles of wine, rum, whiskey, vodka, and more, smirking as she did so. Most of it would go towards being used as a scent covering against the Infected, but it was a shame to let it all go to waste. On her last trip, after filling her basket with small bottles of different scented air freshener and one huge jug of vinegar, that was when she saw it.

Kari was heaping the air freshener into the shopping basket when she saw the dark smear on the floor. She froze, halfway suspended in the act of lowering a bottle of lime-scented air spray into the basket. She took a step forward, training her MP7 and its light on the floor. The black liquid turned red in the illumination.

Blood.

The dark smear that marred the floor led in a slithery trail down the aisle and towards the meat section, which Kari had avoided up until now because it positively reeked. It looked as though something had been dragged through the store by... something else. There were frenzied handprints embedded in the blood smears, and several bottles of air freshener had red smears on them, as though the poor victim had tried to seize the items on the shelves to prevent him or herself from being dragged away.

No. No, no. No.

Kari took a tiny step forward, swallowing hard as she followed the blood trail through the store, toward the meat processing area. The stench was overpowering. Boxes of frozen beef patties had been ripped open and devoured. Frozen steaks, chicken, sausages, ham, every bit of it was ripped into and shreds of it plastered around the area. Kari choked and almost vomited when she swallowed, and resorted to breathing through her open mouth as she moved forward. Get out, get out, get out her mind was screaming, but for some unfathomable reason, she did not.

You know what's back there, get out, get out –

The smears ended at the double metal doors leading into the meat processing area. No, no, no! She moved forward, almost unbidden, her heart searing in her chest.No.

She placed her hand on the cold steel of the door and pushed it open, when suddenly her entire world froze around her. Not five feet in front of her, nestled in the thick shadows, was a half-eaten corpse, lying in a pool of dried blood. Small flies were buzzing in and out of its eye sockets, which had been gouged open. The left side of its face was torn to shreds, and its throat had been ripped wide open, as had its chest. Sharp, white ribs poked up through the ripped shirt, crusted with blood. One of its arms was missing.

No no no no

Kari could not look away. The smell almost made her pass out. She took a shaky, trembling step backward, the basket weighing down her arm, the shaking beam of light wavering over the corpse

no no no

when it came across a pair of feet. White, pale feet, so ghostly and devoid of colour that she could see dark blue and purple veins through the skin surface.

This is not happening. I am not seeing this.

Glistening, hairless white legs. Torn rags for clothing. Sharp, jagged limbs, elongated nails, sharp claws. Rapidly moving bodies, chests rising and falling, huh, huh, huh, as they took their short, high-speed breaths.

Kari Adrianna Benson was standing in the meat processing area, looking at more than fifty Infected, standing side by side, facing her.

Time slowed to a crawl. The next five seconds seemed to last an eternity. Kari had stopped breathing. Her heart had stopped beating. The flies had stopped buzzing. She stood immobile, feeling within her the silence of the entire world, as she gazed upon the blood-crusted faces of the Infected. Their eyes were shut, but she could see their lids flickering rapidly, as though they were dreaming. Their mouths gaped open, gasping at the air, and their teeth... their sharp, blood-stained, yellowing teeth, flashed dimly in the dark.

She had been so stupid. So incredibly foolish and naïve. The items that had covered the windows had not been put there by survivors. They had been put up by the Infected.

She was standing right in the middle of a Hive.

GET OUT OUT OUT OUT

Finally, Kari listened to the voice inside her mind and began to creep backwards. She shut off the flashlight on her gun barrel, not wanting the flickering light to attract the attention of the Infected. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming, forcing herself to breathe.

Just back up. Out the door, and out of the store. Come on now, easy does it...

Kari moved backward at a crawl, her gun trained on the mass of Infected even though she knew full well that it was useless. There were too many. If even one of them woke up, she was done for.

One step. Two. Three. Then a clink behind her – she had reached the door. Kari moved one hand back, feeling for the handle, without taking her eyes off the Infected. One of them snorted under its breath, and Kari froze. But then the Infected quieted, lapsing back into its dream-like state.

Kari slowly, painstakingly pushed the door open and moved out of the processing area. She took another step backward when suddenly something crunched under her foot. A package of chips, discarded and thrown from one of the shelves.

The noise was louder than an explosion in the silent store.

Kari froze. Through the small rectangle of glass, even in the darkness, she saw two glowing red dots, bright as burning coals, suddenly appear in the black as one of the Infected's eyes opened. For a split second, it didn't move, and both girl and monster stared at each other through the glass rectangle. Then the Infected opened its mouth, and Kari broke into a run as its piercing scream ripped through the empty supermarket.

An instant later the doors to the processing plant burst open and a blur of white and black thundered out at her. So fucking fast, Kari thought hazily, as she ran through the aisles. She heard the thump of the Infected's hands and feet as it ran after her on all fours, snarling like a feral cougar.

She heard it round the aisle corner, and then it barrelled at her like a freight train, howling at the top of its lungs.

Kari took aim, fear distorting her movements and causing her fingers to shake. She pulled the trigger once, and the MP7 kicked in her arms, blowing a hole through a soup can a meter from the Infected's face.

Miss!

She tried again, squeezing the trigger in a panic. Bullets exploded with loud roars from the gun's muzzle, but none struck the Infected, which was closing in at an alarming rate. Suddenly, in Kari's mind, she saw herself staring out her window as an Infected bolted up her driveway, eyes alight with hunger...

"No!"

The Infected was less than five feet away when the next shot caught it directly in the throat. Its head snapped back, and it collapsed onto the floor in a spreading pool of blood.

This whole exchange had taken less than five seconds. But even now, as Kari stood dumbly and in shock, she heard a telltale rustling coming from all around her, in all directions. Suddenly a cacophony of shrieks and howls pierced the silent air.

The Hive was waking up.

Don't just stand there, you idiot, move!

This time she didn't hesitate. Kari took off like as though shot from a catapult. From behind her, she heard the rapid pounding of dozens of limbs as the Infected scrambled after her. She raised her gun over her shoulder and pulled the trigger wildly, even as she ran. She heard a pained shriek from behind and she knew she had gotten at least one of them, but more were coming. Too many.

As Kari tore past the pharmacy, she could see the exit doors up ahead. You're almost there, almost safe, she thought, but then she saw a blur up ahead as several pieces of shadow detached and formed the shape of the Infected. More were coming, to block off her escape route. She was trapped.

I'm going to die, she thought hazily, as she turned right and screamed through the fruit section, still clutching her SMG and basket. She could see the shadows of the Infected coming at her from all directions. They'd be on her in less than twenty seconds.

There! Up ahead – another exit! But this one led further into the adjoining mall. More of them probably nested in that death trap. She was walking – no, running – to her doom.

This is the only chance I have.

She took it.

Kari ran out the entrance to the grocery store and down the vast hallway of the department store. A no-longer working escalator was up ahead, leading to the second floor. Kari ran for it, gulping in air as the Infected snarled and raced after her. From stores along her sideline she saw glowing red eyes blinking into existence in the darkness – there were easily more than a hundred.

Fool, fool, fool! She raged at herself. Why did you come back here? It's too big! You should have known this was too dangerous! The Hive is too big!

She ran up the metal steps of the escalator. She whirled at the top, and felt a jolt of fear and surprise when she saw the Infected were already at the bottom. She opened fire, emptying the rest of her clip into the writhing white mass at the bottom of the stairwell. Blood splattered and burst into the air, and the Infected began screeching in pain and rage. Several of them fell, blocking the escalator and clogging the path with their dead weight as the other Infected tried to scramble over them.

Great. That should buy you about four seconds –

One Infected took a huge leap and vaulted at least ten feet into the air, bypassing the blockade at the bottom of the escalator and landing in its middle. Kari could only gape in astonishment before the Infected took another leap, directly at her.

Kari shot it in midair.

The top of the Infected's head was sheared clean off, and the corpse fell heavily onto the sharp metal steps as bits of brain and bone splattered the railings. Kari took off, not pausing to reload her gun. She had no time.

Instead, she wrenched the cap off a bottle of air freshener and sprayed it madly, dropping the bottle as it exploded into a wisp of fragrant smoke. The scent would – hopefully – disorient the Infected for a short while. Sure enough, there were several confused shrieks from below as the Infected jostled, not understanding why the scent of their pray had suddenly vanished.

Using the distraction, Kari darted across the second floor landing, hearing loud thumps as the other Infected began scaling the walls and leaping over the escalator. She chanced a glance behind her, and saw one of the Infected crawling up a pillar, before clambering, spiderlike, over the balcony railing and coming at her on all fours.

Fuck!

Kari swerved, but the Infected took a leap and collided with her in midair. Her gun went off with a bang, punching a hole through one of the feeble coverings on the ceiling, blocking the huge roof of windows, isolating her from the sun. She felt a jarring thud rip through her bones as the cold weight of the Infected crashed into her, and she could feel the heat of its rancid breath as it snarled and snapped its jaws inches away from her face.

Adrenaline took over. With an absurd flare of strength, Kari used the momentum of their fall to flip over, shoving the Infected away from her with all her might. She crashed into the railing of the second floor, but the Infected's momentum and force sent it sailing right over the edge, shrieking all the way down. Then there was a sickening crunch of breaking bones and pulping skin as the Infected hit the ground.

Kari scrambled to her feet, dizzy and weak with pain. It was over. The Infected had caught her scent again and were scaling the walls all around her, coming at her on all fours like rabid dogs, and they came from every direction. Red eyes glared at her from all corners of the mall, and her clip was empty.

I'm dead.

Her clip was empty!

Kari's neck whipped around and she looked at the ceiling, where her last bullet had lodged. It had punched a hole in the cardboard covering on the ceiling, and a tiny, dime-sized beam of sunlight was filtering through...

This gave Kari an idea.

Knowing she had only seconds, Kari reached into her pocket and yanked out a small hand grenade, the only one she had. She had found it in her father's stash. He had been afraid she would be accidentally harmed by it. Now, it might be the tool of her salvation.

Kari pulled the pin and hurled the grenade skyward with all her strength, like a tennis player about to serve. Please, she thought. Please.

The Infected were ten yards away when an explosion shattered the air, a rampaging, bellowing explosion that incinerated the coverings on the glass roof and tore the blankets and tarps to shreds. Kari ducked as flaming shrapnel rained down from above, and then it happened.

Sunlight poured in in torrents from the sky, flooding through the opening in the roof and drenching the mall in bright, golden light. All around her, the Infected suddenly began screaming, not in hunger or anger, put in pain. As she watched, dozens of them collapsed around her, scrabbling at their pale, translucent bodies, even as their skin began to blister, blacken and burn. Open sores and burns erupted on their faces, arms, and torsos as the sun seared into them. Dozens more attempted to flee into the safety of the darkness, but fell as the sunlight drained their life from them.

"Yes!" Kari yelled, pumping a fist into the air as the Infected shrieked and moaned, dying at her feet. She ran up to the closest one, only three yards away, and stomped on its blistering face. It screamed once, blood gushing beside the burns, before Kari brought her foot down and the Infected's life came apart under her foot. "Die! Burn, you stupid motherfuckers! BURN!"

Don't swear, honey...

Sorry, Mom.

Thump, thump, thump. Infected fell from their positions on the walls. Infected fell from the railings. Infected fell on the first floor.

Within minutes, Kari was surrounded by nothing but dead Infected bodies. She stood there, choking air into her screaming lungs, before reloading her MP7, seizing the basket, and stumbling toward the exit, terrified, cold and hurt. Towards the outside, towards the sun, towards safety.