Episode 7: The Bright Side

Part Two

"Love Cut Short"

Episode 7

"The Bright Side"

I got in the truck and sat in the passenger seat this time, Patrick drove. Mark and Jess sat in the back with the gasoline, making sure it wouldn't fall out or anything. I was just hoping I wouldn't have anymore Samantha flashbacks, it was destroying me. We finally arrived back at the mall after a few more minutes, Patrick drove to the back of the mall and parked it there. We all got out and headed for the back door.

"So this is where we park the truck now?" Mark asked, "In the back?"

"Yes, it makes for a good escape plan incase anything happens." I said.

"Oh, alright I guess it makes sense."

I opened the back door and we headed into the mall, we went straight to the food court. I opened the food court doors and we headed in. It was peaceful, Sabrina was cleaning her gun out at Winston's old gunsmith shop. Kayla and Brandy were playing hide and seek, and Ned was doing whatever he does. Julie was gone though, I wonder where she was. Sabrina saw me and ran for me, she hugged me.

"I'm glad you're back, did you find them?" she asked.

Jess and Mark walked in, she ran over and hugged them both.

"I knew Jeff could do it." she told them.

Kayla and Brandy saw me, they both hugged me. I really wasn't in the hugging mood though.

"Where's Julie?" I asked.

"She left, I don't know why. I tried to stop her, but she just left." Sabrina said.

"Did she stay in the mall?" I asked.

"I don't know, probably. I hope so."

"Great, here goes another search mission." I sighed.

"No," Sabrina said, "I'll go. You rest."

(This Part of the Story is From Sabrina's Point of View)

I headed out of the food court with a pistol. That's all I needed, this was just incase a strangler found it's way in the mall by some freak mistake, or Julie tries to come at me with anything. Julie is troubled, I want to help her. That is our job as a group, we have done a pretty good job so far too. I don't know how Jess is doing, she does a good job of hiding her pain, I just hope she isn't as broken as Julie is.

"Julie?" I called out while wandering around the mall.

There was no answer, I wonder where she went. I heard a banging noise from underneath me. Like it was in the basement. I turned my head and saw the stairs leading down to the basement. I took a deep breath and headed down the stairs.

"Julie? Hello?" I called out.

There was a long silence, so I proceeded down the stairs and found a door. It looked like it led to a storage room or something like that. I took another deep breath and turned the doorknob. The door slowly creaked open, it was dark that's all I know.

"Julie?" I asked.

As my eyes adjusted I saw a figure of a person crouching in the corner, then i heard the faint sound of sobbing. I walked closer and crouched down beside the person, it was Julie. I could see her face, she was crying. I looked down and saw a knife in one hand, then she was bleeding from her wrist on the other hand. She had cut herself. The wounds weren't deep, she was going to be okay. She looked at me and said,

"I'm sorry."

Julie hugged me, she wouldn't let go, she just kept on crying. I supported her the best I could, I wasn't a therapist like Mark, I didn't quite know what to say. All I knew was I needed to be supportive.

"It's okay," I said, "Everything is going to be okay."

"I just can't handle it anymore." she said.

"I know, this world is a cruel nasty place. You can beat it though, you are going to prove this world wrong. Julie, you are stronger than the apocalypse. The things that have happened to you are terrible, I will admit that, but you are still here. Aren't you? You're meant to be here, you are going to live."

"I'm sorry if I come off as rude and insulting to you, I-"

"It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself." I said.

I heard a noise echoing through the mall, then the lights above me flickered, and turned on. We had power, the storage room was lit up. I looked around and smiled, Jeff and a few other people must have gotten to the generator and filled it up with gasoline and turned it on. Julie smiled faintly, she let go of me and stood up.

"Are you ready to head back?" I asked her.

"Yes." she nodded, wiping tears off of her face.

I stood up and put my arm around her, and we walked out of the storage room together. We headed up the stairs and walked out into the mall, the lights were on, and I smiled. It's been the first time I've seen that in a while now.

We headed back into the food court, and I bandaged Julie's wrist up to cover the cuts up. Everyone was happy, people were just looking around amazed. It's been about six months into the apocalypse and we haven't seen lights in a long time. Jeff and Patrick headed into the food court shortly after me. They must have been the ones to turn it on.

"We did it!" Patrick cheered.

We all clapped, things are going to start turning up for everybody now, I think the hard part of the apocalypse is over.

(This Part of the Story is From Mark's Point of View)

I have liked Jess ever since I laid eyes on her. She was just so badass, and she was really hot. I've always tried to get her to like me back, I've gone on runs with her, and I've tried hanging out with her as much as possible. Today was the day to see if she liked me back, it was getting late out and tonight was just the night. I was going to take her out on a date. She was sitting on the roof keeping watch for the evening, and I arranged for Patrick to take over. I just need Jess to come with me. We could head to a restaurant in the mall. I had a backpack and some food inside of it we could set up once we got there. I headed up the stairs and walked up to Jess. She was lying down looking through the scope of her rifle.

"Hey Jess." I said, sitting down beside her.

"Hey Mark."

"I was wondering if you would like to go out with me?"

She put her gun down and looked over at me, I was nervous. I was hoping she would say yes, but I don't even know if she takes me seriously.

"I mean we could go to a restaurant in the mall somewhere. We got power now, and I thought-"

"Sure." she smiled.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, really. Where are we gonna go?"

"Any restaurant, I got food in my backpack, because the food in the restaurants are probably rotten. I got some canned food and stuff."

"Alright, who's gonna take watch?"

"I got this." Patrick said from behind us, I looked back at saw him.

He winked and took over. Jess and I headed down the stairs and headed out of the food court. We walked around the mall, and I was looking for a nice place to eat at.

"I guess it doesn't matter where we eat at. We're not eating the food there anyways." I said.

"How about this place?" Jess pointed at a fast food restaurant beside us.

"Um sure, I guess that works." I nodded and we walked inside.

I sat down with her at a table and I placed down my backpack. I pulled out some food and put canned soup on the table. I saw a microwave in the corner of the room.

"No way!" I said, I grabbed both the cans and ran to the microwave.

I opened the door and put both cans inside, then shut the door and set it to one minute.

"Um Mark?" Jess started.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think you are supposed to put cans in a microwave."

I slowly turned around and saw sparks flying around in the microwave, I freaked out and opened the door, I picked up one of the cans.

"Shit. I'm not used to this." I said.

Jess started laughing. Maybe this relationship could work. I think she likes me, I hope she does. She just lost her brother, I hope I can make her feel better. I've been trying my hardest to do that. Who knows, we could lose the mall tomorrow, you have to treat every moment like it's your last in this world.

(This Part of the Story is From Jeff's Point of View)

Later that night, Jess and Mark came back from their date. Patrick told me they went on one. I'm glad though, things are starting to look up for us. Jess and Mark headed into the storage room and locked the doors. I had a pretty good idea of what they were doing. There was a panel in the food court, which controlled all of the electricity. I turned all of the lights off in the mall for the night. I settled into my sleeping area with Sabrina, Kayla, and Brandy. Brandy has basically become a member of this family, he has nobody else. He needs someone to stay with. Kayla and Brandy got into their sleeping bags and went straight to sleep, I got in my sleeping back at laid beside Sabrina.

"Finally, we have electricity." I said.

Sabrina smiled, and kissed me.

"Just in time for the winter too, we're gonna need the electricity to run the heat in this building."

"When this all started, I thought the military could handle it. This virus must have gotten really out of hand and there was nothing the military could do for it. I'm not gonna lie either, after we lost Patrick's house, I thought we were going to die. I didn't think we were gonna make it much further. When we got to the mall, my first impressions were that we are all eventually going to die in here. I thought this place was a death trap. Then we started working at it, and we built an empire. This place is every survivors dream."

"That is exactly why we need to be cautious," Sabrina said, "Every survivors dream, which means someone like Derrick may show up again, and want to take it."

"They're not getting it without a hell of a fight first," I said, "And this time, we'll be ready."

"I'm sure we will be, I'm getting tired. Goodnight Jeff." she kissed me again and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight." I said, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

(This Part of the Story is From Mark's Point of View)

I woke up the next morning beside Jess inside of the storage room. I had my shirt off, and so did she. I got up and quickly got dressed, she did the same. We sat in the storage room for a good chunk of the morning and just talked.

"Thank you," I said, "For giving me a chance. I never thought you would actually be into me."

"Of course I was. After Jake dying, I really needed someone there, and you were there. Thank you for that." she said.

The lights turned back on, Jeff must have powered them on again. The storage room lit up, and Jess's eyes and my eyes met. We leaned in and kissed each other. It was cut short though, I heard the sound of a vehicle engine outside, then car doors shutting. Someone was here.