Mutagen

Mark had a really difficult time climbing up the escalator. The reason was the people escaping down to the lower floors also occupied the escalator that was going up. Mark had to hold on to the railing of the escalator tightly or he would be swept away.

When he looked around, there barely anyone left that wanted to go down in panic. The panicking people aside, there were other people standing here and there with confused expressions on their faces as they watched the whole commotion. Most of these people wore uniforms bearing logos of stores located here in this floor.

Being the only person who went up the escalator, the confused people around immediately saw him when he arrived. The ones closer to Mark immediately approached him.

"Excuse me. Do you know what is going on?"

The person who asked him was wearing a polo-shirt with a logo of a phone brand.

Actually, many of them who were left here tried asking the people who were frantically running away when they heard the commotion outside their stores. However, no one even bothered to answer their questions and seemed to not even hear them.

As he looked at the man asking him, Mark just answered one word in an unconcerned manner.

"Zombies."

His answer immediately befuddled those who heard him.

"Hey! You're joking right?"

Of course, no one would immediately believe him. What was more was the way he answered unbefitting the subject he told them. The other people who just approached that also heard the exchange between Mark and the man and surely, they were inclined not to believe him.

With an irritated tone in his voice, Mark answered the man's second question.

"Everyone else is already running away. Do you think I have the time to joke with you?"

Just as he finished saying that sentence, he immediately turned his head and looked behind him. He could hear the screams getting louder and louder in his ears.

"Tsk!"

Mark did not bother with these ignorant people anymore as he immediately ran past them after turning around.

During the short moment that he was held up to answer the man's questions, the situation turned worse. The people who were scrambling in panic to go down and escape out of the mall were now running back up the escalators and stairs with the zombies on their tail!

Furthermore, not all the zombies chasing behind the people below were the typical and common zombies that were slow and walks sluggishly. Some of the zombies were like rabid beasts that could ran fast and lunge towards their victims at any given chance!

The people who lagged behind as everyone tried to flee had easily fallen victim to these fast moving zombies! The blood of people that were caught splashed unto the surroundings as mouthfuls of their flesh was torn off their bodies. Bloodcurdling screams escaped their mouths as they frantically resist their attackers but they could only succumb to their fates as they failed.

The people on the third floor finally saw what was happening. They revealed the looks of shock and horror as their faces were drained of color. Many felt nauseated while some actually vomited the contents of their stomach after looking away from the gruesome situation below. They soon remembered the person who just climbed up earlier and what he answered to the man's questions.

They looked around to find Mark just to see him on the side fiddling with a mop. He twisted off the aluminum segment of the mop and took the long wooden handle waving it like a staff. As they saw what he was doing, the thought popped up on their blanked and panicked minds.

"Weapons! Find weapons!"

A man in the crowd shouted. Everyone snapped out of their stupors and many scrambled away looking for anything they can use as a weapon.

Only those who were weaker, especially women and children, were left with their legs shaking. They did not know what to do. Were they really going to fight? The scene of carnage at the floor below them replayed on their minds as their bodies shook in fear. The children already started crying as they heard the chilling screams from below.

Mark saw these people who were frozen in their place. Shaking his head, he approached them in a cold demeanor. They could only stare at him as he walked closer and closer. He then looked towards a woman on the verge of tears who was wearing a uniform with a logo of a computer brand.

Seeing Mark looking at the woman, a man with a short build immediately ran and blocked him from approaching the woman.

"What do you want to do?"

The man spoke warily. Mark looked at the man and saw that he was also wearing a uniform with the same logo as the woman. When he saw the logo, Mark did not bother with the woman anymore.

Pointing at the entrance of the mall's TechZone behind him with his right thumb over his shoulder, Mark spoke.

"Those metal shutters there. You know how to close those?"

The man saw Mark looking at the logo of the store he was working at on his uniform. He sighed in relief that Mark did not have any ill intentions. Being in this type of work for a long time, he had gone sharp at observing people. He realized that Mark tried to approach his co-employee because their store was located at the very corner of the TechZone's entrance.

And in response to Mark's question, he nodded.

"Then, bring these people inside the TechZone."

Mark pointed at the group of people and children behind the man.

"After that, close the shutters at the other entrance. Hmm… Just pull this one halfway down for now. We can use the TechZone as refuge once the zombies reach this floor."

Hearing what he said, the eyes of the man and the weaker people and the children behind him lit up. Without further ado, they hurried towards the TechZone and followed Mark's instructions.

While the other people were watching the scene below with horror in their eyes, Mark was already thinking of a way to deal with the situation. When he saw the entrance to the TechZone, he remembered that the whole TechZone was built with a large hall inwards lining the shops within the sides of the hall. As a separate area of the mall, it had its own dividing shutters. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to operate those shutters or he had done it by himself.

The other people that scattered around to find weapons saw what happened as they looked at Mark in a new light. Though this person looked cold and exudes an aura that deterred people away from him, he had a calm and rational thought as he tried to find ways and options that they, who panicked, won't be able to immediately think of.

When they went and looked around for weapons in a hurry, they could only think of fighting to fend themselves despite the fact they also felt afraid to do so. They saw what happened below. Once those human shaped man-eating monsters below reach this floor, if they could not fight or hide, it was likely that they would get eaten. Now, Mark opened another option that they would not need to fight to survive.

Many of them immediately hurried to follow the people who entered the TechZone, only to hear Mark shouting at them.

"You people! Where do you think you are going?!"

Hearing him shout, they could not help but stop, confused.

"What do you mean?! We also want to get in there and hide! Why are you stopping us?"

A man voiced his discontent.

"These idiots."

Mark murmured, then, he looked above the terrace and glanced at the situation below before replying.

"There is still time left! Go inside the other stores and get anything you guys think we can use before going in there to hide! Especially food and water! Those are needed unless you people wanted to starve to death in there! Who knows how much time will pass while hiding in there!"

Mark voiced his concerns with a commanding tone which made all these people feel conflicted but they could not refute any of what he said which were rational. Abandoning the thought of running away and hiding immediately, they entered the shops and went out carrying boxes containing assortment of things.

Unfortunately though, the third floor mostly had stores for tech stuff, sports, clothing and entertainment. There were very few places here to find food and drinks unlike the floors below.

A clever employee of the mall took a few of his co-workers and ran towards the southern wing of the mall as fast as possible. In a few minutes, they came back with several boxes of food and snacks and cases of cold drinks along with a several more people in tow.

Mark who ran into the sports gear store saw them and his eyes lit up. It seemed that these guys went to raid the snack bar at the cinema area.

When Mark went out of the store, there was a large sports duffel bag strapped on his shoulder and he was holding a metal baseball bat in his right hand. The handle of the mop he took earlier was left inside the store as the metal bat was more convenient to use in this situation.

But as he stepped out of the store, his eyes caught movement by his right side and he turned to the right by reflex. What he saw made him broke into cold sweat.