They slipped inside the shopping mall as quietly as they could. The moment they stepped through the entrance, they froze.
Black flesh had spread across the floor like thick roots. It crawled over the tiles and walls, branching in every direction. The strands were larger here than the ones they saw before, thicker and darker. Some of them slowly pulsed, rising and falling like the breathing of a living thing.
Thump. Thump. The faint sound echoed through the empty mall.
Cindy and Na-rin both gasped at the sight.
Jaxon quickly raised a finger to his lips. "Don't make a sound," he whispered. "And don't step on those. We'll hide here for a while."
Cindy and Na-rin nodded quickly, switching on the flashlights in their hands.
With his sharpened senses and night vision, Jaxon scanned the interior carefully. The mall corridors stretched ahead into darkness, but for now, there were no signs of infected nearby.
"Stay close," he murmured.
