"Oh?" They ran into other survivors traversing the corridors at the back of stores.
"Oh my god, oh god..." The survivors were relieved seeing the volunteers with weapons, one fell on his knees from exhaustion of the chase.
"You okay?" Nick picks him up, "You all okay?" There were only three survivors.
"Thank god..." The man Nick picked up broke up in tears.
"We're okay, but someone isn't." One of the other survivor said, which left the third survivor stunned. He glared at her as if saying, "You shouldn't have said that, what's wrong with you?" non verbally.
"Who's not?"
"Did you guys find a good hiding spot?" The man asked.
"We did, we'll get you there once we find that someone she mentioned that's not safe."
The man grits his teeth after hearing that from Nick, red veins popped out of his eyes out of anger and frustration as he clenches his fists tightly.
"Where is he?"
"Stuck hiding in the washrooms, from that door, into the ice cream store, right across it on the other side of the mall." The woman explained to Nick while pointing at a door behind her.
"What does he look like?" The teenage girl jumped forward to ask.
"Like a teenage boy I guess?"
The girl's eyes lit up, "Was he wearing an oversized white shirt? Was he tall, like somewhere here?"
"I...I think so but I can't be too sure."
"Whoever it is, we're going to save him." Nick said then advanced towards the door the woman earlier pointed towards.
"Wait!" The third survivor cried, "Please take us back to your hiding spot first." He pleaded while bowing, letting his tears fall onto the ground.
Nick didn't have a problem with it, his duty here is to save people after all, "Sure, Isaac, take them ba-"
"Dad!" Before Nick can finish his sentence, Samantha caught up to them, following the trail of blood footprints Nick himself left behind, "I'm coming."
"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell someone to keep you there? Go back." Nick grabs Samantha's wrist and begins dragging her back, but his grip was shook off.
"No! I'm coming with, you can't shake me off, I'm better at combat and you know it." Samantha gives her father an unwavering glare, "I'm already here anyways."
"And you're going back, Isaac, bring her back too." Nick said then turns his back, Samantha follows closely behind and ignored Isaac's callings, Isaac being the man who sided with the teenage girl earlier during the debate in the kitchenware store.
"Stop it, Sam." Without looking back, Nick knows she's there.
"No."
Nick turns back at his defiant daughter, grasps her shoulder tightly and squeezes, all while glaring at her intensely, trying to elicit a response of fear from Samantha. But her strong resolve kept her steady, she remains unwavered and firm. Seeing that, Nick sighed.
"I can't lose you, Sam."
"Yeah, same...so don't die."
"I won't."
"I won't either."
"You don't even have a weapon."
Samantha's glare loosened after that remark, she stared into her empty arms then back to her father awkwardly.
"Damn it...here." Nick hands her a knife.
"Thanks."
"This door?"
"Yes." The woman responds.
Nick opens the door slowly and cautiously, making sure it doesn't creak and attract attention. On the other side of the door is a storage room, stashing ingredients, cups or equipments. As the woman said, it's an ice cream store.
While Isaac led the three survivors back to the kitchenware store, the rest of the volunteers including Samantha walks cautiously with light steps into the storage room. There wasn't any blood in there, but the eerie red light from the shopping mall seeps through the door crack into the storage room, creating an uneasy atmosphere.
Nick once again, slowly opened the door, little by little until a door slit wide enough for vision is formed. Peeking through the slit, he can tell they were behind the counter of the ice cream store, right across this store is the washrooms the woman spoke of, and right outside of the washrooms are two monstrous hounds roaming with blood leaking out their mouth.
Nick closed the door back, then whispered to his team, "Now here's the difficult part, let's assume we haven't killed a single one of these dogs, the game says there's 18 of them, I saw two right there close to the washrooms, which is why he can't escape. He's pretty safe for now, if the dogs can't smell him, hear him or see him, he should be fine, and judging by the dogs' behaviour, they don't know he's in there. If we want to pull him out, we'll need to defeat the two dogs silently to prevent the 16 others come running, that's difficult. If we leave him alone, well..."
"He could be in trouble, the dogs have enhanced strength, they can pushed through those doors easily."
"Yes, if they got bored of roaming around and decided to hit that one door down, whoever's in there is dead. That's no different from our hiding spot back in the kitchenware store however, so leaving him be is actually an option, he's got a pretty good spot."
"No! We're going, he could be Sean." The teenage girl asserted, "You said there were already two dogs roaming around where he is, that means he's in danger, even if the dogs aren't aware of him."
"You're not wrong, but..."
"Please..."
Nick looked into her melancholic stare and felt guilty, the teenage girl was also grasping his hand in hers while pleading. He could feel her hands trembling intensely, which makes him only the more sympathetic.
"Okay...then we'll need a plan."
"To take down two hounds without making any sound?" One of the volunteers questioned, it sounded like an impossible task.
"I have an idea." Samantha stood forward.
Facing her confident words, Nick can't help but to smile, "That's my daughter alright." He thought.