If she was the only one having nightmares, then everyone else was psychotic. Ash had always been a heavy sleeper. Her family had always nagged her about how she slept through everything, especially her alarm clock. Now, when the nights were the worst time to be awake, her ability to sleep soundly evaded her. It seemed she couldn’t sleep more than a couple of minutes without some horrible image slipping free of her subconscious, sending her jolting upright. Most nights she was happy for the privacy of her tent. She hated the idea of anyone else seeing her cry.
It wasn’t the zombies that scared her. It was the idea of losing everything. The living corpses, the monsters that had trapped her and the small group of survivors in the mall weren’t nearly as terrifying as the panic they brought. Only two months ago Ash had lost her sister, Holly, in the chaos while escaping an airport. They’d been on their way to visit their parents in Florida. One stop on the way, one plane change. It made her sick just to think about how simple it should have been. And now it was all hell. Two whole months of hell. Of having to deal with the loss of total strangers who somehow meant as much to her as her sister. It wasn’t fare.
Sick of tossing and turning and hiding under her pillow to drown out the snoring of her fellow survivors, Ash tossed aside her sleeping bag and quietly slid out of her tent. Usually she only ever went for walks during the day, to clear her head and get some breathing room, but she’d get more privacy at night.
The little glowing numbers on her wristwatch informed her that it was 5:30. Way too early to do much else but take a stroll. She had no place to be until 7:00 when she and Kingsley unfroze the food. It was funny. Ash had always had a knack for cooking, but other than a few batches of cookies here and there she’d never really explored her abilities. Now she was preparing meals for a bunch of people she hardly knew on a daily basis. It was nice to have something to keep her idle hands busy. God forbid she take up knitting again.
With two and a half hours to spare Ash slipped past the dosing night watcher. Whoever it was, they were too bundled up in blankets for her to recognize. She admired the person, though. Night watch was always horrible.
The mall was big but Ash had explored nearly every corner at least twice. She had always been restless, hating the indoors. Being trapped inside day in and out was torture. Stretching her legs on her walks was all she could do from going insane most days. She was pretty sure she was one of the only people to have investigated the mall so thoroughly. Most of the other survivors liked to stay closer to the food court, though they all valued their own personal space. The deep, dark depths of the mall weren’t exactly all that welcoming either.
Ducking under a hanging security gate, Ash wound back into the recesses of the mall. She wasn’t sure how much of her knowledge of the backdoors in this place she wanted to divulge. It didn’t feel right keeping things from the group, especially Kingsley since he was pretty much in charge, but it was nice to have a place she could slip away to for ultimate privacy. Well, almost ultimate privacy.
“Psst, Holly. Come on sweetie. It’s okay. I brought breakfast.” Ash pushed open the door to a storage room. It was located in one of the back halls in the mall, the kind that employees, maintenance workers and security personal used to navigate the place more smoothly. This particular room only housed a few empty boxes.
Kneeling down Ash set down the bowl of food she’d picked up on her way. The boxes at the back of the room stirred and there was a squeak from a toy. Then a small Labrador puppy trotted out and excitedly licked Ash’s hands before turning happily to its breakfast.
“You’re lucky you’re so small or we’d have to worry about the pet store running out of food.” Ash smiled, patting the puppy on the back. “We’re already so low on water.”
Leaning back against the door Ash found her eyelids getting heavy for the first time in months. Holly finished eating and curled up on her lap, giving a contended yawn. It felt bad to keep secrets from the rest of the survivors, but Ash couldn’t help enjoying having something to herself after having lost so much.
On her way back to the food court Ash stopped by the fountain in the centre of the mall. It had been long since pumped dry and filtered for its precious water. Still, the skylights above made it a wonderful place to be in the morning. With a sigh Ash shone her flashlight on the glass tile basin that shimmered during the day. It didn’t have the same effect. But something else glistened brightly in the light, something that caught her eye. Stepping into the fountain Ash picked up the small object, a key marked with the letters MK. Finding a bench she sat down and rolled the key around in her hands. She’d been by the fountain hundreds of times, but she’d never noticed a key before. None of the group had the initials MK.
"Word around camp is you didn't sleep much last night." Ash nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked up to find Kingsley watching her closely, chewing his thumbnail. That habit always annoyed her. "What's the matter, Ash?"
“Actually haven’t been sleeping well most nights,” she shrugged, getting to her feet. “Not really that out of the ordinary. This, however, is a little weird.” She handed him the key, smoothing her thumb over the engraved letters. “I found it in the fountain. And trust me, it wasn’t there before.”
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