You know those scenes in the movies where everything goes silent, and all around you, people are screaming and dying? Well, it really is like that. Kind of.

People scream so loud, it all blurs into one long white noise. I can’t tell who is who, or what is actually happening.

I’m not really sure, but when I first saw them, I think I started screaming too. Blood stained and wounded beyond recognition, there was no mistaking the fact that these were people. People who flooded in, making us all stop, freeze. People who ran towards us, then shredded everyone up, tearing chunks and sending sprays of blood into the air.

That’s when everyone screamed. But not Elizabeth. We both leapt to our feet, and I almost crashed into her. I thought we were going to run. But she groped for my hand and I grabbed her small and icy fingers and squeezed. She just stared, so I turned and stared too, and it was too much. Too much blood. We were watching a movie.

We are in a bubble, protected by our joined hands, watching as the people around us are maimed and killed.

Then one of the… the monsters, I guess, they can’t possibly be people, one of the things looks straight at us. And I look at it, and its face twists with anger and it runs for us and it…

And I don’t know what it did then, because that was when I showed my true colours. I dived out of the creature’s range, breaking the protection bubble, and dooming the only person in the world who cared about me enough to drag me out of my candle-lit room.

I hit the ground and watched for just a moment. As Elizabeth screamed. And flailed. But the monster still got his teeth in.

Then I scurried for my life, under a table, into a corner, hoping they were human, they could not smell me, I was out of sight. Safe. Watching legs stampede past and my townspeople fall down dead.

((You do the first person bit, and my character will be done in third. This way, it seems as if your character is the main one that the story is seen from.))

Just go to the mall, get something thoughtful, and she'll continue on loving you as she always had. The worst advice ever. Not only in its purpose to help Markus spend as little time shopping for his girlfriend's souvenier as he could, but also because he was now trapped in an inescapable melee of carnage and destruction.

He had only just sat down with his lunch, when the first person was jumped. By the time he stood up, the exit doors were barred shut by the mall security. Looking around, he was finding it rather difficult to collect himself. People were being mauled. Panic was in the air, and the screams might as well have been deafening. Two tables beside him, two girls were in the same predicament. They took each other's hands, and tried to form the illusion of safety betweem them.

Useless was an understatement, and one of them knew this. That was why she let go of her friend's hands and moved to hide under a table. Unfortunately, the friend was not as lucky. Markus started running to her, in hopes of intercepting the feral person that jumped her. He sunk his teeth into her neck well before he was able to get there.

Wrentching him off of her was a feat in itself. The man might as well have had lock-jaw. In the end, the fact that he had to tear the man off of the girl was enough for Markus to know that the bite was ultimately fatal.

The next few seconds were spent fending off, not just the girl's attacker, but another one that decided Markus was a rather tasty treat. The new attacker was sent over Markus' back, and the man in front of him was dodged behind and had his neck snapped. Sparring with his senpai was great training, but nothing could prepare him for this. This was entirely down to his self-discipline.

Lucky for Markus, that was well developed. He ran to the girl hiding under the food-court table. "Come on! We have to get out of here! We have to get to a safer place!" He put out his hand, knowing that if she refused to reply in kind and quickly, he would have to leave her there. He tried to remain as calm as possible. Only if she felt safer with him, would she end up following him.

I don’t know this boy, I don’t know why this boy would want to help me, I don’t really think he can help me, but he’s holding his hand out to me.

Why me, out of all the people here? But the sight behind him, Elizabeth’s eyes fixed blankly on the ceiling as the last drops of blood flee her veins, makes me think fast. The ‘why’ isn’t important. The how is.

Pointing wildly to the nearest counter, I blurted out “There!” I worked in the KFC a few floors down last summer, so I knew that every kitchen needed a fire exit by law.

But what if all the doors are sealed? What if there’s no escape? A line she vaguely remembered from a movie shot into her mind: ‘If you are trapped behind enemy line, find a safe spot to hide.’ “No! Wait. That way!” A space was clearing near the door the monsters had streamed through, and on the other side was an elevator.

When she pointed at the first door, Markus knew it was in hopes of there being a way out of the mall. The doors were all barred. It was only just as likely for the fire-escapes to be in the same predicament. However, her quick change to the elevator gave him that glimmer of hope. He grabbed her pointing outstretched hand and pulled her up. "Stay close!"

The mayhem had not yet subsided. Most of it was the sound of sinew cracking and flesh tearing, but the remaining people standing were the ones that had even an inkling of knowledge in how to fend off the brutes.

It was the longest 50 meters of Markus's life. They started the sprint, the moment she was on her feet. A second or two after that, the first couple 'monsters' had taken notice in them. "Just keep running!" The first one closed in. He was incredibly strong. It sent Markus back to a class in his dojo.

"It doesn't matter how strong someone is. Whenever you find yourself in a situation, where a strong person has advanced upon you, just remember that you are in control of the situation. Keep calm and use the basics: Absorb and redirect, circular motion, and force with no force. Most importantly, don't be your own enemy. If you need to fight with yourself, every time you have a physical conflict, you are only putting yourself at a great disadvantage."

The image of his sensei subsiding, Markus found that not too long had passed in life. The man had still not followed through with his tackle. If anything, he was still in the process of it, the second attacker was still six feet away.

Markus took in a breath, clearing his mind. When the man made contact, he exhaled sharply bringing his forearms down on top of the man's elbow joints. From his point of balance, Markus swiftly guided his attacker around him and to the ground, while planting an elbow in his jaw for good measure. The man let go part-way down to regain balance, and Markus geared up to stop him in the face. Which was something he did not get a chance to do, as he parried the strike of his second attacker, and punching him in the jaw instead.

Markus's second attacker was unconscious, and he finally thrust out a kick to the side of the other man's head, as he was getting up. After that altercation, he mentally thanked his sensei for everything he was taught, and caught back up to the girl.

In glimpses between dodging snarling men, women and children I pieced together the incredible defence the boy put up, but with half my focus on him and the rest concentrating on swerving wildly into safe spots, I had no chance to watch my step and fell heavily onto the floor. One of the monsters noticed me fall, and I grabbed desperately for the hunk of wood I tripped on – a broken leg from a shattered table.

I swung the table leg violently upwards as the monster dived towards me and, as if it was being led by a stronger force than me, the tip of it connected with his jaw and he flew straight over me, crumpling on the floor, apparently dazed. By the time he was moving, I was up, smashing around his head with the table chunk. It may not seem like much, but any sort of weapon was a huge advantage.

The boy caught up with me and as we continued our all or nothing dash for the doorway, I scanned the hall, using this brief moment of almost calmness to survey my enemy.

None of the things were using weapons. They might have superhuman strength, but they weren’t using tools. So these things can't be intelligent; they must be easy to outwit.

Suddenly we were through the doorway! There were more of the monster things, far away enough that they didn’t seem concerned with us; they were hunting people down in the stores. I touched a finger to my lips in the universal gesture for ‘shh!’ and pointed at the elevator.

When they finally got to the door, Markus almost laughed out loud at the gesture to be quiet. The adrenaline was still pumping through him. He was sure that one of the reasons why he was capable of performing much of the physical feats he just had was because of that rush. It was no matter to him though. They were at a lull. The elevator felt like it was taking years. The girl beside him looked to be in deep thought, and he realized that he needed to re-center himself. He closed his eyes, and took a couple of breaths.

A student bowed, "Sensei, how can you overcome yourself, as your enemy?"
With a warm face, the man answered. "Our basic techniques are not solely meant for self-defense. Chances are you will rarely, if ever, get to use what you learn here, in a physical altercation. Still, that is how we train it into you. If you find yourself in moments of stress, or perhaps someone has attacked you on a personal topic of discussion, you must still apply these three tenets. The question then is: "How can you apply anti-chest first degree on a verbal attack?" Try to think about that for a while this week. Can you wrestle with your mind?"

Each breath Markus took in, he visualized the calm inside of him getting larger. With each exhale, the stress was leaving his body. Absorb and redirect Once he was in a better place to manage his mental situation, he took notice of his heart-rate slowing down. He then took his final breaths to focus on hearing. Everything around him was putting bad visuals into his mind, but he remembered a technique from a book series he enjoyed so much. Imagining a flame in the center of his mind, he placed all of these thoughts into it. It left him in a void. Fear was near the back of his mind, and he was able to make sense of his surroundings.

The girl beside him was still breathing heavily. There was obviously worry of whether or not something would find them. Placing a hand on the elevator, he felt the vibrations intensifying. It's getting close. That was when his hearing told him one more thing. Right around the corner of the elevator, he heard a footstep. It was cautious, and an attempt at stealth. These creatures are beneath that. when this person rounds the corner, they are going to jump and scream...

Markus waited until it got closer. A little more... He then opened his eyes and squatted around the corner. Immediately, he went behind the back of the new person. Placing him in a firm, but half-hearted, choke-hold, Markus put his hand over the person's mouth. At this point, the elevator had opened, and, disregarding any looks from the girl beside him, he dragged the new person into the elevator with them.

I was expecting a sharp snap or a thud, some sign that the mystery man had toppled another of the monsters, and if it wouldn’t have been the last sound I’d ever uttered, I would have shouted out loud when he came round the corner with that man. With a soft ding the elevator doors slide smoothly shut, and I almost demanded to know why he had added another member to our group – wouldn’t it be hard enough with just us? – but then I remembered he’d just picked me up for no reason, and I was probably only slowing him down. But I couldn’t stifle a hushed hiss of “Who are you?” towards the strange man who had just saved my life.

But before he could reply, the elevator door slide open, but no one stood outside. “It must be automatic.” I concluded, dipping my head through the doorway.

One of the creatures, closer now, began a shuffling run towards us, and I pounded the close doors button, although we had time, it was still far enough away. Through the last inch of doorway I caught sight of other monsters coming our way, following the first one. Diving for the button to take us to the top floor of the mall, I almost slammed into the newcomer, who was still just staring from the other stranger to me. Speaking of the other stranger… I should probably consult him.

“Where shall we go?” I asked carefully – I didn’t think survival would be easy without him, so I didn’t want to offend my new companion.

About to answer the girl he helped escape, Markus's heart skipped a beat when the elevator door decided to re-open. Nothing being in the way, he was able to take a deep breath in relief. Of course, this was short lived, as one of the creatures had attained the inspiration of charging the elevator door. Keeping the other two toward the side with the buttons, Markus squared off for a kick to keep the thing out of their only means of escape. Fortunately, this was unnecessary. Practically diving, the girl beside him managed to shut the door before it reached them. The only thing audible from that point was the slam against the door. Oddly metallic sounding, for a person slamming against the door. Must have lead with his head. He thought. With another breath, Markus sunk into the floor to relax a bit.

"Where shall we go?" was the question that finally broke the silence. Looking up at his new companions, the kid to the girl's right was obviously not in the position to say a word.

"Hell, if I know!" he replied. It might have come across slightly aggressive, but it was the first time he spoke after all of that adrenaline coursing through his veins. "I'm from Vancouver. I barely know where it is I am right now. Lets just find a relatively empty floor, and take a look at a map?"