Act V: The End of the World

Inside the stall, hearing the monster’s death gurgle, Isha slowly opened her eyes and looked through the gap.

Lilla was already pushing herself up. Using a nearby clothing rack for support, she forced herself onto her one good leg. Her left ankle was completely ruined, dangling at a grotesque angle and dripping blood onto the floor, but she refused to fall.

Isha watched the shadows, trying to see where her father was.

The infected was no longer standing. The heel in his eye had destroyed what little cognitive function he had left, but the nervous system was still firing. He was on his stomach, his limbs twitching as he began to crawl aimlessly like a crushed insect, his fingers scratching grooves into the dusty tiles.

Lilla’s body was a canvas of agony, but her eyes were entirely consumed by a cold, black rage. Looking down at the twitching thing that had once been a man, a terrible certainty settled into her chest: If I don't kill it, it will kill us. It will make me one of them.

Through the gap, Isha saw Lilla reach down and pick up the fallen iron rod.

Lilla wrapped both hands around the metal, her knuckles white. As the creature crawled closer, his fingers reaching for her boot, Lilla raised the rod high above her head and brought it down with a sickening crack against the center of his skull.

The monster thrashed, its mouth opening in a silent snarl as its hands clawed at her shins.

Lilla didn't stop. She raised the rod again. And again. She swung with a rhythmic, mechanical fury, the iron rod striking the ruined skull until the bone gave way completely.

Inside the dressing room, Isha sat frozen. Her mouth was open in a silent scream, but no sound came out. She was entirely empty, her mind blank with shock.

The creature’s face had rolled toward the dressing room door during the assault. Isha was forced to look directly into her father's ruined face as Lilla continued to strike it. Tears streamed silently down Isha’s cheeks, leaving clean tracks through the dust on her face.

Lilla’s face was no longer human; it was the face of a executioner, covered in dark blood, her teeth bared in a silent roar of survival. She kept striking long after the creature stopped moving, long after its hands went limp. Finally, reversing her grip, she drove the pointed end of the rod straight through the center of the mass, pinning it to the floor.

A single tear fell from Isha’s chin, hitting the wooden floor of the stall. In the silence of her mind, she whispered, Daddy...

Lilla finally stopped. She let go of the rod, leaving it impaled in the corpse. She stumbled backward, collapsing against a counter, her chest heaving as she sucked in great, ragged gasps of air. She stared at the body, her eyes wide, waiting to see if the nightmare would rise again.

In the dark stall, Isha stared at the exact same spot, waiting for a twitch, a breath, a sign of life.

The only sound left in the entire mall was the frantic, overlapping rhythm of their hearts.

Gasp. Gasp. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

Minutes passed. The silence remained unbroken. The monster was dead.

Lilla slowly let out a long, trembling breath, her shoulders sagging as the adrenaline began to leave her system. She dragged herself up using the counter and limped heavily toward the dressing room. She slid the latch open and pushed the door back.

Isha was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled to her chest, her eyes staring blankly at the corpse outside.

Lilla looked down at the little girl, the anger draining from her face, replaced by a profound, hollow sorrow. She understood the magnitude of what she had just destroyed in front of the child's eyes. Dropping heavily to her good knee, Lilla reached out and gently lifted Isha, forcing the girl to sit upright.

"Look at me, Isha..." Lilla whispered. But when Isha’s eyes met hers, filled with a bottomless, silent agony, Lilla’s voice failed her. The words of comfort felt like ash in her mouth.

"Isha... I'm so sorry," she managed to choke out.

The dam broke. Isha’s small fists flew forward, striking Lilla’s chest over and over again. She sobbed, a raw, screeching sound of pure grief, hitting the only person who had saved her. "Why did you do it?! Why did you kill him?!" she screamed, her voice cracking.

Lilla didn't move. She didn't defend herself. She sat there on the dirty floor, letting the little girl rain weak, useless blows against her chest, accepting the child's hatred because she knew she deserved it.

Finally, Isha’s strength failed. She leaned forward, burying her face into Lilla’s bloody shoulder, her small body shaking with violent, uncontrollable sobs. "Daddy... Daddy..." she wailed.

Lilla closed her eyes, fighting back her own tears. She wrapped her arms around the trembling child, holding her tight against the horrors of the world. "I'm sorry," she whispered into the girl’s hair. "I'm so sorry."