From his vantage point within a shiny red luxury car, Evan studied the roiling mass from a safe distance. He had brought the vehicle to a careful stop on the other side of a small park, beside a pair of transit tracks running along the center of the split street. Beyond the park greenery and sparse structures, he could see movements of the assembled crowd. Occasionally, one figure would move in a way to distinguish themselves as an individual before melting back into the crowd.
It was difficult to estimate the size of the assembled mass from his vantage. As best he could discern, there had to be at least a couple dozen but no more than around a hundred at the most. He had briefly considered driving along the road just on the other side of the park to get a closer look. But he figured the risks of getting the horde's attention wasn't worth the meager precision of an accurate guess he might acquire. There was no way to tell how well the car could withstand a stampede of that many attackers. Certainly with how many he thought were there, the windows or windshield would eventually break and expose him to attack.
Something did seem to be keeping the zombies transfixed as their chorus remained steady. They saw survivors, if Leon's statement about their vocalization was to be believed. And he had little reason to doubt that was the case. Apparently at least one or more people were trapped inside and would be in need of rescue. Other than the continued presence at the precipice, it wasn't really possible to tell how well set up any impeding barrier was. Evan didn't know the layout of the entire complex very well, but that particular opening was into a department store and not one of the main entrances into the wider interior. He would only have to hope that the choke point would hold up to that many aggressors.
Returning his focus to his immediate surroundings, Evan geared the car into motion. Investigating if there were other such clusters blocking the rest of the entry points. Carefully driving at low speed he circumnavigated along the nearby roads, keeping as far as possible from the mall's outer walls. Skirting the perimeter, he drove slowly around the streets in a broad loop, stopping occasionally to gaze towards any openings he could identify across parking lots or from an intersection a block away. He was extremely cautious not to get very close during his survey, until the loop was eventually completed.
He did see other figures, rare individuals moving alone beside the walls or gathered in tiny numbers between two and six around other entrances. Undoubtedly, it would not be possible to approach without being noticed by at least one collection. And if it was true that sound they made drew the others' attention, being seen by one would ensure an avalanche of trouble would arrive from nearby. It would be no simple matter to approach the building. Nor to liberate the people contained.
Within the safety and mobility afforded by the vehicle, escape was finally within reach. Yet the only question on Evan's mind was what he could do to help with this new situation. If the people trapped within the mall were somehow removed, presumably the surrounding figures would begin to scatter in all directions and resume actively seeking new victims. Until that point, however many were currently gathered here were at least not attacking anyone else. They might even be drawing others from the surrounding area to gather here as well. In the short term, it might be keeping the surrounding area safer.
So any attempt to help those trapped inside should probably begin with an effort to destroy every one of the zombies lingering at the various openings. Yet to enact any plan, he would have to spend considerable time preparing. He didn't have the ammunition to destroy nearly that many with the pistol, but it might be possible to scavenge more. But lacking sufficient weaponry was not the only problem a rescue attempt would have to grapple with.
Although they did destroy a number of zombies the previous day from within the shelled safety of a car, he doubted the same tactic would work as well in this circumstance. They had simply waited until the few undead approached the vehicle and fired in a trajectory up and away from the dormitory where people were congregated. Against several times more and with the layout of the mall, it was doubtful there would be a way to guarantee that the direction of shooting would always be away from the hiding survivors inside. Additionally, he wasn't sure if the car would hold against several dozen of them piled up against the windows while he destroyed them each one at a time.
Besides that, firing the guns off in the confines of the car hurt like hell, so he would definitely have to get ear protection before another such attempt. Although he couldn't be certain about the best course of action right now, he was certain enough that any reasonable attempt would take considerable preparation time. And possibly to follow through with as well.
As Evan passed the minutes ruminating over possible options, a garishly yellow sport vehicle pulled up alongside him. Its passenger window rolled partway down, and Minoko looked out at him from an otherwise empty, but lavish interior. He obliged by lowering his window enough to hear her. "What did you find out about the noise?"
"It's several dozen of them, at least. I think it's just that with so many of them in one place, combined with the echo in there, it's making them sound a bit different than we're used to hearing."
Minoko nodded, without commentary and looked across the park on her left. The possibility of that was anticipated, so she wasn't surprised by the revelation.
Out of habit, Evan motioned across the empty park to the covered area. "There's other groups of them around the whole place. Looking for a way in. I think that means there's people trapped in there." He paused after that, waiting for Minoko to look back towards him. "Anyway, how's everything else going?"
"So Leon and I went back to Mansfield. Jennifer and the others are missing. They didn't go to Blackwood either."
"Lucas probably took them with him when he left." Evan replied after a moment's consideration. He might have retained enough sense to at least take Jennifer and Ryan out of harm's way when he left. "Us four have known each other since grade school." He could at least hope that they were already somewhere safe.
She hesitated before responding to his casual suggestion. "Anyway, everyone else was still there. We brought some of them back to pick up more cars. Then we're going to figure out which direction to travel. Are you coming?"
"You go on ahead. I'll figure out what to do about this."
Minoko gazed towards the mall, as if considering the situation for herself. She returned her focus to him. "I can't see them, but there must be a lot. I don't think-" She exhaled nervously. "I'm not sure there is much that can be done if there's dozens gathered here."
"I can't just leave when those people are trapped."
"They should have plenty of supplies. More than we had, at least. They might not need to leave for a while. At least until we get someone to come back for them."
"But they haven't done anything about the zombies being all clustered around the building. Whether or not they have supplies, that's still dangerous."
"Maybe they're leaving them there on purpose? Making sure all of them in the area are gathering in one place until someone can do something about them." Minoko paused, during which time Evan didn't respond. "Anyway, they probably have a better idea of their own situation than we do. I think if they really needed to do something about it, they would."
Evan didn't know what to say to the series of statements but wanted to protest. "I don't think it's a good idea to just leave this dangerous situation as it is."
"Right now it seems pretty stable. If there's nothing you can do about it, then the best thing you can do is just trust they know what they're doing and not get involved. Especially if someone in there decides that you're the one really in trouble. Besides, it's not like you can do anything about it right this moment."
Even though she raised a valid point, leaving would still be abandonment. Evan sighed as he considered the situation in relative silence.
Minoko seemed to realize what his thoughts were. "The best thing you can do for them is to make sure the rest of us escape so that we can get emergency help to come back. A whole team of people will be better prepared than just yourself."
Evan tore his attention away from the mall with a concerted effort. He looked at his hands as he thought about the people who he had already freed. They now had access to enough cars, vans and trucks to transport everyone remaining in the dormitories. They were prepared to drive safely out of the affected area. It seemed to him like there was little point to involving himself further in their plight.
But all of the others might not easily trust that this was the end of their days-long ordeal. Maybe Evan could still provide a calming voice to smooth the evacuation process. It didn't seem likely to be necessary, but it was the notion that he felt he needed to justify leaving. Maybe Minoko herself was nervous, and it was what drew her here to convince him to go.
"You're right." Evan smiled to Minoko. "Let's get out of here."
