10Bruce continues to fight off the zombies, using the baseball bat he found as well as his free hand to bash as many zombies as he can as he leads a small group of survivors to safety. After a few more swings, the bat breaks apart, having been used on too many zombies. Bruce looks around and picks up a nearby trashcan and later on, a big wooden bench, using his enhanced strength to easily swing and toss them at numerous zombies that were dumb enough to attack him.
-Later-
After fighting off more than a dozen hordes of zombies, Bruce and the group he saved make it to the Entrance Plaza, greatly relieved to see zero signs of zombies in the area, but that relief quickly turns to terror upon seeing a never ending hired of zombies outside the mall, banging on the doors. Not wasting any time, Bruce and a few of the men from the group seal off the Entrance Plaza from the rest of the mall by closing the big metal security gates. As they do that, a few of the other survivors in the group try to use their cellphones to call their friends and family, but they weren't getting a signal; all cell services in Willamette were down.
"Listen up!" A balding, older man in a white dress shirt and brown pants says loudly, getting the attention of Bruce and the other survivors. "My name is Ryan LaRosa, and I believe that because of those freaks out there, we're gonna be stuck in the mall for a while until the National Guard can get here. I suggest we make a barricade in front of the entrance doors to keep more of those zombies from getting in." Ryan says as he and several of the male survivors start constructing the barricade. Everyone, Bruce included, notice that one store in particular was closed, "Everyone Luvs Books," a security gate blocking the doorway; it had apparently been like that before anyone got to the mall.
Bruce starts to walk around and check on the survivors, such as a worriesome old woman and her pet poodle, making sure that nobody had been bitten by the zombies. "Maybe I spoke too soon about nothing being wrong with this universe..." Bruce thinks to himself.
-Later-
Some time later, Ryan and some of the men finish constructing the barricade at the front door. Ryan walks over to Bruce, holding his hand out. "Thanks for all the help." Ryan says.
Bruce nods as he shakes Ryan's hand. "No problem. I just couldn't let anyone get hurt on my watch."
Ryan nods at that before asking, "How did you do all that? I've seen some pretty strong guys in my day, but none that could do what you did back there. What's your secret?" He asks, curious as to how Bruce is so strong.
Sheepishly, Bruce replies with, "Push ups. A whole lot of push ups."
Ryan laughs as one of the mall's security guards, Gordon, walks up to Ryan, since he's the group's unofficial leader. "Well, the barricade is finished, but we don't have any food." Gordon tells Ryan. "We need to send one or two people to scavenge some before everybody starts getting restless."
Hearing this, Bruce speaks up, volunteering for the task, much to everyone's surprise. "I'll go." He says.
"You sure you're up for the task?" Ryan asks him.
Bruce simply responds with, "It's gotta be done somehow, and besides, I can handle myself out there better than anybody else." After receiving a backpack, a map of the mall from Gordon, and another baseball bat to use as a weapon, Bruce was ready for his mission as Gordon has the big security gate lift up just enough for Bruce to roll under it.
"Okay. Head to Paradise Plaza. It's closer, and it has two food courts." Gordon says to Bruce, who nods as he follows the map's directions to Paradise Plaza, killing a couple of zombies along the way. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched by a beautiful woman with tanned skin and black hair that went past her ears. She recognized Bruce; when he was saving the group from the zombies, she was among the people being attacked before Bruce saved her using his incredible strength, which she saw. Seeing him with such amazing strength was impressive enough, but what really sparked her curiosity was the fact that for a brief moment, his eyes glowed green.
The woman wanted to confront Bruce about this, but figured she'll wait for Bruce to come back and ask him about what she saw in private.
-Paradise Plaza-
After making it to Paradise Plaza, Bruce sighs in relief, noticing that there were less zombies roaming around, which would make it easier for him to get in and out with no problem. Thanks to the map he hit from Gordon, Bruce easily outmaneuvers what little amount of zombies there are in the area and enters a small restaurant called, "Jill's Sandwiches". Once inside, he gathers a few gallons of orange juice, some sodas, a few baguettes, and a bunch of apples, stuffing them into his backpack. Figuring he had enough, Bruce prepares to head back to the Entrance Plaza. As he exits Jill's Sandwiches, he catches a flash of light on the second floor of Paradise Plaza, and decides to investigate.
Once upstairs, Bruce spots a younger man with spiky reddish-brown hair, who is taking pictures of several zombies and laughing in a weird way. "Hey, mister!" Bruce calls out to the man, wondering to himself if this man was nuts for being out in the open in a zombie infested plaza.
Spotting Bruce, the man runs over to him. "Hi, mister! I'm Kent. I'm just here to get some good pictures." Kent says with a creepy, unsettling expression as he practically shoves his camera in the former gamma scientist's face. He then shows him some of the pictures he took prior to meeting Bruce, which mostly consisted of zombies devouring people, which disgusted Bruce, but what really set him off was a picture of a young girl getting her throat ripped out by a zombie. As Bruce steps away, Kent laughs. "Hahaha! This is my best shot. The girl's screaming and gurgling on her own blood made it all the better. This is the biggest scoop of my lifetime, and will be my big break in fame!"
"You're fricking crazy..." Bruce says as he turns around and begins to walk away, only to hear the faint click of a handgun.
"Where do you think you're going, pal? I need a fresh body for these zombies so I can capture all the gory details on camera." Bruce's eyes widen at his words. "Now...turn around, take off the backpack, and drop it on the ground." Bruce slowly turns around and takes off his backpack, only to toss it at Kent, catching him by surprise just long enough for Bruce to knock the gun out of Kent's hand. However, Kent laughs as he pushes Bruce back with a front kick, smirking to himself as he gets into a fighting pose. "Yeah! I like a challenge!" Kent says maniacally as he cracks his neck and knuckles.
The two fight, punching, kicking and in Bruce's case, swinging at each other. Despite having a weapon, Bruce is losing, almost as if Kent is energized by his own insanity. Having enough of Kent, Bruce channels some Hulk strength and grabs Kent by the throat, catching the maniac by surprise as Bruce tosses him through a window of a nearby shoe store, the loud sound of glass breaking attracting the attention of several zombies, who slowly lurch towards the two men. Kent tries to get up, but Bruce threw him so hard that it physically broke him, several pieces of glass stuck in his skin. Bruce grabs his backpack off the ground and walks away, leaving Kent to die as the zombies pile on him and devour him.
-Security Room-
Jessie and Brad are looking at various monitors, trying to find the rude old man that Bruce encountered when he first arrived at the mall, as they had lost him when the zombies broke in. So far, they haven't found a clue to give away the old man's whereabouts, so Brad decides to head out into the mall to find him, leaving Jessie behind to keep an eye on the security monitors. As Brad departs, Jessie surfs through the various monitors and spots a short clip of when Bruce was fighting Kent. As she watches the scene, she gasps, feeling worried for Bruce's wellbeing, only to receive a surprise when she sees Bruce toss Kent through the shoe store window one-handed. She continues to watch with great interest as Bruce heads to the Entrance Plaza with his backpack full of food and starts passing its contents to various survivors. She then zooms in a monitor's view of Bruce, focusing on his admittedly very handsome face.
"I wonder if there's more to Bruce than meets the eye..." Jessie wonders out loud to herself.
