Ultimate Undead Collection: The Zombie Apocalypse Best Sellers Boxed Set (10 Books)
Page 87
‘What about power?’ Paul said. ‘How do you think you winch it? You think the window-cleaners used to pull themselves up thirty floors by hand? No power, no cradle.’
Another idea quashed.
‘Seems to me that if we can get out of here in one piece, then maybe that’s what we should do,’ Elizabeth said dejectedly.
Barry shook his head. ‘I don’t want to leave here. I can’t see any point running.’
‘Of course there’s a point,’ Doreen said.
‘Is there?’
‘Yes,’ she answered, sounding far from convinced. ‘There must be…’
‘Well let me know when you find it.’
‘So what are we actually saying?’ Nick asked. He pointed at Barry. ‘Does she just want to sit here and starve? Good plan, well done!’
Barry was unfazed. ‘But why run?’
‘Because I don’t want to die.’
‘Good answer. Why don’t you want to die?’
‘Stupid question. No one wants to die, do they?’
‘But is it the end of your life you’re worried about, or is it death itself that scares you?’ Barry said.
‘What? You’re just talking bollocks now.’
‘No, I’m not. Are you worried that you’re not going to achieve everything you’ve always wanted to achieve, or is it the prospect of being torn apart by hundreds of bodies that bothers you most?’
‘What point are you making, Barry?’ John wondered.
‘Sorry, I’m just thinking out loud. I’m not trying to wind anyone up. I think what I’m saying is that I genuinely can’t see an easy way out of this. If we run we’ll find somewhere else to hide for a while, then something will happen and before you know it we’ll be moving on again, then again, and again, and again…’
‘Not necessarily,’ Elizabeth said.
‘No, but that’s probably what will happen, and we have to accept that. We’re not in control here. Christ, I thought I’d hit the jackpot finding this place until someone drove a bloody bus into the building.’
‘But running’s got to be better than just rolling over and waiting to die, hasn’t it?’
‘I’m not so sure,’ Barry said. ‘That’s what I used to believe, but I just don’t know anymore. Every morning when I wake up, it’s getting clearer and clearer that my life is just about over. We’re massively outnumbered and society is finished. Christ, we’re sitting here talking about risking our necks just to get food. What kind of a life are any of us going to have if getting the basics like food and shelter are so difficult?’
His words were greeted by almost total silence. ‘Still don’t understand you,’ Doreen said. ‘What were you saying about death and dying?’
Barry rubbed his tired eyes and explained further. ‘I don’t want to keep struggling and fighting forever,’ he said sadly, ‘and I don’t think any of you do either. If I’m completely honest, I just want to relax and let things happen naturally. We’re in the minority now, and I don’t think we were supposed to survive. So, while I don’t relish the idea of letting those things out there tear me limb from limb, I guess I’m not bothered if I die.’
‘But that’s—’ John started to say.
‘Not normal? I accept that. It’s not what any of you were expecting me to say, I know. We’ve been pre-programmed all of our lives to keep fighting and keep struggling. All I’m saying is I’ve realised there’s no point anymore. Just sit back and relax. Let nature take its course.’
More silence.
‘No,’ Nick said. ‘There’s no fucking way I’m just going to sit here and wait to die. Absolutely no way…’
‘I’m with you,’ Paul said, similarly unimpressed. John looked up in surprise. He couldn’t remember when the two men had last agreed on anything. Strange how their dislike of each other could be put to one side when their backs were against the wall.
‘So what do we do?’ asked Elizabeth.
That was the million dollar question which no one could answer. The ominous silence continued for several minutes until Paul spoke again. ‘Exactly how full of bodies is this place?’
‘They’re almost up to the twenty-fourth floor,’ John said. ‘I told you that a few minutes ago. You don’t listen to a word I say.’
‘No, you told us how far up the staircase they’d managed to get, you didn’t tell us how full of bodies the building is.’
John struggled to see the difference and he wasn’t alone in his confusion. ‘What do you mean?’ Elizabeth asked.
Paul shook his head. Christ, these people were infuriating. More to the point he was annoyed with himself. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? ‘A couple of minutes ago we were talking about getting out of here, weren’t we?’
‘Yes.’
‘So how were we going to get out?’
‘Do you always answer questions with questions?’ she snapped.
‘Do you?’ he replied, before re-phrasing and asking his previous question again. ‘There’s another way out of here, isn’t there?’
‘The fire escape,’ Barry answered.
‘Which is still clear, correct?’
‘As far as we know. Why, what are you thinking?’
‘Is the fire escape anywhere near the main staircase?’
‘Of course not,’ John interjected. ‘What would be the point of that? The fire escape needs to be on the other side of the building.’
‘My point exactly. The fire escape gives us a way of moving around the building that’s well away from the main staircase where we think all the bodies are.’
‘And there’s a good chance the bodies are still only on the staircase,’ Nick added, finally understanding where Paul was coming from. ‘Which means that if we’re careful we could still go out onto the landings and into the rooms.’
‘What’s the layout of a typical floor?’ Paul asked.
‘Just one U-shaped corridor,’ Barry answered. ‘Staircase in the middle, fire escape at either end I think.’
‘And when you first set yourself up here, did you clear the place out?’
‘I checked all the rooms for bodies and I took what I needed but—’
‘Did you take everything?’
‘No, I didn’t need to.’
‘So there’s your answer,’ Paul said, rocking back on his chair, almost looking down his nose at the others. ‘We go back down as far as we need to and grab what we can. Should keep us from starving to death for a few days longer. Delay the inevitable.’
‘But that’s all you’re going to do,’ Barry reminded him. ‘You’ll just be delaying what you know is going to happen anyway.’
‘He’s right, isn’t he?’ Doreen said. ‘It’s not going to change the fact that those bloody things will be up here with us in the next couple of days, is it? It’s not going to help us get away.’
‘No,’ Paul agreed, ‘it won’t. But it will give us a little time and space.’
‘To do what?’
‘To decide how we’re getting out of here and where we’re going to go.’
#
Eight thirty-five. Pitch black. Paul, Nick and Elizabeth crept down the fire escape staircase towards the lower floors of the hotel. Hunger, claustrophobia and fear had combined to deadly effect to kick-start their hastily considered, semi-improvised plan. The risks seemed to increase with every step of the descent. Paul had suggested they go all the way down then work their way back up, but they’d only made it as far as the seventeenth floor when he stopped.
‘What’s the matter?’ Elizabeth asked, immediately concerned.
‘I want to have a look.’
‘What for?’
‘What do you think?’
‘But you said…’
‘I know what I said. We know those things are on the stairs, but we don’t know for sure where else they are, do we?’
Paul moved to the door and gently pushed it open a fraction. He shone his torch out onto the landing.
‘Anything?’
Without waiting for either of the others, Paul slipped out onto the landing. He switched off his torch, concerned that the light might attract unwanted attention, and then slowly moved down the hallway to the first corner. The layout, as far as he could see in the gloom, was pretty much as Barry had described: a long corridor with a right-angled right turn towards the central part of the building where, he presumed, he’d find the staircase and tens of thousands of rotting bodies. He moved closer and peered around the corner, holding his breath for fear of making any sound which might tip the balance and alert the dead to his presence. He couldn’t see anything. It was too dark.
Paul felt his way further along the wall and paused at the door to one of the hotel’s many bedrooms. Did he go inside? It would be worth having a quick look around the room before he going back to the other two waiting on the fire escape. He wanted to see the layout of a typical room so he could get a feel for what they were dealing with. How quickly would they be able to thoroughly check a room for food? What were they likely to find? Would there be a mini-bar or similar? Christ, he needed a drink, and his stomach started to growl at the thought of eating again.
Paul tried the handle. Damn thing was locked and it needed a swipe card. No surprise really. Barry had a few master cards which he’d taken from the bodies of cleaners and other staff. Elizabeth had one with her. He shoved the door again, hoping it would open. It didn’t matter. He’d go back to Elizabeth and…
Wait.
What was that?
He sensed movement up ahead. He felt something brush against his arm and he froze. He lifted his torch and switched it on. Ahead of him the whole corridor was packed with bodies, all of them oblivious to his presence until he’d started messing with the door.
‘Fucking hell,’ he mumbled as he tripped back away from the dead. Illuminated now and then by the unsteady light from his shaking torch, he saw that the corridor was filled with constantly shifting corpses which had spilled out from the staircase. Almost as one they began to move towards him. He ran back to the fire escape and hammered on the door. Elizabeth opened it slowly and he barged through, shoving her out of the way.
‘Move!’ he yelled, slamming the door shut behind him.
‘Bodies?’ she asked, already beginning to climb back up.
‘Fucking hundreds of them,’ he answered breathlessly. ‘It’s worse than we thought.’
He looked around for Nick but he’d already gone. He was way ahead of them both, on his way back to the top floor. Cowardly bastard. Paul made a mental note never to put himself in a position where he needed to rely on Nick for anything.
They pounded up the stairs, no longer concerned about the volume of noise they made, just desperate to get back to the Presidential Suite. ‘Wait a minute,’ Paul said, stopping Elizabeth in her tracks. Breathless, he shone his torch at the nearest fire door. Floor twenty-six. It was worth taking a chance to see if this floor was the same as the one ten floors below.
‘What are you doing?’ Elizabeth asked, almost too afraid to know.
‘According to John they haven’t reached this floor yet. We thought they were just filling the stairs, but there’s so bloody many of them they’re filling the entire building. We should check this level for food before we go back. We won’t have another chance.’
They slipped out through the fire door, leaving it propped open with a fire extinguisher, then moved slowly along the corridor to the first corner. Paul put his head around and shone the torch down its length.
‘Clear,’ he said, the relief in his voice obvious. ‘Stick to this end of the corridor and stay away from the stairs.’
The layout of floor twenty-six was different to floor seventeen. Here there were several large suites instead of many smaller rooms. They went into the nearest.
‘So what are we looking for?’ Elizabeth asked.
‘Anything. Just make sure you split what you find into two piles. Keep one for us, then we’ll share the rest with the others.’
‘But that’s—’
‘—that’s completely fair. How many of those fuckers are here helping? If they want more they can come and get it themselves.’
He began to ransack the room.
#
A little under an hour later Elizabeth and Paul returned to the Presidential Suite, carrying with them almost the entire contents of the minibars of the suites on the floor immediately below. They’d found little in the way of any substantial food, but that didn’t matter. The others gratefully took what they were given and ate and drank quickly as Paul broke the bad news about what they’d seen on the lower levels.
‘Feels like a last supper, doesn’t it?’ Barry said quietly to no one in particular. He couldn’t see who was where. No one had lit any lamps this evening.
‘So what do we do next?’ John asked, sitting on his own a little way behind Barry. ‘We never decided. Do we just sit here and wait for them, or do we run?’
‘Nick will run,’ Paul said, remembering how he’d left them on the fire escape. ‘You’re good at running, aren’t you Nick?’
‘Shut your fucking mouth,’ Nick said angrily, glad of the dark because he didn’t know how to react.
‘So what do we do?’ John asked again, desperate for someone to answer and give him something to cling onto.
‘Let’s just think about it logically, shall we,’ Barry suggested. ‘They’re still coming in through the front door, and they’re climbing the stairs because of the growing pressure of other corpses behind them. So what’s going to happen when they reach the top? They’re not going to turn back around and start heading for the ground floor again, are they?’
‘They’re going to keep coming,’ Paul said ominously. ‘They’ll spread out onto the landings like we saw downstairs.’
‘And even when there’s no more room on the landing up here,’ Barry continued, ‘they’ll still keep coming. Before we know it they’ll be up against our door and then, when the pressure gets too great, it’ll give and this place will be flooded.’
‘Lovely,’ Doreen mumbled.
‘So you don’t think we’ve got any chance?’ asked Elizabeth.
‘It’s like I said earlier,’ Barry replied, ‘what’s coming is coming. I think we’re all going to die, and the only choice left is how it happens. Now I don’t personally intend on being torn apart, but I also don’t like the idea of running either.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
‘Not sure yet. I haven’t decided.’
‘You don’t have long.’
‘I know.’
‘I’m running,’ Nick said.
‘You would,’ Paul said quickly. ‘But fair play, I’ll probably run too.’
‘What about you, Doreen?’ Elizabeth asked.
‘Too tired to run, too scared not to. We’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, won’t we?’
#
Next morning. First light. John picked up his camera and walked across the landing to carry out his self-imposed daily duty and measure the progress of the dead. He walked out to the staircase and leant over the banister, then immediately pulled himself back again, no longer any need for cameras. They still had several flights of stairs left to climb, but he could now see the first few bodies. He ran back to tell the others.
‘How far?’ Elizabeth asked as he burst back into the room.
‘Not far.’
‘How long?’
‘Not long.’
‘More specific?’
‘Couple of hours.’
Doreen began to sob.
‘Shut up you silly cow,’ Nick barked at her with his usual lack of compassion. ‘All you’re going to do is bring them up here quicker with your stupid whining.’
‘So we just sit and wait?’ John asked.
‘That’s what I’m doing,’ a voice said from behi
nd him, ‘but I’m not ready to die just yet.’ Barry emerged from his bedroom wearing a skirt and blouse, a blond wig, full make-up and his favourite high-heeled boots. He stormed into the main part of the suite with rediscovered confidence, completely at odds with the others who sat around dejectedly, each contemplating the dark decisions they would soon have to make. ‘I did a lot of thinking last night,’ he explained.
‘We can see that,’ Nick said.
‘And…?’ Paul pressed.
‘I wanted to know if I was wrong. I didn’t know if I’d been looking at everything the wrong way.’
‘And?’ Paul pressed again.
‘And, unfortunately, I think I’m right,’ he admitted. ‘In fact the more I think about it, the more I’ve come to realise our situation really is hopeless. I can’t see any obvious way out, and I’m not just talking about the hotel here, I’m talking about what’s left of our lives in general. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we’re fucked.’
‘Nice. Thanks for that.’
‘Seriously, just stop and think about it. I’m not being defeatist here, I’m just being honest. Whatever we decide to do, it’s going to be a struggle. We’re going to have to fight for absolutely everything, and that’s bloody stupid when you think there’s probably only a few people left. The world’s our oyster, but I don’t think we can have any of it. What does that say to you?’
Blank, confused looks. Silence.
‘It’s like you said,’ Elizabeth eventually mumbled. ‘We’re fucked.’
‘Exactly. There’s nothing any of us can do about it. We’re massively outnumbered and nowhere is safe. The only thing we have any control over now is what we do with the time we have left.’
‘But we don’t know how long that is,’ John protested.
‘We never have done,’ Barry argued. ‘Seems to me we can either spend our last few days and weeks hiding in the shadows out there, starving to death, running from place to place and freaking out every time someone farts…’
‘Or?’
‘Or we can stop trying so hard to survive and just let things happen naturally. Go out with a little dignity.’