Damon recovered and shooed the girls out of the room. “Block the door. We don’t want that many out here with us.” His nerves were still shaking.
“What the hell are we gonna use, Damon?” Chloe whispered.
It was a valid question. There was nothing in the hall. “Stay here. I’ll be right back,” Damon said before disappearing down the hall.
“Where does he think he’s going?” Victoria asked the teenager.
“I don’t freaking know.”
“We need to stay together.”
“Take it easy, I’m right here,” Damon reassured. He held two chairs in his hands, and wedged them between the door and the floor. “That will hopefully hold them for a while. At least until we get done with you know who.”
Without another word they left the pool, swept the kitchen, and went to find Harper’s team. They had agreed that after fifteen minutes of searching they would meet back at the lobby. They followed the light leading them back to the rendezvous point and sure enough the three men were standing there.
“No sign of him in the kitchen, fitness center, or by the pool,” Damon reported when they were close enough to whisper.
Harper shook his head, “Nothing in the basement.”
“Well I had the kitchen area set up for him, so I’m a little confused he isn’t there. What’s left without checking each room?”
“You’ve been here more than me,” Harper said.
Damon rubbed his chin, “I guess there is a ballroom.”
“Lead the way,” Mathias said with his deep voice.
“OK…” Maybe Boomer had it wrong. It wouldn’t make sense for him to be anywhere else.
The six of them moved to the ballroom. Damon wasn’t surprised when they found it empty. Chloe put her hands on her hips and sniffed.
“I know he’s here.”
“Me too, I can feel it,” Riley agreed.
“I don’t know guys. Boomer could have been following an old scent,” Damon said and Harper nodded.
They were silent for some time before anyone spoke. Chloe perked up. “Wait, this place has gotta have, like, a penthouse suite or something. I mean if I were staying here, I would want to stay in style.”
“It’s worth a shot. Plus, I’m not really excited to start tearing this place apart room by room.”
The six of them disappeared up the staircase, hoping this game of hide and seek would be over soon.
In order for them to get to the top floor they had to ascend the steps to the second floor, then head to the other end of the hotel to get to the next set of steps. But once they reached the third floor Damon picked up a haunting sound in his ears.
“You guys hear that?” he whispered. He looked back at each of their faces and knew they had.
It didn’t take long for them to figure out which room it was coming from since there were zombies crowded around the door. Damon couldn’t count how many there were because they were shoulder to shoulder with the walls. Even with the light coming in from the window, the corridor was still dark. There were definitely too many for them to take without their guns, so Damon changed to his shotgun.
Snarls and moans filled the hallway just before shots rang out. Victoria held back waiting for the fire to stop. The zombies fell in a bloody heap.
“OK. Let’s go get this bastard,” Damon said. He shook any remaining anxiety from his shoulders.
Damon led them down the poorly lit corridor to the suite door. He didn’t want to walk over the bodies to get to it, but he was left with no choice. He tried the knob. Of course it was locked.
“He knows we’re here,” Riley said.
“Then let’s not keep him waiting.”
Damon and Harper heaved against the door but it stood firm. Harper kicked out with a powerful blow, striking just below the door handle but it remained intact.
“Oh fuck this,” Damon cursed and fired the shotgun at the latch.
Wood splintered as a gaping hole appeared. Harper punched his boot outward, this time the double doors crashed open. The room was dim, the shades pulled closed like a vampire had taken up residence. Slivers of sunlight seeped in over the outdated curtains. The suite was vast, more than the size of three rooms, with the bed on one side and on the other…
“Mr. Marshall.”
Damon’s eyes found the scientist standing by the tiny kitchenette. “Dellinger,” he hissed. “You got a lot to answer for.”
“I cannot say I am surprised to see you again, but I must say it will be our last encounter. At least now I will have a witness for my latest discovery.”
Dr. Dellinger pressed a tiny test tube to his lips. Damon thought it looked like he was drinking something.
“Fuck this guy!” Riley shouted and fired his rifle.
Gunfire erupted, lighting up the suite. Bullets ripped through the old man’s form, shredding his white lab coat. He fell to his back without so much as a grunt. Harper called a ceasefire and in a moment the room was silent. Damon smelled gun powder and death.
“We need to get out of here,” Mathias grumbled, “Those things will be coming.”
Damon nodded to the big man, then he saw something in his peripheral vision. “What the hell?” He pointed at Dr. Dellinger’s body.
“Yeah, he’s dea-” Riley’s words died on his lips.
Damon put his arm out instinctively to protect Chloe from whatever the hell was happening. Dr. Dellinger’s body twitched, then convulsed, then something unexplainable happened. The scientist’s flesh rippled and molded, seeming to build on itself over and over again. His head shrank, almost disappearing within the muscles. His eyes were beady and black, his teeth elongated into fangs. His fists grew to the size of watermelons. He was truly was a monster.
“Oh shit,” Damon gulped, horrified by what he was looking at.
The thing that was once the scientist now stood seven feet tall and was thicker than a gorilla. It let out a thundering growl.
“Mathias! Get Chloe out of here!” shouted Damon.
Chloe shivered, hesitating. “I can’t.”
“Take her!”
Mathias’ thick arms swarmed around her and drug her out of the room, only to be met with a small horde of zombies. Damon couldn’t watch because Dr. Dellinger attacked. His form charged them on all fours.
“Scatter!” Harper ordered, diving to the left just as the monster beat past.
Damon rolled right keeping a handle on his shotgun. He stopped on his knee and fired. The blast struck the beast’s back. Damon’s mouth flapped open when the skin molded and stitched itself back together.
“It regenerates!”
“Shoot it in the head!” hollered Riley while positioning to fire.
The beast struck out, sending Riley across the room and into the plush couch. It moved to crush him with giant fists, but Victoria slashed him in the ribs with her katana. When he rounded to pommel her, she ducked, side stepped, and struck lightning fast.
“This room is too small! We got to get it out in the open!” Harper shouted.
“This way!” Chloe called from the hallway.
Damon’s chest tightened. She was supposed to be out of the hotel by now. Damon, Riley, Harper, and Victoria rushed into the hall with the creature-doctor on their heels. Just as Damon’s body ducked out the door, the beast crashed through the wall into the hallway, sending rubble and dust everywhere. The six of them ran. Harper turned to fire, striking it in the head multiple times. The beast fell back, stunned, but didn’t fall. He continued to fire until his clip was empty. The beast then reared up and hit the big marine in the chest. There was a sickening crunch as Harper crashed through drywall and lumber into another suite. Damon had no time to see if he survived.-it was after them. His brain scrambled. He was already out of ideas on how to kill it. They turned down another hallway with the thunderous thumping following them.
When they hit the second floor Damon led them to the ballroom to take advantage of a larger fighting ground. They burst i
nto the room. It was massive compared to the suite. Fifty tables were set up for a wedding reception, tall centerpieces of silk roses of cream and pink filled crystal vases. The head table was decorated with ornate flowers.
Before the beast entered the room, Damon ordered Chloe to hide, and to his amazement, she didn’t argue. The creature blasted through the doorframe, sending splinters flying every direction. Damon sent shotgun blast after blast until he was out of ammo. The mutated scientist howled an ungodly, unnatural sound. It wasn’t out of pain or rage, it seemed to be calling for something. Chills went up Damon’s spine.
Minutes later zombies, slow and fast, entered the room. It had called them, the fucking creature could talk to zombies.
“Well son of a bitch,” Damon cursed.
He couldn’t have pictured this was how he would die. Damon stood in the center of the ballroom under a dark chandelier, watching as the hulking beast surrounded itself with the undead.
“Keep it busy!” Victoria ordered.
Damon trusted her. He called out to the beast, drawing it away from the horde, leaving Mathias and Riley to deal with them. Damon ran and ducked playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Dr. Dellinger until a sprinter shot out of the darkness, slamming into Damon. His eyes went from the zombie an inch from him to the beast crashing towards him. Searing pain hit him in the shoulder as the sprinter’s teeth sunk in. The ripping teeth were so sharp as it dug deeper into the muscle. He wrestled with the zombie, slicing at it frantically with his machete. Finally, the sprinter fell motionless.
Blood flowed freely down Damon’s chest and back from the bite wound, soaking his shirt. A deep growl rumbled Damon’s chest, and he flipped around to see the beast staring down at him with black beady eyes. The thing cocked its head to the side, studying him. It looked confused, startled. Damon was infected, and the creature could sense it.
There was a warrior’s scream echoing in the darkness. Damon couldn’t place it until he saw Victoria sailing through the air, her katana outstretched. A glimmer of silver light glinted across metal as the blade met the beast’s neck. The skin tore, its spine severed, and the head fell to the floor at Damon’s feet. The hulking form of Dr. Dellinger collapsed, sending a strong quake through the tile.
Victoria huffed in both exhaustion and satisfaction before joining Riley and Mathias to finish off the remaining zombies. Damon brain was swimming as he tried to process what had happened. He drove his machete through the neck of the last zombie before his knees give out. The machete clattered to the gore stained floor. He sank. It was over.
chapter 25
“NOOOOOO!!!” Chloe shrieked.
She had seen everything from her hiding spot, which wasn’t much of a hiding spot, just her peeking out the bathroom door. Her skinny body quivered with adrenaline and fear as she watched the titanic form that once was Dr. Dellinger, batter her family; the dread intensified when it called for reinforcements. She was sure she had seen the worse. But she was wrong. Her heart dropped out of her body when that sprinter took a bite out of Damon. Tears stung her eyes as she ran to Damon’s side; her knees slide across the bloody tile as she skidded into him.
She collapsed over his chest. “We gotta do something.”
“Ohh…Damon,” Victoria whispered as she brushed his cheek.
Damon held his shoulder with one hand and wrapped an arm around Chloe’s back. “I love you, Chloe. I hope you know that.”
Chloe sobbed. “Of course I do,” she choked, “I love you too.”
“Damon! No! No! No!” Riley shouted, as he realized what had inflicted the wound. He tugged at his blonde curls. “Can’t we just cut it off or something?”
Mathias coughed, “No, Riley. We can’t.”
If Chloe had been looking, she would have seen that both men were crying. The whites of Riley’s eyes were already bloodshot from salty tears. Mathias coughed again. She was about to say something when Damon started talking again.
“Victoria, I wanted to ask you a question before we came here.”
“It can wait.”
“No it can’t. Luck isn’t on my side today,” Damon huffed. He could feel his pulse increasing. The fever was going to kick in soon. Even in his current state, he managed to crack a smile. “Will you marry me?”
Chloe watched Victoria choke out a sob. Her shining black hair fell into her face when leaned into him. She was stunned Damon would ask such a thing, the thought never actually crossing her mind. She heard Victoria say, “Of course.” They both knew it wouldn’t happen. He was infected.
God if there was a way we could save him.
Chloe didn’t want to lose another father, she couldn’t. She racked her brain for anything of use, starting with saving Riley from the factory through the battle in the suite. Then it was there, a spark in her memory. Before she was ushered out of the suite, she remembered seeing something on the kitchenette counter. It was next to the test tube Dr. Dellinger drank. There was a label on it. She couldn’t make out the word, but it started with the letter “A.” It was the cure. It had to be the cure.
“Wait!” she shouted through her tears. Suddenly she could feel her blood pumping as the adrenaline kicked in. They were all staring at her. She fixed her ponytail as she stood up. “There’s a cure. Dr. Dellinger had a cure.”
“What are you talking about?” Victoria asked quickly, holding Damon’s shoulder.
“When we were in the suite, there was another test tube on the counter. It had an “A” on it. I bet it said antidote.”
“Chloe,” Damon started, “It’s OK. You guys just need to kill me.”
“Shut up!” Chloe snapped.
“Yeah, shut up man,” Riley agreed.
She looked at each of them individually, “Just keep him alive until I get back. Please don’t kill him,
“I’m already dead,” Damon hissed in a whisper.
“No you’re not. And nobody hurt him, or I swear to God I’ll kill you myself,” Chloe ordered. She meant what she said as she wiped the tears off her cheeks and ran out of the ballroom with her bow bouncing against her slim back.
Chloe’s thin legs carried her easily around the dead zombies as she ducked out of the ballroom. She passed through the halls remembering exactly the way Damon showed them. A zombie lumbered by the staircase. Chloe retrieved her bow, strung it, and fired without losing a step. She had to get the cure and get it back to Damon…fast.
She met the stairs and bounded up them effortlessly. There were two more zombies staggering at the top. She quickly disposed of them and watched them fall, one right after the other. It was easy to find the suite since the beast left a wake of destruction in its path. A groan came from a man sized hole in the wall to her right, but she ignored it as she moved. Kicking up dust as her feet beat through the rubble. She didn’t bother using the door, opting for the enormous hole in the wall.
Once in the suite, she dashed to the kitchenette. It was there. “YES!” The test tube was there, filled with a golden liquid, thick like dish soap. A black stopper fit securely over the opening. “You better work,” she told the test tube as she gently picked it up. The glass felt cold on her fingers.
She had what she needed, what Damon needed. Her heart jumped with excitement and worry. She turned and ran, her feet carrying her as fast as she could go, careful not to drop the precious liquid.
She flew down the hallway, then the stairs. She turned left. She was almost there. Without notice her tennis shoe caught, and she fell.
“NO!” she screamed. She felt the test tube leave her hand.
Her eyes followed it through the air as she scrambled across the floor, reaching for it, but she was too late. It disappeared into the stack of bodies in front of the ballroom. Tears burst from her eyes. “God. No. Please! Please!”
She moved to the other side of the bodies to see if maybe, just maybe it didn’t break. “Please-please-please.” She saw it. The glass tube was propped in the crook of the arm of a dead zombie. “Ye
s! Thank you!”
Chloe nabbed the glass tube and raced into the ballroom to find the three of them huddled over Damon. She knelt beside Damon with the test tube in hand.
“I got it,” she puffed, as she peeled the stopper out of the tube.
“What the hell…?” Damon asked with a frown. “I’m not drinking that. What if I end up like Dellinger?”
“You’ll die if you don’t,” Chloe argued, pushing it closer to his mouth.
“It’s worth a try,” Riley urged.
He batted her hand away. Chloe quickly snatched it back, protecting the liquid. “I don’t want to turn into that thing. I wouldn’t want to hurt any of you,” Damon said weakly.
Victoria remained quiet. She squeezed Damon’s hand while the other stroked his cheek. She wanted Damon to survive, but she also didn’t want to get her hopes up. “Let Damon decide,” she croaked.
“I won’t,” he grumbled. He winced when an electric pain burned in his shoulder.
Chloe bawled. “For Godsake! Please. It freaking says antidote!”
“I’m sure Dellinger didn’t think what he drank was going to turn him into what it did.”
“What if he did? Please Damon. Time is running out. The infection is spreading.”
“For fuck’s sake, Damon! It’s worth a try!” Riley bellowed.
Chloe looked into his mahogany eyes. Her tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She would shove it down his throat if he said no one more time.
“Fine…” Damon finally said. “But take my head off if I start…yanno? Like Dellinger…”
Victoria cried softly but forced herself to nod.
Chloe pressed the glass to his lips. Damon coughed as the bitter liquid touched his tongue, but he managed to choke it down. Chloe watched him drink. When he was finished they looked at each other, expecting something terrible to happen. Nothing did.
The Beginning of the End Page 21
