“I saw someone.”
Chris looked over his shoulder.
“Someone or something?”
She peered at the hotel, her eyes running up the length of the building.
“I’m pretty sure I saw someone in a window up there.”
Chris examined the building and his mind wandered. He wasn’t sure if Jenn wanted to see someone more than anything else. He also wasn’t sure what she might do if they didn’t find anyone or even worse if they did and they were all dead. He nodded, and then focused on Jafar.
“Let’s keep going.”
The distance took longer to cross then anyone would have guessed. The rest of the way was covered by an elaborate maze of vehicles. Chris expected something to jump out at him around every turn, but nothing ever did. They reached the main entrance of the casino and settled in under the covered valet stand.
Chris approached the front doors alone and peered in through the broken glass. An assortment of slot machines and gaming tables stood stacked across the entrance. Several holes in the defense made it appear as if the line was given up a long time ago. The open floor beyond was shrouded in shadows, but there was enough light to provide a glimpse of what awaited.
The casino floor was in shambles. The tables either were in pieces or stacked on top of one another. A thick layer of debris covered every inch of the floor and there was little to give away what happened to the place. The lack of blood caught Chris’ attention.
He got everyone on their feet with a wave, and headed for the doors. Jafar pushed over a blackjack table from its resting place and a way opened up. They were inside at the base of the steps when the first sounds reached them. Chris held his hand up, but everyone was already frozen. A slight thumping echoed from deeper in the interior, but it was difficult to locate the exact location.
“I knew it,” Jenn said then started off. “They’re here somewhere.”
Chris grabbed her by the arm as she went past. “Hold on.” Her expression soured. “There’s no telling what that is.”
“We only have one exit,” Jafar reminded everyone. “If we go in any further, we risk being trapped.”
“I didn’t come all this way to stand by the door,” Jenn said.
Chris tried to calm her down.
“We need to make sure we can get out if we have to.”
Jenn didn’t appear convinced, but she stopped pulling away from him. The gaming area ran the entire west side of the floor. The east way opened to a circular lobby. A pair of escalators rose up from the center of the entryway towards the second floor. Chris kept his focus on the noise.
He started across the gaming area, keeping close to the front wall. They edged slowly between the demolished tables and the sound grew the further they went. Chris had his eyes set on an emergency exit against the far wall. He stepped away from the last of the debris and Alicen’s voice cut through the silence.
“Oh boy.”
Chris spun around with his gun at the ready in time to watch the little girl shoot out from the line behind him. Jake swiped at her arm, but missed as she whizzed by. Alicen’s eyes were bright and focused, a wide smile firmly planted on her face. She dodged between two tables and swept something up off the floor.
“It looks brand new.”
She was yelling when she brought the doll up to her face. It did in fact look brand new, but Chris wasn’t as excited about it as Alicen appeared to be. Jake reached her by the time everyone heard a new sound wash across the gaming floor. A sudden recognition ripped the smile from Alicen’s face as the dreaded moan of the dead echoed from the bar across the room. Chris urged them to move.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Jafar stood at the ready as Jenn, Sarah, and then the kids ran passed him. The moaning intensified tenfold in a matter of seconds. The first of them pushed through a swinging door behind the bar and the putrefied figures poured out onto the main floor in a tidal wave of rotted flesh. They were sparsely clad with the full extent of their decay open for all to see. The moaning was harmonious to a point, all focusing their lust for the living on the new arrivals.
Chris backed away, pulling Jafar with him. He turned to find Jenn standing at the emergency exit, door open, but refusing to step through. He reached her a moment later and pushed past everyone to discover what caused the fixation. The stairwell was blocked, both leading up into the hotel and down into the basement levels. There was no way to count the number of broken bed frames, battered armoires, and an assortment of bedroom furniture.
A lone beer bottle dangled from the middle of the staircase. It was hung from a string that ran up higher than the sunlight cascading through the open emergency door would allow Chris to see. He took a few hesitant steps, never forgetting the surge of death moving in their direction. He pushed himself up on his tiptoes, tugged at the bottle, and pulled it free.
“We’re running low on time.”
He heard Jafar’s warning and out of the corner of his eye, he saw him raise his pistol to fire. Chris removed a rolled piece of paper from the top of the bottle, opened it up, and read the words. The inscription was short, to the point, and would have been useful a few minutes prior. Pull open the main set of elevators on the second floor and climb the ladder. Chris rolled his eyes. “Now you tell me.” He pushed his way back in to the main room. “We’re not getting up this way.”
The dead filed in fast. Chris urged the group back in the direction they came, staying near the exterior wall, and hunched as close to the ground as they could manage. The leading pack of the dead was comprised of two dozen or more. Most were clad in dealer’s vests, still proudly displaying the casino’s patch over the shirt pocket.
Chris neared the midway point of the gaming floor and knew at once that they would not make it to the main doors. There was a fight coming and only a precious few seconds remained. He slid his rifle over his shoulder and barked at Jafar, “Grab that end.” He motioned to the opposite side of a roulette table and Jafar appeared to understand his approach.
There was no sense in using the few remaining precious rounds. Chris was moving again, this time with him holding the roulette table at one end and Jafar at the other. Everyone else pulled in close behind the table. The dead closed in all around them, their arms stretched out for a piece of living tissue.
“Hold it steady and wait for my signal,” Chris said.
He was straining. The weight of the table was about as much as he could bear. He clenched on with the tips of his fingers, leaning forward to keep his momentum going. He kept one eye on the dead as they closed in only a few feet away and another on the short set of stairs beyond them which led up to the foyer.
“Now!”
Chris and Jafar rushed forward and gave the table a solid thrust. Michael followed through from behind and the result was a monstrous groan from the zombie horde pushing toward them. The table crashed down on the front of the group and smashed them back into the rest. The move trapped the front line on the ground and forced the remainder to move around.
Michael came out in front of Chris and reached the stairs first. They looked back at the true size of the dead now filling in the floor from every available opening. Chris climbed the stairs and pulled Alicen up in front of him. Jafar backed up one step at a time and Chris turned his attention on the grand foyer.
Chris had a decision to make and he had to make it quick. If he believed the note, he would have to lead them further into the hotel to reach the elevators. There was a good chance the dead would overtake the entrance and make it impossible to get back out. If they went out into the safety of the street, they would probably never be able to get back inside.
“The note,” he heard himself say. “It said we need to get to the elevator.” His eyes were on Jenn although he was speaking to everyone. Her face told him she understood the dilemma.
“There’s got to be another way,” she said.
“They’re coming.”
Chris didn’t need to look to
know what Alicen was talking about.
Jake tried to interrupt the stare down between Chris and Jenn. “Guys?” He pulled at Chris’ arm. “I really don’t think it matters.”
The view outside the shattered entrance was skewed by stacks of furniture pressed against the doors. The open space between the fittings showed through to shifting shadows beyond the entrance. Chris pushed past Jenn and came to a stop beside Sarah who was already taking in the scene outside. The streets were alive as figures stepped out from adjacent buildings and hidden locations between the burnt out cars and trucks. The sight left little to debate and Chris headed for the escalators.
“Doesn’t look like we have a choice anymore.”
17.
Everyone was running and Chris wasn’t sure how to keep them going in the same direction. The wide foyer and central corridor of the casino bent to the right, leading directly to a bank of escalators. The broken mechanical lifts led up to the second floor where at one time thousands of visitors a year would check into their rooms. Presently, the lifts might be the only thing that could save Chris and the others from the army of undead racing after them.
The view of the street in front of the casino was blocked behind them, not that anyone was looking. The stacks of furniture barricading the doors had little to do with the distortion. A mountain of maggot infested walking corpses pressed their decomposing bodies against the broken glass trying to get in. Another legion of the undead made their way up the short set of stairs from the gaming floor and were now pushing into the foyer and the hall beyond.
A chorus of flesh eating desire raced after Chris and the other survivors. There was little time to do anything but run. Jafar hit the escalators first and rushed to the top. Chris stopped at the bottom and urged Jenn and the others up ahead of him. Alicen was beginning to fall behind, but Michael and Jake grabbed one arm each and dragged her to the middle of the pack. Chris started up the stairs with the dead only a few steps behind and the smell of their rot engulfed him as he went.
He took three steps at a time and nearly slammed into Jafar when he reached the top. The others were still moving, now crossing the once plush red carpet leading to the check-in desks. The elevators and any hope of escape lay against the far wall on the other side of the wide ticketing floor. Chris and Jafar looked down on the dead and neither man had the words to express the situation they found themselves in. The entire first floor corridor was filled from one side to the other with bodies. A sea of putrid flesh, all twisted and dead, pressed together trying desperately to reach the moving bait.
“What door?”
Chris turned as the first of the dead pushed their way onto the escalator and clumsily started up after them. Jenn was passing the ticket desks and nearing the elevator doors.
“How should I know?” Chris yelled.
He counted eight elevator doors as he neared and a nefarious thought ran through his mind. Chris had bet their safety on a note, stuffed in a bottle, hanging in a stairwell for only God knows how long. What were the chances that whoever wrote the note was still alive, let alone still safely hidden away? Something told him they were about to find out very soon whether they liked it or not.
Jafar and Chris were running stride for stride until they reached the elevators where the others huddled around the first set of doors. Jake and Michael were on opposite sides, pulling with all their might. The doors opened and Jafar and Chris jumped in to help. The split between the two halves pulled far enough for Jenn to slip in. The dark interior offered little hope and she quickly emerged with a frantic expression.
“What the hell am I supposed to do in there?” The question seemed more complicated than it was. “There’s no power. We can’t get that thing to run.”
Chris stared at the door befuddled. He didn’t know what to expect, but somehow he thought the answer would present itself. “Let’s do this one.” He started on the next set of doors and Jafar followed suit. The doors parted revealing an identical picture to the first.
Jafar and Michael moved on, but Chris stood frozen in place. His eyes were on the tops of the escalators. The sound of the dead was growing and he knew that any second, they would come pouring over the top. He took a moment of desperation to count his remaining shells. He had two rounds before it went empty. He guessed that would buy him about a minute, once the onslaught started.
“Jafar, what do you have left?” Jafar continued what he was doing, until the third doors parted and he uncovered nothing of use. Chris raised his voice as the weight and frustration of the moment took over. “What do you have left?”
“One, damn it,” he snapped as he spun around. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he snatched his pistol out of his pocket. “I’ve only got one round left. Is that what you want to know?”
“I’ve got three,” Michael announced.
Jafar and Chris stared each other down as the pressure got to them.
“What the hell are you two doing?” The question came from Jake and the words spilling out of the mouth of a twelve year old were shocking. The boy gawked at both of them with an awful look of disappointment. “We have five more doors and I can’t open them by myself.” He started toward the next elevator without giving either of them a chance to respond.
The two men looked at each other and nodded. They rushed to the doors and pulled. Jake and Michael took one side and Jafar and Chris took the other. The girls stood in front of the opening, each peering in a different direction. Jenn eyed the escalators as the first of the dead stepped onto the second floor. Sarah’s gaze was on the sides of the wide room in search of another exit while Alicen was looking directly at the parting doors.
The breach revealed four massive springs bolted into the floor two stories down, but no sign of the elevator. Seven pairs of eyes focused on the end of a rope ladder swaying gently down the center of the shaft. Chris looked past the others at the growing horde amassing at the top of the escalators and he knew they were out of time. The ladder and whatever end it offered was their only option. He turned his attention to Jafar.
“You lead the way.” He eyed the dark shaft. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”
Jafar handed over his gun and started for the opening between the doors. Jenn’s befuddled expression left her with her mouth open and nothing to say. That predicament didn’t last long.
“What is this?” she asked Chris directly. “…some macho man bullshit?”
“We don’t have time for this,” Chris said.
“You’re damn right,” she countered. “Jafar, go ahead. Jake, you and Alicen follow him.” She threw her arms up when nobody moved. “Go, now.”
Jafar had heard enough. He reached out between the elevator doors for the ladder and a few seconds later, he was climbing. Jake didn’t ask for additional guidance. He urged Alicen ahead of him and instructed her on what to do. Sarah got in line behind them with Michael close by. Jenn set her sights on Chris.
“Get moving,” she ordered.
Chris wasn’t prepared to die. He knew it and so did she. His eyes were on the dead even as he backed his way toward the elevator. They were midway across the room and there wasn’t any way to stop them. The kids were up on the ladder and climbing as Sarah took hold of the bottom rung.
Chris raised the rifle and fired. The round hit with a solid thud, but it did little to stop the advancing mob. He fired again, this time missing his mark. The shot ripped through the decaying tissue of a woman, but only managed to push her back a few feet. She growled some unintelligible response, but then continued forward for the feast.
The bolt locked back indicating it was empty and Chris dropped it on the ground. He aimed the pistol as the first row of the dead stumbled closer. A glance over his shoulder showed only he and Jenn remained. The others had disappeared up the elevator shaft.
“Go.”
Jenn stood with one foot on the ground and the other dangling out in the open space of the shaft. “Get over here.” She had a firm grip on
the bottom rung. “We can make this.”
“I’m coming, just go.” He took two long steps backward and his head smacked the elevator door. Jenn hadn’t moved. “I can’t go unless you get your ass up there first.”
She jumped off the ledge and started the climb. Chris turned his back on the dead as they drew within a few feet. The sound of their desire for him encompassed everything. He had to yell for any chance at being heard.
“Hurry.”
Jenn pulled her foot up and Chris slipped the pistol in his pocket, and then jumped out into the shaft as the first hand slid across his back. He caught hold of the bottom rung, but his momentum pushed him out. The force swung back and he heard the dead as he swayed toward them. Several swipes hit his back and legs, but none grabbed hold. One good pull brought him up, and then another slowed the swing.
Chris got a view of a mass of distorted faces pressing through the elevator opening. They tumbled over the side, one after another, trying to reach him. A pile of bodies grew by the second two stories down on the basement level of the shaft. There was no stopping them and they continued the maddening reach without regard for the result.
The way up looked impossibly far. Chris could see Jenn a few rungs ahead, but the darkness hid everyone else. Thin slits of light from each floor were the only thing to pierce the darkness of the shaft. It was impossible to tell how far they would have to go.
The climb was tiring work and everyone slowed as the sound of the zombies died away. It wasn’t long before they were high enough that the way below was as dark as the way above. Chris kept at the climb while his mind wondered how long the kids could handle the task. It was Jafar’s voice that broke the silence from somewhere in the darkness.
“I see an open door.”
The Last Infection (Book 1) Page 14
