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.”
Chris leaned out away from the ladder and searched the shaft. The light was a good ways up, but it was clearly an opening. They continued to climb at a much slower rate. The light proved to be an open elevator door, and a head bobbing in and out of the opening caught everyone’s attention. Chris was two floors below when the onlooker made itself known.
“You’re going to have to hurry.”
The owner had a distinctively feminine voice, and the tone said she was in a rush. Jafar leaned out, swinging the ladder below him. He eyed the opening as he swayed closer with each pass. It took several agonizing minutes for him to get the momentum he needed. He reached out with both hands and grabbed the ledge. The swing of the ladder pulled at him in the opposite direction, but he managed to hold on.
Jake climbed up the opposite side of the ladder and then used Jafar as a makeshift bridge. The boy had a discreet conversation with the yet unseen person and then looked to Jafar for direction. Jake took a while to follow through with Jafar’s orders, but in the end, the rope ladder was locked in place with the help of a broken chair. Jafar climbed up next and the line moved.
Chris was the last to go, and the whispering conversation above was out of earshot until he was eye level with the elevator door. Jenn and Michael helped pull him up onto the floor, and he scrambled to his feet. A long hallway ran east and west, each turning at the ends. The once lavish furnishings gave a hint at the former cond
ition of the hotel, but there wasn’t much of use.
The owner of the faint voice was as tall as Jake but much thinner. Chris guessed the preteen was suffering from a lack of food by her dark, sunken eyes. She held onto a smile as she nodded to him and the others. Her baby blues were wide, taking in as much of her surroundings as she could while constantly checking down the hallway.
“We can’t stay out here,” she said.
“Why not?” Jenn asked.
She hesitated and her smile cracked. “I shouldn’t have come here. We’re not supposed to—”
“We?” Chris approached, and the little girl snapped back in an automatic response. “How many people are up here?”
She shrugged and took another step away. Jenn moved in front of him and got down on a knee. “We’re not going to hurt you.” The girl didn’t respond. “What’s your name?” Jenn urged Alicen to join them. “We’re looking for a friend.”
Alicen waved and the girl waved back. Her stance softened after a moment of contemplation.
“Mila,” she said and then eyed the hallway. “We should go.”
“Mila,” Jenn tried to get her attention. “What are you looking for?”
“We’re not supposed to bring in new people,” she said. “You’re going to take our food.”
Jenn looked up at Chris with concern. He stepped forward and in the softest way he could, he furthered the questioning.
“Who told you not to bring in other people?”
“Nicholas,” she said as if that was supposed to clear everything up. “I don’t want to get in trouble, so maybe you shouldn’t come back with me.”
“We’re looking for two people,” Jenn interrupted. “Tom and Nell. They would look like your grandparents.”
“My grandparents were eaten,” Mila said plainly.
Jenn drew a blank. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“We just want to look for our friends,” Chris said. “We’re not here for anything else.”
Mila started to walk and waved for them to follow. Chris stepped in stride with Jafar and Michael.
“We need to be ready,” Jafar said.
“Ready for what?” Michael asked.
“That little girl’s more scared of whoever’s leading her group than she is of the greeters we met downstairs.” He looked back at Sarah and Jenn. “Keep your eyes open. Let’s get your parents and get out of here as quickly as we can.”
The big man’s concern was enough motivation for everyone. They followed after Mila who was already halfway down the hall. She made a concerted effort to wave them forward and then sprinted off the rest of the way. She’d disappeared around the corner long before Chris reached the turn.
The view that opened up was a confusing one. Chris came to a stop and locked in on a carefully constructed barricade running across the hall farther down. Mila had disappeared, but there was movement beyond the barricade. The hall was lined on either side with wide doors each covered in big letters that read cleared. Chris led them forward, not sure what to expect. He tried one of the doors along the way but found it locked. They were midway between the barricade and the turn in the hall when a voice called out to them.
“That’s far enough.” Mila’s high-pitched voice was replaced by a deep call with a southern accent.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Chris said. “We’re looking for two people who are supposed to be holding up here.” He wasn’t sure how true that was, but he was going to stick with Jenn’s story until the truth revealed otherwise.
“They’re my parents,” she added.
Chris felt her close behind him.
“We’re not taking people in,” the voice said. “You need to go.”
“I don’t think you understand,” Chris said and then stopped as the distinct end of two separate barrels pushed out between openings in the barricade. “Wait, wait.” He raised his hands in an effort to calm the situation. “Let’s take a step back here.”
A long silence followed, and when it was finally broken by the southern twang, it offered little hope to improve the situation.
“I’m going to give you the count of three, and then we’re going to open fire.”
18
“One…two…”
“Get down,” Chris shouted and pulled Jenn down with him.
Everyone hit the floor in anticipation of a hail of bullets. Neither the bullets nor the count of three ever came. Chris peered down the rest of the hallway at the barricade and heard a lot of commotion followed by an intense debate. He wasn’t sure if he should try to get everyone back down the hall and around the corner before their hosts decided what they wanted to do.
Jafar was already up on his feet. He motioned with his eyes back in the direction they came, and it was enough to get Chris moving. They got everyone up before the next set of instructions was called out. The voice and its owner were noticeably fairer than the first.
“We’re going to open this up, but you can’t cross with your weapons.” Jafar looked like he was going to balk at the idea, but the speaker had no time for debate. “Either you give up your weapons or no entrance. It’s your choice, but if you want in, you better take this opportunity.”
Chris didn’t have to look at Jafar to know his opinion of the deal. He also knew he couldn’t ask Jenn to leave Vegas without at least trying to make contact with her parents. The fact that these people were holed up in the building increased the chances of her parents being alive. Chris laid his weapon on the ground and held his hands out in front of him.
“We’re coming in.”
He didn’t look back for Jafar. He didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to. Chris was only a few feet from the barrier when he looked over his shoulder long enough to see everyone was following him. A loud screech pulled his attention to the barricade as it parted and one side slid back out of the way. He was through the other side before he saw the first of their new hosts.
The initial contact was a scruffy looking man whose sole focus was down the sights of a rifle pointed directly at Chris’s head. His thin face was pale beneath a patchwork of facial hair, and his eyes were dark and gaunt. There were four others, three men and a woman. All carried a gun of some sort, but none appeared as jittery as the first.
There was a look of desperation about the group. They were all suffering from malnutrition and a general lack of hygiene. The smell hit Chris the moment he stepped behind the barricade. There was enough body odor to put down a horse and something fouler lingering in the air beyond the site.
“We’re looking for Tom and Nell Anderson,” Jenn said.
No one from the group appeared to be concerned about Jenn’s assertion. Two of the men started a search of Chris and the others, taking away anything that could be used as a weapon as they went.
“We just want to find our people, and then we’ll be on our way,” Chris said, trying to keep everyone on the same page.
Again, there was no reply. Jafar was visibly angry, but Chris couldn’t tell if it was because they’d given up their guns or he didn’t appreciate the idea of someone going through his pockets. The searches were quick but thorough. The scruffy one motioned for them to continue down the hall toward the opposite end, but he didn’t offer a hint at their destination. Jake and Alicen had their hands up as if it was a hold up, but they stayed quiet. It wasn’t until they reached the last door in the hall that the first hint of life beyond the barricade showed itself.
The woman in their group stepped past Chris and opened the door. A smell of human waste burst from the opening, nearly dropping Chris to his knees. The sound of the kids gagging erupted behind him as everyone covered their faces. The open door exposed another long corridor. The hall was lined with opened doors mirroring one another all the way to the end. Soiled sheets hung from most of the doorways, blocking the view within.
A series of coughs echoed from beyond the makeshift curtains and carried on in a chorus. People moved about farther down, walking between th
e doorways. The smell was nearly unbearable. The woman leading the way seemed immune to the curdled scent. She led them past several doors before stopping.
“You wait in there.” She nodded at one of the curtains. “We’ll come for you.”
Jenn pushed past Chris. “What about my parents?”
“You wait in there,” the woman repeated. She adjusted her grip on the shotgun she was holding.
Chris grabbed Jenn by the arm and swept the curtain aside. The move forced him to take his hand away from his mouth, and he was sorry for it. The stench was so bad he had to swallow to keep from vomiting. The room beyond was already occupied. Four kids looked up from a card game they were playing on the bed. The trio of girls and a single boy varied in age, but none appeared older than their mid-teens. A familiar face locked eyes with Chris as Mila turned to face him.
“Why did they take our guns?” Chris asked.
Mila shrugged as, one by one, Jenn, Jafar, and the others poured into the room. There was little remaining in the way of comforts with only two folding chairs stacked in one corner of the room. Sarah was quick to shut the bathroom door in the hope of keeping down what little food she had in her stomach.
“You people live like animals,” she said under her breath.
Jake and Alicen headed for the chairs, and the boy opened them up. They took a seat and watched the other kids. Chris leaned back against the wall and called the group in, keeping his eyes on the curtain covering the door. The loose gathering stared back at him, some obviously aggravated with his decisions.
“We weren’t going to get in here any other way,” he said in defense.
“And who says we’re ever going to get back out?” Jafar asked and then ground his teeth. “We have no way to defend ourselves.”
“What the hell is that smell?” Michael asked. The pale color of his face didn’t look good. “I can’t sit here in this.”
“The plumbing probably stopped working months ago,” Sarah said. “But that hasn’t stopped these people from going—”
The Decaying World Saga Box Set [Prequel #1-#2 & Books #1-#2] Page 36