Demon Hotel (Zombie Apocalypse Series, Book 1)

by C. M. Chidgey

  We hadn't had anymore kisses since the morning Elizabeth had interrupted us and we were driving each other and everyone else insane with all the disagreements. Susie was still trying to flirt with Lucian every chance she got and it wasn't just Lucian that was getting pissed off by it, but of course I couldn't do anything about that. The bright side was that she had stopped being as bitchy to everyone else though, there was still the odd moment that, that side of her would show itself, but it wasn't as often as it had been.

  "We need to get everyone out." Lucian yelled for what felt like the hundredth time that week as he stood next to the window in room 215.

  "And how do you propose we do that Adams? There are too many people and too many things we need. It would be suicidal, and just plain stupid!" I shouted back in frustration.

  "Then what are we supposed to do Mckenzie, having sniper rifles in every room just in case we see an army coming isn't going to be enough to hold them off you know?"

  "I know that." I growled. "But it's all we've got unless some kind of miracle happens!"

  The others were silent around the table, they knew not to bother interrupting by now because we would just ignore them and carry on.

  "We wouldn't have had this fucking problem if it wasn't for that asshole boyfriend of yours coming here!" He hissed.

  "Oh, wow so now it's my fault that this is happening?"

  "If he hadn't gone back to them, they never would have noticed us, you should have killed him that night!"

  "Well, I'm sorry that I couldn't bring myself to kill someone that I thought I knew!"

  "You should be, look at the fucking mess we are in now!" He yelled.

  "You are such a bastard!" I shouted walking over to him by the window and shoving him in the chest, but I wasn't strong enough to move him much. "I thought you had fucking changed, but you're still the same asshole you always were and I still freaking hate you!"

  I don't know what made me glance out of the window and I don't know if it was a light from a torch that the person with the sniper was holding that reflected off the lens or if it was from something else, but it was quick and it was enough for me to throw myself at Lucian just as a bullet exploded through the glass of the window. Lucian landed on the floor on his back and I landed sprawled out on top of him. Without pausing I crawled off of him, grabbed one of the sniper rifles in the room and knelt up to take aim at the roof I had seen the person on who was no doubt a soldier. It took me about two seconds to locate it, I took aim and shot, he managed to let loose another bullet though just before my bullet killed him.

  Lucian grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me down just in time to miss the bullet before it came through the window and hit the wall on the other side of the room. I winced as his palm came in contact with the top of my arm making it sting.

  "Nice shot girl, you got him good." Bethany shouted now looking out of the window.

  "Are you ok, were you shot?" Lucian asked quickly letting go of my arms and looking at me with concern as he tried to examine me.

  "I'm fine." I said quickly before looking at my arm. "It's just a scratch."

  He looked at it and when it seemed that he was convinced that it was in fact only a scratch his face changed from concern to rage. "Don't ever do that again! Are you insane?"

  I glared at him and said sarcastically. "Thanks for saving my life Taylor. Oh, that's fine Lucian, anytime."

  "You could have been killed." He shouted. "One second you're telling me you hate me and then you save my life, that was stupid."

  I sighed and stood up. "You know what, it's late and I can't take anymore of this shit tonight. I'm going to bed."

  It hadn't been the first soldier of late who had turned up with a sniper rifle so there wasn't any reason for alarm. We had been lucky though, no one had been shot and none of them had been that close, someone usually noticed the soldier before they had the chance to even pull the trigger.

  "That was a little close Lucian, we need to be more on guard." Jack said.

  I didn’t stick around to hear what his answer was, it would probably just be something pointless that we couldn't do like all the other ideas we had come up with. A mumbled goodnight to everyone was all I said before leaving the room and making my way to my room. This whole thing was driving me mad, we were just sitting ducks here, we may have trained most of the people to fight, but we were still pretty much helpless against soldiers if there were enough of them.

  When I reached my bedroom and closed the door behind me, I removed my bow and arrows and shotgun, but didn't take off the rest of my weapons or change before laying on top of the bed. I had been sleeping with most of my weapons on the last few nights in case of a surprise arrival from the soldiers. Being ready for a fight could be the difference to getting there on time and getting there too late and I wasn't about to let myself be too late, it could get someone killed.

  No matter how much I tried that night though I couldn't get to sleep, I wasn't even sure what was keeping me awake, my mind just refused to shut down. It was probably a combination of worry about the people here, frustration at Lucian and adrenaline from shoving him out of the way and shooting the soldier.

  I was exhausted, but still unable to sleep when the sun rose outside my window. After another hour and still being unsuccessful I sighed and stood up planning on taking a shower, but before I could take more than a step away from the bed there was a knock at the door.

  Immediately changing direction from the bathroom to the door I walked over and pulled it open while I yawned and rubbed my eyes, sore from lack of sleep.

  Lucian raised his eyebrows. "You look like hell Mckenzie."

  I grunted and walked away, he followed me in and closed the door behind him before grabbing my wrist stopping me in my tracks.

  "I need to talk to you."

  I sighed and turned to face him. "You mean you need to lecture me on saving you from getting shot right?"

  "You could have been hurt."

  I yanked my wrist out of his grip. "So what, it wouldn't be the first time. I'm tougher than I look Adams."

  He ran his hands through his hair and glared at me. "I know you're tough Blondie, but that doesn't mean you should put yourself in danger unnecessarily. You especially shouldn't do it to save me. I'm not worth your life."

  I snorted. "Really, that doesn't sound right coming from someone with an ego as big as yours Adams."

  "I'm serious Mckenzie."

  I rolled my eyes. "I know, I know you promised to keep me safe."

  "Stop it." He growled grabbing my arms and pushing me against the wall to hold me in place. "Just stop acting like your life means so little. I'm not keeping you safe because I promised to, I'm doing it because I want you to be safe so stop using that line against me every chance you get because it is driving me crazy."

  I just stood there speechless, I mean what was I supposed to say to that? He wanted to keep me safe, what exactly did that mean? Did it mean anything beyond wanting to keep me safe, did he have any feelings for me? That one confession said so much, but left so many unanswered questions too. Maybe I was just reading too much into it.

  When I kept silent he added. "Something I don't understand though Blondie is that one second you were saying how much you hated me, but then you risked your life to save mine. Why would you do that for someone you hate so much?"

  I sighed and mumbled. "Fine, I don't hate you."

  He smirked. "What was that Tink?"

  "Don't push it." I growled.

  He chuckled and to my surprise kissed me gently on the lips before whispering against them. "The truth is sweetheart, I don't hate you either."

  My eyes widened of their own accord and I was saved from having to come up with some kind of response when he pressed his lips against mine again, this time the kiss was less gentle and more urgent. He let go of my arms and grabbed the backs of my thighs to lift my feet off of the floor pressing me against the wall as I wrapped my legs around his waist. I let ou
t a groan into his mouth as he pressed himself between my legs and I ran my hands down his front until I reached the bottom of his t-shirt. When I began to tug it upwards he let go of my thighs, his lower half pressing harder against me to hold me up as he yanked his t-shirt off over his head before grabbing me by the ass. My fingers were tangled in his hair at the back of his neck and I let out a moan as he stroked my tongue with his. His hands moved up to the hem of my top and he began to push it up sliding his hands over my stomach. He stopped part way though and stopped kissing me long enough to look at me questioningly as if asking my permission.

  I nodded without hesitation and he took my top off the rest of the way before throwing it on the floor and kissing the skin just above the top of my bra. He lifted me away from the wall and walked over to the bed without moving his lips away from my chest. We both let out a moan at the same time as he lowered me down onto the bed pressing against me. His hands were already at my waist trying to find the buckle to take off the belt for my guns and sword.

  That was when there was a knock at the door and it wasn't a normal knock either it was a loud urgent knock. We both pulled away breathing heavily, but when it didn't sound again we started kissing, but our lips had barely touched before it came again.

  "Ignore it, it will go away." Lucian mumbled against my lips.

  I grunted in agreement and we continued, at least we did until the sound of Bethany yelling accompanied the knocking.

  "Pack it in you two, you can have your sexy time later, right now the soldiers are here!"

  I snorted at her choice of wording and Lucian chuckled before we both seemed to realise what she had said then our expressions turned serious and we launched ourselves off of the bed. We both grabbed our shirts and pulled them on before I yanked the door open to find Bethany, Jack, and Gordon all standing there with their eyebrows raised.

  My face grew warm with a blush and I mumbled out. "We uh, we were just, uh talking."

  Bethany smirked. "Yeah girl, because everyone's hair gets that messy when they talk."

  My hands immediately went to my hair, I only had to touch it to know how crazy it looked. I groaned and Lucian walked up behind me then and got straight down to business.

  "How many soldiers are out there?"

  Jack was frowning as he answered. "Not that many actually, I'm surprised. I think they may have something up their sleeves."

  Lucian groaned. "Great, more surprises, let's go. Get everyone who can fight in the lobby and everyone who can't in the dining room."

  "Already done." Gordon said as we walked down the hallway and into the elevator.

  "Gordon and Jack you're in charge of everyone in the lobby, Bethany and Mckenzie you-."

  "I'm coming out with you, so don't even try it Adams." I interrupted.

  He sighed and then looked at Bethany. "Fine-."

  "Man, I'm coming too, don't even try and make plans for me." She said quickly.

  "Dammit, you two really need to take a lesson in listening." He grumbled as the doors opened on the ground floor and Gordon walked off.

  We both chuckled and when we were halfway across the lobby Gordon returned and handed Lucian a sword, which he belted on after thanking him.

  "You lot be careful out there." Gordon said when we reached the door looking at all of us before his eyes fell on Bethany.

  Bethany gave him a shy smile and actually fluttered her eyelashes at him, did she have a thing for Gordon? Did Gordon know about it? I glanced at him and saw him grinning at her. Oh, he definitely knew about it and unless I was mistaken he didn't mind one bit.

  "Stay behind me girls." Lucian said without even looking behind him as the doors were opened.

  He grabbed my hand and squeezed it once before letting go again walking out into the clearing. There were still a few abandoned cars littered around the area including the sports car I had driven here, but the truck that had held the weapons and ones that soldiers had driven here were gone by now, they had been moved when they had unloaded any weapons on them. There were however, three trucks similar to those ones now waiting at the other side of the clearing with around thirty soldiers standing in front of them.

  Like Jack had said, they must have something planned because they couldn't seriously expect to take all of us out with so few people.

  "Let me do the talking." Lucian muttered under his breath.

  "Ok." I murmured back as we walked until we were mid way between the hotel and the soldiers.

  It wasn't long before a group of soldiers parted and Eric walked towards us, he made my skin crawl even from this distance and I saw Lucian already clenching his fists as he tensed up. Eric didn't seem to be as stupid as I thought because he stopped ten feet away, clearly he could see that Lucian would knock his lights out if he came within punching distance.

  "We have come with a proposal." Eric said loudly.

  "What is it?" Lucian snapped.

  "Our master, Michael wishes to sort this all out with a single fight."

  I stiffened, I had seen Michael at the camp when I had been there before and he gave me the chills even worse than Eric did. He was one of the zombie masters and the whole time I had been there I had never seen someone who messed with him walk away alive. By the way Bethany was tensing up next to me I guessed that she had, had the displeasure of meeting him too.

  I could fight well, but I couldn't say I would ever wish to face him even now. With any luck though the fight wouldn't be against him, but I had a bad feeling that it would be. Eric confirmed my fears when he added.

  "Michael wishes to challenge one of you to a fight. If he wins, everyone here comes with us, if you win, then we don't bother you at this building, anywhere beyond it there won't be any guarantees."

  What an asshole, it may help to know we were safe here, but I knew without a doubt that they would be standing in wait and be on us the second any of us left that building because there was no way that we could stay confined within those walls forever. If we didn't accept the challenge though, we would be watching our backs in there constantly, there could be any number of fights coming to our door and we would always be at risk of getting shot with a sniper through the windows.

  It was a no win situation for us, but of course the best situation would be to fight and win. There was no guarantee that we would win though, the whole thing just sucked big time.

  "Fine, I will fight this Michael." Lucian said without hesitation.

  "No, you can't." I hissed at him. "Michael is about as bad as they get."

  Ok, so now I was trying to talk him out of it even though I had previously decided that the only way was to fight and win. I just couldn't bear the thought of the outcome if Lucian lost the fight, he couldn't die.

  Lucian glanced at me. "I'll be fine, trust me."

  "No, she's right man, Michael is not someone you want to fight. Tell them to piss off, we'll find another way to protect ourselves." Bethany said.

  Lucian ignored both of us and said again. "I'll fight Michael."

  Eric gave such an evil smirk that I actually dove at him wanting to punch him or strangle him or just hurt him in any way that I could. Lucian grabbed me around the waist easily and held me back with a sigh.

  "I know the feeling Blondie, but that won't get us anywhere." When I continued to struggle he added. "If you can't calm down, I'll send you back inside."

  I growled in frustration and stopped pulling against him, I even managed to control myself when Eric laughed. It was so similar to the ones I heard in my dreams that I had to remind myself that I was awake and he wasn't torturing me.

  The soldiers parted again then and out walked Michael. He looked as threatening and zombie like as ever. It was definitely the worst combination of a dead person ever invented, he was fast, he could fight, he ate brains and any other body part, he had a seriously bad temper and he was the scariest looking creature I had ever seen. He kind of reminded me of that thing that was on jeepers creepers except he didn’t have the hat and a
s far as I knew he couldn't fly. I hoped he couldn't anyway or that would just add more things to the bad combination.

  "Why do you look as if you're in deep thought?" Lucian murmured in my ear reminding me that he still had his arms around me.

  I shook my head and said honestly. "Just thinking how much he looks like that jeepers creepers guy."

  Lucian snorted and Bethany exclaimed.

  "Cool, you're right, I never thought about it, but he totally looks like him!"

  I chuckled just as Lucian let go of me and pushed Bethany and I behind him when Michael came closer than the ten feet that Eric had kept.

  He got right to it the second he reached Lucian. "Ok, are there any rules that you wish to apply to this fight?" His voice even sounded creepy.

  "Rules?" Lucian asked as if he didn't quite understand the whole concept of a rule.

  Rather than wait for him to do something stupid like fight without any I stepped around him and said quickly.

  "You aren't allowed to bite him."

  Michael looked faintly amused, well as amused as someone who looked like him could before saying. "Ok, not that my bite would affect him a whole lot."

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? Lucian was grinding his teeth together as if he was pissed off. It was probably because I was talking when he said he would do the talking. I really didn't know what the stupid zombie meant though, maybe his brain was going a bit wonky after being dead for so long. Instead of thinking about it too much I added.

  "And you aren’t allowed to poison him with your blood."

  "Again, not that it would affect him, but ok."

  Yep, he was definitely losing it, maybe with any luck his brain wouldn't be able to work at all within the next few seconds.

  "I am requesting no guns." Michael added.

  I glared at him. "Ok, no ranging weapons for either of you, that includes those throwing knives in your boots."

  "Hmm, very perceptive one you are." He said as he bent down and threw the throwing knives to the side. "I remember you being at the camp, you're the only one who has ever escaped without outside help. I'm curious, how did you get out the first time and then again with so many prisoners in tow?"