Melissa considered this, and then looked at all the discarded briefcases; there had to
have been twenty, maybe as many as thirty cylindrical spaces between them. She thought back to what Roy had told her about the woman at the blackjack table who had injected herself, and there had been similar individuals in other areas where people had also starting biting those around them. Was it possible that this was where they had made their final preparations? It made sense; if this was an organized attack they would need a final staging area. Roy had also said the whole floor had been reserved. That meant they had money, as these suites weren’t cheap. Whoever was behind this attack was well funded and incredibly well informed. The only thing Melissa didn’t have a clue about was their endgame; this attack was frightening, but what purpose did it serve? If someone had developed such a terrifying virus that it made people tear each other apart, why test it here? Moreover, why go to all the trouble of locking the building down so that it was entirely contained, thus preventing the infection from spreading into the city? There were more questions than answers and Melissa wasn’t sure she would, or even could, ever find out the truth. She decided to leave everything as she had found it, and tell Roy. As she backed out through the glass door, Melissa began to reach for the radio, but movement on the edge of her peripheral vision made her freeze. A woman had entered the room and advanced towards the conference room, stopping when she had caught sight of the intruder. Melissa looked her over, noting her dark hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and that she had a wide scar over her right eye. She was wearing a long, heavy coat and equally bulky looking pants and a sweater – things that were far too warm to be worn in Las Vegas. Melissa realized she looked perfectly healthy too, not like the sick people she’d encountered before. The woman looked over at Melissa and her face narrowed into a scowl.
“Who are you? Are you a follower of the Teacher?” She demanded, her voice nasal and aggressive. Melissa shut the conference room door and assessed her options quickly. The second bedroom was behind her, so she could retreat if necessary, but not escape. The only way out was through this woman.
“Yes, I follow the Teacher.” Melissa declared, bluffing confidence. The woman approached her.
“Really? I didn’t see you at the meeting. What is the Teacher’s main belief?” She quizzed sharply. Melissa knew she was out of options. The woman obviously knew she was lying, a fact confirmed when her hand moved to pull back the coat to expose a holstered gun on her right hip. Not waiting for her to have the chance to draw it, Melissa lunged forward and slugged her hard in the face, momentarily stunning her. She instinctively pulled back to punch her again, but the woman recovered faster than Melissa anticipated; thrusting herself forward, she shoulder charged Melissa, knocking them both to the floor. The heavy woman climbed on top of Melissa and swung her left fist towards Melissa’s face, but, reacting quickly, Melissa managed to grab her hand and prevent the attack. Her adversary reached down with her other hand and grasped Melissa’s throat; she squeezed and immediately Melissa began to choke. Her first reaction was to grab at the woman’s wrist and try to pull the hand away, but Melissa recalled her self-defence training and focused on controlling her actions. She moved her knees up so her thighs were against the woman’s backside, then she bucked her hips upwards, jolting the woman forward a little. Melissa then wrapped her right arm around the elbow of the arm the woman was using to choke her, then she threw her left shoulder up, carrying the woman to the side, flipping her over so she was no longer on top. They were so close to the wall that Melissa couldn’t carry her over completely and instead she slammed into it, grunting in pain. Feeling the pressure on her throat relaxing momentarily, Melissa moved swiftly. She grabbed the woman’s index finger on the hand around her throat and yanked back; she heard the bone snap and the woman screamed in pain, her other hand instinctively pulling back to cover it in a protective gesture, which also freed Melissa’s left hand. Melissa wasted no time; she slammed her left fist into the woman’s face once, twice and then a third time, stopping only when it seemed the woman was truly stunned. Seizing the initiative, Melissa moved her hands and, albeit a little awkwardly, pulled the gun on the woman’s hip free.
Melissa scrambled clear, getting to her feet a few paces away. She clicked the safety off and pointed it at the prone woman, who was now stirring and shaking her head; no doubt trying to refocus after the brutal head blows. Melissa coughed, her throat a little sore after the close call, but she was relatively uninjured.
“Who are you? What’s going on here?” Melissa demanded, holding the weapon in both hands, her arms extended. The grim looking woman looked at her, and then at the gun in her hands.
“You’re a strong one. It’s a shame you reek of the degradation and corruption of the modern world.”
“You don’t smell so good yourself, sister.” Melissa commented. “Now, answer the question!”
“It doesn’t matter. You lack the strength of will to pull that trigger. You’re weak and pathetic, and like all those the Teacher has warned us about, you’re just too afraid to do what needs to be done.”
“You’d be surprised at the things I’ve done.” Melissa replied coldly. She felt the pistol in her hand and wondered just exactly what she was going to do now. She didn’t intend to murder her in cold blood, but Melissa couldn’t just leave her here either. Her opponent rolled onto her front and pushed herself up, getting into a kneeling position.
“Don’t move.” Melissa warned. The woman was nursing her broken finger.
“I don’t answer to you.”
“You don’t have to, but I’m the one with the gun, so you’ll do as I say.”
“If you don’t kill me, I will kill you. It’s as simple as that.” She declared emphatically,. Melissa knew she wasn’t going to get any more out of her. This person was devoted entirely to her cause, and nothing would sway her from it or persuade her to talk to someone she felt was completely beneath her. Melissa took a hurried step towards her and swung the butt of the gun, smacking her on the side of the head. She went limp and collapsed onto the floor. Melissa checked her pulse and found it was beating steadily.
Sliding the gun into the back of her jeans Melissa quickly searched her unconscious opponent. There was no wallet containing identification, but there were a couple of spare clips for the pistol stuffed into one of the coat pockets, which she took and jammed into her jeans pocket. Next, she grabbed the woman’s arm and dragged her into the bedroom, which Melissa noted absently, was fairly nice, with a big double bed, a huge television and a door on the side leading off to the en suite bathroom. Melissa lifted the woman onto the bed, stripped back the covers from beneath her and used the sheet to make a rough rope to bind her hands and feet together in an attempt at a hogtie. The sheet wasn’t ideal, and might not hold under intense struggling, but it would slow her down, and, hopefully, Melissa would be long done with her business on the roof before she came to. She quickly left the bedroom and shut the door quietly, fervently wishing there was a way to block it but, unfortunately, the door opened inwards. After a last glance around the room, Melissa hurried to the exit and quickly left, mindful that there could be more of the people responsible for the outbreak nearby.
Melissa ran to the roof access door, quickly opened it a crack and listened, then passed through and closed it almost silently behind her. She pounded up the first flight of stairs, then the second and made her way out onto the roof. Rapidly, she took in her surroundings; a wide avenue on the left and right leading to air conditioning units and a small electrical substation respectively. Also, a path ahead that led to the helipad. The helipad itself was raised up, with steps leading up to it. Other than that, all Melissa could see was the waist high railing around the edge, a couple of satellite dishes and an antenna with a light on the top of it. There were no helpful signs indicating emergency supplies. Melissa grabbed the radio.
“Roy, I made it to the roof, where are the emergency supplies?” She asked ur
gently. She waited a few moments for Roy to respond, and then started walking, for no particular reason, towards the helipad steps.
“Sorry, Melissa.” Roy replied. “Things are a little busy in here.”
“I’ve had a little excitement myself.” Melissa commented bluntly.
“What happened?”
“I went into one of the executive suites. From what I can tell, that whole floor was reserved by the people responsible for whatever the hell is going on here. Then one of them came back.”
“You found one of them?” Roy quizzed, surprise clearly evident in his voice.
“She found me actually.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Did you learn anything from her?”
“She spouted some garbage about a Teacher and that I was corrupt. She’s a total whack job, so I tied her up in the bedroom and came here. I guess the upside is I have a gun now.”
“My, God.” Roy exclaimed. “Listen, you’ve done one hell of a job, and all being well you should be able to sit back in a minute and wait for the cavalry to arrive. The emergency supplies you’re looking for,” he continued hurriedly, “should be in a case on the base of the helipad structure. It’s got a light on it, and you should be able to find it easily. It’s not locked, so just open it up and tell me what you see.”
“What I see? Won’t what you told me should be in there, actually be in there?”
Roy didn’t answer straight away, and Melissa caught his hesitation.
“It should be, but you can never be too careful. Just tell me.”
“Is something going on that I should know about, Roy?”
“If it comes to anything, I promise I’ll tell you, but for now, just get to those supplies, Melissa.” Roy instructed. Melissa rolled her eyes and hurried around the right side of the helipad. She found the supply box, dark green in colour, mounted on the side of one of the steel pylons supporting the helipad. It had a fairly strong white LED light on top of it. Melissa easily located the handle. She opened it with one hand while holding the radio with the other. Quickly, she assessed the contents: an orange box, four red flares, and, once Melissa opened the other compartment, a medical kit.
“There’s an orange box and some flares.” Melissa said into the radio.
“Right, the box is a charger to keep the radio inside powered up. Grab it, get up on the helipad and use it. It should automatically be tuned to the emergency frequency.” Roy informed her.
Melissa clipped the radio back onto her belt and snatched up the orange box before hurrying around the helipad and up the steps. She wrenched it open and saw the radio clipped inside. Discarding the box, she brought it to her mouth, hearing as she did the sound of a helicopter in the distance, causing her to look around. The beautiful glowing horizon of the Las Vegas night sky surrounded her, and she could see the lights of a helicopter moving in her direction. Perhaps, she considered, it was a police helicopter and help would arrive as soon as she got the word out.
“Hello?” She stated clearly into the emergency radio. “Is there anyone there?”
“Ma’am? Please identify yourself.” A woman responded. Melissa was a little surprised as she had a definite English accent, but that was unimportant right now.
“I’m Melissa Jones at The Seraph Hotel and Casino, we need police and medical services... send everyone!” Melissa shouted excitedly. Relief hit her: help was finally on the way.
“Ma’am, I need you to explain. What’s happening at the Seraph? Is there anyone in a position of authority I can speak to?” The woman questioned.
“There’s no one close that I can pass you to. The only person I know is Roy Snipes, the Chief of Security, but he’s trapped in the security room. As for what’s happening, there’s some kind of outbreak, a virus that’s making people violent.” Melissa said cautiously, not elaborating to divulge the full extent of what was happening in case she thought it was a prank call. “I’m a guest, a journalist, and Roy guided me up here.”
“Where is this Roy Snipes?” The woman questioned.
“I told you, trapped in the security room. The building is in some kind of lockdown and the security system is buggered, so he’s trapped with someone else from the security team.”
“So you’re on your own?”
“Yes, if it matters, I’m on my own. Please send help as soon as you can. It’s not good on the lower floors. People are either dead or dying.” Melissa explained, hoping the calm tone of the woman would shift into one of action.
“Ma’am, thank you for your report. We have an air vehicle in the vicinity and they’ll be able to touch down soon and assist you. Please stand by the radio and wait on the helipad.”
Melissa thought this sounded strange. She never said she was on the helipad. Frowning, she glanced around and saw that the lights on the helicopter she had spotted were now closer, probably only a minute or two out, and there were no other helicopters nearby. Although it was difficult to tell, as it was a dark helicopter against a dark night sky, the one approaching seemed a little too big for a standard police helicopter. Also, taking into account the distance between them and the lights on the helipad, she’d be clearly visible to anyone in the helicopter, but it didn’t make sense that the woman on the radio would also be aboard it. Of course, if the helicopter did belong to the police, just following some kind of routine flight plan, when she contacted the emergency line via the radio they would have been informed of the situation and most likely would have reported back to the dispatcher that they could see a person on the roof.
“Ma’am, are you still there?” The woman quizzed sharply.
“Yeah, I’m here.” Melissa responded cautiously, watching the helicopter getting closer. Sure, it seemed a little paranoid even to her, but if the organisation that had attacked this hotel was as well funded as she suspected, was it completely out of the question that they could have a helicopter to ferry additional people here? And the woman was English, or at least she had an English accent, a little uncommon amongst the Las Vegas police Melissa was sure. Melissa started to retreat towards the steps.
“Ma’am?” The woman questioned.
“Yeah?” Melissa replied guardedly.
“Don’t move!” She ordered, her voice sounding chilling across the radio.
“I’m not.” Melissa answered, a little shaken by the unexpected command.
“Don’t try my patience. Your will to survive will impress the Teacher. Stay where you are, Witness.”
Melissa, confused by being called ‘Witness’ and certain that staying on the roof was a bad idea, tossed the radio to the floor of the helipad and started to hurry down the steps. The helicopter, its engine sounding very loud now, was only a few seconds from actually landing. Melissa leapt down the last few steps and broke into a flat run towards the stairwell leading down from the roof. The door was dead ahead of her, but a flash of light on the floor nearby indicated someone was pointing a flashlight in her direction. A loud bang rang out, then a burst of them, and as Melissa darted right she heard the impact of bullets behind her. Another series of shots rang out and she saw bullet holes appear in the outer wall of the stairwell ahead of her. She reached the door and wrenched it open, terrified that the next burst of shots would hit her, but she got lucky, and was through the door before the next barrage was launched at her. She slammed the door behind her, and its heavy steel frame absorbed the impacts that would surely have hit her legs. Melissa jinked right and started down the stairs. She pounded them as fast as she could, with no real idea of what to do other than to get down, away from the people shooting at her. She rounded the corner and started down the second flight. Ahead of her was the door leading out into the corridor housing the executive suites. Melissa heard the door to the roof open above her, followed by heavy boot steps. She snatched at the handle and yanked it open; a split second later she was banging it shut behind her and starting to run down the corridor.
Melissa was nea
rly at the corner of the cross section when she heard the door open behind her; she was not fully around the corner when she heard the loud sound of automatic weapon fire. The bullets missed her, hitting the opposite wall, but the frightening sound triggered another surge of adrenaline and Melissa charged towards the stairs. Whoever was following her was fast and fresh, ready for the chase. As she reached the door to the stairwell, she heard another series of blasts and felt a white-hot pain in her left arm. It was so sudden it made her stumble but, thankfully, she didn’t lose her footing. Melissa got through the door and started down the stairs. She fumbled with her right hand to grab at the gun in her waistband, pulling it free. She turned, and took aim, channelling all her concentration into the next few seconds. The door she’d come through was shutting, almost in slow motion, then suddenly it burst open and Melissa got her first look at the person trying to kill her. Man or woman, she couldn’t tell; he or she being garbed in a heavy, black fabric with a balaclava pulled over his or her face. In large, seemingly male hands, was an assault rifle. It wasn’t quite at the ready, and this gave Melissa a fraction of a second’s advantage; Melissa fired at the shape, squeezing the trigger in quick succession three times. The first hit him in the chest, and the grunt of pain confirmed Melissa’s belief that it was a man. The second clipped his right shoulder and ushered forth a small spray of blood against the wall. The third, however, slammed into the wall harmlessly beside him. The impacts had winded him, and in the fraction of a second that this afforded Melissa, she realized he was wearing body armour, so she aimed purely out of instinct and fired at his head. The bullet smashed into the centre of his skull, and a large spray of blood hit the wall behind him; he sagged and went limp, before dropping to the floor. Melissa broke into a run again. She knew there would be more; another was more than likely just a few seconds behind him, and she was keenly aware she wouldn’t have the element of surprise next time. She charged down the stairs just in time, as she heard a second person entering the stairwell above her.
A World Reborn: The First Outbreak Page 6