“Shit!” Melissa said to herself as she broke into a desperate run, shoulder slamming into the emergency door. In her state of panic, Melissa didn’t quite connect with the bar, so the door didn’t open. Instead, she rebounded heavily and nearly lost her footing but, somehow, she managed to stabilise herself in time to catch sight of an infected coming at her from the last of the private room on the right. He growled and then lunged at her, hoping to sink his teeth into Melissa’s face, but he was greeted by the business end of the bat she was carrying instead. The strike was brutal, sending blood and teeth flying out of his mouth. Melissa was sure she heard the sound of his jaw break. He fell to his knees and twisted to his right, his neck bent in a momentary stun. Melissa raised the bat high and slammed it into the back of his head. She was certain she heard his neck break but didn’t have time to check to see if he was dead as she felt something grab her left shoulder. Melissa jerked away and spun, successfully dislodging the hand of the infected. It was a woman this time, missing a sizable piece of her right cheek. Melissa attacked her with the bat, bringing it across in a powerful horizontal strike across her face. She followed it up with a second, and then a third, sending the infected woman to the ground. There was no time to deliver the killing blow. The seven advancing down the corridor had been joined by a dozen more and the leaders were less than a ten feet away. In addition, exiting from the same room the woman had emerged from, another three were coming, their crescendoing chorus of growls and menacing moans joining the rising sound of the ones in the corridor. Melissa charged into the door again and managed to hit the bar precisely this time, pushing it open.
She found herself in the harshly lit corridor that served as a way for hotel and casino staff to move unobserved around the ground floor. A glance revealed there was no sign of any infected in the corridor. There were however, certainly plenty behind Melissa and they were quickly approaching the doorway. She turned and slammed the door, but one of the infected got her hands in the way, and although it certainly broke her fingers, the door didn’t shut. Instead, it rebounded back a little. Gritting her teeth, Melissa, put all her weight behind it and pushed hard, but the gap was widening an inch at a time. She saw a man’s arm reaching through and flailing wildly in the hope of grabbing onto Melissa. She still had the bat in one hand and instinctively swung it clumsily at the arm. It connected, but did little or no damage, and it didn’t deter him from continuing to flail it in her direction either. Suddenly, a massive amount of resistance was exerted against Melissa’s push. The door began to open even more, not quickly, but with a certainty that made Melissa grind her teeth together and push back with every ounce of her strength. It was, however, pointless and she knew it; she was slowly being forced backwards and the door would soon be wide open. She looked quickly up and down the corridor. On her left she saw nothing she could use; to her right, she saw a metal shelving unit up against the white wall, with an assortment of boxes on the shelves. It looked just wide enough to block the corridor if she pulled it down onto its front, but she knew it wouldn’t hold them back very long. Melissa looked between it and the now half open door. One of the infected had managed to get his leg in and was trying to push his fat gut through the gap. Taking a few deep breaths to pump herself up, Melissa suddenly released the door and broke away to the right, running as fast as she could and, once clear of the shelves, turned and grabbed them, yanking it over and forming a small obstruction against the advancing horde. She watched as they filed through the now fully open door. They were focused on her, not even assessing their surroundings. The infected approached, with the fat one in the lead. Melissa quickly considered her options. She had the gun and a few clips of ammunition. If she could head shot them all then she could probably clear this group, but the sound would almost certainly attract more. She had the bat, and felt confident that if they didn’t manage to clamber over the shelves in a large group she could take them down one by one, perhaps even in twos, but if there were more than she thought, she’d get tired and then she’d be overwhelmed. Glancing over her shoulder, Melissa could see a few doors here and there and a turn off to the left and right. A glowing sign hung from the ceiling with the word “Exit” and an arrow pointing right, which Melissa assumed was the route to escape in the case of a fire.
Assessing her options, Melissa realized she had no clue where Roy was or how she could get to him, and stopping to ask him now didn’t seem like the best course of action. She could retreat into the corridors and hope she could find her way, but there could be Reborn soldiers or even more of the infected in any one of them, and then she’d be trapped between two threats. She decided she needed to hide, to let the infected lose her scent and go back into their loitering, idle state, if at all possible. Melissa grabbed the collar around her neck and shook it violently, hoping that whatever connection was loose within would suddenly reconnect, but it remained inactive. The fat infected was at the shelf now, and he stumbled, falling flat on top of the back of the shelves. He wasn’t fazed, and began crawling forwards, using his fat hands and fingers to claw his way towards Melissa. She raised her bat over her head and slammed it down on him, repeating the motion twice more to break open the infected man’s skull. She retreated a few paces as the next three infected reached the barricade. They were trying to clamber over it, but they were unable to get over cleanly with the fat infected laying across the shelves.
Melissa felt it was time to leave, to take her chances and head towards the turns in the corridor. She moved quickly but didn’t run, wanting to conserve her energy in case her circumstances demanded a burst of speed. At the end of the corridor on the right were double doors with a metal bar to open them; the fire exit that would lead away from the hotel’s exterior. To her left was a much longer corridor, which Melissa suspected might eventually lead to the back of the cashier’s desk. Not sure what to do, Melissa sprinted down to the right passage, hoping if she could get outside she could shake the pursuing infected from her trail, but as she hammered into the doors, they didn’t give. It seemed they were blocked from the outside. Melissa figured this was the Reborn’s doing; they were obviously intent on insuring no one could use it to escape. Returning swiftly to the junction in the corridor, she saw that two of the infected had managed to clamber over the shelves and were now approaching her, shambling faster as though the thought of Melissa as a meal was spurring them on. The others were still having trouble navigating over the obstacle, so Melissa decided to take care of the two speeding at her. A female infected was in the lead, advancing faster than the male who was about two paces behind her. Melissa raised her bat, and swung left to right, striking the woman in the temple. Her skull made an awful sound and she slumped to the ground. Melissa turned her attention to the male, who was now almost upon her. She swung out at him but failed to connect with the top of his head, instead, hitting him square on the jaw. It broke and a spray of blood erupted from his mouth as he hit the wall, stumbling slightly. Melissa reared back to strike him again but felt a hand suddenly grasp at her ankle. Melissa wasn’t prepared, and when the female infected she thought she’d killed pulled on her leg, Melissa lost her balance and fell down.
The male infected recovered and started to move towards the momentarily stunned Melissa, who watched helplessly as the bat gently rolled away from her. She cursed herself for deciding to fight, but knew now wasn’t the time to berate herself as three more of the infected had almost clambered over the shelving unit. The male was walking towards her, his eyes wide in anticipation as he thought of tasting her flesh, but it was the female who was the more immediate problem. Melissa quickly raised her free leg up and tried to kick her, but while her boot made contact with her skull it didn’t dislodge her grasp on Melissa’s leg and before Melissa could kick her again, the male infected dropped to his knees and was lunging forward, leaving Melissa a split second to react before he flopped on top of her and pinned her down. She kicked him with her free leg - with a fierceness born of panic - and managed to kn
ock him backwards. It was then that the female, seemingly recognizing she couldn’t bite though Melissa’s jeans, dragged herself upwards and rolled the thick material up, exposing the flesh. Melissa tried to kick at her again, but the male infected had recovered and was now grasping her once, free leg. Now she was trapped. Fear shot through Melissa. She began trying to reach awkwardly behind her to grab the gun secured in her belt, while watching in horror as the female leaned in to bite her. Melissa felt the handle of the gun in the palm of her hand in the same instant she felt a searing, penetrating pain in her leg. The female infected had bitten her. Melissa yanked the gun free and fired at the woman’s head, sending a shower of blood and skull fragments exploding out from the back. She quickly lined up a shot and executed the male, who had been futilely trying to gnaw at her other jeans leg.
Melissa was horrified, feeling that at any moment she’d turn into one of them. The change had been almost instantaneous with the woman she’d seen, but that wound had been fatal. Then she noticed that the other infected were still coming at her, still eyeing her with the ravenous look they had eyed her with earlier. There was a chance she was immune to the infection, she thought to herself; after all, some of the people in the Pit hadn’t turned when they’d been bitten she recalled, but then that opened up a more terrifying line of thought. If she didn’t get away right now, then she would suffer the agonising death she’d envisioned earlier.
The next three infected were over the shelves and advancing, shambling and shuffling faster than she’d seen them move before, probably incensed by the smell of fresh blood in the air from her wound, plus the loudness of the gunshots that had reverberated through the utility corridor. She lined up her gun and fired at them, hitting the first in the neck and lower face before finally landing the killing shot. She followed it up with two precise shots and executed the other two infected, but there was now a surge of over a dozen into the corridor from the casino. Worse still, coming over the barricade Melissa saw a pair of hotel staff - a maid and a croupier, both of whom had joined the ranks of the infected. Melissa tried to crawl away but her leg flared in pain and she realized the infected woman’s teeth were still sunk deeply into it. Melissa had two choices: she could either yank her leg free and risk ripping flesh or put the gun down and try to pry the woman’s mouth open. Melissa chose the latter, dropping the gun on her left side and reaching forward quickly. She grabbed at the woman’s chin and hair and levered her mouth open, feeling revolted as she watched the woman’s teeth pull free, which caused blood to leak from the wound. Her leg now freed, Melissa pulled back and grabbed the gun. She thought about going for the bat, but saw it lay beyond the body of the first, dead male infected, close to where the horde was advancing. Not wanting to expend ammunition unnecessarily or risk getting a second bite, Melissa began to stand, ready to move down the longer corridor, away from advancing the infected.
Melissa tried to put her full weight on her bitten leg, but pain flared and she stumbled, knocking into the wall on her right, before hobbling off as hastily as the injury would allow. When she had travelled some distance down the corridor she risked a glance behind her and saw the two infected hotel staff gaining on her, their speed motivated by the blood trail Melissa was leaving behind her. Focusing ahead, Melissa, desperate to increase the gap between them, quickened her pace and prayed her awkward gait would not cause her to falter and fall. A second peek over her shoulder told her that even though she was bleeding and in pain, she was now thankfully faster than the pursuing infected. At least, she was so far. How long that would last, Melissa thought pessimistically, she couldn’t be sure. She limped on, fighting through the pain while searching for an avenue of escape. She looked ahead and saw a door at the end of the corridor. From her brief examination of the casino floor, Melissa was certain it would lead to a separate section of the utility corridors that eventually ran behind the cashier’s desk. It also seemed likely that somewhere along this corridor was the elevator leading to the vault and the security room where Roy and Donna were hiding. There was a split off the corridor to Melissa’s right, which she looked cautiously down, not sure what she’d find there. There were no infected and she saw through an open door some kind of lounge, perhaps a staff room. She had a split second to decide which way to go. For all she knew there were more of the infected beyond the door in the corridor ahead, but if she entered the lounge she might be trapped. She saw furniture that might serve as a kind of barricade, and then the door to the next section of utility corridors burst open and a pair of Reborn soldiers entered. They raised their weapons and Melissa instinctively dived into the offshoot, where she scrambled hastily to her feet. She limped as fast as she could into the staff room, hearing as she did so an eruption of gunfire behind her. She saw no impacts around her and didn’t feel as if she’d been shot, so, once within the room, she slammed the door shut and quickly scanned it for something to wedge it with.
On her right, was a kitchenette area with a round white table that had a number of cheap looking, wooden chairs arranged around it. She hobbled to one of the chairs, grabbed it and returned to wedge it up under the door handle. It wouldn’t hold forever, but it would work for now. She looked around the rest of the room. There was a leather sofa on one side, opposite a television set, and a few soft leather chairs scattered about. However, there was no other way out, not a window, a convenient air vent or another door leading to salvation. She was trapped and the only way out was back the way she had come. Melissa decided to make the best of the situation, and going over to one of the leather chairs, began dragging it towards the door. It was heavy and difficult, but she managed to get it closer. She removed the wooden chair and slid the heavier, leather bound chair into position. It would provide a better barricade, but it didn’t really help her situation. Melissa was trapped. She had failed Roy, Donna and the other hostages. Added to which she had been bitten, and for all she knew was about to turn into one of the infected. Dejectedly, Melissa moved over to the sofa and slumped down onto it. She put the gun beside her and reached for the radio. If this was the end, she at least wanted Roy to know what had gone wrong, so that if he somehow made it out alive, he could tell the world that she’d tried to do the right thing.
Roy watched silently as Donna worked on the computer. She was using command prompts, back doors and other things that Roy didn’t completely comprehend as she slowly and methodically dug a way into the system through the malware. How close she was to getting control of the doors Roy couldn’t tell, but he hoped it was closer than the desperate expression on her face suggested.
“Roy?” He heard Melissa’s voice over the radio he clutched in his hand, ready for whenever Melissa contacted him. He quickly raised it to his mouth and began to warn her.
“Melissa! They’ve got a radio, they can hear everything we’re saying, don’t tell me where you are or what you’re doing!” He barked, making Donna jump.
“It doesn’t matter, Roy. I screwed up.” She responded, the sound of defeat heavy in her voice.
“What’s wrong, Melissa?” Roy solicited, fear rising in his gut.
“I tried to help you and the hostages. I really did.”
“What happened?”
“One of them bit me.” Melissa informed him. Roy held the radio silently in his hand and swallowed hard.
“How long ago?”
“A few minutes at most. It’s hard to tell really, quite a lot’s happened in a short space of time. I’m trapped in—” Melissa started but Roy interrupted her.
“Don’t say, they’ll overhear and come for you.”
“They already know. I’m in... I guess you’d call it a staff lounge; off the utility corridor near the private gambling rooms. I had to use my gun and I think that attracted the attention of some Reborn on their way to you.”
“I’m sorry, Melissa.”
“Yeah, me too. The ones you saw get bitten, did it take them long to turn?”
“No. Even a bite on the arm from an infect
ed turned someone immediately.”
“Well, I guess the good news is I’m immune to the infection. Lucky me! Now, if I get cornered by them, I’ll get eaten alive instead.” Melissa commented dryly. Roy couldn’t help but smile.
“As you said, lucky you.” Roy responded, hoping that maybe contributing to her dry humour would help bolster her morale, but her voice sounded just as dejected as it had moments earlier when she spoke again.
“I’ve not heard any gunshots in a little while, so I guess that means they’ve gotten the infected under control. There’s no way they didn’t see me though, so I guess I’m next. I’m sorry, Roy. I really wanted to do something good, to help you and the others. This is just like what happened in Africa.” She concluded cryptically.
“You saved people over there. We all heard about it.”
“There’s more to it than what they reported.”
“You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.” Roy declared.
“I doubt there’ll be a sometime, Roy.” Melissa refuted.
“Don’t you go giving up on me, Melissa. Don’t you dare! You’ve still got that gun, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you take that and you put a bullet in the first asshole that comes through the door. And a bullet in the second...and the third if need be. Then you take his or her gun and you keep on fighting until there’s no one left to fight. I need you to be strong, I need you to focus and I need you to help me!”
“Is that an order, Chief of Security Snipes?” Melissa asked him mockingly.
“Damn straight.”
“Well, I’ll see what I can do.” Melissa returned. “If I don’t make it, and you do, Roy—” Melissa started, but a loud sound like an explosion silenced her. She was still holding the talk button and Roy heard gunfire before the radio went dead.
A World Reborn: The First Outbreak Page 14