Katie staggered out into the main room and looked around. It was as she suspected. Most of the zombies were women. In the fray, she hadn’t even noticed. Most were wearing neat little matching outfits and expensive shoes. Other zombies were the waiters and kitchen staff.
That meant maids and janitors could still be around. Walking around, studying the bodies, she identified the front desk receptionist and a doorman.
“Shouldn’t be too many left,” Mike was saying.
“Actually, these are mostly brunch guests. There was a meeting here during the first days,” Katie said. “And the lobby and kitchen crew. The maids and the janitors are probably around.”
Mike looked around, truly seeing the zombies for the first time and what they were wearing. “Oh. Yeah. We killed two janitors in that room and a maid.”
“But how many were on shift?”
Jenni nodded. “I worked in a hotel. There should be a work schedule up at the front desk!”
She started heading out the door and Mike immediately motioned Ned and Ashley to follow. “Stay with her.”
Ashley nodded, still looking pale from the battle and Ned swaggered with more confidence than he should have considering the situation.
Katie sighed and looked around. “I’m thinking that the maids may have barricaded themselves into bedrooms like that one zombie that took a header out of the window when we first arrived.”
Travis stood nearby looking at his slimed up jacket and tossed it away with disgust. “Which means every room we enter could be full of really hungry zombies.”
“Nothing about this is easy,” Roger said, and kicked a pink Ferragamo high heel across the room.
“Just gotta find them and shoot them in the head,” Shane said from where he was straddling a chair and looking bored.
“Unless they eat your ass first,” Felix grumbled.
Mike patted Felix on the back. “The trick is to shoot them in the head before they get that chance.”
Bill and Curtis entered the room, followed by a guy named Davey.
They all three looked impressed with the scene.
“Been busy, I see,” Bill said.
“Nothing we can't handle,” Shane retorted. “Despite the lesbos, fatsos, and old people.”
Everyone chose to ignore him.
Jenni ran back in, waving a clipboard. “Okay, I got the roster.”
She handed it automatically to Katie though Mike had been reaching for it.
“Okay, gimme a second…” Katie looked around, counting the kitchen staff and the wait staff. She looked at the list. “All the kitchen people are accounted for and so is the wait staff. Both front desk people are here as is the doorman. We are missing four maids…” She flipped a page and studied it for a moment. “And two plumbers. They were called in to look at the showers on the sixth floor.”
“So the sixth floor is a potential hotspot,” Mike said thoughtfully.
“And the maids could be anywhere,” Travis said with a sigh.
“Six zombies,” Katie said. “And the manager of the hotel.”
“Not so many compared to this,” Bill pointed out.
“Yeah, but they could be anywhere, upstairs, in closets, under the beds-anywhere,” Travis answered.
Everyone stood in a circle, pondering this.
Jenni looked around, then up at Katie. “Well, it can’t be that hard, can it?”
Katie arched an eyebrow at her.
Jenni smiled at her. “I mean, what could go wrong?”
Nearby, Ashley looked pale and a little unsure on her feet. Putting her head down, she took a deep breath.
Katarina looked toward Nerit and said, “Can I tag along with you?”
Katie still felt unsteady and a little nauseous, but there was so much to do. Travis gave her a weak smile and she reached out to him. He took her hand and squeezed it.
“We stand here any longer and we’re going to end up freaking ourselves out and giving up,” Mike said after a beat. “We survived this. We survived all that shit that went down the first days. We’ll survive this.”
Katie nodded her head, as did the others. Mike was right. They had to keep going. Standing here freaking themselves out was doing none of them a bit of good.
“So, let’s get going and get this done. What more can go wrong?”
Mike said with a laugh.
It was then that Ashley looked up, growled, and bit into Mike’s throat.
5. What Should Have Been
He's not supposed to die, was Jenni's first thought. 's the black hero of this tale. He's supposed to survive, isn't he? At least until the end…
But Mike was struggling, his throat caught in the angry bite of the tiny blond woman. Her bony arms were around him, crushing him as she tore at him. Everyone was frozen in disbelief.
It wasn't real. It couldn't be.
But it was.
“Get her off! Get her off,” Mike gasped.
Travis grabbed Ashley's long blond hair and yanked her back.
Blood sprayed everywhere, hot and red with life.
Katie moved fast, a hunting knife in her hand. The others were moving too slow, the shock of the attack dulling their reactions.
The thing that had been Ashley was now turning toward Travis, chewing the flesh she had torn from Mike’s neck. Hissing, she was about to strike again and Travis tried to duck away.
Holding the knife over her head with both hands, Katie brought it down hard. With a disgusting sound, the knife plunged through the zombie's check, shattering teeth and wedging into her jaw. They both fell to the ground, the zombie beneath, Katie on top.
Jenni ran forward, her hand holding her gun, flipping the safety off.
Katie pinned the small zombie to the ground and hacked at its head with her knife. The skull cracked beneath the blade and she kept slamming it down until the thing that had been Ashley shuddered and was silent.
Mike lay on the ground nearby, shivering violently, his hands pressed to his throat. Blood was bubbling up between his fingers and spreading on the floor around his head like a red halo. Jenni fell to her knees beside him. Feeling impotent to do anything, she laid her gloved hand on his cheek and he looked toward her.
“I didn't…see…her…” he said, looking regretful and sad.
“I know. I didn't either,” Jenni answered.
“I'm sorry, but keep…going…” Mike whispered, and was gone.
Jenni drew her hand back. Tears streamed down her face.
Travis drew his gun and aimed it at Mike’s head.
“Do it,” Katie said softly, standing slowly, wiping off her knife on her jeans.
Travis narrowed his eyes, his hand trembling.
“Do it before he comes back,” Nerit said sternly.
Travis struggled to pull the trigger. Jenni could see the agony in his eyes. “Can’t,” Travis sighed, beginning to lower the gun. “Someone else-”
Mike’s eyes flashed open and he growled.
Blood erupted between his eyes and he was truly gone. A delicate little hole, bubbled with blood as Nerit stepped over Mike’s body.
“If you hesitate again, I will shoot you. I will not lose anyone else because you could not pull the trigger,” she said coldly, and brushed past Travis to stand guard at the door.
“This isn't right, man. This isn't right,” Felix exclaimed, falling to his knees beside of Mike.
“What do we do?” Katarina asked softly. Her shock was mirrored in the faces of those around her.
Jenni looked back at Mike, so peaceful in his final death. “We keep going.”
Bill leaned down and grabbed up Mike's walkie-talkie. “We go on.
We finish this. Easy as that.”
Curtis shook his head and grabbed a tablecloth to cover Mike with.
Jenni looked down at Mike and sighed.
You were supposed to make it to the end. Mike, does this mean this is the end?
Even Shane was solemn as Curtis laid the white tablecloth over Mike's still features.
Chapter 6
1. Pieces of Hell
“We keep going,” Bill said for emphasis. “We get this job done.”
“How could she turn so fast?” Katarina asked.
Katie looked up at her, holding the dead woman's hand. “She was bitten. Looks like one of them got her hand and she yanked it back. It's not a distinct bite mark, more like a scrape, but it was enough.”
“Ashley's been anorexic for years and has all sorts of health issues.
Probably took her down fast,” Curtis said softly. “Poor thing.”
“So you have to kill whoever is bit immediately or we'll lose more people,” Nerit said in a cold voice. “We can't be sure how long it will take before they turn.”
Katie shivered at her tone and glanced at Travis. His head was down and he obviously knew the comment had been directed at him.
He was staring at the gun in his hand in a strange, almost angry way.
“That's bullshit. What if they don't change? What if the bite don't take? We can't just shoot everyone like that lesbo bitch shot my brother!” Shane's voice was fierce and he glared at Katie.
