Fighting to Survive (12 page)

“
Jacket
off!
”
It was Katarina
’
s
voice.

Travis
yanked his arm through the sleeve as fast as he could, Katarina
helping him pull the jacket off. It was ripped off him and dragged
into the mouths of the hungry zombies on the other side of the
barricade. Jenni grabbed Travis' arm and saw that he had escaped
without a bite.

“
Shit!
That was close! You're fine!
”
she said, and went back to firing at the very frustrated looking
zombies.

Katie,
meanwhile, was on the floor and trying to pull her leg away from the
zombie. She had trouble getting leverage to yank her leg back.

“
Some
help here!
”
Katie tried to aim at the zombie
’
s
head, but it was out of view behind her captured foot.

“
Keep
the tables in place!
”
Shane roared.

Beside
him, Charles and Ned struggled with a table.

Mike
’
s
voice was fierce over the shots and screams.
“
Hold
the line! Don't let them through!
”

Nerit
kicked Mike in the shoulder.
“
Katie
’
s
in trouble!
”

Mike
looked over to see what was happening.
“
Shit!
Travis! A zombie has Katie!
”

Travis
turned to see what was going on and went very white. He grabbed the
first thing he saw on the bar. Falling to his knees, he began to stab
the dead hand as hard as he could with the corkscrew.

“
Fuck!
”
Roger was beginning to lose his fight to keep one of the heavy tables
up as four zombies growled and reached for him.

Jenni
turned and fired as the table was righted. She and Roger ended up
staring over the table at the zombies.

Katie
struggled to find anything to grip onto as the zombie kept pulling on
her foot and drawing her leg closer to the gap that would bring it
into the open.

Katarina
picked up a chair and hurled it at one of the zombies trying to climb
over the tabletop toward Jenni and Roger. It was hit square in the
face. It rolled off the table and tried to crawl under it. Roger
shoved the table back over and pinned the zombie under it. Jenni
fired point blank into its head, then aimed over the edge of the
table at the remaining ones, firing a little wildly, but managing to
kill them.

“
Someone
shoot this sonofabitch!
”
Travis kept stabbing the grayish dead hand as hard as he could,
breaking bones and tendons. Still, it pulled Katie
’
s
foot. It almost had her whole booted foot in the open now and was
obviously aiming to get to the more tender calf.

“
I
can
’
t
get a clear shot,
”
Nerit responded.

More
shots, more growls, more people swearing.

Katie
grabbed hold of Travis, trying to pull herself free from the
unrelenting grasp of the zombie.

Suddenly,
there was silence.

“
That
’
s
it,
”
Katarina whispered in awe.

“
Gawddamn,
fuckin' zombies!
”
Shane cursed and threw his table over onto the dead creatures.

“
We
have this fucker left,
”
Travis shouted.

The
zombie
’
s
other hand slid through the gap, grabbed Katie
’
s
ankle, and yanked her leg out into the open with one swift pull.

“
Fuck!
”

“
Travis!
”

Travis
shoved the table over onto the zombie. Mike and Roger grabbed Katie
and yanked her free.

An
enormous zombie was growling, still after its prey as it reached for
Katie desperately. It wiggled back and forth under the table.

Jenni
ran over and jumped on top of the table and began hopping up and down
on it. Roger laughed and joined her, the table seesawing dangerously.
Katarina got on the table, braced herself on the wall and jumped up
and down as hard as she could.

Mike
added his weight as well, grinning.

The
others joined in, almost hysterical smiles on their faces, as the
adrenaline rush in the veins spurred them on. As they slowly crushed
the zombie beneath the table into mush, its bones cracking under
their weight, they did a jovial little dance of death.

Nerit
let herself down from the bar slowly, cursing in Hebrew, while Travis
helped Katie to her feet.

Looking
across the room, Katie was overcome by the stench of death and the
gore that was splattered everywhere.

There
was a loud, sickening popping noise from under the table, and the
zombie
’
s
growls ended.

Katie
ran into the kitchen and threw up in the sink. She was shaking hard,
her hands trembling, her stomach recoiling at what had just happened,
and her near death.

“
Well,
”
Jenni
’
s
voice said from the other room,
“
I
’
m
glad I
’
m
not cleaning up this mess.
”

4. Words are
Dangerous

Juan helplessly
stood outside along with everyone else that was not part of the
original entry teams. There was an utter sense of horror and
desperation that gripped them as they listened to the gunfire within
the hotel and the unholy sounds that accompanied it.

Like
the others, he could not take his eyes off the closed door into the
janitor
’
s
closet. Through the padlocked gate, the painted bluish-gray door,
splashed with dried blood, seemed ominous. What if it cracked open
and those things poured through into the small courtyard? Suddenly,
the wrought iron gate seemed inconsequential.

His
grip tightened on his gun as he lifted his walkie-talkie to his
mouth. He hesitated, realizing that in the midst of battle the last
thing they needed was him yelling for them to report in.

Then,
as quickly as the gunshots had erupted, there was silence.

He
immediately pressed the button,
“
What
the fuck happened?
”

There
was a long pause, static, laughter, and then, finally, Mike
’
s
voice came through the static.
“
We
got swarmed, but we
’
re
okay now. I have a feeling that every zombie outside of a locked door
headed our way.
”

Juan
was about to ask about Jenni when he heard her voice plainly. He felt
the tight knots in his back release.
“
Did
we lose anyone?
”

“
Yeah,
Mark and Wallace.
”

“
Damn.
”

“
We
’
re
going to need to start room to room now. Send in the backup teams and
have them meet me in the lobby. Still use caution, there could be
stragglers,
”
Mike
’
s
voice said through the static.

Juan
heard Jenni yell,
“
Love
you, babe
”
and he smiled slightly.

“
Okay,
sending them in. Take care of yourselves.
”

Turning,
he motioned to Bill and Curtis to head in with their teams. Glancing
toward Jason, he gave the boy a slight smile.

“
Your
Mom
’
s
okay.
”

“
I
know,
”
the teenager said in a quiet, distrustful tone.

Juan
hesitated, then shrugged. The kid hated him and he knew it, but at
least the boy still had his Mom and he still had his loca.

He
watched Bill and Curtis
’
team disappear into the building and felt the knots in his back
return.

***

Ashley
stood quietly to one side as everyone flipped the tables back over
and began the process of making sure the zombies were truly dead.
Caution was the key word, and everyone was very careful. But their
aim had been true and the many dead were finally at peace. During the
fracas, Ashley and Ned had been constantly reloading guns. It wasn
’
t
until toward the end, she had ended up helping brace a table. Now she
stood looking at her fingers and the long scrape across them.

Nearby,
Jenni used a broken chair leg to bash in the last zombie
’
s
head as a precaution.

Meanwhile,
Ashley just stared at her hand.

It
was just a scrape. That
’
s
all it was. Just a scrape.

***

Katie rinsed her
mouth out with water from the faucet. It tasted odd, but Juan had
explained the hotel used well water. Watching the water swirl down
the drain, she ran her wet fingers over her brow and took a steadying
breath.

Of
course, the kitchen reeked of death, so she threw up again.

Finally,
she was done. She wiped her mouth again and looked around. There were
buffet bins filled with decayed food laid out for what was probably
going to be a brunch. A large menu was tacked up on a board. Next to
it was an easel with a large placard on it.
“
The
Daughters of Texas present The Restoration of Historical Ashley
Oaks.
”
it read at the top and listed the guest speakers.

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?
”