Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)(21)

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 f*ck 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?”

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.