Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)(34)

“How about the roof?” Travis asked. He pointed up to the roof of the ballroom.

Nerit looked up. “Good point.”

They all started to look for a way up. Travis began to walk along the side of the ballroom. He was more in the shadows on this side. The wind was quite fierce. Katie walked along behind him, followed by Jenni.

“That smell,” Jenni started.

Travis immediately began to look around, but saw nothing. He felt panic rising up within him.

Katie looked up and whispered, “Oh, shit.”

Travis looked up to see a zombie struggling to her feet at the very edge of the roof. She had been very young. Travis recognized her as a waitress from the diner. She had always smiled at him when he came in for breakfast. Brenda had been her name. She must have managed to get a second job at the hotel.

What was most heart-breaking about her was that her face was still tear-stained with dry tears and she seemed to have no injury but a bite on her arm. After lying on the roof for so long, the zombie was finding it hard to stand.

“Oh, God,” Katie whispered. “She must have crawled up there and died.”

The zombie snarled in frustration and finally managed to get to her feet. Then she lurched forward and made a desperate leap.

Travis and the two women ducked. The zombie sailed over their heads to be caught by the hard wind and knocked over the edge.

Looking over the rail, Travis saw her struggling on the anti-suicide net.

“Sorry, Brenda,” he said. He aimed for the back of her head. For a moment, he saw her in his mind as she had been, a pretty blond girl with a big smile and rosy cheeks. Then he fired and the thing she had become fell silent on the netting.

Katie touched his arm, but didn't say a word.

“That sucked,” Jenni decided.

Travis stood in silence, looking down at the body, then sighed. He had actually considered asking Brenda out at one point. It was a missed opportunity never realized; one of many. He looked toward Katie and felt a pang of regret. How had they grown so distant so fast after their kiss? Was there truly hope for them? He had to believe there was, for he could see it in her eyes.

“Good job,” Nerit said from above.

Travis looked up to see her standing on the roof.

“There is a ladder over on the far side,” she said, his unspoken question answered.

Curtis appeared beside Nerit and looked around. “Damn pretty up here. Almost looks like nothing bad is happening.”

Travis wondered if Curtis even saw the girl lying dead on the net.

Jenni hobbled past Travis, working her way back to an entrance. “Almost done.”

“Yeah. The basement is left,” Curtis said.

“I hate basements,” Jimmy said.

“Monsters are always in the basement,” Roger decided. He had been eerily quiet and to himself for awhile now. Travis had a feeling that Roger had stopped thinking this was fun long ago and now recognized the desperateness of the situation. Of course, jokingly wearing a red shirt wasn't the best idea.

“We'll hold position here and rest until Juan calls for backup,” Nerit decided.

Travis looked over the beauty of the hills. “It almost looks normal.”

“Almost,” Katie agreed, staring at Brenda's dead body.

The others drifted away, relaxing now that they had reached their primary objective.

Travis remained where he was, staring out over the hills. Katie stayed at his side, rubbing her wounded arm, and looking very tired. She was beautiful, not only without, but within. She was strong and smart and he adored her. In that moment, he made up his mind.

Travis turned to look at her and she tilted her head quizzically.

“Tonight,” was all he said. He knew she would understand what he meant and from the look in her eyes, she did.

She raised her hand to touch his cheek, then nodded.

Turning his head, he kissed her palm, then held her hand against his face.

Together, they walked back to join the others.





6. All Clear


“I f*cking hate basements,” Juan said for the fifth time.

The flashlight beams slit the darkness and illuminated the monstrous machinery that was the internal organs of the hotel. Enormous laundry machines stood silent along one wall and Juan looked at them warily. In horror movies washing machines always had bad things in them.

Around him, eight armed people began to systematically work their way around the basement, while he moved over to the fuse box. Katarina walked with him as his guard.

“I hate basements,” he said again.

Standing before the biggest fuse box he had ever seen in his life, he exhaled, then began to check all the fuses.

There was the sharp bark of a gun. Someone said, “Clear.”

“I hate zombies,” Katarina sighed.

Juan looked around nervously then nodded. “Yes, me, too. Basements with zombies...much worse.”

Flashing the light around, he caught sight of what he was looking for. “Supply room. I need fuses.” He pointed.

Katarina frowned a little. “Great. Closed doors.”

Juan walked over and knocked on the door.

“What are you doing?”

“If there is one in there, it should flip out and start banging back, right?”

Katarina raised an eyebrow. “You gotta point.”