A World Reborn: The First Outbreak (25 page)

She turned and looked towards the casino as
she heard a great crash; the surge of infected had hit the barricade like a
tidal wave, and although it had indeed slowed them down, they had torn right
through it and were advancing on her. Three or four dozen of the infected were
closing fast on her position, their hurried, shambling gait frightening. This
had also cut her off from going across the hall to the north bank of elevators,
as she’d be trapped if one wasn’t magically waiting for her, with the doors
open ready to carry her to safety. So, Melissa charged towards the door to the south
stairs, with the infected getting closer by the second; the scent of flesh
filling them with fresh endurance to hunt down and consume the last living
person they could reach. Melissa’s own fatigue was causing her heavy legged
footsteps to slow, but she managed to reach the door to the stairs and without
pausing, forcing it open quickly. Stumbling through, she wheeled around to shut
it but two of the infected were almost on her. She slammed it as hard as she
could, but one had managed to get his arm in the gap and let out a furious growl,
and a then a second as Melissa tried to slam the door again, even though her
weary brain was trying to tell her the door wouldn’t shut if the infected
didn’t retract his arm. A second limb appeared in the gap and another growl
fluttered in.

Slowly, Melissa was being pushed back and
the door was opening, enough so that the first infected snaked its way further
in, its head and upper torso now in the stairwell with Melissa. Her options
were getting fewer, so Melissa decided to retreat, and in doing so let the door
fly open. Taking a few paces up the stairs, she swung the axe sideways and
nearly cut the first infected head clean in half. Yanking the weapon back, she
brought it down overhead and dispatched the second. The blade went deep, and
Melissa had to fight to pull it out. As the blade came free, a spray of blood
gushed out of the wound. The body dropped heavily and Melissa risked a look up
at the door, where she saw a trio of the infected bearing down upon her.
Melissa had barely enough time to get the weapon ready to swing again before
the next howling, murderous infected was within striking distance. With a heavy
grunt of exertion, Melissa swung the axe and killed him, but the blade imbedded
deeply this time and she knew there wouldn’t be time to free it before the
second was upon her. Melissa let the weapon fall from her hands and pulled out
the pistol at her side, firing a single shot for each of the two oncoming
infected and executing them in the doorway. The larger horde was coming though,
focusing in on the gunshot. Melissa twisted around and, breaking into a sprint,
fled up the stairs.

She turned back and fired at the first few
who started scrambling after her, killing them and sending sprays of blood over
the white, concrete walls behind them. Melissa continued up the stairs, while
she reached for the radio on her waist.

“Roy!” She yelled. “I need help!”

A few silent moments passed and Melissa
executed another infected duo mounting the stairs in her wake. She passed the
second floor exit and started up to the third.

“Damn it, Roy, pick up the radio! Roberto!
Anyone!” Melissa demanded, hoping she’d get the help she desperately needed.

“I’m here, Melissa, I’m here.” Roy said,
sounding a little out of breath.

“You’ve got control of the elevator’s again!”
Melissa declared, firing her weapon three more times, but failing to kill both
of the infected she was aiming at. She paused for half a second to line up the
next shots and then executed them cleanly before continuing her sprinting gait
up the stairs. The infected were piling into the stairwell, and their hungry
moaning and groaning echoed creepily up the chamber.

“We do. I’m on the phone with the FBI now
and we’re trying to—”

“Don’t care. What floor is the lowest
elevator on?” Melissa demanded, and had to wait several seconds for Roy to
respond. She kept moving, killing the closest infected and praying Roy would
have an answer for her sooner rather than later.

“It looks like there’s one on the tenth
floor on the west side elevator bank.”  Roy informed her.”You can use that to
get to the fifty-first floor, then take the stairs on the south or north side
to get to the top floor like you did earlier, if you’re hell bent on reaching
the Ancillary.” Roy explained.

“Can you hold it there for me using the hotel’s
security system?”

“I think I can. I’m not the best with
computers, but I’ll figure it out. It’s the second elevator on the left side of
the west elevator bank.” Roy instructed clearly, repeating himself for more
clarity.

“Fine. If you can’t hold it or it moves let
me know so I don’t get trapped!” Melissa said breathlessly into the radio. She
needed to get up eight more floors. Fortunately, the stairs were proving
difficult for the pursuing infected to navigate, so she’d gained a little
distance from the closest ones. She paused, leaned over the railing and
unloaded her weapon at the four who rounded the stairs first. She killed three
but only winged the fourth before her weapon ran out of ammunition. Melissa
started moving again, ejecting the clip and fishing for its replacement while
in motion. She slammed it home and pulled back the barrel of the pistol,
chambering the next round. She risked a look down and saw the dead infected
were causing those advancing behind them to stumble, which helped to increase
the distance between them.

Melissa continued going up the stairs,
taking them two at a time and pulling on the banister for support. She was
getting winded, however, and she was soon forced to slow down as she rounded
each turn and even then, needed to further reduce her speed and take the stairs
one at a time. She was able to keep ahead of the infected, but was acutely
aware that they were ever so slowly starting to catch up. The more recent
infected appeared to move faster than the older ones. They weren’t quite
running, but their gait up the stairs was more agile and much quicker, which
meant as Melissa slowed down, they inched ever closer. Melissa didn’t waste
time trying to kill them; it was more imperative to keep ahead of them, get to
the right floor, and the elevator. She continued to scramble up the stairs,
virtually pulling herself up with the banister; round and round, floor by
floor, grim determination spurring her on, until finally, she reached the tenth
floor. Out of breath and near exhaustion, Melissa pushed open the door and shut
it quickly. She leaned heavily against it, relieved not to be hearing the
monotonous moaning and groaning of the tracking infected. The relative silence
calmed her nerves slightly, and she allowed herself a moment to catch her
breath.

Eventually, she pushed herself away from
the door and pressed on to the west elevator bank, hearing, only seconds later,
the door she had been leaning against burst open. Almost instantly, a pair of
infected Reborn began a hurrying, shambling gait down the corridor towards her.
Melissa raised the gun and fired a quick volley of shots, killing one then the
next before turning left, following the short passage and then turning right,
barrelling down the corridor. She reached the west elevators, and found the
elevator Roy was holding for her. She pressed the call button and waited
impatiently for the doors to open. It was slow, but once inside, Melissa
hammered the button for the fifty-first floor. It was then she heard more
growls, and then the rising chorus of the infected getting closer. However,
although moving slowly, she was certain the doors were going to close before
the horde reached her. As they shut Melissa let out a heavy sigh of relief and
slumped to the floor in the corner. The elevator ride would take a few minutes
and Melissa wanted to recover as much of her strength as she could as she
wasn’t entirely sure what she’d find waiting for her up there. She was
confident most of the Reborn were dead, but the Ancillary would surely have a
few guards around her. With the deactivation of the collars, Melissa was
certain they wouldn’t have allowed any of the infected up there. For now,
Melissa thought, the nightmare of the infected was behind her, but that didn’t
mean she was out of danger. Melissa lazily brought the radio up to her mouth.

“Roy?” Melissa summoned.

“I’m here, Melissa. You made it?”

“I did thanks.” She responded. “What’s
going on with the FBI?”

“I’ve explained to them as much of what’s
happening as I can. They’re sceptical at best about the nature of the
infection, but they’ve promised me that when they enter the casino they’ll take
all necessary precautions.”

“So, when are they going to breach?”

“In about half an hour or so.” Roy informed
her.

“Why wait that long?” Melissa questioned
with a frown. “They’ve been outside for a good long while now, surely they
should be ready?”

“They’re waiting for approval from above.”
Roy answered.

Melissa thought about what Roy was saying,
and what she’d overheard earlier, about the Reborn having people in places of
power.

“It’s the Ancillary. She’s got someone in
her pocket, someone who’s got enough power to make them hold off to give her
time to escape.”

“Maybe. Honestly, after today, I’ll believe
anything.” Roy stated, though he sounded tired and as though the pain was
really getting to him.

“If I can get to her, I’ll take the bitch
prisoner, and then we can hand her over to the cops.”

“Is there any point in me telling you to be
careful?”

“What are you saying, Roy?” Melissa asked,
smiling despite herself.

“Well, every time I’ve asked you to take
care or be careful, you’ve run into a more dangerous situation than the one
before.”

“I always made it through, though.”

“That you have.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Roy.”
Melissa declared, her words heavy and serious.

“I’ve done literally nothing to help you.”

“You’ve been on the radio for me whenever I
needed you. You’ve been a rock, a comfort even.”

“I wish I could’ve done more for Donna.”
Roy said quietly.

“You did everything you could. You couldn’t
have known what Jim was going to do.”

“I guess.”

“I know.”

Melissa looked up at the LED display and
saw she was approaching the fifty-first floor. Another couple of minutes and
she’d need to be ready for battle.

“I’m nearly there, Roy, but here’s
something to keep us going. Sometime in the next few days, your doctor
permitting, you, your wife and I are going for a drink and we’re going to raise
a glass to the people we’ve lost. Are you with me?”

“I’m with you, Melissa.” Roy affirmed. “And
no damn doctor will stop me either.”

Melissa smiled.

Melissa clipped the radio back onto her
belt and ejected the clip from her gun so that she could check how many bullets
were left. There was a little less than half a clip, six bullets, so she
slammed it back into the weapon. She felt her pockets and found she still had a
pair of clips; she would have enough, she hoped, to take care of any remaining
Reborn between her and the Ancillary. Melissa stood up, groaning as her muscles
burned; rebelling against her readying herself for further exertion. Her
breathing had settled down again and she felt as ready as possible under the
circumstances. She moved to a corner of the elevator, away from the doors so
that she wouldn’t immediately be in the line of sight of anyone waiting for
her. When the elevator doors opened, she waited a moment, and upon hearing no
gunfire, stepped out, advancing cautiously. She made her way back to the south
side staircase, hearing much growling echoing up from the floors below and
hoped that the infected wouldn’t pursue her any time soon. She advanced quietly
up to the top floor and braced herself beside the door. This was it, she
thought to herself, and took a few deep breaths to ready herself. Melissa
remembered the layout of the executive suites from earlier in the night, so she
wouldn’t be going in totally unaware of her surroundings. It occurred to her
that she didn’t know for certain that the Ancillary would be on this floor, but
it was the only one with roof access. So, even if she wasn’t here now, she
reassured herself, she’d have to arrive at some point to get to the helicopter.
Confident in her decision to go to the top floor, Melissa got ready for one
last engagement.

Melissa opened the door wide but didn’t
step through, waiting to see if there were any Reborn waiting for her. A
fraction of a second later, she was fired upon. Bullets imbedded themselves in
the wall across from the door. The salvo was long and seemingly unending, and
then quite suddenly it broke. Melissa leaned out and fired quickly, squeezing
off all the shots in her weapon to force her enemy into cover. She saw two
Reborn soldiers ahead of her, leaning back to screen themselves from her attack
around the left and right corners of the corridor. She ejected the clip,
grabbed a replacement, slammed it home and chambered the round. Then she waited
for one of them to move out of cover. The one on the right showed himself first
and Melissa fired at him, not trying to take the headshot now, but aiming for
his leg. The bullet smashed into his kneecap and he tumbled, leaving a bloody
trail as he hastily scrambled back behind cover. As the second came into view,
Melissa reacted quickly and fired, missing her target but forcing him to
retreat.