A World Reborn: The First Outbreak (13 page)

“Yes, Ancillary. As soon as you’re ready we
can broadcast and transmit to everyone using a satellite television system in
this city. Our brothers and sisters embedded in the cable stations will play a
time delay feed, but everyone should be seeing it at roughly the same time.”
One of the soldiers at her side answered her. He was holding a tablet computer
and showed her something on the screen

“Good, Sebastian. Even with the lateness of
the hour, the news channels should pick it up and our word will spread like
wildfire. Turn on the cameras.” She instructed.

“As you wish, ma’am.” Sebastian responded,
tapping something on the tablet. “We’re live.” He said softly.

A soldier with a camera approached from the
side and the woman now identified as the Ancillary stepped in front of it,
which was when Melissa got a look at her face. She was stunningly beautiful.
Melissa could easily imagine her being a model, as she had the most exquisite
blue eyes: a perfect complexion, ivory coloured skin and delicate features. It
shocked Melissa that someone so lovely could be involved in a situation of such
utter evil, but there she was, addressing the camera.

“This is the Seraph Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas. It is twenty past three in the morning, on the thirteenth of June. What you
are about to see is the end of your world and the beginning of ours.” She said
directly into the camera and then stepped away. The camera operator moved
forward and carefully panned along the Money Pit; eventually halting at the
corralled group of infected. A trio of soldiers raised their weapons to keep
the people in the Money Pit from trying to escape as a pair of their
compatriots opened the doors.  Meanwhile, the soldiers who had escorted the
infected began pushing them towards the men and women within the cage. Despite
whatever suppression effect the collars had on the infected, it immediately
began to dissipate once they were within biting distance of the screaming,
frightened people trapped in the Money Pit. Melissa watched, horrified and
sickened as the panic inside the Money Pit reached fever pitch; a cacophony of
voices pleading for their lives or the lives of their loved ones. Moments
later, agony-filled screeches began to carry beyond the cage that before too
long would become, for some of them, their tomb. The infected had begun to
savage those at the front as soon as they were within biting distance, ripping
great bloody chunks out of arms and throats. Some were turned instantly. Some
weren’t so lucky. The soldiers herding the infected into the cage were
themselves having difficulty containing them and had to push a few of them away
as they turned against their controllers. But once the infected had the scent
of blood, they turned away from their masters and joined the consuming surge
into the Money Pit. Fearful of being crushed, the people at the rear began to
push back against the people in front trying to retreat, creating a kind of
blockade that was quickly eroded as those at the fore were infected and turned
to bite the people behind them. Blood sprayed against the clear walls and the
ones who weren’t lucky enough to be turned by whatever plague was controlling
them were torn apart and consumed, while the fear-stricken former guests behind
them desperately tried to keep the infected at bay. The camera operator focused
on the carnage inside while the other soldiers watched unemotionally. The
screaming from within was starting to aggravate the infected within the casino,
making them surge against the barricade, grunting, groaning and pressing their
arms up against it. If it continued, Melissa thought, the barricade might not
hold out. However, the soldiers stood their ground against the riled up
infected, though they brought their weapons to a half-ready position.

After recording a few minutes of the carnage
inside the Money Pit, the camera operator panned back around to focus on the
Ancillary, who was standing with the Money Pit as her backdrop. Inside, the
imploring, screaming people trapped within banged on the walls with their bare
hands in a vain attempt to break through. Even if they were successful, Melissa
was convinced the armed soldiers would cut them down without mercy. There was
no escape for those unfortunate people, and no hope of rescue. The gun in Melissa’s
hand felt heavy and useless, and Melissa wondered what kind of mind could come
up with a plan such as this.

“These people and millions like them - like
you sitting at home watching - have defiled the Earth. You have destroyed and
plundered, started wars between yourself and your neighbours over land and
resources, and done all you can to bring about the destruction of this planet.
We will not stand for this any longer. The Teacher has shown us the way to
cleanse this world of your deviance, to sweep away all those who don’t deserve
the gift of life. You will be our slaves in death and we will build a new world
upon the broken, crushed ruins of your society. We are the Reborn, and we will
destroy you.” She declared firmly and with icy calm into the camera, before
moving out of its line of sight, allowing the camera operator to focus on the
last dozen or so people who were being crushed against the back wall by the
weight of the infected pressing against them. After a few moments, the camera
operator lowered his camera; presumably, the broadcast was complete.

“It’s live, Ancillary and there’s already
some mention of it on their social media.” Sebastian reported.

“Good. Now, we’re going to need some of the
phone lines opened up, ready for when they call. I want one open in the surveillance
room where the security chief and his assistant are trapped and I want a router
set up for a line to my personal phone. Get the infected tucked away in the
sports bar or the casino; I don’t care where, I just don’t want them loitering
on the main floor. Finally, secure the remaining uninfected deviants in the
theatre, so we can use them as hostages to delay the police assault if we need
to until we’ve done what we came for.” The Ancillary reeled off, while
Sebastian stood passively and attentively.

“As you wish, Ancillary.” He acknowledged,
and hurried away. The Ancillary took one brief look at the last few people in
the Money Pit, who were quite literally being torn apart, then looked away. As
she did, Melissa couldn’t help but think she saw a smile on her face.

Chapter Five

Melissa retreated from the railing by
crawling, and then, once she was out of the line of sight of those below,
managed to get to her feet and hurry to find cover in a sporting goods store in
the small courtyard behind her. She pushed inside and then lost herself in the
maze of shelves holding various Las Vegas and Nevada themed sport jerseys,
shirts, and other apparel. She hunkered down inside a changing room in the back
of the store, shutting the curtain behind her as though it would offer
protection. She sat on the stool in the corner and looked at her hands, noticing
for the first time that they were shaking and looked pale. Melissa realized she
was in shock. She thought she’d seen everything horrendous people could do to
each other. She had seen people - unarmed, innocent people - gunned down. She’d
seen the atrocities of war first hand, having been there when they were
committed. Regardless, Melissa thought all of it paled in comparison to what
she’d just seen. Developing some kind of virus that turned people into your
personal, flesh-eating slaves was a special kind of evil. Furthermore, what did
the Ancillary mean about building something new on the ruins of our
civilization? Were they planning to deploy their virus worldwide? Why? Their
reasoning was a mystery, as much of a mystery as how they had managed to
develop the virus in the first place. With these thoughts swirling in her head,
and her hands still trembling, Melissa managed to unclip the radio and click it
on to inform Roy what she had seen.

“Roy?” She requested, her voice frail and
soft.

“Melissa? Is that you?” Roy questioned.

“Yeah. Did you see the broadcast?”

“No, what happened?”

Melissa relayed what she had seen, and what
she’d overheard after the broadcast was complete.

“They know you’re in there, Roy. I think
they’re going to use you to get some kind of message out and then they’re going
to kill you.”

Roy was silent, and Melissa wondered if he
was still there.

“I’m so sorry, Melissa.” He said eventually.

“What for?” Melissa questioned.

“For all of this. You really don’t deserve
to be here. Listen, there’s nothing more you can do. You have to find somewhere
to hide until this is all over. If they’ve already swept through the second
floor, then maybe there’s somewhere you can take refuge there. In one of the
toilet stalls maybe.” Roy relayed to her.

“There’s got to be something else I can do,
Roy. I can’t just leave you in there to die. I can’t leave any of those people
in the theatre to die either. I’ve got to do something. Or at least, I’ve got
to try.”

“You’re not a commando, Melissa. You’re a
journalist and you’ve done everything you can do. It’s time to get yourself
somewhere safe. It won’t be long until the police get here, and probably the
military if they’ve seen the broadcast. All we have to do is hold out.” Roy
continued, doing his best to reassure her, but Melissa wasn’t hearing him.
She’d made her mind up what she needed to do.

“I’m going to find a way to save you and
the people being held in the theatre.”

“Melissa—”                                                               

“I’m not debating this with you, Roy. I’m
telling you what I’m doing so that if it doesn’t work out and you somehow make
it through this, then you’ll know where to look for me. You’ll know I tried.
Now, how the hell am I going to reach you?” Melissa demanded. Roy was silent
for a few moments, and she wasn’t entirely sure he was going to respond.

“There’s no way I can talk you out of this,
is there?” Roy eventually asked.

“No. So either help me or I’ll blindly find
a way to do it, then I’ll kick your ass for not helping me.”

“Fine. There’s a series of utility
corridors on the ground floor, with a few service elevators that allow
housekeeping to get up onto the guest floors. To start with, you’ll have to get
into the utility corridors.”

“Can I use the service elevators? Or is
there a service stairwell I can use to get down there?”

“No and no. The service elevators are
completely shut down by the malware, and the service stairwells are accessed
via key card controlled doors, and there’s obviously no way to get you a spare
key card.”

“Okay. So, are there access doors on the
ground floor?” Melissa questioned.

“Yes.”

“Don’t give me all the answers at once,
Roy. Let me drag them out of you.” Melissa commented sarcastically.

“Fine. If you want to know the truth, all
the doors except for one are controlled by a key card lock.”

“Well, where’s the one that isn’t?”

“On the casino floor, in the back near the
private rooms; it’s part of the fire escape route so it’s just an alarmed door.
The alarm’s been disabled so if you were to reach it you wouldn’t alert anyone
by opening it. But the reaching it is the hard part.”

“Inside the casino.” Melissa repeated, the
weight of understanding finally falling upon her. If she was going to get to
Roy, then it meant she had to head through the area where the Reborn had put
most of the infected. Briefly, she wondered if that’s why the Reborn had put
them there.

“Right. There’s no way you can get to us,
Melissa. That’s why I think you’re better off just holding up somewhere and
waiting for help to arrive.”

“So, I’m going to have to try and find a
soldier who’s on his own, kill him and take this collar thing so I can sneak
past the infected.”

“Only if you can discover how it works, Melissa.
Don’t risk it! You’ve done more than anyone else would have.”

“Roy, shut up and let me help you! I’m
going to come for you first then, once we figure out how, we’re going to rescue
the hostages in the theatre!” Melissa declared forcefully. “Now, I’m going off
communications. I’ll be in touch when I have more to say.”

Melissa shut the radio off before Roy could
answer her. She clipped it back onto her belt and stepped out of the changing
room. The store had more than just jerseys; it also carried some basic sports
equipment: baseball bats, tennis rackets, and hockey sticks. She assumed this
was because there was a nearby indoor sports arena. The why was unimportant.
She took a wooden baseball bat from a rack and held it in her hands. It was heavy
and solid, and perfect for her to use to incapacitate one of the soldiers
quietly. Now she just needed to find a way to get one of them alone.

“Melissa, answer me!” Roy called into the
radio, but was met once again with dead silence. He tossed it onto Donna’s
desk, his face crumpling with anger and concern.

“You did everything you could, Roy. She’s
made her choice.” Donna piped up, but Roy waved her off.

“She’s going to get herself killed. I wish
we could get out there and help her!” He roared slamming his fist into the desk
with so much force he split the skin, drawing a little blood. Donna stood up
and hurried over to him with a handkerchief, which he stared at blankly for a
few moments before realising why Donna was offering it to him. He accepted it,
and used it to dab at the fresh wound.

“You said it yourself: she knows how to
fight and take care of herself. If she feels she can do it, then you, we,
should trust in her self confidence.”

“I hope you’re right. Have you had any luck
getting into the logs for the night Grove Systems came in?” He asked, staring
at the radio.

“I have.” Donna replied, returning to the
computer station. A moment later, Roy followed her.

“Show me.”

“There was twenty four security staff
swiped in for that time of night. We had ten technical staff working in the
main security room downstairs. It seems I was working up here that night,
alongside Jim and Steve Rowland from tech support.”

“So you or Jim could’ve signed off on
Grove? Or Steve I guess.” Roy said in a contemplative tone. “It’s not a lot to
go on. Also, if they’ve got this level of malware in the system, then who knows
whether the records have been altered; the person responsible could’ve had
their status removed from the system and forged your signature later. It’s useless.”
He concluded despondently, also realizing that this information didn’t clear
Donna from suspicion either.

“It’s not completely useless.” Donna
commented. “I’ve used a number of back doors to get this far. If I keep working
at it, then I may be able to get to the door control system and get at least
one of our key card’s back on the approved list. We’d be able to open the
door!”

“I guess if Melissa makes it this far it
would be something if we can at least open the door for her. That’s good work,
Donna.” Roy declared, and then an idea occurred to him. “If you can get into
the door systems, maybe you can see if you can prevent them from being able to
open the door. Remove their key cards from the approved list, or something.”

“I can try. I may only have time to do one
or the other.” Donna responded cautiously, while doing her best to hide her
fear. However, some of it was carried in her voice and Roy caught it.  He
turned his gaze on her and made a huge effort to look reassuring.

“I’m not going to lie, we’ve got a tough
few hours ahead of us. But if we work together we can get through this. Now,”
he changed the subject abruptly to enlist her aid, “before you get to that,
help me barricade that door with these desks.”  He instructed, hoping the
physical barrier would reassure them both.

Melissa emerged cautiously from the
sporting goods store, her gun tucked into her belt and the baseball bat in her
hands. She wanted to get an idea where she was, and so took a step towards a
small plinth in the courtyard, where she knew there was some kind of map of the
floor she was on. When she reached the plinth, she found it was a detailed
store plan, and was able to see that apart from around two dozen boutiques and
assorted other stores, there were more bars, restaurants, an indoor tanning
salon as well as numerous small gambling venues. Melissa crouched down, went
back to the railing and looked down towards the Money Pit. Four soldiers were
trying to manoeuvre the infected out of the cage, another four were controlling
a group of about two dozen who stood docilely, facing towards the lobby. She
needed to get down there, as that’s where the soldiers, or the Reborn as they
called themselves, seemed to be, because before she could do anything, she
needed one of their collars. But how on earth could she get one? Melissa asked
herself. Even if she managed to avoid being seen by the soldiers the infected
would be onto her almost immediately, and she’d either be torn apart or joining
them. And getting one of the Reborn alone would be difficult, if not
impossible. As she continued to observe them, they spread from the four man
teams they were in when she first looked, to patrolling in twos but the
division was of little help. She felt confident taking on one, she could
possibly take on two, though it did depend on how rigorous their training had
been in close quarters combat. And, in her favour, she would surely have the
element of surprise when she engaged them initially. However, it would be easier
if she could sneak up on one who had separated from the rest of the group and
take him down before he knew she was there.

As Melissa watched them ushering the
infected from the Money Pit towards the sports bar, she suddenly realized she
wouldn’t need to isolate one or even a pair of them and was surprised and a
little annoyed that she hadn’t thought of it already. She’d already killed two;
one was at the top of the building, which was a long way and they may have
secured his body, but the other one had gone out of the window when she killed
him. It was a long drop, but there was a chance his equipment had survived. If
she could figure out where he had landed, she could try to reach him and see if
she could remove his collar and discover how it worked. Perhaps, she
considered, she could even find his weapon and ammunition; with them her
chances of success would improve dramatically.

Melissa slowly retreated away from the
railing and returned to the map of the hotel. Scanning it closely, she looked
for some detail to remind her which side of the hotel she’d been on when she
killed him. It was something of a blur but she had the impression that he’d
gone out of the window on the north side of the hotel tower, which meant his body
should be on top of the rooftop on the opposite side. Melissa debated whether
or not to retrace her steps and follow the railing around or to make use of the
bridge. Going back meant crunching over the glass again but there was slightly
less chance of being seen. However the bridge was closer and if she stayed low it
would reduce the chance of detection if one of the soldiers happened to look
up. Her decision made, Melissa put it into action and moments later she had
crossed the bridge without incident and was on her way to the hallway for the north
elevator bank. From there, she entered the stairwell cautiously, and after a
brief check for sounds that would disclose someone moving up or down the
staircase, she decided to get moving. She moved swiftly up the stairs until she
saw a door. It wasn’t marked, and as she hadn’t passed the marker for the third
floor yet, she figured it was the door to the rooftop. Unfortunately, it
appeared to be secured via a panel that looked similar to the key card locks
which opened the doors to the hotel rooms. The doors locked state was confirmed
when she tried to turn the handle and it didn’t yield. She assessed her
options. She could use the gun to try to shoot out the hinges and break the
door down, but the noise would likely attract the attention of the soldiers on
the floor below. She could use the bat to smash the key card lock, but she had
no idea if that would actually open the door. Frustrated, Melissa stamped her
foot.