A World Reborn: The First Outbreak (24 page)

“Need a hand back here!” Melissa yelled,
but her plea was ignored. The other survivors were trying to put as much
distance between them and the infected as they could. Melissa focused on the
infected, killing the ones who would soon be closest to her, and then killing
as many as she could before the weapon ran dry of ammunition once again.

Melissa let the weapon slump and turned,
grabbing the woman’s arm and slinging it over her shoulder.

“Don’t leave me, please.” The woman said
weakly, fear and pain making her voice a barely audible whimper over the cries
coming from behind.

“I won’t.” Melissa promised, and then, once
she felt the weight of the woman on her, Melissa broke into a run, almost
dragging the injured woman along beside her. As Melissa hurried past the door
to the back of the buffet, she could hear the infected getting closer and
wasn’t sure they were going to make it, then she looked up ahead and saw with
relief that Roberto was pushing his way back through the crowd. They were
getting closer to the turn that led towards the elevator. Free of the throng of
people, Roberto hurried towards them and, once he was close enough, scooped the
injured woman up in his arms, carrying her as a man would carry his wife across
the threshold... at least, that’s how they appeared to Melissa as she watched
them hurry away. Melissa grabbed her weapon once more, loaded her next clip of
ammunition and began taking shots at the advancing horde.

She made the turn, hearing Roberto giving
directions to the group as they entered the next to last corridor, but a couple
of the survivors had gone the wrong way, towards the fire escape doors,
rebounding against them when the doors refused to give. Melissa expended all
the ammunition remaining in her current clip, killing half a dozen more of the
infected, and then let the weapon fall to her side again. She grabbed at the
stacked furniture the Reborn had used to barricade the door to the private room
and pulled on it hard, scattering it in the path of the infected in the hope of
buying a few more precious seconds. The survivors who had gone the wrong way
rejoined the main group heading towards the elevator, and Melissa reloaded her
gun, and then held her ground, firing carefully into the advancing, infected
horde. With the survivors sufficiently further along the path, Melissa started
moving again. As she retreated, Melissa remembered there was a pair of doors
just before the turn into the elevator, and realized they could use those doors
to buy themselves more time. After that, it was just a case of holding out
while the elevator ferried the survivors to relative safety. Melissa kept
firing until her ammunition was expended. She turned and, with the infected now
further back than they had been at any point, broke into a sprint to keep up
with the survivors. They ran on, passing through the doors Melissa remembered,
where she stopped and slammed them shut. Quickly, she undid the strap on her
weapon and used it to bind the door handles together, letting the assault rifle
drop onto the floor. Roberto appeared behind her with a mop and she wondered
idly where he’d found it, to discover, when she looked over her shoulder a
supply closet further down. He slid the aluminium pole through the handles...
just before they heard the infected slam into the door. Melissa scooped up her
weapon, and then retreated away from the door; Roberto at her side.

“How long will that hold?” He wanted to
know.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Melissa
answered grimly. They backed away from the door, going all the way to the turn
off to the elevator. They looked in unison and saw the elevator was open. There
was an odd mixture of reactions from the survivors there; those in the back
were trying to surge forward to the safety of the elevator, and those in front
were confused and a little afraid of the blood soaked visage of Roy holding a
gun and trying to keep them from all getting inside at once.

“We can only take twenty people at a time;
the elevator isn’t designed to hold more!” He yelled as people tried to push
past him, but his instructions fell on deaf ears. Melissa pulled the pistol out
of the holster on her leg and fired a shot into the floor away from the
frightened people. The suddenness of the shot, after a period of relative
silence, jolted some of them and they looked at her.

“Listen to the man! Twenty people at most!
The injured and the elderly first; the sooner you get your asses in gear, the
sooner you’re all safe!”

Slowly, order came to the survivors and
they began to let anyone who had injuries and an elderly couple pass before a
general procession of people boarded the elevator in an orderly way. Once the
elevator was filled the first time, Roy looked at Melissa and nodded, and then
he retreated into the elevator car and swiped the card key lock, shutting the
elevator doors. A little less than half the people remained, including Roberto,
and Melissa knew they now just needed to wait a few more minutes for them all
to be safe. Looking back up the corridor Melissa watched the door as it heaved
a little. The infected were pounding on it, and were it not barred and bound it
was possible it would have given already. Melissa turned and hurried into the
supply closet. She scanned the small room for anything useful as a barricade.
Once again she found a janitorial cart and grabbed it quickly, pulling it out
and wheeling it down the corridor. It wouldn’t offer much in the way of
additional resistance, but she turned it on its side and placed it in front of
the doors. Roberto came alongside her carrying several heavy looking bottles of
cleanser, which he arranged around the cart; supplementing the poor barricade
as best he could. They heard the elevator ding behind them and returned to the
corridor, to watch as Roy loaded the rest of the survivors into it. Roberto and
Melissa headed back, but she stopped short of entering.

“Come on, Melissa!” Roy said, reaching out
for her hand, but Melissa shook her head.

“Hurry! That barricade won’t hold them
forever!” Roberto added. Melissa looked to each of them and then back down the
corridor.

“She’s going to get away with it unless I
stop her. I can’t let that happen. And they know too much about me, they even
planned to have me brought here. I have to find out what she knows.”

“Melissa, that’s crazy!” Roy declared.

“No, it’s not. Listen, I took a tablet
computer. I’m hoping it’ll allow me to undo the damage to your computer system.
If I can, I’ll set the phones to work again and you can tell the authorities
everything we know.” Melissa instructed. Roy hesitated.

“Don’t get yourself killed, Melissa. I’ve
lost too many good people today.” Roy ordered. Melissa nodded and let a hopeful
smile cross her lips.

“I’ll do my best, Roy. When everyone is off
the elevator, blow out the control panel so it can’t be used, just in case any
of the Reborn are still alive and get back here. It’ll take longer for rescue
to reach you, but you’ll be safer for it.” She advised. He nodded and swiped
the key card to start the elevator moving.

“Wait! You can’t go alone!” Roberto
protested, but Roy grabbed his arm as he tried to leave.

“I’ll be fine.” Melissa assured him, the
weak smile fading from her lips as the doors shut.

The infected were piling up on the door and
she could hear the sounds of it starting to give under pressure. Melissa calmly
reloaded her weapon and returned to the supply closet. Behind a glass pane,
which she knocked out with the butt of the gun, a heavy axe was waiting for
her. She retrieved it, holding it in one hand, getting a feel for its weight,
and then turned back into the corridor.

Chapter Ten

Melissa looked towards the door currently
keeping the infected at bay. She knew she didn’t have long, but she needed to
see if she could open up the phone lines with the tablet computer. She stepped
back into the supply closet and set the axe and assault rifle down on a
stainless steel table in the corner. Reaching into the pouch at her waist,
Melissa pulled out the tablet and pressed the button on the side to turn it on.
She saw it was some kind of custom user interface, but was labelled easy enough
for her to follow. As she thought she would be able to, she found her way into
the security system and deactivated the lockouts placed on it returning control
to the casino’s computers. Next, she reactivated all the phone lines and disabled
the cell phone jammers. Finally, she deactivated the control program on the
elevators that forced them to move floor to floor, turning control back over to
the casino’s computers and reactivating the control panels on the elevator cars
themselves. Now, she could use the elevators rather than potentially having to
take the stairs all the way to the roof. As she was swiping out, Melissa
noticed there was a warning on the home screen. It seemed someone had remotely
disabled the collars, which explained why the one she had been wearing stopped
working. Melissa suspected this had been on the orders of the Ancillary, but
wasn’t sure why she had done it. Knowing she’d done all she needed for Roy to
summon the police and the FBI, Melissa put her mind to her current task. She
was out of spare ammunition clips for the assault rifle, but had a number of
clips for the pistol. Without the carrying strap, it would be difficult to
wield both the axe and the rifle, and Melissa thought the axe might be more
beneficial in the end. She needed to be mobile to get through any of the
infected lingering in the casino and main hall who were between her and the
elevators. So, reluctantly, she left the rifle where it was and picked up the
axe. One side had a long blade while the other had more of a spike. Either side
would be good for what she needed it to do, so she held it in both hands;
getting used to the weight and giving it a trial swing. Melissa took a deep
breath, and then headed back into the corridor. Behind her, as she began
walking towards the cashier desk exit, she heard the doors groan and begin to
buckle.

The Ancillary sat by the window in the
executive suite. In one hand she had a glass of what she considered delicious
white wine. She took a delicate sip and then brought her arm up to rest on the
arm of the chair. Her bodyguards had moved the chairs under her direction, and
beside hers was a seat for Sebastian. Between them, a small glass table already
had his glass of wine waiting for him. It concerned her that she hadn’t heard
from him, but she wouldn’t show it. There was every chance he was seeing to
last minute preparations and would appear any minute now. The Witness would
complete her task and prove herself worthy, and the Teacher would be satisfied.
But still, a faint flutter of worry would whip its way through her when she
looked at the empty chair beside her.

“Ma’am?” One of the men questioned from
behind her. With her free hand the Ancillary gestured for him to approach and
he came around into her field of vision.

“Yes, Aaron?” She responded.

“We’ve received a communication from our
comrades at the local and state law enforcement level. We’ll be able to take
off in twenty minutes, and we won’t be pursued.”

“Excellent. Have you heard from Sebastian?”
The Ancillary questioned, her voice coming out a little more uneven than she
had intended.

“Ma’am.” Aaron started, unsure how to
continue. “We’ve... well, we’ve received an update on the heart rate monitors.”

A strange, cold feeling filled the
Ancillary. She knew exactly what she was about to be told.

“He’s dead?” She asked, her face locked in
an expressionless mask.

“Yes. As are all our brothers in the
theatre.”

“Was he infected?”

“No, ma’am. We believe the Witness killed
him before he could conclude his service.”

“I see.” The Ancillary responded. She
wouldn’t reveal her emotions in front of the men; she needed to remain in
control of herself. But she felt a profound sadness; a deep, painful wound had
opened in her heart at the thought of her lover being murdered by the Witness.
All the Teacher’s words echoed in her head, the assurances that any who laid
down their lives would be helping to build a better world. All those who were
turned would wash away their sins and help build a brighter future for the
chosen. Not once had the Ancillary really considered that she or Sebastian
would be required to make that sacrifice. She’d been prideful, assured in her
ability to use her position to protect him. And now the Witness had taken him
from her. Briefly, she wondered if it made her a hypocrite to expect sacrifices
from others but not to have expected any to be necessary from herself or
someone she cared about. However, hypocrisy aside, the Ancillary felt a rage
towards the Witness bubbling up within her.

“There’s more.” Aaron said, snapping the
Ancillary out of her private thoughts.

“What?” She snapped.

“We’ve lost control of the security system
and the hostages appear to have been taken to the security room. We’re sure
that if we don’t leave on time the police will be storming the hotel. As the
majority of our men are dead, we’ve enacted the Teacher’s mandate that all
collars be deactivated to prevent our enemies using them against us.”

“Fine.” The Ancillary conceded absently,
before realising this wouldn’t be sufficient. “Do what needs to be done. And
untie Kimberly and splint her finger.” She commanded. “The Witness left her in
the bedroom. I have a task for her.”

“As you wish.” Aaron acknowledged, moving
away quickly to carry out her instructions. Once she was alone again, the
Ancillary gasped softly, allowing a brief crack in her emotional armour, then
she threw her glass of wine against the window, watching it shatter and spill
its contents. If anyone had seen her, then he or she would have seen the fury
in her eyes and guessed the murderous thoughts that were occupying her mind.

Melissa was closing in on the door beside
the cashier’s desk that led to the casino floor when she heard the frightening
sound of the doors holding back the infected break apart. She looked down the
corridor and saw them spilling through, over the ramshackle barricade of
objects she and Roberto had erected, and felt fear punch her in the stomach.
She reached for and frantically swiped the gold key card she’d used earlier
into the lock, and then went out onto the casino floor, slamming the door
behind her. Melissa allowed herself two deep breaths before pressing on,
bringing the axe up and ready in both hands. She was in a corner of the casino,
across from the large, arched entrances, and although most of the infected had
been drawn out by the fire alarms and the ensuing gun battle, there were still
dozens of them occupying the room. Some were clumped together in groups of five
or six, others were by themselves, clawing at their heads as though the sound
of the fire alarm was driving them insane. Melissa held a great deal of pity
for the infected in the back of her mind, but at the moment, all she was
concerned with was reaching the Ancillary before she made her escape.

As though smelling her, the closest of the
infected turned to look at her, and then began to shuffle eagerly in her
direction. Their arms were outstretched, keen to grab her in their deadly
embrace and satisfy their unending hunger. Melissa started running, realising
that the door she’d shut wouldn’t hold back the surge of infected in the
corridor behind it for very long. One of the casino infected on her left lunged
as she passed but missed her entirely; falling to the ground and groaning as it
shot out one of its hands to try to grab her ankle, missing by inches. A second
infected was on a much better trajectory, and Melissa raised the axe and swung
it blade first into the side of its head. It split open as the blade dug in,
creating a deep wound that sprayed blood as she yanked the axe free. It was
hard work to remove the axe, but Melissa didn’t have time to worry about her
aching muscles nor the fresh blood seeping from the cut on her hand. She
continued running forward, her heart set on reaching the elevators before the
tide of infected pressing up against the door broke through. Melissa weaved
between another pair of the casino infected, stopping a second later when what
she thought was a dead body suddenly reached out and tried to trip her. Melissa
spun around and used the spiked side of the axe in an overhead swing to kill
one of the two infected behind her, then yanked it free so she could do a
sidelong swing into the temple of the second. As it let out a final death
rattle, Melissa retrieved the axe and turned back to the crawling infected, now
with its hand around her ankle. Flipping the axe, she brought it’s blade down
onto the top of the skull, splitting its head wide open and sending a shower of
blood over the leg of her jeans and the bandage covering the bite as she pulled
her weapon free.

Melissa was breathing harder, exhaustion
from running and the melee combat setting in, but she forced herself to keep
moving. The sound of fighting, along with Melissa being the only living person
remaining on the floor, was now attracting the more distant of the infected to
her. She looked to her right and saw a group of three charging at her, almost running
on their stiffened limbs. She darted away from them, behind a blackjack table,
going around it but still trying to keep to her intended direction. She weaved
between gaming tables hoping to shake them off, but a quick look behind her
revealed she was beginning to attract quite an entourage of the ravenous mob. A
moment later, she heard the cashier desk door burst open and a swift glance
over her shoulder showed the surge of infected, once behind it, had been
unleashed into the room. Melissa darted in the direction of the slot machines,
deeming it reasonable to suppose that not being able to be seen easily would
deter some of the infected. As she fled into the maze of noisy, flashing, machines,
Melissa knocked over any stools and chairs that were still standing, in the
hope they would slow down some of her pursuers. They were baying at her, hungry
and excited, as though the chase was something they enjoyed, and she could just
imagine the look on their faces; a frightening image Melissa pushed from her mind
as she turned and twisted through the labyrinth of slot machines, always trying
to move in the direction of the exit.

As she rounded a corner, an infected lunged
at her and knocked them both to the ground. The axe fell from her grasp but,
although winded, Melissa was able to force the scrambling, snapping, female
infected away, knocking her to the side. Melissa rolled away, snatched up the
axe, her mind concentrating on trying to escape without becoming involved in further,
time consuming clashes, all the while hearing the thundering footsteps of the
infected that were chasing her getting closer. Before she could make her
desperate bid for freedom however, the infected woman grabbed her ankle, nearly
tripping Melissa again. Unable to shake her leg free from her grasp, Melissa
wheeled around and cleaved the woman’s head from ear to ear with the axe. The
grip relaxed and Melissa was able to get her leg free and run, catching sight
of a few of the infected coming out from the aisle she had turned out of as she
did. She’d disturbingly lost a lot of the distance she had previously held
between her and the horde following her, and now ran flat out to get it back;
the pain in her leg a secondary concern to the need to survive. Although they
moved slowly individually, Melissa noticed they moved faster in packs, when
they were incensed and closing in on a prey; not that this observation gave her
much comfort, but the investigative part of her was always working. Melissa
exited the slot machines and came out into an open space. Ahead, about twenty
feet away, was the exit to the main floor. Melissa moved towards it and quickly
clambered over the barricade that the Reborn had placed there, managing not to
lose her footing as she had the first time. Although she continued moving at
speed, on the other side of the obstruction she felt she could afford to slow
slightly. She had regained much of the ground she had lost and the barricade
would surely slow them down somewhat, so Melissa wanted to try and conserve
what remained of her energy. She hoped it wasn’t a mistake, but she was
breathing hard and her muscles burned with exertion. The majority of the
infected were behind her now, with a few lingering in the direction of the theatre.
The latter were hunched over, and Melissa’s stomach turned when she saw they
were consuming what remained of Jim, a couple of them in full Reborn uniform.

Looking swiftly to her right, before the
revolting sight could dominate her thoughts, she saw the large, heavy security
gates were still down and Melissa wondered whether Roy was working to get them
up so that the police could get inside.  Some of the infected were gathered
near them, and Melissa could only assume it was because they could sense the
living on the other side and were waiting for their chance to reach them.
Knowing there was nothing she could do to diminish their numbers, Melissa
refocused on the route to the south elevators. She pounded the pavement as she
ran, turning down into the hallway which housed her objective. Melissa looked
over them and saw that the LED display showed all the elevators were above the twentieth
floor.