Chapter 5: Welcome to El Hotel Regis
“Rachel for the last time we are not going to stop in Las Vegas for your idiotic boyfriend!” Mark said in frustration. “He didn’t even bring you with him to Vegas, I mean come on, who does that?”
“It was a weekend for Trent and his guy friends. I don’t mind that, me and my girlfriends do that too. Everyone just needs a breather from life and everything in it occasionally.” Rachel replied frustrated as well. They had been having this argument for more than an hour now and it was becoming exhausting.
“Yeah, weekends are for the boys Mark.” Fin chimed in, grabbing the headrests of the front seats and pulling himself forward to join the conversation. Markus tried not to smile at the saying he had heard countless times on the internet as he was still frustrated. He took his eyes off the road to look at Fin. “You spend to much time on the internet. Sit back and buckle up, I’m not having you fly out of this car because you chose not to obey the law.”
Sticking his tongue out but obeying and putting on his seat belt Fin replied with “Okay mom, and what are you talking about obeying laws. I’m pretty sure there’s laws against going over 100 on the freeway or taking gas for free from gas stations! Hypocrite…” Fin finished pointing at Mark. Waving his hand to dismissing the rebuke from the barely teenager, Mark continued his conversation with Rachel.
“I still don’t feel it’s safe to go into a city for one guy when we can just avoid it. I mean look at San Diego, that was bad, and that city had less people in it.”
“Actually Las Vegas has less people, it’s just the tourists that makes it seem like it has more people. Besides the I-15 practically goes right through it so it will be just like making a quick stop. We go into the building he’s at, grab him and leave. I think you just don’t want to go because you don’t like Trent.” Rachel said folding her arms knowing she hit a sore point. Mark and Trent had gotten into it multiple times at parties and even when they were hanging out in a group.
“Of course, I don’t like Trent!” Mark said trying to keep his eyes on the road but at the same time looking at Rachel. “He an egotistical jerk who always thinks he’s right and never admits when he does something wrong. He broke up with you over something stupid and when you guys did get back together he made it seem like it was your fault. He’s a project Rachel, and you can’t fix him. “
Rachel’s face flushed red at the last comment, “I’m not fixing him, every relationship has it ups and downs. You don’t just cut your losses and move on when it’s a down, everyone does that and its lame. You work things out, that’s what makes it a relationship. You would understand if you were actually in a relationship Mark. Now either you can go with me to Las Vegas and pick up my “idiotic boyfriend” or you can let me out now and I’ll walk there.”
Clinching his jaw shut, Mark kept his eyes on the road as looking at Rachel at this moment was too painful. Her words stung, he knew why he wasn’t in a relationship, but the friend zone wall stopped her from seeing that. Working his jaw to keep himself from saying something he would later regret, Mark said in a quiet defeated tone “Fine, we’ll go get Trent.”
Rachel looked at Mark and saw the muscles clenched in his jaw. She continued to look at him, but he refused to make eye contact with her. Rachel sighed mentally and hated herself as she knew she was the reason Mark was acting this way. The whole topic of Trent and the rescue was part of it, but the way he had gone rigid after her last couple of comments made her feel bad inside. Mark didn’t deserve to be treated this way, after all he was probably just looking out for her and now Fin. Mark had his left hand on the steering wheel and the other on the middle console. Rachel reached out to grab his hand and giving it a squeeze, she quietly said, “Thank you Mark.”
Taking his hand back and putting it on the steering wheel, Mark muttered “Yeah, no problem Rach. Anything for you. That’s what friends do, right?” Making quick eye contact with her and then looking in the rear-view mirror at Fin he said a little louder “You both better get some sleep before we hit Vegas.”
The miles flew by as Mark sped in the White 2016 Ford Explorer. Only stopping a couple times for gas, bathroom breaks, and food, they soon made it into Las Vegas. Less than 2 miles from the city, Mark spotted the first zombie on the road heading towards them. “I guess what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.” As they got closer and closer to the city Mark saw a couple zombies here and there and more in small groups as they pulled off the freeway. Looking at the car’s clock, it was barely pass 1 pm. “Why are there zombies out?” Mark said as he turned a corner.
“Well maybe these zombies are like babies” Fin said. Turning in her seat Rachel asked “What do you mean?” “Well, in comics there are different types of zombies; fast ones, slow ones, zombies that can only sense by smell and ones that are attached to movement. A lot of comics are based off lore and other stories from history. Did you know that the first zombies where supposedly based off voodoo?” Fin said excitedly. Seeing Rachel’s blank face, Fin continued, “My point is that maybe all of the comics, lore and whatnot all had parts of the truth.” Pointing at a zombie that was walking out in the open. “When I first saw a zombie it could barely walk, it was constantly tripping over itself and they wouldn’t come out in the sun. But like a baby, the zombies are getting use to walking so they don’t trip over and the sun doesn’t bother them as much the longer they are out in it.”
Dodging a group of five zombies with the car Mark said, “So what your saying is that the longer these zombies are alive the stronger and more dangerous they are going to become, based on your theory?”
“Well it’s a theory, like you said Mark but possibly. Look at the horde last night, they were hungry, so they moved faster, and they were also in a huge group so like babies they could get smarter and do things to trap and get prey.”
“Well we have other problems to deal with first before these babies grow up. The streets are becoming more crowded the closer we get to the center of the city. Rachel what hotel was Trent staying at?” Mark said as he avoided another zombie on the road. Looking through her cell phone Rachel read through past messages between her and Trent. She had tried earlier to text and then call him but nothing would go through. Finally finding their answer Rachel read out “The El Hotel Regis.”
Mark chuckled as she said the hotel which made Rachel glance at him. “What’s so funny?” she asked. “El Hotel Regis in English means The Hotel Regis, so you just said The The Hotel Regis” Mark replied snickering. Rachel gave him the evil eye, making him stop his quiet laughter, “but that’s not funny, of course” he hurriedly said. Ignoring the response from Mark Rachel said “Anyways, El Hotel Regis is just a couple blocks down, my family has stayed there a couple times.” making sure to pronounce El Hotel Regis perfectly for Mark.
“Sweet!” Fin said from the back, “Lets go get souvenirs and hit the casinos while we are at it.” Rachel and Mark both glanced back at him and Fin laughed “I’m joking...” and then after a minute added “about the souvenirs.” Rolling his eyes as he came to a stop, Mark killed the ignition. A worried look on Fin’s face appeared “Okay, okay I was kidding about everything.”
Mark took the keys out of the ignition and as he stepped out of the car he put the keys in his pocket saying, “Not this time.” Jerking his thumb at the 10-foot-wide sinkhole not 3 feet from the car, Mark continued “This is why we are stopping. This isn’t the only one I saw as we entered the city so I’m guessing there was an earthquake a day or two ago here. I don’t know how so many infected got out on the streets in San Diego but if there was a major earthquake here and it collapsed a hospital or containment center, infected roaming the streets makes sense. We go on foot from here.”
Everyone else hopped out of the car and started to grab supplies. Mark had already made sure his pistol had a full clip and his knife was clean and sharp, so he grabbed his backpack and put it on. While Fin put on his backpack and made sure he had enough knives, Mark came over to help Rachel get ready. “How far we are from the hotel Rach?” Mark asked as he watch her slip on her backpack. “Well El Hotel Regis is on the strip and that’s about maybe 3 blocks from here” Rachel said as she slipped her second strap on her shoulder. Before she could reach for her bat Mark stopped her and said, “Actually I got something for you.” Opening the trunk, he pulled out the two swords Fin had put back there for him. “I remembered you took fencing during High School so hopefully one of these will work.” Handing over both swords to her, Mark stepped back to let her admire the swords. Fin stepped around from the car and seeing the two swords pointed out, “It’s a rapier and a side sword.”
“I know.” Rachel said looking over both swords slowly, admiring the handywork and the perfect balance they both had. Handing the side sword back to Mark, Rachel unsheathed the Rapier, the zing ringing out as it left the holder. Taking a few practice swings and lunges Rachel put the Rapier away and smiled at Mark. “I’ll use this one.” she said happily as she came to Mark and hugged him. 859Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEQIwB2T0O
“Hey what about me? It’s my dad’s collection.” Fin said. Rachel looked at Mark and then winking, turned and walked to Fin and said “You’re right.” Grabbing his chin with her free hand, Rachel turned Fin’s face and planted a wet sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Fin.” Rachel said as she released his face. Fin’s initial reaction instantly came as he turned bright red from embarrassment that a girl had kissed him. Trying to cover up his embarrassment he said “Bleah!” as he tried to wipe his cheek clean with his arm. Rachel and Mark chuckled in response before everyone finished preparing. They made sure they all had a couple changes of clothes and food, along with other things like ammo and personal products. Mark closed all the doors and locked the car, ‘Please nobody steals this one.’ Mark thought as they walked away.
They walked in a line of one, Mark in the lead, Fin in the middle, and Rachel taking up the rear; sticking close to buildings as they went. Several times Mark lifted his hand to have them pause to stop them from running into zombies. Along the way, they also avoided more sinkholes and a couple of thieves stealing a flat screen tv from an electronic store. They made it to their destination without incident. “Okay right around this building” Rachel whispered, “we should be able to see El Hotel Regis.” Nodding in understanding Mark held up his hand for them to wait and then he moved ahead by himself to scout it out. Mark went around the corner of the building and was gone for only a few seconds before coming back into sight and motioned them forward. As Fin and Rachel came up to him he pointed at their destination, El Hotel Regis, or what was left of it.
Part of the Hotel was sunk in the ground, a rip in the earth suggesting the cause was the earthquake. The other half was still sturdy, but Mark could tell that there was a strain on the whole structure that eventually would cause it to collapse. It was a nice-looking hotel connected to its own casino, very neoclassic in the style. Mark might have stayed at the hotel just because of the looks and how cheap a room must be if its on the strip and had its own casino, not that Mark was interested in gambling himself.
“Well the entrance looks clear and only part of the structure is collapsed, if we are careful we should be fine” Mark said and with that they all moved forward together as a group now instead of a single file line. Mark didn’t like being in the open like this so they almost ran to the open doors of the hotel. They were gold looking double doors with glass panels that took up most of the door frame. Both glass panels were smashed, and the double doors were locked. Carefully they all stepped through the broken glass, being sure not to get cut. Glass crunched under their feet as they took in the front lobby. It was an open style lobby with couches and arm chairs and red carpet with little designs on it. On their left was the front desk and on the right was the connecting doors to the casino. All 3 of the doors where locked shut with chains around each of the handles to make sure nobody got in or out.
“Well looks like the casino had some bad shrimp.” Mark said as he noticed the bolted doors. “Now’s not the time to joke Mark” said Rachel as she pushed past him to look in the small round windows on the casino doors. “The lights are out for the most part in there but I’m seeing some movement.” Squinting to make out what she was see Rachel confirmed “Yeah, the undead are in there.”
“Well let’s start here in the hotel and last resort we can try the casino. What’s Trent’s hotel room?” Mark asked as he head to the elevators. Pushing the call button Mark heard a grinding noise but no movement. “Of course,” he muttered.
“Umm actually I don’t know his room number, he only said the hotel” Rachel responded.
“Well, we can check the computers.” Fin chimed in. Running to the computer he hit the power button and slowly the computer turned on. Bright blue light flooded from the screen and then eventually it changed to a white screen, taunting them all with a single word: Password.
“Okay umm so we just have to figure it out and then we can get the room number” Rachel said. Biting her bottom lip slightly and drumming her hand on the desk for a moment she finally spoke again, “Try password.” Fin typed it in but the computer quickly deleting their word and replaced with the phase ‘Wrong password. Try again’.
“Try Regis” Rachel said and again the computer gave the same response. “abc123?” Rachel said hesitantly, and for a third time their answer was denied. “If you keep getting it wrong the computer will lock itself” Mark pointed out. “I know!” Rachel said as she turned to him angerly, “I don’t see you helping.” Yawning a bit to act bored Mark responded, “Well I don’t want to be here but since I am, try weightgoals as the password, no spaces.” Both Rachel and Fin looked at him with a look of bemusement. Motioning with a flick of his head Mark said, “Go on, try it.” “Okay” Fin said unsure as he typed it in. Fin hit the enter key and exclaimed “We’re in!” as the computer screen changed. As Fin started to search for the room number of Trent, Rachel turned to Mark with a dumbfounded expression on her face. “How!” she said.
“Easy.” Mark replied as he leaned forward and took off a sticky note that was stuck in the back corner of the desk. “Our front desk friend here must have changed the password recently, so they wrote it down so they wouldn’t forget it.” Pointing at a half-eaten donut also on the desk Mark continued, “They probably wanted to get healthier but eating junk food and sitting at a desk all day doesn’t help, so the password must have been an attempt to have a constant reminder to focus on their weight goals.” Mark finished as he put the sticky note on Rachel’s forehead. “And that’s how it was so easy.”
Rachel ripped the sticky note off her forehead and crumpled it into a ball. Launching it at Mark’s chest she retorted “Uh grow up Mark! I know you like rubbing stuff in my face, but you don’t have to do it literally,” making sure to put emphasis on the last work. Staring at Rachel for a second Mark said in a serious tone, “I don’t act grown up and I joke all the time because life is full of crappy parts. This whole zombie apocalypse is proof enough, like one big, old cherry on top. I choose to stay positive and above all this negativity through my humor, because if I don’t Rachel, they win.
“Sorry to interrupt but I think I found him” Fin said. “It said he’s on the twelfth floor Room 1217, so second to last room on the right.” “Great, nice job Fin.” Mark said breaking away from a further talk with Rachel. “Elevators aren’t working so stairs it is.”
About the tenth floor, Mark really started to hate Trent which he made apparent by mumbling “Stupid Trent and his stupid face.” Rachel a floor below on the rectangular stairwell shouted out “What?” “Keep your voice down Rach.” Mark responded quickly, “Most of the doors that lead from the floors to the stairs are open and we don’t need uninvited dead guest arriving.” Rachel’s face flushed a little and she whispered back “Sorry, but what did you say?” Realizing that he was just talking crap about her boyfriend, Mark paused before responding “I said we are almost there.”
“You’re such a liar.” Fin said quietly from behind Mark. Looking behind as he continued to walk up the steps Mark said “Oh, you heard me?” as he nervously chuckling. “Yeah.” Fin said, “but from what I’ve learned so far about this guy I’m not liking him either. He may even have, a stupid face.” “Just wait until you meet him, you’ll like him even more.” Mark said sarcastically and with that they reached the twelfth floor.
As Fin and Mark waited for Rachel to join them on the twelfth floor, Mark pushed forward to check the hallway. Peering around the corner Mark looked down the corridor and saw one zombie slouched against the wall about four doors down. Not wanting to attack in such close quarters with a knife, Mark drew his gun. He attached the silencer and crouching, fired once. True to the aim, the bullet impacted the zombie’s skull causing the body to instantly crumble to the floor.
“What happened?” Rachel asked as she finally joined them. “Just clearing the floor, looks like we are good now.” A couple seconds later they where in front room 1217 and Rachel lifted her hand to knock. Mark grabbed her arm stopping her and said “Rachel, Trent may be dead in there, or a zombie, or not there at all so maybe we shouldn’t just announce ourselves to whatever’s in there.” Digging into his back-pocket Mark produced a keycard “Swiped this from the front desk so I’m guessing it’s a master key. Now scoot back, I’m going in first.” The key inserted in easily and the security light turned from red to green. Pocketing the key again, Mark turned the doorknob slowly with his right hand and pushed the door open while maintaining the grip of his gun with his left hand. Together all three moved into the room quietly and slowly, Mark in the lead as they searched.
The first room was the bathroom and since it was small it was easier for them to know it was clear. Moving to the bedroom there were two beds, the first empty; the second wasn’t. Lying perfectly still was a man that Mark knew too well, Trent. His longish brown hair that was partly in his face was accompanied by grey shorts and a black shirt that said, ‘Stay Woke’. Rachel started to run to him, but Mark stopped her and pulled her back. She looked at Mark with a face of anger and confusion. Putting his mouth almost to her ear he said, “We don’t know if he’s bit or not, so just give me a second, okay?” Calming down a little after the explanation Rachel nodded in agreement. Training his gun on Trent just in case things went south, Mark called out “Trent?” No reaction came from the body and Mark called out again a little louder, “Trent.” Again, there was no reaction, so getting frustrated this time Mark lift his foot and tapped Trent’s left foot saying, “Wake up Trent.”
Noise exploded out of Trent in the form of a cry of pain as he jolted awake and rolled off the bed onto the floor grabbing his ankle. “Ahhh my ankle, my ankle.” Holstering his gun and looking at Rachel in shock Mark mouthed “I didn’t do anything, I barely touched him.” “Why are you in my roo…” Trent said as he came up hobbling on one foot. He had stopped talking as he saw his visitors. “Rachel. It’s you, it’s really you?” Both rush forward as they came together and hugged each other. Pulling back, they kissed multiple times before Trent spoke again to Rachel “How did you get here?” “We drove here after I got your text message” Rachel responded excitedly. “Oh, Rachel I didn’t imagine you driving here, I thought I’d never see you again” Trent said hugging Rachel again. Looking over her shoulder, he saw Mark and Fin staring back at him.
“Why is Neilson with you and who’s the kid?” Trent asked as they broke apart from the embrace. “Hi Trent, good to see you too, sorry about me kicking your ankle you where just snoring to loud for my taste” Mark said forcing a smile on his face. “I don’t snore” Trent said defensively, then looking at Rachel said quietly “I wasn’t snoring right?” Shaking her head no, Rachel broke up the tension by bending down to look at Trent’s foot and asked “What happened?” Trent hobbled and sat back down, lifting his hurt foot up to relieve pressure. “I twisted or sprained my ankle running from some lunatic. A couple homeless guys attacked me and my friends a couple nights back as we were coming back from the casino. Tackled Steve to the floor and just started to tear into him and then more started to come. James and I took off but James also got taken down by lady in a suit and then it was just me. I kept running but it was dark and I lost my balance, twisting my ankle in the process. I’ve been surviving by grabbing food and water from the kitchen but even that’s running out.”
Making his way over to Trent, Mark helped him back onto his feet “Well we need to leave. Those things out there are zombies and if we stay we’ll end up like your friends. Now we have a car and supplies so let’s help you get going and-” Trent shoved Mark’s arm away making Trent sway a little. “You’re not in charge here Neilson, and I’m not going anywhere with you and neither is Rachel. Thanks for bodyguarding her but I got it from here. I got my own car in the parking garage downstairs and we will be fine.” Mark moved forward and closed the gap between him and Trent. “The reason Rachel is alive right now is because of me and the kid” Mark said pointing to himself and then Fin. “You’re in no shape to take care of her or yourself, you can barely stand as it is. So, do us all a favor and shut up and follow my lead so we all survive.” Trent’s face reddened and he shoved Mark, forcing him to slam against the wall.
“Like I’m going to follow you Neilson, you’re just as pathetic as you were in high school.” Getting up to his feet Mark spat out “You dumb jocks are all the same, still bringing up high school as if it matters just because they played some football. Guess what I’ve got news for you…” As Mark said the last bit, he stepped forward and spartan kicked Trent in the chest, making him fly onto the bed. Trent groaned in shock and pain but Mark wasn’t finished, pushing pass Rachel he drew his gun and put it to Trent’s head. “You don’t have to like me, in fact, you can hate me for all I care, but this isn’t about you or me. Other people’s lives are at stake and I refuse to have someone like you cost other’s their lives. Now you will follow my lead and do what I say, got it?” Trent stared at Mark, hatred in his eyes but shook his head slowly in agreement.
“Not good enough, are we clear?” Mark said.
“Yes” Trent forced out through gridded teeth. Mark holstered his pistol, “Good, now get up. We are leaving.” Mark instantly headed to the door avoiding eye contact with Rachel and Fin. He had heard them both gasp as he drew the gun and heard Rachel whisper “Mark no, please don’t.” In the back of his mind Mark knew he would never pull the trigger and felt bad that this was the way it all played out but he had others to think about which was more important than his guilt and feelings right now. Mark left the room and searched the hallway for zombies, seeing it clear he called for everyone to join him. They quickly made it back to the stairwell, though it was a little slower going with Trent having to use Rachel as a crutch to walk.
Mark pulled open the door that connected the floor to the stairs they had come up and stopped. Coming up the stairs in a group was at least 12 zombies. Seeing the group of fresh meat at the top, the zombies increased their movement. “Aw crap, all the noise most have drawn them” Mark said and aiming with his gun, Mark took out the first two zombies in the front of the group, the suppressed pistol doing its job. As the bodies collapsed the other undead tried to push past and fell over in the process. Taking aim again Mark fired but nothing happened, except the sound of a click.
Checking the magazine and seeing there were still bullets, Mark grunted in frustration. “It must be the firing pin and we don’t have time to fix it. Everyone get back” Holstering his gun and closing the door behind him Mark turned to the group “Okay, new plan I’ll draw them away and then you guys head downstairs once it’s clear.” “What? That’s not a plan” Rachel complained “You’ll get killed.”
“No, I won’t, I’ve got an idea I want to test. Go back to the room and look through the peephole. There’s stairs on the other side of the floor that we haven’t looked at. I’ll lure the zombies away and deal with whatever is in the other stairwell. Once you see that they are gone, quickly and quietly use the stairs and I’ll meet you in the lobby. Now go, they are almost here.” The three quickly left and Mark turned his attention back to the zombies. Taking out his knife Mark made a quick small incision on his thumb, biting back noise as he did so. Opening the door to the stairway, he wiped his blood on the circular glass window on the door before closing it again. Finally, the first zombie had made it to the top of the stairs and his body slammed against the door but Mark was prepared for that and met the blow. The zombie stopped as it looked at the blood on the window and then licked at it.
“Uhhh you’re disgusting” Mark said feeling slightly queasy. “But it confirms your attracted to sound, smell, and our taste.” Two more zombies came up to the door, both slamming into it and trying to get at the almost gone blood. Mark was thinking of whether he should try to stab one as he let the door fly open or should he just run and dwindle the pack down as he got a chance. Just then an enormous roar decided for him. The floor started to shake slightly and Mark knew that was his que to leave.
Releasing his pressure on the door and running, Mark heard the door fly open from the zombies’ weight. An even clearer and closer roar followed. “Not good!” Mark said as he came to the end of the hallway and to the door of the other stairs. He threw it open and started running down the stairs, two at a time. Mark was barely three floors down when he heard a huge slam against the door he had just come through. Seconds later the cringe worthy sound of metal being crushed made Mark cover his ears.
Suddenly the door from floor twelve came flying into the stairway, glass shattering as it hit the wall and railings. Seeing the door to floor eight next to him, Mark pushed it open and ran down into the hallway. Mark knew that whatever was chasing would soon be here, so hiding was his best bet as whatever this thing was, was faster than him. Mark could see a room door on the left side towards the end of the hallway that was slightly ajar. Mark pushed his way into the room and closed the door behind him. Mark leaned against the door and tried to slow his breathing while at the same time calming himself. His body had a mix of emotions; fear, adrenaline, panic and yet his mind was focused. Focused on surviving.
Hearing a thundering of movement in the hallway and the floor slightly shaking again, Mark moved from the door into the main room. He looked at his options of hiding places, under the bed or the closet. Not wanting to squeeze into a cramped place like under a bed, Mark chose the closet. Mark hurriedly slid the door open and then close after he hopped in, leaving it just a crack open. No sooner had he done that then the wooden door of the room exploded inwards, metal and wood flying into the bedroom. Thuds on the floor and the door revealed to Mark that whatever this thing was, it was big and heavy and muscular. He couldn’t see much through his crack but when the monster came into view he wished there wasn’t a crack at all.
The monster was terrifying, standing at least 7 feet tall. Its skin was a combination of red, purple, and pink. Its muscles bungled all over it’s body and Mark knew one swing from those fists would instantly kill him. The giant was grunting and snorting, seeing no one in the room it flipped the queen size bed easily across the room. ‘It’s trying to track my scent’ Mark thought with dismay. The creature looked around the room a couple times before locking its big, ugly, yellow blood shot eyes onto the closet.
Mark’s heart felt like it was leaping out of his chest, sweat dripped from his forehead, and he forced himself to stay very still as the monster came closer and closer. As it did, Mark felt his heart dropped to his stomach. It reached a hand out to rip the closet open when suddenly the noise of a helicopter flying overhead distracted it. The monster turned its head towards the noise and then, roaring in response, charged out of the room leaving Mark to live another day.
Mark’s legs gave out from under him and he collapsed to the floor. He didn’t realize that he hadn’t been breathing and he gulped in fresh air as he laid there in a daze. “What was that!” He said quietly to himself. “Please don’t tell me there’s mutations of these zombies like that, I can’t handle that.” With his heart rate finally slowing down, Mark got to his feet slowly and slid the closet door open. Peeking around slowly to make sure the beast was gone, he bolted to the stairwell. Making his way down the stairs, Mark finally reached the lobby and saw Rachel, Fin, and Trent.
“Okay we need to go!” Mark said hurrying to the front door. “We can’t.” Trent said pointing outside, “the walking dead are outside the hotel.” Mark scanned the outside and sure enough zombies were roaming around. With Trent’s bad ankle, they couldn’t outrun them and with having four people in a group they probably wouldn’t be able to sneak past the zombies either. “Trent your car, we can take that and make it to our car” Mark said “You have your keys, right?” Trent fished his keys out and tossed them to Mark. Mark caught them and said “Okay, lets go, back to the stairs.”
They all headed to the stairs and made their way down until they saw the sign that said ‘Parking Garage’. Opening the door they sighed in defeat as almost all the parking garage was destroyed. “My car!” Trent said shocked. “It must have been the earthquake” Fin said “I hate to point this out but it’s probably our only option. Most hotel’s have an access point to the sewers so maybe we can find it and use it to get out that way.” Everyone turned to look at Fin and Mark asked the question on everyone’s mind “How do you know this?”
“You’d be surprised what people post on the internet and what you can learn, besides there was an article a few years back about how Vegas has these flood tunnels under the strip so if we are lucky maybe the sewers will connect to those” Fin responded confidently. Not really seeing any other options, they searched the basement levels for the access point. Rachel was the one that found it, and together Mark and Trent lifted the hatch open. Thankfully there was a ladder but the smell alone made all of them grimace and hesitate. “Ugh, humans are disgusting!” Rachel said. “Agreed” everyone chimed in.
Forcing himself, Mark went down the stairs first and his eyes watered as the smell intensified. Trying to focus on something other than the smell, he helped the others down. Mark then dug into his backpack and pulled out a flare and lit it, bringing a red light to the disgusting sewers. Thankfully, where they were the sewers had higher pavement for workers to walk on instead of having to tread through the disgusting sewer water itself. They walked in silence for a bit before Fin turned to Mark and asked “What was that thing in the hallway? It just squished most of the zombies as it ran past them. Did you see it?”
Mark shuttered as he thought about the monster he had a close call with. “Oh yeah, I saw it, too close for my taste. I don’t know what it was but it was definitely attracted to sound or maybe my blood.” Rachel, who was in the lead, turned as well “You’re bleeding?” “Just a little nick, I’m fine” Mark replied hoping not to cause alarm “I’ll explain later.” Here and there they saw sinkholes in the ceiling of the sewers causing sunlight to come in and yet no manhole covers. After coming to a dead end for the third time, the group finally made it to a large open area with four different tunnels. Moving his flare back and forward Mark couldn’t see very far into each tunnel so he did the thing he had been trying to avoid this whole time.
Jumping off the curve into the sewer drain, Mark heard the faint splash noise and vowed to burn his boots when he was safe. The water was thankfully pretty low, only an inch or two high, but Mark didn’t want to know what was floating in the water. Walking to each of the entrances, he saw no indicators on what path he should take until he came to the last one. It was a dead end that was hidden by the dark and at the end was a manhole. Even better the manhole was slightly open letting in a little sunlight.
“Over here” Mark shouted to the others “there’s an entrance to back upstairs.” Everyone made it over to the manhole and they noticed their first problem, the ladder that were suppose to be there was gone. Tossing the flare onto the floor to free up both hands, Mark turned to Trent “I’m going to have to boost you up and you’re going to have to move the cover the rest of the way, okay?” “Fine but give me you’re knife” Trent said in return. “What no. Why would I do that?” Mark said grabbing his knife defensively. “Because, once I get it open I’ll need to go up and make sure we are clear and then I can help pull the others up. I’ll give it right back Neilson, relax.” Seeing that Trent had a point, begrudgingly Mark hand over his knife and then cupped his hands said “Okay, let’s go.”
Rachel helped as well to make sure Trent’s ankle didn’t get hurt even more and with both of them lifting, Trent reached and his hands touched the manhole cover. Tossing Mark’s knife through the small opening, Trent pushed with both hands and the cover slowly grated across the cement. Finally, with the hole completely open Mark and Rachel lifted together and helped Trent out of the hole. He was gone for a couple mins and Mark’s flare went out. Digging into his backpack he lit another one before calling out “Trent, where are you?”
No response came and Mark yelled in frustration “Trent!” Mark turned to Rachel and Fin and said “I swear if he left us I’m gonna be pissed.” Trent’s head pop over the hole and said “I’m back princess so don’t worry your little blonde head too much, just had to kill a zombie.” Mark sighed in relief and turned to Rachel ready to help her. Then he saw humanoid figures emerging from the tunnels. Panic started to rise in his chest as his flare brought out the rotting skin “Ah crap, guys we better hurry.” Turning as well to see the zombies, everyone sprang into action. Mark quickly boosted Rachel up and she grabbed Trent’s outreached arm and made it topside. Turning to Fin Mark said “Okay buddy, your next.” and helped him as well up into the waiting arms of Trent. By the time this happened, the first zombie was on Mark and he thrusted out with his boot and kicked the zombie back, flinging it into the sewer water. From above Mark heard Rachel call out “Hurry up! We’ve got company up here as well.”
Turning to look up at Trent, Mark said “Quickly, I’m going to run and jump and then help pull me up.” Trent suddenly had a gleam in his eyes “Actually Mark…it looks like you’re bit, and I refuse to have something like that cost other’s their lives. Goodbye Mark. I’ll make sure to take care of Rachel and the kid.” Closing the cover, Mark was left with only his flare in the dark. “I’m going to make him pay for that” Mark said angry through gritted teeth as he reached for his knife. Feeling nothing, Mark groaned as he remembered that Trent now had his knife.
Mark had no weapon to defend himself and he looked at the seven undead that stood between him and living. Grabbing his flare, Mark tried to move around the group but they were cutting off his path and he knew he wouldn’t make it to another tunnel. Desperate for a weapon, Mark searched the surrounding floor for something, anything. Hope flared alive as he saw leaning against the wall across from him was a rusty old wrench. The zombies were closing in on him so he made his move before they bunched up. Mark drove his boot straight into the face of the first zombie, giving himself more room. With that space he quickly dove and rolled between two zombies, hoping his momentum and speed would allow him not to be snagged.
His theory work and he made it to the other side. Grabbing the wrench, he lifted his flare high as he went to work. Grunting as he swung left and right, Mark took out the three closest zombies. The wrench wasn’t sharp like his knife though, so the zombies started to slowly rise back up, their heads slightly smashed in. His hope dwindled as he saw even more zombies appear from the tunnel, now making a total of thirteen zombies. Mark tried to keep his distance from the group so that he didn’t get surrounded, only swinging when he saw an opportunity. But after only killing six zombies, Mark was exhausted and was back in the corner he started out in. Weakly he kicked the closest zombie back but he knew he was just prolonging his death.
“Come on, I can still take you.” he muttered smacking his lips a little to get rid of the dry mouth he had. The ugly blank eyes stared back at him as they advanced. Suddenly gunshots rang out in the sewers and followed by battle cries. The zombies were quickly mowed down by bullets and the flash of metal rising and falling. Exhausted Mark collapsed as he saw he was no longer in danger. Wrench and flare dropped from his hands, he looked up tired to see who his rescuers were. He didn’t get much of a look as the butt of a rifle smashed into his face causing everything to go black.
ns 15.158.61.21da2
