Night had already fallen when Billie woke up. Surprised that she had woken up to complete silence, she lifted her arm and took a glance at her watch. When she realised that she was staring at a naked wrist, Billie scolded herself aloud; "Oh yeah, stupid me… I don't have a watch…"
She hauled her sluggish body up and out of the massive four-poster bed which she had slept in. Trudging over to the beautiful panoramic window, she let out a cute yawn. *Free accommodation is the best!* Whilst stretching, Billie raised her arm to the window and lined her wrist up with a not-too-distant clock tower. *There, a watch. It's got the correct time too.*
That's when she perked up; "Oh noodles, it's past midnight already!" Turning on her heels, she made a move for the exit – taking broad, confident strides with her long, white, short-sleeved lab coat billowing behind her.
Just outside the door was a tall hotel luggage cart. On top of the pile of expensive, abandoned suitcases sat one small, out-of-place, blood spattered rucksack with an ornate handle peering through its partially closed zip.
Upon leaving the room, Billie – in one fluid motion – picked up her bag, unveiling a wall-mounted plaque which read "Presidential Suite" and then, slung the bag over her left shoulder whilst, with her right hand, she tugged on the decorative grip to remove her concealed weapon from its unimpressive sheath. The large 20" inch serrated blade slipped out of her bag, following a long, curved path. When the razor-edge caught air, it made a sound which Billie found extremely satisfying – like the sound of dinner being served up. *Kaze, it's time to play.*
Billie struck the blunt side of her extravagant sword against the frame of the luggage cart with full force – warping the weak alloy in the process. The ear-piercing echo of metal on metal resounded throughout the entire twenty-three story building, putting an end to the peaceful silence. Near-simultaneously, a blood-curdling roar was returned from some unknown origin inside the hotel.
Billie's deep blue eyes sparkled as she calmly said; "You must be new in town. I don't recognise your voice, but it sounds pretty…"
Billie started down the hotel's "emergency exit" stairwell. Billie leant over the thin grey-metal hand-rail and peered down. *Only about 200 feet. It shouldn't be too bad if I jump…* Suddenly, her eyes locked onto a few shifting shadows on one of the lower floors. In the heat of the moment, Billie decided to chase the shapes fast as she could. Missing almost every step on her way, she bolted down each floor – one by one – until she finally came to the bottom few stories.
The walls down here were sprayed and splashed with blood. The floor was near-flooded with innards. As she stepped over and in between the puddles of gore, the effort quickly turned into an innocent game of hopscotch. "Tehehe…" Billie giggled as she made her way through the third floor corridor.
Consumed by her childish nostalgia, Billie completely ignored the many pools of fresh blood which were scattered down the hall.
Shallow growls abruptly announced the presence of some uninvited guests in the hotel. Billie paused for a moment before allowing herself to survey the long, dark corridor. The first thing she saw was red – blood, flesh and tufts of fur. Such a mess couldn't have been a human's doing… Or a zombie's for that matter. Despite this, what she saw last was shockingly pleasant;
"Puppies! Aww, you're all so cute!"
A small pack of stray dogs were taking shelter in the hotel. Billie was overjoyed because this was the first time she'd seen any living dogs since the outbreak. A few of the puppies were injured, the largest dog – a bitch – was tending to one who wasn't moving. Billie remembered where the first aid kits are kept in the rooms and carried the two other pups into the closest room she could find.
The puppies let out little cries but their mother ignored them. Billie found the basic med-kit and tended to the poor creatures the best she could then wrapped them up in a blanket on the bed. Finally, Billie slipped the remaining medical supplies into her rucksack. She then decided to check on the dogs outside only to find the mother was not treating its pup but rather eating it.
Billie's face sunk into a frown. She yelled; "That's bad parenting!" as she drew her blade. The bitch's attention was finally drawn from its semi-incestuous meal. As the large hound attempted to make Billie its desert, she took a single angry swipe at the zombie-dog's throat. The canine's corpse fell to the floor with its head partially severed.
"That's a shame." She stated in a disappointed tone. "She must be getting blunt, Kaze usually cut's heads off completely…"
Proud of herself, Billie walked back towards the room. *I can't believe it. One mean mommy made all this mess?* A single loud, aggressive grunt of disapproval corrected her…
Turning to see what could have possibly made such a sound, Billie found herself looking straight at a bull. At least a good 20 feet away, Billie felt like she was at a safe distance – she didn't like this feeling.
"Are you my pretty friend from earlier?" Billie then readied her faithful sword and taunted; "I think we should get a little better acquainted…"
The towering beast moved towards her starting with a hobble, then a gallop, then the creature began charging at full speed. Within seconds the animal was close enough for Billie to see it's rotting skin and matted, blood soaked fur. She smiled as she celebrated inside; *An undead cow! This is gonna be so much fun!*
Billie waited until the last possible second to dive into her new room. "HA, HA! Can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" She ran across to the newly orphaned puppies, picked them up – still wrapped in the small blanket – and carefully put them inside her rucksack.
The bovine abomination clambered around in the hall, smashing walls and crying out so loud that Billie was sure the whole city could hear it. She took a glance out to the right of her doorway and saw the bull facing the opposite way from her; she seized the opportunity and made a run for it. The sudden movement made the imprisoned puppies yelp.
The heaving monstrosity turned to inspect the whimpering sounds and saw its late-night snack running away. The beast kicked off the enclosing walls and gave chase. Billie made it to the stairs before the bull had even managed to get halfway. Flying down the stairs she almost made it to the bottom when the bull dived over the third floor banister and down the middle of the stairwell – straight to the bottom.
Having been denied her exit, Billie ran back up to the first floor and sprinted along the first floor hallway. The bull scrambled around trying to get it's bearings before it tore its way back up the stairs in pursuit.
Billie decided that with no other option, she'd have to jump out the window at the end of the corridor. She liked the idea, and went straight for it. The bull however, had already made it back up and began to charge again. "Hold on puppies!" She warned as she threw herself at the window.
The single pane shattered into a thousand pieces as her body flew out of the window. Unfortunately, her flight was rudely interrupted by a hard surface. *Oww… That really hurt…* "You okay in there puppies?" Little yelps and whimpers assured Billie that they were alive still. Looking around, Billie realised she'd landed on top of an abandoned lorry. *We made it… We win!*
Her internal celebrations were short-lived because the bull was still giving chase. The beast dived – flailing – out of the same window. Billie swiftly jumped down from the truck as her cumbersome playmate fell through its roof – trapping itself. Billie triumphantly called out; "That was fun! We should play again sometime! Oh, by the way, I'm Angel, what's your name?!" The only response she got was yet another roar. "Well, I'm gonna call you Mr Grumpy... Bye now!"
She twirled and began to walk away when she saw a rather rugged – yet slightly refined – looking man sitting on a car bonnet, staring straight at her in utter amazement.
Billie decided to skip over to him and introduce herself. Stopping halfway to wipe her blood-soaked Kaze clean. *First impressions count…*