*WARNING* This is rated M for Mature. There will be violent and graphic scenes as well as some scenes of sex. I do not advise anyone under 18 to read this. You choose to read this at your own risk. If anything about this story bothers you, I suggest putting it down.
*Disclaimer* Twilight's character's belong to Stephenie Meyer. The story line belongs to Bella Marie Whitlock and I.
Hey my lovely readers! My co-writer and I made a special chapter for you all. It is Emmett's POV! This chapter is also very long, so I want you to understand something. When it comes to the random POV's every now and then, they will not always be as long as this one! For Emmett, we had so much to say and we wanted to get it all out there so we didn't have to come back to him. This way, the next POV can be of someone else!
Anyhow, please enjoy the new chapter. Don't forget to leave a review to let us know what you think! Leaving both good or bad reviews always help up in the end!
-K.
Chapter 6 - As the World Falls Down
Emmett's Point of View
I sit here staring at the TV in shock. What the fuck is happening? There are flames sprouting from the buildings and vehicles on the screen. If I didn't know this was the news, I'd think I was watching a movie. "I repeat, the government confirms it was a terrorist attack. Terrorists bombed Seattle, Washington tonight."
Reaching for my phone, I rush to text Bella. Bells?! Are you okay?! I just saw the news! Why the hell was Seattle bombed?!
I stare at my cell, waiting for a reply from my little cousin. Please, God, let them be okay! After a few minutes of no reply from Bella, I text her again. They are saying it was a terrorist attack! Please tell me you're okay? Where's Aunt Renee and Mads?
I stand up and begin pacing my hotel room. I knew I should have talked Aunt Renee into getting them to visit me here! They never leave Washington. They never even take a vacation anymore. I look up at the news broadcast again. The camera pans left and I can see a blue Ford Explorer flipped onto its roof. I quit pacing and stare at the screen in horror. Bella has a blue Ford Explorer! Shit! What the hell is her license plate number? I rack my brain trying to remember if I ever saw it when I visited them. I draw a blank and grab my phone again.
I type frantically, bordering on panic now. Bells? Are you there?
After waiting only a minute I send another text. Isabella Marie Swan! Answer your fucking phone and tell me if you're okay!
Giving up for the time being, I set my phone down and collapse onto the bed. I wait for my phone to ring and let me know that my family are still alive.
~*Before the Dawn*~
I wake up the next day in the afternoon with a frown on my face. I wasn't woken by any sound from my phone. Oh, God. Does this mean they are all dead? Does this mean it was Bella's car on the news' video? I sit up slowly and get out of bed. I get dressed and head to the lobby. My stomach growling let's me know that I'm hungry, but I can't bring myself to eat when I'm this worried. No one in the lobby is panicked or outraged. It's as if it is a normal day for them. As I frown, my phone chimes. I immediately pull it out and check the message. Finally, a text from Bella!
Emmett, I'm safe for now. Please call me.
I cry out in relief, which make people turn and look my way. Ignoring them, I hit the call button and head to the stairwell for some privacy. "Bells?!" I shout into the phone with relief.
"Yes," she says quietly. "It's me." There is a pause. "I was in my car coming home from campus when the bombs went off all around me. It wasn't a terrorist attack. This is going to sound unbelievable but there are zombies in Seattle, Em, and the government thought it would be easiest to bomb our city in an attempt to stop the outbreak. It didn't work though. I had to walk home, which is also where my phone was. It took me hours to get back here and I arrived yesterday. But I didn't think to check my phone yet because I've been busy packing. So I didn't see your messages until today, I'm sorry."
Zombies? Is she serious? She isn't at the hospital on some kind of medication, is she? Confused, I ask for clarification. "Zombies? Are you sure, Bells?"
Sighing, she continues to tell me her story."Yes, Emmett, I'm sure. I saw one of them kill someone with my own eyes right after the bombing." Once again, there is a pause. "Emmett… My mother is dead. I think she was killed by raiders. They never found Maddie though. She was still hiding in a cupboard when I got home. "
Sucking in a sharp breath tears form in my eyes. Aunt Renee is dead..."Oh, God! Bells, I was so worried you were all dead! I couldn't reach Aunt Renee on her phone either. I'm so sorry about
"I think I have pretty much everything we need packed. I'm ready to get on the road with Maddie. We can't stay here," she says. She's really good at changing the subject when she doesn't want to talk about something.
"Come to Colorado! I'll wait here until you arrive. I'm staying at the Magnolia Hotel in Denver," I exclaim. It would be better to stick together. I can help protect my baby cousins. My only cousins.
"Alright! Give us two days to make sure we have absolutely everything and that I'm well rested and we'll be on our way. I'm going to have to drive out so it will take a few days to get there. I wanna say expect me in a week if nothing goes wrong!"
When I hang up the phone with her, all I can do is sit in stunned silence. How much of what Bella told me can possibly be real? I mean zombies? Come on! I may be naive but that's a little much even for me to believe.
Maybe the terrorists put a chemical into the air that's making people think they're seeing zombies. Or maybe it's some type of virus in the water that's making people act like zombies. Or maybe it's all some huge hoax on a widespread scale, like H. created with The War of the Worlds? All I know is, it can't be zombies.
~*Before the Dawn*~
A chime wakes me up bright and early. Squinting from the sunlight, I sit up and stretch. Picking up my phone, I see another text from Bella. Maddie is sick. I don't think it's safe to travel.
I make sure to text her back quickly. Could be dangerous. Coughing or throwing up may attract unwanted attention. Good idea to stay home and wait it out. After staying up all hours last night and doing as much research online into what's going on as I could find, it seems it isn't just Bella who believes this is zombies. Apparently that's what most people think. Although the media still isn't saying so.
After giving it some thought, I realized that even if there's only a one percent chance this is the real thing, we'd better prepare as if it is. After all, in The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the sheep all get eaten because no one takes it seriously, right?
Bella texts back while I'm making myself some coffee. I'll text you when she's better. Great, now all I have to do is wait.
~*Before the Dawn*~
I wait to hear from Bella that Maddie is well again. It's two long days before I hear anything else from her. Finally, while I'm eating breakfast, my phone chimes three times. I set that as Bella's ringtone, so I know it's her.
Maddie is better. Thank God!
Before I can reply, the loud hum of an engine makes me look up from my phone. Getting up, I move to the hotel room window and look out on the street. Tanks and military Jeeps are driving down the road. A loudspeaker attached to the front vehicle grabs my attention. At the sound of a horn beeping, people begin sticking their heads out of the doors and windows. Some of the more curious ones leave their houses to watch from the sidewalk.
"Ladies and gentleman, please, do not panic. The Armed Forces personnel currently arriving in your city are here to serve you. It is our job to protect you from the terrorists who attacked Seattle. We are still under attack" I scoff and roll my eyes. Terrorists my ass. "If you'll please come with us, we can assure your safety. We are evacuating you to a secure base of operations where you will be provided with more information as it becomes available to us."
Gripping my phone in my hand, I text Bella. Military is here in Denver claiming they can help. Too many people in one place is not smart. I'm going to lay low at the hotel and hope they don't force people to go with them.
A few minutes pass and I see the text from her. Probably the best idea. If I do get to Denver and you're not at the hotel, we need to set up a place to meet.
Looking out the window, I see people running toward the empty buses that the military are loading them in like cattle. I doubt the mother fuckers know what they are getting themselves into. If this is the zombie apocalypse like Bella says it is, the military are taking these people to quarantine. It won't be safe anywhere much longer. If the military is here because of a virus, zombie or otherwise, then the bombing didn't work which means the outbreak is spreading from city to city. State to state.
Good idea. If I get run out of the hotel, I'll find somewhere in the area to stay. If I'm not at the hotel, we can meet at a bowling alley called Lucky Strike. I'll try to secure it until you get here, I'll check it everyday at dawn. For as long as it's safe there, I'll leave a red bandana on the back doorknob. If you don't see it, find somewhere in the area to lay low and I'll find you as soon as I can. Hopefully our phones are still working at that point.
Bella replies quickly. I agree. We'll be on our way after breakfast.
Good. See you soon, Bells.
~*Before the Dawn*~
A loud crash and screaming wakes me in the middle of the night. My eyes shoot open and I spring out of bed. Moving to the window, I peer out. I can see people running and screaming. There are also a couple of lifeless bodies on the ground. When one unbelievably starts to get up, I squint to look at it. I see blood pouring from his missing arm. When he takes a step forward, he staggers and stumbles. I watch in horror as the man launches himself at an elderly woman and begins eating her!
Pushing off the windowsill, I run for my door. I have to get out there and help as many people as I can! I rush down the few flights of stairs and out through the hotel's main doors. Immediately, I see a blonde woman being harassed by two leery men. They kept touching the woman. She seems really uncomfortable, which they don't seem to notice. "Come on, sweet cheeks, come with us. We can provide safety with all the guns that we have. Our leader, Royce, will most definitely want to protect a beauty like you with those assets."
Leader of what? Is this some type of gang. Wait- did he say Royce!? Fuck! If I remember correctly, from what my father told me the last time we were in Colorado together, that Royce guy is the head of the Dark Kings. They are sleazy mother fuckers who deal drugs and run a sex ring. I doubt they'll be protecting women. Making my way over to the woman, I slide up next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. "Are you fools trying to hit on my wife?" I feel the girl stiffen beside me. I lean down to her ear and whisper, "Play along, okay? You don't want to go with that group. They're reeaally bad news, trust me." To them, it would seem like I'm just giving her a kiss on the side of her head and lingering.
"Sugar, where on earth have you been? I was lookin' all over for ya baby," the woman says with a southern accent and a wink.
Smirking, I turn my face to hers and pretend to whisper, but making sure I'm loud enough for the men to hear. "I was getting our room ready for tonight, honey. It's about time I show my wonderful wife how much she deserves to be cherished." I nip at her ear to add effect. "I have so many things I plan on doing to you. You'll be screaming my name all night." She turned about fifty shades of red at the suggestion.
It was perfect, the men would assume she was embarrassed to have them hear about our sex life . I lock eyes with them and see the shocked expression on their faces. And if they weren't convinced yet to leave us alone, her next comment sealed the deal.
"That sounds real good, husband o' mine, but you'd best be careful; I don't want any harm ta come to our baby now, ya hear?" For added effect, she rubbed her stomach lovingly. The men look from her abdomen to us, to each other before turning with a shrug and abruptly walking away.
I sigh in relief and relax. The woman slaps my arm making me laugh. "What?"
"What was that all about?" She demands.
"Oh, well you see. If you agreed to go with them, I'm pretty sure you would have signed your life away to the Dark Kings. They are a drug gang who also run a sex trafficking ring. I'm sure they wouldn't be protecting you during this apocalypse-"
"Apocalypse? Like zombies?" She asks with wide-eyes.
"Yes," I say slowly, trying to gage her reaction.
Rose stares at me for a second, pulls out her phone, checks something on there before paying attention to me again. "Zombies huh? Well shit, I guess that explains it…" She says, more to herself than to me.
"Riiight. Anyway, my cousins are making their way from Seattle where one of them witnessed zombies attacking people. They should be here in a couple days or so. Would you like to stay with me? I can protect you." I tell her with a bright smile.
The woman looks me over. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay with a group. My twin brother texted me this morning and told me he was heading this way with his girlfriend in the morning. I guess that explains his urgency to come here. They are coming from Idaho. We can keep an eye out in town for them, right?"
"I'm pretty sure we can, blondie. They should arrive around the same time my cousins do. Maybe a few hours to a day apart. Either way, we can keep an eye out..." I stop short when I hear a groaning and notice a woman limping and coming our way. "Hurry, let's get out of here. We need to head back to my hotel room, it isn't safe on the streets." I place my hand on her back and lead her to the Magnolia.
"My name is Rosalie, by the way. Rosalie Whitlock. You can just call me Rose."
Hmm, Rose. What a beautiful name for a gorgeous girl. I wonder if she'll need a man to lean on. I'd definitely like to lean her up against a wall and... shit! I can't be thinking about this kind of stuff right now. Standing up a bit straighter, I inform her, "My name is Emmett McCarty." I open the hotel door and hold it open for her to walk through. As I shut the door behind me, I hear a bang and the door rattles. I look up quickly and see two couples pleading with their eyes to let them in. I glance over them quickly to make sure there isn't any bite marks and open the door. They rush in, panting. I close the door and lock it.
Rose moves forward and throws her arms around a girl with brown hair. "Angie! You're okay!" She cries out.
The girl wraps her arms around Rose. "I'm alive, but I'm not okay. One of those things attacked my parents at dinner tonight! I couldn't save my brothers! Ben barely got me out." The girl, Angie, breaks out into sobs.
I look around the hotel lobby and notice no one else is here. Everyone probably decided to scatter when everything turned to shit. "Okay, what we need to do is lock this place down really well. There are two emergency exits at this hotel and a back door for the kitchen staff. So, we need you two," I point to Angie and the guy standing next to her, "to lock and secure the emergency door in the right wing. While you two," I point to the other couple who I have no clue what their names are, "to lock and secure the doors in the right wing. Rosalie and I will go make sure the kitchen's back door is locked and secured. This front door should hold until we get back and move some furniture in front of it. Everyone okay with their jobs?"
"Yes," everyone mumbles.
"Alright. Let's do this." I grab Rosalie's hand and guide her to the kitchen.
When we go inside, the room is messy. Lights are still on, the stove and oven are still on, and there are utensils thrown all over the place. It's as if everyone left in a rush. First, I go to the stove and oven and shut them off. Looking inside the oven, I notice there is a pot roast. I pick a piece off and inspect it. Fully cooked, nice! On top of the stove, there are two pots. One is filled with vegetables. Steamed. This is the room service special for the night. The other pot has potatoes. Possibly for mashed potatoes? Next to the stove, I notice a piece of paper that has the order and the room number. 310. Third floor; room ten. When we search the floors I'll keep an eye out. They would be my neighbor across the hall.
I go to the door and turn the notch, so it locks. I begin moving the shelves that hold the staff's equipment in front of the door. Rose gathers pots and pans and hangs them off the shelf. "Good thinking. It will alert us if anyone is trying to get in through here. Grab a couple more, we can use it on the front door." Rose nods as she gathers more pots and pans. I switch the lights off as we head back to the lobby.
We're the first ones back, so Rose and I place the pans on the check-in desk. We begin gathering the furniture from the lobby and stacking it in front of the doors. Angie and her boyfriend, I think, come back to help us. When we believe we've done enough, Rose puts the pots and pans on the stack for the alarm. Smiling, I take a step back and appreciate our work. The other couple comes and joins us.
"The next thing we need to do is board up all the windows. The ceiling tiles in one of the conference rooms are removable, so we might as well use those, they'll be better than nothing. Hopefully, the janitor's closet has a toolbox with a nail gun. I'll round up those supplies and the rest of you can break down the tiles. Then we'll split into teams of two while we board them up." I suggest.
Heading into the supply closet, I find all that I hoped to find and more. There are actually two nail guns, four hammers, and plenty of nails. Each of us guys pound nails, then we'll reinforce them with the nail guns so they'll be doubly secure. And the ladies can hold the boards in place on the windows. I don't know if that's sexist, but at this point, I really don't care. We'll need all the muscles we can get for this job.
By the time I have everything we need set up, including the ladders to reach the higher windows, they have finished breaking down the ceiling tiles. I meet them all back at the first set of windows which Rose and I decide to work on, while the other two couples move to the windows on either side of ours.
It takes us a long time to do all of the windows on the first floor, but that is partly because we don't do a half ass job of it. By the time we finish, not only would a zombie not be very likely to get in, but no light will shine out to alert anyone that this place is occupied. That way, we won't have a million people beating our doors down to get in.
After we finish fortifying the main floor, we gather back in the lobby to discuss some things. "Alright, I think it's time we sit down and talk." I motion to a section of chairs in the corner of the lobby. Together, we move to the chairs and sit down. "My name is Emmett McCarty." I start, motioning for Rosalie to go next.
"My name is Rosalie Whitlock." Both Rose and I turn to look to our left at Angie and her friend.
"My name is Angela Webber and this is Ben Cheney, my boyfriend." I nod at the two and smile softly. Ben looks at the other couple cautiously.
"I'm Jessica and this is my wonderful boyfriend, Mike. He found us somewhere safe here with you guys. But we're still like, totally freaked out." The girl named Jessica says while chomping on gum. That is going to get annoying. I hope she runs out of gum soon. Maybe we should seal off the hotel shop so she can't buy more.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I lean forward in my seat. "Alright, it's obvious the dead are coming back to life, which means we are dealing with zombies. Now, what we need to do is go into the kitchen and gather weapons like knives or poles of any sort. Then, we have to go through the hotel looking for anyone else that is here. If we find anyone, we will allow them to chose whether or not they want to join this group we've made.
If they wish to leave, we will allow them to do so. I will make sure I give them a weapon to take with them. There are only five floors, so we can all go to one floor at the same time, working our way upwards and knocking on all the doors. Everyone okay with this plan?" I rest my elbows on my knees and my my chin on top of my clasped hands waiting for a reply from my new group.
"I'm in," says Rose as she stands up.
Ben and Angela share a look between one another before standing up. "We're in too."
The last couple, Jessica and Mike, hesitate for a few minutes before standing. "Um, sure. I guess we're in. It will get done faster."
Smiling, I stand up beside Rose. "Let's go find us some weapons."
~*Before the Dawn*~
When we got into the kitchen, Ben and Angela walked over to the back door. "This is a great barricade! Looks like people won't be getting in through these doors! Good job guys. You really secured us." Ben admits.
I nudge Rose which makes her smile. "Yeah, but it was practically all Emmett. He's got the muscles."
"No way, you get all the credit for coming up with the pots and pans!" I argue and she rolls her eyes. "Alright, let's start looking for our weapons."
I move around the kitchen opening drawers. After finding a few metal skewers, knives, and a heavy marble rolling pin, I think we're okay for a close combat situation. I was hoping there'd be more here, but it seems a lot was taken by the people who chose to leave already. As I look around at everyone, I realize this group probably won't do too well with close combat anyway. Tomorrow, I'll have to see if Ben will go with me on a run. We'll have to go get us some guns. Maybe those military guys got eaten by zombies and dropped their guns. Not that I would wish that on anybody.
After we gather everything we can use as weaponry, we don't actually have all that much. We have six knives, which means one for each of us. We also have three long skewers. We made sure Ben, Mike, and I had one of those. I don't like the idea of the girls having to kill anything, since it's dangerous to get that close, so I made sure they knew that. I told them to only use the knives if the zombie is about to attack them. Other than that, us guys will do the killing. "We need to check the rest of this hotel. I'm sure there has to be some scared people still here somewhere." I instruct as we head out of the kitchen.
Hearing screams from out in the street, Rose cringes into my side. I wrap an arm around her and squeeze. "It's okay. We're safe in here. I won't let any zombies, or anyone else get to you." I whisper to her. Next, I lead everyone to the staircase. Turning to the group, I ask, "Should we start on the fifth floor and make our way down? Or start on the first floor and go up from there?"
"I vote we start on the first floor. We have to go up to go back down. So, I think if we start down here and go up, then we can also board up the windows in the hotel rooms that we didn't do before. And then when we finish the fifth floor, we can go to the roof and look out at the city. Maybe we can get a good view of the landscape. Figure out other places we might have to check out," Ben spoke up.
Smiling, I use my free hand and pat his shoulder. "Good thinking. Anyone else disagree?" Mike and Jessica were sucking face. So, I didn't care what that they think. I glance at Angela and she shakes her head no. I look down at Rose and she looks up at me, shaking her head no. "Okay, first floor here we come." Clutching the knife in my freehand, I guide Rose and the others down the hallway.
"Okay, so the first thing we should do is find the maid's cart. It would probably have a master key to get into all the rooms. Once we have it, we can knock and call out to anyone who might be in the rooms and if they don't answer, we can let ourselves in. Be prepared though, especially on the first floor. We don't know if there could have been a breach anywhere yet or not." I warn them.
"Like, you mean, there could already be zombies in the hotel somewhere? What do I do if they touch me?" Jessica squeaks in a panic.
"Just, try not to let them." Rose answers. We really don't have time to field all of Jessica's litany of questions at the moment.
It doesn't take us long to find the cleaning staff's storage area. And sure enough, there is a master key. We split into two teams to make our way down either side of the hallway at once. Each of the couples is a team, with Rose on Ben's team, since Ben and Angela are far less likely to get us killed than Mike and Jessica who I place behind me, since they won't really be much help with this.
Pounding on the first door, I call out, "Excuse me, the city is in a state of emergency. We are sweeping the hotel for survivors. If anyone is inside, we need you to please come out or else we're coming in!" No answer. I use the master key and let us in. We find a lot of useful things like clothing and a full mini fridge. We don't find any people, or zombies, thankfully and we board up the windows so it stays that way. We write a summary of our findings on the door with a sharpie so we know this room has been checked and what supplies are in it. We can consolidate our findings once the hotel is secure.
The next five rooms on our side of the hall are the same story. Ben's team finds an elderly couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. After explaining the situation to them, they tell us that their kids are still in the city and are coming for them later in the day. They assure us they'll be going somewhere safe and are grateful when we offer to send them with some supplies.
After the first floor has been checked, we head to the second. This time, it's our side of the hall that yields an interesting find. So far, no zombies, but we do find a pretty crazy guy, spouting about how the end is nigh and he has to go kill all the zombies so that he can be the new Adam, or something. I don't know but I think he was slightly more worrisome to us than the zombies at this point. We happily sent him on his merry way and he refused our offer of supplies saying the Lord would provide.
It really reminded me of that joke where the guy is stuck in a flood and a jeep pulls up to rescue him and he says "No thanks, the Lord will save me". Then as the waters raise, a boat comes by and again the guy says, "No thanks, God will save me". Eventually the waters rise so high that he has to climb up on his roof. But a helicopter comes and he says "Thanks but no thanks, the Lord is coming to save me." No one else comes and he dies in the flood, but he gets to heaven and says "God, I waited and waited but you didn't come. I thought you were going to save me?" And God says, "Look, I sent you a jeep, a raft and a helicopter, what more could you possibly want from me?" Sometimes, all God wants us to do is save ourselves.
We head up to the third floor after dealing with the crazy guy, and I can't help but glance out the window at the top of the stairs. I can see all kinds of people in the streets. Most of them are covered in blood and reaching for other people. Safe to say, they are zombies. However, I notice only some of the living people are fighting back. Others just seemed to have given up and allowed the zombies to attack them. I grimace when I hear the blood curling screams from those people. Mother fuckers. How can someone just give up like that?
While we search the third floor, we don't find much until we get close to my hotel room. The room service order from before reminds me that I was going to keep an eye out for these people. I wonder if they're still here. "Excuse me, the hotel is in a state of emergency, we are sweeping the floors checking for anyone who is still here. We can help you if you come on out. We have supplies and anything else you might need." I call as I knock on their door.
A woman with long chestnut brown, curly hair and blue violet eyes cautiously opens the door, leaving the privacy latch closed. When she sees that our somewhat organized group includes both men and women and that we all look relatively harmless, she opens the door the rest of the way. When she does, I see a scared little girl with strawberry blonde hair, crying and watching out the window.
"Ma'am, all due respect but are you sure it's a good idea to let her see what's going on down there? Won't it traumatize her, or something?" I didn't know much about children but I was pretty sure that watching the zombies tear people apart wasn't good for their development process.
"I don't want her to look but I can't tear her away from the window it's the only thing that seems to be helping. When I make her come away from there all she does is scream loudly about how she wants her daddy. I can't have those screaming anymore so I let her look out the window instead. I don't know what else to do. My husband was out getting pizza when the soldiers came. He texted us to get ready and go with the soldiers saying that it was our best bet and might be our only chance to get out of here. But my phone glitched and I didn't get his text until after the soldiers had left, so I didn't know that he had gone with them until it was too late. I thought he was coming back. When I finally got his text, I didn't know what to do. So we've just been laying low here ever since." She confessed, tears trying to escape from her tired eyes.
"You know what I think?" Rose smiled. Ben's group had come over while I was talking to the woman. I think you need a break. How's about I take you and your daughter downstairs and get you both something to eat, then you can put your feet up while your little angel here teaches me how to play Go Fish, it's been a while and I could use a refresher. What do you say?" Rose encourages.
"Yes, I think that might be just what the doctor ordered. What do say, Iris? Think you might be getting hungry?" She asked her little girl, crouching down to her level.
"Is Daddy comin'?" Iris asked, as her mother took her hand and led her away from the window.
"Not here, baby, I think we have to go to him."
~*Before the Dawn*~
After Rose takes the woman, whose name we learned was Heather, and the little girl, Iris downstairs, the rest of us finish clearing the third floor and move on to the fourth. Upon arriving on the fourth floor, we hear loud moaning coming from one of the nearby rooms.
"Oh shit!" Jessica whispers, "Do you guys think it's a zombie?"
I can't help but laugh. "Not unless it's a zombie having sex, Jessica." Mike says, clearly amused by his girlfriend's innocence.
"Oh. Yeah, no, I knew that." She nods, trying to cover her mistake.
"Excuse me folks, I hate to bother you here, but we are in a state of emergency. This hotel is currently being swept for survivors. If you wouldn't mind taking a few minutes to come out and meet us, after that you can return to your preferred activities if you wish to stay. We are doing our best to fortify this hotel against the invasion, so it should be safe, at least for a while." I say, knowing from personal experience how annoying it is to be interrupted during the act.
The door opens and a tall man, who did not take the time to get dressed first, steps out into the hallway. "Survivors? Survivors of what? What's this about an invasion? Oh shit, is it aliens? I knew those little green fuckers would show up sometime, I just knew it. Honey, didn't I tell you?" He calls, to a girl who comes up to stand beside him, also buck naked.
"Um, Sir, not to be rude, but would you please put some clothes on? Both of you. We'd like to discuss whether or not you plan to stay and it's a little hard to know where to look." I say awkwardly.
"Alright, that's fine. Give us a few minutes and we'll meet you downstairs. Actually, give us about a half an hour, we'd better shower first. There was some food play and my girlfriend is a little sticky." He says, holding up a bottle of chocolate syrup to illustrate his point.
Jessica rolls her eyes, apparently this one didn't go over her head, and Mike stifles a giggle, very manly. "No problem, we'll meet you both in the lobby in a half hour then, thank you sir." The words barely out of my mouth when he closes the door on us. I turn to the rest of our group with a smirk. "How much do you wanna bet they'll make time for another round in the shower first?"
Rose, smacks my arm, somewhat lightly as we finish clearing the fourth floor. "What? It's true." I defend.
Finding no other guests on the floor, we quickly list off the supplies of for each room on the doors and head up to the fifth, and final floor. After clearing several more rooms, Ben's group finds a young woman, who answers the door in spanx and a sports bra and chastises us for interrupting her workout. Eventually she also agrees to meet us downstairs to talk. We clear the rest of the fifth floor and take the stairs back down.
After a rather amusing conversation with the workout wonder and the sex twins, which we've all so affectionately dubbed them; it is decided that all three of them want to stay in the hotel. Rosalie informs us that the elderly couple have been picked up by their son while we were sweeping the upper floors, and Iris has settled down and is asleep in Heather's lap. They will be leaving as soon as they are able to procure viable transportation, which Rose has agreed to work on for them as soon as it is light out, since it's too late in the day to venture out now.
Everyone decides to share space in the lobby to sleep, believing there to be safety in numbers. After bringing in blankets and pillows from the hotel's clean linen supply, everyone gradually falls asleep, except for me, since I agree to take first watch. Rose is the last one to lose consciousness and as she nods off, she smiles at me and whispers, "Thank you, Emmett." I don't have to ask her for what.
~*Before the Dawn*~
Morning dawns early for those of us who didn't get much sleep last night and thankfully, some wonderful soul thought to put coffee on. Once I get a few cups into me and I'm feeling borderline coherent, I offer to go with Rose in search of a ride for Heather and Iris. Not just any old car will do. We want them to be safe, so it has to be a reliable, sturdy vehicle with solid walls. Something like a charter bus would be good in that respect because the windows are high up and tinted. But those things eat fuel like crazy and finding one nearby would be a long shot.
As we venture out the front doors, Rose and I move silently and quickly, looking over all the dead vehicles we see at the sides of the road. Rose assures me her mechanical skills rival most dealerships, since she used to work for her daddy's shop. So she tells me to look for a vehicle that will fit their needs and she is sure that whatever it is, she can get it running.
"Oh shit! How about this? Think you can get one of these running?" I ask, in jest, gazing at a broken down tank the military must have abandoned. It must have been in pretty bad shape for them to leave it, these things are like a fortune! Obviously Rose can't fix this. I'm sure they have specially trained mechanics who work on their equipment, so I expect her to keep moving or make a snide remark. Instead, she starts examining it.
"You know, I can probably get it running. They evacuated in a hurry, right? So most likely, anything that would have taken time to fix, they would have just considered it a write off. There may not be anything too seriously wrong with it. But I'll need to talk to Heather and see if there's any point. It's possible she wouldn't feel comfortable driving one, and I'm not sure how different it is from driving a car." Rose speculates.
"Alright, well, let's go talk to her then." I say, wanting to get out of the area, since some zombies nearby seem to have noticed us. We hightail it back inside, before any of them can get close, and seal the door again behind us. The entrance we've chosen to use for coming and going, is not visible from the street, so we should be pretty safe getting in and out. It'll just be while Rose is working on the tank that we'll be vulnerable.
"So, Heather, we might have found you a vehicle, if you want it. It's the safest thing you could possibly leave here in and I think I can get it up and running. The only problem is; it's a tank." Rose informs her.
Heather seems to think for a minute, "Okay, so what's the problem? That actually sounds perfect!"
"So, you think you could figure it out, or at least the basics, if I can get it running?" Rose confirms.
"What's there to figure out? I was in the Reserves before I had Iris, I've driven a tank before." She says proudly.
I'm a little stunned by that revelation. Little Heather, a petite brunette woman, isn't what I would stereotypically think of when describing someone with a military background, but hey, I guess you just can't judge a book by its cover.
"Alright, well if you know something about tanks Heather, how about you and Rose work on it together and I'll spot you to make sure you don't get eaten?" I offer.
Rose laughs and rolls her eyes. "How heroic of you, King Kong." She teases.
"Yeah, yeah, you just wait, you won't be taking it so lightly when I'm the only thing separating you from becoming zombie chow, you know." I humph.
"Well, let me thank you in advance then." Rose smiles, giving me a peck on the cheek.
Damn, wasn't expecting that!
"Uh, thanks, um, I mean, you're welcome." Smooth, Em, real smooth! I mentally chastise myself as we gather the necessary tools and let the others know we're going back out there.
Four hours and a few close calls later, Rose tests the engine and it runs like a dream! We take Heather back inside and help her gather her's and Iris's things as well as plenty of food and a few other essentials for their journey. We also give them a sturdy metal broom handle that Heather can use for protection if she has to get out of the tank for any reason.
After a series of heartfelt goodbyes, since no one has any idea if we'll ever see them again, Heather and Iris set off on their Journey and the rest of us set about making dinner and trying to use up some of the perishables. We also dip into the hotel liquor supply and have ourselves a bit of a party. I get another kiss from Rosalie and this one is not on the cheek.
Starting tomorrow, I will have to begin checking the bowling alley as a secondary safe place for my cousins, just in case. I tell Rose this and she offers to accompany me when I do these checks. I also suggest to her that she can let her brother know about the bowling alley too, since they're heading to town soon also. That way, if the hotel is breached, our loved ones still have a safe place to land.
*****Meet the Characters*****
Name: Emmett McCarty
Age: 23
Likes: Video games, cars, and snowboarding
Education: Video Game Design Degree (Bachelor's)
Relationship Status: Single but hoping for a chance with the sexy blonde Rosalie
Current turn on: Blondes
Current turn off: A girl who only eats rabbit food
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 225 lbs
Size: 36x40
Currently: In awe with Rose
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Rosalie Whitlock
Age: 21
Likes: Shopping and cars
Education: Junior in College
Relationship Status: Single not really looking to mingle
Current turn on: Muscles
Current turn off: Stupidity
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 110
Size: 1
Currently: Excited about fixing a tank
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Angela Webber
Age: 19
Likes: Photography and swimming
Education: Freshman in College
Relationship Status: In a relationship with Ben Cheney
Current turn on: Funny guys
Current turn off: Someone who can't hold a conversation
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 127 lbs
Size: 3
Currently: Upset about family
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Ben Cheney
Age: 19
Likes: Chess and DJing
Education: Freshman in College
Relationship Status: In a relationship with Angela Webber
Current turn on: Nerdy glasses type
Current turn off: Dumb blondes
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 131 lbs
Size: 28x30
Currently: Worried about girlfriend
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Jessica Stanley
Age: 18
Likes: Shopping, cheerleading, and gossip
Education: Senior in High School
Relationship Status: In a relationship with Mike Newton
Current turn on: Jocks
Current turn off: Smokers
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 130 lbs
Size: Squeezes into a size 3 but is really a 4
Currently: Wanting more gum
~*Before the Dawn*~
Name: Mike Newton
Age: 18
Likes: Football and sex
Education: Senior in High School
Relationship Status: In a relationship with Jessica Stanley
Current turn on: Blondes
Current turn off: Someone who can't give good head
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 154 lbs
Size: 30x30
Currently: Wants sex