Chapter IV

The remaining people inside J's Bar were in shock. Most of them were friends or good acquantinces with the bartender and owner. They had never seen anything happen like that before; Will's death screams were ringing in everyone's ears. Alyssa quickly jumped out of her chair and away from the table fearing that she could possibly be the next victim to go through the window. They all stared at the only person who could really do something; someone who was trained for intense situations, hostile enemies, and keeping the law in any kind of situation.

"What? You expect me to do something?" Kevin said as he was being stared down by everyone in the room. "Ok, fine….David watch over the windows a minute," Kevin said as he tossed the twelve-gauged weapon in David's direction. David was standing over near the windows when he was joined side-by-side with the two security officers. "You guys armed?" David muttered to the Vietnam veteran. "Yeah, M9 Berettas with a few clips each. Can you handle that thing?" Mark said, pointing at the boomstick the plumber had grasped in his hand. "I've had weapons training…don't worry about me. We need to barricade the door and windows….hey you!" David pointed at Jim. "You want me to slide some crap in the way of the door?" Jim said, scooting a nearby table in front of the door. "Yeah go and pile them up…miss, can you help him?" pointing in the direction of Yoko. She quietly chirped in with a response. "Sure…"

Yoko's heart started pounding as she got closer to the handsome man. Well, she got out of one awkward question; what his name was. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?" she thought to herself. "There is a crisis here, and the last thing I need to be doing is trying to hook up with someone…"

Jim was starting to get a bit nervous. Sure, there were hungry cannibals just outside this brick & mortar establishment, but there was also an attractive female that was walking in her direction. "Keep it cool, Jim. Now isn't the time for this. I can charm her after we get out of here…"

"Ready?" Both of them spoke simultaneously. They both blushed as they scooted the large tables towards the door. They stopped in surprise as the four teachers broke the silence. "I have a plan if nobody else does. Don't blockade the door yet. George brought his SUV here to the bar. It should be parked outside. Why don't we make a run for it?" Kevin spoke up as he hung the phone on the receiver for a second time, trying to get past the busy signal. "We need to stay indoors for now and think of a plan. We just can't run out there." The man was starting to get angered. "Why the hell not! We certainly have enough firepower, what with the two rent-a-cops and Mr. Plumber over there. I'm sure you're armed as well I assume, officer?" Kevin nodded his response. "Well then let's go!" The group of teachers started for the door and opened it. "No, you dumbasses—" but Kevin's plea with the teachers was cut off by the sudden sounds coming from outside the door as the four men left the safety of the bar.

"Great…now what?"

David's answer didn't get a response from anyone until Cindy stepped out from the stairwell. She had stood there the entire time; unable to move or speak. She was literally scared stiff. George responded to the appearance of Cindy. "I don't think we'll need that First Aid Kit now….he just stopped breathing…" George stood up and backed away slowly, anticipating what was about to happen. He wasn't some fool; Will's speech was bringing back memories of when he was a young boy watching Night of the Living Dead on television. Once you were bitten, you would turn into one of the walking undead sooner or later. Kevin stepped out from behind the bar. Walking towards the dead man, he grabbed a nearby tablecloth. "Those who are squeamish should look away," the officer said as he unholstered his .45 magnum. David, Bob, Mark and George all stood and watched while Jim, Yoko, and Alyssa all looked away in disgust.

The gunshot rung through the room; the sound similar to a firecracker going off in a megaphone.

Kevin quickly draped the tablecloth over the man's body so nobody would see the aftereffects. George broke the silence. "I've seen death many times before, and I wasn't phased at it. This is a completely different story…"

Gunshots were heard from the street.

"Kevin, I think I have an idea what to do…" Cindy said. "We can get across the roof to the nearby building and get out from there. It might be safer as well. When I was upstairs, I saw a police blockade near the front steps of the apartments next door. The jump isn't very far; we had a couple of break-ins a few months ago where the men came through that way."

Kevin shrugged. "It's a good idea; better than anything I've tried to think up. Jim, is that your name? Anyway Jim, You and the girl—" "My name is Yoko," she squeaked in front of Kevin. "Ok then, you and Yoko finish up barricading the doors. David, you come over here and help me in creating some makeshift weapons for the other guys." David ran over and leaped over the bar. He quickly grabbed a few nearby tequila bottles. David ran back over to a nearby table and took its sheet. He tore three strips off and headed back behind the bar." Kevin knew the idea. "Anyone got a lighter?" Kevin asked as David was stuffing the cloth into the bottles.

Alyssa reached into her pocketbook, pulling out her lighter and throwing it. "Don't lose that; I'm gonna need a smoke after this…." Kevin replied with a chuckle. "Don't worry; I'll probably bum one off you…uh…" Alyssa spoke once again. "Oh, my name is Alyssa." Kevin shook his head. "Ok there, Alyssa. You got any ideas on what to do? You aren't armed, are you?" he asked, knowing the answer. "Why in the world would civvies be armed?" he thought to himself.

"As a matter of fact, I am," she said as she pulled a taser out of her pocket book. "I always carry this, especially since the attacks that started, but I've never had to use it. Now's a good a time as any…"

Mark was finished making the Molotovs. He handed one to Kevin and the doctor and kept one for himself.

"Bob, how many clips you got?" Mark asked his partner. "Uh, including the one in already, two. You got the same?" Mark replied with a simple yes. "Hopefully, we won't have to use them…"

"Cindy, did Will keep anything protective besides the shotgun? Is there anything in the lockers for the bouncers or something?" Cindy responded, "He wrote me a note saying he had a locked gun case where he kept a handgun or something upstairs in his office. I don't have a key though…" This time, Alyssa piped up. "Don't worry about that, honey. I've got a set of lockpicks with me. We can get into that case in no time. Where is it?" Cindy motioned for the stairs. "Follow me." Kevin motioned for everyone to follow Cindy upstairs.

Once atop the stairs, they heard a large crash coming from the first floor of the bar. David, who was last in the line, quietly snuck downstairs and cracked the door open. There were three or four of them, all different people, yet all the same in appearance. All were covered in various places of their bodies in blood. One man was crouched over the dead teacher, gnawing on the remains. The other three were stumbling around, mumbling and moaning. David quietly snuck back up the stairs.

The window leading to the stairwell suddenly crashed open and clutching arms grabbed hold of the plumber. David panicked and quickly reached for another wrench on his tool belt. David was suddenly let go by the undead man as a large shot whizzed right beside him.

The man fell out the window as David fell backwards down the stairs.

"David!" Mark yelled as he watched the man fall backwards down the stairs. David caught himself halfway down and quickly stood up, running up the stairs yelling. "Mark, MOVE!" Mark met him halfway, looking behind him as the zombies were lurching up the stairs.

Mark fired off a shot towards the oncoming horde of undead as they reached the top of the stairs.

They all ran into each other on the second floor.

"Guys, we have a problem. They're coming up the stairs right now." David spoke as he looked around the room. "Where are Cindy and Alyssa?" Kevin, who was checking and reloading his .45 pointed at a nearby room. "They're inside now getting the things out of the gun closet. Which door leads to the roof? George, check the doors; Bob, Mark and I will go take care of the guys on the stairs." George started checking the doors. One was where Alyssa and Cindy were unlocking the case. Another led to an employee locker room. The third door was locked. The last door he checked led to an office with an outside balcony. George walked into this room to the edge of the balcony and at that moment, he was truly frightened. He saw the city was in chaos. There was smoke coming from different parts of the city. Explosions were going off and people were running in the streets. Cars were running people over in the streets and sidewalk. Assorted shots were being fired from all different directions of the city; some fired just a few feet from where he was standing. Assorted sirens were going off around, and he saw a cop car pull into the alley opposite of the hotel they were heading for. "At least the police aren't dead yet…" George looked around for something to barricade the hallway so they'd have enough time to escape to the roof. He saw a large desk setting against the wall. He lifted the desk with ease and carried it out the door just as the others came back from the stairs. "We plugged a few of them, but they won't be the only ones coming through the door. Maybe we can put something against the door frame?"

Cindy and Alyssa then walked out of the room; Alyssa with another twelve gauge grasped in her arms and Cindy with a duffel bag with a box of shells. Cindy pulled something else out of the bag. "Will was using this to put some bulletin boards and pictures up; maybe we can use it as a weapon?" said Cindy as she pulled out a nail gun from the bag.

"Perfect! We just need to find something to use----"Mark was cut off by George busting down the locked door; the one that supposedly led to the rooftops. "You know, I had a key to that…" said Cindy as George lifted up the door. "Hang on Cindy; I know what he's doing. Give me the nail gun." Mark took it from her and walked to the end of the hallway as George lugged the door and held it steady as Mark nailed it to the wall. George then turned the desk over (breaking the drawer), and placing it in front of the door. "Something fell out of the drawer there." Cindy lifted up a magnum revolver from the broken desk drawer and handed it to Mark, who holstered it into his Beretta holster. "That should hold them off to give us enough time to get to the-----"

Mark was interrupted by the banging sounds coming from the opposite side of the door. Seconds later, they busted the door down. They looked through to see nine or ten ravenous cannibals, each hungering for flesh.

The group quickly ran up the staircase that led to the roof.