Jill felt tired from the neck down. Her feet ached, her thighs were burning, and her shirt was stained with her sweat. She didn't know how much she sweated but she knew it would be enough to cause Leon and Billy to stare at her.
"The only girl in the group, as usual," Jill mutters. "Curse my fabulous body and looks! I really need to stop talking to myself."
A red light quickly caught Jill's attention. With renewed enthusiasm, she raced down the otherwise dark tunnel. She skids to a stop when she sees the light is part of a scanner set into another steel door. She looks at the scanner, noting that it only takes a keycard. Jill raises the Beretta and fires at it. The bullet impacts the plastic coating, but otherwise no change.
"Great. Just great." Jill brandishes her knife. "If that girl from that Resident Evil movie can do this, why can't I?"
Jill shoves the knife into the card slot and runs the blade up and down. Suddenly, the blade breaks and its jagged chunk falls to the ground. Jill takes a deep, cleansing breath and releases it slowly.
"Chris, why does everything you take from TV seem to work for you?" Jill yells to the emptiness around her.
A series of heavy thuds snaps Jill out of her funk. Thick, powerful, plodding footsteps come down the tunnel. She takes a heavy gulp and slides the Magnum out of her belt. She takes a series of quick breathes, turns, and aims, leaving the faux Sgt. Hank Kendo looking down the end of the powerful firearm.
"Watch it where you point that thing!" Billy accuses.
"Sorry," Jill says, blushing. "I don't like enclosed spaces."
"Really? Couldn't tell."
"You got the card for this thing?"
"I probably do. Let's see." Billy pulls out a keycard emblazoned with his fake name and slides it through the scanner. Nothing happens. "Looks like I don't."
"It's a self-contained facility, isn't it?" Jill asks, not expecting an answer. Billy gives her a cheesy grin.
"I guess that key Leon has will do the trick," Billy offers.
"Why don't you try Melissa's?" Jill asks.
Billy pulls out the Melissa Crawford's card and slides it through. Nothing happens.
"Looks like we wait," Billy states.
"I hate waiting," Jill declares. "Makes me…edgy."
They didn't have long to wait. The sound of someone coming was unmistakable. A shadow came across the tunnel wall. Jill takes aim with the Magnum and Billy raises his rifle. Leon comes into view, his jacket and jeans stained with blood. He stares at the firearms leveled at his head and retorts with a grunt. Jill and Billy return the grunt and lower their weapons.
Without further explanation, Leon pulls out the keycard given to him and slides through the slot. A green light goes off and the heavy door slides away in two sections. The trio head the chamber beyond, not sure when the doors would slide back again. A magnetic hum reverberates and the doors slide together again. The chamber the three found themselves in was completely pitch black.
"So, you guys ever play Seven Minutes of Heaven?" Billy asks, chuckling a bit. A smack sound is heard. "Ow!"
"Sorry," Jill says, not the least sympathetic. "We need some light."
Leon's face becomes illuminated by the dim light of his cell phone. In the dimness of the light offered, Jill found a light switch and turned it on. All at once the chamber became flooded with light, easily blinding them. After a few minutes, the group could see again, relatively.
"And that is why I'll never wear night vision goggles," Billy declares.
"Amen, brother," Leon states. "Hey! It's an elevator."
"Which floor?" Jill asks Billy.
"Third," he replies, rubbing his eyes.
"You sure?" Leon asks.
"Third floor is weapons storage and maintenance," Billy explains. "We need ammo, we need weapons, and so we start there."
Jill turns to Leon. "Can't beat that logic."
"No you can't."
Jill hits the switch and the gears above grind to life. The heavy cables squeak and squeal as it lowers the elevator down into dark tunnel. The loud noise subsided but the trip down was nearing ten minutes. The trio passed the time checking their weapons and ammo reserves. Billy had nine shots left in the rifle, and three full clips, resulting in 36 rounds, but not enough if they got into a firefight with the entire zombie population. Jill 12 shots left in her clip, but only three fifteen-shot clips after that. Leon had two fifteen-shot clips left and nine shots left in the gun.