"Okay, the hotel has an entrance on the end of the wing. That is what we will go for. Max, what are the zombies doing?"
"The ones with Ruben haven't moved, the shambers are starting to head towards this side, but are staying inside. The super…I.." Max looked perplexed, "I've lost him. How did I lose him?"
"We gotta move now. Max you got point, get to the hotel door and break through it. There is bound to be a stairway at the end, shut any of the doors leading to the hallway on the first floor, if they are not already. I should be there by then. Javier, you follow me on ten. Stewart you bring up the rear. Got it? Go!"
Max scrambled up the ditch and ran towards the glass door on the side of the hotel building. When he was fifteen feet away he fired one shot into the door, it shattered, but did not fall out of the frame. Using the barrel of the shotgun he pushed through the safety glass, then used his hand to pull the door open from the inside. There was a fire door that blocked off the stairway from the first floor of the hotel, however it was open. Max saw a mob of slow shamblers coming towards him from the hallway, instead of firing he tried to pull the door shut, but it was caught on something and wouldn't budge.
Bill joined him a moment later and pulled the door shut effortlessly, ripping the latch out of the drywall as he slammed it shut. There was nothing to hold the door shut with, so Bill pushed himself up against it while waiting for Javier and Stewart.
When the other two arrived Bill said, "Okay, we can either leave the door and have zeds shambling up our asses or one of us can stay here and hold the fort. "
"You're giving us a choice?" asked Stewart.
"No, I am asking for input."
"We all go." Stewart said, "These are shamblers and there is no guarantee we will be coming back this way."
Bill nodded, "Okay. Max, sorry to put you on point twice in a row, but you know where they have Ruben upstairs and you'll know if there are any zeds waiting in the rooms to spring out at us. So I want you and Stewart to head upstairs. If you come to a room were anything but a shambler is hiding you stop and wait for us. If they start to move Ruben, you and Stewart go balls to the wall until you catch them. Understand?" Max nodded. "Javier and I will follow in ten."
Max set off up the stairs, with Stewart close on his heels.
They reached the second floor and Max had time to reflect how very long ten seconds could be in the middle of an adrenaline rush. Max knew the hallway was clear before he burst into it, about halfway down there was a super zombie off to one side. The zombie was hiding at the elevators, which bisected the hotel floor. It looked like a Jenner.
"Jenner ahead, by the elevator." The zombie was back-lit by the light from the window at the other end of the hall.
A gunshot rang out and the wallpaper six feet in front of Max spontaneously developed a long tear.
"Armed Jenner!" Max corrected, blasting the corridor with his shotgun.
"Armed Jenner? You can do better than that!" said Stewart, running by Max as the zombie ducked back into the elevator alcove to avoid the shotgun blast.
Stewart fired her rifle as the zed tried to come back in for another shot. "How about Gunslinging Jenner?"
"Too long, how about Jengun? Or Jenga? For short?"
"Lame, no score for you. He ain't too good either, untrained, more like an amateur. Billy the Kid Jenner?" Stewart said.
"Still too long." said Max firing again as he moved ahead of Stewart to the next set of doors. "Watch the hallway down there, it looks like Ruben is moving."
"Okay, I'll watch for them, you got the Billy up there?"
"No. Not 'Billy', Billy the kid was good, this guy sucks."
"You know I can hear you!" called the zombie from the elevator.
"Good!" shouted Stewart, "You can't hit the broad side of a barn!" She fired a shot at the zed as it, predictably, tried to come around the corner and prove her wrong. She winged it in the shoulder and sent its gun flying down the hallway to land on the carpet. "Sucker! Oldest trick in the book! Go Max!"
Max took off for the elevator, calling back, "He still ain't a 'Billy'! Watch the hallway!" Max ran along the right side of the hall, giving Stewart a clear shot down the left side. A zombie head poked out of the doorway three quarters of the way to the far end. Stewart let loose with a three shot burst that caused the zed to pull back into the room. As he rounded the corner, shotgun at shoulder height, he was surprised to see the zombie cowering in the corner, hands raised in front of his face. Max's finger tightened on the trigger, then relaxed, he couldn't bear the idea of shooting a man who was defenseless in front of him.
"Fuck!" he yelled trying to force himself to pull the trigger again.
"Please don't! Just don't. I didn't, I didn't want to, I was. I was trying to miss. He made me, I would have just stayed at home, you know, not hurt any…"
"Shut up!" Max yelled. He was fully inside the elevator alcove now and Stewart fired another burst behind him to keep the zombies holding Ruben pinned. In the dim light he could barely make out the zombie's features, he was an African American man, not too much older than Max.
Stewart rushed by Max, heading down the hall, calling out, "Max! C'mon, shoot the Billy and let's go!" as she went by.
Max said, "Sorry." and pulled the trigger, drowning out the man's plea for mercy. The shot severed one of the zed's hands at the wrist and took off the top left side of his head. As Max turned to go he saw that it wasn't dead, it was twitching. "Goddamned pain in the ass! He stepped forward and finished the zombie off with another shot, then reloaded his gun as Bill and Javier caught up to him.
"Max?" Bill said, squinting in the poor light. "You okay?"
"Yeah, peachy."
"Guys! C'mon! I got them pinned!" yelled Stewart.
The three caught up with Stewart, and Bill said, "Javier, you watch our backs, when those shamblers come up here you let us know, but don't shoot unless you have to."
Stewart was outside of the hotel room, she had her rifle pointed inside and Max quickly peeked in from the other side of the doorway. In the main room there were two zombies and Ruben. Ruben was closest to the doorway and the two zombies were behind him, one had a knife at his throat, the other was standing there nervously, sucking its lips into his mouth, then pushing them out. As Max watched, it bit down and cut its lower lip free and sucked it into its mouth. Even as it chewed Max could see the outer lip stop bleeding. Faster than he would have thought possible, the lip that had been chewed off regrew.
"That is fucking-a disgusting." Stewart said softly.
"Yeah, Lips is an acquired taste." said the zombie holding the knife, "Even on a good day I can hardly stand to be around him." He shrugged his shoulders and continued, "And today is not a good day."
Stewart turned her eyes towards the zombie with the knife, "I don't think he'd be that much better on a good day. So, you gonna drop that knife?"
The zombie shook his head slightly, "No. You gonna drop that gun?"
Stewart fired, the bullet caught the zombie low in its forehead, almost dead center between the eyes. It clenched once, but the knife dropped effortlessly from its hand as it toppled over. When it fell backward, Lips was exposed and Max took a shot at him, aiming high. Max's shot missed and the zombie threw itself backwards into the curtains and window, leaving Ruben behind. The window didn't break and the zombie flailed around, wound up in the curtains while Max and Stewart fired into it. Their shots blew out the window and after bumping into the sill, Lips fell out of sight, pulling the curtain rod with him.
"Ruben! Are you okay?" Max said, going down to one knee and putting his hand out to steady him.
"I'm fine, they didn't even scratch me. Did you get the bomb?"