He took a few steps back from the entrance, looking up at the slanted ceiling, when he saw that a large neon sign hanging from the wall was precariously positioned and looked as though it could fall at a moment’s notice. Rick stepped back even farther, pointed the shotgun at the sign’s supports and fired. Having such low mass, the pellets couldn’t do much to damage the metal supports, the wall mounts or the sign itself. At least under normal circumstances they couldn’t.
As three shells full of buckshot bounced off of the sign and the supports, Rick heard metal groaning as the tiny vibrations disturbed the delicate balance of the sign and it began to continue its slide downward that had started during the earthquake. The sharp snap of steel breaking preceded the sign shifting down and outward suddenly before coming to a brief halt. The sign swung back towards the entrance and Rick’s eyes opened wide and he shook his head, hoping that it would stay in position long enough to swing back in the opposite direction.
A few seconds more was all the sign needed as the bottom swung back towards the interior of the casino. This movement was the final straw for the sign’s supports and the massive object came crashing down in a thunderous roar. Because the sign was already angled toward the entrance, instead of falling flat on the inside of the casino it fell at an angle towards the entrance. Light
streaming in from the outside was suddenly blotted out as the sign was jammed into the front of the building, completely blocking it off from entry or exit.
“Get through that, assholes.” Rick allowed himself a brief smile as he spoke quietly, overjoyed that his ludicrous plan had somehow worked.
Chapter 3
Las Vegas, Nevada
Only a few small streams of light came through cracks in between the sign and the building and while sounds from outside were muffled, Rick was able to make out the gunfire and shouts and anger as the men outside both shot and threw their body weight at the sign to try and get it out of the way. The commotion outside lasted for several minutes, and after waiting a moment to ensure that the entrance was secured, Rick went over to check on Jane.
The young woman’s eyes were closed as she sat on the floor, her head back against the wall as she took long, slow breaths. Rick felt her head and neck and quickly opened a bottle of water for her and helped her take several sips. “Easy there.” Rick spoke quietly and splashed water on her forehead. “You’re getting too hot again. How are you feeling?”
“I want to live somewhere cold.” Jane opened her eyes and forced a smile. “Did you kill them?”
Rick shook his head and glanced back at the sign jammed into the entrance of the casino. Light streaming in through cracks around the sign and through holes and cracks in the ceiling provided just enough light to make out the general shapes inside the building. “No, I didn’t. The front door to this building is closed off but I’m sure they’ll try to get in here another way.”
“Why?” Jane’s question caught Rick off guard and he struggled to think of an answer. Why, indeed, was he assuming that the men would try to get into the building?
“I don’t know. Maybe they won’t, but we should assume the worst given the fact that they stole those army Humvees and tried to kill us.”
Jane nodded and slowly started to stand up. “We should keep moving then, shouldn’t we?”
Rick helped Jane to her feet and watched her closely, waiting to see if she was going to collapse again. “You sure you’re good to move already?”
“I think so. Just feeling a little bit dizzy.”
Rick got out one of the lanterns he had taken from the lumberyard and turned it on. The glow was swallowed by the cavernous darkness in the casino, illuminating only a few feet around Rick and Jane. After picking up his gear, Rick and Jane began moving deeper into the building, leaving the noise and commotion of the group outside behind. Before long the shouts and clangs of their efforts to get inside had vanished, leaving only the eerie silence of the casino in their place.
“What happened to this place?” Jane spoke quietly, not wanting to raise her voice above a whisper due to the overwhelming quiet of the building.
Rick shook his head. “Not sure. I heard a group at the lumberyard and that bunch outside talking about earthquakes, though. If there really was a quake that hit the city I guess that would explain all the damage.”
“Is this place going to hold together?” Jane nervously looked up at the ceiling, casting a wary eye at the cracks and holes that pervaded it. In the main section of the casino sunlight was visible through the breaks in the ceiling. As they moved into the building and the ceiling dropped to accommodate the floors of the areas above them, they could see that the paint and plaster were cracked there as well. The darkness of the place along with the overturned furniture and gambling equipment and the cracks in the ceilings created an atmosphere where it felt like the entire building could cave in at any second.
“I hope so. Let’s just try to get through here quickly, though. I’ve no idea where the other entrances are here.”
Rick and Jane continued on in silence as they walked through the wide halls and expansive rooms of the casino. Rick had stepped foot into two casinos before in his life for business reasons and had been immediately turned off by their maze-like quality. Having large clusters of games and tables jammed next to each other with people standing shoulder to shoulder wasn’t something he was a fan of and he never felt the desire to go back.
Even with the darkness and destruction in the building, though, Rick could see that it had been like nothing he had experienced before. The older maze-like layout had been replaced by a wider, more open “playground” style with wide aisles, small clusters of machines and tables and a brighter, cheerier atmosphere. Sunlight streamed in through a collection of windows in one of the next rooms. A few scattered rays of color showed up amongst the white light from the few bits of stained glass that had survived the earthquake.
“This place doesn’t look like any casino I’ve seen before.” Rick whispered as he looked around the room, both for a possible exit and for any sign of the men from outside. “It looks more like a resort.”
“Think they have any food around here?”
Rick couldn’t help but smile at the question and nodded. “Yeah, probably.” The thought of having something other than energy bars and water to eat made his stomach growl. “I’m not sure we should be stopping for a meal, but keep your eyes open for a kitchen and we’ll grab something to take with us and eat once we get out of here.”
Jane nodded and gave Rick a weak smile. “Sounds good.”
Rick and Jane continued to pick their way through the large room, heading for the back of the building, when the low rumble of a diesel engine came from outside the nearest wall. Despite the thick walls and layers of carpeting and sound deflection materials, the utter silence of the interior of the building made it possible to just barely pick up on the noise. Jane was the first to hear it and stopped short, grabbing Rick’s arm and pulling him to a stop as well.
“Did you hear that?” Jane whispered to Rick and he cocked his head to the side. The engine thrummed as it surged forward and there was a deafening sound as the vehicle hit the side of the building at a high rate of speed.
After failing to get in through the front entrance the two Humvees had split up, with one traveling down each side of the casino, looking for a way in. After locating a service door that was tightly sealed, the group in one of the vehicles decided that trying to ram the side of the building to break down the door was the smartest thing they could do.