Then, as quickly as the gunshots had erupted, there was silence.
He immediately pressed the button, “What the fuck happened?”
There was a long pause, static, laughter, and then, finally, Mike’s voice came through the static. “We got swarmed, but we’re okay now.
I have a feeling that every zombie outside of a locked door headed our way. ”
Juan was about to ask about Jenni when he heard her voice plainly.
He felt the tight knots in his back release. “Did we lose anyone?”
“Yeah, Mark and Wallace. ”
“Damn. ”
“We’re going to need to start room to room now. Send in the backup teams and have them meet me in the lobby. Still use caution, there could be stragglers,” Mike’s voice said through the static.
Juan heard Jenni yell, “Love you, babe” and he smiled slightly.
“Okay, sending them in. Take care of yourselves. ”
Turning, he motioned to Bill and Curtis to head in with their teams.
Glancing toward Jason, he gave the boy a slight smile.
“Your Mom’s okay. ”
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“I know,” the teenager said in a quiet, distrustful tone.
Juan hesitated, then shrugged. The kid hated him and he knew it, but at least the boy still had his Mom and he still had his loca.
He watched Bill and Curtis’ team disappear into the building and felt the knots in his back return.
***
Ashley stood quietly to one side as everyone flipped the tables back over and began the process of making sure the zombies were truly dead. Caution was the key word, and everyone was very careful. But their aim had been true and the many dead were finally at peace.
During the fracas, Ashley and Ned had been constantly reloading guns.
It wasn’t until toward the end, she had ended up helping brace a table.
Now she stood looking at her fingers and the long scrape across them.
Nearby, Jenni used a broken chair leg to bash in the last zombie’s head as a precaution.
Meanwhile, Ashley just stared at her hand.
It was just a scrape. That’s all it was. Just a scrape.
***
Katie rinsed her mouth out with water from the faucet. It tasted odd, but Juan had explained the hotel used well water. Watching the water swirl down the drain, she ran her wet fingers over her brow and took a steadying breath.
Of course, the kitchen reeked of death, so she threw up again.
Finally, she was done. She wiped her mouth again and looked around. There were buffet bins filled with decayed food laid out for what was probably going to be a brunch. A large menu was tacked up on a board. Next to it was an easel with a large placard on it. “The Daughters of Texas present The Restoration of Historical Ashley Oaks. ” it read at the top and listed the guest speakers.