“Sixth floor clear,” Bill finally declared.
Jenni was walking with a limp and Katie stayed near her. She could see that Travis was stressing over Jenni’s injury and was keeping his anger at Jimmy in check. Curtis was so red with anger, Katie was afraid he was going to have a heart attack. But they kept going and Roger trudged along mumbling to Felix about his red shirt being a bad idea.
3. Friends in High Places
Juan stood impatiently while the gate into the hotel was unchained.
As soon as it was opened, he hurried through with several construction workers and a small force of armed men in tow. Stepping into the janitor's room, he looked back into the fort and saw Jason standing with a walkie-talkie clutched in one hand and his faithful dog companion at his side. He gave Juan the thumbs up. Juan smiled slightly and turned back into the hotel.
Maybe the boy and he would get along one day.
The stench in the janitor's room was pretty intense and his eyes began to water. He kicked the dead zombie bodies out of the way so the equipment could get through and grimaced as bits of gore clung to his boots.
Stepping up to the door, Juan felt his palms sweating and he took a deep breath. They were just going to have to trust that the teams had done their job and that no more zombies were roaming around downstairs.
“Let's do this,” he said.
Swinging the door open, he stepped into the darkened hallway.
Flicking on a flashlight, he shone the beam down the hallway. Nothing stirred.
“Scary, huh?” Ken said from behind him.
“When is it ever not scary?”
They moved swiftly down the hall and into the corridor that would lead them into the lobby. As they drew nearer, they heard the loud banging on the doors and windows.
Juan broke into a swift run. The sound of their pounding feet against the tile, the tools jangling on their belts and the humming of the wheelbarrow wheels echoed through the lobby to mix with the moans and screeches of the zombies. The heavy oak doors were shuddering under the impact of many fists being banged against it and the dim outlines of the zombie bodies could be seen through the heavy, frosted lead windows in the door and on either side of the entry.
“Let's make this fast,” Juan ordered.
Immediately, the wheelbarrow full of fresh cement was wheeled into position and the pallets loaded with bricks were rolled into the room. Men and women began to quickly brick up the leaded glass windows and the doorway. An assembly line was created and people passed on the bricks to those wielding trowels. Layers of wet cement and brick were swiftly coming into being as they worked in the humid heat of the hotel lobby.
Juan turned and saw the nearly decapitated zombie body on the steps. Walking over, he looked down at it, and grimaced. “Damn. ”
Taking out the walkie-talkie, he pressed the button. “How is your progress up there, Nerit?”
“Moving along. We're on the seventh floor,” she answered.
“Curtis? How about you?”
“Also on the seventh floor. Making some progress. Jenni's hurt so we're moving slower,” Curtis answered, then added quickly, “Nothing major, just knocked up a bit. ”
Juan felt his chest tighten. He said a little shortly, “I thought you said she was okay?”
“Yeah, but, she's limping,” Curtis said blandly.
“Tell him not to worry,” Jenni's voice said through the static.
“She says not-”
“I heard her,” Juan answered. He took off his hat, ran his fingers through his curls, and took a breath. “Let me know how you are doing up there. We're busy down here blocking these fuckers off. ”
There was a loud crash against one of the windows and Juan whirled around to see the dim outline of a zombie with something quite large in its hand banging against the leaded window.
“Shit!”
The front doors were set down at street level. Stairs inlaid with marble rose up to the lobby floor from the entrance. The only windows Juan had any concerns about were the ones framing the doorway. The windows on the first floor were at least eight feet above the street.