Chatter

Chapter 4

The motel was a shoddy typical one you would find along an interstate. Shingles were missing from the roof and paint peeled from the outer walls from years of neglect.

Vick, Trina, Autumn and Hank settled into room 107. Cade, Keiko, and Dwayne took 108. They were adjoining rooms and the inside looked about as good as the outside. Wall paper peeled around the rooms. The beds looked as though every hooker in the state had stained them. The bath tubs and sinks were rust stained but useable.

"I need one of you to come with me and scout the area," said Cade. 

None of the weary group seemed to happy about the idea but finally Keiko agreed, "I guess I'll go."

The pair crept out the door and headed south towards a market and another gas station. Neither really wanted to go to the truck stop but it was left unsaid. 

Rain started to sprinkle as the sun left the sky. It seemed some of the buildings had power and some were pitch black. Cade and Keiko crossed the road to the market.

Several undead wandered around but not close. They seemed to prefer the dark over light even though their eyes were rolled back. Strange. 

Keiko motioned Cade down and they kneeled by the store window. There were several corpses on the floor among the aisles. The food seemed intact and the lights were on. No zombies appeared to be in the building.

The two slowly and as quietly as possible entered the front door. The electric door no longer worked so they pushed it open.

"Grab some bags to fill," said Cade in a low hush. She went over to a register and grabbed several bags.

"Ok let's go shopping!" Said Keiko.

The pair began aisle by aisle looking for supplies. Since the horror just happened nothing had been taken yet. " I think these guys were after supplies too," said Cade pointing down at the corpses. 

"Yeah but what happened to them," replied Keiko. 

They kneeled to get a closer look at the people. Cade turned one to its back and inspected. The mans face was missing. Gore oozed down his chest and onto the floor. A black holy mess of muscle and cartilage and splintered bone was all that was left. 

"Holy God, those zombies did this," asked Keiko.

"Yeah..No. This looks more like a big ass bullet hole," said Cade.

He looked around quickly. "We need to get the hell out of here now, grab what you can."

Cade headed for the back of the store searching. He came to the meat department and jumped over the counter. "Bingo."

He filled his paper bag with knives of all kinds and a meat pounder. At least these are something to defend us with he thought.

He grabbed Keiko and they left through the front door shutting it the way they found it. "What's going on," said Keiko.

Cade looked back and forth as they hurried toward the motel, "I'll tell you in a minute."

The pair entered their room to see the rest of the group waiting. "Look what we found," said Hank excitedly.

He pointed to the mirror by the bed and Autumn Sid it open. "Damn perverts spy on the guests here. There's a whole passageway back there."

Cade looked relieved and scared. "Everyone grab your shit and get in there. Now."

They all hurried into the wall, shutting off the lights and sliding the mirror shut. There was little light back there but enough to see.

"I never thought being a geek would pay off," said Cade softly. "Look we found corpses with bullet holes in them." He scanned the passage for reactions. "If the movies and comics are right, it means one of two things." He kneeled, "either rogue survivors are killing others or there's a cleanup crew in the country getting rid of everyone."

"There cannot be a cleanup crew can there? I mean this just happened this morning and the President announced that the military was infected too," whispered Vick.

Cade took a deep breath, thinking, then replied, "You're right. But someone is out there putting holes in humans."

"Everyone get to a room mirror," said Dwayne. "Lets see how many, and who, we have to deal with." The seven of them went to a mirror each with Hank and Autumn sharing the end one.

The noise of a door kicked open sounded from room 103 which Keiko was watching. "Guys," she whispered.

Keiko looked on as two men entered the room. They both carried large shotguns, and turned over the place quickly. They checked the closet, bathroom and under the bed. The men exchanged words but were unclear from the passage.

The same men entered the next room and did the same tossing and searching. They seemed frustrated, words getting louder but still unintelligible.

It seemed only two men were ransacking the motel so Cade decided to follow the passage. He crept quietly along past each mirror until he came to a door knob and peep hole. He gazed through the hole and saw that it was the manager's office and it appeared empty, only an emergency light shone bright.

He tried the knob and turned it slowly. In the office he knew what he was looking for and assumed the desk would hold the treasure. Cade kneeled and made his way over and checked the drawers. The fourth drawer held what he was looking for.

He pulled a small pistol out of the desk drawer and stuffed it into his waistband after checking the ammo. Cade then went back into the passage and shut the peephole door tightly.

"Guys we have a gun." Cade motioned for everyone to come to him. "We need to get into 108 and wait for them." 

They opened the mirror and one by one slid through into the room. Cade positioned himself by the door while the others spread out and hid. Sweat trickled down Cades face and emotions were high all over the room.

"Maybe they are friendly," said Trina softly.

"Well we're gonna find out, quit," said Vick from beside the closet.

Hank and Autumn were in the bathroom so the young one would not see any death if things went badly.

They could hear 107 being turned upside down and knew the moment of truth was coming. "Everyone quiet, and be careful," said Cade.

The door to 108 was still. They all knew a breach was coming just as had happened to the previous rooms. Talking could be heard outside the door. They are coming,

Now.

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