"Rrrrroooooaaaaarrrrr!!!!!"
As the saying goes, "When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk again."
This 22-storey hotel was still not enough to accommodate several hordes of infected.
Some of them were jumping from the lobby, to the side rails of the stairs up to reach us. Others were jumping from the higher floors to the bottom, defying gravity of heights just to grab us.
"Wait! I can’t run anymore!" Clarisse shouted in exhaustion.
"We have no choice, but to continue. We still have 17 floors left, but we can make it up to the rooftop", I said.
"Is that your plan? So, what are we going to do next?"
"We must wait for a helicopter or a chopper, anything that will get us out of this city."
Unexpectedly, a door of a lone room opened. There stood a middle-aged man equipped with a shotgun.
"Halt! Who are you?" he asked us.
"Wait! Don’t shoot! We’re immune!" I complied.
"Are you sure you’re not bitten?"
We nodded our heads in reply.
"Alright. Get inside."
We barged in hastily, as the man shot the infected outside the door. Inside, we saw a woman and a child hiding at a corner of the room. Everything was disorganized. The bed wasn’t fixed, there were many empty cans of canned goods and beverages scattered on the floor and there were scratches and writings on the walls. After several minutes, the man got back in, closed the door and locked it with several latches.
"Wait. Are you Clarisse Bradford? I always watch all your shows on television. This is really an honor to have you here", the woman said, as she shook Clarisse's hand.
"Apparently, you’re our idol. We’re the fans of watching your shows, role plays and concerts. It’s really wonderful to see you here", the man said.
"Thank you for saving us. Actually, we have nowhere else to go", Clarisse said
"Well, what can we say? This is the right place to stay with. We’re sorry for the room. It’s just that we haven’t packed up yet since three days ago."
"Oh, that’s okay. It’s lucky for you because I own this."
"What? You do? Well, that’s a shocker. We didn’t know that you own a hotel here in Rushford."
"Why? Where have you come from?" I asked.
"Actually, we’ve come all away from Europe. We’re tourists. We’re here because we knew from the start that this city is one of the most wonderful places in America, very industrialized."
"Well, I’m sorry about that. Now’s the opposite of what you know about this place. It’s completely dead now."
"Apparently, this is our last day here, despite of what’s happening today. It’s some kind of an illness or a disease that infected the civilians."
"Wait. How do you know about the infection?" I asked again.
"What more can I tell you? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hudson Rhinebeck, a virologist from France. I work at Halford Inc. for 13 years. She’s Carla, my wife. This is Hannah, our only daughter."
"Did you just say that you work at Halford?"
"Oui. Why?"
"In France?"
"Yes. Halford Research Facility is the most top-notching laboratories ever built. The first clusters of the said institution were built here in Central America."
"Which means what?"
"Halford is standing tall worldwide, not only here, but also, in other countries. I tell you my friend; everything that we’re talking about right now is strictly confidential."
"I know that. Halford is truly secretive. I’m bearing that in mind."
"Right. By the way, what’s your name?"
"Jacob Styles. I was a police officer."
"Ahh. A cop. Good thing that you’ve joined with us."
"Actually, I was left by my friends. They’re the other survivors, aside from you."
"You didn’t tell me about that", Clarisse interrupted.
"So, where are they now?" Clara asked.
"They already escaped, before I do."
"Well, the good news is: we have our own helicopter at the rooftop", Hudson said.
"You do?! Oh, thank you!" Clarisse exclaimed joyfully.
"But the bad news is; we haven’t left this room ever since the infection began. So, several infected individuals are waiting for us outside."
"Alright. I got this. I’ve been doing stunts lately. So, we should come up with an evacuation plan", I suggested.
"What can we say? You were a cop. Let us do this. Merci beaucoup for everything", Hudson said.
"Save your gratitude for the worst. We haven’t got an action yet. Let’s see what you French people are capable of. I mean, you’re tourists."
After that statement of mine, Hudson just smiled and nodded at me.
YOU ARE READING
Hunger
HorrorThis novel is about an unveiled secret of a controversy behind the founding of a super laboratory known as the Halford Industries, Inc. Head Researcher Richard Halford together with his adopted sons, Chris and Randall Arkline, tried to fulfill an am...
