“A fire escape goes down to the parking lot from the roof,” Kevin answered. “It’s the only way out now. ”
“Then we don’t have a choice,” Katie said. “They’ll be here soon. ”
“Go! Move!” Valerie started to shout, motioning people to the staircase.
“Bette, open that door up there,” Kevin ordered a blond soldier nearby.
With a nod, Bette ran up before the people, climbing three stories to the door at the very top.
Thomas ran ahead of her and swung open the gate at the bottom. The jumble of old, young, men, women, and children poured up the stairs.
Valerie tossed chairs and tables into the corridor leading to the Left Corridor. The zombies tended to not pay attention to anything but their victims and were easily tripped. Thomas joined her as more and more people lined up to ascend the stairs.
“Katie, let’s go,” Travis said firmly, pulling her toward the stairs.
“But Jenni,” Katie protested. “We need to find her!”
Travis turned to his wife and she could see the anguish in his eyes. “Katie, I love you and you know I care about Jenni, but we need to get out of here now! Think of the baby. ”
Katie nodded and, tears streaming down her face, she let him guide her into line.
“Target the fast zombies first,” Kevin ordered as the five soldiers took up position, looking down the corridor. It was strewn with chairs, tables, and potted plants.
“Where the fuck did the fast ones come from?” Thomas yelled angrily.
“They all slowed down. Why are they fast again?”
“They’re the fresh ones,” Kevin answered grimly.
“Oh, shit,” Thomas said in an agonized tone.
Kevin didn’t even want to think of how many fresh zombies there might be.
The people fleeing the Right Corridor were down to a trickle. Some had been overcome by the smoke or badly burned by the explosion. Finally the last survivors stumbled out of the smoke. It was Jenni with the children.
Half-carrying and half pulling the children, she saw the line of people ascending the metal staircase crawling up the wall and hurried toward it.
The first of the running zombies appeared from the Left Corridor.
Running at full speed, they howled with hunger.
“Fire!”
The soldiers opened fire, their bullets slicing through the air to impact with the heads of the runners. The zombies were eliminated one by one, several of them managing to make it close enough to trip over the tables and chairs. But they, too, were cut down.
“Running low on ammo,” Valerie said to Kevin.
Kevin looked up to see that the majority of the people were now on the stairs. He caught sight of Jenni with three small children stumbling into the last part of the line.
“We keep them covered until they are up the stairs,” Kevin instructed in a somber tone.
The soldiers all grimly nodded and looked back down the corridor.
The stumbling, slow dead were moving in one great wave toward them.
“Watch for the fast ones,” Kevin instructed.
Valerie grimaced, reloading her weapon.