More of the zombies were picking up items to bang against the windows and doors. It was as if they understood that living flesh was just within their reach if only they could break through.
The assembly line was working faster now. Four people were working fast with their trowels, spreading fresh layers of cement, laying the brick, and then spreading more cement. Other people kept refreshing the bins of cement while others handed down the bricks.
“Juan, we have cracks in this window,” one of the men said.
Juan motioned to those standing nearby with guns to take up positions. “Keep them covered. ”
Lifting the walkie-talkie, he said, “We need something to brace up the new walls ASAP. ”
There was a pause, and then Ken, one of his assistants said, “I'm on my way. ”
“Faster, faster,” people were saying to each other as they worked.
Juan wiped the sweat off his brow and looked at the right window.
He could see long cracks in the glass. The shady figures behind the frosted window were banging on it with large, heavy objects.
“Concentrate on that window,” Juan ordered.
Overlapping each other in their haste, the four people struggled to wall in the window. It was almost five feet high when the first chunk of glass fell out of the window frame.
The workers hesitated, then resumed what they were doing.
The guards looked nervous. “We can't get good shots with people in the way,” one of them told Juan.
Juan thought over the scenario realizing it would take some sharp shooting to deal with the increasingly dangerous situation.
“Nerit, I think we need you down here,” Juan said into the walkietalkie. “We’re going to have trouble hitting them. ”
“On my way,” she answered.
Another chunk of glass fell from the frame. He could hear it, but not see it.
“They're pushing on the wall,” said Linda, his cousin, one of the people laying the brick. “I can feel it. ”
“Shit!” Juan ran down the stairs and put his hands on the wall.
“Shit, they are. ”
Another chunk of glass fell out and a hand pushed through the gap between the broken window and the new wall.
“Watch out!”
Juan ducked away just in time, but the zombie grabbed his hat and yanked it back out of sight.
“That was my lucky hat!”
Linda slammed two more bricks into place, her heavy gloves giving her protection.
In their desperation to get into the hotel, the zombies were struggling with each other to reach in through the tiny opening in the window.
Ken, followed by more people, ran in with wood planks and large pieces of sheet metal. “To brace it,” he said to Juan.
More glass fell out of the window, making the zombies more crazed and desperate. Decaying hands were appeared over the heads of those working on the wall. No one dared lay more bricks now and Linda stabbed at one hand as it dislodged a brick and pulled it away.
“Let's do it,” Juan said.
“Do what?” Ken answered. “They're coming in!”