A World Reborn: The First Outbreak (11 page)

As she had noted on a previous, more
leisurely visit, the second floor housed a huge shopping mall filled with
stores of every conceivable type to encourage tourists to spend, plus cafes,
bars, gambling spots and a large gift shop. It also housed stores selling
necessities, such as a drug store, where Melissa wanted to go to in order to
get some medical supplies for her arm. The drug store was on the walkway to the
right of the hallway housing the dual banks of
west elevators
.
Getting there was going to be a challenge, however. There could easily be
additional soldiers on the second floor; the helicopter could have held a dozen
people or more, and, as one of the soldiers in the elevator had mentioned
multiple teams, they had obviously split up. Melissa carefully craned her neck
out of the elevator to check the hallway, and saw it was clear of both the
infected and the soldiers. To the best of her ability from her position, she
peered beyond the hallway; disappointingly, she could see very little. The
sounds of movement were still relatively close, so she resolved to advance as
slowly as possible, but it was risky. As soon as the elevator doors closed,
she’d be trapped on this floor, for better or worse. This, however, was where
the answers were. Steeling herself, Melissa slipped out of the elevator car and
into the hallway where she followed the wall closest to her; sliding against
it, while making herself as small as possible as she moved in an almost ghostly
silence. She could hear the soft groans and heavy, military boot footsteps
getting further away as she approached the exit. At the corner she paused and
looked left, scanning for any signs of a soldier or an infected person
to
ensure she wouldn’t be seen from that side when she eventually stepped out.
From what she could see amidst the mass of shops and venues it seemed clear, so
she came as close to the corner as she could and took a deep breath before
leaning out. Immediately, Melissa retreated around the corner, and took a
couple of steps back. The infected and the soldiers weren’t as far away as she
thought, having only advanced to the first turn of the railing that traced the
perimeter of the gap which permitted a view of the ground floor. From what she
had seen, she needed to conceal herself, as there was a chance
a soldier
would be able to see her as they followed the walkway all the way around to the
Grand Staircase. Melissa quickly assessed her options. Ahead of her, directly
across from the hallway was a small foyer; a space with a few seats and some
fake plants that was designed for people who
wanted to have somewhere
grand to sit and view the spectacle of the casino floor below or wait for
someone coming down in the elevator. It was also an out of the way spot to
stand if the hallway was busy, until they could board an elevator.
For
Melissa, it would be risky to try and get to it, as she would pass directly in
their line of sight. Maybe they wouldn’t see her. But equally, maybe they
would. It seemed her best bet would be to go completely prone in the hallway,
and crawl up to the corner and observe them from the best vantage point she
could. There was no way to know for certain if she was doing the right thing,
all Melissa could do was make a choice.
A moment later she was lying
flat on the ground, crawling forward using her elbows, towards the corner
where, once she had reached it, she peeked out.

Her minutes of waiting and assessing her
options had given the soldiers the opportunity to move further ahead. They had
made it past the second turn of the railing, and had begun passing by the drug
store. The two soldiers were now herding the group of infected towards the
right turn which would lead them to the south Grand Staircase. The infected
seemed to be moving more easily, but Melissa had barely acknowledged this when
the composure of the infected unexpectedly collapsed. They had started to move
past some kind of branded toy store, which had a cut out of an animated
character, some kind of animal, that featured a motion sensor triggering a
piece of dialogue.

“Oh boy! Let’s have some fun today!” It
declared.

It caused a huge disturbance amongst them,
and the two soldiers had to struggle to control them. Plainly, the kind of fun
on offer in the store was not to the taste of the infected. Only when they
resumed their slow advance did Melissa move
forward a little more.
Looking around from her new vantage point, she could see the entrance to the
large gift shop at the far end of the walkway, which was roughly over the lobby
area, to see with mounting horror the huge swathes of blood and gore across the
floor leading out from its doors. She was momentarily stunned and needed to
shake her head to clear her thoughts; after a few moments to compose herself,
she refocused and checked the position of the infected and the soldiers. The
soldiers were still fully occupied in keeping the infected under control after
their encounter with animated character, and so Melissa took her chance and
began to move. She got up into a hunched over, almost crouched position and
hurried towards a planter on the right, getting behind it and the fake greenery
it housed. It was now, however, that she could see the full carnage the
infected had inflicted on this floor.

There had been a defiant, but futile,
struggle against the surging infected on that side of the floor; broken windows
and bloody skeletal remains were strewn here and there. Trashcans were tipped
over, and objects were splattered with blood - as though someone had tried to
defend themselves with a chair or a fire extinguisher, just as Melissa had. It
seemed like the fighting had been intense, brutal, and ultimately those
fighting for their lives had been torn to shreds. Melissa tried to ignore these
details for now, and focused on what she needed to do. Seeing she might be able
to reach the drug store without incident, Melissa checked on the infected and
the soldiers heading away. They’d just about reached the turn at the next
corner, which would lead them in a straight line towards the Grand Staircase,
and so she waited. One minute ticked into two, then three. It was good distance
for her to travel before she would be out of their line of sight if they
happened to turn back, so she waited a few more minutes until she felt
confident she would be safe. With her nerves steadied, Melissa continued in her
hunched over, low profile stance and crouch walked, hurrying towards the gift
shop, using whatever she could for cover.

As she passed by the railing, she took a
hasty look through the gap to the ground floor below, checking in case a
soldier was looking in her direction. She saw nothing, and so followed the
railing around
to the drug store; across the blood spattered, glossy,
stone floor. The drug store was indicated by a large green, glowing, plus sign
which reminded Melissa of health pickups in the video games she’d played with
her ex-fiancé before her time in Africa. It was nestled between a jewellery
store and some kind of fashion boutique, both with neon signs in their windows.
Melissa, however, ignored them and remained focused on her objective. As she
approached the door to the drug store, she passed by what remained of a person,
and couldn’t help but pause for a few moments to look down at the sad ruin of a
human body. The remains were almost entirely skeletal, with fragments of cloth
and slivers of meat clinging to the bones that the infected hadn’t picked clean
before moving on to another victim. There was no way for Melissa to tell
whether they belonged to a man or a woman, as the few pieces of remaining scalp
had hair that was short enough for a fashionable unisex cut, but the
outstretched, skeletal arm that was a couple of feet away from the majority of
the remains told a brutal, horrifying tale of the individual’s final moments.
Briefly, Melissa wondered why the infected hadn’t been incensed by all the blood
and the partial remains of the bodies, and then it occurred to her that maybe
it was because there wasn’t anything to sustain them here – the infected were
only interested in living flesh. Looking down at the skeleton, Melissa was
sickened by the implications of her thoughts. With intense pity, and a fervent
hope that it wouldn’t end that way for herself, Melissa shook off the
distressing distraction, and continued to the drug store.

The door opened easily and quietly, and she
shut it as fast as she could once she was inside before taking a look around.
The interior of the drug store had been the site of a battle; blood streaked
down one of the aisles, with products spread around in disarray on top of it.
Near the checkout, a large, presumably arterial, spray of blood reached from
the pharmaceutical shelves to the ceiling. There were no bodies and Melissa
hoped the soldiers had collected the injured if they’d been turned into the
infected. She reached for the pistol tucked into her belt and held it at her side,
just in case. She definitely didn’t want to fire it with the soldiers so close,
but she wanted to be eaten even less. She passed along the front of the aisles
and scanned them one by one, making sure they were all empty before returning
to the one with the gauze. She grabbed a package before moving on to the aisle
displaying different types of antiseptic, where she pulled down a brown bottle
of liquid. Melissa went next to the prescription counter and, staying clear of
the blood, put the gun down and took off her jacket. She opened the bottle and
poured it onto the wound; cursing under her breath when the liquid touched the
cut. It burnt and it hurt, making her grind her teeth to stifle the groan of
pain that wanted to escape her lips. The liquid ran down her arm, carrying with
it some of the blood. Next, she opened the package of gauze pads and used the
first one to dry up the liquid, then she peeled the sticky part from a second
pad that was big enough to cover the wound; applying it awkwardly to her arm.
With her wound dressed, she slipped her jacket back on and reached for the
radio before she scooped up the gun.

 “Roy.” Melissa said quietly, turning the
volume on the radio up, but only enough to barely hear Roy’s response.

“What’s happening out there, Melissa?” Roy
returned urgently a moment later.

“They’re gathering up all of the infected
and herding them down the Grand Staircase. Strangely, the infected don’t seem
to notice them, they’re completely docile. They’re also gathering uninfected
people up for something called ‘conversion’, and they’re planning on
broadcasting it.”

“That’s really weird.” Roy exclaimed in
disbelief.

“Yeah. There’s something else. They’re
executing people who aren’t complying.”

“God.” Roy whispered. “There’s nothing you
can do about that, Melissa.”

“I know. I just... hate to think of it.”
Melissa answered carefully, not wanting to expose too much emotion.

 “Where are you now?” Roy asked, changing
the topic, much to Melissa’s relief.

“Drug store on the second floor.”

“Gertrude’s?”

“Maybe, I didn’t see the name. It’s near the
big gift shop.”

“Okay. Did you see where they were moving
the uninfected people to?”

“They said they’re taking the uninfected
down to the ground floor using the elevators, something about not wanting them
and the infected to cross paths, at least not before the broadcast occurs.”

Roy mulled it over for a few seconds before
speaking again. “Well, there’s plenty of open space on the ground floor,
especially around the Money Pit. But according to what I heard from one of my
security guy’s before he stopped communicating, the ground floor, especially
the casino, is packed with thousands of the infected. Maybe they’re going to
separate them out down there. Before ‘conversion’, whatever that might be.” Roy
explained.

“It’s as good a theory as any. I’ll get
back to you when I find out more.” She informed him.

“Be careful, Melissa.” Roy unnecessarily
warned once more. Melissa turned the volume off on the radio and slipped it back
on her belt.

She returned to the door and slowly opened
it before peeking out in the direction the soldiers had gone, and then she gave
the immediate area a quick scan too. Seeing no obvious signs of danger, and
gripping the gun tightly in her hand, Melissa slipped out to unobtrusively
pursue the soldiers. She hugged the wall and followed the path they had taken,
advancing forward first to the recessed doorway of a jewellery store.
Using
the glass door, she checked to see if anyone was inside, at least, where she
could see, but it was empty.

Melissa continued this pattern of moving up
from doorway to doorway, managing to duck below the motion sensor of the animated
character so she didn’t trigger its greeting message. She would stop every now
and then to listen carefully for any sign of a soldier or an infected nearby.
She came to a stop at the corner the soldiers had turned and paused to peer
around it carefully, exposing as little of herself as possible. She saw the
soldiers and infected had progressed some way towards the grand staircase,
where a much larger group of infected guided by six soldiers were about to
descend. It would be too dangerous to try and get too much closer, but Melissa
saw an opportunity to gain some ground in the form of the turn off to the south
elevator bank. She took a few deep breaths, staring down the walkway at the
backs of the soldiers and infected, looking for any sign that either group ahead
might turn and look back the way they had come. She also stood on tiptoe to check
as much of the ground floor as she was able. There was no sign of soldiers, but
she did glimpse something that looked like a barricade that had been erected
around the casino. However, she decided now wasn’t the time to examine it in
any detail. She had an opportunity and needed to take it. Melissa darted around
the corner and half ran to the hallway housing the south elevators, pausing
briefly to check it out before ducking in as quickly as she could. Crossing
over to the opposite wall, she snuck up to the corner and peeked at the
soldiers again. Both groups were still advancing, and seemed to have no idea
she was behind them. Moving further up at present, however, would prove difficult.
It appeared that in the bloody struggle of the initial outbreak, someone had
broken the window of a second boutique store up ahead from the inside,
scattering glass all along her path, making Melissa wary of trying to cross it
as the chunks of crunchy glass beneath her boots would make a very distinct
noise. There was also no way around it, unless she decided to double back and
pursue the soldiers from the north side, but that would take time, and she
would be more visible on the opposite side of the floor too. She knew further
on, to the right of the Grand Staircase, was a kind of courtyard, dotted with
brightly lit game machines playing the usual jingles, with an avenue leading
off filled with more stores. She figured she should wait at the elevators and
then move up when they were on the casino floor, as this would allow her to
observe them from relative cover; that is, if they continued moving in the
direction of the Money Pit, as Roy had suggested.