Waiting at Bay

Now folks, you have got to believe that all of this was new to me and my friends. No one knew how this would turn out. No one thought the infection would break through. We were just kids. 

Rohan managed to drive us out of the area. Now, we were on our way to Radison. We went to the guard quarters of the area and stopped our car.

I went out to look for survivors. All were dead. They were all lying there, bloody and severed. We now knew that the infected had entered the area, they trespassed. I went in the car telling my friends that there was nothing left for us back there. They seemed to be depressed. Rohan slowly drove us towards ‘Radison’. 

As we were crossing a ‘U-turn’, Shaherul looked back and shouted-“Infected !”

Rohan pressed the accelerator pedal harder and we began to move in a faster method. The infected  from the place we remained before had followed us to this place. Our destination was still a couple of miles away. Rohan accelerated viciously. 

Arman said, "Put down the roof !"

Rohan did so and in an instance, Arman, Shaherul and Shamerul grabbed their weapons as firmly as possible and began firing at the infected approaching us! Infected began to come from the front as well.

 I held the weapon I had tightly and began to shoot in all directions, as the dead were everywhere! An infected jumped on the hood of the car. Rohan at once turned rightwards which altered the infected on the hood to get blown away. Shamerul went off balance but Arman, with a firm hand helped him to stand upright. Soon, as the car began to accelerate, the infected hoard was now behind us. Rohan laughed heartily at them, as he was strong and boastful-epic! Rohan was indeed an amazing driver. Being a boy of such youth, he drove great. Steadily and with eyes peeled, we finally reached the hotel called 'Radison' .

Rohan stopped the car at its entrance. It was once a very grand and prosperous hotel. But now, it seemed to be nothing but an architecture of waste, burnt cars, blood in the parking lots, countless dead bodies all over the place. I took a deep breath as I was very frightened at this last encounter. Everyone was. We were all shaken and awed. As we got down from the vehicle, we decided to plan the next move. We were quite certain that we would enter the premise. Therefore, we took every possible weaponry and ammunition from the weapons bag , we divided the firearms among each other. We could see nothing in the distance as the mild fog of a coming winter was present all around.

 I said, "Oh man, I think we should get inside quickly, watch your backs and always keep your guns steady. We can only hope that there are people inside the hotel and we can find shelter. Be calm, be steady and firm. We might just find a way out of this mess! " 

As we were about to enter the hotel, we saw Rohan lock the car. Good precaution but the question arose-who was left to steal it? Then I noticed drops of water coming out of Shamerul's eyes, he was frightened and harshly shaken. It was not strange, considering the situation we were in. All of us hugged him and gave him hope. We gave him hope! Soon, we were at once inside the hotel.

The hotel was vast, containing sixteen floors! The first floor was dark and damp, with the heavy smell of blood in the air. We went inside very carefully. We entered a small hall in which there were lights which kept twinkling. The twinkling lights created within us a new sense of fear and horror. We slowly walked to a passage, which led to two hallways. The walls were almost completely covered with blood, dead bodies every step of the way. The blood and dead bodies terrified us. All hope of finding survivors was pushed away! We went to the hallway on the right. We remembered our way back. As we went deeper, we saw a door in front, on which we could hear pounding. Someone was inside! At that moment our hearts came to our throats.

I said, "Stand back everyone, stand back! " 

The pounding became fierce. At that moment, the door broke open. It seemed to be a person standing there. He was just standing!

I asked, "We require aid and seems like you do too, can you help us out sir?" 

He didn't reply. 

I asked again, "Are you okay sir? Are you in anyway harmed?" 

He just stood there and stared at us. I tried to gaze upon his eyes from where I stood. His eyes were crimson-red, a face so bloody and torn! Then did I realize that what stood in front of us was not a 'he' but an 'it'! An infected. It suddenly began to trudge towards us. We shot it down quickly. The infected was dead yet again. We walked passed the bodies and went into the room the infected came from. A number of dead bodies were lying across the floor. It seemed as if survivors were taking shelter in that room when the outbreak occurred. Unfortunately there must have been an infected human present who killed the others. We found some ammunition for our weapons-5.5mm rifle bullets for my M16-A1, a few magazines of handgun bullets, some 9mm handgun bullet clips for the sub machine guns Shamerul and Shaherul had. Shamerul had an 'SMG' (Sub machine gun) known as 'UZI'. He found the weapon easy to use and fast. Shaherul had a 'P-90' SMG. Rohan found a pump action shotgun on a desk in that room. He put his 'AK-47' assault rifle on his back and grabbed that gun as his secondary weapon. 

There was nothing else to find there and so we walked back down the hallway and went to the hallway on the left. So we go deeper into the tainted hotel, even though it was clear that the infected had breached the place and there may be no survivors. But we couldn't be sure till we searched. For the assurance of anything was impossible in such a crucial encounter. Very crucial, indeed.