Tashell and Sasha were carefully scouting the second floor of the hotel.
"There are so many dead Zombies," Tashell sang out as she stepped over a dead body.
"Yeah, someone went all GI Joe on their asses," Sasha added. "I hope Ruby is ok."
"Me too," Tashell replied. The girls came upon two staircases at each side of the room, leading up to the third and final floor. "I think we should split up. You take the right, and I'll take the left."
"Ok, but be careful. If you see more than a few Zombies, don't be a hero, come find me and if I run into too many, I'll do the same," Sasha asserted. Tashell nodded her head in agreement.
Tashell pulled her sword from its holding on her side and she gripped the handle tightly as she carefully made her way up the left steps.
With a dagger in each hand, Sasha took the right stairs, cautiously making her way up to the third floor.
One foot after the next, Tashell slowly and quietly clambered up the stairs. The steps were elaborately covered in red and gold carpeting. The golden rails curved in eloquent designs, there was no doubt in her mind that this place was once a five-star hotel before the earth went to hell.
Only two more steps to climb before she arrived at the door to the third floor. The carpets did wonders to swallow the sound her heels made as her feet padded up the stairs. She shook her head when she recalled Sasha's words. "Heels and zombie apocalypse doesn't mesh well together." But Tashell loved heels ever since she was a little girl. Her mother was Miss Georgia 1988, and before she got sick, Cindy was training her to become a pageant girl like herself, but Tashell wanted to be a Biomedical Scientist like her father. When her mother died, she felt guilty for not being the pageant princess her mother desired her to be. So to honour Cindy's memories, Tashell began wearing heels every day. Before long it was one of her signature looks.
Tashell made her way up to the door, then she used her foot to nudge it open. It squeaked slightly, and she froze, looking around to see if it caught anyone's or anything's attention.
She exhaled when she realised the corridor was scanty, she found it odd. Why weren't there any dead zombies on this floor? It was too clean.
Tashell made her way down the corridor, she was halfway when she smelt something putrid; rotten.
She halted in her tracks and that's when she heard them. The hungry growls of the undead.
She sucked in her breath and braced her back against the wall of the corridor. She slid along the surface until she reached the corner, and then she peeked around the left side of the corridor.
There were a dozen of them, all clad in Army clothes. They stood closer to the door where Sasha would emerge. Tashell wondered why they were all huddled together like that. Her eyes settled on the floor below them. She swallowed her yelps when she noticed the fresh kill, a woman in her early twenties laid lifeless on the ground as the zombies feasted on her intestines. The royal blue tunic dress she wore had the hotel's logo on it.
Tashell closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat.
She suppressed her gasps when one of the zombies turn in her direction. A huge slab of his flesh hung from his chin. His face was frozen in a ghoulish grin. He sniffed the air, and then he started to drag his way towards Tashell.
Tashell quickly pulled back her head behind the corner. Her back pressed to the wall. Her adrenaline skyrocketed, causing her heart to pump blood at an extremely high level through her veins. She hovered her sword above her head and waited for the zombie to turn the corner. She listened as its feet dragged closer. Just as she was about to swing her sword and swipe at its head, someone pulled her from behind, clamping their palm over her mouth.
Her feet dangled off the floor as the person hoisted her up in their arms.
She kicked and thrashed into the person's hands.
The zombie vanished from her sight before it could see her as she was hauled off into one of the hotel rooms. She was flung face down on the bed. Her sword went falling with a loud clunk to the floor.
"Dammit!" A masculine voice trickled down her ears, but no matter how calm and comfortable it sounded, it still didn't stop the horrifying sense of Déjà vu that shook her core.
She heard the man's heavy strides move towards the sword and then the rattling it was making on the floor ceased. It was obvious that he stepped on it to stop it from rattling, then he made his way back to the door.
Tashell turned around to face the man, her hair tie fell from her hair while she was being dragged from the corridor. Her face positioned towards him. Her avalanche of thick raven curls flooded down the front of her face. She quickly peeled the hair from her eyes to get a better look at him.
His back was turned towards her as he pressed his ear against the door. His muscles were prominent behind his black muscle shirt and his thighs were thick beneath his army pants. She glared down at her sword on the floor, and she silently made her way towards it.
An army man he might be, but she wasn't taking any chances.
Sasha's words rang through her head again, "The only people you can truly trust is me, Carla and Ruby. Don't trust anyone else."
She picked up her sword, and then she hastened towards the man. His body went rigid when he felt the tip of the sword on his back. "Why the fuck did you grab me like that?" She seethed, catching the man off guard.
It was apparent to him now, that he had underestimated this petite beauty.
"Easy there, ma'am. I was only trying to help. I saw you through the peephole in the door and I knew there were a bunch of Z's at the corner of the corridor."
"So you thought I needed saving? Turn around," Tashell demanded. She stepped back a little to put some space between them. His eyes widened the second he laid his views on her. "Do I look like a damsel in distress?" She questioned. She hated that he thought she couldn't handle herself. But the man wasn't focused on her words. He was too busy admiring her gorgeous exotic features. Her almond-shaped eyes held his gaze and he wanted to kick himself for thinking she was a damsel a few moments ago, but how could he have known, she was wearing six-inch heels for Christ's sake. He found her more intriguing now.
Her plump pink lips had the cupid's bow that he liked and at that moment he wanted to beg for her to grace him with her smile. His eyes danced over her petite body, she was perfect in every sense of the word; perfect sized breasts, tiny waist, wide hips, but it was her hair that stood out for him. Her curls were jet black, shining like a raven's feather. It cascaded down the sides of her oval face. It flickered like the flame of a candle as it swayed slightly in the wind that trickled through the open window.
Everything about her seemed so familiar like they had met before, but he couldn't remember where.
He involuntarily licked his lips and made an advance towards her. Tashell swiped her sword and grazed him on his right arm. "You cut me!" He spoke in disbelief. "You are tougher than you look. But listen, my informant told me that two guys are lurking in the building. I haven't made contact with either of them as yet, but I think you'll be safer if you stick with me."
"Thanks, Rambo," her eyes trailed up and down his juicy biceps before they met his gaze. "But no thanks. I can take care of myself. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to warn my friend about the zombies on the corridor, she'll be zombie food if she opens that door." Tashell settled the sword in her left hand then she placed her right palm on the door, but before she could open it, the man grabbed her by her upper arm.
"Wait, you can't go out there."