Girls Save the World in This One - Ash Parsons Page 0,66
has her defibrillator case.
Oh Lord, what are we doing?
Linus looks over his shoulder back at us.
“Are we ready?” he whispers, but doesn’t wait for an answer.
He pushes the door open, as quietly as possible, while still trying to go fast.
He rushes out, followed by Simon.
Simon takes the door, holding it open for us.
We run out in a clump, following Linus and Janet into the lobby.
So far, so good.
Behind me, I hear Simon let the door fall closed with a bang.
Which means . . .
“Run!” Simon yells, like we’re not already running.
But we kick it up, because now we know that we don’t have to be quiet.
Because we’re being chased.
We get to the escalators. They’ve been turned off.
At the top of the escalators is a makeshift barricade. A heavy potted tree, several upholstered chairs, and a sofa, as well as a janitor’s rolling trash-can cart have all been wedged into the openings at the top of the up and down escalators.
“Dammit!” Linus glances between the barricade and the approaching, shuffling zombies.
I really, really, really want to get up there with whoever had the presence of mind to do that already.
“Go,” Linus says, and he moves aside, letting Janet lead the way onto the escalator. “See if you can climb over it.”
Simon arrives and whirls to face our pursuers.
My breath won’t come, my heart freezes as I see them, lurching, stumbling, coming at us, closing in from the lobby outside the open ballroom doors.
Four zombies. The first, the closest, is a short teenager, reaching toward Simon with clawlike fingers.
Simon shoves him back with the stool.
“Go!” Linus urges me, his voice firm but not loud.
Because if they can fight off this group, and not draw any others, maybe our plan can still work.
I nod and dart up the motionless escalator, falling in at the very back of the group, behind Annie.
We rush up the steps, trying not to listen to the struggle behind us.
At the top of the escalator, Janet is already climbing the barricade.
There’s a sickening drop to the right of the escalator. If the barricade shifts, or if she loses her grip . . .
Janet straddles the top of the barricade, the upended sofa, and reaches down to help Imani.
A clang sounds behind me, the solid metal thunk of a fire extinguisher hitting a skull.
I look back in time to see one of the zombies fall over the edge of the railing. I make the mistake of looking down to the first floor, where another zombie lies still.
The drop makes me woozy, so I look away fast.
Linus stands in the entryway of one of the escalators. Simon is in the other, both of them using the curved escalator sides to shield themselves somewhat, with their backs to the steps behind them.
Another zombie man stumbles forward, reaching for Linus.
There are only two zombies left, the one reaching for Linus and a final zombie behind him.
Simon hits the second zombie with the seat of the vanity stool, two of the tripod legs held in Simon’s hands.
The zombie falls, but pops up onto his feet again, fast.
Linus swings the fire extinguisher at the zombie clawing at him. There’s a dull clang as I look back to the barricade.
Annie clambers over, helped by Janet.
“Come on, June!” Janet urges.
I shove my mic stand arm through the straps of the scientist’s backpack. I put a hand on the potted plant, a naked-trunk spiky palm, and pull up to put a foot on the trash can, then shimmy, telling myself it’s not moving, it’s not shifting, it’s not about to fall over into the three-story drop to the right.
Janet has a leg hooked over the sofa armrest. She catches my hand and hauls with surprising strength.