Just as she passed room 5, someone jumped out at her. Her instincts almost made her stop, but her brain took control and reminded her that stopping would mean death.
The two people in front of her were both young and attractive. They had slipped out of room 6 and were clearly not infected. They stared at Annaliese with wide, terrified eyes as they quickly realised that she was in no position to help them. If they had been hoping for rescue, she was going to have to disappoint them.
The youngsters turned back around to re-enter their room, but the door had already closed behind them, locking them out in the hallway. The panic on their face was all-consuming.
“Run,” Annaliese shouted, pulling the Room 7 key card from her jean pocket.
The youngsters spun on their heels and hurried after her. The infected were right behind them.
Annaliese threw herself against the door to Room 7 and immediately slid the card into the magnetic reader. As she did so, the plastic card bent and the reader flashed red. An irritated buzz sounded.
“Shit! Shit! Come on.”
She looked left and saw two dozen monsters hammering down the corridor towards her, a tidal wave of death bearing down. The two youngsters beside her sobbed, waiting for either death or salvation.
Annaliese removed the key card from the slot and reinserted it again. Her hands were shaking.
The card reader flashed red and buzzed again.
Please God. Just open this door.
She removed the key card again, knowing there would only be time left for one more attempt.
She took a deep breath.
Slid the card into the slot carefully.
The reader flashed green.
The door handle clicked.
The infected pounced.
Annaliese pushed down the handle and collapsed through the door. The two youngsters fell in after her. She managed to kick out and close the door with her foot once they were all clear of it. Less than a second later, the wood began to rattle on its hinges as dozens of infected maniacs crashed against the other side.
“W-what the hell are you doing up here?” Annaliese asked the two young strangers, between heaving breaths.
The male of the pair stood up. He was shaking visibly and his smart black shirt was crumpled and sweat-stained. “We’ve been up here for hours,” he said. “We snuck away from the party last night to – well, you know – and then we heard everything going crazy downstairs. We stepped out of the room and there were people being ripped apart and killed. People I’ve worked with for months had gone insane and were biting each other, tearing each other to bits. Me and Charlotte locked ourselves inside my room and stayed there.”
The girl stood up and joined him. Her blonde hair was a tangled mess and her cherry lipstick and black mascara were smudged. “We thought help was coming when we heard someone coming down the hall. When we looked out and saw you there we were sure of it, but then we realised you were being chased. What is going on?”
Annaliese climbed back to her feet and checked the room’s door. It was much weaker than the ones downstairs in the main house. It wouldn’t hold forever. Even now it bulged and rattled with every blow against its outer side. She put a finger to her lips to keep the young couple quiet. Then she whispered to them. “If we keep quiet, they should go away. They seem to operate on sight and sound.”
“They?” asked Charlotte. “Who are they?”
“I don’t exactly know. Something bad has happened to a lot of people. Pretty much your entire company came down with some kind of sickness last night. It’s infected them with some kind of bloodlust.”
“Paris Hilton’s balls,” said the lad. “That’s crazy.”
“Crazy is a pretty good word for it,” she said, “but this is no joke. People are dead. Things are really screwed up.”
“So what do we do?” asked the girl. She turned to the lad and grabbed his wrist. “Clark, I’m scared.”
He hugged her close. “I know, baby. Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”