Before she had chance to step forward and plummet to the mattress, something hit her from behind, grabbing her around the waist and shoving her off-balance. She fell forward, grabbing out but finding nothing but air. Then, suddenly, she was falling. She fell fast and she fell awkwardly, as the weight on her back bore down on top of her. She hit the mattress hard and felt something snap. The fabric covered springs were less forgiving than she had anticipated.
The next thing she knew, besides the stars floating through her vision, was someone clawing at her back. Company had followed her through the window.
And now it was trying to kill her.
Chapter Sixteen
Annaliese struggled on her stomach as her attacker clung to her back. A flash of white hot pain stabbed through her right hand but she had no time to investigate the cause. If the infected man, who had followed her out of the window, managed to bite her then she was doomed. Just like Bradley had been.
Clark and Charlotte were nearby and quickly offered their assistance. Clark managed to wrap an arm around the infected man’s throat and prevented him from taking a bite out of Annaliese. Charlotte grabbed her arms and began pulling her away. The pain in her hand exploded once again, but she focused only on getting away from the infected man. She kicked out with her legs and sent her attacker sprawling backwards. Clark, still clutching the man around the throat, twisted and threw him to the ground. Together the three of them backed away from the mattress.
“What do we do?” said Clark in a voice so thick with fear that it sounded like he might run screaming at any moment.
Before Annaliese could answer him, another body landed on the mattress and bounced off onto the grass.
And then another.
The infected guests continued falling from the bedroom’s open window, hitting the ground below. As soon as they jumped, another infected person would take their place, forming a line like a bunch of ungodly lemmings.
There were now four infected people on the ground and they were getting to their feet quickly. One of them limped on a broken ankle caused by the awkward fall, while another had a slashed face, lower lip hanging like rancid sausage meat.
Annaliese looked up to see more infected people ready to leap. She looked at Clark and Charlotte. “We need to get out of here, now.”
“No shit,” said Clark.
The three of them took off across the rear gardens of Ripley Manor. Annaliese led them around the building to the front, hoping that Shawcross and the others had managed to make it out safely.
Behind them, the infected screeched and gave chase.
“They’re coming after us,” Charlotte said.
“Just keep moving. The longer we’re in sight, the more of those things that will come through the window.”
They rounded the corner of Ripley Hall and entered the front lawns. Annaliese could see the park and zoo buildings in the distance. The orange sun was rising up behind them and casting long shadows.
They stuck close to the building and headed for the front entrance. “This way,” she said. “We need to meet up with the others.”
“Oh, shitmack and fries,” Clark shouted. “They’re gaining on us. How are they so fast?”
Annaliese looked back. Three of the four infected that had fallen through the window were gaining ground quickly. The one with the broken ankle was nowhere to be seen, obviously unable to keep up.
Annaliese turned the corner and sprinted across the lawn, ducking between trees and hopping over bushes. She skipped over the body of the man who had attacked and bitten Bradley – the man who had started this whole nightmare for her.
Ripley Hall’s front doors were hanging wide open, light spilling out from the foyer. Annaliese glanced around while still running. “Where are they? Where the hell are they?”
“We should run back inside,” said Charlotte.
“No. The house is full of infected people. We need to find someplace safer. The others should be out here waiting for us. Where are they?”
She looked behind her. The three infected would be on them any second. There was no place to run that offered absolute safety. But standing and fighting would be suicide.
“Anna!”
She spun around to see Shawcross and the others. They were fifty yards away, shouting over from the doorway of one the zoo’s buildings.