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They walked back down to the lobby floor, Billy glad that she&039;d agreed to keep cooperating This place, whatever it as definitely bad news She was inexperienced, but at least she wasn&039;t nuts

"We should split up," Rebecca said

Billy barked a laugh, one entirely devoid of humor "Are you nuts? Haven&039;t you ever seen a horror movie? Besides, look what happened last time"

"We found the key to that briefcase, if I remember correctly And e need now is a way out of here"

"Yeah, but alive," Billy said "This place has hostile territory written all over it I suggested a truce in the first place because I don&039;t want to die, get it?"

"You&039;ve taken care of yourself pretty good so far," she said "I&039;et in trouble Just open a few doors, is all And we&039;ve got radios now"

Billy sighed "Didn&039;t the STARS teach you about teamwork?"

"Actually, this was my first mission," Rebecca said "Look, we take a look around, call if we find anything I&039;ll head upstairs, you check down here If the radios fritz out, we meet back here in twenty minutes"

"I don&039;t like it"

"You don&039;t have to Just do it"

"Sir, yes, sir," Billy snapped She wasn&039;t lacking leadership tendencies, he&039;d give her that--although maybe it wasn&039;t so hard to order a convicted felon around when you worked for the law "How old are you, anyway? I&039;d like to know I&039;e Girl Scout"

Rebecca shot him a scowl, then turned and went back up the stairs A few seconds later, he heard a door close

Well Billy looked around the lobby Eeny,to the left wall He&039;d didn&039;t want to go it alone, he&039;d rather have backup, but it was probably better this way; if he found an exit, he could take his walk, after all, call her to say good-bye on his way out Leaving her behind wouldn&039;t make him feel so hot, but she could hole up and wait for rescue; she&039;d be all right He had to keep his continued health in mind; if any other STARS showed up, or the RCPD, or the MPs, he&039;d be on his way back to Ragithon in a heartbeat

He pushed the thought away as he stepped up to the door He&039;d been pretty screwed up since the sentencing, filled with rage and anguish in equal parts Since the jeep wreck he&039;d been able to put his date with death out of mind, a necessity if he wanted to be able to think clearly He had to keep it up

"Let&039;s see what&039;s behind door nu the nondescript door open--and tensed, raising the handgun, taking aiant Now there were two, three infectedaround the trashed dinner table in the center of the roo toward hiray and torn, their eyes blank One of the out of one shoulder

Billy quickly closed the door and stepped back, waiting to see if any of the creatures couldon his back like a cold stare After a few beats he heard a shuffling against the wood and then a low, frustrated cry, the sound as mindless as the zo facility, whatever it was, had been infected just like the train; that answered that question He grabbed the radio, hit the transot zo and shuddered, hoping that zombies was all they had

There was a pause, then her youthful voice crackled out "Copy that Do you need help? Over"

"No," Billy said, annoyed "But don&039;t you think we should reconsider our plans? Over?"

"This doesn&039;t change anything," she said "We still have to find a way out Keep looking, and let irl was sticking to the plan So, door number two, unless he wanted to take his chances with three of the things He turned and walked across the roo himself it would be a waste of ammo, which was true It was also true that he didn&039;t want to shoot sick people, no edAnd that the zombies were seriously freaky, and if he could avoid them, he would

He pushed the second door open, held it, his senses on high It opened into a plush hallway that led along to his right, turning not far ahead There was no sound, nothe door settle closed behind him

He crept down the hall, his stepsaround the turn with his weapon, letting out a breath when he saw that it, too, was clear So far, so good The hall continued on, turning again, but there was a door on the left he could try

Billy pushed the door open--and smiled at the empty bathroom, at the row of sinks that he could see fro inside He checked the room quickly; sinks lined talls of the u-shaped rooht from the door As nice as the house was, it did seem to be abandoned, perhaps recently; one of the stall doors was hanging off its hinges, the toilet seat fractured, and there were a few odds and ends scattered across the floor, empty bottles, potted plants, unlikely debris for a bathrooas tank in one of the stalls On the other hand, there was relatively clean water in the bowlWhich, considering the urgency of his visit, was good enough for hi up a minute later when he heard so pauseThen a second step Had he closed the door? He couldn&039;t remember, and silently cursed himself for the slip He pulled his weapon and pivoted on the balls of his feet,the stall door open He couldn&039;t see the door from where he was, but he could see part of the roo un level and waited

A third step, and again silence Whoever it was had wet feet, he could hear the soles of his or her shoes co sound--and on the fourth step, he saw a profile in the e mix of horror and relief as he readied himself to fire It was a zombie, aas it swayed slightly, balancing to stay upright They were awful--but at least they were relatively slow Andthe into Billy&039;s line of fire Billy took careful aiht ear, he didn&039;t want to waste a shot--

--and the zoht to h one blood-burst eye, the other looking at the wall, and reached for hi, thinning out as it snapped toward him like a rubber band, the fabric of its wet, colorless shirt stretching with it

Billy ducked The thing&039;s hand sailed over his head and slapped against the stall door with a wet smack, then retreated, pulled back to the inhuman body that somehow looked like a zoh that he could see theeffect as its ar was made out of leeches, and as it took a step closer, Billy stu into its wet andfrom the wound that appeared just below its left eye--and then the wound disappeared, the faux skin gliding over it, the leeches resituating the themselves

It took another step forward and Billy kicked the stall door closed, slah ideas and discarding the, not enough bullets, run, it&039;s blocking the way--

Billy hissed in frustration--and his frenzied gaze fell on the red plastic gas can on the floor He threw hi the stall door with one shoulder as he dug through his right front pocket There, under one of the rifle shells--He pulled out the lighter he&039;d taken fro God for it, and bent down, scooped up the gas can, the loose handcuff banging against the plastic It wasn&039;t quite half full Jesus, I hope that&039;s gas--

The stall door was struck as though by a battering raain, unscrewing the lid of the container with one shaking hand, his shoulder aching The creature was strangely, horribly silent as it again charged the door, sla scent of gasoline filled the tiny stall Billy snatched at the toilet paper roll on the wall, jerked it free--and the door ses by another powerful, inhue eye finding Billy, targeting him Billy upended the can as he pushed hias on hi&039;s chest

The reaction was ian to writhe, to treh-pitched squeal erupted into the roo as one Thick, dark fluid began to run froave it a solid kick, and it staggered backward, still cohesive, still squealing, the sound piercing in the sh, and wasn&039;t going to wait and see He flipped the lighter open and spun the wheel, holding the roll of toilet paper over the flame that sputtered to life A second later, it was aflaed around the shrieking monster As soon as he was past, he pivoted and threw the fla roll of paper It hit the leech- cry intensified for one horrible, deafening second as fla hi pieces A black, burning puddle took shape on the tile floor, the tiny cries dying out in aleeches crawled away fro up the walls, slithering past his feet Billy backed away frohter back in his pocket as he neared the door