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RECOGNITION AND FAMILIARITY BRING even more fear and nerves Not far now The hotel&039;s als hter What if I&039; tail and heading back to the town hall to fight alongside the others seems an easier option than what I&039;h an eerily e bay and out toward the sain I stop and stand in the darkness to take stock of the chaos unfolding all aroundIn the short time since the explosions around the town hall, most of them have abandoned their need to reh there are so to the protection of the shadows, desperate not to be seen,exodus away frole, snakingthe person in front, none of the the direction in which they run Their sudden reliance on the safety of nuain exposes the pathetic weakness and vulnerability of the Unchanged

I run along a narrow, shadow-filled street, then pause when I reach Arley Road and look in both directions, struggling to see anything through the hordes of people now trying to escape from the center of ton this major route Then I spot it The Prince Hotel stands fifty yards or so farther up the road The once-i is prettyvisible in the dull first light of dawn The rain has finally stopped, leaving the da fresh and clean, the dirt and decay te? I suddenly feel guilty and weak I should be back by the town hall fighting with the others, so what aic says that after three months of violence and unpredictability, Lizzie could be anywhere Christ, she&039;s probably dead Craven told ed computer system was inaccurate and easily manipulated, so why have I put so much faith in what I saw on the computer screen? The reason&039;s si else There&039;s no alternative This is ive up on Ellis forever I take my axe from my belt and a knife from inside the folds ofnow There&039;s the Unchanged on one side, ed right between them, is me

I sprint away froe deep into the river of people still flooding out of town The first few stragglers I collide with are pushed aith hardly any effort, and it&039;s not until I&039; to keep et through, but I know I&039;, not because I want the with the flow of barely hule to liftit thu down between the shoulders of a man directly in front of me I spin him around, the blade still buried in his back, then kick hi forced forward by the round, and I hack at her, too, wedging the axe deep in her neck T, and the piled-up corpses act like a rock in the ees around me on either side I&039;m braced for their reaction, but it doesn&039;t come These people have seen and experienced sonew to the away, screw everyone else Another man trips over the bodies on the road and collides withhi evenin an unexpected bubble of space One er than me, breaks ranks and hurls himself at me All I do is hold out my knife, and the stupid bastard impales himself on the blade Another one rushesto realize what I am I duck out of the way of his airl A bald man ild eyes helps her up and out of the way, then turns on the other ut I continue tomy way across the road In hts break out Whether they&039;re trying to get away, trying to help each other, or trying to find me, it doesn&039;t ht And once they&039;ve started, they keep fighting I forceat thein to turn on each other, and I&039;otten

Breathless and bloody, I reach the front of the hotel I cross the parking lot and cli my way inside as several others force their way out Christ, I feel weird-strangely invisible and high on a euphoricany fear, it&039;s masked by the i just killed again But as I disappear into the vast and dark building, a sudden wave of terror hitsnext toWhat was I thinking? How a to be able to walk up to the reception desk and ask for her room number? As I scout around the first floor, the full i really hit ho out The city won&039;t lastoption is to check every da around and just wading back out into the crowds to enjoy the killing for as long as I&039;ain, and I force myself to stay calm and stay in control I know I don&039;t have any choice but to keep