"And you expected me to stay after that snoring of yours?" she smirked, egging him on,
"It was a torturous endeavor and unfortunately, I can't win all battles." Charlotte walked over to her half-empty luggage to retrieve some more appropriate clothing, settling for an orange top and dark denim shorts as they were on top of the folded pile and easily accessible.
"But hey, do you know what the hell is going on outside?" Her tone of voice was a tad more serious now as she was growing concerned for Alex. Charlotte placed her phone on speaker mode and positioned it on the dresser so she could change. If something form of emergency had indeed occurred, she would want to be ready and on the move as quickly as possible.
Cole laughed, biting his lip a bit as he got slightly self conscious. Did he really snore that bad? She was probably just busting his balls. He played it off cool though, clearing his throat as he continued to eat his apple.
”Oh please, it can’t be that bad. I thought you won all your cases? And to think we talked about making you my lawyer… We. Need. Results.” he chuckled, taking a quick jab back at her.
His tone of voice dropped as he heard she got a bit more serious. He put his ear to the door, hearing the faint siren and a bit of banging and some other strange noises going on down the hall.
”To be quite honest dear I haven’t the slightest clue, but I’m assuming it’s some kind of alarm? Although if it was a fire alarm the sprinklers would be going off… My room is absolutely bloody and trashed though, something out of a horror movie. My best bet is we get down to the lobby. I’m assuming the sirens mean get the fuck out.”Cole said this tentatively as he slowly walked out to his balcony where glass was shattered and there was a dried pool of blood, although still fairly fresh. Down below he could see people panicking and screaming, running around as wild-eyed people chased them. It was a total shit show, furniture everywhere, cars flipped over and crashed, dead bodies and blood everywhere. Was that… was somebody getting EATEN? Something tells me those drugs had a bit more in them than everybody was leading onto.
”Hey, um… I think it’s a lot worse than what I thought. Lock your door and don’t let anybody in until you hear my voice. And… don’t look outside.” the color was slowly draining from his face as he slipped his brass knuckles on his hands, opening his door as he peeked his head out into the hallway.
”What room number is yours?”"I'm 1301, the door on the far end." Charlotte was starting to panic, unsure of how else to respond. Once she had finished getting dressed she picked up the phone and started to pace back and forth. She could tell by his voice that the confidence he was exhibiting the previous night was absent from the current conversation. Something had genuinely spooked him, and that was reason enough for her to feel the same way. But given that Charlotte was Charlotte, she ignored his request and rushed over to the window, and it was then that the subtle background noise that was there all along finally clicked.
"Jesus Christ! What is that?" The view below was one straight from a horror movie and nothing short of chaotic. The general public had simply gone mad, their maniacal actions only proving Cole was right. Charlotte quickly turned her back to the frenzy down below, having seen more than enough to satisfy her curiosity.
"Cole, we need to get out of here!" She stated the obvious, although her adrenaline had kicked in a few moments ago making her go into survival mode.
"Let me know when you're at the door and please be careful!"Charlotte hung up the phone after receiving his response. Alex suddenly popped in her mind again, and she rushed to the bathroom as she dialed her friend.
Come on, pick up... Once at the sink, the woman turned on the faucet and splashed come cold water over her face all the while having to listen to Alex's ringback song. It was somewhat of an anxiety-inducing experiencing on its own, and with a frustrated groan she hung up and redialed, turning off the faucet and drying off her face.
"Goddammit Alex!" she shouted as the voicemail greeting went off again, and by that point she was making her way over to the door. Her first order of business once Cole arrived was to find her friend, and
then get the hell out of there.
The phone hung up and he looked at it, seeing his reception. No service. Fuck, the lines must be jammed up from all the calls going through. Or… even worse. Hopefully the lines wouldn’t be down forever, or it’d make this whole situation a lot worse. He shook his head and pocketed his phone, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Everything was going to be okay, it wasn’t that bad. He had to just go get Charlotte, go downstairs, and the police would handle everything. Although he had a feeling she didn’t take his advice and she was panicking right now.
He popped his head out of his door, looking right and left to see if any of those crackheads outside were on his floor. It seemed most of the commotion was down farther below, as a lot of people had made their way downstairs or out of the building. He could hear some noises coming from the stairs and in a few rooms, but nothing that would impede him. He slowly made his way down the hall to the end, moving briskly as he looked over his shoulder. It was a clear shot to Charlotte’s room, but something told him going down the stairs would make their situation much worse, as apparently a lot of debris and furniture was piled up in the stairwell. Either it was to keep the people up here in, or to keep something out.
Cole made it to 1301, making sure it was the right door. As he was about to knock he heard a loud bang on 1302, the door next to hers, and some disgruntled noises coming from behind the door. He didn’t know who or what was in that room, but he wasn’t quite as interested in finding out.
”Hey! It’s me, Cole. We need to hurry up and get the hell out of here. Although for some reason, the stairwell has a bunch of shit in the way and I hear a shit ton of people down there."Cole!" She immediately opened the door, instantly recognizing the voice as his own.
"I'm so glad to see you! It's anarchy outside, they've all gone mad!" Charlotte was motioning with her arms as she spoke, something that naturally occurred when she was in a heightened emotional state. But seeing the familiar face did calm her down enough for her to get her bearings straight.
"We need to go get my friend Alex two doors down, she doesn't pick up the phone."As she spoke, Charlotte looked around the room before stepping out into the hall to join Cole. She pocketed her phone, figuring she didn't need it at the moment.
”Yes, I was made well aware when I looked outside for myself, hence my warning.” Cole muttered, his suspicions confirmed as he sighed and looked over at the door she mentioned. He heard the wild banging next to him, but the door she was talking about staying rather quiet.
As he watched Charlotte join him in the hall he put his ear to the door, trying to handle. It wouldn’t budge, and it seemed it was locked.
”Alex?” He yelled, banging his fist on the door. As he did so the door next to Charlotte’s room slammed, the door almost breaking way as the sounds from behind it keep getting louder and angrier.
”Look, she’s probably already down there. I suggest we leave, quickly, and catch up with her. If the door is locked and she’s not answering then she’s probably already left.”"No, what if she's still in there? We can't leave just yet." Charlotte pushed past Cole to pound on the door herself.
"Alex open up, it's Charlie!" She waited, though the only response she received was coming from the adjacent room, the violent thrashing from within making her slightly doubt her choice up to that point.
"Why is this-" Charlotte paused, suddenly hearing an announcement go off. She stared at Cole, and hoped that they were providing some answers.
After hearing the full announcement there seemed to be true panic in the man’s voice. Whatever was going on, it seemed clear that this was much more than a simple case. This was a life or death situation, and if they didn’t get down soon, they’d be left to deal with whatever the threat was by themselves.
However, they were on the top floor, and they needed to get down quickly. By the looks of it, everybody will probably take the advice of the man and flood the stairs and emergency exits, making things very difficult for them. If they wanted to survive, they’d have to be part of the first boat out of this hell hole.
”Here, I have an idea.” Cole said, walking up to the elevator shaft that was nearby. It was a pretty old elevator system, with a door that parted in the middle. He knew that if he pressed his foot against the bottom and pulled hard enough…
”The elevator’s are down, so that means we could take the elevator shaft straight to the basement.”"Oh yeah, that's..." She was speechless after that, her fingers interlocking behind her neck as she took a few steps forward as well. She'd never been down an elevator shaft before. In fact, she'd never even dreamt of it. Was her upper body strength even good enough for such a stunt? What would happen to her if she couldn't hold on? She'd either be facing tremendous pain or a quick death, although she would much prefer the latter.
Charlotte looked behind her just in time to hear a scream echo off the stairwell. She supposed that route was out of the question, and as much as she hated to admit, she'd have to listen to Cole's crazy plan.
"The shaft it is, but I have to warn you, I'm not as athletic as you are."More and louder noises were echoing from the stairs and the room next door, and it was only a matter of time before the hallway got a bit more crowded. Cole managed to pry open the doors, the dark and empty elevator shaft leading downwards as a few large cable hung near the middle. He turned on his phone light, setting up his phone in his jacket pocket so that it shown out in front of him.
”Don’t worry, I’ll go and you hold on to me. It’s too dangerous if we go at different speeds or times, so we’ll slide down together. You just have to hold on tight and not look down.” His breathing slowed a bit as he took his sparring gloves out of his bag, giving his hands and fingers a bit of protection as he reached for a cable.
This time, Charlotte did as told and didn't even bother to look at the wall in front of them. Instead, she focused on the back of his head and with trembling hands, reached out her arms to hold on to him while simultaneously wrapping her legs around his torso to hold herself up in a comfortable manner.
She rested her face on his neck and closed her eyes. Charlotte loved to go skydiving and do just about anything for the thrills, but they didn't have a safety now and her life was solely in his hands. One bad move and they'd both fall to their death.
For fuck's sake woman, stop thinking like that...Once they started their descent, Charlotte said a mental prayer for the first time to any god willing to hear her out.
Cole breathed deeply, giving out an audible exhale as he gripped the cable. It was pretty thick, although it was small enough for him to grip all the way around with both his hands. He locked the insteps of his shoes around the cable as well, making sure he gets as good of a grip as possible.
”Don’t worry, this isn’t my first rodeo. Well, I’ve never done anything this extreme but… Similar things yes. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure himself or her, but there was only one way to find out if this was all gonna work. He slowly loosened his grip on the cable as he felt the two of them slowly slide down the cable. It was gradual at first as he felt the friction pull against his gloves, which if it wasn’t for those his hands would get torn up. It was fast enough where they were getting down at a brisk pace and he wasn’t having too much struggle holding onto the cable, but not too fast to make them splat at the bottom.
After a few minutes Cole felt the elevator under his feet, landing with a thump as he put his feet firmly on the ground. His hands released from the cables and he flexed his fingers, looking at his gloves. They were pretty banged up from the friction of sliding down 20 stories, but they did their job as he slid them off of his hands.
”Alright, we made it. As much as I love giving piggy back rides, I’ll have to ask you to walk the rest of the way on your own two feet.Charlotte gave Cole a big kiss on the cheek before hopping off his back. Relief washed over her and she grinned as a result, her mood changing momentarily.
"You, sir, are my hero."But that happiness didn't last long. They still needed to get to the security room and get through the horde of crazies. Charlotte stepped off the latch she was standing on, the unevenness under her feet alerting her that she was standing on the only way into the elevator. She crouched down and opened the latch, looking inside. It was just as dark as she imagined, but luckily for them, there was no movement coming from within.
"Looks good in here." She sat herself on the edge before slowly lowering herself inside, her arms holding her weight until eventually her feet hit the floor. She nearly lost her balance on the landing, but caught herself just in time.
"I'm okay, your turn now."Cole blushed momentarily in the darkness of the shaft, biting his lip gently.
”Don’t mention it, but you can thank me once we get out of this hell hole.”The MMA fighter easily lowered himself into the elevator, landing with a slight thud as he turned to the elevator door. It seemed empty, considering the doors were still shut, but at least it wasn’t damaged, or sparking, or on fire… They were certainly lucky. He wedged his fingers between the two doors, taking a few moments before having it slowly pull apart. He peaked his head out, looking around before his eyes turned to his right. The place where they needed to be was to their right down the hall. The only problem was, there seemed to be a small group of individuals huddled around the base of the stairwell. They were feeding on some poor people, screams of agony echoing the hallway as they were being eaten alive.
Cole felt his stomach turn as he quickly pulled his head back in, his breathing becoming very quick. He let go of the elevator doors, leaving them slightly ajar as he slowly got out his brass knuckles and slipped them over his hands.
”Well, good news and bad news. Good news, I found the security control room, it’s just down the hall to the right. Bad news? Because people were taking the stairs to get down here, we have some… company that’s standing between us and that door. And let’s just say they’re not so friendly.”The news he delivered was expected, but none the less it left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Charlotte approached the opening and looked outside, the noises alone repulsing her to her core. Some poor soul was being devoured and Charlotte couldn't even begin to imagine what that could feel like. But the view mesmerized her in a way, finding herself unable to look away. They were easily outnumbered, and even though they avoided death once already, could they do it again? Charlotte pictured the two of them making their way past the horde and into the security room, although that was easier said than done.
"Well, we've come this far already, right?" she whispered as she turned to face Cole, barely making out his silhouette.
"Are we going to rush past them and hope for the best? Because I think that's our only option."”No, I don’t think so… there’s too many of them. If they noticed us and the door is locked, they’d get to us before we’d even have time to run back in the elevator. We need to find another way around… Or, maybe we could get them away from there.”Cole turned off the light on his phone, pushing some buttons on his phone as he set an alarm. If he couldn’t get through them, maybe he could distract them long enough to slip past them. He stuck his phone out, turning to the left as he chucked the phone down as far as he could throw it, hearing it clatter all the way at the other end before he quickly pulled his arm in and pulled the elevator doors shut.
”Alright, I set an alarm on my phone for a minute from now… Once it goes off and they all pass us, we make a run for the security room and hopefully they let us in. If all goes well, that big cluster over there will be at the other end of the hall.”Only a few moments after he finished speaking, his phone down the hallway, at full volume, started suddenly coming to life. His choice of music for his alarm was Africa by Toto, and it wasn’t quite fitting for the mood. However, just as he predicted, he could hear lots of yelling and disgruntled noises as several bodies sprinted and shuffled down the hall towards the music.
After a few moments Cole signaled with his hands towards the door, and the two of them pushed the doors apart and start making a break for the security room. Their plan seemed to work as a majority of the undead were way down the hall, the start of the song being a quieter build up to the chorus. Once that went off, it would no doubt draw zombies from around the floor. That was an issue to be dealt with later, as Cole pounded his fist on the security room door.
”Hey, let us in! We’re two survivors. Let us in quick before one of those things decides to come our way.” Cole said loud enough for anybody on the other end to hear, banging steadily on the door. As he did so a pair of cannibal crackheads looked their way from down the stairwell, attracted by the noise, and they slowly made their way towards Cole and Charlotte. Now it was a race to see if and when they would be let in, otherwise they would have to find another way out.
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