Nothing behind it.

Jenni advanced slowly toward the bed and squatted down. Davey took a breath and drew the comforter sharply off of it.

Nothing below the bed.

Behind them, Curtis and Jimmy entered the room.

Jenni moved very cautiously toward the open door to the bathroom and peered in. This room was much bigger and opulent than those below. Everything gleamed and sparkled inside the bathroom, but there was no sign of anything dead.

“Clear?” Curtis looked nervously around the room.

“Wardrobe,” Jenni answered.

Taking a quivering breath, Davey drew near the wardrobe. His tiny frame crouched slightly as he reached out and took hold of the handle.

Jenni moved closer, her gun aimed toward the wardrobe, standing across from Davey and near the bed.

“I don't think you should-” Jimmy started.

Davey looked back as his hand rested on the lever just enough for there to be a click. “What?”

The doors exploded outward, knocking Davey to the floor, and tossing Jenni backwards onto the bed. Her gun flew out of her hand, hit the floor and skittered under a chair in the corner. The largest zombie Jenni had ever seen rushed out, stepped on Davey, and rushed toward Jimmy and Curtis at a fast clip.

Jenni rolled as fast as she could over the bed to the other side as the as the zombie ran across the room toward Curtis and Jimmy.

Another form, mostly eaten, barely resembling what had been a human female, slithered out of the wardrobe.

“Davey!” Jenni screamed.

He climbed to his knees only to be confronted by the grisly creature with strips of flesh hanging off its bones. It lunged forward and bit deep into his cheek.

Meanwhile, Curtis shot the enormous zombie in the head, but it just kept barreling forward.

“It's Bubba Wilkins! He has a metal plate in his head,” Jimmy shouted.

“Shit,” Curtis shouted.

Jimmy turned and tackled Curtis out of the hotel room door and slammed the door shut behind them.

Jenni stood in shock, breathing heavily. Only the bed stood between her and the two zombies.

Chapter 7

1. Dance With Death

This is how you die, she heard Lloyd's voice in her head. may not have gotten you, but he will.

Jenni stood, breathing heavily, and watched the enormous zombie bang on the door. It hadn’t noticed her yet and was desperate to get to Jimmy and Curtis.

The munching and slurping noises of the female zombie eating Davey's face and his painful sobs filled the room. She wanted to scream at Davey to shoot the creature, but she couldn't speak, didn't dare speak.

Slowly, she started to squat down so she could reach under the chair for her gun. Her breath sounded so loud and harsh in her ears, she was sure the zombie could hear her, but he kept pounding on the door. Her heart seemed to thud in time to the meaty fists banging against the door. Her skin felt slick and cold.

She began to feel along the floor under the chair, trying to find the weapon, all the while keeping her eyes on the zombie in the plumber's outfit banging on the door. Her knees were creaking in protest as she tried to keep her balance and not move too quickly. The last she wanted to do was attract the huge zombie’s attention.

Davey wasn't even making a sound now and she knew what that meant. Soon there would be three of these things to deal with.

Her mind was playing tricks with her now. Memories overlapping with reality. For a moment it was Lloyd at the door and Benji on the other side of the bed. She forced those thoughts out of her mind.

You don’t understand, Jenni. You’re a stupid, crazy bitch. And it's time for you to die. To turn into what we are and eat the face off your spic boyfriend, Lloyd’s voice taunted her.

Jenni grimaced as her body ached for her to move faster, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off the zombie or the other side of the bed.

You always were such a stupid little Mexican’t. Can’t do a damn thing right. Guess your mother’s blood fucked you up more than I thought. I never should have married a half-breed, Lloyd’s voice mocked her.

Gawdammit, why did he have to haunt her now?

Her fingers were almost to the gun when the enormous zombie turned around. The flesh from its forehead had torn free and a metal plate was visible under his lank black hair. His glazed gaze rested on her. He howled and surged forward.

“Shit!”

In her haste, she knocked the gun further away and realized she had to give it up. Rising to her feet, she saw the zombie stumble on the far side of the bed. Probably over the other zombie and Davey.

Jenni backed up and felt something hard hit her hip. Looking behind her, she realized she was up against a door to a balcony.

Ripping it open, she stepped out into the rain. Looking back, she saw the zombie was coming. She slammed the door shut and backed away from the French doors.

The zombie growled in fury and stumbled over the edge of the bed.

Jenni spun around trying to figure out what the hell to do. The white metal furniture was a possibility for a weapon, but he was so big.

He hit the door with a resounding crash and began to beat hard on the glass.

Jenni backed up against the stone railing and looked around once more. Her heart was beating so fast it literally hurt. Gulping down breaths of air, she tried to steady her nerves. To the left was another balcony, maybe six to eight feet from the one she was on.

The zombie’s fist busted through one of the panes and it reached for her.

With determination, Jenni moved to the far end of the balcony and slid carefully onto the wide railing. Looking across the gap, she saw that she didn’t have any room for error. She would have to fling herself across to the other balcony and hope she could catch onto the railing. The wind buffeted her body and she tried hard not to look down and see how far she was from the ground.

Mexican’ts can’t fly. Just swim across the river, Lloyd’s voice laughed in her head.

“Lloyd, shut the fuck up,” Jenni said through gritted teeth.

Another loud crash. Glass shattered behind her.

Near tears, she lowered her feet until her heels were resting on the floor of the balcony between the ornate stone slats that held up the railing. Her butt rested on the edge of the rail and her hands held tightly to the slick stone.

This was not how she had planned to die. Falling to her death trying to escape a zombie was just not acceptable to her. Hell, dying period was not acceptable to her. Things were finally changing for her. Yes, the world was dead, but she was alive.

Not for long, Lloyd reminded her.

The zombie was breaking apart the door behind her.

Looking over toward the other balcony, she whispered a silent prayer and flung herself forward as hard as she could.

Her chest impacted with the stone rail and her arms grabbed hold of it. The pain of impact ripped through her as she managed to knock most of the air out of her lungs. Struggling to breathe, she pulled herself up and over the railing. Falling onto a metal chair, she gasped at the pain, and rolled off it onto her feet. She looked back to where she had come from.

The zombie stood on the balcony looking confused. It gazed straight ahead, as if searching for her in the clouds. Slow, it turned and saw her. With a raging growl, it ran straight toward the rail. To her horror, the zombie leaped onto it and through the air toward the balcony she was on.

He was much heavier and did not quite make it. His chest also hit the rail and he fell back, his torn hands gripping the cold stone.

“Gawdammit,” Jenni screamed at him as he managed to hold on.

Picking up one of the heavy metal chairs, she struggled forward toward the monster. She began to bash his hands as hard as she could.

She was screaming as loud as he was growling. As he struggled to pull himself up, she hit his huge hands with the leg of the metal chair. It was heavy and it was hard to wield, but she used it the best she could to batter the damn thing.

“I’m gonna fucking bash your gawddamn skull in,” she hissed at him.

Lloyd’s voice was quiet inside of her head now.

“I choose when to die,” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “And it's not now!”

The zombie kept trying to pull himself up, but she kept smashing him as hard as she could.

Davey appeared on the balcony. His face was completely stripped away and his bloodied, fleshless face stared toward her. Only his eyes remained and, comically, his ears and a flap of his skull. With a desperate hiss, he ran toward her as well.

“Bring it on, fucker,” Jenni shouted at him, and kept bashing the other zombie.

Davey flung himself over the rail and didn’t get very far at all. He managed to grab onto the other zombie and they both hung suspended over the street far below. Davey began to rip at the other zombie’s arms as he tried to pull himself upwards. The assault from above and below was too much. With a hungry growl of rage, the large zombie lost his hold and slipped out of sight.

Holding the chair tight in her hands, Jenni stood with her chest heaving, listening intently, and didn’t relax until she heard the impact of their fall. Looking over the edge, she saw both of them on the pavement below. Davey was trying to crawl away with only one good arm. The other zombie was impaled on an old fashioned street light, its arms and legs pumping in vain to escape it.