Partyville USA: Part 2-2

As the sun set, Roland was still watching the street below. He watched the ebb and flow of the crowd. He saw the odd survivor or survivors attempt to navigate through or past, occasionally successfully. And he watched the odd man or men turn on the street, beckoned by some impulse and cross the promenade towards the obscured lobby below.

            He hid his empty glass under the chair as he heard the doors open behind him. When he swiveled again, he saw Burt entering.

            “Hey Burt”

            “Roland”

            Burt walked to the window and peered down into the street.

            “My God, they’re everywhere.”

            “Yup” Roland said, not sitting up.

            “I tell you what” Burt said with a sneer “I’d like to hear those liberal faggots try to bitch about Katrina now.”

            Roland chuckled faintly.

            “These sumbitches are just lucky all my guns are back home. It would be a different situation then, I can tell you.”

            “You any good with ‘em?”

            “Am I good with ‘em” Burt snorted “Hell, we could bust out one of these windows and I could pick ‘em off from here. Luckily I still have some hand-to-hand skills I picked up from Survival Camp.”

            “You’ve been to Survival Camp?”
            “Back in my halcyon days, to be honest, but I ain’t forgot a bit. Just get me in a room with one of those freaks and I’ll show him who’s boss.”

            “Well I’m glad you’re here with us” Roland smiled, standing and patting Burt’s shoulders. Burt, however, kept staring down.

            “Look at ‘em” he muttered “it’s all theirs and they don’t even care.”

            By night most of the staff began seeking places to sleep. As they did, Sam called a meeting with Roland, Burt and Sophie in the conference room.

            “Sophie has told me” he began “that she hasn’t been able to call the fifth floor for the past half-hour. In addition, nobody has been able to reach 911, or any type of emergency personnel. At the rate, they’re coming, I’d say we have about five days before they get up here.”

            “It won’t take that long,” Sophie said from the end of the table as she pulled a cigarette from her half-empty pack “every time they go up a floor there’s going to be more of them.”

            “We have to completely seal off everything” said Roland.

            “What if we need to get to the cafeterias?” said Sam “bear in mind we don’t have any food up here.”

            “The one on the third is already out of the question” said Sophie “and the one on the 25th has probably already been picked clean by all of the surrounding floors.”

            “Hey Soph” Burt grumbled “how about a little positivity, huh?”

            Sophie ignored Burt as she took a drag.

            “How much food do we have up here” Burt asked to Sam.

            “A couple of bagels, some fruit and one cup of yogurt” said Sam. Roland bristled but remained silent “not enough to feed everyone for even a day with rationing.”

            “Maybe we could just try to run. Take our chances down there. There are plenty of cars, after all” said Burt.

            “Even if we took the elevators” Sam said, rubbing his brow “we have no idea how many are in the lobby, how many are really out there, even if any of the cars at the front have their keys in them.”

            “So that’s it?” Burt ye

lled “we just sit up here until those things finally get us?”

            “Maybe they’ll stop” Sophie offered, flicking ash over the empty table. They weighed possible escapes for a while longer until Sam finally adjourned the meeting. When Roland left he took a walk through the office. Some of his coworkers were trying to sleep in their chairs to varying degrees of success. Some laid on the floor. Woo-Jin was huddled against the water cooler, staring distantly off and seemingly not blinking.

            Roland walked to his office. His briefcase was still on his desk. He opened the flap and removed his report, reading the title again. He stared at it for a moment before sliding it back into the case. As he walked back down the office he saw Luanne crouched in the hall.

            “Is Kaylee okay?” she asked. Roland looked at her, realizing he hadn’t called her.

            “She’s fine” he said “she made it to the cabin.”

            “That’s good” Luanne choked.

            “How are your folks?” Roland asked after a second.

            “I haven’t been able to reach them” Luanne sniffed.

            “I’m sure they’re okay”

            “Really?”

            “Positive.”

            “Thanks” she said, dropping her head. Roland walked quietly back down the hall, back to Wallace’s office. When he got there he poured himself another double whiskey, then pushed his chair next to the two facing ones. He propped up his legs on one of the facing chairs, sipped his drink, and began to slowly drift to sleep.