Reciprocity by Benz Natalie

Author:Benz, Natalie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

THE INFECTED WERE RELENTLESS AS they hissed and spat, seeking out any purchase they could find to climb after their prey. Luckily the railing was tall glass, encasing the stairs in a slippery shell that somewhat slowed the creatures’ advance, but they were still too fast for Charlotte’s liking. She and Emerson paused on the top step to send off a few rounds with their pistols, aiming for legs and what was left of faces.

“I didn’t expect this many,” commented the mercenary, profoundly calm for somebody popping off headshots into a crowd of howling former office workers. “I really thought they’d all wandered off.”

“Evidently not,” was her clipped reply. Incapacitating the foremost infected created a barrier of bodies and bought the two of them precious seconds to run. The stairs opened up onto a wide balcony that wrapped around the interior of the building, looking down into the main foyer, and they dashed along it like horses on a racetrack. Every single door Charlotte tried was locked, but Emerson didn’t seem concerned about their lack of escape routes.

“Don’t bother,” he told her breathlessly as she reached for the next knob. “Double doors on the far side of the balcony—we can get to an emergency exit through there. It goes to the fire escape in the alley.”

“How do you know?” she protested as they rounded a corner. Something caught at her pant leg and she whirled, squeezing off the last shot in her Beretta. It punched into the skull of the infected nearest her and she ran, letting Emerson cover her as she scrambled to reload. He did so unhurriedly, pausing with feet spread in a sturdy stance, blowing wide open the torso of a charging infected. It fell, tripping its fellows, and he took the extra time to line up his SIG Sauer with a new target.

“Looked at the map,” he said levelly, and pulled the trigger.

A fire extinguisher on the wall exploded into a roiling cloud of white powder and shrapnel, enveloping the yowling crowd and giving the two companions a narrow advantage as they ran.

“What map?” Charlotte demanded, snapping a full mag into her Beretta and flinging the empty one aside. “When did you have time to look at a map?”

“There was one by the front desk. Didn’t you notice?”

“I was busy not getting eaten!”

“Well, you’re doing great.” His voice was so patronizing she could have shot him in the knee and left him to be lunch. Oblivious of her wicked inner thoughts, he rounded the last corner and skidded to a halt in front of the double doors, pulling them open and ushering her in. “C’mon, c’mon, no time to waste taking in the sights.”

“But plenty of time to read maps,” she couldn’t help but mutter as she slipped past him. She felt his smirk rather than saw it, but ignored it to give their new surroundings a quick inspection. The room appeared to be empty, except for them.

Behind her, Emerson slammed the doors shut and locked them, looking around for something to reinforce them with.

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