This Would Be Paradise (Book 1)-A Zombie Novel

Chapter 1

Various bits of luggage and old room service trays lined the hall, making me regret picking this hotel yet again. The smell of stale and rotting food hung in the air; no doubt drawing in bugs or worse, mice. The florescent lights burned my tired eyes and I found myself squinting at the worn green carpet as I made my way to the elevator. We were only on the third floor, but like hell I was taking the stairs.

With the main floor button glowing, I leaned against the elevator wall as the steel doors closed. Thankfully there was no one else in the elevator and better yet, no god awful elevator music to listen to. We shouldn't have been here in the first place, blowing the last of our student loans for a graduation celebration. Instead of partying, we should be out job hunting, armed with our fancy new Art degrees and wide-eyed obliviousness. My Dad's words came back to me, like they always did whenever I thought about it, "You know how many people in our night stocking crew have Art degrees? All of them."

The doors opened with a buzzing sound and I stepped out of the elevator. The main lobby was devoid of people; even the receptionist behind the front desk was gone. Usually there was at least one person standing there with the phone glued to their ear. Did I sleep through a fire alarm or something?

I slowly made my way to the buffet area, looking around for a sign of life. Everything was set up, but looked like it hadn't been touched. Strange considering it was already afternoon. Normally stale cereal and that one scary looking sausage that seemed to have been there all week would be all that was left by now.

I poured myself some coffee from the giant stainless steel percolator, watching the steam waft up from the foam cup. The smell alone helped invigorate my dulled senses. Sipping the hot liquid, I started to look around to figure out what was going on and maybe see about some maid service. We weren't messy people, but somehow our hotel rooms always managed to look like a disaster zone: overflowing garbage, towels on the ground, running out of the mini-shampoo bottles sized for the head of an infant.

All the tables in the dining area were open, no one sitting around enjoying the mediocre hotel-provided food. I felt my hackles rise. Usually there was at least one person or group in here at all times. A noise that sounded like someone eating caught my attention and I stepped over to the booths that lined the wall.

"Hello?" I called out as I rounded the tall booths.

The sight that greeted me was not what I had expected. A woman covered in appeared to be blood, was kneeling over a larger mass on one side of the booth. Her shirt was torn down the front revealing her daisy spotted bra and deep scratch marks on her chest. She snarled at me, flecks of whatever she'd been eating spraying from her red stained lips. I took a big step back.

She slowly got up from the booth, all her attention now focused on me like I had just insulted her outfit. I could see the thing she was on before much more clearly now. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! It was a man. There was a gaping hole in the body cavity, knotted intestines dangled down the side. I retched at the sight. Did I unknowingly step onto the set of a horror movie?

The woman had managed to get herself out of the booth, slipping a little on the blood coated floor. The coffee fell from my hand as she started towards me, her face contorted into a feral mask. I took off running back the way I'd come, my earlier fatigue forgotten as adrenaline pumped through my veins.

The crazy woman didn't have any weapons on her that I'd seen, but I still didn't want her to catch me. A person can do a lot of damage with just their teeth; exhibit "A" being that man turned into a live game of Operation. The woman was snarling and snapping as she chased me across the lobby. She hadn't said an actual word since I found her, just noises. I had never regretted not working on my cardio as much as I did right now.