Science Fiction Smackdown II Entry (Zombie-Fun-Excitement-Spectacular!!!!)

Chapter 7: Light and Darkness

By the time he made it back to Brockenhurst, it was completely dark, and David was exhausted. He was so tired that it was hard to keep the bicycle completely upright, and he made long, lazy turns, to keep the red machine moving forward. He tried to throw all his weight onto the downward-moving peddle, so that the movement of the other peddle would force the other, aching foot upward with minimal effort. Still, it was a hard slog. It was a great relief to round a corner and see the hotel complex ahead, blazing with light.

The light triggered some reaction in David's sluggish brain. At first, he could not quite figure out what that reaction was. Something in the sight before him was remarkable – but what? He stood astride the bicycle, not moving, for what felt like an eternity as his brain worked, ideas moving slowly like cog wheels immersed in a tub of viscous molasses. Finally, David understood. The hotel was completely lit, with light pouring out of every window. Is every lamp in the place lit? David wondered. He knew that George would never allow that. Not after all the trouble it had taken them to get the diesel. David forced his feet back onto the peddles.

~*~

Inside the hotel, things were tense. Amy and Chloe were in the main restaurant, with their backs to an interior wall. Chloe stood, pressing her palms flat against the wall behind her, using it for support. Amy sated on the carpet, her legs folded underneath so that she could feel her own weight on her ankles. She had pulled Oliver up onto her uneven knees, and he was perched there, uncertainly, while Amy held onto him like a shield. All three children were watching Jenna, who was engaged in an argument with a tall man in a military uniform.

The tall man in uniform wasn't the only stranger in the hotel. In fact, he was accompanied by nearly 30 other, similarly-dressed men, who called him 'lieutenant' and claimed to be from the army. At first, it had been obvious that Jenna had doubted this claim – as she quickly pointed out, there had been nobody offering even a modicum of law and order in the area in months, so where had they been, exactly? – but in the end it hadn't really mattered who they were or who they claimed to be. They had greater numbers, a sense of determination, and guns. If they wanted the hotel, then the hotel was theirs. Right now, approximately ten men were littering the restaurant tables, most of them enjoying what had been neatly-stored cuts of lamb and mutton.

That is not to say that Jenna didn't try to stand up for what was hers. While Amy, Chloe, and Oliver watched, Jenna grabbed the arm of the lieutenant.

“Look here,” she said, “Even if you intend to trespass on private property -”

“Not your property, though, miss,” the lieutenant pointed out. “You don't own this hotel.”

Jenna was unperturbed. “Even if you're going to trespass on private property, you ought to show a little respect! What point is there in turning on every light in the hotel? We run on diesel generators, and only have a limited supply of fuel, you know!”

“I don't care how little diesel you have! Electric light keeps the zombies away.”

“Since when?”

“It's not my fault that you're completely unobservant,” the man rolled his eyes.

“Can't we just leave lights on in the areas we actually live in, then?” Jenna had pleaded.

But the lieutenant shook his head. He was not going to lose men because some flighty woman wanted to turn the lights off.

At the back of the room, Amy wondered if these men had anything to do with the numbers station she had found. She hoped that they didn't. She held Oliver just a little closer.

~*~

The cool night air had given David a second wind, and he dropped the bicycle just as he reached the overhang that protected the big glass doors. He ran towards the door, then stopped abruptly. A pair of strangers stood flanking the door – strangers dressed in military fatigues, each of them brandishing a gun. These were the largest guns David had ever seen; Mr. Basil's hunting rifle, in comparison, would have looked like a toy. Silhouetted by the light pouring out of the lobby, they looked even more huge and intimidating. David skidded to a halt, as both guns were lowered, and pointed in his general direction.

“Halt!” one of the soldiers announced. The blue-eyed man was young, and his voice sounded nervous. “This is a military establishment.”

David stared at him. “No, it isn't! It's a hotel – I've been staying here. Who are you people? You weren't here this morning!”

The other soldier, a man whose chin was shadowed by dark stubble, looked David up and down. “So what if we weren't? We're here now. And at the moment, this building is not a hotel. We require it for national security purposes.”

"National security?! My friends are in there! This isn't a military installation. And I'm not a zombie. So let me in.”

"I don't care who's in there. We've got our orders, and you're not going in. Now, move along.”

Exasperated, David was just launching into a tirade of “I'm not moving along! Not until I know that everyone's fine and -”

 And all at once, they were plunged into darkness.

~*~

In the restaurant, Amy let out a tiny yip of surprise.

“What just happened?” The lieutenant sounded confused.

 Jenna was silent for a moment. When she finally spoke, her voice was full of cold fury. “I told you we didn't have much diesel. I told you that we couldn't afford to run every light in the building. But you had to have them on, didn't you? Do you know how much trouble we went to in order to get that fuel? That should have lasted us a week! And now you've wasted it all, within a few hours! And having no light is bad enough! What about our food? Those generators ran all our refrigeration, too! If I could see where you're standing, I think I'd slap you!”

“Calm down, miss. We'll get this all fixed up, and - ” the lieutenant's soothing voice cut short as a pane of glass shattered.

 The lieutenant blinked owlishly in the darkness. “Now what?” he muttered.

Note: Instructions included that contestants had to pick two of three prompts, as follows:

1) You are running low on fuel . . .

2) You encounter a military unit who wish to use the hotel as their home base . . .

3) A breach occurs, resulting in an area of the hotel being overrun with zombies. . .

As you can see, I went with # 1 (they ran out of diesel!) and # 2 (that lieutenant and his men!). Depending on the next prompt, # 3 might be about to make an appearance as well!