Stuck in China for the Zombie Apocalypse

Zombies!!!

For a moment, I was frozen with fear but then my instincts for self-preservation kicked in. I pushed Sensei Matthews back into the stairway and yanked Mei Ying towards the stairs as well. I took her by surprise and got her almost to the door as green meteorites began impacting all around us.

There were screams and people shoving to get behind shelter. One meteorite struck directly in front of the glass doors and exploded into fragments. Xiao Dan grabbed me and sheltered me, turning his back to the front of the hotel. It was very chivalrous but also pointless. By the time he had acted, the storm was over. The chaos, however, was really setting in.

Some people had been killed when the meteorites struck and others – well they began to change. Among the people who had been within 5 feet of the meteorite, 1 in 10 fell to the ground and convulsed before lying utterly still. As their friends and relatives, and even a few concerned bystanders, tried to get them to respond their skin turned gray and their fingernails turned black and lengthened. After a few minutes the first one sat up as jerky as a puppet on strings. Before the person holding them could react, the creature that had once been her husband bit her neck and tore out a huge chunk.

Arterial blood sprayed as people shrieked and dodged away but more and more of the gray humanoids began to awaken and claw and bite. In all the craziness, I didn't even realize that a shard of glass had nicked my neck and a trickle of blood flowed down my neck to disappear beneath the collar of my t-shirt. But one of the creatures noticed.

It was someone who hadn't made it out of the doors of the hotel before the meteorite struck. I don't know what drew my attention to it but I saw its head turn my way sharply and its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air. The eyes were covered with a cloudy film but the creature headed our way and instinct told me it was coming for me.

"Get inside!" I yelled, pushing Mei Ying and pulling Xiao Dan into the stairwell.

The creature grabbed Xiao Dan and its claws raked his arm as I kicked it away. Now Xiao Dan and I were both bleeding but at least the door was closed between that zombie and us. Xiao Dan held his injured arm and looked dazed. Mei Ying pushed me away and grabbed Xiao Dan around the waist, urging him up the stairs as if it had been her idea all along and I was the one holding us up.

"Are you okay?" Sensei Matthews asked me. He gestured towards my neck and I finally realized I was bleeding.

"It doesn't hurt," I assured him. "Do we go up or down?"

The hotel had a basement parking lot. We could probably find a way to leave from there but is it better to leave or to stay at this point? As I mulled over the choices, Xiao Dan passed out.

Mei Ying shrieked out his name and I slapped her, stunning her to silence.

"How DARE you?" She raised her hand to slap me back but I easily caught it and twisted her arm behind her.

"Those things out there can get in here if we attract them. Do you want to bring them in and kill us all? If so, keep yelling."

She sputtered a little but seemed to realize the truth in my words. I released her and went to check on Xiao Dan.

His face was already red with a fever and his lips were cracked and dry. I noticed the scratches on his arm had swelled and turned red and purple with a little black in the middle. Sensei and I exchanged a look.

"We need to treat his arm," I told Mei Ying. "Where can we get medical supplies?"

Mei Ying's eyes moved from side to side as she thought. Finally, she looked up and told us that the penthouse suite was our best bet. I looked up at the stairwell that seemed to go on forever and sighed inwardly.