This Broken City Sky

The group walked along silently behind Lily, glancing at their new comrades. Dylan walked behind a few of the men, Gerard, Mikey and Kat. She looked to her right as they passed by frosted glass windows with a small gold plaque next to them that read 'POOL'. She rose her eyebrows.

"Lil, is the pool heated?" She couldn't help the sarcastic remark; the opportunity was just too perfect. Kat turned her blonde head to give Dylan a fleeting glance, then faced forward again, shaking her head lightly. Lily, at whom the quip was directed, ignored it, and squeezed the keys tightly in her hand. Her hands were getting clammy; after seeing her disemboweled supervisor, she was terrified to see what else lay in store for them when they reached the utility closet.

"Guess we got a fuckin comedian..." The short one, Frank, mumbled from behind Dylan. She simply narrowed her eyes slightly, and brought her hand up to rub at her shoulder again.

"Um, okay..." Lily sighed, and stopped at the grey door at the very end of the hall that indicated the room behind it was strictly for hotel employees. Dylan wove between the men, and stood between Lily and Kat.

"Turn on the light when you get the door open, and we'll go in." Kat told her, as Lily gripped the gold key, and nodded.

"Be right behind you." Dylan gave a curt nod, and shifted the butt of the shotgun to her uninjured shoulder. Kat moved her fingers against the hilt of her gun as Lily slid the key into it's home, and turned it to the left. Then she turned the handle quickly, pushing back the door, and reached just inside to flip on the light switch. Kat and Dylan slipped in quickly like a pair of policemen on a raid. But Lily stared at the familiar, sticky substance on her fingers. The brothers, Mikey and Gerard stepped up next to her, just as two loud bang's reverberated in the small utility room. Lily jumped, and tore her eyes away from her bloody fingers, reluctantly moving them to the room. Kat stepped around the two bodies on the floor, as Dylan looked over at her cousin and the two men standing in the doorway.

"Ho-ly shit..." Frank mumbled as he stepped into the small room. Ray moved to the spot where he stood, and looked on with Gerard and Mikey. In the middle of the floor, lay two men, one face down on top of the other. That one, clearly had been infected, and had bitten the other. Rather, chewed on like a rubber toy. Both were shot.

"Alright, let's see..." Kat said quietly as they began to look around the shelves lining all four walls. Johnny stayed outside with Lily, but Gerard, Mikey and Ray filed into the room.

"You okay?" Johnny asked softly, as Lily frowned, and wiped her fingers on her jeans.

"Yeah." She responded, her voice just bareley above a whisper. He nodded, and stepped past her. Everyone tried to ignore the two bodies-one lying over the other, but both with bullet holes in their heads-as they rummaged around on the shelves. Dylan took her weapon in her left hand, and sighed. She hadn't really intended to use it anyway. Then she looked around at the unfamiliar faces around her.

"Listen, I know this probably isn't the best time, but could um....Could someone pop my shoulder?" Her voice sounded meek; she never liked asking for help, "If I don't do it soon I won't be any help to anyone..." She pleaded a little, as all eyes turned back to her. No one said anything at first, but then Ray, with his mass of curly hair, nodded. She smiled thankfully as he stepped over the legs of the two dead men and over to her.

"Put your gun down." He said, and she nodded, leaning the tall shotgun back against the wall, "Do you want me to um...Count to three...Or something..?" He asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. She frowned, and nodded.

"Yes please.." She smiled a little, though she wasn't exactly sure why. Ray placed his hands on either side of her shoulder, then exhaled.

"Alright one...two..." But before he reached three, Ray jerked both of his hands, and thus her shoulder, which gave an audible pop. Dylan gave a small whimper, and her face contorted in pain, but otherwise she was silent. Ray stepped away from her, wearing a vaguely sympathetic expression, then went back to looking for something to defend himself with. Dylan sighed, and opened her eyes, a new pain throbbing in her shoulder.

"Here." Johnny said, and she looked over at him just as he tossed the little packet of Advil. She managed to catch it, and give him an appriciative nod just as his sister looked back at him. Kat was holding two parts of a broken broom stick in her hands, one of which she handed to Johnny with a faint smile, and the other she handed to Mikey, who was holding a wrench.

"I think this'll do you more good." Kat told him, and he nodded, pushing up his glasses slightly. Gerard held a significant looking hammer down by his side, and Frank was gripping a long crow bar, swinging it slightly.

"Alright, I think we're good..." Dylan mumbled, and stepped passed Gerard toward the door, "Lil what's wrong?" She whispered immediately, when she set eyes upon her cousin. She was paler than usual, which had her looking like a sheet of paper. Her eyes were glazed over, and focused on the floor.

"I'm just....I c-...can't....this'....." She mumbled, shaking her head lightly, causing a lock of black hair to fall next to her face. Dylan frowned, and took a step closer to Lily.

"Here," Dylan grasped the hilt of the shotgun, and held it out to Lily, "You can hold it, my shoulders killing me." She said quietly, as the others began to shuffle out of the room. Kat and her brother were the last ones out, so the blonde woman stopped where Dylan and Lily stood.

"Is there a master key to the rooms?" Kat asked quietly, and Dylan shot her a look. With a deep sigh, Lily nodded, and took a pace forward, leaving Dylan and Kat behind to stare at each other briefly. Then they followed after the group into the main run of the hotel.

"Did you guys get into a room or something?" Kat asked the group of unfamiliar men, about which Dylan was feeling a little uneasy. She wasn't sure if she wanted to stay with four guys she didn't even know...

"No we were staying here for a few days," Gerard answered, running a hand through his touseled hair, "I think we're the only people who decided it was a good idea to stay." He raised his eyebrows, and Dylan turned her attention away from the group. When she did, she noticed Lily wasn't among them.

"Lily?" She called, maybe a bit too loudly.

"She went to get the master key." Frank answered, since he was standing closest to Dylan. Her eyes slid sidelong to look at him, then she pursed her lips, and thumbed open the little packet of Advil. She tossed back the two remaining pills, just as Lily walked back into the entry hall, her brown boots sounding off against the tile floor. Dylan swallowed hard, trying to choke back the pills, and looked up at her cousin.

"How many floors are we looking at in this place?" Kat asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Like fifteen-" Ray started, but Lily cut in.

"Eleven." She replied, and Kat nodded.

"Alright, so, there are eight of us, we'll each take a floor. Take a look around." Frank shrugged, and Dylan frowned.

"If you have a master key, short stack, go ahead-" She snapped, already feeling that she didn't like him in the least.

"We can't split up. At least not that much." Gerard interrupted Dylan, stepping in for his friend. Kat nodded.

"We'll just go with Lily, she'll open a door for each of us," She shrugged, and uncrossed her arms, her leather jacket squeaking slightly, "What floor is your room on?" She nodded at the men, who stood together.

"The fourth." Mikey replied, with a small nod. With a sigh, Dylan glanced over at Lily, then back to the group.

"We should look through the rooms for any weapons," She ran her eyes over the six strangers who stood before her, "People might have small handguns or something." She shrugged lightly, and looked back at Lily, who was standing on the fringe of the assembly. The way she held the shotgun screamed that she wasn't comfortable with it, so Dylan held out her hands. Lily gave her a long, fervent stare, then handed over the gun one more time. Dylan jerked open the barrels, took two cartridges from her pocket, and stuffed them home.

"Do you think we um..." Lily spoke up, though her voice wasn't much louder, "We should fill up the bathtubs?" She added, and stepped up next to Dylan. All eyes turned to her curiously.

"What?" Johnny piped, frowning slightly.

"Why?" Ray frowned as well, and Lily licked her lips tentatively.

"In case they shut off the water. We'll need water to drink I mean there's a few bottles in every room but-" She stopped, and shrugged. Everyone was silent for a while, their eyes wandering to one another.

"I think it's a good idea." Kat raised her eyebrows a little, and nodded. Dylan frowned at her shoes, as murmurs of agreement rolled through a few of them.

"Wait, who is going to turn off the water?" She said after a bit of thinking.

"What?" Mikey asked, this time. Dylan shifted her weight.

"Well, who's going to be there to turn off the water? You know...Like, that and electricity," She held out her hand for emphasis, "They have to do that individually. And, y'know, what if they bailed too? What if the people got killed, or-or they're holding down the fort, so anyone who stays can have power." Dylan got a little excited at her own idea.

"Oh come o-" Frank sighed, and let his head fall back.

"You might be right, but we should still do what she said," Gerard nodded, and motioned to Lily with his hammer, "Just in case no one is holding down the fort." Dylan could tell he was trying not to smile.

"Okay, whatever, let's not just sit here and argue about this," Kat said finally, taking charge once more, "Let's go floor by floor, room by room. We'll search through things, and Lily can fill up the bath tubs." It sounded ridiculous, when Lily actually thought about it, but at least they'd have water for a little while.

"Then let's do this." Frank nodded at the stairs, and, sort of reluctantly, everyone took a step toward the left flight of stairs.