John and Emily were dressed even more outrageously that morning. They had pulled out full on hazmat suits from somewhere and were plodding about in the darkness of the lobby like big yellow inflatable decorations, filtered breath hissing as they went. The girl thought this was all quite over the top. She couldn’t fathom how they were going to climb the hotel stairs like this. Emily in particular was already looking quite winded; through the clear face window, the girl could see strands of dark hair matted against her pale face with sweat. They had unwrapped their bandages now that they were “safe” and the girl could now fully see their features.
John was pretty much as she imagined, with a kindly goofy grin that matched his twinkling brown eyes framed by golden rimmed glasses that sat upon a nose that was a bit larger than what she had imagined. He had a longer face with a square jawline all topped by rather floofy looking lightly curled blonde hair.
Emily still had her left eye covered with an eyepatch. She had a rather stern look on her face, as she always did, with her sharp pale green eye, a thin nose bridge, and perpetually frowning mouth all situated rather pleasingly on an oval shaped face. Her jet black hair was tied in a ponytail but some of it had become undone causing wisps of hair to constantly drift forward and stick to her face.
They had finished eating breakfast earlier and were now packing supplies up to get ready to haul them to the top floor of the hotel. Their plan was to stay far above the ground floor as there was less chance of running into looters, also the Rust would have to climb all the way up to reach them. The roof of the hotel also had a helicopter landing pad, there was a small chance they might be able to call in a helicopter to help evacuate them.
“Are you ok Miss Emily?” the girl asked, “You look kinda… tired.”
“Oh I’m doing ok.” the woman gave her a tired smile. “I just had a hard time sleeping last night is all. Sometimes it can happen when I’m in an unfamiliar place.”
“You on the other hand”, said John, giving the girl a bit of a playful look. “were sleeping pretty soundly from the looks of it.”
“I was having some pretty weird dreams…” the girl said.
“Like nightmares?” Emily asked.
“I can’t really remember, but in one of them I was walking in a reeeally cold place… and I think there was a really big machine shooting out smoke everywhere.” The girl became thoughtful. “This guy kept calling me ‘Kyle’, it was weird.”
“That IS pretty weird.” John said as he put the finishing touches to a second makeshift sled carrying the pallets of water. “Alright, let’s get going! Everyone got their Gerald Jr.s?”
“Yup!” The girl pulled her small plump spiky aloe plant out of her hoodie pocket and raised it up. “Gerald Junior one!”
Emily and John pulled theirs out of secured suit pockets.
“Gerald Junior two.” said Emily with an amused expression.
“Gerald Junior three!” said John with a broad grin, hoisting a rope over his shoulder. “Alright Gerald Junior team, let’s head out!”
The two adults turned on the headlights attached to their foreheads, bathing the surrounding area in a pale light. They each pulled a pallet while the girl hoisted her backpack full of snacks and tugged along a small suitcase full of clothes. The Wrynn Moran Hotel was the biggest casino resort hotel in the city. The ground floor was filled with, now dead, slot machines as well as card tables and a very large roulette wheel. Most casinos had moved on to digital games, and this one had them too, but as a testament to its grandiosity the Wrynn Moran made sure to include physical games as well. As they strolled through the massive casino area casting shifting shadows with their lights, the girl couldn’t help but imagine the place at its peak with dazzling lights and colors, yells of triumph and ecstatic joy mixed with bells and whistles as someone hit the jackpot and chips streamed from the machines (just for show of course, winnings were recorded digitally). A few of the machines had been knocked over and there were cards and chips spilled across the ground. The girl snagged an unopened pack of cards and a few chips as souvenirs.
“Hey, anyone wanna try a spin?” said John as he stopped for a moment, light shining on the roulette wheel.
“Me! Me!” the girl raised her hand.
“Step right over then.” the man said.
“How does this work?” asked the girl putting her hands at the round table.
“Well you spin this wheel here, then I roll this ball in” he raised up a small glimmering silver ball. “and you have to guess which of the number it's going to land in.”
“Oooh I’m pretty good at these. Lemme try.” the girl said.
“OK! Place your bets!” John said, pointing to a grid with numbers on it. “Put whatever you want to bet on the number you think it’ll stop on.”
“Alright!” the girl pulled out a chip and slapped it down on the “3” square.
“Here we go!” John spun the wheel and then rolled the ball in the opposite direction.
“C’mon, c’mon.'' The girl looked so focused as the ball started clacking against the number slots that John couldn’t help but laugh.
That was until the ball did its final tumble and hop and landed… right on 3.
“Heehee!” the girl grinned. “See? I told you I was pretty good at this stuff!”
“Wow,” John said, blinking in surprise. “You would’ve made a ton of money if that had been for real.”
“And if she was actually old enough to be here.” said Emily, tossing the girl a chip as her “winnings”.
“Hmm well that’s a shame…” said John shaking his head.
“Can I go again?” asked the girl, holding up her two chips.
“Uhm sure, one more try won’t hurt,” said John. He was barely done saying that when the girl slapped down two more chips on 3. “Three again huh?”
“I like three.” said the girl matter-of-factly, “It just feels like a good number.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Alright then, here we go!” He spun the wheel and rolled the ball in, though a bit harder this time.
It was three again.
“Yahaa!” said the girl pumping both fists into the air flailing her flashlight about.
John and Emily glanced at each other with startled looks.
“Ok ok. Great going kid.” the man said after a bit. He pulled out 2 packs of instant hot cocoa mix and handed them to her. “Here are your prizes… Unless you want a bunch of casino chips.”
“Nope! This stuff is great!” said the girl pocketing the hot cocoa. “What’s next?”
“Well I could show you some card games, but we’ve gotta get going first.” replied John, “Maybe once we’re settled in.”
With that, they continued on their way toward the grand staircase. Located near the center of the building, the grand staircase was a luxurious red carpeted spiraling escalier that would take them to the 5th floor. Each spiral’s diameter increased as it went up, enabling those at the top to look down and see a full spiral creating a rather impressive sight.
Each of the five main building floors was twice the height of a normal floor and were designed differently and dedicated to a different purpose. The first floor was the casino primarily red and lush with flashing slot machines. There were elevators, but they were out of service for obvious reasons. Which was fine for the girl, she was content ascending the grand staircase and seeing all the sights. The second floor was home to the shopping mall, it was sleek and shiny with black and white marble inscribed with golden lettering. There weren’t many stores and the ones that were there were very high class and out of the budgets of the average visitor. The next floor up was a spa area, it was designed with light wooden paneling with a few plants here and there giving it a calming feel. A small bamboo fountain would’ve added ambient noise but that was unpowered for the time being. The fourth floor was the food court which was decorated with an indoor arboretum that would lend an exciting atmosphere to those dining at the tables. This area was the area that saw the most damage, it had been pillaged for food and supplies it seemed.
“How high are we going?” asked the girl as she marveled at the trees and exotic plants. A soft light shined down upon her from the skylight above. She was having a bit of trouble pulling her suitcase up the steps, but it was nothing compared to the two adults hauling the supplies.
“To the top, the 52nd floor.” John said, panting slightly. “Apparently it has 52 floors because that's how many cards there are in a deck… minus the jokers.” He glanced over at Emily who was visibly struggling. “Let's take a lunch break.”
They each grabbed a ration packet. John showed the girl how to add water to one of the bags which quickly heated up upon contact with water. Then she used that to cook another packet (after adding water of course). Then, John and Emily unfolded an inflatable biohazard tent and disappeared inside. The girl only caught a glimpse of the inside but it looked a bit dirty with bits of reddish dirt. The food was rather bland, just a porridge-like soup with some chunks of “protein”.
“I don’t know what I was expecting but this food is… alright I guess.” the girls said.
“Haha I know what you mean, but we’re fortunate to have it.” came John's voice from inside the tent.
“Did it have to be so bland though…” the girl asked.
“Actually,” came Emily’s voice, “It’s better to eat the same bland thing long term than it is to eat the same thing with stronger taste long term.”
“Really?” came John’s voice again.
“Mhmm, you get sick of something faster if it has the same flavor as opposed to something that's flavorless.”
The girl reached into her backpack. “You guys want some cookies?”
“Yes.” they both replied instantly.
She slid four creme filled cookies to them through a bio-safety window in the tent.
“Why are you guys so afraid of germs anyways.” she asked.
“When you work in the healthcare field, that's just how it is.” said John rather evasively. “Never thought I’d get to taste these things again. Glad I got to before the end of the world.”
“Yeah, great going kiddo.” said Emily, “Where’d you fi–” her voice caught in her throat and she began coughing profusely.
“Are you ok?” the girl asked.
“Yeah. I just…” Emily’s voice came back raspier, “got some cookie caught in my throat is all.”
…danger… the girl heard in the back of her head as John gave Emily some water to drink.
***
They continued up the winding red stairwell to the next floor which had a rather stylish bar overlooking the city. They could head further up and reach the roof of the central building which had an open air club and a pool, but they decided to head toward one of the two half-cylindrical structures where all the hotel rooms were. After a quick flip of the girl’s coin, they decided to go for the one facing south. As they walked along the hallway the girl looked out the full length windows to survey the city. It was very still, almost tranquil even. Like the world had stopped to take a quick break, empty and without the bustle of city-life but not yet eroded by the natural elements.
But then she lifted her gaze to the horizon and saw it, the orange-red discoloration spreading across the dry sun-baked sands. She was startled by how far it had come. How did it survive such dry heat? At this pace it felt it would reach the city within a week or so. She squinted her eyes to see if perhaps she could make out its movement, perhaps a slow inching or spread toward them, but the shimmering air made it impossible to tell.
She turned her attention inward. It had begun to grow quite hot next to the windows. It looked like past the bar was an indoor nightclub with access to the pool above. She considered asking if she could go take a dip in the pool but then a movement outside the window caught her eye. She looked out the window and caught a glimpse of something large and spindly skittering by in a tan blur. She shivered.
“Hey did you guys see that?” she asked.
John stopped mid-pull and looked over his shoulder. “See what?”
“Something… big just ran by outside.”
“Like how big?” asked Emily, weariness in her voice.
“I couldn’t really get a good look at it, it was kinda fast.” the girl said, placing her forehead against the window to try to look down. “But I think…it was the size of a car… and it had a lot of legs.”
“Hmm…” said John skeptically, “It was probably just a large tumbleweed or something…” he saw her expression and quickly added: “but either way it's in our best interest to keep moving.”
They made it to the entrance to the southern tower lobby. It was much brighter due to the amount of surface area exposed to the outside. There was a chandelier hanging above giving it a very classy feel. Then they heard a faint crash echoing from the first floor.
“Ok that was definitely something,” said Emily as they heard yet another crash followed by the rattling noise of casino chips pouring from a disemboweled slot machine.
They quickly located the stairwell which was rather gray and plain compared to everything else but the door was locked.
“Crap what do we do?” asked the girl.
“Hold on there should be some keycards behind the counter there,” said John.
They dropped their cargo by the staircase and moved toward it as quietly as they could, though it was difficult for the adults because their suits were rather bulky. The counter was full of blank cards but when they tried them they realized the cards were not programmed yet. Another crash echoing from the first floor caused them to freeze.
Suddenly Emily whispered, “Look! A cleaning cart.” They followed her gaze and saw a knocked over cart near the elevators. There were half folded towels mixed with small shampoo bottles spilling from it. The girl snuck over as she was the most agile and dug through the mess. After a few moments of searching she found her prize, a small stack of universal keycards.
They quickly moved to the stairs and the girl tried a card. They breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened, its battery powered lock still functional. As she helped Emily push the food sleigh into the stairwell, the girl could hear the faint pitter patter of numerous heavy footsteps on soft carpet coming from the spiral staircase. The stairwell door closed behind them.