The skyscraper “Dacles Rubicon” was over 150 m in height and possessed about 35 floors. Entering the high-rise building through one of its doors, the first thing Ryner saw was two reception desks. The walls were made of wood and the floor was covered in white tiles.
Also, a dozen zombies mindlessly stood in place before turning their attention on him.
“Well this should be easy enough.” [Ryner]
Ryner dropped his duffel bag and got to work clearing the place. Once he was done, he went to the corridor behind the reception desks. It opened up to a T-shaped corridor that had multiple elevator doors, presumably for the employees to reach their floor. Pressing on one of the buttons on the wall that had an arrow pointing up, Ryner tried calling the elevator. Of course, it didn’t do anything since the place was dim and out of power.
Moreover, listening closely, he could hear groans and scratching noise coming from a few of the elevators, indicating that infected were stuck inside them. So, Ryner took the stairs. Luckily, the door wasn’t locked, but the stairwell was dark as there was no window and no electricity. He had to use his flashlight to illuminate the way. Furthermore, the undead were also present on the flight of metal stairs.
“The zombies here really are smart enough to use stairs without falling.” [Ryner]
Ryner remarked while watching the shambling corpses slowly go down each step to reach him. He tried standing next to the railing, to see if the zombies above him would take a shortcut and jump down on him. However, they only followed the stairs until they were on his level.
“Yup, still dumb.” [Ryner]
On the other hand, the infected that he got close to tried to grab him and fell over the railing, forcing him to eliminate them rapidly.
“… Dumb but could be trouble.” [Ryner]
Ryner put down his duffel bag, positioned himself next to the stairs and waited until they were within reach. At that moment, he swung his sledgehammer at their skulls. Every single one came at him from the same direction, which made dispatching them easier. Once the flight of stairs was clear, Ryner would grab his bag and climb up to the landing. Then, if there were more zombies, he would wait by the next flight of stairs and similarly destroy them.
He swung his sledgehammer horizontally to the right and smashed a zombie’s head, popping its eye out.
He swung his sledgehammer horizontally to the left and smashed another zombie’s head while causing it to fall off the landing.
Sometimes, when several were walking closely together, a few of them that he wasn’t aiming for would get caught up in his attack and fall down. When it happened, Ryner would either stomp on their heads, or step back and take out the other approaching infected until they stood back up. It saved him the trouble of stooping down to get them. In such a fashion, the sound of a blunt weapon crushing skulls continuously filled the dark stairwell.
That, consequently, attracted other infected. When Ryner reached the door to the next floor, there was a small window that let him see what was on the other side. The face of a zombie was staring at him as it repeatedly hit the glass with its forehead. Luckily it couldn’t open the door. However, it made him realize that he couldn’t linger for too long since there was a chance that he could get attacked from behind.
So, while fighting carefully and making sure to avoid getting surrounded, he carved his way to the 20th floor as fast as possible.
When Ryner finally reached it and opened the door, he saw that he was in a corridor wide enough for two people. The floor was covered in black and white tiles like the grid of a chessboard. The walls were made of light grey-colored bricks. On his left was a black door that only needed to be pushed to be opened. The blue symbol drawn on it indicated that it led to the men’s washroom. But, most importantly, in front of him were several groaning zombies.
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“Hey, thanks for welcoming me.” [Ryner]
So, Ryner got to work and wiped out the undead in the area. Once he was done, he confirmed that he was in a T-shaped corridor. The narrow part led to the emergency stairwell and washrooms for men and women, which were empty. The wider part had elevators on both sides and a light brown door with a keycard scanner on each end. Looking around, Ryner realized that the majority of the corpses lying on the floor had a card hanging on their belts or on their chests.
The card was red and had the word “D-RUBICON” written in black. On the back was the picture and name of the owner. It was required to open the door leading to the employees’ offices. Sadly, the power was out, so the many keycards left at his disposal were all useless. As such, Ryner used the brute force method of breaking down the door with a sledgehammer. His weapon, covered in dark blood, badly damaged the wooden door and left a small hole.
From it, a screeching roar could be heard. Immediately, Ryner ran down the corridor and hid behind the corner where he retrieved his Model 85 revolver from his backpack and put away his flashlight. He thought about going back into the stairwell if needed, but several infected could be seen on the other side of the door. Then, just as he considered hiding in the washroom for men, a violent impact slammed into the damaged door like a sledgehammer.
“(Doesn’t sound like the zit zombie from before. Is it a different type?)” [Ryner]
He thought as he peeked from the corner. The roaring creature hit the door several times until splinters flew off as it broke to pieces. With its figure clearly visible, Ryner widened his eyes when he saw what he was dealing with.
“(How the hell is that a zombie?)” [Ryner]
There stood a being that used to be a man with rotten, grey skin. Its arms were shriveled up like dead fruits and limply hung on both sides. From its shoulders, two huge arms were growing out like bat wings. The forearms and the hands were big like those of a gorilla, yet appeared to have only skin and bones. The skinny fingers were long, crooked and sharp. The creature’s head was hairless and only a huge mouth filled with rows of fangs could be seen on its face.
More accurately, there was no face. No eyes or nose were present. The undead monster’s huge arms that could reach the ground were being used like legs and supported its body. It moved around while growling and screeching. Seeing his appearance and his actions, Ryner wondered if his enemy was blind. However, before he could test out his theory, zombies appeared from behind the creature.
Having broken down the door, the other infected slowly poured out of the office and into the corridor, drawn by the sound.
“(Well, great, just great.)” [Ryner]
Judging it too risky to explore his foe’s weak points, Ryner decided to quickly kill it. After placing the duffel bag and backpack on the floor away from him, he leaned out of the corner and fired at the eyeless monster.
BANG
The loud gunshot punctuated the air, the ignition of the gunpowder flashed for a split second and the bullet traveled straight towards its target. The small metal projectile struck the forehead of the infected, was crushed from the collision and bounced off the skull after tearing a hole through the flesh to reveal the bone beneath. The four-armed zombie screeched, dark blood flowed down its face, but it was still moving.
“Damn it!” [Ryner]
Ryner cursed and fired a second time at the enemy that was heading straight for him, once more hitting its forehead. However, besides a jerk of its head from the impact of the bullet, it didn’t stop.
“(Of course it’s not that easy!)” [Ryner]
Ryner swiftly and silently ran to the corner on the other side, crossing in front of the infected. Yet, the creature didn’t chase after him. It continued on its course, proving that it was indeed blind. When it reached the location from which Ryner had fired his gun, it violently slammed the wall with the palm of one of its giant hands. Pieces of bricks broke off from the attack and the sharp fingers carved grooves on the walls.
After taking one look at the damage the blind monster could do, Ryner ran towards the zombies behind it, his sledgehammer and revolver in hand. He weaved his way through, pushed and shoved aside the shambling undead as he headed towards the entrance that now lacked a door. Seeing that it was blocked by more zombies, he shot his gun twice and hit the heads of the two infected that were at the doorframe.
Then, just as their bodies were about to fall, Ryner charged into them like an angry boar and sent them flying. His rush pushed away the other undead that were gathering around the door, causing some to fall like dominoes, giving him room to breathe. Without delay, he kept moving, swung his weapon and shot his last bullet at an infected blocking his path. Gaining an opening, he escaped from the crowd of walking corpses.
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Item of interest
D-RUBICON keycard:
* Red ID keycard for the Dacles Rubicon company.
* Needed to open various doors only accessible to employees.
* But there’s no power, so it’s useless.
* Can still be thrown.