heavens from above. An eerie marble staircase with elegant pillars coiled upward along the walls, seemingly glowing in the low light, to end at the topmost level. Narrow archways were evenly spaced apart on the first level, branching into halls that led to mystery.
“Wait,” Talbert said, reaching in behind the chest plates of his armor. He pulled out a fancy rope. “I cut this off a window. Used it to haul myself up to the second level here.”
He tied one end off around his waist and offered the other to Gus. “Take this.”
“And what?”
“What are you doing?” Mortimer’s suspicious voice clicked overhead.
The two men ignored him. Talbert glanced back the way they’d come. “Get down there and stop that masked fuck from sawing open those barriers and letting more zombies up here.”
“How many are in this place?”
Talbert shook his head. “I’m figuring we all must’ve put down a hundred so far, and more keep showing up. He must have a goddamn reserve stashed away.”
“Stephanie, they’re at the rotunda,” Mortimer’s voice barked. “It looks as if they’re going to leap back down.”
“Noisy bastard,” Gus growled and looped the cord around his waist. “Don’t you cut that rope,” he warned as he slung himself over the railing.
“Fuck you gonna do about it? Sayonara , fat ass.”
With that, Talbert stepped forward and shoved Gus, dislodging him from the rails and sending him swinging into space.
9
Gus yelped as his body maxed out the short drop and swung inward, the cord tightening around his midsection, tipping his upper body back as if he were Tarzaning it.
And in that arc, he glimpsed the leather-skirted bulk of the man called Stephanie…
Just before his feet crashed into the man’s chest.
“ He’s here !” Gus blurted and immediately got dropped to the floor.
Talbert had cut the cord.
Stephanie, in all his ferocious leather attire, limped to his feet just as Gus stood and one-armed his bat, lashing the aluminum across the Noh mask with a satisfying crack . Mortimer’s stunned henchman stumbled backward against a wall, his mask hanging askew. Stephanie tried to correct his ghostly face while thumbing the electric start button of the chainsaw.
Gus got another hand on his bat and clocked it across his adversary’s head a second time, staggering him visibly. The chainsaw clattered onto the marble.
“Donald! To the Rotunda! Run !” Mortimer blared across the dome’s expanse. “They have Steph! Run! ”
Taking a deep breath, Gus smashed ol’ Steph clean across the face again, sending the mask scuttling across the floor. The fourth blow landed flush on the big man’s temple, and he collapsed in his leather duds.
Gus reared back for another strike and paused for all of two seconds.
It had been almost two years since he last killed another living person.
And gazing at the freak at his feet, he didn’t feel a lick of guilt.
Gus swung the bat over his shoulder and down, breaking Stephanie’s skull. The brute collapsed, twitching in a widening pool of maroon.
Undisguised grief and rage cut through the loudspeakers, intense enough to threaten blowing the wiring. Gus flinched at the sound.
“ I’ll kill you ,” Mortimer frothed in a rattling voice. “ I’ll kill you . I’ll nail your bleeding ass to a table and keep you like a pet! I’ll make your death as slow and painful as–– ”
Gus tuned out the rest and glanced around the empty rotunda. A pair of legs appeared from the second floor, and Talbert lowered himself with a grunt.
“The fuck you do?” he asked as he got his feet under himself.
“Killed a bitch.”
Talbert straightened and inspected Stephanie’s bulk. “One fucked-up bitch.”
“And the way Mort’s screaming, you’d think it was his son.”
“Maybe it was.”
“If it was,” Gus said, gathering up the chainsaw with his free hand, “maybe he’ll rupture something while screaming his nuts off.”
Talbert’s features
“Wait,” Talbert said, reaching in behind the chest plates of his armor. He pulled out a fancy rope. “I cut this off a window. Used it to haul myself up to the second level here.”
He tied one end off around his waist and offered the other to Gus. “Take this.”
“And what?”
“What are you doing?” Mortimer’s suspicious voice clicked overhead.
The two men ignored him. Talbert glanced back the way they’d come. “Get down there and stop that masked fuck from sawing open those barriers and letting more zombies up here.”
“How many are in this place?”
Talbert shook his head. “I’m figuring we all must’ve put down a hundred so far, and more keep showing up. He must have a goddamn reserve stashed away.”
“Stephanie, they’re at the rotunda,” Mortimer’s voice barked. “It looks as if they’re going to leap back down.”
“Noisy bastard,” Gus growled and looped the cord around his waist. “Don’t you cut that rope,” he warned as he slung himself over the railing.
“Fuck you gonna do about it? Sayonara , fat ass.”
With that, Talbert stepped forward and shoved Gus, dislodging him from the rails and sending him swinging into space.
9
Gus yelped as his body maxed out the short drop and swung inward, the cord tightening around his midsection, tipping his upper body back as if he were Tarzaning it.
And in that arc, he glimpsed the leather-skirted bulk of the man called Stephanie…
Just before his feet crashed into the man’s chest.
“ He’s here !” Gus blurted and immediately got dropped to the floor.
Talbert had cut the cord.
Stephanie, in all his ferocious leather attire, limped to his feet just as Gus stood and one-armed his bat, lashing the aluminum across the Noh mask with a satisfying crack . Mortimer’s stunned henchman stumbled backward against a wall, his mask hanging askew. Stephanie tried to correct his ghostly face while thumbing the electric start button of the chainsaw.
Gus got another hand on his bat and clocked it across his adversary’s head a second time, staggering him visibly. The chainsaw clattered onto the marble.
“Donald! To the Rotunda! Run !” Mortimer blared across the dome’s expanse. “They have Steph! Run! ”
Taking a deep breath, Gus smashed ol’ Steph clean across the face again, sending the mask scuttling across the floor. The fourth blow landed flush on the big man’s temple, and he collapsed in his leather duds.
Gus reared back for another strike and paused for all of two seconds.
It had been almost two years since he last killed another living person.
And gazing at the freak at his feet, he didn’t feel a lick of guilt.
Gus swung the bat over his shoulder and down, breaking Stephanie’s skull. The brute collapsed, twitching in a widening pool of maroon.
Undisguised grief and rage cut through the loudspeakers, intense enough to threaten blowing the wiring. Gus flinched at the sound.
“ I’ll kill you ,” Mortimer frothed in a rattling voice. “ I’ll kill you . I’ll nail your bleeding ass to a table and keep you like a pet! I’ll make your death as slow and painful as–– ”
Gus tuned out the rest and glanced around the empty rotunda. A pair of legs appeared from the second floor, and Talbert lowered himself with a grunt.
“The fuck you do?” he asked as he got his feet under himself.
“Killed a bitch.”
Talbert straightened and inspected Stephanie’s bulk. “One fucked-up bitch.”
“And the way Mort’s screaming, you’d think it was his son.”
“Maybe it was.”
“If it was,” Gus said, gathering up the chainsaw with his free hand, “maybe he’ll rupture something while screaming his nuts off.”
Talbert’s features
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