"We can't stay here," Thomas said. He kicked the frozen waiter back, shoving him out the door. "They'll get through eventually. And we're trapped in a dead end."
"The shuttle bay," Sterling said, his voice panicked. "The resort has a fleet of Mercedes shuttles. They're armored. They're in the underground garage. We can get to one. We can drive through the gate."
"The garage is on the other side of the kitchen," Jengo said. "The kitchen is where the... the herd... is."
"We have to try," Thomas said. He looked at the group. "We move in a wedge. Kofi and Jengo, point. Jax and me, rear guard. Maggie, Lucas, Doctor, Sterling, stay in the middle. If you see one of them, you don't scream. You point. We shoot."
"What about the salt?" Lucas asked, scooping a handful of the pellets into a sock.
"Make more of those," Thomas said. "Throw them if they get close."
Lucas tied the sock tight. He felt the weight of it. It wasn't a gun, but it was better than nothing.
"Ready?" Thomas asked.
No one answered. They just gripped their weapons tighter.
Thomas pulled the cart away from the broken door. The glass crunched under his boots.
The corridor outside was dark, lit only by the red emergency lights. And it was filled with them.
Dozens of them. Standing still. Waiting.
They weren't running. They weren't screaming. They were just standing there, their heads tilted, watching.
"It's an ambush," Jax whispered. "They're learning."