Affliction Z: Abandoned Hope (Post Apocalyptic Thriller) by L.T. Ryan Page B

rarely lowering the device from her face. The woman stopped and
waited for a gap in the stream of traffic. She found her opening and darted
forward, heading toward the door labeled “Employees Only.”
    Kathy didn’t bother to wait for an opening in the crowd. She
lowered her shoulder and bumped and pushed her way through. She reached the
door a moment before it would have shut. Her hand was on the knob. It had no
give. She’d have been locked out. She only hesitated for a few seconds before
pushing it open.
    The transition from the terminal to the hall she stood in
was like stepping into a dark movie theater after standing in the bright
parking lot. She leaned back against the door and felt it latch. After a few
seconds, her eyes adapted to the darkness.
    A hallway extended in front of her. There were two doors on
the right hand wall. A railing ran along the left. At the end of the hall, she
saw the stairs leading down. She checked the knobs as she passed. The first was
locked. The second wasn’t. She cracked it open enough to hear voices, and then
eased it shut again. She continued on. The area at the end smelled like mildew.
She looked down at the carpet, noting the mold in the corner.
    She slowly descended the stairs. No matter how much care she
took in setting her foot down, her steps echoed. After six steps, she bent over
and caught a glimpse of the next level. It was a wide hallway illuminated by
fluorescent bulbs, half of which were blinking or out altogether. There was
enough light for her to see that the corridor was deserted.
    She took the remaining stairs quickly, ignoring the extra
noise she produced. Stale, hot air hung in the hall. It felt like she was
inside a jetway. A sign designed like an arrow, pointing to the right, read “Garage.”
She headed in that direction, increasing her pace to a jog.
    She passed several doors and windows, but did not stop to
investigate. She did not even turn her head to get a glance inside the rooms.
What would be the point? Kathy was a realist, and the realist in her told her
that no one was going to help her out.
    Kathy and Sean had once taken a trip to Indianapolis for a
football game. They had to drive through Cincinnati to get there. It had taken
close to seven hours to reach the city from Roanoke. That was too far to walk,
and she felt certain that hitchhiking would be out of the question. She needed
a car.
    When she reached the garage, she found the door to be
locked. She cursed as she balled up her fists and banged them against the door,
which had a narrow, vertical window close to the handle. She figured all she
had to do was break that window, and she might be able to open the door from
the other side. Looking back over her shoulder, she spotted a fire extinguisher
mounted to the wall about twenty feet back. She ran over and grabbed a hold of
it. It wouldn’t budge.
    “Come on,” she said, pulling as hard as she could.
    Tears started to build in her eyes, matching her
frustration. She couldn’t be trapped here. She gripped the bottom of the fire
extinguisher and lifted up. It slid up and off the mount that secured it to the
wall. She was so shocked that she dropped it. It hit the floor with a clanking
sound that echoed throughout the hallway.
    Kathy braced herself for someone to open a door to see what
caused the commotion. Ten seconds passed, then fifteen. No one appeared.
    She picked up the fire extinguisher and jogged back to the
door that led to the garage. Heaving the heavy metal device over her shoulder,
she counted to three, then propelled it forward. The glass shattered upon
impact.
    She used the fire extinguisher to break away the remaining
shards of glass, and then threaded her arm through the opening. Feeling along
the door, she found the handle. She wrapped her hand around it and lifted up.
It didn’t move. She took a deep breath, held it, and pushed the handle down. It
gave way, and the latch clicked free from the frame. She used her knee to