of stonework, heading towards the buckled main doors. They were wedged in place by off-camber walls that showered pulped masonry from torn stone arteries. Carter’s snow-crusted boot persuaded the doors to open.
The lights - and the hotel power - died.
The hotel was plunged into darkness.
The rumblings of the earthquake had died down a little, and Carter paused. He could still hear the screaming, but it sounded weary now, exhausted, a wail without hope. This fired him on and he ran into the reception area where fallen beams littered his path. He glanced up, could see a little moonlight far above and suddenly a snowflake hit him in the face. More fell through this smashed hole in the centre of the hotel and Carter headed for the stairs. They were twisted like a horribly deformed limb; Carter sprinted up them, boots slipping and outstretched hands groping his way forward. As he reached the landing, there was a terrible groan and the whole mammoth staircase toppled behind him, leaving nothing but a timber-spiked black expanse filled with rising clouds of dust and twisted fists of iron.
The noise subsided slowly.
‘Fucking wonderful .’
‘Are we having fun yet?’ whispered Kade nastily at the back of his mind.
Carter grinned, a malicious lopsided grin, and wondered if he had made the right choice ... hmm, a tough one. Standing in the safety of the snow, or rushing headlong into a collapsing hotel?
He glanced around; without the help of the hotel lights the whole place was a maze of shadows. Carter groped his way along one wall, using the fireman’s trick of pressing the back of his hand against it instead of the palm - if he met a live cable, the shock would jerk his hand away; but if he searched with his palm open then the shock would cause his fingers to spasm and grip the cable, ensuring death by electrocution.
He paused, listening, the cuts on his hands and arms stinging with that glass-grated, flesh-peeled feeling he so detested. ‘Hello?’ he bellowed, and tracked the sobbing by sound.
The rumbling began once more.
Carter cursed vividly.
Gentle at first, the rumbling rose as Carter sprinted along a plush carpeted corridor and towards a door from behind which the sounds had come. The walls were shaking, and Carter’s teeth rattled as he tried the handle - the door was locked. He raised his boot, but the whole hotel seemed to tilt suddenly and he was sent spinning backwards, smashing against the wall and hitting the floor hard, grunting as the staples in his back pulled tight and tore through living flesh. He felt a warm rush of blood flow down his spine as he heaved himself to his feet, blinking dust from his eyes and struggling to stand upright - and he knew ...
Knew that he did not have long.
‘The floor isn’t the right way up ,’ advised Kade.
‘I can fucking see that, moron.’
There came a distant, frightening, nauseating crackle. Carter’s nostrils twitched as they detected smoke. The earthquake’s rumbling continued to increase in intensity.
He kicked down the door and waded into the darkness. But then he stopped, confused by the sight that met his gaze. A man lay atop a woman in a broad bed; she was sobbing but he was gyrating in an act of wanton sex. Carter could see the gleam of his broad back and he took in the stockings on the man’s legs and his PVC outfit. Carter’s head tilted to one side as dust trickled down from the destroyed ceiling above. The woman was weeping and struggling ineffectually.
‘High-class whore,’ came Kade’s unwanted intrusion.
‘You think I’m fucking blind?’ came Carter’s vitriolic reply. Then, out loud, ‘I think you two need to get out of here right now.’ The woman still sobbed, but the man’s hand clamped over her mouth and his wild drunken stare focused on Carter.
‘Fuck off. I get what I pay for.’
Carter palmed his Browning and placed a bullet in the man’s calf, merging pulped muscle and shattered shin with the bed sheets. The
The lights - and the hotel power - died.
The hotel was plunged into darkness.
The rumblings of the earthquake had died down a little, and Carter paused. He could still hear the screaming, but it sounded weary now, exhausted, a wail without hope. This fired him on and he ran into the reception area where fallen beams littered his path. He glanced up, could see a little moonlight far above and suddenly a snowflake hit him in the face. More fell through this smashed hole in the centre of the hotel and Carter headed for the stairs. They were twisted like a horribly deformed limb; Carter sprinted up them, boots slipping and outstretched hands groping his way forward. As he reached the landing, there was a terrible groan and the whole mammoth staircase toppled behind him, leaving nothing but a timber-spiked black expanse filled with rising clouds of dust and twisted fists of iron.
The noise subsided slowly.
‘Fucking wonderful .’
‘Are we having fun yet?’ whispered Kade nastily at the back of his mind.
Carter grinned, a malicious lopsided grin, and wondered if he had made the right choice ... hmm, a tough one. Standing in the safety of the snow, or rushing headlong into a collapsing hotel?
He glanced around; without the help of the hotel lights the whole place was a maze of shadows. Carter groped his way along one wall, using the fireman’s trick of pressing the back of his hand against it instead of the palm - if he met a live cable, the shock would jerk his hand away; but if he searched with his palm open then the shock would cause his fingers to spasm and grip the cable, ensuring death by electrocution.
He paused, listening, the cuts on his hands and arms stinging with that glass-grated, flesh-peeled feeling he so detested. ‘Hello?’ he bellowed, and tracked the sobbing by sound.
The rumbling began once more.
Carter cursed vividly.
Gentle at first, the rumbling rose as Carter sprinted along a plush carpeted corridor and towards a door from behind which the sounds had come. The walls were shaking, and Carter’s teeth rattled as he tried the handle - the door was locked. He raised his boot, but the whole hotel seemed to tilt suddenly and he was sent spinning backwards, smashing against the wall and hitting the floor hard, grunting as the staples in his back pulled tight and tore through living flesh. He felt a warm rush of blood flow down his spine as he heaved himself to his feet, blinking dust from his eyes and struggling to stand upright - and he knew ...
Knew that he did not have long.
‘The floor isn’t the right way up ,’ advised Kade.
‘I can fucking see that, moron.’
There came a distant, frightening, nauseating crackle. Carter’s nostrils twitched as they detected smoke. The earthquake’s rumbling continued to increase in intensity.
He kicked down the door and waded into the darkness. But then he stopped, confused by the sight that met his gaze. A man lay atop a woman in a broad bed; she was sobbing but he was gyrating in an act of wanton sex. Carter could see the gleam of his broad back and he took in the stockings on the man’s legs and his PVC outfit. Carter’s head tilted to one side as dust trickled down from the destroyed ceiling above. The woman was weeping and struggling ineffectually.
‘High-class whore,’ came Kade’s unwanted intrusion.
‘You think I’m fucking blind?’ came Carter’s vitriolic reply. Then, out loud, ‘I think you two need to get out of here right now.’ The woman still sobbed, but the man’s hand clamped over her mouth and his wild drunken stare focused on Carter.
‘Fuck off. I get what I pay for.’
Carter palmed his Browning and placed a bullet in the man’s calf, merging pulped muscle and shattered shin with the bed sheets. The
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