~ Luke ~

We got on our shoes and stuffed what we could into a duffle bag I found in the closet. Those bars of soap and mini shampoo's that are in every hotel room, the simple cups with a few bags of coffee and the rest of that fancy water from the mini fridge. We even took the hand towels that hung beside the sink.

"Ready?" I asked as I gripped the door handle.

Annie looked at me with her slightly messy hair.

"She must've fell asleep with it still damp."

Her bed head made her look sleepy, yet her eyes shown she was wide awake.

"Mhm." She nodded as she replied.

I turn the handle and threw open the door. The hallway is smokey and fireless, but it didn't take a genius to know there was a fire somewhere. Racing down the hall, we pass by the elevator and gallop down the stairs. The temperature and amount of smoke in the air increased with each floor we went down.

I pointed to a small sign as we passed it, "6th floor Annie, almost there." As I reach out and grab the railing for the next flight of stairs, my hand erupts in pain and I suddenly retract it, dropping a few F-bombs.

"Luke!" Annie cried from behind me. She was by my side in an instant, inspecting my hand. It was red and started to blister around my palm.

I looked over the railing and noticed why. Flames lapped at the floor right below us in the stairwell. Smoke cannoned through the gap I peeked through, stinging my eyes and causing a coughing fit.

I looked back at Annie who was trying to cool my hand by gently blowing on it. "I'm okay! We have to make it to the stairs on the other side!" I coughed again.

I took her with my other hand and pushed open the 6th floor door. Smoke escaped beneath some room doors and rose quickly to the ceiling, enveloping this entire side of the hall. I put my hand on Annie's shoulder and lowered her to the ground. I pulled the duffle bag to my lap and took out two hand towels we got from our room and handed one to her.

"Cover your mouth with this as best as you can. Stay low," I pointed up, "smoke rises."

She looked terrified. "Okay. I'll follow you!" She shouted from behind her rag.

"I'll get you out of this, I promise!" Out of instinct, I cupped the side of her face in my hand and caressed her cheek with my thumb.

She pulled her rag back a little. "I trust you."

With that I held her hand. The smoke was too thick to stand up in, so we crouch walked as fast as we could. The end of the hall looked so far away and at our slow speed, it felt like we'd never get there. The smoke stung my eyes, filling them with tears, causing me to close them constantly and continue onward with what I last saw.

Finally, we made it to the end of the hall and traveled down three more floors before we were at a dead end. The fire crept up from floor two at an incredible speed and showed no sign of slowing down. I peeked through the small, square window near the top of the third floor door to make sure there was no fire on the other side. I charged into the hallway, closing the door as flames reached up to the window, watching us go.

"That was too close."

The hallway I turned back to was a disaster. The smoke was so thick that it was almost dark. If it wasn't for the flames kicking up beneath doors, it would be impossible to see. Annie started her second major coughing fit and it sounded horrible. Her coughs came more and more frequent as we pressed on.

Down the hall, I noticed a door with no signs of smoke coming from it. On our way to it, we passed by a door that was engulfed in flames. I heard a muffled moan from behind it, followed by continuous banging on the door. The top of the door frame began to melt and dripped after each bang, starting new miniature fires on the carpet below.

"Wait, wait! There's someone in there!" Annie stopped and I had to hold her back from going near the door.

"Hello?" I yelled. I waited for a response but was only greeted with more groans and hinge rattling bangs. I pulled Annie away, towards the other door. "Whoever's in there, isn't human anymore."

I got the key card out of my pocket and hesitated a bit. Using my right hand, I tapped the handle to see if it was hot. It was cool to the touch so I gripped it with satisfaction and opened the door.

"We don't know that..." She was still focused on the sounds from the door, "What if they're alive? What if I just let them die a horrible, horrible death?"

I walked over and held her by the shoulders, "If it was human, they'd be screaming for help if they couldn't get out. But they weren't. Somehow one of the Z's got in here.."

That seemed to make sense to her and she nodded. "You're right."

I rushed over to the window, but my sweaty palms denied me a grip on the glass. I grabbed the office chair that sits at every desk in every hotel room and bashed the window open. I ran it along the edges to get any remaining shards out of the way.

Annie and I both leaned out the window and sucked in the fresh, smokeless air.

"I'll never take fresh air for granted again!"

After a few deep breaths, I looked down and saw a ledge against the building at around floor two.

"If we can get to floor two, we can escape through the window and get on that ledge." I pointed down to show Annie.

I saw her hesitate. "Can't we find another way?"

"I don't think there is another way. Each stairway is covered in fire, and the elevator is a no-go."

She collected herself, nodded and headed for the door. I turned to follow, but my eyes drifted to the bottom of the door. There was a strong orange glow creeping in from the hall and smoke decided to sneak in too.

"Annie, wait!" I ran over and put my ear next to it. Sure enough, its surface was hot and I heard the fire roar on the other side, like it was it's own beast.

"I just got us trapped in here... Wait, the window!"

I looked back to the window then at Annie. "Do you still trust me?"

"I do." Her face was serious.

I smiled and ran over to the bed, plucking off the comforter. I took it to the window and folded it over the windowsill and patted it to make sure it was soft. Annie eyed me curiously as I worked. I pulled the sheet off and went back to the window then motioned for her to join me.

"We'll climb down to the ledge from here."

Annie wasn't sold on the idea. She came over and eyed the drop. "Is that safe? I-I-I don't think I can do this. That's too high, and what if I fall?" She was scared. Scared to the point where tears came to her eyes.

"Please don't cry..."

I wrapped her in a hug. "Scared of heights huh?"

"Terrified is a better word."

I put both of my hands on her cheeks and looked her in the eyes. "I promise I won't let you fall. You'll hold onto the sheet and I'll slowly lower you down. I'll be there right after and we'll find a way to the ground. Just hold on tight and close your eyes, I'll get you to the ledge."

She nodded and took a shaky, deep breath. She grabbed the sheet and wrapped her hand in it several times to make sure she had a tight grip.

"Go slow." She demanded. It was the fear. She closed her eyes as she got up on the window and slowly turned around. She let her legs drop as she held onto the sill with her arms. I tightened the sheet around my hand and then my elbow to have a better hold. She let go of the window and dropped a little bit with a loud yelp, closing her eyes shut.

"I got you!" I yelled. I plant my feet and slowly moved forward. The sheet digs into my burnt hand, but I sidelined the pain. The sheet began to tug and pull, I guess from Annie kicking her feet, looking for the ledge. It stopped and I had some slack. I looked down and Annie hugged the outside wall. From here I could see her legs shaking.

"I'll be right down!" I looked around the room for something to tie the sheet onto. I pulled the desk over and tied it around the leg. I gave a few strong pulls to make sure it was tight, took a few deep breaths and made my way out the window. I landed right beside Annie, who was still holding onto the wall. The ledge was just wide enough to support the entire length of my feet, without much extra space.

She wrapped her hand around the cutout made for the second floor room window. I looked in, but it was covered in smoke and fire.

"Okay, now let's slowly make our way around," I reassured her by placing my hand on hers. "It'll be a piece of cake." I gave a soft smile.

"Let's just hurry, please."

We shimmied our way around the building, slowly, but surely. There was an overhang that covered the front entrance. It was where cars came to park when you dropped off people or came to pack your car when you leave. Annie was eager to get onto it. When our feet made contact with it, Annie laid down and I knelt beside her.

"You did a good job, Ann. I'm proud of you." I really was. She overcame her fear of heights and did it without much resistance.

She leaned up and hugged me tight. "Thank you. So, so much." My face got hot when I felt her lips kiss my cheek.

"Y-you're welcome," I stuttered. "But we're not out yet." We got up and moved to the edge. I felt her grab my sleeve and hold onto it.

"Another high place."

"I know this looks high, but the worst is over. You beat the building, this'll be easy." I gave her a reassuring smile.

She sighed and wiggled her arms, mentally preparing herself. "You're right. Let's do this."

★★★★★

We got down and made it to the street. We turned and looked at the hotel. Smoke pillared out of the window I smashed and flames ran down the sheet. Most of the other windows were lit up in an orange glow, all the way up to the top floors.

Annie hooked her arm with mine and hugged it, pressing my arm against her chest unknowingly. I forced away a blush and we stood and watched the fire take over the building.

"This is actually kind of romantic. You know, besides the part where we almost died. Not to mention, all the smoke is going to hurt the Ozone... There's walking corpses that continuously eat and can't control their bowels, the Ozone is screwed anyway... Way to ruin the mood."

"Okay! Let's get back. I'm sure Lucy is having a fit." I said.

She laughed. "Yeah, I bet. I can see her freaking out right now."

I laughed too. "You've seen it first hand, many times."

We stared in each other's eyes. The light from the burning building lit up the side of her face, making her features flick on and off with the wisps of the flames. All the smoke left black smudges all over her perfect skin. From her forehead to her cheek, down to her neck. I pulled out another hand towel, poured some of the water onto it and gently wiped the smudges away. They smeared when I did, but I went back and cleaned it up the second time. She never looked away from my eyes.

"There you go." I said, tossing the towel into the bag.

Annie caught me off guard by leaning in and pressing her lips hard against mine. They were soft and warm. She closed her eyes and gripped the end of my shirt. She pulled away and took a step back with a gasp. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I got lost in the moment and-"

I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her back. We stayed like that for what felt like forever. I broke the kiss and rested my head against hers. "Now we're even."

She giggled. "I don't know about that. Yours was quite the kiss."

"Sorry about that..." I blushed.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Don't be sorry. It was a great kiss." She shied away.

I laughed and grabbed her hand. "Let's go." Pulling her along, we ran down the street towards the heart of the city.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

~ Annie ~

Luke's kiss is all that filled my mind. I let him pull me around every which way, as I stayed in my thoughts, reliving the kiss.

"He's a good kisser..."

I felt myself blush.

"Oh shit..." Luke's comment snapped me back to reality.

We were facing a street that led further into the city, but there was just one problem. Or many problems.

"There's so many..." I said.

The street was littered with zombies. From curb to curb, they walked around aimlessly, waiting for their next meal to wander in.

"It's only been a few hours... How did it get this bad?" I heard Luke whisper.

He's right. It was only a few hours ago that this city was busy with people going about their normal lives. Now it's a zombie festival. Some were charred black from fires and some looked perfectly fine, except being dead of course. I've seen zombies multiple times, but not this close before. I usually kept my distance, but now I was right in the middle of a ton of them.

Luke pulled me to the side and up against a building. "We'll take it one street at a time, okay? We'll cross over to the other side quickly and quietly. From what I've seen, normal Z's are nearsighted or blind, but their hearing puts dogs to shame."

I just nodded. Normally I wouldn't take orders, but he knows what he's doing. It's scary to admit, but he's somewhat of an expert by now.

"Not to mention I find it attractive that he takes charge..."

The kiss mixed with my current thoughts, making me blush like crazy. It's a good thing it was night time. He stepped away and peeked around the corner, surveying the road. I watched him and noticed he was tense and trembling. He acted calm and collected while telling me the plan of escape, but even he must be struggling to keep his composure here. We were unarmed and up against a dozen hungry zombies.

"He's done so much to help me tonight. The least I can do is put his mind at ease for a little bit..."

I walked over and held his hand. He jumped a little as he turned to face me. After realizing it was just me, his trembling stopped.

I stroked his arm and looked him in the eye. "I'm with you."