A World Reborn: The First Outbreak by Chris Thompson

ground, landing heavily on top of the bodies of
his companions. Melissa hastily sidestepped him and entered the elevator,
nearly losing her footing on a large pool of blood, which she could only
imagine belonged to the woman she had just executed.
    Melissa slammed the ‘door close’ button
hoping, even if she couldn’t dictate a floor for it to go to, she could at
least shut the doors. To Melissa’s great relief, the doors began to close but
then, without warning, suddenly rebounded. She looked down and saw the leg of
the third infected individual preventing them from sealing off the corridor.
She acted quickly, kicking his leg out of the way as the doors began to come
together again. It was then she caught sight of a shadow on the wall and could
only assume one of her pursuers was about to round the corner. Melissa raised
her weapon and fired several quick shots at the shadow, hoping to buy herself
enough time for the doors to shut. He or she retreated, and after a second the
doors finally closed. Melissa bent down, hands on knees, and breathing deeply,
tried to steady herself and slow her heartbeat to something resembling normal.
She had no idea if the weapon she was using was empty, and didn’t have a chance
to check. The elevator was going to go up one floor, back towards the people
she was trying to escape. Melissa needed to protect herself, and the best way
she could think of doing it was to hide. She slipped the possibly empty gun
into the back of her jeans, and, hearing Roy’s questions and demands for a
response, snatched the radio.
    “Not now!” She snapped and turned the radio
off, replacing it on her belt. The elevator had started moving, so Melissa
needed to do something quickly. She looked up and around, looking for the
ceiling panel which acted as a maintenance access point for the elevator. She saw
that the ceiling tile above the control panel looked a shade different from the
others, and was seemingly a little looser.
    She was a little short, but felt she would
be able to reach it if she stretched as far as she could; the only alternative
being almost certain death. Melissa crouched down on her burning, aching legs,
a momentary reprieve as her over-exerted body begged for rest, then she leapt
straight up, knocking the tile with an outstretched hand and making it loose.
She jumped again and tried to swat at it, this time managing to dislodge it.
Although the floor was slippery, Melissa managed to keep her footing as she
repeated the process until the tile was completely dislodged and access to the
elevator’s roof possible. Seeing that the elevator was about to arrive at the
next floor, Melissa took a few deep, steadying breaths and, hoping she had
enough strength, she crouched down again then leapt as high as she could, both
arms extended to gain a tentative grasp on the edge of the access point with
her fingertips. Her legs dangled freely and already, her fingers were starting
to slip as her weight pulled down against the poor grip. However, she managed
to hoist her legs up until she could place her feet on the waist-high railing
and steady herself, which allowed her to re-secure her hold. Moving awkwardly,
she was able to clamber up, having found something hard and metallic to grasp;
gritting her teeth as she pushed back the thought that putting her fingers
around it could be a mistake. With some difficulty, she was able to use it to
pull herself halfway up, and while her legs dangled freely, was then able to
reach out with her other hand to grab a handle to hoist herself further up.
Eventually, she brought her legs up level with the lip of the hatch and
ascended fully onto the top - just as the elevator jolted to a stop. Melissa
quickly replaced the panel and knelt on her hands and knees, immediately
looking around for a way to escape from her pursuers, or at least hide herself
more effectively.
    Melissa cautiously but swiftly stood,
stepped over the small light mounted on the top of the elevator