Free A World Reborn: The First Outbreak by Chris Thompson Page A

commented bluntly.
    “What happened?”
    “I went into one of the executive suites.
From what I can tell, that whole floor was reserved by the people responsible
for whatever the hell is going on here. Then one of them came back.”
    “You found one of them?” Roy quizzed,
surprise clearly evident in his voice.
    “She found me actually.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Did you learn anything from her?”
    “She spouted some garbage about a Teacher
and that I was corrupt. She’s a total whack job, so I tied her up in the
bedroom and came here. I guess the upside is I have a gun now.”
    “My, God.” Roy exclaimed. “Listen, you’ve
done one hell of a job, and all being well you should be able to sit back in a
minute and wait for the cavalry to arrive. The emergency supplies you’re
looking for,” he continued hurriedly, “should be in a case on the base of the
helipad structure. It’s got a light on it, and you should be able to find it
easily. It’s not locked, so just open it up and tell me what you see.”
    “What I see? Won’t what you told me should
be in there, actually be in there?”
    Roy didn’t answer straight away, and
Melissa caught his hesitation.
    “It should be, but you can never be too
careful. Just tell me.”
    “Is something going on that I should know
about, Roy?”
    “If it comes to anything, I promise I’ll
tell you, but for now, just get to those supplies, Melissa.” Roy instructed.
Melissa rolled her eyes and hurried around the right side of the helipad. She
found the supply box, dark green in colour, mounted on the side of one of the
steel pylons supporting the helipad. It had a fairly strong white LED light on
top of it. Melissa easily located the handle. She opened it with one hand while
holding the radio with the other. Quickly, she assessed the contents: an orange
box, four red flares, and, once Melissa opened the other compartment, a medical
kit.
    “There’s an orange box and some flares.”
Melissa said into the radio.
    “Right, the box is a charger to keep the
radio inside powered up. Grab it, get up on the helipad and use it. It should
automatically be tuned to the emergency frequency.” Roy informed her.
    Melissa clipped the radio back onto her
belt and snatched up the orange box before hurrying around the helipad and up
the steps. She wrenched it open and saw the radio clipped inside. Discarding
the box, she brought it to her mouth, hearing as she did the sound of a
helicopter in the distance, causing her to look around. The beautiful glowing
horizon of the Las Vegas night sky surrounded her, and she could see the lights
of a helicopter moving in her direction. Perhaps, she considered, it was a
police helicopter and help would arrive as soon as she got the word out.
    “Hello?” She stated clearly into the
emergency radio. “Is there anyone there?”
    “Ma’am? Please identify yourself.” A woman
responded.  Melissa was a little surprised as she had a definite English
accent, but that was unimportant right now.
    “I’m Melissa Jones at The Seraph Hotel and
Casino, we need police and medical services... send everyone!” Melissa shouted
excitedly. Relief hit her: help was finally on the way.
    “Ma’am, I need you to explain. What’s
happening at the Seraph? Is there anyone in a position of authority I can speak
to?” The woman questioned.
    “There’s no one close that I can pass you
to. The only person I know is Roy Snipes, the Chief of Security, but he’s
trapped in the security room. As for what’s happening, there’s some kind of
outbreak, a virus that’s making people violent.” Melissa said cautiously, not
elaborating to divulge the full extent of what was happening in case she
thought it was a prank call. “I’m a guest, a journalist, and Roy guided me up
here.”
    “Where is this Roy Snipes?” The woman
questioned.
    “I told you, trapped in the security room.
The building is in some kind of lockdown and the security system