them, make sure they're all right.'
'I assure you, Frankie, if your companions are on the floors below, their fate is sealed. It would be better- safer-if you came with us.'
Frankie edged farther away, but doing so put her closer to DiMassi. The fat man licked his lips, gawking at her legs.
'Thanks anyway,' Frankie said, 'but if it's all the same to you guys, I'll take my chances finding them.'
Ramsey raised the pistol again.
'I'm afraid I must insist. I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but you are essential to my plan for repopulating the planet. DiMassi, if you would, please?'
The fat man lunged, crushing her beneath his weight.
Ramsey Towers rose into New York's gray pre-dawn sky, already half-obscured by the smoke pouring from the burning buildings around it.
Beyond the reach of the flames, thousands of zombies formed ranks, surrounding the block.
Ob gazed out at the undead force, reveling in the sheer size of his army. Then he turned his attention back to the skyscraper.
Inside, humans took position at the windows, or scurried back and forth behind them like frightened mice. Mounds of splintered, broken furniture lay strewn around the building's exterior plaza and sidewalks, forming a crude but effective barricade. The exterior doors and the windows on the first five floors, including the large plate- glass windows in the lobby, had been boarded over.
One of his lieutenants approached him. Its intestines hung loose, swaying with each step. Flies clung to the strands.
Ob turned to him. 'I take it that the last flare signals everything is in order?'
'Everything is in position, my lord. Our forces are ready.'
'Excellent,' Ob hissed, exhaling fetid air. 'Let's finish this, so that our remaining brothers can be free of the Void once and for all.
Commence the attack.'
The zombie lieutenant barked orders back to the line. Minutes later, a box-truck cruised down the street, rolling to a stop in front of the skyscraper. The zombie behind the wheel gunned the engine, revving it to a frenetic crescendo. Then the truck shot forward. It crashed up over the curb, racing along the sidewalk.
Above, windows opened and the humans fired at the vehicle. Undead birds immediately swarmed the snipers. The humans reeled backward, screaming and clawing as the birds poured themselves through the open windows. A shotgun plummeted to the ground, clattering on the pavement. A zombie darted forth from the lines and snatched it, but fell sprawling as a bullet obliterated his head.
Another zombie stepped forward and pulled the pin on a grenade. Before he could throw it, a round tore into his wrist, severing his hand. The hand fell to the ground at his feet, still clutching the grenade. A second later, the explosion tore the creature apart.
'Now that's what I call a hand grenade,' Ob quipped. 'That's what he gets for not following orders.'
His lieutenant said nothing.
The truck continued to pick up speed, rocketing toward the building. It crashed through the barricades and roared toward the lobby entrance.
'This is going to be good,' the lieutenant gloated.
Ob agreed. 'Let's knock and see if anybody is home.'
Cullen and Newman both hated the midnight watch, but they hated lobby duty even more. Normally, they would have been relieved at dawn, when the next shift took over. But now, with the attack underway, Bates had ordered them to hold their position. He'd promised that reinforcements were on the way down.
Neither man had been a soldier before the rising. Newman had worked in a recording studio, and Cullen had been an attorney. Now, they were volunteers in Ramsey Towers's security squad. Never had they regretted that duty more than they did now. The lobby stank, not just from the constant stench of the rotting flesh outside, but from the smoke as well. It seeped into the building from various cracks in the windows, and through the ventilation system.
'What's happening?' Cullen hissed from behind the sandbagged receptionist desk. He remained crouched, not wanting Newman to see him shaking.
'I can't see much because of the smoke.' Newman peered through a peephole. 'The fuckers are burning everything down though, man.'
'Figures,' Cullen snorted. 'The rain stops just when we need it.'
'Yeah,' Newman agreed. 'Guess it don't matter. I don't think we're going to see the sunrise today.'
'Hope the reinforcements get here soon,' Cullen said. 'I'm fucking tired, man. We've been up all night.'
'Dude, we're about to be attacked. You really think you're going to get some sleep?'
'No,' Cullen admitted, 'but I thought maybe I'd track down Rebecca.'
'Who's that? The nurse?'
'No, that's Kelli. Rebecca works in the greenhouse up on the fifteenth floor. Met her a few days ago in the gym. I'm worried about her.'
'Better worry about yourself instead, man. Stay focused on what's happening.'
The elevator dinged and its doors slid open. Ten more heavily armed men stepped out of it and hurried toward them, taking positions. Their gear clanked as they ran.
