Chapter 250: Atlantic City State Marina [2]

"So do you really think Mei could be held inside this hotel?" Christopher asked, adjusting his position slightly to get a better viewing angle while keeping himself concealed in the shadows.

"Honestly, I’m not sure about it at all," I admitted, doubtfully "It’s probably unlikely she’s here—Gaspar more likely took her somewhere more secure, further from potential rescue attempts. But I can’t just go back and sleep peacefully without trying. I need to find any clues, anything at all about her current whereabouts or condition. Even negative information would be better than nothing."

"Yeah you are right," Christopher nodded. "So are you planning to somehow slip inside the hotel to get something."

"I was thinking of it, yes," I said, studying the illuminated building carefully. "But looking at the sheer number of guards patrolling around it seems impossible to get in undetected. Even using Time Freeze wouldn’t guarantee success because I’d still need to physically navigate past multiple guards before the ability expires."

"Maybe there are other entrances we could exploit instead of the heavily-watched front approach," Christopher suggested thoughtfully. "Buildings this size usually have multiple access points—service entrances, emergency exits, loading docks in the rear."

"Yeah, that’s definitely possible," I agreed. "There should be back entrances and side doors that might be less heavily guarded. But the fundamental problem remains—these guys are doing good patrols with good spacing and discipline. And I really don’t want to waste Time Freeze just getting inside the building. If I find myself suddenly face-to-face with Gaspar once I’m in there, I want all my abilities available to fight him. Using my best ability for infiltration could be fatal."

"Right..." Christopher nodded, then fell silent for a long moment.

I could see his expression shifting as he worked through various scenarios in his mind.

After perhaps a full minute of contemplative silence, he looked directly at me with an intensity I didn’t usually see from him.

"Hey, Ryan," he said quietly. "How far are you actually prepared to take things to recover Mei? What lines are you willing to cross?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, puzzled by the question’s direction.

"You understand that these people will shoot you on sight without hesitation, right?" Christopher said seriously. "They won’t try to capture or question you first. They’ll just open fire the instant they identify you as a threat. They nearly killed Clara back then. These aren’t people working under any rules of engagement or moral restraint."

"Yeah..." I nodded quietly. "I understand that."

"Then..." Christopher paused, choosing his words carefully. "If the situation requires it—if it becomes necessary for survival, are we prepared to kill them? Human beings, not just Infected? Are you ready to cross that line?"

I turned my gaze away slightly, staring at the illuminated hotel while processing the weight of what he was asking.

"I think... ever since I killed Jason back in Jackson Township, that particular line was already crossed for me," I said slowly, then glanced back at Christopher. "I won’t hesitate to kill if they’re actively trying to kill me first. Self-defense is clear. What about you? Are you prepared for that?"

"I won’t hesitate either when the moment comes," Christopher nodded as well. "But I want to be honest—this world isn’t anything like what it was before the outbreak, and I know I’ll definitely feel profound guilt and remorse afterward. I don’t even want to imagine what my parents would think of me if they could see what I’m becoming, what choices I’m making to survive."

He added that last part with a soft, slightly bitter laugh, but then his expression grew more serious as he sighed heavily.

"But we have to prioritize ourselves and the people we care about, right?" he continued. "And they’re the ones who started this conflict. Callighan’s people are the aggressors here—they attacked our group first, killed someone, kidnapped Mei. We’re just responding to their violence."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. They started this."

"Then it’s morally justified," Christopher said with finality, suddenly standing up from his crouched position. "Alright—I’ll act as a decoy to draw their attention away from the entrance."

"What?! No, absolutely fucking not," I immediately denied it, reaching out to grab his arm. "That’s way too dangerous."

"Don’t worry about me—I’ll maintain safe distance from their firing lines," Christopher said too confidently. "But creating a disturbance will force them to redirect themselves to investigate. That’ll give you a window of opportunity to slip inside undetected and search for anything useful about Mei."

"You’ve got to be kidding me with this plan," I protested. "It’s dangerous! They’ll shoot at you even if you maintain distance. These people have military-grade rifles with effective ranges of hundreds of meters!"

"Then you’ll just have to work very quickly inside," Christopher said with a calm smile.

"Wait, just hold on!" I grasped his arm more firmly, refusing to let him rush into this. "We’re both supposed to get out of this alive, remember? That’s the whole point!"

"You’re planning to take more risks than I am—do I really need to remind you of that buddy?" Christopher retorted. "You’re going to be infiltrating an enemy-controlled building filled with armed guys."

"And I have supernatural powers that make me harder to kill, you idiot!" I shot back.

"And I’m an exceptionally good swimmer," Christopher countered.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Look carefully," Christopher said, pointing toward the State Marina and the rows of docked boats. "There are dozens of vessels moored there in close formation. I can hide in the darkened water between the boats—they provide excellent cover from direct fire. The lighting doesn’t penetrate far into the water, and the boats create natural blind spots. It’ll be fine."

I followed his pointing finger and studied the marina layout more carefully.

He was actually right about that. There were numerous gaps and shadowed spaces between the boats, plenty of cover and concealment opportunities. Someone in the water could potentially avoid direct fire pretty effectively, especially at night when visibility was already compromised.

But still...

"Come on, Ryan—I’ve survived considerably worse threats than this," Christopher said. "Do you honestly think these regular humans with guns are more dangerous than that horrific Enhanced Infected monster we encountered in the Municipal Building? The one that nearly killed me, Sydney, and Martin before we managed to bring it down?"

"Right..." I sighed heavily, finally relenting. "But please, just be extremely careful out there. Don’t take unnecessary risks just to create a bigger distraction."

"I should be the one telling you to be careful," Christopher said. "Once you’re finished inside and have whatever you can gather, let’s meet back here at this exact parking spot. Don’t wait around trying to be heroic if things go wrong."

"Agreed," I said. "But how exactly are you planning to draw them out? What’s your method?"

He smirked at me with obvious mischief. "I’ve got this covered. Trust me."

He quickly slung his rifle off his shoulder and secured it carefully inside his backpack.

"Just give me five minutes to get into position," he said.

I nodded, and Christopher immediately rushed off toward the water’s edge.

I watched in stunned disbelief as he reached the marina and without any hesitation plunged directly into the dark water, disappearing beneath the surface with barely a splash.

Moments later I caught brief glimpses of him swimming with strong, confident strokes through the shadowed spaces between the docked boats—moving deeper into the marina complex and away from the illuminated shoreline.

Soon enough I completely lost sight of him among the maze of vessels.

Let’s just hope he genuinely knows what he’s doing.

I waited tensely for several long minutes, my eyes scanning the marina area and mentally tracking the approximate five-minute timeline Christopher had requested.

Then suddenly I caught sight of his signal—unmistakable and deliberately dramatic..

From somewhere in the middle of the State Marina, whether fired from within the water itself or from one of the boats, a loud burst of gunfire echoed across the night—sharp cracks accompanied by visible muzzle flashes sparkling in the darkness.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Someone’s attacking us!"

"Be careful! Could be an ambush!"

"Wait—is that one of our own people firing?"

"Let’s verify the source properly!"

"It came from somewhere in the harbor! Check every single boat right now! Move, move!"

The reaction was as exactly what we’d hoped for. Guards raised their weapons and shifted their attention completely toward the marina, some of the ones who’d been patrolling directly in front of the hotel rushing toward the docks while others poured out from inside the building to investigate the disturbance.

I looked with genuine worry toward the dark water where Christopher was hiding somewhere among the maze of boats.

There were quite a lot of guards converging on that area—more than I’d anticipated.

But dwelling on concern wouldn’t help either of us. The opportunity he’d created would be completely wasted if I just remained frozen here.

The distraction presented itself perfectly as I spotted a clear opening in the perimeter.

I moved quickly but carefully, staying low in a crouch while advancing rapidly between the cover of abandoned cars scattered throughout the parking area, using them to conceal my approach until I reached the immediate vicinity of the hotel structure itself.

Peeking cautiously around the side of one vehicle, I waited and watched the remaining guards’ movements—tracking their sight lines and timing their movements.

When the last visible guard moved far enough ahead that his attention was completely focused away from the entrance, I seized the moment.

I immediately rushed from my concealment, sprinting the final exposed distance, and slipped through the hotel’s main entrance before anyone could spot the movement.

The first interior space I entered wasn’t actually the hotel proper—it was the attached casino section that formed part of the larger Golden Nugget complex.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, I immediately spotted several of Callighan’s people inside—maybe five or six men lounging lazily around a poker table while others stood nearby in casual conversation, clearly not on high alert.

"What’s happening outside?" One of them called toward the entrance, sounding more curious than concerned.

"Probably just one of the nervous dumbasses getting scared and shooting at an Infected," another replied dismissively. "Happens every other night."

Thankfully, they didn’t seem to be taking the disturbance seriously.

I quickly hid myself behind a thick support pillar, pressing my back against the concrete and controlling my breathing while I studied the interior layout.

My eyes tracked to a staircase on the far side of the casino floor that led upward to what had to be the first floor—probably connecting to the actual hotel residential sections.

But it was positioned maybe thirty to forty feet away across completely open floor space, and I’d almost certainly get spotted even crouching low given how exposed the approach was.

I’d need to circle around using available cover rather than risk a direct approach.

Watching for the right timing when most eyes were turned away, I dropped and rolled smoothly across the floor, moving behind the long bar that dominated one side of the casino space.

Then I slipped quickly along behind the bar itself, using its solid bulk to conceal my movement as I advanced toward a better position—staying low and moving with careful silence.

When I reached the end of the bar, I waited for another opportunity, then rolled again to position myself behind a row of three large slot machines positioned near the stairs.

The machines were big enough to completely hide my crouched form.

"You hear something just now?"

I stopped completely at the question.

"What? Where?"

There was tense silence while I waited to see if I’d been discovered.

"...Nothing. Must’ve been imagining it."

I exhaled very slowly in relief and continued working my way forward until I reached the area directly behind the staircase structure.

I couldn’t climb the stairs normally without being immediately visible to everyone in the casino, so I’d need to vault over the railing from this concealed position.

The height was significant—maybe eight or nine feet—but easily manageable with my enhanced capabilities.

I waited for the precise moment when the guards’ attention was directed elsewhere, then reached up, grasped the stair railing firmly, and vaulted smoothly over it with one fluid motion.

I landed in a crouch on the opposite side and immediately pressed myself against the wall, hidden from view.

After waiting a moment to confirm no one had noticed, I slipped through the door at the top of the landing, entering another casino gaming room.

And came face to face with a man casually smoking a cigarette barely five feet away.

His eyes widened in shock seeing an armed stranger appear from nowhere.

Before he could scream or raise an alarm, I quickly lunged forward, covered his mouth with one hand, and wrapped my arm around his neck to suppress his muffled attempts at shouting.

It was going too smoothly. This was exactly the kind of complication I’d feared.

I gritted my teeth while easily controlling the large man’s struggles with my enhanced strength.

Anyone could come through that door at any moment and discover us.

I had to make a decision immediately.

I could just break his neck—a quick twist and he’d be permanently silenced.

But...

Damn it.

I forced my arm more tightly against his throat, cutting off blood flow to his brain until he lost consciousness and went limp in my grip.

Quickly spotting a restroom nearby, I dragged his unconscious body inside and placed him in one of the stalls, positioning him so he wouldn’t be immediately visible if someone glanced in.

As I exited, I noticed items that had fallen from his pockets—a handgun with a spare magazine, a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter.

Just when I needed exactly these kinds of supplies...

I collected them all and stuffed them into my own pockets for potential use.

Now I needed to find the actual hotel sections where prisoners or valuable objects might be kept.

I moved carefully through the gaming room until reaching a long corridor that clearly connected the casino entertainment areas to the residential sections.

This was it—the passage into the hotel proper.

As I’d suspected, nothing particularly interesting seemed to be stored in the casino areas themselves, so I didn’t waste time checking other rooms.

I started walking down the corridor cautiously when suddenly a door on the opposite side opened without warning.

I immediately flattened myself against the wall behind my door, holding perfectly still.

"What were those shooting sounds about?" A woman’s sharp voice rang out, with irritation.

"I told you dumbasses repeatedly not to hand over firearms to people who just fire stupidly and wastefully at individual Infected," she continued with obvious annoyance as footsteps echoed through the corridor. "If they can’t even kill a single Infected with something other than a gun, they might as well be assigned to other work details like scavenging or construction."

"Well, Callighan specifically wants to ensure this location remains maximally secure, Lucy," a male voice replied, sounding somewhat defensive.

"It was his stupid idea to keep that alien bastard here in the first place," the woman—Lucy—said with obvious disgust. "I’m absolutely sick of babysitting him."

My eyes widened slightly hearing that.

I pressed myself further into concealment behind the door as they walked past my position and entered the casino room I’d just left.

I caught a brief glimpse of the woman—Lucy appeared to be in her mid-twenties with distinctive blonde curly hair and sharp light brown eyes. Her expression was stern and no-nonsense. The man following her was considerably taller and more physically imposing, but he was clearly deferring to her authority and judgment.

She seemed to be one of the important lieutenants directly under Callighan.

But regardless of her position, she’d just said something extremely important.

She’d spoken about an alien being held prisoner here.

Wait...

Don’t tell me they’re actually holding Kunta’s missing Starakian partner here?