DEAD INSIDE

TS-19

Season One - Episode Six
Word Count: 10369
—
Chaos. No, that's an understatement. Pandemonium. I'm not even sure that'd cover it. Absolute fear, confusion and disarray was all I could see all around me; doctor, nurses and patients sprinting around with no direction. Just away.

            Since people started getting sick, the hospital had asked me to up my volunteering hours to help out so obviously, in a heartbeat, I said yes. Had I known it'd become like this, overwhelming terror to the point of freezing on the spot, unsure what to do or go or say, I may have rethought my answer.

            Not only was it the sick patients I had to die from, but also the men with guns who came, shooting up anyone they could see. Noise mixed with the sound of my rapid heart, I dashed down the corridor, my flat, nursing shoes skidding slightly on the ground as I did so, I tried desperately to find some sort of hiding space. I wanted to help. I wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves, but I was scared as hell. I couldn't.

            Call me a coward. I'd agree.

            Seeing my colleagues, those who had taught and looked after me so well, slumped against a wall with a bullet would in their head caused shivers that I couldn't even begin to explain.

            I couldn't think. I couldn't hear. I couldn't do a thing.

            "Rose!?

            But that voice stabbed through the commotion, never failing to get my attention.

            "Dad?" I spun around, seeing him in his police uniform, looking just as panicked and confused as the rest of them. Darting over, I flung my arms around him, desperately needing some sort of comfort, knowing I'd find that in him.

            "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He pulled me back, cupping my face as his frantic eyes scanned over every inch of me, looking for even the smallest of things.

            "No, no, I'm okay. I just want to leave. I want to go home." Eyes welling up as I begged, trying to pull him down the corridor, away from the sounds of gunfire.

            "Rose," he pulled me back slightly with apologetic eyes, "Rick. I can't leave without him."

            Why couldn't he be a coward like me?

            Covering my face for a split second, rubbing away the tears that threatened to spill, I threw my hair back with a nod, "The next floor."

            Nodding, he firmly grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him, ignoring how my feet could skid across the ground, unable to keep up. He kept us at a reasonable distance from anyone, covering when more military dudes could pass us, not wanting to be on the receiving end of whatever the hell they were doing.

            It wasn't long due to the speed he was yanking for us to reach the same floor as Rick's, but something stopped me for a second.

            The sight of military men spraying bullets into my coworkers heads, then something coming out of the doors and freaking biting into them.

            Please tell me this is some kind of nightmare.

            Handing flinging over my mouth, even my dad had to pause to take in the sight. Screams of pure pain echoed down the corridor and he seemed to think the same. We need to get the hell out of here.

            "This one," I jogged down, reaching Rick's room, pushing open the door for us to get in and just as quickly closing it behind us.