Grab y'all's popcorn & strap in. Everything is about to fall in place and then fall apart again. Y'all are going to hate me, I'm sorry.
Scarlett's POV
It's a fucking madhouse in hell today. Casualty after casualty. Every time a new patient is brought in my heart drops, praying that it isn't any of the people I love. I'm not sure what's going on, but from what I have picked up on there's a war beginning.
If this is just the beginning, I fear for what happens next.
It's mainly men, occasionally a woman will be brought in. There hasn't been any children thus far, other than a seventeen year old. I'm thankful for that, at least.
A doctor storms out of one of the trauma bays, throwing his stethoscope against the wall. Another one is dead. It's impossible to focus. There's too many patients and not enough staff. We can't keep up, and patient care is failing because of it. We've called everyone in, yet it still isn't enough.
"I know this isn't the right time, Star," a nurse comes up to me as I walk towards the storage room. "The baby box went off, you want me to go?"
"I've got it. I need a break from in here anyway," I sigh, the thought of holding a baby in this sea of chaos actually brings me comfort.
I take my time walking towards the office that contains the baby box. Doctors and nurses push past me, rushing frantically. I feel guilty for taking a breather, I'm sure everyone wants too. Unfortunately, I've seen more death and blood today than I ever have here in hell. It's draining. Every part of my soul wants to curl up in an on call room and go to sleep, forgetting the world around me for just a couple of hours. I don't have that luxury.
I sigh as I walk into the room, shutting the door quietly. This is the most silence I've been in since I first clocked in, I'm going to bathe in it while I can. I put in my code, opening the box. My face scrunches in confusion, seeing as it's not a baby. It's a bundle of wires, a timer set in the middle of it all.
4 min 32 sec
The time ticks by as I stare at it, my heart beginning to race faster than it ever has. I try and pull it from the box, but the bottom of it is glued in. "Holy shit," I whimper, unsure of what to do. It's a fucking bomb. The hospital is full top to fucking bottom, and now there's a bomb. There's no telling how big the explosion will be.
My eyes well with tears as I turn to run towards the door, but it swings open before I can grab the handle. Sobs begin to rack through my body as I take a small step back.
"Sweet Scarlett," Tao hums, his gun aiming at my head. There's an insanity in his eyes that lets me know he plans to do unthinkable thing to me while a bomb ticks away only a couple feet beside us.
"Tao, please," I plead, my back reaching the wall. He shuts the door behind him, shaking his head in disappointment
"It's time to cash in on our deal, baby." His words make me cry harder. Everything around me is crumbling, and I have no way to fix it. I'm always the one with answers, the one everyone runs to when something needs fixing. I can't fix this, any of it. I glance to the timer, seeing that it now reads just a little over three minutes.
"It doesn't have to be like this, let's get everyone evacuated and I'll leave with you. Willingly, I promise!" My words fall on deaf ears as he caresses my cheek with his pistol.
"The bomb is apart of the plan, don't you see? We put it there. After I have you one last time, there's nothing else to live for." Gunfire sounds off in the distance, and I assume the war has been brought here. We're innocent. We save lives, we don't take them. I don't understand what reason Tao and whoever else would have for coming through here and killing us, too.
"Bend over," he instructs, pointing to the desk beside me. I lose it, swinging my fists at him. Two punches land before he uses the butt end of his pistol as his fist. The gun hits my temple, knocking me onto the table. The world is slightly cloudy for a moment, unable to read the timer that's now for my life. "I've missed this fucking pussy, even if you gave it away like a little whore. It's still mine!" He proclaims as he pulls my pants down, the cool air sending a shiver up my spine.
I hear him unbutton his pants, the door opening once again. "Let her be, Tao, this isn't apart of the plan," a deep voice sounds. My ass is clean on display, but I can't find it in myself to give a shit.
"Man, fuck off, Micah, I did my part, this is the last thing I need." Tao continues to take out his cock. Micah- the name rings in my head but I can't think of who it is right this moment. I feel Tao place the head of his cock against my pussy before a bullet is shot, blood splattering all over me and the wall. I quickly stand to my feet, pulling myself out of the daze I was in. I think I'm bleeding, too.
I quickly am pulled out of the room, and I look up to see my savior. "Don Micah," I gasp, staring at the twins' father.
"We've got to get to the other side of the hospital, now."
"There's a bomb," I point backwards as he drags me away.
"I know," he mumbles gruffly, pulling me through the sea of bodies.
"You know?" I stop in my tracks, turning to stare at him.
"I told them you'd make them weak, and you did. Something needed to happen, so it is. Ritts is going to take over and build the largest mafia in the world." His words are confident, disgust washes through my body. Their own father has been plotting against them, all on the basis of me.
I shake my head, sprinting down the hall. I find the closest fire alarm and pull it, the alarm ringing through the entire hospital. Seconds later the loud boom echos throughout the hospital, smoke wafting through the halls. My body flies against the wall from the blast, screams being heard from every which direction. The bomb must've not been too big, seeing as the majority of the hospital is still standing. People are running everywhere, you can't see through the herd. Something steps on my hand as I try and stand to my feet, a small scream coming from me.
Men and woman with green masks run with guns, killing people as they see fit. I quickly scramble to get myself up, cradling my hand as I take off through the halls.
The Ritts are taking over, and Micah was apart of it- Tao too. Tao pressed his tip against me, his dirty little penis. He was going to fucking rape me with a bomb in the same room. I take a break from running, bending over to throw up before I pick back up from where I left off. Rape, death, Tao, Micah, bomb, the Ritts. Everything plays through my mind and for some reason I can't grasp it all. I start gasping for air, the world feeling as if it is caving in on my lungs.
"Star!" The voice sounds like it's underwater but it's standing right in front of me with their hands on my face. "Breath, come on, you've got to get out of here! All the exits are blocked, go to the office in the back hall and go through the window. Star! Snap into it!" The voice slowly sounds more clear, and my eyes are staring at Saraphine's. She has a green mask, too, but it's pulled under her mouth as she talks to me. Tim stands behind her, his eyes narrowed as he scopes the scene around him.
"You're with, you're with them?" I whisper. I'm unsure if she heard me from how low I'm speaking.
"We don't have time for that, Scarlett, you need to get out," Saraphine's eyes well with tears as she kisses my cheek. "You've got to get out, please. I love you." I watch as she pulls her mask back above her face, taking off down the hall.
I now notice that a I recognized a few people under those masks, Kemble being one of them as he runs past me. Nothing makes sense. How did all of this happen right in front of us? My own best friend.
The alarm is still blaring, but my thoughts drown out the noise.
"Scarlett, thank fuck," Matt runs up to me, sweat dripping from his forehead. Blood runs down his arm, a bullet hole on his forearm. There's no green mask, but can I trust him? "Axton and Amir are running around looking for you, we've got to get to them and get the fuck out of here. Shits going down," he yells over all the noises, grabbing my hand to pull me with him.
I shake my head, pulling my hand from him. Trust no one. "Scarlett, now is not the fucking time to be hard headed, look around you! People are dying, and I'll be damned if you're next. Let's fucking go!"
"I can't trust you," I try and get him to understand. His face turns pained for just a moment before he aims his gun at my head.
"I will not let a goddamn thing happen to you, if I have to force you to stay with me to keep you safe, I will! Do you understand me? You're the only thing left in this piece of shit that matters, that is worth something. I will not go back to them and tell them you wouldn't come!" My heart stills as I stare at the barrel, sobbing as I grab onto his shirt to let him know I'll follow him. A year leaves his eye as he grabs my wrist, yanking me with him. He shoot's three men as we pass, reloading his pistol with a clip he had in his pocket.
"Where are they, fuck!" He screams as we walk back into the emergency department. We stop at the end of the hall, him pushing me back against the wall as we watch at least a dozen green masks run in through the entrance. "Go, go, go!" He whispers, pointing back to where we came from. He stops by two dead bodies, ripping their masks off and handing me one. "Put it on, now Scarlett!" My hands shake as I do as he says, blood from my forehead leaking into the cloth.
Matt rushes us to a conference room, locking the door behind us. He places his ear against the door, his pistol in hand.
"What are we going to do?" I whisper, pulling the mask back down.
"I don't know, Scarlett," Matt sighs, wiping his forehead. "I just need to get you to them. They'll have the answer, they always do. We've got to go back out, are you ready?" He turns to me.
I shake my head hard, pleading with him to just stay here until everything calms down. "It's going to get worse, not better, don't you see that? They knew everything about us, the hospital, you. We cannot win."
"Tao almost rapped me," I look at him, my eyes void of emotion. "But as he was putting himself inside of me Don Micah shot him in the head," I laugh, pointing to the blood that covers my body. Matt's mouth opens in shock. "Then, Micah told me he's apart of it all because I make the boys weak, can you believe that? Little old me?" I laugh even harder. "And then the cherry on top, Saraphine is with them too!" At this point I am laughing hysterically.
"Are you serious?" He asks and I nod. "Stop fucking laughing, this isn't funny!" He yells, holding my face to force me to look at him. "Fuck them, fuck all of this. It's just you and I right now, okay? Tell me you understand." He wipes the blood from my brow.
"I understand."
"I'm sorry. You're the last person in the world that should have to deal with this and I am sorry. But we have to keep moving, if we stay in here we will die. Okay, Scarlett? I need you to get it together for me. When we find the twins they will put all of your pieces back together, I promise. Just hold onto them so they can do that for you." He kisses my forehead before grabbing my hand, pulling me back into the gruesome war zone. "Grab a gun," he nods do one of the pistols in a dead man's hand. I do as he says, taking out the clip to make sure it has bullets. "We can do this," he whispers, but I'm not sure if he's reassuring me or himself.
We pull the masks back over our face, sprinting to through the halls. We're met with a blazing fire, tearing through each hall with ease. We quickly go to the steps, maneuvering through dead bodies as I cough through the mask, the smoke behind too much to endure.
As we make it to the second floor, Matt is smacked in the head with a pistol, sending his body to the floor. "You stupid bitch!" Axton yells as he aims the gun at Matt.
I quickly dive into his arms, pulling him close to me. "Scar?" His voice is almost a whimper as he clutches my body close. "Thank you, Lord. Fuck," his voice cracks as he pulls back, examining me.
Amir picks Matt up, ignoring his choice of words for Axton. "Jesus fucking Christ," Matt holds his head in pain.
"Sorry," Axton mumbles.
"We've got to get up higher, the fire is spreading," Amir says as he takes his mask off of me, kissing my lip. I let out a sob, unable to control myself. "We've got you now, sweetheart."
"It's your dad, he's in on it," Matt says as we jog up the stairs. "He saved Scarlett from Tao, but he's in on it."
"Saved?" Amir asks. I'm shocked that he's more interested in knowing what he meant by his father saving me rather than his father betraying him.
"He was going to rape me," I mumble.
Axton stops, Amir doing the same. "Where is he? I'm going to fucking kill him," Axton's eyes mimic the fire burning below us, the veins protruding from his neck.
"He's dead." My tone is flat.
"Micah killed him?" Amir asks and I nod my head. We keep moving until we reach the top of the building. I throw up again, the smoke being too much for my lungs.
Amir rubs my back as the four of us stand on the roof with hellfire burning the building in an angry fashion. A small explosion is heard as the building begins to rumble, a clear sign that it's going to collapse. We go to stand on the edge, people running in every direction. It won't be long until the fire reaches the oxygen tanks that are stored on the third floor, the whole building will explode.
"There's no way out of this," Matt states the obvious.
"Maybe we should go a couple floors down and we can jump out the window on to some trash-" I cut Amir off, grabbing his hand.
I look to him and then to Axton with a sad smile. There is no way out of this. We are going to die. However we have three choices: wait until we die from the explosion, jump off of the roof, or take our own lives with a clean bullet to the head.
I use my free hand to grab Axton's, turning to look back at the world around us. You can see nothing but trees, other than everyone fleeing and cars driving past.
"I love y'all," I speak, stepping towards the edge.
We're all quiet, standing hand in hand as the sun sets over the trees. The smell of bodies burning wafts forward, putting us in a chokehold. Their hands feel warm in mine, a dull feeling of peace swims through me as our toes dangle over the edge.
There's no more tears to be shed, no more words to be said. Hell has risen, and there is nothing else we can do to stop it.
We do all that we can do. Stand hand in hand, letting the knowledge of us doing this together be the comfort that we need. We take one last breath, enjoying it while it lasts. I close my eyes, ignoring the dread that fights it's way to my thoughts. There's no other way, Scarlett. I squeeze their hands one last time.
Our feet all move at once, tumbling down the depths of hell.