The steady sound of beeping from what I recognized to be a heart monitor roused me from sleep and immediately, I sat up, completely confused. I was laying on a hospital bed, in what looked to be some kind of medical unit, similar to the place I woke up in after my procedure. The privacy curtain had bloody handprints that stained the white fabric, leading all the way down to the floor, where puddles of dark blood were splattered— instantly, my stomach dropped.
What the fuck happened, I tried to rack my brain, how did I get here? But the questions I kept asking myself didn't help retrieve my memory. When I swung my legs around to hang off the side of the bed, I noticed the white piece of paper that fell from my lap. I picked it up and read:
Mr. Hua,
I'm your nurse, but I left you because of what's happening outside. I got bit. Stay quiet. Don't let them touch you. A bite, scratch, anything— it'll turn you. This is all I can do, sorry.
Goodluck
Officially freaked out, I heaved myself from the hospital bed and noticed that I was suited up in the uniform for piloting my combat craft— I must have gotten injured during my second expedition.
I reached out to pull the curtain all the way, revealing the ransacked unit on the other side. Hospitals beds were overturned, paper and miscellaneous items were strewn about, and the smell of blood lingered in the vicinity. Sickened, I wandered around for a bit, trying to look for someone— anyone at this point —and found myself completely and utterly alone. There were no nurses, no doctors, not even a single patient.
I hustled out through the doors of the unit and entered the hallway, finding the situation the same. I looked over my shoulder every now and then as I ventured further down the hallway, giving it another shot before I finally just gave up and stood in bewilderment. I was in the Hero Corps tower, that much I was sure of, but as for what happened while I was laying around like a roasted pig on a dinner platter, I could only assume the worst.
Right then, an alarm went off abruptly, and I gasped in fright when the bright lights shut down, replaced with the dimmed red ones of the emergency system. Panic bubbled up and I looked around in a wild fit.
Swiftly turning a corner, I came to a dead stop when my eyes fell on the two people at the center of the hallway. One was bent over the other and had their face burrowed against the others' stomach. They looked so out of place that I blinked a few times just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I took a single step to approach them and stilled when the person straightened and swiveled around to fully face me.
I would have screamed, but my voice got stuck in the process.
The person's features were ripped from his face, leaving behind a bloody heap of exposed tissue and bone. He was hunched over the other person, and by the looks of it, they had their abdomen shredded open, their innards and other clumps of dark extremities spewing out along the sides.
He was feasting on a body.
When he didn't make a move to apprehend me, I retreated as silently as possible, all too aware of the small creaks my tense limbs made. I quickly glanced back and saw the corner two steps away.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
Two things happened, one: I began sprinting the moment my watch went off, and two, the crazy man gave out an inhuman screech as he gave chase. My heart pumped in sync with my heavy footfalls and I rushed back into the medical unit doors seconds before the crazy man followed in close pursuit. I flung a cart filled with supplies behind me after quickly grabbing scissors. From the sounds of it, he crashed against it hard.
Given the advantage, my eyes wildly looked for an exit and spotted an air duct not too far away. If I was fast enough, I would be able to peel it away and climb through the ventilation shaft.
I bolted across the distance and immediately wheeled one of the operating tables below my escape route, quickly jumping on top of it once it was in position. The table quaked underneath my weight, but I ignored the trembling and began to open the vent with the scissors. The man screamed from behind me and I bit down on my tongue to keep myself from screaming right back in terror.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
The metal finally gave way and I flung it at the approaching man before jumping up and heaving myself into the shaft. The sound of scraping sounded and I whirled around on my hands and knees before jolting forward to stab at the man. A horrible scream pierced my eardrums as the scissors struck where his right eye would have been. The feeling of the metal being forced into broken tissue sickened me greatly, but I pushed through the nausea that materialized and quickly crawled away from the opening, my mind in a frenzy.
I couldn't even entertain the question of why a man was eating another human being.
Continuing the rest of the way to the end of the stretch of the ventilation shaft, I crawled upon an opening that lead into what I assumed was an open hallway, and jumped when a scream echoed from right below. A second later, a female cadet ran into view, brandishing an iron pipe and keeping a hand on her bleeding shoulder. She threw a terrified look behind her.
Just ignore her, I thought, every man for himself right?
I intended to continue crawling, but then the girl released a desperate plea for help, halting my movements entirely. I cringed at the loud yell, knowing very well that it had probably attracted more of those things. I held my breath and listened closely. The sound of rushing footsteps seemed far away; there was enough time to help her up.
Acting fast, I peeled away the vent, the noise drawing the girl's attention.
"Quick!" I hissed, "Give me your hand and I'll try to pull you up!"
She complied without argument and with a grunt, I managed to pull her into the vent before any of those things could appear. I backed up, giving her some room. Now that she was closer, I didn't recognize her as someone I knew or have seen around HQ. She looked young, probably close to my age.
I eyed her bleeding shoulder, "Is that bad?"
The girl nodded with a wince, "One of them got me good with its nails."
She got scratched, I immediately thought back to the note left by the nurse. A bite or scratch from any one of them would turn someone, and anxious, I assessed the girl before me.
"Seems like we both came late to the party, huh?"
She couldn't have been anymore right. I tried not to stare too hard at her bleeding shoulder, but it was becoming hard not to when I noticed that the blood came out a lot darker than normal.
"I haven't seen anyone at all," she said, "just dead bodies. This floor and all the way up are pretty much a graveyard crawling with those things. I think our best bet would be the hangar."
The hangar was thirty-two floors down from our floor and I was in no way, shape, or form ready for another confrontation with any of those things. I glanced at the scissors left dejected by my knees and quickly picked it up.
"Do you know if the elevators are still working?" I questioned.
Taking the stairs probably would have been the better option, but I didn't want to get stuck in a stairwell with a horde of those things.
"I think they do. The lifts are actually right around the corner. We'll make it if none of them see us."
I nodded and proceeded to peek down at the opening between us, listening for any sounds of approach. When a good minute passed of complete silence, I dropped down from the vent before I could change my mind and made for the end of the hallway, the girl close behind me.
I would have never thought that I would've preferred the cramped space that the vents provided than the spacious hallways, but we were easy to see out in the open. We moved swiftly and as quietly as possible, yet it still felt like we were being too loud.
I turned the corner and my heart surged at the sight of the two elevators waiting at the end of the hallway. I rushed toward the one on the left and immediately pushed the down button, watching as the floor numbers displayed at the top increased as our lift slowly got closer to our floor. I threw a terrified glance over my shoulder, half expecting one of those monsters to round the corner, and jumped when a ding sounded. The lift was here.
When the titanium doors slid open, we both rushed forward shoulder-to-shoulder, and I anxiously watched as she beat on the button that would force the doors closed. We both released audible sighs of relief when they slid shut without strain and the lift descended down to the basement.
As much as I wanted to slide down to rest my legs, I refused to sit in fear of those doors opening up to a hallway filled with those things. For the most part, none of us said anything to each other, our attention was instead glued to the number of floors our lift passed. Thirty went to twenty, twenty went to ten, and before I knew it, we finally stopped at the floor titled '00'. Anticipation ran strong as we waited for the doors to open, our weapons clutched tight and prepared.
Only that the doors remained shut.
I offered, "Try to use that pipe to wedge the doors open enough for our fingers to get through."
She gave a nod of approval before she stepped up to the doors and began to jam the pipe in between until there was enough space for us to physically pull the doors apart. I stepped up and positioned my hands against the cool metal.
"On the count of three..."
We both pulled and managed to get a good five inches open. Darkness filled the small sliver and revealed that the red emergency lights had shut down on this level, bathing the entire floor in blackness.
"One, two, three—"
That was enough for the both of us to squeeze out. I stepped back while massaging my aching palms, trying to get a good view of what stood at the other side of the doors.
"I don't have a flashlight," I mumbled.
"We're lucky I brought my keychain with me," she whispered, a bit out of breath. She grabbed something that hung from the belt at her waist and switched on the tiny flashlight, aiming it at the darkness in front of us.
"You ready?"
I wasn't, but I guess I had no choice at this point, "Let's go."
We both attempted to orient ourselves to the darkness that surrounded us from all around, but while I wanted to stay behind the taller girl who wanted to quickly get a move on, she forced me in front while she shined the flashlight on the pathway. My eyes darted from one shadow to the next, hyper sensitive to the areas where anyone could hide and jump out at us.
"This next right should take us straight to the hangar entrance," she whispered, pointing out the trail.
I quickly followed her directions, trying to ignore my sharp rise in fright every time she would whip the flashlight to a dark corner at every little sound.
"If we can't see, they can't either," she sniffed, "right?"
I shot her a blistering glare.
We took one step around the corner and the small beam of light focused on the broad back of a man. I instantly reeled back, shoving the taller girl back around the corner as she covered the light with her hand. Goosebumps rose along my skin and blood roared in my ears. I looked back, considering making a run back to the elevators, but then quickly realized that it would do more harm than good.
There was no other option.
My companion seemed to understand that as well. We exchanged a look and came to an agreement in the next moment. I would take him from behind and she would have my back if all else failed. I pushed past my overwhelming fear and turned the corner, my eyes trained on the light at his back.
Don't think, just do it.
I pounced on the man and he let out a startled screech. I immediately slid the sharp end of the scissors across his throat while he thrashed about, my stomach dropping as it sliced through skin. Warm liquid seeped down my hand and trailed into my sleeve.
He dropped to the floor, sputtering for a few seconds before his body finally stilled. Answering shrieks echoed throughout the connecting hallways and I gave my companion a wide-eyed look, to which she responded by taking my arm and leading me the rest of the way to the hangar. We both pounded on the locked heavy doors, screaming and begging to be let in as the running footsteps closed in. It seemed like centuries before our chaotic banging was answered and the doors swooped open, revealing a room filled with cadets, government officials, and Heroes all wildly running about.
Two large bodies stepped in the way of my field of view and it was then that I realized that the barrel of an automatic riffle had been trained on my forehead the entire time.