Juliet did not know if it was night or day. Hours had passed since they first laid eyes on the berserkers. Dr. Cross's blood had seeped under the doorsill.
Ransacking the room hadn't amounted to much. The only edible thing in the doctor's office was a pack of gum, which the children smacked on greedily. It was all they had to appease their growing appetite.
Juliet was shivering. Since her shirt had been donated to Dr. Cross's bleeding wrist, she had nothing to warm herself with, and the AC was relentless. The doctor kept a spare suit in his office; a white shirt with heavy, dark pants, but Juliet refused to wear a dead man's clothes, leaving her shivering on the floor.
Chase didn't seem to mind, though. While Juliet looked away, Chase struggled into the pristinely clean suit. He gave Juliet his hospital gown to cover herself with. Leaning back against the desk, Juliet looked at him contemplatively. Chase looked ridiculous. Dr. Cross had been a big man, and Chase was skinny. The suit looked like it was being worn by the doctor's skeleton. Chase was lost in the abundance of material.
The doctor's dead body was close enough that Juliet could thrust her fingers underneath and poke his leg. Not that she dared do that. There was no way of knowing if the berserkers were waiting for a chance to grab onto her hand. No matter how much time passed, blood kept coming.
After the third hour the grumblings of the berserkers had dissolved, but the smell of their skin still hung in the air. They couldn't stay in the confines of the office forever. They needed to get out and check on the rest of the hospital, but thinking about what dangers lurked beyond the door was daunting.
What was going on in the outside world was a mystery. Phone signals had been cut, and when they lifted the receiver all they heard was a deadpan stutter. Juliet wanted to solve the mystery of the berserkers, but Chase wanted to stay hidden. If they waited long enough, he told himself, the cops would show up and order would be restored. The same way it had at Waylord.
"I am getting hungry," said Juliet, looking down at her stomach. It looked especially slim.
"You can live two weeks without food," hissed Chase in response.
Juliet didn't believe help was coming, and if help was on the way, it would soon be eaten by berserkers. But until Chase was ready to go, Juliet would wait. Forcing him out there wouldn't be good for either of them. Eventually, his fear would be overcome by basic human desires; food and water. Then, they could leave this freezing cold office.
Chase tucked a blazer jacket around Juliet's shoulders, pulling her into his lap. She didn't resist him. With Juliet resting against his chest, Chase began to become nervous. He didn't like how cold her body felt against him.
"Well this feels familiar," said Juliet, thinking back to the woods surrounding Waylord. Except this time, for whatever reason, she was more peaceful. Unlike last time, Chase was healthy and safe. There were no life-threatening injuries she had to fix.
Nestled in his arms, Juliet fell asleep. Chase tousled her glossy black hair. Her breathing was calm and warm against his neck. Usually, she was serious and scowling, but here, lying against him, she could relax. Chase knew that Juliet didn't trust people easily, and though their relationship was built on unusual circumstances, it was nice to be her one exception.
He would enjoy these quiet moments while they lasted. These could be their last moments together. The world out there could be in very bad shape. Making sure she was fast asleep, Chase swiped her hair from her face and kissed her forehead. She could never know he had done so. Loving wasn't possible in this world, and Juliet had been hurt so many times before. Her tough exterior didn't fool him. She was sensitive, and Chase couldn't love her, couldn't promise her forever, then die a week later. It would break her.
With a deep breath, Chase shook Juliet awake.
"What's wrong?" she asked, head whipping around the room, absorbing every detail around her in search of danger.
"I'm ready to go," he told her. Perhaps 'ready' was too kind a word. Juliet's skin was becoming clammy. Leaving was more for her sake than his.
Chase's synthetic leg slipped easily in the juicy mess, so Juliet helped him to his feet. Their only weapon was the letter opener. In order to open the door, they had to shove hard. Dr. Cross's slain body had barricaded them inside. When a gap wide enough for them to squeeze through was made, Juliet went out first, clasping the letter opener tightly in hand. If anyone -or anything- attacked, she would not hesitate to slice at it.
In the waiting room, the berserkers were gone, and only the corpse of the pregnant woman remained. She was still propped in the chair, head lolled. Her previously enlarged stomach had been devoured completely, leaving a wet, scraped-clean hollow like a carved jack-o-lantern. The berserkers had eaten everything worthwhile inside, including the baby. Chase gagged.
Trying not to focus on the gore, Juliet shoved Dr. Cross's body with her foot. Though it was hard to ignore him when his disembodied head blinked up at her, baring his teeth. Juliet heard Chase suck in a breath when he laid eyes on the dead, but alive, doctor.
As they stepped over him, Dr. Cross wheezed, unable to roar with no vocal cords. His jaw snapped robotically as he attempted to latch onto their veiny ankles. Milky eyes followed them while they walked further into the lobby. The entire room was in complete disarray.
"What the hell happened?" Chase wondered. "This can't be real."
"We might be the unluckiest people in the world," said Juliet, shaking her head. The universe hadn't even given them a chance to breathe before throwing the next obstacle at them.
"Fuck!" Chase suddenly yelped, leaping back from the pregnant girl. Her eyes had shot open. Despite her torn innards, she clambered to her feet, lumbering towards them. Juices sloshed from her stomach like an overflowing slop-bucket. Chase tried to run but slipped in blood, crashing to the ground with an OOF. The woman was surprisingly quick. When he hit the ground, she flung herself at him with all her might. He had but a second to pull one of the chairs and raise it about his head like a shield before the woman was on top of him.
Her face was only inches from his, snapping ferociously, but the chair kept her from getting any closer. Chase's arms were shaking with exertion. He could use the chair to hold her at a distance now, but his strength wouldn't last forever.
Juliet crept behind her and stabbed the letter opener into her back. The woman didn't care about the pain, but the sensation caused her to hesitate, giggling uncontrollably. Juliet tore it from her back, tendons and blood coming with it. Turning around slowly, the berserker gave Juliet a deep-set smile. With a shriek of monkey laughter, she lunged at Juliet.
Juliet turned around and ran. It was a game of tag, and if Juliet was tagged 'it,' she would die. She leaped over a chair, which the berserker pummeled straight through. The woman was catching up. Dirty fingernails were almost wrapped around her hair when Chase brought a chair down on the berserker's head, making her crumple to the floor.
The berserker went to get up but was met with a mouthful of wood. Chase was swinging the chair in a frenzy. The chair indented the side of the berserker's head. "I'm," he swung again, " sorry!" Her skull split and she finally closed her eyes for good. Throwing the chair to the ground, Chase limped away.
"What happened to these people?" he cried, tears in his eyes, "I just killed a pregnant girl! Killed her!"
"That wasn't a girl anymore," Juliet said, shaking her head grimly.
"It was a girl a few hours ago. A pregnant girl expecting a child, who probably had a mother excited to become a grandmother," he said miserably. "We need to find out what's going on Juliet. I feel like I'm losing my shit."
He looked up at her suddenly, and Juliet saw disgust cloud his eyes. "And what the hell is wrong with you? You looked happy when that berserker woman chased you!" he shouted, and his words stung. People always got angry, and scared, when they found out she didn't have the capability to be afraid. She just hoped it wouldn't push him away like it had everyone else. At some point, she had known she would have to tell him.
"I'm not afraid of anything," she told him reluctantly.
"Okay?" He said, confused.
"It's not something I can control, but I love being in danger." Being different from mainstream society made her an object to fear. The freak her classmates had labeled her.
"I noticed that during the shooting. How Juliet? How the fuck are you not scared?" he asked, flicking a chunk of bloody meat off his leg.
"I-I was hoping you wouldn't bring it up," she blundered. "I was born with an impaired amygdala, which means I can't possess the emotion of fear. It's the reason everyone called me a freak at Waylord," she said, rubbing her arms nervously.
"I didn't know. I only transferred to Waylord last year..." he trailed off, and Juliet knew there was a story there, but she wouldn't press him. "I knew everyone called you a freak, but I had no idea why. I'm so sorry, Juliet."
She was surprised to feel her eyes tear up. Throughout her entire life, no one had felt sorry for her. Usually, they would laugh, or call her a liar, or the worst response; 'so you have autism?' Juliet hated talking about her disability. She hated how people never looked at her the same way again once they knew, but Chase wasn't doing that. This was such a relief that she wanted to fall on the ground and weep. She thought Chase would have left once he knew, and she didn't think she could handle his absence. He was the only one who had ever understood her.
"It's fine," she said, shrugging it off. She looked to the ground, not wanting him to see her tears. If he did, he would be comforting and sweet, and that would only make her cry more. She forced an even voice. "It's strange, but it isn't the worst emotion not to have."
"Compared to what?" he asked her, inching forward.
"Emotions like love," she said. Their eyes locked.
He stepped forward, his desire overwhelming his common sense. Loving her could hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted. Yet, not loving her seemed criminal. A connection this strong shouldn't be wasted, no matter what pain came from it. Juliet was a stone slab while Chase walked towards her, cupping her face in his big hands.
A plant toppled to the floor, the pot shattering on impact. Juliet pulled away from Chase, the spell broken. She was ready in an instant, waving a letter opener at the plant. The little bald boy with hazel skin was revealed, shaking like a kite. Juliet hated children, but upon seeing a normal human, she had to resist the urge to run up and hug him.
"How is he alive?" Chase gasped.
"A berserker wouldn't want to eat him. No meat," Juliet grunted, and Chase gave her a mortified look. "What? I'm just saying; why eat a lizard when you can get a steak?" she said, defending her opinion.
"You know, now that I know about your condition, a lot of things make sense."
Juliet scowled at that, and Chase smiled.
Chase turned back to the boy, who was frozen with fear. His eyes darted back and forth between the two, tracing every detail of their face. He had an incredible sense of observation, and Juliet felt vulnerable in front of him. She was sure that in just a moment of looking at them, he knew more about them than they knew about themselves. The boy's fear ebbed away, and he stared at them solemnly.
"Hello, my name is Chase, and that's Juliet. We're patients of the hospital too, just like you." Chase said, pointing to the boy's gown. "You can come with us, we can help."
Help?
Juliet turned to him.
"Help? Help how?" she said hotly.
"Bring him to the police, or find his family," Chase responded with a shrug.
"So his family can rip him apart like some Mcnuggets?" Juliet argued, "I saw his mom, she's a berserker."
"We can't leave him," Chase replied. Then he took on a softer tone, "his mother is dead."
Children were messy, loud, and demanding, but Juliet couldn't argue with that, nor did she want to. She sat down in one of the chairs while Chase crept closer to the boy, speaking soothing words. He couldn't have been much older than four. It was hard to imagine what he had seen in the last few hours. In a matter of minutes, he had become an orphan.
"He doesn't speak much," stated Juliet, peering at the boy curiously.
"What's your name?" Chase asked him, and the boy only blinked in response.
"What should we call him then?" she asked, watching the boy play with the spilled dirt. He lifted the pot upright, petting the tree's leaves as if they were a dog.
"'Call him?' He isn't a pet. He already has a name," Chase said, stooping down to help the boy return the dirt into the pot. Juliet only scratched her head in confusion. Weren't children basically the same thing as pets? At least, based on what she saw now, the boy liked to clean. He wouldn't be completely useless.
"Still, we don't know what his name is, and we can't call him 'it.'" Juliet argued, kicking some forgotten dirt towards them.
"How about Caillou?" suggested Chase.
"Caillou?" Juliet mirrored, testing out the name. She made a face of disgust as if she had just bit into a raw brussel sprout. "That's awful, why would you do that to him?"
"He looks like that little cartoon boy Caillou," said Chase blushing. Juliet only shook her head.
Caillou ran over to where Juliet sat, laying his chin on her knees. She resisted the urge to shove him away.
"Guess it'll have to do for now," she grumbled. He tugged at her gown and raised his hands to the heavens. When Juliet didn't do anything he jumped up, attempting to clamber into her lap. She tensed.
"I think he wants you to hold him," said Chase.
"No way. I don't like children," Juliet replied, turning to the side so the boy would stop bothering her.
"I thought you weren't afraid of anything?" he teased.
"I'm not," hissed Juliet, leaping from the chair when continued to climb on her. When she scrambled away, he squealed with laughter, chasing her around the room. Juliet had giggled when the berserker chased her, but with a child on her tail, Juliet ran with all the seriousness of an escaping convict. She made sure to steer clear of the dead berserker's body though. Caillou had already seen too much horror for a boy his age -for anyone, really- and Juliet didn't want to add on to his fear. Although, from the sounds of joy he was making, he didn't seem permanently scarred.
"Kids just gross me out," she explained, detaching a bony fist from her gown. For some reason, Caillou seemed to delight in her discomfort. What a little asshole, thought Juliet.
"He likes you," Chase said, hands on his hips "and he isn't going to bite."
"That's ironic because we don't actually know that, do we?" Juliet said, eyeing the small boy skeptically. With everything going on, there was no sure way to know if the boy would suddenly turn berserk and bite. With his bald head and large, gold-colored irises, he did look sort of alien.
At that moment, the elevator opened. A very sweaty and blood covered Mr. Colgress sauntered off.
Juliet and Chase tensed, but when the man saw them he sighed in relief.
"Thank god," he said. "Real humans! You guys are alive, right?"
"Uh, yeah," said Chase, when Juliet didn't answer. Her grip on the letter opener had tightened. Mr. Colgress's veins protruded from his skin, tracing outlines along his neck. Juliet became fixated on how good it would feel to stab the letter opener right into them.
"Those things came pouring in from the stairs. Luckily, I was just leaving, getting on the elevator to go to the first floor. I closed it before they could reach me."
"You left three women, one who was pregnant, and a child, to survive against a horde of monsters we know nothing about?" Juliet growled.
Mr. Colgress's smile changed. He wasn't the kind of man who you accused of something like that.
"I didn't have a choice. The elevator doors were closing, and the creatures had already killed them."
The tension in the room rose. Juliet's black eyes seemed to expand, growing fixated on the man before her. To her, he represented the deaths of the teachers and students at Waylord, he was the cause that led to the effect. She resented him so much she shook.
Chase put his arm on her shoulder to calm her. If she didn't relax, the situation could turn south quickly.
"I don't believe you," spat Juliet.
The icy blue eyes darkened, glowering at Juliet. An intense quiet filled the room.
Than, Mr. Colgress laughed.
"Well, it's a good thing we found each other. Do you know anything? The elevator doesn't work. I just closed myself in there, but it didn't move floors."
"No," said Chase, "we were just about to leave."
"Without you," added Juliet.
Mr. Colgress squinted his eyes, looking back and forth between them. His eyes found the black wristband.
"Oh," he said somberly, "you know who I am, don't you? My son killed your friends."
The pair didn't say anything.
"I tried so hard to make him a good kid. There was always a darkness in him that I couldn't tame. It was his mothers fault, unfortunately. I believe she did drugs and took pills when she was pregnant with him."
Still, Juliet and Chase were quiet. Juliet wanted to shove her hands over her ears, blocking out the nonsense he spoke. The man continued.
"I am sorry for what he did. He killed my wife, you know. He probably would have killed me too, if I hadn't been at work that morning. I think we have more in common than you think."
"No, we don't," said Juliet.
It was quick, so quick that Juliet almost didn't catch it. The man's eyes flared with an intense anger, the same anger that she had seen in Bryce's eyes during the shooting. Then it was gone, replaced by a charming smile.
"We have to go, there's no telling when the berserker's could come back," said Chase, tugging on Juliet's arm. Nervously, he peered down the long empty hallways that lead through the hospital on the floor they were on. This hospital was a maze, and if they got lost, berserker's could easily corner them. The only way to go was down, and leave the hospital completely.
"I'm coming with you guys," said Mr. Colgress coolly.
"No, you're not," snapped Juliet.
The two of them looked like they were in the middle of a Midwestern shoot-off, waiting to see who would be the first one to draw. Chase didn't like Juliet's odds, Mr. Colgress probably had 120 pounds on her, and was a six foot, grown man.
"I insist," hissed the man.
"That's fine," said Chase, closing his eyes. "Just stop arguing! The longer we wait, the more we are putting ourselves in danger. We have to save the child."
Juliet looked away from the man once, only to quietly tell Chase, "don't turn your back on him for a second. He will kill us if he is given the chance."
Chase squeezed the child, Caillou's hand, it was bad enough that they had to worry about berserker's. Now, they had to watch out for the people on their own team.
"Let's go than," said Mr. Colgress, with a smile.