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“I just want to get this over with,” Je
I swallowed heavily and managed a small nod. “Yes, we have.”
Lloyd began to make his way slowly down the hill. Bret and Je
No wonder that man Cade and I had seen on the street (the only we know to have been unfrozen), had been awakened by the brutal assault that the creature had inflicted upon it. Cade had attempted to awaken Peter, his old boss, by burning him, but it had failed. I understood why now. The brand I sported on my shoulder was nothing compared to the lingering pain from when that thing had forced its way into my body. The people were frozen, completely immobile to us, but that kind of pain was something that we could never manage to inflict no matter how hard we tried. Of that I was certain.
What I wasn’t certain of was whether The Frozen Ones were dead or not. The man that had reawakened was proof that they had originally been alive, trapped within their own bodies, but that had been over a month ago. They may still be frozen, immobile statues, but they had to be dead by now. Didn’t they? They hadn’t eaten, hadn’t gone to the bathroom; hadn’t even breathed in so long. But could they somehow still be alive? Possibly even aware of their surroundings?
I shuddered at the thought; goose bumps broke out on my flesh. For a moment the world lurched and swayed, my stomach heaved violently at the thought of being trapped like that. It was the worst thing I could ever imagine happening to me. The endless torture they were enduring if they were aware of their surroundings. I’d rather be dead.
I didn’t want to die.
The thought slammed into me. For the first time I realized that it was completely true. I had been going through the motions, surviving because it was expected, hoping because there had been hope to have, but all the while there had been a deadened hole inside of me. There had been an emptiness that kept me teetering on the edge of a dark precipice. The hole, the emptiness would always be there, I knew that. But I wanted to live, I wanted to survive. I wasn’t ready for this to be the end and I was very afraid of what the hospital held for us. I should be elated we had reached our goal, I was nearly certain that we wouldn’t be leaving the building.
Tears burned my eyes and throat; I kept my head bowed as I watched every step I took carefully. I didn’t realize we had made it to the bottom of the hill until the ground leveled out before me. The day was growing steadily darker. Lloyd stopped to survey the buildings, his eyes narrowed as he knelt to rest one hand upon the ground.
“Does anyone know the layout?”
“I’ve been here once before, when my mom’s friend had a baby. If you want to know where the maternity ward is, I’m your guy.”
Lloyd scowled at Bret before turning his attention back to the hospital. “Bishop said that the pathology and laboratory departments were where we would find the things we need. They’re probably located in the main building, basement. Hopefully,” I added.
“Now that is useful info,” Lloyd muttered.
We slipped silently through the darkening day, hurrying through the deepening shadows as we stayed low and scurried across the ground. Lloyd reached the doors first. He didn’t hesitate, as I would have, before plunging into the dark interior. Bret followed swiftly behind but Je
I took a deep breath and plunged forward, half afraid that something was going to snag me as soon as I stepped inside. Instead, I entered a world of utter chaos and destruction. I skid to a halt behind Bret; the squeak of my sneakers on the linoleum floor as loud as a gunshot in the eerily silent hall. I winced involuntarily, bracing myself for something to come rushing at us out of the dark. Nothing moved, nothing stirred; there was nothing left to make a sound.
“What the hell?” Je
The hall was a mess. There didn’t appear to be one inch of floor that wasn’t littered with some type of debris. Papers, medical tools, clothes, blankets, mattresses, pillows, and so many other numerous things covered the floor that it was hard to differentiate one from another. It looked as if a bomb had gone off, but I knew it was something far worse and far more sinister.
“My God,” Je
It wasn’t a bomb that had gone off in here, but a feeding frenzy that had left the halls devoid of any life, devoid of any hope.
“Let’s get this over with, quickly.” Lloyd’s words made sense, but no one moved.
I didn’t want to move through the blood that splattered the walls and floor, didn’t want to pick my way through the discarded clothing; didn’t want to touch the remnants of the dead. I wanted to close my eyes and block out everything before me, but it was now seared permanently into my mind. I did not want to hear the resounding screams that had once filled this hall, but they echoed through my mind. I was shaking as I took a step back. The blood, the horror, the massacre that had occurred here nearly drove me to my knees beneath the crushing weight of despair that was trying to consume me.
The pain. Remnants of it lingered on the blood streaked walls. Remnants of it pulsed with an answering rhythm in the very marrow of my bones. The horrendous agony of what these people had experienced would forever be absorbed into the sterile white walls of this institution. The place felt haunted, as if the lost souls were trapped here. Forever ensnared within the last horrifying moments of their lives. I could feel their lost souls brushing against me; feel their misery and torment as they remained caged within this awful place. For eternity. They’d had no chance, no hope of escaping. Whatever had swept through here had been rapid and it had been devastating. And it had relished in hurting them.
Almost as bad as the lingering agony, and lost souls, was the smell. The copper tang of blood filled the hall; it was potent within my nostrils and on my tongue. There was something rotting somewhere, multiple something’s probably, multiple things that I did notwant to see. Je
Lloyd had started to move, but his steps were hesitant, weary. Bret followed behind but Je
Slowly we began to follow Bret and Lloyd down the hall. I tried to keep my gaze focused ahead, but every once in awhile it would stray into one of the rooms. So far they all appeared empty, devoid of all human remains, but judging by the increasing rancid smell I didn’t think it was going to stay that way. The three of them were lucky enough to be able to pull their shirts up over their noses, I wasn’t so lucky. I knew I sure as hell didn’t smell good right now, but I definitely smelled better than this damn place and I definitely preferred my own odor over the hospitals right now.