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"How do I get there?"
Herrick walked out of the room into the corridor, pulling him along.
"Through those doors, then you go to the end of the hallway and take a right. Go to the end of that hallway and take a left. On your next right, four doors down, you'll see a door leading to the stairwell. Go all the way down, and when you come out, go left, right, left, and then right again, all the way to the end of the last corridor. You'll see the sign for the lab. Refrigerators are in back. Grab at least five units of O-positive."
His head was swimming.
"O-positive. Okay."
"Help me with this."
They slid the furniture back from the door, and then Adam stared through the window. The paper that Herrick had stapled over the opening had blown away.
"Coast clear?" she asked.
"For now."
He heard the locks sliding up, his heart begi
"Adam?"
He looked at Herrick.
"I know you don't want to go out there, but your wife will die if she doesn't start receiving new blood in less than thirty minutes."
Adam's daughter began to cry at the other end of the wing.
He wondered if he'd seen the last he would ever see of her.
"I'll take care of your girls, Adam," Herrick said. "Now get going."
Je
"I'M just going to see if the playroom is empty," Je
Amid cries of protest, the nurse extracted herself from the tangle of children and stood up, holding the glowing green light stick in front of her like a talisman. She crept to the closet door, making sure her footing was solid. Je
If the old Randall was back--and she sensed he was--he'd find a way to reach her, even if he had to walk barefoot through hell.
The intercom was near the front door, which was still barricaded shut. Je
And?
To tell him I love him.
Fu
Je
He's alive. He's got to be alive. Randall has survived countless accidents and mishaps. Countless drunken bar fights. He's indestructible.
She opened her eyes, focused on the door. Holding her breath, she stopped just an arm's length away from the square window, listening for sounds.
The silence was so loud it made her wince.
Je
"STOP! A monster is going to pop out and grab you! I know it!"
Je
"It's okay," she said.
But it really wasn't okay, was it? Monsters--real monsters--were ru
Maybe staying put was a smart idea.
She was about to give in to cowardice when she remembered something her husband had said to her on their honeymoon. They'd spent the week at the ridiculous sounding "Camp Kookyfoot Waterpark" because Randall was nuts about waterslides. Je
"Thanks, babe," he'd told her once he could breathe again. "It's nice to have someone I can count on. You know you can count on me too. Always and forever."
Well, "always and forever" had taken a detour, but Je
Now Randall was in the hospital somewhere, surrounded by monsters, possibly hurt, maybe even dying, and she wanted, needed him to know she felt the same way.
Eyeing the window, Je
"STOP!"
"Kids!" Je
Shaking off the adrenalin, she moved even closer to the door. Her imagination took over. Je
Fu
Creeping ever closer to the door, too scared to even breathe, all Je
Two feet away.
Eighteen inches.
Twelve inches.
Six inches.
Finally, Je
A massacre.
Severed limbs strewn everywhere. Entrails festooned on the chairs and tables. Half-chewed organs speckled the floor and unidentifiable lumps of fatty tissue and brain matter splattered across the walls. Some of the pieces were human--the people Je
For all the gore, there was surprisingly little blood. Je
"Are they gone?" one of the children whispered.
Repulsive as it was, the playroom seemed to be empty.
"Yes," Je
"Don't go!"
"It's okay," Je
Touching the knob gingerly with just her fingertips, she swung open the door and immediately wiped her hand off on an unstained part of her uniform. The intercom was on the wall, right next to the barricaded door. Je
She opted for a compromise--closing it most of the way, but leaving it open a crack.