around her. Her muffled screams soon stopped and new screams of the people who witnessed the attack erupted. People scrambled to get away, and we were forced to run before we got trampled by the panicked group now heading in our direction.
“Holy shit!” Mike yelled as he tried to keep up with us despite his injured leg.
Zoe sent me a look that could only be summed up as, “What the hell did we just witness?”
For that, I had no answer. It did help shine some light on what happened to me in the hotel lobby. I had come so close to ending up like that poor woman back there, the thought made a shiver run down my spine. I had no desire to end up a human chew-toy.
Panting with exertion, we had finally made it to the hospital thanks to the group on our heels forcing us to run. My side was burning anew from the heavy breaths that were wracking my lungs and chest. Mike seemed to have it worse, he was now wincing with every step he took and his skin had taken on an ashen color making him look sickly. He reminded me of the woman who attacked me in the breakfast room. I shuffled to the other side of Zoe, as far away from him as I could go without looking suspicious.
I unconsciously touched my side and looked at my reflection in the glass windows surrounding the hospital. I didn’t have the sickly appearance, so maybe a scratch didn’t have the same effect that a bite did. There was only one-way to find out.
“Shit, we’re going to be here for hours,” I grumbled as we walked into the crowded lobby.
We had to squeeze our way through the masses just to get to the front desk line. People were yelling and crying all over the place. Some people had bloody rags pressed to their wounds, dripping blood all over the place. This had to be the most unsanitary hospital I had ever seen. Others were trying to calm down the hysteric patients, not having much luck. Finally, we had gotten through the line and had our turn at the desk.
“Number of people and emergency,” the frazzled receptionist stated.
“Uh, two injured with a bite and deep scratches,” I said adding an extra bit of pain into my voice hoping she would not just send us away.
“We’re only taking emergencies at the moment due to the high volume of incidents,” she stated.
“We were bit and scratched by someone who has that sickness or whatever it is,” I reasoned.
Her eyes flashed to mine. She knew something we didn’t.
“Fourth floor, take a left at the elevators.”
I was about to ask her why, when she yelled, “Next!” and we were effectively dealt with. I motioned for the stairs, and Mike grimaced, but it looked like the two elevators would be busy for a while judging by the crowd waiting to get on to them. The door to the stairs was held open due to the steady stream of people going up and down not wanting to wait for the elevator.
“It’s only the fourth floor,” I shrugged after Mike said he wouldn’t be able to take them.
My attitude toward stairs had changed abruptly in the last twenty-four hours; not that taking the stairs appealed to me, just that they would be quicker. We squeezed into the cramped flow of traffic heading up the stairs, with Mike being prodded on by the people behind him. Now came the tricky part of being able to stop long enough to get through the door we needed. I managed to open it enough so that I could get through, much to the dismay of the very vocal people behind us. I flashed them the middle finger for their troubles.
Unfortunately, the fourth floor was just as crowded as the downstairs and even more alarming was the fact that some doctors were coming in and out of certain rooms in bulky biohazard suits. Every seat was taken up with sickly looking people, and pretty much every square inch of the walls were lined with people just waiting to be treated. Going past the elevators, we found yet another desk to approach and told them what happened.
“Take a seat, and we’ll call you when it’s your turn,” the
“Holy shit!” Mike yelled as he tried to keep up with us despite his injured leg.
Zoe sent me a look that could only be summed up as, “What the hell did we just witness?”
For that, I had no answer. It did help shine some light on what happened to me in the hotel lobby. I had come so close to ending up like that poor woman back there, the thought made a shiver run down my spine. I had no desire to end up a human chew-toy.
Panting with exertion, we had finally made it to the hospital thanks to the group on our heels forcing us to run. My side was burning anew from the heavy breaths that were wracking my lungs and chest. Mike seemed to have it worse, he was now wincing with every step he took and his skin had taken on an ashen color making him look sickly. He reminded me of the woman who attacked me in the breakfast room. I shuffled to the other side of Zoe, as far away from him as I could go without looking suspicious.
I unconsciously touched my side and looked at my reflection in the glass windows surrounding the hospital. I didn’t have the sickly appearance, so maybe a scratch didn’t have the same effect that a bite did. There was only one-way to find out.
“Shit, we’re going to be here for hours,” I grumbled as we walked into the crowded lobby.
We had to squeeze our way through the masses just to get to the front desk line. People were yelling and crying all over the place. Some people had bloody rags pressed to their wounds, dripping blood all over the place. This had to be the most unsanitary hospital I had ever seen. Others were trying to calm down the hysteric patients, not having much luck. Finally, we had gotten through the line and had our turn at the desk.
“Number of people and emergency,” the frazzled receptionist stated.
“Uh, two injured with a bite and deep scratches,” I said adding an extra bit of pain into my voice hoping she would not just send us away.
“We’re only taking emergencies at the moment due to the high volume of incidents,” she stated.
“We were bit and scratched by someone who has that sickness or whatever it is,” I reasoned.
Her eyes flashed to mine. She knew something we didn’t.
“Fourth floor, take a left at the elevators.”
I was about to ask her why, when she yelled, “Next!” and we were effectively dealt with. I motioned for the stairs, and Mike grimaced, but it looked like the two elevators would be busy for a while judging by the crowd waiting to get on to them. The door to the stairs was held open due to the steady stream of people going up and down not wanting to wait for the elevator.
“It’s only the fourth floor,” I shrugged after Mike said he wouldn’t be able to take them.
My attitude toward stairs had changed abruptly in the last twenty-four hours; not that taking the stairs appealed to me, just that they would be quicker. We squeezed into the cramped flow of traffic heading up the stairs, with Mike being prodded on by the people behind him. Now came the tricky part of being able to stop long enough to get through the door we needed. I managed to open it enough so that I could get through, much to the dismay of the very vocal people behind us. I flashed them the middle finger for their troubles.
Unfortunately, the fourth floor was just as crowded as the downstairs and even more alarming was the fact that some doctors were coming in and out of certain rooms in bulky biohazard suits. Every seat was taken up with sickly looking people, and pretty much every square inch of the walls were lined with people just waiting to be treated. Going past the elevators, we found yet another desk to approach and told them what happened.
“Take a seat, and we’ll call you when it’s your turn,” the
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