Tao’s grip on the bat loosened as he stood frozen, staring at the lifeless body on the floor. His mind couldn’t process what he’d just done. His chest felt heavy, he began breathing in irregular patterns.

“Take the sheet off,” Tao murmured. “I have to check if it’s her.”

Oscar looked at him, wide-eyed. “Hold on, are we gonna move past tha—?” He gestured frantically to the corpse on the ground. “You just killed someone, man.”

“We don’t have time for this, Oscar. We still have other floors to check, and I am not leaving here without my sister!” Tao exclaimed, his voice hoarse. The desperation was starting to seep in.

“You’re right. Sorry,” Oscar muttered. He grabbed the bloodstained sheet and pulled it off the bed.

Tao took a deep breath. It wasn’t Lucy. But that didn’t make it any easier to look at.

An unrecognizable woman lay on the bed, her stomach completely ripped wide open with surgical precision. Dried blood crusted along her sides, and her face was sunken—she clearly was in distress as she died.

Oscar put the sheet back over the woman, this time covering her entire body. Neither of them spoke for a moment.

“These guys are some sick bastards, Oscar. We can’t hesitate,” Tao muttered, his voice completely hollow.

“Y-yeah, obviously,” Oscar stammered. “But our goal is to find Lucy, right?”

“That’s right,” Tao responded, finally snapping from whatever state he was in. He walked over to where the second person originally was.

One of the cabinets was slightly open, a row of files were neatly stacked inside. Tao began flipping through the files, his hands trembling. Most were medical documents—patient charts, test results, strange terms he didn’t understand.

Each of the files had no names attached to them but rather a number imprinted on the bottom left of each file in blue ink.

Then he saw a list of names.

Women’s names.

And next to each one was a date…and a status.

Sarah Lyles — Unknown

Yuri Lockenthaw — Failure

Evelyn Kennedy — Failure

Lucy Morales — Processing

Tao’s blood ran cold.

He clenched the file so tightly that it nearly tore.

“Oscar! Lucy’s name is on here.”

Oscar entered the room, taking the file from Tao. His eyes turned wide with horror.

“What does ‘Processing’ mean?!”

The words on the page blurred in Tao’s vision as his pulse pounded in his ears. At least it wasn’t dead. At least it wasn’t unknown. This meant she was still here. Tao didn’t know. But he had to find out.

Tao set his jaw. “We have to move.” He turned his head around the room, scanning for any more openings. There’s no way this is all there was to the hospital ward.

“Tao, look!” Oscar barked, running over to a stack of medical carts. In between the gaps, a doorknob poked out, inviting all who dared to enter.

“Come on. Help me,” Oscar demanded, attempting to pull the carts away. Tao grabbed the left side of the carts while Oscar took the opposite. They both pulled with all the strength, and the stack of carts slowly began to pull away.

Behind them a set of double doors revealed a deeper section of the hospital ward. The pair stepped through, Tao dragging the used metal bat, and Oscar holding on to the only thing they had of Lucy, her flashlight.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed faintly as they stepped into the next corridor. The air felt wrong—thicker, heavier, like it was pressing down on their chest.

The walls were lined with concrete stone, marked with some sort of blue liquid. There were three doors in front of them: one to the right, one to the left, and one right in front of them.

A sliding door locked behind a coin machine was to their left. It seemed that you needed to insert a certain coin in order for the door to be opened. Useless

The door to the right was slightly ajar, but they walked past it, vowing to return shortly. Instead, their attention was glued to the double doors in front of them. The doors had a small window panel in the middle, which the pair used to peer inside.

“What the—?” Oscar whispered as Tao put a hand over his mouth.

The room in front of them was brightly lit almost like a normal hospital would. On the edges of the room were a multitude of beds, almost all occupied by somebody. Each of the people on the beds were handcuffed to a body part. Some their legs and others their arms. They also each had their own doctor assigned to them. Some of the doctors were actively taking care of the person, and others sat beside them, doing nothing.

Closer to the middle of the room was a row occupied by typewriters. Each of them had their assigned writer, and they were observing their own section of the room. Their hands moved quickly as they swiftly moved from page to page.

Behind them, were a set of people who took the pages written and formatted them into organized files. These files were put into cabinets, and whenever a cabinet was full, it was moved into a room using a dolly.

“She must be in here!” Tao blurted out as some of the people were in the far back and it was very hard to see their faces. He twisted the knob on the door expecting to fall through the set of double doors. However, the doors didn’t budge.

“What are you doing?!” Oscar said as he pulled Tao down from the window. He pushed him backwards from the set of double doors.

“What do you mean? Saving my sister!” Tao snapped, his frustration reaching its peak.

“Oh yeah? And what was your plan after?” Oscar rebutted, moving closer to Tao.

Tao stepped back, clearing his head. “I get it, okay? I acted rashly?” Tao mumbled. “Won’t happen again.”

“Good,” Oscar stepped closer. “I just don’t want us to fail before we even get to see Lucy again.”

“I understand,” Tao said, regaining his energy. “Let’s go through that other door we passed earlier, there has to be something in there.

“See, now you’re thinking logically,” Oscar jokes, dapping up Tao as they walk towards the right door.

As soon as the pair stepped in, they noticed something was wrong.

The smell hit them immediately.

A deep, rotting stench. Not like trash, not like sewage. It was more…organic—flesh.

Oscar gagged, putting his shirt over his nose. “Oh my God.”

Tao forced himself forward, covering his nose with his sleeve while gripping the bat in his right hand.

The pair turned a corner, freezing in an instant.

Arms, legs, torsos, scattered in disorganized piles. Some had been cut cleanly, others torn apart. The blood had long dried into the cracks of the tile.

Oscar made a choking noise. “This—this isn’t real. I have to be dreaming.”

Tao’s throat felt tight. He wanted to believe Oscar. But the truth was right in front of them. And it’s not like they hadn’t seen gore before. They’ve played their fair share of video games, seen countless movies, and even browsed sites they probably shouldn’t have. But nothing could compare to the monstrosity that displayed before them.

A large metal bin sat against the wall, filled with discarded limbs. Some were wrapped in gauze, others you could see the bone peeking out.

Among the mess, Tao spotted something that made the hairs on his neck stand up.

A hand—small, delicate, feminine.

HIs stomach clenched. He dropped to his knees, gripping the wrist.

The fingers twitched.

Tao screamed as he jumped backwards.

Oscar did as well. “Wha—what the hell—”

The fingers twitched again, slowly, weakly.

“It’s not her,” Tao murmured.

“Doesn’t fucking matter. Who are all these people?!” Oscar exclaimed, his breathing quickening.

“Hey, calm down. Remember what you said to me earlier. Think logically,” Tao said, trying to reassure Oscar.

“But how can I….?” Oscar whispered. He felt sick.

“Imagine how Lucy feels. You at least have me. She has none. She probably thinks we're one of these body parts.” Tao felt angry. “We have to find her.”

Then they saw it.

Oscar’s face was drained of color. Tao’s stomach dropped to the floor.

At the very back of the room, hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, bloodied and barely conscious—was Jacob.