On the way to the hospital, I was hoping to see some sign of life.

But during the entire drive, the streets remained bare. It wasn't bustling with cars, no obnoxious people yelling at each other in traffic, no joggers running down the sidewalks, nothing.

I swallowed hard when I saw another body in the middle of the road and my heart started beating a mile a minute. I held back the cry of surprise and maneuvered around it quietly to avoid it. I wasn't in the mood of waking up and dealing with another one of those freaks.

However, the path I took towards St. River Hospital, more and more decaying corpses were starting to appear.

Lily tried calling her mom's phone repeatedly but it kept going to voicemail. I asked her to call 911 next to possibly reach someone who was, you know, around to possibly fill us in on what happened last night. It was ringing and ringing but one answered.

Cars were lined up near the hospital's emergency entrance. As I pulled up behind the last one, I shut off the truck and observed the tall glass building. I was already getting bad vibes from this place from how quiet it was but I turned around in my seat and reminded myself that we had to do this for Lily.

When I looked at her and my brother, their faces were stoic, gloomy, and downright depressing to look at. No one was eager to jump out after what we experienced. I wasn't either but I went ahead and put on a false smile to lighten the mood a little.

"Well, shall we go in then?"

Silence.

Lily or Ray didn't even acknowledge me. They reluctantly slid out of their seats and closed their doors in my face without even giving me an answer. I let out an exasperated sigh and climbed out too.

We headed over to the automatic clear glass doors and stood in front of the black mat to activate it, it didn't budge.

I waved my hand in front of my own reflection repeatedly and it slightly moved out of place before sealing up again.

"Do you think the power is out?" Lily inquired, stomping her own wedges down on the rugged carpet with me to get it to move again.

"Maybe, I'm not sure though.."I replied, scratching my head.

"No, I think the door is jammed." Ray said and squatted down to take a closer look at it.

"What makes you sure, nerd?" I teased.

He glared at me through his glasses before turning back and studying the door. "Because dumbass, we all saw it move a little, even if it was just an inch. If the power was out it wouldn't budge at all." He replied making it sound like it was obvious.

Lily's face went pink at the realization. I folded my hands across my chest and scoffed. "Well then, maybe there's an emergency button we can push to force it to open or something then."

"That's exactly what I'm looking for, genius."

"Oh grow up. I'm going to watch our backs while you handle that then." I huffed and stormed off. It was taking all the energy in the world not to fight with Ray in this kind of situation but that little turd always knew how to piss me off in a matter of seconds.

I tried to take my mind off him by surveying the rest of the area. The parking lot was filled up with cars, like people should have been inside, yet it was already midday and we haven't seen a single person.

Alive anyway.

Was this what they were keeping us from seeing yesterday? If it was, why did it look like no one did anything to stop it? Or managed to get away from it?

When I started to turn around, my eyes landed on an empty wheelchair in front of me. Another corpse was laying on the ground inches from it like he toppled out of it. I blew out a last ring of smoke from my cigarette before heading towards it and grabbing it by the handlebars.

"Any luck?" I asked while dragging it behind me.

Lily turned to say something but Ray interrupted with a frustrated "no" and stood up.

"So what should we do now?" Lily asked nervously.

"I don't know, maybe there's another way we can get in? Maybe we can go around or-"

Before Ray could finish his sentence, I picked the heavy chair up over my head and then chucked it at the door, shattering the glass completely. Shards rained onto the floor and a loud alarm went off around the place.

Ray slowly turned to look at me.

"Are you mental woman!?"

Lily nodded, her eyes wide. "He's right, we can get arrested for breaking and entering and then fined for the door!"

"Good. We haven't seen a single person for hours anyway. Maybe this will finally attract someone here so they can tell us what the hell is going on."

I step carefully through the doorway, leaving them standing with their mouths open yet again.

They knew I was right.

My tactics may be more rash than most but I was trying to find some answers. With this loud ass alarm going off, it should at least draw some attention down here and bring someone who is actually alive.

But as soon as we made it to the reception area, we were disappointed again.

Every single nurse, doctor and patients were face down on the tile floor, dead.

With this sight, I was sure Lily was running out of hope quickly. I just hope she's prepared for the worst.

"So stairs or elevator?" I asked.

We turned to Lily for an answer but she was staring at the elevator door. There was a bloody handprint on the buttons that trailed down the wall to the floor where a pair of dead bodies laid.

"Stairs it is then." I mumbled to myself and led the way to a fire exit across the room. I glanced over my shoulder to see Ray gently tug Lily along with him.

The loud ringing was growing obnoxious the closer we got and I covered my ears, turning my power walk into a sprint and jogged to the door, shoving it open.

We rushed into the narrow concrete stairwell and headed up the rickety metal handrail. There was a slight buzzing from the light fixture but I was grateful enough that the room muffled the alarm outside.

"Which floor does your mom work on by the way, Lily?" I asked, holding the door open for them. I let it close behind me and we climbed up the stone stairway.

Lily was trembling on each step she took, the will to fight zapped from her as we made it to the second floor.

"I...I don't remember." She stuttered.

Great. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of spending my entire day going through all nine floors for her mom, so I was praying it was one of the first few.

"Do you remember what department she works in?"Ray piped in.

Lily thought for a moment and then nodded her head. "Yeah, she's a plastic surgeon."

I could see the same gawking expression I made pass through Ray's face at the mention of her occupation. Dang, that would definitely explain the house and the expensive looking car.

"So what, you guys are loaded then?" I blurted and Ray elbowed me in the ribs.

"Well, yeah Sasha. Who do you think has been paying for all our concerts, posters and merchandise? She's done all of that for us. For me. It's always been just us." Her voice turned to a whisper. "My dad passed away of a heart attack when I was only five and my brother has been out in the marines this whole time. So.."

Lily stopped talking for a moment and I saw a teardrop stain her ghostly face before she stepped up the stairs two at a time."Come on," She said quickly wiping her cheek, "Lets keep going."

*****************

We ran up a couple flights, checking each department to find the one that is related to her mom's job but came up empty. After the fifth floor, I expected to see the same after the last; dead bodies, blood, and deafening silence.

By the time we got to the 7th floor, I was out of breath and was falling behind them. The disgusting smell was getting to me and the uneasiness that happened at this hospital was taking a toll on me mentally.

Just what exactly happened here?

"Sasha? Come on, you're taking too long."

I looked up at the sound of my brother's annoying voice. He was a few steps behind Lily, breathing hard and was red in the face like he just ran a marathon. He motioned for me to keep up with an arrogant wave of his arm while taking a giant hit of his inhaler. I rolled my eyes but staggered behind, feeling less enthusiastic with each step.

As I stared at my feet, I realized that I shouldn't have worn my slippers here. The tweety bird face that was sticking out in front was caked in blood from all the puddles I accidentally stepped in and it's usual bright yellow feathers were stained red and standing on ends.

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I saw Lily make it to the top of the 9th floor and push open the door. Her pale face was dotted with sweat.

"Which way is it from here?" I asked as we filed out and glanced between two different hallways.

The path to the right was fully lit, but there was blood splattered up and down the walls. On the left, however, it was pitch black all the way down except for an unsettling white light coming out of one of the rooms.

"I know it seems weird, but I want to go check the open door on the left," Lily pointed as she looked at us. "I think I recognized that hallway and I have a feeling her office is that way. You two should go check out the hall on the right."

"I don't think so." Ray stepped in. "If you really think she's that way then I'll come with you."

"Way to grow some balls, Ray." I thought, nodding my head approvingly.

"Besides," He added, "Sasha can handle herself. She took some sort of Karate classes a few years ago so she's tough and knows how to kick some ass if she needs to."

"Oh really?" Lily asked, raising a curious brow. "I saw some of that earlier but I've always known Sasha as brash."

I switched on my feet awkwardly as they talked about me. "Yeah but it's not Karate, it's called Ju Jitsu." I corrected it. "and thanks for the confidence booster Ray, but you failed to realize that we are completely defenseless. It would be a bad idea if we separated, especially if any of...these things decide to rise up again."

Ray pondered that for a moment. "How about this instead? If one of us gets in trouble, we will call each other. Do you have your cell phone on you sis?"

I searched my pockets and inside my bra but froze when I couldn't find the shape of it anywhere on me. "No, I...don't. I think I left it on my nightstand back at home."

"Great." Ray sighed sarcastically. He brought out his black android from the pocket of his jeans and faced Lily. His hands suddenly started shaking and his cheeks turned a shade of red. "Um, what's your phone number?"

"For what?" She asked skeptically.

"I'm going to give Sasha my phone. If she runs into trouble and needs help or something, she can call you. And vise-versa."

"Oh, that's pretty smart. Alright then."

Once they exchanged numbers, they looked up at me worriedly.

"Be safe, okay?" Lily told me softly, her eyes dropping to the ground.

I figured she felt guilty sending me off on my own but I reassured her with a supporting smile.

"Don't worry. If anything I should be the one telling you guys to be careful since I've been the one saving your asses so far." I laughed and snatched Ray's phone from his hand before stuffing it into the pocket of my pj pants. "Just don't call me about every little thing okay?" I teased and headed in the opposite direction of them.

Though, even with this hallway bright as day, I couldn't help the gut wrenching feeling growing inside me. I'm acting like if everything is fine when in reality, it wasn't. Every person we've seen so far has been dead. I've only lasted so long because I told myself they were just sleeping but...something, or someone is going around killing everyone.

What if I'm next?

Maybe taking separate paths wasn't such a good idea after all.

I took cautious quiet steps towards the first room and peeked around inside.

It was empty and undisturbed as if nobody used it. I thought about checking the computer next to the patient recliner for information about what's going on but it was turned off and probably password protected.

In other words, useless to me.

I walked over to the next room and spotted two more bodies. I hesitated, before stepping back out and pressed my back against the wall.

"What the hell am I even doing here? I should be at home, watching t.v. and oblivious to this nightmare. This is something the cops and the FBI should be handling, not me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, in my head.

I sighed and tried to calm down. There was nothing I could do anyway. I was already here and so was my brother. So I told myself the minute we found Lily's mom, the faster we would all be back at home, safe and sound.

Poking my head back into the room, I checked both of the bodies to see if I recognized any of them as Lily's mother.

A man was laying on the medical bed at an awkward angle; flat on it's back with both his arms dangling off either side. He was almost slipping off and it was a mystery how he hadn't fallen off yet. The fact that his chest didn't move at all or even show any sign of life didn't make that uneasiness I felt earlier any better.

The other body was a woman and she was wearing a doctor's coat. She was hunched over in a painful position on top of a keyboard with the computer screen surprisingly still on.

I snooped over to it, ignoring the rotten smell lingering in the room and carefully removed the body from the chair to get a better look at the screen.

"George Winters. Age:37 Hispanic Male, yada yada..."

I skimmed down into the notes the doctor wrote for him and squinted my eyes at the small text.

"Patient still showing signs of internal failure. High fever, sweating and hallucinations. All symptoms related to unknown disease slowly killing the intestines and crucial vital organs at a rapid pace."

There was a large glob of blood on the screen blocking the rest of the records. I cringed and smeared it off with my shirt so I could keep reading.

The rest of the documentation had been tabbed down the page multiple times, leaving a huge gap between the last post. When I scrolled down, only one word was typed in all caps.

"CONTAGIOUS!"

My heart plummeted as I took in the last word. "Contagious? What's contagious? And contagious how?"

I scooted closer, trying to find anything about a cure in case we came across it or any information of whatever the cause of this mess was.

My foot accidentally brushed against an oxygen tank that was on the floor. It fell and slowly rolled ahead to the wall in front of me. I ignored it and scrolled down on the mouse frantically, my eyes glued to the screen as I searched for any clues. But I couldn't find anything.

I suddenly heard feet shuffling behind me and someone dropped their hand on my shoulder causing me to almost jump 20 feet out of my skin.

"Holy shi-! What the hell is wrong with you Ray?! Can't you see that I'm busy-"

I flipped around on the stool.

It wasn't Ray.

I was face to face with the same person I took for dead and shoved out of her chair.

The doctor was standing at full height looking down at me with the same empty eyes, and drool trailing from her lips right before she let out a devastating growl.

I started falling back in my seat from the doctor's weight as she pinned both of her hands on my shoulders.

I tried to hold her off by using my feet to kick her off, but it was a huge mistake. The stool wheels took off from under me, sending us straight to the floor. My head knocked back into the desk hard enough that I was seeing stars and my ass landed hard on the ground. I felt the pain shoot up from there to my spine.

Luckily the doctor ended up tangling herself in the stools chair legs. She was still too close for comfort, her hands reaching out at me and she let out a noise that resembled a dog that's gone days without food.

Desperate and hungry.

When I tried to stand back up, my hand landed on the green air tank from before. I snatched it up quickly but a sharp pain shot through my ankle. I twisted it so badly that I fell back to the floor.

I went to grab onto the desk but the woman's disgusting hands had snagged my bruised ankle and tried to pull me towards her.

Without even thinking, I grunted heavily as I picked the giant cylinder above both of our heads, then smashed it down on top of her head, over and over again.

I could hear her skull make a sickening crunch each time and some of her blood spurted out onto my face as I kept bashing her head in. I kept my lips sealed shut and kept going until her grip finally loosen.

I was out of breath when she stopped moving. Pieces of her brain were sticking out from her head and I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes to catch my breath.

A loud squeal interrupted my thoughts and I looked at the tank, wondering if it sprung a leak.

I heard another one from outside the room and I suddenly thought of Lily. "Is she in trouble?" I thought and carried myself to the door. Either way, I should go find them; they would want to know what I just found out.

*****

When I ventured back in their direction, I stumbled into the open room and found my brother and Lily inside.

But just as I thought, something was wrong.

Lily was on her knees sobbing, holding onto another woman's hand.

Mrs. Huang's body was draped over one of her patient's as if she fell asleep over him but I noticed that there was blood dripping from the operation table.

"Momma please no..." Lily cried, clutching onto her mom's hand tightly while Ray stood off in a corner with his beanie in his hands. His eyes met mine and I knew what had happened.

"Lily, I'm so sorry." I whispered, taking a few staggering steps towards her. I knelt at her side and placed my hand on her shoulder gently. "I'm so sorry but..."

I couldn't find the words. I didn't know how to console her and I couldn't imagine how much pain she was in losing her own mother but I had to tell her, tell her and Ray what I saw before it was too late. "We need to get out of here." I blurted out, regretting it instantly.

She shot me a nasty look that sent chills down my spine.

"I'm not leaving her Sasha!" She spat through her tears.

"I know but you don't understand-" I started, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"Yeah Sasha, how can you be so insensitive?" Ray chipped in.

"Would you guys just listen to me for one second?!" I yelled, my anger slowly rising. "Look, I know, it's tragic and shit but there's something extremely dangerous going on here and if we don't get out of here now, we could all be killed."

The silence in the room was deafening as they glared at me, contemplating on believing me or not.

"Don't believe me? Look." I lifted up my pants leg to show the deep imprint of the woman's nails scratched into my ankle, the marks bright red and threatening to bleed against the skin.

"I was attacked in that other room, one of the people I thought was dead in there, did this to me."

"One of those things got you again?" Ray's eyes widened in horror and I could hear his voice cracking at the sight.

"Yes, and there's more but I'll tell you on the way out of here."

"How did you get away?" Ray asked but I ignored his question and tried to help Lily up.

"Come on Lily, we...we can come back for her once everything is cleared up here okay? Let's go for now."

Lily didn't budge.

"Lily? I said we need to go." I repeated firmly

"I'm not going." She whispered so soft that I wasn't even sure if I heard her right.

"What?"

"I said, I'M NOT GOING Sasha! NOW LET GO OF ME!" She snatched out of my grip and resumed hugging onto her mom's arm as tears continued to spill from her gentle face. "She was all the family I have left. I have no one now!"

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I looked at her. I searched my mind for answers, anything that might convince her to come with us. She still had no idea how serious this situation is. I looked over at Ray but he looked like he was out of answers too.

After staring at her for a few moments, I let out a heavy sigh and stood up from her.

"Alright. Let's go Ray." I mumbled quietly, heading towards the door.

His mouth dropped open as he looked between Lily and me. "We can't-Sasha, we can't just leave her here by herself." He stuttered in disbelief.

"That's what she wants, Ray. I already tried talking her out of it. If you want to try and say something to change her mind then be my guest." I offered.

He looked longingly at Lily for a moment, debating it. I know he wouldn't do it though. The punk was shy around girls, his crush Lily especially.

And I was right.

As I got to the door, Ray hung his head and followed me, trailing his feet slowly.

We went back down the hallway to the emergency exit and her sniffling echoed in my ears until it was faint, further raising the guilt that I was trying so hard to push down.

Was I making the right choice?

Should I go back and try to force her?

Was there something else I could have done to get her to come with us?

I looked at Ray for help but he was walking like a robot on autopilot. His eyes looked dull and I saw that this was eating him up inside too.

But...what else could we have done?

We didn't say a word even after we made it to the truck and we both got in.

I couldn't even bring myself to start it up yet.

I was lingering behind, hoping that somehow she had changed her mind and that she would come running out the broken glass door, yelling for us to wait up for her.

So I waited.

Prayed and waited for it to happen.

Ray didn't say anything and didn't even mind that we just sat there in silence waiting for the same miracle to happen.

An hour went by, then two and then I was losing hope.

"I don't think she's coming." I whispered.

Nothing.

I raised my arm up to turn the truck on, but he slapped his hand down on my arm so hard that I winced.

"What the fuck, you tiny fucker?" I cursed, accidentally dropping the car keys.

"Just wait a little longer." He glared at me before looking back at the glass building.

"It's already been two hours Ray, I don't think she's-"

I was cut off by a jingle that vibrated from my pocket. I shifted around in my seat violently as I pulled Ray's phone out of my pocket and answered it.

"Hello? Hello Lily?! Is that you?"

"It was just a text tone..." Ray replied, taking the cell from my hand and turning it over to pull up the screen.

We both peered down at the text that read, "HELP ME!" in all caps, sent from Lily.

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