The formerly white hospital gown clung to her skin as a bead of sweat ran down her leg.
It was the scariest thing she'd ever seen. It was taking everything in her to convince herself that this was real, because no dream could ever be this vivid.
There was no way that the very people who swore to protect them were the very ones gunning them down. There was no way that dead people were coming back to life.
Not even a few hours ago, everything was fine. She'd heard of a virus spreading, but she'd figured that it'd get under control.
She'd felt even more safe from the virus since she'd been in the hospital already for a few days because of the car accident she'd been in. Figuring that although those infected would check into the hospital, the medical procedures would ensure a better quarantine and less chance at getting infected outside of the hospital, so she'd paid no mind to the news of the virus.
Now she wishes she had.
Shaking with such an intensity that seemed to rattle her very bones, she crossed the hall and ducked into a room that the military had already "cleared."
Once she was in the room, she huddled into a corner behind the bed, furthest from the door. She tried to calm herself down by going over what had already happened to her and planning how to get out of the hospital in one piece.
After getting her check up done, her doctor had told her she was progressing perfectly and that she should be well enough to go home in two days if she continued resting. He made sure to remind her to plan how to spend the next few weeks at her house, so as not to worsen her broken ribs, fractured wrist and sprained ankle.
Satisfied with what she'd heard and taking the doctor's advice, she took a nap. It took her a while to get comfortable, thanks to her injuries from the car accident she'd been in two days prior.
She'd woken up to her primary nurse shaking her, telling her that all of the patients that were in the most critical condition, and primary care physicians were going to be evacuated from the hospital, since there'd been an outbreak of the virus. Confessing that she couldn't stand the thought of leaving Azariah at the hospital, she was willing to bend the rules a bit to make sure she stayed safe. The nurse had been shaking and stuttering so badly that Azariah could barely understand her. Doing her best to follow the nurse out of the room, she hadn't registered all of the screams of other patients ringing throughout the halls.
What she saw was chaos.
Nurses and patients were being lined up against the wall while the military gathered some doctors. Before she could see anything else, her nurse pushed her in the group that the military were escorting out of the hospital.
Due to her confusion and injuries, Azariah fell behind and out of her designated group.
She found herself in another hall, with military lining up citizens in the same manner as her hall. Quick as lightning, the soldiers raised their guns and shot them.
Jumping, she made sure to cover her mouth as she gasped. Is that what was being done in the other hall? She knew that if they saw her there, she'd probably endure the same fate. She looked around and tried to find a place to hide. Choosing a food cart nearest to a room door, she crouched behind it as she tried to figure out what to do next.
Azariah watched as one of the men who'd been shot in the heart rise back up and lunge for a soldier. A shot to his head was swiftly delivered, and she couldn't help but yelp when it happened. Freezing, she hoped that they hadn't heard her.
The soldiers were probably more preoccupied with the remaining bodies than to hear her.
Taking advantage of that she ran into the room two feet behind the food cart, which turned out to be the janitors closet. Hiding behind a group of mops, brooms, and a vacuum, she waited until the sound of the soldiers disappeared. She prayed that they wouldn't think to check the closet.
But it seemed as though fate had a different plan, since she heard the doorknob click as it was turned. Clasping both hands over her mouth, so that they couldn't hear her, she held her breath as the tip of a gun slipped through the door.
The gun slowly opened the door, and Azariah felt herself begin to sweat profusely as her nerves took control. The silhouette of a huge soldier loomed in the doorway. As he stepped into the closet, she willed her pounding heart to stop beating in fear that he'd hear it.
Waiting for him to finish scoping out the room seemed to take forever, but once he'd left, she slouched and sighed in relief. Leaning her head against the wall, she thanked God for helping her get this far.
She couldn't believe this was happening. Knowing that she needed to get herself some type of weapon to protect her from those people outside and possibly the soldiers, she looked around the closet for something sharp. Not finding anything, she grabbed one of the mops in front of her and did her best to break the mop off the stick. Now having something she could at least use to hit with, she looked out into the hall. Seeing an opportunity to get through, she walked out.
Azariah had no idea how far she was from any exit, so she did her best to try to get out of there. Or at least that hall. As she turned the corner, she saw someone covered in blood walking to the other end of the hall. Since they were limping, she figured they might've escaped the soldiers, though not without injuries. Calling out to see if they were okay, she shuffled closer to them. After not getting a response, she yelled her question and the person turned and Azariah felt her blood run cold.
This was no human. Mouth dripping with blood, a glazed look in their eyes, a gunshot wound where their heart should be, chunks taken off of their arms and neck, and part of their cheek ripped out. This thing was moaning and once it made eye contact with her, it raised a blood soaked hand towards her and started to shuffle closer to her.
Knowing this wasn't good, she automatically took a step back, but didn't go any further since she was shocked. Still trying to piece together what was in front of her. Putting two and two together, the name of this creature flew to the tip of her tongue, but she didn't dare say it out loud, lest it make all of this real.
Once the thing was close enough to her, she raised the stick and hit it on its head. The stick broke in half, and it made no damage to the creature other than making it more restless.
Not recovering quickly enough, they grabbed her and pulled her close. Fighting with all her might, knowing that she couldn't allow it to bite her, she pushed it at arms length and drove the rest of the stick into the eye.
It went quiet and fell forward and onto her, causing her to fall with its weight. Panicked, she scrambled as she tried to get up. Shaking, she went into the nearest room, and sat in the corner farthest from the door, behind the bed.
Shaking, she put her dead in her hands. She couldn't believe this was happening. One moment everything was fine, and the next, she was plunging mop sticks into people's heads.
Was this a result of the virus that was going around? Had the flu virus mutated or something? If that was the case, why didn't the government let people know the severity of the situation?
Running her hands down her face, Azariah tried to remember where the exit of the hospital was. Racking through her brain, she couldn't remember the general layout of the hospital, even though she'd take daily walks around it with Mr. Higgins to exercise his old legs. It must be the stress.
Just as she was about to get up, the hospital shook as a loud boom sounded off in the distance. The lights went out in her room.
Were they bombing the hospital? Would the military really go that far?
Rushing out of the room, she quickly turned left and ran as quickly as she could. Looking over her shoulder she noticed there were no soldiers behind her, but there were plenty of infected starting to enter the hall. Quickly turning the corner she made it into a mostly deserted hall, she saw a man looking in the direction opposite her. As she crouched down, wincing from the pain in her ribs, she looked when up she heard screams and gunshots. She and the man watched as soldiers were gunning more people down. Walking to him as quickly as she could, she felt her heart soar as his police uniform came into view.
"Please, Officer you have to help me." He spun quickly with his gun aimed at her. She raised her arms to show she meant no harm. "I'm not one of those things, I promise Officer." She whispered as loud as she dared, just in case the military would be able to hear her. "Please," she begged. "I don't know what else to do or how to get out of this mess."
He looked at her for a few seconds before he went to open a door. The angle of his body prohibited her to see what was in the room, but she waited until he finished whatever it was he was doing just in case he decided to help her. Looking to the end of the hall to check that nothing was headed for them, she noticed some of the infected crossing the entrance of the hall. She shifted nervously, hoping he'd make up his mind over whatever was troubling him. He stayed there for a moment before seeming to do exactly that. Rushing to put a gurney to block the entrance, he reached for her saying, "Come with me."
Azariah breathed out a sigh of relief as she took his hand and followed him out of the hospital. Hopefully, they could figure out what was going on and everything would be fine.
But those hopes were slowly dying as she saw the mess that the hospital had turned into. She'd been a fan of zombie movies mostly for the fact that she knew it'd never happen. And it did happen, by the looks of things. But if things were as bad as she suspected, and she prayed to God that she was just exaggerating, this hospital massacre wasn't going to help anything.
God help them all.