A/N: WELL Sorry for the delay. School, bleh. And here you go! :)
Grrrroooowwwl.
"What the heck was that?" Murdock jumped, spinning in a circle. Face held up a hand. "Relax. It's my stomach."
Murdock's eyes rested on him. "You hungry, Facey?"
Face shrugged, watching as another pair of torches lit up the hall.
They were quiet, already seeing a door growing closer and closer. Face quickened his pace and finally found himself right in front of the door, noticing the blood stains on the scratched wood. He nodded to Murdock. "Let's go."
The door opened, very noisily, to a staircase. It was dark and smelled like must. "It's like...that never ending staircase out of Mario, huh?" Face joked before he realized Murdock wasn't laughing. "You okay?" He asked.
"Do I look okay?" Murdock snapped, glaring at Face. "Not only am I supposed to be in hell, but I'm here with you! Because you shouldn't be here. You deserve to be up with the living, splurging on life. Not in here with me, trying to survive something that you're not ready for yet."
Face held his glare. "Really? Well then by all means, send me back!" He threw his arms out and raised his eyebrows at Murdock.
"I...I can't..." He muttered, lowering his head. The other man nodded slowly, already stepping up onto the first step.
"Then I'm not going anywhere." He dared Murdock with his eyes to argue with him and turned to head up the creaky steps. The pilot hung back chewing on a fingernail until Face was nearly halfway up and decided to rush after him. They climbed and climbed, Face about to give it up when they finally came to a landing. There was another dim hall off the landing and Face didn't hesitate as he turned into it.
"I don't think we should go this way..." Murdock complained behind him.
Face groaned and turned around so suddenly, Murdock walked into him. "You're the one who can't die again, so I suggest you follow me instead of wine like a little baby!"
Murdock's face hardened and he stood as straight as he could, his eyes narrowing as he glared down at Face. "Wine...like...a baby?" He growled, stepping a little closer.
Face backed up a step, holding his hands up. "Hey! Hey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean..I-"
"HELP ME!"
Both men jumped and Murdock fell into Face, holding his hands over his mouth as he tried not to scream. It hadn't been a simple little cry for help. It had been a scratchy, shrill, horror-movie kind of scream that made Face run through every horror movie he'd seen in his life, trying to find a similar match to the voice.
"Look in the windows..." Murdock's voice caught as he pointed, his arm shaking, at the door behind Face. The conman met his eyes and slowly turned.
In the window, he could see what must have been a patient banging his fists on the stone walls. His arms were bloody and he had on a stained, white jumpsuit. His long, black hair hung over his eyes and his mouth was open as if he was trying to scream.
Face automatically stepped back, running backwards into the opposite door. In this one, they saw, was another patient. She had extremely long blond hair that covered the right half of her face. She was sitting crossed-legged on the bed, staring at the window furiously. Her visible left eye was bleeding onto her cheek.
Murdock whimpered once and pushed Face along. Each room they passed showed a patient, left over from their days in the mental hospital. Face didn't want to stare too long, but he couldn't help himself with most of the patients. Murdock merely glanced in and turned away quickly, swallowing hard.
"Is this how you felt?" Face dared to ask in a soft voice as they watched a young man jump wildly on his bed, yelling in anger. Only, they were not able to hear his screams.
Murdock shrugged, his eyes growing huge and watery. "Sometimes."
"They look so..." Face shook his head, unable to find the right word. Sad, deserted, lonely, in excruciating pain.
"Helpless?" The female voice from behind made both men whirl around furiously, Face's hand coming down on his chest and Murdock's breathing hitched.
A young woman with choppy, very white hair that barely touched her shoulders and amber eyes was standing down the hall. Her hands were clasped in front of her and her greenish face portrayed more a more innocent expression than any of the other zombies they had seen. But Face still wouldn't go too near her.
"They've been imprisioned here for a very long time. Of course, they can't re-kill themselves," She was saying, starting towards Face and Murdock. "Every once in a blue moon, someone else gets trapped in here. They wind up going mad themselves, because no matter how many doors they go through, there is no way out."
She stopped a few feet away and Face noticed her right eye, which had been blacked and her bottom lip was split. But it seemed to be old injuries that never left. Her face was much more tolerable than the others had been.
"There's no way out?" He asked first, glancing at Murdock.
She shook head. " 'Fraid not. You're only going to join the crew. And trust me, you haven't seen everyone here yet. Not even close."
Murdock gulped.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Face said, turning his head ever so slightly. The woman pointed to a name tag Face had missed and ran her finger along the edge. "Zahara Jameson. I make sure no one escapes. From their cells at least. I've never seen anyone actually escape the building."
"Zahara...Arabic for a blossom or a flower. Hebrew for the bright dawn." Murdock muttered, looking down at the floor.
Zahara stared at him with emotionless eyes and Face chuckled nervously. "He's trying to calm himself...he tends to use logic for these situations." Face sighed, then raised his head. "You said there's absolutely no possible way out?"
The nurse nodded, her pale eyes shifting over to Face. "What's your reason to be here?"
"Excuse me?"
"How did you die?"
Murdock made a humming noise and Face coughed nosily into his hand. "I'm the dead one. He kinda...took a portal." Murdock told her impishly.
Zahara shook her head. "I don't understand..."
Face held up a hand, shaking his own head. "Never mind that. How do we get out?"
"I told you. You can't."
"Who was that?" Asked the M.O.D. to his assistant as he returned from Earth. The assistant shook his head. "I don't know. Someone wanting Mr. Murdock."
"And you told him...?"
The man shrugged, stepping to the side and sitting in the chair in the flaming room. "Told them Mr. Murdock was busy."
The M.O.D. gaped at him. "That's it? Then you just...left? Really!" He huffed and slammed a fist down on the desk. "Cain, what is wrong with you?"
Cain narrowed his eyes at the M.O.D. "Excuse me, sir. I wasn't under the impression you were expecting perfection."
The M.O.D.'s face flared angrily and he reached down to grab Cain's neck in his strong grip. Cain struggled against it, his red hair coming out of it's gel hold and flopping down his his eyes. "I told you!" The M.O.D. growled, releasing Cain and throwing him backwards.
"What's the price for perfection these days?" He grumbled as he stormed from the room, leaving Cain on the floor gasping and rubbing his neck.
A/N: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and all the more to come. Thanks for the support!
