Chapter 38
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Carol stood still as a statue as she stared down at the wreckage that had been one side of the General Hospital. There was no sign of Timothy among the concrete, plaster, and glass but Carol knew that there was no possible way he could have survived such a fall. Crushed underneath tons of rubble… Alone, in the dark, unable to speak… She felt her throat constrict and Carol felt her hands slowly shake.
Then a gentle hand pressed against her shoulder and Carol heard Tanzi Sakamoto's voice. "…I'm so sorry…" For a moment Carol wanted nothing more than to scream at this girl for getting her and Timothy involved in all this strangeness before she managed to subdue that feeling and clench her fists tightly. She was an officer of the law and there were lives in danger. She would mourn later.
"We need to move," Carol said as she swung on her heel to face down the survivors. Lacey was supporting Lucas, Jade was peering to the end of the corridor, Naomi stood with her arms wrapped around herself, and Jeffrey was looking dismayed while Jeremiah's face was cast in the shadow of his hat. Finally there was Tanzi who had grown very pale. Carol could clearly see these people needed someone to make the decisions. She immediately started down the corridor that was now open to the sky, creaking ominously underneath them. "Follow me!"
The air was cold up on the top floor of the hospital as it filtered through the broken walls of the corridor and the floor itself seemed to move with every step. They could hear crying and screaming and the sound of sirens but they forced themselves to focus on the matter at hand. Carol led the way and Jeremiah took the rear, walking slower than the rest.
"Alright, careful now," Carol continued as they turned away from the gaping hole in the walls to continue down another corridor. "Lucas, how are you doing?"
"…Fine…" he said in a low voice but it was clear the pain of his injury was still intense. Supported by Lacey, he just about managed to walk on his own.
"Good man," Carol nodded. "Alright guys, keep going. We'll make it to the stairs and—"
Whatever Carol was about to say was interrupted by a great wrenching sound, like the hinges of a great door. The corridor shook and the survivors pushed themselves against the walls as the whole building shook. Plaster rained down from the ceiling above them until finally the shaking stopped for a moment.
"The place is going down…" Jade muttered. "Christ…"
"We must continue onwards," Naomi said resolutely. She glanced to Tanzi in front of her and realised that she had doubled over, clutching at her head. "Tanzi?"
"Ah…" Tanzi's face was a deep grimace and sweat beaded on her forehead underneath her bandages. "I-I…"
"What's wrong?" Carol got close to Tanzi and grabbed her arm.
Tanzi looked up and in a pained voice said, "We-We need to move… The floor…" However, as soon as Tanzi said these words the tiled floor underneath their feet seemed to buckle and Tanzi's leg went straight through. She let out a cry of pain as the foundations underneath tore at her skin and the hole opened up further, giving her an ominous view of a ruined room one floor below. The floor of that room had also opened up, making one huge drop. Then the floor underneath Tanzi buckled one more time and for the briefest second she found herself in free-fall…
…Until Carol and Jade both managed to grab her arms just in time, painfully hoisting her out of the widening hole and to the floor. They watched as the floor fell away in front of them, splitting the group completely in two. On one side were Carol, Jade, Naomi and Tanzi while the other consisted of Lacey, Lucas, Jeffrey and Jeremiah. The corridor shook again and the floor fell away further, forcing both groups to back away.
"Go on," Jeffrey called out over the increasing gap. "We'll find another way down!"
"J-Jeffrey…" Tanzi was clutching her head again as Carol practically pulled her away. "You're next! You're…" Then Carol was forced to pull Tanzi around a corner to stop from falling down the widening hole, leaving Jeffrey to look at them with fear glistening in his eyes.
"We need to go," Jeremiah was the one to finally speak, pulling Jeffrey away to rush down to the other end of the corridor. He had hooked one arm under Lucas to help Lacey get him moving. The walls were crumbling now and it seemed the whole top floor of the hospital was giving way. "I know where the maintenance stairs are."
Jeremiah grimly led the three others down the hallway but suddenly stopped as they came across another fallen hole in the corridor. Letting out a curse, Jeremiah motioned to the room at the side. "Come on, come on, in." Lucas and a very scared looked Lacey went into the room first, followed closely by Jeremiah. Jeffrey took up the rear, stepping into the room just in time to watch the rest of the corridor crumble down to the third floor below.
Lucas let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees, his injured leg letting out a flare of intense pain, dropping from Jeremiah and Lacey's grasp.
"L-Lucas," Lacey knelt down next to him. "We-We have to move, please…"
Lucas didn't say a word but they could see that a crimson stain was widening on his gown. He was a deathly pale and his skin was cold to the touch.
"Come on, son," Jeremiah hefted Lucas up. "You gotta be strong,"
"I-I… I can't…" Lucas breathed painfully. "I'm… slowing you down…"
"Shut up!" The words from Lacey surprised Lucas and the two adults. Both Jeffrey and Jeremiah had never heard the girl so forceful. Lacey grabbed Lucas' other arm and practically pulled him to the door of the room. "We're not leaving you behind, Lucas!" Her bottom lip was trembling, betraying her fear, but it seemed Lacey had found strength in Lucas' weakness. "If we're careful we can lower ourselves down to the next floor, right?" She looked to Jeremiah and Jeffrey. "You can help me get Lucas down?"
"Of course," Jeffrey nodded.
"No other way out this place…" Jeremiah muttered. He wiped his sleeve on his forehead and nodded to himself. "Okay, Lacey, we'll help you down first. Then you can grab Lucas' legs."
"O-Okay," Lacey nodded and shakily got to her knees.
"Just drop carefully," Jeffrey soothed as he grabbed one of her arms. Jeremiah grabbed the other and the two adults made sure their grasps were true. "We won't let you fall."
Lacey took a breath and allowed her legs to go over the edge of the broken hallway. Then her body-weight took over and she let out a surprised gasp as she fell before her body jerked as the two adults kept hold of her. She peered up and nodded. "L-L-Let go…"
Jeremiah and Jeffrey both obeyed and let go, letting Lacey drop softly to the floor below. She landed safely and looked up. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Lucas, you ready?"
"…Not at all…" Lucas managed a weak smile. They could see the blood dripping from underneath his gown now. It seemed as if his stitches had come loose in all the rushed movement. "…But hey, it's either that or nothing at all, right?"
"Got it in one," Jeremiah approved. He grabbed one arm and once again Jeffrey grabbed the other. "This is gonna hurt,"
"As if it doesn't already," Lucas said as he sat on the edge of the broken corridor. Then, with the support of Jeremiah and Jeffrey, he slowly lowered himself down towards Lacey. When his feet were close enough she hugged them close to guide them down. Lucas let out grunts of pain as he was lowered all the way down before finally being let go. He hit the floor with Lacey's help but stumbled. Both he and Lacey nearly lost their balance but managed to use the wall to support themselves.
"Jeremiah, go on. We'll get you down next." Jeffrey said as he peered around the room.
"You up for it?" Jeremiah asked carefully.
"I may be old but I'm still strong… For now, at least," Jeffrey did seem to be breathing heavily. All this exertion was certainly a lot more than he had ever expected. At least this part of the hospital didn't seem to be breaking down as much now.
With Jeffrey's help, Jeremiah managed to make it down through the broken fourth floor corridor to the third floor corridor, landing safely beneath. However, as soon as Jeremiah landed there was another horrible creaking sound. Jeremiah looked up to Jeffrey. "Come on now, quick!"
However the hospital shook again and Jeffrey suddenly lost his balance. In one awful moment he seemed to curve neatly in the air before landing with a thud on the third floor corridor, right in front of Jeremiah.
"Jeffrey?!" Jeremiah felt his stomach twist as he kneeled down in a hurry. But then he saw Jeffrey's pained expression light up with an equally pained smile.
"I'm okay… Just a small fall…" Jeffrey coughed with his back flat against the floor. "I'm—"
Whatever Jeffrey was about to say was cut off by a chunk of ceiling the size of a bowling ball crushing against Jeffrey's skull, sending a bright spatter of blood against Jeremiah's face and white suit and hat. Jeremiah fell to his rear in shock, staring at the twitching corpse of his co-worker and friend. "J-J-Jeffrey…?"
Lacey let out a small gasp and lost balance. This time it was Lucas who managed to keep her from falling, even though it seemed to take most of his strength.
"Oh-Oh God…" The worn face of Jeremiah was quivering as he stared down at the blood-drenched floor, the puddle slowly spreading over the rubble. "I-I…"
"Jeremiah..." Lucas' voice was strained as he spoke but it still drew Jeremiah's attention. The teacher looked crest-fallen at the orphan. "We… We need to move… right?"
Jeremiah took a deep breath and slowly stood up. He had to stay strong, for the two children if not for himself. "Yes… Of course, yes. We can reach the stairs if we go this way," Jeremiah said and took one last glance at the old bus-driver. Then he turned away and grabbed Lucas' arm. "Who is next on the List?" Jeremiah forced himself to ask.
The two teenagers were silent for a long moment as they limped down the corridor before Lacey's voice finally spoke up. "M-Me…" It was quiet but filled with dread.
"Not if I can… Help it…" Lucas said firmly as they moved down. As they walked down the corridor they passed a number of motionless bodies. Whether unconscious or dead Jeremiah couldn't guess but he knew that they couldn't stop to check. The hospital was still unstable and he needed to get these two out… and he himself needed to get to the Morgue.
William… Be safe… Jeremiah thought resolutely as he stared straight ahead. Be alive… Please…
As they got closer to the stairs that Jeremiah was leading them to they started to smell burning and indeed black smoke had started to layer against the ceiling. Though they didn't know where the source of the fire was. "Stay low," Jeremiah said, pulling Lucas down slightly. The boy was sluggish but was still showing incredible endurance as he forced himself to move. "Hopefully the stairs are unaffected by wherever this fire is…"
Finally they reached the doors that led to the stairs. Jeremiah pushed them open and managed a relieved smile to see that while black smoke was billowing up the stairs there wasn't any visible fire.
"Alright, we're nearly there," Jeremiah said. "Down this way and we'll meet the others and get out of here…" He nodded to himself.
A crack from above made the three look up to see the stairs above them suddenly crumble and fall. Jeremiah had no time to cry out a warning but threw his weight forward – directly down the stairs. All three of them tumbled forward painfully and rolled down the first set of steps as the stairs above crashed down. They hit the landing and came to a stop but seemed to have avoided the worst of the fallen stairs. Lacey had her back against the wall with Lucas by her side while Jeremiah had hit the corner.
"Are you okay?" Jeremiah asked, overshadowed by a scraping sound. The railing of the stairs were still hanging above but the weight was too much. It snapped and swung down in a great arc, heading directly for Lacey's chest.
"NO!" Lucas shouted and practically shoved Lacey with his shoulder from his sitting position. It was enough for the railing to miss Lacey but Lucas let out a great shout as the metal railing went straight through his shoulder and into the wall behind, practically pinning him against the wall.
"L-Lucas…" Lacey was shaking at her brush with death.
"I-I-I told you…" Lucas said through gritted teeth and intense pain. "I won't let you die! No matter what!"
