Do No Harm
Elsa sat in quiet contemplation, keeping an eye out for any trouble while Anna fell into a peaceful sleep. The red-haired woman was restless at first, tossing and turning about repeatedly until eventually her breathing evened out and she settled in, indicating that she had fallen fast asleep. Elsa waited a little while after, listening to the sound of Anna's breathing while she maintained her watch. Outside, the clouds parted enough to reveal a round and full moon, casting it's ethereal light down upon the earth and bathing everything in a pale white glow.
She had much to think about and the conversation they just shared had revealed a possibility that Elsa had never thought about until now. Elsa knew Anna in her previous life - that much was already clear - but what she couldn't ascertain was specifically how she had known Anna. However, now that Anna had brought up the possibility that she could have once been her sister, Nora, the evidence they had been presented with so far was far too compelling to be dismissed as mere coincidence.
Anna… Nora… Elsa, she thought. Could I have once been Anna's sister?
That revelation on its own brought on conflicting emotions within Elsa given the way she felt about Anna. If Elsa had been built from Nora's DNA, then they would be sisters by a technicality, which should have brought Elsa a degree of comfort but instead left her further confused and stricken with inner turmoil.
Anna is certainly attractive and my body has… responded to that by developing urges, Elsa thought as she tried to be rational and objective on the whole matter. But if she is my sister, it would be inappropriate.
Once she was sure that Anna would not stir from her sleep, Elsa risked a glance over her shoulder to study Anna's prostrated form. She was lying on her back with her fingers interlaced over her stomach and her head turned towards Elsa. A single shaft of moonlight shone down upon her, lighting her up like a beacon where she alone was surrounded by nothing but darkness. Elsa shifted out of her seiza and stood up, then quietly crept over to Anna where she could get a closer look at her. Elsa had never seen Anna asleep before and when she was awake, she always tried to maintain a respectful distance, though that was becoming increasingly difficult as of late.
Elsa had to constantly resist the urge to reach out and touch Anna; to feel the warmth of skin against her own, to feel the life coursing through her body, and to validate her presence as something tangible and real, someone who could feel her and someone who could feel herself in return. Her entire life had been spent in a state of limbo, passing through a hazy fever dream of memories and experiences that were hard to say whether they were fake or real. Elsa wanted to find out who she was, but now that she had a chance to experience what it was like to be something close to normal, she developed a growing desire to simply just be.
To just exist and to be validated in that existence wasn't something she could do on her own, limited by her own perception as she was. For that she needed someone that was external to her own experience of the world to ground her on earth and root her in reality.
That someone was Anna.
The red-haired woman's eyes were shut, peacefully asleep and blissfully unaware of her surroundings. Elsa hesitated at first, but then seized this rare opportunity to more closely examine the woman who had chosen to save her life from torment. She crept up silently until she was just within reach of Anna, where she settled back and simply observed her as she slept.
There was a stray lock of her crimson hair that rested over her face which Elsa focused on. From there, she tracked her gaze downwards over the soft peak of her nose, which was dotted with a sprinkling of freckles the same as her cheeks, albeit slightly darker and more prominent compared to Elsa's own. For a long while, Elsa stared down in contentment, simply counting each of the tiny dots and plotting imaginary star charts across the constellation of freckles that was stretched across Anna's face. She then stirred in her sleep, shifting over on her side close to Elsa while muttering something incomprehensible under her breath.
I wonder what she said in her dream, Elsa thought to herself as she smiled. I hope it's pleasant. She's suffered so much already…
The smile on Elsa's face faded somewhat as her thoughts turned to the troubled life of the woman sleeping before her. Anna didn't speak of her past often, but what little she revealed showed that she had certainly led a hard life that had been full of pain, something that they both had in common. It was plain to Elsa that Anna had developed a drinking habit as a means to cope, something she couldn't entirely agree with but could still understand. Additionally, on more than one occasion Anna had alluded to the fact that she didn't consider herself to be a good person, something that Elsa didn't agree with much less understand where such self-depreciative behaviour emerged from.
I wish there was some way to make her see herself how I see her, Elsa thought. She tried to hand me over, but she chose differently. She chose to save me, even when she had no reason to. She could have turned her back on me but she didn't. She's not like Rosenthal, she's not… evil, she's good. I believe she's good.
Beneath the necessary acts of brutality that one had to perform to ensure their survival, Elsa could look past their shared history of violence and see that Anna didn't take any pleasure in doing what she had to do just to scrape by. It was all anyone could do in 2099 as every day on Earth was another fight just to survive. Elsa couldn't blame Anna for that in just the same way she didn't blame herself for acting out of necessity whenever the situation called for it. Truth be told it was a loose moral code to live by, but it still provided a compass nonetheless.
"Thasmine," Anna muttered in her sleep as she adjusted her head slightly and turned it upwards towards Elsa. "Dontouch… myspaghetti…"
Elsa looked down and chuckled lightly as she smiled warmly, which was when she realized that she had actually laughed for the first time in her life. The first time she had ever felt joy and it was due to something as simple and mundane and unremarkable as some random nonsense mumbled by Anna in her sleep. Filled with warmth and hope, Elsa decided to forego the formalities as she reached down and gently shifted the stray lock of hair out of Anna's face, pushing it behind her ear. After that, she slowly ran her fingers through her crimson locks, feeling each individual silken strand and delighting in the soft and delicate feeling.
She stayed like that for a while, stroking Anna's hair as she kept a watchful eye over her while she slept.
The smile never left Elsa's face.
… … …
When morning found the pair, Elsa hadn't stirred for several hours and only when the light of the rising sun in the east shone down upon Anna's did she realize that she had spent the entire night by the red-haired woman's side. Taking one last glance down at Anna, Elsa quietly rose to her feet then crossed over to their observation spot that overlooked the hospital. The morning was quiet and still, same as the night before and gradually, the last shadows of night were chased west across the Hudson river where they fizzled out and expired before the rising sun.
It was a new day and Elsa was feeling incredibly refreshed. She breathed in the crisp and cool morning air and turned back to Anna, who remained asleep and dead to the world around her. Elsa recalled the way her hair felt in her hands and as she looked down upon them to remember the feeling, a gentle smile spread its way across her face. She raised them to her nose and detected the lingering scent of Anna's essence; the familiar notes of oranges, peach blossoms, and cloves.
Anna stirred from her sleep, blinking her eyes open as she returned to wakefulness. She stretched languidly across the floor on her back and yawned loudly before glancing around. It seemed as if that for a moment, Anna didn't recall where she was or she wound up there as a look of confusion flashed across her face which vanished as soon as she laid eyes on Elsa. Anna smiled softly, which had the effect of warding off some of the early morning chill around Elsa even though she wasn't as sensitive to cold temperatures. Despite their intense discussion last night along with its implications, Anna appeared to be in a much better mood.
"Good morning," Elsa said as she matched Anna's smile. "Did you sleep well?"
"Pretty good actually," Anna nodded. "Dreamed that I was standing on a cliff and the wind was blowing through my hair. It was nice."
Elsa blushed and looked away as the smile brightened on her face a little more knowingly. "You also spoke of spaghetti," she said. "You talk in your sleep."
"Spaghetti?" Anna made a face. "Huh, that does sound like something I would talk about. Anyway, how did you- wait, did you even sleep?"
"No," Elsa shook her head. "When I don't need to sleep, I pass the time by meditating. I suppose it's almost like sleeping, though I'm still well aware of my surroundings."
"Hmph, meditating," Anna muttered. "Tried it before, but never could get the hang of it. Anyways" she straightened up and picked up Elsa's leather jacket which she had been using as a pillow. "Here's your jacket back. Thanks for, uh, letting me use it."
Elsa couldn't resist sniffing the jacket slightly to pick up Anna's scent. "You're welcome."
Anna nodded, then she went over to her bag to see about breakfast. Again, she offered Elsa some food which she also refused, again. She had already eaten twice yesterday which would be more than enough to keep her sustained for another whole day. They stayed just long enough for Anna to eat a small meal of tin of vegetables, then set off as soon as she was finished.
Parts of the river had swollen over the banks, partially flooding the lower land surrounding the hospital and transforming them into swamps. Houses, cars, and all sorts of junk stuck up from out of the muck, which Elsa and Anna were able to avoid by traversing over patches of high ground. Thankfully, it seemed that while the hospital was still intact, a sturdy levee of sandbags and concrete jersey barriers had been constructed around it, preventing most of the flood waters from overflowing into the complex. Still, given its current state weathered by time, parts of it were collapsing in on themselves, allowing isolated but large shallow pools of water to form within the perimeter on the hospital grounds.
Elsa and Anna left the road, heading towards an abandoned military checkpoint which as they crossed through, they passed by a warning sign that authorized the use of lethal force against trespassers and rioters. Here and there, Elsa noticed ancient skeletons poking up from the muck, slumped against improvised barricades or littering the streets. Looking at the desolation around them, Elsa's thoughts turned to the collapse which brought about the downfall of the United States. She learned of the events through her lessons with Matilda, but she had never heard tell of it through anyone else who lived through the aftermath.
"What do you know of the collapse?" Elsa asked Anna as they navigated through a maze of waist high metal fencing to pass through a decontamination center.
"That's kind of a heavy question to start the morning with isn't it?" Anna replied.
"I'm curious as to your experience, living through the aftermath of those years."
"Well, I… know as much as anyone else these days I guess," Anna started. "Obviously I wasn't around then and I don't think my parents had been born yet either."
I wonder what her parents would have been like, Elsa thought idly to herself. Our parents?
"But from what I hear, overpopulation and overconsumption were the biggest problems, which led to the resource wars. That lasted for a while until… somebody decided to launch some missiles. After that, the world just kind of fucked itself into a coma, rolled over in it's sleep and shat itself. Now here we are."
Anna's abridged version of the events captured the basic gist of the collapse, but still didn't answer her question.
"The country fell apart soon after the missiles were launched," Elsa said. "There was intense rioting, violence… dark times, I'm sure."
"That's true," Anna said as she spread her arms out around her. "You only have to take a look around anywhere to see it. Of course, things calmed down a lot since then but that didn't mean growing up still wasn't tough in a world like that," she glanced over to Elsa.
Elsa said nothing, but made a small gesture urging Anna to continue.
"I think it was the worst out west. People from across the country were trying to get anywhere close to the coastlines to get away from the deserts. Canada had plenty of land, so of course the dickheads in charge of this sinking ship decided to annex them. Mexico was a failed state long before the collapse, so going there wasn't an option. The rest of the world closed its borders because nobody wanted to deal with American refugees. By the time I came into the picture, LA was stuffed to the brim. But, as if that wasn't bad enough, it got hit by some bad earthquakes and ever since that dump has just been crumbling into the ocean piece by piece.
"What was it like to live there?"
"It was definitely warmer, that's about it's only positive quality," Anna chuckled humorlessly. "Growing up there wasn't easy. N-... Nora and I were pretty much raised by the streets. We ran odd jobs here and there for gangs to make some credits, we slept rough in a different place each night, we were hungry most days," she heaved a sigh and turned her head forward. "We always had to watch our backs."
"I'm sorry, Anna."
"Don't be. Not your fault," Anna shrugged. "Besides, all that was… a lifetime ago."
Elsa nodded her head in understanding and did not press the topic any further. Each time she learned something new about Anna, she felt more and more sympathy for what the red-haired woman had endured in her life. With nothing else to talk about, both of them fell silent and refocused their attention on their destination.
After reaching the end of the checkpoint, they found the way barred by a chain link fence. Using a nearby truck that was parked against the fence, they climbed over the fence and dropped into a tent city that was built on the parking lot around the hospital. From there, they made their way through rows and rows of empty and partially collapsed tents, scavenging a few items as they passed through. Elsa found a few extra cans of food in a triage tent, while Anna had found some extra bullets inside of a small ammunition box.
Once they cleared the tent city, they stood before the front entry to the hospital which was closed with metal barricades.
"Hmm, place is sealed up tight," Anna murmured as they approached the barricades and peered through shattered windows. "There's gotta be another way in."
Elsa walked a short distance away, examining the walls and windows of the ground floor, searching for a point of ingress but found none. She turned her gaze upwards to the second floor and scanned along the wall until she found a partially destroyed section which they could use to enter.
"Up there," Elsa pointed to the hole that stood a small height off the ground. "We can climb in through there."
"Oh, yeah, you're right. Too high to jump up though," Anna placed her hands on her hips and chewed her lip in thought as she scanned the area around them for something they could climb on. "I don't see anything we can use to climb up, uh, okay. Tell you what, you can give me a boost."
"A boost?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, you just sort of have to let me climb on you."
"Alright, if it'll help you."
"Great, now just stand right over there," Anna pointed to the base of the wall. "Okay, now just hold your hands out so I can get up on you, err, I mean, climb up. That's what I meant to say, heh."
Elsa did as instructed and planted her feet sturdy on the ground while Anna first stepped up onto her hands, where she then placed her other foot on Elsa's shoulder. With the extra height, Anna was able to reach up and grab the ledge, where she pulled herself up onto the second floor.
"Okay! Made it," Anna said as she dusted her hands and looked around. "Looks clear up here, now just wait there. I'll find something for you to-"
Down below, Elsa dipped her body lower to the ground in a squat, then leapt off her feet with her enhanced strength. Springing up through the air, she ascended easily up to the second floor where she landed neatly right next to Anna.
"Oh," Anna looked at Elsa and smirked slightly, then scoffed. "Show off," she muttered teasingly.
Smiling pleasantly as she walked past, Elsa pressed further inside the building while Anna followed along. They were in the administration wing of the hospital, passing through empty offices and meeting rooms which they gave a cursory look through to turn up anything useful but found nothing of interest. The day was brightening outside and the sun illuminated pale shafts of light in which motes of dust floated idly about. Everywhere they looked indicated that nothing beyond dust and silence had inhabited the hospital since it was abandoned. Damp and mossy overgrowth covered the walls and flooring while furniture was strewn about randomly, overturned and left to rot.
"We need to find the lobby," Anna said as they crossed through a meeting room and entered a wide hallway that led further into the hospital. "There should be a map… or a directory, or something to point us in the right direction."
"Where would they have the medication we're looking for?" Elsa asked. "This hospital is rather large, it could be anywhere."
"Well, Detoxicillin is a class 2 drug, so they would have been stored under lock and key inside the hospital pharmacy, or kept on standby in the ICU."
"That narrows it down to two possible locations."
"Uh huh, so let's hope we can find the meds we need."
Proceeding out of the administration wing, Elsa and Anna made their way down a series of hallways until they rounded a corner that led to a stairwell. The stairs leading up had collapsed long ago which in turn caused the stairs leading down to fall as well, forming a large pile of rubble at the bottom of the landing which they had to drop down upon. From there, they entered the ground floor of the hospital where they found themselves in a wide and empty lobby.
Ahead of them was a circular reception desk with a sign above it that read 'visitor information' and was surrounded by rows and rows of seats that served as the waiting area. Anna approached the reception desk while Elsa trailed behind, sparing a sidelong glance to the multitude of black body bags that were arranged in a neat line just off to the side.
"Here we go," Anna said as she looked down upon a faded map that showed the floor plan of the hospital. "ICU is up over here, on the third floor while the pharmacy is down on… sublevel A? That's odd, you'd think it would be at least above ground."
"Perhaps it was to take advantage of the cooler subterranean temperature for drug storage," Elsa suggested.
"Makes sense," Anna said. "Must also be why the morgue is down there as well, oh and the crematorium is on sublevel B. Heh, lovely. So… which one do we hit up first?"
Elsa and Anna glanced at the body bags nearby then back to each other at the same time. Together they arrived at the same conclusion, which was that the presence of the body bags stored haphazardly in the lobby - a high traffic area - suggested that the morgue and crematorium were likely overfilled. The prospect of wandering underground in the dark in such conditions was equally unappealing to them both.
"ICU?" they both said at once.
"Guess that settles it then," Anna said. "Let's go."
Together, they departed from the lobby and went over to the central elevators that connected all the floors of the hospital. Since the stairwell they encountered earlier could not be used to ascend to the third floor, they would have to seek some alternative means to reach the ICU. Anna approached one of them at random and pressed the button to ascend, but both of them were unsurprised to see that the power was not running.
Elsa then went over to the metal doors and pried them apart, which squealed from corrosion and echoed out up and down the shaft. The elevator car above them was presently stopped at the third floor, meaning that they would have to climb the ladder up and around it, then drop down inside.
Elsa peered up to examine their route, then turned back to Anna. "We'll have to climb the ladder," she said.
Anna stepped up next to Elsa and looked up, down, and across the way to examine the state of repair of the adjacent elevator shaft. The one immediately to their side was in worse condition, with the elevator car jammed tight between the first and second floors, leaning at a dangerous angle. The ladder on the opposite side had also been destroyed and the bottom of both shafts were filled with a tall pile of rubble.
"Yep, looks that way. We should go one at a time," Anna said as she went up to the rungs of the ladder to begin her ascent. "Why don't you spot me, I'll go first."
"Be careful, Anna," Elsa said.
"Yeah, of course. I'm always care- OW!"
"Anna?!"
"I'm fine," Anna sucked in air through her teeth and rubbed her forehead with her hand where she had banged it against a piece that jutted out from the walls of the shaft. "Fine, totally fine," she chuckled.
Elsa sighed in relief, then placed her hands on her hips as she stared up at the red-haired woman. "I did say to be careful!" she called out as an amused smile spread across her face.
"I know, I know," Anna grumbled as she paused and looked down, noticing Elsa's expression of glee. "Wait, are you laughing at me right now?"
"No," Elsa shook her head as she grinned. "I'm not laughing, but it's certainly amusing."
"Ha ha ha," Anna said sarcastically, then resumed her ascent.
Once she made it to the landing at the third floor, she climbed up onto the top of the elevator where she disappeared from Elsa's sight.
She heard Anna muttering expletives to herself as she sounded like she was struggling with something heavy, which then gave away with a squeak of rusty metal. Anna then must have dropped down into the elevator, for the entire thing rumbled and motes of dust were shaken off.
"Elsa? Can you hear me?" Anna called down from above, though her voice was slightly muffled.
"Yes!" Elsa replied.
"You can come on up!"
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Elsa began her own climb up the shaft and before long, she was on top of the elevator car where she dropped down and found Anna waiting for her at the landing.
"How's your head?" Elsa asked teasingly as she brushed herself off.
"What, are you fucking with me now?" Anna asked as she smirked at Elsa.
"I'm only concerned about your well-being."
"Hmph. I thought you didn't tell jokes."
"I still don't."
"Okay, I get it. You're a funny person now," Anna shook her head and sighed, then glanced down the dim hallway towards the ICU. "Well, maybe we can find something to cure that sense of humor of yours."
"And, perhaps we can find something for your head wound," Elsa added with a sly grin.
"My head wou- terrific," Anna laughed. "C- can we get a move on now? Or did you want to stand here all day making fun of me?"
Elsa nodded. "Yes, the sooner we treat it the better."
"Oh, give it a rest already," Anna grumbled in a tone that was more amused than actually annoyed as she brushed past Elsa and started walking away.
The light of day coming in from outside was weaker and more diffuse on the third floor, which meant that longer shadows and pockets of darkness still persisted here and there. As they both headed further into the ICU, they passed by several empty exam rooms which they methodically searched. They pulled out cabinets and opened various drawers and cabinets, but found nothing of use. From the amount of dust covering everything, it was clear that nothing had ever stepped foot inside the hospital since it was abandoned.
At least, that was what Elsa thought until she spotted a patch of what appeared to be small footprints in the dust leading towards the collapsed stairwell they encountered earlier. What was worrying though, is that the footprints were vaguely human shaped, but with more elongated and sharper looking toes. Elsa leaned down to get a closer look at the footprints, while some distance away, Anna finished searching the final exam room.
"There's gotta be something here," Anna said as she raised her hands and let them fall against her sides in a frustrated gesture. "Maybe at the nurses station? That's where they would have kept-"
"Anna?" Elsa called out.
"What is it?" Anna asked as she poked her head from around the corner and found Elsa. "Find something?"
"Possibly. Look at these," Elsa pointed out the footprints.
"Hmm," Anna murmured as she knelt down next to Elsa and touched her finger to the ground. "These are not that old, but who else could have been here? This place is empty."
"I don't know," Elsa replied. "But it's troubling. These don't look like ordinary human feet."
"They don't," Anna agreed as she followed the direction of the tracks towards the darkened stairwell, which she then approached and looked down. "They lead here, but how in the hell could they have climbed up? And why didn't we see any tracks anywhere else?"
As if in response, the wind moaned low and hollowly up the stairwell, sending a shiver down Elsa's spine. Suddenly overcome by a bad feeling, she straightened up and scanned the rooms and corridors of the ICU behind them, feeling as if they were being watched. All the way at the far end, by the elevators where they had come from, Elsa thought she spotted a small, humanoid figure observing from them silently in the dim.
Quick as she had seen it, the figure vanished into thin air, leaving Elsa to doubt if she had even seen anything at all.
"Let's keep moving," Elsa said. "I don't wish to linger here any longer than we have to."
Sensing Elsa's unease, Anna nodded firmly and backed away from the stairwell. "Yeah, me neither. Let's find that nurses station."
Together, they explored the rest of the floor until they found the nurses station, sequestered away in a room in the center of the ICU. The flimsy metal door had been bent and pulled open and the interior had been completely ransacked.
"This doesn't look promising," Elsa said as she carefully stepped over bits of junk scattered about.
"Look for a storage unit, a locker or a chest or anything like that," Anna said as she crossed over to the other side of the room. "Detox meds would have been kept close by on hand if they needed them."
As Anna searched one end of the room, Elsa searched the other. As they did, Anna entered a side room off to the side, where Elsa heard her curse loudly to herself.
"Shit, found it!" Anna called out. "But it's all gone. Empty, zilch, nada."
Elsa went over to the side room where Anna had found a tall medicine storage unit with glass doors that had been smashed open. The inside was completely empty, with racks torn out and tossed on the floor and the only remaining things to be found were cracked vials and plastic bags of intravenous fluids that had been punctured and drained.
"That leaves only the pharmacy," Elsa said. "Which is back-"
"All the way back down, yeah," Anna sighed from frustration. "Of course it couldn't be that easy."
Elsa had just opened her mouth to say something when the sound of an object clattering across the ground nearby caught both of their attention. Anna immediately whipped out her weapon while Elsa whirled around, trying to pinpoint the location of the sound.
"Did you hear that?" Elsa asked quietly.
"I did," Anna nodded. "We're not alone."
Withdrawing her own sidearm, Elsa nodded back to Anna and together, they both silently slipped out of the nurses station with their weapons drawn, checking their corners and keeping their eyes and ears open for any trouble. As they left the nurses station, nothing else made a sound and whatever had done it had apparently disappeared.
"I don't see anything, do you?" Anna whispered.
"No," Elsa replied.
"Shit, I don't like this," Anna said as she adjusted her grip on her hand cannon and wiped away a bead of sweat from her brow.
A tense silence settled upon them as they carefully returned to the elevator. Anna kept her eyes glued ahead of them, while Elsa watched their rear, keeping her sidearm raised and ready for anything that could flank them. Once they were back, a flash of movement caught Elsa's eye which was when she saw a pale figure partially emerge from a shadow. It moved on all fours like a beast, then stopped and settled into a low crouch.
The figure appeared to be a human, but was significantly more emaciated looking with thin limbs, a gaunt face, sunken eyes that were jet black, a hairless head, and a body that was dressed in threadbare rags. It's hands and feet were severely mutated, lengthened into sharp claws that looked like they could rend flesh from bone. From their distance, it was hard to tell whether it was male or female, much less if the thing was even a human to begin with.
"Anna!" Elsa whisper-yelled. "Over there, do you see that?"
"See what?" Anna whirled around. "I don't see- what the hell is that?" she immediately took aim with her hand cannon, which caused Elsa to reach out her hand and push it down, urging caution.
"Wait. I don't think it wants to hurt us," Elsa said.
"So why the fuck is it watching us like that?" Anna hissed. "It's creeping me the hell out."
The watcher seemed to hear them as it cocked its head curiously. It lingered a moment longer, then slunk back into the shadows, disappearing from sight. Once the watcher was gone, Anna released a shaky breath while Elsa remained vigilant.
"Let's get back down," Anna said firmly. "The sooner we find these meds, the sooner we can get out of this place."
"Yes," Elsa agreed. "I think we've overstayed our welcome."
With that, Elsa and Anna returned to the elevator car. Just as Elsa was about to leap up through the hatch first to assist Anna, something large and heavy crashed into the top, violently jostling the entire elevator.
"Jesus, what the fuck was that!" Anna exclaimed as she flinched from the sudden impact and braced herself against a wall.
A low and guttural clicking noise then began to echo up and down the elevator shaft, which was soon joined by a chorus of others. The watcher evidently wasn't alone and was communicating with its other, unseen associates. Another object crashed into the top of the elevator, causing it to suddenly lurch and drop downwards where it became stuck again. The hatch above them slammed shut from the impact and afterwards, everything was quiet and still for a moment.
"You sure they aren't trying to hurt us?!" Anna said. "Because it sure fucking seems that way!"
The silence was pierced again when a third object dropped and smacked into the top of their elevator. Anna flinced again and ducked, while Elsa planted her feet firmly against the floor and reached her arms out for balance when she heard the entire thing groan and shift. Finally, the emergency brakes on the elevator gave out as it buckled beneath the weight before snapping completely. A rush of air came up around them while metal screeched upon metal and sparks flew in random directions as they began to plummet to the bottom.
"Anna!" Elsa cried out.
With only a split-second to react, Elsa rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Anna, clutching her tight against her own body then dropping down on her back to the floor to shield her from the imminent impact. It was not a moment too soon as another second later, their elevator car came crashing down upon the rubble at the bottom of the shaft. The impact of which Elsa took completely, absorbing the blow from their acceleration to their sudden stop.
Dust showered them from above, while the echoes of their collision rung up and down the shaft. Elsa waited until all was silent again, then immediately looked down at Anna who was clutching her own body just as tightly while her head was firmly buried against her chest. Were it not for their current predicament, Elsa would have been content to lie there like that for a while. So close were they to each other that Elsa could feel Anna's chest heaving up and down to catch her breath and even her heart pounding within.
"Anna? Are you alright?" Elsa asked.
"Mmmhmm, super," came Anna's muffled reply. "You?" she asked as she pushed herself up so that her own face was hovering slightly above Elsa's, only inches apart.
Elsa swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. "I'm okay," she said shakily.
They both stayed like that for a second, staring into each other's eyes as they caught their breath. For a moment, neither of them spoke and it seemed as if Anna couldn't decide where to look as her gaze flitted back and forth Elsa's own eyes and her lips. What she was searching for, Elsa didn't know, but she certainly didn't mind waiting until Anna found whatever it was. Their proximity to each other was stirring something within Elsa's heart, making it do somersaults while her thoughts became scattered and incoherent. Most pressing of all however was the bud of warmth growing between her thighs which Elsa recognized as arousal, a sensation she had felt earlier when she thought of Anna in the shower.
"Guess that's one way to take the elevator, huh?" Anna chuckled, then frowned when she remembered the situation they were in.
She loosened her hold on Elsa and pushed herself up slightly, examining the wreck around them. Below, Elsa reluctantly released Anna, who then pushed herself to her feet and offered her own hand to help Elsa rise, which she gladly accepted.
"What the hell were those things anyway? From the sound of it, there was definitely more than one and I've never seen anything like them," Anna said quietly.
The watchers in question had fallen silent, though that did not mean that Elsa and Anna were safe. They ignited the flashlights of their omni-pads and examined their surroundings, pointing it up and around the ruined interior of the elevator car. The walls had buckled in on themselves and the roof was bent inwards. It was a miracle that the floor they were lying on remained intact, however they were now underground. They had landed between sublevel A and B, meaning they would have to squeeze through a gap of the upper half of their elevator in order to exit.
"Whatever they are, they clearly don't want us here," Elsa replied as she approached the gap and pointed her flashlight outwards, scanning for any potential threats. "There's no way we can get back up now. The only way is forward."
Anna shook her head and sighed deeply. "Hooray," she replied listlessly as she picked up her fallen hand cannon.
After climbing out of the ruined elevator, Elsa and Anna found themselves in a wide underground corridor, which stretched off in either direction to their sides. The walls around them were poured concrete, cracked with age and damaged in some parts while the smooth floor they stood upon held three lines racing down the corridors in different directions. On a wall directly ahead, a sign indicated which each colored line led to and a map outlined the floor plan of sublevel A.
"Look at this," Anna said as she pointed her light on the sign. "Blue, red, yellow. The colors correspond with each location they lead to."
"Red goes to the pharmacy, blue leads to the morgue, and yellow to the loading dock," Elsa murmured as she read the sign and committed the map to memory.
To their left, the red line stretched away alone while to their right, the blue and yellow lines raced off further into the darkness together. From the map, it showed that all three locations were connected to one another through side passages which they could use if need be.
"Saves us some trouble," Anna said as she knelt down and took a closer look at the red line. "But why do I get the feeling it won't be this simple?"
"We should be cautious," Elsa replied as she went and stood next to Anna. "We aren't alone anymore."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Anna said as she readied her hand cannon. "Well, let's go and say hello."
The pair made their way off, following the red line on the concrete floor as they slowly crept down the underground corridors. Every sound they made was amplified, as even the sound of their breathing echoed ahead of them, piercing the darkness and the silence that had permeated the cavernous spaces around them. Before long, that guttural clicking sound the watchers made began to follow them, though with the low visibility and the echoing effect that the corridors had, it was difficult to pinpoint their location.
A chill crept down Elsa's spine, both from the unsettling sound of their unseen pursuers and the fact that the further they went, the colder the air became. Elsa glanced over to Anna and noticed that she was similarly distressed, as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and her breath came in short and shallow. After rounding a corner, they came upon a set of metal double doors, where a flash of movement and a loud bang caused Anna to shriek from terror and leap towards Elsa, clutching her tight around her arm.
Just ahead, off to the side of the double doors was a lone watcher that had overturned a garbage can and had evidently been responsible for causing the noise as it rummaged through the rubbish. Elsa aimed her sidearm and pointed her light at it, causing the watcher to turn towards them and unhinge its gaping maw to release a low growl and a series of warning clicks. Before she could shoot, the watcher bolted away, climbing up a nearby wall where it crawled inside an open vent cover. It stayed there a second longer, cocking its head and watching Elsa and Anna with eerie focus before it disappeared.
"Christ, those things are goddamn creepy," Anna whispered at Elsa's side.
She was still holding onto Elsa's arm with a deathgrip, though Elsa didn't mind.
"What was it even doing?"
"It's gone," Elsa sighed, though she remained tense and stiff from the encounter.
Anna shivered at her side, then finally let go of Elsa to regain her composure. "I've officially had it with this place. I'd take mutated wolves over those fucking things any day."
Elsa felt the same and urged on by the shared sense of disdain, they hurried along until they reached the thick metal security doors. There were no handles on the smooth surface of the doors, but there was a terminal off to the side that controlled them. At a cursory glance, it was easy to see that the doors required power to open, of which there was currently none.
"Crap," Anna muttered as she approached the door and kicked it with her foot. "We're gonna need a bazooka to get in."
Meanwhile, Elsa tried the terminal, but to no avail. It was useless without power and no amount of kicking or fiddling around with it would cause the doors to open. Next, Elsa went over to the seam in between the doors and tried to wedge her fingers in to force them apart using her enhanced strength, which didn't work either. The doors were simply too thick and too heavy to be moved.
"No use," Elsa panted from the exertion. "These doors won't open without the power running."
"So what? We have to find a way to turn it on?" Anna asked.
"That, or go around. There's a route through the morgue that leads to the pharmacy."
"Are you serious? We have to go through the morgue?"
"I see no other way to get inside."
"Great," Anna tossed her hands up in frustration. "This just keeps getting better and better."
Backtracking down the way they came, Elsa and Anna returned to the elevator and passed onward. All the while, they would hear occasional clicks from the watchers as they communicated with each other in their bizarre language. The blue and yellow lines they were following soon began to slope downward along with the floor, descending down a gentle slope which then led into a pool of murky water which came up just below their knees.
Elsa and Anna paused at the water's edge, shining their flashlights ahead of them as they arrived at the entrance to the morgue. Before them, the air was noticeably thick with the nauseating scent of ancient decay with a caustic note of industrial rot.
"Flooded," Elsa said dryly. "This water must have come from the river."
"And it stinks down here, of course," Anna sighed. "We better put our masks on."
They swapped out their filters for fresh once they were appropriately equipped, Anna frowned beneath her respirator as she turned towards Elsa.
"I can't see the lines anymore, how do we know which way to go?"
"The map," Elsa replied. "I remember, the way through is at the other end of the morgue."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Alright, I'm following you," Anna replied. "Lead the way, I'll watch our backs."
Elsa nodded then turned back towards the morgue and began wading through the knee high waters. The morgue was a wide space, with a central path that lay between orderly rows of examination tables. On either side, lining the walls end to end were refrigerated storage units for corpses, standing three units tall and evidently overfilling with the dead. Body bags filled with misshapen and lumpy skeletal remains were piled high on the floor against the walls and in corners, with some reaching all the way to the ceiling.
"Jesus," Anna muttered from behind Elsa. "You can still smell it through the-" she gagged and coughed several times. "Can still smell it through the mask," she finally managed once she pushed down the bile in her throat. "I don't even want to think about what we're wading through right now."
"Try and think of something else," Elsa said, trying to be helpful though she was similarly disturbed by the sheer amount of corpses. "Something that makes you happy."
"Like the time this morning, when I didn't think I'd be walking through knee high water, inside a flooded morgue, beneath a creepy old hospital, followed by god knows- shit, what was that!"
"Anna!" Elsa called out as she immediately turned around. "What is it?"
Behind her, Anna's eyes were bulging with horror as she panted heavily, aiming her hand cannon and flashlight in random spots in the darkness. "I- I- I thought I saw another one of those things… fuck!"
"We're almost through, Anna," Elsa said as she reached her hand out. "Come on, it's not far now."
Anna's gaze settled upon Elsa and she visibly relaxed somewhat, though she still kept a white-knuckle grip on her hand cannon. "Okay, let's just go," she said as she grabbed Elsa's hand. "We can do this… I can do this, I can. Just gotta keep calm… I can do this," she mumbled to herself as they continued their trek through the morgue.
Before long, the ground began to slope upwards again and they rounded a bend, where they found the red line again as well as the yellow that stretched towards a fork in their path. Somewhere behind them, Elsa heard a rapid sloshing of water, indicating that something was moving around. Anna had heard it as well and when she pointed her flashlight behind them to see what it was, they spotted a horde of watchers tailing them. As soon as Anna's light found them, they immediately let loose a bone-chilling howl that devolved into a rapid series of clicks and growls.
"Holy shi-"
"Anna, RUN!" Elsa shouted as she dragged the red-haired woman by her hand and pushed her forward so that she was behind her. "JUST RUN!"
The watchers started to give chase and Anna responded by firing off three shots with her hand cannon as she ran. Each shot found their mark in a watcher which stopped them in their tracks, but there were still far too many to count and so, Anna abandoned her attempt to stem the tide. They both ran full tilt ahead as they followed the red line towards the pharmacy, though Elsa remained behind Anna as a measure to keep her safe from the watchers chasing after them. The underground passageways that had been overbearingly silent were now filled with the haunting sounds of guttural clicking noises and jaws that opened and snapped shut.
One of them leapt directly at Elsa, though she sensed the incoming attack and turned and shot the watcher dead just in time. Ahead, a rear entrance to the pharmacy came into view as just behind them, the horde of watchers were steadily gaining upon them. Anna reached the doorway first and slid to a stop in front of it where she began to desperately struggle with a latch that kept the door shut.
"Come on!" Anna hissed through gritted teeth. "Open up you piece of shit!"
The watchers were right on Elsa's tail now and she could feel the air behind her filled with hot breath and gnashing teeth. She barreled straight towards the door, barely slowing down as she shouted and frantically waved for Anna to clear the way.
"Anna! Move!" Elsa ordered as she tucked her tucked her chin into her chest and raised her leading shoulder, charging ahead straight towards the door.
Anna stepped aside just in time and in the same movement, she shot another three watchers dead until her hand cannon clicked empty. Elsa on the other hand barreled straight into the door, bursting through it with concussive force and bending it out of shape. Anna stepped in immediately after Elsa and together, they threw themselves against the metal door to brace it as a second later, a wave of watchers crashed into it.
"Find something to block the door!" Elsa shouted as she pushed her back against the door and dug in her feet. "Hurry!"
"Okay, okay! Just hold on!" Anna replied as she darted away into the pharmacy.
Even with her enhanced strength, Elsa struggled against the sheer tide of watchers slamming themselves against the opposite side of the door. One of them managed to reach their arm through the gap which then began to swipe around in an attempt to hit Elsa. She responded by throwing her full weight against the door, which slammed against the protruding arm and snapped it like a twig. The watcher screeched in pain and attempted to withdraw the useless limb that had a splintered bone protruding from it. Elsa redoubled her effort and managed to slam the door shut, severing the arm completely. Thick, black blood spurted out from the limb that flailed around on the floor by Elsa's feet.
"Elsa!" Anna cried out as she toppled a nearby shelf, spilling its contents and shoving it over the ground towards the door.
Elsa moved aside just enough to allow Anna to slide the shelf into place while keeping her back against the door. The barricaded aided somewhat, but Elsa would still have to remain and push against it to ensure that the watchers stayed out. She quickly adjusted her position to the end of the shelf which afforded her a greater degree of control in keeping the door closed.
'Go, find those meds!" Elsa exclaimed as she dug in her heels once more. "This won't hold them forever!"
"What about you?!" Anna asked in a panicked voice.
"I'll hold them back, now GO!"
Without further delay, Anna nodded shakily then retreated back into the pharmacy to locate the meds they needed. As Elsa turned her attention to managing the barricade once more, she could hear snarling, growling, and clicking just on the other side. Above the din however, she could also make out the sounds that Anna was making as she leapt over the counter to loot the storage units that contained the restricted drugs.
As Anna continued her frantic search, Elsa gritted her teeth and pushed with all her might against the door which by now was beginning to bend and twist out of shape. From the top corner, two watchers poked their head through the new gap and hissed at Elsa after which they were immediately shot dead by her sidearm.
"Hurry, Anna!" Elsa shouted.
At the other end, Anna constantly muttered and swore to herself as she ripped out boxes, vials, and bottles of various drugs. She pulled down bins and emptied their contents on the floor, she swiped her arms over shelves, and she knocked over whole racks and displays until she eventually found the Detoxicillin they had risked so much for. They were kept in a cooled, glass containment unit which Anna smashed apart with the grip end of her hand cannon after which she reached in and snatched up their prize.
"Yes! Got it!" Anna exclaimed as she tucked the vial of meds and it's injector safely away inside the inner pocket of her long-coat. "Elsa! I got it, let's go!" she yelled as she raced back to Elsa's position.
"There's a way out, through the loading dock!" Elsa strained as she adjusted her stance to face Anna. "Other end of the pharmacy!"
"What the hell are we waiting for then?!" Anna exclaimed as she swung out the cylinder of her hand cannon to eject the spent rounds before inserting new ones with her speed loader. "Let's move!" she said as she snapped the cylinder shut with a flick of her wrist.
Elsa took a moment to steel herself, then with a deep breath, she leapt away from the barricade and broke into a sprint. Behind her, the barricade shifted and the door slid part of the way open and bent further down, allowing a small group of watchers to climb through.
"Fuck you!" Anna screamed as she fell in step behind Elsa and shot two of the watchers dead, blasting their heads apart with practiced lethality.
Together, Elsa and Anna ran down the length of the pharmacy towards the loading dock, coming out into another wide corridor that was empty. They could hear the door being battered against until it burst open completely and the horde of watchers cried out in pursuit.
"Keep running, Anna!" Elsa panted as she ran.
"What do you… think… I'm doing!" Anna replied breathlessly.
They turned around a bend and found the loading dock, which was a large open space filled with shipping containers and crates. At the far end, they could see two tall rolling shutter doors, one of which was partially open at the bottom. The space was barely enough to squeeze through, but daylight was visible on the other side which gave Elsa and Anna an extra burst of speed.
"Almost there!" Elsa shouted.
"Just a little further!" Anna panted. "We're so clo- agh!" she yelped just as a watcher collided into her from behind, knocking her to the ground.
Elsa spun around immediately and found Anna who was lying on her stomach and desperately clawing her hands forward in an attempt to reach her hand cannon that had fallen from her grasp. The watcher that had tackled her had its wiry arms wrapped around her legs, dragging her backwards while clicking relentlessly. Just behind the two, the remaining horde of the watchers were crashing down upon them like a tidal wave and within seconds, Anna would be overwhelmed.
"Shit, it's got me!" Anna screamed as she turned around and attempted to kick the watcher off of her. "Get off! Get… OFF!"
"ANNA!" Elsa yelled out in alarm as she raced to her rescue.
She ran full speed back towards Anna. Once there, Elsa struck out with her foot and kicked the watcher off of Anna which sent it flying backwards. Below, Anna scrambled forwards to retrieve her hand cannon then fired randomly into the crowd behind them. Elsa then hoisted Anna up to her feet and together, they set off at a dead sprint once more.
They passed between a line of crates where Elsa paused to topple one over behind them, blocking the way and slowing the pursuit of the watchers. Sensing that they were about to lose their prey, the watchers hissed and clicked and growled angrily as they climbed up and over the blockade. The watchers gnashed their teeth together and snapped their maws open and closed repeatedly, crying out for their quarry as they hunted them down.
The pair finally reached the small gap beneath the rolling shutter door and were mere inches away from salvation. Anna dipped into a slide and passed easily beneath, while Elsa dove into a roll and came out on the other side safe and sound. With barely a moment to catch their breath, they pushed themselves to their feet and ran ahead up a sloped ramp and emerged back out into the tent city of the parking lot.
Elsa shot a glance over her shoulder just in time to see the roiling mass of watchers pursuing them collided into the shutter door, causing a large dent while a few of them crawled beneath the gap. However, as soon as they stepped out into daylight, they hissed and pawed at their skin as if they had been burned, then retreated back into the darkness. Elsa and Anna kept running until they were well beyond sight of the watchers and no longer within earshot of their clicking.
Finally safe and out of the bowels of the hospital, Elsa and Anna stopped to catch their breath once they crossed through the familiar checkpoint they had entered from.
"They can't stand the sunlight," Elsa muttered as she turned her gaze up to the sky.
"Good thing… for us then," Anna wheezed as she bent over to catch her breath. "Holy shit… that… was close."
"Yes," Elsa nodded as she smiled at Anna, relieved beyond measure that they had made it out in one piece. "But we made it."
"We did… we sure did," Anna replied. "Just need to catch my… goddamn breath!"
Elsa's breathing was already back under control, so she turned her attention to the surroundings to be alert for any other trouble. When none came and after Anna regained her composure, she reached into the inner pocket of her long-coat and withdrew the valuable meds they had sought out to acquire.
"Oh, thank fuck!" Anna sighed as she held the small vial of dark blue liquid out in the light. "Still got it."
"Will that be enough for both of us?" Elsa frowned as she took note of how small the vial was.
"It was all they had."
"Then it'll have to do."
"We'll make it work," Anna huffed and smiled thinly. "Now… if it's all the same to you, I would very much like to leave this place. I hope I never have to see another one of those things as long as I live. I swear, I'm gonna have nightmares after this."
Elsa nodded her agreement and together, they set off down the road once more, now prepared to face the next portion of their journey.