Shannon bolted upright, suddenly remembering where he was and his immediate danger. The room was totally dark, except the room felt different. "Where am I?" he asked himself.
He noticed that he was covered in sweat, especially since the room felt very humid. "Man, I'm fucking roasting my balls off," he said. "Maybe it was all a dream..."
He felt his body and noticed that he was still wearing the same clothes he slept in. He felt for the flashlight and turned it on. The sight that greeted him made him jump. The walls appeared to have blood smeared all over them. The floor and ceiling appeared to be made of rusted chainlink. Somewhere in the distance, he heard an air raid siren wailing. "Where in the fuck am I?!" he shouted.
He staggered around the room and saw a case filled with bottles of some drug, as well as some energy drinks. Since he practically lived off Red Bull for nearly a year, he grabbed those, swigging one of them down. He felt the effect immediately and felt rejuvenated. He walked to the door and panicked briefly when he saw that the door was locked. His relief was profound, though, when he saw that it was locked from his side. "That's strange," he muttered. "...Unless..."
He opened the door and found himself in a long empty hall, with two doors on either side, plus with two other doors as well as a fenced in section. Something troubled him, and he felt a distinct sense of deja vu. He walked down the hallway towards the center, and instinctively took a right, opening the door.
He found himself outside, amidst a torrential downpour. He walked around, following each of the walls until he saw that it was a secured courtyard. He looked up and saw a clock tower. It was then when he realized that somehow he was still at the school. "What in the hell happened to this place?" he whispered.
He walked to the center and saw a circular emblem etched into the concrete. It featured two circles around a triangle, with various letters in what appeared to be Hebrew at each corner. "I didn't notice this before..." he muttered. "Just how long was I out?"
He walked back inside and suddenly the radio roared to life, with two very familiar shadows coming for him. "Oh, fuck me!" he shouted. "Not you again!"
One of them merely groaned in reply and lifted its knife. Shannon shouted and shot them both in the head. He ran to the end of the hall and opened the door. He ran down the other hall only to ram headlong into a fence of the same chainlink that made the floor and ceiling. Suddenly he vaguely remembered that each classroom was linked to the other, so he entered the nearest one. Sure enough, there was a door, leading to the classroom next door. There were also four demon children in the room with him. "I don't have time for this shit," he shouted.
Dodging them, he ran into the next classroom. He was blessedly alone. All he could see were metal chairs strewn about, some in groups of three facing each other. As he walked into the room, he felt something brush his ear, making him jump. He pulled out his gun and shouted, "Who are you? ...Show yourself!!"
He heard a light voice whispering. A soft, feminine voice. "Shannon," it whispered.
"WHO ARE YOU?" he cried. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"
"Help me, Shannon," the voice whispered again.
The flashlight went out, leaving him in darkness. "Fucking batteries," Shannon cursed. The voice whispered again, this time into his thoughts. "Help me, Shannon," it said. "Please, help me."
He began walking, as if guided by an irresistible force. The darkness was almost comforting, for he heard the creatures around him pass by him, not knowing or caring that he was there. He suddenly tripped on what appeared to be stairs. He climbed them...climbing, climbing, climbing.
He climbed the spiraling steps until he reached a door. He opened it and found himself on the roof. He saw a human figure standing near the edge. "Hello?" he shouted. "Who are you?"
The figure turned to face him. It appeared to be a young girl, apparently in her mid-teens, wearing a blue sundress. She smiled at him and disappeared. "Huh?" Shannon whispered. He then saw a bright flash of light, knocking him backwards and unconscious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shannon awoke to the sensation of snow touching his face. He opened his eyes and found himself on the roof of the school. Everything seemed the way that it used to be, except for the fog and the snow. "Who was that?" he whispered.
Something about her seemed familiar to him. He stood near the ledge looking out, but the fog obscured his vision. Suddenly he heard the door open behind him. He whirled around and aimed his gun. "Whoa, Shannon!" a familiar voice greeted him. "Dude, it's me!"
The figure stood about 6'1". It was a man with somewhat of a stocky build, with long black hair and the start of a goatee. He wore a biker's jacket, ripped jeans, and a well-worn T-shirt of some obscure rock group. On his head was a black baseball cap turned around, and he wore eyeglasses with black plastic rims. "Dan?!" he cried.
"Yeah, man. Now are you gonna put the gun down?"
"Oh, sorry. You won't believe the time I've been having."
Dan's face turned grim. "Try me.
"I woke up today to find that my girlfriend had ditched me. Not too unusual, right?"
"Right," Shannon agreed. Dan was never too lucky with women. They'd stay with him for a few nights and then they'd be nowhere to be found. "Go on," he said.
"Anyway, I got up and went upstairs for a bite to eat. Only to find there was no food in the house. Naturally, I flipped out."
Shannon had to chuckle. His friend was reputed for having a healthy appetite. "I shouted at my old lady that we were completely out of food. There was no one in the house. Then I left and this giant fucking bird attacked me. I ran back into the house and grabbed my old man's sawed-off 12 gauge, went back outside, and shot the motherfucker down." He hefted the weapon to accentuate his point. "I started over to your house, but you weren't home. But I saw a bunch of these dead things lying around, so I thought you must've seen some action."
Shannon simply nodded and held up his handgun. "So where'd you go next?"
"I grabbed your bike and started peddling my ass to the hospital, thinking that someone might have brought you there. I ended up having to cut through a few people's yards because of the roads being the way they are."
"What do you mean?" Shannon interjected.
"Obliterated, man," Dan said.
"What?!"
"Ripped to fucking shreds, man. Like in `Evil Dead'. I nearly bought it a couple of times!"
Shannon cursed, and said, "Wait a minute, where's my bike?"
"Down in front of the school. Now if I may continue?"
"Yeah, go on."
"Anyway, I passed by the church and you'll never guess who I nearly ran over."
"Who?"
"That crazy Gillespie lady. You know, that bitch whose daughter burned alive? Anyway, she started going on about signs and portents and crap like that, but I ignored her and continued to the hospital, but the bridge was up. Thankfully, I stole my old man's keys, you know, so I could take the car, but the thing wouldn't run. But since Dad works at the bridge, I was able to get the bridge lowered with his key. When the bridge went down, I rode to the hospital. I got in there and start calling for you, but you weren't there. Then...promise you won't laugh at me. `Cause I'm not making this up."
"I'm in no shape to laugh, dude. Talk to me," Shannon said.
"The ground started lurching and I think I must've passed out, `cause next thing I know, it got dark all of a sudden...so dark I couldn't see shit. Then I struck my lighter and the place suddenly changed..."
"Into a Rammstein fan's wet dream?" Shannon said. "Chainlink floors and ceilings, blood on the walls...some sort of industrial hell?"
"You've seen it too?"
"Yeah, it just recently changed back to normal for me."
"What did you find here? All I saw were these fucked-up nurses wielding scalpels trying to perform a radical vasectomy on me. I blew `em away pretty quick; I felt kinda like Ash from Evil Dead 2 the whole time!"
They both laughed, and Shannon said, "I saw these little skinless children wielding knives. Scared the crap out of me, man. I was having flashbacks of elementary school all over again. I also saw this chick in a blue sundress. In a way, she was kinda hot, if it weren't for the creepy vibe I got off her. Before I could ask for her name, she faded out. That's when the place became normal again." Shannon looked around and said "If you could call THIS normal."
"No shit, dude," Dan said. "Anyway, I went down into the hospital basement and found some weird drugs. Looked almost like coke."
"You didn't take any, did you?"
"Fuck no, man! You know I'm strictly green!"
"Yeah. Go on."
"Anyway, I went further and found a secret tunnel further down into the basement. I saw this room with Alessa's picture and a life support machine. Which would mean that Alessa didn't die, but was kept alive for the past seven years. When I figured that out, the place shifted and I heard an air raid siren in the distance. I passed out again, and woke up in the waiting room. No blood, no chains, no nothing. It was like I went through a bad acid trip, but it was just too real."
"So what brought you here?"
"I was actually on my way back home when I heard something coming from the roof of the school. I went over to investigate and found you. Now come on, let's get out of here. Let's find a road that hasn't been wiped out and just bail."
"I dunno, man. I think the ghost chick that I saw before things changed back was Alessa. That whole time, I could hear someone in my mind begging for me to help."
"Um, dude, have you been borrowing any of my pot?"
"Dude, you just said that Alessa may be alive. And the shit that's been happening hasn't exactly been normal. I say we go back to the hospital and try to find something like medical records or something."
"Uh-uh, no way dude. There's no way you can talk me into going back there."
"Come on, we'll take this on together. You know, watch each other's backs. Besides, we're both armed. Together, we can blow the piss out of anything that stands in our way."
"Okay, you talked me into it."
With that, Dan and Shannon walked down to the school's entrance and collected Shannon's bike. "Hold on, I thought I saw another bike nearby," Dan said.
Shannon nodded and waited. About ten minutes later, he showed back up on a similar bike to Shannon's. "Hey, what the hell? Not like anyone's gonna be using it anytime soon!"
Shannon shrugged, and together, they rode to the hospital. It was a relatively uneventful ride, with the exception of a few winged demons, which they easily outmaneuvered. They got up to the gates and saw the bodies of two demon dogs beyond, each with a singed gaping hole. Shannon looked at Dan, who was grinning ear to ear. "Nice work, my friend!" Shannon said.
"Nothing ol' double-barrel here can't handle!"
They walked through the gates, leaving their bikes against the entrance. Shannon walked up to the door and paused. He turned to Dan and said "Anything waiting inside?"
"Shouldn't be," Dan said. "Maybe some rats or some roaches. I saw one about the size of a rat in the basement, but it was relatively normal looking."
Shannon nodded and opened the door. Other than it being deserted and deathly quiet, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He turned to Dan and said "Coast is clear, dude."
When they walked in, Dan said "Where do you think we should start looking for the medical records?"
Shannon jumped across the reception desk and pulled out a map, locating the records office. "Right here, chief," he smiled.
He rejoined his friend on the other side of the desk. They got up to the door and found the latch to be jammed. "Hey Dan," Shannon said. "You wanna do the honors with ol' double-barrel?"
"Thought you'd never ask, buddy!"
Dan nudged Shannon out of the way and aimed for the door with his shotgun. Shannon closed his ears just before Dan pulled the trigger, shattering the door latch. He then backed up and rammed the door, which destroyed the rest of the lock bursting the door open. They walked in and found the room to be a mess. Papers and file folders were all over the place. Drawers were opened and overturned. "Hmm," Shannon said. "Someone musta been lookin' for something."
"This, obviously," Dan said, holding up a burnt piece of paper he found in the wastebasket.
Shannon walked up to Dan and looked at the paper. The only writing still legible read "Ales..."
"Obviously someone doesn't want anyone to see this. Right, Shannon?"
Dan looked at Shannon, who was clutching his ears and falling to the floor. Suddenly, he heard a siren in the distance growing louder until it seemed it was in his skull. He felt his legs give way until he was curled in a fetal position on the floor. Both of them screamed in unison until they passed out.
He noticed that he was covered in sweat, especially since the room felt very humid. "Man, I'm fucking roasting my balls off," he said. "Maybe it was all a dream..."
He felt his body and noticed that he was still wearing the same clothes he slept in. He felt for the flashlight and turned it on. The sight that greeted him made him jump. The walls appeared to have blood smeared all over them. The floor and ceiling appeared to be made of rusted chainlink. Somewhere in the distance, he heard an air raid siren wailing. "Where in the fuck am I?!" he shouted.
He staggered around the room and saw a case filled with bottles of some drug, as well as some energy drinks. Since he practically lived off Red Bull for nearly a year, he grabbed those, swigging one of them down. He felt the effect immediately and felt rejuvenated. He walked to the door and panicked briefly when he saw that the door was locked. His relief was profound, though, when he saw that it was locked from his side. "That's strange," he muttered. "...Unless..."
He opened the door and found himself in a long empty hall, with two doors on either side, plus with two other doors as well as a fenced in section. Something troubled him, and he felt a distinct sense of deja vu. He walked down the hallway towards the center, and instinctively took a right, opening the door.
He found himself outside, amidst a torrential downpour. He walked around, following each of the walls until he saw that it was a secured courtyard. He looked up and saw a clock tower. It was then when he realized that somehow he was still at the school. "What in the hell happened to this place?" he whispered.
He walked to the center and saw a circular emblem etched into the concrete. It featured two circles around a triangle, with various letters in what appeared to be Hebrew at each corner. "I didn't notice this before..." he muttered. "Just how long was I out?"
He walked back inside and suddenly the radio roared to life, with two very familiar shadows coming for him. "Oh, fuck me!" he shouted. "Not you again!"
One of them merely groaned in reply and lifted its knife. Shannon shouted and shot them both in the head. He ran to the end of the hall and opened the door. He ran down the other hall only to ram headlong into a fence of the same chainlink that made the floor and ceiling. Suddenly he vaguely remembered that each classroom was linked to the other, so he entered the nearest one. Sure enough, there was a door, leading to the classroom next door. There were also four demon children in the room with him. "I don't have time for this shit," he shouted.
Dodging them, he ran into the next classroom. He was blessedly alone. All he could see were metal chairs strewn about, some in groups of three facing each other. As he walked into the room, he felt something brush his ear, making him jump. He pulled out his gun and shouted, "Who are you? ...Show yourself!!"
He heard a light voice whispering. A soft, feminine voice. "Shannon," it whispered.
"WHO ARE YOU?" he cried. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"
"Help me, Shannon," the voice whispered again.
The flashlight went out, leaving him in darkness. "Fucking batteries," Shannon cursed. The voice whispered again, this time into his thoughts. "Help me, Shannon," it said. "Please, help me."
He began walking, as if guided by an irresistible force. The darkness was almost comforting, for he heard the creatures around him pass by him, not knowing or caring that he was there. He suddenly tripped on what appeared to be stairs. He climbed them...climbing, climbing, climbing.
He climbed the spiraling steps until he reached a door. He opened it and found himself on the roof. He saw a human figure standing near the edge. "Hello?" he shouted. "Who are you?"
The figure turned to face him. It appeared to be a young girl, apparently in her mid-teens, wearing a blue sundress. She smiled at him and disappeared. "Huh?" Shannon whispered. He then saw a bright flash of light, knocking him backwards and unconscious.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shannon awoke to the sensation of snow touching his face. He opened his eyes and found himself on the roof of the school. Everything seemed the way that it used to be, except for the fog and the snow. "Who was that?" he whispered.
Something about her seemed familiar to him. He stood near the ledge looking out, but the fog obscured his vision. Suddenly he heard the door open behind him. He whirled around and aimed his gun. "Whoa, Shannon!" a familiar voice greeted him. "Dude, it's me!"
The figure stood about 6'1". It was a man with somewhat of a stocky build, with long black hair and the start of a goatee. He wore a biker's jacket, ripped jeans, and a well-worn T-shirt of some obscure rock group. On his head was a black baseball cap turned around, and he wore eyeglasses with black plastic rims. "Dan?!" he cried.
"Yeah, man. Now are you gonna put the gun down?"
"Oh, sorry. You won't believe the time I've been having."
Dan's face turned grim. "Try me.
"I woke up today to find that my girlfriend had ditched me. Not too unusual, right?"
"Right," Shannon agreed. Dan was never too lucky with women. They'd stay with him for a few nights and then they'd be nowhere to be found. "Go on," he said.
"Anyway, I got up and went upstairs for a bite to eat. Only to find there was no food in the house. Naturally, I flipped out."
Shannon had to chuckle. His friend was reputed for having a healthy appetite. "I shouted at my old lady that we were completely out of food. There was no one in the house. Then I left and this giant fucking bird attacked me. I ran back into the house and grabbed my old man's sawed-off 12 gauge, went back outside, and shot the motherfucker down." He hefted the weapon to accentuate his point. "I started over to your house, but you weren't home. But I saw a bunch of these dead things lying around, so I thought you must've seen some action."
Shannon simply nodded and held up his handgun. "So where'd you go next?"
"I grabbed your bike and started peddling my ass to the hospital, thinking that someone might have brought you there. I ended up having to cut through a few people's yards because of the roads being the way they are."
"What do you mean?" Shannon interjected.
"Obliterated, man," Dan said.
"What?!"
"Ripped to fucking shreds, man. Like in `Evil Dead'. I nearly bought it a couple of times!"
Shannon cursed, and said, "Wait a minute, where's my bike?"
"Down in front of the school. Now if I may continue?"
"Yeah, go on."
"Anyway, I passed by the church and you'll never guess who I nearly ran over."
"Who?"
"That crazy Gillespie lady. You know, that bitch whose daughter burned alive? Anyway, she started going on about signs and portents and crap like that, but I ignored her and continued to the hospital, but the bridge was up. Thankfully, I stole my old man's keys, you know, so I could take the car, but the thing wouldn't run. But since Dad works at the bridge, I was able to get the bridge lowered with his key. When the bridge went down, I rode to the hospital. I got in there and start calling for you, but you weren't there. Then...promise you won't laugh at me. `Cause I'm not making this up."
"I'm in no shape to laugh, dude. Talk to me," Shannon said.
"The ground started lurching and I think I must've passed out, `cause next thing I know, it got dark all of a sudden...so dark I couldn't see shit. Then I struck my lighter and the place suddenly changed..."
"Into a Rammstein fan's wet dream?" Shannon said. "Chainlink floors and ceilings, blood on the walls...some sort of industrial hell?"
"You've seen it too?"
"Yeah, it just recently changed back to normal for me."
"What did you find here? All I saw were these fucked-up nurses wielding scalpels trying to perform a radical vasectomy on me. I blew `em away pretty quick; I felt kinda like Ash from Evil Dead 2 the whole time!"
They both laughed, and Shannon said, "I saw these little skinless children wielding knives. Scared the crap out of me, man. I was having flashbacks of elementary school all over again. I also saw this chick in a blue sundress. In a way, she was kinda hot, if it weren't for the creepy vibe I got off her. Before I could ask for her name, she faded out. That's when the place became normal again." Shannon looked around and said "If you could call THIS normal."
"No shit, dude," Dan said. "Anyway, I went down into the hospital basement and found some weird drugs. Looked almost like coke."
"You didn't take any, did you?"
"Fuck no, man! You know I'm strictly green!"
"Yeah. Go on."
"Anyway, I went further and found a secret tunnel further down into the basement. I saw this room with Alessa's picture and a life support machine. Which would mean that Alessa didn't die, but was kept alive for the past seven years. When I figured that out, the place shifted and I heard an air raid siren in the distance. I passed out again, and woke up in the waiting room. No blood, no chains, no nothing. It was like I went through a bad acid trip, but it was just too real."
"So what brought you here?"
"I was actually on my way back home when I heard something coming from the roof of the school. I went over to investigate and found you. Now come on, let's get out of here. Let's find a road that hasn't been wiped out and just bail."
"I dunno, man. I think the ghost chick that I saw before things changed back was Alessa. That whole time, I could hear someone in my mind begging for me to help."
"Um, dude, have you been borrowing any of my pot?"
"Dude, you just said that Alessa may be alive. And the shit that's been happening hasn't exactly been normal. I say we go back to the hospital and try to find something like medical records or something."
"Uh-uh, no way dude. There's no way you can talk me into going back there."
"Come on, we'll take this on together. You know, watch each other's backs. Besides, we're both armed. Together, we can blow the piss out of anything that stands in our way."
"Okay, you talked me into it."
With that, Dan and Shannon walked down to the school's entrance and collected Shannon's bike. "Hold on, I thought I saw another bike nearby," Dan said.
Shannon nodded and waited. About ten minutes later, he showed back up on a similar bike to Shannon's. "Hey, what the hell? Not like anyone's gonna be using it anytime soon!"
Shannon shrugged, and together, they rode to the hospital. It was a relatively uneventful ride, with the exception of a few winged demons, which they easily outmaneuvered. They got up to the gates and saw the bodies of two demon dogs beyond, each with a singed gaping hole. Shannon looked at Dan, who was grinning ear to ear. "Nice work, my friend!" Shannon said.
"Nothing ol' double-barrel here can't handle!"
They walked through the gates, leaving their bikes against the entrance. Shannon walked up to the door and paused. He turned to Dan and said "Anything waiting inside?"
"Shouldn't be," Dan said. "Maybe some rats or some roaches. I saw one about the size of a rat in the basement, but it was relatively normal looking."
Shannon nodded and opened the door. Other than it being deserted and deathly quiet, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He turned to Dan and said "Coast is clear, dude."
When they walked in, Dan said "Where do you think we should start looking for the medical records?"
Shannon jumped across the reception desk and pulled out a map, locating the records office. "Right here, chief," he smiled.
He rejoined his friend on the other side of the desk. They got up to the door and found the latch to be jammed. "Hey Dan," Shannon said. "You wanna do the honors with ol' double-barrel?"
"Thought you'd never ask, buddy!"
Dan nudged Shannon out of the way and aimed for the door with his shotgun. Shannon closed his ears just before Dan pulled the trigger, shattering the door latch. He then backed up and rammed the door, which destroyed the rest of the lock bursting the door open. They walked in and found the room to be a mess. Papers and file folders were all over the place. Drawers were opened and overturned. "Hmm," Shannon said. "Someone musta been lookin' for something."
"This, obviously," Dan said, holding up a burnt piece of paper he found in the wastebasket.
Shannon walked up to Dan and looked at the paper. The only writing still legible read "Ales..."
"Obviously someone doesn't want anyone to see this. Right, Shannon?"
Dan looked at Shannon, who was clutching his ears and falling to the floor. Suddenly, he heard a siren in the distance growing louder until it seemed it was in his skull. He felt his legs give way until he was curled in a fetal position on the floor. Both of them screamed in unison until they passed out.