Dan woke up in the records office with a splitting headache. The world had
shifted again and Shannon wasn't anywhere to be found. Dan kicked a nearby
chair and cursed. "So much for sticking together, huh, asshole..." Dan
muttered to himself. But he found no sign of him having ever been in the
room. And he knew that although Shannon was a bit of a basket case, he was
a good guy and Dan realized that Shannon wouldn't have ditched him.
Dan turned on his flashlight and opened the door. Immediately, he was greeted by a pair of zombie nurses lunging at him with scalpels. Dan quickly sidestepped and fired both barrels pointblank into their temples. Looking down the hall, he shouted "Shannon!!", but got no response. He walked down the hall towards the door to the basement. However, the basement was locked tight. He entertained the notion of blasting the lock with his shotgun, but realized that he should conserve his ammo until he found Shannon. He then remembered that there was an elevator and that it might go down into the basement. He soon pressed the button and was almost surprised to see the doors open immediately. The elevator was covered in the same blood-and-rust motif that the hospital and apparently the school was decorated in.
He entered the elevator and pressed the 'B' button, but got no response. He then started jabbing each of the buttons in fury, cursing until the doors shut and he felt the lift moving upwards. When the doors opened, he realized he was on the third floor. He stepped off and was almost clipped by the doors as they shut. Dan started walking down the dark and bloody corridor, investigating as many rooms as he could. Most of them were empty, with the exception of one where he found some extra shells and some bullets which he grabbed eagerly. In another room, he found a TV with a VCR that looked almost 20 years old. A quick once-over showed that it had a tape in it. Dan shrugged and turned the TV and VCR on and pressed play.
At first, he was amazed that something actually worked in this place. But that quickly faded when he saw that the tape had nothing but a scrambled picture on it. He was about ready to dismiss it as some loser's attempt to record scrambled porn when he heard patches of a woman talking about a patient. He shrugged and ejected the tape, stashing it in his pocket. Maybe he and Shannon (if he ever saw him again) could decipher the tape. He sat on the bed and wondered what Shannon was going on about as far as Scary Gillespie was concerned. Sure, she seemed like a nice girl and all, and he had no doubt in his mind that her mother had something to do with the fire. But as far as Dan was concerned, the main priority was to get the hell out of town, steal a van, and smoke as much pot as possible.
He stood up and opened the door. The moment he walked out in the hall, he was surrounded on all sides by nurses. He dodged as well as he could, but felt surgical steel penetrate his thigh. He hefted his weapon, firing repeatedly, screaming in berserk rage. But in his panic, he dropped his extra shells and there was still one nurse still standing. It lunged for him and he successfully dodged the attack, but he lost his footing and landed on his back. He covered his face awaiting his doom when he heard the sounds of gunfire. He uncovered his face and saw that the nurse had been hit and had turned around. The gunfire continued until the nurse was twitching on the floor. He then collapsed in a heap on the floor, adrenaline finally giving out.
Dan came to in the room with the VCR. He felt the still-warm barrel of the shotgun next to him and the sting of his wounded thigh, which grew into a sharp pain when he tried to move it. He cried out and grabbed his leg, surprised to find that it had been crudely bandaged. He sat up gingerly and saw Shannon sitting nearby looking at him. "Welcome back, man," Shannon said. "If you took any longer, I would've had to resort to drastic measures to wake you up."
"Oh yeah?" Dan grumbled. "Like how?"
"Well, there's gotta be a bowl with warm water here that I can dip your hand into," Shannon said, laughing.
"Ha ha, very fucking funny. Better get you your own show on NBC after 'Friends'. Just why the fuck did you leave me in that room?"
"You weren't in the room when I woke up. I left the room looking for you."
Dan looked at him intensely and realized that Shannon was telling the truth. "So did you find anything?" Dan said.
"Yeah, I found the room where Alessa was being kept alive. I also found this newspaper clipping and this...thing here." With his last words, he showed him the scrap of canvas with the bizarre symbol. Shannon felt it best that Dan didn't see the diary just yet.
Dan took the canvas and looked at it. "Yeah, this is the crest of the Hebrew archangel Samael. Supposedly, Samael first manifested as the serpent who tempted Eve with the fruit of infernal knowledge, which expelled humanity from Paradise."
"How'd you know that?" Shannon asked him.
"Eh, just a song from a some goth band," Dan said, shrugging.
"Oh." Shannon said. "So, you think you can walk on that leg?"
"I'll try like hell," Dan said.
Dan attempted to stand and immediately felt his leg start to give out. Shannon rushed to his friend and put Dan's arm around his shoulder. "C'mon buddy, let's get out of here."
The hallway was blessedly free of any nurses as Shannon and Dan went to the elevator. When they got to the first floor, Dan said "Maybe in one of these rooms there's a better first aid kit and hopefully some aspirin or something."
Shannon nodded and together they went towards the room where the doctors did their initial exams before admitting patients. The door opened into a small hallway with a locked door at the other end. After crashing through the door, Dan landed on his leg screaming in agony. As Shannon looked around, he caught a glimpse of movement. He turned towards the movement and aimed his gun and was face to face with a stunningly gorgeous - and very frightened - nurse. She was still in uniform and had long, soft blonde hair. Her face was slightly pale and there were some dark circles around her eyes. "Oh my god, someone who's normal!" she said, making no attempt to hide her profound relief.
"We're both glad to see you, too," Shannon said sincerely. "Look, my friend here is wounded and he needs someone who's better at this sort of thing than me."
The nurse looked at Dan and nodded. "Here, help me get him on the bed," she said to Shannon.
Each taking an arm, they hefted Dan onto a bed. The nurse looked him over and said to Dan, "I'm going to need to remove your pants."
Dan grinned widely and said "Please do!"
"Down boy," Shannon said. "She wants to get a look at your leg."
"She can get a look at whatever she likes!" Dan laughed.
The laughter was joined by both Shannon and their new friend, who introduced herself as Lisa Garland. After pulling Dan's pants off, she got up and took a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some gauze, and some bandage tape. Cleaning the wound, she said "This wound could've been a lot worse, Dan. Luckily, you're not going to need stitches."
"That's a relief," Shannon said. "So what happened here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Lisa said. "I was just coming on my shift when I slipped and fell. I guess I must've gotten knocked out. When I woke up, everything was like this!"
"Lisa, do you know anything about Alessa Gillespie?"
"A little bit," Lisa said. "That poor girl was brought in covered in third degree burns 7 years ago. I was actually in charge of looking after her until Dr. Kaufmann relieved me of it. I felt so bad for her..."
Shannon looked at her and had a feeling that she wasn't telling him the whole truth, but she looked sincerely shaken by the memory so he didn't press her. What he saw was someone who honestly cared for her and did the best she could for her. "Look, you guys. You two look seriously exhausted. Maybe you two should rest here. Dan should let his leg rest anyways so it can heal."
"Yeah," Shannon said. Dan was already out cold, sleeping fitfully. Shannon sat at the desk and watched Lisa attend to Dan, tucking him into bed. He leaned back and dozed off.
Dan turned on his flashlight and opened the door. Immediately, he was greeted by a pair of zombie nurses lunging at him with scalpels. Dan quickly sidestepped and fired both barrels pointblank into their temples. Looking down the hall, he shouted "Shannon!!", but got no response. He walked down the hall towards the door to the basement. However, the basement was locked tight. He entertained the notion of blasting the lock with his shotgun, but realized that he should conserve his ammo until he found Shannon. He then remembered that there was an elevator and that it might go down into the basement. He soon pressed the button and was almost surprised to see the doors open immediately. The elevator was covered in the same blood-and-rust motif that the hospital and apparently the school was decorated in.
He entered the elevator and pressed the 'B' button, but got no response. He then started jabbing each of the buttons in fury, cursing until the doors shut and he felt the lift moving upwards. When the doors opened, he realized he was on the third floor. He stepped off and was almost clipped by the doors as they shut. Dan started walking down the dark and bloody corridor, investigating as many rooms as he could. Most of them were empty, with the exception of one where he found some extra shells and some bullets which he grabbed eagerly. In another room, he found a TV with a VCR that looked almost 20 years old. A quick once-over showed that it had a tape in it. Dan shrugged and turned the TV and VCR on and pressed play.
At first, he was amazed that something actually worked in this place. But that quickly faded when he saw that the tape had nothing but a scrambled picture on it. He was about ready to dismiss it as some loser's attempt to record scrambled porn when he heard patches of a woman talking about a patient. He shrugged and ejected the tape, stashing it in his pocket. Maybe he and Shannon (if he ever saw him again) could decipher the tape. He sat on the bed and wondered what Shannon was going on about as far as Scary Gillespie was concerned. Sure, she seemed like a nice girl and all, and he had no doubt in his mind that her mother had something to do with the fire. But as far as Dan was concerned, the main priority was to get the hell out of town, steal a van, and smoke as much pot as possible.
He stood up and opened the door. The moment he walked out in the hall, he was surrounded on all sides by nurses. He dodged as well as he could, but felt surgical steel penetrate his thigh. He hefted his weapon, firing repeatedly, screaming in berserk rage. But in his panic, he dropped his extra shells and there was still one nurse still standing. It lunged for him and he successfully dodged the attack, but he lost his footing and landed on his back. He covered his face awaiting his doom when he heard the sounds of gunfire. He uncovered his face and saw that the nurse had been hit and had turned around. The gunfire continued until the nurse was twitching on the floor. He then collapsed in a heap on the floor, adrenaline finally giving out.
Dan came to in the room with the VCR. He felt the still-warm barrel of the shotgun next to him and the sting of his wounded thigh, which grew into a sharp pain when he tried to move it. He cried out and grabbed his leg, surprised to find that it had been crudely bandaged. He sat up gingerly and saw Shannon sitting nearby looking at him. "Welcome back, man," Shannon said. "If you took any longer, I would've had to resort to drastic measures to wake you up."
"Oh yeah?" Dan grumbled. "Like how?"
"Well, there's gotta be a bowl with warm water here that I can dip your hand into," Shannon said, laughing.
"Ha ha, very fucking funny. Better get you your own show on NBC after 'Friends'. Just why the fuck did you leave me in that room?"
"You weren't in the room when I woke up. I left the room looking for you."
Dan looked at him intensely and realized that Shannon was telling the truth. "So did you find anything?" Dan said.
"Yeah, I found the room where Alessa was being kept alive. I also found this newspaper clipping and this...thing here." With his last words, he showed him the scrap of canvas with the bizarre symbol. Shannon felt it best that Dan didn't see the diary just yet.
Dan took the canvas and looked at it. "Yeah, this is the crest of the Hebrew archangel Samael. Supposedly, Samael first manifested as the serpent who tempted Eve with the fruit of infernal knowledge, which expelled humanity from Paradise."
"How'd you know that?" Shannon asked him.
"Eh, just a song from a some goth band," Dan said, shrugging.
"Oh." Shannon said. "So, you think you can walk on that leg?"
"I'll try like hell," Dan said.
Dan attempted to stand and immediately felt his leg start to give out. Shannon rushed to his friend and put Dan's arm around his shoulder. "C'mon buddy, let's get out of here."
The hallway was blessedly free of any nurses as Shannon and Dan went to the elevator. When they got to the first floor, Dan said "Maybe in one of these rooms there's a better first aid kit and hopefully some aspirin or something."
Shannon nodded and together they went towards the room where the doctors did their initial exams before admitting patients. The door opened into a small hallway with a locked door at the other end. After crashing through the door, Dan landed on his leg screaming in agony. As Shannon looked around, he caught a glimpse of movement. He turned towards the movement and aimed his gun and was face to face with a stunningly gorgeous - and very frightened - nurse. She was still in uniform and had long, soft blonde hair. Her face was slightly pale and there were some dark circles around her eyes. "Oh my god, someone who's normal!" she said, making no attempt to hide her profound relief.
"We're both glad to see you, too," Shannon said sincerely. "Look, my friend here is wounded and he needs someone who's better at this sort of thing than me."
The nurse looked at Dan and nodded. "Here, help me get him on the bed," she said to Shannon.
Each taking an arm, they hefted Dan onto a bed. The nurse looked him over and said to Dan, "I'm going to need to remove your pants."
Dan grinned widely and said "Please do!"
"Down boy," Shannon said. "She wants to get a look at your leg."
"She can get a look at whatever she likes!" Dan laughed.
The laughter was joined by both Shannon and their new friend, who introduced herself as Lisa Garland. After pulling Dan's pants off, she got up and took a bottle of rubbing alcohol, some gauze, and some bandage tape. Cleaning the wound, she said "This wound could've been a lot worse, Dan. Luckily, you're not going to need stitches."
"That's a relief," Shannon said. "So what happened here?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Lisa said. "I was just coming on my shift when I slipped and fell. I guess I must've gotten knocked out. When I woke up, everything was like this!"
"Lisa, do you know anything about Alessa Gillespie?"
"A little bit," Lisa said. "That poor girl was brought in covered in third degree burns 7 years ago. I was actually in charge of looking after her until Dr. Kaufmann relieved me of it. I felt so bad for her..."
Shannon looked at her and had a feeling that she wasn't telling him the whole truth, but she looked sincerely shaken by the memory so he didn't press her. What he saw was someone who honestly cared for her and did the best she could for her. "Look, you guys. You two look seriously exhausted. Maybe you two should rest here. Dan should let his leg rest anyways so it can heal."
"Yeah," Shannon said. Dan was already out cold, sleeping fitfully. Shannon sat at the desk and watched Lisa attend to Dan, tucking him into bed. He leaned back and dozed off.