FOUR
I lowered the weapon. My entire form was shaking; I could smell the tangy aroma of cordite filled the air. I heard a cough from the darkness I raised the weapon, but not sufficiently to fire. I noticed the glittering bullet casings scattered across the floor, they looked like beetle eyes, reflecting nothing but the darkness that enveloped me. I noticed flecks of dark liquid on the floor; they too reflected the abysmal darkness of the corridor. The colour outside, it seemed, reflected my inner self, and my tumultuous emotions. I was shaking violently now, the dark liquid on the floor had changed from flecks to pools, I reasoned with myself, that it could be water, but inside I knew what it was, the essence of life, blood.
I forced myself to carry on walking, my legs refusing to comply. A pair of feet emerged out of the darkness; the feet soon became legs, legs which were unattached to anything, their bloody stumps looked like charred meat in the darkness of the corridor. My mind refused to accept the horror that I had witnessed, it shut down, and I crumpled into a heap on the cold linoleum floor.
I woke to the putrid aroma of death; it was splattered across the floor. I saw what had caused me to collapse, but it was different; not the mutilated mess I was expecting, but Phil, he had a bullet wound in his chest, another in the neck, dark blood pooled across the floor like an oil slick, but after the atrocity to nature I had previously witnessed, this was mild. A tear slipped from the corner of my eye and rolled down my cheek. This man had helped me when there was no one else around; my method of thanks was more than a little unorthodox. I couldn't spend any more time here, I didn't want to spend any more time here, I walked. I couldn't believe what was going on; I would never have done anything like this normally. I had just killed a man and left the body, it was this place. It was doing things to my head. I ran the rest of the corridor, my tatty sneakers crunching through scatterings of light bulb glass. Déjà vu, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the noise was rushing towards me, enveloping me, inhuman snorting, grunting, the creature, whatever it was, squealed, it had obviously found Phil, I threw the weapon to the ground and ran harder, I reached the light at the end and came out in a well-lit room; it smelled sterile, white towels were stacked neatly to one side, emergency fold-out beds were piled against a wall. The only exit was a small window, big enough to fit through. I picked up a towel and wrapped it around my clenched fist; I hit the window as hard as I could. My fist bounced off it with a dull thud. I grimaced as the pain shot up my arm and into my shoulder. The noise was getting closer. I desperately grabbed at one of the beds and swung it at the glass; with a crash, the pane shattered and showered the alley below with fragments of broken glass. I took one last look behind me. Nothing but darkness, but the noise continued to grow. I threw a towel over the shards still stuck in the bottom of the frame and jumped through. A rush of cold air hit my face, I revelled in the freedom I had, fresh air never felt so great. My feet crunched down on the shards of glass as I sped off down the street.
I emerged in another misty street. It looked like the set of a low budget horror film. The tarmac beneath my feet was covered in a thin coat of dew. I looked up to the sky and screamed. When was I going out get out of here, when was this going to end?
The doctors looked at the limp form lying on the bed, they were shaking their heads. A woman, in her forties had her head in the shoulder of an older looking man, she sobbed gently to the monotonous sound of the heart- rate monitor. "I'm sorry, there's nothing more that we can do." The woman nodded in compliance through her tears. One of the doctors reached for the life- support unit. He flicked a switch and the lights on the machine gently faded to black. Somewhere else, within the far reaches of the girls mind, she lay, her eyes blank and staring at the sky accusingly, dead.
I lowered the weapon. My entire form was shaking; I could smell the tangy aroma of cordite filled the air. I heard a cough from the darkness I raised the weapon, but not sufficiently to fire. I noticed the glittering bullet casings scattered across the floor, they looked like beetle eyes, reflecting nothing but the darkness that enveloped me. I noticed flecks of dark liquid on the floor; they too reflected the abysmal darkness of the corridor. The colour outside, it seemed, reflected my inner self, and my tumultuous emotions. I was shaking violently now, the dark liquid on the floor had changed from flecks to pools, I reasoned with myself, that it could be water, but inside I knew what it was, the essence of life, blood.
I forced myself to carry on walking, my legs refusing to comply. A pair of feet emerged out of the darkness; the feet soon became legs, legs which were unattached to anything, their bloody stumps looked like charred meat in the darkness of the corridor. My mind refused to accept the horror that I had witnessed, it shut down, and I crumpled into a heap on the cold linoleum floor.
I woke to the putrid aroma of death; it was splattered across the floor. I saw what had caused me to collapse, but it was different; not the mutilated mess I was expecting, but Phil, he had a bullet wound in his chest, another in the neck, dark blood pooled across the floor like an oil slick, but after the atrocity to nature I had previously witnessed, this was mild. A tear slipped from the corner of my eye and rolled down my cheek. This man had helped me when there was no one else around; my method of thanks was more than a little unorthodox. I couldn't spend any more time here, I didn't want to spend any more time here, I walked. I couldn't believe what was going on; I would never have done anything like this normally. I had just killed a man and left the body, it was this place. It was doing things to my head. I ran the rest of the corridor, my tatty sneakers crunching through scatterings of light bulb glass. Déjà vu, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the noise was rushing towards me, enveloping me, inhuman snorting, grunting, the creature, whatever it was, squealed, it had obviously found Phil, I threw the weapon to the ground and ran harder, I reached the light at the end and came out in a well-lit room; it smelled sterile, white towels were stacked neatly to one side, emergency fold-out beds were piled against a wall. The only exit was a small window, big enough to fit through. I picked up a towel and wrapped it around my clenched fist; I hit the window as hard as I could. My fist bounced off it with a dull thud. I grimaced as the pain shot up my arm and into my shoulder. The noise was getting closer. I desperately grabbed at one of the beds and swung it at the glass; with a crash, the pane shattered and showered the alley below with fragments of broken glass. I took one last look behind me. Nothing but darkness, but the noise continued to grow. I threw a towel over the shards still stuck in the bottom of the frame and jumped through. A rush of cold air hit my face, I revelled in the freedom I had, fresh air never felt so great. My feet crunched down on the shards of glass as I sped off down the street.
I emerged in another misty street. It looked like the set of a low budget horror film. The tarmac beneath my feet was covered in a thin coat of dew. I looked up to the sky and screamed. When was I going out get out of here, when was this going to end?
The doctors looked at the limp form lying on the bed, they were shaking their heads. A woman, in her forties had her head in the shoulder of an older looking man, she sobbed gently to the monotonous sound of the heart- rate monitor. "I'm sorry, there's nothing more that we can do." The woman nodded in compliance through her tears. One of the doctors reached for the life- support unit. He flicked a switch and the lights on the machine gently faded to black. Somewhere else, within the far reaches of the girls mind, she lay, her eyes blank and staring at the sky accusingly, dead.