Author's Note: I am much disappointed with this chapter. I think James' final line sums up my feelings for the hospital scenario. It was way too long, waaaay too long. But I think the reason for that was because the hospital is probably the most important scenario of the story. But it was so hard to write! Oh well, at least now we're moving into the Joseph scenario! Hooray! So, enRAGed, you think James and Bethany would be parents, eh? I don't know how well that'd go with James' wife (heheh), but that does give me an idea! And I don't think I'll be adding another character, I just don't know how I could pull it off the way I want too. But thanks to you, Himeko, ozmcman, E-Z B (I'm gonna try to have some more Outbreak character interaction!), and Dynamis for reviewing! Oh, and since Joseph's scenario is next, this will be moved to "R" section when the next chapter is posted. Just so ya know! Now enjoy!

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Elizabeth was sitting with her back against the wall, arms wrapped around her knees. She watched the staircase while waiting for William and Bethany to return. Ever so often, she thought she would hear a noise. Sometimes it was a footstep, a tap on the door, or a groan.

It was quite possible that William and Bethany weren't coming back. Most of survival relied on luck, or so that's what it felt like. It only took one gamble, one mistake to end everything.

The lights hummed above her. It was as if they were watching her. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine there being people here. Busy doctors and nurses rushing about trying to take care of sick patients, crying children, adults talking in the waiting room. With all the chattering going on in the hospital, she didn't feel so alone.

She was good at playing pretend.

Someone was shouting from the staircase. It was followed by thunder-wait, it wasn't quite thunder. It sounded more like marching. Lots and lots of people marching. She rose to her feet.

"Quick! Don't look back, just run!" someone screamed. It wasn't Bethany, she didn't think it was the cop. Three people emerged from the staircase, panic written on their faces. Before she could react, the red-haired man tightly gripped her hand and jerked her forward. She twisted her head around to see what had caused them such alarm, but all she could see was the dark staircase.

She nearly lost her balance trying to look, but he held her upright. She was having difficulty matching his pace. He was much faster than she was.

William was running besides Bethany, who was exhausted and lagging behind. She was an actress, not an athlete.

'If I live through this, I'm going straight to the gym,' she thought bitterly.

They ran around the corner and towards the front entrance. James was the first one to suddenly stop at the entrance, while the others nearly crashed into him.

"Oh no…" he whispered, focused on the glass doors in front of him. Everyone else turned their attention to where he was looking. A crowd of zombies had gathered outside the hospital. They stood there motionless, with their heads hanging down. Upon seeing the survivors, some of the monsters began attacking the doors.

"We can't go out there! We'll be torn apart!" Bethany cried. He tried to think of what to do next. Elizabeth was breathing heavily beside him.

"We'll have to find another way out," he said simply.

"Another way out? There is none! We're stuck here!" Bethany said.

"Don't be ridiculous. There has to be more than one exit."

"But we would have run into it by now!"

"We just need to-"

"We could use the fire escape," Elizabeth said softly. The others stopped their bickering and looked at the young girl.

"Fire escape?" James asked.

"It's on the rooftop," she said.

"How would you know about it?" Bethany asked. Elizabeth remembered seeing a notice pinned up on a board in the hallway. It had a list of rules regarding what to do in case of a fire.

"I saw a paper mentioning it," she said.

"Do you think it's safe?" William asked.

"Of course it's not safe!" Bethany replied, "but what other choice do we have? Except stand here and wait to be eaten."

"Okay, let's hurry before those things catch up with us," said James. He went to take Elizabeth's hand again, but she quickly pulled away from him.

"I-I can make it on my own," she said. He looked at her oddly, then nodded his head.

Snarl.

Everyone turned to see a dog covered in leeches standing in the middle of the hallway. Its back was arched and its head was lowered, through its leech-covered face it flashed yellowish fangs.

"Dammit! Not this thing again!" James cried. William stepped back, shooting a glance at the other man.

"A friend of yours?" he grumbled.

The dog walked forward clumsily, as it had done before. The leeches still hadn't gotten complete control over the animal's body.

James searched around for something they could use. Bullets were ineffective against it, due to the shield of leeches around its body. They could try to run, seeing how the animal couldn't function as well as it did alive. But he didn't want to take that chance.

His eyes fell on a fire extinguisher that was to the right of the entrance. It was in a glass case with the word "emergency" written on it. Without hesitation, he ran towards it. The leech dog gave chase, its clumsy legs were slowing picking up speed.

He smashed the butt of his gun into the case. Glass shards fell around his feet as he reached in and took the extinguisher.

"James! Behind you!" Bethany dove in front of him just as the dog leapt at him. She raised her shotgun up as if it were a shield, and it connected with the dog's belly. She jerked the gun over her head with such force that she sent the dog flying over. It yipped loudly as its body cracked against the ground. She held it down with her foot, breathing heavily. The other survivors looked astonished at what she had done.

"Kill this damn freak!" she screeched. It jerked under her foot, struggling and snapping at her ankle. James aimed the fire extinguisher down and blasted it. The dog yelped as he sprayed it, leeches rapidly falling off its body. He didn't stop until it quit moving.

The smoke from the fire extinguisher slowly cleared, and the four survivors looked down at what remained. The dog lay dead, with puncture marks all over its body. The leeches were shriveled up in a pile near the dog.

"Ugh. That's disgusting," Bethany commented. William looked at her.

"Where did you learn a move like that?" he asked. She gave him a weak grin.

"I didn't. It was kind of reflexive," she laughed, "my first stunt move."

"Well, that stunt move saved my life. Thanks," he said with a smile. She turned to look at him, and for a brief moment he thought he saw interest cross those bright, green eyes.

Maybe I'm just imagining things.

"So, that's twice I've saved you from dogs, huh James?" she said playfully.

"Um, e-excuse me. Officer?" a quiet voice spoke. William looked down to see a frightened Elizabeth staring up at him.

"Just call me William. Hey, what's the matter?" he asked. Her eyes darted away from him.

"Are those monsters from downstairs going to come up here?" she asked. He paused before answering, hearing the same sound they heard in the basement. It was getting louder.

"Guys, we need to go. Now," he said. James and Bethany nodded in agreement.

"So, we're definitely going upstairs, right?" Bethany asked.

"Looks like it. Let's move," ordered James.

When they arrived, they were horrified. Zombies were crawling over each other. There must have been hundreds of them, all tightly packed together, trying to move up the stairs.

"Is…is this what was in the basement?" William asked nervously.

"Yeah," James replied grimly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bethany asked, "I mean, if we go, there's no coming back."

"There's no other way," James said firmly. William, Bethany, and James began heading up the stairs, but not Elizabeth. She remained frozen at the bottom, staring terrified at the monsters trying to get to them.

James, noticing the girl wasn't following them anymore, called to her.

"Elizabeth! Hurry up!"

She looked up at him, opening her mouth as if to say something, but she was instantly cut off by the large arm that extended towards her.

"Elizabeth!"

She shrieked as she was slammed up against the wall, pinned by the leech-covered hand that wrapped around her throat.

"Guh-!"

"ELIZABETH!"

Her eyes watered as she struggled to breathe in air. Through her blurry vision she saw a man covered in purple worms.

James hurried down the steps, spraying the leech man with the fire extinguisher. It released its grip on Elizabeth and she fell to the ground coughing and gasping. He reached down and pulled her away from the monster. He quickly ushered her up the stairs where William and Bethany waited.

When they made it to the top of the stairs, William was the first to try and open the door. The knob twisted in his hand, but the door itself didn't budge.

"Uh, I think we've got a problem," he said worriedly.

"It's locked?!" James tried the open the door himself, but he received the same results.

"We'll have to bust it open," William said, "and fast. Those things are getting closer."

The two men began ramming their shoulders into the door. The door shook violently with each blow.

Bethany looked behind her to see the leech man coming up the stairs after them. A few of the zombies had managed to untangle themselves from the rest of the group and was heading upstairs as well.

She turned back to see James and William still working on the door.

We'll never make it at this rate.

"Stand aside!" she growled. The two men stopped what they were doing, and saw Bethany holding her shotgun at the door. They moved out of her way as she aimed right below the doorknob. She blasted one shell into the door.

Wood splintered as it swung open. Right before they went in, James turned and hurled the fire extinguisher at the approaching leech man. He raised his handgun, only needing one bullet…

The extinguisher bounced against the wall, missing the leech man. James accidentally fired, knowing the moment the handgun bucked in his hand that he had shot too late.

An explosion rocked the staircase, nearly knocking the survivors off their feet. The few zombies that tried to follow them had been consumed in the flames. The stairs below were severely damaged.

The leech man was untouched.

"James, you idiot!" snarled Bethany. He had successfully cut off the path from the zombies to them, but he had also trapped them with the leech man.

Stupid, stupid James.

"Everyone out!" William shouted. They made their way out onto the rooftop and he slammed the door shut behind them. It was brightly lit, with a helicopter landing pad right in the middle. Much to their disappointment, there was no helicopter.

Elizabeth ran out to where the fire escape was.

"It's over here!" she cried. Bethany, James, and William ran over to join her. It was a long ladder, rusty and unsafe-looking. It led down to the park area of the hospital. From what they could see, it was safe. There were no zombies.

The door rattled.

"Start climbing!" James said. Bethany went first, followed by Elizabeth and William. William was having difficultly getting down, as he could only use his one arm to climb. He silently prayed that he wouldn't slip.

James grabbed the rungs of the ladder and began his climb down. Right before the rooftop vanished from his sight, he saw the door swing open and the leech man stumble out. It turned its head and he swore it was looking right at him.

Panic rushed through him. He couldn't tell them to hurry up, they were climbing down as fast as they could manage.

It was staggering towards them.

Bethany and Elizabeth were close to the ground now, with William struggling to catch up. He nearly lost his grip on the ladder and clung to it for support.

James kept his eyes glued to the top of the ladder, expecting to see the leech man show itself. He expected to see it climb down after them.

William finally made it to the ground, and Bethany and Elizabeth helped him down. James sped up his descent. He thought the ladder was shaking, that the leech man was trying to get to him.

"Come on James! You're almost there!" called Bethany. He felt his foot slip and he fell a couple of rungs. He hugged the ladder and found his footing again. He climbed the rest of the way down.

A wave of relief passed through each of the survivors. They had survived the nightmarish hospital. James looked up and saw the leech man looking over the side of the rooftop. He was afraid that it was going to come down, but instead it just kept watching.

After a few minutes, it lost interest in them and left.

"Where are we going next?" asked Bethany.

"Who knows, let's just get out of here. I'm sick of this hospital," James grumbled. The others couldn't help but agree. William looked at what they managed to salvage-a single first aid spray.

'What a joke,' he thought. He followed the rest of the group as they headed further into the desolate city. The last sound they heard was the moans echoing from inside the hospital building.