A Life Internal - A Fable

Part 5

It was a surprise to him that the voice that responded was human. "Hello Mr. Blake, its good that I finally get to speak with you." The voice was eerily calm, every word said very precisely. Blake, on the other hand, sounded exasperated and bordered on insanity, "Who the hell are you and how do you know me?" There was a chuckle on the other line in response, "Now, Mr. Blake", the voice said, "That's hardly polite."

Polite?!, thought William, Who the hell is this guy? As if he knew what Blake was thinking the voice spoke again, "How rude of me, though I can't give my name just yet, I will say that I wish to help you. In order to do that though, I'll need you to get to where I am."

"And just how am I supposed to do that with all those things out there?"

"Mr. Blake? Are you feeling alright?" The voice said, still calm.

"I don't know anymore, I've been attacked twice, my car is trashed, that little bitch stole my briefcase..."

The voice cut him off there, "I'm not sure what you mean Mr. Blake, you car looks fine from here and right now, I have your briefcase."

"What the hell are you talking about, my car..." Blake stood and looked out the window again at the heap his car had become, he felt the intended words leave his mind as he saw his car sitting in the lot perfectly intact. "I...I..."

"Now as I was saying Mr. Blake, I need you to come to where I am. I don't know who attacked you, but if it makes you feel any safer you can check the drawer on the night stand the phone was on. There should be an evacuation plan on the wall as well, that will help guide you, right now you are in Room M1 on the second floor if you use the second stairwell you should be able to reach the third floor. I will be in examining room 4. Please hurry as there is much to be done." With this statement there was a click and the line went dead.

Blake sat with mouth agape for several moments, still holding the phone to his ear. Was this all in his head? He knew what he saw when he looked outside. He shook it off. "Get it together, Bill," He muttered to himself. He looked on the wall and saw the evacuation plan that the man on the phone had mentioned. He walked over to it and pulled at its edge and it gave way easily.

He was starting out of the room when he remembered what the man had said about the drawer in the night stand. Cautiously he returned to it and pulled the drawer open. Several bullets thrown randomly into the drawer rolled to its front. He examined one and saw that it was the same size the gun he currently carried took. He was beyond asking why at this point and he simply reloaded his gun and pocketed the rest.

With the gun in one hand and the evacuation plan in the other he cracked the door slightly, awaiting the return of the beast that had attacked him earlier. When it didn't come he opened the door the rest of the way and was greeted by dim ultraviolet light illuminated a pristine white hallway. Indeed this hardly even looked like the same hospital he had been exploring previously. He tried to stay focused and kept reminding himself: find this asshole, get some answers.

Keeping his newly reloaded gun pointed ahead of him he started for the stairwell marked on his map. He was thankful for the light, but could not understand. He knew he had seen the decayed walls and darkened hallways. Unless he was losing his mind, there was no way that this was possible. But he couldn't be losing his mind, he was still spattered with the blood of the first creature that had attacked him. Why hadn't that disappeared if all he had seen had not been real.

He found the stairwell and began his ascent. As he walked out onto the third floor he was greeted by a familiar clicking sound that returned the lump to his throat.