Chapter Three

Gotta get out of here! Gotta get some air! George ran to the back of the ward, breaking the eerie silence with his footsteps. He passed the snack machine along the way and his stomach turned just thinking about his earlier assumptions of the cannibal, Mrs Alexander. What happened to her? Will all of my patients turn in to ravenous beasts of the undead?

He slammed through the double doors of the cafeteria and stopped to catch his breath, the doors swinging back behind him. Wait a minute. Where is everybody? There should be at least one person here an employee or otherwise. But there wasn't. This room was just as quiet as the ward, which didn't do much to help George calm down.

He walked slowly over to the back of the room, the light above flickering on and off. Then he noticed something. Moving closer into the darkness as the light flickered off. Is that what I think it is? No it can't be……can it?

The light flashed on again and his mind was in disbelief about what he had just seen; A pool of dark liquid oozing from an old brown boot, which rested in the centre of the puddle. Except it wasn't just a boot, a person's leg was still inside it, cutting off halfway up the knee. It looked like it had been snapped clean off. But what could have done this?

Suddenly, a man emerged from the darkness dragging his body across the floor. He looked as though he had the same infection as Mrs Alexander, his eyes lifeless. Then man opened his mouth, as though to speak, but all that was heard was a hunger-filled rasp.

He was gaining on George now and at an amazing rate considering he was on the floor and by the look of him, it was his boot surrounded by the dark liquid.

Through the shock of the situation unfolding before him, George had found himself on the floor, his arms leaning on the floor for support so that he wouldn't fall flat on the ground. He tried to get a grip on the slippery tiles, not wanting to end up like Mr Rawlinson in the ward. He would prefer to walk out of this hospital alive.

Then he caught a glimpse of another. Except this was a woman and she was standing up, but by the look of her, she had suffered the same fate as the crawling man. She couldn't move as fast as him though, which was to George's advantage. She had the stance of an elderly woman, moving as though she was in a trance, coming closer and closer to him.

The two bodies were now gaining on George, and fast. I need to get out of here, but where can I go? How many other things are out there wandering around the hospital and God knows where else? Well first things first, I'll have to get out of here. Then I can plan what to do next if this is an outbreak of epidemic proportions.

He managed to move himself towards the thick metal doors that led towards the front of the building, willing his hands to work, willing his whole body to get back up so that he could get out of there.

Soon he was on his feet again, his whole body shaking as he tried to open the door, pulling the handle with all of his strength, but to no avail. Someone must have locked the door from the other side. Maybe they locked these things in here and now I'm trapped in here with them. I'm going to die here; I should've just stayed in my office.

Then a loud crash came from the reception area. Please don't let it be more of these ravenous monsters. Then he heard gunshots and the whole room seemed to move in slow motion as the woman toppled to the ground. George took his chance and ran towards his office. After all, they could suspect him of being one of those mindless zombies and he might get a bullet to the brain like that woman did.

He ran and ran as fast as he could, smashing through the cafeteria doors, coming back into the ward and into his office. He would be safe here he was sure of it. But what if they come looking for me. I'll hide. Yes that's what I'll do. So he shut the blinds of his office and went back to hiding under the table in his office.

He heard footsteps rush by, it sounded like two people, but at least one of them had a gun. His office door opened slowly with a creak as the footsteps came closer and George thought that it was all over

When Cindy and Kevin finally pulled up outside the Raccoon City Hospital they were enveloped by the eerie silence as the jeep's engine died. The place looked deserted though. Windows in front of the four-storey building were either smashed or cracked. Bringing a sick man into this place may not be such a good idea. What the hell happened here? This place looks like a war zone. But only when the though crept into his mind did Kevin realise how right he was. Cars were turned over abandoned in the streets, too smashed up to be of any use. Shattered glass littered the floor looking like diamonds as the moonlight cast a strange glow over them.

"Maybe we should go inside and maybe find out what's going on around here". Cindy ventured towards the door not knowing what horrors could be lurking behind it. She grabbed the metal door handle emblazoned with a red cross set inside a gold hexagon; the Raccoon City Hospital's crest. A chill went down her spine as she imagined dozens of scenarios that could unfold as she entered beyond the barrier.

Darkness shadowed any movement inside, but a lone lamp outside provided enough light to see the reception area and the waiting room, and by the look of things, it was as bad on the inside as it was on the outside. The light reflected off the glass pane in the middle of the door and she noticed something move in Kevin's jeep. "Kevin what are you doing in the jeep? Stop fooling around. I'm scared enough as it is".

"I'm not in the jeep". Kevin jogged to Cindy's position, "it must be that man from the gas station. Maybe he's feeling better". Kevin walked cautiously towards his jeep. After hearing the story Cindy had told him he didn't want to be caught off guard, even if there was a rational explanation for it. "Sir? Are you alright?" but there was no answer, just a raspy moaning sound. He looked in the back where the sound seemed to be coming from and although he couldn't see much in the poor light, he knew that the man had gone. But where could he have gone? He was unconscious a few minutes ago…wasn't he?

Suddenly, something jumped from the shadows behind him and grabbed him from behind. The grip wasn't very firm and Kevin was athletic and knew what to do in a situation like this. He grabbed its arm, which felt like jelly and threw it over his shoulder. It smashed down on the asphalt hard with a few cracking bones audible in the still night. Kevin's eyes fell to the ground where the body lay discovering that it was none other than the gas station attendant. But he was different. Skin was peeling from his face and an insatiable hunger could be seem in his eyes as he tried to stand up and attack Kevin again. But Kevin was too fast. A quick kick with his right foot into the man's gut settled him instantly.

Then, as if from nowhere, about twenty people were standing around him and even though the lighting was bad he could see that they were indeed suffering from the same illness as the man on the floor. They approached him, somehow sensing fresh meat, but Kevin wasn't going to give up so easily. He may be outnumbered but he wasn't outdone. Fighting them all would be suicide; he would need to find somewhere safe to escape these fiends for Cindy's sake as well as his.

He sprinted towards Cindy who had just watched the whole thing happen right in front of her. She was frozen with fear and shock when Kevin finally reached her; unable to move from where she stood as though her feet were glued to the ground. Kevin shook her trying to snap her out of the state she was in so she could get the adrenaline pumping and move! "Come on Cindy, Please! We have to hurry".

Somehow what Kevin said made Cindy react and she turned on her heel, yanked the door open and fled, leaving the situation behind her. Kevin followed hot on her heels. They arrived in a reception area that doubled as a waiting area for patients before being examined by a doctor. It was pretty dark inside, the only light behind them, which prevented a close inspection. Kevin searched the room for something to barricade the door with to at least protect them long enough from the hordes of mutilated creatures heading their way. It looked like there was a shutter in front of the door in case of an emergency, but there didn't seem to be a way to operate it, and even if there were, it would need power.

The most logical place for an emergency power generator would be the basement, but he didn't want to leave Cindy alone, and by the time he came back, it may be too late. The reception area may have something useful that could help them for a while. Kevin ran to the reception desk and searched for anything that could be associated with either the emergency power and or the shutter. It was covered with correspondence with the hospital's logo on the front, but nothing seemed eye-catching enough to be read. There were a few pens and pencils in the drawer as well as a gold key with a biohazard symbol etched onto it. He pocketed the key and continued his search coming up with nothing. "I'm sorry about al this Cindy. I didn't mean to bring you into all of this trouble"

"It's alright. It wasn't your fault and I'm sure I would have come across this place sooner or later. I'm just glad I'm not alone in all of this. So do you believe me about Rose? Or was she just playing a trick on me. Oh that is so not funny."

"You bet I believe you. After being surrounded by about twenty of those things there's no doubt about it". But what the hell is going on here? How did everyone in the city become infected? Well maybe I should think about this later. I seriously doubt that the creatures outside are going to wait much longer to attack. "This room is coming up empty. We'll have to search somewhere else for an escape route, preferably one that doesn't involve going up against hordes of the undead. This place isn't much safer than outside. There could be ten times as many zombies in here. After all, it is a hospital."

"Then where do you suggest we go? There is no electricity, at least not here, how are we going to find our way around this maze. I think it was built to confuse us." Cindy laughed, for the first time since Rose had 'turned', maybe she was starting to come to terms with her loss. Rest in Peace my friend and be sure that I'll get whoever's behind your death and I'll make them pay dearly for it.

"I think we should try the basement first. There's a map on that wall I'm sure I can take it down and viola I have a torch to light the w-

Smash! Kevin was cut off by the sound of glass falling on the floor. It was the glass pane from the front door, which had fallen through along with a zombie's bloody hand. Although dark liquid oozed from its hand, the creature apparently felt no pain.

"Well no time like the present." Cindy picked up an ashtray that lay on one the tables in the waiting area and smashed the glass that surrounded the gold-framed map. She used the ashtray to get rid of any sharp edges and pulled the A3 piece of paper out of captivity and ran to the nearest set of stairs on the map. "Follow me. The basement's this way."

"What about the zombies?" Kevin asked.

"They're too slow to be of much danger to us and it's going to take them all a long time to get through a glass pane in a door." Cindy slowed down as Kevin caught up. "Hey can I borrow that torch?"

"Sure" Kevin passed her the small L-shaped torch, which she tucked into the top pocket of her white t-shirt giving a small amount of visibility as they raced into the unknown.

"It's finally completed!" Alyssa Johnson couldn't help shouting out to the world. She had finally created a vaccine to combat the killer disease known as the T-Virus. She would now be able to sell it to the highest bidder and become the richest scientist alive.

Weeks of sleepless nights had all paid off. It was now complete. The others had given up hope, thought I was stupid to carry on with this, but who's laughing now! She walked over to the glass vial that contained her latest creation, the light blue liquid inside the capsule giving off a slight glow. She picked it up out of the synthesizer and held it in her hands. Just touching it, holding it in her hands, gave her a feeling of immense power.

She slid the four-digit code on the Titanium suitcase dial, which was placed on top of the metallic bench inside the lab, and slowly opened it placing the vaccine into the indentation and closing it. It will be safe there. Nobody even knows of its existence, not even Umbrella. That is until I am safely out of this godforsaken town. Now for a place to hide it until I have secured my escape. She walked briskly towards the statue of a businessman with his hand held open to hold something. A bronze plaque with the words "Work hard and you can achieve anything". Alyssa reflected on the company motto, with words like that its no wonder I turned out like I did.

The statue was made of a metal alloy identical in colour to the briefcase that she held in her hand, which she placed in the statue's lifeless hands. A second passed and the weight of the briefcase began a mechanism inside the statue opening a hole in the wall as the statue began to turn on its circular foundation into the wall only to be replaced by a fully Bronze statue identical to the first except this was missing a suitcase. Perfect. Now how am I going to get out of here?