"Hey," Luffy called over his shoulder, his finger pressed to his lips, "What's that sound?"

Usopp looked around the darkened hall before making an angry face, "I don't know! Don't scare me like that! I can't even hear anything!"

Luffy snickered, slapping Usopp on the back, "But I wasn't kidding. I hear something…"

"Shut up!" Usopp panicked again.

"Be quiet, Usopp," Zoro breathed out, his eyes narrowed. "I think I hear something too."

"It sounds like…" Luffy paused in thought, "Chinese ghosts…"

Clay scoffed, walking past them, he turned, his eyes rolling, "It's music, you uncultured swine…"

Zoro and Luffy looked at each other in surprise. Zoro shook his head and breathed out, "No…"

Clay nodded, "It's opera."

Luffy nodded his head, scratching his chin, "Okay… imagine I believe you… why is it coming from that direction?"

"Well, I wouldn't know that, but I do know that I have danced to the whimsical 'L'enfant et les Sortilèges' myself…" Clay said proudly. He began to sashay down the hall, "Wanna see some of it? Yours truly was the Chinese teapot before being cast as-"

"Guys, it means someone's here," Usopp explained, shaking his head. "Or, at the very least, someone was here recently."

"Someone intentionally put this on? Like to listen to it?" Zoro asked, arching a skeptical brow. "Sounds more like an attempt on their life."

"Alright then," Clay demanded indignantly. "What music do you listen to?"

"Not this," Zoro replied, shaking his head. There was a terrible warbling bray as Luffy attempted to sing along with the frantic French singer. He smiled wide as Zoro turned to look at him. "No."

Luffy nodded, "Yeah, okay."

"Let's hurry up," Usopp instructed, taking the lead. "If that's a doctor, the others need them ASAP." Usopp shook his head in aggravation. "I mean, Sanji wasn't lookin' very good at all. We need a legitimate professional…"

"Hey," Luffy called out, "Don't get too far ahead…"

"We should find an intercom and make an announcement," Clay suggested. "Any doctors not currently infected with the zombieism please report to the emergency bay…"

"And then we've given out the location of our wounded, the women, and child," Usopp explained.

"Ugh, this apocalypse thing is too hard," Clay complained. "I hate hating everyone that isn't us."

"That's why I hate us too," Zoro said, walking ahead, "Feels more equal."

"The music's coming from there," Luffy said, pointing toward a set of metal double doors.

Usopp turned, "Clay, maybe you should wait here…"

Clay scoffed, "Excuse me? I am a grown person. I'm fully capable of defending myself and others and…"

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Zoro snapped, eyes wide and stern. "It's time to be really fucking quiet."

"Damn," Luffy murmured, "the smell…"

"What smell?" Usopp asked, sniffing the air.

"Alcohol and betadine and latex and plastic and…" Luffy inhaled nervously. "Blood and cotton and metal and sterility and just all that medical stuff…" Luffy's breathing became uneven. "The smell is too strong… I can't… I can't go in there…" Luffy's chest heaved in and out sharply, "That's why I came here because I didn't wanna go in the ER and now I'm just that much further into the hospital and I just can't… I can't breathe… The smell…"

"Hey," Zoro barked, grabbing Luffy's shoulders. "Hey. Calm down."

"I can't… I can't… I wanna go… I don't wanna be here…" Luffy panicked. "I can't breathe. The smell is too strong… I can't breathe in here… there's no oxygen… Something's wrong… the oxygen levels or something…"

"Luffy," Zoro breathed out, dropping to his knees as Luffy sank to the floor. He grabbed Luffy tightly. He intended to shake the younger man until he came to his senses, but he found himself pulling the smaller man into his arms. He embraced Luffy tightly, holding him against his chest. He felt Luffy's heart between them, pounding wildly in his chest. "Your heart…" Zoro murmured, "Is beating like a rabbit's."

"Yeah…" Luffy choked out, closing his eyes. He dropped his head against Zoro's shoulder.

"This isn't Deadhouse," Zoro whispered. "No one is going to touch you. No needles, no tests. Nothing. I will die before anyone touches you again…"

"I don't want you to die," Luffy groaned, his breathing becoming uneven again.

Zoro clenched his eyes closed tightly, cursing himself for upsetting Luffy. Zoro brushed his hand through Luffy's unkempt hair. Zoro exhaled heavily, knocking his forehead against Luffy's, "Luffy, I don't want to die either. So, you know," Zoro struggled for the words, "That just means I'm going to keep you safe… You don't need to worry about it."

"You need to be calm," Zoro insisted, smacking his hand against Luffy's chest, over his heart. He clutched at Luffy's body firmly, a gesture that made the smaller man squirm. "You're scaring the regular humans. You need to knock it off." Zoro grinned as Luffy looked up at him. "What the hell have you got to be scared about?"

Luffy's face split into an identical grin, "What I'm scared of isn't here."

"Yeah," Zoro said, smacking his hand against Luffy's chest again. "There's nothing here that can hurt you."

Luffy nodded, clasping Zoro's hand and holding it in place over his heart, "I'm okay."

Zoro nodded too, lowering his gaze to Luffy's knobby, scabbed knees, "You're okay."

Luffy released Zoro's hand and stood, wiping his face with his arm, "Alright then. I'll go first…"

Luffy wasn't prepared for what was just past those shiny, metal doors. He pushed them apart and stepped through them, his fingertips pressed against the cold steel. The doors slapped against the wall, the rubber bumpers on the bottom dragging across the tiled floor.

Opera music shook the walls, pounding baritone quaking the bloodstained privacy curtains. The impressive sound came from an inoffensive looking speaker; a cellphone placed in the center slot. The musical piece was frantic and dizzying, oddly impish and cheeky.

"I'll turn that shit off," Zoro declared, speaking quietly as he moved to walk around Luffy. Luffy caught him, holding him in place with his arm.

"Wait…" Luffy warned, his voice low.

"What happened here?" Clay whispered, staring down at the black puddles of dried blood.

"Oh, Christ," Usopp murmured, crossing himself. "I think I'm going to shit myself. Like, actually, relieve my bowels right here…"

"Well, if you do there's a nice shower you can use," Clay teased quietly, pointing to the far corner. One look at the rotting limbs on the floor and Usopp knew he'd die before he used that restroom.

"This is old," Zoro sighed, lowering his machete. "Everything's rotten and black."

"Thank you, Jesus," Usopp exclaimed. "You're really lookin' out for me."

"Yeah," Luffy said, almost too quietly to hear, licking his lips, "But that isn't…"

"Nuh uh," Usopp protested with a squeaky voice. "Don't talk like that… What do you mean? What isn't?!"

Luffy lifted his arm, pointing toward one of the stalls. He gestured to the eighth bed, the curtain drawn around it. Fresh red blood leaked out from under the ugly, floral curtain; spreading across the tile. "Right there."

"I'll go look…" Zoro offered.

Luffy grabbed him by the hand. He shook his head and he walked forward. His hands were at his side as he stepped over and through the decaying carnage. He wrinkled up his nose, doing his best to ignore the nauseating stench. Without a word he snatched the curtain and threw it around on the track, exposing the bed.

Luffy inhaled sharply, his eyes narrowing as he gazed upon the corpse. It was a man, middle aged and typical in most ways. He had been cut apart, his chest and abdominal cavities sliced open. His eyes were open and unseeing, his mouth frozen in a frightened expression. His clothes were torn and tattered, soaked with blood, but Luffy could almost make out the badge still pinned to the fragments of his blue scrubs.

"What is it?! I can't fucking take this shit!" Usopp shouted.

One of the curtains to the left was thrown open. With a delirious screech, a demented doctor in a white lab coat, turned on the bone saw in his hands. He lunged forward slicing the saw through the air. He ran down the aisle between beds, straight at Luffy. Another curtain was opened, and then another.

"Oh, fuck this," Usopp breathed, lifting his rifle. "Nuh uh. Nuh uh! I can't handle this… If they get near me, I'm shooting them…"

Luffy jumped over the bed and slid through a puddle of blood. He lost his balanced and smeared rotting flesh across himself and the tile. He leapt to his feet, his body visibly shaking. He waved his arms wildly, his face turned down in a grimace, "Shoot them! SHOOT THEM!"

"You heard 'im," Zoro announced, flipping his machetes around in his hands. "Shoot 'em."

"Alright," Usopp breathed between his teeth, "I got this." Usopp stepped forward and fired three quick shots. "Done."

Luffy scrambled back to where the others stood. He turned around and surveyed the scene with disbelief, "Holy shit. Those fuckers were scary. They had saws and white coats and they were chasing me…"

"You're fine," Zoro said, firm and short.

"Yeah," Luffy nodded. "I'm fine."

"I don't think I've seen a zombie use weapons before," Clay remarked.

"They weren't zombies," Zoro said, walking forward to examine one of the corpses. "Their skin is gray and splotched…" Zoro kicked the body to roll it over. "Like back at the compound."

"Huh?" Luffy called out. "We can't hear you."

"Turn that shit off," Usopp instructed, gesturing to the speakers.

Zoro walked across the room and kicked the speakers roughly; pulling the cord from the outlet as it was thrown against the far wall. He turned around with an impatient sigh, "I said, they aren't zombies. They were human. They've all got those weird rashes like back at the compound."

"This place," Luffy realized. "It reminds me of somewhere." Luffy shook his head in displeasure, closing his eyes. He ran his hands through his hair and groaned loudly before opening his eyes again, "It's like when I woke up in Deadhouse. In those freezers…"

"Than… thank… you…"

Everyone's heads snapped toward the sound of the noise. It came from beside Zoro, in one of the beds. Fresh, scarlet blood dripped down the bed, creating a halo of red around the man. He tried to sit up, flesh tearing from his body as he moved.

"What the fuck…" Zoro breathed out, raising his machete.

"Th… thank you… for saving… me…" the man said, blood gushing from his wounds.

"Oh fuck he's still alive," Zoro panicked, jumping over a body to run back to where the others stood.

"Why are you running this way?!" Usopp demanded. "Go do something!"

"Do something?!" Zoro shouted back. "Like what?! You go do something!"

"It must not be that bad," Clay suggested.

"Are you a doctor?" Luffy called out. The man sputtered and choked, blood spraying visibly into the air. The others huddled together, their arms held up by their mouths. "You okay?"

"No," the man said weakly. "I'm… I'm afraid I'm… unwell…"

"No shit," Zoro whispered.

Usopp nodded, "Someone should go check. Maybe put the poor guy out of his misery."

"Yeah?" Zoro pressed, eyeing Usopp critically. "Someone should?"

"Oh for fuck's sake, I'll go. Give me that," Clay spat, grabbing one of Zoro's machetes.

Clay walked across the floor, stepping over and around as much of the carnage as possible. He stood in front of the man's bed, the machete held behind his back. He approached cautiously; taking in the man's restraints, his battered body.

"Do you work here?" Clay asked.

The man shook his head, or rather he tried to, and he answered, "No…"

"Were you a patient?" Clay asked, stepping closer.

"Yes," the man answered.

Clay was close enough to make out certain details. The man was an older gentleman with dark skin. Much of his body had been sliced, pieces of him were scattered around the floor. Clay couldn't imagine the man had much longer to live. He loosened his hold on the machete and turned back to the others, "Perhaps we can find some pain meds or something?" Clay shrugged, mouthing to the others, "Maybe some air in a vein or something?"

"Please…" the man breathed out weakly. "Untie me…"

Clay nodded, holding the machete between his legs. He loosened the restraints on the man's arm, trying to ignore the way the man's flesh fell from the bone. Rather than lean across the man's disfigured body, he decided to walk around.

"What are you doing?" a doctor suddenly demanded, stepping over the speaker and approaching Clay. He glowered angrily, his discolored fist shaking as he raised his hand above his head. "Where are the others? Who are you?"

Clay screamed loudly, brandishing the machete wildly. He bumped into the curtain beside him and suddenly he was wrapped up in it, someone grabbing hold of him from the other side. He continued to scream in horror as he was pulled under the curtain. The curtain wavered and flapped and then suddenly the screaming stopped and the curtain moved no more.

"Oh shit! They killed Clay!" Usopp shouted.

Luffy's face dropped, his mouth hanging open in shock, "Clayyyyyy?"

"Who are you?" The doctor repeated, charging toward them. "You can't be in here! Why are you interfering with my patients?"

"Shoot him," Zoro breathed, turning to Usopp. "He's fucking looney."

Luffy began to rush to Clay. Zoro grabbed Luffy's shirt and yanked him back. Usopp fired and Zoro let Luffy go, shaking his head, "Don't walk in front of the gun, Luf."

"Clay? Clay!" Luffy shouted, throwing open every curtain he passed. Finally he came to where he knew Clay had been pulled in. Without hesitation he tossed the curtain aside, "Clay?"

"I… th… th… think I'm o-o-okay," Clay's teeth chattered, his entire body shaking.

Luffy looked up at the thing behind Clay and took a step back, "What the heck is that?"

"I'm a person, thank you," the thing replied, letting go of its grip on Clay.

"Th-th-thank you for saving me," Clay replied, turning around and bumping into Luffy. "I mean that's what you did, right? You saved me?" Luffy grabbed Clay and bolstered him in place. Luffy turned in a small circle, scooting Clay further away before turning back to face the man.

"Thank goodness you guys came along," the man sighed, turning his sunken face toward Luffy. "They've gone mad. They've locked the others upstairs, killed most of the older folks right away…"

"Wow," Luffy breathed out, reaching out and touching the bone that protruded through the man's chest. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

The man smiled, the sliced, thin flesh of his cheeks pulling taut, "Not at all."

"Wait," Zoro interrupted, walking up to them, "Who's gone crazy? How many? Was that everyone? Who's upstairs?"

When Zoro really saw the man, could finally make out the finer details of his impossible condition, he grabbed Luffy. He stood between them, holding Luffy back with a firm arm. "What the hell… what's wrong with you?"

A chunk of flesh dropped from the man's ear. The man laughed in embarrassment, covering his remaining ear with his boney hand, "Oh, excuse me…" The man groaned, "I'm falling apart."

"What am I seeing?" Usopp demanded, still holding his rifle up. "Like, I know what I see, but I don't know what I'm seeing… Ya know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Zoro agreed, scooting back slowly. "I get it."

"Oh, don't be afraid, kids," the man said, walking forward. "I don't mean you any harm."

"Yeah," Luffy replied, trying to peek around Zoro. "He's an old man. What's an old man gonna do?"

"He's an old man…" Clay repeated in disbelief. "He's a dead person…"

"Dead people don't talk," Luffy said, making eyes at Zoro.

Zoro felt his stomach drop and he immediately lowered his machete, "Yeah. That's right. Dead people don't talk."

"I'm Luffy," Luffy said, walking around Zoro, "This is Zoro."

"Oh, now we're just introducing ourselves." Usopp blurted. "How nice."

"That's Usopp," Luffy explained, "And this is our new friend, Clay."

"Hello. It's been some time since I've seen new people," the man realized, tapping his fleshless chin. He returned his attention back to Luffy, "I'm Brook."

"Brook?" Luffy repeated. "Cool. You said there were others?"

"Yes," Brook nodded, skin crumbling from his neck. "They've been locked away. We need to help them…"

"Okay, wait a damn minute," Usopp interjected. "I'm thrilled there's another black dude in the mix here. And I see he's an old, defenseless grandpa. But I seriously don't know how you don't have a problem with talking to some guy that's literally falling apart as he talks…" Usopp gestured to Brook with his rifle, "His ear just fell off! His ear fell off!"

"What do you want us to do about it?" Zoro asked, throwing his hands up.

"I have to be honest," Brook declared, "I was bitten."

"No shit," Usopp breathed, shaking his head.

"I came to the hospital. It was a mad house. I couldn't get a room…" Brook explained. "I fell asleep and woke up in the morgue…"

"The morgue," Usopp repeated, lowering his rifle to cross his arms defiantly over his chest.

"When I tried to find someone I ran into Doctor Hogback," Brook continued. "At first he appeared to be right in the head, but then he changed. He tied me to that bed right there and then left me…" Brook shook his head, flesh sloughing off, "I told him I wasn't infected but he didn't believe me… He didn't believe any of us…"

"Are one of these guys Dr. Hogback?" Zoro asked, gesturing to the dead men.

Brook shook his head, "No. I don't know how long it's been since I've seen him."

"He's not a zombie, I don't think," Clay reasoned, "And he's not covered in rashes… So… he's safe?"

"He saved you anyhow," Luffy answered, "And we should try to repay our debts." Luffy looked around the room before settling on the eighth bed, "He died… while we were talking…"

"Good," Zoro grunted. "He's done suffering."

"Do you know where the others were being held?" Luffy asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, I do."

"And there are doctors in there? Sane doctors?" Luffy pressed.

Brook nodded vigorously, his eyeball rolling right out of his skull and between Zoro's feet, "I'd swear on my life… If I still had one…"