Danielle closed the door of her hotel room as quickly as possible, leaning against it and trembling. What could be going on, and why was she in a hotel? However, the hotel room was not her main concern. She had this inescapable feeling that she had to get out. She picked up her purse and unzipped it, fumbling around for her cell phone. She flipped it open only to find it was dead. Unable to turn it on, she sighed in dismay at the black screen. What was she to do? She knew she needed to get out of the hotel, that was for sure.

She dropped her phone back into her purse and set it on a nearby table. She next pocketed her plastic room key card and stepped out into the hallway. After she let go of the door, it closed behind her, and she cautiously proceeded down the hall. No sound pervaded the air. She listened closer and found that just as earlier, it was far too quiet. No sounds of elevators opening or closing, no sounds from any of the rooms, just deathly silence. Whoever said that silence is golden was terribly wrong. Well, he was in this case, anyway.

The hallway changed very gradually; the red walls faded to white in such a manner that she forgot they had previously been red. The carpeted floors changed to bare, white tiles. As she rounded a corner she spotted a large mirror on the bland wall. Danielle paused to examine her reflection. As expected the mirror did show the white hallway and her reflection. Her black hair stuck to her sweaty forehead while her dark eyes reflected the dread of what she feared she would next encounter, curiosity pushing her forward.

The hallway seemed to never end, to never change back to the hotel of red walls and carpet. Unexplained anxiety made it more difficult to move, but she overcame it, going into a panicked run, back into the direction of the hotel room. She could barely breathe and her head throbbed with dizziness and fear. The pasty hallway seemed to have no end. She continued running and was relieved to see the corridor ended in wide double doors, but had they been there before? She could not remember. Whatever happened before the hospital seemed so vague and distant.

Danielle flung open the doors and ran into a large room full of rows of beds. Her run had reduced to a rather slow walk as she examined the new surroundings. When she arrived at the middle of the room she finally noticed that the beds' occupants were rotting corpses. She suddenly rushed through the rest of the room, the frantic beating of her heart echoing in her ears, until she came to a stop ten feet in front of the silhouette of a man in front of another set of doors. Danielle's eyes focused on the claw of blades as the man slid them against each other, emitted a sound somewhere between a click and the cutting of scissors, a gesture that seemed to be telling her, 'You're next.'

Danielle woke up in a hot sweat, reaching over to turn off her alarm clock. She took a quick shower, trying to forget strange feelings of paranoia. After getting ready for the day, she approached Lydia's room and knocked on the door. "Hey, Lydia? You need to get up. Are you awake?"

Lydia found herself to be on a street that thrived with life. Trees were brightly blooming their flowers, the sun was shining in the cloudless sky, and the sidewalks were occupied by skateboarders and children. As she walked down the pavement, clouds began to cover the sky, casting shadows over the surroundings. She looked over at a section of a sidewalk that had become covered by shadows, and stopped walking. Gravestones had appeared in the darkness. Something definitely wasn't right here, but she looked away and kept walking. Her attention was soon brought to a car that drove slowly by, and she could swear for a moment the driver was a corpse..but when the sunlight entered the window and struck the driver's face, he was fine.

After the car was gone, Lydia saw animated corpses walking on the sidewalk that was now visible. She started to walk, though she was distracted by the people changing from dead to living as the light changed from sunlight to darkness.

"Oh, sorry-" She felt herself bump into someone, and she turned her head forwards and down to see a mutilated girl, blood streaming from various wounds all over her body and strips of flesh covered in maggots hanging from her body.

In a sudden flash of light, the girl's wounds were gone and she smiled brightly. Her black dress had become white, but she reverted to her other appearance just as quickly.

Lydia slowly stepped backwards, then turned and ran. When she glanced over her shoulder, the child was gone, as were all the others. Her heart beating furiously, Lydia realized all of the street was covered in darkness. No one was around anymore, but the trees were dead and the green grass was gray.

All was silent. She could feel wind lightly blowing on her face, but the air didn't move the bare tree branches one centimeter. Why was it so cold? She crossed her arms over her chest and could soon see her breathe in the icy air.

She flinched when she felt cold metal press to her shoulder and warm breathe on her neck.

"Lydia!" Danielle opened her door and Lydia's eyes opened.

"What?" Lydia rubbed her eyes then touched her shoulder.

"Time to get up!" Danielle threw Lydia's penguin doll at her.