"Get me the hell out of here!"
Definitely not a peaceful one.
"Miss Pataki! Please! You must not move!"
"And who the hell are you to tell me!"
"I'm your doctor!"
"And I don't give a damn!"
Half of the section's staff had all their hands full with restraining the young lady, who was boiling with rage. Outside the room, two doctors were watching.
"Just when you think that nothing can surprise you any-more, you get something like this."
"To think that only yesterday she had to undergo difficult surgery!"
"Yeah, the bullet hit a vital point. It's a miracle she survived the surgery! She shouldn't even be awake, yet here she is beating-up our staff!"
"Didn't anyone sedate her?"
"They did!"
"They don't get paid enough for this!"
While the two were caught-up in the conversation, a large man entered the room.
"Why the hell are you limiting my daughter's personal freedom!"
"Mr. Pataki" said the attending doctor "your daughter has undergone a difficult spinal surgery, she must not move until the wound is fully healed!"
"Says who?"
"The medical staff, regulations, common sense..."
"Meh, what's possibly the worst thing that could happen?"
"The strain would be too much for her body and her spine would snap, leaving her paralysed for the rest of her life."
"Wait! Hold right there! Are you trying to tell me that if my draff of a daughter won't lay still, I'll have her on my back for the rest of my life?"
"Pretty much."
"Olga! I forbid you to move a muscle until the good doctor tells you otherwise!"
"My name is Helga!"
"Yeah, whatever. Doctor, sedate this child immediately!"
"But she is already sedated!"
"Then sedate her even more!"
"That might kill her."
"Well, at least she won't be a cripple" said he while trying to force a laugh out of himself.
"Why do I get the feeling he was being serious?" muttered one of the doctors observing the scene.
"I bet you'd love to see that" Helga remarked with a highly irritated voice.
"Don't be silly Olga!"
"Helga!"
"Whatever, me and your mother are both worried about you!"
"Than how come you didn't come to visit until now? It's been two days! In fact, where the hell is Miriam?"
"Your mother wanted to visit ever since the moment she heard you had your little accident, but..."
"Little accident? I've got freaking shot! I don't even want to know what would have to happen to me to get your attention!"
"You always had our fullest attention!"
"Yes? Bob! You didn't even pay attention when..."
Bob's cellphone suddenly rang.
"Wait a minute!... What?... Tomorrow?... Hold on e second!..." he turned to Helga "sorry, have to go" he returned to his call "Those guys are nuts!"
Ranting and raving Big Bob walked out of the hospital.
"You know" said one of the doctors "now I think I can understand where all that rage comes from."
Back at home, Arnold was heavily unnerved.
Unnerved was a weak expression. Wrecked would be more appropriate. He didn't recover ever since he saw that news report. It didn't get any better even after they told him that they found Phoebe and that she's going to make it. Arnold didn't want to admit this to himself, but this wasn't really about his friends. For the past few days he was just a mere shadow of his former self. Whether at home or at school, all he did was to stare in front of himself.
"Hey, cheer-up Arnold!" said Gerald "Things are turning-up fine!"
"What do you mean by fine? Just look at yourself!"
"Nah, the doctor said I'd be fine. The bullet didn't hit any vital parts, I just won't be able to use my left arm for a while. It's going to be a boring weekend."
"And what about the others?"
"Helga's mother said that her surgery was successful, the doctors were afraid she might end-up paralysed, but she seems to be recovering just fine. Phoebe, thanks god, is just unconscious and dehydrated. The only-one that makes me worried is Eugene. They say that something has torn him in half, just a rumour, and that the doctors are putting him back together."
"Eugene went with you as well?"
"No, he just happened to be there."
"And what about Harold, Stinky and Sid? I haven't seen them in school ever since!"
"Those? They got away unharmed. Ran away as soon as the shooting begun. I'd do the same, but I had to drag Helga out of there!"
"Aha."
"Anyway, how are the new guys?"
"Who?"
"Your grandfather told me you got new boarders."
"Haven't seen them yet. They came during the night and are still sleeping, grandpa says that they won't stay long, they came to town for business only."
"Don't you think it is strange that as soon as the Reddish skipped town another couple took their place?"
"No, I don't! And you shouldn't either! Wasn't one bullet enough!"
"Calm down man! I wasn't suggesting anything. Has your grandfather already told the police?"
"No he hasn't, even thou I'm sure he recognised them just like everyone else. The two were quite nice despite their quirks and it was obviously self-defence"
"Tell that to my arm!"
"So why won't you tell?"
"Touch ."
As they spoke a young red-haired woman dressed in a long bath-robe and with a sleepy look on her face passed them by.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Fenton."
She looked their way, for a moment it seemed like she wanted to say something but instead she just walked past them murmuring "good day to you too."
Same time, different place. Possibly on the other end of the country.
A girl was walking down the highway. She walked for hours under the hot sun, yet her skin remained pale. Her messy, unnaturally looking blue hair was tied in two pig-tales. She wore a blue skirt and a shirt in poor condition. A week has passed since she was driven out of the last town. She's been surviving on whatever she could find. Her injuries were almost completely healed at this point. Deep inside she was actually glad it turned-out this way. She could handle a beating, but she wasn't sure if she could handle another re-lapse. Humans are fragile beings, a painful fact she knew just too well.
The road-sign showed that she was approaching another town. She knew the situation will most likely just repeat itself, but she also knew she must not give-up.
After all, she made friends in the past. They still are friends even thou she had to leave.
Every single time. Because if you stay around your friends for too long they'll eventually try to kill you. They can't help it, it's in your nature. So to keep friends you have to leave them.
In a way, being chased-out by an angry mob was usually the least painful outcome of her encounters with humanity. Things could get worse, oh so much worse.
She walked the direction shown by the sign.
After around a hour of walking she reached the town. It looked like your typical American small-town. You know, one of those from old crappy sitcoms where everyone is always smiling in that creepy unnatural way. Where everyone is so sickeningly sweet to one another?
Yeah, they are usually nice. Until they realise you are different. They start saying things behind your back. They start avoiding you. They start giving you that stare. They become cold and unfriendly towards you. They start rejecting your company and are mean to you. And then the rocks, bricks and bottles start flying your way. Before you know you are dodging shotgun blasts and run from a mob complete with pitchforks and torches.
There were days when she would return the favour, but then she learned that they just couldn't help it...
That realisation caused her more horror and pain than the worst beat-dow.
Upon entering the town, she noticed there was something wrong.
These towns tend to be calm, but this place was beyond the impossible.
The whole place was engulfed in ominous silence. Not even birds could be heard.
The streets were completely empty. It was as if suddenly everyone disappeared.
Upon further examination things became worse.
The fences were pushed-over on some places. The hedges, normally carefully tended, were all ruffed-up. There was even a car standing in the middle of the road with it's front door open.
She examined it. The tank was empty. It seemed as if someone left the motor running until the gas ran out. On a lawn near the car she noticed deep riffles, as if someone was being dragged while trying to resist. She followed the riffles. They lead her behind a garage.
The back wall was fully splattered with blood.
"This is bad" she thought to herself "if anyone finds me here there's going to be a load of trouble."
She further examined her surrounding. The blood seemed to be at least a few days old. That would fit with the car. She noticed the phone-lines being thorn-down. The place seemed isolated. It may take weeks before someone else comes here.
After a moment of thinking she decided the best thing to do would be to find someone, anyone, and ask them what happened.
Her first action was quite predictable. She started yelling at the whole town.
The only answer she got was an echo.
After it became sadly obvious that no-one will reply to her calls, she decided to investigate. Starting with the nearest house.
The front door was left wide open.
She entered the house.
The place seemed to be in good shape.
Just out of politeness she called out for the houses inhabitants.
No reply.
The ground floor was neat and well furnished. It was obvious that until very recently a family lived here. The food in the refrigerator still looked fresh.
Upstairs things didn't look so well. The corridor's walls were splattered with blood and there were signs of a small fight. A futile attempt at resistance.
The bedroom was a complete mess with furniture smashed to pieces and blood-stains everywhere.
She entered the children's bedroom. To her grief she found exactly what she expected. She sadly turned away from the blood-soaked sheets and went downstairs.
The sight caused some memories resurface. Memories that should be best forgotten.
She sat on the couch.
Only now she noticed how hungry and tired she was.
Her last meal consisted of a dead raccoon and some thistles.
She headed into the kitchen and quickly went trough the fridge and attic. She quickly assembled a hefty meal consisting of large amounts cheese, bacon, bread, raw fish tomatoes, pie and canned beans. She washed the meal down with a bottle of gin.
She never really understood how the eating thing worked. She saw what human insides look like. She compared them with her own. They didn't match. From what she understood she shouldn't be able to eat, yet she does.
Alcohol also didn't seem to affect her the same way as it did humans. No matter how much she drank she never got drunk, alto it still managed to soothe her nerves.
Afterwards she headed for the bathroom and took a long hot bath. She had to use the opportunity, it could take months before she would get another chance like this.
She looked into the mirror as it glazed over. She sighed sadly from the look at her pale, lifeless, doll-like face and her cold, empty, glass eyes. No illusion can trick the mirror, alto sometimes she was wondering whether it could ever fool anyone to begin with.
She thought about her current situation.
The town was isolated. All contacts to the outside world were severed. No-one will probably come here for at least a month.
There is probably enough food in town to enable her to live a very comfortable life-style for at least one half of the year. It's definitely a good place to lay low for some time.
However first she should go and try to find out what happened to the towns inhabitants.
First of all, whoever got them may soon go after her.
Also there might be survivors. They'll most likely blame it all on her, but maybe she'll be able to talk enough sense into them to be of at least some help.
She got out of the bath. Then she went to find herself some fresh clothings.
It took her some time until she found some underwear that would fit her. Most of the stuff was too big for here. Finally she found some panties that apparently shrunk in the washing machine.
She also took a blue shirt. It was a bit large for her, but it didn't matter much.
She couldn't find the right skirt, and so she just washed her old one with soap and hot water. It'll dry along the way.
Finally she got a pair of sneakers. They seemed to fit quite well.
Clothed, she set-out for the town.
First she looked trough the house across the street.
The situation was the same. The bedroom was a mess with bloody splinters lying everywhere. The windows in the kids bedroom were stained with blood.
The second house was the same.
The third house had a bloody toilet.
In front of the fifth she found a blood-splattered dog house.
Only more evidences of a massacre in the sixth.
So the seventh.
However while looking trough the eight house she noticed something different, no blood!
The place was trashed, but there wasn't a bloody mess. This either means that the inhabitants were killed without spilling blood and their bodies were taken away as the rest, or that they are still alive somewhere!
She took a brake for a moment and thought. There is a fair chance they fled town to get help. If that's the case, the town will soon get visitors. Inconvenient.
However there is also a fair chance they got captured. If that's the case, whoever did that would probably need a place to hold them.
Another possibility is that the people managed to organise after the ambush and moved to a place they could better defend themselves. It would have to be some place big enough for a large group. They would also most likely prefer a place where they would have access to resources. Humans always do that, she had enough experience with these things.
Now if she only had some kind of a map...
It was already getting dark. She spent the last hour wandering the streets of the now empty town. Here and there she could spot small reminders of attempted resistance.
Bared doors and windows ripped open. Smashed cars. A tree-house torn down with the whole tree. Sights not unfamiliar to her.
What was worse however was that something was watching her. She could feel it's gaze on her back. She must not let her guard down. Whatever did this must be at least as tough as her.
After a while she found what she was looking for, the Police station.
Her predictions were correct, but her timing was off by days .
There were signs of a massive fight. The front gate was smashed to pieces. Bullet holes were everywhere. The walls were covered in blood. The floor showed signs of people being dragged away and disappearing without a trace.
After a while of looking around she found what she was looking for. The town map.
While she was examining the map something crept in her way.
It came from behind.
It's movements were silent.
That's at least until another part of it's body did a sudden movement and ruined all attempts at a stealthy attack.
She quickly turned around.
Inside the shadows she saw the creature.
She suppressed a scream.
It's not like the creature would look threatening, but it was just so...
What she saw in front of herself was a large house cat and a beagle.
Only that they were one.
It was a pretty grotesque sight, and she saw many weird things during her travels.
It seemed almost as if the two were made from modelling clay, and some prankster thought it would be fun to mould their back-sides together.
She tried to approach it.
"Aren't you a pretty one."
The creature stepped back, walking sidewards like a crab would. It simultaneously hissed and gnarled at her.
"Ah, come-on! Don't be afraid!" she said and started to concentrate. It was a little trick she learned a while ago.
"Calm down. Come here."
The creature approached her. She took it in her arm and started scratching it behind it's ears, taking turns.
The creature began to purr and pant in delight.
"It's not safe for you here, you should come with me."
She looked around the place one more time. She found some guns lying around. She thought about it for a minute. She wasn't too good with guns, her aim was terrible.
However she decided in favour of taking them, just in case. She took a pistol and a shotgun from the police armoury. There were also a few revolvers and hunting rifles which probably belonged to civilians who fought their last stand along with the police. She took one of each. Then she gathered all the ammunition she could carry and got a long coat with multiple deep pockets to carry it all.
Equipped and with her cat-dog companion on her side she set out for the second most likely place survivors may be hiding in.
By the time she got to the mall in was already night.
The place wasn't too big, basically what you would expect from a place like this.
All the entrances were covered in rubble.
Barricades perhaps?
She cleared away the rubble at the front door and entered.
The place looked better than she expected. It was trashed at some places with some bullet-holes here and there, but there were no signs of carnage.
She started to look around. The electricity was still in tact.
She noticed something moving between the shelves.
"Hello!" she called.
No answer.
She went it's direction.
Her two-headed companion separated itself from her and began plundering the coolers.
"Hello" she called again. She looked behind the shelves but there was nothing there.
She focused her senses.
She heard a noise.
It was coming back from the storeroom right behind the baked goods.
She entered the room.
It was fairly large.
On the other side of the room she saw a vague silhouette.
"Hello"
No answer "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."
The silhouette seemingly turned her direction.
"Could you please tell me what happened here?"
The figure started walking towards her.
There was something strange about it's movements.
They were stiff and twitchy. It slowly shambled towards her.
As it came closer, it's features became more visible. It had a vaguely female figure. It's head was bald. The ears were missing. So were any facial features. It seemed as if it's face was melted-off, like that of a wax-puppet. It's legs were stiff and barefoot, the toes fused into one. The figure wore a short dress that looked as if it was made out of it's own skin. In fact, it seemed as if it was a part of it's body. It's arms were skinny and it's long fingers ended with cat-like claws. Out of it's right hand grew a long bone-like spike resembling the blade of a knife.
"Ehm, hello" she tried to suppress her surprise "how did you get here?"
The being remained silent, continuing to shamble in her direction.
"You know what happened here?"
No answer. It's twitchy walk became faster. It became a sprint.
"Eh..." the blade swung just inches away from her face.
"Stop it" the being continued swinging the blade savagely, the plastic girl barely dodging the strikes.
"You don't have to do this!"
The being was deaf and blind towards reasoning. It was driven by pure indiscriminate rage towards anything to violate it's territory.
It dished out one attack after another, the pale hands of metal and plastic barely able to block them.
The being concentrated all of it's strength into one blow. It aimed for her throat. But before the blade could hit, the creatures face was intercepted with a heavy punch.
It's face cracked and black sticky blood began oozing out.
Another punch followed into the stomach, crushing all of it's insides.
The creature let out an ear-piercing shriek of pain. It swung it's bladed arm, only for it to be intercepted by the strong mechanic hand. The bones broke like matches.
"Had enough?"
The thing's twitching became even more frantic and filled with agony.
The creature let out a scream that sounded eerily human. It leapt for the living doll with it's last strength.
A swift kick sent it to the ground, snapping it's spine in half.
The creature however stood up and charged again.
The next kick shattered it's pelvis.
A heavy punch broke the ribcage.
The creature screamed in pain and fell to the ground.
But even with it's broken body it still crept towards her.
"This won't work" she said sadly "your heart and lungs suffered lethal injuries. You'll just choke on your own blood. I'm sorry."
The creature wheezed.
"I'm really sorry" she repeated and stomped on it's neck.
A snapping sound echoed throughout the storeroom, then it was silent.
Suddenly she noticed shadows creeping towards her from all sides. Grotesque creatures of all shapes and sizes began to shamble and crawl in her direction, hissing moaning and wheezing.
"Oh Jenny girl, what have you gotten yourself into again."