Antonio kicked the cabinet door open and gasped for air, crawling out on his hands and knees like a beaten animal. He had been hiding from the soldiers, hoping that when they sprayed their bullets, one would not dig through the small and cramped cabinet he had been hiding in. He believed that if he could survive, he could help the remaining patients that were not yet dead.

His knees had been pressed tight to his chest, his whole body had been cramping from being kept in the same uncomfortable position for so long. There had been barely enough room inside the small cabinet for him to breath. It didn't help that Antonio was severely claustrophobic.

Antonio remembers the anticipation he had felt clearly, everything had grown silent after the soldiers had left for the upper seventh floor. There had been a lot of screaming and a lot of bullets, but it was clear that the soldiers had been overrun.

"Good," Antonio said to himself, pushing himself up from the floor and brushing off his scrubs. He was currently on the sixth floor. He had hidden himself in a small receptionist's desk when he realized the soldiers were killing everyone, not just the infected.

Antonio's elation was quickly cut short, though, when he glanced at the devastation around him. Bodies were piled one on top of the other in a half-assed attempt at clearing a path. Blood soaked the floor and walls like a flood had rushed through the building. He saw his fellow nurses, he saw some of his patients, he saw soldiers, he even saw some children among the bodies.

Antonio's eyes widened, unable to believe the sight before him.

Everything, everything was gone. Everyone was gone.

Antonio clasped the sides of his head, unable to take his eyes off of the mess, certain that what he was seeing was nothing but a sick dream. He tried to tell himself that he had fallen asleep in the lunch room, that it happened all the time too him. Lying to himself failed to calm his nerves, though.

A low, but easily discernible gurgle rang from down the hall. Antonio was wrenched from his stupor, quickly falling to his knees and hiding himself behind the reception desk. It was clear from the sound that it was not a normal, living person making that kind of noise down the hall. Their breathing was laboured and wet, their feet slid along the floor as if the person were just dragging themselves, and the noises they made were certainly not human.

Antonio stayed as quiet as possible, waiting for the creature to pass him by.

Slide, slide, slide, stop. - Slide, slide, slide, stop.

The creature made the same gruesome noise as it dragged itself down the hall. Antonio felt his stomach clench at the sound. What if it could smell him when it got close enough, what if it already knew that he was behind the reception desk?

Antonio tried to tell himself that the creature could not catch his scent over the smell of fresh blood flooding the halls, but who was he to know? He didn't even know what these creatures were to begin with. The only thing Antonio knew was that the creatures running rampant around the hospital looked an awful lot like some of his own patients.

Antonio patted his pockets hopefully for some sort of weapon, a pen, a scalpel, a stethoscope. Anything. There was nothing in his pockets, though, and nothing he could see anywhere near him. He cursed his bad luck as he quietly dug through the drawers in the reception desk. The sound was getting increasingly closer, if he was going to find something; he needed to do it quick.

Slide, slide, slide, stop. - Slide, slide, slide, stop.

"Yes,"Antonio huffed under his breath as he found a small screwdriver and a sharp iron nail file in the reception desk, and without even thinking, jumped up from behind the reception desk to face the horror trudging down the hall.

Unfortunately for Antonio, it was not just one horror making its way down the hall, it was multiple horrors.

Antonio looked head on at the group of, at the very least, twelve clearly dead patients limping and dragging themselves down the hall. He stood bone stiff in fear directly in front of them, only running when they finally seemed to catch his scent and realize that he was still a living being. They were running quickly after him, to Antonio's dismay, the dead creatures could run.

Antonio's messy brown curls lopped in his eyes as he ran away, turning corners in a desperate attempt to find a room with a door still intact. There was nothing, as far as the eye could see. It looked like the inside of a building in Warsaw after World War II.

He turned another corner and saw an elevator, but in a fit of rage realized that the elevator was stuck on the first floor. It wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and Antonio did not have the time to wait for it to slowly climb the floor to him. But, just when he thought he was going to be stuck running for hours, he saw it, a door. There were bullet holes in the door, but it was still standing completely intact and sturdy despite the wound. Antonio chanced one more glance behind his shoulders. They still hadn't turned the corner, if he was lucky, they might have completely lost his trail.

Antonio opened the door, ran inside, and shut the door as softly as possible behind himself, and without a second of hesitation, pulled the master key from around his throat and jammed it into the lock, pleased when he heard the satisfying clickof the lock turning in place.

Now the important moment began for Antonio, waiting to hear if the creatures had lost his trail or if they knew exactly where he went. Antonio waited with bated breath; eyes closed tight and throat constricting as he waited for the loud gurgling and groaning of the creatures to pass the door.

Antonio held the screwdriver tight in his hand when he finally heard them turn the corner. Even though he couldn't fight off twelve of them, he didn't want to go down without a fight. He needed to at least take two out, his pride couldn't take less than that.

They didn't stop, though, the sick sound of their breathing and strange cries disappeared down the hall, as did Antonio's fear. It was as if they had completely lost interest after they lost sight of him, or it could have been the fact that they were distracted by something. Whatever it was, Antonio was thankful for it.

It didn't matter to Antonio though, he sighed in relief and slowly lowered himself to the ground, head pressed heavily against the heavy wooden door. If he was lucky, he could sneak out and take the stairs to the surgical ward, there would be rations there and other medical equipment he could possibly use as a weapon. If he made it there, his chances of escaping the hospital would increase.

Antonio slowly took in the room around him, it wasn't as bloody and gruesome as the last few rooms he had been in. There was still blood on the floor, but not nearly as much as he had expected. And luckily, there were no dead bodies lying around.

Then he saw it, as his eyes scanned the room, they happen upon a body behind a curtain. Not the same kind of body that he was used to seeing, though, this body was lying flat in a hospital bed, and it was still breathing. Antonio took in another deep breath and got to his feet slowly. Even though the body behind the curtain look completely normal, he couldn't be certain that it wasn't another one of the creatures from before.

Antonio slowly approached the curtain, trying to stay calm as he reached his hand out to pull the curtain aside. When he finally managed to pull the heavy cotton curtain away, he was surprised by what he saw.

A young man, maybe four or five years younger than him, lay in pristine condition in the hospital bed. He looked completely untouched, unaffected by the events that had occurred just moments before around him. Not a speck of blood marred his smooth and pale skin, not a hair was out of place on his head. His face was peaceful and relaxed.

When Antonio looked down a small rosary peeked out from between his entwined hands, someone had clearly put them there.

He looked like an angel.

Antonio reached his hand out to touch the man's cheek; the skin was warm and soft. Antonio didn't think anyone had survived, and this man had done it without being aware of it, and to add to it, he had done it without a single scratch.

Antonio took a seat on the edge of the bed, yanking the pamphlet of paper off of the side table next to it. He skimmed through the man's medical documents.

From what Antonio was reading, this man was from Italy and his name was Lovino Vargas. He had fallen into a cold lake when fishing with his brother and developed hypothermia and pneumonia, and, to add insult to injury; went into cardiac arrest from being submerged for so long.

"Poor guy," Antonio said quietly, brushing the hair back from the young man's face. He was conflicted as to what to do, in the man's current state he couldn't get very far without his IV, and even then, he probably wouldn't be able to walk for a while. Antonio couldn't stay here forever. "What do I do with you?" Antonio questioned, looking at the young man with his eyebrows furrowed. He didn't want to leave the man behind to die. It would be a little sad considering he had survived so far without any injuries.

"muy bonito," Antonio whispered."I don't think I could leave you behind even if I wanted to." He moved his hand away from the man's head, letting his hair fall back into place. Instead, Antonio favoured the Rosary clasped between the boy's hands tightly. It was as if he was unconsciously praying.

Antonio tried to pull his hands apart but almost shouted when the boy's eyes shot open. Two beautiful emerald colored eyes looked up at him.

"Feliciano," the man shot up in bed, looking from side to side for this 'Feliciano' person in a panic. The man looked at him square in the face, "you, Mexican nurse, where's my little brother?"

Antonio choked on his words, this young man that had looked like an absolute angel was now calling him down, thick and rough Italian accent heavily present. He may have looked like an angel, but he certainly didn't speak or sound like one.

Antonio finally spoke up, "lower your voic-"

"I'll lower my voice when you tell me where my little brother is, fucking Bastard!" The young man, Lovino, began cursing.

"Ok, first of all, I'm not a 'Mexican nurse', and second, I don't know where your little brother is. In fact I don't know where anyone is."

"What the hell are you on about?"

Lovino was started to lift himself up on the bed, but cried out loudly when he moved too quickly.

"Easy, easy, Lovino…"

"How do you know my name?"

Antonio picked the pamphlet back up from the bed side table, holding it in front of Lovino.

Lovino snatched the pamphlet out of Antonio's hand without another word, quickly skimming through the information given about him. "I had a stroke?"

"Yes, that is what it says."

Antonio watched as Lovino experimentally moved each of his arms and fingers, lifted his legs and moved his toes, then held his hands up to his face and smiled. At first Antonio though Lovino was acting strange because of the medication, but he quickly realized that Lovino was checking to see if he had lost any of his bodily functions.

"You were treated quickly and the stroke wasn't that severe," Antonio pointed at some ineligible scrawl on the pamphlet. "It says you are expected to make a full recovery." Antonio watched Lovino who was still checking to see if his face was paralyzed.

Lovino eyed him with an angry fire in his eyes, but his cheeks betrayed him by burning bright red, "what are you looking at, bastard?"

Antonio finally smiled, already he could see right through the young man, tough on the outside, but really soft on the inside. "Nothing, you're just very beautiful."

Lovino choked, "don't say things like that you fucking pervert, you're supposed to be my nurse!" Lovino sharply turned his head away from Antonio, "I should fucking sue for sexual harassment."

Antonio was about to chuckle but it quickly dawned on him that it was neither the time nor place to be flirting with a patient. They were in a very serious situation and something dangerous could happen at any moment.

Antonio grabbed Lovino's arm in a tight grip, "look, Lovino, don't yell and don't get mad, I have something very serious I have to tell you."

Lovino's eyes opened wide, "my brother, is my brother OK?"

"This isn't about your brother," Antonio said, something warming inside him at the very apparent love he had for his younger brother. "I don't know where he is but he is lucky if he avoided the hospital."

"Why?"

"This is going to be hard to believe, Lovino, but I need you to listen to me, and listen closely because we're in a very dangerous situation."

"Wh- what are you talking about?" Lovino looks away from Antonio's face, eyes carefully taking in the room for the second time. "Are those- are those bullet holes in the wall?"

It seemed that since Lovino had woken up a bit more, he was noticing the little details in the room, "yes, Lovino."

Lovino glanced furtively around the room, and finally Antonio can see his eyes happen upon it, the blood on the floor. There was not nearly as much as in the halls and in the other rooms, but enough to startle someone quite bad. "Oh my," Lovino holds a hand up to his mouth. "Oh my god, why is there blood all over the floor." In panic, Lovino once again tried to move but was stopped short, crying out from the pain for the second time.

"Yes, Lovino, that is blood. Let me explain to you why it's there."

"Oh my god, I told my brother I didn't think coming to America was a good idea. War broke out, didn't it? These God-damned American's are always picking a fight with someone, and now look, I'm not even American and I'm stuck in the middle of all of this! I knew this would happen, I knew it, I knew it…" Lovino was obviously about to go into shock, babbling on about nonsense. Antonio could only hope that he would snap out of it when Antonio made him realize the gravity of the situation.

Antonio grabbed Lovino by both shoulders and shook him hard, hard enough to warrant a gasp of pain from Lovino. "Look, Lovino, this is not war… Well, I don't really know what it is, but the important matter at hand right now is that we are stuck in the middle of whatever this is and we need to find a way out."

Lovino's eyes were still wide with fear but he was finally listening to what Antonio had to say.

"People started coming back to life, no explanation. The bodies in the mortuary that were awaiting transport suddenly started walking around. At first we thought it was a medical miracle, but when they started biting people, eating their flesh right from their bodies, we realized that there was something very wrong. We all scattered in panic, we tried to protect the patients but the number of the dead began to steadily rise. The previous people who had been bitten turned and started biting others. It was chaos."

Lovino looked like he was having trouble believing Antonio; he probably would have laughed and called him a liar is Antonio had not been trembling so hard.

"We had no choice but to call in an emergency, it was so severe that the police were not enough. They called in the military."

"So did they get them all?" Lovino himself was beginning to tremble, "surely a force like the American Military could take down a few dead people?"

Antonio shook his head, "I'm afraid they all died, and no reinforcements have come since then. I'm assuming that this disease has spread to far more places than just this hospital."

Lovino shook his head in disbelief, "no," he laughed, "no, no, no." Lovino looked into Antonio's eyes in disbelief, "so does this mean that some of those god damn zombie-creature-things are still walking around out there?"

"Yes, that is exactly what it means. That's why you have to lower your voice." Antonio whispered harshly. "The only reason I found you was because I was chased into this place by a dozen of them."

"Jesus Christ," Lovino ran a hand through his silky brunet hair, the sunlight making it glint red. "Feliciano, oh no, my little brother," Lovino put his head in his hands, only then realizing that he was still clasping the wine colored rosary in his right hand.

"He may not have even been here when the outbreak started, if he was lucky, he probably got carted off to the military bases around the city."

Lovino looked up, shaking his head, "my stupid little brother would not have left my side, he had to have been here when the outbreak happened." Lovino closed his eyes, "I know he was here, I remember"

"You were lucid when he was here?"

"Of course not," Lovino said, looking slightly flustered. "I can just feel it, OK? I know my brother was here with me."

Antonio smiled at him and ruffled his hair, "you really love your brother, don't you?"

"Of course I do, fucking idiot, he's my dumb little brother, my dumb little brother that I know was here."

Antonio looked down, "your door was closed, Lovino, whoever was here left and made sure to close your door behind them."

Lovino looked at him in disbelief, "so you want me to believe that he left me here to die?" Lovino was beginning to raise his voice again, "you want me to believe that my brother left me here to be shot or eaten?"

"I don't know, Lovino, I don't know." Antonio did not meet his eyes again.

"I have to look for him."

Antonio looked up at this.

"My little brother is so innocent," Lovino's mouth turned down in a scowl. "If my brother is in here somewhere he is scared, and he can't protect himself because he couldn't hurt a soul, even if they were trying to kill him."

"It's not safe out there, Lovino, we would have no chance against those things. Forty U.S. soldiers could not hold them off with guns and strong weapons, how will we do it?" Antonio did not want to say no to Lovino, he really wanted to help him, but they just couldn't take the risk.

"That was at the head of the outbreak, right?"

"Yes."

"Well they must have calmed down by now; the masses should have split off. If we're lucky, they will only come in groups of two or three."

"Lovino," Antonio shook his head. "Did I not just tell you that I was chased down by twelve of those creatures in one big group?"

"Maybe that's as bad as it gets."

Antonio sighed, he wanted desperately to brush Lovino's cheek and tell him that it was alright. He wanted to wipe that sad expression off of his face and tell him that his brother was safe and sound. But he couldn't, that was the reality of their situation. He couldn't lie and tell Lovino that his brother was safe because they could very well find him dead around the next corner.

"I don't think so, mi belleza,"Antonio sighed. "The problem is, we can't stay here forever. Your medication is going to run dry in about two days, and the medication in most of the other rooms is either destroyed or in a dispensary."

"Why don't we look for a dispensary, then, if it has everything we need."

"About that," Antonio sighs, "I'm new to this place, and as a nurse, do not really have access to any of that."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lovino shouted, "you're just as fucking useless as any other person."

"The dispensary would be no good for long term anyway, Lovino, there is no food, water, or weapons that we could use there."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Lovino had finally calmed down enough to listen to reason.

"The surgical ward is only two floors beneath us, if we can get there, it has everything we need to stay put for a few days. Then, hopefully, we can escape."

"Wait, what floor are we on right now?"

"The seventh floor."

Lovino sighed, "fuck, why did my brother bring me to such a big hospital… In Italy our hospitals have three floors, four at the most."

"It's like that over here too, you just happen to be in one of the biggest hospitals in America." Antonio scratched the back of his head, "I know, this is probably the worst possible position to be in."

"No kidding," Lovino brushed a loose strand of hair out of his eye. "So what do we do, I mean, I can barely move."

"We can wait the night," Antonio whispered. "It's far too risky to go out there right now; those things are probably still looking for me."

Lovino sighed as he lowered himself down onto the bed again, "good, I don't think I can keep my eyes open any longer."

Antonio watched Lovino sleep until the moon took the sun's place in the sky, only choosing to fall asleep on the adjacent bed when his eyelids became too heavy to keep watch.

"Lovino," Lovino felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly back in forth. His eyes were too heavy and his body too sore, he chose not to respond.

"Lovino, you need to wake up, we have to get going."

The day before finally came back to Lovino, he opened his eyes and craned his neck to look at Antonio standing behind him. "Can't we wait a little longer?" Lovino was so tired that keeping his eyes open was already becoming an unbearable problem.

"I'm sorry, Lovi, but your IV is running out," Antonio shook the IV next to his bed to draw his attention to it.

"I'll be fine," Lovino said, his eyes slowly shutting. "Wait a second," Lovino sat up in bed, "what the fuck did you just call me… Lovi?"

Antonio laughed, "do you not like that?"

Lovino cursed the blood rushing to his face, "no, I don't like it, and don't fucking forget that I'm still legally your patient." Lovino mouthed a quick 'bastard,' under his breath.

"I'm only a nurse, Lovi, and you're not on my list of patients," Antonio had the gall to smile at Lovino. "I wish I had been, though."

Lovino blushed furiously. "Fuck you."

"Lovino, you look like a little tomato!"

Lovino crossed his arms and pointedly looked at the door leading out into the hall, "don't we need to get going, Mexican nurse?"

Antonio laughed heartily, "yes, Lovino, we need to get going."

"Good, I don't think I can stomach your stupid face any longer…"

Antonio finally stepped away from Lovino's bed, walking over to the door and glancing out of the window cautiously. His easy and calm air had completely disappeared as soon as he started toward the door. "I don't see anything yet," Antonio was speaking lowly. He opened the door quietly, peeking left and right.

"Anything?" Lovino asked, the blush on his cheeks finally disappearing. Instead of red, his cheeks were turning white, losing all of their color at the idea of the horrors that could wait around every turn. Whatever was out there was enough to spook the normally smiling and happy nurse.

"No, it seems pretty quiet out there, actually." Antonio was quiet for a moment, looking back and forth again. "By the way, Lovino?" Antonio's head was still hanging out of the door, but he looked back when he finally spoke to Lovino, "I'm Spanish, not Mexican." The smile was back on his face.

Lovino huffed a curse under his breath, "same thing."

Antonio scratched the back of his head as he approached, "not exactly…"

Just as Antonio was going to continue his speech about the differences between Mexican and Spanish people, Lovino's stomach growled violently.

"Wow, you have a monster in there," Antonio said through a laugh.

"Go to hell, damn Spaniard."

"Hey, you got it right!" Antonio smiled as he swooped down and unexpectedly scooped Lovino up from the hospital bed, careful to not pull out his IV.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Lovino cursed and thrashed in Antonio's arms, but stopped when a sharp pain made his chest constrict. He gasped and put two hands on his chest, as if he could suppress the pain.

"That's why," Antonio said. "You're far too weak to be walking around right now, you're still very ill."

Lovino rolled his eyes but otherwise did not protest to what Antonio was saying to him.

"Plus, it's no problem for me to carry you, I'm strong!"

"My ass," Lovino said, reaching around himself to pointedly squeeze one of Antonio's biceps. "Like I suspected, softer than an uncooked meatball."

Antonio only laughed, it seemed like nothing made him angry.

Lovino would not admit it out loud but when he reached back, Antonio's bicep was stronger than he would have imagined for such a lanky frame. He had to pretend not to be impressed when Antonio reached out, one arm still supporting Lovino, as he grabbed the IV next to the bed.

"Could you drag this behind us, Lovino, I'm afraid I'm not quite strong enough to handle both of these things."

Lovino grabbed the IV from Antonio's hand without responding to him. He felt pathetic, there was a god damn zombie apocalypse happening and he couldn't even walk. He was the character that died right away or got everyone else killed.

Antonio walked to the door and threw it open without checking outside again, which was where he made his first, biggest mistake.

There were two of them, two gaping dead soldiers; one was missing an eye and a portion of his jaw. The other had his intestines hanging out from a huge gaping hole in his stomach. They looked far more terrifying and gruesome than Lovino could have ever imagined.

"Run, dumbass, run!" Lovino was so stricken with horror he hadn't even realized he had screamed at Antonio. He hadn't even realized when Antonio had started running, and he barely noticed the two zombies hot on their trail. They were quick, just as agile as a living person, actually.

Antonio turned a corner and Lovino saw it, the door that would lead down to the surgical unit, their safe haven. Antonio was running fast but Lovino realized that he was holding him back, he probably would have been down the stairs by now, judging by how quick the man seemed to be. Lovino cursed himself for having to be so incapable at such a crucial time.

Just as Lovino was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that they were home free, a horde of those creatures came shooting around the opposite hallway. They were trapped, just like that. Behind them there were two of them, and in front of them there were at least ten or twelve, it was most likely the horde that Antonio had run from previously. Lovino himself was looking frantically when his eyes settled on the wooden door beside them. It looked like it had been quite badly damaged, but it would be better than nothing.

Antonio stopped in his tracks, looking behind them and then in front of them, he was completely stuck for what to do. "I'm so sorry, Lovino, so sorry…"

"You fucking idiot," Lovino grabbed the master key hanging from Antonio's neck, and jammed it into the door beside them. The damn Spaniard was in such a shocked state that he seemed to have completely forgotten that he had a master key on him. He jammed the key into the lock and shoved the door open so hard it rattled on its hinges when it hit the adjacent wall. Lovino kicked Antonio in the back of the knee to get him moving, "inside the room, idiot."

Antonio finally seemed to snap out of it, pulling the key out of Lovino's hand while walking quickly into the room, he turned the lock and frantically started knocking shelves and pushing cabinets in front of the door, there was no hesitation in the Spaniards actions. It was as if he had been through something like this not too long again, like he was experienced in this type of situation. When Antonio finished knocking shelves over and pushing metal cabinets, he flicked on the harsh fluorescent lights in the room.

Antonio's sullen mood suddenly switched, "we're in a dispensary, it's a miracle."

Lovino looked around at the fallen bottles of pills and various medicines, syringes and surgical gloves were all over the place.

Antonio got to his feet and walked to a cabinet two shelves behind the large metal ones he had propped against the door. He was digging through the shelves and a loud bang rang through the door, making Lovino gasp and Antonio look up in fear. For a dead person, that knock seemed like something only a very strong person would be capable of. However, the sound stopped and just regular knocks and groans filled the room.

Antonio came back with a large bottle of saline, a new intravenous bag, two clear bottles labeled trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole, and a plastic pill bottle labeled Warfarin. Antonio shook the bottle of 'warfarin'in front of his face, "your report said that you had atrial fibrillation, so this is the only anti-coagulant that you can use."

"Anti-coagulant… Why?"

"They're typically given after someone has a stroke, no matter how small, just to be safe. You're young though, and your stroke didn't happen naturally, so you probably don't need these." Antonio smiled up at Lovino through his sweaty brown curls, "just to be safe."

Everything grew quiet for a while, sole for the steadily decreasing bangs on the door and the sound of Antonio replacing Lovino's fluids. While Antonio worked away Lovino finally started thinking about their situation, they were trapped in the middle of two groups of seemingly powerful monsters, and they had no weapons and no food.

Lovino rested his head against the concrete wall and looked up at the ceiling, they were completely fucked.