After having slathered on more of the rotting corpse's blood, Lovino and Antonio left the room without another look back. Antonio held the radio close to his chest, afraid that he would drop it, and Lovino stuck close to his side. There was no room for manly pride at this point; they needed to be as careful as possible. If they were going to escape alive, they needed to be extremely cautious of their surroundings.
They were lucky, for the room adjacent to them was empty sole for the dead body of the soldier on the ground.
"Wait," Antonio said, holding an arm across Lovino's chest as he hunkered down next to the soldier's still body. He rifled through the soldiers pockets, hoping for another weapon, but sadly found nothing. The gun he had found previously had been the only thing the soldier had with him. Antonio believed that the soldier had probably wasted all of his ammo on the other infected patients, and had just ditched his other weapons as he ran. Antonio felt shivers wrack up his spine at the thought. He hoped that he and Lovino didn't meet a dead end like the soldier before him had.
"Never mind," Antonio said. "It looks like there's nothing on him."
"Not even a knife?" Lovino asked.
"Not even a knife."
Antonio reluctantly stood up, walking toward the door leading to the outdoor hallway without so much as a look back. He was scared at what he was going to see on the other side, but it was their only hope at this point. They had to face it or they would just starve to death, or eventually be caught off guard by one of the infected.
Both one of those deaths were too horrible to fathom, so Antonio vowed not to let it get to that point.
Antonio steeled himself and wrenched the door open, holding back his gasp at what he saw on the other side. He needed to remain calm and collected; he couldn't make any odd noises or he would attract the wrong kind of attention.
On the other side of the door, Antonio was faced with at least ten infected patients. Even more than the man on the radio had told him had been wandering around. They must have come from other rooms during the time he had talked to the man.
Lovino walked up beside him, still as ever, as they observed the wandering patients. They were lucky, normally the patients would have been attacking them already, but it seemed as if they didn't notice them. In fact, the patients didn't even look up from where they were wandering. The noise hadn't acquired their attention, and the sight of Antonio and Lovino didn't either. It was like they were solely motivated, or enticed, by their scents.
This was good for them. If they were lucky, this strategy would work for them when they finally got to the second floor of the hospital.
Antonio took one cautious step forward as he watched the patients, and was pleased when nothing happened.
"No time for this," Lovino said, stepping around Antonio and walking forward. Antonio's hand shot forward to stop Lovino, but he couldn't grab him in time. Antonio cringed as he watched Lovino walking forward, there was nothing he could do to stop him. The only thing Antonio could do was watch Lovino walk on, and wait for something bad to happen.
Nothing happened, however. Lovino didn't slow his gait as he walked past the first patients, and to Antonio's surprise, the patients didn't notice him. Even at an uncomfortably close proximity, they still didn't seem to register Lovino.
Lovino turned around when he reached the corner, and motioned for Antonio to hurry up with his left hand.
Antonio nodded his head and sped up his gait to catch up with Lovino. And, when Antonio reached the young Italian man at the corner, he stopped shoulder-to-shoulder with him . They looked down the longer hall together and both saw the glowing red exit sign hanging loose at the end. There were at least five more infected patients limping around at this point, and they all seemed just as disinterested in them as the last set of patients.
If they were lucky, it would stay that way.
Antonio swallowed back his doubts and took the first step forward this time, trying to emanate as much confidence as Lovino had when he had walked past the first group of infected patients. Antonio passed by the second one without any problem, then the third, then the fourth, and finally the fifth. They all walked past him as if he were one of their own. Despite this being a good thing for them, the feeling was admittedly eerie.
It made Antonio feel like he was one of them.
Antonio turned and watched as Lovino followed his steps - passing by them as if he were nothing but part of the group - and stood close to him by the set of twin exit doors. "That went OK," Antonio breathed out as he reached for the handle of the doors, pushing through them and dragging Lovino in behind they were inside they both leaned against the doors and let out twin sighs of relief. They had made it, they were almost halfway there. If they could handle the claustrophobia downstairs and pass through the crowd, they would be home free. Lovino would finally be reunited with his brother.
It was strange, but this was truly all Antonio cared about. He cared more about seeing Lovino get to his brother than saving himself. His mother had always called him a selfless person, after all. He finally realized that she was completely right about that, despite protesting to it many times.
His mother, his mother…
Antonio was shaken from his trance when the radio he was holding to his chest buzzed to life.
"Good job," the voice on the other end said. "It looks like your idea worked very well. We're glad."
Antonio huffed into the radio and laughed, "it takes a nurse, I guess."
The man on the other end, surprisingly, let out his own chuckle. It was a nervous one, but it was chuckle nonetheless. "Now we'll see if it works out on the second floor," his laughter died quickly. "It looks the same as last time, so you'll just have to go from there. At this point, there are no pointers I can give you. All you have to do is make your way through the crowd, straight down, then go through the stairwell. It will bright you to the first floor, which is relatively empty." The voice on the other end grew quiet, and the static died away. However, just as Antonio was about to put the radio back in his pocket, it sparked back to life.
"Good luck," the man said.
Antonio smiled and pulled the speaker away from his ear, holding it close to his chest.
They were going to need all the luck in the world to get through the second floor. And, if it was just as packed as the man had said, they would have to be careful.
Antonio grabbed Lovino by the shoulder and led him down the darkened stairwell, careful not to trip on any of the cluttered stairs. They were lucky as it seemed none of the patients could master the door handle, and none of them had wandered into the adjacent stairwells. Antonio was aware that they could break it down, but their little safety in the stairwell made him feel more comfortable. If anything, the stairwell would grant them temporary comfort if anything were to happen.
When they finally reached the second floor, something came to Antonio. An epiphany of sorts.
With his hand on the door handle, he looked at Lovino and said one last thing to him, "don't let the blood rub off of you."
And with that, Antonio opened the door.
What waited for them on the other side of the door was worse than Antonio had expected. The man on the radio wasn't kidding when he had said that the second floor looked like Time's Square. In fact, it looked even more crowded than Times Square. The only thing running in their favour was the fact that they all seemed to be facing one way. Slamming into each other and pushing their way through each other.
Whatever it was, they were really bent on getting to it.
Antonio was frustrated by this display, he still couldn't figure out what was on the second floor that would be so attractive to the patients. But, considering they were bent on death, it had to be something living.
Maybe it was a patient that was hiding from them.
He pitied whoever it was, and vowed that if he had the chance, he would help them out. If it put he and Lovino in danger, however, he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't ruin their chances after everything they had gone through together.
He wouldn't let it end that way.
In his absent thoughts, he hadn't even noticed Lovino dragging him behind him. To his shock, Lovino was actually using force to shove the creatures out of their way. They weren't even reacting, however, they just stumbled over and continued walking toward the place they all seemed bent on getting to.
Lovino, however, wasn't giving this little detail a second thought. The only thing he cared about was escaping the hospital safely. Antonio couldn't agree more, but he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something was wrong. He felt like he was leaving something important behind, like he was forgetting something…
They were just breaking through the crowd when Antonio finally realized what it was that was there. The shadow shrouding his memory finally cleared, and as soon as it had dissipated, his throat seized up.
He knew exactly what the creatures were after. The second floor was the maternity ward.
Antonio should have remembered that after all the times he had walked past it. He remembered hearing the little babies crying, and watching the happy couples staring in at their children. He remembered never having to walk that way, but he always had despite this. He loved children, and he had always fancied the idea of having one of his own when – and if – he found a partner.
That idea was looking a little impossible at this point, however.
But that wasn't the issue at hand any more Antonio's problems in life were no longer about finding a partner or about how much money he needed to last the week. Now his greatest worries were about how he would survive the days.
But the babies, he needed to save them. He couldn't leave the children behind; an adult was one thing, but a child was another.
When they passed the crowd, Antonio grabbed Lovino's shoulder and dragged him to the wall, away from where the creatures were migrating.
"What?" Lovino asked, annoyance evident in his strained voice.
"Babies," Antonio said. "That's what they're after, the maternity ward is on this floor."
Antonio had expected Lovino to instantly answer him with a no. He believed that Lovino would want to leave them behind, because of all that they had been through. They were so close to escaping it all, and Antonio was blatantly suggesting they throw it under the rug to save a few small children. Lovino, however, continued to surprise Antonio around every turn. So really, Antonio shouldn't have been surprised when Lovino showed immediate sympathy for the children.
"Then we need to get them," Lovino said, as if it would the easiest thing to do in the world.
Antonio would have smacked Lovino for his recklessness if he wasn't just as reckless himself. It seemed that, despite his tough exterior, Lovino was a soft person. He had shown that side of himself to Antonio at least three times since he had found him lying in his hospital bed. Antonio found that he liked that side of Lovino very much, but he also found that he liked his standoffish side.
Again, he couldn't explain it.
Antonio patted the backpack that Lovino had slung over his shoulder, the contents moved around under his touch. "Make sure you don't drop this," Antonio said severely. "Most of this will have been pointless if we lose it."
"That's not important right now, Antonio," Lovino said. "We could find most of this stuff in a basic drug store if we really needed it, but we couldn't bring a baby back."
Antonio's felt his heart beat up into his throat, and his stomach jump. He felt mad at Lovino's selflessness, but at the same time, felt extremely happy for it. The world needed more people like that, it was lucky to have kept one like Lovino.
"Good," Antonio said. "Then let's go.
"What the hell are they doing?" Ludwig cursed, pounding one of his fists against the floor of the van. He watched on the monitor as Lovino and Antonio started walking in the opposite way of the exit door and toward the growing crowd of infected. They were walking directly into the red zone.
Ludwig scanned the monitors frantically, looking for the thing that had caught their attention.
"The bambinos," Feliciano said calmly. In fact, Feliciano was the calmest one out of them, even though his brother was currently walking into the middle of a battle zone.
"What?" Gilbert asked, inching over to where Ludwig and Feliciano sat in front of the monitors.
Feliciano pointed up to one of the monitors, it was buzzing with static but every once in a while it would clear up. It was a surveillance camera of a floor in the hospital. It was the maternity ward, covered from wall to wall with almost impenetrable plate glass. It was this that the infected were drawn to, the babies. They were still alive on the other side of the glass.
"Are you serious?" Gilbert asked, voice getting higher as he watched the two men walking further into the crowd. At one point they completely disappeared, and the group had feared the worst. However, moments later, they saw their heads poking out from the middle of the group.
"Lovino is selfless," Feliciano laughed sadly. "I should have known he wouldn't let something like this pass him by." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt, "he would rather die than let someone else die."
"Wonderful," Ludwig said, running a hand through his sweaty locks. "Their mission was already hopeless, and somehow they survived. But, instead of escaping when they had the god damned chance they run into an even bigger mess!"
Feliciano smiled, "it looks like the nurse is the same as Lovino, except he doesn't yell all the time."
Ludwig hummed as he watched the two men disappear then reappear in the crowd of infected like waves.
The only thing he couldn't help but wonder was, what in the world would they do with a room full of babies? They obviously couldn't take them all with them. And how would they feed them? They couldn't even feed themselves, let alone a horde of small hungry babies.
While Ludwig respected the selflessness, he couldn't respect the slow thinking. They weren't thinking about the future.
"Lovino," Antonio called out, having lost track of the young man in the horde of infected patients. He was worried, but he didn't want to start panicking in the middle of the crowd. Lovino was strong, he would be able to fend for himself, and if something were truly wrong, Antonio would have heard his voice. He had to trust in Lovino's power, it was amazing enough that he was able to stand and walk properly.
Antonio let out a loud gasp of air as he finally reached the opposite side of the horde of infected patients. He impatiently looked around for Lovino, and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar head of dark auburn hair poking out from between two patients. Then, with a loud gasp, Lovino came out of the other side, falling to his knees.
He still wasn't strong enough to walk for long periods of time, but it was a start.
If the apocalypse was good for one thing, it was for strength training.
"I still have the key," Antonio said, raising his voice so it could be heard properly over the loud groans of the infected patients.
"Good," Lovino said. "But we have to do this fast, as soon as we open those doors, they're going to smell it."
"I know," Antonio said. He pulled the master key from the lanyard around his neck and jammed it into the lock, looking to his left and then his right before he swung the door open.
Antonio had expected a reaction from the crowd, but he wasn't prepared for the one he got.
Never in their lives had Lovino or Antonio seen quicker, and stronger, reactions to something. The horde went wild when they swung the door open. Screaming, crying out, clawing at each other to get closer, and letting out wild groans of pure blood-lust They were like wild animals, only far worse than anything either of them had ever seen in a wild animal. They were ravenous beast, hungry for the blood of the living.
They ran through the door and slammed it shut behind themselves, backing up into the adjacent walls as the patients all swarmed around the doors like honey bees. They slammed their fists against the glass, pressed their faces against it, and groaned in an attempt to gain entrace.
The babies in the room were crying so loud that they were almost drowning out the sound from the outdoors. There weren't many babies left, as it appeared most of the parents and nurses had tried to evacuate them from the hospital. Lovino and Antonio could only hope that they had been successful in doing so.
They had their doubts, however.
There were only four children left in the nursery. Small children, who looked sick and weak, it looked as if they had been left behind because they had had the smallest chance of survival. The idea of leaving a child behind because of that made him cringe. It was cruel and usual punishment for nothing more than a baby; a poor, defenceless baby that wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in its mother's arms.
"Let's go," Lovino said. "Cover the bab-"
Before Lovino could even finish his sentence, the glass, which was supposed to be impenetrable, collapsed in on itself and shattered to pieces of the blood speckled linoleum floor. Lovino and Antonio didn't even have time to react as the infected patients filtered into the room.
In mere second the cradles holding the children were surrounded.
Antonio's eyes widened, "no," he whispered, pushing the infected aside, as if that would do any good. "No, stop," he cried, trying to fit himself between them to get to the cribs. "Please," Antonio finally shouted, dropping to his knees behind the group.
He couldn't get through them.
Lovino stood silent behind Antonio, watching the scene in front of him in a daze. He watched as blood covered the maws of the infected, he watched as their hands came back covered in blood, and he listened to the cries of the innocent infants.
"No, no, no," Antonio cried into the palms of his hands. "No, please stop it." He couldn't move, he was planted on the spot behind the infected. He couldn't drown out the sound of the children dying, their crying voices becoming nothing but gruesome gurgles as they cried out for help. Antonio could do nothing but reach out with his weak hands and tug at the pants of the infected, as if his pathetic pleas would be heard by them.
They could do nothing.
They stood there, silently watching as the infected ate every last morsel of the small children. They sat and listened as they smacked their lips and groaned in pleasure at the feeling of being completely full. It was disgusting, but they couldn't move. They were planted to the spot in guilt and sadness.
If only they had been a little faster…
"Let's go," Lovino finally said, his voice distant to his own ears.
Antonio didn't answer; he only continued weeping softly to himself, mumbling something under his breath that Lovino couldn't quite hear.
"Antonio," Lovino said, harsher than he had been before. "We need to go, let's go," he looked down at his feet, holding back the tears that were threatening to break the surface. "There's nothing we can do now, we tried."
Antonio finally stopped crying at Lovino's words, and turned back to look at the Italian, to finally look at him. He was dirty from head to toe, his face was covered in dirt and blood, and his hair was caked to his head with sweat. And yet, he was still incredibly beautiful, he still looked like the angel Antonio had seen when he had been chased into his room on the day of the outbreak.
Lovino – Antonio believed – had been his gift from God.
Antonio bowed his head, wiped the tears from his eyes, and stood up from where he had been pathetically slouched on the floor. He looked at Lovino and nodded, "you're right, Lovi, we tried."
Lovino tried to return the smile, but it was just as strained as Antonio's had been. This wouldn't be an event that would be easily forgotten, but they needed to forget about it for the time being. The broken down hospital was not a place to start healing. When they finally escaped, and were finally safe, then they could heal.
Together, they could help each other get over what had happened to them.
"Oh, Lovi," Feliciano whined, once again holding his hand up to the computer monitor. "I'm so sorry."
Gilbert himself was backed up into the van door, holding his head in his hands, Ludwig and Kiku doing the same. They weren't crying, no, because they couldn't quite grasp the pain Antonio and Lovino were feeling, but they felt sad all the same. Innocent lives - young babies - were dead.
"He's blaming himself," Feliciano said. "I know he is."
They watched as the two finally made their way to the exit door, both with their heads down. They were talking, but the conversation looked strained. The two hospital survivors would need a lot of healing, mentally and physically.
"They're out now," Ludwig said as he watched them leave the front of the hospital.
Both of them looked around for the van absently, twin lethargic looks on their faces. Ludwig could tell they were just barely keeping themselves standing at this point, he could see the exhaustion in the way they moved.
Ludwig laid on the horn, just once, to get their attention.
They looked up and started walking toward the van.
"Oh man," Gilbert said, holding his hand to his head. "They look so terrible…"
The group didn't even have time to open their mouths before Feliciano jumped out of the car, bounding toward his brother. He weaved through the vehicles like he had memorized their placements.
The group couldn't stop him; wouldn't stop him.
"Lovi," Feliciano cried, jumping into his brother's arms. He was so excited to see his brother alive that he completely disregarded the blood covering his brother's clothing. "Lovi," Feliciano cried, face pressed up to his brother's cheek.
That was it, that was the breaking point for Lovino.
"Feliciano," he said, running his fingers through his brother's soft hair. The tears he had tried so hard to hold at bay finally ran free. The hot, salty tears made clear tracks on Lovino's dirty face. "Feliciano, I was so scared."
"I know, Fratello," Feliciano said, trying to soothe his older brother. "I know."
It was dark by the time they were coming back, making Heracles task of directing them difficult. They hot-wired the van and decided to drive, deeming it far safer than walking around, especially at night when the infected were boundless.
Feliciano was curled up with his brother on one side of the van, and the nurse was pressed up against them. They looked pitiful, the most broken human beings any of them had ever seen in their lives. No amount of healing could fix them at this point. It could make them better, yes, but they would never be able to get over everything they had seen and been through.
Ludwig shook his head as they approached the crossroads, revelling in the momentary silence.
"Look out!" Heracles voice blasted through the speakers, causing Ludwig and Gilbert both to jump in the front seat at the sudden warning. They couldn't heed the warning fast enough, however, as they collided head-on with a small minivan.
Both cars rolled into adjacent ditches.
A/N: Things are finally starting to really heat up!
The next chapters are going to be much faster paced, and I think that you guys are really going to enjoy it!
This was a two part chapter AND I gave it to you guys early, at that! I hope you guys enjoyed it because I put quite some work into this one! I feel like the second part was a little anti-climatic and I'm sorry for that, but hopefully I can make it up to you guys in the next few chapters.
And, hey, I don't really like bribing people but I would really like it if you guys would show a little~ more love to this story. I'm not going to hold it over you, but I miiiiiight be inspired get another chapter out sooner if I see some more love being directed this way.
Thanks for reading, and as always, don't be afraid to comment or give suggestions!