When was the last time I updated something this quickly? Holy shit I'm on fire!

...

"Yes! Come on everyone we're here!" Stelios lead the others through the door and across the room. He wanted to yell and leap and bolt for the door, but he still had to remain professional; they weren't out of this quite yet. And the bodies strewn across the floor certainly prevented him from relaxing entirely.

"Let's go," Eduard let go of Cheng and marched ahead, slowing as he drew closer to the door.

"Hang on," he began, "has that always been opaque?"

"I don't think so." It shocked Stelios that he still knew so little about the hospital's layout, but then again, he'd been too busy making sure he was doing his job properly to admire the architecture. But the front door had definitely consisted of transparent panes of glass. Probably. Most likely. Well, it wasn't frozen over before!

"It's the same as the fire exit," Kim-ly noted as she moved closer. "Ice and.. yup, locked." She rattled the handle before snatching her hand away, hissing from the cold.

"Well now what do we do?" Eduard looked around.

This was a disaster. Stelios wondered just where they could possibly go now. Were all the exits like this? Who was keeping them here? Because this certainly wasn't sporadic, this was someone deliberately trying to wipe them out.

And though he knew he should be focusing on other things, but Stelios couldn't help but wonder where the monsters had come from, how this disaster had started, and who had set this all up. How had this contagion spread so rapidly?

The zombies had been here, and they might be back at any moment, so he had to think fast. Even just thinking those very words had the opposite effect desired- wiping his mind of anything useful.

"We'll have to think about this thoroughly," he tried, hoping that would lead to ideas being volunteered without him admitting he was stumped.

Mohammad didn't seem to be listening, and he wandered over to where Cheng was leaning against the door- thankfully nothing was trying to break it down on the other side. He paused.

What exactly could he say here that might be a shred of use to Cheng? Asking him how he felt would do little to bring comfort- it was bloody obvious he was broken- telling him he'd be fine? Not a chance. He didn't want to bring up his own mother, in case the guy thought he was trying to make this about himself. Besides, what sort of image of grief and recovery did Mohammad put across? 'You'll be fine, see I'm fine. I'm not in hospital because of an overdose. And certainly not one caused by losing the one person I was close to. I'm fine, you're fine we'll all be fine in the end.'

If he was completely honest with himself, when it came to dealing with loss, Mohammad was as useful as a pedal-powered wheelchair.

"Can I help you?" Cheng asked, face shining with tears.

Mohammad didn't know why he did this, but in a moment of mad compassion, he leaned forward and pulled Cheng into a hug. It certainly took them both by surprise, but Cheng didn't protest or shove the other away, instead, he wrapped his arms around Mohammad and sobbed into his shoulder. Words weren't needed right now, and Cheng certainly couldn't be made to forget what happened, but even the knowledge that someone took the time to care made him feel just that tiny bit better.

"I don't know what to do," Cheng whispered.

"Well, I suppose trying to stay alive might help," Mohammad suggested, "your father… he wouldn't want you to die, right?"

Cheng nodded.

"He died saving you and I know it hurts and right now you can't think of anything but how much you miss them, you can't let that sacrifice be for nothing."

"But…" Cheng sighed, "I'll try."

"Good, that's what I want to hear."

Alin, meanwhile, was glaring sullenly at the door, almost defeated, had it not been for the tiny hand tugging at his sleeve.

"You were discharged," he muttered to Andrei, "we could be home by now." But no, he'd insisted they stop for lunch before leaving. Andrei could order whatever he wanted. It was a treat, for being such a brave kid!

If they'd not stopped, they could have been out of here and safe.

Andrei glanced down at the bodies, two slumped by the door, gutted with cracked, empty skulls.

"What if the monsters were here for ages though?" he asked as Alin covered his eyes, "we might have run into them earlier and been eaten! Like when we left the canteen and there was that one chasing the doctor."

"You might have a point there," Alin nodded before turning them both around, "but let's just go back to the others, okay? Maybe they have a plan now."

Stelios most certainly did not have a plan, and neither did anyone else in the room.

He tried not to let his panic get the better of him, like he'd done many times before when dealing with life or death situations, but it was honestly getting terrifying. What if he couldn't think of anything and the things came back? What if he lead everyone charging off with no goal and they were ambushed? What if he made a plan and it backfired horribly?

Though maybe he should actually come up with a plan in the first place.

Elise, frustrated by the lack of direction- and hope- had also wandered off, over to the desk with its scattered papers, and the phone ripped from its cord. The desk seemed to be crying, snivelling, and for a moment Elise wondered how it could do such a thing before it dawned on her: there was someone behind it! Another survivor? What fantastic news!

Elise paid the others little attention as she grinned and leaned over the desk.

Stelios, on the other hand, was growing more and more frustrated.

Where could they escape from? Their weapons couldn't penetrate the doors, and the windows big enough to squeeze through seemed to be in the same state. Was it like this on the other floors? Not that Stelios could ask these poorly people to jump out a first storey window, let alone from higher floors or even the roof.

Stelios paused. The roof?

Elise wondered who it could be. Staff? A patient? They sounded like a child anyhow, so the latter seemed more likely.

The first thing she noticed as she leaned behind the desk was the putrefied, zombified body of a doctor, skull crushed to pieces and only recognisable from its mop of black hair. Dr Kapur! The first person to show her kindness since her brother died.

As Elise cried out, her eyes fell on the others behind the desk, and the source of the whimpering.

A tiny child lay bleeding on the floor, mewling out plaintive cries of suffering whilst his intestines were being pulled out by the zombie stuffing them into his mouth. Elise recognised the monster too: the young receptionist with the spiked hair. The thing looked up from its meal, glowing yellow eyes locked with hers before it lunged.

"I got it!" cried Stelios, the split second before a piercing scream resounded throughout the room. Everyone wheeled round just in time to see Elise pulled over the desk, and the snarls and rips that quickly silenced her shouts.

"Run!" cried Alin, and the now 7 survivors dashed in the opposite direction to which they came: past rows of seats in the waiting area and through another door, just as Monique finally caught up with them. Kim-ly only stopped to glance behind her as she ushered everyone out, and caught a glimpse of her friend, climbing over the desk as he dribbled blood.

"No!" Kim-ly fell to her knees at the sight of Niran, at what remained of him. Her mind had no intention of convincing her to get up, and as she howled, she would not have lived another minute if Mohammad hadn't pulled her to her feet. "No, Niran!"

Off down the corridor the group went, Stelios shouting reassurances and directions at them, Niran and Monique's growls being the only other sound. If he'd had time to think, Stelios might have pondered where the other survivors were, and received an easy answer.

He lead them up a flight of stairs and burst into a room, slamming the door shut once everyone was inside and throwing his weight against it.

Everyone crouched down in silence during those long, drawn out minutes before listening as footsteps hurried past in the opposite direction to them, shrieking and screaming as they were chased by yet more of those things. Someone even crashed into the door as they stumbled, causing the room to jump and Stelios to stuff his knuckles in his mouth to stop from shouting. The cries became more panicked as they saw Niran and Monique coming towards them, though they were quickly silenced.

Stelios tried not to think if he'd recognised those voices, tried to drown it all out. He couldn't help them.

"Everyone okay?"

They didn't look okay, if he was honest. Kim-ly was trembling and weeping silently, whilst Alin clung to his brother like the child might vanish at any moment. Eduard, once more, looked like he was struggling to keep down the contents of his stomach.

He peered around to find he'd brought everyone to a private room, bloodied bedsheets telling the fate of the room's occupant. Despite the gruesome look, it was a good place to rest for a few minutes.

They couldn't stay here forever though; they had to-

Oh, right, his plan!

"Okay, this is what's going to happen-"

"We're going to die; that's what'll happen." Alin threw him a poisonous glare.

"No, I have a plan!"

"And is that going to go as well as your little plan to use the front door?" Alin rolled his eyes, Andrei cowering deeper in his arms.

"That wasn't my idea though," Stelios sighed, "I can assure you this is our best shot."

"Let's hear it then," muttered Eduard.

"There's a fire exit on the roof," he told everyone, "that leads to a staircase running down the side of the building; there's a chance that hasn't been blocked off. It's a slim chance, but it's better than running around the ground floor trying each door."

"You think that we'll escape through there?" Kim-ly raised an eyebrow.

Stelios shrugged. "It's a hunch, but it's better than nothing."

"That's what I'm pinning my brother's life on? A hunch?" Alin shook his head, hand gripping Andrei's so hard the child let out a squeal.

"Well, if you have a better idea, I'm all ears." Stelios stood up; "honestly, I'd welcome some intelligent debate here."

Alin remained silent.

"Well would you rather go your own way, if you don't like my methods?" He waved a hand; "door's right here. I hope you know your way around."

Still Alin didn't- couldn't- reply.

"Fire exit it is then," Stelios sighed, "though if anyone can think of something better, I'd welcome it. But remember: there's safety in numbers so don't go running off on your own."

"Can we rest for a bit though?" asked Andrei, and Stelios nodded.

"We can't stay for long though."

The child perched himself on the bed, careful to avoid any blood, and the others settled down on the floor, breathing heavily and shaking.

Stelios sat with his back against the door, and as he took out his pager, Mohammad joined him.

"Dr Angel," he began with the tiniest of smiles, "more like Dr Bossy."

Stelios suppressed a laugh.

"Quiet now, I have to let the others know where we're going." He punched in the number for Alfonso's pager, leaving him a quick message detailing the plan, before settling down for a few minutes. They needed to move fast though; there were five floors to this place, not including the roof and every one was probably swarming with zombies by now.

Stelios wondered if he'd ever been in a situation more hopeless. Even all his exams put together couldn't quite match.

"Will Franz be okay?" asked Andrei, "his parents will rescue him, right?"

"Course," Alin threw him a smile that didn't even try to match his eyes.

The beeping of Stelios' pager made him- and half the group- jump, and he rushed to listen to the voicemail, everyone else leaning closer.

"Help!" It was Feliks, voice fast and whispered. "Help… please you have to- we're- I'm in a storage closet!"

"I thought he came out of that years ago," Eduard commented, and Kim-ly elbowed him in the stomach.

"There's these things…" the voicemail continued, "they… they killed everyone! Me and Toris and Yong Soo are the only ones left!"

A thump- like someone trying to break down a door- and an unfamiliar voice shouted that they were breaking in.

"Stelios, you have to help us! We can't hold on much-"

The line went dead.

Stelios looked up at the group; six ashen-faced survivors stared back.

"Are we going to help them?" asked Eduard.

He wanted to. Feliks was a good man! He worked hard and, once he got over his initial shyness, was friendly with the patients. They felt safe with him.

But trying to help them would result in everyone else dying, most likely. And for nothing at all. If Feliks had even the smallest chance, he'd have considered it, but he had to be realistic here.

"I'm afraid," he swallowed, "by now they'll be dead. There's nothing we can do for them."

Eduard nodded, face devoid of emotion, though he could tell the man was gutted.

"Do you think Dr Kapur's alive?" asked Kim-ly.

"I'm not sure anyone's alive, besides us," Stelios felt sick to admit it. How long had it taken to wipe nearly an entire hospital out?

"Guess it's up to us to get out," Kim-ly's voice was numb as she spoke, "you know, survive to tell everyone."

Stelios nodded, pulling himself to his feet and crushing his pager under his shoe. Those other places, where it had been too late and everyone was long dead, no one had known what happened, and Stelios couldn't blame anyone for not realising the truth. If someone this morning had come up to him and started talking about zombies, he'd have told them to take a nap.

Maybe if they actully survived this, they'd be branded insane.

If they survived, that is.

Stelios decided to just focus on getting everyone out.

"Let's go then," he announced.

...

The corpses didn't scare him, not any more.

He could easily ignore their stench now, how they bled and messed up his trainers, how their unseeing eyes seemed to follow him, despite their milk-white film. Two nurses and a doctor, slumped on the floor in pieces. Vessels, that's all they were But for what? A soul? A spirit? A meaningless series of electrical signals? Either way, they were better off without those shells of pain. He'd be better off without his shell, for starters.

The Liberator moved slowly, almost lazily, over to the sofa in the doctor's mess room. Yes, this would do for now. No need to rush. He could have a coffee and put his feet up as events simply unfurled around him. The Liberator glanced over at the kettle, and the pile of packets next to it, before shuddering. Okay, maybe it wouldn't be the best coffee in the world- more like hot river water- but it gave him something to do. A small distraction in what was frankly a rather tense day.

He'd done this so many times with ease, all over the world, but here was different. For the first time, he didn't want everyone to die, not just yet, not every vessel. There was one man he needed to see, at least one more time.

So many things could go wrong with these missions, and he wasn't sure his preparations would be enough. The Liberator had done all he could to protect him though, everything in his almost infinite power.

But today just seemed so odd, like anything could happen. For instance, he hadn't expected those two... Converted to start fighting amongst themselves; that had certainly been a shock.

At least he had time to ponder it before he made his next move.

Mmm, risky, very risky indeed. This person couldn't die, and he somehow had to make sure that happened- along with the deaths of every other person in this sickness-den. No one could escape, well, except maybe one man. If he was feeling generous. If he played along, but wanted to run, the Liberator wouldn't mind giving him a head start.

Oh what a wonderful way to surprise Dr Angelopolous!

...

Oh dear oh dear, I hope I haven't given anything about the Liberator away! If I have, I'll have failed this fic. Still, throw guesses at me.

And no, haha! No escape for these motherfuckers! Did you honestly think I'd let these people off without answering the important questions and leaving more people inside without saying what happened to them?

I'm hoping to get a whole load of chapters done, like I said, partly because Halloween spoopy ghost time and partly because I wrote one of the upcoming chapters on paper and it was some of the best shit I've ever written and I just NEED to put it up here. You'll know when you see it, but I'll tell you it involves Luca.