Administration Block Part Two
Oh Jesus… My head…
I felt weak and dizzy, like I was drowning and like my body was floating deeper into the murkiest of waters. My whole body was hurting. I felt my eyelids flutter open slowly, and for a moment I was seeing double. I saw a man crouched in front of Miles and I. He looked to be an older man, in his late forties or early fifties maybe. He was bald, and wearing what looked to be a Catholic priest's outfit. I thought I was imagining him until he spoke, addressing Miles and I.
"And who are you two, then?" He asked, head cocked, a crazy look in his eyes. I didn't really think he expected an answer from either of us. He appeared to be looking through us instead of at us. I looked at Miles, who was looking at the man in front of us, equally confused and disturbed. I wasn't sure if we should get up and run, or stay where we were. I decided with the latter. For all we knew, this man could kill us if we tried anything. Then, the man looked upward, raising his hands to the sky.
What the hell is he doing? I thought. Then, he spoke again.
"I.. I see. Merciful God, you have sent me some Apostles. Guard your lives, children, you have a calling." He said, looking at Miles and I. Then, the man stood up and left us quickly, leaving Miles and I confused and nervous. Miles stood up slowly, wincing and groaning.
"I've cracked a couple of ribs at least. Not only does some crazy fat fuck throw us, we come face to face with a doughy looking man in a priest's outfit. Man, this job is really going well," He snapped, irritated. He was dusting himself off, pulling shards of glass out of his skin. I stood, wincing as my back and hip popped, pulling shards of glass out of my skin and hands. Both Miles and I were bleeding, our clothing slightly torn in places.
"Yeah, no shit. Wonder what the hell the creepy priest guy meant, calling us his apostles," I replied, straightening my sweater out.
"Don't really know, don't really care. Not a job either one of us asked for," said Miles pointedly.
"Let's just find a way out of here," I replied.
"Like the way you're thinking, Blackie. We'll look around." said Miles.
Mutilated corpses lay scattered throughout the lobby area. And the blood. So much blood. It made me sick to my stomach. The dead body of a security guard was slumped over in an office chair at the front desk in front of one of the computers. To the left and right of the lobby, there were computer labs. There was a chandelier, slightly illuminating the dim room.
"Lovelynn, you need to see this," Miles said, sounding morose. I looked up in the direction he was pointing. My mouth hung open as I read what was written in blood on the wall above the front desk: PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL.
"What gospel?" I whispered to myself. The only gospel I believed in was the Bible and Jesus Christ. Did the priest write this bloody scrawl on the wall? If so, when, and for whom? What was happening here in Mount Massive?
"I don't know about you, Blackie, but I don't plan on sticking around to find out. Let's look for anything that could help us. You take that computer lab, I will take this one." Miles replied. I nodded, uncertain, but I went into the computer lab on our left while Miles took the one to our right. I looked around, not really noticing anything of value or importance when Miles called out to me.
"LOVELYNN, COME HERE!"
Upon hearing this, I bolted from the computer lab I was in, rushing over to where Miles was.
"What the hell is wrong?" I demanded, glaring at him, as he appeared to be unharmed. I was thankful for that, but the man scared the shit out of me yelling like that.
"I thought you might like to know that I found a patient report laying here, on a Chris Walker. He's the big guy that threw us through the glass." Miles snapped back.
"I wonder what happened to him for him to become like that," I said softly, frowning in curiosity as Miles showed me the document.
"He's ex-military. Been deployed, was a part of the military police. He's seen some bad shit. But that's not all. There is something in here that mentions a Morphogenic Engine. Now, I don't know what that is, but I believe that it's played a big part in his mental state." Miles replied, handing me the file to tuck into my bag.
"I wonder what the Morphogenic Engine is, and where it is," I said.
"I don't know. But we're getting out of here as soon as we can." Miles replied.
"Damn right we are," I said.
"Come on. There's a door leading out of the computer lab." said Miles, walking towards it. Miles and I kept our eyes to the ground as we walked. I nearly gagged as we walked through a puddle of blood, my heart jumping in fear. I did not want to think about who that blood came from. And I was disrespecting them by walking in it. I felt sickened to my core. Miles and I stopped when we noticed a man a few feet away sitting in a wheelchair, his body twitching.
"Do you think he's dangerous?" I whispered. If the man in the wheelchair heard us, he made no move to show it.
"Not sure. I'd assume so. Let's just be quiet and stay as far from him as possible." Miles whispered back. We walked cautiously and quietly, keeping our eyes trained on the man at all times. I was surprised -and relieved- to find that the man paid us no mind as we walked into the next room. A TV was buzzing static in this room, and there were three men in here. One sitting on the table in front of the TV, one in a chair next to the couch where the third man sat. I felt sorry and disturbed for the men in the chair and on the couch. Both of their faces were disfigured horribly, in ways that I don't think anyone has ever seen. None of them seemed to notice us. The man on the couch buried his face into his knees, while the other two just stared at the TV.
"They survived whatever happened here. But nobody's home," Miles whispered to me. With nothing left to do here, Miles and I left this room and headed into the next one.
"I feel bad for them. What they went through here." I whispered back. Miles sighed, running a hand through his dark hair.
"Me too. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do for them." He replied. The smell of blood was strong in this room. I didn't know if I would ever get used to it. I knew I would definitely never forget it. Miles and I saw another dead security guard, slumped in his office chair.
I wonder if he had a family. I thought, feeling very sad for him. Then I noticed he had the key for Security Control in his shirt pocket. However, I didn't care. I sure as hell wasn't touching it.
"I'm not sure how he died, but God, I sure hope it was quick," said Miles, somehow taking the card key without making contact with this poor man's dead body.
"Me, too. Let's just get out of here," I replied.
Soon, Miles and I were back in the hall. Suddenly, the man in the wheelchair lunged forward, grabbing onto Miles and knocking him onto the ground.
"LET GO OF HIM!" I shrieked, horrified, as Miles gripped the man's arms tightly, trying to put some distance between them.
"THE DOCTOR IS DEAD! RIP THEM CLEAN! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!!" The man wailed in agony.
Miles shoved him off, and I quickly helped him back onto his feet. We watched, breathing hard, as the man quickly crawled against the wall, curling into himself and shaking, muttering quietly. Miles and I took a moment to gather our bearings, and then, without another word, we ran our way to the Security Room.
Pushing the door open, Miles and I made haste into the Security Room. We quickly made our way to the security system. There was a single keyboard, and the entire layout of Mount Massive was displayed on the multiple computer screens. Miles sat in the office chair and began working the keyboard, his hands trembling, hoping to get the main doors unlocked. Then, when I looked at one of the screens, my heart filled with dread.
"Miles, look," I said, pointing to one of the screens to our right. There, on screen, was the man in the priest outfit. Miles and I watched as he looked right into the camera, seeming to know we were there. Then, he pulled a lever, and the power in the asylum was out. Yet again, Miles and I were left in darkness.