She didn't know where she was. She only knew that the lights were too bright. Far, far too bright. They were bleeding through her eyelids. She couldn't fucking stand it. A quiet hiss escaped her lips.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. As they adjusted, she was greeted with a large mirror on the wall opposite her. The woman in the reflection was lying on an operating table, more needles sticking out of her than she could count. It was only after she caught sight of them that the uncomfortable feeling of their presence began to sit in.
All she was wearing was two small, flimsy, paper-thin sheets clipped together to cover her front and back.
She...
She didn't feel right. There was a fog in her brain and a dull feeling of unrest just beneath her skin. An itch. Something mostly dormant but ready.
No, waiting. And wanting.
She gathered all of the needles sticking out of her right arm with one hand and yanked. Hard. Harder than she meant to. Some blood spurted out, dotting her poor excuse for clothing with bright crimson spots. There was no pain. She didn't like that. That wasn't right. Something wasn't right. She removed the other needles. Five from her other arm, six from her legs, two from just under her ribcage, one from below her collarbone, and four from the side of her head. She felt nothing.
'Where the hell am I...? What happened to me...?'
She attempted to stand, but her knees instantly buckled beneath her. "Fuck..." It took a bit of effort to push the word out. She couldn't immediately remember how to move her mouth and tongue to form it. Something wasn't right. Grabbing ahold of the operating table, she pulled herself back up. Once she was confident that her legs would work, she let go and staggered over to the mirror. Her palms slapped against the glass. There was a hollow sound rather than a dull, flat one.
She recognized her face enough to know that her eyes were not her own. Her eyes were brown. The eyes staring back at her were partially brown, but there was a pale blue color that had bled into them. Right around her dilated pupils.
She remembered her name. It was Rain. Rain... something. Her surname might've started with an M. Or maybe an O?
'Ugh, it's no good.'
Why were things so fuzzy?
There was a scar on the side of her neck. She touched the gnarled flesh, unable to remember it, either.
She could hear gunshots.
"What is the code?" And that voice... She knew it. It caused a deep-seated annoyance to stir within her.
"Zero, four..." A slight pause. She knew that voice, too. Shots continued to ring out. "Zero, three, one, nine, six, five!"
"Got it?" Asshole... That guy was a real asshole.
"Yeah, see how easy that was?" Also a familiar voice. Very, very familiar. Safe. Rain could place a face to it.
Metal doors slid open. A horde of monsters was waiting just on the other side.
There were hands. So many hands. Grabbing, pulling, tugging.
"Shit! J.D.!"
J.D. That was who the safe voice belonged to.
Rain wheeled around, horrified to find him being dragged into the mob. "No!" She rushed over and reached for him, ignoring the monsters that began to turn their attention toward her. "J.D., grab my hand, man! Grab it!"
"No, don't—!"
Hands grabbing,
Pulling,
Tugging,
Trying to get them closer to their mouths, trying to—
"Agh!"
Through the fabric of her jacket, Rain could feel teeth sink into her arm. The shock of pain caused her grip to loosen and for J.D.'s hand to slip out of hers.
"Don't let go!" he pleaded.
More hands. They were now on her back. Warm hands. Hands that belonged to living people trying to drag her away. She fought against them, intent on helping J.D.
It was too late.
"Rain!" he cried. Only his gloved hand was visible at that point. The one that Rain had stupidly allowed to leave hers. Screams of agony left him as the monsters began to feed. She continued calling his name, helpless to do anything to save him.
Rain swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
...That was right. She was part of a team. There had been some sort of incident. Something escaped. Something that was easy to spread.
They were everywhere. Nowhere was safe. She shot one that was gnawing on the leg of a teammate. Another snuck up on her and clamped down on her already injured hand.
Her gun fell into a fucking puddle.
She gave the monster a swift kick and knelt down to pick up her weapon. She was shaking.
The exact moment she rose, she came face to face with J.D. He was drenched in blood and covered with bite marks. Chunks of his flesh were missing entirely.
She froze. "J.D.?" she uttered in disbelief.
It wasn't him. Not anymore. He lunged forward, biting down on her neck and breaking open the skin.
Rain dropped her hand from the scar and instead pulled at the bandages wrapped around her palm. There was a scar there as well. How long could she have possibly been out for? This place... It was all unfamiliar to her, but she was strangely certain that it wasn't the same place the monsters had attacked them in. She must have gotten out somehow.
What about all the others? Where were they?
Were they dead? Like J.D.? Even though he now felt like a stranger to her, the thought of him hurt.
Rain tried as hard as she could to clear to remember something clearly. Anything. She could vaguely make out more people in her mind's eye.
One had a strong jaw, square brows, dark hair, and equally dark hooded eyes.
Another had stubble, short messy hair, and a vaguely weasely air about him.
The next was easier to make out. A long face, cleft chin, spiky brown hair, round blue eyes, tall. Taller than her, anyway. Three deep gashes carved into his bicep.
The last one was crystal clear. Blonde hair cropped short, thin eyebrows, sharp features, open blue-green eyes, a red dress, fresh bruises, a straight scar with a sharp curve at the end.
Rain couldn't place any names.
Maybe (hopefully) it would come back to her if she gave it a bit of time. Right now, she needed to figure out how to escape this room.
There was a digital lock with a keypad beside the door. It required a four-digit code.
"Uh..."
She didn't know any four-digit codes. She started punching in random numbers.
Error.
Error.
Error.
Error.
Beginning to grow frustrated, Rain slammed her fist into the keypad.
Access granted.
The door swung open. She quietly stepped out of the room, being greeted with more white walls, white floors, white ceilings, and bright lights. There were no people around.
...No.
There was.
At least one.
Rain could hear light footsteps coming from somewhere nearby. She followed the sound down the corridor and rounded a corner.
A woman was at the opposite end of the hall, sporting the same white sheets and partially shaved head that Rain was. She had blue-green eyes and sharp features. Rain knew the woman was safe. She didn't know why exactly, she just knew.
But there was a problem. The blood. The woman had wounds all over. They were similar in placement to Rain's and oozing blood.
"...Rain?" There was a brief flash of relief on the woman's face. She increased her uneven pace, closing the distance between them. The smell of blood became more potent, overwhelming Rain's senses. The itch beneath her skin grew stronger, and it felt as if thousands of bugs were crawling there, urging her to attack. To bite. To rip her apart. To—
"Rain?" Alice repeated, becoming a bit hesitant. Between her blown-out pupils, rigid stance, shallow breathing, lack of response, and how she was acting before they all got separated, it was difficult to tell if it was truly Rain anymore. She wanted it to be. Desperately. "Hey, are you with me?"
"I... I'm with you," she replied after a moment.
Alice stepped closer. "How are you holding up?"
"Something's wrong with me. I'm not right."
"You're going to be fine." Alice placed her hands on Rain's shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze. Rain's face twitched. She was warm. Feverishly so. "I promised you that we would figure things out, remember?"
"I don't even remember your name." Her voice was strained.
A long pause passed.
"Alice. I'm Alice." Alice drew in a shuddery breath. "Does that sound familiar?"
Rain shook her head. "All I know is you were by my side before... this."
"Yeah... Yeah, I was. And I'm going to keep by your side. You and me? Consider us partners. I'm going to make good on my promise to you. Alright?"
Alice was safe. Rain trusted her. "Alright."
"We need to get out of here. But first, I want to check something."
Alice released her, leaving behind a third of a bloody handprint on her skin. Once she turned around, Rain went to rub it off.
The red, now on her palm, was difficult to tear her gaze away from. The itch was unbearable. She raised her hand up to her mouth and dragged her tongue across it.
