I nodded absently as I gazed around the forest. It was thicker through here; there were more maples and oaks dotting the landscape. Even with the denser protection, I somehow felt even more exposed. Maybe it was because I was wounded, maybe it was because I had a shirt tied around me for clothing, or maybe it was simply because I resented my weakness. Or maybe it was my selfish need for some kind of comfort in this hostile environment, even if it was from Bret.
“It’s only another mile.”
Lloyd was already walking again; I fell into step beside Jenna, staying close by her side as I avoided Bret. I cursed my cowardice, but I needed to avoid him right now. Jenna glanced at me, looking as if she wanted to say something, but she remained silent. Barney returned to my side, brushing against my legs as he danced around me.
We reached a small incline and climbed to the top of the hill. Beneath us the hospital spread out like some glittering mirage in the desert. The windows were alight in the gleam of the setting sun. It was oddly beautiful, and out of place, in the world surrounding us now. Jenna inhaled sharply; she grasped hold of my arm, her eyes gleaming with the light around us.
“I didn’t think we’d make it,” she breathed.
I squeezed her hand gently. I didn’t think any of us had thought we’d actually make it, but here we were, and there itwas. And I was terrified.
I was suddenly certain that something else was going to go wrong, something far worse than the brutal assault, recently dislocated shoulder, and ugly blister I had recently endured. The three people with me seemed to feel the same as no one moved. They simply stared at the assortment of beautifully shining medical buildings.
“Should we wait till dark?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t think it matters,” Lloyd answered.
“I just want to get this over with,” Jenna breathed. “We’ve come so far.”
I swallowed heavily and managed a small nod. “Yes, we have.”
Lloyd began to make his way slowly down the hill. Bret and Jenna followed him; I reluctantly took up the rear. My gun was strapped around me again, but the weight I had once found reassuring now seemed like a mere toy. I had seen what those things could do, I had feltthe pain they were capable of inflicting. A pain that I could still feel tingling through the very marrow of my bones, a pain I knew I would never forget. It was not like having a sprained ankle or broken bone, or even a torn ligament, it was a memory that would not fade with time and would haunt me for the rest of my days.
No wonder that man Cade and I had seen on the street (the only we know to have been unfrozen), had been awakened by the brutal assault that the creature had inflicted upon it. Cade had attempted to awaken Peter, his old boss, by burning him, but it had failed. I understood why now. The brand I sported on my shoulder was nothing compared to the lingering pain from when that thing had forced its way into my body. The people were frozen, completely immobile to us, but that kind of pain was something that we could never manage to inflict no matter how hard we tried. Of that I was certain.
What I wasn’t certain of was whether The Frozen Ones were dead or not. The man that had reawakened was proof that they had originally been alive, trapped within their own bodies, but that had been over a month ago. They may still be frozen, immobile statues, but they had to be dead by now. Didn’t they? They hadn’t eaten, hadn’t gone to the bathroom; hadn’t even
breathed
I shuddered at the thought; goose bumps broke out on my flesh. For a moment the world lurched and swayed, my stomach heaved violently at the thought of being trapped like that. It was the worst thing I could ever imagine happening to me. The endless torture they were enduring if they were aware of their surroundings. I’d rather be dead.
I didn’t want to die.
The thought slammed into me. For the first time I realized that it was completely true. I had been going through the motions, surviving because it was expected, hoping because there had been hope to have, but all the while there had been a deadened hole inside of me. There had been an emptiness that kept me teetering on the edge of a dark precipice. The hole, the emptiness would always be there, I knew that. But I wanted to live, I wanted to survive. I wasn’t ready for this to be the end and I was very afraid of what the hospital held for us. I should be elated we had reached our goal, I was nearly certain that we wouldn’t be leaving the building.
Tears burned my eyes and throat; I kept my head bowed as I watched every step I took carefully. I didn’t realize we had made it to the bottom of the hill until the ground leveled out before me. The day was growing steadily darker. Lloyd stopped to survey the buildings, his eyes narrowed as he knelt to rest one hand upon the ground.
“Does anyone know the layout?”
“I’ve been here once before, when my mom’s friend had a baby. If you want to know where the maternity ward is, I’m your guy.”
Lloyd scowled at Bret before turning his attention back to the hospital. “Bishop said that the pathology and laboratory departments were where we would find the things we need. They’re probably located in the main building, basement. Hopefully,” I added.
“Now that is useful info,” Lloyd muttered.
We slipped silently through the darkening day, hurrying through the deepening shadows as we stayed low and scurried across the ground. Lloyd reached the doors first. He didn’t hesitate, as I would have, before plunging into the dark interior. Bret followed swiftly behind but Jenna balked slightly before disappearing after them.
I took a deep breath and plunged forward, half afraid that something was going to snag me as soon as I stepped inside. Instead, I entered a world of utter chaos and destruction. I skid to a halt behind Bret; the squeak of my sneakers on the linoleum floor as loud as a gunshot in the eerily silent hall. I winced involuntarily, bracing myself for something to come rushing at us out of the dark. Nothing moved, nothing stirred; there was nothing left to make a sound.
“What the hell?” Jenna whispered.
The hall was a mess. There didn’t appear to be one inch of floor that wasn’t littered with some type of debris. Papers, medical tools, clothes, blankets, mattresses, pillows, and so many other numerous things covered the floor that it was hard to differentiate one from another. It looked as if a bomb had gone off, but I knew it was something far worse and far more sinister.
“My God,” Jenna breathed her hand flying to her mouth as she came to the same sickening realization that I just had.
It wasn’t a bomb that had gone off in here, but a feeding frenzy that had left the halls devoid of any life, devoid of any hope.
“Let’s get this over with, quickly.” Lloyd’s words made sense, but no one moved.
I didn’t want to move through the blood that splattered the walls and floor, didn’t want to pick my way through the discarded clothing; didn’t want to touch the remnants of the dead. I wanted to close my eyes and block out everything before me, but it was now seared permanently into my mind. I did not want to hear the resounding screams that had once filled this hall, but they echoed through my mind. I was shaking as I took a step back. The blood, the horror, the massacre that had occurred here nearly drove me to my knees beneath the crushing weight of despair that was trying to consume me.
The pain. Remnants of it lingered on the blood streaked walls. Remnants of it pulsed with an answering rhythm in the very marrow of my bones. The horrendous agony of what these people had experienced would forever be absorbed into the sterile white walls of this institution. The place felt haunted, as if the lost souls were trapped here. Forever ensnared within the last horrifying moments of their lives. I could feel their lost souls brushing against me; feel their misery and torment as they remained caged within this awful place. For eternity. They’d had no chance, no hope of escaping. Whatever had swept through here had been rapid and it had been devastating. And it had relished in hurting them.