Emergence

All the blood drained from his face as Simon put his hands on the steering wheel. All the training he got from Misa had not prepared him to drive. Ever since his parents died in the car accident, the thought of driving nauseated Simon. None of the kids were with their parents when they got into the car accident that killed them but Simon had been the first to see the crumpled wreck they had crashed in. 

He heard the barking and howling of the creatures and was feeling the pressure on him increase. If he didn’t get going they were going to be attacked by one of those things that killed the soldier. At this point he was hyperventilating and the world around him was beginning to become black. There was a loud growl at the back door. The world that was fading into black suddenly became filled with colors again. The creature was now up on the hood of the car and Simon put the car in R and slammed the gas pedal. With a squeal the car was off into the street, and just like that Simon was driving. He was still pale and drenched in sweat but he was doing it!

“Ok Simon, just stay on this road. We’ll come up with a way to contact Misa.”

As they drove the group passed several people running, and heard gunshots ringing on both sides. They needed to get out of the city and fast. The best way would be to use the back roads. 

“Simon, take a right up ahead. It will be a little bumpy, but we need to get out of the city before something bad happens.” 

When they turned the corner it was total chaos.  Dozens of those creatures in many different sizes clung to fences, light poles, or sat on top of bodies. It was like all these creatures had just emerged from the depths of hell and now inhabited this area. Simon backed off this path and went back onto the main road. There was one other route but there was not even a trail there so driving on it would be difficult. He would take that route though because it had to be safe than the monster-filled city.

Meanwhile, at the hospital there was a different type of chaos. The beds that sat in the hallway which were once vacant were now full of patients in a comatose state. Some of those that were infected early on were now shedding their skin as the Captain had. None of them had moved at all though. Tonight one of the newer nurses was on for the captain. It was essential that the patient be kept sedated after the previous incident where staff was attacked.

Everyone was tired, but the newer nurses who were forced to stay here as well were really struggling. This new nurse was no exception. It was night shift, who was going to complain if the staff dozed off a little? The problem came when an aid silenced the low volume warning on the propofol pump. Within a few minutes the pump alarmed again, but the bottle of meds was already empty. When the nurse ran back into the room, the Captain was gone. 

She slapped the panic button and the overhead page system called out, “Code Blue to adult icu room 480, code blue to adult icu room 480.” 

As charge, Misa came running down the halls holding her clipboard and hospital issued cell phone. She looked into the empty room. “Fuck”

The captain was nowhere to be seen. The team split up and began searching for him when Misa got another page on the work phone. “Come to the ED, your family is here”.

Misa ran in a full out sprint to the Emergency Department. Right now they were only open to trauma and viral symptoms. Either way one of her siblings was either injured or sick. Both were instances she would rather not encounter. Once she got there, she ran into the intake area where she saw three familiar faces. She looked to her sister’s frayed shirt and bloodstained arm and to Max’s dressings. 

Misa folded her arms, “What happened to you guys?”

All the teens looked at Misa with fear in their eyes.

“The world is going to shit out there. We were attacked by some kind of monster and they are all over the city. We need to get treated and then get as far away from the city as we can.”

Misa looked down at her arm that had several stitches in it as well. She sat on the chair and started to unwrap her sister’s arm. When blood started gushing out, she quickly replaced the shirt with a tourniquet. “Grabbing the doc to come look at this. What’s the deal with Max’s hands?”

“Burns. Pretty bad. I think at least 2nd if not 3rd degree. She got those from saving my ass.” Misa turned to Max and gave her a hug.

“Thank you for saving Mila. Now anyways, kids. I’m gonna get the doc to treat you. I am not supposed to leave here but I’m not staying around to find out what’s going on. A patient is missing and he has attacked staff. If you see anything weird, run or hide. I’ll be back soon.” Misa ran out of the emergency department, and paged the doc about her siblings.

On her way back up to the ICU, Misa nearly slipped on something wet that was on the floor. When she looked down and to her horror, it was a chunk of flesh. There was more. Bits and pieces of flesh lay in a trail headed back to the Captain’s room. Alarms were dinging left and right, but no one was answering them. Something was wrong. 

As she rounded the corner, Misa came face to face with what she knew used to be the Captain. Most of his flesh was gone now, replaced by the dark green scales. He held the corpse of the newer nurse in a single hand before letting out a gut wrenching howl. The other patients that had the green scales started to stir in their beds and slowly, drop to the ground. 

“Oh hell no!” Misa knew some freaky shit when she saw it and the fact that the first to be infected was now calling others to wake up did not sit right with her. The problem. She needed her bag because she had stolen a master key card that would unlock the outside doors from the inside. It was what they needed to escape. 

“I’m so fucked. Ok then. Time to Tango you son of a bitch.” Misa dashed into the unit then slid behind the nurse’s station. Just a little more to go till she reached the breakroom. The captain flung the corpse he was carrying at the desk which knocked over all the computers. Misa had seen some gory things in the last war so she was unphased. The captain jumped onto the desk himself but Misa had already crawled past the  station. It was a straight shot to the break room so she ran at top speed, opened the metal door and slammed it before the captain could grab her.  

Misa unlocked her locker, and pulled out the master key in her scrub pocket. “Ok we are in business. Now how the fuck do I get out of here?”