Hell on Earth

Misa looked around the locker room for something she could use as a weapon, all she found was a dirty steak knife that someone must have for their lunch. It wasn't gonna cut it but it was better than nothing. “Ugh, wtf am I going to do?! There are too many of them for me to fight my way through without a proper weapon.”

Misa heard the air conditioning kick on and looked toward the vent that was above the lockers. It was pretty small and Misa was not a small person. If she really had to she could fit if she had to but she would be completely defenseless. The captain started banging on the door which helped Mila to make her decision. She looked up at the vent. “Fuck, I guess that means I’m going into that cramped duct. Damn it! I hate tight spaces.” 

Misa used the knife to unscrew the vent covering. She crawled inside and could barely move her arms but she could slide. She pushed her way through the dark tunnel and despite it being a tight squeeze, everything was going ok until a few feet in front of Misa something banged into the ceiling. Before she could move back there was another bang right under her, and she fell from the ceiling flat on her stomach. She let out a groan while rolling to her feet. Another patient was standing before her, flesh clinging to her green scales like the flesh on a deer’s antlers before they shed. 

Without hesitation Misa ran at the beast that stood before her and grabbed it by the wrist, flipping it on its back, and breaking its arm at the elbow in a single sweeping motion. With militant precision she struck the beast on the back of its head with her heel. It stopped moving long enough for her to make a mad dash for the nearby stairwell. It was oddly quiet in the halls. Too quiet. Blood leaked out from under the door to her right, which was the medical surgical unit. 

Misa knew that she would be opening up a can of worms but she had to check and see what was going on. If there were survivors it would be her job to save them. She opened the door slightly. All the people on the other side of it were either dead or dying. Several creatures with their skin hanging off of their darkly colored scales stood over corpses. Silently, Misa closed the door. It was too late. The thudding of footsteps followed her as Misa ran for the stairs. She flew down faster than most people could, her Seal training was coming in handy. When she finally reached the first floor, the scene was far more chaotic than it had been on the lower floors. 

The creatures that had attacked Mila and Max had broken in somehow. No windows were broken so Misa couldn’t tell how this had happened at first glance. But people were running. She ran against the traffic to the room where she had left her siblings. Empty. 

“Ok that means they must be in the stabilization room.” She ran again, this time nearly tripping over several bodies. She caught the corner of the wall and blood ran down her forearm as the stitches popped open. When the drops hit the floor, all the dog-creatures suddenly turned up their eyeless faces in the direction of Misa. 

Misa noticed right away and said “What in the literal fuck?!’ Before they all rushed her, Misa slammed the master key to the door, and opened the STAB room door. She was met by the familiar faces of her siblings and Max. The two slid a gurney in front of the doors. The creatures rammed into them full force causing dents to form. 

“Has everyone been treated? Have you gotten your meds?”

The two girls shook their heads. 

“Ok, then let’s get the fuck out of here. Simon, grab everything from that cart and put it in one of those red bags. Max, grab any and all medication you can find. Mila I need you to come redo my stitches. On the double!”  

While everyone did their assigned tasks, Mila washed her hands and donned gloves. She took the needed supplies from a tray that was already set up from her stitches. Silently she cleaned her sister’s skin, then began suturing Misa’s wound. She didn’t use pain medication or a numbing agent so instead her sister just slammed her teeth together and grinded them. 

“Misa, what’s it like out there?”

“To be honest, it’s like hell on earth. Much worse than anything I saw while on missions. Whatever those things are they are related to the virus that came back with the crew from the Mars mission. There are people sized creatures as well and the hospital will be packed with them since we had so many of those viral patients here.”

“Are we going to be able to get out?”

“Yeah, I have a plan for that. Don’t throw out any of those gauze pads that were soaked in my  blood. They may be our ticket to getting out of here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier when I cut myself, all the dog things stopped what they were doing and looked at me. If we use my blood as a distraction we may fool them long enough to slip out undetected.”

“Why would they want your blood?”

“I have no fucking clue. It was really weird. The why doesn’t matter though. For times like these we take every advantage we can get.”

“Let’s go over the escape plan quickly. We are going to put those dirty rags in the vent system. When it turns you on the ac should carry that scent throughout the ED at least. That should distract and confuse those things. I don’t know if you noticed, but the fuckers don’t have eyes. That means they are relying  almost exclusively on scent and hearing. There is access to the loudspeakers from the phone in this room. Anyone have any good music they wanna hear one last time?”

Max raised her hand. “Play this youtube playlist by the Bashing Bumpkins.”

Misa smiled. “Ok. Does that sound like a reasonable plan or does anyone else have a better one?” 

She put out her fist. Simon was the first to stack his own on hers, Followed by Max then the hesitant Mila. 

“Ok since we all agree, let's get the fuck out of here.”