Chapter Twelve : Adversaries

Gunshots exploded in a deafening show of force, bullets tore through flesh penetrating the wall behind the targets. Ethan lay on the ground his legs obscured by the nurses station as he fired a volley of five shots at the approaching figure. It's skin a mixture of deep grey with various browns and dark blues that gave it a patterned look. The figure went down as the lead ripped through its body sending the sub human beast into convulsive death throes. Ethan's shots had hit home along with several of the hospitals other occupants, who wasted no time unloading into the two dark creatures. The smell of spent shells filled the room as somewhere a young child sobbed hysterically in the background. Down the hall the morlock lay twitching as they bled a thick dark blood adding more patches on the already stained floor. For a long time everyone just held their positions waiting, somewhere over the other side someone started to cough and the hiss of a ventilator sounded. Ethan's hip began to hurt as someone else complained loudly about their legs. The two bodies stopped twitching, silently slipping into oblivion as many eyes watched with baited breath but nothing more emerged from beyond. Someone walking sideways past the nurses station stepped around Ethan, holding a shotgun at the ready. He stalked down the corridor pausing only to kick each of the corpses with a sneaker. Spinning at the corner he stood side on pointing the gun towards where Gerald had sat behind the desk.

"Oh Shit." The man said lowering his gun and stepping forward.

The doctor walked with a quick pace to meet the man but turned away when he got there. There was nothing he could do for Gerald now, his jaw having been dislocated, torn downwards to be left hanging by his neck skin. His belly opened to let his intestines out in a foul mess all over the floor. Ethan who had followed, turned away, immediately regretting his curiosity, he stumbled back to examine the two morlock corpses. Dark thick liquid pooled beneath them, seeping from their many wounds. This was the closest he had been to such a creature, he took the chance to study it fully, looking over its face picking the human features out of the monster. The two bodies were very different from each other in size and features, however they did have some striking identifiable similarities, mainly in the skin. It was dark and mottled but not rotting like a zombies, rather it was more like the scarring you find on burns victims. The pigmentation changed from dark brown and almost black to a deep blue in places. They were hairless, exposed to the elements in every regard, before they were just things but now he could plainly see they were a male and a female. Ava came over standing close and as he went to reach out to put an arm around her he realized he still held the glock, The faces on the morlock were scarred, the male had a gaping hole where his nose once was, giving a view of the sinuses that had no business being part of a face. The female had a nose but it was shrunken and shriveled looking. She also had a large blue gash across her face showing the violence of recent times, healed poorly it had left her with a large dark scar. The doctor knelt beside the body using a pen to poke at the fresh wounds in the flesh. Along with the bullet holes were various other holes looking more natural, like semi healed wounds or some kind of orifices. He huffed and stood up as people gathered by the nurses station.

"We need volunteers to help gaurd the entrance!" He said it as a statement rather than a request.

"I'll do it." Said a large serious looking man, stepping forward and trudging past the bodies before disappearing around the corner to join the other man with the shotgun who was taking care of Gerald.

"So you want to set up a home somewhere away from the city?" He said turning to the three of them.

Beyond the other corridors was a nightmare of rooms full with dead corpses, rotting flesh making up the bulk of the hospital patients now. As they walked past the rooms the smells got worse until there was no escaping the putrid stench of death. The supply room was right of a main corridor and they encounters nothing living along the way. It seemed that the barricade they had to partially move before they could pass was more of a precaution than a protection. The rest of the hospital was a mausoleum. They loaded a trolly using a list from Chorn getting as much as they could, the doctor would let them know how much was theirs to keep upon their return. Ethan kept thinking of Gerald and the creatures that had killed him. They had moved fast, dispatching the old man in an instant. He kept going over in his mind how they must have been in the area, maybe they even watching them as the entered the building. Somehow it felt as though it was their fault, he had to keep telling himself that it wasn't but still he couldn't shake the feeling.

On the way back, loud voices coming from the nurses station caused them to stop. Leaving the trolly, Ethan crept as far down the corridors as he dared stopping only at the corner right before the barricade. From here he could hear quite clearly the doc's voice along with someone loader and more aggressive. Who ever it was sounded hostile, looking back at Samuel who crouched behind him quietly, he signaled him to halt with an outstretched palm.

"So tell me doctor how long are you going to stay here rotting for these people?" The hostile man said his voice betraying the despise he felt for the people that lived here.

"As long as there are people here." The doctors reply did little to hide his own contempt.

"I could clear the place out for you... Take care of that problem!" It was clear this man was threatening the lives of the people surrounding him.

"And what then Liam? Kidnap me? Force me to work at your base? I will treat injured people from here, if you want my help bring them to me." The doctor was standing his ground well, Ethan got the feeling that this wasn't the first time they had had this conversation. Risking exposure he braved a peek around the corner. The large man was in military gear and carried an assault rifle slung across his back the same model as the men he had sniped at the petrol station, a pistol hung in a shoulder holster under his arm. His shaved head made him look older than he probably was and his face side on revealed him to be an average looking young man but his mannerisms and the look on his face told a colder story. Behind him four armed men stood at the ready, in full cammo, their faces hidden under balaclavas, guns ready to wreak destruction whenever the man called Liam willed.

Ethan's heart leapt, the sound pounding in his ears drowning out the exchange. The urge to run was overwhelming but he knew if he did the chase would be on. He crouched motionless on the hospital floor letting fate decide for him how this was going to end. Samuel however was not so eager to be on the end of another kicking. He had heard well enough the mans intentions, un clipping his gun he breathed deep heavy breaths as he quietly slid it from the holster. Ethan gave him a pleading look, hoping that he would see the desperation he felt in his face, at least enough to cool his heels, but Samuals face was hard with hatred and fear. Ethan wanted to grab him or say something, anything to break through to him but doing so would give them away. He pleaded in his mind begging Sam to stay the course, further down the corridor in the background Ava began to shake her head in a silent gesture as tears started rolling over her cheeks.

The first shots were ear shattering drowning out the talking as the sound expanded to fill the room, bouncing around, continually being added to as more shots were fired into people. Sam stood gun out a look of fear and adrenaline contorting his face making him look unnatural. In the room the four faceless men separated, pumped shots into the occupants of the stalls they passed, indiscriminately killing old men and children alike. The wall spat plaster back as lead punched holes through it, leaving a haze of dust in the air. Someone fired a shotgun once, never to be fired again as the machine guns exploded in bursts cutting the owner down. Ethan wanted to stop Sam but he knew he couldn't, he wanted to turn away but he didn't as Samuel walked past him into the corridor gun firing shot after shot in rapid succession over the barricade. From where he sat on the floor Ethan watched in horror as the hall way become a deafening hail of bullets. One of the masked guys went down, hitting the floor flat on his back gun still firing into the air as shock took over his system. It happened so fast that Ethan couldn't make sense of it as Samuel's body jerked and plaster erupted around him. Bullets ripped into his friends body, tearing their way through his flesh some fragmenting inside while others exploded out the back to lodge in the wall. His body collapsed in a heap never to move again as blood that once kept him alive pooled on the floor and began to bead, forming runs on the walls. His body weighed nothing as Ethan stood, his legs feeling longer and somehow detached as he run, as though they were dangling on strings, his body floating down the hall. Ava stood in shock, not able to see what had become of their companion but fully aware of his death. Ethan had to drag on her arm to get her to move, the panic in his body was overwhelming and he was about to let her go and go it alone when her legs seem to kick in and they ran together. Behind them the sound of gunfire echoed down the hallways and across the car park into the dusk.