Getting into the parking garage without a four legged, blood thirsty, beast trying to tear out our throats definitely made things easier for us the second time around.

We easily made it up four flights of stairs before exiting on the fourth floor of the hospital. It was only once we started walking down the halls that I noticed something was wrong.

"Where is everybody?" I asked.

There wasn't a single person in sight.

No nurses, no doctors, no patients.

Cory kept moving without breaking stride as he answered me.

"The first couple of days after they started showing up people tried to stick it out. They tried barricading the doors and whatnot but it didn't matter. Eventually they got inside here too."

I hurried after him as he made a sharp right turn down another hallway.

"Once they got in, the living got out. All the doctors, nurses, and patients who were able left to seek shelter somewhere else. Somewhere safer."

"What about the patients who couldn't?" I asked quietly and Cory stopped long enough to give me a solemn look over his shoulder that told me all I needed to know.

They got left behind.

They were left for dead.

I didn't have the nerve to ask any other questions after that as we continued on.

At the end of the hall Cory finally stopped in front of one of the many rooms occupying the floor. I watched as he reached out to grab the door knob before slowly pushing the door open.

Sticking his head inside, he looked left and right making sure it was all clear before ushering me inside.

Taking a look around, I found that we were in a small room that was used to house various types of medicines. All of them harder to pronounce than the last.

I simply stood back and let Cory do his thing knowing I'd definitely be of no help on this one. Trying to read and pronounce medicines was the equivalent of trying to understand magic spells.

Once he had the the medicines and syringes tucked away safely in his bag he turned to me and nodded towards the door.

"Let's go."

Now, that was something I could do.

I quickly grabbed the door handle, pulling the door open and stepped outside into the hallway only to be greeted with the end of a scalpel.

Freezing in my spot, I followed the scalpel with my eyes, up to an arm, which then met broad shoulders, which eventually ended at a head.

I took in the face before me.

Pale skin could barely be seen underneath the thick scraggly beard that covered most of his face. Somewhere behind all that dark facial hair was a pair of chapped lips that were parted to show yellowed and broken teeth. Farther up there sat a crooked nose and then there were his eyes.

Bloodshot. Wild. Frantic.

The eyes of someone who obviously wasn't in the right state of mind.

I swallowed hard before turning my head just enough so that I could glance at Cory behind me.
He was standing stiff as a board as he watched the man in front of me.

"Where is it?!" The man suddenly hissed, drawing my attention back to him.

"Where's what?" Cory asked from behind me, his voice calm and collected. The very opposite of what I was feeling right now.

"Don't try to play games with me!" He snapped. "I know you have it!" His eyes snapped to the room we had just left before dropping down to the bag in Cory's hand.

"You took it didn't you?" He practically snarled.

"Took what?" Cory asked again, his voice still the very picture of patience.

"The drugs!" The man hissed. "They're mine and you're trying to steal them from me!"

The scalpel in his hand, only a few inches from my face, started to shake in his hands.

"No one is trying to steal anything from you." Cory tried to placate the man but he wasn't having it.

"You are!" He yelled, spit flying from his mouth, making me cringe. "You put it in that bag. I saw you!" He gestured toward the bag that Cory was holding.

"You've got it all wrong. There's medicine in here." Cory tried to explain, but the effects of whatever drugs this man had been taking had long since done its damage.

He was too far gone to see sense.

Without warning the man swung the scalpel in a huge arc. Luckily his movements were slow and uncoordinated so I had just enough time to take a step back and out of the reach of the blade.

"Give it to me!" He yelled and tried reaching for the bag but Cory was quicker, and easily side stepped him.

I worriedly glanced up and down the hallways.
If those things had super hearing then we were like a flare gun in the middle of the night with all the yelling he was keeping up.

Cory must've realized this too because he quickly held up his hands, trying to calm the man.

"Listen, whatever it is you're looking for I'm sure you can find it in there." Cory gestured to the medicine room. "You can go in and take whatever you want."

The man looked from the bag to the door in suspicion before letting out a harsh round of laughter.

The sound echoed off the walls and I cringed.

"You must think I'm stupid huh?" His wild eyes looked between me and Cory. "You got all the good stuff right there." He pointed the scalpel toward the bag.

Movement behind the man drew my attention and I felt my heart stutter in my chest as a man slowly made his way around the corner and into view.

He was a patient, dressed in the pale blue clothing provided by the hospital.

I watched as he stopped in the middle of the hallway before slowly turning his head in our direction.

Even from this distance I could see the bite wound on his neck and the blood that covered a good portion of the front of his shirt.

Oh no.

The man too focused on the drugs to realize the danger we were in, screamed yet again. "Give me the bag!"

That was all it took.

The patient at the end of the hall let out a low growl and started quickly shuffling toward us, arms outstretched.

"We've got to go. Now." Cory hissed as the patient quickly closed the distance between us.

The man ignored him completely, his focus on one thing. "You're not going anywhere until you give me that bag!"

Cory and I both took several steps back as the patient continued to quickly make his way down hall towards us.

"Man, forget the fucking drugs. Turn around!" Cory yelled, but it was too late.

Just as the man opened his mouth the patient was on him, sinking his teeth into flesh.

The scream that left his lips as the skin and muscle was pulled from his bones echoed in my head and the blood that poured from the wound swam in my vision.

I was barely aware of Cory tugging on my arm to lead me away.

The last thing I heard were his horrified screams and the last thing I saw before we disappeared down another hallway was the man falling to his knees his hands outstretched to me.

Begging for help.

Help that I couldn't give.

***