--Phase 5 “The Mutant”--
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
As they made their escape from the zombies, Benji did not stop cursing the entire time. He did not sign up for this. Why did this happen to him? If he got through this, he swore to himself that he would treat everyone with respect and kindness, especially those in positions of authority below him like the janitor. But first thing first, he needed to find Nathan. He hoped Nathan was not in danger.
“Here!” Dominique yelled as he used his key to unlock the door to the janitor's room and allowed the three men to enter before shutting and locking the door from the inside. They let out a sigh of contentment, thankful that they had only narrowly avoided death. They swore their soul almost left their body just now.
“Oh God! Nathan!” Benji shouted out loud. He was dead worried as he blamed himself for letting Nathan go to get his patient’s medicine. He should be the one going but Nathan volunteered to do it instead.
“We’re trapped,” Dominique spoke. “But it’s not a checkmate...”
“What do you mean?” Allen asked.
“Look up,” Dominique pointed up, to the ceiling. “There’s ventilation space. We can get out from there and check the floor by the ceiling without being noticed by the zombies.”
“You’re so smart!” Allen cheered. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Dominique rubbed his neck and smiled shyly.
“So, what exactly are we waiting for? Let's get moving!” Benji was the one who climbed up first and took the initiative to lead the way. After him came Dominique, and then Allen. They crept very slowly and made no noise as they made their way toward the pharmacy, assuming that was where Nathan was. Benji pulled himself together. He was utterly terrified, but he had to have the courage to save Nathan.
It took what seemed like an eternity, but they eventually made it to the pharmacy. They waited quietly, listening intently, to see whether any zombies had made their way into the pharmacy. Benji’s eyes searched for Nathan from the ceiling but he could not find him. They quickly got off the ceiling into the payment counter and sneaked out slowly. Benji slid over to the opposite side of the wall, maintaining a firm grip on the gun that he had got from Allen. And in the meantime, Allen and Dominique proceeded to double-check the opposite side.
SRRKK... SRRKK...
As Benji cautiously approached the front desk, he heard a strange sound coming from the back of the desk. He aimed his weapon, prepared to shoot any zombies he saw, but there were none. Behind the stack of brown boxes under the desk, he could make out the shadow form of his childhood friend, sobbing quietly with a fearful expression on his face.
“Shhh...” Benji approached Nathan as he hugged the trembling man. “It’s okay. It’s okay now, nobody is going to hurt you...”
“Ben...” Nathan wept tears of relief as he held Benji closely in his arms and squeezed him tightly, not wanting to let go. A piece of him was relieved to learn that Benji had made it here unharmed and was with him. A portion of him was concerned for Benji's safety.
“Come, let's go,” Benji motioned to Nathan, telling him to follow him closely. When he arrived at Dominique and Allen's place with Nathan, he was surprised to see that the two men were surrounded by zombies. Benji killed two zombies with a single shot to the head. Nathan could only stand there helplessly, watching in dread as more zombies approached.
Allen led the way forward while the others trailed after him. They rush through the hall as the hungry zombies chase them, eager for human flesh. They continued to run until they reached the elevator, at which point Dominique tapped the button on the elevator's wall panel, and the elevator door immediately opened. Before the zombies could get close to them after they entered, the door shut. As soon as the elevator came to a stop, Benji pressed the emergency button. They let out a breath of relief as they realised they were safe for the time being.
“Ben... Ben, what are they?” asked Nathan, who was still shocked and confused with what had happened. Benji was also at a loss for words because he had been given no satisfactory explanation for what had taken place. He turned to Allen and asked him for an explanation. Allen sighed as he took this opportunity to explain the situation. Nathan and Benji were utterly shocked when they heard everything. However, they were unaware that there was yet another waiting for them.
BUM! BUM! BUM!
The area above the lift was filled with a resonant banging sound. Nobody spoke as they readied their weapon. Now Nathan had one in his hands, too. Allen had passed a gun to him once they entered the lift.
ROARRRR!
They were on the verge of losing their hearing once they heard the terrifying scream and immediately covered their ears. The ceiling suddenly collapsed, revealing a monstrously large foot. Nathan was about to scream, but Benji quickly put his hand over his mouth to silence him. Dominique, at the same time, took swift action by pressing the level five button and then depressing the emergency button. While the creature continued to leap above them, the lift began to rise. The group hoped the ceiling would hold until they reached the top level.
Their lift abruptly lost power and started descending at a rapid rate, shattering together their hope to trap the monster between it and the top ceiling. They screamed their lungs out and the crash caused them to experience unbearable pain and terror.
Allen was the first person who opened his eyes and realised the lift door was broken. He was unable to see well outside the lift because of the dust cloud. Getting his sight up, the enormous monster that was almost three times the size of a typical zombie was standing just in front of them. Some zombies appeared to have mutated from the medicine or chemical in the hospital.
Dominique, who got his consciousness after Allen, shot the monster on the head but it did not die. Allen used his guns to attack the head, only to make the monster go mad and step on his legs.
“Aaaaaaaaahhh!” Allen screamed as he felt tremendous pain on his legs. He could not move. He was frozen on the spot by the pain that was killing him.
“Damn you!” Benji and Nathan began firing at the monster’s head as soon as they woke up and the monster finally stepped back in pain.
“Allen! Allen!” Dominique was the first one who ran to Allen and he lifted the doctor up, getting the four of them out of the broken lift, while their guns were still busy shooting the monster.
Their worst nightmare continued as a horde of zombies chased them, following closely behind the monster from before. Benji was the first one to curse as his gun ran out of bullets and then Nathan. Dominique took Allen’s shotgun as he shot endlessly. It did not take long for them to run out of bullets, and to make matters worse, they were stuck in a dead end.
“Ben,” Nathan's voice broke as he cried out. “I’m so scared...”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. No matter what,” Benji’s words were very promising, despite the fact that he was also terrified to death.
Dominic swore and yelled that he did not want to die just yet as the zombies marched at them. He even had not thrown his graduation hat and virginity away! Okay, that was mad. He would not throw the second one just like that.
“Look!” Nathan pointed to a tunnel with his finger. It was more of a narrow passageway that led to the laundry room. It was used to transfer dirty hospital sheets without having to send it directly to the laundry room. They rushed toward it, helped Dominique in getting Allen inside first, and then followed behind one by one.
Dominique had to admit that the journey down the tunnel reminded him of sliding down a slide when he was a child. With the exception that they landed in tons of filthy sheets. Benji rose to his feet as fast as he could and secured the tunnel entrance to the laundry room, keeping the zombies from following them. They secured the other entrance to the room as well by locking all of the doors and hid beneath the white sheet. Right now, they did not have to worry about anything bad happening. It was the same as before, it may just be momentary, but it was enough to make them feel at ease.
“Uhhh...” Allen gave out a soft gripe as Dominique tore the pants, revealing the broken leg.
“Benji, can you help me?” asked Dominique. He used to avoid talking to doctors and now it did not bother him anymore.
Benji was aware that they had no longer used formal languages or addressed each other ‘doctor’, but this did not bother him in the least. He assumed that since they now had to look out for one another, the cafeteria issue had been resolved. He helped Dominique tended Allen’s broken leg while Dominique reached into his pocket for bandages and medicine.
During their search for Nathan, Dominique had the opportunity to pick some up at the pharmacy. One of Dominique's life philosophies was that one should always be prepared for the worst. Therefore, he could be extremely cautious sometimes.
“Damn! It is painful...” Allen muttered under his breath as Nathan held his palm. Benji had cleaned the wound with some water, applied some medication and bandaged the leg. Although it was not too serious for emergency aid, Allen’s leg needed to be x-ray scanned for broken bone and be treated with proper treatment as soon as possible.
Allen mumbled ‘thank you’ as he closed his eyes. Without their noticing, time passed, and before they knew it, twilight was approaching. For the time being, they made the decision to relax and await assistance. They prayed, deep down in their souls, that the zombies would never come find and kill them all.
“Go get some sleep,” Benji told Nathan and Dominique. “I’ll watch.”
Dominique yawned and said, “Okay, wake me up in an hour and we'll take turns.” He was so exhausted and hungry. For the first time in his life, he put food on his second list despite how desperately he needed it. His top priority was to escape this nightmare.