Apocalypse Hearts

Chapter 3 - Code Black

There was no fear in the guard’s face. His breathing was strangely calm. He looked at Ronald, then at Sally, then at Camille. The guard looked directly at Camille. His nostrils flared, inhaled deeply like he had caught a scent. He sprinted towards Camille.

Sally shoved Camille sideways as the patient attacked. His forehead hit the concrete wall hard with a nauseating c***k. He didn't even seem to notice because he turned again towards Camille. Ronald had grabbed a stainless steel IV pole and hit the attacker with both hands. A cracking sound echoed through the hallway. His right shoulder was down, and he staggered, continuing very slowly towards Camille.

"That's not normal," Mang Ben said while unclipping the heavy ring of keys from his belt, "There are service corridors behind Radiology, maintenance tunnels that connect to every building…"

"Can we get everyone out through those tunnels?" Sally instantly asked.

Mang Ben hesitated. They all drifted toward the overcrowded ER. Some patients couldn't walk and were hiding silently, with nurses or aides, in the corner with wheelchairs or cabinets separating them from the infected. They could see under the curtains that patients and relatives were hiding under the bed, hands in their mouths. There were some relatives running, still searching for loved ones.

"We can try." Mang Ben replied, unsure.

Before they could move, the hospital's public address system crackled, and the familiar chime sounded. A trembling voice filled every corridor.

"Attention all personnel… Code Black. This is not a drill. Hide. Lock every door. This is not a drill." The transmission ended.

The announcement faded into a suffocating silence. No one moved. Even the infected guard standing twenty feet away from them stood still. Then a baby cried sharply. Sally turned instinctively. She found out that it came from the nearby pediatric observation room. They saw a young mother trapped behind a line of overturned wheelchairs, clutching a baby tightly against her chest. Beside her, a little boy about seven years old was hugging his mother's waist with trembling hands. Three infected patients wandered between their position and the pediatric room.

Ronald looked down toward the exit. "They're too far." He knew already what Sally intended to do.

"We have to get them." Sally had already taken a step forward.

"If we go in there, we might not come back," Camille said, almost crying, "I'm so scared, Sally." She pleaded.

Sally halted. She looked at terrified Camille, then to Mang Ben. Mang Ben knew that Sally looked as if she had already made up her mind. He let out a slow breath and hurried to a nearby fire safety cabinet.

"I'll open the way." Mang Ben said, "Whatever happens, always look for me, because I will be looking for you and I always have the keys." Then he smashed the glass of the safety cabinet with his elbow.

An alarm shrieked through the hallway as Mang Ben lifted the red fire axe from the brackets. He weighed it in his hands. The infected, upon hearing the alarm, turned their heads in unison toward Mang Ben. They started walking one by one towards Mang Ben. "Good," he muttered, "Come to papa."

Mang Ben stopped the alarm; the infected abruptly stood still. He struck the wall with the butt of the axe to create a sound. It echoed through the ER. The three infected walked toward the sound. Sally, Ronald, and Camille understood what Mang Ben was doing. They immediately aimed for the pediatric room.

Mang Ben continued playing with the sound. All the infected in the ER, about six of them, walked towards Mang Ben. Sally turned her head around and saw that one of the infected was not moving. He was just standing in the middle of the corridor.

Sally recognized her. It was the patient with the impossible fever. He ignored the noise. He ignored Mang Ben. He ignored others. He was just there, standing, eyes remained fixed on Sally. Watching or waiting.

The baby cried again, and it echoed in the whole corridor.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Tud. Thud.

That was Mang Ben competing with the sound of the infant in the pediatrics.

Ronald and Camille immediately moved the overturned wheelchairs and carts before the young mother with the baby and the kid. Sally helped the mother and grabbed the kid's hand. "It's alright. It's ok. We need to get out of here," Sally said calmly.

Ronald lowered his knees and offered his back to the little boy. "You could be faster if you rode my back." He said with a smile.

The little boy hesitantly rode Ronald's back; he instantly whispered, "Please, Doctor, don't let the aswang bite me."

"I promise. I will not let you go. Just hang on tight, ok?" Ronald said kindly like a big brother.

Camille felt warm in her heart. She looked at Ronald admiringly.

All of them walked fast but were conscious not to make a noise. They could hear Mang Ben's axe butt hitting the wall from afar. Sally looked around. As they were walking toward Mang Ben's sound, her eyes were scanning the whole area. She thought she saw someone standing at the back, far end of the corridor. In two blinks, he was gone. Sally dismissed the thought, thinking it was just her imagination. Her brain was telling her that it was not the one with the impossible fever. It's not patient zero.

As they were walking, two elderly couples, one wearing a patient gown, and a young couple joined them.

"Where is the safest exit? Are you going to the exit?" the boyfriend asked.

Camille put her finger against her lips to signal silence. And then pointed straight towards where they were walking, then touched her ear, then pointed straight again. They just nodded to each other, understanding that they should be quiet and should walk towards the sound.

When they reached the end of the corridor, at the intersection with a spacious lobby at the center, they immediately saw Mang Ben throw two charts far in one of the corridors. It made a very loud sound. Five infected staggered to that corridor.

Mang Ben turned his back, faced the wall, and instantly opened a portion of the wall with a key. It was a door that didn't look like a door but was designed intentionally to look like a wall. As he entered, he signaled Sally and the others with his hands to come to him.

They walked fast towards Mang Ben. The two elderly people, assisted by Ronald with the kid on his back, entered first. Followed by the young mother with a baby, Camille, then the young couple. Sally was just five steps towards the opening when the cellphone in her pocket rang and vibrated. Amid a very low ringtone sound, it echoed through the silent lobby.

Immediately, they heard a scrambling sound of footsteps, sprinting, walking, limping, staggering. Different approaches of infected, probably more than ten of them, coming from different corridors. One thing was sure. They were all coming for Sally.

Sally jumped into the opening. Mang Ben pulled her in. Before the door was shut, Sally saw people hiding behind the tall plant boxes in the lobby. One of them, a teenage boy with terrified eyes, locked eyes with her. Sally knew that these people wanted to go in too.

For a moment, no one spoke. Just listening to the moving infected behind the closed door. They were all sitting on the cold, wet floor of the tunnel, resting. The baby was suckling milk from her mother's breast. The little boy was sleeping. Sally looked at her cellphone. A missed call from Mama, but there was no network signal in the tunnel.

Mang Ben finally spoke, "Welcome to the maintenance corridor."