Lights were flickering around our heads. The hallways had a horrible stentch, almost like rotting flesh, and honestly the walls seemed to fit the smell. Naturally, I knew this was rust.. But it seemed so alive. I was afraid to touch it. The only thing I wanted to do was get the fuck out of this hospital and find my friends. They had to be worried about me and they had to be ready to leave the place, the same as I was.


Heather was leading the way. She moved quick on her feet and she always had the gun held at eye-level. Her flashlight was the only thing we could really count on to guide us out of here, but I swore in the flickering of the lights above our heads I could see movements way off in the distance. It made me incredibly uneasy. A part of me wanted to ask the blonde about it, but she was in such a hurry that I was certain our lives depended on our silence.


"I need you to help me," she whispered, tugging me to a nurses station. At least seeing that gave me the comfort of knowing we were away from the patient rooms. "There should be a key somewhere over here. It's in a different place every time I'm here."


"How many times have you been here?"


"I'll explain later," she hissed, shoving papers out of the way. She would stop to read about some of the patients, even shoved some of their reports into her vest, but I didn't question it. I was afraid she'd shoot me and save herself. Eventually, she wrapped her fingers around the small key with a big grin on her lips. "Let's go. Be quiet but quick."


Heather's boots clicked against the blood covered floor as we made our way to another long, empty hallway. At least, I thought it was empty. Heather wasn't at all phased by the arms poking out of blankets on the operating tables. She barely even gave them a second glance, but I was disturbed. My stomach was churning as I took notice to one blood-stained bed sheet. There was only half a person here, and judging by the size of the arm hanging out, I'd say it was a man. His body was under one of the flickering lights, so I could barely see, but Heather was so far ahead of me that I couldn't shout for her to come back. I decided to check out his tattoo on my own.


Floor three is the key,
Find the other half of me.


"What the fuck?"


Why would someone get something like that tattoo'd on them? Better yet, why was it so fitting for the fact that the dude was chopped in half? If I'd had more time, I might have been able to figure that out, but his arm twitched and it scared the living shit out of me. My feet took off before my mind could even register it. Before long, I was out of breath and beside Heather, who had a stern glare on her face.


"If you don't keep up I won't feel guilty over your death. I can easily find someone else to help."


"There are other people in this dump?"


"Don't you understand what I'll explain later means? Fucking Hell, Alex. What were you looking at, anyway?"


"A dead guy. At least, I thought he was dead. He had to be dead."


"You found the body already? Shit."


"I am so-" I growled, rolling my eyes to the anger on her face. "I'll ask later."


"Good boy. Now I need you to get ready to fight. I'm going to use this key to call the elevator. When it comes, the doors won't open until all of the nurses are dead. I can't help you with this one, Alex. This is kind of way to test your strength."


"Excuse me? I don't want to kill innocent people!"


"You sure have a lot learn."


I felt uneasy as she slid the key into the hole. Her fingers were shaking as she twisted it, making a green light go off on the wall opposite of her. A moment later, we could hear the cart coming up the shaft. Sucking in a sharp breath, I tried to steady the pipe in front of me. Heather backed up against the wall and held her gun tightly, her pale skin growing whiter. Moments passed and nothing happened - Then I heard it - The sound of heels smacking against the ground.


My heart was pounding out of my chest as I turned to look at Heather one last time. She nodded her head, as if to say she has trust in me, then flipped off her light. At first, I wanted to smack her, but as soon as the hallway grew dark, aside from the lights ahead of us, the nurses had stopped moving so quickly. There were just little grunts and slight sliding motions coming from their feet.


The next thing I know, Heather's arms are around my body. Her hands are moving my own, so that I have a better grip on the pipe. She slowly moved my hands forward to show me the proper way to swing it, which made me question just how many people she'd killed over her time here. Best not to think about that in a time like this, I suppose.


"Get ready," she whispered in my ear, giving my arms one last squeeze. "They're nothing like you think."


I was trying to comprehend her words, but the little voice inside of my head told me to get ready for the worst. There was movement behind me, a clicking noise, then light.


I jumped so far back I nearly jumped out of my skin. These weren't people at all.. They were monsters, that only had the same form as a human nurse. All of them were running toward Heather's light, but they were dragging their feet and swinging their knifes, or pipes, or guns. Why hadn't she told me they had weapons?


"Fuck, Alex, do something!"


Pulling myself from my thoughts, I realized they were all going after her, not me. I didn't want to do it, but I had no other choice. I raised the pipe above my head and swung it at one of the nurses. She stumbled back and growled, yet she still went after Heather. That's when I lost it. It was them or Heather and I wasn't about to lose my only hope.


My fingers gripped the pipe tighter and I swung the pipe at any nurse that got in my way. I could hear their bones breaking, watching their skin fly off of their bodies, but they just kept fucking coming. By this point, I'd only taken out two which left six still swinging.


"Aim for their heads, Alex!"


Right. Their heads.


I began swinging at the monsters so hard their necks were snapping from the force. It was easier to take them out like this, and soon, they were all on the floor. I was out of breath as I backed against the fleshy wall with Heather. She grabbed my arm with a smile and tugged me into the elevator, closing the door behind us.


"What floor did the body say?"


"What?"


"The body that scared you. What floor?"


"Three. Can you explain any of this to me now?"


"No. But I can tell you that those nurses were just practice. The third floor will be much more dangerous so I need you to stay close. If you see any ammo, grab it, because we'll need it."


"Heather, I don't want to do this anymore. Why can't we just go the lobby and get the fuck out of here?"


"We can't get there until we get what we need out of the third floor. That's where your secret is, Alex. Don't you understand that?"


"But I don't have any fucking secrets."


"Oh yes, you do. And when we figure out what it is, you'll be able to help me help you."