Chapter 5 - FEEDING GROUNDS
Content Warning
Visceral Violence / Gore
Greta struggled against the tight grip of the orderly.
“I said stop that!” the orderly spat out.
Screaming and the sounds of battle could be heard in the distance.
“Please, let her go!” said Ivan. “We need to get out of here. Please, just let her go!”
“Are you insane?! I’ll lose my job if I don’t take you back to your cells!” said the orderly.
Greta kicked him in the shin and pulled as hard as she could.
“Stop!”
The orderly struck his clenched fist into Greta’s face and she fell to the linoleum floor. Her companions rose to defend her in this moment of conflict but the orderly pulled out his baton.
“I said you all need to get back to your cells, now!”
He swung the baton into the wall and the impact made Greta’s companion’s recoil.
She brushed her red hair out of her eyes, furrowing her brow in determination, ready to do something, anything, that could give them a chance to escape.
More screams echoed through the corridor.
“Can’t you hear that?!” asked Ivan. “Something horrible is happening! We need to get out of here! People are…changing…”
The orderly tightened his grip on the baton.
“I’m not gonna stand by while a bunch of lab rats run amok. Now get back to your cells or…”
And his voice faltered as his gaze moved past the escapees.
Down the hall he saw someone approach. Walking in minor zig zags like they were drunk or under the influence of medication.
“You too!” he continued, pointing his baton in their direction. “I need you to get back to your cell now or I’ll crack open your skull!”
Greta turned to look as the figure stepped out into the light.
It was a young girl, with pale skin, pearly white hair and black eyes with crimson irises. And in her hand she held a blood red glass dagger of some sort.
Greta felt her blood freeze in her veins at the sight of the girl. Not because of her appearance. It was her eyes. For in her eyes she saw nothing but madness and violence.
Luna led their little trio out of the room with the corpse.
She looked down the corridor from where they came, in the direction the feral horde had run mere moments ago. Luckily she saw nothing but she could hear them sniffing and scampering around in the rec room.
She motioned with her hand and led them in the opposite direction, where the stairs were said to be. As they quietly skulked their way down the corridor they heard twinned footfalls approaching behind them. Luna quickly darted into a small storage room off to the side and the other two followed close behind.
The footfalls continued halfway down the corridor before stopping. They then heard more sniffing and growling before the footfalls continued and were followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground.
Luna just barely peeked out the door and saw two creatures rushing down the corridor and swiftly ducking into the room where they had been. They looked roughly humanoid, or at the very least they had once been human, but their necks were elongated and they scurried around like animals. Their neck and back seemed covered in hair and Luna could briefly see the faint moonlight shining in through the windows reflecting in their eyes.
Once they entered the room she heard the sound of a scuffle and the distinct sound of animals ripping apart flesh, most likely tearing into the corpse in the chair.
Luna motioned for the rest to follow once more and they ducked back out into the corridor. Keeping her eyes behind them, Luna felt her heart jump as she suddenly walked into something hard, sweaty and hairy.
She quickly reeled back and looked up at a feral creature that stood almost six feet tall, leering down at her. It also had an elongated neck, twisted monstrous features, sharp teeth and animalistic eyes and claws. It too seemed surprised but quickly growled at her.
Acting on instinct, again, Luna raked her fingers across her closed wound, drew out blood and formed it into a dagger. But now that she was aware of herself doing it she applied a little agency to the process. Instead of a small, slightly curved dagger, she made a larger one that resembled a carving knife.
Wasting no time she swiped it across the creature's throat and watched fresh blood spill out and splatter her face.
The metallic sound of Nikolai’s weapon clattered behind her and she quickly ducked down, making space for the young man’s strike. As the creature grasped its bleeding neck, Nikolai stepped forward and struck it with his extended weapon. The various hooks and edges carved into the creature’s flesh, splitting its skull, and buried itself deep into its torso. The fleshy mass in the center quivered and drank deep of the creature’s blood, extending just a little bit more in the process.
Nikolai pulled the blade back and the creature slumped limply to the floor. Just then they heard a collection of roars behind them and looking back they saw the feral horde emerging from the various rooms, their eyes gleaming in the darkness.
“We gotta go!” commanded Luna as they all quickly sprung into action and ran down the corridor.
They rounded a corner and came upon another security door.
“Alba!” Luna said, making way for her sister to dart past her.
Alba pulled out keys and felt her stomach drop as her first attempt to insert the key failed.
“Hurry!” commanded Nikolai as he and Luna turned around and readied their weapons.
Alba kept trying to find the keyhole and in her attempt accidentally pushed on the door and it gently swung outward. It was unlocked.
“Oh…uh…got it!” said Alba as she crossed the threshold.
Luna and Nikolai quickly followed as more of those rabid hordes charged at them. Nikolai grabbed the door and swung it shut but as he quickly followed the two girls he heard the monsters come crashing into the door and the door opening once more. The lock must’ve been broken.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Nikolai exclaimed as he heard the snarled breathing of the creatures getting closer and closer behind him.
The two girls continued ahead down the corridor, passing by more and more doors. Some closed, some open, revealing horrid scenes of violence within. Until they reached the end of the corridor and found themselves standing in a wide open cylindrical room with a circular staircase spiraling down along the edge of the room. Looking over the railing they could see one floor down but could not see the bottom. It was as if the floor was bathed in pure and utter darkness.
They were about to turn to begin running down the stairs when behind them they heard multiple footsteps.
“Jump!” commanded Nikolai.
“What?!” Alba retorted in confusion and dismay until she looked back at the ocean of eyes that followed him.
Luna grabbed her shoulder and began pulling her off the railing. Never had she allowed her sister to drag her into such ridiculous peril before.
As she fell backward into the blackened abyss she looked up and saw Nikolai jump over as well, with several clawed hands reaching for him. She watched as snarling mouths filled with teeth bit into empty air, but gave a sigh of relief when it became clear that they were not jumping down with them.
Time seemed to almost stretch and their fall continued for far longer than should be possible. Alba felt gravity pull her down faster and faster until…
Alba hit something hard, soft and wet and felt a cold liquid splash on her face as she did. She then felt Nikolai’s slender form fall on top of her, knocking the air out of her. He then thumpled off of her and dropped his weapon in the process. Luna, however, hit something and heard a snapping sound as she felt something pierce into her back. It punctured through one of her ribs and grazed her lung, making her yelp in pain.
She quickly got up but the floor was uneven and as she moved it shifted and she fell face first into it. It was strangely soft but also wet and she could suddenly smell the overwhelming scent of iron. It was blood.
Something that the three of them hadn’t really become aware of until now, completely enshrouded in darkness as they were, but their eyes began adjusting remarkably fast to the darkness. The world became visible to them in shades of dull grays and they soon saw what they had landed on.
A huge pile of dismembered body parts. Arms, legs, torsos and heads, all stacked on top of one another.
Alba began vomiting out of disgust while Nikolai got up as fast as he could, looking for his weapon. It hadn’t fallen too far away and as he picked it up he could hear the creatures approaching, running down the stairs.
“We’ve gotta go!” he said as he pulled up Alba. “Luna we have to go!”
The two of them began running from the pile of corpses but Luna did not.
The scent of blood was overpowering. Whispering to her like some old, forgotten addiction. She could feel her mind unraveling, devolving into some horrific primitive state, feeling the urge to kill and feed burble up inside of her.
“LUNA!” she heard her sister call out.
It was enough to at least partially pull her back and she began scampering towards them.
Alba and Nikolai had run down what looked like an extended entrance hall and had reached the doors leading to the courtyard. The doors were locked but Alba quickly, after an attempt or two, inserted the key and unlocked them.
As they opened the two doors, they felt a gentle gust of fresh air hit them and the refreshing rain wash off some of the blood on them.
They turned around and in the darkness they saw Luna limping towards them. She looked wounded and was breathing heavily. But right behind her they could see the half a dozen creatures come charging at her and in the darkness all of their eyes seemed to glow, Luna’s included.
“Luna!!!”
One of the creatures pounced on her and the two went tumbling to the ground. Another joined in and the two monsters began clawing and biting into her. The rest charged past and directly towards the two of them.
Alba screamed in horror as she saw gouts of blood hit the floor around her sister but was then pulled back by Nikolai who quickly slammed the doors shut. Luckily, these doors held as the monsters threw their bodies at them.
“No! Luna’s still in there!” said Abla as she attempted to re-open the door. Her heart beating harder than it had ever done before.
“If we open that door we’re dead, Alba!” Nikolai tried to reason with her.
Alba peered in through the reinforced windows on the double doors. The creatures were gnashing their jaws at her and raking their claws across the window, but she caught glimpses of the two creatures attacking Luna past them.
The pain was terrible. Their claws dug into Luna’s flesh repeatedly and one of them had bit into her shoulder and refused to release her. All the while her own blood splattered her face, got in her eyes and mouth and she could sense that feeling returning. This overwhelming feeling, this urge, this appetite to rip and tear. This frenzy that her consciousness seemed to be engulfed by.
She reached out with both hands and in one swift motion pulled her spilled blood to her and created two serrated short blades, crystalized from her own viscera.
And then she jammed one blade into the right temple of the creature biting her shoulder and the other she sunk repeatedly into the gut of the second. She felt the locked bite relinquish her and heard the other creature begin to wail in terror as its entrails started spilling out.
Luna then wriggled free and slashed her blades across their throats.
She wasn’t even aware of what she was doing. There was no logic or strategy to her actions. She simply acted on instinct. Like a wild and wounded animal frantically trying to survive. Or, perhaps that wasn’t accurate. It was more like a starved and ravenous beast had been unlocked within her. One that drowned out all the pain she felt and flooded her mind with thoughts of horrific actions.
She got up, pushing one creature off of her, but climbed onto the back of the other. The monster bit and gnashed its teeth at her but she pushed one of her blades into its mouth, like a gag, and then pulled its head back. As it struggled in a panic she leaned in over its shoulder, and without thinking, sunk her teeth into its throat.
Luna felt the warm splash of blood fill her mouth and pour down her throat like the sweetest wine she had never tasted. And as she did, unbeknownst to her, the various wounds she had sustained began knitting themselves back together.
The taste was maddening, driving her consciousness deep into the recesses of her mind.
“Luna!” she heard someone scream.
With an expression of maddened glee, she tore a piece of the creature’s throat out with her teeth and spit it towards the door. There she saw the four remaining creatures turning towards her and beyond them she saw Alba and Nikolai looking in through the windows. But she didn’t recognize them. All she saw was darkness and floating veins of blood.
She smiled and as the feral creatures rushed at her she darted off into a side corridor leading northward.
Alba and Nikolai watched Luna dash away, blood still trickling from her, blades still in hand. She almost looked feral as she did.
“What happened to her?!” Alba asked.
“She’s gone mad. Her bloodlust has driven her into a frenzy. She might become like one of them because of this.”
Alba looked at him with fierce determination, or was it denial? “No, she won’t become like them. I can bring her back to her senses, we just have to find her first.”
She turned to run northward as well but Nikolai grabbed her hand and stopped her. She looked back at him, rain hitting her face and washing away the blood. There was concern and fear in his eyes.
“I’ve seen people turn before. Once they go over the edge there is no going back. She might kill you if she finds you.”
Alba couldn’t help but remember the moment they found each other. How Luna had first killed the orderly, Mr Anders, and then almost killed her as well. There had also been a madness in her eyes then. Was Nikolai right? Was there no way for her to save her sister?
“I have to find her. She’s all I’ve got in the world.” Alba said, her voice faltering as she did.
Nikolai understood that desperation. His mother was all he had left as well. He understood the willingness to fight against everything for the chance to see her again.
“Nikolai, please. Will you help me find her?”
The young man brushed the increasingly wet hair out of his eyes. The sky above was cloudy and dark, for the most part and the rain seemed such a sweet teaser of the freedom that awaited them. But would that freedom taste as sweet if he left them behind? His mother had raised him better than that, and yet he had already failed her in that regard.
Nikolai sighed heavily. “She ran northward. We might be able to find her if we cut through the Administration Wing.”
Alba smiled, the relief she felt was palpable, and noticeable.
“Thank you.” she said.
Her earnestness was so genuine that he couldn’t help but, for the first time in who knew how long, smile.
“Come on.” he said as he folded together his weapon, grabbed her hand and began leading her northward.
From out here the hospital seemed almost peaceful, for if there were any screams or sounds of struggle, they were drowned out by the increasingly heavy rain.
However, as they passed by the central fountain, they noticed something. It was Nikolai who saw it first but was then soon followed in his revelation by Alba.
“Wait a minute.” she said as she looked at the metal construct that had been built in the center of the courtyard. “Didn’t this used to be a fountain?”
She looked around and indeed there were piles of crushed concrete as well as a smashed statue that had once stood on top of the fountain but now lay on its side in three pieces near a manicured bush.
The metal construct that had replaced it looked like a strange pedestal with what looked like a cylindrical podium on top of it.
Something about it caught Alba’s attention but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was so strange about it.
“Come on.” said Nikolai, who began pulling her towards the North Wing.
Just then a window smashed somewhere behind them. Looking back they saw five creatures break through a window on the first floor of the South Wing, each of them looking just as feral as the ones they had just fled. Only these were wrapped in straight jackets and their heads seemed to wriggle and writhe with unsettling motions as they rushed towards the two of them.
Nikolai didn’t waste any words and Alba didn’t need any words wasted on her.
They both turned and ran towards the North Wing, the twin doors leading into it resting on top of a small but wide concrete staircase. Alba dared to look back for a moment and was horrified to see that the creatures were rushing across the courtyard much, much faster than their previous pursuers. She turned towards the doors, which still seemed impossibly far away from them.
We’re not gonna make it, she thought to herself, pushing through the rain regardless.
Suddenly, the two doors to the North Wing swung open, and for a split second, Alba feared they would find only more monsters rushing towards them from its shrouded darkness.
But instead, much to both of their surprise, they saw armed soldiers emerging from the interior and pointing their rifles at them.
“No, wait…” Alba cried out.
“Get down!” Someone commanded.
And as the two of them dropped to the ground the soldiers fired repeatedly at the creatures. They saw the twitching monstrosities stumble and fall but they didn’t stay dead for long.
“Quick! Get in!”
Nikolai helped Alba back to her feet and the two of them ran inside while the soldiers laid down covering fire. Once inside the soldiers retreated in and closed the door behind them. Soon after the creatures were at the gate, throwing themselves without heed into the doors. Luckily they held.
Soon the creatures relented and began running around the courtyard, as if they hadn’t been shot at all.
Alba and Nikolai found themselves in the entrance lobby of the hospital, with the front doors enticingly close by. The soldiers quickly checked in with one another and made sure the lobby was secure.
“Put that weapon down, son.” they heard a commanding voice echo through the hall.
They turned to see a large man wearing an officer's uniform approach them.
“I said, put that weapon down, now.”
The soldiers now turned to point their weapons at the two of them.
“I won’t say it again!”
In a small therapy room on the North end of the wing, a figure huddled over a set of freshly slain corpses. The creature pulled its blade from the back of one of them and then leaned over to grab a hold of its head. It then sunk its teeth into the corpse's throat, piercing into the jugular and drinking heartily of its blood.
A distant clatter of metal made Luna raise her head. Blood still dripping from her mouth, eyes shining in the darkness. Gone was the girl whose primary motivation was the safety of her sister, her consciousness buried in the deepest recesses of her mind. Replaced with a primal need to kill and a maddening frenzy for more blood.
She gripped her blades and stalked into the darkness, looking for more prey.
