//------------------------------// // 06 - To Find A Nurse // Story: Without You // by Dustchu //------------------------------// ooo000---000ooo "Alrighty... I'll help you out, but like I said, I need to know if there's anything in this place I can use to help heal her wounds." He was really adamant about finding me help... I don't know why, he barely knew anything about me. I wasn't going to complain though, At least he wasn't trying to attack me or anything like those... freaks roaming around the place. I shivered again when one of the moans broke through the vents, but I kept my guard up... I wasn't going to let it bother me. I was Rainbow Dash! I wasn't supposed to get scared! "Ah y-yes, for the... equine?" I heard the voice speak of and caught the pause. "I believe there are some bottles of first aid spray spread around the hospital, even a few boxes if I'm not mistaken." "Where's the nearest one?" Dee asked him right after, standing near the camera that watched us. He had pointed it out earlier and I got confused as to how it worked, who was using it? Was it some kind of magic? I didn't know. "You gotta know what room we're in, where are we in the hospital?" "From what I can see here, you appear to be in one of the examination rooms on the first floor... near the emergency exit." The voice spoke again, his voice distorted and scratchy from wherever he was. "There isn't any first aid in the room you're in?" "Fraid not, no," He told me he rooted around the room for something to help my injuries, but he couldn't find anything except something called a Hema... hemi... hemostat? Some kind of medicine that he said would help with my bleeding. Tasted yucky but... I think it helped a little, my side didn't ache as bad. "There's not shit in here we can use." "I am sorry to hear that, uhm... t-there should be some in the Nurse's Office on the second floor. Coincidentally that is where I need you to go." "What exactly do you need me to do?" Dee asked him as I stood nearby. I was getting tired of standing around, but I kept my cool... I didn't want to look weak despite how freaking tired I was. "There is a nurse I need you to find and I believe she may be hiding there," He told us, "She's a young girl, blonde, her name is Theresa." I shuffled and looked over to Dee—the human was looking like he was thinking. "Okay, I can do that," He shifted around a little and pulled out his weapon, giving it a look over before asking, "Why am I looking for her exactly?" "The hospital is currently in lockdown due to the outbreak, the rest of the staff is in hiding and I need to get everyone out of here, but I can't do it alone. I know Theresa has the key card to unlock sections of the hospital, including the exit." "Huh?" That got me confused, the way out was locked? "Wait, what about the way we came in?" Dee asked him, tilting his head. I was wondering that myself... couldn't we just leave through that way? "We could just go out that wa-" "I'm afraid that way is blocked off, both by a steel gate and a large group of those monsters," He explained. Oh. "Fuck, are you serious?" The brown haired human growled and sighed, throwing his head back and running a hand through his curly locks. "Damn it." "Indeed, it is a rather troublesome situation. But I am confident that together we can escape this mess... hopefully intact." "You and me both, pal," Dee sighed. I just want to go home. I was really missing home right now... "Alright, I'll go and find her... I don't wanna be in here anymore than ya'll do." Dee gave his weapon another check and looked towards the door. "You're currently in the west wing of the hospital right now, it's locked down to prevent the monsters from overrunning the other sections of the hospital." The male added, "If you can find the keycard, you can get proper medical aid in the east wing." A sharp turn of his head, and Dee spoke up, "Wait, there're still people alive here?" His voice had gone up a pitch and he sounded... shocked? "Is that bad?" I asked him with a tilt of my head. "Err... no, it's not, just..." A shake of his head and he waved it off before facing me—his lips turned up into a little smile. "Don't worry 'bout it." "Alright...? So, now what... do we go to the office?" I really wanted to get out of here, and the promise of getting some help from actual doctors sounded too good to pass up! "Well, I am, you're staying here." My eyes went wide—I glanced up at him and stared, he wasn't serious, was he? "You're still injured and the office is on the second floor, there's no telling what's between here and the office itself." "What? No way am I staying here!" Not alone! N-not that I was scared or anything, no... that's stupid! I wasn't scared! I wasn't! "Dash-" "No way!" I stared at him and he stared back... I wasn't backing down, I was not staying in here alone! Who knows, what if one of those monsters finds me? I don't know if I can even fight back with how much I'm banged up. Strength in numbers, right? Dee stared at me for a long time before sighing, "Fine, but you gotta stay close and keep an eye out. I have pretty good eyesight and hearing, but I imagine your senses are way better than mine." He tucked weapon away and reached into his pockets, pulling out a small black handle and holding it firm. "So I need you to help me help you." I nodded in affirmation, standing tall and biting back the pain that tried to flare up and keep me down. "I can do that." "This is gonna be different then being outside," He went over to the door and held that little black thing tight, his thumb hovering over some kind of nub sticking out. "Tight corridors and no telling what's around any corner, so we gotta be careful... ya know?" I was quick to move up next to him, the pain in my side a dull sting now. "Y-yeah... I got ya." "I'll do my best to guide you down safe routes, but that will be tricky... you'll have to move fast, those things are everywhere." "Duly noted doc." Dee took a deep breath and shook his body, causing his clothing to shuffle. "Second floor, nurse's office. We got this." I took a deep breath myself and tried to steel my nerves. I didn't hear anything outside of the door, nothing in the halls... everything was quiet right now. Hopefully it would stay that way. Dee opened the door after a moment and we went outside into the beaten up hall... Time to find our way to the Nurse's Office. ooo000---000ooo I could feel Rainbow right behind me as I stepped out into the hallway—that feeling of anxiety creeping up the back of my neck like a centipede trying to find an opening, to gnaw at my nerves and get me to lose what little of my cool I had left in me. The fact we had to go so far inside the zombie infested hospital didn't ease matters any. "Which way?" Rainbow had whispered to me, creeping behind me. "I saw some stairs this way going up, so chances are that's our ticket." It had to be if we both wanted to get some help. All throughout my body I could feel the tingles of dulled pain cropping back up, everything I had done so far was coming back to make itself known. I need to get some first aid, hopefully this'll be a swift trip. I had gotten pretty banged up, and not only that but I haven't gotten to rest like Rainbow had. In fact, how long have I been awake for anyway? I needed to get some sleep soon, but who knows how long it'd be until I managed that... "H-hey Dee?" Rainbow caught my attention as I walked through the eerily silent halls—the failure of keeping back the infected was pretty apparent by the hastily made blockades constructed out of beds and trays, even some shelving. I crouched near a door, peeking in and seeing several torn apart bodies and blood splatters. I shivered and glanced back at her—the mare was looking less pale than before, but still not to hundred percent. "Yeah?" Her eyes traveled up to mine... we stared at one another for a moment and I could only wonder what was swirling around in that mind of hers, hidden behind pretty magenta orbs. "I don't know how anything around here works..." She folded her ears back, a slight huff escaping her as her eyes drifted to the side. "How does your... medicine work?" Oh... fair question, I suppose. "Uh, how does it work? What do you mean?" I turned back to face the path forward, keeping my eyes peeled for any of the zombies... or anything, really. I honestly had no idea what could be lurking in this damn place. "Like the first aid we're going after?" She nodded as we walked through the hall, stepping over paper and other discarded items on our way to the stairs I had found. "Yeah, like... what does it look like?" I could practically feel her glancing around curiously, as if trying to find anything similar to it, "Is it like those pills you gave me?" "Err, not exactly," I crept up to the corner of an intersection, trying to listen to anything around me. I didn't see anything around the left route, or the right one, it was all clear. "I think it's more like a can of spray, laced with some stuff that'll heal up your wounds fairly well and get you back up and running... maybe not to a hundred percent, but it should help deal with the pain and keep any infections from starting up." If they haven't taken hold already, I didn't exactly have anything to sterilize her injury with. "Hopefully when we get to the nurse's office and we find some first aid, I can show you how it works." "Alright," She sighed and I heard her hoofsteps still following behind me. We kept moving up until reaching the battered vending machines I cracked open—it took some doing of course, they were locked up and I had to struggle to pop them open. Which I didn't manage to do, cause breaking a steel lock wasn't easy without any tools for me to do. I found some money that I used however, some quarters and dollar bills from some... helpful corpses laying nearby. I spotted such a corpse laying nearby—an older man who had been slain by the undead, his limbs torn apart and his head torn completely off preventing him from becoming one of the zombies. I had looted his pocket and found a wallet with some money inside it, enough to spend on the vending machines to get some supplies for Dash and I. I tried not rooting through it further, I just needed the money... I found a family photo that made me hesitate, made my mind wander to who he was and whether or not his family had actually made it out or not. That was my mistake... Damn it, you had one job and you failed it. That was one of the rules in these types of situations, don't let your emotions get a foothold and take you away from what you're supposed to be doing. "Just a bit further to the stairs," I looked back and saw Rainbow still trailing behind me—eyes flickering back and forth between the doors leading into exam rooms and the bodies inside. The feeling of pity welling up in my heart was hard to stop when I saw her face, the look of horror in those eyes of hers was... unreal. I come from a world where death is pretty much a constant—it was everywhere, you heard about it in the newspapers, on tv, the internet was an even bigger and more constant stream of information. I was used to it, while I haven't seen dead humans up close until I ended up here and while it was... shocking, I'm more or less over it, they're just meat carcasses. Rainbow was another story entirely, and I couldn't even begin to imagine what was going on inside her mind right now. I stopped suddenly and after making sure it was clear, I turned around to face her completely and crouched down to eye level. But Rainbow ended up bumping into me with her snout, almost making me fall backwards as she gave a squeak—promptly followed by an immediate blush. I had to really struggle to keep my composure. "W-why'd you s-stop?" I noted her wings were just barely extended—and after a moment, shuffled a tiny bit and closed in against her sides. "Do me a favor," Her ears flicked up and her eyes centered in on my face. Even if she didn't want to admit it... she had to have been terrified right now. "Take a deep breath, alright? Keep your eyes forward and stay calm, and keep your breathing calm... I know it's hard, but take a few deep breaths for me." Even I was having a hard time doing that... but she didn't need to know. Rainbow attempted like I asked—she swallowed hard and took a few shaky breaths for me, which I did along with her. Her breathing gradually became less shaky with each exhale, and the air around us didn't feel so chilly. "Deep breaths," I reiterated and kept breathing along with her until she sounded calmer. "Yeah?" She gave me a little nod and exhaled again, "Y-yeah." "We just gotta stay calm... calm and cool," That was more for myself rather then her... and even then it was hard. "Good?" Rainbow gave me another bob of her head as the distant moan of wandering undead alerted us once more to the fact that we were not alone here. There were still threats inside this hospital that I had no intention on meeting up with! So with a fresh rise in courage in our hearts, we set back out! Finding the way to the stairs didn't take much longer—the stairs were clear of any debris or bodies, much to our relief and the signs pointed to the Nurse's Office being upstairs. I went up first with my pocket knife in hand and flicked out the blade with a snap, causing Rainbow to make a noise behind me. A quick glance and she stared for a moment—eyes flicking up to me with the curious look that reminded me of a puppy. Cute, I couldn't help but think as I continued up the stairs, taking each step slowly and keeping my eyes fixed on the steps and peering up to the second floor. I didn't see anything that resembled a zombie, or any other form of monster. But I did smell something... it smelled like rot and that didn't give my mind any ease. Thoughts in my head were whirling around and around with the possibilities of what might be inside the hospital... in truth, coming here was a bad idea. Anyone with half a brain would realize that in a pandemic like this. An outbreak of a deadly virus is killing and injuring people, sending them straight to the hospital where they turned into zombies and spread further... hospitals were bad places because the amount of bodies in them, both turned and about to turn. They're good places of course, but at the same time... "O-oh Celestia..." They were tombs... There was no sugarcoating what we saw up here, and neither of us would ever forget it for a good long time. The stench of rot hit me like a freight train and I had to fight myself not to retch—my eyes focused on what was in the hall and the sound of buzzing filled my ears. The bland colors of the hospital walls had been splattered with a gruesome coat of brackish ooze, mottled hand prints and smears from unlucky victims, and bullet holes. The smooth marble floors didn't escape either... if anything they were worse off. The bodies of hospital staff and patients lay everywhere; lab coats were ripped apart and stained crimson; arms and legs were torn asunder, chewed on like chicken wings until they were nothing but bone; guts popped open and entrails pulled forth, littering the floors and oozing—an image of a chili burrito that exploded came to mind. There were so many bodies around and not a single one moved and the smell... god, the smell was intense. I couldn't shake the trembles that threatened to overtake me and cause me to collapse, almost couldn't fight the overwhelming voice screaming at me to just run and never look back. Why was I here? What deity did I piss off enough to send me catapulting across the cosmos into this hell hole? No! Stay calm! Snap out of it you fucking idiot! A little voice next to me screamed, it sounded like me but it wasn't—one of those inner voices of mine. You gotta keep moving! I knew I had to... there was a nurse we had to find, get that damn keycard, get Rainbow help... get out of here alive. My ears suddenly popped—I didn't even realize they were ringing until it was already gone, and the buzzing of the flies covering the bodies blasted through the disturbing silence that would've otherwise been there... behind me, I heard the retching of Rainbow Dash. I chanced a look back at her and saw she had gone to the bottom of the steps—heaving and coughing up the remnants of what she ate earlier. I didn't blame her, I was having an incredibly hard time holding back my own bile from this mess. I've had my fair share of dealing with dead animals, but this was an entirely new thing for me. The brackish ooze, the overpowering stench of rot and iron... It was almost too much for me to handle, but I held strong... I had to. I went back down to Rainbow and saw her body quiver—I swear I heard whimpers escaping her mouth—terrified little noises and rapid fire breathing. "W-wha-" She couldn't even speak; her eyes were wide and teary, unfocused and staring at the floor in what I could only guess was shock. "W-why?!" "Why...?" I kept my gaze on her. Magenta orbs locked onto mine suddenly, she breathed out-"W-what kind of m-monster does t-this? W-why?" I could only give her a sad look—the truth behind this entire outbreak was a long story of selfishness, money, and a god complex. The culmination of a sickened madman's desire to become the ruler of a new world order, one comprised purely of genetically enhanced and superior super-humans with him at the top. I couldn't tell her... because I heard the moans from down below, and when I broke off to look, I saw a dozen zombies had suddenly filled the halls down below, falling upon the rotted remains of some poor sap. "We gotta move," I knew we couldn't stay there for long, the Nurse's Office wasn't far now... we just had to get past the bodies. Rainbow shot that idea down fast. "N-no way." She was still trembling when I looked back at her, rump pressed back up against the wall and shaking her head. "F-find another w-way." "Dash, we have to move." There was no telling how long those things would stay down there before smelling us... if they even could to begin with. I genuinely had no idea if they operated purely on sound and sight, of if smell played a factor in their wandering. "N-not through t-that." She shook her head rapidly, sending those silky rainbow strands flying around. My aggravation and fear was starting to grow, the moans only growing louder down below. "L-look, I get it, you're s-scared but we have to mo-" "I'm not scared!" Her shout was loud—louder then I would've liked... and she knew it once I fell back and we both heard her voice echo through the halls. Her hooves slapped against her mouth and her eyes started bugging out... My eyes caught movement to my left side and I saw one of the undead, lips ripped apart and showing bloodied teeth. He growled... "Move!" I yelled at Rainbow, shooting up and tackling the undead to the wall on the other side. I heard her yell when I overpowered the monster-managing to keep it pinned. I kept my arms against its neck and with a flourish kicked it downstairs into a group of others making their way up! Fuck! I whirled around and saw Rainbow was frozen! Damn it! The moans of the zombies closing in spurred me to move over to her and yank on her hooves, pulling her up the stairs. She was still not moving, and I couldn't help but scream; "Move or die Rainbow!" That got her moving at last with a loud, "Buuuck!" We both turned and ran up the stairs as fast as we could, ignoring the smell and the splattering of blood as we dashed through the bodies to get to the nurse's office. The zombies moaned behind us and my panic levels only rose—would any of these bodies rise? Were there actually survivors? I didn't know! A left turn sent us flying down a hall with battered lighting and bullet holes in the walls, beaten down doors and stretchers with body bags on them that jostled as we ran by. I could hear the sound of Rainbow's hooves thundering against the marble floor-the sharp clack clack-clack-clack was loud and echoing, but I kept running, with the focus on finding the nurse, Theresa. The hall cleared up and we turned down another hall towards the Nurse's Office—which ended with me sliding hard during my turn and slamming into the wall like a sack of potatoes. I kicked off and started running again as Rainbow passed me by, sliding around the corner and kicking off towards the end of the hall. "Where's the office?!" I saw Rainbow glancing at the corridor of doors with a panicked expression in her eyes. I slid up next to her and quickly looked around at the doors, and along the one hall I spotted a desk blocked off by junk and a corridor covered with a makeshift barricade. Above the door leading into the room read 'Second Floor Nurse's Office' "Shit, there!" I ran over to the door and attempted to open it. But it wouldn't budge. "Oh are you kidding, me?" Did someone inside lock the damn door?! I slammed my fist against the door as Rainbow slid up behind me. "Hey! Open up!" I heard the moans of the zombies closing in from the halls we came through, and my panic levels only grew. "Is the door locked?!" Rainbow sounded like she was in disbelief, as was I. It was understandable, but come on! "Of fucking course it is! If someone's in there open up!" We needed inside now! We were so close! I didn't see any cameras - no functioning ones so Hersh couldn't see us or help us, not that he could to begin with. I backed up to the other wall, and with a well timed movement I rushed forward and slammed my heel into the door itself, causing it to jostle but not open. Another kick caused it to shake, but it didn't open! "Fuckin' hell!" I stumbled to the side when I saw Rainbow out of the corner of my eye spin around - hind legs coiled up and shooting out to slam into the door with a loud bang. She had the leg strength but I wasn't gonna be outdone! Just as she reared up and brought her hooves up, I jumped back and kicked off forward towards the door and with our combined efforts, we smashed the door open. I stumbled inside and tripped over my feet; slamming onto the floor and losing the grip on my knife causing it to slide away, "Gah!" Could've landed better. I quickly recovered and pulled out my handgun - giving the room a quick scan, I didn't see any immediate threats and took that as a good sign. Rainbow rushed inside with a few panicked noises, "Close the door!" "Alllready on it!" I grabbed onto the door and slammed it shut. For added measure I dragged over a chair to wedge up under the door knob, it wasn't much but it would give us a few seconds. My lungs expelled a sigh of relief and I turned around to regard Rainbow with a look, I was going to ask her if she was okay... Her wide eyes staring off to the other side of the room told me all I needed to know without asking. Gun in hand, I slid over to Dash and aimed to where she was looking, prepared to fire - in those first few moments of staring down my iron sights, I realized I had forgotten one important thing about Raccoon General Hospital... and the reason why it wasn't on of my favorite levels. I had forgotten about the horrid monster known simply... as the Leech Man.