Darksiders: The Survivors

Chapter 5 - The Girl In The Middle of the Storm

The hospital was in ruins, yet somehow it still remained standing with its seven floors; would have been ten if the workers had finished construction before the meteors crashed into the windows unleashing both angels and demons forever locked in battle. Windows were shattered, elevators fell to the basement, ceilings collapsed, stretchers and desks were torn in half, and many lights had been left dangling from their outlets. Most of them had broke, but the ones still intact only left flashes every now and then.

The warning first came on news reports as strikes were happening all over the world and many nurses panicked as they tried to focus on patient care. But, their concerns did not diminish. Then, it was late in the afternoon when the sun began to set, and breaking news interrupted every scheduled program and the first meteor struck the hospital's lobby where a massive horned demon with saber-like fangs was tackling an angel soldier trying to sink its fangs into the angel's delicate armor, knowing the flesh was mere inches within. The ongoing struggle immediately sent visitors, patients, and staff into frenzy as they rushed to evacuate the most vulnerable. But, it was no use as more meteors came pouring in on upper levels causing ceilings to collapse and more fights broke out until the screams turned into death, the battles caused more damage to the structure and demonic spikes rose from the ground.

Now, it seemed like the worst was over, but the building and its surroundings were not empty. Demons still lurked within along with many Wicked; those former staff and patients unlucky enough to suffer a fate worse than death. The whole area had been formatted to suit the new environment. Massive fissures in the roads opened with lava beneath at all surroundings of the hospital and the neighboring buildings. An island was created out of bones of an ancient demon and served for a time being as a prison to the great Demon Prince, Samael who was stripped of power for defying Lucifer. But, Samael had recently returned to full power and had no more use for remaining on Earth. No one knew where he had gone, or if he still remained on Earth, but the whole place where he once was trapped, had become known as the Scalding Gallow for its lava moat surrounding the island, and the hospital sat just West of it.

Despite the hospital's fate, demons now treated it like a scavenging ground. Now, a Demon Lord who went by the name Beelzebub had transformed the hospital into his new home with the growing corruption from Hell and he had built his throne made out of red demonic spikes and human bones in the auditorium.

Any lesser demon would look at Beelzebub and think he was Belial's austere twin without a large round belly, but his inverted wings were much larger and resembled those of a wasp's. The rest of his appearance made him appear insect-like along with crimson flesh and gaping mandibles and ever since claiming the auditorium as his throne room, he was in the process of converting the rest of the hospital's remains into his own castle; something he could have done with Samael's former prison instead, but Beelzebub was always jealous of Samael and wanted no part in something that reminded him of the latter. So, he had chosen the hospital because he liked its potential for holding vulnerability and his only purpose now was to keep the angels out and hunt down and kill every last human that remained in the area, even if the energy did corrupt them.

But, little did Beelzebub know was the present cunning of humanity. In the hospital's basement was the inpatient pharmacy, it had also taken a beating from the attacks. Desks and counters turned over, computers destroyed and not to mention the spillage of drugs everywhere from tablets and liquids, to vials and syringes. Machines had been severely damaged and would likely cost millions to replace if enough survivors were present to rebuild everything. The sterile rooms used to make IV bags and other solutions no longer seemed clean like they were supposed to. The staff who had met their demise from demons who made it down there, were either devoured, sacrificed for Beelzebub's pleasure, or left to rot until the demonic energy overtook them and they became Wicked. In a small room at the back of the pharmacy's remains was where the slyness was present. That room was the vault.