The World We Live In | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾 ♤

Chapter 6

Blood-smeared walls with bullet-ridden holes are more evident on the other floors. The scenery wasn't that different from the previous halls they passed. It didn't smell right, but nothing did these days—the rhythmic bounce of their shoes and rifles vociferous. So now and then, there was a stray dead that dragged its way to them. It got dealt with a swift blow. The corpses stuck got killed, and the halls birthed a steep silence again. "This is it," Troy whisper-yelled before he raised his hand and gestured at the unlighted sign that belonged to the locked laboratory room. Thick chains and a padlock held the door together, alerting them that whatever was behind these doors was either thought to be valuable or an intentional deed to keep the living safe. Clenching his machete, Troy did a quick cursive glance to his squad before he knocked on the hilt on the door to draw out anything moving, whether dead or alive, from the other side.

A minute passed, and it was still quiet.

Weapons on standby, Troy gesticulated with a swift hand signal and slid his rifle to the front of his body, sheathing his gun when the bolt cutters got taken out to cut through the firm, silvery chains. The rest mirrored his actions before entering into a tactical position at either side of the door. Nick was the one who cut through the padlock and jerked the chain link from the door. The tension was as tight as a tautly pulled string the moment the door was pushed open, and an overwhelming stench of rotten meat hit their noses. Someone exclaimed in a dry, heaving voice, "Jesus! That smell!" Cristine stood furthest away, but even she had to push back her gag reflexes and covered her nose and mouth from the odor. When the first two went inside with their rifles raised, Nick flicked the light switch. Surprisingly a fluorescent light lamp flickered on. With her forearm pressed against the lower half of her face, Cristine entered. Inside the room, the putrid smell of mildew mixture of rotting flesh and rot - human waste, meat, and other excretions-was dumped here. It immediately put everyone's guards up.

Cristine ground her teeth through her watery eyes and glared at mounted body bags that covered almost half the laboratory room, which wasn't even that spacious in the first place. "The hell..." Someone muttered confusingly at the corpses and slightly lowered his rifle. Each location had its own story that ultimately sounded the same—the beginning stages of the apocalypse with many people who had died. Hospitals were one of the first places to be hit. Whether by the dead or living, they quickly transformed into graveyards. Like many others, it was a story; bloodshed and carnage and a little mystery of the lives that had ended. "Why'd they store the dead here?" Nick voiced everyone's curious wonder.

"Barely any electricity. The people probably didn't think they'd use the lab anymore, so it's as good a place to dump the corpses as any," Troy mused, unfazed by the scenery and looked away from the pile of dead. He flicked his flashlight in the laboratory's open space, and the group began to check the ample room—a lot of the machinery and furniture built in and useless to them. The room had as much personality as the rest of the abandoned hospital. The commercial prints on the wall, but the paper's quality had faded dully. With a trench club and flashlight in hand, Cristine looked around. The group began to check the stainless workbenches, cabinets, drawers, storage lockers, and other furniture with hidden compartments and equipment that might be what they were looking for. Finally, Cristine found one of the manual tablet press machines. It was a perfect size. This tablet press's appeal was in its versatility, ease, and high-quality features to process future pills. It was flexible and the speed top-notch. Her expression brightened several shades and called for the others. "There should be two more around this size. My guess is the inventory might have spare parts."

"Alright, let's find the other two, take what we need, and load these back in the trucks." Troy nodded, at ease with how swift this sweep went. "We'll radio Blake and the others and help them after." With three tablet-making machines, Cristine and the group also found other discoveries and more. A portable fridge, a scale for measurement, a few prepackaged expedients, two autoclaves for sterilizing medical supplies, and came with an external heater, a water distiller, and two centrifuges. It was the basis and more to set up a decent working shop. There were also manuals lying around, and Cristine stuffed them in her backpack. She relaxed and thought of all the uses and ease it would bring for their infirmary and the people on the Ranch and couldn't help but briefly smile to herself. While she was in thought, all at once, she hears a dull-sounding pitch coming from outside that instantly made her and everyone else tense. The sound came from outside and sounded far away, but yet so close on the campus grounds.