Embrace The Madness: Cataclysm

17. Deliverance (part 2)

[day 176]

His head was sore and his bones felt weak. Patrick laid there, staring up at the dark white ceiling, illuminated only by the sunlight which came from around the corner.
As his eyelids peeled open, they felt dry and painful, causing him to let out a sharp exhale.
He heard a soft voice call out to him, a complete stranger, but she seemed welcoming.

"Drink" she said, holding a bottle to his lips.

He nearly chugged the entire bottle, the woman had to stop him from drowning himself. When he rubbed his eyes, they opened fully.
In his line of sight sat a woman with long black hair, she sat on a chair with her head down. It seemed like she was holding something so Patrick squinted his eyes for a closer look, it was his knife.

He went into a short burst of panic, causing him to lean forward, falling off the gurney and crashing on the floor. Everyone looked up and went to aid him, except the woman.

"Careful, man" came Oliver's voice.

Patrick found the strength to lift himself, his eyes remaining fixated on the woman.
He got a clearer picture of her, and was taken aback by her impressive physique. She had arms like stone either side of her black tank top, the same colour as her hair, which she parted slightly, revealing her dark blue eyes.
The heavy black boots, which she wore, were planted firmly on the ground, unmoving, underneath forest green cargo pants.

"Hey..." he mumbled, stumbling towards her. However, she stayed still, not even taking a peek at him.

"That's... that's mine" he pointed at the blade, to which the woman stopped moving it in her hands and held the grip of the knife tightly.

She looked up slowly to reveal her eyes were red from crying.

"Please, I don't want any trouble, I just-"

"This isn't yours" the woman ran her fingers along the edge of the blade, which appeared to have been cleaned recently.

Patrick looked back at his friends, who shrugged their shoulders, apart from Jude, who kept trying to speak but abruptly stopped himself each time.
Patrick turned back to the woman, realising he should choose his words carefully.

"I... um, no, well... uhh it's.. it is, I had it since the beginning"

As the woman continued to caress the blade and quietly sob, Patrick began to come up with conclusions about the situation, though he couldn't be certain of what he was thinking.
She wasn't budging, then Patrick felt Jude's hand rest on his shoulder.
They turned around and walked away slowly out of the room into a corridor. The stretch of white walls gave Patrick a slight headache, so much that he rubbed his eyes in pain. Jude led Patrick toward a window, overlooking the ground far below.

"Now.. don't panic-"

It was too late, Patrick's heart dropped when he saw the horde had converged back outside the hospital. As he stared, his mouth agape, the hand on his eye moved to his forehead and into his hair.

The dead slowly stumbled around aimlessly, often knocking into each other, hissing at one another. Of to the side, Patrick caught a glimpse of two ghouls lashing out at each other, clawing, scratching, biting until they separated, it seemed they were fighting over a dead bird.

Patrick stepped back, his breathing accelerating, his heart pounding. He looked over at Jude, who was gesturing with his hands for him to calm down.
Patrick went back to the room he came from, he saw the woman with the knife, but didn't approach her. He looked around, seeing the many other women in the room, old and young, but none of them looked familiar.