Twisted Thorns

Chapter Two: Meeting the Undead

Present Day, Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, St Johns Wood, London

Lizzie was working the graveyard shift in the hospital. Three floors up in the geriatrics ward, she was alone. Or, more wished she were. Seth was there. Giving her the same damn speech she'd heard a million times. "Listen Lizzie, I don't see why the sex thing was such a big deal. We were together for a whole year, and every time it was the same damn thing. You're waiting, you're not ready. Yes, I understand that. But you can see its unfair, right?" Seth rolled his eyes at her. Lizzie narrowed her eyes. The dark blue nurses scrubs she wore complemented her mood perfectly.

"Listen here Seth. If it was so unfair then you should have just talked to me about it. Not just panic and run because of the reason I gave you. I want to give my virginity to someone who will put my needs before their dick."

"Whatever Liz. Mr Dewesky is due to have his med bag changed. Go do that. He'll appreciate your company more than I do right now."

"Go fuck yourself Seth." Lizzie turned and stalked towards Mr. Dewesky's room. The nerve of Seth. Thinking he could tell her what's what. What wasn't fair was his unwillingness to accept he was wrong. Wrong. The only one being unfair was him! Stomping past the empty rooms, she came to the right room. Albert Dewesky Sr. was a sweet old man of eighty six who had recently had a heart transplant. He had taken a bad turn afterwards, and was now on a slow road to recovery. Quietly sneaking into the darkened room, she realised the bed was empty. There was an upturned chair at the side of the bed, a knocked over vase. But Mr Dewesky was absent from the scene. Not only was the patient missing, there was blood. Everywhere. Following the trails of blood into the reversing darkness of the room, she paused. She heard the rattling of a drip stand. A soft moan, one of which came from a raspy throat. Turning, there stood Mr Dewesky. His drip still attached to his arm. But his skin, once a tanned brown, was now grey. His once lively brown eyes were red pits. "Mr Dewesky? Are you ok?" Lizzie backed up, and her back hit the wall. Mr Dewesky lurched towards her. Another raspy noise escaped his throat. Outstretching his withered arm, he grabbed at her. Taking hold of a clump of her hair, he pulled her with a force that couldn't have come from an old man. Opening his mouth, he exposed two rows of canines. And all at that moment, she noticed two things. A chunk was missing from Mr Dewesky's neck. A gaping chunk, the size of a human mouth, still fresh. The other that he was about to tear into her. Grabbing behind her, her hand skimmed something cold and made of stone. A vase! Taking hold of the handle in her clammy hand, she lifted it and brought it crashing down onto Mr Dewesky's head. With a long, drawn out groan, Mr Dewesky fell to the ground. And was still. "Mr Dewesky? Can you hear me?" She asked after a long second. Panic started to set in. She would lose her job. Hell! She'll go to prison! Why wasn't he moving? Lifting a shaking hand to his throat, she pressed two fingers to his neck. No pulse. He was freezing! "Seth!!! Seth!!! Help!" she started to sob. Sobbing so hard, she didn't hear Mr. Dewesky's body stir, a small groan coming from his mouth.Running down the hallway, her white plimsoll nurse shoes slipping on the buffed floor, she reached the front desk. "ARGH!" she heard Seth's gurgling scream. Her eyes wild, she zoned in on why he was screaming. He cowered under the desk, blocking both entrances to behind the reception area with chairs, filing cabinets, even a potted plant. Two patients, both female, with the same dead, empty sockets for eyes and greying skin. Through a small gap between a chair and a filing cabinet, she saw Seth's shoe. "LIZZIE! FUCKING HELP ME!" Seth screamed to her. "She fucking bit me!" "I'm coming Seth!" frantically looking left and right, she found a discarded IV pole on the floor. The end had been snapped off, making it pointy. Diving for it, she fell on her shoulder to the ground. Whipping her sore arm out, it cut into the back of the calf of one of the assailants. It was a deep cut, so deep it should have spurted blood. But.. not even a dribble came out. The taller turned, aiming her bottomless eyes straight into her soul. She started to shuffle towards her, her slippers not leaving the floor. Collapsing to her knees, she started to shuffle on all fours towards her. Before she could think, Lizzie's innate instinct took over. To survive. Putting all her strength into her swing, she brought the pole straight across the face of the impending threat. With a sickening crack, the patient's head snapped to the side, and lay still. Her neck was broken, Lizzie could tell by the unnatural angle. With no time to think, she rose with the now bent pole still in hand. The noise had attracted the other gaunt patient. Without a second thought, she rose to her feet. Running at her she brought the pointed end of the pole straight through the second patient's eye. Dropping the pole, with the now dead attacker on the end, she mustered the last of her strength and jumped over the counter. "Seth. What the fucks going on?" "Lizzie. That was Barbara from across the ward, and Jennifer who shared a room with her. They came out of their beds and just, tried to fucking beat me up or something! One bit me!" He exclaimed, showing his wrist to her, and finding it had a fresh bite mark. "Urgh, my head. Look Liz, I hate to be a burden, but I don't think its safe. There's one baby left in the maternity ward. If I clear some of the others out, would you get that baby? Then I'll meet you downstairs. Alright Lizzie? Can you do that?" he said, kneeling in front of her."Yes Seth." she said, looking into his face. He grabbed her face between his hands, and crushed her lips against his. Though there was a lot of feeling behind it, Lizzie felt nothing. Pulling away, he smiled, a weak smile, and said: "I'll see you outside." And with that, Lizzie climbed back over the desk. She took the small but heavy ornament off of the counter, and ran to the stairs.

Without looking back, she quietly snuck through the doors. She crept down the stairs, careful to not make too much noise, keeping her ears pinned for the sounds of the rasping moans she'd heard from three patients already.The maternity ward was small as most women went to the bigger, more modern hospitals that surrounded the area. The only baby they had in was a baby whose mother had left her after giving birth. No records, no name of mother. Just footage of her mother coming into the hospital, and leaving a few hours later without the baby. She was born too early, so the hospital had to incubate her. As she turned the hall, she saw the ward that was labelled 'Maternity Ward'. Checking for any patients in the hallway, she took the last few feet at a sprint. She could already hear the baby's cries. It was passed the time for it to be fed. Where were the night shift midwives? Out of habit, she put alcohol rub on her hands and entered the room quietly. Then... she stopped dead. The light in the room was flickering, but Lizzie could see her. Rosa, the night shift midwife, was in a corner almost hidden behind all of the cots that lined the room, curled up in a pool of blood, choking. She held her hand to her neck, where the blood was rushing out. On the floor in front of her, another undead nurse was on the floor, a broken chair on the floor next to her. Obviously Rosa had hit her on the head with it. The baby was now shrieking. No doubt the sound would attract attention. Picking a sterilised dummy out of the basket, she ran to the baby. Wrapping her in the blanket she was in, she picked her up out of the cot, and held it to her chest. The baby quietened down, suckling on the dummy that was now in their mouth. Lizzie scuttled to Rosa. "Rosa. I'll be back for help."  Rosa grabbed her arm. "It's too late. Save little Amelia. Please." Tears welled in Rosa's eyes. Amelia was what the midwives named her after her mother had abandoned her."Rosa..." they were interrupted by the opening of the door, the dragging of feet, and the slow, rasping moan of an afflicted patient. "Go! Before he kills us both. There's no hope for me Lizzie." she whispered urgently, tears rolling down her face.

"I'll see you soon Rosa, I'll be back for you, I swear." she took the baby, and shuffled using her knees and one hand. Switching the small statue into the arm with the baby and shoving it in the crook of her arm, she used the cots to hide her from the patient. As she hid, she saw the patient move towards Rosa, the fastest pace he could handle. She watched in terror as the rasping patient fell to its knees, crawling towards Rosa. "PISS OFF YOU UGLY BASTARD!" Rosa cried, kicking him in the face. To her horror, Lizzie watched as the patient grabbed Rosa's leg, and bit down deep. Rosa's gurgled screamed masked the whimper of terror that came from Lizzie's mouth. She clasped her hand over her mouth, looked at the baby in her arms. She was asleep. Crawling, Lizzie finally got to the door of the ward after what seemed like an age. Not looking back, she stood, and quietly exited the room. She knew looking back at Rosa in that position would only cause her to break down. Breathing a small sigh of relief, she kept going. 'If I can just get down two floors, I can make a real run for my car.' She thought. She was several floors up, but the stairwell was straight down. And all the doors to the stairwells were locked, cutting them off from her. Two flights of stairs. Quickly. Taking a deep breath, she started taking the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. After what felt like a lifetime, she reached the bottom of the first flight of stairs. And froze. The door to the first floor, between her and the ground floor reception, was cracked open. She could hear the raspy groans from the other side of the door. On the wall in the stairwell, blood was spattered across the wall. "I still need to move. One more flight." She started to walk briskly. Looking down at the baby in her arms, she felt her body collide with another. Looking up, she was looking into the face of Seth. "Ah Seth! Thank God!" Then she realised... his blank stare, the blood between his teeth, the fact his skin had greyed and there looked like there was no blood in his body. The bite on his wrist had already started to fester. "S... Seth?" Seth groaned the same raspy groan, and began to reach for her. Lizzie backed away. "Seth, it's me! Lizzie! Please don't hurt me." Lizzie squeezed the baby to her chest. The end was imminent. Backing into a corner, she tried to shield the baby as much as she could. Lord, please, save this child. The baby was crying, but Lizzie had shut out all noise. BANG! A gunshot broke her numbness. Lizzie's eyes flew open. Someone had shot a gun. Looking at Seth, he dropped to the floor. Lost for words, she heard boots coming up the stairs. Looking, she was eye to eye with a man. He had dark, angular features, with a straight nose, a square chin, and high cheek bones. But the most prominent feature was his red eyes. A dark crimson, the same shade as his over coat and hat. The same shade as blood. Lizzie found her words."You... you killed Seth." Lizzie trembled. The man held his arms out, taking the child from her. He looked into the baby's face, to which the child stopped wailing. "Such an innocent child." His lips pulled back into wolfish grin, exposing two sharp, pointed canines that glittered in the evening light. With that, Lizzie lost all consciousness, and was out cold by the time she hit the deck.