Desolate (under reconstruction)

Chapter 8 Operation Retrieve

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Date: Unknown

Location: Downtown Hibbing
   
Objective: Medicine Retrieval
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My eyes slowly opened. They closed again just as slowly, and I started to blink rapidly. I was in a mostly dark room, the only light coming from the cracks of a door, next to my bedside. I reached my hands out blindly, trying to reach for the doorway. I eventually grabbed the handle, which was round and cold. I twisted it, opening the door, yellow light flooding into the room. I was in the Hibbing hospital. But the hospital was nothing like I had remembered it to be. The halls were empty, and lit by only a single light, which was right above my door. I walked out the door, looking around cautiously. No pain was in my body, so I started to guess it was a dream.
    I decided to see where the dream would lead me, so I walked down the hospital halls. I stepped over blood puddles and parts of machinery. Led by a force other than me, I walked through the hallways, seemingly aimless. I soon saw a sign saying 'medicine storage', pointing to a room on the right.
    Not knowing why, I stopped in front of the door, turning to it. I twisted it's handle, walking in. There were shelves upon shelves of medicines, ranging in colors and sizes. I strolled through the rows, glancing at every container as I went by. The shelves were white, and the rest of the room was light blue colored.
    I heard some rustling in the row to the left of me. I turned the corner, and saw a boy standing there. He was tall, and had brown hair. He was skinny and pale, wearing a black long sleeve shirt. I stared at him for a long few moments, watching him as he grabbed different medicines, examining their labels, before putting them in his backpack or back on the shelf.
    He seemed absolutely oblivious of me, even as I drew closer. I was only a foot away, and he still went on with looking at the different medicines.
    "Um...hello?" I asked, but he didn't respond.
    "Hello?" I tried again, but he still didn't respond.
    "Ok... I am definitely dreaming." I said to myself, pacing in a circle.
    I started thinking of what I was going to do. I was interrupted by the boy getting up, and starting to walk farther back into the medicine room. The edges of my vision started to darken, slowly closing in on the center of my vision. I squinted to see, trying to clear my vision. Nothing I did seemed to help, and eventually, i could see nothing. This all seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember what it was. As if I had gone through a dream phase like this. It was as though my mind was in rerun, trying to remember. The only problem was that I didn't know what I was trying to remember.
    I felt something on my left shoulder, causing me to try to open my eyes. I was surprised to figure out that my eyes did open. My vision was a little blurry, but I still understood all of the basic figures around me.
    "Hunter?" I heard a voice ask.
    "Wh-what... Wh-who... W-where am I?" I asked, looking around, trying to sit up.
    "Easy Hunter..." I heard the voice say, and something softly pushed me back down.
    I somewhat recognized the voice as Leo's, but my brain didn't process this.
    "Where am I.. What happened?" I demanded.
    "You are in your tent. Your mind went on the fritz because of something your heart did." Leo said, patting my head gently.
    My vision was still blurry. I squinted my eyes to see, but my vision improved only slightly. I could make out Leo's face. Her face was layered with worry as she patted my head, as though I was going to suddenly disappear before her very eyes. She was sitting in a rocking chair beside my bed, which was surrounded by monitors and machines, measuring everything going on in my body. At that moment, I noticed Allie and Joel sitting beside Leo, though they hadn't spoken a word since I had woken up. Joel was asleep, but Allie was watching me intently.
    Daniel was in the corner of the room, arms crossed, watching me with the same expression as Allie.
    "Daniel. What happened?" I asked him quietly, actually nervous of his response.
    "Well, do you want it short and simple or absolutely how it is?" He asked.
    "Absolutely." I said.
    "Well, because of your earlier heart complications, your heart had sent an abnormal amount of blood to your brain, so your brain basically short circuited. It went on the fritz, sending a negative impulse to your memory sector, making you start to shut down while also having a horrible nightmare, making everything worse." Daniel explained.
    "Will this happened again?" Leo and I asked simultaneously.
    "If not treated, yes. And it will become a frequent event, which will ultimately lead to death."
    "Do we have means of treating it?" I asked.
    "No. We don't have the right medicines. But, we were about to go on a run to the hospital, because they have what we need."
    "I'm going." I said.
    "That's out of the question." Daniel replied.
    "I am going, and you aren't stopping me." I say, getting up. My brain suddenly felt as though it was being crushed.
    I fell back down to the bed, holding my head. Daniel looked at the monitors, which showed my brain was going through a minor fritz.
    "My case has been proved. You can barely get up without extreme pain and risk of having a major brain shut down. If that happens during this run, you might end up dead." Daniel argued.
    "I am going to die if the medicine doesn't get here. I might as well do something good before I die." I merely replied.
    "Hunter, listen. Your chances of death are significantly higher if you go on the run." His tone was rising.
    "Daniel, my chances of death are imminent if the run is failed." I said, my voice rising the same way.
    Daniel stormed out of the room, mumbling about how insensible I was and how if I was to die it was my fault. I just shook my head, staring at the doorway he had gone through. Leo was still in the room, and she looked pretty stunned. So did Allie. Joel was just waking up, rather confused on why everyone was so wide eyed and staring at the doorway.
    "What happened?" He asked sleepily.
    Through what I had just gone through, I just had found Joel's confusion funny. I started chuckling, before breaking into a full out laugh. Leo and Allie looked at me as though I was crazy, and I couldn't really blame them. I had basically just been told I had a big possibility of dying, but I was still laughing. I just thought of it as it's easier and better to look at things in a positive retrospect than a negative one. It doesn't do me, or anyone around me any good. Especially in the situation I was in.
    I sighed, my laughter quieting. I sat up, letting out a pained gasp. I grit my teeth, fully sitting. Leo and Allie tried to support me, but I pushed them away gently.
    "I'm fine..." I said, trying to hide my pain.
    "You can't go." Allie said.
    "To hell I can't. I'm not going to let everyone have all the fun while I lay in bed, dying. I'm going to go out with a bang." I said, reaching over the the table beside me where my sword was.
    Joel got up, blocking me. He stood there, cross armed. He looked down at me with a stern look.
    "Hunter, please, listen to us." He begged.
    I let out a frustrated sound, laying back down on the bed forcefully. I shifted myself so my back was to them, and I silently fumed. Not saying another word, they stood at my bedside, watching me. I didn't make any attempt to talk to them, locking myself away in my mind with my thoughts. I wished that everything was back to normal. Humans were humans, the city busy, cars driving down the highways as normal, not having to do runs. But most of all, I wished my dad was with me.
    I pinched myself, trying to see if I was in some freak dream. I winced, feeling the sharp pain in my arm. I sighed. I daydreamed of life before everything happened. I remembered a sunny day, last year, middle of summer. My dad, his friend, and I were in the country near Lake Vermilion, next to Cook, MN. My dad and I were driving in his Mustang, and his friend was driving behind us in his Camaro. My dad and his friend, who was named Tom, had something to show me. I was excited, hardly able to keep still in the car.
    Tom was a tall man, slightly graying. He had short hair, but he was a kind man.
    We got to a long stretch of dirt road, not a car in sight. The stretch went on for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see. The maple and pine trees swayed in the breeze, almost like dancing, to the song of Mother Nature. I rolled the window down, taking in a breath through my nose, taking in the fresh, sweet smelling air.
    My dad stopped the car, Tom stopping beside us. My dad got out of the car, telling me to do the same. I got out, puzzled. He walked over to my side of the car.
   "Get in the driver's seat." He said, smiling.
  My eyes widened. I walked to the other side of the car, dumbstruck. I opened the door, sitting in the driver's seat, my dad getting in on the opposite side. I put my hands on the wheel, feeling the grooves in it with absolute care. I finally settled my grip, before moving my foot towards the gas pedal.
    "Go slowly until you are used to it." My dad warned.
    "O-ok." I said nervously
    I was about to push the gas pedal when I suddenly remembered.
   "Seat belts." I said, smiling. I put mine on, my dad doing the same.
   "Good job." He said, patting my shoulder.
   I smiled, before turning my gaze to the road ahead. I slowly pushed down the gas pedal, going forward with a gently lurch. My heart pumped in my chest, my mind racing, hoping and praying I did everything right. My first time driving. There was a part of me that wanted to gun it, but the sensible half of me prevented THAT from happening. Staying below 30 mph, I slowly cruised down the dirt road, watching everything around me, looking for any dangers or complications. Seeing there were none, I eased up, getting comfortable. My grip on the wheel eased up, and my arms slowly stopped being tense.
    I went a little faster, going to 35. My dad seemed nervous, but I was sure he was mostly joking. Making fun of me in the way he did. But there most likely was a slightly feeling of nervousness in him, I could see it in his eyes as they constantly shifted left and right. When we got to the end of the straight stretch, I slowly started to get out of the car, but my dad stopped me.
    "Turn the car around." He said.
    I did so, careful not to bump into Tom's car, which he had parked beside my dad and I. When the car was completely turned around, my dad looked at me, then rolled down his window. He gestured for Tom to do the same, as he was on my dad's side. Tom did so.
    "Why don't we race?" My dad asked.
    Tom and I both were absolutely surprised by the gesture. The fact it was both illegal and a little dangerous, it seemed unlike my dad to offer it. Usually, my dad was a fun individual, he would follow common sense before anything else. Tom and I looked at each other, before then back at my dad.
    "Are you joking?" Tom asked hesitantly.
    "No. I am dead serious." My dad said, smiling.
   Tom and I exchanged looks again, not knowing wether to be nervous or to be excited. I shrugged, and turned to the wheel. I stepped on the brake, revving the engine. Tom did the same. The two cars competed to be the louder one, rumbling the very air around us.
    "THREE!" My father yelled.
    "TWO!"
    "ONE!"
    "GOOOOOOO!"
    I shifted the gear to drive, before hammering down on the pedal. Tom did the same, and off we lurched. You know, it's an amazing thing, being behind the wheel, on a country road. Seeing the gravel you stir up in your rear view. My first time driving, and my most memorable. Though Tom had won, I still felt as though I had won something better.
    Reality came back to me. I was not in the past. I was in the here and now, sitting in a hospital bed, probably about to die. Not on a dirt road. Not in a car. Just in a bed. My probable death bed. My father was dead, and soon, the entire world would be.
    "Not if I can help it." I growled to myself.
    I pushed the blankets off of me, getting up. I groaned in pain, but I held it back. I wasn't going to let pain get in my way. I was on a mission, and I was damn well going to do it. Leo, Allie, and Joel had all left, so I had the perfect opportunity.
    I got up, gritting my teeth, and walked to the door. I turned the handle, opening up the store, walking into it slowly. I grabbed my weapons, which were next to the door, putting them in their sheaths, and walking toward the truck bay. Limping, I got there, everyone gathered to wish the team that was going some luck. I saw that it was Daniel, Jerome, and Allie going. Allie, being the best driver, was behind the wheel, with Jerome in the passenger side. Daniel was in the back, and he caught my eye. Everyone followed his gaze, and saw me, their faces exampling pure shock. Joel and Leo rushed to help me, and bring me back to the medical room. I stopped them, glaring at them.
    "Don't touch me." I said lowly.
    They backed off, nervous. I walked forwards, carefully climbing into the truck bed.
    Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but I stopped him.
    "No." I said simply.
    We scowled at each other with contempt, not saying a word. Allie started up the truck, and drove. The entire way to the hospital, Daniel and I stared at each other in anger, trying to break the gaze of the other.
      Before I knew it, we were in the hospital reception parking lot. Daniel and I jumped from the back, Allie and Jerome getting out of the front. I was the only one without armor, the rest of my friends having theirs on. Melee weapons drawn, we walked to the hospital doors. Peering inside to look for danger, we saw none. The glass doors were dirty, having not been cleaned. Smudged with grime and dust, it was hard to see. The doors slowly opened, with a horrible scraping sound from not being used in a while.
    Hoping there weren't any Roamers around to hear the sound, we continued into the building. The doors closed, the noise a little quieter. The linoleum floors were clean, somewhat, not having much dirt on them. One of us pointed in every direction, with Daniel on point, we slowly walked to the elevators. Daniel pressed the down button, and we waited for the elevator to arrive. There was a ding, and the doors opened.
    Two Roamers lurched at us, causing us to yell in surprise. We fumbled backwards, and they stumbled after us. I tripped on a medicine container, falling back. My elbows hit the ground in an attempt to catch myself, and my back slammed against the hard floor, jarring my entire body. I groaned in pain, while one of the Roamers slowly advanced to me. I got my senses back just soon enough to stop it from falling on me. I barely held it above me, my hands on its chest. It writhed in my hands, snapping and snarling at me, gnashing its teeth. I strained to keep it there, my face turning red. My arms were near giving out.
    "HELP!" I yelled.
    Suddenly, the Roamer went limp. I looked, and saw Jerome standing there, his hunting knife in the back of its head. He pulled it out with a jerk, and moved the dead Roamer off of me. I lay there, out of breath. He offered his hand to help me up, and I gladly took it,
    Everyone looked at me, quite shocked that I needed someone to help me with something like that. I had become one of the best Roamer fighters in the group, aside from Ender. Everyone else, except for Daniel, really at that point started to realize how bad my situation was getting. I just dusted myself off, and grabbed my sword. I looked at my friends, who quickly broke their stares.
    "I'm not getting any healthier just sitting here! Let's go!" I said, walking to the elevator.
    I stepped in, checking it quickly, seeing it was empty. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the elevator was slowly slipping down. I heard the metal screech quietly as it scraped against the walls of the elevator shaft.
    "Back up!" I yelled, running and dove out the door of the elevator.
    At that moment, the cable holding the elevator snapped, and the elevator plummeted down, falling to the basement, which was two floors down, with a loud CRASH. I groaned from pain, having landed on the most bruised part of my body. I slowly got up, and walked towards the shaft carefully. I couldn't see anything in the absolute darkness below me, but I sure did hear something. I heard the hisses, groans, and roars of Roamers. Hundreds of them.
    "Oh my god..." Daniel mumbled.
    "Looks like we have a vermin problem here." Jerome said, holding his shotgun visibly tighter.
    "Huh, no kidding." I replied, backing up a bit.
    I turned around completely, and walked past my friends to the stairway. I grabbed the metal ring for a handle, and pulled the glass door opened.
    "Shhhh" I said, putting my finger to my lips, "let's go. Single file line, Daniel takes point. Don't. Make. A sound." I whispered, loud enough for them to hear.
    Everyone got in a line, Daniel standing ready at point. They started to jog quietly up the stairs, and I followed at the back.
    "The stairs lead to the basement if you go down." Daniel whispered, though we all knew.
    Rather quickly, we got to the 6th floor, where Daniel stopped us. He pointed to the glass door that entered a long hallway. Jerome opened it, letting everyone in first. A sign, though hanging by a single chain on the roof, gave directions to the medicine bank. On the floor shown the struggle of hundreds of patients and staff. Footprints marked with blood, or dirt, and the occasional shoe print of the staff, and the even more rare wheel track of the people too disabled to walk. As we walked deeper into the hallway, we could hear slamming on some doors, followed by moans and hisses.
    "The ones left behind... Those poor people..." Daniel said, shaking his head.
    It didn't take long for Daniel to lead us to the medicine bank. I put my hand on the knob, and turned it, starting to push it forward when something got in the way of it. The door was blocked from the other side.   
    "Peculiar... Oh well, if we can't get it open gently, let's get it open by force." Ender said, grinning mischievously.
    He took out his fire katanas, activating them. The heat from the blades warmed the air up around us about 30 degrees more, making all of us sweat. He swung at the door, cutting through the metal in a diagonal line, as easy as warm butter. Right half fell inward to the ground, and the other half, still on the hinges, swayed back and forth lightly. I walked in, turning on my electric sword. The room was dark, lit up only partially by Ender and I's swords. I looked at what had been blocking the door, seeing it was an overturned, empty shelf.
    "VERY peculiar..." Ender said, rubbing his chin. I stepped over the shelf, and into the room. It was not very big, but big enough to hold three rows of shelves.
    I flipped the light switch on, and the lights turned on. For about a half a second, I could see a dark form behind the shelf close to me, but then the lights exploded from an overload. Before I could even respond to the figure, I was grabbed and pulled deeper in the room, about ten feet from my friends. I was put in a chokehold, and the cold blade of a pocket knife was pressed lightly against my throat.
    "Move and you die." A male voice said in my ear.
    The light of my sword lit up the male. He was about my age, but he was about 6 feet tall, with black hair, and blue eyes. He was skinny, and not very strong seeming, but his chokehold was tight on me.
     Jerome and Allie raised their guns, aiming at him, while Daniel and Ender took out their blades. The blade pressed tighter on my throat.
     "D-don't! I will kill him if you do!" The boy yelled.
     From the shaking of his arms, his ragged breath, and the way he spoke, I could tell he was scared. He was just protecting himself. I put a hand out to my friends, motioning for them to stop.
    "Guys, put your weapons down." I said, trying to sound calm, but I was just as scared as the boy, for one wrong move would cause needless death, to me and the boy.
    I turned my sword off, and dropped it. My friends looked uneasy, but dropped theirs as well. 
    "N-no one has to get hurt here... My friends and I just need some medicine..." I said, my fear welling up inside.
    "Who is to say you won't kill me when I let you go?" He asked, venom in his words.
    "Let me prove it to you."
    "How?"
    "Take my sword."
    He thought about it for a second. He reached down, his blade still on my throat, and grabbed my sword, looking at it carefully. He looked at me, and to my friends. He sighed heavily, and took his blade off my throat, releasing me from his chokehold. I stumbled a few steps forward, coughing violently, rubbing my throat. I looked up at him.
    "Thank you..." I said quietly.
    He handed me my sword, which I put in its sheath.
     "So... Are you from the settlement here?" The boy asked.
    "What settlement?" I asked, puzzled.
    "They are up on the higher floors. Kind of a violent group... The kind that shoots first, asks questions later." He replied nervously.
    "No, we have a base at the L&M downtown. Are YOU part of the group here?"
    He shook his head vigorously.
    "I'm on my own. That's why I had the door blocked."
    "Well, if you want, you can join my group." I said, gesturing to myself and my friends.
    He thought about this, and nodded.
    "Sure." He said.
    I held out my hand for him to shake, which he did, his grip tight.
    "I'm Hunter. Hunter Griffin." I told him
    "And I am Dylan Adelmann." He responded.
    I released the handshake. My friends walked up cautiously, standing by me, weapons in hand. Jerome tossed Dylan a duffel bag.
    "Grab as much medicine as you can. Be sure to grab a few containers of medicine called 'caputzinyl', for Hunter's head." Daniel ordered.
    At that, everyone spread out amongst the rows of shelves, grabbing as much medicine as their bags could carry. After a bit, we all met up again, our duffel bags filled.
    "Anyone get the caputzinyl?" Daniel asked.
    Jerome raised his hand.
    "Alright, let's go." Daniel said, turning around.
    Daniel stopped. At the door were three men, covered in blood, aiming shotguns at us. 
    "Look what we got here, boys... LOOTERS!" The front one said, grinning evilly.
    "They are little shits, too! Perfect food for our pets." The next one said.
    Ender poked my shoulder slightly, to not look suspicious. He gestured at the pip above the men. I looked, and saw that it was a water pipe. Ender then tapped my sword, and I understood, as did everyone else, except the men. Allie aimed her gun at the water pipe and shot, hitting her mark. The men jumped in fright from the sound of the shot, but seeing she didn't shoot them, they started laughing. The water poured down on their feet, causing them to laugh harder.
    "Looks like the girlie missed her shot!" The main one taunted.
    They then looked up from the water, to us. We were all off the ground, sitting on the shelves.
    "I never miss." Allie said.
    At that moment, I activated my sword, electricity enveloping the blade. The men's faces were horrified as I touched the water with my sword. There was an explosion, and I pulled my blade out, turning it off as well. I saw, through the smoke, that the men lie dead on the ground. I coughed, feeling like I was going to puke.
    "Let's go." I said.
                                          DESOL/\TE
   We walked out of the room, and towards the stairway, I was in the back. We slowly started to go down the stairs, taking our time so we could be quiet. I heard something above us, and I looked up. At the top level, I saw outlines of people, looking down at us.
    "Guys, run." I said.
    We all sprinted down the flight of stairs, frantic to get down.
    "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" I heard a voice yell. 
    Two seconds later, I heard something hit the concrete about a level above us. Having a terrible realization, I figured out it was an explosive.
    "Hit the deck!" I ordered, diving, and everyone did the same.
     About a half second later, there was a loud BOOM, and I felt concrete shrapnel pelt against my back, along with large chunks that made me wince and cry out. I felt pieces hit my head, but I was too dazed to use my hands to cover it. I felt blood ooze down the back of my head, down my cheek, and onto my lips, the salty taste with the dust in the air wracked my body with violent coughing. The concrete stopped falling, and all was still.
     I looked around, my face rubbing against the rubble around me. I heard the coughing of my friends around me, and groans of pain.
    "Everyone good?" I said, hoping not loud enough to reach the ears of the men at the top floor.
    One by one, my friends replied with varied yes and sort ofs. But something seemed wrong.
    "Wait, where is Jerome?" Daniel asked.
    We were all dead silent. Straining to hear, a groan sounded out. Jerome. I crawled to the hole in the floor, and looked down. 1 floor down, Jerome was lying on the floor, half unconscious. The basement floor. At that moment, I heard the roars of the Roamers. My eyes widened, and I knew what was happening.
    "GUYS! JEROME IS DOWN THERE! WE GOTTA HELP HIM!" I screamed. I got up, ignoring the pain in my head and back. I started to climb down, when someone grabbed my hand.
    "Hunter, no! You can't save him now!" I heard Daniel say.
    "Let me go you bastard! I'm not leaving him!" I yelled, punching at his hand.
    "Stop! It's suicide!" Daniel begged.
    "I don't care! No one left behind!" I said, taking out my sword, ready to strike at him.
    I looked down, and from the shadows, the first row of Roamers started to appear, about 20 feet from Jerome.
    "Jerome, get up! Please Jerome, get up!"
    He stirred, looking up sleepily. He was bleeding badly from the head. He looked up at me, confused. If he jumped, he could have grabbed my hand, but he still had to get up.
    "Jerome, get up! Grab my hand!"
     He looked even more confused, looking around. Seeing the Roamers approaching him, his eyes widened. He looked up at me, and tried to get up. He fell down. He kept trying to get up again, but he just couldn't. Tears filled my eyes.
    "LET ME GO, DANIEL!" I yelled, thrashing, but his grip was strong.
   I watched helplessly as the Roamers got closer and closer to Jerome. He took out his knife, ready to fight them as long as he could, but I could see it in his eyes that he knew that wasn't going to be long. Daniel pulled me up, backing up a little. Everyone else grabbed me before I could jump down to help Jerome. Below, I heard Jerome scream in pain.
    "DON'T LEAVE ME! Please!" He begged, but it was over. There was no getting him now.
    "I'm sorry... I am so sorry..." I whispered.
    My friends let me up, and I turned to face Daniel.
    "You let him die... I should throw you down there and let you face the same fate that you condemned to Jerome." I said darkly.
    "You won't, though." He replied.
    I walked up to him. I was taller than him, by about 3-4 inches. He looked up at me, glaring. I tensed, and every part of my mind wanted to throw him down to the basement, but that just wasn't who I was. I couldn't do that.
    "You are right. I don't let my friends die in horrible ways, unlike you." I said, before walking to the place the exit was, though it was blocked by a small wall of concrete. I turned on my electric sword, and cut through the concrete. I walked to the exit, followed by my friends, and got in the back of the truck. I put my head in my lap, and started to pray.
    "God, let Jerome have a safe passage to where he is going... And please help me stay as the person I want to be, to not do evil things... Please..." I said silently.
    Allie started to drive, and we started down the road back to base.