Crazies

Chapter Twenty-Two

~Chapter 22~
(Edited)

Everything has gone eerily quiet as Jay and I make use of the concrete steps to head up to the next level of the hospital. Once we reached the door, I carefully crack it open and call Max over to me.

"Check it for us, boy," I whisper causing his tail to wag a few times before taking one more step to sniff at the air drifting through the crack I've created. A low growl rumbles from him, but he still paws the doorway, signaling that it's all clear of Crazies. "Good boy."

I open the door the rest of the way and step out into the barely lit hallway with rising dread.

I haven't had this feeling in a while.

My fingers tighten around the hilt of my knife as I glance to my right then left, finding nothing but an empty hallway. I hear the soft click of the door shutting behind me and I turn to watch Jay step up next to me.

"Where do you think they went?" he asks in a low whisper as he looks down the hall.

"I don't know, but the sounds of those shots sounded close," I whisper back, but as I go to say something else I feel Max brush up against my leg. Looking down, I see his ears twitching again as he points his nose down the right side of the hallway, letting me know where the danger is coming from. "Good boy."

Without having to say anything to Jay, we simultaneously head in the direction Max pointed us to.

"Something's not right," Jay comments as we find ourselves entering another empty hallway. Unlike the last one, this one has patient rooms lining both sides of the hall with every door wide open to reveal gutted out rooms. "Where is everything?"

I bite my lower lip as I start to wonder the same thing. It might have been a few months since we've been in here, but there should still be some kind of destruction left over from that day.

But it's empty.

"I thought they were dumping Crazies in here," Jay said as he takes a step inside one of the rooms and looks around. "What the fuck is going on?"

A shout echoes down the hall towards us causing Max to rumble a low growl. Jay gives the room one last concerned look before we head in the direction of the shout.

At the end of the hall, we see one of those large built-in desks stationed just to the side of the exit and duck behind there before peeking around the edge.

The moonlight seeps through the floor to ceiling windows helping the emergency lights illuminate a very disturbing scene before us.

Two guys are on their knees facing away from us with their hands linked behind their heads. While four men stand between us and them with semi-automatics aimed at their heads.

Standing a few feet in front of them with their guns raised are RG and Marc.

"Shit," Jay hisses under his breath as we watch the men stare each other down.

"Drop them, or they die." One of the four guys yells to RG and Marc.

Not good, I think as I watch Marc lower his gun then touch RG's arm to make him lower his.

"Any ideas?" Jay whispers close to my ear, making sure his voice doesn't carry over to the others in the room. I bring my hands up to sign to him instead of risking them hearing us.

'We divide and conquer.' I point back down the hall we just came from. 'Shoot your gun down there then take down anyone that comes to look.'

Jay nods then quickly backtracks into the hall. I carefully remove my bag from my back and silently set it under the desk.

"Get ready, boy," I whisper to Max as I peek around the edge again. RG and Marc have their hands up in the air as one of the four breaks away from the others and moves over to collect the guns that have been dropped to the floor.