A New Type of Realism

(3) It Takes No Guts

Like sheep in a herd, Maggie, Ben and Martin followed my original suggestion to get out of here. It really was a primordial instinct to want to stay in a pack to survive, then. I had thought that my science teachers had been making it up, though obviously, they hadn't been.

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The four of us filtered our way back into the hallway, and began to try and find a way out of the hospital. Maggie, Martin and I all stayed at a reasonable distance from Ben. He was in the lead, and no one had argued with his decision. No one wanted to be the first to encounter any danger, so we had all breathed a sigh of relief when Ben had so dimwittedly volunteered for it, although 'volunteered' suggests that we had any choice in the matter. 

We tried to say as far away from him as it was possible to be without making him think that we were planning on abandoning him. Also, no matter how asinine the guy was, he still made us all feel just that little bit safe. He had previously worked as part of the hospital security team after all.

We stayed in a straight line, with myself bringing up the rear. It wasn't the best decision I could have made in regards to personal safety; if the horror movies that Dylan had forced me to watch had any basis in reality, it was always the last person who disappeared first. However, there was no way I'd let a child, or Maggie take the position instead. This way I had a clear view of both of them. 

I wanted to keep my promise to the kid, that I'd look after him until we'd found his mother, and if this was the only way of ensuring that he was under my supervision at all times, then so be it. I wanted to be careful that I didn't swaddle him though, and smother him away from all that was happening, but he was only a child. He belonged in this situation about as much as a button belonged in a needle factory.

Ben blundered ahead of the group. He stumbled around corners and threw open doors with reckless abandon. It really was a wonder that he'd managed to stay alive for so long.

After we'd searched five or six more rooms, we'd found nothing surprising or new. The same mess of broken chairs and scattered objects seem to follow us wherever we went. Eventually, every single one of us had managed to make a weapon out of something that had broken. Maggie clutched at a short length of what had been a large metal pipe. When we had found it, the majority of it had been shattered into pieces. I'd wondered at the strength of the material if it could be smashed so easily. Surely something so brittle would not stand up in a fight. I had queried it, but Maggie had reassured me that it would do. 

Ben had a makeshift spear that we'd managed to put together by tying a piece of broken glass to two chair legs that had been stuck together. We'd used gaffer-tape to secure the objects. Again, the weak links between the separate objects, and the fragile glass made me worry about the strength of such a weapon.

Soon, after following a few emergency exit signs, we came to a door that seemed to signify the end of the building. We shared a look as Ben stretched his hand out to push on the door. It opened slowly, despite the strength of Ben's shove, and we were confronted with darkness. Red lights began to flicker on the walls as the main lights failed to come to life. I took a sharp breath in. 

Red lighting meant that an emergency had taken place here, no doubt. Though to anyone who'd watched as many horror movies as I unwillingly and regrettably had, the flashing red was still relevant in issuing its state of emergency. Monsters on the television and video games tended to lurk around the places that they had been born in. Whatever had been here, was probably still present.

I was not suited to situations like these. I couldn't even watch something mildly scary without being tucked up in bed, with the blankets covering half of my view of the television, ready to completely conceal the screen at any tense moment. It was because of these cowardly traits of my personality, that I had come to always rely on my brother. He was the one who never failed to make me feel safe. When he was around, I was invincible.