“LET’S stay here, child.” A father, in his late twenties, was carrying a seven-year-old girl in his arm.

Both were dressed plainly. It did not cross the father’s mind to send his youngest child, a little boy, in the hospital without his and his sister’s company. He was just forced by Team Aegis who chanced upon visiting his neighborhood and discovered that the toddler had been burning with fever these past few days. No bite marks could be found on the child’s body, but Team Aegis were very uptight about this because it was Citadel’s protocol to bring in the patients once they experienced one of the early symptoms of the zombie virus infection.

The father had been praying for days that his three-year-old son’s condition was not caused by the zombie virus itself. It was his son’s fifth day of confinement in San Laurel Hospital already. Two more days of waiting and a clearance would be issued once the doctors found his son’s condition unrelated with the zombie virus. Yet, the father had to worry about the fees. Since the country’s economy plummeted and budgets focused on funding fortresses and militia equipments, it badly affected one’s means of income. Being inside a glass dome did not just limited people’s environment and movements, but also the job opportunities and availability of affordable healthcare.

The father and his daughter seated on the silver waiting bench. People crammed in the hospital and filled the waiting area, so the little girl had to sit on the left thigh of her father. Some strands of her hair escaped her low ponytail and framed the round shape of her face. She looked bored as she restlessly kept on glancing around.

“Stay still, Tin-Tin. The doctor is still talking to your mom.”

Tin-Tin, the little girl, frowned. “But I’m hungry!”

“Just a little more wait and your mom will lead us to Tupe’s room,” he replied patiently and made sure his daughter was well-seated on his thigh. Tupe was the confined, three-year-old boy’s name.

On a turn at the end of the hall that lead to a short, narrow corridor, a serious nurse in her white uniform stopped by a door. She took the door handle with one hand, and the other fished out a key ring from the lower right front pocket of her blouse. She picked a key from a bunch of them that hung on the ring, inserted one into the door’s keyhole and twisted it to open the door.

The moment she pulled the door open, a rotting zombie jumped at her.

The nurse dropped on the floor, sitting. The corpse got on top of her which pushed her and laid her down beneath the creature. She flailed her arms in defense, welcomed by the zombie’s teeth that sunk deeply in her arms. Blood sprayed through her torn flesh and skin, with the collaboration of her terrified shrieks. Then the red blood slid along her skin and trickled, as her fight for life went on. Their first round ended when the zombie pulled back its head and lunged for her shoulder. In a flash, he bit her skin and flesh and tore them off together, causing the nurse to shed tears as her shrill screams for help turned into wavered cries of a human in pain.

The zombie’s hair was still in tact. Patches of red could be seen all over its gray skin, results of zombie’s restless biting and pulling of its own flesh and skin when it got hungry inside the walk-in utility closet. It could be estimated that the body was infected for two weeks.

The people at the waiting lounge stood up, wondering where the screams came from. All of a sudden, people scrambled out of the corridor—nurses, patients, and other civilians were running for their lives toward the spacious waiting area. All of them have the same crazed panic in their eyes and thunderous footsteps. Some were screaming, others pushed past the others, and some that tripped on the floor had to crawl a little until they manage to spring back onto their feet.

“Monster! Monster!” one of them screamed, along with the others whose words were buried into incomprehension by the cacophony of voices.

The father stood up, alert as he carried Tin-Tin with one arm. His eyes waited for what monster will appear from the corridor while the others followed the running people with confused looks. Some had second-thoughts before slowly slipping away from their seats to discreetly leave the hospital.

And the curious ones furrowed their eyebrows, waded past the running crowd and approached the end of the corridor to see the monster for themselves. One of them froze in shock, before coming to his senses. The moment he turned around, ready to sprint, a bloody, rotting creature suddenly leapt on him.

The creature’s stench filled the room—rotten like a corpse.

That was when the waiting area turned into a chamber of horrified screams. The people at the nearby nurse station began making a run for their lives too.

The father used his shoulder and arm to push their way past the criss-crossing stampede where others got tangled or buried by the upset metal benches.

Tin-Tin wrapped her arms around her father’s neck. She was shaking in fear while the image of the zombie kept on replaying in her mind.

The stampede resumed at the stairs. People shoved each other and squeezed themselves in the elevator. The nurses who knew the hospital better headed for the emergency exit at the corner of the floor. They also mercilessly locked it before the others could follow them.

Meanwhile, a nurse in a blue-green scrub suit was left hiding under the nurse station’s desk. She held her breath to control the subtle sound of her staggering breathing while waiting for the response from the emergency hotline that she just called. She curled herself to keep her body compressed and well-hidden, and kept on moving her eyes to scan her surroundings. Then her eyes stared off into nowhere. She began sensing her surroundings intuitively. She was almost taken over by her panic, her patience was running out, until she heard a voice from the phone that was pressed against her ear.

“This is the Citadel Emergency Hotline, how can I—”

The nurse’s eyes kept shifting left and right. A glimmer of hope brought back the alertness in her eyes. She answered with lips quivering. “H-Help me. There’s a zo—”

The nurse almost choked when a voice interrupted her

“Where is your location?”

That was when she realized that the robotic voice did not hear her. She was not talking to a human, but to an automated answering machine!

Her hand tightened on the telephone. Her horror-stricken eyes were returning.

“San . . . San Laurel,” she whispered carefully, in fear that she would be heard by the roaming zombie.

“Where is your location?”

The nurse shut her eyes impatiently. Sweat began beading on her forehead, filming on her palms.

“San Laurel,” she swallowed. Then she spoke ia tighter voice. “San Laurel Hospital.”

“How can I help you?”

Before the nurse could answer, a slam over the desk where she was hiding had startled her. It was followed by a head and an arm hanging down for her to see.

The nurse sharply inhaled. She covered her mouth with both hands and accidentally released the telephone, springing it back with a tinkling crash to the far end of the desk where its receiver was. The telephone was left hanging down the desk, slightly jumping because of its curly cord.

For a moment, she thought it was her end until she realized that the waving head and arms were already bloody and lifeless. It was as if the roaming zombie flung the dead body over the desk when it was done devouring it.

The nurse, overwhelmed by disgust, immediately looked away and carefully sighed in relief. But when she returned her eyes on the corpse that was hanging beside her, she noticed that its arms had patches of red from bites and torn off flesh. Its skin was rotting and . . . gray.

When the nurse looked at its face, its eyes flung open.

***

“AREN’T we going to check what’s happening in the hospital?” Natalia glanced at Akira who was sitting beside her.

Earlier, they passed by a traffic jam caused by the Lawin Special Ops that surrounded the San Laurel Hospital. But instead of joining the nosy crowd at the back of the building, their car continued heading to the mall.

“For what?” Cjay joined rudely. He was about a meter away from Natalia and Akira but he still managed to hear her low murmur to Akira. He walked ahead of them. His limping was faster since his almost a dozen of shopping bags were being carried by Natalia. “We already agreed that we’re going here, to the mall. I want to go to the mall.”

Natalia pursed her lips, released a tired sigh. She figured that Cjay probably heard her too because the mall was barely populated. It was as if, they have the whole building all to themselves. The lack of spectators must be also the reason why Cjay didn’t mind talking to them loudly.

So, Natalia decided to ignore Cjay. She returned her eyes on Akira. “Are we not going to inform Mr. President about that?”

“Before we even saw the commosion at the hospital, for sure, the president is already aware of it,” Akira replied. He spoke as if he acknowledged her presence but his own presence of mind wasn’t with them but somewhere else . . . That he was in the same place as them but he could see a different dimension.

‘Right,’ Natalia thought anxiously. ‘The Lawin Special Ops are there, so of course, the government already knows.’

“What do you think is going on there? Did they see a zombie?”

Her question piqued Akira’s interest. It was as if his sould just went back to his body, bringing back his consciousness as he turned to her. “Zombie?”

“Yeah. Because why else do they need to bring the whole militia at the hospital if they will only be dealing with a small incident?”

“It can be a case of hostage taking,” Akira speculated to keep their options open. “I know you’re well aware that we’re dealing with a crisis. For an incident to happen in a hospital, it could mean that someone had a problem with the fees and hostaged people there in an attempt to get away without paying or to negotiate to his favor. A zombie attack is unlikely, because the staff there are trained in handling infected patients; and patients who are usually sent to the hospital are those in the early stages of the virus infection. Before they go berserk, they are already transferred to an isolation unit near the cemetery.”

Natalia noticed Cjay’s deafening silence. ‘Is he listening?’ she wondered. “But what if there is a zombie. That’ll mean they’ll need Team Aegis—”

Cjay’s patience ran out. He halted and turned to face them. “Why the heck do you care about their problem?” he scoffed smugly. “It’s the militia’s job to deal with it! They know what to do so stop pestering Akira about what they should do! What do you want? Do you want to go to that hospital?”

Akira just stared at Cjay. Natalia secretly gulped when she caught him swiftly re-adjust the way his hand cradled his gun, pointed at Cjay from the waist down.

“Just do your job,” Cjay held his head high. “And that is to accompany me with my shopping so I can destress and stop thinking about other people’s problems!” Cjay turned away, faced the front and resumed his staggering zombie walk. He intentionally groaned loudly so they could hear him complain. “Oh my goodness! This makes me want to buy more useless stuff!”

Natalia just rolled her eyes. Then, she stared off blankly at nowhere to focus on her thoughts. ‘But if my hunch is right, and there’s a zombie in that hospital, it means I don’t have to settle with Cjay’s cold, tasteless meats at his chest freezer. Going to that hospital will get me a free meal while helping out the people here in Citadel.’

Natalia glanced at Akira, then at the long gun he was cradling before she returned her eyes on his face. She studied his emotionless facial expression.

‘The problem is, Akira glued his eyes on us. I must find a way to sneak away from him.’

She was oblivious about Cjay’s immediate halt in front of a high-end sneakers store. The zombie turned to face them and his face scrunched when he caught Natalia staring at Akira. His eyes shifted between the two of them while Akira, who just stared back at Cjay, waited for the zombie’s instructions.

A mocking smirk escaped from Cjay’s lips. “From the way you look at Akira, I can tell that you want to eat him already.”

Natalia looked at Cjay, shocked.

“You can be really assuming, no?” she snapped at the chuckling zombie.

“What if, you guys go on a date? Stroll around a bit? I can manage myself so just go on and come back for me here in this store—”

“You wish!” she scoffed at him. “We are never going to leave you on your own!” She turned to Akira. “Akira, can you keep an eye on Cjay for a while? I just need to use it.”

“Do you know where the ladies’ room is?” Akira softly glanced at her.

Natalia widened her eyes at him, as if she was silently threatening his life. ‘Did he just bit that zombie’s bait about dating me? Why is he looking at me like this?’

“’Sus, go with her already, Akira,” Cjay teased as a smile toyed the corner of his lips.

She glared at him. “He’s not coming with me!” Then to Akira. “Don’t take your eyes away from Cjay the Zombie!” She handed the shopping bags to the soldier too. “I’ll find the ladies’ room on my own. I’ll come back here.”

Akira lowered his head so he could look at the shopping bags as he hang them on his arms. They were so many that he let go of his gun, leaving it hanging like a bag on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Natalia was unable to wait for him to carry the bags properly. As soon as all of them freed her arms, she immediately left the two.

***

THE crowd that surrounded San Laurel Hospital was still dense. It seemed that the people of Citadel took the news of a roaming zombie as a normal incident, so instead of hiding in their homes, they had the gall to put their noses into the operations of Lawin Ops.

But, for humans, it was a different scenario when they were the ones who were experiencing the threats accompanied by a firsthand zombie encounter.

Like the people inside the hospital.

Red blood was smeared on the smooth floors and some walls of the hospital. Metal waiting benches were upset. Some papers from patient charts, envelopes, and folders  that the nurses dropped were blown and scattered all over the place.

The only sound that could be heard from where the chaos started was the sharp, metallic creaking from a rotating wall fan.

Some of the ward doors were shut.

Some of the terrified in-patients, hospital staff, and guests hid in the children’s ward. Unfortunately, this was also where Tin-Tin and her father were hiding. Unfortunate because the person they intended to visit, Christopher or Tupe, wasn’t in this room. Neither was Tupe’s mother.

The father, who was carrying his daughter, was leaning against the wall beside the hospital window. The father was hidden from the window view but he was looking outside with alert eyes. He was relieved when he saw the militia vehicles surrounding the place.

The only question on his mind was, what was taking the militia so long to rescue them? None of them seemed to make any attempts to enter the hospital yet.

The father’s eyes squinted suspiciously. ‘What else are they waiting for . . .’

“Papa—” Tin-Tin called.

“Shh!” he firmly scolded her.

“Tupe is not here,” Tin-Tin whined as silently as she could.

He didn’t want to answer his child. But his silence only made her persistent.

“Mama isn’t here.” Her eyes downcasted, lips downturned. “What if they are already eaten, Papa? Let’s go to them, Papa. They might—”

“Yes, I know, we will go—” He cautiously stole a glance at their company. His words were interrupted when he saw their reaction.

The people in that ward shot them threatening glares. They didn’t like the minute sound that their talking had made.

One of the nurses typed something on her smart phone that was passed over each and everyone for them to read. When it wad the father’s turn to read, he brought the old model smart phone close to his eyes.

The Ops are already here. All we need to do is simply wait. And KEEP QUIET. So that the zombie won’t find us.

After reading the original text message, it was followed by about three spaces below it before a new text could be read, probably typed by the others who got to hold the smart phone before him.

I wonder how many zombies are here.

A few spaces later before another one could be read.

You mean how many have been TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE here.

When the father lifted his head, he saw the people in that ward exchange worried glances. They were astonished when they heard a groan from one of the hospital beds. Their eyes darted at one of the patients—a toddler who just woke up.

“Oh, no . . .” one of them whispered.

A nurse rushed to the child. She was already at the side of her bed when she suddenly wailed.