Some men in bio-hazard suits, rushed over with a gurney. They had to squish through the sea of people just to get to Mike. It took two doctors to restrain Mike enough to get him onto it. I was no doctor, but I was pretty sure you weren't supposed to try to move someone while they are having a seizure.

"Hey!" I yelled to the suited men. "Should you be moving him right now?"

They studiously ignored me as they strapped Mike down and shoved us out of the way, as they carted him off to one of the rooms down the hall.

"Hey!" I yelled again but it was to no avail.

Mike was still thrashing around when they opened up one of the doors and tried to push the gurney in but before they could, another patient rushed out of the room snarling and trying to claw at them. From the surprise, the doctors lost their grip on Mike and he was pushed up against the wall as the doctors tried to subdue the crazy patient. The deranged man had waxy, grey skin and his eyes were beyond blood shot; almost as if all the vessels in his eyes had burst. His mouth was stained with red, as were his clothes and hands.

One of the doctors howled in pain as the man's teeth sunk into the arm the doctor was holding him with. I guess those suits weren't teeth proof. The suited man tried to pry the lunatic off, but he was on there good and didn't look like he was going to let go anytime soon. The other doctor stood still for what seemed like forever and then took off running in the opposite direction. This is when all hell started to break loose.

All the patients around us started to panic and screams soon erupted all over the waiting area.

"Bailey!" Zoe yelled, as she was shoved out of the way as people started to run all over the place.

I tried hard to keep track of her, but was soon lost in the crowd of scared people trying to get off this floor. I found myself being ushered against my will towards the hallway, where the deranged patient was now fully on top of the suited doctor; his blood was running down the sides of his suit and pooling around him.

The crazed man on top of him suddenly snapped his head up, chewing and snarling at the same time. Red stained pieces of the doctor's suit were sprayed all over the place. The sick man scrambled up and lunged at the group of us being pushed towards him. I felt panic grip my body as the man started to rush us. People screamed, arms and limbs where bumping into me from all directions; someone was shoved callously right at the approaching crazy patient.

"Help!" The woman screamed. For whatever reason, that I could not explain, I reached out and tried to pull her back.

But it was too late. The man latched onto her like he had the doctor and soon her screams turned into whimpers then stopped all together, as the blood poured from the bite wound in her neck. The doctor, who had been viciously attacked, started to sit up slowly and I knew that meant it was time to run. Putting the terrified face of that woman out of my mind, I tried to shove my way back through the crowd towards the stairs. I found that if I stuck close to the wall, I was better able to move through the crowd.

I frantically looked around for Zoe, but I couldn't see her over the mass amounts of people. Her straight, black hair was camouflaged among the sea of heads, even though she stood at over 5'10. She managed to make me look short at 5'5.

"Zoe!" I yelled as hard as I could over the chaos, but if she heard me I got no reply.

I had to make my choice fast. Did I keep trying to search for Zoe in here and possibly get trampled to death or try to get out and hope Zoe did the same? Soon that choice was made for me, as the doctor in the bulky bio-hazard suit, joined in the fray attacking people. His teeth were rendered useless, as the face shield protected the unfortunate individual he had grabbed. It looked like the woman who had her neck bitten was starting to convulse on the ground as the virus racked her body.

I took one last look back and wished I hadn't. One of the patients in the waiting room must have had a gun on their person, this was America after all, and shot the crazed sick man. The loud sound from the gun caused everyone to duck and scream anew. The crazed man was shot point blank in the shoulder, causing him to whip around from the impact sending a spray of dark blood all over the wall behind him. I watched in mute horror, as the sick man pulled himself back to his feet, his left arm barely hanging on, since the bullet had punched a wide hole in his shoulder. Still snarling, he walked unsteadily towards the shocked man with the raised gun. The brief thought of why no police where here yet, crossed my mind.

The sick man lunged at the man holding the revolver and soon a barrage of bullets impaled him. Not until one of the bullets hit the sick man in between the eyes, did he stop his assault. The body slumped to the ground, finally unmoving, and didn't get back up. The man lowered his emptied gun, the barrel smoking at his side. Panic rained all around and I stood frozen, to shocked to move. I had seen a lot since I woke up this morning, but somehow seeing a man shoot another in the face, was enough to hit home. Something was happening, something big. I knew right in that moment life would never be the same.

"Bailey!" I heard my name screamed over the noise, but I didn't move until fingers wrapped around my wrist.

I barely registered the tugging at my arm.

"Bailey we have to leave!" Zoe said panicked, trying to pull me along.

I stumbled behind, her dragging me by my arm, still in a daze from everything. My mind was trying to play catch up to all that I had witnessed. I could no longer shrug this off as another episode of H1N1, nor could this be a horribly vivid dream. The stairs were even worse going down, now that everyone was trying to flee the fourth floor. A man was shoved down taking a bunch of people with him, but no one stopped to help. Instead, they just tried to jump over the slump of bodies in their attempt to get down.

Zoe kept giving brief glances back to see that I was still following. My legs managed to work, even though I was not really there it seemed. I was turning into one of those people who froze up and shut down in emergencies. They were always the first to go... At that thought my mind tried to snap itself back into place, self-preservation taking over.

We managed to overtake the stairs as a mass group and burst out onto the first floor. People jumped up from their chairs and dodged out of the way as we all poured out into the lobby in an attempt to vacate the hospital. A shrill alarm went off, the emergency lights blinking.

Why did we even come here in the first place? If this infection was spreading, then the hospital is where the sick would amass. I wish I had clued into this earlier and we hadn't bothered coming here. But, then we would have been stuck with Mike when the virus took him over and did whatever it did to him. Guilt wasn't something I was accustomed to feeling, but I felt a twinge of it at the moment, knowing we left Mike behind. I tried to justify it to myself by saying he was doomed either way; which was unfortunately true. Was I next? I wasn't bit, just scratched. I had lasted this long when it looked like it over took all the others quickly by comparison.

Soon, the people in the lobby started to join our mass group and ran for the exit as well. It must have been a sight to see; hundreds of people pouring out of the hospital doors, running back onto the roads and sidewalks. Car tires were squealing as people were pushed out into the flow of traffic. Zoe had managed to steer us back towards the direction of the hotel and we took off in a sprint, no longer slowed down by Mike. We finally stopped running to catch our breath, the heaves aggravating my side.

"Zoe," I huffed and pointed to the corner store.

"It's going to be just as bad in there."

"I know but I'm going to need some antiseptic or something for my scratches."

Zoe gave the store a skeptical glance, but nodded. We jogged over to the entrance, the automatic doors opening for us. The inside was pandemonium; people were grabbing everything they could. I made a dash for the first aid section, scanning the shelves around the people looking for anything I could use. I managed to grab a couple bottles of spray antiseptic and gauze. I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until I saw the hanging strip of beef jerky packages, so I grabbed a couple of those as well. And a bottle of Flintstones vitamins just to be on the safe side.

I jumped in the back of the long line, with Zoe joining me with her arms full of stuff. We handed the cashier some money when got up to the till, not even bothering with our change as we ran out of the congested building. I stuffed my haul into my pack as we continued back towards the hotel.

"What do we do?" Zoe asked quietly after we had been walking briskly in silence for a few minutes.

"I have no idea," I shrugged. "Not something we can prepare for you know?"

And I used to laugh at my Dad and brother for watching those crazy survivalist, doomsday TV shows. If I was in a laughing mood, I would have laughed at the irony.

"We need to get back home," Zoe said.

"We basically would have to cross the entire US to get home," I sighed at the daunting task. "With no airplanes, trains and unless we steal a car, that's out of the question as well."

We feel back into a silent trot the rest of the journey back to the hotel. The streets hadn't improved at all; an ambulance had crashed into the front of one of the stores along the street, its siren still going off, as it lay still imbedded in the wall. One guy was running down the streets yelling about zombies and that was probably the sanest thing I had seen all day.

The hotel lobby was empty, but we booked it to the elevator anyways. Our hallway was still deserted except for the mess, luckily no sick people. Once we stepped into the quiet room, I finally noticed the ringing in my ears. I sat down and took a bite of my beef jerky just as my stomach started to growl. I offered some to Zoe, who gave me a bottle of water in return. We sat there eating and contemplating.

"Do you think you are going to catch it?" Zoe asked me with concern in her eyes.

"I really hope not," I said taking a drink of my water. "I don't feel sick or anything."

Zoe eyed me more carefully, nodding when she convinced herself it must be true.

"You don't look sick just pale," she said. "But you're always pale."

We sat for hours flipping through the channels for any useful information, but all we could gather was that main transportation had seized and that emergency centers were being set up in the football arena and nearby schools.

"Should we try for the arena tomorrow?" Zoe asked, pointing to the onscreen picture of the football arena.

It sounded all well and good, but having that many people crammed into an area like that would probably have the same results as the hospital. But what other choice did we have?

"I think the school would be the best option, since it would be less crowed and plus it's indoors," I said finally and Zoe nodded.

I gathered up the sheets and pillows on my bed and carried them off to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to sleep in the bathtub just in case I do get sick or whatever it is," I said dropping the sheets into the dry tub. "I can lock the door so I won't be able to attack you or anything."

Zoe stared at me with fear and sadness. She gulped and nodded as she gave me a hug, her eyes a little glassy. I shut the door and latched the lock getting ready to try to sleep. I didn't feel sick, but who knows how this thing went. I changed out my bandages and sprayed on some of the antiseptic, which felt akin to adding acid to the wounds.

Was now the time my brief life was supposed to flash before my eyes in a moment of self-recollection? If so, I really hope it was the good highlight reel, not the one that included me chasing my shoe down the hallway steps, during the break between classes in grade ten or the time I kicked a rock that turned out not to be a rock, but a very upset raccoon.

From behind the door Zoe said, "What do I do if I need to pee?"

With a small grin I lowered myself into the makeshift bed, my thoughts returning to the present.

"Should have thought of that before."