The Hospital

Delta ventures into an abandoned hospital to escape enemy forces. Little do they know that escape is much harder then it seems as a team member is abducted. Also a secret may provide answers for Jack.

Although most of the buildings are in a state of disrepair, some provide perfect spots for snipers or worse, ambushes. We continue on, scanning the rooftops and alleys, always on alert. After an hour or so of slow movement, the hospital stands before us. Undoubtedly the large structure in this town, the hospital stands almost untouched from war except a few scorch marks across its sides and the broken windows. The faded red brick building spans three blocks across with a giant cross hanging down the middle. The eight story high building casts a giant shadow on the burning parking lot in front of it, with smokestacks still burning behind it. The main path to the front door remains untouched by flam due to the metal arch surrounding it from the street to the entrance. Still, either side features a raging inferno engulfing trees, cars and even an unfortunate heliship that crashed in the middle of the right lot. We go through the arch, being careful not to touch the sides. Inside, the path was extremely hot, every move we made seemed to make the temperature go up. As well trudged on the heat drove us to a slow walk, hanging our shoulders and not even holding our guns. Tony seemed to be having the worst time of all with the man still on his shoulders. Once we reached the doors, we all collapsed through and laid motionless on the ground. The fresh air was freezing to the touch, compared to the intensity of the arches. The wounded began to shiver furiously as well as my hands. Eventually Sean got up and picked one of the wounded up as well. He turned to us and said, 

“We are almost there men, just stairs stand between us and freedom from this place,”. Reluctantly, we got up. The task was no easy one but it was possible without the weight of the heat. Jake went over to Tony and gladly picked the injured soldier for him,

“Thanks man. I owe you one,” replies Tony.

“That’s no problem but you owe me around seven trillion partner,” says Jake, not even flinching beneath the weight,

“Keeping fire on ‘em boys back in town square wasn’t an easy job. Saved your life at least seven trillion times,”

“How’s a beer back at base?”

“That’d do it,” and the hulking mass walked on after Sean.

As we started going up the first flight of stairs, a loud ringing filled the air,

“Fire alarm!” says Nick, way in the back of the pack.

“Keep moving!” says Sean as we reach the second flight. We were halfway up the third when Nick thunderously yelled, 

“Help!”. The crash of a body falling on steel resounded through the stairwell, followed by the slamming of a metal door,

“I’ll take the wounded up to the top! Go save Nick!” ordered Sean, “Go!”. So we stormed down the stairs to the entrance to the third floor and busted through. Immediately we were under fire so we all dove through a glass window between the hall and the secretary’s office. Jake flipped over the two desks and returned fire. Tony, Connor and I slid behind the wall that had the window and provided extra fire. 

“Grenade!” yelled Connor as he flung one out the window. It bounced of the corner of a room and into the adjacent hallway.

The explosion rocked the entire floor as screams added to the noise level.

“Tony! Get into the room across from here and begin firing down that hallway! Jack, come with me!” yells Connor. Tony obediently scurries across the hall and dives into cover. Once he begins shooting, Connor and I dash across the office into the parallel hallway. We peak around the corner to see three enemies completely focused on Tony. Connor whips out his SMGs and runs into the other hall. He focuses his left’s fire on the closest cowboy and spins around and sprays the other two to kingdom come. Peaking down the hallway I was in, he takes a stand in the middle and cuts down two more hiding in the room across.

“Come on!” yells Connor as he takes out his sniper rifle. I catch up with him and we charge down the hall. A cowboy spins out of a room and takes fire at us. With out taking cover I shoulder into him and deliver a bullet as he falls. Connor is now ahead of me but is surprised when another cowboy swings out of a room on the left. Connor purposely falls down and slides between his legs, as he goes through he places the nozzle of his sniper beneath the cowboy’s chin and fires, blowing his head clean off in a geyser of blood. He spins back to his feet while looking down the scope and swiftly picks off two more which appear from the end of the hall. Smirking, I catch up to him and as we reach the end of the hall, cowboys come at us from both sides. I take a leap at the wall perpendicular to the hall and take a swinging shot at the right, exterminating three goons in the process. Connor roll back into the hall, peaks around and without the scope takes off the head of another three. The majority of the cowboys begin streaming from my side of the hall so I am quickly over run. Suddenly, I hear, 

“Duck!”, so I drop to my stomach and see Connor kick off the wall and go into a flying spin. While spinning he takes aim at the entering cowboys and takes out the closest three while I take out the legs of the followers and finish them off with perfect headshots.

“Nice work,” I tell Connor as we bump our weapons.

“Saw it in a movie. Thought it might work,”

“You bet our lives on a stupid movie?” I ask Connor with a face of uncertainty.

“It was a good movie,” replies Connor as I slap him in the back of the head. We go to the door on my side of the hall and get on either side. I count down with my fingers from three, as I put down my last finger Connor busts in with me close behind. Instinctively I shoot down the two men standing up facing us and the one man looking out the window. Connor takes out two on the left but a huge cowboy dodges the bullet with speed not meant for his size. Using his speed, this hulking mass of a man charges at Connor and with a single arm swing, sends the helpless gunman flying into the wall. With huge right swing the cowboy knocks me right in the jaw, causing me to sprawl on the ground. I try to reach my knife in my back pocket but two hairy hands grasp my throat and lift me in the air. After what must’ve been thirty seconds fighting for air, the cowboy slams me down hard again onto the remnants of an examination table. The world starts spinning wildly as the grey walls and ceiling start closing in on me. For a moment I glimpse my attacker laughing heavily above my body until a small arm reaches across his shoulder and plunges a shard of wood into the opposite side of his chest. With a shriek of pain, the cowboy reaches over his back and wails Connor into a nearby pillar with the ensuing sound of breaking tiles. Within that moment I kick hard at my assailants’ knee cap sending him to one leg. I pounce to my feet like a cat jumping out a window and deliver a powerful kick to the temple of my foe. With the satisfying crack of his jaw bone, the cowboy falls to his side while I heave a heavy piece of the desk onto his head, finishing the job.

“Oh god I think I broke my back,” moans Connor from behind, pushing the rubble off him.

“You should have been more careful,” I reply with a sarcastically pitiful expression.

“Whatever you say almighty warrior,” he smirks back. 

“That’s much better,” I say while extending a helping hand. After we are both on our feet, we search the dreary anteroom for any signs of Nick or his attacker. After our initial scan of the demolished office, a glint of metal catches my eye beneath a pile of fallen debris. The ceiling had collapsed over a large painting of what must have been a hospital office. I stride over and gently begin disassembling the rubble to find a sawed-off shotgun. In the dreary world where the only light is from the fires outside, this weapon shone brilliantly with engraved silver on either side depicting two elegant mermaids in a twisting dance. The barrel was a dark form of steel with a silvered edge with fish engraved swimming around the two barrels. 

“One of Nick’s guns, but where is it’s owner?” questions Connor as he swipes the deadly piece of art from my hands,

“I can’t imagine he phased through the wall here,” I reply slapping the cold hard concrete 

“Maybe not phased…..maybe,” and Connor pushes the painting to find his hand a foot deep into the wall. He jumps back as a portion of the wall turns about to reveal a passage leading deep into a dark corridor. 

“What could this be for?” asks Connor feeling the edges of the newly open portal,

“Well I guess we’ll find out. C’mon,”. I take point while Connor holds the rear. We journey along the pathway until a loud boom echoes behind us,

“The door!” screams Connor as we are plunged into darkness,

“Your not scared of the dark are you?” I ask blindly,

“It is not the dark I fear, just what could be lurking under its covers,”.

Author's Note

This has been on my laptop for a while and I just had the urge to finish and post it. Hopefully it enjoyable as the format is terrible. The usual grammar and spacing mistakes should be expected. Don't worry I'll get better!
~Jak