NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28: In the Middle of the Night
The hospital loomed ahead like a shadowed fortress, its facade streaked with grime and time. Inside, the rooms stood in eerie silence, a scene of carnage painted in stark reds and browns. Zombie corpses littered the floor, their grotesque forms twisted in unnatural angles as though frozen in their final moments of pain and rage. The air hung heavy with the metallic tang of blood and the stench of decay.
Amid the carnage, a child approached. Barely eleven years old, she moved with a deliberate calm, her petite frame radiating an aura so potent it seemed to warp the atmosphere around her. Her hair, an untamed halo of dark waves, caught the dim light, and her eyes gleamed like molten gold. She was nameless to those who might've seen her—a shadow, a whisper, a force that could not be ignored.
As she stepped onto the hospital grounds, the oppressive aura around her intensified. The corpses began to tremble as though they could sense her presence even in death. With a measured glance, she extended her hand, fingers splayed as if commanding unseen forces. The nearest corpse began to dissolve, its decayed flesh crumbling into fine ash that drifted away on an unnatural wind. One by one, the others followed, disintegrating into nothingness under her silent decree.
Inside the ER, a sinister machine rested at the center of the chaos, its sleek, black frame pulsating with malevolent energy. The device, known only in hushed whispers, had been the source of unthinkable horrors—its purpose a blend of experimentation and extermination. Now, it waited, dormant but not defeated, as if anticipating the arrival of this child.
She moved through the ER's entrance, her footsteps light but echoing with purpose. The remnants of disintegrated zombies blew in her wake, the air clearing as she passed. Every light in the corridor flickered, the electricity faltering as though bowing to her presence.
As the girl made her way deeper into the ER, her aura of power subdued the residual traces of violence. The flickering lights steadied briefly as though even the building recognized her dominance. Yet, as she approached the heart of the hospital—a once-operational central hub for monitoring patients—a guttural growl echoed from the shadows.
From a darkened corner emerged a creature that retained more human features than the other zombies. Its eyes, though clouded, burned with a dim awareness. The beast wore the tattered remnants of a doctor's coat, its name tag hanging askew, though the text was illegible under smears of dried blood. Unlike the mindless undead she had disintegrated earlier, this one stood upright, its movements calculated, its head tilted in scrutiny of the intruder.
The child paused, tilting her head as if acknowledging the oddity of the creature's intelligence. Her molten eyes locked onto its murky ones, and for a moment, the room fell silent, save for the faint whirring of the sinister machine behind her.
"You've held onto a fragment of who you were," she remarked, her voice soft, almost reverent. "But it won't change your fate."
The creature opened its mouth, its voice rough and broken but coherent. "Why... Why would someone like you want to destroy it?"
The girl chuckled softly, a sound that sent a chill through the air. "That need to know, and you don't need to know since you're about to disappear."
The creature snarled in response, its body tensing before it lunged. Its claws extended, swiping at her with startling speed. The child sidestepped, the motion so effortless it seemed she'd moved before the creature began its attack.
"Impressive," she murmured, her voice devoid of mockery. "I'll give you three attempts."
The creature roared, enraged by her calm demeanor. It attacked again, this time feinting to the left before spinning to strike from the right. The child didn't flinch, catching its wrist mid-swing. For a moment, they stood locked in place, the creature's strength palpable in the tautness of its muscles. But her grip was unyielding, her smaller hand exerting a pressure that caused its bones to creak ominously.
"That's two," she said, releasing the creature and stepping back.
The zombie hesitated, its dim awareness flickering with something akin to fear. It glanced at the machine behind her, then back at the child, as if weighing its options. With a guttural cry, it launched itself into the air, claws, and teeth aimed directly at her throat.
The child's expression turned cold. "And that's three."
With a motion almost too fast to perceive, she raised her hand and clenched her fist. The zombie froze mid-air, its body writhing as an invisible force crushed it. Cracks echoed through the room as its bones shattered, its flesh caving inward. In an instant, it collapsed into a heap of ash, indistinguishable from the corpses she had destroyed earlier.
She stared at the remnants for a moment, her expression unreadable. "You fought well. But it wasn't enough."
With that, she turned her attention back to the machine. It had activated, its mechanisms buzzing with a desperate energy. Whatever intelligence had driven the last zombie seemed to have been part of its defense system, and now, it was relying solely on itself.
The machine came to life the moment she entered its range. Panels slid open, revealing appendages bristling with sharp implements and glowing nodes. An ominous hum filled the room, and a wave of energy surged outward—a calculated area-of-effect attack designed to eliminate any intruder.
But the child stood unfazed. The energy dissipated as it reached her, curling harmlessly around the protective aura she exuded. Her molten eyes locked onto the machine, and she walked forward, undeterred by its desperate attempts to defend itself.
"Enough," she whispered, her voice soft yet commanding. She lifted her left hand and placed it gently on the machine's cold surface.
The effect was immediate. The sleek black metal began to tarnish, an ugly rust spreading from where her hand rested. It crawled over the machine like a living thing, corroding and disfiguring its once-imposing form. Sparks erupted as its internal components failed, wires snapped, and fluids leaked from ruptured lines. Within moments, the machine was reduced to a pile of useless, rusted scrap.
The child stepped back, her hand falling to her side. Her gaze lingered on the destroyed device, a flicker of satisfaction crossing her stoic face. "Now Zoe can be saved," she murmured, her voice barely audible.
Turning away, she left the ER as quietly as she had entered, the oppressive aura fading with her departure. The hospital, once a place of death and despair, felt lighter in her absence as though the weight of its horrors had been lifted. Outside, the wind carried the last traces of ash into the night, leaving no sign of the battle that had taken place. The nameless child vanished into the shadows, her purpose fulfilled.