THE DEVIL YOU KNOW:PART II

I'm just a messenger here. I was told to transfer you here, and that's what I've done. He fumbled around his belt for his key ring. He came over and unlocked the handcuffs and ankle cuffs from both of us. I stretched, rubbing my wrists. I was glad to be out of those suffocating restraints. Thanks for everything, then, I said, picking up my extremely light garbage bag of possessions and heading for the door on the left. Timmy reluctantly followed behind. A sign on this door read, To General Population. But when we got to the other side and it slammed shut behind us, I found a hallway filled with more red emergency lights streaming down. 

 An involuntary shiver ran down through my body. I remembered those absurd rules someone had put up. What had it said about red lights? My mind raced for a few moments. Then the answer popped up. It said to hide. A man shrieked up ahead, his voice riddled with agony and terror. The hallway split to the right and left, and I couldn't see anyone. Timmy and I stopped. Dude, screw this, Timmy said, turning and running back toward the door we had come through. He tried pulling it open, but it was firmly locked. The scream came again, louder and closer.

But this time it was cut off suddenly. I heard someone gurgling like a man with a slit throat trying to breathe. And then everything went deathly silent again. The gray concrete floor of the hallway had arrows pointing forward on it. There were no doors here. There was nowhere to hide that I could see. Timmy and I reluctantly went forward. As we got to the intersection, we saw the dead body of a man in a brown khaki uniform. His sightless eyes remained open. They stared up at the ceiling, glassy and still filled with horror. 

 Deep gouge marks bit deeply into the flesh on his back and arms and chest. His throat had been cut or bit open as well. A spreading puddle of blood encircled his body. I saw a dark blur at the end of the hallway on the right. It looked like little more than a shadow. I whispered to Timmy, pointing. We decided to go left immediately. My heart was pounding at this point. I felt like a soldier walking through the no-man's land of a war zone. I expected the attack to come at any moment. The hallway to the left had some doors.

I sprinted forward as quietly as I could with Timmy close by my side. I read the first door. To medical ward. Oh, no, I whispered, going to the second one. I heard light footsteps behind me. Turning, I saw a creature from a nightmare sneaking up on us in the bloody glow of the emergency lights. Its skin was black and shiny like that of a centipede's. In its general form, it reminded me of a hairless werewolf. It towered over us, its eyes like bone white cataracts, its claws as long and sharp as a dagger. And yet its face seemed almost reptilian. 

 It had two small nose holes like a snake and a jaw that unhinged and dropped far below its head. I saw rows of blood-soaked fangs. It gave off a low, gurgling growl that emanated from its chest. With a rush of adrenaline and a sense of mortal terror, I pushed through the second door without reading the sign on the front. Timmy was right behind me. I heard him scream as he fell into me. I found myself in a prison dormitory, and we weren't alone. As I hit the ground, I saw a white face peering out at me from behind the bunk bed.

The man hiding there saw the abomination behind us and got up, screaming and running away. The creature growled, giving chase. In two powerful bounds, it had rushed across the dormitory and grabbed the man by the neck. I looked back at Timmy, seeing him groaning on the ground. Blood poured from deep cuts on his back. I grabbed him, pulling him up. Let's go, let's go, no time to... I said when I was cut off by the sound of a neck snapping. I looked back, seeing the creature had twisted the man's head around in a circle.

It raised the limp body to its massive mouth and severed the head in a single powerful bite. Get me out of here, man, please, Timmy whispered as I pulled him back out into the hallway. I looked over, seeing another werewolf creature bounding down the hallway, chasing a man in a prison jumpsuit. I had no choice. I pulled Timmy toward the door labeled Medical Ward. With a creak of rusted hinges, it opened. We went inside to hide. Maybe there's something in here we can use to bandage you up, I said to Timmy, pulling him down the short hallway toward a room filled with single beds. 

 I didn't know why the rules said to avoid this place. It looked totally empty. Against the back wall, I saw a glass cabinet filled with bandages, rubbing alcohol, band-aids and other various first aid supplies. I ran toward it. Timmy limped along after me, still groaning. God damn, I think those claws went down to the bone, he said. It's gonna be okay, I said as I pulled out some antiseptic and bandages, adding, it could have been a lot worse. The universe would immediately prove me right. I heard a slight giggling from under one of the beds. Timmy and I both froze.

Two rotted hands reached out, dragging the mutilated body of a little girl behind them. She had patches of garish black stitches running across her face, hands and arms. Dark, clotted blood dripped from the sights. She wore a gore-smeared hospital gown and had no eyes. I looked into the empty sockets. They stared back at me like two black holes spinning in the void. As she rose, her giggles became full-blown laughter, a hysterical gurgling like the laugh of a dying person. Then she ran at me. I saw the silver gleam of a scalpel in her little hand.

No! I screamed, raising my hands to protect myself. The scalpel came down, slicing across my palm. It cut deeply. A cold, burning pain ran up my arm. I repressed the urge to scream. At that moment, the red emergency lights flicked off. Bright, fluorescent lights popped on, flickering and strobing in rapid succession. Timmy ran forward, tackling the undead girl. But I saw more small hands reaching out from under the beds, hands filled with sores and squirming larvae. I could see the bones of their hands through necrotic patches eaten into their flesh.

I ran for Timmy, grabbing him and hauling him up. Time to go, now! I screamed, pulling him forward as more undead boys and girls rose up, all with sharp knives and surgical instruments grasped in their little hands. I felt a sudden pain in my leg. Looking down, I saw a knife sticking out of my thigh. The empty eye sockets of a little boy's face stared up at me, grinning like a skull. I collapsed on the ground as we were surrounded. I prayed to God then, knowing we would die. I prayed that he would forgive me for all my mistakes, because I was on a fast track to the afterlife and would be seeing him in a few seconds.

With a sharp cry of pain, I yanked the knife out of my leg, turning it on my attacker. Then a gunshot rang out. The head of the nearest girl exploded in a shower of bone fragments and dead maggots. I looked up, seeing Shay standing at the door, his pistol raised. Come on! he screamed. Come on, you idiots! Let's go! Now! Timmy and I didn't need any more encouragement. As Shay continued to blow apart the nearest of the undead abominations, we limped and scrambled towards him. My leg gave a shriek of pain with every step. We got out of the medical ward, battered and bruised, but still alive.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING 👄 PART III IS COMING SOON