Alamort | Troy Otto

2.3

[2.3]

Before they could move on, Thena had to see if he was still there.

They stayed at the house for a few days, not doing anything, just being there. And then one morning, the woman decided it was time.

It took some time for them to get there. Thena's hands started to twitch with every step closer to the big building. While it wasn't as big as the one Thena visited when she broke her arm in fifth grade, King County Hospital was the one building that held enough bad memories to drown everyone in the Grimes family.

The halls were deserted at first. Thena walked behind Troy, much to her dismay. Her fingers were tightly wrapped around the handle of her axe, swinging it by her side with every wobbling step she took. Her head hurt, a killer migraine bruising every part of her brain, but her mind was not focused on that.

Her hazel eyes (such a different color from her father's—it is probably the only feature she didn't inherit from him yet craved to have) danced around the blood painted walls. The sight was indeed frightening. It was dark even though the sun shone brightly outside, the halls were trashed, and blood was spilled over almost every surface.

There were walking in complete silence... at first. But the sounds that followed weren't from either of them. Familiar wouldn't have been enough to describe the distant echo. The snarls, the groans, both Troy and Thena were already accustomed to all of those. But still, Thena tensed, her fingers squeezing the handle of her tomahawk tighter.

The sounds were accompanied with bangs. As it got louder, Thena stepped in front of Troy. He looked at her warily as she approached the two doors by the end of the corridor that opened a passage to their left.

She froze for a second in front of the doors, staring at the chains that locked it, before she slowly took a few steps back, her eyes catching the bigger picture in front of her. The doors started banging, the chains hitting each other and fingers, dead fingers, squeezing through the small opening that the force against the doors formed. There were only four words written, all in blood, rotten and dried blood.

Don't | Dead

Open | Inside

Thena's breath hitched. She quickly looked away and turned towards the other end of the corridor. Her eyes settled on a door, and it suddenly felt do far away. Her feet moved on their own, her head tilted to the side as she stared at the ajar door stained with blood.

Troy stopped to stare at the rattling exit, his face overtaken by disgust as he heard the dead on the other side. But when he felt Thena's presence falter, he turned her way and couldn't help but stare at her as she approached one of the many rooms.

There was a medical bed next to it, pushed against the opposite wall. Thena's eyes fell on the big patch of blood that coated the once white, now greyish, fabric. She frowned and dark thoughts engulfed her mind. Her left hand raised and touched the wood of the door, pushing it open so she could sneak a glance inside the room. Troy's eyes followed her every move until her body was gone from his view. He quickly walked towards the room, a small panic taking over his body when he couldn't see her anymore.

But the moment he stepped inside the room; he froze. The room was deserted, the only sign of former life was the small pot of flowers on the nightstand, but those too were now dead, the dried leaves falling on the floor.