Necrocide

Chapter 13

Another horrifying scream pierced the air, followed by another flash of redness. The wave disintegrated into blood and poured down on the area, decorating Aaron's clothing with red spots.

"Blood rain," he said to himself. "Why the hell not?"

"Aaron, wait up!" Harry shouted. He, Kyle, and Jade were still quite a far distance from the entrance to the hospital. Aaron ignored them and moved on.

The lobby of the hospital was dark due to the lack of lighting combined with the sunset. Papers were scattered all over the floor and furniture was strewn about, evidence of the chaos that ensued during this building's final days. A long line of crimson traveled along the walls like a pinstripe. Deep incisions were carved into the walls, as if someone had taken an axe to them.

Despite the crime scene of a paint job decorating the walls, there wasn't a single body in sight. No Deadmen or motionless corpses.

Whole place must've been cleaned out, Aaron thought to himself. Even the dead ones.

He walked down the hall and made his way up the stairs. He was still surprised at how clean the place was, despite a few bloodstains here and there. Some of the places he explored were half-destroyed by explosives. That was the only way they could take out hordes of Deadmen in one blow.

He quickly explored each and every floor but found them completely empty. There were no corpses or Deadmen anywhere. In fact, most of the floors were left by themselves, like if people were planning on moving into the building rather than out. He mostly just found lab sheets and kids' drawings.

However, a sign of life presented itself. Aaron could hear what sounded like muffled crying in the floor above him. The cries echoed through the vents, filling the entire hallway Aaron stood in.

"Don't tell me that I'm wrong, Sarah!" the voice said, his voice filled with deep sadness. "Everything that happened to this country—everything that happened to you—is my fault."

A few seconds of silence followed the voice's mournful statement. Aaron waited for someone to respond. There was no way he'd be the one trying to comfort this guy.

"I didn't want to be their leader," the voice continued. "They chose me because I'm more powerful. And even if they do consider me their so-called leader, I can't control them. They're all monsters! We're all monsters out here!"

A loud exploding noise followed that last statement. Aaron ran to the nearest window and witnessed another red wave blast through the top floor. Like the first ones, the waves dissipated into red mist and drizzled down to the ground below.

Aaron gulped anxiously. They don't call him the Man in the Red Mist for nothing, he thought to himself. And he definitely earned the name Bloodletter.

He slowly returned to the stairs and climbed up the steps. He froze as he approached the entrance to the eight floor. The door that came between him and Bloodletter was dangling by one hinge and lazily leaned out into the corridor.

Aaron quietly poked his head out into the hallway, silent praying to whoever was listening that he wouldn't die as soon as he even looked at Bloodletter.

The level was completely different from the rest of the hospital. The hallway was shrouded in a shadow that made it seem as if night had already fallen, but the light from the sunset shone through the open spaces where the windows used to be. The walls were mostly destroyed, filled with long tears and holes as if torn apart by a machine gun. Dry blood painted the entire hall, splattered across the floor and the remaining pieces of the wall.

At the far end of the corridor was a man crouching to the ground, facing the wall.
Next to him was a silver helmet of some kind with a big red X etched across the front. Aaron recognized it as the helmet of Bloodletter. Nobody knew where it came from or what it was made of, but it was the only reason no DZI was ever able to kill him. It was bulletproof and hid his identity, not that they'd even need to know it. Or survive long enough to find out.