The Downward Spiral Book 1

Chapter 6. The Sad Truth

We both ran out of my Chevy without locking the door. I was afraid that one of those things got her but I skid to a halt and my jaw dropped.

All the dead bodies we passed the first time around and back, were now all idly roaming around.

"Are you seeing this?" Ray asked in disbelief, looking just as wide-eyed as I was.

No words came to mind and my mouth ran dry. One of the female patients noticed our presence and turned around to face us.

Her eyes.

They were gone.

Just like the man from before.

Her mouth also looked like it was dislocated out of place, the bottom half of her jaw barely hanging on by the skull. Dark blood pooled out the side of her lip and spilled down her chin.

I pulled myself away from the sight instantly and covered my nose with my shirt as that horrid stench filled the room.

"Look out!", Ray cried.

More turned their attention towards Ray's voice and was beginning to shuffle our way. I took a few steps back to avoid being cornered by them but ended up trampling over Ray who was too paralyzed to move.

We both fell on the bloody tile floor and I quickly shoved him out the way to get back on my feet again. Once I was halfway up, I yanked him up by the sleeve of his jacket. They were getting closer to us, all of their hands reaching out to grab a hold of something.

We ran straight back outside.

"Did you see-"

"Yeah." I said quickly, out of breath.

He ruffled his hands through his hair nervously and his eyes were bloodshot red like he had been crying.

"I-I think I saw someone..." He gulped in some air, "I think he...his stomach was...his guts were just falling out of him. I thought what I saw couldn't be real but the smell...God there's just no way. What do we do now?"

I looked at him as if the answer was obvious. "We get the fuck out of here, away from this bullshit, what else?!"

His features suddenly harden. He wiped his face and shook his head. "No, we can't just do that. Lily's still in there and she needs help."

"Ray, did you not just see what was in there?" I shouted, pointing at the building, "There's more of those freaks walking around just like that guy we ran over earlier. We barely could handle him!"

"We have to at least try something Sasha. Isn't she your friend or something?"

I didn't say anything.

To me, Lily was just my band mate. Yeah we had some good times at our concerts and touring all over Tennessee and late night Denny sprees, but we never hung out outside of the band. Though as the lead singer, I imagine she was super popular who I'm sure has plenty of friends.

But admitting all of that to Rey would only cause a bigger fight between us.

"Look, how do we know if she's even-" I paused abruptly to choose my next words carefully. "What...what happens if we do manage to get in there and then we can't find her? What do you think will happen to us, Ray?"

He turned from me and started heading back towards the entrance. "If you won't go after her then I will." He said sharply, taking a few shaky steps back to the shattered door.

I walked back and waited inside the truck, hoping that he would come to his senses and come running out screaming his head off the minute he went back inside.