Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 45: Cashmere

We finally saw the hospital. It was a long distance away, but we saw it. I felt relief, I wanted to dance in circles and flap my arms like wings, but I figured the others would never look at me the same way.

        "So close, yet so far!" Aqua moaned. I nodded.
"Hopefully the generator will be there." Crystal encouraged. I regretted not telling her about the conversation I had heard between Wilt and Cryptic two days ago about her wanting him to go back to Alaska. Wilt obviously like Cryptic, how could Crystal not see it? She was so blind. Wilt had assumed that Crystal and Cryptic liked each other, and that was why Wilt had been so mad at Crystal. I had wanted to tell her. She had been so upset since she didn't know what she had done to deserve Wilt's wrath. But, I didn't know, I hadn't felt like Wilt's feelings were my information to tell.

        Recently, very recently, Wilt's emotions had changed. She suddenly wasn't angry all the time (that doesn't necessarily mean she wasn't angry at all), and though she hadn't spoken to Crystal recently, the tension between them had seemed to go down.
        "Hey Wilt." I said.
        "Oh, hi." she said, smiling.
"Um, just wondering if you and Crystal-"
"Don't mention her name." she demanded, her smile fading.
        "What? But I thought you two were best friends!" I said. She shrugged. "Eh. I don't know. She hasn't spoken to me recently and I'm still not convinced that..." she stopped herself. She didn't know I knew. 
        "Well, you haven't spoken to her, either. I mean, I'm pretty sure that she's upset that you don't believe her about the whole zombie thing. Whatever that whole thing is about." I explained. She shrugged and walked away.

        The hospital was much closer now, we would be there in about five minutes. I was so nervous. What if it ended up not being there? It all would have been a waste. I remembered back to how Wilt had said that the generator wouldn't just give out it's address. What if she was right? She wasn't. It was the perfect place.
        We finally approached the entrance. I looked down and realized my whole body was shaking. I was so nervous. What would happen when we walked inside? It's just a hospital, it's not like it's going to eat us whole.

        I stood next to Aqua and held her hand. She laughed and I let go. "Sorry, it's okay. We'll be fine." she said, trying to stop laughing. I rolled my eyes.
        "Here we go." Cryptic said. I hate to say this, but I was getting sick of him. He had just been extra weight this entire trip (literally, since he was passed out 50% of the time and had to carry him around), he just wasn't providing help since he didn't have powers or anything, and he also was the cause of all the drama with Wilt. I actually agreed with Wilt that he should leave. Of course, she had said that wen I was eavesdropping on them, but I still agreed. Yeah, he had given us a good lead with this whole hospital thing, but I mean how much help would he really be?

        We all stood next to each other and walked inside. I stared at all the hallways, leading in different directions, each with hundreds of patients. Once again, a perfect place for a virus.
        "Hello, how may I help you?" asked a woman behind a desk. As if on cue, Cryptic passed out.
        "Oh miss, you much help us! Our brother has fallen unconscious!" Wilt cried. The lady gasped, spoke into a walkie talkie, and came around the desk to help. 
        "How long has he been like this?" she asked.
        "A couple of hours. We got him here as fast as we could!" Wilt said, tears streaking her cheeks. The lady looked away for a moment and Wilt glared at us as if to say, DO SOMETHING! I cleared my throat.
        "Oh poor...Wilber." I cried. Aqua stifled a laugh. What? It was the first name that came to mind!
        "Yeah, one minute he was pretending to be blind, walking around with sunglasses and a stick, and the next he was out cold. Unconscious..." Crystal burst into tears. What an actress. The lady looked at us sympathetically as two doctors rushed down the hall with a gurney. They lifted Cryptic and lied him down carefully, then rushed back down the hall.
        "Was that supposed to happen?" Aqua asked. The four of us looked at each other, then ran down the hall after the doctors. We finally caught up as they were entering a room. We all gathered in the corner of the room, panting.
        "What now?" I asked.
        "I have a plan." Wilt announced. "Since our...brother...is in the hospital, that gives us an excuse to be here. So...we can check it out, snoop around, that kind thing. Look for any sign of the virus." We all nodded and walked over to the doctors. One of them held a clipboard and asked, "Name?"
        "Huh? Oh, a...Wil....Wilber?" Crystal said, trying not to laugh. The doctor raised an eyebrow at her.
        "Is something funny?" he asked.
        "No! No." she said, then proceeded to burst out laughing. I elbowed her and she turned around and covered her mouth ."Last name?" he asked.
        "Shade." Wilt lied. I noticed Crytal's eyes widen, but I wasn't sure why.
        "So, he just randomly passed out?" We nodded.
"Any other strange things?" I wanted to say something, like, "Yeah, he's a boy." but I held my tongue.
Aqua shook her head, and he said, "Very well. That is all we will be needing from you ladies at this time." We all walked out of the room with a lot of "Yes sir" s and "Thank you sir" s.

        As soon as we were in the hall, we huddled.
        "Aqua, you take this floor. Ask around, sneak behind desks, ect. Find whatever info you can. Wilt and I will cover the upper floors, and Cashmere you take the basement." Crystal explained. Oh joy.

        I walked down the hall, acting natural, until I found an elevator. Then I switched to ninja mode and I slid into the elevator and used my foot to hit the basement button. The doors closed and I felt myself lowering. I closed my eyes. Think happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts. Think happy- on my gosh. Literally, the basement could've been used as the set for a horror movie. I bit my lip and looked around. The lights flickered and there was no one in sight. Why was I even down here? I suppose they might have been files or something...

        "Looking for something?" asked a voice. I whirled around and saw a lady in a nurse's outfit.
        "Uh, whoops. Must have hit the wrong button in the elevator." I lied.
"Indeed. Visitors are not allowed down here." she said sternly.
        "Oh, my apologies, ma'am. You see, I was told to fetch a doctor to bring my brother his medication. I don't suppose you're that doctor?" I asked, trying to get information out of her.
        "I'm afraid not." she replied.
        "Oh, I better go find where they make the medicine then, I'm sure the doctor would be there." I said, knowing she would spill something for sure.
        "Heavens no! We don't make the medicine here. It's delivered from a company twenty one miles west of here." she said. Bingo. Wait, what? So the generator wasn't here? Oh, duh! Hospitals don't make the medicine here, it's made somewhere else. How could we be so stupid?
        "Oh, well in that case, I should continue looking." I said, walking back towards the elevator. I turned around to apologize for the trouble I had caused, and saw an evil smile spread across her face.
        "Oops." she said. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Just then, I noticed the tip of a red mark showing on her neck. Oh no. She lunged and I ran for the elevator. I pressed the button a hundred times.
        "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up-" my sentence was cut off by the nurse wrapping her hands around my neck. I tried to breathe, but the virus crazed woman's grip was too tight. She laughed, and whispered in my ear, "Rules from the Boss. If anyone learns about the location, they must die."
        No. I refused to die. I tilted my head down and bit her arm. I tasted metallic blood as she cried out and let go. I bolted into the elevator gasping for breath. I slammed the 1 button as the nurse approached, holding her wound. The red marks were spreading over her cheek now.

        The doors of the elevator shut just as she thrust out her hands to strangle me.