128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Thirteen: The Quarantine | Part 2

"Daniel, Megan! We have to get out of here!" Matthew screamed as he pulled his friends up from their seats, which caused Daniel to drop his cup on the floor, which consequently shattered. Meanwhile, Megan spilt her tea on a socket, causing a huge spark which turned into a small fire.

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you all doing?" the café manager stomped over to them. He then gasped, seeing the mess that the trio made. Meanwhile, the group of detectives left the café quickly, being dragged by Matthew. "Where are you going? Come back! You have to pay for all this, you know?" the manager bellowed but to no avail.

Matthew pulled the two detectives over to a corner. It was the best place that they could have a quiet conversation—and be out of sight from the terrifying beast.

"Matthew? What are you doing? You made us damage the café crockery and power socket!" Daniel whispered angrily.

"Calm down," Megan intervened. "I'm sure he had a reason for his abrupt action," she said before turning to look at Matthew. "Now, why did you drag us out so suddenly?"

Matthew didn't respond for a moment. He was too busy directing his focus on the corridor that led to the east wing of the hospital. His hands shook violently, and he began sweating profusely. Megan began to notice the veins popping out of Matthew's head. And so, she gave him a smack on his back to kick him out of his nervous spell.

"Matthew!" she whispered with a sense of urgency to make sure that he was wary.

"Okay," he responded as he came back to his senses. "I don't know if I saw something wrongly, but I saw a dark figure with red eyes earlier. At the end of the corridor, probably at the intersection of corridors—"

"You saw what?" Daniel interrupted suddenly, screaming out loud, which revealed the detectives' location to the café manager.

"Hey! There you are!" the manager said as he left the café and approached the trio. "You almost caused one of the customers to get electrocuted!"

Matthew held his two friends behind him, signalling he would settle it all with the manager quickly.

"If you don't pay for the damages, I'm filing a lawsuit!" the manager threatened furiously.

Matthew exhaled tiredly. "Look, I'll take full responsibility for this, okay?" he tried to calm the café manager down. "Let's resolve this calmly," he added. There was no need for that, however.

A snarling figure pranced onto the fuming manager, bringing him down and ending the conflict immediately.

"What the hell?" Megan shrieked, leaping back in fear. "So this is what you were talking about? That the creatures are somehow here?"

Matthew nodded. He had no time to speak, and so he dragged his friends away from the monster and sprinted towards the east wing of the hospital. He could already hear the screams coming from terrorised hospital visitors behind, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it. None of the three was armed, so all they could was run like any ordinary person.

"How did that creature even get here? I thought the outbreak in Scranton was contained already?" Daniel asked, panting and panicking.

"Well, not quite, but it isn't likely that it could spread all the way here. Either way, we have to get out of here now," Matthew hurried them.

"Wait!" Megan stopped running abruptly, which caused the other two to follow and turn behind to face her. "What about your mother? She's still in surgery, isn't she?"

Matthew gasped quietly. "Damn it. How could I forget?" he muttered. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Megan and Daniel stared at each other, both not knowing how to respond to Matthew's question.

"Never mind, I got it," Matthew snapped. "Daniel, call the police. And Megan, get the CDC." Immediately after that, Matthew began running again, away from the two detectives, who looked up from their phones to try to figure out where he was heading to.

"Where are you going?" Megan yelled.

Matthew turned around for a moment. "To find Jean! I'll be back with him! Meet us at the South Exit!" Matthew bellowed back before turning his head and going back to his fast running pace.

And so, Megan and Daniel continued with their tasks.

"Hello? Yes, this is Megan Stewart, an outpatient at Edison Palmer Hospital. There's some kind of outbreak here. The same kind that was contained in Scranton a while ago," Megan introduced herself and informed the dispatcher.

"Okay, Ms. Stewart. For confirmation purposes, could you describe the infected subjects?" the dispatcher questioned.

"Uh..." Megan panicked. She felt the urge to turn around and see the creatures for herself, but she knew that she had already seen them before. "They have a humanoid form but... enlarged ears and noses... swollen maroon eyes, lengthened fingernails, and they make weird snarling noises," she responded.

"Now, how many infected subjects are you able to see? Just an estimate will do," the dispatcher continued.

"I think about two, based on what I'm seeing right now," Megan replied promptly. And all of a sudden, yet another creature came falling through the ceiling onto the café they were at earlier on. "Sorry, it's three now," Megan corrected.

"Okay, thank you. We have identified that you may be in a BMEV-2 outbreak right now. The infected subjects are dangerous, so stay away from them. Do not attempt to rescue others if it endangers your own life. We will be sending over a team of containment workers and officers right now, so do not panic," the dispatcher reassured her.

"All right," Megan nodded.

"Keep the call on if you are able to. We will need to constantly communicate with you for updates, but you need not speak if you are not in the situation," the dispatcher added.

Meanwhile, Daniel's phone began to ring. Matthew was calling them. "Hello?" Daniel answered.

"Where are you guys? I'm near the south exit right now," Matthew informed the detectives.

"We're still in the west wing hallway," Daniel replied.

"What? Get out of there now! It's not safe!" Matthew yelled over the call, which caused Daniel to move his phone away from him.

"All right, we're coming—," Daniel agreed before getting interrupted by a loud cacophony of sounds. "Matthew, what was that?" Daniel questioned, worried.

Matthew didn't respond, however.

"Matthew! Are you there?" Daniel asked again but to no avail. "Megan, I think something has happened. Let's get to the exit quickly!" he prompted.

And so, the two rushed through the long hallway before finally arriving at the tower section of the hospital, which served as the intersection between the four wings of the building.

"Turn right!" Daniel directed, although Megan seemed to know her way, seeing she was faster than Daniel himself.

Just as they were about to arrive at the exit, the two stopped dead in their tracks. They stared out of hospital windows beyond the blurry glass. They could hear about a dozen choppers hovering above and the sirens of ambulances and CDC vehicles wailing.

Daniel noticed Matthew and Jean crouching in one corner. They seemed to be hiding—trying to be out of sight of the armed officers. The CDC's containment team members stood within the building, but it was clear that those outside were sealing the exit doors.

Meanwhile, Megan looked at the floor near the exit. Shocked, she gasped loudly and dropped her phone to the ground. At least five bodies were piled up on the ground. "Oh my G—," she began to bawl before Daniel silenced her by placing his hand over her mouth.

"Not so loud!" he whispered. "I think they're about to say something to us."

And he was right. They were about to make an announcement over the PA system. An announcement that was going to make their hearts fall out of their chests.

"To those residing within the hospital, you are now under quarantine."