She parted her lips to answer, but a bloodcurdling scream ruined the hospital's silence before she could utter a word.
Akira stiffened, his pulse hammering. Aylin's breath hitched. "Was that...?"
Another scream tore through the silence—closer this time, raw and agonized. It was unlike anything they had ever heard.
Then came the first crash.
A heavy, wet impact resonated from outside, followed by the clatter of medical equipment scattering across the floor. Footsteps pounded down the hallway—unsteady, agitated. Some rushed. Others staggered as if they were struggling to stay upright.
Akira's instincts screamed at him to run. He pushed to his feet, heart pounding, and stepped toward the door. Through the small glass window, he glimpsed chaos.
A man lay convulsing on the floor, limbs spasming, body jerking violently—as if something inside him was trying to break free. His skin bubbled, grotesque bulges writhing beneath the surface. His mouth stretched in a silent scream, and then—
A shriek ripped from his throat as his body began to change.
Bones snapped. His jaw was unhinged, stretching wide to reveal crooked, bloodied teeth. His fingers twisted into elongated claws, veins blackening like ink seeping through his skin. His eyes—once human—were now empty pits of hunger.
Kira stumbled back from the door, his breath coming in short gasps. "What the hell—"
The creature lunged.
It tackled a nearby nurse, sinking its teeth into her throat. A bloodcurdling scream tore from her lips as crimson sprayed across the sterile white walls. More figures staggered into the hallway—patients, doctors, nurses, visitors, watchers—all convulsing, their bodies twisting into grotesque shapes.
One by one, they mutated.
Aylin's voice trembled. "Brother… what's happening?"
Akira turned to her, his hands shaking. "I—I don't know," he replied, struggling to grasp the suffering unraveling before them. But one thing was certain—they shouldn't stay here.
More screams spewed from outside, a chorus of agony and terror. The wet, sickening sounds of tearing flesh mixed with inhuman screeches, forming a gruesome song of death.
Akira grabbed Aylin's arm. "We have to go. Now!"
She tried to sit up but faltered—her body was too weak. She had been in the hospital for too long.
Damn it.
Akira ripped out her IV and gently pulled her arm over his shoulder. "Hold onto me."
He cast another glance through the window. The hallway was a battlefield. Blood painted the floors, bodies lay strewn across the tiles, torn apart like discarded dolls. The fluorescent lights flickered aimlessly, throwing creepy shadows across the walls.
A crash.
Akira whipped around. A patient—a man in a hospital gown—slammed himself against the wall, his body shaking violently. His mouth opened in a silent scream, his eyes bulging.
Then, he changed.
His spine cracked, limbs elongating into unnatural proportions. Claws sprouted from his fingertips. His teeth sharpened into jagged points, his body trembling with hunger.
Then, slowly, his head turned toward Akira and Aylin.
Akira didn't wait.
He yanked open the door and bolted, dragging Aylin with him.
Patients and staff ran in every direction, their screams blending into a cacophony of horror. Blood splattered across the walls, pooling beneath shredded corpses. Some fought back, wielding whatever they could—metal trays, IV stands, scalpels—but it was useless. The monsters tore through them effortlessly, rending flesh from bone with terrifying speed.
A doctor sprinted past Akira, his lab coat soaked in blood. "They're mutating! Don't let them scratch you! Don't—"
A grotesque hand grabbed him from behind.
Akira turned just in time to see claws sink into the man's back. He screamed as he was lifted off the ground, his body jerking before the creature's fangs ripped into his shoulder.
Move.
Akira pushed forward, nearly carrying Aylin as he ran.
Ahead, a woman collapsed. Her body convulsed violently, limbs twisting at unnatural angles. Akira barely registered her pained expression before her back arched with a sickening snap. She let out an ear-piercing shriek.
She was turning.
Akira yanked Aylin down another hallway. They needed to reach the stairwell.
Then—Ding.
The elevator doors slid open.
Inside was a nurse.
No. Not a nurse anymore. She was crouching over a mangled corpse, blood pooling around shredded flesh where a stomach had once been.
Her body twitched unnaturally, blood dripping from her mouth. Her fingers had lengthened into sharp, bony claws.
Her empty eyes locked onto Akira and Aylin.
Screeched!
Akira didn't hesitate. He bolted for the emergency stairs.
He threw open the door and nearly tripped as he stumbled inside.
A man lay sprawled on the landing, his leg twisted at a sickening angle. His face contorted in pain as he reached out. "Help me—please!"
Akira hesitated.
Behind them, the creature from the elevator shrieked.
No time.
"I'm sorry." Akira whispered, slamming the door shut.
The man's desperate cries were cut short by a sickening crunch.
Aylin trembled in his arms, her breathing unsteady. "Brother… this is a nightmare."
Akira swallowed.
Nightmares ended.
They escaped.
The emergency stairwell reeked of blood.
Akira tightened his grip on Aylin, his breathing shallow as they descended. His body trembled—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer horror they had just witnessed. The hospital—once a place of healing—had become a slaughterhouse.
Aylin clung to him, her frail body shaking. "Brother… where do we go?"
He didn't have an answer.
The stairwell was quiet, save for the distant screams resonating from the floors above. The faint, rhythmic drip of blood against metal filled the air, each drop making Akira's stomach twist. He stepped over another corpse. Some were freshly dead, their eyes frozen in terror. Others… were dead mutation?
His mind raced. Was this a virus? A parasite? Something supernatural? None of it made sense.
Then—a crash from above.
Akira's breath caught in his throat. Something heavy had fallen, shaking the stairwell railing. Then, slow, deliberate footsteps followed.
Something was coming.
His grip on Aylin tightened. He couldn't outrun it—not while carrying her. Their only option was to hide.
His eyes darted around until he spotted a doorway on the landing below.
The sign read: Operating Room - Basement Level.
It was their best chance.
Akira pulled Aylin toward it, pushing the door open just enough for them to slip inside. The air inside was thick with the sterile bite of disinfectant, associated with something fouler—something rotting. Rows of surgical tables lined the space, half-drawn curtains casting eerie shadows. Rusted scalpels and bone saws littered metal trays, their edges glinting in the dim emergency lighting.
Akira crouched behind a surgical table, pulling Aylin close. He pressed a finger to his lips. Stay silent.
Then—the stairwell door creaked open.
Akira's pulse reverberated in his ears.
Slow, measured steps entered the room.
From his hiding spot, he glimpsed a silhouette—tall, gaunt, its limbs unnaturally long. Unlike the mindless beasts upstairs, this thing moved with intent, with purpose.
Then—a metallic scrape.
Something dragged across the floor. A scalpel, gliding against metal.
Akira dared not breathe.
Aylin's fingers clutched his arm. She was trembling, struggling to suppress the weakness in her body.
The figure moved toward an operating table.
It was searching.
Not randomly. It knew they were here. It was playing with them.
Then, it spoke.
A guttural, rasping voice slithered through the silence.
"...Weak... flesh... new... creations..."
Akira's blood turned to ice. It was aware.
The emergency light flickered, illuminating a nightmare.
The monster wore a tattered doctor's coat, its fabric soaked in old blood. Human skin had been crudely stitched across its body, a grotesque patchwork of flesh. Its elongated fingers twitched as it examined the tools on a surgical tray.
Then—slowly—its head turned toward their hiding spot.
Akira braced himself.
The creature lunged—
BANG!
A gunshot shattered the silence.
The bullet slammed into the creature's shoulder, making it stagger back. Akira turned—survivors. Three men and a woman stood near the doorway, weapons raised.
"Move!" one of them shouted.
Akira didn't hesitate. He grabbed Aylin and bolted toward them. Another gunshot rang out. The creature let out an unearthly shriek, its body convulsing before retreating into the shadows.
The tallest of the group, a rugged-looking man with a rifle, motioned for Akira to follow. "Basement exit leads to the back alley. Hurry!"
They sprinted down a dimly lit corridor, their footsteps blending with the distant howls of the monsters above.
As they neared the exit, Akira turned to the man. "What the hell were those things?"
The man's face darkened. "We call them the grotesque. But that thing?" He exhaled sharply. "That thing's different. We think it's their leader."
Akira's stomach twisted. "Leader?"
The woman beside them, a sharp-eyed fighter with cropped hair, answered grimly. "It doesn't just kill or infect."
She met Akira's gaze.
"It creates."
A cold chill slithered down Akira's spine.
Creates?
The monsters upstairs were already horrifying—spreading their infection with every bite, every scratch. But this thing—it could make more? What more? Variants? More monstrous than those?
They burst through the final set of doors, emerging into the back alley.
The air was thick with smoke and decay.
Beyond them, the city lay in ruins—flaming wreckage, shattered buildings, and distant, wicked howls echoing into the night.
But… why?
Hadn't this nightmare just happened earlier? Then why did the ruined city outside feel old—as if the world had already been falling apart long before today?
And these people… how did they know so much about the monsters?
Were they really here to help?
Akira tightened his grip on Aylin. She noticed him trembling and clung to him even tighter.
There was no going back.
The nightmare had only just begun.