The Monster Tamer

I walked out of the room I was I slowly. I looked at the hallway that was in front of after coming out. The surroundings were decaying, the paint was falling off, the doors to other rooms were unhinged, and the wood was decaying.

I walked and saw an elevator and in front was a staircase leading down.

"Of course, there elevator is out of commission." I told myself.

I faced the staircase and saw a number six painted on the wall indicating that I was on the sixth floor.

'Fortunately, I was going down and not up.' I thought.

I started to climb down the steps carefully. It was a little dark on the stairway, the only light I get was when I was changing floors. Because of the silence and the eerie atmosphere, my mind was starting to imagine frightening things.

"Don't think of such things, Claudia." I scolded myself. "Thinking of such things won't do me any good."

I tried thinking of other thoughts to dispel the fear that I was feeling right now. But my heart was not helping me in the least. I can feel it thumping hard inside my chest. Every step I take makes me anxious.

When I land down to every floor I pass by, I see discarded medical equipment lying on the floor. I was also able to see hospital beds on the hallways still with white bed sheets that are now full of dust.

"It is as if the people in this hospital just left in a hurry." I said out loud.

My mind was racing on what could have happened in this place. If this hospital was abandoned, then the equipment and things inside should have been moved out and not be left like this.

Then I remembered one show that I loved watching when I was younger. It was a show about a zombie apocalypse. The protagonist there woke up from his comatose in a deserted hospital which were full of the living dead. All the hair on my body stood up in attention when I remembered that show.

"Stop thinking… stop thinking." I repeated like a mantra.

When I reached the ground floor, my eyes went wide in shock. The ground floor was a mess like there was a fight that ensued here long ago. And there was…

"Blood…?!" I looked at the floor stained with dark brown dried up blood. I knew for a fact it was dried blood because the stains were something I remembered in an incident in my past where I saw dried blood in the floor.fr𝚎e𝙬𝚎𝚋𝚗૦ν𝚎𝒍.c૦m

I felt frightful in an instant. This was a scene where a lot of blood was spilled. I saw the patterns that the dried blood make was indicating bodies were dragged, explaining why there was no dead bodies or skeletons.

I looked around feeling my blood going towards my head. I saw a baseball bat lying on the ground and quickly got it and held on to it tightly.

"Thankfully, the dried blood indicated the bloody scene happened a long time ago." I felt some relief knowing this. "But it won't hurt just to be careful." I said while holding the baseball bat defensively.

I walked towards the exit and saw bullet shells littered on the floor. There was a makeshift barricade of different kinds of things at the entrance door, but it looks like what they were trying to prevent from entering was able to barge in.

I carefully stepped out of the door and the sunlight hit and blinded me for a second, it looked like it was just after mid day. My eyes started to adjust with the brightness and saw the parking lot outside. The room I was in was facing the rear parking lot where I saw abandoned cars, but in the front of the hospital I saw armored vehicles and a tank.

"What the hell happened in this place?" My mind was trying to find an explanation to all of this. "Was there a war that broke out when I was sleeping? Why was I left inside the hospital and clearly there were no others left inside?"

I did not have the courage to look into other rooms, but I was sure I was the only the living person left inside that abandoned place.

I walked towards the parking lot trying to scavenge things on the abandoned cars. Nature was starting to reclaim the vehicles parked outside, all was full of rust pertaining that it has been such a long time since this place was abandoned.

"Then how come I was here?" I asked.

Many questions were swirling inside my head that I do not have answers for. I thought about getting what I needed first before having such questions plague my mind.

I tried rummaging the abandoned cars but found nothing helpful. The last thing I searched was the armored vehicle parked just by the gate. I looked inside and saw a pistol and some hand grenades lying on the seat. I opened the door and held the gun and inspected it.

"It is a good thing Paul brought me in the firing range when I was young." I told myself.

Paul was a member of a gun club in his college days, and I always go to the firing range they frequented in. I was amazed seeing him and his friends at one session that I also wanted to learn. Of course, at first Paul did not want me to partake in such a dangerous hobby, but his friends were able to convince him otherwise and they said it was a good knowledge to have in the future. Paul reluctantly agreed just because Gray was there by my side to assist me.

"It was a good thing to learn how to use a gun." I said while inspecting the magazine and checking the safety lock.

I tried aiming it and when I thought it was okay, I put the gun on my jean's waist band. I inspected a backpack that was also inside the armored vehicle and saw some bullets, a water bottle and military rations.

"I do not know how to use this one, but I think it won't be that hard to use." I said while looking at the grenades on the seat. "In the movies, they only pull the pin out and throw it where they want it to explode." I nodded in my own explanation.

There was a total of three grenades, and I put it gently inside the backpack and put on the backpack after. Now that I was able to get something out of scavenging, I decided to walk and find other people that can help me.

"If we are at war, it would be best to be on guard with people." I thought. "They won't attack a civilian, would they? But it would be best to be careful at the very least."

I looked back at the abandoned hospital that I just came from and headed out. My priority was to find other people that I am sure were not an enemy first, and after that I will try and find my family.

"Cindy, mommy will find you… I promise." I told myself.

**

The sun was starting to go down on the west. I had been walking for hours with some stops along the way. At first, I followed the road that I found after coming out of the abandoned hospital. But after some hours, I wasn't able to come across any town, not to mention a living and breathing person.

Thankfully, I was able to alleviate my hunger with the military rations and was able to refill the water bottle with water from a running spring I passed by.

"Why is that hospital located in such a remote area?" I asked myself a question I also do not have an answer to.

It was so strange for a hospital to be located at an area that was so far from civilization. This just added to my many questions that were now running thru my head.

I looked at the sun that was now setting and thought that I need to camp out outside. Thankfully, I have some outdoor experience since young. Father always took us out on camping trips when we were young. He was able to teach me and Paul some outdoor survival.

I was gathering firewood and was thinking of starting a fire when I heard some rustling behind the trees. I thought it was just the wind, but I heard the rustling getting nearer and nearer.

My heart was thumping hard, and I can feel the fear starting to spread all over my body. I then thought what kind of animals could be lurking in this part of the woods.

I took out the pistol and was looking at where the sound was coming from. Rather than running which I know won't help if the animal has four legs, I opted to kill it once it emerged from the trees. I was aiming my pistol over the direction of the noise, but I can feel my arms were shaking with fear. I then remembered the big wolf I saw that caused my accident.

'What if a wolf that size was the one behind those trees?' I thought to myself. 'Wolves always hunt in packs. I will be dead if it was.'

My heart was thumping hard with fright. I was debating to run and retreat or stand my ground and fight. But before I was able to decide, I heard a snarl just behind the trees.

*GRRRR*

My eyes went wide with shock seeing the creature that emerged from the trees.

Edited by: nalyn