1: Trouble at Hildwood Hospital
1: Trouble at Hildwood Hospital
By Ravenguardian17
Corporal James McLean rushed into the hospital, tightly gripping his gun beside him. James grimaced. This was the call every police officer didn’t want to get, a madman had stormed this hospital shooting people seemingly at random. He looked at the receptionist’s desk. It was riddled with bullet holes. Obviously the insane gunman came through here. James took a quick peek over the desk. Behind it the receptionist’s body lay still, blood splattered the wall behind her like some kind of grotesque painting. “Any confirmation on where the suspect is?” James asked into his walkie-talkie.
“Negative.” The radio crackled back, “But we think he’s somewhere in the centre of the hospital.”
James nodded to three other policemen waiting behind him and the unit moved tacitly to the door leading to the waiting room. James turned on his radio again, “Any idea what kind of gun he’s got?”
“Affirmative, the suspect is wielding an AK-47.”
Shit, James thought to himself. He had been in a shootout once before, but that time the criminal held a pistol and wasn’t willing to kill anybody. James shook his head; this wasn’t the time for idle thinking, innocent lives were at stake. James pushed open the door and quickly ducked behind a set of chairs. Peeking his head over them, he spotted several dead bodies, abandoned items, and people cowering in fear, but no gunman. The team moved out and searched the room and found nothing else.
“Waiting room is clear, but there are some wounded staff members.“He informed the man on the other side of his walkie-talkie, “Should we call in a medical team?”
“Negative, the hospital isn’t safe enough.” The operator said sadly, “They could get killed too.”
James frowned. He knew that the operator was right; endangering other lives was the last thing they wanted right now, but it felt cruel to leave these people here. “Officer Peterson, take the civilians out of danger.” The man in question nodded in confirmation and started herding the patients and workers out of the building. The rest of the team continued through the hospital at a careful pace, getting ever closer towards the eerie sounds of gunshots and screams. As they moved James wondered, why is the gunman only targeting staff members? It was strange. All of the bodies they had encountered were either doctors or nurses, but the patients were left unharmed. Before James could dwell on his point any longer his walkie-talkie buzzed,
“Attention all units! Suspect is holed up in the left wing and has taken a hostage!”
The situation seemed to be getting worse every second. It was bad enough that the gunman was armed with an assault rifle, but a hostage situation on top of that? James wasn’t sure he would be able to handle this, but there was no time to back out now. James and his small squad moved towards the left wing, encountering other units along the way.
“By god, they’ve got every officer in the city here.” James mumbled to himself. After rushing through the halls they reached the spot where the gunman was making his last stand. Their arrival on the scene was hailed by a spray of gunfire directed at a group of officers huddled behind overturned desks and other kinds of makeshift cover. The room wasn’t a very effective one for a last stand, it was large and open with many possible spots to flank from, but the gunman didn’t care. He stood defiantly at the back of the room, holding an arm around the neck of a petrified doctor. He waved his AK-47 in the air in a show of power and aimed it at the hostage’s head.
“Let me leave in peace or this man’s brains will be on the floor!” He shouted, his voice showing no trace of fear. Corporal McLean and his team moved to the left flank, muffling their footsteps with the gunman’s monologue. They then turned over a table and hid themselves behind it. The gunman turned his head at the crashing of the table and scowled, “Try and shoot me and you’ll kill the him!” he yelled, shoving the barrel of his gun into the doctor’s head.
“Damnit he’s right. I can’t get a clear shot.” Officer Reynolds said through gritted teeth.
“Can’t you hit his legs?” James suggested.
Reynolds shook his head, “No, he’s moving too much. I’d probably hit the doctor. James cursed under his breath, Reynolds was one of the best shots in Indiana. If he couldn’t hit the madman, no one could. The gunman slowly stepped back, dragging his hostage with him.
“I’ll give you thirty seconds to let me go or this man gets it!”
Every police personnel in the building aimed their guns at the madman, waiting as he began his deadly countdown.
“Twenty nine!”
“Shit! What do we do now McLean?” Reynolds asked, his hands shaking from the tension in the air.
“Twenty eight!”
“How the hell am I supposed to know?! I’ve never been in a situation like this before!” James retorted, more than a bit stressed.
“Twenty seven!”
“Maybe we can move up to get a clearer shot?” Reynolds suggested.
“Twenty six!”
James grimly shook his head, “He would shoot us before we could.”
“Twenty five!”
“Giving the opportunity for the others to kill him.” Reynolds added.
“Twenty four!”
“Doesn’t matter, we can’t risk any lives.” James explained.
“Twenty three!”
“I know but-”
“Twenty two!”
James shook his head before Reynolds could finish, “No. Try something else.”
“Twenty one!”
“We could run up there and tackle him.”
“Twenty!”
James quickly reviewed his partners suggestion, a tackle would run the same risk of getting shot but if one was able to pick up enough speed they could take the gunman by surprise.
“Nineteen!”
“Alright, it’s better than nothing.”
“Eighteen!”
“So we’ll do it?”
“Seventeen!”
James shrugged, “It’s out best option.”
“Sixteen!”
“Who’ll do it then?” Reynolds pointed out.
“Fifteen!”
“I’ll do it, I’ve always been better at tackling than you.” James said.
“Fourteen!”
James fumbled with his walkie-talkie,
“Thirteen!”
When he got a stable grip he brought it up to his mouth.
“Twelve!”
“Alright, I’m going to tackle him from the side, taking him by surprise.” He informed the other officers.
“Eleven!”
“Good luck McLean. Your bravery is admirable” The voice on the radio said.
“Ten!”
James smiled. Then he crawled, still behind cover, closer to the gunman.
“Nine!”
James said a quick prayer in his brain and lined himself up for the sprint.
“Eight!”
On that cue James ran forward as fast a speeding bullet. The gunman was about to begin a cry of “Seven” when James smashed into him and knocked him to the ground. Seizing the opportunity the doctor broke free from the gunman’s grasp and ran for cover. Officers swarmed the point where James and the madman were locked in a tight melee. But just as James thought he had the upper hand he felt a sharp point of metal poke his ribs. The madman grinned, “If I go I’m taking you with me.” James froze stone cold as the madman pulled the trigger on his assault rifle.
James screamed as multiple 39mm bullets pierced his body, flinging him backwards onto the ground. The sharp pain shot through his body like fire as blood soaked James's once blue uniform. His vision was interrupted by a back spots dancing around his eyes. Through his blurred vision James saw the madman get up off the ground, only to be shot by nearly every officer aiming at him. As James watched the gunman’s body fall to the ground, he pondered the look of bliss on his opponent's face. His thoughts were interrupted by a coughing fit as his lungs forced blood out of their way. After that ,James senses started to fade, the gunshots wounds feeling like bee stings, the shouts of officers calling for help sounding distant as time slowed down.
James watched as Reynolds ran over to him before kneeling down and looking into his eyes, distraught evident on his face.“James get up!” He pleaded, tears forming in his eyes.
James slowly turned his bloodied head to face his long time friend, “Ray, *cough* it was a *cough* honour to serve with you.” He said with a scratchy voice. James looked away from his friend as the pain became ever duller.
Reynolds eyes widened, “Don’t talk like that! You’re gonna make it! James! Jaaa-”
Out of nowhere James felt himself get ejected out of his body. He looked down or rather, looked as well as one could without a body, and saw a gaggle of officers surrounding his body. Even though he could see their mouths moving he couldn’t hear a sound. A-am I dead? Suddenly James began to rise, passing through the walls of the hospital like a ghost. He continued looking down at the hospital where he breathed his last, watching the multiple police cruisers and ambulances buzz around like bees. As he climbed higher, he started picking up speed. Soon enough he was rising through the clouds and the city looked like a tiny dot. As he broke through earth's atmosphere, James was filled with a sense of amazement. He had always loved looking down from tall building and seeing the ant sized people below, but never had he even imagined going this high.
Just as his awe reached its peak, James was struck with a sudden realization, what about my family? Just then all his emotions came crashing down into sadness. It pained him to think about how his family would react to his death; his mom had always been nervous about him being a police officer and James felt terrible for making her worst nightmares come true. He looked around. By this time he had gotten higher. In fact he was now extremely close to his favorite object in space: the moon.
James always had a weird obsession with the moon. As a child he would stay up long past his bedtime watching it sail through the night sky. Now that he was this close to it, James realized what a fantastic structure it really was. To his dismay, he found himself rapidly moving away from the satellite. Eventually he could see the entire solar system, but that passed quickly too and in no time at all he could see almost the entire universe from his vantage point. Just when it looked like there was nothing left to see James felt his soul get sucked away as his vision turned to black.
James’s eyes fluttered open as he slowly picked himself up. He looked down to see what he was laying on and to his surprise he found that below him was the vast emptiness of space. He turned his head around a few more times, still seeing blackness, until his eyes rested on a most fascinating creature.
She, James assumed it was a she, had a horse-like appearance. Her body held four hooves, an equine muzzle, a white coat, a mane and a tail. And that was making it sound normal. Her mane, unlike any horse’s mane that James had ever seen, looked like it was colored from a pastel box, with greens and pinks and all sorts of varying colours. To add to the mystical aura of this being, it had a unicorn’s horn poking out if its head and a pair of wings rested on either side of its body. The thing turned towards him and said, “Oh good you’re awake. It’s nice to see someone else around here. I was getting lonely.” Its voice, definitely female, had a bit of a motherly tone to it that seemed to pull James out of his shock.
“W-who are you? As a matter of fact what are you?” James asked.
The horse thing extended a hoof, “My name is Samantha Joy. As for what I am, well, even I’m not sure. I just got here after all.”
Just got here? The policeman pondered, And how the hell does she not know what she is? Deciding enough was enough, he gave the horse his thoughts.
She just laughed, “I don’t know, I just woke up like this. As a matter of fact, you might want to take a look at yourself.”
James looked down at his body. Look at myself? What the hell d- oh. My. God. Why the hell am I a horse?! James stared at his new body. It looked almost exactly the same as Samantha’s except his coat was a dark navy blue. James reached up with his new hoof and ran it through his mane. It was just as strange as Samantha’s, but unlike hers, it was dark blue with bright speckles, giving it an appearance like the night sky.
“Wait.” James looked at Samantha, “Were you human too?”
Samantha smiled, “Indeed. Nurse Joy of Hildwood Hospital at your service.”
Hildwood Hospital? Isn't that where… oh God.
James looked at her, almost at a loss of words. Finally he asked, “Were you… killed there by any chance?”
Samantha gave him a surprised look, “Yes. How did you know?”
James gave a mock salute with his new hoof, “Corporal James McLean of the Indiana State Police Department at your service. I was killed fighting off the maniac who attacked the hospital.”
Samantha’s eyes widened, “D-did you stop him?”
James nodded, “I saw him shot down before my own eyes.”
“How did he… kill you?” Samantha asked, trying not to be overbearing.
James winced, “I tackled him trying to save a hostage, but got shot in the process.”
“Ouch.”
“It wasn’t so bad. Dying isn’t as painful as it sounds.” James said.
Samantha gave her counterpart a puzzled look, “What do you mean, ‘not painful’? I sure felt a lot of pain.”
James shrugged, “Tell me how you died. Maybe something different happened.”
“I guess.” Samantha sighed, “Well, might as well give you the full story…”
The day was a slow one, almost boring in fact. Almost no new patients had come to the hospital, so the staff members who weren't already tending to a patient were just waiting in the cafeteria. Samantha opened the door to the eatery and looked around at its patrons. Doctor Vhalisk, a hardcore socialist, and Nurse Teller, a republican from the south, were arguing politics once again. Everyone in the hospital knew that once you joined an argument with those two, there was no escape. Samantha continued her search for someone to talk to. The male nurses were all huddled in a bunch, probably talking about some kind of new video game. Some Doctors were debating whether some kind of new medical procedure was good or not. The only place that Samantha figured she could fit in was with the female nurses.
She sat down at the table beside her old friends.
“Hey Sam.” Doris half-heartedly greeted.
Samantha rolled her eyes, “I told you not to call me that, it makes me sound like a boy.” Suddenly she felt a hand tug her to the right. It was Valarie, of course. She probably wanted to show Samantha her new love interest.
“See that man over there, Samantha?” Valerie asked, pointing towards a doctor.
“Uhh, yeah?” Samantha replied, naturally nervous around Valarie.
“Look at what a hunk he is, Samantha.” Valerie purred.
Samantha had to admit, he was in very good figure. He had a mop of short black hair on his head and tanned skin that made Samantha assume he must be hispanic.
“And you’re telling me this, why?” Samantha questioned, trying to break free from the other nurse’s grasp.
“Well…” Valerie started, at a loss of words. Suddenly screams erupted from down the hall and the sound of gunfire was heard.
“What the hell!?” Someone shouted as everyone in the room ran for cover.
The cafeteria doors burst open and a flood of people entered, “Run for your lives! A madman’s on the loose!” One of them shouted.
Samantha ducked under a table and turned to a doctor hiding beside her, “You got a phone?”
The doctor just nodded in response, unsure as to what she was thinking.
“Well then call 911!” Samantha shouted.
The doctor blushed, “Oh. Right.” He said, fishing the phone out of his pocket.
“God. You’ve got a degree, but you can’t use some common sense.” Samantha mumbled to herself.
The doctor put the phone up to his ear. It rang three times until the operator finally picked it up. Samantha, having nothing else to do, listened in on the phone call “There’s a shooting going on at Hildwood hospital! Send help!” The doctor shouted into the phone, “No I don’t know what kind of weapon he’s using.” Pause. “I don’t know, he might have got a few people, but I can only hear the shooting from here!” Pause. “Alright, I’ll try and-” Suddenly the door swung open and a hail of bullets streaked through the room, killing all in their path. One of the bullets ricocheted off the underside of the table and hit the doctor in his hand. The poor man promptly fell over screaming in pain. Samantha ran outside of cover and yelled to her co-workers, “Get out! I’ll distract him!” They ran to the back door in response as Samantha charged towards the gunman.
“Stay back!” He shouted trying to shoot her, although in his mad rage he missed every shot, wasting an entire clip.
“If you want them you’ll have to go through me.” The nurse growled.
The madman smiled, “As you wish.” He then gave a mad yell and charged Samantha with his gun held over his head. Samantha, shocked that he was using the gun bluntly, didn’t have time to react as the hunk of metal struck her in the head. She crumpled to the ground, quickly losing consciousness, but inside she smiled, for she knew her sacrifice had saved other lives. Samantha watched the gunman, assuming her to be dead, reloaded his assault rifle and continued his mad rampage before everything turned to black.
Samantha woke up, her head throbbing and her vision covered in red. The pain was immense, striking from her brain down through her spine. The nurse teared up as she realized she would die soon. She cried for her lost family, she cried for her other friends that were killed, but most of all she cried from the fact that such evil existed in the world. Slowly she felt her senses dull as Samantha Joy slipped into an eternal sleep, or so she thought.
The two humans turned horses sat there for a long time until James broke the silence.
“So… I guess this means getting shot is somehow a less painful way to die than blunt force trauma.” He concluded.
Samantha couldn’t help but giggle, “I guess you’re right.” The pair shared a quick laugh but soon found themselves in quiet again.
“What to we do now?” James asked.
Samantha shrugged, “Wait, I guess. I mean what else can we do?”
James sighed. Waiting was never one of his strong points, but unfortunately she was right. James lay down on his back and stared into the cold emptiness of space, waiting for something to happen.
Author's Note
This is the kind of stuff that comes out of my brain at 5 in the morning
