2 Weird People
The door to the room was slightly ajar, its lock broken. A heavy padlock with a chain hung on the door, as if something terrifying was locked inside.
Why would a hospital room have such a lock? Even if the patient had a violent disorder, a sedative and restraints would usually suffice.
Since the lock wasn't original, the door had a gap about the size of a palm.
As Jack leaned in to peek, a grayish hand suddenly shot out from the gap.
Jack jerked his head back, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of his chest, the force of it almost painful.
The gap was only wide enough for a hand to reach through, so he couldn't see what the owner of the hand looked like.
The hand immediately began flailing around, its nails dirty, its fingers bony, and a faint smell of decay wafting from it.
Jack took a few steps back, completely unsure of what was happening.
It was a human hand, but it didn't seem human.
The partially open door kept rattling as the arm moved, and a heavy, labored breathing sound—like "huff... huff..."—came from inside the room, sending chills down Jack's spine.
Perhaps triggered by the noises from this room, a chain reaction began.
From the rooms on both sides of the hallway came various sounds—scraping noises like something crawling on the floor, footsteps, and more of those guttural "huff... huff..." or "gurgle... gurgle..." sounds, as if something was struggling to breathe through a blocked throat.
Jack's mind buzzed, and without thinking, he immediately turned and started walking back.
His weakened body was suddenly flooded with adrenaline, and he broke into a run, sprinting back to his room.
Whatever monsters were locked in the rooms along the hallway, whatever was happening outside, at least the room he had been in earlier felt safe!
Jack ran all the way back to his room, quickly closed the door, and locked it.
Even after locking it, he wasn't entirely reassured. He dragged two chairs over to barricade the door, then sat down to catch his breath.
But before he could fully calm down, a thought flashed through his mind, and he felt the hairs on his body stand on end: the bathroom!
This room had a bathroom!
And the bathroom door had been closed the whole time!
He hadn't checked to see if there was anything inside!
Jack's hands trembled as he grabbed the IV stand from the wall, steeling himself as he approached the bathroom.
Thankfully, as an athlete, even in his weakened state, he was still physically strong. The IV stand didn't feel heavy, and he even thought he could swing it as a weapon if needed.
He pressed his ear against the bathroom door and listened. It was as quiet as a vacuum, a stark contrast to the chaotic noises outside.
Gripping the IV stand tightly for strength, Jack used his other hand to yank open the bathroom door.
A wave of foul stench hit him, making him gag.
In the dim light from the window, he saw a partially decomposed corpse lying on the floor, covered in wriggling white maggots.
On the wall opposite the door was a mirror, reflecting Jack's pale, horrified face.
Jack slammed the bathroom door shut.
But the nauseating smell had already filled the room.
With the bathroom hazard dealt with, Jack put down the IV stand and lay back on the bed.
A patient was still a patient, and the brief exertion had drained all his energy.
The burst of energy he'd felt earlier was just an adrenaline-fueled illusion. His head was starting to feel dizzy again.
But now wasn't the time to rest. Even if his body needed to recover, his mind couldn't afford to stop!
Jack still needed to think and analyze. He had to figure out what was going on and what he should do next.
How much time had passed since he was pushed during the basketball game and lost consciousness?
The sunlight outside was bright, typical of a summer afternoon, probably around 3 or 4 PM.
It felt similar to the day of the game, so had he been unconscious for a day, or maybe a week?
It couldn't be much longer than that, or the scenery outside would have shown seasonal changes.
His personal belongings were definitely gone. He didn't know if they had been stolen or simply lost.
But his wallet and phone, which he had on him at the time, were definitely missing.
Earlier, he had seen the hospital's logo in the hallway. This was Beishan City Second People's Hospital, a top-tier comprehensive hospital.
This hospital had always been overcrowded, with both outpatient and inpatient departments packed every day. But now, it was eerily quiet.
In such a large hospital, not only were there no people, but there were also unknown creatures in the rooms.
What was going on?
And in the bathroom of his own room, there was a decomposing corpse!
Jack felt like his brain was about to short-circuit!
Now, looking back at the compressed biscuits and bottled water on the bedside table, he began to understand.
Someone must have left these for him!
But why didn't they leave a note or something to help him understand the situation?
Maybe the person who left these things didn't have time to leave any other information.
Outside in the hallway, strange noises continued to echo, sending chills down his spine.
Jack felt like he was in a post-apocalyptic abandoned hospital.
Maybe it really was the end of the world.
And this hospital might truly be abandoned!
Still uneasy, Jack dragged a white-painted metal bedside cabinet to block the door.
That way, even if the door was suddenly forced open, any intruders wouldn't be able to get in immediately, giving him some buffer time.
Until he figured out what was happening, Jack had no intention of leaving this room.
After all, what had happened in the hallway was too bizarre, and he didn't think it was safe outside.
And now, there was a corpse in his own room!
This was supposed to be a society governed by law. If there was a body, the police should have been here by now!
But at least the corpse was safer than those strange creatures making noises outside.
Now, without any means of communication to contact the outside world, it seemed like there were no other living people in the hospital besides him.
The beings making noises in the other rooms might still look human in appearance, but what they were at their core was anyone's guess.
Jack guessed that some kind of disease had broken out, and the patients had been infected.
But why was he unaffected?
Jack couldn't figure it out.
Humans can't comprehend things beyond their understanding.
The noises in the hallway didn't stop after Jack left; instead, they grew louder.
Eventually, they even triggered similar eerie sounds from the rooms on the floors above and below.
Jack could clearly hear the sound of nails scratching the floor above his room, along with that choked, guttural "huff... huff..." breathing.
Goosebumps slowly spread across his entire body.