Chp.2 Life often begins and ends in the same place

Kaitlyn May 12 2025

I didn't know what to think in all honesty. It is hard to quantify the end of the world. I'd always hoped that it'd be something quick like an asteroid big enough to wipe out all life instantly. Humans have had a long history of depicting the end of the world in various forms of media. It was said some years ago that as much as we'd like the end to be quick and painless, a slow and painful end is all we deserve as nature reclaims our bodies unto its bosom. And while the creature before me was suffering slowly and painfully, it was much more excruciatingly so than I'd have hoped. Its body shook violently as it was held down by the soldiers. The doctors finally managed to secure it with the straps, allowing the operation to begin. Doctor Richards took a bone saw to its head and removed the top of its skull. The brain inside quickly slipped out of the creature, snapping the thin thread attaching it to the spine. The body went limp and was once again at peace.

"What the fuck are you doing doc!?" one of the soldiers yelled, "d'you know how hard it was to capture that son of a bitch."

"You think I was trying to do that. We are exploring a being with unknown anatomy. There was no possible way for me to have known that would happen. At the very least we can still study its physicality." Dr. Richards said, stressed by the situation.

Earlier this morning a squadron of about two hundred soldiers arrived at the hospital, with the dead following by shortly after. They claimed that they aimed to hold down the hospital and make a safe haven for people. The east coast had already been overtaken so they came west to try and set up a forward position against the infection. According to some of the men, their old base was overrun so they've been very tense all day. They had tried to unplug some patients in the ICU to make room, saying they were a waste of space at this point. Many of the doctors tried to subject, but there was no stopping them, for they were right. The survival rate of anyone in intensive care had dropped by a minimum seventy percent. We cannot worry about resuscitating people who can't even move or think. They took no delay in setting up fortifications around the hospital. There was gunfire all day long. Killing the endless waves of whatever They were. Lord knows that it was probably only just attracting more of them.

I was up until this morning a nurse in the ER, now I was tasked with assisting on the dissection of these things. They'd canned the brain and sent me down to neurosurgery to have it examined. I couldn't turn a single hallway without almost being knocked over by one of the soldiers. All of them rushed to their posts. Part of me wanted to tell them to be careful, but I knew that their speed was critical to help out any situation that was threatening our safety. There was one soldier I noticed who was a bit different. She sat on one of the benches in the hallway. A cigarette was gently nestled between her right middle and pointer finger, a plume of smoke leaked out her mouth and rolled smoothly off her lips. She seemed empty in a way, relaxed to a degree that wouldn't make sense for someone to reach if they cared about anything.

"Ma'am, might I remind you not to smoke in here. The smoke can be very harmful to patients." I say to her,

She puts the cigarette up to her mouth again and breathes deeply. The tip glowing red then fading once more as she lowers it and lets out a breath. Her eyes meet mine through the haze of smoke, a neutral frown across her face.

"What does it matter," she asks, "we'll all most likely be dead in a few months anyway. And if it's black lung you're worried about, well I doubt that'll kill me quicker than Them."

"Well you don't want to run out of breath while fighting them do you? I'd hate to see another person die because of bad life decisions." I say looking at her dead in the eyes through the smoke.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I can handle a fag or two a day."

"Well even then I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't smoke at all."

She stood up and walked straight towards me placing her hand on the wall over my shoulder.

"What'll you do if I don't stop?" she asks.

"I'll have you accompany me to neurosurgery." I say, I can't help but let out a slight grin, "this brain is from one of Them and they're going to cut it open and see if we can learn anything."

She seemed a little taken aback by my response. Any visual fluster almost instantly disappeared and she came back to all seriousness. She paused for a moment longer before coming up with an answer.

"With all due respect, I don't see a need to do that." she scoffed.

"The facility may be well guarded but a lone woman such as myself could be in quite a lot of danger if one of Them somehow got in and attacked me." 

"I don't see that happening anytime soon ma'am."

"Well you don't seem to be terribly busy so you might as well come along."

"Fine, I'll escort you there. But only to neurosurgery."

"Only to neurosurgery."

We walked in silence through the halls, catching sights of the violence outside through the odd window here and there. The city had changed so much over the last twenty four hours. I had no idea where it started and I had no Idea where it'd end. The sounds of gunfire and clouds of dust and ruin. Corpses began to pile up and soon the streets would be a mountain range of bodies. I wonder where my brother was. He would have been in school when it all broke out. I'd forgotten to charge my phone this morning so I wasn't able to message him when the soldiers came. I just hoped he was okay. My father worked back in Hong Kong so I could only send prayers that whatever this was hadn't reached him there. Before I could think of anything else, we'd arrived at neurosurgery.

There was only one person here. He sat alone facing out the window staring into the abyss, watching it look back at him. He sat fairly still other than the occasional sip from a glass of some brown liquid. It almost seemed serene. It was like that empty calmness I'd seen in the soldier earlier. It was sad yet somehow beautiful.

"Excuse me doctor," I said just loud enough for him to hear me, "I've brought a brain from one of Them for you to dissect."

He continued staring out the window, flat out ignoring us. It was so rude of him, we're right here with a very important task for him and he ignored us. He took another sip out of his glass and continued his stare.

"Sir," I repeated, " I've brought a sam-"

"I heard you clear the first time." he said, gently slamming his cup down. 

He stood up and turned to face us. Doctor Kilbur was a stout older man. His body was a bit rotund and carried extra weight, but his hands were nothing short of a piano player's. Thin and slender, perfect for someone handling such a delicate object such as a brain. I set the brain down on a table as he donned a pair of gloves and grabbed a scalpel. Without any words to us he began cutting it open in all sorts of ways, not too dissimilar from how a chef might filet a fish. There was an accuracy and air of total precision in what he was doing. Even without much of the newer equipment, he was a master with the blade.

"How'd you folk get one of these craniums out of the bastards? Pull it straight out the ear eh?" he asked, seemingly joking.

"Doctor Richards was tasked with performing an autopsy on a living specimen," I said, "After performing a craniectomy on the subject, the brain fell out as a result of atrophy in several areas in the brainstem."

"Well that must've been quite the surprise for its head to just do that." he said with a soft chuckle.

"I heard JFK had a similar problem," the soldier said, "y'know, with his head just kinda doing that."

Dr. Kilbur looked at her with an open frown before letting out a good laugh. He steadied his hands and his laugh before continuing with his work.

"Yes indeed that must have been quite the surprise for all parties involved. Now, if you ladies wouldn't mind stepping out quickly, I'd like to minimize distractions. I'll call you back in once I'm done."

We stood just outside the room, once again in complete silence. Neither of us willing to try to break it. We were both once again captivated by the void left by the end of the world. 

"So what's your name anyway?" she asked me.

"Kaitlyn Park, but please just call me Kate. And what might your name be?" I asked in return.

"Private Mikayla Suguru at your service." 

"You know, I don't think I've seen any other women in your squadron."

"I'm the one and only femme fatale of our team. There were more but lets just say they weren't able to come on this field trip."

"Well seeing as our teams have merged, I believe the average estrogen levels will go up, might be very nice after being surrounded by such a high concentration of pure testosterone."

"You're telling me, most of the guys brag about kill counts and what not. There's some good guys as well, good friends even in the fiercest battles."

"Have you been through many fights before?"

"Oh plenty. I was deployed into the middle east a few times and even further into europe. I made it back each time in one piece and here I am, ready to see the world end in one piece."

"You're quite brave aren't you?"

"Heh, well I try to be."

"I wish that I could be that brave."

Without either of us noticing we managed to inch a bit closer to each other. The gap between us was so slim I could smell some fragrance coming from her. We locked eyes in that moment and I pushed back against the moment, refusing to see what was before my eyes. An announcement came over the loudspeakers at that moment, calling for the troops to assemble.

"I'll see you around then Kate." she said, a smile still hanging off her lips.

I don't know if it was because this world was ending but I could feel a shift in the air. Some kind of calling to let all reason fall by the wayside and unleash myself. But not yet, I still had some concept of responsibility.