"Hurry, Gordon, Maddy's starting to wake up," Ray spoke with a shaky voice behind the driver.
Tate got alarmed; he looked down at Maddy's face and frowned.
"Shit, she's not looking good either," He informed quietly.
Ray looked down and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Maddy's face.
Green veins were starting to pop out of her neck and face, her skin was getting more pale, and...
"Tate! Gordon! I think Maddy's growing paws too!" Ray said in a loud panicked voice.
Tate quickly looked at Maddy's fingers, and truly, sharp claws were starting to grow from beneath her fingernails.
He panicked, looking helplessly at Ray. "What's happened to her?" He questioned no one in particular.
"I don't know either, damn," Ray rubbed his face.
"We're almost there, kids. We'll get her treated in no time," Gordon convinced from the front seat, speeding into the city.
Tate looked out of the window and discovered that it was already dark, but the city was still alive.
He leaned closer to the window and took a deep breath, letting the fresh unsoiled air flow down his lungs. He sighed as he recalled that this was the same window Maddy had been sitting on when they were still going to the abandoned hospital.
And, he was regretting, he was regretting not listening to Maddy when she asked for them to turn back. If he had listened, none of these would have happened to them.
He felt guilty for everything that had happened; he was the group leader, and if he had wanted them to retreat from that dreadful journey, a word from him would have just prevented them from witnessing the horror they did.
He sighed. He was going to make sure that he got Maddy and Cathy treated, he was never going to let anything happen to his friends, especially Maddy.
"Open the gates! We have an emergency!" Gordon's loud voice as he spoke to someone through the phone dragged Tate out of his deep thoughts.
"We're back!" Ray exclaimed happily.
Tate looked around and found that they were speeding toward their college gate.
He sighed in relief, they were finally safe.
Their college was the best in country B, even the president's son attended the school to prove that it was duly recommended.
Their facilities were the best, especially their hospital facilities, which beat the ones in the most recognized hospitals.
As the bus drove into the campus, Gordon called the hospital and informed them about an emergency, and before their bus stopped in front of the college's hospital, a group of medical experts were already pushing out stretchers from the building and rushing towards them.
"Can you stand?" Ray asked Tate as the bus stopped in front of the building.
Tate nodded as the door opened.
Immediately, four male nurses rushed into the car and carried Maddy and Cathy out and onto the stretchers, putting a Nasal bag around their faces.
"Come on, get the wheelchair for them," A young black nurse shouted to someone.
Tate tried to stand on his own but grunted and fell back on the seat as his legs felt so painful to stand with.
Ray saw Tate struggling and immediately got up to help him, "Here, hold my hand," Ray offered his hands to Tate.
"Don't worry; we got it," Two tall hospital orderlies came into the vehicle and gently carried Tate out while the other guy helped Ray down the vehicle and placed him in a wheelchair.
As they carried the four friends into the hospital some students were gathered around the premises, curious to see what was going on.
"To the emergency!" The black nurse ordered as she rushed behind Tate's wheelchair.
"On the bed," The nurse ordered.
The two male nurses lifted Maddy out of the stretcher and gently placed her on the bed. On the bed beside Maddy's, Cathy was laid and a male doctor instantly set a line for her and proceeded to attend to her head injuries.
The entrance was suddenly pushed open and a female doctor in a white Lab coat rushed into the emergency room and went straight to Maddy's bed.
Seeing Maddy's bad condition and the beastly features that were starting to gradually show on her body, especially her fingers which were starting to turn into paws, she became alarmed as she had never seen that kind of situation in her years in the medical field.
She turned her face to the side and asked the black nurse; "What's her situation, Ama?"
"I have no idea, Dr. Nix," Ama replied with a shrug but quickly pointed toward Tate, who was still in the wheelchair and was about to get his leg treated by a male nurse.
"But, he should know. Tate, can you speak now?" Ama asked.
Tate nodded, ready to give them every information he knew about the incident.
"Good, just tell me what happened; we need to get her treated immediately; she's not looking good," Dr. Nix inquired, putting a thermometer beneath Maddy's armpit.
Tate nodded, and in the next minute, he was done explaining to the doctors and nurses, what had happened in the hospital and woods.
"No way," Ama whispered in disbelief.
"Come on, Ama, get me all the vaccines in the crash cart," Dr. Nix ordered and quickly turned to Maddy.
"This isn't like anything I've seen," She moved Maddy's bed a little and lowered the surgical light to take a closer look at Maddy's paling skin.
"Here it is," Ama placed a tray with numerous bottles of medications on top of her trolley.
All the nurses and doctors gathered around Maddy's bed, curious to find out what her situation was.
"Take a look, Ama, her veins are literally popping out of her skin. Hurry, what wolf vaccines are available?" Dr. Nix asked, putting on hand gloves and gently taking Maddy's hands in hers.
"The Rabies and Distemper vaccines," Ama replied immediately.
Nix stretched out her hand to Ama. "Quick, hand them over, she's clawing fast."
Ama was quick to syringe the liquid and hand it over to Dr. Nix.
Dr. Nix quickly injected the vaccines into Maddy's veins; it was easier for her as they were already very visible.
"Hnngg..." Maddy suddenly moaned and winced, slowly turning her head from side to side.
"She's doing it again," Ray said beside Tate.
He had been sitting in his wheelchair beside Tate's, quietly observing everything and everyone.
He wasn't really injured, and after a thorough checkup on him, he was administered some medication and asked to rest in the wheelchair.
"I think it's the vaccine this time," Tate responded with a frown, watching Maddy's furrowed brows carefully.
"Are you sure she wasn't bitten by a wolf? Just...the strange scientist you spoke about?" Dr. Nix questioned as she placed a hand on Maddy's forehead.
"No. We did get chased by a wolf but it didn't get to us. What's happening, is she going to become a Zombie?" Tate asked, moving his wheelchair closer to Maddy's bed.
"Don't, stay away for now," Dr. Nix raised her hand to stop Tate from reaching Maddy's bed.
"It's never been scientifically proven that Zombies exist, for the human body can't decay like the dead's while still breathing and possessing the vital life's force. So, the term: undead is just a fallacious generalization," Dr. Nix gently removed her hand from Maddy's forehead when she calmed down and turned to face Tate and Ray.
"But, if what you had earlier described to us was real, then I'd draw from the observations I've seen that the said scientist wasn't just a zombie; I believe he got his gene mutated with something else, which got him the way he was," Dr. Nix narrated.
Tate shared a glance with Ray, worry filling their thoughts as they wondered what Dr. Nix had meant.
Did she mean that Maddy was turning into something more dangerous than a Zombie?
"Ugh!" Maddy suddenly sat up on her bed.
"Argh!" Ama, who was injecting some sedative into her drip bag, screamed and jumped away from Maddy.
Everyone was startled, but they suddenly calmed down and were surprised to see that Maddy wasn't moving; she just sat there, staring emptily into the space before her.
Tate immediately stood and walked toward her.
"Tate, let me," Dr. Nix held him back and walked forward.
She walked over to Maddy and called her. "Maddy Milan?" She called quietly but got no response.
"Maddy?" She called again but still got no response.
"Her eyes, Dr. Nix, it's wired," Ama spoke from afar; she was getting scared of going close to Maddy, and so were the rest; they moved away from beside Maddy's bed and stood in a corner.
Dr. Nix looked at Maddy's eyes and saw how wide and uncoordinated they were.
Maddy was staring ahead, but her look had no focus.
"Give me the Ophthalmoscope," Dr. Nix urgently ordered Ama.
Ama nodded and summoned the courage to return to duty. She picked up the device from her trolly and handed it over to Dr. Nix's outstretched hand, her eyes locked on Maddy's pale and unresponsive face.
"Let's take a look,' Dr. Nix said reassuringly.
Ama watched as Dr. Nix expertly peered through the ophthalmoscope, adjusting the lens and light intensity. Maddy's pupils remained unconstricted, not responding to the light and Ama could instantly sense the tension in the air.
"What do you see, Doctor?" Ama asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Dr. Nix's expression remained focused. "She's not responding to light, it's as if her brain is dead, and her body is just operating on its own mind. But, the retina's detached. We need to prep for surgery, stat." Dr. Nix immediately returned the device to Ama and went to the corner to prepare herself.
Tate was super worried.
This time, he and Ray walked closer to Maddy's bed as the nurses and doctors walked around in a hurry to get themselves ready for Maddy's surgery.
"Maddy, can you hear me?" Tate boldly held her hands.
But he frowned when he felt how cold her body was.
"Ray, she's as cold as ice," Tate informed.
Rat stood from his wheelchair and touched Maddy's arm. "True, and it seems like she can't even hear or feel our touch."
Tate nodded; he put his face in front of Maddy and whispered, "You know how bad you hate the idea of me ever kissing you; if you don't speak to us right now, then I'll kiss you," Tate whispered to her.
"Come on," Ray held Tate's hand and drew him away from Maddy.
"This is not the time to try to be romantic with a transforming Virus-infected person," Ray told him.
Soon, Dr. Nix and two more doctors were beside Maddy's bed.
"Dr. Smith, lay her down please," Dr. Nix ordered.
"Yes, Doctor," Dr. Smith replied.
He moved forward and raised his hands to Maddy's shoulders. He was about to gently push her back down on the bed but his eyes widened in horror when Maddy's eyes suddenly turned red, and before he could call out to the notice of everyone, Maddy suddenly released a growl and kicked Dr. Smith away from her.
"Doctor! Watch out!" Ama screamed the moment she saw Maddy stand on top of her bed, scanning her eyes dangerously and speedily around the room.
"Maddy!" Ray shouted as Maddy leaped off her feet and attacked Dr. Nix.
"Argh!" Dr. Nix screamed.
Tate and Ray immediately rushed forward and tried to get Maddy off Dr. Nix.
The whole emergency unit turned chaotic, and in the next second, people were trying to run for their lives, while others tried to help with the situation.
Tate reached and was about to pull Maddy away from trying to bite Dr. Nix's neck, but before he could reach her, she suddenly leaped off again and landed on Cathy's bed.
"No! No! Not Cathy!" Ray ran like lightning and grabbed Maddy's arm, but she already had her hands around Cathy's neck.
Tate joined immediately, trying to pull Maddy away.
"Grraa!" Maddy growled and snatched her hand away from Cathy's neck.
"Oh. Fuck! Maddy, Stop!" Tate choked as Maddy now had his and Tate's necks in her hands.
She jumped down from the bed and growled in Tate's face, then she proceeded to throw them to the floor before she ran out of the emergency room.
"Shit, Security, call the security! She needs to be stopped!" Ray shouted as he tried to catch his breath on the floor.