Apokalypsis | Book 6 | Apokalypsis 6 Morris, Kate (cheapest way to read ebooks TXT) 📖

They passed a waiting room with an outer wall of windows that overlooked a courtyard where the hospital had attempted doing some sort of green space on the extension of the fourth floor lower-level rooftop. To Roman, it just seemed like something for aesthetics and not common sense since they still had to pay someone to maintain the garden.

After the waiting room was an intersection of six hallways, the two main ones including the one they were on, and two others that split off and splintered again. He knew one area led to a cancer ward and another to a surgery step-down. They needed to continue straight all the way to the end of the long hallway until it came to a dead-end. It was a very long way to go, so Roman was being as careful as possible not to knock into anything since they didn’t know if they were alone.

Veering around nurses’ carts, rolling laundry hampers, and housekeeping caddies, Roman pressed on with Jane right on his heels. She bumped into him a few times. The lighting on this floor was a lot less consistent. Instead of safety and security lights on above each door, exit signs illuminated, and the occasional nurse’s station lamp going, it was almost pitch dark.

Then he heard something up ahead. It was unmistakably something or someone bumping into a cart down the next intersection to their right. Roman felt her hand clench the bottom of his t-shirt. He had his backpack, but not his jacket or hoodie, which he’d left in the room in his haste to get to Alex. None of them had known they were going to have to flee the maternity ward so quickly. Roman wondered if anyone else left things behind, too.

He reached behind him and took her wrist, leading Jane into a waiting room where he closed the door behind them. There was actually a lock, which seemed odd, but he turned it anyway. Then he led her to the farthest point in the room where it was darkest and squatted.

Her breathing was loud and fast, so he released her wrist and held her hand instead. She needed a little reassurance.

“Over there,” he whispered. “An exit door.”

The sign above it was not glowing in red letters, but Roman could just make out the door that was framed by windows.

“Where’s it go?”

“Where we need to go. We could go out it and down the hallway over there. It’ll circle around to the doctors’ quarters.”

“’Kay,” she said, barely above an audible whisper.

“Let’s stay low. Jane, crawl ahead of me. I’ll keep watch out the windows, make sure it passes.”

She nodded, which he almost couldn’t see in the dark. Jane went ahead of him, crawling on all fours soundlessly. Roman followed and kept one eye on the windows to their right and the door ahead of them, too.

Jane sucked in a sharp breath and seamlessly slid under a long bench meant for seating. She was small enough to do so, but Roman wasn’t, so he scampered into a darker area, assuming she’d seen one. She had. He watched as it passed by the windows near the exit door they needed. He waited a full two minutes before moving again.

“It’s clear,” he called in a whisper to her. Jane easily slid on her stomach out from under the narrow space and crawled toward him. In another scenario, it might seem sexual and arouse that fire he always held in check for Jane. Not now. He was more concerned about monsters spotting her and wanting to unleash their own carnal desires of violence and murder on her.

Somewhere down the hall from whence they’d just come, one of those things screeched. Then there was a loud crash as if the two had met up and were fighting. They weren’t always in synch with one another. They’d turn on each other, fight to the death, maim, or kill each other. He’d seen it many times. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to their behavior or loyalties.

“Let’s go!” he hissed and stood with her to leave the waiting room.

Roman took her hand and placed it back on the hem of his shirt, which she understood meant to hold on. Then he jogged slowly with her, slowly but with intent and purpose. There was no time to waste. This was the perfect distraction they’d needed. Those things were still fighting, evident by the sounds of anger, terror, and violence taking place.

“Not far now,” he whispered over his shoulder right as his feet slipped nearly out from under him. There was something wet on the floor, and Roman slid into a cart that transported food trays. Several went clattering to the floor. The cart hit the wall loudly.

Then the screams came. They were followed by heavy, thundering, and fast footsteps.

“Run!” Roman said, foregoing all need to be quiet now. He grabbed her hand firmly in his.

When they came to the end of the hall, he hooked a sharp right and sprinted with her. He could see the dead-end where they needed to go. Jane kept up step for step until they both hit the wall, both bracing for the impact with their hands outstretched. He quickly pressed in the code: 6-2-1-2-3-2. Red.

“Shit!”

“Roman,” she said with urgency as he heard the footsteps growing louder behind them.

6-2-1-3

“Shit! Damnit!”

He was messing it up. Roman took a steadying breath as she repeated his name over and over in terror. Her back was to the wall, which meant she was staring down whatever was coming their way. He realized she was pulling her pistol from its holster.

6-1-2-1-1-2-3. Green.

“We’re in!”

He yanked the door so hard it slammed loudly into the wall. Then he snatched her through after him and pulled with all his weight, leaning back to get the door to shut before they reached it. One of them got an arm through, and Jane used her pistol to whack it. She