“The Hospital” from IMMUNITY HUNTER

Thirty

Fang Okamimuto

The day seems to drag on as we go from store to store, checking to see if any lingering Konadai are waiting for us. After another hour, we finally make it to the last store. I let out a sigh of relief, ready to get out of this place and find some real action.

“This is it,” Dante reads the sign out loud. “John’s Knickknacks.”

What a stupid name for a store. I bet it’s a bunch of junk in there.

We proceed inside, keeping our guard up. There’s no sound, hardly any light, and it smells like old garbage and death. I gag a bit at the horrible stench. It’s probably a dead raccoon or something. No, it smells way too bad to be a raccoon. Antonio points one of his gun lights at the back wall. The shelves are bare, some broken. We continue through the small store, making sure to be careful where we step.

“What’s that smell?” Dante whispers covering his nose. I guess the smell finally reaches everyone. We split up looking around the room. There’s nothing here but old boxes, broken glass, and…I stop in my tracks at the sight of what looks like a rotting corpse. The smell gets worse as I get closer.

“Oh crap, I think I found someone,” I say holding my nose. My eyes begin to burn and water.

Dante and Nevin walk in beside me, quickly taken back by the smell.

“Gross! How long have they been here?” Nevin asks. He turns green in the face and hunches over like he’s about to puke.

“From the looks of it, I’d say probably a good month,” responds Antonio from across the room. He doesn’t even bother to approach this pile of disgusting flesh. “There’s nothing here, we should clear out.”

“I agree,” says Dante. Nevin still look likes he’s going to be sick; I’m not far behind him. We quickly exit the store gagging for fresh air. The smell out here isn’t much better, but at least we can breathe.

I hope now that we’re done with this stupid task, we can get on to something more exciting. I look at Dante waiting for our next move. He’s thinking of something, the expression on his face tells it all.

“There are two buildings over there.” He points to two tall buildings across a six-lane avenue. “Let’s head over there, if we don’t find anything then we can head back to headquarters.”

“Alright, let’s do this quickly then,” I say jogging toward the road. Nevin follows behind me with Dante and Antonio in the back.

The road is filled with old rusted cars backed up as far as we can see. Some are scorched from fire, others with broken windows and twisted metal. There’s no sign of any Konadai or another squad for that matter; only us.

As we get closer to the buildings, I notice the sign on one of them: Caara Island’s General Hospital. The other building doesn’t have a sign I can see, but it looks like the office building for the hospital. The last thing I want is to be caught in some hospital. It’s suicide—I watch too many movies.

We make it to the middle of the Avenue after crossing through a parking lot and three lanes of busted cars. My ears begin to twitch. I turn around and see seven Konadai only a few feet behind us. They notice us right away, running toward us with their claws raised into the air ready to strike.

“Run!” I shout, grabbing Nevin by the collar of his shirt.

Antonio pulls out his guns and jumps on top of a truck in front of him. With one quick motion, he spins around and jumps backward off the truck, shooting three Konadai in the head as he lands. Three more take their place running full speed toward us. They jump onto the cars leaping from one to another with ease. Dante conjures up a fireball and shoots it at a Konadai right before it grabs him with its tongue. He falls to his knees but quickly rolls back to his feet continuing to run.

“Over here!”

I look across the street and see a girl with long pink hair—half of her head shaved—waving at us from the “ambulance entrance” of the hospital. I look at Nevin, he sees her too. Honestly, the hospital is a bad idea but if there are other people there then it’s better than nothing. We look back at Dante and Antonio to make sure they’re heading over to the hospital with us. The quickly approaching horde slows them down.

Two guys hurry past Nevin and me to help Dante and Antonio. They’re dressed in all black body armor and gas masks. One of them opens fire on the Konadai with what can only be described as a hand cannon, while the other shields Dante and Antonio with a force field. I stop for a moment watching the hand cannon guy blast away each Konadai one by one.

“Get your asses up here unless you want to be Konadai food!” the girl yells. She doesn’t have to tell me twice; besides, Dante and Antonio are pretty much safe with those canon guys.

Nevin and I follow the girl inside the emergency room entrance, closing the door behind us. We shove chairs and large pieces of debris against the door. Right then, a loud explosion is heard from outside that shakes the entire hospital.

“Was that another cannon?” Nevin asks, digging the dust out of his ears.

I shrug my shoulders. “How the hell am I supposed to know?”

I find a seat close to the door, expecting Antonio and Dante to burst through at any moment with the two cannon guys. Nothing. Now I’m starting to get worried.

“Where the hell are they?” I groan, fearing the worst.

“They went into the other building next door,” says the girl with the half shaved head. “Those two guys that helped them weren’t a part of my team.”

“Fine, then Nevin and I will go meet them.” I walk to the door and reach out to open it, but Nevin grabs my hand. He has fear in his eyes.

“Do you hear that?” he asks. I stop and listen for a moment. Soft growls and scratches come from the other side of the door. A horde is waiting for us.

“Looks like you guys are stuck with us,” says a male from across the room. He sits with two other guys facing backward in a chair. A sinister grin crosses his face.

That’s just great. The one thing I didn’t want to happen has happened. I’m stuck in a stupid hospital with hungry Konadai waiting for us outside. Could things get any worse?

* * *

“They’re more showing up. There’s no way we’re going out this door.” Nevin braces himself against the door. He waves for me to come over to help him hold the door closed.

“Whose idea was it to go inside this damn hospital anyway?” I ask, knowing good and well we didn’t have much of a choice. I pick up a large board and slide it in between to handles of the doors.

Nevin makes sure the door is secure before he steps away. “Did we have a choice? Besides, she didn’t have to help us.” He points to the girl that called out to us moments ago.

The girl walks over to us. “You’re right; I didn’t have to help you. I could’ve just watched you idiots get eaten alive but instead, I became the idiot and helped you.”

Nevin smiles nervously and scratches the back of his head. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to cause any harm…right, Fang?” He looks over at me as if he’s asking for me to help. I’m too busy staring at the vending machine in the corner. I look up and give a quick smile before running over to the busted machine. I wonder if it still works. I give it a few hard kicks then shove it a bit. Two canned drinks roll out of the opening. I pick them up and rush over the Nevin with a huge grin on my face. Score!

“Check it out, free drinks,” I say throwing one to Nevin.

Nevin looks at the can and frowns. Sure, these things may be seventy-five years old, but soda doesn’t really spoil—at least that’s what I’ve been told. The label is rubbed off and rusted from sitting in a busted machine for years. Nevin frowns again as he struggles to open the rusted top.

He looks over at me discouraged. “I can’t even open this thing.”

“Ha, it’s not hard for me.” I raise my hand up dig my long nails into the side of the can. Green liquid pours out and spills to the floor.

I can see Nevin watching in horror out the corner of my eye as I hold the can above my head allowing the liquid to flow into my mouth.

“Umm is it supposed to look like that?”

I wipe my mouth and smile. “I don’t know but it sure did hit the spot. I was nearly dying of thirst after all that running.”

The pink haired girl clears her throat. Nevin and I turn to see her standing in front of us with her arms crossed. “If you guys are done fooling around, we need to find another way out of this hospital.”

I stare at her outfit. Her gray tank top clings tight to her small frame. She wears her black tactical jacket around her waist, her matching pants hugging her body all the way to her dark gray combat boots. She has fire in her eyes, actual fire. She’s a Pyro Dancer, like Dante. They practice mahou embracing fire element. The flame reflection in her eyes must be a family trait.

I can’t seem to take my eyes off her body. “Umm, wha-what’s your name?”

I sound like a dumbass. Two of the three guys sitting across the waiting room burst out in laughter. Nevin joins in as well but quickly shuts up after I glare at him. The girl looks at me as if I’m a foreign object. “My name is Hikari. I am a member of Squad 23.” Her words flow out of her mouth as if she’s addressing an officer.

“Well Hikari, I’m Fang.” I extend my hand, but she ignores it.

“Okay, Fang, it seems you’ve overcome your stuttering. Now can we get moving? I really think we should clear this place so we can get out of here,” she says turning away from me.

“I agree with Hikari,” one of the guys says. “By the way, I’m Zach. But don’t get too comfortable, you’re only here because Hikari got soft. David wanted to leave you fools outside.”

Nevin and I look at one another. These guys don’t seem to be the friendliest or helpful like other squads.

“Okay, let’s split up,” Hikari says. “I’ll take David and the wolf boy; the blonde kid can go with Zach and Akairo.”

Split up? That’s a stupid idea, but the faster we get through this hospital, the faster we can get out of here.

“Whatever, Hikari. Make sure you get your pretty ass to our regrouping spot in three hours,” says Zach. “We aren’t allowed to leave without you.” He winks at Hikari who rolls her eyes.

This should be interesting.

Thirty-One

Nevin Rockiest

Ugh, this sucks! Things keep getting weirder. Here we are stuck inside a hospital with strange people. At least they did save our asses. But how did I get stuck with the red hair freak show and his weird friend? I would’ve gone with Fang if it was up to me, but I think that Hikari chick wanted some time with him. I really can’t be mad about it; Fang needs to start hitting on someone else besides Rin. Speaking of Rin, I wonder where Ashley is. I remember her saying she was working for that creepy Omi guy. I hope she’s not in this hell hole of a city. I need to get out of here and find her.

The silence with these two guys is annoying. If nothing else, I figure I can try to break the tension. I swallow hard and turn my attention toward the red haired boy.

“So what is your name?”

“Akairo,” he responds without even looking at me.

I wait a little while to see if he would add something else. The silence is pretty awkward. “So Akairo, you’re kinda quiet.”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“Nothing . . . trying to be friendly,” I say quickly. Zach chuckles, shakes his head, and mumbles “idiot” under his breath.

There’s a silver brace on Akairo’s right wrist. It looks almost like the one I wear to create my lightning sword. Maybe this guy uses mahou like me. I mean, with his dull personality, it’s the only thing he has going for him. I wonder what his Kaji is. I bet he can shoot fire. He looks like a Pyro Dancer with the red hair and all.

After a few minutes of walking down endless hallways in this dark place and checking every room on the way, we come across a room with the door broken off the hinges.

“Hey, Zach, do you mind giving me the flashlight?” I ask. He tosses it to me and I motion for him to stay back while I approach the room. Looking inside, I see an examination table with two large X-ray panels on the wall.

“Is it safe?” Zach asks laughing. Before I can answer, he takes a few steps closer and looks inside for himself.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I respond as if it even matter. I turn my attention back to these x-ray panels. “Hold this flashlight, I wanna try something.”

“What? Are you planning to electrocute yourself? We’re supposed to be finding a way out of here not playing doctor,” Zach snaps.

“C’mon, hold this for me.” I toss him the flashlight. Zach catches it with one hand and walks out of the room. I take a step back and charge my lightning. With my hands held out, I touch the bottom rim of the panels. Soon, the X-ray’s backlights come on lighting up the entire room. Hell yeah!

“I could’ve done that,” says Akairo standing at the door. He doesn’t seem the least bit impressed.

“Heh, well I thought it was pretty cool,” I say rubbing the back of my head.

I expected these x-rays to be something neat, like a brain or something. Brains are cool to look at. It’s some broken leg. Boring! Stupid x-rays.

“Can we go now?” Zach asks in an irritated tone. “The only reason you’re even with us is because of Hikari. I should just leave you here.”

“Um, yeah I guess we can go. I only wanted to check this out.” These guys are so uptight. Fang would’ve enjoyed exploring a bit. I’m starting to wonder if they’re even a real squad.

* * *

We end up in a completely different waiting room than we started. It looks like this may be a children’s wing or something. There are old toys all over the place. I walk over to one of the tables and pick up a book. The front cover is decayed but I can see a little girl holding a balloon. I open the book and all the pages fall to the floor.

“Oops,” I say trying to pick them up. I don’t know why I’m scrambling, it’s not like this floor is clean or anything.

Akairo walks up to me and steps on one of the pages before I can grab it. He picks it up and shreds it to pieces. “We don’t have time for these games.”

“What’s your problem?” I growl.

Zach laughs, turning down another hall leading to more exam rooms. Akairo glares at me and then follows his friend, leaving me there alone.

“Are you coming or what?” Zach yells from the darkness. All I can see is his flashlight.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I say trying to step around dusty old chairs and busted toys.

Zach leads us down the dark hallway. I look at all the once colorful drawings on the wall now covered in dirt, mold, and—

“Is that blood?” Something wet, cold, and sticky drips on my shoulder. Zach turns toward me and shines his light in my face. I shield my eyes from the light.

“Maybe you just drooled on yourself, let’s keep moving.”

I run up and snatch the flashlight from Zach and then shine it at the ceiling. He pulls his fist back ready to punch me but stops. He stares at the black blood dripping from one of the ceiling panels.

“Is that a…”

I turn to Zach to see why he stopped talking. A Konadai’s tongue is wrapped around his neck; he turns blue from the lack of air. Without hesitating, I drop the flashlight and conjure up my lightning sword. I get ready to slice off the tongue but Akairo grabs my arm.

“Wait,” he says, pulling me away from Zach.

“Wait…for what…asshole?” Zach asks struggling to breathe.

Another Konadai appears behind Zach. It shoots out its tongue right at Akairo. He jumps back at the last second landing in a kneeling position a few feet back.

“Cover your ears,” he yells at me, and then he extends out his hand and aims it at the two Konadai and Zach. An ear piercing screech comes out of his palm. The sound sends the two Konadai to the ground whining in pain. Their bodies vibrate violently before exploding into a big pile of guts.

Zach collapses to his knees gasping for air. “What took you so long?” he snaps in between coughing.

“I knew there was another one behind you, you’re welcome,” Akairo responds in a dry monotone voice.

I scratch my head confused. How did he see the other Konadai?

Akairo helps Zach to his feet, picking up the flashlight as well. He turns to look at me shining the light at my hand.

“Put that thing away before you hurt someone.”

I completely forgot I still had my lightning sword active. “Seriously, guys. I think I would know how to handle my own mahou. I’m not a complete idiot,” I say, quickly concealing my sword.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Zach says under his breath but loud enough for me to hear. What a jerk.

These exam rooms give me the creeps. All I can think about are the small children that were once seen here. I begin making up stories in my head of little kids coming in with the parents to be seen by their favorite doctor. Maybe the doctor dressed up like a clown to make the kids feel better about getting a shot. But what if the kid was afraid of clowns? I’m sure he would’ve known which kid was afraid of clowns. Maybe the nurses gave out candy for the children who didn’t cry. What happened when the virus was released? How many of these poor souls were ripped apart from their parents’ hands? The screaming and crying as blood went everywhere—

“Let’s go this way,” I say as we pass another hall. I really just wanted those thoughts out of my head. It got pitch dark quick. Why can’t I just think about fun stuff, like pizza? Oh, I bet we can go get some after we leave this place. I’m starving.

Akairo shines the flashlight down the hall I mentioned and then in the direction we were already heading. He looks at Zach. Zach hunches his shoulders as if to say “why not”.

“Here, this is your idea so you lead the way,” Akairo says handing me the light.

My new found position as group leader ends fast once we reach a dead end. Crap, now what? I turn back to the guys unsure what to do now.

“Good job, genius,” says Zach crossing his arms. He snatches the flashlight from my hand turning to head back the way we came. This is just great, it’s not like I knew this was a dead end. This hospital is freaking maze! I haven’t even seen a map yet.

A few minutes pass and we end up back at the hall with the exam rooms. Zach suggests we head the way we were going before I butted in. I had to agree with him. I hope this leads to a way out, my stomach is starting to talk to me.

Thirty-Two

Nevin Rockiest

Growling can be heard all around, like someone gargling water. There’s only one thing that can make a sound like that: my stomach. We’ve been stuck in this giant hospital for over an hour with no signs of getting out.

I’d kill for a sandwich. I place my hand on my stomach, trying to calm it down. These halls seem to stretch on forever. We go around a corner that opens into yet another waiting room. How many wings does this place have? This has to be the biggest hospital I’ve ever been in.

“Over here,” Zach says aiming his flashlight at a map on the wall. “If we follow the blue hall, we can make it to the stairs that lead to the sky bridge. The sky bridge leads to the next building, and possibly our way out of here.” He traces the path on the map with his fingers.

“Great! I’m starving!” I respond with excitement. My stomach growls again.

Zach shines his light around the room looking for anything that points to the blue hall. Finally, he lands his light on a faint blue sign with a small arrow pointing straight ahead.

“Looks like we’re almost home, boys,” he says with a grin on his face.

The three of us walk slowly down the blue hall following the faded light blue arrows on the wall. We end up walking into another row of exam rooms. The afternoon sun lights up the rooms and part of the hallway. At least now we can see what’s in front of us. That’s when I notice a skateboard shaped keychain hanging from Akairo’s belt. It’s a pretty cool looking keychain, even if it’s a little childish for a guy like him. Who knows, maybe he collects keychains.

“Staring at it won’t make me explain what it is.” Crap, Akairo caught me staring. I don’t think I was looking hard enough to be noticed.

“C’mon, Akairo, blondie’s been with us for nearly two hours. We’re practically friends now. Surely we can fill him in on a few things,” Zach says, turning around facing Akairo and I. He stops in front of us leaning against one of the walls.

“That’s against the rules,” Akairo responds. He walks past Zach leaving us alone. Zach shakes his head laughing. He tosses his arm around my neck.

“We’re skaters. The ladies love us,” he says. He pats me on the back hard pushing me forward. “They love us so much it takes their breath away. Have you ever felt how a girl’s skin feels when you—”

“Enough, Zach,” Akairo snaps.

Zach huffs, “I was just messing with blondie. Lighten up.” He pushes me forward and laughs. I nearly trip over some debris on the floor.

“Watch it, asshole.” I look back at Zach who's still laughing. I tighten my fist ready to knock this jerk on his ass.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” His sarcastic tone is really starting to piss me off. “You’re going to lose your head out here if you can’t take a little ball busting.”

“I said enough, Zach,” Akairo barks. It’s the most emotion I’ve heard from this guy yet. “We’re almost to the stairwell.”

Zach huffs again but stays silent. I keep silent as well.

We make it to the stairwell after another ten minutes of walking. The sunlight is pretty dim here since there are no more exam rooms or windows, but we can still see without the need for the flashlight. I step up to pull open the door but it’s stuck. I put my foot on the side of the door frame to get more leverage; still no good.

“Back up, I got this,” Zach says. “No wonder you don’t have a girl, you’re weaker than my mother.”

I do have a girlfriend. Zach presses both hands on the door and pushes on it. A light whistling sound emerges from his hands, causing the wooden door to splinter and break apart. Soon, Zach pushes his way through the door making a medium size hole big enough for us to climb through. He grins, motioning for us to follow him. I let Akairo go first; checking behind me to make sure nothing is following us. The stairs are pitch-black dark; I can’t even see my hand in front of me. Zach finally turns on his flashlight and shines the beam up the stairs.

“This is it, we just follow this up to the third floor and we should be right by the sky bridge,” he says looking up.

The three of us climb each step carefully to make sure we don’t accidentally lose our footing and fall. It’s quiet; the only sound coming from our footsteps. Zach begins to whistle some song. I think I heard it before but I can’t remember where.

“Hey blondie, are you keeping up down there?” Zach asks. He stops at the top step of Floor 2 and looks down at me, shining the flashlight in my face.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I respond, shielding my eyes from the light. “By the way, my name is Nevin.”

“Really? Who would’ve guessed,” he said sarcastically. He mumbles “idiot” again as he turns to continue walking to the third floor.

“What’s your problem with me?” I finally ask. If he doesn’t want me around so much then I can find my own way out of here.

Zach laughs. “What’s my problem? My problem is I’m stuck in this hospital with a fool that hasn’t even made it through squad training. You’re worthless, and the sooner we can get rid of you the sooner I can get back to enjoying my day.”

I clench my fist. I’m so tired of these assholes putting me down. I take a few steps up to get closer to Zach, but Akairo blocks me.

“That’s enough,” he says, looking at Zach.

Zach hunches his shoulders then turns his back to Akairo and I. “You better remember who saved you, blondie.”

Yeah, it was Hikari. We continue up the steps until we reach Floor 3. The light from the sky bridge shines under the door. Zach pulls open the door with ease; at least this one didn’t need any extra mahou power to open it. The three of us check all angles to make sure nothing will jump out to surprise us.

“This is it, boys,” Zach says, staring at the bridge. “Once we cross this, we’ll be home free.”

“Finally,” I say, letting out a sigh of relief.

Akairo, Zach, and I walk across the sky bridge to the next building. The glass is covered with dirt; some of the panels are busted out. The wind blows through the cracks making this entire situation a lot creepier. I walk closer to the glass wall to look outside. There’s so much dirt I can hardly see. That sucks, I wanted to look outside.

Details:

IMMUNITY HUNTER YA Dark Fantasy

90,000 Words

Elisa Stryker

I notice multiple agents at Trident Media Group are seeking young adult manuscripts in fantasy, horror, and dark themes.

In a city protected by a large wall, five teens hone their magic and fighting skills to take on their worst enemy. Little do they know the undead, flesh-hungry mutants aren't the only things threatening their lives. Together, they must overcome their own internal battles to save the city.

Seventeen-year-old Sasame’s city is at war. The enemy is horrific, reanimated mutants that rip people apart with their tentacle tongues and eat them alive. But unlike other people, Sasame can actually make a difference. As an Immunity Hunter, she does the dirty work for her agency, kidnapping those immune to the mutation virus so the agency can create a stronger vaccine.

Although the work tears down her mental state, Sasame trusts her boss, Omi, and his vision for the future of their city. That's before she meets Konan, a persistent teen desperately trying to figure out why people are vanishing. Sasame shouldn’t be attracted to him—connections lead to heartache—yet his passion and dedication to the city reel her in. As the missions leave her with horrible nightmares, she uses Konan as a distraction from the madness. That distraction turns into wanting more than a quick fix.

Omi isn’t pleased with this turn of events. His Immunity Hunters are well-oiled machines, and petty romance is just gunk in the gears. After forcing Sasame to watch the murder of another agent's girlfriend, Omi presents Sasame with a choice: kill Konan to prove her loyalty to the cause, or be killed herself.

IMMUNITY HUNTER, a YA Dark Fantasy novel of 90,000 words, shows the struggle of teens surviving in a walled city as seen from six points of view. This anime-themed novel is the first in a planned three-book series. It appeals to fans of ATTACK ON TITAN by Hajime Isayama and AN ENEMY series by Charlie Higson.

I grew up in central Arkansas, living off of Saturday morning cartoons, video games, and anime at night before bed. Although I have no formal writing training, I have written several short stories since childhood, all of which inspired me to write my first full-length novel.