Maddy's jaw slacked to her chest; her eyes looked terrified as they froze on the TV screen; she clutched her chest in horror.
"Breathe, Maddy, breathe, we can't risk you going into another phase," Dr. Nix encouraged, patting Maddy's back.
Tate held her hand, staring at her shocked face.
"Sir, the Mall will be completely locked down in four minutes," A bodyguard informed the President.
"Alright, Xavier. Call the forces, tell them to guard the white house with every weapon they've got, and if they see any unidentified creature, they are permitted to shoot on sight," the president ordered.
"Yes, Mr. President," Xavier bowed and stepped out of the room to pass the message through his earpiece.
"Oh God..." Maddy gasped as she kept staring at the screen.
The video was now showing choppers flying above the Mall, shooting rapidly at the bunch of infected people who were now out in search of fresh and uninfected people.
"You-you-mean m-mean, this is all my fault? I k-killed all those p-people?" Maddy stammered in her shakey voice, pointing at the TV screen in front of her.
"It's happened, Maddy. What we need to do, is to protect those who are not yet infected while we find the cure for those who are, understood?" The president stood at the foot of Maddy's bed, staring at her face.
"Yes, Mr. President," Maddy replied, looking away from the screen where the men in the choppers were still shooting at the now-infected human zombies.
Tate calmly squeezed Maddy's hand in his, using his thumb to rub gently inside her palm, "Don't beat yourself up, Maddy, you weren't aware of your actions," His voice was smooth, momentarily calming Maddy's chaotic thoughts.
He placed his hand on her back and gently patted it, "We'll be alright," He promised.
Guilt.
Guilt was what Maddy felt.
She had a deep sense of blame for the chaos that had befallen the earth; she prayed there would be a way for all this to go away.
"It's okay Maddy. We're in this together; you, Tate, Ray, and I," Cathy walked toward Maddy's and leaned down to give her a warm hug.
"Dr. Nix, gather whoever you'll be needing as your assistant; we're leaving this place in a few minutes," The president announced and went to speak with one of his bodyguards.
"Yes, Mr. President," Dr. Nix replied.
"Dr. Ren, get those results ready; we're yet to analyze them. Hopefully, we'll find the root of all this quickly," Dr. Nix informed.
Dr. Ren nodded and went over to a steel table to arrange the files.
"Um, who's in charge here?" Xavier suddenly entered and asked.
"I am, what's the matter?" Dr. Nix stepped forward, regarding Xavier with a serious look.
Everything that happens from now on must be regarded with seriousness; if not, you might risk being infected.
"The hospital and the school in general are also undergoing a temporary lockdown for security reasons. I'm trying to get everyone inside and mount a troop of armed and equipped soldiers inside and outside the school, but it seems there's a nurse out there who's refused to move into the building; she's not responding to instructions either. We don't want to use force, please, come with me and speak with her," Xavier calmly explained.
Dr. Nix looked confused; she turned around and searched the room, but she couldn't seem to find anyone missing; who could it be?
"It's Natalie, Dr. Nix, I saw her walk out the moment Cole entered the room," Ama informed as she recalled.
Dr. Nix sighed, "Thanks, Ama." She then turned to Xavier and smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry about that, perhaps she wanted some fresh air from all this shock. I'll get her in Immediately," Dr. Nix put her hand in her lab coat and was about to step outside.
"Oh, damn! Natalie!" Dr. Nix stepped back into the room in fright as Natalie suddenly stepped out from beside the wall and smiled at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare you? I was just out for some air as you said, I'm sorry for causing a little trouble," Natalie was a tall female nurse with long, straight red hair, she smiled at Dr. Nix as she slowly made her way into the emergency room, her hands were dipped into her pocket as if she was clutching onto something dear to her.
"Maddy, your eyes, they're glowing red!" Cathy exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention from Natalie's weird entrance at the door.
"Maddy, are you-"
"Don't let her in!" Maddy's screaming got everyone scared, and before they knew what was happening, Maddy jumped down from the bed.
"Maddy, what's-" Tate was about to hold her hand, but Maddy dodged him, ran toward the president, pushed him down, and delivered a square punch and a claw to Natalie's face, who had been quietly standing behind the president.
"Argh!" Natalie screamed as she fell to the floor.
Gasps of shock filled the room, Xavier immediately ran to the president in the blink of an eye, helping him up.
As everyone was trying to discern what just happened, they heard a loud guttural snarl.
"Jesus! Natalie!" Ama screamed.
Natalie had bounced back to her feet and had removed her hand from her pocket; they looked so rotten and smelly, with little claws shooting through her fingers.
"Everyone run!" Cathy's voice was cracked as she screamed in fear.
Natalie snarled and dived Maddy, pushing her down to the floor, but she didn't focus on her, she quickly detangled herself from Maddy and ran toward Tate.
"Tate! Watch out!" Ray shouted, drawing Cathy out of the way.
Maddy released a loud snarl and dived Xavier; before Xavier could react, he felt his gun leave his waist, and he marveled at how fast and swift Maddy could move.
Bam!!!
The gun was fired inside the emergency room, and Natalie, who was about to grab Tate's arm with her claws, fell limp to the floor; dark blood oozed out from her head and stained the sparkling hospital-tiled floor around her.
"This is escalating faster than I thought," The president moved closer to Natalie with a frown on his face.
Dr. Ren suddenly moved forward and put a syringe right in the hole in Natalie's head where she'd been shot.
"We need to get her blood for testing too, before it coagulates," He muttered as he saw everyone staring at him as if he was crazy.
"Good thinking, Ren. Maddy?" Dr. Nix suddenly looked to the door and realized that Maddy was no longer in the emergency.
Tate blinked away from Natalie and stepped back, his eyes quickly searching the room.
"Did you see her leave?" He asked Ray and Cathy.
Ray shook his head.
"We need to find her," Cathy stepped forward but Ray held her back.