Chapter 7

After Daniel had managed to collect himself again, narrowly surviving the great fall that could have easily killed him, he decided to continue his search for Helen. The ordeal had left him shaken, his heart still pounding from the adrenaline rush. With cautious determination, he began to crawl towards the third floor, each movement deliberate, and each breath a whisper in the echoing silence of the decaying building.

As he reached the landing of the third floor, he peeked around the corner, his eyes scanning the dimly lit corridor. Broken glass and debris littered the floor, and the walls bore the scars of time and decay. "Phew, it's clear," Daniel muttered to himself, letting out a long sigh of relief. But just as he was about to take a step forward, something unexpected happened.

A strong grip clamped down on his shoulder, pulling him backward with a sudden, jolting force. Panic surged through Daniel's veins as he instinctively reached for a nearby rock, his fingers trembling as he readied himself to defend against the unseen threat. With a guttural scream, he swung the rock with all his might, aimed at the person or thing that had grabbed him.

The voice of the person holding him let out a desperate yell, "Please stop, it's me!" The voice was eerily familiar, and as the dim light illuminated the face of his assailant, Daniel's eyes widened in disbelief. It was Director David, a man he had never gotten along with, someone he had always seen as a rival.

With shock and a tangled web of emotions, Daniel let go of his grip just inches away from David's face. His mind raced as he tried to process the unexpected encounter. "Director David?" he stammered, his voice trembling.

"I'm relieved to find someone alive," said David, managing a strained smile. Without wasting another moment, he turned and urged Daniel, "Hurry, follow me quickly. Let's get to safety."

Daniel, still grappling with his astonishment, hesitated only briefly before deciding to follow closely behind David. They crawled underneath a door that was covered in debris, a once-functional entrance now reduced to a treacherous obstacle.

Inside the room, Daniel's eyes took in the sight of canned water and foodstuffs scattered around, signs of someone's desperate struggle for survival. But his curiosity was overshadowed by a pressing question burning in his mind. "Director, how did you survive?" he finally blurted out, unable to contain his inquiry any longer.

David sighed deeply, a hint of weariness in his voice. "I guess I was just lucky," he began. "But it's a relief to see you, Daniel. You know, the reason I was always so harsh towards you in the office was because I cared about you."

However, Daniel, still overwhelmed by suspicions and unanswered questions, barely registered David's words. He persisted, "Why are you safe, and where is everyone else?"

David's expression shifted, and he admitted, "I don't know how to explain why I made it out alive or why no one is with me."

Frustration and anger welled up inside Daniel, and he couldn't hold back any longer. "We both know you used others as shields to save yourself!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling with accusation.

David paused, his gaze dropping to the floor. He seemed to wrestle with his own guilt before finally speaking, "I've been surviving for three days since the plane crashed into the hospital."

"Three days? That's impossible!" Daniel blurted out, unable to comprehend how anyone could endure such a nightmare for that long.

David's brow furrowed as he tried to piece together the timeline. "Wait, were you unconscious for three days straight?" he inquired, concern in his eyes.

"Didn't the police, military, or air force try to rescue us?" Daniel asked, his worry deepening as he considered the possibility that help might not be on the way.

David opened a bag of chips, the crackling sound filling the tense room. "I heard sirens," he began, "but they didn't come to help. Instead, they tried to kill everything on sight. The military team sent to rescue us got attacked by the undead."

As David recounted the gruesome scene, his eyes met Daniel's. "Don't think I'm stupid," he said with a hint of bitterness. "You believe all those rumors about me, don't you? Let me tell you the truth. It was the company that hired you that stole your ideas. I was just their scapegoat."

The revelation left Daniel speechless, his anger and suspicions momentarily overridden by the shocking revelation. David's next words, however, sent another wave of disbelief through him.

"Do you know I was secretly protecting you behind the scenes?" David continued, his voice filled with a strange mix of regret and sincerity. "If they had fired you, I would have been next, and they would have ruined my name as the man who stole his college ideas."

"It's the truth," David concluded, his tone softening. "I'm just a man trying to provide for my family."

Hearing this, Daniel kept staring at David, finding it hard to believe because the rumors circulating around him always labeled him as a cunning and untrustworthy man.

David extended the bag of chips he had just opened, saying, "Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten for three days now. Take one; you can have my chip."

Daniel pushed the chip away, replying, "Thank you, but I'm not hungry," while thinking to himself, "I can't be too careful with David. There's a reason he's suddenly being nice to me, and I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling something is wrong."

"Ah, okay, sorry for trying to offer you something to eat," said David.

Then a thought occurred to Daniel: Why hadn't David attempted to escape or make any effort to do so?

"Why haven't you tried escaping from the hospital?" Daniel asked.

"If I tell you why I haven't escaped, you wouldn't believe me," David replied with a sigh. "Follow me if you want to find out why I haven't tried escaping."