Asylum

CHAPTER 7: ASYLUM

At the vehicle drop-off area in front of Blackfield Psychiatric Hospital, a lone infested security guard paced mindlessly back and forth, twirling his baton and groaning to himself. Upon hearing a noise, he turned around in time to see a police cruiser smash into him at high speed, pinning him to the ground. Louie, Jimmy and Pino quickly stepped out.

"Are we even sure Lenny's alive in there?" asked Jimmy, "Looks like this place was hit hard."

"Blackfield's built like a prison," said Pino, "The patients should be well-protected in their rooms."

"Let's hope so," said Louie.

The three entered the main lobby, where they encountered a few infested nurses and orderlies. After dispatching them, Pino jumped behind the main counter and grabbed a box of medical supplies.

"Soze we don't get any o' that shit on us," he said, pulling out a cloth surgical mask.

"What are we even doing back here?" asked Jimmy, grabbing a mask for himself, "We should be looking for Lenny!"

"You seen the size of this place?" Pino asked, "We don't have time to start randomly searchin' every fuckin' room. Just give me a minute to find ol' Lenny's patient file…"

Using a crowbar, Pino pried the cabinet containing patient files. Just then, the trio heard a noise.

"Oh shit," said Louie, "They heard us."

"Keep 'em off my back while I search!" Pino ordered.

Several infested nurses and doctors came charging into the waiting room, accompanied by crawlers. Jimmy and Louie got to work taking them out.

"Ah, Jesus," Pino yelled over the gunfire, "What's Lenny's last name again?"

"Uh," began Louie, blasting a nurse away, "Good question…Vespucci, I think? Yeah, Leonardo Vespucci!"

"That's Lenny the Louse, numbnuts!" snapped Pino.

"The fuck do I know, then?" snapped Louie, "Try Leonardo Biancini."

Pino searched for a minute, but found nothing. The infested continued to pour into the lobby.

"Ain't no Biancini here!"

"Uh," said Louie, "Lemme think for a minute..."

"In case you haven't noticed, we ain't got a minute!"

"Shaddup!"

"Shit," said Jimmy, "They're comin' from upstairs!"

Additional Crawlers came charging down the nearby staircase. Fortunately, the narrow space created a killbox that made it easy to mow them down. Still, the number of enemies entering the lobby was steadily increasing and in minutes, the trio would have nowhere to escape.

"Anything?" said Pino.

"He probably checked in under one of his aliases," Louie suggested, "Try Tom Marandola."

"Runnin' low on ammo here!" said Jimmy, while beating down a doctor.

Pino continued searching.

"How many people they got here named 'Mott'?" he asked, "Christ!"

"Keep checking," Louie said while shooting at Crawlers, "They might have a second folder for the M's!"

Pino groaned in frustration and searched through another folder.

"I don't see a Marandola," he said, "Wait a minute…There's a 'Mancini, Leonardo'!"

"Oooh," said Louie, "That's right, it's Mancini, not Biancini."

"Ma sei stupido!" snapped Pino, grabbing Lenny's file, "He's in D-Wing, fourth floor. Let's get the fuck outta here!"

The trio escaped the waiting room, just as it was completely overrun with infested. After heading for the nearest hallway and sealing the doors behind them, they proceeded to the fourth floor via a quieter stairwell. From there, D-Wing was just one long corridor away.

"Jesus Christ," said Pino, "Look at these people!"

With the majority of patients locked in their rooms, they were largely safe from the Slime, though many were in a catatonic state. Others were panicked by all of the noise and confusion outside and were screaming for help or hurting themselves.

"Ain't nothin' we can do for 'em," said Louie, "Come, Lenny should be close."

As the trio navigated the hall, they heard a noise nearby. They stopped to look around, but saw nothing.

"What the..." began Louie.

While the trio searched for the source of the noise, Pino felt something cold and thick touching his shoulder. When he turned to look, he saw slime dripping down from the duct above him.

"Aw shit," said Jimmy, "They're in the vents!"

"Get it offa me!" Pino screamed.

As Pino frantically wiped his suit jacket, Jimmy and Louie began firing at the vent above them. More slime dripped down, taking humanoid shapes as it hit the ground. Unlike the Crawlers from earlier, this variant possessed legs and was able to walk like humans, albeit clumsily.

"What are they, mutatin'?" Jimmy demanded.

"Che Cazzo lo so," Louie replied, "I ain't no biologist."

"Guys," pleaded Pino, "You gotta help me! You gotta..."

The slime on Pino's body was beginning to overtake him. Pino fell to the floor and struggled to remove it.

"Pino!" said Jimmy.

"Don't get close," Louie said, holding Jimmy back, "Let's just hurry and find Lenny so we can split!"

With more slime dripping from the duct above, Louie and Jimmy abandoned the hallway. The new "Walkers" were capable of puking slime out at a great distance, though Jimmy and Louie managed to avoid it.

Eventually, the duo entered a common area where lounge chairs and tables were set up. One infested patient sitting in a wheelchair stared mindlessly at a wall while the empty reels of the film projector behind her spun slowly. Another infested was seated at a table, finger-painting with slime, while a third patient in a bicorne hat was pacing at the far end of the room. They all paid little attention to the sudden arrival of Louie and Jimmy.

"Through here," Louie said, shutting the double doors behind them.

Louie and Jimmy pressed their bodies up against the doors, trying desperately to hold them closed while the Walkers and Infested pounded furiously on them. It was only a matter of time before they broke through.

"There's a whole lotta Slime out there," Louie said, "We can make a break, but these doors won't hold 'em."

"What do you propose we do?" Jimmy asked.

"I'll keep 'em busy," Louie said, "Just hurry up and get to Lenny."

"What are you, nuts? Ain't no way you'll survive!"

"No, but...You got a better idea?"

Jimmy looked around the room, desperate for a solution. He found his answer by looking up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," he said, "I think so. Hold these doors for a bit longer..."

While Louie continued holding back the door, Jimmy ran up to the projector. After pushing the wheelchair-bound infested out of the way, he unplugged the device and threw it to the floor, allowing the wire to go limp in the middle of the room. He then ran back to Louie and grabbed him.

"Time to get outta here!" he said.

Jimmy and Louie ran from the doors, which burst open a moment later, allowing dozens of creatures to come pouring in. At the room's exit, Jimmy turned around and fired a shot at one of the sprinklers above them, setting off the fire system. Water came pouring down, soaking the floor all around the exposed wire. As the creatures passed the wire, they were instantly electrocuted and dropped dead where they stood.

"Fuckin' genius, kid!" said Louie.

Finally, the duo reached D-435, the room where Lenny was kept. They did not see him through the window.

"Gimme a sec," said Jimmy, as he picked the lock.

"Fuckin' guy better be in there," Louie warned.

Once they got the door open, Louie and Jimmy searched around. The room was small and dingy. There were two beds, but both were empty. One of them was made, while the other was messy, as though someone had been sleeping in it recently.

"He should be here," Jimmy observed, "Wait a sec..."

Jimmy checked under the messy bed, and sure enough, found Lenny tucked in the fetal position. His skin was pale, his eyes dark and sullen and his thin brown hair was messy and unkempt.

"A d-dozen eyes..." Lenny muttered to himself, never breaking his fixed gaze, "A hundred arms..."

"Lenny?" said Jimmy.

"M-Must kill the Alpha," continued Lenny, "Only with its death, can we avert its gaze..."

"Lenny, snap out of it! We came to get you outta here!"

"N-N-No! No good! Can't leave now, can't..."

"We'll keep you safe, don't worry!"

"Y-Your friend...H-He won't let us, he won't..."

"Huh?"

Jimmy turned around in time to see Pino standing at the door. Before Louie could react, Pino delivered a backhand that sent him flying into the wall and knocking him out.

"Pino?" said Jimmy.

"You left me for dead, ya little shit!" Pino spoke in a horribly distorted voice, "I oughta fuckin' whack ya for that!"

Every time Pino spoke, slime dripped from his mouth. Though he was unarmed, Jimmy knew he was still dangerous. He reached for his gun, but Pino ran up to Jimmy and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground.

"You're fuckin' dead, Legs," he warned.

While Pino dealt with Jimmy, Lenny rolled from under the bed and bolted from the room. Pino hurled Jimmy against the wall and fled the room in pursuit of Lenny.

"Ow," Jimmy groaned, "Can't let him get Lenny..."

Despite the pain he was in, Jimmy stood up and left the room as well. He limped his way down the hall in search of both Lenny and Pino.

"Lenny?" he called out, "Come back, we can protect you!"

Lenny, meanwhile, was not far up ahead. He had reached the elevator and was frantically pressing the down button.

"Eyes," he said to himself, "Black as night...Look dead, but not really...Death only the beginning..."

"Lenny!" Pino called out, "Won't ya come say 'hi' to Zio Pino?"

When it became clear that the elevator was not coming down, Lenny ran off with the infested Pino not far behind. Soon after, Jimmy entered the same corridor.

"Lenny?" he yelled, "Damnit, Lenny!"

Jimmy stumbled upon several interconnected offices. There were desks, cabinets and various medical gear thrown around. As he explored one office, he was grabbed by a nurse.

"Ugh," he said, shooting her down, "Fuckin' Ratched!"

Unfortunately, that was his final shot. With his handgun empty, he needed to reload and fast.

"Shit," Jimmy muttered, while frantically searching his pockets for a spare mag.

Suddenly, Jimmy was tackled from behind, causing him to fall face-forward on a desk. The assailant, Pino, slammed Jimmy's cheek against the desk, pinning him down and crushing his face. He brought his face close to Jimmy as if to infect him with the slime dripping from his mouth.

"I've had enough o' youze, Legs," he said, his voice sounding even more distorted than before, "You fuckin' little..."

Jimmy grabbed a small globe off of the desk and slammed it into Pino's head, causing him to reel back, and release his grip. Jimmy then swung the globe a second time, shattering it to pieces against Pino's skull.

"Do you ever shut up?" Jimmy asked.

"Jimmyyyy," Pino laughed while vomiting up slime, "You're gonna fuckin' get it!"

"Bring it on, ya cunt!" Jimmy taunted.

Pino charge for Jimmy once more, but Jimmy grabbed a nearby coat rack and used it to block Pino's attack. Pino grabbed the coat rack and attempted to wrestle it out of Jimmy's hand, but Jimmy instead clubbed Pino in the face with it.

"You like that, bitch?" Jimmy taunted.

As Pino stumbled back, Jimmy wielded the coat rack like a spear, jabbing Pino with it to keep him at bay. Each time, Pino moved closer and closer to the window behind him. Jimmy then delivered a powerful uppercut, knocking a tremendous amount of slime from Pino's mouth and sending him flying backwards out of the window.

"Happy landing," Jimmy quipped.

Just then, Louie entered the room, brandishing a revolver.

"Wow," Jimmy said dryly, "Not a moment too soon."

"Aw, shaddup!" said Louie, "Pino nearly broke my fuckin' back in there! Now, where the hell is Lenny? We gotta vamoose, see? It's like we shook the hornets' nest or somethin', cause everyone and their fuckin' mother is floodin' into this ward!"

"I think I have an idea," said Jimmy.

The duo approached a nearby closet and opened it. They found Lenny inside, still mumbling to himself. Without hesitation, they pulled him up by the arms and dragged him out.

They initially planned to go back downstairs the way they came, but that path was overrun by infested doctors and nurses. Instead, they headed down via the emergency stairs, which led them out a side door. They quickly crossed the hospital grounds and made it back to their police cruiser, still parked atop the security guard.

"Hang on," said Louie, as he turned the key in the ignition, "Just gotta...Aw, piece of shit!"

Every time Louie turned the key, the engine revved up, but failed to start. A hoard of both Slime and Infested burst through the main door and were making their way towards them.

"You better hurry this shit up!" begged Jimmy.

"I'm tryin'!" Louie snapped, "Engine's flooded!"

After finally turning the car on, Louie immediately put the car in the reverse. The spinning front tire ground the security guard's head to bits as they backed out of the drop-off area. All of a sudden, Pino appeared and came charging at the cruiser.

"Him again?" Louie said, "I thought you took care o' him!"

"I mean," began Jimmy, "I thought I did?"

As Louie sped in reverse from the hospital, Pino leapt on top of the car and began pounding on it.

"You ain't leaving me again!" he spoke in a monstrous tone now, "Ya hear?"

In the backseat, Lenny placed his hands over his ears and began screaming.

"Lose this guy," Jimmy ordered, "Or I'm gonna lose it."

"I'm tryin'," said Louie, driving erratically to shake Pino off, "Hang on to your spleens, everybody!"

"You ain't gettin' away from meeee..." Pino warned.

Louie managed to shake Pino off of the roof though now, he was clutching to the side of the car with all of his strength. He used his already-mangled head to crack the driver-side glass.

"This fuckin' stronzo won't quit!" Louie remarked.

Louie then drove into a tunnel and brought the side of the car so close to the tunnel wall that Pino's back was dragging against it, leaving behind a trail of blood and slime.

"Watch out!" yelled Jimmy.

Louie drove past a pillar, causing Pino to smack into it at full speed, leaving behind a bloody, slimy mess.

Once the trio were out of the tunnel, Louie stopped the car, allowing them to catch their breaths.

"And that is why," began Louie, "I fuckin' hate hospitals."

"Is there a police station or something nearby?" Jimmy asked, "We really need to restock on ammo."

"I hear ya," said Louie, "Actually, I know a place..."