Eighteen: Escape From Amhul's Medical Facility

Sunghoon collapses to the floor, his left arm falls besides him as the rest of his body shuts down.

"Sunghoon!? Sunghoon!?" I cry as I start to shake him violently by the shoulder, in attempts to waking him up.

"Chaeyoung, he's not going to wake up...he...." Pastora pauses to bite her lower lip.

"He what!? Pastora, tell me! What's happened to him!? He can't be dead! Those androids do punch hard but...not hard enough to kill him! Well maybe so...but it was only one punch!!" I say as I look down at Sunghoon helplessly. Suddenly feeling really guilty of how I thought and acted about him. We didn't get along but we were allies.

"I-I can't say...." She whispered.

"Why!? Pastora....I want to help him! We have to help him! He's your boyfriend! DO something! We can't just sit here and let him die!" I nearly shout at her.

"He-he won't die...he just needs medical help...." Pastora looks down at the med-kit in her trembling hand and then back at me.

"Please help him then!!" I say.

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anybody!" Pastora says as tears begin to roll down her cheeks.

"Fine! Don't tell me anything! Just help him! Please!" I cry.

"Okay, you have to turn around though! I'm sorry, Chaeyoung...but if he knows that you know...he'll be so mad at me...he might leave me...." Pastora says in nearly a whimper.

I do as she tells me and turn around so my back is facing her. The longer we sit here and chat the more futile our chances of saving Sunghoon were. Or not. I don't know. I have no idea what is going on with him. He was fine after he threw the flash bang, he took the punch from the android and was conscious at least five minutes after that. It wasn't the punch that knocked him out or he would have been passed out the moment after he was punched.

"Chaeyoung...I'm finished...you can look now." Pastora says after a few moments.

I turn around just in time to see her lowering Sunghoon's shirt. I caught a glimpse of a white device about the size of a cell phone clipped to the waistband of his jeans. This was probably part of something Sunghoon doesn't want me to know so I didn't say anything about it to Pastora.

"Is he going to be alright?" I ask, eyeing Sunghoon carefully.

"He will be...." Pastora pauses to stroke his hair gently.

I felt a singe of jealousy strike my heart at the scene, but I quickly brushed it off.

"Pastora, please. Is there anything that you can tell me? Or is there anything I could do to help? I promise you, you have my word. I wouldn't say anything to Sunghoon."

Pastora sighs and looks at me with her big brown eyes.

"Just keep an eye out for any med-kits....he's going to need them....that's all I'm going to say."

"Alright, I'll be sure to do that. Thanks for telling me."

Pastora nods before taking another deep breath. "Would you mind...carrying him? We've got to keep moving and I can't lift him...."

I nod and bend down and grab Sunghoon under his arms, he grunts softly as I slowly lift him onto my back. I link my arms under his legs and slowly get up to my feet.

"Can you grab my bag, Pastora? I don't think that I could carry both." I say, adjusting Sunghoon on my back.

"Of course I will, thank you for carrying him...I just...I don't want to loose him..." Pastora says, gathering our bags. I watch as her eyes fill with tears. "I know he's not the easiest person to be around but...but..."

"Pastora...I would never abandon him. We're all in this together. We're allies now." I say, offering her a smile.

She smiles back. "Right. Allies."

I nod and point my chin towards the main corridor were we came from.

"Lets take Sunghoon's advice and move down that corridor, unless you think we should risk going through the urgent care unit."

Pastora shakes her head. "I don't want to risk it. That monster went through there...we'll find another way out of here, if not, we can just retrace our steps.

"That's probably the best idea." I reply, as I start down the hallway.

"Chaeyoung! Let me lead the way....since you're not armed...I'll protect you..." Pastora says, stepping in front of me.

I watch as she pulls out my revolver from my bag and the tool I used to kill the android.

"Alright, thanks. You know how to use a gun, right!?" I ask, as we start down the hall.

"I've never had the chance to learn." Pastora replies. "I just aim and fire right? Can't be too hard."

"Well I can tell you one thing...when we run into another android or hostile human being...it just sort of comes natural to you." I say, adjusting Sunghoon on my back once more.

"How about the monster?" Pastora asks in a timid voice.

"Its futile. I've seen Caleb shoot it and it didn't even flinch. It bled a little...some sort of acidic blood but...it doesn't seem like melee weapons are very effective to it.

"Interesting..." Pastora mummers, keeping both her hands wrapped around the handle of the revolver.

The two of us don't say another word as we continue through the corridor, keeping our eyes and ears open for any threat, along with minding our feet.

We pass by multiple patient rooms, offices, and storage rooms. Pastora would stop to look in every storage room to gather more med-kits for Sunghoon. We must have at least thirty by now.

Sunghoon was still out by the time we've reached the transit station, and with our luck their was no sight of anymore androids, humans, or that monster.

"I hope we find Chelsea. Poor thing must be scared to death." Pastora says as she calls for a transmit car. We both jump as the mini train comes screeching to us.

"Could that thing be any louder!?" I cry, looking around us frantically. Sunghoon mutters something unclear behind me from on my back. I could feel my arms and back starting to tense up from supporting his weight.

"Or slower?" Pastora adds, pointing the gun ahead of us prepared to fire if she needs to.

Her comment makes me smile. I watch as the cart slows to a complete stop and the metal doors slowly slide open with a loud creek.

"Let's get out of here." I say, not wasting a second as I step into the car, setting Sunghoon down on the nearest chair. I could feel my arms and back cry with relief.

"I'm right behind you." Pastora replies as she follows me into the transmit car. "Now we just need to find the switch to get us out of here."

Sunghoon starts to stir as Pastora and I look around for the switch. Something off in the distance caught my attention, it sounded like something was knocked over and when I looked up it made perfect sense.

There was the monster, slowly leering into the room baring it's teeth at us. I froze with fear, feeling all the blood in my body turn to ice. Could that thing really see? Or could it only identify you through sound and smell? If what Pastora says about it having heightened senses is true, than it could sense us from here for sure.

"Pastora..." I say slowly, as I watch the creature lift its elaborated head in the air as it started to sniff. "We need to get out of here. Now."

Pastora followed my gaze and gasped.

The creature's head snapped in our direction and growled loudly as it started scampering after us. It's mouth stretched out in a grin and its long spiny tail whipped and swayed behind it as if it were some kind of dog.

Pastora and I started to smack the walls of the car in a panic, tripping and bumping into each other. The thing picked up speed now only a few feet away from us. My eyes spotted a small silver switch on one of the support rails.

"Pastora!!! I found it!" I cried, as I raced over to it. I could feel my heart flutter into my throat.

"Found what?" Sunghoon I heard Sunghoon mutter.

I grabbed onto the switch, nearly ripping it right out of its place as I pulled it towards me.

A loud BANG echoed through the cart as Pastora shot the creature who was now just at the gate. The creature screamed as a greenish-yellow substance poured out from the center of its head, where Pastora shot it.

The creature let out a high-pitched screech as it sprang after Pastora, extending out it's long thin oily arms. Pastora jumped back and shot the creature in the head once more, its acidic blood poured onto the doors of the car as they began to close.

Sunghoon's eyes snapped open.

"What the-"

To our relief the car sped backwards and out of the medical facility, leaving the monster behind. The three of us watched it and it watched us as we got further and further away. I could see the monsters grin grow even wider and it didn't take me long to realize why.

The doors of the transmit cart were starting to melt.

Pastora noticed too and grabbed Sunghoon's arm.

"Everyone away from the doors!" She cried, pulling Sunghoon out from his seat and over to me.

"Find something to grab onto!" I cry, grabbing onto one of the support beams as I feel the car starting to pick up speed, There was nothing to see outside the windows or from the enormous opening to where the doors were.

"Where is this thing taking us!?" Sunghoon shouted in a groggy voice as he wrapped his arms around Pastora's waist who held onto one of the seats with one hand and the collar of his turtle neck with the other.

"Away from that monster!" I yell over the squealing of the engine as it starts to pick up more speed.

"Why is this thing moving so fast!?" Pastora cries, looking down at Sunghoon.

"Like I know!?" He snaps, looking around the car in a daze.

I look back over at the doors to see they've been completely melted off by the monsters acidic blood. I watched in horror as droplets of the acidic blood started to fall onto the floor of the transmit car, burning holes right through them. A few streaks of the monsters blood started to run along the walls under the seats, burning pencil thin cracks through them that were slowly starting to expand.

We had to get off this transmit before the acidic blood reached for us, or the engine. I took my casted hand off of the support beam and pushed the switch back, causing the car to come to a sharp halt that sent the three of us tumbling over to the other side.

The back of my head hit the front of one of the chairs, that fortunately were cushioned. Pastora's face ended up in my shoulder and her elbow in my rib-cage. That hurt. Sunghoon was laying flat on his stomach in front of us with a perplexed expression.

I looked through the entrance to see we haven't entered another terminal or transmit station. We were in the middle of the tracks.

"I think you've pulled the switch too soon, genius." Sunghoon said, as he slowly rose to his knees.

Well, it was safe to say that he was back to his old self again.

"Well, we either find our way through the tracks, or we wait until this thing falls apart! Look!" I pointed to the series of holes and cracks that the acidic blood has left on the car.

"Chaeyoung's right, Sunghoon. We have to get off." Pastora says, as she slowly gets up to her feet.

I follow suit and go over to Sunghoon and offer him my hand, and to my surprise he takes it.

"Well, I sure hope you two know your way." Sunghoon says, getting to his feet with my help. He walks over to the melted doors and peers out into the darkness. "Or at least a flashlight."

"I've got one." I say, taking my bag from Pastora to pull out the flashlight.

"Then lets get moving." He replies before jumping out of the transmit car, I watch as the darkness from the tunnel engulfs him. I hear his feet hit the ground with a loud thud.

Pastora and I follow suit and jump out of the cart. A blinding beam of light flicks on once I've switched on the flashlight.

"Alright, well we know it works." Sunghoon teases, gesturing across from him with his hand. "Lead the way."

I would have rolled my eyes if I wasn't so scared and exhausted.

"It's really a no brainier actually." Pastora says from behind me. "All we have to do is keep moving straight until we see an entrance to another terminal. We'll know we're close when we see a light somewhere out in the distance."

"Never would have guessed." Sunghoon snarls. "Gosh my head is killing me."

"Oh yeah, how are you feeling by the way?" I ask, keeping my flashlight out in front of us for guidance,

"Why don't you take a guess?" He sneers.

I sigh and turn around to face him, not bothering to lower the flashlight.

Sunghoon blinks and I watch his pupils shrink three times smaller from the light.

"Do you mind?" He hisses.

"Yeah. Yeah I do mind actually." I say, but lower my flashlight a little. "I've been nothing but nice to you since the moment we've met. I know you're scared and are looking out for Pastora and want to make out of this alive, but don't you think I do too!? I really appreciate everything you've done for me. Distracting the monster, fighting off that android...but I have to be honest, I'm really sick of this constant bickering that you and I do. It's tiring, immature, and a waste of both our time. I'm here to help you, not kill you or take away your girlfriend. We're allies now so we need to work together and at least try and get along if we want to kill this monster. I can't do it alone and neither can you. We all need each other, so I suggest we start over. I will make an effort if you do."

Sunghoon stares at me for what seems like hours. He puffs his cheeks full of air and then slowly lets them out.

"Fine. Fair enough. But I'm warning you...if anything happens to Pastora I will kill you." He sneers before snatching the flashlight out from my hand and bumping past me.

I catch a glimpse of that white device latched to his pants again before the light is pointed forwards.