Divis Mortis
by Lynnea Dally (2010)
Genres: Zombie

The infection has spread. They are coming.

action: %
response: You let out a deep and painful moan as you slowly realize you are awake on a cold, tiled surface. Judging by the ache in your head and bones, you've been hit with a lead pipe and left to rot. You grope at your head, but you can't feel anything, not through the thick rubber gloves you're wearing at any rate. You flop over and moan again at the bright lights coming from the ceiling. Your arm half-heartedly gropes around for something, and finds the metal railing of a vinyl bed. You use it to steady your balance as you pull yourself up. You close your eyes to help yourself adjust.

As your vision clears and your nausea subsides you are gifted with a very acute headache. Feeling less groggy, a sudden realization of a deep, debilitating hunger nearly doubles you over in pain. You can't remember how on earth this happened to you, but then retrograde amnesia is rather common in head trauma victims. You take time to recover your senses, then assess the situation.

You instantly recognize the special room of the hospital you are in; after all you've been working here for years. You can see the delicate instruments of radiation treatment neatly positioned, ready to use. There is a worn green vinyl bed underneath the delicate machinery. A quick glance around also finds you a smashed glass paperweight on the ground, which you suspect is the cause of your massive headache. Your hunger is probably just from being knocked out for so long. You also notice an airtight, electronic sealed door with a large button next to it.

You can go south to the Control Room.
action: You examine paperweight
response: You see the shattered remnants of what formerly appeared to be a glass paperweight. Small chunks of glass lie in a heap upon the floor None of them are large enough to cut anything.
action: About yourself
response: You look at yourself and find that you're wearing a large-pocketed, long lab coat, with thick rubber gloves and white boots to match.
action: You examine the pockets
response: Deep white pockets, useful for carrying things. Inside you can see nothing.

Searching more closely, you actually find your small good-luck compass in one of the pockets! It will certainly prevent you from getting lost.
action: You examine compass
response: A small bauble. As far as navigation goes, it's not too terribly accurate but it can give you a general idea.
action: You look at the bed
response: A semi-comfortable human-sized block of padding with a head pillow. The padding is covered in vinyl for easy sanitation.
action: You examine the pillow
response: Slightly thicker vinyl plush extending from the radiation bed in a predictable rectangle shape. The radiation equipment seems to be focusing on this spot.
action: You examine the equipment
response: A marvel of modern machinery and medicine, they offer hope to those who have little. This device will kill off cancer in rather precise locations with exposure to large amounts of radiation. Unfortunately, it kills many others things in the process. It appears to be targeting the head pillow of the radiation bed. Perhaps the last user had a brain tumor. It looks functional.
action: Examine button
response: A large, round, inviting button. You just know it does something. Probably something with the door it is right next to.
action: You examine the door
response: An electronic door, sealed tightly to keep out radiation. There is a large exit button clearly labeled next to the door. You can only assume this is in case a patient panics and tries to run out. The airtight door is closed.

You feel weak from hunger.
action: About yourself
response: You look at yourself and find that you're wearing a large-pocketed, long lab coat, with thick rubber gloves and white boots to match.
action: You go to the south
response: As expected, you see a computer control system. What you did not expect is to see are two dead bodies. The first is a woman slumped in the northeast corner with her head blown out. The other, a desiccated and decaying male with a coat and badge lies frozen in a crawling motion. Your neck hair prickles, your stomach churns and your mind reels. "Zombie," your mind whispers, but you are having trouble believing it. The stench of the dead fills the room.

To your dismay, you see another locked door, this time with a cardswipe next to it. Why can't doors just be always open? After reflecting on it for a moment, you are quite glad that these doors are here; the barrier probably saved you from... whatever is going on outside. You probably owe your lives to these annoying doors.

You can go north to the Radiation Chamber or south to the First Floor Hall.
action: You take the badge
response: You fight back waves of nausea. You feel as though you've seen many dead bodies in your life, but this one will give you nightmares, if you're ever able to sleep again. You gently remove the security badge from his blue lab coat as if the slightest touch might wake him. His mottled and rotting skin does not stir.

A sharp pain from your temples almost make you cry aloud.
action: You examine the controls
response: A series of buttons and sliders that adjust the strength and location of the machine. There is a large, conveniently labeled "start" button. You can also make out instruments adjusting the angle and intensity, but you don't want to mess with the direction or intensity buttons. There is an emergency seal button in the very top corner.
action: You look at the woman
response: She is a middle aged, slightly heavy woman. The name tag on her shirt identifies her as Madelyn Grea, a senior technician. She has been shot through the jaw, and there is a vast quantity of blood staining her shirt and pooled on the ground around her. There is a handgun in her right hand and cartridges surrounding her. With your amateur detective skills, you deduce that she killed the attacking man and then took her own life.
action: You take the gun
response: The dead woman's fingers are gripping the gun tightly. With a shudder of distaste, you realize you'll have to open her hand first.
action: You open her hand
response: The gun clatters from her nerveless fingers to the floor.
action: You take the gun
response: Taken.

A nice slab of steak sounds perfect right now.

You pause a moment, as your pain makes it difficult to concentrate.
action: You look at the gun
response: A standard 9mm handgun, as far as you can tell. The etchings indicate that it is a Glock 17, but you're not sure what that means. The chamber is empty.
action: You look at man
response: The most disgusting corpse you believe you have ever seen. The flesh is withered and seems to have been preserved while in the midst of rotting. Judging by the holes in the clothes, he appears to have been shot in the torso and head several times, but there is a distinct lack of blood. Judging by the crooked angle of his legs, at least one had been broken. His fingernails are peeled back, and his left arm is outstretched towards the dead woman: grasping the floor as if he had been crawling towards her with an intense amount of effort. Upon closer inspection, you discover that the man is not "missing" a head, per se, there blasted apart pieces of skull littering the room. All of the bone fragments are covered with coagulated blood and rotting meat.

You realize that you are looking at an actual zombie. Your heart and breath quicken. If a person wearing a staff uniform has been infected, then who knows the extent of the plague, and how it spreads? You are not sure you can rely on the standard movie bite as the only mode of transmission. It might be spread by more casual contact, or even airborne. You resolve to survive.

You really want to get rid of this headache.
action: You take the man
response: That's disgusting. You don't want to interfere with a future police investigation and you certainly don't want to expose yourself to whatever disease he's got, even with protective gloves. You leave him put.
action: You search the woman
response: Nothing but more blood.
action: You search zombie
response: Nothing here but internal organs.
action: Swipe badge
response: The door whooshes open with the wave of your plastic.
action: You go south
response: You walk into a central hub of nondescript, pristinely sterile hospital hallway. The lights flicker with the dim light of the emergency power generator. The lack of noise sends a chill down your spine. Where there should be doctors rushing, nurses chatting, and patients complaining, you hear absolutely nothing. You wonder if this building has been quarantined off or if the infection has spread beyond it. You are thankful that there are no more signs of trouble: no blood on the walls, no corpses on the ground. Then again, this does make your situation more uncertain.

You can go north to the Radiation Controls, south to the Elevator, east to the Hospital Entry, or west to the Cafeteria.
action: You go west
response: Where sterile halls and clean, empty rooms have dominated nearly all of the hospital, the Cafeteria's vile stench precedes it a full hallway in advance. The Cafeteria has been thoroughly raided. Overturned bins of food, broken jugs of milk and other liquids have all swirled together into a rotting pool of sludge. There are still-sealed bottles of water that have managed to escape the ooze.

A stove had been serving as a barricade to the kitchen, but it has been shoved aside and overturned. You also note some blood and bloody blunt objects.

You can go north to the Kitchen or east to the First Floor Hall.
action: You look at sludge
response: A disgusting mix of undecipherable food, liquids and now mold. Looking around at the pooled filth you wonder why all this food was wasted.
action: You look at the water
response: (sealed bottles)
Bottles of water that are still sealed and not covered in goo.

Your stomach rumbles in hunger.
action: You take the water
response: (the water bottle)
Water will always come in handy, and you are certain that with the seal it is safe to drink, providing you are very careful where you put your lips.
action: You examine the blunt objects
response: Bloody trays, a skillet, a chair leg and even cooking utensils are strewn about the room. They might have been marginally useful against invading hordes, but now most of them are shattered or bent or plain unwieldy from over-use. The skillet looks like it is in the best condition.

Judging by the way the blood has dried, they were used against
humans, not zombies.

You feel weak from hunger.
action: You take the skillet
response: eggs. You are certain it will come in handy for one of those things.
action: Go north
response: You now realize where all the bodies are - in the kitchen. You see rows upon rows of neatly stacked and cleaned dead bodies, ranging from cafeteria workers to janitors to patients and doctors, all forming a macabre scene.

Tearing your eyes away from the gruesome pile, you look around and notice a chaos of canned food. That is probably what the survivors were fighting over - the promise of eating something that is untainted. There is also a huge stainless steel walk-in freezer, not to mention rows of promising cabinets. In the far corner you can see a tin trash container and a plastic blue recycling bin.

You can go south to the Cafeteria.
action: You take the canned food
response: You rifle through the various cans of food and grab the nice-looking can of chickpeas.
action: You open the cabinets
response: You open the cabinets, revealing a microwave.

A nice slab of steak sounds perfect right now.
action: You open the freezer
response: You see dozens more bodies stacked up in a neat row; with corpses piled several layers high. They are stacked higher towards the end, forming a slope. While the power had been on, you were sure that the cold had helped keep these bodies hidden and preserved. The power has apparently been off for some time now, as many of the bodies have started to melt into one another.

The stench, which had been sealed off, is now overwhelming and more repulsive than you can even imagine. Barely suppressing the urge to vomit, faint or do both, you close the freezer and back away. As you back away from the freezer, you stumble over one of the dead bodies, knocking it out of line. You really hope that someone is not going to care about that because you are too disgusted to fix it.
action: You look in the blue bin
response: The plastic blue recycling bin is empty.
action: You look in the trash
response: The tin trash container is empty.
action: You examine the bodies
response: Someone has neatly arranged bodies into a row, with the shortest person in the middle and taller people on either sides. They all show signs of a bloody struggle with serious injuries - some have had their heads bashed in, some are missing body parts or have obvious amounts of strong internal bleeding. They have all been cleaned up as much as possible, closed their eyes and even pushed their cheeks into a smile. Someone put a lot of time into doing this.

You survey them one by one. You see nobody you recognize, but perhaps that is only because you don't remember them. It appears as though only a few of them had actually turned; the rest seem to lack bite marks and only have wounds from fighting. Whoever lined them up also seems to have taken everything useful from them - they lack food, weapons, keys, and don't even have their wallets or ID cards.
action: You look at the microwave
response: A boxy device used to heat up things. It looks like it's a decade old at least, and the useless power cable has been ripped out from the back of the machine.
action: You open it
response: You open the microwave but the light don't come on. In fact, none of the lights are on. The machine is quite broken.
action: You take the microwave
response: It's a useless hunk of metal. It wouldn't even be wieldy enough to use to bludgeon.
action: You hit the can with the skillet
response: (the can of chickpeas with skillet)
Violence is never the answer, except when it comes to survival. Well, even now, it's not really going to help.
action: Examine can
response: (the can of chickpeas (unclean))
A metal can containing chickpeas. Happily for you, it is the kind you can open without a can opener.
action: Clean can
response: (the can of chickpeas)
You achieve nothing by this.

A collective moan arises from the rest of the city. It echoes and is joined by more moans until a distance or origin point is simply indeterminable. The voice of the despairing dead slowly peter out, but their message for you remains. They are determined, and they do not sleep, and they are always hungry, always desperate. You better prepare your defenses.
action: Open water
response: You open the water bottle.
You take a small sip.

To protect the water as best as you can, you close it tight again.
action: You put the water on can
response: (the can of chickpeas (unclean))
Putting things on the can of chickpeas (unclean) would achieve nothing.

Your stomach rumbles in hunger.
action: You put can on the pillow
response: You put the can of chickpeas (unclean) on the pillow of the radiation bed.
action: You hit the zombie with the skillet
response: (zombie crossdresser with skillet)
Wielding your best weapon (the skillet) you charge and scream as you run towards the crossdresser, putting all your force into a beautifully-arched swing. The metal makes contact with the skull, and you hear the crackling of bone as blood spurts of blood fly around you. As the body of the former person falls to the ground, the blood around the skull wound and splattered onto the frying pan clots almost instantly. The handle to the skillet breaks and is torn from your hand by the force. You duck your head away to minimize contact with flying debris.

The now broken skillet clatters to the ground. You'd better find a real weapon. Despite the racket, no more zombies come, and you can only assume you were lucky enough that they simply didn't hear. You slump in a corner, and quiver for minutes before being able to so much as stand again.
action: You go north
response: On the head pillow is a can of chickpeas (closed).
action: You take can
response: Taken.
action: You open it
response: You remove the lid, salivating at the prospect of food.
action: You eat can
response: You scarf the vegetables down, eager to have something to eat at last. You hardly feel satisfied at all, and even a little queasy.
You recall hearing about the difficulties people have eating after long bouts of starvation. Or maybe you just never liked chickpeas. You feel an unusual craving for some meatloaf, but at least your hunger pains are satiated.
action: You look at the transvestite
response: He was a sort of crossdresser, and a darned good one at that too. If it wasn't for his (now bloody) adam's apple and lanky walk, you'd have mistaken him for a woman. His skirt, already short, is ripped. One of his shoes fell off, and his bright green jacket has been covered in blood. His makeup was nice, but his face has been completely destroyed.
action: You go to the south
response: A central hub of nondescript, pristinely sterile hospital hallway.

You can go north to the Radiation Controls, south to the Elevator, east to the Hospital Entry, or west to the Cafeteria.
action: You go east
response: The grand entrance to the Calypso Hospital, dead bodies hang from ropes tied to the previously majestic arches and pillars. There is a series of abandoned check-in counters. There are various benches along the hallway, as well as couches and a small table littered with magazines. The large glass sliding door to the outside displays a thick, ominous fog. You think you see figures moving in the fog, but then again, you might just be playing tricks on yourself.

You can go north to the Gift Shop, south to the Pharmacy, east to the Hospital Exterior, west to the First Floor Hallway and northwest to the Physical Therapy room.
action: You examine the sliding door
response: Impressively large sheets of glass with great visibility. There is a thick fog outside. You think you can see figures moving outside, but you're not quite sure. You worry about invaders coming.
action: You lock the door
response: What do you want to lock the sliding glass doors with?
action: You look at the counters
response: A series of desks where employees check in patients, as the name suggests. Everyone has abandoned them; you don't even see hints of blood or struggle. They are just empty. Aside from that, you see nothing spectacular about them.
action: You examine table
response: A lightweight but sturdy flat surface used to hold the typical variety of tattered hospital magazines. The coffee table is basically made up of a flat wooden rectangular plank attached to a thin supporting column with a weighted metal base.
action: Break table
response: Violence is never the answer, except when it comes to survival.
Well, even now, it's not really going to help.
action: You take the table
response: The coffee table, while moveable, is hardly portable. You would have a difficult time trying to take it anywhere past a few feet without thoroughly exhausting yourself.
action: You look
response: The grand entrance to the Calypso Hospital, dead bodies hang from ropes tied to the arches. There is a series of abandoned check-in counters. There are various benches along the hallway, as well as couches and a small table littered with magazines. The large glass sliding door to the outside displays a thick, ominous fog. You think you see figures moving in the fog, but then again, you might just be playing tricks on yourself.

You can go north to the Gift Shop, south to the Pharmacy, east to the Hospital Exterior, west to the First Floor Hallway and northwest to the Physical Therapy room.
action: You go to the northwest
response: Full of various exercising equipment, this place is designed to start people on the path to getting stronger, but you are certain that there is a larger place off-facility for when people are able to leave the hospital. You see exercise balls, stretchy rubber ropes, stationary bicycles, massage tables, stair stepping blocks and doctor chairs. This place is still bright and cheery looking - no blood, no bodies, just orange walls and brightly colored equipment. All of the free weights and weight bars you remember being here have been stolen. There goes your shot at a sweet bludgeoning weapon from here.

You can go southeast to the Entry Hall.
action: You examine balls
response: Bouncy, large rubber balls for doing yoga and various other kinds of exercise.
action: You take the rope
response: You fiddle with it for a few minutes then put it in your pocket for later.
action: You examine blocks
response: Stackable blocks used to do aerobics on. You can combine the blocks to form all sorts of stairs.
action: Go southeast
response: The grand entrance to the Calypso Hospital, dead bodies hang from ropes tied to the previously majestic arches and pillars. There is a series of abandoned check-in counters. There are various benches along the hallway, as well as couches and magazines. You can't see anything out of the sliding glass doors, thanks to the coffee table and bench barricade.

You can go north to the Gift Shop, south to the Pharmacy, east to the Hospital Exterior, west to the First Floor Hallway and northwest to the Physical Therapy room.
action: Go north
response: An assortment of gifts and necessities, designed to milk more money out of patients and their visiting families. The place is quiet and poorly lit, lending to a dystopian atmosphere. There are rows and rows of low shelves containing gift cards, knick-knacks, flowers and balloons. There is a section containing flashlights, lamps and batteries especially catches your eye.

You glance around the store. Not seeing any figures past the shelves is somewhat comforting, but you can't shake the image of a fallen zombie hidden somewhere beneath one of the shelves, just waiting for someone to wander close enough. You shudder.

You can go south to the the Entry Hall.
action: You take the batteries
response: Looking at the wall of assorted batteries, you decide that you should stock up on all sizes and shapes. You grab a package of everything from AAA to DD, and even a few tiny circle ones to be sure. You never know what size battery you might need.
action: You take the flashlight
response: You're unsure what a flashlight is doing in a hospital gift store, as you are sure that it won't make anyone feel any better. The flashlight is wrapped in a plastic container. You get one.
action: You open the flashlight
response: (the flashlight (wrapped))
You rip at the plastic crap, but you never could do it with your bare hands. You need a sharp object.
action: Inventory
response: You are carrying:
a flashlight (wrapped)
some batteries
a stretchy rubber rope
empty can
a water bottle
a handgun (empty)
a security badge
a compass
a lab coat (being worn)
thick rubber gloves (being worn)
white boots (being worn)
action: You look athe knick-knacks
response: Name magnetic license plates, curio windmills, figurines, glasses and all sorts of other assorted bits of junk manufactured by starving people in China for the passing amusement and inevitable disposal. There is nothing that looks even remotely useful here. Tourist-trap grade junk.
action: You examine the shelves
response: There sure are a lot of shelves. They are all uninteresting, except for the various for-sale cards, balloons, batteries, flashlights and lamps.
action: You look at the balloons
response: Something native to all hospital gift stores, the assortment of crinkly aluminum get-well balloons. They have everything from teddy bears to cute kittens to just plain "Get well soon".
action: You take the balloons
response: You seriously doubt that you will ever have need for balloons with get-well inscriptions. Perhaps you can give it to the next zombie you see, and it will be touched at your heart-felt intentions enough not to eat you alive. Nevertheless, taken.
action: You look at can
response: A completely emptied tin can, complete with the pull-off top.
action: You open the flashlight with can
response: (the flashlight with empty can)
That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock.
action: You look at the card
response: (the happy birthday card)
"Your special day, today it's like the world is made just for you!"
action: You examine the lamp
response: A shelf with a few electric lamps. Neat.
action: You examine the boots
response: Thick, with a killer sole. They're actually completely inappropriate for a real hospital worker to be wearing, it was probably just the shoes you wore on your way to work when it was raining. Still, they look pretty badass.
action: Go south
response: The grand entrance to the Calypso Hospital, dead bodies hang from ropes tied to the previously majestic arches and pillars. There is a series of abandoned check-in counters. There are various benches along the hallway, as well as couches and magazines. You can't see anything out of the sliding glass doors, thanks to the coffee table and bench barricade.

You can go north to the Gift Shop, south to the Pharmacy, east to the Hospital Exterior, west to the First Floor Hallway and northwest to the Physical Therapy room.
action: You go west
response: A central hub of nondescript, pristinely sterile hospital hallway.

You can go north to the Radiation Controls, south to the Elevator, east to the Hospital Entry, or west to the Cafeteria.
action: Go south
response: You stand outside of the elevator. Looking at the elevator lights above the elevator door, you notice that there are two floors, plus probably a basement. The great steel elevator doors are closed. To the west you see a staircase.

You can go north to the First Floor Hall, or west to the First Floor Staircase.
action: You examine the elevator door
response: Tall, steel and firmly shut. Without electricity running to it, you worry that you probably won't be able to open it at all.
action: You go west
response: On the walls, you can see a broken fire extinguisher box, and an emergency escape map.

The staircase leading up is blocked halfway by piles upon piles of furniture. You can see a small passage in the top of the barricade. As for the stairway down, a large chunk of concrete staircase has gone missing. You think you could navigate down, but he darkness of the basement worries you.

You can go east to the First Floor Elevator, northeast to the First Floor Hall, up to the Second Floor Staircase or down to the Basement.
action: Examine box
response: Someone has yanked off the box's little complimentary glass breaker and smashed the glass, taking the fire extinguisher. Aside from glass shards, the only thing you see is a guide on which types of extinguishers to use on which types of fires.
action: You take the shard
response: You decide to ditch the idea of pocketing the cut hazard; even the tiniest nick creates a huge vector for infection. There must be less dangerous ways to cut things open.
action: You examine the barricade
response: A painstakingly erected barricade made of piled up furniture. There is a small hole at the top that seems stable enough for you to climb through if it wasn't just out of your reach
action: You go northeast
response: A central hub of nondescript, pristinely sterile hospital hallway.

You can go north to the Radiation Controls, south to the Elevator, east to the Hospital Entry, west to the Cafeteria or southwest to the First Floor Staircase.
action: You go east
response: The grand entrance to the Calypso Hospital, dead bodies hang from ropes tied to the previously majestic arches and pillars. There is a series of abandoned check-in counters. There are various benches along the hallway, as well as couches and magazines. You can't see anything out of the sliding glass doors, thanks to the coffee table and bench barricade.

You can go north to the Gift Shop, south to the Pharmacy, east to the Hospital Exterior, west to the First Floor Hallway and northwest to the Physical Therapy room.
action: Go northwest
response: Full of various exercising equipment, this place is designed to start people on the path to getting stronger, but you are certain that there is a larger place off-facility for when people are able to leave the hospital. You see exercise balls, stationary bicycles, massage tables, stair stepping blocks and doctor chairs. This place is still bright and cheery looking - no blood, no bodies, just orange walls and brightly colored equipment.

You can go southeast to the Entry Hall.
action: You take the blocks
response: They look a little too bulky to carry, but you feel as though you could push them around if you wanted.
action: You take the map
response: It's mounted to the wall.
action: You read the map
response: Basically, it is telling you to go down the stairs and out the exits of which you are already aware. Not actually very helpful.
action: Go downwards
response: On the walls, you can see a broken fire extinguisher box, and an emergency escape map.

The staircase leading up is blocked halfway by piles upon piles of furniture. You can see a small passage in the top of the barricade which is now easily accessible thanks to the stair stepping blocks.
As for the stairway down, a large chunk of concrete staircase has gone missing. You think you could navigate down, but he darkness of the basement worries you.

You can go east to the First Floor Elevator, northeast to the First Floor Hall, up to the Second Floor Staircase or down to the Basement.

The stair stepping blocks have been pushed into this room.
action: You take the guide
response: You leave it; what if someone needs to know this information at some point in the future?
action: You read the guide
response: Water extinguishers are good for wood fires, CO2 extinguishers are good for electrical but bad for water, BC are multi-purpose extinguishers good for gas and electrical fires, and ABC extinguishers are multi-purpose extinguishers good for wood, gas and electrical.
You feel enlightened.
action: You go upward
response: You climb on up the stair stepping blocks and make it to the second floor staircase.

The majority of this floor is offices.

You can see the ripped out hinges and a darkened rectangular wall halo the exact shape and size of a fire extinguisher box. An emergency map is helpfully plastered to the wall.

You can go east to the Second Floor Elevator, northeast to the Second Floor Hall, or down to the First Floor Staircase.
action: Go east
response: The stainless steel doors here are jammed open, exposing a gap wide enough to enter the elevator cab. The previously pristine steel doors have been covered with blood.

You can go north to the Second Floor Hall, west to the Second Floor Staircase or east to the Elevator Cab.
action: You go to the east
response: An elevator with padded walls, used to protect the metal against dings when they take gurneys up and down. You can see the things typical of a elevator: the buttons, the lights and the emergency call box. With the lack of power, this elevator has been deemed non-essential and is not working; none of the lights are on.

You can go west to the Second Floor Elevator.
action: You examine the call box
response: This thing has a phone inside of it that alerts an emergency response team. It is supposed to work in the event of a power failure.
action: You open it
response: Inside the box is an emergency phone. It seems to be functional.
action: You use the phone
response: You pick up the phone and hear a dial tone. Amazingly enough, someone is at the other end! You nearly cry with relief at hearing another human voice. You learn that a rescue operation was using the emergency call center as a base of operations. You tell them that you are alive and trapped inside the hospital.

They assure you that a rescue team will be deployed quickly, and that there are other survivors who have barricaded themselves in the basement and are similarly waiting for help. The rescuer advises that you join with them, as a strength in numbers approach is often best. They stress avoiding contact with possible sources of contamination.

You savor the human contact, but the man on the other line apologizes and lets you know he has to return to organizing rescues for other survivors. He does strongly assure you that a rescue team will make it to the hospital as soon as it can clear a path.
action: You go north
response: Pristine and sterile, silent hallway, with no noises or anything in sight.

You can go north to the Medical Records, east to the Restrooms, northwest to the Security Station or southwest to the Second Floor Staircase.
action: Go northwest
response: A small, cramped room with a single swivel chair, a huge monitor display and an ammo box. There is no evidence of a barricade at all here, it appears as if the security guards on staff bravely went out and tried to fight the problem. Perhaps they were the first ones who got turned by trying to detain the zombies instead of fighting them.

The Second Floor Hall is to the southeast.
action: You examine the ammo box
response: A sturdy black box. There is nothing inside the ammo box. You can see something glinting behind the ammunition box, though.
action: You look behind it
response: The glint behind the gun ammo box turns out to be a magazine of ammo.
action: You take the ammo
response: (the gun ammo)
You grab the ammo, ready to lock and load.
action: You look at the gun
response: A standard 9mm handgun, as far as you can tell. The etchings indicate that it is a Glock 17, but you're not sure what that means. It has 6 clips left.
action: Examine monitor
response: You had thought that security would have had some kind of power priority in the event of an emergency, but it appears that security monitors are not considered important in a life-support system. All of the monitors are black. But it does look rather impressive, nonetheless.
action: You go north
response: Files and records and other such boring stuff dating back for months. The records over a year old are moved to the basement for storage. There are several documents from a bright orange folder that are scattered over a central table. You can see a nearby administrator's office is open.

You can go northeast to the Office or south to the Second Floor Hall.
action: You examine the documents
response: They look like regular patient files, except for the orange folder. In this hospital, that color is reserved for emergency cases - potential plagues, new diseases, resistant strains, or diseases of undeterminable transmission vector. You are guessing that this is the original zombie victim's files. First flipping casually through the files, you notice that there are several copies of the same documents. Several people were going over these files.

The files talk about a John Doe victim who was bitten in the leg, punctured a major vessel, lost consciousness, and whose heart had stopped for 2 minutes. The heart resumed function, and then the man jumped out of his stretcher and attacked several doctors with his teeth. He had to be restrained, but not after biting several orderlies and other staff.

Whenever he noticed anyone in the vicinity, he would mindlessly and completely devote himself to attacking and eating that person. There is a note about his disease definitely being transmitted by bite - you guess this means the staff turned as well, but you suppose their records would be kept confidentially separate from this John Doe. You suppose that they somehow passed the disease on themselves.

This isn't really anything that you wouldn't have guessed yourself, except for a little addendum at the end: There are notes that several of the cancer patients did not get infected, even after they got bitten. This knowledge will certainly come in handy fighting this disease. You resolve to share it with the appropriate medical personnel. If you ever survive, that is.
action: You go to the northeast
response: A typical administrator's office, this is the only one you could find that is unlocked. It is the office of administrator Richard Michaels, but that doesn't mean anything. You can see a typical desk, a painting on the wall, medical cabinets, and an office chair.

You can go southwest to the Medical Records.
action: You look at the desk
response: A sturdy wooden desk, there is a single piece of paper on the top: the fiscal report. The desk has three large drawers on its left side. You also see a pen jar, a stapler and a telephone.
action: You look at the report
response: A bunch of graphs and charts. Boring in regular life and especially so in the middle of an invasion.
action: You open the drawers
response: You open the drawers and rifle through to see a pair of scissors and junk.
action: You cut the wrapping with the scissors
response: You cut that annoying plastic crap off the flashlight. You flick it on, then off. Looks like it came with batteries. Huh.
action: You use the phone
response: You pick up the receiver and attempt to make a call, but there's no dial tone. "Of course the phone wouldn't be working in an emergency," you sigh.
action: You examine the stapler
response: A heavy metal stapler.
action: You take it
response: I believe that belongs to someone else.
action: You look at the painting
response: Modern, abstract splatter art of green in a sort of... foliage pattern. Rather pretty and calming.
action: You open the cabinets
response: You see plenty of doctor's routine supplies. Cotton balls, cotton swabs, face masks, wooden sticks, a reflex mallet, paper towels and latex gloves.
action: You take the mask
response: You stash it in your lab coat.
action: You wear mask
response: Stylish!
action: You take the gloves
response: (thick rubber gloves)
You already have that.
action: Go southwest
response: Files and records and other such boring stuff dating back for months. There are several documents from a bright orange folder that are scattered over a central table. You can see a nearby administrator's office is open.

You can go northeast to the Office or south to the Second Floor Hall.
action: You go to the south
response: Pristine and sterile, silent hallway, with no noises or anything in sight.

You can go north to the Medical Records, east to the Restrooms, northwest to the Security Station or southwest to the Second Floor Staircase.
action: Go south
response: The stainless steel doors here are jammed open, exposing a gap wide enough to enter the elevator cab. The previously pristine steel doors have been covered with blood.

You can go north to the Second Floor Hall, west to the Second Floor Staircase or east to the Elevator Cab.
action: You go to the east
response: An elevator with padded walls, used to protect the metal against dings when they take gurneys up and down. You can see the things typical of a elevator: the buttons, the lights and the emergency call box. With the lack of power, this elevator has been deemed non-essential and is not working; none of the lights are on.

You can go west to the Second Floor Elevator.
action: You use the phone
response: You have already called, help is on the way! Barricade yourself, head to the basement and wait for the calvary.
action: You go east
response: You go into the unisex restroom. You see toilets, urinals and sinks. The mirror is broken, however. It appears as though the plumbing has stopped working at some point, but the human need to relieve themselves didn't. Most disturbing, you see is a severely injured zombie sitting in the far corner, casually chewing on human remains. He doesn't seem to notice you.

You can go west to the Second Floor Hall.
action: You go east
response: You see toilets, urinals and sinks. The mirror is broken, however.
It appears as though the plumbing has stopped working at some point, but the human need to relieve themselves didn't. Most disturbing, you see is a severely injured zombie sitting in the far corner, casually chewing on human remains. He doesn't seem to notice you.

You can go west to the Second Floor Hall.
action: You shoot zombie
response: Deciding to take the zombie out of its misery, you stand back at a safe distance, level your gun and calmly shoot at his head and pull the trigger. You end up hitting the left side of his neck instead. Blood spurts out, and quickly clots down his neck.

Enraged, he drops his hunk of flesh, and stumbles to his feet. He bellows and flails his arms wildly, knocking you back. Backing up, he prepares himself to blindly charge.
action: Continue
response: You roll over onto your shoulder and raise your gun at the staggering, bellowing abomination. In your terror, you fire too early, missing the head and instead shooting him right in the stomach. You actually did hit the stomach organ; acidic bile in a slurry of digested meat spray from his wound for a moment before the injury clots. His rage increases and he slams head-first into the wall, completely smashing his skull. He immediately slumps down under the sinks. One less horror in the world.
action: You examine the zombie
response: A formerly stout fellow, this mutilated corpse slumped against the corner. His head is completely destroyed, with chunks of skull and brain sprinkled across his corpulent lap. His blood has sprayed and is clotted on the tiled walls. He's been rendered quite harmless.
action: You look around
response: You see toilets, urinals and sinks. The mirror is broken, however.
It appears as though the plumbing has stopped working at some point, but the human need to relieve themselves didn't  The carcass of a dead zombie lies slumped under the sinks.

You can go west to the Second Floor Hall.
action: You look at the mirror
response: Someone really had it out for reflective surfaces; every mirror is completely shattered and ground into a coarse dust. You are disappointed that you can't check yourself out.
action: You examine the sink
response: Porcelain and steel, someone has had the foresight to know that the water would be turned off, so they stuffed the sink drains and let the taps run to fill the sinks with water. All of the sinks are empty now.
action: You look at the urinals
response: Eco-friendly flushless urinals. Maybe they still work without the water working?
action: You examine the toilets
response: The toilets had been kept clean and sanitized by regular hospital staff; regular cleaning is important to keeping hospital grade infections. Of course, since probably water pumping facilities have been evacuated and the water has shut off. The people have been using the toilets even after the water has been shut off - biology doesn't stop.
action: Go southwest
response: The majority of this floor is offices.

You can see the ripped out hinges and a darkened rectangular wall halo the exact shape and size of a fire extinguisher box. An emergency map is helpfully plastered to the wall.

You can go east to the Second Floor Elevator, northeast to the Second Floor Hall, or down to the First Floor Staircase.
action: You turn on the flashlight
response: It emits a strong beam of light.
action: Go downward
response: First of all, you can't see the unfamiliar broken staircase well enough to climb it in the dark since you'd have to carry a flashlight with the hands to need to help you climb. Second of all - and this is the biggie - if there were any zombies down there, the awkwardness of climbing down would leave you susceptible to an attack. It's too dangerous without a light source already illuminating the basement.
action: You drop flashlight
response: You drop the flashlight. You hope you remember where you put it.
action: You put the flashlight on broken Staircase
response: You gently lower it, then raise it again. Nothing happens.
action: You tie the rope to the flashlight
response: Not a bad idea. Sadly, there's not a sturdy handle that you could tie the rope to, and a flashlight-on-a-rope would be too jiggly to do anything useful.
action: Look around
response: Someone has yanked off the box's little complimentary glass breaker and smashed the glass, taking the fire extinguisher. Aside from glass shards, the only thing you see is a guide on which types of extinguishers to use on which types of fires.

>First Floor Staircase
On the walls, you can see a broken fire extinguisher box, and an emergency escape map.

The staircase leading up is blocked halfway by piles upon piles of furniture. You can see a small passage in the top of the barricade which is now easily accessible thanks to the stair stepping blocks.
As for the stairway down, a large chunk of concrete staircase has gone missing. You think you could navigate down, but he darkness of the basement worries you.

You can go east to the First Floor Elevator, northeast to the First Floor Hall, up to the Second Floor Staircase or down to the Basement.

The stair stepping blocks have been pushed into this room.
action: You turn off the flashlight
response: You turn off the flashlight.
action: You go south
response: You see shelves upon shelves of unprotected drugs. If you were unscrupulous you could steal and sell them all... if there was anyone left to sell them to that is. Some people have already had that idea, many of the medical supplies seem depleted. You quickly assess all of the rows. You spot a tempting bottle of over-the-counter pain pills.

You can go north to The Entry Hall.
action: You take the pills
response: You grab a bottle. Pills here.
action: Swallow pill
response: You pop the recommended dosage of pills into your mouth.
action: Drink water
response: You gulp down the water.

You feel so relieved as your headache starts to recede, and you thank modern medicine.
You feel much better. Satisfied with the state of your body, you start to wonder what other sorts of things might be important in a survival situation.
action: You describe your surroundings
response: You see shelves upon shelves of unprotected drugs. If you were unscrupulous you could steal and sell them all... if there was anyone left to sell them to that is. Some people have already had that idea, many of the medical supplies seem depleted.

You can go north to The Entry Hall.
action: Go northwest
response: Full of various exercising equipment, this place is designed to start people on the path to getting stronger, but you are certain that there is a larger place off-facility for when people are able to leave the hospital. You see exercise balls, stationary bicycles, massage tables and doctor chairs. This place is still bright and cheery looking - no blood, no bodies, just orange walls and brightly colored equipment.

You can go southeast to the Entry Hall.
action: You look at the bike
response: A metal ancient monstrosity, not even electric. The difficulty of the bike is adjusted by a strap on the front wheel.
action: You examine the strap
response: The thick strap can be pulled or let out with a buckle to change the difficulty of the bicycle. The machine hardly looks safe, but it must have passed numerous safety inspections to still be around.
action: You take the strap
response: It's part of the bike.
action: You cut the strap with scissors
response: There's no reason to deface the hospital's property; they'll have enough to fix.
action: You examine table
response: A medical massage table, slightly different from massage tables for fun. There is heating and cooling packs and machinery.
action: You examine the ball
response: Bouncy, large rubber balls for doing yoga and various other kinds of exercise.
action: You check your inventory
response: You are carrying:
some pain pills
a flashlight
a face mask (being worn)
plastic light crap
a pair of scissors
a balloon
some batteries
a stretchy rubber rope
empty can
a water bottle
a handgun (loaded)
a security badge
a compass
a lab coat (being worn)
thick rubber gloves (being worn)
white boots (being worn)
action: Tie balloon to flashlight
response: After sitting in the Gift Shop for so long, it's lost a lot of helium and is only barely afloat. It doesn't need to be anchored, and it definitely won't fly away with something, or even cause something else to fall slowly, so tying it to anything would be useless.
action: You look at Staircase
response: (the broken staircase)
Concrete stairs with parts missing. It looks easily climbable, but only with light.
action: You check your inventory
response: You are carrying:
some pain pills
a flashlight
a face mask (being worn)
plastic light crap
a pair of scissors
a balloon
some batteries
a stretchy rubber rope
empty can
a water bottle
a handgun (loaded)
a security badge
a compass
a lab coat (being worn)
thick rubber gloves (being worn)
white boots (being worn)
action: You examine the flashlight
response: A handheld light-spewing device, perfect for illuminating the darkness of night or basements.. Luckily enough, it came with batteries already inside.

The flashlight is off.
action: You put the flashlight in the coat
response: You put the flashlight into the lab coat.
action: You tie the rope to Staircase
response: (the broken staircase)
The rope isn't strong enough to hold your weight if that's what you were thinking, and anyway the rope's too short to be tied to the stairs AND reach down into the basement. Your best bet would be to simply tie the rope to whatever you want to lower into the basement and then manually lower it.
action: Tie the flashlight
response: What do you want to tie the flashlight to?
action: You tie the rope to the flashlight
response: Not a bad idea. Sadly, there's not a sturdy handle that you could tie the rope to, and a flashlight-on-a-rope would be too jiggly to do anything useful.
action: You get flashlight
response: You already have that.
action: You go to the north
response: An assortment of gifts and necessities, designed to milk more money out of patients and their visiting families. The place is quiet and poorly lit, lending to a dystopian atmosphere. There are rows and rows of low shelves containing gift cards, knick-knacks, flowers and balloons. The section containing flashlights, lamps and batteries.

You can go south to the the Entry Hall.
action: You examine the lamp
response: A shelf with a few electric lamps. Neat.
action: You take the lamp
response: You stow one of the lamps away. It's wrapped in that annoyingly tough plastic wrapping.
action: You cut the lamp wrapping
response: You cut that annoying plastic crap off the lamp. You flick it on, then off. Looks like it came with batteries. Huh.
action: You check your inventory
response: You are carrying:
plastic lamp crap
an electric lamp
a flashlight (providing light)
some pain pills
a face mask (being worn)
plastic light crap
a pair of scissors
a balloon
some batteries
a stretchy rubber rope
empty can
a water bottle
a handgun (loaded)
a security badge
a compass
a lab coat (being worn)
thick rubber gloves (being worn)
white boots (being worn)
action: You look at the lamp
response: (the electric lamp)
A modern version of the hand-held, swinging lamp with a handle. Luckily enough, it came with batteries already inside.

The electric lamp is off.
action: You tie the rope to handle
response: You secure the stretchy rubber rope to the sturdy handle of the lamp.
action: You tie the rope to the flashlight
response: (the flashlight)
You would achieve nothing by this.
action: You turn on the lamp
response: (the electric lamp (tied))
The lamp radiates a low level of light in all directions.
action: Lower lamp
response: (the electric lamp (tied))
You slowly lower the lamp down, peering into the basement. The lamp illuminates the room; you can see that there are three rooms extending out from the basement. Even with the stretch of the rope, the lamp doesn't make it all the way down. Since it's only about half a foot from the ground, you let the lamp fall. It lightly clatters, and nothing happens. It must be safe to go down.
action: Go downward
response: From what little light there is, you can tell that the lightbulbs have all been smashed. Perhaps there used to be power here, but someone has made sure that this place would be dark. There are monstrous file cabinets that have been piled up in front of the door, leaving only a small opening to the furnace room. There are deep scuff marks leading from the Room of Records to the barricade.

You can go north to the Janitor Closet, south to the Furnace Room, northeast to the Room of Records, or up to the First Floor Staircase.
action: You look at the cabinets
response: Stacks of rusted, ancient metal cabinets block the southern exit to the furnace room. They've been hauled out from the room of records that have been hauled up upon one another into a crude pyramid. There is a small opening at the top of the file cabinet barricade.
action: You open the cabinets
response: They're locked, and full of boring records anyway.
action: Go north
response: Hospitals have to be sanitary, and that means plenty of janitors constantly cleaning and disinfecting. Not properly a closet, this thing is a full room. There is an arsenal of brooms, mops, cleaning supplies, and a floor waxer.

You can go south to the Basement.
action: You examine the waxer
response: A beast of a machine, this baby looks like it could haul.
action: You look at the mops
response: The stereotypical heavy-duty industrial grade mop. It reeks of cleaning solutions, even after several days of drying and airing out.
action: You look at the brooms
response: A wide, fuzzy industrial-grade broom. This thing is pushed along corridors, and is quite different from the classic straw job you imagine you have at your home.
action: You examine supplies
response: You can see jugs of bleach, jugs of ammonia, standard glass, wood and stainless steel cleaners.
action: Ride waxer
response: You can't bring it out; the thing runs on electricity and has lost its charge. There's no way to charge it either, with all of the electrical sockets down here not working.
action: You examine the bleach
response: A huge jug of bleach with an easy-to-grasp-handle.
action: You take the bleach
response: You grab the jug of bleach by its handle and toss it in your pockets.
action: You examine the ammonia
response: A huge jug of ammonia with an easy-to-grasp handle..
action: You take the ammonia
response: You grab the jug by the handle and toss the ammonia in your pockets.
action: You open the bleach
response: You completely remove the cap of the bleach.
action: Open ammonia
response: You completely remove the cap of the ammonia.
action: Go south
response: From what little light there is, you can tell that the lightbulbs have all been smashed. Perhaps there used to be power here, but someone has made sure that this place would be dark. There are monstrous file cabinets that have been piled up in front of the door, leaving only a small opening to the furnace room.

You can go north to the Janitor Closet, south to the Furnace Room, northeast to the Room of Records, or up to the First Floor Staircase.
action: You go to the north-east
response: A massive room that was filled with shelves and file cabinets. It is evident that a large number of old file cabinets are simply not here any more; there is way too much space near the entrance of the room and you can see the indents on the floor where the file cabinets used to be. There are also huge scuff marks leading from various empty spaces and converging on the exit. You marvel at the amount of effort this must have taken. At the back of the room is an electrical panel.

You can go southwest to the Basement.
action: You examine the panel
response: A standard grey electrical panel. It is securely screwed shut, for safety you'd imagine. You remember that you have a toolbox in the trunk of your car; that should come in handy.
action: Go south
response: You cautiously climb the file cabinets towards the small opening at the top - making an awful racket of it. You are greeted with a cool and collected male disembodied voice, "Back away, or I'll shoot you."

You hear a muffled cry coming from deep behind the opening; but you can't risk going in there. You carefully back away from the small opening, not getting a glimpse at the clearly crazed survivor.
action: You talk to the survivor
response: All you get is curses. He is quite determined to keep you out. You could always try asking him about something, but it doesn't
action: You ask the survivor about himself
response: "Get out of here with your crazy talk."
action: You ask the survivor about the zombies
response: "They're all going to be turned, into the darkness, into the abomination. Zombie. Ha! That word doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the deep-seated evil of these creatures. Not to mention their ferocity. They never sleep, never rest, always come and are always hungry. They'll keep coming, nothing can stop them. Only people. Burn before the forest fire. You're already one. They are all already one. Go burn."
action: You tell the survivor about the cancer
response: He's safely on the other side of that barricade making most interactions a bit tricky. The only way through is that small hole. Maybe if you had some knockout gas, you could actually get in there.
action: You throw the bleach into the hole
response: You lob the bleach at the opening, and hear a bloink and splish as the liquid spills out. You hear a string of curses from the other side as the liquid glubs out of the jug.
action: You throw the ammonia into the hole
response: You lob the ammonia at the opening, and hear a bloink and splish as the liquid spills out. You hear a string of curses from the other side as the liquid glubs out of the jug.

Fitful coughing and curses comes from the Furnace Room, followed a sharp thud and then silence. You expected to hear a hissing reaction or even smell something off, but there was no special noise, and no special smell from the toxic combination of the two cleaning liquids.
action: You go south
response: Well, you dispatched of the loon, but if you're not careful, you'll hoist yourself by your own petard. You're not going in there with that toxic gas, find a way to get rid of it.
action: You throw the balloon
response: You drop the balloon. You hope you remember where you put it.
action: You wear the mask
response: You're already wearing that!
action: Go east
response: You've put a lot of effort into barricading up the outside doors; you'd have to move the bench and the coffee table back before being able to go outside.
action: You move the table
response: You remove the barricade, returning both the coffee table and the bench to the original spots. The coast looks clear enough outside.
action: You go to the east
response: You are outside again, for the first time in.... well, you are not sure how long. You wish you could feel the sun, but the thick fog carpets everything; you can barely tell that it is indeed daytime outside. You are now certain that you see shapes moving in the distance and feel hesitant to move much further from the safety of the hospital.

You can go south to the Parking Lot or west to the Entry Hall.

There seems to be an unusually large amount of stumbling towards you. Moans all around you fill the air. With panic, you realize they must be drawn to your light. You whimper as the increased shuffling of feet and moaning all point to them being attracted to you.
action: Go east
response: You are outside again, for the first time in.... well, you are not sure how long. You wish you could feel the sun, but the thick fog carpets everything; you can barely tell that it is indeed daytime outside. You are now certain that you see shapes moving in the distance and feel hesitant to move much further from the safety of the hospital.

You can go south to the Parking Lot or west to the Entry Hall.
action: Go south
response: An open and sprawling patch of asphalt packed with cars. Many have been broken into and a few have crashed. The fog is so thick that you cannot see more than one area of the lot at a time. You can hear afflicted people shuffling around between rows of cars. You can see your Volvo with a zombified occupant trapped inside, clawing at the window, unsure how to open the door.

It looks like somebody tried to take advantage of your habit of leaving the car unlocked, but turned before getting the chance to escape. It probably wouldn't have done her any good anyway, you have no idea where your keys ended up, and a car would attract lots of attention, until it ran out of gas.

You can go north to The Hospital Exterior.
action: You look at the car
response: (the Volvo car)
A rather normal looking Volvo wagon: it appears as if the car thief... turned while relaxing or hiding or trying to drive away in your car, you're not sure which. The occupant is now clawing at the window, staring through with glassy eyes, unable to figure a way out. It doesn't look like she has your keys, and they're not in the ignition. You worry about her being able to break the window or claw the door handle open, so you do your best to keep your distance and hide.

Looking more closely, you can see a toolbox in the Volvo's trunk.
action: You open the trunk
response: The hinges on the door squeak loudly as you swing the trunk up and open. You notice that inside the trunk is a toolbox. More importantly at the moment, however is the fact that zombified occupant hears and twists her head to see. She hisses and claws at the seats. You feel confident that the seat belt will hold her in place until you hear a snap. It appears the woman was more injured than you initially assessed; she had a large part of her midsection missing. Lacking internal organs, or pesky connecting tissue, the change in pressure from her turning to look at you has snapped her spine.

Leaving her legs in the seat and pulling up on the shoulders of the seats, she heaves her torso through the car. For a moment positions herself between the two seats, staring at you and the newly developed exit. She hesitates for a moment.
action: You shoot zombie
response: You steady your aim and fire. You haven't ever had much practice, but you apparently have great aim at such close range. You shoot the zombie square in the head. She reels back with a screech and flops down, completely incapacitated.

The sound of the gunshot echoes loudly through the parking lot, breaking the silence. No birds fly up, but the sound of the vengeful dead does. You hear one moan, then another and another from the mist. The sound of aimless shuffling increases, only now it doesn't seem quite so aimless.
action: You take the toolbox
response: Taken.

You hear deep and anguished moans fill the air from all around you. The sound drowns out everything else, or at least it would if there were any other sounds. The chorus of the undead harmonizes quite perfectly with your growing sense of despair.
action: You go to the north
response: You are outside and the thick fog carpets everything; you can barely tell that it is indeed daytime outside. You are now certain that you see shapes moving in the distance and feel hesitant to move much further from the safety of the hospital.

You can go south to the Parking Lot or west to the Entry Hall.

You can hear the gentle shuff of feet and limbs being dragged along the ground mixed with the occasional clomp of a heavy shoe or heel. There are occasional thuds of zombies dropping to the ground and raising themselves up again. The sound of massive amounts of undead lumbering towards you fills the air and echoes against the building structures.
action: You go to the west
response: The grand entrance to the Calypso Hospital, dead bodies hang from ropes tied to the previously majestic arches and pillars. There is a series of abandoned check-in counters. There are various benches along the hallway, as well as couches and a small table littered with magazines. The large glass sliding door to the outside displays a thick, ominous fog. You think you see figures moving in the fog, but then again, you might just be playing tricks on yourself.

You can go north to the Gift Shop, south to the Pharmacy, east to the Hospital Exterior, west to the First Floor Hallway and northwest to the Physical Therapy room.

The entrance doors of the hospital close behind you. Luckily, the horde seems too dumb to pursue you further. You breathe a sigh of relief. Still, it couldn't hurt to bolster your defenses.
action: You open the toolbox
response: Opening the toolbox, you see a screwdriver and a tire pressure reader. You immediately take out the screwdriver, as it will almost certainly come in handy.
action: You look at the tire pressure reader
response: Attach it to tires, read the pressure. While it might help you save gas mileage in normal situations, it's absolutely useless in a zombie invasion.
action: Go west
response: A central hub of nondescript, pristinely sterile hospital hallway.

You can go north to the Radiation Controls, south to the Elevator, east to the Hospital Entry, west to the Cafeteria or southwest to the First Floor Staircase.
action: You go northeast
response: It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing.

A collective moan arises from the rest of the city. It echoes and is joined by more moans until a distance or origin point is simply indeterminable. The voice of the despairing dead slowly peter out, but their message for you remains. They are determined, and they do not sleep, and they are always hungry, always desperate.
action: You turn on the flashlight
response: It emits a strong beam of light.

A massive room that was filled with shelves and file cabinets. At the back of the room is an electrical panel.

You can go southwest to the Basement.
action: Unscrew panel
response: You loosen the screws on the panel and set them carefully on the floor. Your clumsy feet promptly manage to knock them under a nearby file cabinet. They are forever lost. Oh, well.

Inside the electrical panel is a row of circuit breakers.
action: You examine the breakers
response: You see 10 circuit breakers. It appears that the emergency power was automatically engaged, and powered sections of the hospital were maintained manually with this panel.

The circuit breakers are: air conditioning (off), east (off), emergency power (on), fire sprinklers (off), furnace (on), MRI machine (on), north (off), radiation chamber (on), south (off), west (off).
action: You turn on the air conditioning
response: You let it run for a bit, but then realize that the toxic liquids in the furnace room will continue to evaporate and fill the room with deadly gas. The furnace room is still deadly.
action: You turn on fire sprinklers
response: You turn on the fire sprinklers. You glance out into the basement and see water streaming down. You can only imagine that water is similarly raining down on the rest of the hospital as well. You let it run for 30 seconds before shutting off; there is only a small reserve of emergency water, and you imagine that piped water won't be working to replace it anytime soon. You are certain you have washed away the toxic ammonia and bleach, but you are still worried about the chlorine gas that remains.
action: You turn on the fire sprinklers
response: You turn on the fire sprinklers. You glance out into the basement and see water streaming down. You can only imagine that water is similarly raining down on the rest of the hospital as well. You let it run for 30 seconds before shutting off; there is probably only a small reserve of emergency water.
action: You turn on the air conditioning
response: The whirr of mechanical fans fills the air with an intense cold blast. After letting it run for 15 minutes, you are certain enough that the chlorine gas has been throughly dissipated.
action: Go south
response: You climb through the barricade and survey the room. The room is softly lit by the lights from a huge heating furnace with plenty of pipes. The most salient feature of the room, however is a row of bodies, neatly laid from north to south. There is also a closet that is closed. There are muffled cries originating from the closet. You also see the fallen body of a grey-haired man in his late forties curled up on the floor.

You can go north to the Basement.
action: You examine man
response: A kind-faced man, you have difficulty believing that this person could be a mass killer. He wears the uniform of a nurse; and you see a name tag with a smiley face. He is unmoving and unbreathing; if he's not dead yet, he will be dead soon. A set of keys is poking out from his jacket pocket.
action: You take keys
response: Taken.
action: You examine the bodies
response: A few of them look as though they were in the middle of turning, but most of them seemed to be just normal people who were killed. The freshly-killed bodies look like people posing for some sort of macabre photoshoot; they certainly all look happy enough. One of them has an odd smile, and you realize that the person who arrange their bodies also tweaked their facial muscles.
action: Shoot man
response: Not taking any chances, you take the time to properly aim at the head and pull the trigger. You see the disgusting aftermath of bits of skull flying everywhere, and a lot of blood pooling. You feel sick, but much safer.
action: You open the cabinet
response: They're all locked.
action: You look at the man
response: A kind-faced man, you have difficulty believing that this person could be a mass killer. He wears the uniform of a nurse; and you see a name tag with a smiley face. He is unmoving and unbreathing; if he's not dead yet, he will be dead soon.
action: Look around
response: The room is softly lit by the lights from a huge heating furnace with plenty of pipes. The most salient feature of the room, however is a row of bodies, neatly laid from north to south. There is also a closet that is closed. There are muffled cries originating from the closet. You also see the fallen body of a grey-haired man in his late forties curled up on the floor.

You can go north to the Basement.
action: You search man
response: Nothing but sheer crazy.

There is nothing on the grey-haired man.
action: You open Closet
response: To your surprise, you find a young man in his twenties gagged and chained up to an especially sturdy pipe; he silently recoils at the sight of you, not even daring to whimper. Tears flow down his dirtied face and stick to his ear-length sandy blonde hair.
action: You untie the man
response: (the young man)
Fumbling through the keys with your thick gloves, you find a small key that looks like a good candidate and walk forward to unlock his chains. He stares as you with eyes perplexed, even long after it is clear that your only intentions are to unlock him. He relaxes slightly and sits still as you jam the key into the padlock and hear the comforting click. He rips off his gag and throws the duct tape away, gasping in pain. He immediately slumps into a relieved mass and whispers out a "thank you."

He then stares up at you with the sweetest, heart-warming smile. You blush and for the first time realize what a handsome man he is. You return the smile. Well, all that's left to do really is stay here and wait for the calvary.
action: You ask the man about himself
response: (the young man about that)
There is no reply.

You hear muffled stamping and shouts coming from upstairs in the hospital. You both look up excitedly, doubting that help is actually on the way. You can hear occasional bursts of gunfire, and soon you can even hear shouts. You are pretty sure safety is on the way.
action: You ask the man about the old man
response: (the young man about that)
"I came into the hospital seeking refuge. He invited me to he safe zone, and was very friendly, even gave me some food. I still had my own, so I told him he could keep it. Then he, he I dunno he switched." You can see the horror in his eyes. "He started mumbling about order and shoved me through this hole, when I saw all the bodies I tried to run, but he just tackled me and slammed my head hard. I woke up chained, and heard him cursing at the barricade.".

You hear shouts coming from the other side of the barricade, warning you to stay away from the entrance. The young man stands up and turns to you. "Listen, I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but it's sure as hell they won't know either. You're in danger, you're likely to be blamed. They won't..." he falters, tears brimming as he wipes them away. "They won't attack me" he tells you, less than confidently. "because I look like a victim."

You glance at his wrists, and the tale they immediately tell. The rows of bodies sure do look bad. Your fellow companion walks towards the file cabinets and orders you to stay where you are. You try to object, but he hears none of it.
action: You tell the man about the cancer
response: (the young man about that)
There is no reply.

Suddenly, the top file cabinet is wrenched back and a S.W.A.T. member runs through the top pile of doors. After only glancing at the pile of bodies, he swings his rifle up at you. "What the hell is going on." he demands. Shock and adrenaline pump through you. Your eyes widen and your nostrils flare. You automatically switch to a combative stance and an image of pouncing him and disarming him of that rifle briefly flashes through your mind.

Luckily, your companion has better kept his wits about him, and he immediately intervenes: stepping into the line of fire and telling how you saved him from a crazed survivor. He explains that the crazed survivor was the one who killed everyone trying to contain the infection. More S.W.A.T. members pour in and similarly aim their weapons at you. None are aiming at your companion. You're now effectively surrounded by your supposed rescuers.

Uncertain, the S.W.A.T. member yells at you to drop your gun, and points his assault rifle at you with more vigor.
action: You drop the gun
response: You drop the handgun. The S.W.A.T. member visibly relaxes.

After complying with their orders, the members of the S.W.A.T. remain uncertain. They radio for backup. One of the team members cautiously walks up to you. "Do you know... who... what you are?" Confused, all you can do is shake your head. One of the other members starts digging through a pack and procures a tactical mirror, handing it over. Hesitantly, you look at yourself in the mirror. Your skin is mottled and was decomposing at some point, but now has a weathered, preserved look. There is a rather large gash on your forehead that has been bandaged. Helplessly you stare at the reflection you want not to be your own, but that matches you at every turn. You drop the mirror and start to cry. No tears come; you are physically incapable.

The young man whom you saved sees your distress, comes over and embraces you, not caring that his skin touches yours. The guns are all lowered and you hear a cacophony of clicks. Radiation kills the neuro-virus, and you realize the significance of you waking up in a radiation chamber. Noticing that you are lost in your thoughts, you glance around at a room of confused S.W.A.T members. Taking advantage of the uncertainty, you dramatically rise up, "I am an infected who has been to madness and back and I can save them all." A bit cheesier than you had intended, but it gets the job done.

You guide the hesitant doctors and scientist through the hospital's notes. Thanks to you, the infection policy is changed after a week. While people's sanities are restored, their skin maintains the same pale, mottled and rotting look. The legal status of the new undead becomes annoyingly uncertain as intolerance finds its newest schism. You become a poster child for zombie tolerance, equality and reason, starting a new non-profit organization designed to fight legal discrimination.

Your wound never heals and your hair never grows out, and to the chagrin of the vegetarian inside you, all you can eat is meat. The young man you rescued, Mark Cayman, remains a true friend and ally in the fight for zombie equality. A few days ago, he asked you to a restaurant with strong hints that it might be about more than politics, and you are excited. You feel elatedly triumphant about all you have accomplished.