Johnny knelt down beside his grandpa. He was unconscious, but alive. That was good, at least. What wasn’t good was how the floor had opened up underneath him and then closed just as suddenly, effectively trapping him alone away from his friends. If he had heard Ash and Paul’s last words right, then the monster had succeeded in isolating them too, meaning all three of them were alone in this maze of a hospital, waiting to be picked off and killed. In that case, the best thing to do would be to try to find his friends again, but logic told him the monster would do its best to make sure that didn’t happen.

            At least they all had weapons. Johnny eyed the shotgun his grandpa had been holding. The old man hadn’t trusted Johnny with it, but he hadn’t counted on the fact that he would be taken out of the picture so quickly. Johnny pried the gun from the man’s hands and dropped the sword. He would’ve taken both, but one arm was already occupied with holding onto his grandpa. He couldn’t leave him alone here unconscious.

            Now, he thought. Where should I go? He was in a long, dusty hallway lined with exam rooms on either side. I could hole up in one of those and try to defend myself, but then I’d be trapped in there with whatever this monster is when it eventually finds me. No, I should keep moving forward. Maybe I’ll run into Paul, then we can try to make our way back upstairs and find Ash. It was to be slow going, but he managed to heft his grandpa up so he was leaning on his shoulder and start to make his way down the dark hallway. He could see windows at the end of the hall leading outside, but they seemed to be boarded up. He doubted escape would be that easy this time, and anyway he couldn’t leave his friends here to be hunted. The only thing to do was keep moving. He saw a spider skitter under one of the doors, a plump black thing with long, spindly legs. Eugh, he thought.

            Suddenly, there was a chittering behind him, like a million tiny screams all fighting for attention. And it was getting closer. Johnny glanced back and saw that the hallway behind him had turned black, around a hundred feet back. The walls started to twist and roll, and the mass began to crawl rapidly toward him. Oh, you’ve gotta be fricking kidding me, he thought. On millions of tiny legs, the spiders raced towards him, the chittering growing louder and louder until it was nearly deafening.

            Johnny ran. Dragging his grandpa behind him as fast as he could go, he sprinted down the hall to the nearest exam room door. It was locked. Of course it’s locked. The mass was getting closer. Desperately, he took the shotgun and pulled the trigger towards the spiders. The weapon was not meant to be wielded one-handed and his arm burst into pain, but the army of tiny creatures seemed to recoil a bit. He took the opportunity to race towards the end of the hall and turned the corner, sliding on the dust as he went. There was a door at the end of this hallway; it seemed different than the rest. Please don’t be locked, please, please don’t be locked, he pleaded to himself. He reached the door and threw his shoulder against it. To his relief, it burst open. He tumbled through it and landed hard on the ground, scrambling up and slamming the door shut behind him. It had a deadbolt on it, which he immediately slammed to the other side.

            The door shook violently as his pursuers slammed against it. He could hear them on the other side. Their chittering was loud now, so loud. It was deafening, it was roaring in Johnny’s ears. He felt like they were all around him, though he couldn’t see them. They were on his clothes, they were under his skin, they were crawling in his ears, they were in his brain. He dropped the gun in fear and closed his eyes shut.

            And then they stopped. The room was eerily silent. Johnny slowly walked up to the door and, with a shaky hand, unlocked the deadbolt and peeked out. The hallway was empty; there was no sign anything had been there. What now? Was the monster just messing with him? He locked the door back up, just to be safe, and turned around. His grandpa was lying on the ground where Johnny had tossed him when he entered the room.

            And standing directly above him was a man. He was tall, probably nearing six and a half feet, wearing a dark, well-fitted suit and with a smooth, bald head. His hands were clasped in front of him as though he was praying and his mouth was frowning, his teeth grit tight. He looked like an ordinary man, if a bit imposing, except for one thing.

            Where his eyes should have been, there was nothing. Two black pits stared directly at Johnny, boring into him like lasers. He said nothing, simply stood there and stared at Johnny. Even without pupils, Johnny could tell where the man was looking. After what seemed an eternity, the man spoke, his voice like a grindstone.

            “Aren’t you sleepy?” the man said. “Won’t you let me borrow your eyes?”

***

            Ash was alone in a dark room. The sun was long gone now and the small amount of light that shone from the night outside gave her little comfort. She was lost in a maze of curtains with no way out and something was coming. She could feel it. She had felt it from the moment the floor had closed up and the door locked behind her, sealing her off from help. There was something in this maze with her, watching her.

            She held the gun that Grandpa Tuesday had given her with shaky hands. It was a comfort, even if only a small one. It holds six shots, he had told her. I don’t know how effective they’ll be, so make them count. She swiveled as she walked, trying to cover every angle. The monster could come from anywhere. The curtains surrounded her. It felt like they were closing in, suffocating her. Every now and then, she could swear she saw movement behind one of them out of the corner of her eye, but it always turned out to be nothing.

            Or maybe it wasn’t. Maybe the monster was doing this on purpose, tormenting her, trying to drive her into a panic and let her guard down before it struck. The only exit was sealed and Ash didn’t think she could find it again even if she wanted to. It wouldn’t allow her to find it anyways. It was hunting her; it wanted her to be lost.

            There was no way out, no way to survive. It could see her every move, but she couldn’t see it. There was no way to win. Brute force was impossible, hiding was not an option. How does prey escape a predator?

            They outsmart it.

            The key was to look scared, helpless, as if she had nothing to lose. She quickened her breathing, began darting her eyes more quickly, almost to the point of making herself dizzy. It wouldn’t do to overact, she thought. Then again, terrified people do strange things. So she decided to throw a few whimpers in for good measure. If it wants to see me scared, I should be making it real happy right about now. How long do I keep this up for, though? Most people wouldn’t be able to stay in a state like this for very long, right? Maybe it’s time I go for it.

            This was the moment of truth. She screamed and threw open one of the curtains. This was the gamble. As expected, there was nothing there. Just a bed with thin covers and an IV stand. She could feel it now though. Its eyes were right on her. She could feel it creeping up behind her, its footsteps quiet but not silent. Its hot breath was on her neck. Every hair felt like it was standing on end. She needed to time this perfectly, otherwise she would die. It was getting closer, closer, closer.

            She turned on her heel, bringing the gun up to eye level. It was the woman from that night, grinning maniacally at her, dead skin flaking off her face like dust. Her long, black hair hung down her head like a wet mop. The needle in her hand was inches away from Ash’s face. For a moment, the woman faltered, an expression of shock flashing across her. That was all Ash needed. She pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.

            With a sound like a massive firework, Ash’s gun fired, the bullet tearing through the woman’s throat, propelling the two in opposite directions. Ash crashed onto the hospital bed, the other woman flying through one of the curtains. Dazed, Ash scrambled to her feet. It wouldn’t do to let her guard down now. Ash approached the crazed monster, who was now thrashing on the ground. Suddenly, Ash’s stomach lurched. Suddenly, it hit her that she had been assuming that this lady wasn’t human. What if she was? She could have been homeless, mentally ill maybe. And Ash had just shot her.

            The woman was rolling around on the ground, her mouth flapping open and shut as she tried to speak. Warily, Ash stepped closer until she was standing over her. She appeared to be trying to say something, but could only choke and gasp.

            Suddenly, their eyes met and the woman’s eyes were filled with heightened ferocity. She sprang up like a tiger, knocking Ash off balance, the gun flying from her hands. She was tackled to the ground, the smiling woman on top of her, pinning her arms down. It was then that Ash noticed her throat. She had shot a hole clean through her throat, and yet there was not a single drop of blood. Ash’s momentary relief that she was not, after all, a murderer was heavily outweighed by the overwhelming sense of terror she felt. The syringe was between the woman’s teeth. Helpless, Ash could only watch as it was brought closer and closer to her face.

***