[Receptionist table; located in the middle of the hallway of the third floor…]

“No… That can’t be…” Samantha said as she slumped against the receptionist's table.

“Unfortunately, that’s the reality of his fate,” Louis replied solemnly.

“Where…” Samantha hesitated, “Where did you see him?”

“At the first floor.”

“Why was he there? How…” Samantha trailed off.

“It was strange, to be honest. There were a couple of dozen people on the first floor despite it being closing hours for the facility. Most of the people were visitors, and a few were orderlies. There were even several patients there.”

“What? How can that be?! Even during normal visiting hours, no patient is allowed to be on the first floor unless they’re being discharged! As far as I know, no one is scheduled to be discharged anytime soon!” Samantha retorted. 

“Look. I’m merely relaying to you what I saw. You can ask Jared to confirm the facts if you don’t believe me.”

Jared nodded wordlessly when Samantha turned to meet his gaze.

“I…” Samantha whimpered as if she had been slapped.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jared said awkwardly as he patted Samantha’s shoulder.

Although Jared held no ill will toward Doctor Alister and the other orderlies, he will not mourn over the lives lost--- seeing that these were the same people who either facilitated his torture or were well aware of his circumstance and still treated him like an insane person.

‘Then again, the idea of there being an alternate world, be it actually being a game or reality is unfathomable for anybody. I too would’ve thought myself to be insane… However, that doesn’t mean that I should be tortured and treated worse than an animal… I was the only one in the entire facility treated this way…’

Jared sighed.

Even if he did not relish the possibility that the staff may have faced gruesome deaths, he was truly happy that those individuals were no longer able to torture him.

‘Well, that is assuming that this zombie plague is a global and not a remote thing…’

Jared glanced at Samantha who sniffled slightly.

‘Besides, Samantha is the sweetest person I know. I don’t like seeing her upset like this…’

Jared furrowed his eyebrows as a thought began to slowly gnaw at him. His hand, which was actively patting in an attempt to comfort Samantha, abruptly stopped.

‘Why were there zombies in the facility? We did see a couple of them coming from outside the property… Does that mean that the cause isn’t originated from this building?’

“Wait… This could be a global or at the least, a national event, right?” Jared asked as dread began to fill his heart.

“Yes, I would think so,” Louis replied.

“No…” Jared trailed off.

“What is it?” Samantha asked in concern.

“I… Is there a television here?”

“Yes, in the staff room on the second floor and on the sixth floor. But it could be safer to use the one on the sixth floor as I’m fairly certain that there no one is there…”

“Ah… Yes, I’ll go to the sixth floor. Where exactly is the television?”

“It’s in the staff lounge area, in the West Wing. I’ll come with you, but why are you asking?” Samantha called out as Jared started striding toward the fire escape door on the West Wing.

“To see if there’s a broadcast about this zombie plague,” Louis answered as they trailed after Jared.

“But wouldn’t it be better to call the police? Perhaps a family member or close friend?” Samantha asked as Louis huffed.

“What? Why are you acting so irritated?”

“I’d assumed that you cared enough to know about this… Hah… Jared cares about his mother. He probably wants to know if the entire nation is affected.”

“Oh… Even if she was the one who sent him here?”

“Yes, she’s the only one he’s got… Besides, love is a strange thing…”

“Hm… Then why doesn’t he call home?”

“Well, there are two reasons for that. One, he probably thinks that his mother would ignore his call, or rather, any call from this facility.”

The fire escape door, which was a few feet in front of Samantha and Louis, slammed shut. 

“That boy is really anxious now. I suggest that we pick up the pace,” Louis grumbled, and the two began to run.

“Hah… Hah… I don’t think that that reasoning is an issue. Jared’s mother apparently calls every week to check on Jared’s condition,” as the two began to run up the stairs.

“Oh? I had no idea… Why wasn’t Jared told about this? He was under the impression that his mother was ashamed of him.”

“We thought that it’ll upset him further by telling him that and then saying that he was still unable to be discharged. He still has some ways to go before the facility will finally approve of his release.”

“Come on. We both know that that is utter bullshit,” Louis said as the fire escape door on the sixth floor was slammed close. 

“That boy sure has a lot of stamina,” Louis growled, and Samantha could not help but giggle.

“Anyway, we both know that that’s a very poor excuse to keep the boy here,” Louis continued.

“Yes… Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it. All I can do is to make it as comfortable as I can for him… I’m just glad that he has someone like you to befriend him.”

“Someone like me?” Louis paused and looked at Samantha inquisitively.

“Yes, someone who is sane…”

“Ah, bless my soul~ Do you really think that I’m sane?” Louis asked teasingly in a sing-song manner.

“Uh… I take it back…” Samantha rolled her eyes in annoyance as Louis chuckled.

When the two reached the sixth floor, Jared was already standing at the end of the hallway, waving at them.

“Hurry up! I need your help to access the room! I don’t know the passcode!” Jared yelled.

“Coming!” Samantha yelled back.

Louis winced, “You’re certain that we’ll be the only ones up here, right?”

“Yes, don’t worry. Anyway, what’s the other reason?”

“Of what?”

“The second reason as to why he doesn’t call home.”

“Oh… Well… He no longer remembers the number…” 

 “No…”

“Unfortunately, yes…” Louis replied solemnly.

“Hey! What’s the passcode?” Jared asked as the two reached the door that led to the staff room, “Why do you both have such serious expressions?”

“O-Oh… We’re just… very tired… Haha…” Samantha replied awkwardly before proceeding to enter the passcode.

*Beep*

“Thanks,” Jared said as he rushed into the room. 

Upon seeing the interior of the room, Louis gave a low whistle.

Unlike the rooms in most of the facility, the room gave a warm and cozy feeling. There were thick rugs for the entire flooring and big pillow cushions on the couch. A rich-colored mahogany table stood in the middle of the room, not too far from a refrigerator and coffee machine. A large portion of the wall was taken up by an expensive-looking flat-screen television with abstract paintings hung on either side of it. 

All-in-all, it was as if the trio was transported into a completely different building. Even Samantha, who was a staff of the facility, could not help but sigh in admiration every time she entered the room. Oddly enough, the staff room on the sixth floor is the only room on the entire property that had such expensive decorations. Not even the staff room on the second floor could hold a candle to this room.

Jared, on the other hand, was neither concerned nor impressed with the elaborate decoration. He only had one thing in mind.

“Where is the remote control?” he mumbled as he checked the table, black-painted pinewood shelves, and even under the pillows of the couch. 

Louis, who spotted a landline telephone, picked up the handset to listen for a dial tone. However, there was only a static sound on the other end.

“Oh. That’s not good,” Louis muttered.

“Any service?” Samantha asked.

“No, it’s just all static…”

“What does that mean?” Samantha asked as she took the handset from him to listen.

“There’s some sort of interference. Probably electrical…”

“But wouldn’t an electrical inference cause a power outage of the facility as well?”

“No, that isn’t the case all of the time.”

“Ah…”

“Found it,” Jared exclaimed as he pressed the ‘power’ button.

When the television switched on, there was a news broadcast ongoing. A pretty brunette news anchor was in the midst of delivering the news.

“Oh… That’s not a good sign. There usually isn’t any news broadcast until about 6am,” Louis remarked.

“Shush!” Samantha hissed at Louis who grimaced.

[[Yes, thank you, Jimmy. We’re here with alarming news. Just a few hours ago, a riot broke out in the middle of a town. What was supposed to be a peaceful night turned into chaos after a man was witnessed biting another man to death. Not long after, many others within the same area began attacking people the same way. Could it be rabies? That isn’t for certain, but the scary thing is the fact that people from all around the world are beginning to showcase the same level of violent behavior. The governm-]]

The news broadcast abruptly ceased, and a blaring sound nearly deafened the trio.

There was a message on the screen.

[[This is an emergency broadcast. Riots and killings are taking place on the streets. The government has declared Martial Law. No one and no place is safe. Stay indoors and stay safe.]]