Chapter 48 June 23rd, 2032 | Day Zero | Marysworth Hospital

—Five Hours Before—

Evalyn touched down on Marysworth Hospital's rooftop with a beating heart. The sight she saw from above immediately became real when the skycruiser's hatch opened, and a cacophony of insults, crying, and screams exploded in her ears.

Since they were on the roof, Evalyn could see the scene on the ground from a bird's-eye view.

Thousands of people clashed with riot control forces at the hospital gates. Their riot shields were under full pressure, and the task force members switched out to prevent excessive fatigue.

"Fuck you, rich people!" A man screamed, "My family's dying and you're only admitting the rich? You make me sick!"

"Please, help my daughter!" A woman screamed.

"Stand back! We won't warn you again!" One of the riot control members warned.

"Shut the fuck up, pig!" The first man yelled while pushing through the crowd.

A riot team member walked up to the area with pepper spray and doused everyone present.

The rioters screamed in pain, causing panic. Aggressive men saw the scene, and their blood boiled uncontrollably.

"You just pepper sprayed my daughter! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Another man yelled, rushing forward.

Dozens of others followed suit, trampling men, women, and children that fell during the pepper-spraying.

The man yelling about his daughter lost his sense of reason, rushing forward and stepping onto her without noticing.

Evalyn watched the scene in horror. An icy breeze filled the atmosphere as her mind instinctively pushed to create a blade to help free the small child.

However, Kaze's words from the night before filled her head.

—

What did you want me to do? Risk my life to heal her when she can't handle a basic sight of the apocalypse? Or did you wish me to kill the man and wait for the next round of desperate men to try?

—

"She's dead…." She whispered in disbelief. The atmosphere returned to normal temperature as the blonde stared at the small girl gasping for breath as men and women trampled her.

How many bodies? How many bodies would she need to stack up to help the girl?

One of the riot control team members pushed back at full power on the man, freeing the young woman.

However, when he tried to kneel to save her, countless people poured around the hospital side since he broke the formation.

Ratatatat! Ratatatat! Ratatatat!

Panicked screams erupted in the area as soldiers with machine guns shot the people flooding into the area. Bodies hit the ground, and countless wounded men and women screamed on the ground in pain.

The riot team immediately closed the ranks in an instant, leaving the man trying to help the young girl out.

"Evalyn."

The riot control member tried to get back in, but the riot team pushed back against him.

"Evalyn."

A mob of angry people pulled the man back into the area and stomped the man to death next to the young woman.

"Evalyn!"

Evalyn jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned to the man next to her with a choppy motion.

"You're mothers in danger." A pilot said with a pained expression, "Focus on your family first; they're your responsiblity."

"Okay, Pac." She nodded with a shaky body and began walking to the door. Two military members with assault rifles greeted the two.

"Papers." A soldier gruffed.

Pac gave the soldier the document allowing them entrance into the building.

"Move through quarantine when you get in. Someone will come to meet you within the hour." The soldier said.

Pac nodded and then turned to the blonde. "Come on, Evalyn. Let's go."

She nodded and followed the man through the door. They walked into a quarantining area where a doctor checked them for symptoms.

Thankfully, it was still unknown what caused Qi Sickness. As a result, no one asked about her level of cultivation.

It was a fortuitous development. Kaze told her to keep a low profile, and she planned to do just that.

After waiting an hour in a waiting room, a female doctor entered the room.

"Are you Evalyn Skye?" The brunette woman with a long disheveled ponytail asked. She had black bags under her eyes and appeared to be running on adrenaline alone.

"Yes. That's me." Evalyn replied after dry swallowing.

"My name is Doctor Myers. I'll take you to Reina Skye now." Doctor Myers announced hesitantly.

"Before you enter, I'm informing you that your father was detained last night while attempting to… it's best you just see."

The blonde's eyes widened in shock as flashbacks of the night before flashed before her eyes.

She remembered the irrationality of the students, which was far less abstract than the random desperate people rioting outside. "Y-Yes. Please take me to her."

Doctor Myers nodded and led her down multiple corridors on the eighth floor.

The hospital had a pulse; screaming filled the halls from people in pain from physical wounds or the sickness breaking their minds.

Countless doctors and nurses ran past them to get medication or sedate patients who were losing control. It was a hectic zoo.

"And get more Midazolam!" A nurse yelled to a woman in purple scrubs running down the hall.

The running nurse stopped and turned around. "We're out of Midazolam!"

"It doesn't matter what it is! Just bring a benzodiazepine!" The standing nurse in green scrubs snapped.

"If we're out of anxiolytics, bring a non-painkiller sedative! It doesn't matter what it is! We need to calm this woman down; she bit someone already!

We need to stop her before she hurts someone or herself!"

Evalyn's mind clouded over in fear and anxiety when Kaze's warnings flooded into her mind again.

—

... they're pumping the world full of [Qi] in high quantities. Soon people will die or go insane, leading to people that attack people randomly like zombies.

—

She took sharp breaths, attempting to control her racing heart, beating out of control in her chest. The world started feeling dizzy from lack of oxygen.

"Hurry up, and we need to go." Doctor Myers gruffed, "This is a normal scene here right now. The floor we're on is the safest and most privileged in the hospital; the seven floors below us are far worse. So get over it so I can continue my work."

Evalyn snapped back to focus and nodded. "Yes, mam."

They walked through the halls until they reached room H118. It was located in a small, highly isolated hallway reserved for the ultra-rich elites away from the rest of the hall.

Her mother and father met that bracket easily, and her mom made it in because she was afflicted two days ago, before the fourth Qi influx that triggered the events unfolding.

There were large, soundproof reinforced glass walls in the hall that showcased the riots in the streets. However, the doctor didn't even look outside the windows anymore.

Doctor Myers opened the room apathetically and let Evalyn and Pac walkthrough.

The blonde cupped her hands off her mouth when she saw the dark purple bruising on her mother's neck. "W-What…."

"Your father was found strangling her." Pac said solemnly, "I wanted to make sure she was alive before telling you."

Evalyn rushed to her mother's side but slowed down when she reached the woman's side. She gently grabbed the woman's hand. "Is she just asleep?"

Doctor Myer shook her head. "She's been heavily sedated with Midazolam, an anti-anxiety, because she wouldn't stop panicking this morning, and we needed to focus on other patients."

The blonde's eyes trembled. "Can you force her to wake up? I'm sure you need the extra bed, and we have a skycruiser to take her away."

"That's true; we do need the bed." The doctor cringed, "However, we're awaiting a directive from the government. We cannot legally release a sedated patient."

"These are times of crisis!" Evalyn cried with trembling eyes.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Doctor Meyers snapped with bloodshot eyes, "We're waiting for a directive allowing us to take emergency actions.

Normally, releasing a patient who can't walk for half a day after waking is unheard of, so you're asking for a lot."

Evalyn turned away in shame. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get her out of this place. It's…."

The overworked doctor turned away bitterly. "A lethal warzone?"

The blonde swallowed nervously. "Yes."

"Look, just stay here. Someone will let you know when you can take your mom away." Doctor Myers said while walking out the door aggressively.

? Pac looked at the young woman with a pained expression.

"Evalyn, I need to go. I need to move the Skycruiser, but I'll be waiting for your call to pick you up when you get word."

Evalyn nodded solemnly, choking back tears. "Okay, Pac. Thank you."

The man left the room, and she sat down next to her mother. She held the woman's hand with tears streaming down her eyes. "Please, mom. Wake up; otherwise, I can't bring you with me."

She fell asleep crying, sitting in her chair, holding her mother's hand, and praying to anyone or anything listening that they'd allow her to leave in time.

Craasssh!

An unknown amount of time passed before her eyes snapped open from a loud sound forced her to wake. The sound of screaming followed immediately after, sending her heart racing, pounding in an erratic, offbeat rhythm.

—

[A/N: Thank Magicbeer for sponsoring today's second chapter! Thanks for the review, kind words, and consistent readership. You've saved everyone from cliffhanger hell. ;)]