The creature's clawed hand approached Kale's face with a precise lethality akin to an assassin.
In fact, the aim was his jugular which showed that the creature seemed to have a form of knowledge as to human anatomy.
A loud bang fired off overhead as the creature's hand was centimeters away from his throat.
The claws diverted slightly as the body of the creature fell backwards and as such, dug into his chest and carved out a path.
With the clawed-out chest, the holes from the shrapnel, and the sonic attack, Kale had lost a lot of blood, and he was going to pay the price.
Most likely with his life.
A few figures rushed in on their position and lifted both him and Axel off the ground.
He wanted and tried to get a look at them but failed as black spots slowly filled and expanded in his vision.
Kale couldn't tell how much time had passed.
The only thing he noticed was the brief moments of consciousness that hit him before his awareness vanished.
But yet, despite his pitiful state, worry about his family still lodged itself into his subconscious and prompted his awakening.
His eyes flew open only to shut instantly as the bright white light from the bulb above him burned his retinas.
Images of the alert, the creature, all the way to his near-death filled his mind, and with them a surge of adrenaline.
He tried to stand to his feet but found his body unresponsive.
Unable to move or act immediately, his mind settled a bit. At least enough to question his surroundings.
The strong, pungent smell of disinfectants filled his nose.
That, coupled with the small, uncomfortable bed he was in and the white color of the walls, left him with one conclusion.
'A hospital? What happened and where is Axel?' Kale tried to get up again but like the previous time, his body was unresponsive.
"Am I paralyzed?!" The inability to move with leftover confusion made him assume the worst.
"Oh gods no, you are perfectly fine." A deep male's voice replied from outside the room door.
"We had to inject you with a strong neuro-depressant to calm your… erratic movements while unconscious." The man came into view.
He had pitch black hair with small circular glasses and the usual white lab coat worn by doctors.
He had a triangular face and appeared to be in his late twenties at most. It was quite surprising to see someone so young and so successful.
"Axel? Where is he?" Kale had finally calmed down a bit.
"My name's Doctor Stephan, thanks for asking."
Kale stared at him in silence.
"Ahem. Your friend is fine don't worry. He is in the room you both share. You'll be taken there after the depressant is naturally expelled from your body." Something about Doctor Stephan's words calmed him down.
The creature, losing consciousness and the thought that he had lost his friend had filled him with alarm.
"My family!! Where are they?!" He couldn't believe he had almost forgotten something so crucial.
"I don't know about any of your relatives. I only know of the patients that I take care of and so if you need me, call out Stephan, okay?" The Doctor nodded his head before walking out the door.
"Calm yourself, they are fine. If you could encounter that thing and survive, then their survival is surely guaranteed." Kale assured himself.
And so with the faint thought of the thing he had encountered, his mind unknowingly drifted to it in all its grotesque horror.
'What was that thing?' His mind started to race.
'Was it what the news anchor had been referring to?' He pondered but quickly debunked the idea.
Something has attacked the station mid-transmission.
The distance between the station and the place where they had encountered the creature was too great to be covered that soon.
The holes the explosion had left in his body. The claws of the thing.
Remembering the gash made to his chest, Kale instinctively looked at his chest and, much to his surprise, or rather not, he saw a bandage surrounding it.
'I am safe.' He sighed.
With the renewed calm came a new type of fear, uncertainty.
He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew for a fact that nothing would be the same.
In fact, he'd be lucky if he could go back to school. Not like he enjoyed it though.
'Axel would most likely be frustrated by the lack of school.' He jokes to himself to bring himself a sense of normalcy.
Even though he had just woken up from a trauma-induced coma, he still closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.
_____
Kale's eyes opened once more, this time not as suddenly as before.
He swung his legs over the bed and was pleasantly surprised that his legs actually moved.
'Doctor Stephan was right, I just needed to wait for my body to flush it out.'
Kale stood slowly to get his balance and after struggling with wobbly legs for about two minutes, he was ready.
Unfortunately, he only had the hospital gown as a form of clothing so he would probably have to sort that out.
Walking out of the room and into the hall, Kale tried to leave the hospital.
On his way, he passes by many rooms with either the doors slightly ajar or having a very revealing window.
Most of them had other 'survivors' but unlike him, most won't just leave with scars and memories.
The majority of them had lost at least one limb. He has even seen some with part of their skulls missing.
He doubted that the military would waste time on people like this if there was a better choice which implied that these were the best of the mess that was made.
Swallowing the bile that tried to run out of his mouth, Kale walked faster with his head down to avoid looking at another victim and soon found himself at the end of the hall.
Looking ahead, he saw one more room, the last one.
With no other choice, he entered, and a wave of coldness hit him.
His eyes immediately steeled on the bodies in the room. This was the morgue.
He tried to leave but his eyes unconsciously locked on a body that looked familiar. Too familiar.
He approached it with shaking steps. His eyes teared up as he came closer.
Denial, rage and so much flowed through him as his eyes ran up the body numerous times over.
It was his dad.