When I get to the hospital, Maria is no longer by the dumpster and there is no sign of the others. I stand still for a brief second hoping that the wind will offer me some hint as to what exactly is happening - but it doesn't. I imagine that the others have taken Maria into the hospital and so I park the car and grab my double barrel which is miraculously laying in the backseat.
When I first open the side door I am instantly bombarded with the stench of death -- rotting body parts lay haphazardly over the floor of a room that must have been used as a holding cell. I try to ignore it as I press on.
I say a quiet prayer of condolence to the fallen and continue tiptoeing forward down the main hall.
It's eerily quiet. The only sound I'm certain of is the rapid beating of my heart. I try my best to breathe through my mouth to avoid the stench, but somehow its pungency manages to waft through the top of my mouth and into my nasal cavities. The combination of the taste and smell of human slaughter causes my stomach to turn and my eyes to water. It is unbearable beyond any comprehension. I take my t-shirt and pull it over my nose and mouth to offer some reprieve from the odour.
A moment later I see her.
"What are you doing here?" I ask Consuela who sticks her head out from one of the doorways. She doesn't respond but points to the floor above us to let me know that is where Maria and the others are.
I nod and tell her to wait there -- but she doesn't listen. In her hand she holds a scalpel; and as I walk, she cowers two steps behind me. I decide that I might need her help as I have no idea what I will be facing when I get upstairs.
My mind drifts for a moment or two but as I reach the stairs my focus returns. I step stealthily towards the second floor, and wait in shadows of the stairwell until I can assess the situation. The sun pours through a window above me into the hall and allows minimal visibility. Maria is nowhere to be found, but I notice a different beam of light crossing the hallway from an open door -- and I imagine that she is most likely in that room.
I motion for Consuela to stay close behind me and as I cock the safety of my double barrel and open the door to the unknown. We silently make our way towards the room we believe Maria is in.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
Silently encroaching.
I take a deep breath and then without wasting another second I turn my gun into the open room ready to take aim at any conflict. It's fast. Like cannonballing into water. I have minimal backlash from my swift action, but immediately see that Maria lays there motionless -- blood all around her.
Before I have a chance to determine if she's alive or dead I feel a deep pain on the side of my head.
And the room instantly turns to black.
