Chapter Text
It was a quiet night, the moon sat up high and proud in the dark skies of the animal world. Things were different tonight, as multiple creatures with deformed faces and crooked limbs roamed on the streets, eyes scanning for prey. Above them, golden eyes stared down into the streets, pupils thinning until they were as thin as hair. With one fluid motion, a loud bang exploded around the area. The anomaly dropped dead without emitting a single sound. The previously perched feline landed down gracefully, brushing off any dust on its sleek black vest.
"That's another one down." The feline muttered to himself, peering down at the body left on the streets. He stored the firearm back into its designated spot inside his vest.
His golden eyes scanned the street, like a predator looking for its next prey. Tonight was supposed to be another shift, a regular patrol around the area. The familiar routine of walking on the streets, patrolling around for any anomalies. Yet tonight had been different in particular, anomalies roamed around after the recent anomaly attack that had broken out mere hours ago. His job was simple— clear the streets of any remaining anomalies and help the others in the hospital. The black feline sighed. Just the thought of another shift stressed him out.
The feline soon picked up his pace, not wanting to drag the shift out even further. Just as he was walking by another street light, a deep growl was emitted behind him. Driven by pure instinct, the skillful cat maneuvered around the strike that aimed for his arm. Hitting it on the back of the head with his claws before shooting it down with the help of his firearm. But before he could catch his breath, multiple anomalies surrounded him at once, some lurking in the shadows with only their glowing red eyes visible. The Agent's whiskers twitched in irritation, tail swishing behind him. He mentally counted the number of anomalies surrounding him. There were atleast 7. Two anomalies jumped him at once, causing him to swiftly move from side to side, exchanging blows and gunshots to the anomalies pressure points. Other anomalies tried attacking him from different angles, one jumping from within the shadows. The feline quickly maneuvered to the left, kicking the anomaly back straight into its chest, sending it flying several meters away. He shot whichever anomaly remained alive even after taking a drastic amount of hits. As he was distracted by an anomaly striking from his frontside, another had managed to get under his radar and attack from behind, directly using its double rowed teeth to clamp down on Agent's left ear. An audible hiss broke out from him, pain exploding instantly. He threw his firearm backwards, the heavy metal landing directly in its eye, leading the anomaly to let go and scurry away in fear. The Agent kicked the anomaly, which still stood in front of him, its jaws blocked by his arm when he dealt with the one behind him earlier. A loud bang rang across the street, dark green stained the pavement, a mix of Agent's own blood being thrown in.
The Agent double-checked his surroundings, eyes scanning for any sign of anomalies still lingering nearby. Nothing was to be seen.
As the adrenaline died down inside of him, the pain in his ear grew more obvious and painful. His paw gently mapped the area surrounding the deep, gushing wound, wincing every so often. Thankfully, his ear didn't get chopped off. Had he reacted later, his ear would be gone by now. Deep bite marks were visible on the surface, but it wasn't anything Agent couldn't handle. He lifted his sleeve slightly, glancing at the analog watch on his wrist, still about half an hour until his shift ends. He took the time to refill his gun before eventually settling it back into its designated pocket. Putting his hands into his trousers pockets, he continued to walk in the direction of the hospital, resigning to seek treatment before his ear got infected.
As he was walking, he felt a slight vibration from the inside of his pocket. He pulled out his hand with a phone nestled between his fingers. It was a call from the secretary. He leaped up to a nearby street light, perching on it as he picked up the call. The Secretary's voice was loud and frantic. The feline couldn't help but drag the phone a couple of centimeters from his ear, wincing at the sheer volume.
"AGENT, WHERE ARE YOU?"
"WE NEED YOU NOW, NO EXCUSES, PLEASE HEAD BACK, WE NEED ASSISTANCE HERE!"
"Has the ambulance arrived already?"
"Well, no, not yet. But the amount of patients we have right now is absurd. We don't have enough rooms to accommodate the patients coming in later from the ambulance."
"I'll be on my way."
The Agent hung up, putting his phone back into his pocket before leaping off the street light. He practically ran back to the hospital.
-
-
-
The hospital's front doors were basically thrown open, Agent visibly panting for air. He regained his composure, smoothing down his vest before heading towards the front desk. A blue canine perked up from behind the desk upon noticing his appearance before wincing at the sight of The Agent's ear.
"You're here! Alright, so Head Nurse and Intern are taking care of the left wing, so I'll leave you to the right. They don't need much treatment, so do what you need to do, and you should be good. Just make sure you're careful." He paused, contemplating whether to point out the visible marks on Agent's ear. He gave in anyway.
"So... What's with the ear?"
The Agent nodded at the given orders, completely ignoring the question that was proposed to him. Walking towards the right wing of the hospital, he noticed the canine still staring at the gash on his ear. A patient was lying on a hospital bed in room 3. He figured he'd treat them first.
As he entered the room, he was greeted by the thick smell of antibiotics and isopropyl alcohol. His tail flicked behind him. Having a stronger sense of smell compared to other animals made him sort of sensitive to chemical substance smells, in a way. The Agent walked to the side, grabbing a pair of white latex gloves to wear. The gloves snapped against his fur as he wore them. He then walked over towards the unconscious patient, visible bruises and cuts were littered around its arm and torso, thankfully, nothing too severe. The patient being unconscious made his job much easier for him to grab the DNA sample, drawing blood from the vein of the patient's uninjured arm. He inserted the DNA sample into the machine, and it was ticking very, very slowly. His claw tapped against the machine in a steady rhythm, mimicking the heart monitor's beeping. He wondered if he had focused more, maybe he would've avoided getting another wound. When it finally finished, the computer beside the machine blinked to life, showcasing the patient's illness and their needs with a loud beep, throwing his train of thought out the window.
BRUISES - MEDKIT
BLEEDING - BANDAGES
HEADACHE - MEDICINE
The Agent stared at the screen for a while as he changed out his latex gloves. He repeated the 3 words like a mantra in his head as he walked out the door.
Medkit, bandages, medicine. Medkit, bandages, medicine.
The feline approached a shelf that held herbs and medicine, and he picked up the latter. He repeated this routine twice more until he had the desired treatments nestled in his arms. He walked back towards the patient's room, opening the door with his tail. He walked over towards the patient, still unconscious. He wrapped the bruises and deep cuts in gauze and the smaller wounds with bandages. He also left the medicine in a paper cup for the patient to take once they're awake. He walked over towards the door, paw already resting on the handle. But something felt off. The patient was recovering fast, too fast. Before his brain could even process what was happening, the patient stood up unnaturally, skin peeling open to reveal a giant mouth layered with razor-sharp teeth. The Agent turned, reaching into his firearms pocket to utilize the weapon, only for it to be completely missing from its spot. He had left it near the front desk earlier, completely forgetting to retrieve it. He internally cursed himself for such negligence and turned the handle as hard as he could in an instinct, but it wouldn't budge. He wouldn't be able to fight hand-to-hand combat well in such a cramped space.
"..shit!" He cursed as he stared down at the unmoving door handle. The day couldn't get worse, could it?
As The Agent was distracted, the creature leapt onto him, pinning him to the door with barely any room to move. The creature bit down on his arm, leaving nasty bite marks. He shouted in pain, his eyes flying wide open. He kicked as hard as he could, shoving the anomaly towards the other side of the room. Blocking the next hit, he punched it straight into its gut, temporarily stunning it. Using all of the remaining strength he had, he punched directly into the anomaly's head, leaving it unmoving. The Agent let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, one arm grasping the injured one. He hissed upon the contact, blood staining his previously pristine latex gloves. The door barged open from the outside, revealing Secretary holding a fire extinguisher, likely used to open the door. The Secretary instantly knelt down by his side, assessing the wound despite having little experience in the medical field. He was definitely panicking.
Suddenly, loud blaring alarms interrupted them, signaling the ambulance rush shift.
".. I'll be fine, go treat the patients."
"No, you are very clearly not fine."
"You have patients to treat that are actively dying, I'm not dying, am I?"
"No but-"
"Exactly, now go." Agent interrupted, a slight shake in his voice, despite trying his best to suppress it.
The canine obeyed and walked out of the room, glancing back before leaving the now wrecked door slightly ajar. The Agent regained his composure and walked out of the door as if he hadn't been attacked and was actively bleeding out. He retrieved his firearm from the front desk, mentally noting to himself to never leave it behind again. Eventually, he finally decided to get himself a medkit to atleast fix the bleeding. After retrieving the medkit, he sat down and wrapped a gauze over his bitten arm. The blood-matted fur didn't make things easier, but it wasn't like he had time to wash it off completely. Again, his mind wandered to different places, asking himself questions.
His brain felt... Fuzzy, almost. It was weird— he had reacted late and panicked in the room. He was trained to never panic, even under fatal conditions. How could he have slipped up so badly? His arm and ear felt slightly numb, too. It was probably lack of sleep, he thought.
The wrapping was poorly done, especially since he had only used one arm in the process. He didn't mind, though, as long as the bleeding stopped. The Agent was definitely fatigued, no doubt. But it wasn't like the team was gonna let him clock out during an ambulance rush. He adjusted his uniform, straightening any wrinkles and brushing off any specks of dirt. He had a feeling he was gonna be here for a long while.
The Agent ended up finding himself patrolling around inside the hospital, shooting anomalies from time to time.
As he was wandering around the right wing of the hospital, he heard a shout break out from the left wing. He instantly sprinted to the area, seeing Head Nurse being brutally attacked by a skinwalker. With practiced aim, he shot down the anomaly. The Head Nurse's knees buckled, being caught by Intern right before she fell to the ground. Oh, she was definitely overworked from the looks of it. The Intern shared a glance with Secretary who had just arrived on scene, asking for their help in treating the rest of the patients. The Secretary nodded and dragged Agent by the arm to a nearby room and pushed him in. He himself entered a different room, treating another patient. With Head Nurse and Intern off the deck, they only had two of the most inexperienced ones actively working. The feline already knew this was gonna be the longest shift of his life. Oh they were definitely understaffed.
-
3 grueling hours later, after some extra help from Intern, they finished treating the last patient, signaling the end of the shift. It was 2.34 am, and they were all exhausted. Secretary was slumped in his seat while Intern was brewing a coffee for himself. Agent's gut has felt funny recently, almost like he was the one that's sick. With the adrenaline rush from the sudden shift slowly fading out, it was clear his body was at its breaking point. He blinked hard, trying to prevent himself from passing out, but his efforts were futile. His knees buckled, and his arms went limp. He gripped onto the wall for support as he lost control of his balance. He could feel a migraine brewing at the back of his head.
"Eh? Agent, you okay?" The pale yellow bunny asked him, with a very obvious tint of concern. Agent looked up directly into Intern, his vision swam at the edges. He saw the bunny's eyes widen, abandoning the coffee as he caught the feline by his arms. He couldn't feel his arm or ear. What was up with him? He heard the bunny call out his name multiple times, but he couldn't respond. It didnt take long until he fully blacked out, everything going completely silent.