Chapter 67: Am I Really That Unreliable?
The group soon arrived at the receptionist's desk.
It was empty, but when the two walked behind the desk. They found Zahra and Jane along with the unconscious Scarlette lying on the cold floor behind the receptionist's desk.
"Jane!"
Calvin exclaimed.
Hugo swiftly helped Scarlette up and checked her vitals, "She fainted. Her vitals are stable. There won't be any problems as far as I can see, but she's in shock. I can't predict when she will wake up."
"Just what happened?" Hugo asked.
Jane and Zahra seemed to be unwilling to talk about what just happened.
Calvin let out a sigh and explained everything to Hugo for them.
"What? Philip went ahead? He went mad along with Scarlette... What the hell is wrong in this? Could it be that it's true that there are ghosts here as I suspected?" Hugo's face went pale.
"Eh? There are ghosts in this place?!" Jane was now even more scared.
Zahra had a similar expression to her as she shivered like a sieve.
Calvin frowned and said, "Look at what you did to them, Hugo. Don't just casually say such things. Didn't we already discuss that there are no ghosts here? The ghosts that you are talking about are those mental patients enjoying the thrill of the hunt as they toy with us."
Jane and Zahra stared at the two, particularly at Calvin.
"The patients... They are here? That makes sense since we still haven't met a single patient ever since we came in this damned place, but why would they be in the hospital out of all places?" Zahra was frustrated. The shock that she received this time was too great.
Jane bit her lips and didn't say anything. But the tears welling up in her eyes alone was enough evidence that she was indeed too scared to even continue on moving.
However...
"We have to find the others." She may be scared, but that didn't mean that she could just abandon her teammates.
Calvin could see her determination despite her fears.
Letting out a slight smile, he secretly applauded the courageous girl in his heart.
"That's right... We can't just stay here! We have to find them!" Calvin said.
But Zahra actually shook her head and hastily replied, "No... I'm not going back... I won't... I'll just stay here... I'll stay here and wait for you... I'll stay here and protect Scarlette..."
Calvin furrowed his eyebrows, "With your state, can you really protect Scarlette? What's more, those mental patients will easily detect that you are not moving and when they realized that their prey was just waiting for its death, then what do you think will they do? When they found out that the chase is not fun anymore. Do you think they'll let you off?"
Hugo nodded in agreement.
He knew the feeling of being relentlessly pursued, so he also knew the importance of never staying in a single place for an extended period of time. Hugo calmly explained all of these to Zahra without giving out his personal experiences, so Zahra wouldn't think that he was being biased.
In the end, Zahra bit her lips.
"Fine... I'll go with you, but what do we do with Scarlette? We can't just leave her here, can we?"
"Of course, not... I will carry her on my back." Calvin shook his head and then volunteered to take care of Scarlette.
"What? Why would you do that? Can you really carry her on your back long enough? I'll do it, I reckon that she's quite heavy, so it's better if I do it." Hugo immediately went against his proposal.
But Calvin took a look at him and said, "If you have her on your back, can you properly protect us? Even if you say that she's not that much of a burden for you, extra weight is still extra weight. I'd rather carry her on my back than let you suffer that extra weight that could potentially take your life in the battlefield ahead of us."
Hugo's expression changed.
Calvin was right.
He was too focused on making himself useful to the extent that he forgot his limits.
Hugo may be stronger than an average human, but he was also a human in the end. He had his own limits. He may be able to carry Scarlette on his back, but her weight would undoubtedly become a burden for him in the battle.
Just as Hugo was feeling conflicted about what he should do, Calvin lightly smiled, "Don't worry about me. You should worry about how you can protect yourself as well as Jane and Zahra. Do you really think that I am that weak? I may look like a matchstick right now, but I'm still quite capable..."
"How else would I be able to find you in that bathroom?"
Hugo was finally convinced.
Before the group walked out to find the others, Calvin gave Jane and Zahra the same piece of crumpled paper that he had given them earlier.
"This... How about him?" Jane turned to look at Hugo.
"He'll be fine without this. I bet he's stronger with his fists than using these." Calvin lightly chuckled.
"Just what are these papers? How can they conjure a flame? That's unscientific!" Zahra questioned with a frown.
"Don't worry about it. You'll soon come to know about everything after all of these is done and over with!"
Calvin reassured them with a smile.
The group then proceeded to walk out of the receptionist's desk. They arrived near the corridors and Calvin narrowed his eyes as he stared at the left corridor leading to the Medical Ward.
"What's wrong? Is there something in there?" Jane stuck close to Calvin, while Zahra went closer to Hugo. All of them knew that there was great danger lurking in that corridor for that was the corridor where all hell went loose.
"Those footsteps... Did one of us lose their shoes? These footsteps clearly aren't made by shoe soles! Judging from the uneven footsteps, there should be about six people that passed through here... In other words, aside from us. There are six mental patients roaming through this hospital right now!"
Calvin's deductions were precise and accurate, "Those footprints lead to the right corridor. They should be heading to the Medical Ward. As for why it's obviously because they are going after something or someone. Apart from us, who else are the foreigners in this place?"
"In other words, the others are being pursued by those mental patients at this moment!"
Calvin's expression turned serious.
To be honest, he didn't want anyone to die in his team.
But his help was limited.
He wasn't all-powerful after all.
"Calvin... You sure have amazing eyesight!" Jane praised, "How can you see those footsteps when it's practically pitch-black in here?" Jane now had a renewed admiration for Calvin.
Hugo nodded his head in agreement.
Zahra glanced at Hugo for a moment before she decided to move closer to the matchstick framed Calvin.
Hugo lifted a bitter smile for he noticed Zahra's subtle movements of going to closer to Calvin.
He couldn't help but think in his heart.
"Am I really that unreliable?"