Adam staggered upright, pain shooting through his injured foot. He crouched low, the heat from the ceiling pouring across his back in waves. Hector climbed to his feet beside him and grabbed the torch with his good hand. Adam slipped under the injured arm, steadying him. Together, they limped into the corridor, the inferno roaring behind them.

  "Do you know another way out? The door locked behind me when I came in,” Adam asked, guiding them down the hall toward the suite entrance. His backpack lay discarded outside the doorway. The thought of the entity undressing him while he was unconscious, even partially, set his teeth on edge.

  "Yes. There is a hall that leads to Emergency." Hector pointed in the opposite direction from where Adam had entered.

  Adam propped him against the wall, then limped over to retrieve his pack. It felt like a lead weight as he slung it over his shoulders, fresh pain flaring in his foot.

  "Definitely broken." He winced and hobbled back to Hector, just as the man yanked the scalpel from his thigh.

  "I hope I never see a scalpel again," Hector muttered, tossing the bloodied tool away. "This way."

  He started down the darkened hallway, leaving Adam to follow. The fire had already spread beyond the room, flames eating their way up the walls and ceiling. Smoke billow behind them, and Adam coughed, pushing himself to keep pace.

  Hector led them into a narrow side corridor, already thick with smoke. The wall radiated heat, and Adam wondered how far the fire had already spread. They rounded a sharp corner and Hector stopped short, frowning.

  The corridor ended in a Y-shaped split, one path leading left, the other right.

  "What?" Adam's eyes were watering from the haze. He looked up and saw smoke rolling from a ventilation duct.

  "I don't remember this intersection,” Hector said, looking between the two paths, clearly unsure.

  A low roar echoed down the hallway behind them. Adam barely glanced back, too exhausted to care if it was the hospital collapsing, or another cosmic horror come to eat, fuck, or defile him.

  Hector chose left and shuffled forward and Adam stayed close behind, hoping for the best. They reached a set of double doors marked by a barely visible EXIT sign through the smoke still pouring in from above. Hector shoved at them and the doors rattled, but held.

  Adam stepped in beside him, peering through the mesh-covered window as he pushed. Through the haze he could see the glass of the hospital’s front, just a few feet beyond the door, but still out of reach. Even with both men straining, the doors refused to budge.

  He glanced back over his shoulder. Through the smoke, he thought he saw a faint yellow glow.

  "Does this fire seem like it's spreading too fast?" Adam said.

  Hector glanced at him and started chuckling, then broke into a coughing fit. The smoke was getting to him too.

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  "You surprised?" he wheezed.

  Adam thought for a second, then shook his head. It was right in line with everything else that had gone wrong today. Maybe the hospital was built with cheap materials, or maybe some supernatural force was helping the fire along. He was willing to bet on cheap materials.

  "We’ll have to smash through the mesh and open it from the other side."

  Adam reached for his bat, and grabbed nothing but air. He froze. The bat was gone. Probably still lying in the hallway beside the corpse. A surprising pang of regret passed through him.

  "With what?" Hector asked, glancing back.

  Adam turned. Through the haze, the glow had grown from just a suggestion of fire to flickering tongues lapping at the walls. "Good question. Backtrack or check the side doors?" He gestured at the doors lining the corridor.

  "Side doors," Hector said, already moving to the first one on the left. Adam took the right.

  The smoke was thickening fast, and visibility was dropping by the second. Adam noticed the torch in Hector's hand was starting to gutter, whether from the lack of air, or dwindling fuel, he couldn't tell.

  Adam's door was locked. He moved to the next, trying to ignore the intensifying glow. Smoke rolled across the ceiling in thick waves as he tried the second door. Also locked.

  "God damn it."

  He shuffled to the third, grabbing the handle, just as Hector let out a triumphant sound behind him.

  Adam turned and Hector held up a sturdy-looking IV stand in his injured hand.

  "That'll do."

  Hector dropped the torch and gripped the pole in both hands. He rammed it into the glass. It cracked, but didn't break.

  He struck again, but the pole slipped from his wounded hand and bounced off of the pane. He began cursing under his breath.

  Adam stepped in and grabbed the pole.

  "On three?" he said. Hector nodded.

  They swung together and the glass fractured in a wide spiderweb pattern, but still it held.

  "What the fuck is this made out of?"

  They swung again, and again, larger cracks, but still, it didn't give.

  Adam looked down the hall. Flames were pouring around the corner, pushing more smoke in their direction.

  "No going back now,” he choked.

  They swung again, but the pane still held. Adam's arms trembled and his grip was failing. There was nothing left in the tank.

  One more swing and Hector lost his grip, his maimed hand slipping off of the pole again.

  Adam sighed and let the stand fall. Hector shot him a sharp look, then stopped when he saw Adam's face.

  "That's it. I'm done." Adam shivered despite the hot air, coughing hoarsely. "I don't have anything left."

  Hector grunted and tossed the stand aside. He nodded, then slide down with his back against the door until he was sitting. Adam joined him, staring down the hallway at the fully visible inferno, creeping along the ceiling and cutting off any hope of escape.

  "I'm sorry I got you killed,” Adam said, nudging Hector's arm with his elbow. "Pretty dick move of me."

  Hector laughed, then started coughing again. "It was. But I understand. Dick."

  "You know what's messed up?" Adam pointed at the fire.

  "Hm?" Hector asked.

  "The whole planet, galaxy, universe, whatever, is trying to kill us. And still we managed to do it ourselves."

  Adam turned and grinned, giving in to the black humor.

  "Hah!" Hector coughed again. "I wish I had a cigarette."

  "Seriously?" Adam turned to stare at him, lungs burning.

  "Yeah." Hector nodded, and the two broke down into choking cackles as the wall of fire lit the hallway, devouring the distance between them.

  Adam closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the door. He thought of his parents, his coworkers, Samantha. She was probably going to die because he failed her. He hadn't managed to bring back anything she needed, and he'd managed to take someone down with him.

  He banged his head against the door, then pounded his fist against his thigh in frustration. His hand landed on a sharp bulge in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the keyring he'd taken from the hanging man.

  Adam stared at it in disbelief.

  Between the torture, the fight, the fire and the exhaustion, he'd completely forgotten.

  Hector turned, looked at the keys, then up at Adam. "Idiot."