"What the hell," I said staring at the nurse.

Nico moved in front of me and reaching for his gun. In calm and low voice he said, "Mia, when I tell you to run, I need you to run back to the apartment as fast as you can."

"And leave you here to face this thing alone?" I said.

"I'll be fine," he asserted coolly.

I shook my head and replied, "I won't leave you."

I couldn't leave him alone to deal with this thing, especially when I knew that it had already been killed once. I stared at the bullet holes across the nurse's body and wondered how the hell she was still living. Maybe I hadn't killed her when I drained the blood from her body, and maybe Nico's bullets hadn't killed her either. Or perhaps she was like the living corpses in the graveyard, a being that was undead.

"You need to go back to the apartment, Mia," Nico repeated.

"I can't, I don't know my way back," I said.

"Then you'll need to run straight ahead and take a left at the top of corridor. It will lead you to a flight of stairs that will take you straight to the barracks. You can find help there," he explained.

"But what about you?" I asked.

"I'll hold this thing off for as long as I possibly can," he said.

It didn't feel right. I didn't want to leave him here to fight this thing off alone. The nurse growled again. It's muscles tensed, and her torso lowered to the ground getting ready to pounce. Nico reached behind his back to where I was standing and gently pushed me back.

"It's getting ready to jump," he said softly, "when it jumps, I'll grab it and you run."

"Nico," I whined, hating the idea.

"Don't argue with me, Mia," he said.

The nurse suddenly lunged forward, hitting Nico square in the chest. He fell backwards, taking the nurse down with him. They both hit the stone floor with a heavy thud. Nico grabbed onto the nurses wrists and struggled to control her as she began scratching at her face. I stood to one side watching the horror unfold. Nico quickly looked overwhelmed and turning his head yelled at me, "For god sake RUN!".

I couldn't. My feet were glued to the spot, unable to move, paralysed with fear. I didn't mind when my life was in danger, but when it was someone who I considered my friend, I couldn't abandon them. There was something inside of me that refused to let me leave my friend while they tried to protect me.

Closing my shut eyes, I tried to think.

"Mia, what are you doing," Nico cried.

I opened my eyes and saw him lying beneath the nurse, struggling to keep her off of him. She bared down on him, opening her mouth then snapping it shut, as she tried to bite at his arms. I watched him panic and release one her wrists. He lifted his forearm above his head to protect himself from her teeth, but she swiped at his arm, and within a split second there ear splitting crack as broke the bone in his arm.

His arm dropped limply to his side, lying at an odd angle. He didn't whimper or cry. He didn't even grimace. Instead he turned his head to look directly at me with this terrible expression of guilt and remorse. It felt like he was trying to tell me with a single look how sorry he was for failing to protect me, when in reality I was failing to protect him.

Do something, I urged myself.

The nurse loomed over him with her mouth gaping wide open. Her jaw seemed to keep stretching further and further open, so her sharp white teeth could fit perfectly around Nico's entire face. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as it began to dawn on me that she was going to maul him to death.

"Mia, run," Nico urged me again.

No, I couldn't let her. I couldn't just stand by and watch her kill my friend.

Adrenaline kicked in and I sped around the back of her. Without thinking I grabbed fistfuls of her hair and began pulling her head backwards. I didn't think, I just kept pulling and pulling. I pulled so hard, I thought the hair would tear from her head at any given moment.

"Hold her there!" I heard Nico yell.

I looked over the top of the nurse's head and saw Nico quickly pulling himself out from underneath the nurse. He quickly struggled on his two feet while cradling his injured arm and positioned himself next to me. Breathing heavily he said, "When I say go, I need you to pull as hard as you can."

I wanted to question why, but I didn't get the opportunity as Nico screamed, "Go!"

I pulled as hard as I could, and as I did so Nico stomped down hard on her back. There was a crack, followed by a sickening ripping sound. The head swung loose, while the body dived forward, hitting the ground.

I lifted the decapitated head up, not quite believing what we had done then tossed it to the ground. Waves of nausea and numbness overcame me, as the fear, anger and adrenaline ebbed from my body. The ground beneath me rolled and I heard Nico muttering a curse as he came rushing to my side, to stop me from swaying.

"I'm sorry," I muttered weakly, leaning against him, "I've not got the stomach for this kind of stuff."

He looped his good arm around me for support and said, "Thank you, Mia. You saved me."

"I couldn't stand by and watch you die," I replied.

"I owe you my life," he said.

"Don't worry about it," I shrugged.

He smiled and said, "Well, I better take you back to the apartment."

Suddenly I pulled away from him, shaking my head, "No, I can't go back there, I can never go back there."

"Mia, what are you talking about," he asked softly.

I took another step away from him and said, "I can't go back there - please don't ask me why."

Before he had the opportunity to ask me why again, the sound of distant footsteps came thundering down the corridor followed by the panic calls of familiar voice.

"Mia! Mia!"

"Oh God," I whispered, as I recognised Luc's voice. He must've have returned to the apartment with Henrietta and found the door wide open. They would've quickly realised I wasn't there when I didn't answer their calls.

Nico saw the fear in my eyes and said, "I know something is wrong, Mia. I'd like to help you, but I can't do that if you don't tell what's wrong."

Luc's calls were drawing nearer and nearer, and the panic inside me was growing and growing. Something inside me cracked and I blurted out, "I think Luc killed Celia."

Nico paused and replied quietly, "I think he did too."

************

Note:

People are still a little confused about updates. Updates are every Monday and Friday (UK time). Remember you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook to receive update notifications.

On another note, chapter 50 is not the last chapter. Chapter 50 was the last chapter of the old story which was significantly shorter, but this rewrite is much longer so you'll get a few more chapters after chapter 50.

Oh and PLEASE do not post spoilers! You may have read the original book, or the sequels, which is great, but other people haven't and it's not fair to ruin their fun. Plus I'm planning on rewriting the other sequels and changing some of the storylines, so some spoilers are not even accurate because they are going to get axed in the rewrite...

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