Silent tears streamed down his face as he stared in disbelief.
'No! This can't be.'
Kale stumbled back and tripped on his feet.
The sharp pain that hit him as he landed on his butt jolted him out of his devastated state.
He got back on his feet.
He stumbled back again in fear and looked at the body once more.
He was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he had just seen someone who had a similar resemblance to his dad, but reality begged to differ.
The jacket that the corpse had on was the same. His dad called it his lucky jacket.
The jean jacket was now torn and covered in dust but Kale couldn't just leave it there. He couldn't.
Reaching for it, he pulled the jacket off the body.
In the process, his dad's eyes opened and faced him with no light whatsoever in them.
Staring at the blank and hollow eyes that looked at him, Kale turned away and emptied his stomach.
He didn't know how long he had been out but it was clear that he hadn't eaten for a while and could only dry heave.
Tears welled up in his eyes as traces of bile burned at his throat.
In the process, he failed to notice the entrance of another person into the morgue.
"My condolences." A smooth voice echoed through the room and grabbed his attention.
A middle-aged man wearing a dull grey suit walked in with slow and certain strides that commanded attention and respect.
His eyes were of a similar shade to his suit.
Kale ignored the man's remark and watched him. The latter walked further into the room and past where Kale was.
He approached a table not too far from where Kale was and pulled off the cloth covering the corpse.
A little girl barely older than six came into view with half of her chest missing. It was like something had taken a huge bite.
"She begged me to take her to work that day." The man started to ramble on.
"I told her my job was boring and that she should stay with her mother." He continued.
Kale doubted that the man was talking to him, at least until he turned to look him in the eye.
"Both she and my wife died because I was too strict." He reached for his suit jacket and pulled out a small object.
It had a long barrel, a trigger, and an aim. It was a gun.
Kale warily took a step back.
He pointed it at his head and let out a low chuckle.
"They were my world and now I've lost them. Even the actual world is now fucked. Don't worry baby, Daddy's coming." Then he pulled the trigger.
The gun let out a loud bang and the man fell to the ground dead.
During the entire thing, Kale couldn't move.
The entirety of the situation and its implications were just starting to dawn on him.
He looked at the wall that was to the man's side.
It was now covered in his blood like a sick mural. This, coupled with the loss of his father, was far too much to stomach within such a short time.
Kale walked backwards until his back met a wall and he slid down until his face was buried in his knees.
Streams of tears gushed out of his eyes as his body trembled uncontrollably.
Some members of staff soon rushed in, having clearly heard the gunshot.
They rushed to the corpse and started calling for the attention of others in the hospital.
During this, Kale couldn't tell what was going on. He was stuck in his own mind to the point where he barely registered when one of the hospital's nurses was calling out to him.
"Are you okay? Were you shot?! The yell was enough to bring him back to reality.
Kale looked at the nurse then at himself.
'Isn't he also human? No, aren't they all human? They must have lost someone too in this mess yet here they are helping others.' Kale nodded to the man's question.
'Just because I lost someone, maybe even my own family doesn't give me an excuse to be worthless. What would my sister say if she saw me like this?' Kale let out a sad chuckle before getting to his feet.
"I'm fine and don't worry, I wasn't shot." He finally replied with words.
His hands wiped the tears from his face. He steeled his resolve and left the morgue and went into the main hospital.
While still searching for the exit, his mind couldn't help but wander.
The staff in this hospital were calm. Too calm.
Kale knew he wasn't as good, heck, nowhere as good as Axel when it came to deductions, but even he could tell something was up.
While he hadn't been there during a crisis, he knew for a fact that hospitals would be far more hectic than this one was especially during what seemed to be the end of the world.
Something was up. Either it was grief that was getting to him and making him imagine things or the hospital, maybe even the military knew far more than what was let on.
"I take it you're looking for an exit?" A familiar voice asked. It belonged to Doctor Stephan.
Kale turned to look the man in the eye. His eyes seemed calm and unreadable. One couldn't tell what schemes he had running through his mind.
"Follow me, I'll take you to where you need to go." Doctor Stephan smiled.
He walked past Kale further down the hall.
Left with no other choice, Kale followed diligently and in silence.
The doctor tried to make small talk during their journey but Kale kept quiet.
He didn't feel safe since his suspicion bloomed and he didn't want to accidentally reveal personal information now that he was suspicious.
Luckily for him, he hadn't particularly been chatty when he woke up save for when he asked about his family and Axel.
The two approached a door that appeared rusty at its hinges and overwhelming dread filled Kale.
"Excuse the sorry state of the doors. This was all we could afford to use as a resting area for those who have recovered." Doctor Stephan explained.
"Now, I'm legally obligated to warn you not to get cut. Tetanus isn't a nice thing." He joked and started walking away.
Kale brought his shaking hands to the double door and pushed it open.