As thick fog rose, the entire city seemed to be submerged in a sea of mist. Only the skyscrapers piercing the clouds could poke their heads above it, while Schiller and the others standing atop the hospital looked more like sailors swept into that foggy ocean.
As the mist swept past them, it seemed to place masks over their faces. The blocked fog drifted behind them; the fog clothed them, and the rain armored them.
Schiller looked down and saw two doctors screaming as they rushed out of the hospital entrance, pursued by crazed patients. An ambulance came tearing in from the nearby intersection.
The driver flung open the door and jumped out. The out-of-control ambulance slammed into a streetlamp, and blood seeped through the seams of its rear doors. With a bang, the doors were forced open, and a crazed doctor leaped out. He caught up to the driver in a few strides and clamped both hands around his throat.
A brilliant streak of light shot down from the rooftop. A fireball struck the crazed doctor in the back and hurled him away.
But several bloody scratches had already appeared on the attacked driver's neck. Before long, his body temperature began to rise, and in the frigid rainy night, white vapor billowed from his entire body.
Yet the doctor who had been hit had not died. Ignoring the burns on his back, he staggered to his feet. Brand narrowed his eyes and said, "...Interesting. This curse has enhanced their defenses and made them immune to pain. They're like patients in an agitated state with their muscular limits removed."
"Shut down the ventilation systems in the first- and second-phase renovation buildings immediately. Until I determine whether the problem is the air or the rainwater, use internal circulation. No one is