I walk the hall back to the common room, Dr. Cole trailing me. We pass Deacon Riley, on the ground in a spreading pool of his own arterial spray. Jagged pieces of glass and rebar protrude from his face and neck.

Nurse Betts lays propped against the far wall. She's gurgling and clutching at her left arm, the signs of a heart attack. Foamy dribble drips from her mouth, landing on Donnie's hands. He's crouched down, furiously groping the obese woman's tits. Betts exhales one last time. Her eyes don't glaze, but that spark of light indicating the presence of a soul has escaped her. I place my hand on Donnie's shoulder.

He turns to me with a deer-in-the-headlights look and stammers. "I-I-I was g-giving her C-CPR..."

I observe him with understanding. "She's dead Donnie."

"I-I'm sorry." Tears trail down his wide face. "I'm bad, Johnny. I'm so bad..."

"It's okay, Donnie. It's not your fault." I embrace him until he stops shivering. Something catches his eye, and he pulls away.

A giant section of wall has fallen away, revealing the outside world. Through the opening, snow falls. But that's not quite right. The flurry is bright red, and smells of copper. Donnie warily slinks through the hole, spinning in the crimson sleet. It melts as it falls against his body, making him appear to be covered in blood. Small chunks of hail pelt his asylum pyjamas, but his dim-witted body doesn't register the blows.

"It's snowing!" Donnie laughs. He sticks out his tongue, catching a plethora of flakes. He smacks his lips, making a sour face. "Hmmm, pennies. Hey guys, this snow tastes fu-"

A piece of hail the size of a softball strikes the Down's Syndrome boy in the skull. He drops stiffly sideways, consciousness lost. The bloody hail continues to batter him. Cole cringes, listening to the sound of Donnie's bones snapping from the assault. In less than a minute, Donnie's head is smashed flat. A liquid pulp that stains the soil.

I look up, imparting my attention to the sky above. The clouds are ablaze. Michael's fiery sword cuts a path through the dark veil, emerging and disappearing like a shark's fin. I take a step through the chasm in the wall.

"Johnny!" The doctor tries to stop me.

"My name is Gabriel." I turn to him. My eyes are holy flames. Thunder echoes throughout the apocalypse with the sound of my voice as I raise a hand to Cole, beckoning him.

"Come and see."