This story, told without any edits by the indomitable survivor Yua Matsumoto of the HGH destruction is part of our series on HGH Reflections. We cannot thank our contributor enough and wish her the best of luck in her recovery.
“After nearly two whole days of light to moderate injuries consistently trickling in, the hospital was busier than usual on the afternoon of Thursday, July 13th when a group of armed assailants flooded in through the entrances. A few gunshots into the ceiling pulled the attention of everyone as one of the terrorists started to shout demanding that everyone get to the second floor. Hostages were ushered toward the elevators and packed in with gun-wielding terrorists to be herded into the recovery ward.
The smell of gasoline started to filter up from below a few hours into the occupation of the hospital, burning eyes and throats and making breathing difficult. Many of the terrorists had thought ahead and were sporting gas masks to protect themselves from the fumes, others didn’t. To lessen the fumes in the recovery ward, a few broke out the glass to offer some ventilation.
Frightened patients, staff, and other civilians huddled together for a sense of safety, which quickly dissolved as the terrorists made short work of picking their favorites to play with. Those cursed to curry the favor of one of the attackers looked forward to being subjected to beatings, rape, and many other demented pleasure extracted by their tormentors. The lucky ones were those that remained huddled together in the recovery ward, risking the bullet spray of the HPD as they took blind shots at the assailants. The terrorists started to strap innocent civilians to hospital beds and hoist them into the windows to act as human shields, but that did not deter the officers outside, who cut through guilty and innocent alike.
In retaliation, the terrorists began firing back from the roof of the hospital, launching flaming beds and oxygen canisters that exploded on impact on top of the police barricade below. Downtown Hathian became like a warzone during the protracted exchange.
The hostages inside the building found no respite from the terror, even in the night, as the cries and screams of those suffering at the hands of those who had chosen them continued to permeate the halls. During the day times, the terrorists got restless and played with fire: literally.
The following morning brought new horrors when a dead body was dragged through the recovery ward to be thrown out the window to the street below just before the Hathian police planned and executed a precision strike to breach the second floor of the hospital through the recovery ward windows. Glass shattered inward, spraying over the innocents huddled together. Strict commands from the brave Lieutenant Fyre directed hostages to run to the other officers to be lowered to the street below and the hostages tasted their first breaths of freedom and fresh air for two days.
Freedom would be short-lived, however, as the police handcuffed everyone extracted from the building, regardless of if they could move under their own power or if they were left naked and bleeding on the streets below.
In the end, the innocent were taken to be treated at the medical triage center and the terrifying culprits of this horrific act were caged behind bars.”
As told to the Observer by Yua Matsumoto (Lead Photo. Daiyu – HGH photo, John Childermass)
HGH 2010 – 2023
