Day 63: Bus 1

[gald_digger]

As soon as Anise achieved wakefulness, the Head Doctor's words from the previous night immediately came floating back into her mind. People were getting sick. They were going to turn into monsters. That thought alone was chilling enough, but it was nothing compared to the terror that struck her when she sat up and saw her own hand. A red blotch covered the back of it, extending upwards to the wrist. Where did that come from?

The signs are already showing. That was what Landel said.

It couldn't be. Not her. If it was really true, then her life was as good as over. No... it had to be a mistake. Maybe the Head Doctor's words had scared her to the point that she was attributing random things to his threats. She was being paranoid. That was all it was.

And yet, no matter how many times she told herself that, she feared what might happen.

A nurse came to her soon, bearing an outfit for her to wear on the field trip. The striped shirt and gray skirt weren't particularly appealing to Anise, but the purple coat she was given wasn't so bad. It was a little big on her, but it was a nice, feminine color... and the extra long sleeves served to cover most of the strange rash. Anise didn't want to look at it, and she sure as heck didn't want anyone else seeing it.

When it was time to board the buses, Anise quietly took the lunch bag, climbed aboard, and sat down. She didn't look anyone in the eye. Even after sitting down, she merely stared down at the contents of her bag. The muffin didn't look the least bit appetizing - not while her stomach was busy twisting itself into knots, anyway.

[free!]

Comments

[somesoulsearching]

For Robin to have been there last night, Brook could only wonder if any of the others had managed to make it back as well. Or if Franky was going to have his first visit. This place seemed to really like his crew for some reason. Now that he was dressed for Doyleton in the only clothes that probably would fit him, he was determined to seek out any of the rest who might have wandered back, regardless of how he still felt or what strange ringed rash he'd gotten the night before.

What was that anyway?

He almost gave his right arm a look as he boarded the bus, scratching the back of his hand, but stopped when he found that there was only one other aboard at the moment. And someone he knew!

"Anise-san!" he waved cheerfully before heading right to her. She was a friend, and though not one he was looking for, he wouldn't pass her by. At least not when she didn't seem to be in the best of moods. "It's been a while, hasn't it? How have you been doing? I hope nothing bad happened to you last night?"

[gald_digger]

Anise looked up at the sound of her name... then looked a little higher, as the man who'd approached her was a bit taller than most. She gave him a smile, even though she wasn't really feeling it. "Oh, hey! Brook, right?" They'd only met once, but between his towering height and his unique hairdo, he wasn't exactly a forgettable guy.

Since she'd been staring at the paper bag for so long, Anise made sure to take something out of it, just so she wouldn’t look suspiciously out of it. She didn’t have much of an appetite, but the juice box seemed easy enough to swallow.

She shook her head when he asked about the previous night. "No, nothing bad happened. The intercom was creepy, but that's about it." Between staying safe and finding Guy, it really was a ‘good’ night as far as the institute went. “So, um, I’ve been doing pretty good! How about you?”

[somesoulsearching]

"Yes, it usually is," he agreed about the intercom, remembering all the strangeness it had spouted during his talk with Robin. It had seemed to be malfunctioning though, so he hoped it wasn't anything he'd have to worry over. "But that's good! The nights are usually so hard to manage. And I've been doing well!"

He was a little itchy, but he had skin again, so he was assuming that came with the territory. The rash wasn't too bad either, though it did concern him that it was on his right hand. He could play with either, but he was better using his right to fight. "Oh yes, would you be all right if I sat with you along the way? Travel is so much better with company!"

[gald_digger]

It was pretty hard to refuse company, and it would definitely be strange for someone as sociable as Anise to do so, so she was quick to nod and accept. “Of course! Go ahead.” Maybe having someone cheerful to talk to would help improve her mood. Then she could start putting things into perspective, instead of just panicking over things she didn’t understand. That sounded like a good plan.

She stuck the straw into her juice box and took a few sips, taking another glance down into her paper bag. Removing the box allowed her to see some things that had fallen to the bottom of the bag, and one item in particular stood out to her. Anise pulled it out, examined it, then gave a small gasp.

It was a happy gasp. “They gave us money again!” Anise wasn’t sure what was going to happen after the military went away, but it looked like the institute had decided to keep that little idea of theirs. It wasn’t enough to make her forget her worries completely, but it was definitely a silver lining. “I wonder what I should buy today…”

[nobleman]

It was frustrating to have spent a night doing next to nothing after sleeping for a whole day, and yet there wasn't much that Guy could do about that. While he woke up feeling annoyed because of that, he had to focus on the fact that he had at least been able to reconnect with some of his friends. Unfortunately, that didn't change the fact that he hadn't even been able to check Luke's room before the Head Doctor had come on last night to give that cryptic announcement. Just what was going on here?

Well, in reality it was pretty straight-forward. Some of the patients had been infected with something that was supposedly going to change them into monsters eventually, and Landel was just going to sit back and watch how all of that played out. It was impossible to know how to handle something like that when they had no idea if or when it was going to happen, but...

The signs were already showing, apparently. While Guy had slept longer than planned, that had been a fairly common occurrence for patients from the start, and he didn't feel weird now. Chances were it was probably something else, but if that was the case then what should he be looking for? Were any of his friends suffering from this illness?

Guy's nurse showed up with a pair of pants, a green sweater, and a striped scarf -- hardly the worst thing he'd been made to wear here. He got dressed quickly and then collected his breakfast, coupons, and spending card before boarding one of the buses.

He was still on the lookout for Luke, but it was Anise who he spotted. The girl was already talking to a (very tall, very thin) man, so Guy decided to leave her alone, only waving for a brief moment before he went to take a seat by one of the open windows. At least this would give him a good view of the institute's entrance, so he could keep an eye out for Luke and wave to his friend when he walked past.

Guy just hoped it was "when" and not "if."

[For Luke.]

[dispersive]

Luke eventually came out, but it had been quite the process. He had woken up more than just refreshed. After sleeping a whole day and night, the young man felt like he had come back full-spectrum to tired and particularly grumpy.

It didn't help that his groggy wake had then been jarred by a nurse shuffling in with a pile of clothes. They were odd, but more practical than the messy pajamas he was forced to wear. Apparently his confusion was written all over his face because the woman finally said.

"We'll be taking a field trip today to Doyleton. It's a small town just down the road from us..."

"Oh... Really?" The idea perked Luke up, if only momentarily. "You're letting us go out, not just outside?"

"Well of course! Your health and development depends on interaction with society. Keeping you cooped up won't help you..."

"Uh huh..." Her stirring speech about knowing what was best for him earned her no points with Luke. He simply stared at his hand-me-down clothes until she eventually exited to let him put them on privately. Curiosity was the only thing fueling any kind of fire under his butt to get dressed as the nurse suggested. In some ill-fitting bleached out denim jacket and black shirt with a skull and cross bones, the young woman who hovered perpetually around him completed the jarring look with a multi-colored scarf.

The buses outside were the next big spectacle. It was like a giant carriage without any beasts of burden pulling it, but it still sounded incredibly noisy like every foncraft he had flown in. Frankly, it looked like a giant iron bee. The redhead was escorted aboard (where he noticed Anise who shot him an odd look) and there he found Guy sitting alone. Relieved to see a familiar face, the replica brushed off his grouchy lethargy for a sleepy smile.

"Hey, Guy," he greeted before taking a seat right beside his friend, but suddenly he grew nervous. "I-I can sit here, right? The nurses won't get mad...?" Honestly, if they had assigned seats, Luke was going to be so angry.

[nobleman]

Guy had actually noticed Luke the moment that he stepped outside. The red hair was hard to miss and his friend looked pretty ridiculous in the clothing that the staff had given him, enough that Guy had to struggle not to chuckle to himself at the sight. While he tried to wave to his friend and grab his attention, Luke didn't notice. It was by luck that he happened to get on the same bus.

It was more or less natural for Luke to come join him at that point, and Guy fixed his friend with a relieved smile. "Hey, good to see you," he said, although he did find himself a little confused by Luke's question. "Why would they get mad? They're going to be more upset if you try to stay standing." He scooted closer to the window in order to make sure that Luke had enough space.

"Anyway... where've you been? Anise said you weren't responding to notes yesterday." Neither had Guy, for that matter, though it was pretty strange to think that both of them had fallen into a deep sleep on the same day. "Did you sleep through it?"

Whether it was a coincidence or some kind of sign was hard to know, but it bothered Guy either way. At least Luke hadn't disappeared completely. That had happened too much for comfort already.

[a_sin_for_him]

So this was the trip into town that she had heard so much about.

Lust hadn't known what to expect, and her thoughts come morning hadn't been on the day ahead. Rather, the night behind. Some progress made and she knew she should be pleased with that. But there were still so many questions! They chased one another round and round her mind and sometimes it felt like her head was going to burst!

She didn't imagine this little jaunt was going to clear anything up, either. But she was content enough with the clothing the nurse gave her - a cream colored sweater and a long green skirt with a black long jacket - and they were being given money. Or whatever apparently passed for money in this place. What sort of things could be bought in this town? The packet of vouchers gave some insight into what to expect, but only a small glimpse.

And now, on the bus, Lust realized how good it felt to be getting out of the institute. She didn't mind it as much as others she'd met, but now almost beyond them she felt the constraints of the walls.

Now if only she had some pleasant company for the trip....

[Free as a bird!]

[seekingmystrength]

[Yours if you want him. Just let him leave if you don't?]

"Sit down Mr. Cross, right there!" With how Kurogane had been acting that morning, the nurse had had it with her charge and was intent on making him miserable for at least one part of the morning if she had her say. Currently she was forcing him towards sitting with a woman already on the bus. "Lord knows you need to learn how to talk to a woman properly," she huffed, her look daring him to ignore.

Kurogane growled low, wondering why the hell she'd care how he spoke to others. He'd never said more than a few words to her, and most of those had been out of earshot. Just to get her off of him, he took the pointed seat long enough to watch the nurse stomp off before moving to get up.

[a_sin_for_him]

"Getting frisky with the nursing staff?" Lust raised an eyebrow as the man was deposited beside her. She was mostly teasing - she couldn't imagine the situation here was that desperate. It was interesting, the way the staff treated them by day. Did they know anything at all?

[lovecraftcomplex]

The t-shirt Rose had been given was, if anything, more relentlessly cheerful than the normal ones with the smiley faces. A giant, frilly heart was centered exactly over her own. And, by extension, the bandages and the healing puncture wound underneath them. She'd thought resurrection was supposed to be either painless or entirely unsuccessful. This hadn't been in the FAQ. Not that there was one, aside from the fragmented notes she'd been assembling.

The skirt was, if anything, worse. Frills and knee socks. Halfway between schoolgirl and lolita, but too shitty for either. At least she wasn't going to have to go out naked. And there was a jacket and an orange fuzzy hat, which matched exactly none of the rest.

She dressed slowly, declining any assistance other than the nurse's continued patience, and made her way outside. She was short of breath by the time she was climbing into the first bus, though she tried to hide it by slumping into a seat and scowling at the window.

[Alle!]

[tender_cruelty]

Waking up hurt. It wasn't the usual 'being stabbed and clawed hurts' kind of hurt either. he could deal with that. It was more a bone deep weariness combined with headache and nausea and did they really expect him to sit on a bus for however long it took to get to town?

Yes, apparently they did.

The point was, that he felt terribly ill and how did normal people do this? How had they not died out by now if they had to put up with this every few months?

He noticed the mark as he was getting dressed, pulling on the black t-shirt with... was that a skull? and jeans that restricted his movement far too much and a jacket. The nurse said that he looked very cool. He thought that the effect was probably ruined by the mittens she gave him to wear. It was while getting dressed though that he noticed the mark on the back of his hand; an odd ring of red inflamed skin which itched like crazy now that he'd noticed it.

He wobbled a little just climbing up onto the bus and quickly determined to find himself a seat where he could close his eyes and not watch as the bus moved. He made his way through the seats, gripping the backs of them hard as he passed only to stop dead when he saw a flash of pale and frills and oh...

He settled gingerly into the seat next to Rose, offering a small smile and hoping that she didn't mind. "They said that you were dead."

[lovecraftcomplex]

"I got better." Rose pronounced the words with the solemn reverence due Shakespeare, which was stupid, since everyone who had taken sixth-grade English knew that was Mark Twain.

"It's not as much fun as it sounds like." Though, to be honest, dying didn't really sound like fun. Even when Dave was trying to make it sound like popping down to the corner store for vodka and milk. It was less fun than that to experience. "Were you worried about me?"

She meant it to come out sarcastically. Which it did, if one was listening with the emotional acuity of a fellow 13-year-old.

[revolutionise]

She had missed another day, looked like. Doyleton hadn't been so soon when Utena had gone to sleep last. And what that meant was that the horrifyingly girly outfit she found herself faced with in the morning came as a complete (and thoroughly) unpleasant surprise. "Ughh, seriously...?" she groaned to herself as she started changing.

The long, airy skirt swished around her legs in exactly the way she hated as she was escorted down the halls to the bus. Her cheeks were faintly flushed already. This was ridiculous. Why did she have to dress according to the whims of some fake "her" that wasn't even around to object to anything? Especially when the fabric of her skirt was so light that she was pretty sure she would catch whatever cold it was that Landel had mentioned over the intercom.

Looked like she didn't even have the luxury of sitting with a friend to take the edge off of the embarrassment, either, she thought as she was loaded onto one of the buses. Anise was there, but it looked like she had a seatmate already. Utena gave her roommate a nod as she passed, but otherwise moved quickly in the hopes that the other girl wouldn't get a great look at her in all her baby pink and white glory.

"Ahh... Himemiya, why can't you be here to help me out right about now?" Utena said to herself as she slid into an empty seat.

[Locke~]

[kings_thief]

Locke woke, as always, in his own bed with the same feeling he usually got after a pleasant dream. Although the first part of his night had been filled with mortification by his own hand, the rest of it had been...fairly pleasant. Certainly, it beat running around dark halls with monsters at your back.

What he wasn't expecting was his nurse to come in with news about his 'exciting' trip into town as she handed him clothes closer to what he was used to. Well, somewhat. The long sleeves of his shirt were annoying and besides the blue of his jeans everything was either black or tan. He was really starting to miss all the colors of his normal outfit and scarves.

Handing him his breakfast and a few things he didn't really recognize, the nurse led him outside to....something. It reminded him of a train except smaller and the wheels looked funny. Cautiously, he got on the thing the nurse called a 'bus' and looked around for somewhere to sit. A rather pretty lady sitting alone caught his eye and he headed over to her. He'd rather have company on this 'trip' to wherever they were going, hopefully she wouldn't mind.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?"

[revolutionise]

If not for the good graces of some benevolent force in the universe, Utena would have let out a tense squeal when her chest tightened. As it was, not only did she not make any embarrassing noises, but the person asking to sit down was no one Utena knew. That wasn't so bad, she supposed. At least she wasn't going to have to look ridiculously girly in front of anyone she knew just yet. Man, all kinds of monsters and traumas in this Institute and not looking silly in front of other people is priority number one right now? What is wrong with me? she wondered.

"Ah, yeah! Go right ahead," she said to the older guy, shifting over to give him more room (and shove more of her skirt under her butt). "Man, it got full in here fast, huh?"

[vstheworld]

Indy was gone. Peter was gone.

Everything sucked.

Also Scott was dressed for Doyleton now. Super fashionable.

[Free but incredibly mopey]

[stellarregions]

Last night had been something of a revelation. How what he and Hakkai had discovered was lurking under the institute baffled him, but not as much as why people apparently didn't talk about it, despite the fact that others clearly knew it was there.

It was a little disconcerting, really. His only regret was that they hadn't got further, though now he had some idea of just where he and Edgar had wound up that first night he'd spent at Landel's. It was probably down there somewhere, waiting for someone else to stumble on it.

He was still pondering that when he was herded onto the bus--though he did make a note of where they were this time, in case he and Hakkai wanted to pursue that other angle they'd discussed--and looked around for an empty seat, finally winding up at one already half-occupied by a less than thrilled looking young man.

"Hey," he commented as he sat down, and started poking through what he'd been given for lunch. Given his seat-mate's apparent disposition, he wasn't expecting much in the way of conversation, but it would have been rude not to say anything.

[vstheworld]

"Mnh."

Scott was the most eloquent today.

In all seriousness, it was actually kind of nice to have a warm body sitting next to him. Not in that way (he could already feel Wallace poking him in the ribs a million lightyears away), but just as a reminder that people still existed. They didn't just vanish randomly in a puff of smoke, much as it was starting to feel like they did.

He didn't say anything else for a while, though. The bus started moving. Scott stayed quiet, staring out the window at everything and nothing. He got flashes of Desert Bus in his mind as they drove. Only without the desert part. Other than that, though, he was kind of a blank.

Still, that was more than Scott had been thinking lately, and it was what finally got him talking after a while. "Man, Desert Bus sucked."

[savagestray]

Heine woke feeling just as weak and nauseated as he had the night before. The sheets stuck to him where they touched bare skin, and his head was pounding enough to make him lay back down and throw the sheets off entirely. He didn't want to think about last night, he didn't even want to pretend it really happened.

It wasn't until his nurse arrived and threatened to help him dress that he finally pushed himself out of bed. He flinched away from the woman's help and concern, refusing their medication, though he managed to get up and grab the offered clothing. At first, the gesture confused him. Why the hell were they getting different clothing? Was he being released?

Explanations were minimal, but Heine was under the impression they were going on some kind of trip. He hoped for a chance at escape, but bastards like the ones running this place? They didn't dangle a prize like this carelessly. If they got away, it was because they were meant to. If not? It was just another show of force.

Heine scratched his left arm absently and pulled on the skinny dark-wash jeans and sneakers without comment. The t-shirt was some screaming endorsement for an indie rock band, but he refused the argyle sweater and took a thin jacket instead, some kind of hoodie that had seen better days.

At least it covered most of the reddish rash that seemed to be running up his arm, and he shoved his hands in the front pockets without a sound. The bus ride wasn't much more exciting, and he ignored the bag of breakfast thrust at him until he found a seat. The nurse set it next to him anyway and he went about crumbling bits of his blueberry muffin and dropping them onto the floor.

[Free]

[rainboompow]

Rainbow was starting to suspect that the main villain at work in this place wasn't Landel or Discord — it was the freaking nights that just ended without warning and didn't let her get anywhere. If she met someone around here who could get stuff done on a regular basis, she would eat Applejack's hat. Seriously.

That said, the day brought a surprise for Rainbow, one which she did not actually find terrible. In fact, it sounded downright awesome. According to her nurse, the patients were all going on a trip to a town today. All right, a trip! she thought with a mental "boo yah!" That meant that they would be going outside the Institute's stupid compound! And that meant she could finally find some way to escape! Unless this town or wherever had the same walls and mazes as the Institute to deal with, Rainbow was confident she could find a way out. She had gotten through tighter cracks before. This couldn't be much different.

WIth that all in mind, Rainbow found herself getting ready for the day with a spring in her step, which her nurse found encouraging. She had been given a non-boring outfit for the day, too, which was an added plus (though, even with her limited knowledge of human clothing, Rainbow had a sneaking suspicion that she had been given the wrong one). After she was finished changing, she set off down the hall with a brown bagged lunch under her arm, wondering where they were supposed to catch the train.

There was no train, as it turned out. Looked like they were all going to be loaded into some big yellow carriages. She didn't see anywhere for anypony to pull them from, either. Maybe they were steam-powered? Those sorts of things were rare, but they were out there. She didn't know much about that kind of stuff, though; after all, what did a pony with wings need with vehicles most of the time? Maybe these were new, she thought.

Or maybe they're something Discord made up, came a discontent reminder from the recesses of her brain. Rainbow shuddered a little at the thought. Man, she couldn't wait to get wherever they were going already.

There weren't many seats left by the time Rainbow boarded. She saw a couple of people she knew (Rose and Red), but both had seatmates already. So Rainbow slid into the first empty spot she could find, which ended up being next to a guy with wild white hair and red eyes. If she hadn't known any better, she would have pegged him for Nutty Japan, but (thankfully) this guy was actually being, y'know, quiet. Not that Rainbow minded loudness — just not Nutty's constant, obnoxious "I HEART JAPAN" loudness.

The carriage started moving not long after she sat down, and with the thing in motion, Rainbow felt at ease to start talking to her seatmate. "Hey. So I gotta ask: what's your plan when we get there?" she asked the guy as she started opening her lunch and rummaging inside for her breakfast. "Think you're gonna make a break for it too?"

[savagestray]

Heine would've been fine with whiling away the drive to wherever the hell they were going by giving his muffin a slow and painful crumbly death. Instead, he was sitting next to Rainbow Brite with a mullet.

Instinct took over and he gave the girl most of the seat, pushing himself against the wall and window as he looked her over and tried not to panic when he realized there was literally no way out of this seat without actually touching her. And before he could go into his usual stream of profanities intended to scare off the opposite sex, she was already asking him questions like they were old pals.

"This isn't a fuckin' picnic," he almost growled when he realized he'd crushed what remained of his muffin. He let it drop to the floor, brushing the crumbs from his hand.

"Why would they take us somewhere if they weren't absolutely certain we had no way of escaping?" he added, trying not to look in her direction. Just the thought of how close she sat was starting to make him edgy.

[sixth_attack]

Gone. Sechs' first real friend was gone, leaving him with deep uncertainty of his future and the welfare of his remaining allies. All he had to show for the night before was the damning rash that had emerged upon his hand, while the sickening fatigue and trembling still plagued the despondent Replica.

When he was woken up that morning, all Sechs wanted was to stay in bed and sleep off the pain, but his nurse insisted on him getting up for another trip to Doyleton. As much as he wanted to resist the nurse's aggravating chiding, he couldn't bear to show any weakness or defeat to the institute that took away so much from him. So after a couple of tries against the weakness in his muscles and knees, Sechs rose out of bed and silently changed into his arranged set of clothing for the day.

Too numb in the brain to think much, Sechs felt as hollow as the ring of rashes that marked his left hand. He didn't even have the energy to care about the third weird cat shirt he had been given to wear, along with the usual pair of baggy jeans and a black coat to keep him warm against the chilly morning air. As he stepped into the bus with his lunch bag, the only positive feeling he had was a hint of relief that his coat sleeves were long enough to hide the rash on his hand. Yet such gratitude was soured by shame; a warrior like him shouldn't hide like this, but right then he just couldn't cope with this new set of problems...

Keeping his gaze fixed on the narrow, dirty floor, Sechs avoided eye contact with the other patients, intent on finding an empty seat in the back. By the time he found a decent spot and shuffled his way in to lean against the window, he was already feeling out of breath and shaky. His head was throbbing painfully from his effort. Groaning softly, Sechs dropped his head against the seat in front of him. It felt like his illness had gotten worse, like how the redness on his hand had spread up past his wrist. If only he could ask Kibitoshin to use some of his Ki energy to heal--

No. Don't think about it. Sechs' face screwed up in pain, his eyes tightly shut as he forced out any thoughts of the night before. If he could just rest without thinking much during this trip, maybe he'll feel better enough to deal with all this... Just don't think about it...

[Free but very tired and not terribly responsive...]

[thecamellia]

That morning, Tsubaki woke up to an acute sense of disappointment. Night had passed way too quickly! She scrubbed her eyes blearily, half-hoping Sora was still nearby so she could… well, she didn’t know. Talk to him. Watch over him in case his symptoms really were connected to the Head Doctor’s scheme. Keeping an eye on him wasn’t out of fear of him, per se… more like fear for him. And he had to be scared, too, right? Who wouldn’t be?

Landel trying to take away people’s identities--people like Sora--and turn them into creatures that would hurt others was just horrible. It was too much like kishin.

Please, please don’t let Sora be one of them!

But as strong as Landel was, they had to have hope. Even if his plans to make monsters succeeded, it wouldn’t last forever. Or at least that’s what she told herself as she went about getting ready for the field trip with her nurse’s assistance.

It didn’t take long for her to get dressed and head out to the buses. She was eager to check in with everyone; once they got to Doyleton the prisoners would be scattered all over the place, making finding people extra hard. Thankfully, Rapunzel was someone she didn’t have to worry about too much. The other girl had seemed no worse for wear that morning…

[stylebythemile]

Well that assignment went well.

Not.

Sonia had only been awake for a few seconds when the 'nurse' came in to tell her to get ready. She and the other 'nurses' looked excited, almost, and the princess thought she knew why. Nearby town? Money? They were going on a field trip?

The clothes that were handed to her weren't to her taste (seriously, what made these people think she'd look good in light blue? Anything was better than gray, but dark blue looked much better on her), but they were cute. Suited to the weather, too. Not the outfit she would've picked, but... oh well!

Her mind was really on the day ahead of her. She wanted to see as much of the town as she could today, not to mention a look at the area surrounding the prison. Maybe she'd find out more about this world and the reason she and the others were here. Had Landel and Aguilar really tricked the town into thinking the prisoners were 'patients'? Was that why they were going on this trip? To stop people on the outside from getting suspicious?

And when the prisoners escaped, how far would they have to run before they found shelter? Unless there was an exit inside the building.

With any luck, she might even be able to make contacts in the town. Sonia hopped on to one of the buses and took a seat next to a window, rifling through the coupons they'd given her. '1 free manicure'? '1 free facial or massage'!?

...Whose side was Landel on, anyway?