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!]

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[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?"

[kings_thief]

Locke smiled and took a seat beside her. "Yeah, guess these...'buses' aren't supposed to hold too many people." And there were quite a few of them, really, how were these supposed to be more efficient than trains? It made no sense to him. Of course, he would have been happier to walk to wherever they were going, any form of transportation made him a little uneasy, these things included.

He stuck out his hand in the small space between them. That was another thing these things lacked that trains had: space. "I'm Locke. Do you know anything about this place they're taking us to?"

[revolutionise]

The older guy seemed pretty relaxed, thankfully. He wasn't being a creep or poking fun or anything. Utena breathed a little easier as she answered: "I dunno, it looks like a decent number to me." She gazed out at the seats in front of them, wondering if the buses back in this guy's home world were bigger, or if she was just missing something.

A friendly hand was extended, and Utena took it. "Tenjou Utena. Nice to meet you, Locke," she said. "And yeah, I've been there a couple times now. It's a pretty relaxed town — during the day, anyway." Utena shivered as unpleasant, zombie-filled memories surfaced in her mind. Eugh.