Night 64: Main Hallway, 1-West

[dualistic]

[From here.]

Well, that had been painless, but the good time he'd made also meant that he was the first to arrive. Harvey leaned himself up against the wall, swinging his metal pipe around in his hand as he kept an eye out for Scott or Sangamon.

He had to admit, it was strange that their group had been cut down so considerably. He didn't even know if Depth Charge was still around, but it didn't matter to him too much either way, so he hadn't put much thought into it. He figured that one of the others would mention it when they showed up, if they even knew themselves.

While he waited, Harvey grabbed the bone bracelet out of his pocket and started to spin it around in his hand. The skeleton hadn't been too clear about how this worked, but there was an obvious answer about what to do with it, not that he was going to attempt anything until the others had shown up.

Comments

[gald_digger]

[from here]

The main hallway... This was probably a good place to meet the others at. It was close to the patient blocks, but on the way to the Medical Wing.

Even though she knew it was wrong, Anise couldn't help wondering if she ought to just go by herself. It was her illness and her problem. But Guy had already offered to help, and she knew he'd want to make good on that offer, especially now that they had a concrete lead. Besides, the Head Doctor had to have heard that announcement too. Even if the tip was genuine, it was possible that he would set a trap or something to get in the way. It would be pretty pathetic if Anise got herself killed trying to save herself.

In the end, all she could do was wait. The girl fidgeted anxiously as she waited by the hall connecting to the men's blocks. Hopefully, there was still time... Some patients were going to turn tonight. She just had to pray she wasn't one of them.

[Guy and Claude!]

[earthling]

((From here.))

As they entered the next hall, the light from Claude's hardhat illuminated the path in front of him. Soon, he caught sight of a small figure, which he immediately recognized.

"Anise!" he called as he approached the girl. "Did we keep you waiting too long? How are you feeling?"

That might not have been the best way to greet her, especially since he belatedly remembered that Anise had probably wanted to be the one to tell him about what happened to her. But it was hard to hide his concern, and so there was no use in backpedaling now.

[nobleman]

Having Claude's support when it came to a missing friend was appreciated, of course, and Guy wasn't in such a rush that he didn't give him a smile in order to make that clear. Despite his own problems, though, the illness that his friends were suffering from was much more pressing, and so he moved along with Claude, relieved when they came across Anise almost immediately upon reaching the main hall.

She had managed to make her way out here, and while she looked a little worse for the wear, that would hopefully be fixed before long. Not that Guy was expecting them to find a cure that worked instantly, but any step in that direction was good in his book.

Guy didn't think there was any time to waste, and so while Claude offered more run of the mill questions, he cut to the chase. "You heard the announcement, right? Claude's having symptoms too, so the three of us will need to get to the medical wing as soon as we can." He wasn't that familiar with it, but he was sure the three of them could figure this out. They'd gotten through the basement and a decent part of the caverns together, so this seemed like a cake walk in comparison.

[thecamellia]

_{[from here]}

Once Tsubaki reached the more busy thoroughfare, she slowed a little, looking around her for familiar faces. No one matched Lingormr’s height, which wasn’t all that surprising given that the night had only just begun. He could have still been in his own cell block, or had even gotten ahead of her if he’d been moving more quickly.

Best just to reach the rendezvous point as fast as possible and wait there.

She kept her pace at a slow jog, on the chance that there was something in the dark she wasn’t sensing. Racing straight into danger was the worst thing she could possibly do so early in the game.

_{[to here]}

[unpriest]

[From here]

Seishin walked into the main hallway before long, his mind wandering so that he almost missed the few other people who were doubtlessly waiting for others. How many of them were headed for the medical wing, chasing down that glimmer of hope? Hadn't Landel-san mentioned some patients were going to change tonight?

The former priest had made no arrangements with others, but he paused nonetheless in his hesitation, his flashlight failing to illuminate the other side of the corridor.

(The Scarecrow)

[scarefaux]

[From here.]

Things only got worse as the Scarecrow continued on, his body fighting against him the whole way. He felt like he had been running all day, limbs fatigued in a way he'd never felt in his former body simply because he was incapable of it, having been made of straw and clothes. Another cough escaped him, rattling his entire chest. Maybe looking into what had been mentioned on the intercom wouldn't be a bad idea, he thought for a moment. Then again, it might have been another trick from Wizard Landel. He had to be on his guard, be careful. Depth Charge had taught him that much.

With his hands shaking by the time he reached the main hallway, the Scarecrow was forced to slow his pace, fumbling with his flashlight as he attempted to turn it on. It slipped from his fingers as it had so many times before; this time was different as it took him a few seconds to kneel to pick it up.

[unpriest]

At the sound of a flashlight clattering on the floor, Seishin turned. The beam of his own flashlight revealed a familiar face, beginning to kneel in order to pick up the discarded flashlight.

He hadn't seen the man in a while, had he? Not since the incident with the large, birdlike monsters. Thankfully the night had ended before the situation could get ouf of hand.

"Westerning-san?" he called out as he approached, "Are you alright?"

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

He wasn't fooling anyone. Pissing upwind at Basco and the rest of the bastards never got old. Putting on jeans that should have been drenched in his own blood, zombie guts, and hydrocarbon-based robot dinosaur blood did. Not the jeans themselves, but they'd become, by virtue of having pockets, his uniform for night work. At least they were a good pair. Beaten in by some town zombie-drone-joe-average, the leather brand-patch ripped off for corporate witness-protection.

Harvey was on time. S.T. flipped up two fingers, then a third, wobbling his hand. Two or three minutes, tops. Right back.

[to here (he'll be back)]

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

Back in a flash. Or several hours, give or take. Going anywhere here was like taking the T. Once the doors shut, it could be five minutes or fifty listening to Spock read out the wrong stops. And when you hit fresh air again you'd only gone a mile.

Except here walking wouldn't save you from holes in the fabric of reality. Harvey didn't look any more homicidal than usual, so it probably hadn't been very long.

"No plague, right?" If all three of them had gotten off scot-free, it might even qualify as luck.

[dualistic]

It would have been more or less impossible to have missed Sangamon passing through the first time, seeing how he'd been carrying an impressive amount of alcohol with him. Unfortunately, none of that was meant for Harvey. From the looks of it, Sangamon was going to drop it off with someone else.

Was he really planning to just give all of his alcohol away? Why? Harvey wondered if it was just because Sangamon was a nice guy that way, or at least that he wanted to convince himself that was the case.

As he waited, he kept an eye on the other patients who were loitering around, but didn't see anyone familiar until Shiina showed up. She was coughing up a storm, and Harvey tensed as he realized that things were even worse than he'd realized. She'd come down with that illness, hadn't she?

Before he could contemplate whether to call out to her or not, though, Sangamon showed up again. The question took him by surprise in light of what he'd just witnessed, but eventually he shook his head. "No, looks like I'm in the clear. Are we just waiting on Scott?" It was his subtle way of working out whether or not Depth Charge was still around.

[requitedfate]

[from here]

Shiina was out of breath by the time she skidding into the same meeting place designated by Shou. Leaning over, clutching her arms around her middle, Shiina sought to catch her breath. It backfired. Instead of finding more air filling her lungs the tickling feeling at the back of her throat took hold, causing her to hack and cough between gasps.

Her baseball bat dropped to the ground with a metallic clamor. She barely managed to keep hold of her dim and dying flashlight.

Get a hold of yourself, Nagasawa! she berated herself, shakily reaching for the bat on the ground, only to be caught by another wave of spasming coughs. If she didn't know better, she would have thought she had inhaled a cloud of dust. Or maybe something worse.

[Niikura and Mike]

[oneman_onekill]

[from here]

As soon as he reached the main hallway, Niikura turned on his flashlight and began searching for Shiina or Mike--or both of them, even. He'd gotten to the spot pretty quickly, so he didn't actually expect to find either one of them. However, he was quickly proved otherwise when he came upon Shiina, and even worse...Shiina in the midst of a coughing fit.

He'd been planning on saying something as soon as he saw her like "Hey, did you hear the intercom?" or "How about we go to the X-Ray room instead?", but none of that ended up falling through as his mind went blank with something close to panic.

"Shit... Nagasawa!" Niikura rushed over and knelt down next to her, placing a hand around her shoulders while reaching to knock the bat back within her reach. "You okay?" His heart was beating too quickly; tonight was going to be terrible, he could just feel it.

[requitedfate]

Shiina's hands reached up and clutched at her mouth and throat, doing all that she could to control the spasms. It was strange, like her throat was clogged with something. It took a few minutes, and a reassuring hand on her shoulder, for her to calm down enough to relax her breathing.

"I'm... I'm fine!" She gasped hoarsely. One hand she kept at her throat, but with the other she shakily reach forward and took up her bat. She straightened up on her feet, offering Shou an apologetic smile.

She had to clear her throat before talking again, but it still did little to relieve her need to cough. Her voice was small and scratchy. "Mike's coming?"

[ham_fisted]

[from here]

When he arrived at the main hall, his heart was racing and his fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles were white. He stopped suddenly when he heard a girl in the middle of a coughing fit nearby. Gumshoe swung the beam of his flashlight around to look for her. By the time he'd found her, someone had already raced over to help her.

His frown deepened and he turned the light toward the hall leading to the Medical Wing.

[Lust]

[a_sin_for_him]

[from here]

Upon approaching the hallway she normally paused at, Lust found herself disappointed to find Scar wasn't there. It was the first night since finding him that he hadn't been here. The previous night didn't count, and they'd ended up together anyway.

But that wasn't something to let her mind get distracted by now.

She stopped anyway, casting her flashlight beam about, in case perhaps he was just...further along the hall than normal. They'd had no plans to meet here, but they had only made plans like that once. Then they'd simply...found each other. And there was someone else, yes, down just beyond her light....

But it was the back of some man that wasn't familiar to her. Well, fine. It was someone, maybe they were on their own.

"Waiting for someone?" Lust called out, lowering her light so as not to blind him when he turned.

[ham_fisted]

"Huh?" Gumshoe thought he heard a voice behind him and turned again to see a lady standing close by. (...Make that a really pretty lady.) Was she talking to him? "Ah, no, nothing like that, ma'am," he replied distractedly, but he managed a small smile for her before looking off to the side. He could see how she'd make that mistake. "I'm just on my way to the Medical Wing."

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

Walking, at least, wasn't so bad yet. Running was out of the question; she had no desire for a repeat performance of last night. Placing one hand on the wall to steady herself for a moment, Soma blinked to clear her vision and kept her feet moving.

[madeinthehrl]

[to here]

[brokensmolder]

[from here.]

Now that she wasn't healing him and rushing him from place to place, Eugene finally had enough time to glance over and see what Rapunzel was carrying. "Frying pan! Man, have I missed those. Brings back memories, you know? You with the frying pan, me tied to a chair with a possible concussion and the worst wet willy a guy could ask for...ah, the good old days." It really wasn't that long ago, was it? Just a few days. But if Rapunzel had been here for ten days--and, more importantly, if it really was winter instead of the height of summer--then maybe it was longer than he cared to think.

A glint of metal in the corner of his eye caught Eugene's attention. Rapunzel wasn't just carrying a frying pan. In her other hand, she held a thin, wicked-looking dagger, one that he recognized instantly. How could he not? "Is that...?" But he didn't even need to ask. This was the weapon that had killed him. Or very nearly killed him; he still wasn't sure how that worked.

He stopped suddenly and clutched his side as the memory sent a sharp jolt of phantom pain through the healed wound. He couldn't take his eyes away from that knife.

[freewill]

As expected, introductions came almost as soon as they left the block, with Kratos making sure that they were delivered efficiently. Rapunzel, like the fairy tale? Castiel knew that there were times when those things were more real than the children who enjoyed them could ever imagine, but he had never expected this. Considering her hair, though, he really should have worked it out sooner.

He could have asked the girl a number of questions, but she was acting on the behalf of friends, and all of them were in a hurry. It could wait for another time. Instead, Castiel moved with the three others, positioning himself roughly in the center of their small formation. He was too sick and injured to be trusted to lead them or take up the rear, so this was ideal.

"There's no need to apologize," he told Rapunzel. "I believe we all wish to move with haste." It wasn't far to travel, but moving only a short distance here could sometimes take up a whole night. He decided not to mention his own illness, as by now it was a moot point. If the two strangers noticed his sickly complexion, then that couldn't be helped. At least his coat covered the rash on his arm.

Before long, the one called Flynn started to babble on to Rapunzel, and Castiel was left to wonder if he was her so-called prince. Flynn took interest in the knife she was holding, and even Castiel had to admit that the weapon looked out of place in the girl's hands. He moved along with them, curious to hear what response Rapunzel would give, especially with how bothered Flynn seemed to be by the sight of the blade.

[oyaji]

[From here]

This time he actually spotted a few clusters of patients that lined the hallway. It was silly, but actually seeing some of them put him at ease because they weren't getting themselves into any trouble just standing and talking. That was perfectly normal civilian behavior.

"Okay, so--" His steps slowed slightly ti get a better look at his partner. "--Which door is it gonna be? Right or left?"

[baniichan]

"It's going to be on the left," Barnaby answered after pausing long enough to glance over the map. "We'll have to pass the Sun Room and a couple of hallways before we get there, though."

If the map was to be trusted, at any rate. Dent seemed to think it was legitimate, though, and so far their path matched with Anise's information. For now, it appeared they could continue to rely on it, even if Barnaby resolved to keep alert for any inconsistencies.

After lifting his light to catch sight of anything unusual up ahead, he proceeded ahead along with his partner.

((To here.))

[idolism]

_{[from here]}

It didn’t take long to reach the main corridor, which made Aidou hope the rest of the way to the female block was equally as easy. It’d be just their misfortune to get stuck on a wild goose chase looking for Aigis while Landel amused himself by inflicting a new mind game on them.

In regards to Landel, was the silence so far a sign that he was more concerned with his test tube monsters and whatever was happening in the medical wing? If so, maybe they’d actually have an opportunity to get something done… Well, assuming the side quest Aidou had set them on didn’t eat up all of their time. From what the vampire could see, Aigis wasn’t amongst the few stragglers in the hallway, which just left the female block to check. If she wasn’t there, then he’d have to consider waiting until morning to hunt her down. Without a blood scent to follow, tracking her would be troublesome at best.

He had told her he would step if she was one of the ones who lost her humanity, but that required him to actually know where she was. He and Sasuke couldn’t run around searching all night. So far, though, things seemed quite quiet.

There was hope yet that they could find Aigis quickly and move on from there.

“Did you sleep through Landel’s message tonight?” he asked. “One of the radio people seems to have sent everybody on another scavenger hunt to the medical area. There’s a hint about curing the infection, supposedly.” Which, admittedly, had piqued the vampire's curiosity. Considering that the infection was something that affected all of the prisoners as a whole, any knowledge that Landel's enemies possessed was relevant to their interests.

[firewhichrefines]

Had he slept through more than one message? He only remembered waking to one, and the details of its start were fuzzy. Another scavenger hunt, then -- were people still listening to the people on the radio, even after their allegiances had been so flexible? Torn between two powers, both of whom provided only the occasional toy of a prize for whatever their own purposes were.

"Do you believe the people on the radio?" He asked as they turned into the next hall.

[[to here]]

[mirrorimage]

[From here.]

This hallway, Nina recognized. It was far more populated than it had been the night before, now that the institute's patients were all back, but even so she remembered it, and where it had led Murphy and her.

She was pretty sure she was almost to the meeting place now. Just a little way further.

[To here.]