Night 66: Main Hallway, 1-West

[dualistic]

[From here.]

That hadn't taken long. So much so that it looked like he was the first person to make it this far. Harvey took a moment to scan the hall with his flashlight, including near the stairs, but he didn't see (or hear) much of anything. It was the sort of thing that set him on edge.

Since he couldn't do much else, he leaned himself against the wall by the stairs and then grabbed for his gun, holding it near his side as he waited. Normally he didn't take the weapon out unless he planned to shoot it, but when there was a possibility that some transformed patient might come barreling down the halls in the next few seconds, he wanted to take precaution.

Hopefully Scott and Sangamon would haul ass over here before all hell started to break loose. If things got too hairy, Harvey was ready to make a run for it on his own. That was the logical thing to do.

[Waiting for S.T.]

Comments

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

There was a light in the main hall. One light, singular. Panning back and forth in D-cell searchlight. S.T. followed the beam of reflective dust motes back to a face he could have done without seeing just after eating. Again.

"Harvey. We still on?"

[dualistic]

There was Sangamon. Harvey turned to look at him, unapologetic about the state of his face. "Well..." Now that he thought of it, Harvey hadn't actually confirmed with his two companions during the day, like they usually did. But all things considered, what else would be going on?

"Well, I just assumed. None of us are sick, so we may as well press forward." Unless Scott had some girlfriend to deal with, in which case Harvey was seriously going to have to question the kid's priorities. Sangamon was here, though, and Harvey hadn't had to wait that long for him either. So maybe Scott would be along in the next minute or so.

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

She was the first of her group to arrive. And, it seemed, one of the few willing to congregate in the open. Or one of the few alive and well enough to try such a foolish maneuver. Harvey was, too, which was reassuring. He had a gun out, and Lana slid her left hand into her pocket, resting it on the grip of her own revolver. Harvey hadn't been ill; he wasn't a threat, but he knew she was. Good.

She just hoped Ryuuzaki was well enough to lead them tonight.

[L and Gumshoe]

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

Lana was there already, but alone. He tipped the beam of his flashlight down so that he wouldn't blind her as he approached.

A frown crossed his face as he approached. He knew that having to rearrange the sling had made it harder for him to prepare to leave, and that he had left the room later than he would have liked, although only by a few minutes. So where was Nina? She wasn't sick or injured, and she shouldn't have needed to do much to get ready apart from putting on some warm outdoor gear. She should be waiting with Lana already.

It was possible that she had been waylaid, and possible that she had decided that the trip in the rain would be too much trouble, or that she didn't want to risk her neck helping two people who seemed as if they might be doomed. The latter two possibilities seemed unlikely; to him, up to this point, she had seemed conscientious. The remaining possibilities he could think of were that she was being held up by conversation with her roommate, or that she had fallen asleep.

If she had been attacked on the way... it was possible, although attacks that close to patient rooms didn't seem to happen as often as other kinds... if that was the cause of the delay, they wouldn't be able to help her, and they would be sabotaging themselves by trying. They could wait for her for a few minutes, but if she didn't arrive, they'd have to strike out on their own without her assistance.

There was also the question of Lana's clothing, which stood out for its formality... and its total impracticality in terms of their plans. After resting against the wall next to her, he glanced down at her legs, then back at her face.

"Stockings?" He sounded dry, not quite dubious. He thought she would be chilled, but more than that, he thought the heels she was wearing would sink in the mud in the patch of bare, uneven land they were about to cross.

[unpriest]

[From here]

Nearing the location near the wall where they had always met, Seishin noticed Silvestri-san wasn't there yet. One glance around the area told him not many had ventured as far yet, for that matter. His brow furrowed in mild concern. Was he early, or was it something else...?

He leaned against the wall, shifting his hold on the hatchet while he hoped he wouldn't have to use it. He didn't understand what Charon-san had meant when the skeleton man had offered them his 'gift', but he supposed they would find out soon enough. Whatever it was, Seishin knew it wouldn't include safe passage across the lake. It would be his turn to offer payment, wouldn't it?

He didn't particularly mind bearing that burden; Silvestri-san was the one who was able to fight, and it was one of the few ways the former priest believed he could be useful in some way.

[For Ilia~]

[avengingfists]

[from here]

Ilia strode into the Main Hallway with a look of great determination on her face, much like she had the night before. Then, it had been Rose's condition that turned her grim. Tonight, it was Anise and Claude both. Those poor kids....

No, I'm not going to worry about it! she berated herself sharply. She located her traveling companion quickly enough and hurried to his side, forcing a smile.

"Sorry I'm late. Ready to get started, then?" Ilia asked, glancing at the bad Seishin held. It contained their 'gift' from Charon. He said it would make things easier on them. She was curious what exactly that might entail. Hopefully their wasn't a price to pay along with it.

[thisisyourgod]

> ==>

Here was the main hallway already, and the sun room was just a little ways down. He glanced around the hall but didn't see that many girls at all - none in this first area close to the stairs up to the next floor, anyway. There were people gathering by the sun room doors as well, however, and with any luck one of them would be who he was looking for.

Or he'd end up standing there awkwardly for a while, which was the more likely result.

> Karkat: Find the girl.

[thisisyourgod]

> ==>

At least his room wasn't too far. He wouldn't be bound to get lost as easily.

"It's just over here down one of these halls. Nothing special. You could have found it on your own." Probably. He'd admit that it would be easy enough to get lost in these hallways even if everything seemed fairly straightforward. All the halls with the patient rooms looked pretty much identical.

[gald_digger]

[from here]

Anise reached the main hallway without much delay, and found that she was the first to arrive. She hoped the others were going to have an easy time getting around, too.

There were a few other patients in the same part of the hallway, and Anise kept a small distance between them and herself, nervously slipping her rash-covered hand behind her back and positioning herself close to a wall. Most people who found out about her illness had been sympathetic and understanding, but that didn't mean everyone would be.

She stood quietly as she waited, breathing slowly and silently taking note of her current symptoms. She didn't feel that much worse than she felt yesterday... could she assume that she was going to be okay for a while, like Claude? As much as she really wanted to think that, Anise didn't feel safe assuming anything at this point.

[dispersive]

[From here]

With how few people stood in the main hallway tonight, those he knew were easy to pick out. Anise, apparently, was the only one besides him to have made it this far and he hoped the others wouldn't be too far behind him. Time had not been on their side these last few nights and it looked like it wouldn't be for any days following. What a damn pain!

When he got closer, the replica called to her, waving his fontech torch above his head. It was hard to say if she looked any better, but at least she wasn't passed out on the floor, so that was a definite a point advantage for them. Still, despite his worry, Luke kept a smile on his face all the same. It was probably as transparent as the rest of him always was, but he was trying!

"How, uhm, how're you feeling?" Of course, it wasn't until after he had already asked that the redhead realized he probably shouldn't have. There was no point in reminding her of what they all already knew and feared.

[faeth]

[ from here. ]

Orihime rounded the corner with a relieved sigh.

Another hallway, but this one wasn’t empty, and there she was, back flat against the wall and arms stretched out along it, as if she were balancing along the side of a high building.

“…Eh.”

She fixed her positioning by jumping forward slightly, back straight as she proceeded to make herself appear as natural as possible. “Um, please excuse me.” She strode forward past the waiting figures in the hall, shoulders squared. If she had the time, then she might’ve stopped for small talk, if only to be polite, but she was keeping everyone waiting already. Not to mention, the stagnant tension of waiting was so thick here, it was suffocating, difficult to even breathe much less to talk.

And it was still concerning that she couldn’t feel any reiatsu (from anyone, really), which made it all the more difficult to guess where everyone was. Ishida-kun was probably waiting in the hallway straight ahead even if she couldn’t feel him… and knowing him, seeing the way he’d acted all day, he was probably hoping to see the limits of her power, himself, before letting her take a chance to heal both him and Lloyd-san.

So.

Left it was.

[ to here. ]

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

There weren't many in the main hall, but there were more than she'd seen the last few times. Taura wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. None of them were collapsing and clutching their stomachs, so it was probably not too late to do something. She'd watch here for a while, and then move on.

[Goku and/or Rita?]

HOGAWD I AM HERE

[monkeyboy]

[From here]

"Taura!" Goku shouted from behind her, waddling as quickly as he could on two stumpy legs. Despite the rash that covered him, the strange cramps, and the generally dizziness, the young boy was not letting that stop him at a chance to leave a trail of destruction in his wake. Nothing ever really hung out by the glass house except nosy white witches, but he was betting that changed during the night like everything else. It was enough to hold attention at least.

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

There were people here, again, but then that wasn't all that surprising, and the sight came with new understanding. Everyone had somewhere to be, she knew this now. Flora looked around, trying to ignore the doctor's words, but it was difficult. Impossible, actually. There wasn't any suspicion to be found in her appraisal, just concern. She hoped everyone here would be alright, that nobody would be forced to face one another. That no one would die.

Instinctively, she took a step, but none further after that. It was very difficult--she wanted to just to follow a group, any group to make sure they would be okay, even if she couldn't do much, but that was it: she couldn't do much, and what was available to her was best used elsewhere. She hated it, but it would be for the better in the end, at least she hoped so.

Feeling her steps heavier for it, she went upstairs. Alone.

_{[To here]}

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

The first floor, she made it. Flora wanted to sigh. This was a small relief, but she couldn't let her guard down just yet.

The hand around her pillow case tightened. Just a little farther, yet.

_{[To here]}

[oneman_onekill]

[from here]

Niikura was still thinking about massive stomach trauma by the time he reached the main hallway, despite his best efforts to focus on remembering Shiina's room number (F19). Unfortunately, repeating the number in his head like a sort of mantra only made him think about the girl waiting inside (She couldn't be out and about. That would be ridiculous. Totally unheard of.) and the sight that he might find.

Funnily enough, the thought also made him walk faster, and that made it just slightly better. He turned the corner sharply as he began to head down the corridor leading to the women's blocks.

[to here]

[maverickhunterx]

[From here!]


Though as X kept moving, his thoughts flitted to various places: Landel; the intercom message; the information exchanged with Scar; the obvious protective measures his companions were taking...

And then his eyes fell on their apparel.

Zero's was the one that made him ponder the most, mostly because it was...well. It was a jacket that clearly belonged to a female, not just in cut but in color. And then there was the strange symbol that decorated it: what was it? It seemed to have some significance, but to what it kept slipping his mind.

Maybe once things calmed down, and night turned to day, X would ask about it.

Maybe.

He kept moving.

[dividedby]

Yes, fine. Leading the way was something Zero could do, along with continuing to be unimpressed by the way Harpuia was showing his feathers. Or rather, shoving his feathers in everyone's face. Oh, and he could trust him to keep watch over X as they moved along, too. Since X was the only one who truly mattered here.

At least they could (peacefully) agree that X would definitely be better off staying in between the two of them. Hopefully, though, he would be a little more sensible around danger should it appear this time around. It looked like he could walk without obviously limping now, true, but to have him get hurt immediately after he'd healed one injury...Zero would prefer to avoid that at all costs, especially when X was still unarmed.

Not that he doubted his best friend's ability to protect himself, but...after learning that X came from centuries in the past, and after seeing him try to make himself live bait for a transformed prisoner while he was unarmed? No. Not going to take any chances.

(In hindsight, Zero really should have brought his spare pipe with him so X could use it for the time being...but oh well. Nothing he could do about that now.)

[To here.]

[rocksthecourt]

[from here]

There was a light clink-clink that accompanied his steps as he moved. The chain at his waist was tapping against itself just enough to make an obviously metallic sound. It clinked to the rhythm of his steps, steady and consistent. The sound stuck out that much more due to the dead wall of silence lingering in the hallways.

Maybe he should have been worried about that attracting the wrong kind of attention. But instead, the steady beat registered as something comforting. It was enough to calm him a little and allowed him to focus more completely on both his surroundings and his thoughts. Such a simple thing, a tiny sound... but it had such a profound impact.

Or it had just been that long.

[to here]

[thecamellia]

_{[from here]}

Maybe she'd been premature in announcing there was no danger around...

The walk out of the female cell block had been as calm and peaceful as it got--there'd been no strange flashes of movement, no strange noises, no strange individuals. Nothing that had struck Tsubaki the wrong way.

But now that they were heading into the building's main hallway, that assessment changed. There was a smell. As they walked closer to the second nurse's station, there was also... unusual movement. What was that? Was there--

Tsubaki realized belatedly that the human-shaped thing sharing the hall with them wasn't entirely human, not with a long, cylindrical thing sticking to its head (which was angled bizarrely, at that). "I think there's a zombie," she whispered suddenly, tense with the possibility that one of those violent creatures was in the building. "Watch out!"

[survives]

Tsubaki's declaration that there wasn't anyone around came as a relief and Leanne allowed herself to relax some. Not too much, not here, of all places, where something could still leap out of the shadows later on, but it was still enough to have her breathing easier. Even armed and wearing her own clothes, she was still sick, after all. The less they ran into, the better.

...It was just too bad that didn't last long.

She drew in a quick breath, her eyes widening at the warning. A zombie? One of the monsters from the town? How... How could one of them have possibly walked all the way into the Institute? Didn't they already have enough monsters to deal with?

Her grip on her guns tightening, she took in the sight of it, barely visible in the dark. "Got it," she whispered back, her voice tight. It cut an imposing figure in the darkened hallway, but it didn't seem to be trying to attack them, at least not for the moment. "I don't think it's noticed us yet. We... We could try to get away from it."

[scarefaux]

[From here.]

The Scarecrow peered into the main hallway, noting that they'd made good time getting there. There were fewer patients out and about, all heading off to accomplish their goals for the night. As for the Scarecrow and Scar, they were on a mission, and couldn't delay for too long.

Clicking his flashlight off and on idly again, he spotted someone take the stairs closest to the middle of the hallway, and took off for the stairs at the far end of the hall. Hopefully, with one person coming out one set of stairs and him and Scar taking the other, any witches that may have been lurking in the Horrible Hallway would be distracted as they made a break for it. They had no time to lose!

"This way, Scar!" he called, motioning for Scar to follow. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be following far: one of the Scarecrow's legs gave out halfway down the corridor, causing him to fall flat on his face. He wasn't hurt— or didn't feel hurt, at least— courtesy of the clever little thing, but he couldn't help but thing something was off as he wobbled to his feet again.

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar followed Frank's gaze down the relatively empty main hallway. People must have gotten out quickly, tonight. He frowned and followed his companion as he took off down the hallway.

"Frank-" Scar wasn't close enough to catch the other man as he fell. "You should have stayed back," he grumbled as he reached out to help the Scarecrow to his feet. It had looked like a bad fall, but he didn't seem to be in much pain, if any at all. Scar watched him closely, an arm gripping his to ensure that he didn't fall again.

"I can find the place. You should wait in your room."

[idolism]

_{[from here]}

There was an aroma in the air that grew more pungent and foul the closer to the main corridor they got; he couldn't pinpoint it, which made him wrinkle his noses as much as the smell did.

"Something was here," he commented to Sasuke on their way through. The boy was no amateur at moving quickly in the dark, and as a consequence Aidou doubted anything short of a very determined opponent would impede the progress of a ninja and a vampire, but it didn't hurt to make the observation. "Something dead and desiccated, from the smell. And freshly spilled blood underneath that. There must have been a confrontation or something."

They both knew the Institute's beasts could come in all shapes and sizes, so the vampire didn't think there was anything particularly surprising in the idea that something less than human had been creeping around.

_{[to here]}

[rocksthecourt]

[from here]

Well, anyway. Even if he couldn't remember that much, he at least knew where he could easily get to a supply of water. There was a bathroom just down the hall from his room. It should be a simple matter of stopping off there and then quickly moving to his room.

...How funny was this. He was actually going to a somewhat public men's room under the hope of finding something sanitary.

[to here]

[rocksthecourt]

[from here]

This really wasn't an area he wanted to linger for long, but he needed to stop and consider where he was going before he continued on. He tried his best to recall the map he had copied long ago. What was there that was useful? This area was all patient rooms. None of the rooms connected to the Sun Room would hold anything he was looking for. Outside was obviously useless. He wasn't going back into the Medical Wing. He didn't recall what was down the hall next to the Medical Wing though, so that might have been a possibility.

He didn't remember much of the upstairs map. He hadn't actually ventured up there much at all, so there hadn't been much point in closely examining and memorizing it. Now he regretted that. All he remembered of upstairs was where the labs, Disciplinary Therapy, and janitor's closet were, none of which he planned to visit. Well, it was possible the labs might have something but...

Argh, was he really resigned to wandering aimlessly again? And into areas he wasn't familiar with? This was absolutely ridiculous. And unfortunately, he could only really blame himself for it, so he didn't have anything to project his irritation onto. In that case, maybe he was better off being minimalist and just looking for water rather than proper medical supplies for now. This was really getting obnoxious.

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

Alright, so the bathroom was a bust. Flora'd have to look elsewhere. Maybe the kitchen? If there was a problem with one set of pipes, she'd have to consider that it was in all of them, but she wouldn't know unless she checked for herself. She hadn't seen any distilled water in the lab storage room while she'd been in there, but she hadn't exactly been looking for it, either. It might have been something that she'd missed while taking everything else.

If it was necessary, she would go upstairs again, but it might have been better to check the kitchen on this floor, first. Her mind made up, Flora started walking again, but along the way saw someone. A man, but more noticeably, he wasn't dressed in the same grey uniform as everyone else. Was he even a patient? As she got nearer she could see a small bandage on the side of his head.

Flora carefully put her knife back in the pillowcase before making her approach, hoping she wouldn't need it. "Pardon me, but, are you heading anywhere or waiting for someone?" Her tone was curious, but she couldn't help the note of concern even as she tried to be cautious.

[fallenbeanpole]

[from here]

Now they were in the main hallway. A part of him still couldn't believe he was doing this, but he was, wheeling an injured patient to what could end up very nasty for both of them. The Once-ler's thoughts kept returning to what Soma had said, about only shooting to miss three people, including him. And during the afternoon, his nurse had referred to her as a friend.

The man had assumed once before that friendship existed between himself and another, but the Lorax hadn't agreed. Yet hadn't Soma implied it by including him with Lingormr and Rapunzel?

He would drive himself crazy thinking about this.

"Soma... are we friends?"

[madeinthehrl]

So butterfly milk was sweet in his world. That made sense, oddly enough, though Soma had to wonder just what kind of world the Once-ler came from. Striped trees and butterfly milk. Like something out of a fairytale. She was just about to open her mouth and ask what had happened to the Truffulas when the Once-ler forestalled her with a question of his own.

Are we friends? It was abrupt enough to give her pause. She'd definitely never been asked the question before. Was it something people did? She'd always just assumed here, with everyone else, and ruthlessly tried to quash the little bubble of warmth that rose up whenever anyone referred to her as a friend. Wasn't that what you were supposed to do?

She wouldn't know. She hadn't had friends before she'd arrived here.

"I--" --don't know, she almost said, before she realized just how reassuring that would have sounded. "Yes. I think. I mean," she added hastily, "if you want to be."

A pause. "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this."

[doctor_voodoo]

[From here.]

Everything was going according to Facilier's plan. He had the transformed Hakkai killed, got himself a splendid new minion to work beneath his wing and now he was on the way to gathering more supplies needed to euthanize the rest of the infected. So far so good!

Up ahead he could see the door leading to the staircase. Eager to meet his last goal for the night, Facilier guided Lee to walk faster than he should after that violent fight. "This way to the second floor, Lee!" he said as they approached the door. "You can climb them stairs without my help, right?"

[awokentospring]

Lee had just hoped to staunch the bleeding as quickly as possible by also using his cloth. The handkerchief was nicely appreciated, though Lee wondered if he would manage to get it cleaned properly before he could return it to Facilier.

Oh well. That was a problem for another day.

Following along, Lee started to feel a bit more steady on his feet and less fuzzy as they moved into the larger hall. Good thing, since Facilier was accelerating their pace. Good thing for him, the faster Lee moved the more stable he felt (whether he was actually more stable or not was unknown, however).

"Of course I am able!" And to prove it, Lee moved to be the first one to walk into the stairwell.

[to here]

[she_is_ruin]

_{[from here]}

It wasn't long before Yomi arrived in the main corridor that bridged the female block with the other two male blocks. Albedo hadn't specified a rendezvous point, but this would do. The two of them seemed to have extraordinary good luck at finding one another--perhaps in the way that like called to like.

The boy wasn't in the vicinity as far as she could tell, so she settled back to wait, fingers idly tracing the cord wrappings around her katana's hilt.

While she waited, she wondered. Had the man woken up yet? The man Albedo had killed outside of the Coliseum? Had he woken up in his cold, metal coffin as she had?

Poor bastard.