damned_institute | Nightshift 34: Morgue

[ from here ]

Kaiji staggered and collapsed pathetically into the morgue, his success met with a blast of cold air and a considerable soreness from all of the impact. The gasping, shivering heap grinned over at his two companions for a moment, a look that may as well have been saying 'See? I've got this all under control' even though he clearly didn't. He had never had to break down a door before and while it was more difficult than he imagined it would be, he eventually got it and that was all that mattered right now.

Wait, shit, no it wasn't! This was no time to be celebrating the successful smashing through of a door! This was no time to be celebrating anything! With this realization and in a sudden panic, Kaiji clumsily fumbled around to orient his flashlight in the proper direction and turn it on. If there was something in here waiting for him, it would have had to have heard him trying to get in and it would have had to have seen him too unless it was the worst monster ever. But wait! On the off chance that whatever it was, if there even was anything, had no sense of hearing or feeling whatsoever, he totally just blew his opportunity to evade it! Kaiji worked at getting to his feet as quickly as he could, still shaking from a combination of the temperature and fear. The way he figured it, thanks to the carelessness in his entry, something was inevitably going to show up and mercilessly slaughter him any second now.

This sucked.

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Although she had been willing to take a turn in trying to open the door, MOMO couldn't deny being glad when Kaiji succeeded in opening it himself. Moving into the room herself, her first thought was to make sure he hadn't hurt himself too much.

"That was really great, but are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" As she asked, the realian glanced around the room. She wanted to make sure nothing was going to sneak up on them, although she regretted doing so when the room's design reminded her of just where they were.

MOMO rubbed her arms, suddenly wishing that she hadn't changed out of the Landel's uniform. This room wasn't the best place to be in when you were wearing a skirt, but at least the chilly temperature helped take her mind off of where exactly they were. Unless she got to thinking about why it was so cold, in which case it just made things worse.

"Um, we're almost there anyway... It's the next room, isn't it?" she asked, more for a distraction than needing any confirmation.

While Sora was somewhat hesitant to follow the others inside, he wasn't going to get left behind. The cold was biting, but it wasn't the temperature as much as the place itself that unnerved him. They wouldn't be opening any drawers, though - not like the last time he was here.

He was glad for Kaiji and the fact that he had been able to get the door open mainly on his own, but since MOMO had already asked if he was all right, Sora focused on continuing to scan the room for any signs of danger. He was fairly certain that if they were going to be attacked, it would be in the autopsy room, but there was no reason to let his guard down.

At MOMO's question, he glanced back to her and Kaiji and nodded. "Yeah, it's just through there," he said, pointing at the door he, Aidou, and Rena had gone through the other night. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure what the second door was for, but he didn't want to get distracted. "We shouldn't have to break that one down, so whenever you guys are ready." He wanted out of this room as soon as possible, even if it seemed to be safe for now. Still, he didn't want to rush them, especially if Kaiji needed a second to recover.

Kaiji was undeniably in pain, but it was nothing that he felt that he wouldn't recover from: he had felt much worse, although those incidences tended to be a little more acute than this dull widespread feeling that he was experiencing. Seeing nothing terrible charging him, Kaiji refused to stand straight completely at first. Instead he stood doubled over and silent with his hands, the right still gripping his flashlight as if his life depended on it, pressed firmly against his knees. Before he could even catch his breath completely, he gave the command: "Let's go."

There were very few things about this room that didn't bother Kaiji. He didn't like the cold and wished that he could have at least been wearing his normal clothes for this. They weren't the best, but they would have protected him more effectively. Aside from that, he was never a fan of hanging around with the dead; too many of his friends had ended up like that. As much as he liked them, he didn't want to have to join them and their kind more than he had to. Who knew how many others' friends had been in and out of this room? With the way this institute seemed to be run, it wouldn't have surprised him if Sora and MOMO had known some people who ended up being carted in this very room at various points.

All the more reason to just keep going even if he could have used a rest.

"I'm fine," Kaiji amended, clearly tired, "let's just get out of here."

MOMO was taken slightly aback at the sudden order given by Kaiji. Of course, truth be told, she wanted to spend as little time in this room as possible. Who knows how many people had had the misfortune of being brought to this room? Not to mention how many were yet to end up here...

She shook her head quickly, wanting to get that particular thought out of her mind. Herself, Sora, and Kaiji aside, there was no one else in the room--that she knew of, at least, and she wasn't about to look around and prove herself wrong.

"Good, okay." MOMO nodded as the man affirmed that he was all right. He didn't sound to be entirely okay, but she opted not to call him on it. She'd been accused of worrying too much in the past, and as long as he was willing to continue, that was what mattered. Hopefully they'd all be able to take a rest once they checked to see if anything was in the next room. "So, I guess that means we're all ready, right?"

While Sora didn't want Kaiji to push himself too hard, he was also glad to see that the man could take these assignments seriously, and he was very determined, which the boy could admire. All things considered, some soreness from forcing a door open wasn't too big of a deal. The real problem would probably lie in the next room, but Sora had already prepared himself for that.

There was no saying what kind of monster would be waiting for them in there (if their answer to the clue was right, and he really hoped it was), but he reminded himself that he was probably ready for anything, considering how long he had been stuck in this place.

"That's right," he said, knowing he needed to take the lead now that they were getting to the tail end of this journey. "Get ready, everyone," he warned them, hoping they would know what he was hinting at. He moved to face the doors and headed for the one on the right side, opening it up carefully and stepping through.

[To here.]

[ from here; posted with mod permission ]

They were greeted by a cold blast of air, and he was again reminded of the fact they had lungs when their breaths began to appear in front of them.

Manny glanced around, the mild look of interest on his face quickly fading to reveal a rather grim one hidden beneath it. He stared at the cabinets lining the walls, forcing himself forward to continue circling the room when he felt that his legs were growing stiff. Moving his light across the ceiling, he took note of the differences between this morgue and Rubacava's. He'd probably feel fine in here if the power hadn't been shut off.

He turned slightly, averting his gaze from everything but the closest door. "Come on," he sighed to Meche, sounding annoyed as he entered the next area. "There's nothing in there."

Cabinets unlike the ones they had found in the other room were the first things to get Manny's attention. He pulled them open without hesitation, satisfied to see they hadn't been emptied. "Let's hope they don't notice," he commented dryly, inspecting each cabinet's contents in a methodical manner and taking his choice of souvenirs.

[backthreading with Manny; this should be the last post]

Meche shuddered as they made their way into the room, and not just because of the cold. Something was wrong here. And something was almost familiar--a feeling she'd had in another hospital. Death.

"Is this--" she started to ask Manny, and then stopped. That way madness lay.

Trying to push the morbid thoughts out of her mind, she followed Manny to the cabinets and started going over the contents. There would be time to process this later. For now, they had to get armed.

From the cabinet, Meche took a pair of shears, two scalpels and two razors. In high school biology class, she'd been the girl who cried over the frog on the dissecting tray in front of her.

"Manny?" she said when she'd dropped them very carefully into her pockets. "Let's get out of here--please."

Nightshift 34: Morgue

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Autopsy Room 2

Re: Autopsy Room 2