NIGHTSHIFT 42: BLACK ROCK HOTEL

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

Snake jerked his head away from Fox's hand and shot to his feet, disorientated slightly by the sudden shift. The grout in the tiles was black with what looked like old blood, and the stench of rot heaved in his throat. Something was badly wrong. He sensed threats - left, faint shapes in the dark outside the large windows - Fox - something creaking in the ceiling - a long groaning voice off to the right, past the walls - and something moving in the back of the room -

It staggered towards him, and before he fully knew what he was doing he ripped the match from the book and struck it with his left hand alone, popped the cap off the hairspray, and blasted a tongue of flame at the aggressor, aiming for its face. He saw, in the flickering light, long hair and long nails and the skin on its rotten face peeling and cracking and bubbling in the heat. It gave a long, screaming cry, and toppled to the floor. Its arms and legs writhed and kicked furiously, an automatic, animal gesture, before it finally lay still.

"Here?" he snapped at Fox, wrapping his fingers around the can of hairspray. "This place gets better and better. It's like a theme park." His voice quaked with anger. The place now stunk of something far worse than rotten meat, and for a fraction of a second he thought he could hear Big Boss's voice saying something he couldn't make out before he realised that it had come from inside his own head.

"At least I don't have to be the only thing here back from the dead," he growled. The woman zombie was leaking something he didn't want to think about. He guessed that the decomposition must have trapped methane and other flammable gasses inside the body, hence why it went up like a candle.

That said, he didn't really think he could burn anything else again. For a while.

Comments

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

Zombies. Fox felt physically ill. It was one thing to deal with the nurses, those were traumatic, but they were the enemy. These were for the most part just normal people, going about their lives. He watched, and felt the heat on his face from Snake's improvised flame thrower as the zombie was dispatched.

"I didn't know it extended this far out..." Fox admitted with a small amount of horror in his voice. These town people, just going about their lives. Did they even know what happened to them at night? Did this happen every night, or was it only because they were here? He recovered from the shock quickly, hiding behind the familiar adrenaline and will to survive that came with combat.

His back was glowing again, though it was barely visible through the heavy green jacket he wore. "You're not alone, Snake. I died too," Fox pointed out, not wanting Snake to dwell on his own death. "We need to arm ourselves and find Otacon." The bar seemed the best place to do that, though there were a few zombies that needed to be dispatched. Fox carefully gave them as much distance as possible as he dashed to the bar.

Would they come back tomorrow, the way the staff did? Or was this going to be a town massacre in the morning, caused by mental patients. Fox managed to grab a bar stool and break a leg off it quickly, before the relatively slow moving zombies had a chance to react much.

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

"You know about Otacon?" Snake asked, following him into the bar. The bottles behind the counter didn't seem to have been affected by the transformation. He eventually settled for a very thick bottle of brandy, checking by the green light on the freezing unit that the proof was high enough to ignite the alcohol if need be. If things carried on like this he'd probably need to drink it, he thought, grimly. He gave a cursory glance over the rest of the bar, and found nothing of interest.

Thinking carefully, he set down the brandy bottle, tore a strip from the bottom of his jacket, and fished the nails from his pocket. Placing two between each one of the fingers on his left hand, he fashioned primitive knuckles, bound tight with the cloth.

"Where do you think Otacon is?" Snake asked, desperately, flexing his fist to test for strength, and then picking up the bottle by the neck with his right. "I don't know anything about him!"

[prisonerofdeath.livejournal.com]

Fox grabbed a smaller bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and slipped it into a pocket. "Yes, I know about Otacon. I think the electronic store would be a good place to check, but we might want to see about grabbing a gun, if there are any in this town," He said, looking to the doors as zombies started to make their way in.

Once they had Otacon they would need to find some place they could defend against superior numbers. Fox couldn't be sure, but judging by the noise and the general size of the town, he didn't think all the patients combined would be able to eliminate all the zombies. Not without suffering heavy casualties. "Once we find him we need to locate a building we can defend. A second floor or roof would be better, if these things can't climb," Fox wasn't sure about that, but they would see. "Keep an eye out for nurses, or other zombie creatures."

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

"So we find a fortress, then," Snake responded, brandishing the bottle, checking around him. "Got it. You think Otacon might have had the same idea?"

Hopping over the counter, he told Fox, "I saw a Sheriff's Office in town today. He might have gone there to look for a gun."

Unfortunately, the sound of the dead was loud enough that it was almost too late before he sensed the creak of bones standing behind him -

[uruz-vii.livejournal.com]

[From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55562445#t55562445)]

This was bad. Unarmed and with two-noncombatants to protect, Sousuke could only feel panic rising in his chest--something that he hadn't felt in a long, long time. So many targets... so many targets he had no idea how to defeat... That was probably the worst part for him: he had no intel on any of these things. No backup, nothing. He was on his own, protecting Miku and Ritsuka while weaponless.

The sergeant kicked down the entryway door, quickly surveying the situation. They were everywhere in the lobby, pouring down the stairs... Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. Normally when securing a stronghold in a hotel, the occupants turned and ran when a gun was pointed at them. Not so much with the undead.

His eyes flicked to the fireplace. The fireplace should have tools--and a poker.

"Miku I have to let you down," he said, his tone quiet and straightforward. Hers and Ritsuka's safety had to be secured.

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

[You all posted too fast! Stupid work. orz]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?view=55659469#t55659469)

Sheena had chased after Ritsuka and the others to the hotel. Whereas Sousuke had already kicked the door down, Sheena went in through a broken window in the lobby. Perching on the sill, the ninja swallowed hard seeing the tidal wave of zombies coming down the stairs. At least they were somewhat bottle necked.

The ninja was never more happy to have remembered Raine's tale of what had happened that one Doyleton trip. Because of that, she'd brought along the five cards she'd made the previous nights that had actually lasted into the day along with the regular deck of cards - for playing on the busride, she'd told her nurse. This meant Sheena was as unarmed as she could have been.

Leaping from the window sill to the back of a couch not too far from where Sousuke had stopped, the ninja threw one of her cards at the stairs. Forming the necessary seals with her hands, Sheena sent her mana into the cards. "Pyre Seal!"

The single card suddenly split into many as it reached the bottom step and then exploded with sufficient force to ruffle her hair. That should kill a bunch of them and maybe barricade the base of the stairs for a while, stalling the zombies.

Ugh... that smell!

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

This wasn't happening. It simply couldn't be real. Getting trapped on the buses at night and having those bird creatures come after them was one thing, but having the townspeople attack? Seeing that he had been wrong about them having souls and being real people? It was too much. Ritsuka could hardly hurt the animals at the Institute, so what was he supposed to do against people? Even in their rotting forms, they were still... They still looked human.

It had been so hard to run. Even though he'd been the one to tell Miku she had to move, running past all of the dead people had been one of the hardest things he'd done here. The smell of it turned his stomach and the sight terrified him. He needed to run, to hide, to do something and all he could do was to call out for Soubi in his head. Thankfully, Sousuke was here, but how much could he do when he was fighting against so many?

Stumbling through the hotel door, Ritsuka tripped hit the floor, cursing under his breath as he skinned his knee. He wanted to close the door, but it was broken and the only thing he could think to do was to throw his weight against the wood and shove a nearby chair under the handle. It wouldn't hold, but it was something.

Movement out of the corner of his eye startled him and Ritsuka turned in time to see Sheena throw a card at the things coming down the stairs. A card that Ritsuka remembered having seen explode before. "Wait, don--!!"

He couldn't get his words out fast enough and the card exploded, fire engulfing the bodies. The smell of burnt flesh hit him immediately and Ritsuka grabbed his stomach and covered his mouth in a vain attempt to keep from vomiting. The smell... it was twice as bad as when he entered the classroom and saw him sitting there, tied to a chair, charred and black and--

Ritsuka fell to his knees, doubled over, choking back to keep at least some shred of dignity and failing miserably.

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

(From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/677442.html?thread=55583554#t55583554))

This place was already turning into a war-zone. The smell of burning undead assaulted Touya's senses and he had to take a step back. Maybe one of the rooms would be a good place to hole up in for the night, but he'd ask the fighters' opinion first.

"What now?" He set Sakura down on the floor, looking to see if there was some path through the clumps of zombies mingling in the hotel lobby.

[winged_moon]

There weren't quite as many of the creatures inside as there were outside, but any number of them was far too many, in Yue's opinion. There seemed to be an endless supply of them - no matter how many were disabled (or set on fire, from the reek inside the building) there were always more coming up behind them.

"We need to find shelter," he replied without bothering to look back at Touya. His attention was too focused on keeping the area around him and Sakura clear, while at the same time he was trying to search the room for anything that might be useful as a weapon. It was difficult, not to mention rather disgusting, to deal with rotting zombies with his bare hands. "Upstairs might be best."

It was too bad their path hadn't taken them by the hardware store on the way to the hotel - that would certainly have some kind of useful weapon. This place? Well, there were bottles of alcohol behind the bar, but his powers didn't involve fire, and he had to keep what he had in reserve anyway. The other group of people in the lobby seemed to be in much the same situation, but he didn't have time to worry about them as well. Taking care of the three he was with was hard enough.

[giftofstars.livejournal.com]

After getting off of her brother's back, Sakura coughed at the horrible scent as well. She knew zombies wouldn't smell like roses, but she didn't know they would smell that bad. Staying close to Yue, Sakura began glancing around the room as well. The inn already seemed to have erupted into a state of chaos. By no means was it worse than outside, but she was beginning to have doubts about their decision.

Leaning her head a little to the side, she took a look at the stairs as per Yue's suggestion. "It looks like those stairs are on fire," Sakura said, hopefully loud enough for the boys to hear. "Are there any other stairs we can use?"

[dahliahasthorns.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/677442.html?thread=55857986#t55857986)]

Inns. Inns were good. Granted, the doorway had already been kicked open and the stupid things were in here as well, but that could be handled too. Mostly. And so maybe her weapon was useful, but it wasn't the best for going unnoticed. The second they walked in, those things turned to them, reaching out to eat them like some snack. Just because she was tired didn't mean she was going to lie down and take this!

"Upstairs?" She almost had to scream it over the roar of the circular saw and the added noise around them while she cut into the corpses coming at her. The roof would be their best bet, most likely, but the question was how to get up there.

[godforsaken]

Despite the fact that the fog surrounding them was as thick as ever Sync managed to catch a glimpse of a building not to far from where they were. Yet it wasn't until they were a dozen yards away did he realize it was the very structure they were looking for.

Alas, it looked as if a few other patients had the same idea, but he didn't bother to stop and survey the damage. In fact, the moment he saw the inn a new wave of adrenaline hit him, sliding through the mangled entrance before leaping into the air and performing a spinning heel kick at the group of monsters that'd gotten too close.

When Dahlia mentioned going upstairs Sync glanced over at the set of stairs nearby. However, it seemed to be partially blocked with splintered debris, meaning it'd probably take the redhead a little time to maneuver through it with all the bulk she was carrying.

"Go! I'll hold them off!" Sync yelled back, already taking his spot at the foot of the stairs and attacked anything that was stupid enough to get near. Any other time he would've been more than happy to sacrifice another life, but at the moment he didn't want to lose his investment.

[dahliahasthorns.livejournal.com]

Ha. Like she needed to be told twice to ditch him. Dahlia shut the saw off and began the laborious task of pulling her legs over and around the various piles of rubble someone had made around the stairs. Ugh, dead bodies (the non-moving kind, specifically. Though the moving ones were fond of Sync at the moment), splinted wood, charred... something. Sometimes still on fire and burning. Just so charming, all of it. It took more than a few moments to get past it all, considering the flames and instances of nearly falling flat on her face after tripping up on some loose debris (sneakers? Not so good for this), but she made it through and to the top of the stairs. She turned back, watching him fight down below.

...But oh, he told her to go. The question was, should she keep going? Sy was fun and all, but she got what she wanted and was somewhere she could hide perfectly well on her own. He had served his purpose and she had every right to turn around and leave him behind.

Oh, like she would waste her new bodyguard like that. The redhead waved an arm at him from her current position with one of those disgustingly pure smiles on her face, cheering him on. "Come on, Sy! You can do it!"

Back Alley

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/677442.html?thread=55943746#t55943746)

Sheena peered down the alley as she and the youkai entered it. Keeping her hand against the wall of the building next to the hotel to keep herself from falling over with exhaustion, the ninja squinted up at the windows belonging to the rooms above them.

"Shit. I don't see it," she said, not finding the card on the window like she expected. Were they still too far away? This felt like the right area, but she wasn't sure, given she'd been up on the roof the last time she'd looked at the window to that room.

Stopping after she knew she'd gone too far, Sheena slid down the wall to sit with her back to it, a bright streak of blood left in her wake. "What now?"

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

Luckily, there didn't seem to be any zombies here yet. The trade off, of course, was finding this trip to be mostly a waste of time.

"Now we find away to keep your insides inside," said Yukari with a frown. Healing wasn't her specialty, but she knew at least some basic first aid. She usually left this kind of messy work to Ran. Leaving Sheena where she was, the youkai began to look about for something to use as a bandaging; their clothes would do if nothing else turned up, but Yukari felt there might be some merit to keeping as many layers between their skin and zombie contact as possible. Peering into one of the old, warped back windows, she could see the remains of an ancient looking hotel room through the moth-eaten curtains. The linen still looked relatively clean, if a bit dusty and ancient. Picking up a loose stick of planking, Yukari swung at the window only to have her makeshift weapon shatter in a shower of rotten slivers. The window seemed mostly unharmed.

"Tch." This would be so much easier with her abilities. Mostly out of idle frustration, she threw up a gap against the window, tossing it like a wet rag. The hole stuck. Then, much to her surprise, it sunk through the glass.

Yukari moved closer in surprise. Its shape was wavering and she could feel it starting to collapse, but it had made it inside. Concentrating, she quickly stabilized the gap and moved it around the room. Other than the amount of focus, it seemed just like her other poor, gimped gaps that she could make at night. Quickly opening a gap on her side of the glass, Yukari reached through, her arm appearing inside the room from the intruding portal. A few fitful swipes and she managed to pulls the sheets off the bed. With a bit of effort, she pulled them dusty old covers through and back into the alley.

Grinning triumphantly, unaware of the beads of sweat on her brow, Yukari held up the sheet victoriously before breaking down into a coughing fit at the cloud of dust that came off it. Giving a few shakes to clear the air, she went back over to Sheena, already tearing into the old cloth, its age making the job easier.

"Okay, let's get you bandaged up," she said as she crouched in front of the ninja. Intent as she was on the job, it was understandable that she wouldn't notice the still far-off noise that went "clop-clop-clop".

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

Sheena watched Yukari mess with her gaps with an indescribable look on her face. She kind of wished the youkai had managed to get through the window, preferring to have her wounds treated inside a dusty room than an alley. There looked like a door leading into the hotel farther down the alley. The large vents on the wall above it brought to mind Altamira's laundry room. That think was HUGE. She kept her silence through Yukari's coughing fit, though she did manage to quirk her lip up a bit in amusement at the face full of dust Yukari ended up getting.

"You know how to do all that or am I going to have to talk you through it?" She then cocked her head and blinked. "Woah. I must have lost more blood than I thought. I'm starting to think that damn horse somehow managed to follow us here." The ninja leaned her head back against the wall. There's no way that thing could have tracked them, no matter how much blood Sheena had lost. "I'm just hearing things..."

[pleading-ngri.livejournal.com]

There was a fire, but it seemed relatively small and self-contained, and the crowding less dramatic than it had been in the shop. It was telling that this seemed like a small victory. Unthinkingly, Phoenix rested a hand against the flat of Miles' back, right between his shoulderblades, fingertips curled into the space between collar and neck. Edgeworth was warm - and that made sense, given all the running and fighting, but it was distracting somehow, and not the usual kind of distracting. He didn't want to look at him, so much - he just had this gut feeling for a moment that moving closer would be a bad idea, because there was hunger-but-not sparking at the cues of breath and sweat-prickling skin. Still, everything Phoenix felt was wrong, like a shadow stretched out under the light of a streetlamp, proportions skewed. It wasn't that he wanted to be near, so much as he- he-

No. Senna. He forced himself away from the bewildering blur of dizzy, exhausted impulses, focusing on Senna. Senna was a good thing to focus on. "The top floor?" he double-checked with her, even as he eyed the rubble-clogged stairs through the smoke. If she wanted to take leader post, that was more than fine by him. He shared, with most people, the quality of liking a leader who seemed like they could keep you in one piece in a crisis. "Biggest rooms with the most furniture, probably."

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

The street wasn't as bad as it had been to come down. The slight skirmish here and there, some close calls, but no more injuries, and no more bleeding--she had done her homework in one of her memory sets. Zombies liked flesh, and were attracted to blood. Senna glanced at Meche. Was the blood slowing there? Maybe it wasn't that deep. She was limping, but she could walk on it, which was the important thing. That meant no major damage. Truthfully, it was the guy she didn't know, that had waited for them that she was more concerned with. His eyes seemed off, and other than that, she couldn't really say why. Hopefully, once they found a place to rest, they could....

Almost to the building, Senna saw it (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676352.html?thread=56019968#t56019968), half to the side and out of line of sight. She stumbled once, feet tripping over each other as a wave of nausea rose fast. Not going to be sick, not going to be sick, not--

~A cat crushed, was lying on the pavement. The ribs had been flattened, bones and muscles protruding through. Flies thickened the air sickeningly, smaller ones finding homes with the animal's nostrils... ears... eyes. The latter stared unblinking, a grey film coating the lense. A paw seemed to reach forward plaintively; two feet away from the curb. This six-year-old version of Senna stared open-eyed with shock, gaze unmoving from the cat.

It wasn't a cat. It was a kitten, and she had just found it. And now, it...

The boot to her side came out of nowhere, young body slamming into the ground, the memory registering the drunk voice as this version's stepfather. "I told you you couldn't have any pets. An'... An' now look what happened. Woulda been better off if you hadn't touched it, you filthy--!"~

The memory cut off as quickly as it had started; the girl gasping as her legs gave out on her. Something made her hand keep the sword, as the other one fell to the ground to hold her up. Her vision blurred. Air had a hard time coming. Senna watched her arm shake against the pressure of her weight as she tried to breathe it away. Deep breaths. Right. One... two... three....

At four, she registered the shuffling steps closing in. At six, she forced herself up. Giving a half-hearted swing at the closest one, she found her footing, and instead gave a weak jog forward. The effects would wear off soon, but for now--

For now, she was envisioning maggots crawling in something she had loved.

Her off-hand holding her side, she called back, "Top floor traps you in." Though at this point, everywhere was a trap. Plus, they needed some kind of first aid supplies. Bathrooms probably didn't count; the water had probably shifted with the rest of the night. So where...? A deeper breath in. No stumbling. No weakness till the others were safe. "Hotels have offices, right? Some with locks, some with filing cabinets. Maybe behind the desk?"

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

Struggle through something like this long enough, Meche knew from experience, and you could get your mind to go blank. It helped. Just like in the forest. Just one step--swing--swing again--pull the metal free--step--another step--pull herself--step--step. Phoenix looked bad, she thought, when she was thinking at all. Then he stopped and looked back in her direction, and if he was worried about her, then Meche herself must look like death warmed over. Or maybe death going cold again. Warmed over must be normal.

Step. Swing. Step.

She got herself down the street that way almost fine until Senna stumbled ahead of her. Meche gasped and pushed herself forward so fast she almost fell on that ankle--and right over Senna's shoulder, she saw what the girl was looking at.

She tried, really tried, to choke the sob down, to keep up whatever she had left of a strong front. It didn't work. All she managed to do was stifle the worst of the noise as she made a break from the zombies without swinging and followed Senna to the door. No, this wasn't the afterlife. Meche couldn't have imagined Hell this way.

Regular zombies were just monsters. Just like that thing in the schoolhouse last night, except that they were easier to hurt. But seeing the pet shop mare rotted, dead, forced the thought that the zombies were real people from the town too, and she'd been whacking their skulls like piñatas--

The smell of smoke was heavy in here, and there was some kind of barricade on the stairs and maybe more of them in here. She had to quit being childish. Meche found a semi-clean patch on the inside lining of her cardigan to wipe her face with, tried to get air in through her plugged nose and out through her mouth, and joined the others in thought. Her body wouldn't agree to stop crying yet, but at least she could get clear words out in between shaky breaths. "Restaurant?" she offered stuffily. "Don't hotels have those too? Big room, tables and chairs?"

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55974861#t56028877).]]

"I think I see an entrance!" Raine half-shouted, squinting through the fog and wishing she had a flashlight; the mage-light Valyn had taught her still took far, far too much concentration to use in a situation like this. More than that, she would not risk wearing herself out even more unless she absolutely had to.

She just hoped they could get into the inn quickly, that it would prove to be safer than the streets, and that Sheena was nearby. Which is undoubtedly asking far too much.

[1imited-edition.livejournal.com]

"Be careful." Rein slowed down at Raine's call, trying to confirm the situation inside the building. They had a decent lead on the zombies their flight from the park had attracted, and losing a bit of it was fine to avoid running into the arms of a concealed mob. The zombies were not subtle by any means, but bad luck and the dark could still conceal them...

Still, there was only so much one could do, and at the very least she should be the one to take that risk. When no signs of of ambush presented themselves immediately she pushed through the doors ahead of Raine, makeshift staff at the ready.

[per-ardua.livejournal.com]

Raine nodded, gripping her only weapon tightly, and circled around to see if it really would get them inside. Under the scent of all the decay that surrounded them, she could smell blood; even if Sheena wasn't here, they needed to follow.

Considering, she wasn't surprised to find a dead body lying on the ground, but discovering it was apparently a long-dead horse was... something else. "That's strange," Raine said, frowning. "I wonder--"

Then it moved... she managed to bite back a shriek, but she stumbled backwards so quickly she nearly fell. When it moved again, but feebly, she finally realized it was only twitching; she hesitated, but moved forward to examine the body. The horse looked like it had been killed here a long time ago, but it also appeared to be in the very end of its death throes. There was room to get by, but just barely. Creeping closer, Raine saw a trail of blood clearly belonging to someone else... it led inside.

"Let's go in." We need to hurry.

[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]

[winged_moon]

[dropping down a thread from here]

"You could have asked," Yue observed, pulling away from Touya once they were inside and glancing around the room. Even in the dim light it was apparent that the place had suffered the same effects as everywhere else in town, with the mirror cracked and fixtures covered in rust. The pile of towels, though, seemed intact enough, if dusty - that should be enough to at least get some of the foul-smelling goo off him.

There were also assorted toiletries scattered on the countertop, and a half-open suitcase under the counter, as though someone staying here had just stepped out for a minute. Given the state all the townspeople seemed to be in now, that someone might possibly have been one of the zombies Yue had already dealt with downstairs, so he didn't feel entirely guilty about going through their belongings, especially not if they might include clean clothing for himself.

But if he was going to be changing clothing....

The guardian hesitated for a moment, then turned back long enough to push the door firmly closed. It did shut out what light was coming in from the main room, but it would also ensure that certain other people wouldn't see, either.

[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

"You would have said no," Touya replied simply. "Sakura was right there, after all."

Touya knew enough about Yue now to know that he wasn't one to show weakness in front of his master. This was most likely also the reason why Sakura didn't know about Yukito's presence.

"Let's get some bandages on you," he said, picking up one of the towels and tearing it in half lengthwise. "Clothes can wait for now."

[Second Floor - Random Room - Bathroom]

[winged_moon]

The trade for privacy was darkness, but as Yue turned back he gave a mental sigh as he reached a decision. With his powers as pathetically weakened as they had been in this place, when they weren't outright blocked, he'd only used his bow when he needed to attack. There was one other thing he could do, but...it was incredibly humiliating, when compared to what it should be.

Still, though, there wasn't much choice. It was either go out into the room where there was at least dim light from outside, or stay in here where Sakura couldn't see.

He very carefully removed his jacket and dropped it to one side with a sniff of distaste, then even more carefully peeled away the shirt. The fabric was sticky with drying blood where it had seeped through the bandages at his stomach, even if it had escaped most of the damage from the outside. Some of the fabric might be usable for bandaging, though, so he set that on the counter, then lifted one hand in front of himself, palm up.

As he did a faintly glowing blue orb came into being just above his hand, enclosing not the sharp-edged ice crystals that it should have, but rather a scattering of snowflakes that glittered in the light. Pretty, perhaps, but entirely useless except for the light it shed.