Night 46: M31-40 Hallway

[rides-on-top.livejournal.com]

Emmett left his room empty handed again. It was tougher navigating without a flashlight, but it felt more comfortable. Especially with what he was going to have to do.

Outside seemed like his best bet for hunting. The dogs that attacked them last night didn't exactly smell fresh, but their blood was slightly more appetizing-- and much more likely to be digested by his system than the human food that kept being shoved in his face. Unfortunately there was also the chance that he wouldn't be able to find a semi-living, warmblooded animal out there again. Apparently there had been some Night of the Living Dead theme going on recently. So who knew, maybe it was going to be Swampthing or Frankenstein night-- he did hear that nutjob mention some bullshit like that. If that was the case then his natural prey couldn't be ruled out as an option.

He kept to the wall as he walked down the hallway. It was still early and relatively quiet. Feeding on someone he didn't know was definitely way better than attacking a friend, he was sure the others would agree...

Comments

[rides-on-top.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781144.html?thread=63963992#t63963992).]

[swornandbroken.livejournal.com]

Now that he knew the doors did in fact open every night, instead of it being a one-time fluke, Mello took a bit more time to prepare for exploration, quickly polishing off Emmett's cake. While his mental list of grievances against Landel's still included a significant entry for chocolate deprivation (mentally underlined several times), he felt almost back to normal for now.

The flashlight had served him well last night, so that was definitely coming. The same went for the extra batteries in the pillowcase. He put on the coat and stuffed those into a pocket, with the twisted end of the pillowcase sticking out in easy reach, then put the boots on too. If things went well, he'd end up outside again, only better-armed, but you never knew what sort of shit they had running around inside here, and the way his luck had been going, some of it would be between him and his Sig.

He didn't switch the flashlight on as he headed south down the hall outside his room. Its usefulness was as a bludgeon, not as a spotlight for a moving target.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781144.html?thread=63971928#t63971928)]

M35

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

Ritsuka was slow to come to. It was disorienting in a different way this time because the last thing he remembered was the fear and now he was lying in his own bed in his room, curled up under the blankets. It felt strange and his limbs were sluggish. He wanted to move, but he wasn't sure he could and instead he concentrated on just getting his eyes to stay open. His eyelids hung heavy and he blinked them several times, trying to force consciousness to return to him. He wasn't sure if he was alive or dead, but something told him the heaviness in his limbs was merely the sedatives wearing off.

Rolling onto his back, he felt a dull pain creeping through the back of his head and then another crawling up his arm. His nerves were waking up again, he realized. They were recognizing pain and the last vestiges of fear, telling him he was alive and that, for some reason, Makiko had let him live. His eyes traced down his arm and he saw the bandage wrapped around his forearm. She really had tried to eat him, or just drink his blood or something, but in the end, she'd let him go. Maybe his nurses had arrived in time, or Makiko had simply...stopped.

Staring at the ceiling, Ritsuka realized that the room lights were off and that the night had already begun. Soubi would be coming soon. Or he should be, unless something delayed him. He had to get up, put something on to hide the wound so that the older man didn't worry, but he couldn't quite get his strength up to speed. Try as he might to push himself out of bed, the drugs were still in his system - he felt lightheaded and dizzy and it was hard enough just to think, let alone move.

Re: M35

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781144.html?thread=64200280#t64200280).]

Soubi rapped lightly on the door and immediately opened it, stepping in with a smile that faded almost instantly.

"Ritsuka..."

Soubi rushed to his bed, sitting on the edge and leaning over his Sacrifice.

"Ritsuka, what's wrong?" Maybe he wasn't feeling w- He was hurt. Since when. What had happened? He'd been fine that morning and who could have treated any wounds tonight? There was no time.

M34

[moral-liberty.livejournal.com]

Kaworu opened his eyes when the night began, announcing itself with that same familiar voice. Flustered, frustrated, he did not speak to those whom he was exerting power over. Kaworu simply listened for a time, before rising from his bed. He had learned enough to value his flashlight, though he didn't like the way that it made him feel weighed down. He craved free movement, though he couldn't say when he had ever experienced that. It was simply an attractive idea, to walk wherever he desired, no restrictions, no expectations. Kaworu pushed aside his pillow, cloth sliding on cloth, to reveal the black cylinder he needed.

There was no way to know where Shinji and Asuka would be. He didn't want harm to come to them, and so resisted any urge to go and seek them out. Bringing them would be dangerous. He could picture Shinji wrapped up safely in a room that looked exactly like the one Kaworu currently stood in, and while it was comforting to imagine, there was nothing that made it true.

Tonight, he had to believe that Shinji would still be there in the morning, but that was also difficult to convince himself of. He had never seen Yousuke or Naoto again, and Otacon was also becoming a memory. At that thought, something inside of him ached. He pressed a hand to his chest, and the thoughts disappeared reluctantly, but they left the shadow of a pain that was not physical.

He focused his mind on Addison Michaels. Supposedly a piece of this person was somewhere in the institute, and Kaworu wanted to find it. He needed to see it.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781144.html?thread=63982936#t63982936).]

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

Usopp wasn't sure what to do before heading out. At this time yesterday, he'd already been confused, but at least someone had given him a hint and from there he'd found out a lot more. But yesterday, he'd only had a vague idea of what kinds of things might be outside.

And yesterday, he hadn't promised anyone to protect himself. It was a stupid promise, since it was the kind of thing that ought to be obvious, but sometimes it was really hard even for a responsible, intelligent and paranoid young pirate to find a safe path through life.

For example, there was leaving his room alone. He could have arranged something, but it was a little late now. And he could hide in his room all night, except he couldn't sure that was safe. Besides, nobody was going to escape from hiding in their rooms. Usopp wasn't eager to jump into a pile of killer leeches or zombies or anything, especially without real weapons, but he also wasn't eager to live the rest of his life here.

So, after improvising a new bandanna from one of the tacky shirts in his closet, he headed out again. In the coat's pocket, he kept the scalpel used to cut the shirt wrapped in some of the remainders of the shirt. It would have been pretty ridiculous to go out against advice and then get himself killed by cutting himself open accidentally.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/784253.html?thread=64031869#t64031869)]

M36

[tiny-chef.livejournal.com]

Remy knew what he was doing with the flashlight tonight, so this time, it didn't send a beam of bright light into his eyes when he picked it up and turned it on.

He thought about what he would need to take with him for cooking, of the things in the room. The conclusion that he came to was that everything he would need would be in the kitchen already. But if it was dangerous, maybe he'd need shoes... so, after wiggling his toes, he chose the ones in the closet that were a little like the ones that Linguini habitually wore.

Fumbling with the laces took him a little while, and he was glad that he had been able to watch Linguini tying his shoes, and had sometimes maneuvered his hands when he tied a bouquet garni. While the knots weren't pretty, they would keep him going for a while.

Hefting his flashlight, he stepped out of his room and walked down the hall in the direction that he knew would eventually lead him towards the cafeteria.

Re: M36

[tiny-chef.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/784253.html?thread=64058493#t64058493).]

[opposingheaven.livejournal.com]

There was a certain deliberateness in the way that Kenren ate his meal, a focus in him that wasn't usually there, or that was at least usually very well hidden. He'd relaxed a bit after listening to some of the music that blondie had shown him. It was good stuff, vibrant and alive and with a glorious beat that he could appreciate and maybe in a different life he would have played in one of those bands or at least been a devotee of them. Maybe he would, in another few hundred lifetimes. Assuming the world survived for that long of course. But ah, the future was unpredictable.

It all just made him feel his desire to escape and tear this place apart and get back what was his that much stronger.

He set his cutlery aside with a soft click and fished the gun out from under his mattress, before turning to change into his uniform, black leather slick against his skin, making him feel much more like himself. Gun in the waistband and he was ready. A quick jaunt first, to go and meet Okita and Homura at Adel's room.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781617.html?thread=64167473#t64167473)]

[hamelinschild.livejournal.com]

Waking into consciousness was like walking headlong into a fog. Nothing seemed concrete--like a bad high where you couldn't tell if you were really awake or if you were still dreaming.

The last time Hart could actually recall smoking anything was during his short stint back in college. And with no raucous posters on the wall or people crawling out of his bed, he could only conclude that he was definitely -not- in college.

So where was he?

The bed underneath him only held warmth where Hart had been laying--namely, directly under him. The pillow was less than amply fluffed and the sheet just kept him from freezing. He blinked twice, vision still insistently blurred.

Maybe it was a safehouse, a hideout or something. Len would be in any minute to--

That couldn't be right. He'd left the rogues.

Trying again, Hart snuggled back down, wondering if Wally would--
No. Wally had been at them for-- oh god, Bart. So what if James--
James was dead.

Where was he?

Hart stretched under his sheet, an arm tucked under his pillow. When he bumped something hard and knew it was a flashlight, things began to trickle back to him. It was all bits and pieces at first; black lagoons and bits of moon-and-star glitter, with spiders and statesmen and speedsters and...

Hartley groan and turned onto his stomach, face into his pillow. Landel's. Lovely. But that still didn't explain his haze. What had happened to him?

When Hart shifted again, it became more obvious of his condition. His clothes stuck to him like he'd run a marathon. Or with the drugged feeling that still lingered, like a fever he'd sweat out.

More came with that revelation; the sounds of people around him, all dressed in whites and grays, bright lights, and the occasional pester to wake him to drink. He'd been sick. And with his having a roommate, the staff must have removed him to the infirmary until he was well enough get by without supervision.

How long had he been out?

Stretching carefully, Hartley curled back up onto his side before he shifted to sit up, sight adjusting to the low light. Nightshift? It must have been, what between the darkness and his lack of roommate. He wondered briefly if he'd been missed, or if the group had simply moved on without him. It was thought of Bart in the end, that prompted him to move, forcing himself to push aside the shiver that raced through him when bare feet touched the cold floor.

Flashlight set on his desk, he lit the room while he redressed, stepping back into his boots. Remembering his coat, he tugged that on as well, movements a bit sluggish. And lucky, oh, lucky for Hart, he still had his steel pipe. He hadn't had a case to use it yet, but he gave a mental reminder to thank the man again for it.

Bart, Hartley resolved--I ought to find Bart.

As he headed for the door, Hart pitched to the side some and stumbled.

Skin still flushed and step just a bit uneven, he realized that maybe he ought to try a little slower...

[hamelinschild.livejournal.com]

_{To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/784253.html?thread=64240253#t64240253).}

[hamelinschild.livejournal.com]

_{From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/784253.html?thread=64250493#t64250493).}

Hadn't he just been here? Oh, that was right--he'd been here alone. Now Hart had the addition of the giant fortman, Captain-esque, beefthing, spider...man guy. The one with the nice butt.

Not that Hart was going to say anything about that. --least not to Recluse himself. The last thing you did was douse the evil overlords in compliments, especially if you weren't sure how their egos reacted.

But leading back into his room; the lonely 39, Hart frowned at the sight of the clothes he'd changed out of and kicked them underneath his bed.

"This is...well, yours probably looks just like it." With a quiet chuckle, he sat back as the mattress dipped under his weight. "--welcome to Casa Rathaway."

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

Recluse followed Piper to his cell, keeping an eye on the smaller man in case he looked ready to fall. This wasn't how he'd planned to spend his night, but it didn't matter. He still had some things he could do if he left here later.

"It does," Recluse agreed, sitting down on the opposite bed, "except for the lack of chemical jars." There were few steps needed in preparing the extremely poisonous substances he had been making, but doing them under less than ideal conditions meant he'd had to be exceedingly careful. He wasn't even going to touch the things until morning.

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/784253.html?thread=64147837#t64147837)]

It didn't take long to finish walking down the already-familiar hallway to Usopp's room. He paused and turned, feeling awkward for a moment. He still hadn't seen Luffy here, and didn't know if Luffy'd be expecting the same Usopp. Maybe the previous him had come from the future and he'd been a great warrior who terrorized all who crossed him. (Sai's need to explain that people die did seem to make that unlikely.) Or maybe this Luffy knew all sorts of things about this place and would expect Usopp to remember them, like fighting leeches together. Maybe Luffy wouldn't be there, but was from an alternate world where he'd actually care about having his privacy invaded.

And, of course, there was the outside chance that the room was full of very quiet monsters. Since Brook was armed and all, Usopp gestured politely for him to go first.

[promisedawhale.livejournal.com]

"Then I shall thank him when we finally meet!" Brook decided, making a mental note for later. "And this is fine. It would be a mess if I tried to attack anything and all that hit was a piece of cloth, now wouldn't it? Yohohohoho!" Brook could just see it happening now. Even the monster would be confused!

When they finally reached the captain's room, Brook had no hesitation as he ducked his afro head in and looked around. The rooms, he believed, were the safest places in the whole of the building! And Luffy's room was exceptionally safe since they'd conducted a meety without so much as a scrap of monster-induced violence! Save for Nami, but she was her own category of viscous beast.

"Ah, he's not here. But the piano should still be..." Brook turned his head to the closet and moved that way. Hopefully when he opened the doors back and pulled away the clothes there would be a pilfered piano there! Possibly a little more covered in dust than he'd left it, but hopefully still there!

M31

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/784253.html?thread=64298365#t64298365)]

Once again, Suzaku found himself in front of Lelouch's door, not quite certain what he would say once the door was open. He was really looking forward to seeing Lelouch again, and not Brendan, but the shadow of that incident was hard to shake. It could happen again at any time, and there was nothing they could do, not with such little information as they had.

Besides, relations had been tense between them even before that. And now, with Euphie knowing about the massacre. . . Suzaku wasn't sure how Lelouch would take it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Lelouch shouldn't have to go through that, any more than Euphie had to go through learning about it. But, as usual, Suzaku's hands were tied. The only thing he could was knock.

Re: M31

[kingside]

Exhausted as Lelouch was, it was no real surprise that rather than do anything productive or even touch his dinner, he had instead crawled into bed the moment he arrived at his room and fallen asleep almost instantly. It had been long enough since he'd willingly shut his eyes for the sake of slumber that he actually managed to sleep through the intercom announcements, too. That would likely irritate him later once he had the presence of mind to feel anything more than exhausted (what if the Head Doctor had let slip some valuable piece of information?), but since he was currently unconscious, such thoughts didn't bother him.

Fortunately, Suzaku's arrival coincided with the return of some of his higher brain function, and he let his eyes slide blearily open once the knock fully processed. It was very, very tempting to tug the covers over his head and hope that they could miraculously stop the sound, but-- no, he had work to do. Didn't he? That was why someone was knocking, wasn't it?

Still puzzling this over (some but not all of his higher brain function, mind), he stumbled out of bed and took his time straightening the rumpled sheets so that he could try and wake up further. A doomed effort, most likely, but perhaps they could finish this early and he could get some more rest. When had he last slept of his own free will? Four, five days? It felt like months.

He only barely remembered to flick on his flashlight and set it on his desk before opening the door, and inclining his head only briefly at Suzaku in greeting, he stepped back once more and waved his knight in. "Please have a seat," he said, gesturing towards Bart's empty chair. He didn't particularly care if Suzaku took up the offer, but at the very least, Lelouch could try to figure out how to officially start this conversation while he made up his mind. He would have liked to blame his current inability to do so on his lingering tiredness, but considering their last few conversations... well, the excuse didn't sound very good even to himself.

Outside M36

[winged_moon]

[from the other hall]

It was a quiet enough trip; most of those who were going somewhere tonight likely already had by this point, and they encountered nobody else on the way over. Not that it was a particularly long trip to begin with. It really was rather convenient that they'd been given rooms so close to each other, Yue mused, trying not to think about the silence as awkward. It wasn't. He didn't mind silence in the slightest, and didn't particularly appreciate the way Yukito wanted him to say something.

Anything he might say was best left for when they weren't somewhere others could overhear. Even though he didn't think that there was anyone else in this hallway at the moment, that didn't mean it was true, after all. He simply paused outside the appropriate door and glanced over at Touya. "They didn't move your room, did they?"

M36

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

"Nope," Touya said, opening the door. Remy had gone already, leaving the room unoccupied. Probably a better environment to help Yue relax and recuperate. At least a little bit. There wouldn't be another person there for Yue to be concerned about. "Same room as always, and my roommate is gone."

He walked into the room and stood aside so Yue could come in.

"Just uh... make yourself comfortable wherever." This was awkward suddenly...

M40

[boyking]

[from here; permission granted to use the room. :3]

At least they weren't far from the rooms at all, though that was troubling at the same time. He'd been attacked pretty close to his room last night, too. Were these things moving in closer? Widening their hunting ground? He didn't remember seeing anything in the first week, but then again, a week wasn't enough time to tell for certain. But if so, what had made them avoid the area originally?

Maybe now wasn't the time.

Sam just hoped nothing picked up on the trail of blood they were leaving. Or, Zachary was leaving, rather. If that was even his real name, given the circumstances they'd met under. In some ways, it felt like a coincidence he'd run into Zachary of all the patients, but the population here wasn't particularly large. Probably pretty likely for something like this to happen. He wasn't used to passing the same familiar faces over and over again, though, he had to admit.

He glanced over. "You still with me?"

They were almost there. He turned the corner as soon as he passed the open doors connecting the hallways, heading for the first room he saw. With any luck, there wouldn't be anyone inside, but he gave it a knock, anyway. Bursting in might get them killed. He gave it a couple of seconds before he pushed open the door. Empty. Good.

[darwinism]

Sylar wasn't about to skip on a free ticket out of this freakshow, so when Matthew started supporting his aching weight out of the hallway, he didn't protest with much more than a grunt of pain. The lightheadedness from the power-usage and the lack of breath was making him feel like throwing up, and it was only through the sharp pain he felt on his sides that he managed to stay aware enough to walk forward.

And there was still something – something he was missing here. He couldn't figure it out through the foggy haze of his thoughts, though they were jerked back to life when Matthew asked his question.

"Uh – yeah," Sylar replied, and it was only now that he realized that he wasn't sure where the hell they were even heading. Was this – back toward the rooms? Away from the only goddamn sliver of a promise of an alliance in this place, just because a couple of assholes trying to be heroes–

Then it hit him. The piece he'd been missing in all of this. His mind slowly cleared despite the pain still throbbing through his arm and sides, and he slowly slid his eyes toward Matthew.

"You're..." he wheezed out in a very sincere show of exertion and realization, "you're Peter's roommate... right?"

Outside M38

[promisedawhale.livejournal.com]

"One over, one over... ah, this way!" Brook announced, finding the number to increase to his right rather than further into the hallway. He turned the corner out of Luffy's room, perhaps faster than Usopp would have expected, and bumped the door to M38 open for them to make their way in. "Are you doing all right over there, Usopp-san?" he called across the keys. He wanted to be sure before he moved to duck his afro inside the room.

Into M38

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

Today hadn't been a good day to wear a heavy coat in doors, looking back on things, but Usopp hadn't really anticipated moving a piano. His end of the device had an uncomfortable wobble, but despite the loud grunting and then gasping noises, Usopp had managed to keep it off the floor.

Clearly, pianos were secretly filled with rocks. It was the only explanation Usopp could think of. "Okay! Okay! I'm fine!" The words were a bit less reassuring coming out in an uncomfortable wheeze, but as long as they'd gotten it this far, he couldn't really give up and leave the piano in the hall. So instead, he started to move forward again, hoping he wouldn't drop the thing and break it before they got it in the closet. He could feel his knees starting to shake, and that was never a good sign.

Outside M40

[thatmaskedchick.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781144.html?thread=64630872#t64630872).]

And now it was time to...look. It wasn't like Ruby had anything better to do, but it was not something she was exactly looking forward to. She got lucky, though. As she passed the first room, she heard voices: one slightly creepy, and one very familiar.

Huh. What were the odds?

Smirking, the demon leaned against the wall and waited for the two to finish their conversation.

Re: Outside M40

[boyking]

[from here]

The last person Sam expected to see right outside the door was Ruby, though the truth was, he just wasn't thinking about anybody he might be running into in the first place.

He stopped short, her sudden appearance making him forget about Dean for a split second. He never really had figured out how she always showed up wherever he was.

"Ruby." He absently wiped his hand against the side of his jeans, leaving behind a smear of blood. "What's up?"

She didn't usually come around unless she had something, but given that there probably wasn't a lot she could even do in this place, who knew what her reasons were?