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damned_institute2010-05-21 08:44 pm
neuepolitik.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2010-05-21 08:44 pm
Entry tags:
Night 49: Courtyard
((From here.))
Ludwig had no explanation for what happened next. One moment he hopped through a shattered window, leading to the outside, already preparing himself for a dash into the next building over... and the next, he was in a courtyard, a lake stretched out before him and rain lashing his face. Once more, he had no explanation for how this had transpired, for he knew this place, even in his short time in the Institute and even with the rain stinging his eyes.
Somehow, in an instant, they had gone from a zombie attack in a mechanic's garage, running for their lives, to... this. Ludwig stared blankly for a moment, then weakly swung his flashlight along the ground. They were at the door leading back into the Institute, and to his chagrin, the man couldn't see any signs that they had ever been in the mechanic's shop. There was no glass on the floor- even with the weather, it should shine in the light, no signs of rust, nothing to mark their passing. Save only for the heavy monkey wrench in his hand, the one clue that remained out of place, there was no sign they had ever been anywhere else. And yet it was there, challenging him with its impossibility.
His mind ached as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened. In quick succession, they had gone from a hallway, to a garage with zombies breaking through the windows, to the courtyard. The entire process had taken less than ten minutes, probably not even five. Even as healthy as he was, he doubted he could run all the way from the hallway to the courtyard without breathing harder than he was. Even more than that, the garage was the only place he could have gotten the wrench from, for he had no idea if he'd even be able to find one in the Institute, and he certainly hadn't spent the time necessary to look.
It was, in short, a physical impossibility for which he had no possible rational explanation. His mind blanked, reeling with trying to come to terms with something so patently absurd, and in the back of his mind, he calmly and rationally decided that perhaps, in some way, he truly had just gone mad. Occam's razor cut very finely here: the most rational explanation, and the one with the fewest extraneous elements, was that he was insane. But he didn't stop there. Instead, he turned to Donna, his voice a tiny bit strained as he shouted above the downpour, "Did we... really just go from the town back to the Institute by jumping through a window?"
Ludwig had no explanation for what happened next. One moment he hopped through a shattered window, leading to the outside, already preparing himself for a dash into the next building over... and the next, he was in a courtyard, a lake stretched out before him and rain lashing his face. Once more, he had no explanation for how this had transpired, for he knew this place, even in his short time in the Institute and even with the rain stinging his eyes.
Somehow, in an instant, they had gone from a zombie attack in a mechanic's garage, running for their lives, to... this. Ludwig stared blankly for a moment, then weakly swung his flashlight along the ground. They were at the door leading back into the Institute, and to his chagrin, the man couldn't see any signs that they had ever been in the mechanic's shop. There was no glass on the floor- even with the weather, it should shine in the light, no signs of rust, nothing to mark their passing. Save only for the heavy monkey wrench in his hand, the one clue that remained out of place, there was no sign they had ever been anywhere else. And yet it was there, challenging him with its impossibility.
His mind ached as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened. In quick succession, they had gone from a hallway, to a garage with zombies breaking through the windows, to the courtyard. The entire process had taken less than ten minutes, probably not even five. Even as healthy as he was, he doubted he could run all the way from the hallway to the courtyard without breathing harder than he was. Even more than that, the garage was the only place he could have gotten the wrench from, for he had no idea if he'd even be able to find one in the Institute, and he certainly hadn't spent the time necessary to look.
It was, in short, a physical impossibility for which he had no possible rational explanation. His mind blanked, reeling with trying to come to terms with something so patently absurd, and in the back of his mind, he calmly and rationally decided that perhaps, in some way, he truly had just gone mad. Occam's razor cut very finely here: the most rational explanation, and the one with the fewest extraneous elements, was that he was insane. But he didn't stop there. Instead, he turned to Donna, his voice a tiny bit strained as he shouted above the downpour, "Did we... really just go from the town back to the Institute by jumping through a window?"
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At least this night she had someone with her to take care of the more manual work. She had been just about to grab a paint can when Ludwig had come barreling through with his own method of glass-breaking. She wasn't used to the strong types tagging along, but that was one thing she wouldn't complain for.
Realizing that they were no longer in Doyleton, however, would get plenty more griping. Donna could see the greenhouse just a short ways off through the rain, and upon looking back, she gave the building a nasty look. "Make up your bloody mind already!" she barked at it and might've given it a kick had she not known better. The junk heap had toppled, but much as she might wish it would, the building would not do the same. Not even if she'd been wearing steel-toed shoes.
"Yes, yes we did," Donna answered Ludwig suddenly, putting on a smile that said she was beyond fed up with the night, thank you very much. "And you're more than welcome to think that you're crazy for it. Sometimes I have to wonder myself...!" she huffed, the pressed her hands to her hips and started heading in. "Come on, let's at least get out of this downpour." The door they'd just come through was out - Donna was convinced it would warp them somewhere else - so she moved further into the Courtyard, thinking either the shed or the greenhouse would offer some cover. And, she hoped, not be one of the "magical doors" taking them places since they were both not connected to the building.
Not that Doyleton had been.
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...then again, she was shouting at the Institute and roaring in fury, perhaps she wasn't as stable as he'd hoped?
Regardless, insane or not, there was no reason to remain. The rain would wear them down if they didn't get out of it, and while he planned to go over the wall and thence out to safety, that plan seemed flawed when distance didn't seem to matter anymore. Therefore, he'd need to get out of the rain and come up with another course of action. He needed to find out how all of this worked, and fast. If Donna was accurate and this was an uncommon event, he'd never get another chance to utilize it.
The how still needed a bit more data before he could come up with anything. For now, though, he shook his head and took a deep breath, then followed Donna. ...even still, he had to call out, "You said that this was new to you. I assume, however, that the... 'zombies'... were not?" That was the only explanation, seeing as how she'd reacted so violently. That meant also that she had been in town before, which greatly increased- and potentially snapped shut- some possibilities.
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The rain was terrible, and Donna didn't want to be out in it more than she had to, so making the "executive decision" for their group, she chose the closest of the two doors and took them straight to the Greenhouse entrance. It didn't look like anyone had managed to get inside it just yet, which left one cross red-head with a mallet no choice but to force her way in.
Using force always worked well, especially when it got results!
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Okay, so it wasn't a fridge, so there was that, but Christ, really? Middle of the goddamn thunderstorm?
His flashlight swept over the flowers and shrubs bending beneath the force of the rain. Sam realized he hadn't been here before. He'd been outside, sure, but the field was a different area. Huh. It looked like a courtyard of some kind, though, judging by the pathway and the rows of benches.
He had to wonder what roamed out here at night. The last time he'd been outside during the night, there'd been a giant freaking bird that'd swooped down on them.
Sam walked forward a few steps until he could see the expanse of the area a bit more. The rain was already starting to drip steadily from his hair and into his eyes. He blinked it away, peering into the darkness curiously. It was true they could simply head inside where it was actually dry and they didn't run the risk of being struck by lightning (provided the door led inside, that was), but on the other hand...well, maybe they could see what was out there. He hadn't ever gone very far outside.
And he remembered what people had said awhile back, about how there was what sounded like an abandoned town outside of the institute. Not Doyleton, but something else. Might as well take a look now that the place had dumped them here, right?
If Peter was up for it, anyway. He didn't want to be dragging his roommate around. He'd kinda already done that during the first night they'd met.
"I've heard," he said, "that there's something way past here, out there." He glanced over at Peter. "You wanna keep going or should we try to get out of the rain?"
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The rain was loud, too, especially over by the pond. Peter glanced around uncertainly; he just hoped that the bad weather would keep the monsters away. Almost getting gnawed on by a zombie was enough excitement for one night, in his opinion.
He pulled a hand up to his eyes to try and keep the rain off of his face. This place could only remind him of one thing, and that was the night he'd been brainwashed. He could still pinpoint the exact spot along the wall where Sylar had sawed Claire's head open, and the memory made his stomach turn. Even if he'd stopped Sylar in the end, it had been an extremely close call.
It was Sam's question that brought Peter out of his thoughts, though it took him a second to put together what his roommate was getting at. He meant over the wall, didn't he? It was a path Peter had thought about taking, but hadn't gotten around to thus far. Remembering that forest that had been mentioned over the radio the night before, he was curious about getting a better lay of the land. He just wasn't sure if now was the best time for it, when they were getting poured on like this.
At the same time, he didn't want to be the one who insisted that they play it safe. If Sam wanted to check it out, then Peter wasn't going to stop him. Besides, he wasn't sure when he'd get the chance again.
"We can keep going," he said, raising his voice so that Sam would be able to hear him over the rain. To make it clear that he meant it, Peter moved out from under the tree and started for the wall at the far end of the area. All of his supplies were going to get soaked at this rate, but he was pretty sure they'd be in good condition by morning.
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"Stay close," he said, and began moving forward.
When they'd been jumping from room to room, the thought hadn't quite struck him, but now that they were making their way across an open field, Sam became intensely aware that it wasn't Dean with him, but Peter.
It was...different. He'd never realized how much he slipped into an instinctive pattern with Dean until he was working with someone else. Even with Ruby, something had been off, but at least Ruby had gotten to know him well enough over the past four months that they'd clicked in their own way. And he'd never felt the need to keep an eye out on Ruby, not really. It made things simpler.
Peter, though—
Another flash of lightning lit up the sky. Sam glanced up. The sheets of water coming down made for seriously poor visibility, but at least the courtyard was pretty open. Sure as hell beat running through a dense forest with branches that threatened to take out an eye every second step.
He cast a look behind him to make sure Peter was still there before he kept going. The rain made sure that the eerie silence wasn't filling the air this time, but this was unsettling in its own way. And it didn't really matter how many times he'd hunted in bad weather, getting soaked was never comfortable.
Up ahead, he could see the wall now, growing closer. He wasn't sure how he felt heading straight into unknown territory when Peter was with him—he'd have been more okay with it alone or with Dean—but he knew better than to think Peter was safe anywhere at all in a place like this. It was just that this felt much more immediate.
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He knew he shouldn't have been looking forward to that, but in this case, he couldn't help it. Getting jerked around like a rag doll was getting pretty old, but at least heading over the wall meant they wouldn't have to walk through any more doors.
Once they'd reached it, Peter glanced down at his shovel and sack and let out a sigh. There was no way he could climb with his hands full, and so he tossed both items over the wall ahead of him. He didn't hear them land on the other side, but that was probably because the sound of the rain had literally drowned it out.
Peter stared up the wall and let out a sigh. The last time he'd done this, it'd been with Nathan, and he'd actually been able to pull from his brother's power to help him get over with more ease. The memory made him miss Nathan that much more, but he knew that brooding about it wasn't going to get him anywhere. Either way, he had to do it alone this time.
He took a step or two back and then ran for the wall, jumping up to grab at the vines. He tried to use them to pull himself up the rest of the way, but with how wet they were, it was difficult to get a proper grip on them. Gritting his teeth, he scrabbled for purchase to no avail and ended up sliding his way back down...
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Sam peered up the wall for a moment, almost as if he were trying to see past it or something. Which...that would be nice because the rain made sure that he couldn't hear a damn thing right now, meaning that he had no idea what could be waiting for them beyond there. If anything. You didn't want to be dropping down blindly onto the other side of some place until you knew there wasn't something there waiting to swallow you whole.
But knowing their luck, they might just land in a black hole and teleport somewhere else again.
Peter went for the wall before Sam could suggest that maybe he should check out what was even over there first, so he just watched his roommate go. He wasn't sure if Peter needed a hand or not—until Peter began to slip.
Sam caught him in time to keep anyone from hitting ground. He gave Peter a slight shove upwards, waiting for his roommate to clear the wall before he tossed his own flashlight over the ledge (it was a giant piece of brick; he was sure it'd survive the fall) and hauling himself over. He almost slipped once, too, but he fortunately wasn't too far from the ledge in the first place.
It occurred to him that he was usually climbing over a barrier to break into a place, not out of it. How quickly times changed.
Not that this was any sort of breaking out, either. They were just entering another section of the institute; it was obvious by now its control extended pretty far. If there was anything outside of it, Sam hadn't found it.
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"Thanks," he said with a nod before bowing his head down and away from the rain. It really wasn't going to let up, was it? He was starting to reconsider this idea, especially when he caught a glimpse of the trees ahead of them.
Still, they'd already made it up here, and he wasn't going to back down now. Wiping his hands off on each other, he grabbed the edge of the wall with one of them and then pushed himself off, bracing himself to land on the other side.
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Cloud thought for a moment that he'd been wrong about the church having a secure roof, but then he realized what had actually happened. They'd simply walked from one area out in the pouring rain to another.
He was almost a hundred percent sure now that they were being toyed with. Going to find shelter and being led right back out into the rain again? Someone out there was definitely enjoying this. Sighing in irritation, he once again glanced skyward. "Well, that was a bust."
Their only real option was trying the door back in, unless the others really did feel like tramping around in the rain. Though, he wouldn't be surprised if they ended up under the downpour for the rest of the night. He gave Yuffie a crooked smile. "Your turn."
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While he wouldn't have minded wandering around in the rain (he'd handled conditions that were far worse in the past), he didn't blame Cloud for wanting to get to some shelter. He'd followed after his friend, taking in the stray skeleton with a grim frown. Yuffie hadn't been lying about that part.
Before he could spend some more time trying to decipher what had destroyed the town, however, they were somewhere else entirely. It seemed like even ruined doors counted as portals (though he shouldn't have been so shocked -- if windows counted...), but they hadn't been lucky enough to end up in a dry spot. It looked like whoever was behind this was intent on them getting soaked to the bone.
He had to agree with Cloud, that it didn't seem like there would be much of interest in the courtyard. If anything, it seemed like a good spot to get attacked by something. He also turned back to the ninja, waiting for her to head back through. "Looks like we might have to resign ourselves to getting drenched," he remarked.
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A violent shiver wracked through the young ninja. Her stomach was still complaining, egged on, no doubt, by the non-stop location hopping. The driving rain and bitter cold were like icing on the world's worst cake. If this kept up—no, no, she'd be fine. She'd been trekking through the frozen northern wastelands, right the way up Gaea's Cliff and beyond, in the midwinter sub-zeroes. In her shorts. And a knitted woollen turtleneck without sleeves, which covered her even less than her tank-top ensemble.
This was—should be—nothing.
Gritting her teeth, Yuffie headed right back the way they'd come.
[Returning here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/901039.html?thread=70065071#t70065071)]