damned_institute | Night 49: Patients' Library

[from here]

This time she was expecting a downpour because they needed a downpour. Getting drenched wasn't a problem anymore if it kept a bunch of bloodthirsty insects from being able to come after them or fly at all. But that would have been just too easy, wouldn't it? And if life in this place was anything, it wasn't easy!

Rushing through the doorway, Donna found the next area to be not only rain free, but close to pitch black as well. Had they been teleported again?! She skidded in an attempt to stop, but not before kicking what she thought might have been a chair leg. Whatever it was tumbled over with her as both crashed to the floor.

"Gawd this night is awful!" Donna groaned, nearly not wanting to get back up and wait until morning came, but she soon remembered that she wasn't alone. Pushing herself up, she stayed on the ground and looked back, "Ludwig!" On reflex she brought up her torch to see but unfortunately found it to be her mallet instead. With her other hand free, she realized that it had been the torch she'd lost hold of in the fall. Of all things...! "Are you all right? Answer me?!"

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...this clearly was an utterly inexplicable situation. One moment he'd been eaten alive by those creatures, and the next... he was safe. The only problem was that he was nowhere near where he had expected to be. He'd been hoping for the downpour to wash off those things, but they were nowhere near outside. He could barely even hear the pouring rain, which meant they had to be inside, and in the middle of the Institute as well.

The tall man came to a stop and fell to one knee. The exertion and the loss of blood was making him breathe heavily, and his vision swam before he finally clicked on his light. It looked like they were in a library, not that this helped Ludwig whatsoever. So far as he knew, they could be back in town or something similar.

For now, all he did was slump against one of the tables. If he was going to bleed out, at least he wasn't going to ruin all of those books. "...I'm here," he said at last, his voice strained and weaker than before, "you don't know where we might be able to find some bandages?"

The torch had probably rolled off, which would have been bad for the both of them except that Ludwig had managed to hang onto his in the confusion. The moment he got the light on, Donna ignored figuring out where they were in favor of getting to where Ludwig had knelt and slumped over into a table. "Don't just tell me to run and then not come yourself, you idiot!" she yelled at him, though her face was showing worry. She could be properly mad at him later for drawing the bugs' attention. For now, she had to do something for his injuries, then see to her own afterwards. Just what, she didn't know.

Bandages were mentioned. Now Donna thought to look at where they were, but the glance she took unfortunately only showed the Library. Books were not bandages and couldn't be made into any either last she'd checked.

With all of the shows Donna had watched back home, she knew what was supposed to happen next. The one looking after the victim started ripping whatever the closest piece of clothing was with some kind of inhuman strength. Problem for Donna was that no matter how well she could keep men in line, she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to tear one bit of her standard issue robe. And she was not prepared enough to remove either her pants or shirt for anyone, Doctor included.

Still, it was off with the robe. The best she could go was to at least try to get the blood cleaned up and maybe stop it. "Here, give me the light," she told him, thinking it better that she use it. When she could see better, she did her best to guess which place looked the worst and pressed down with the robe. What else was there to do? "Won't find any in a Library," she said hurrdely, giving the door a look. It had closed, just like the ones before, but she knew they could not trust it very far, "And even if that thing doesn't jump us again, we'd end up in the Sun Room, I think." Not a place an injured person needed to be at night. She'd avoided it altogether, but she knew the stories well enough.

At this point though, they just might have to risk it.

That was what he got for being overly-optimistic. He'd hoped that a mental institute would have first aid kits of some sort in every room, in case the patients got to hurting each other or themselves, but even if that was the case, there was no reason he should have expected Donna to know where it was. It was unfortunate, but Germany would just have to deal with it.

For now, he gave up his flashlight and then held out his arms to allow Donna to mop up the blood there- they had taken by far the worst of the assault, and while no veins had been severed, there was still a lot of blood. Even still, he'd wait only long enough to let the worst of the bleeding a bit of time to slow, then he started staggering to his feet, knowing that to slow was to risk further problems. He needed to find something to staunch the bleeding, and his own clothes were streaked with dirt and still wet with rain. He'd get infected if he used his own clothes, and that would only compound problems.

The sharp rebuke did earn a bit of quiet amusement, though the smile was only the faintest quirk of Ludwig's lips. "I hadn't expected so many of them," he offered by way of apology, "and I'm normally not this weak. It won't happen again, though we should still keep moving." Of course, considering that he was still aiming for the door and seemed not too much the worse for wear considering he'd taken the brunt of that swarm seemed a bit odd, but for Ludwig, it really was weakness. Unforgivable weakness.

Just like a man Donna thought, but really, what should she expect? Yeah he was good at taking instruction, but men were men. Had to make excuses whenever they weren't able to protect a woman. "Next time don't be so brave then. I'm used to running with someone, not leaving them."

His arms were definitely the worst of it, so she did her best to mop up when she could when he held them out. What to do next, she was at a loss for though. Should she try to wrap things? Sure, if she wanted to wrap him up like a actual inmate, straight jacket and all.

"We could end up anywhere again, you do realize that?" Donna huffed, though she did have the same sentiments about needing to move on. If there had been bugs in a greenhouse, then she didn't want some carnivorous bookworms coming at them in the Library. "But I guess unless I can find some cloth-paged book in here we'll have to get somewhere better to see to these..."

"I'm used to covering retreats," was all he could really offer in explanation. It was simple tactics- put the strongest one at the rear of a retreat, because small bursts of resistance could slow down pursuit and buy time for everyone else. And it had worked, Donna had gotten out just fine. Ludwig just hadn't anticipated his own weakness being so... severe.

For now, he'd just have to hope that the simple mop-up was good enough, and then endure the rest of it from there. The dangers were plentiful, but waiting was not an option. Not anymore, anyway. For now, he lead the way to the door, prefer action to inaction and the hope of something he could use over the plentiful but currently useless books. "If it's better, then good. If it's not, we'll escape again." It really was that simple to him, and he waited only a moment before he stepped through the door.

((To here.)) (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/909425.html?view=70068081#t70068081)

Night 49: Patients' Library

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