damned_institute | Night 52: M71-M80 Hallway

((Continuing from here in room M79.))

"Woah, woah, woah," Woody cut in the moment that brief, yet very, very disconcerting message was finished. What did they have in store for everyone? Why couldn't they just go to sleep like people in a normal hospital did? The staff tried to act like everything was peachy during the day! Would it have been so hard to actually keep that up at night, too?

"What was that about just now?" He turned to Wally, wanting answers that actually made sense and didn't include anything about monsters. "Does he seriously say things like that every night?" By now the food sat practically forgotten on his plate, but Woody wasn't sure how someone could think of food at a time like this.

Some part of him hoped that maybe this was some twisted prank played on some of the more...imaginative patients in order to get them worked up over things that weren't there. If that was the case, then maybe he could still take it easy and not let himself worry so much over things that didn't have anything to do with his getting back home. But the longer he stayed here, the more he was starting to realize that thoughts like that were the result of wishful thinking.

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Yeah, he was definitely feeling like an ass now, especially since Woody looked like he wanted nothing more than Wally to tell him he was just being a giant dick and screwing with him. If only it were that easy.

He stopped by his desk, giving Woody another wry, apologetic smile. "Yeah, trying to escape as well. Just..." He sighed. "Don't beat yourself up too much if that doesn't go anywhere, okay? I mean, if you find a way when everyone else I know hasn't, then I'm hardly going to say no to getting out of here, but it might take a bit longer than you're thinking."

He dropped his gaze in order to dig up his Flash ring and slip it onto his finger, then, after a moment's thought, put the other weird ring that had turned up a day or so ago on his other hand. Maybe a bit too much, but it might turn out to be useful tonight.

"Anyway, if you're heading out, remember to be careful, okay? This whole place can be pretty different of a night. Oh yeah, there's a flashlight under your pillow too, and the radio sometimes has useful things going on as well. And my advice? Try and find something to fight with, if you can. Not everyone in this place is a nice as the two of us."

With his own stuff in hand (or on his hands, as the case may be), Wally paused with his hand on the doorknob and glanced back at Woody uncertainly. "Uh, you sure you're gonna be alright?"

Woody listened as Wally, but all he could think was, It can't seriously take eighteen more days for someone to find a way out of here. Something had to give before then. Either they'd find a way out, or he'd wake up from whatever terrible dream this was. There weren't many other alternatives Woody was willing to consider right then.

He wasn't sure why Wally was putting rings on his hands, but right then that hardly seemed important. Flashlight, radio, and something to fight with. Flashlights were actually good weapons, he almost said, but stopped himself short when he got the sinking realization that it was going to be a lot harder to fight someone off with one of those here. Not unless he wanted to try blinding them instead, which wasn't going to get him far.

He watched his roommate reach for the door, but then he turned around and seemed concerned over whether Woody would be okay. To be honest, he hadn't forgotten Scott's advice to grab a buddy, and now he was starting to see why. But as easy as it would have been to ask if he could stick with Wally for tonight, Woody knew he couldn't get too comfortable working with people just yet. He had toy issues to check into, like getting his body back and finding out where his friends were. There was no way he could focus on that stuff if he had someone like Wally hanging around.

Woody glanced away for a split moment as he considered all of that, but his ultimate decision didn't change: he was going to have to go at this alone. "I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine," he answered. "It's not like I haven't done a lot of sneaking around back home, so don't worry about me." That kind of energy could probably be better spent on Wally worrying about himself if this place was really as dangerous as he was making it out to be.

"Alright," Wally said reluctantly. "But just don't make me regret this, okay? If I wake up in the morning and you're covered in bandages or something, I am never leaving you alone at night again, got it?"

He grinned and laughed suddenly. "Geez, I sound like your mother now. 'Make sure you're home before midnight' and all that. Sorry. But just... be careful, okay? You're the third roommate I've had since I got here and I kinda don't wanna get it up to four."

With that somewhat ominous warning that he really hoped Woody would take to heart, Wally tossed his roommate a casual wave and slipped out the door and into the hallway beyond.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/992361.html?thread=73588585#t73588585)]

Bandages...he knew what they were, how they were used, had even seen Mom put some on Andy during the course of his childhood, and yet the idea of Woody having to wear any was so foreign to him that Wally's warning didn't sink in right away. Just the sheer absurdity of a toy in a human body made everything else difficult to process. But Wally had been completely serious. It was obvious he didn't want to let Woody go off on his own, though he was a bit relieved that the redhead was still willing to let him have his space for now.

The realization he was roommate number three made his throat go dry, though. What had happened to the last two? He wanted to ask, but he had a feeling that their disappearances would be chalked up to all that vanishing he'd been talking about earlier. Either way, Woody had enough sense to understand that he probably didn't want Wally to get a fourth roommate, either. Not unless Woody had found a way out. On the other hand, though, he didn't think he could just leave these people here. He still remembered how horrible it'd felt when his friends threw those Christmas lights out of Andy's window back when he and Buzz had been trying to escape from Sid's.

"Don't worry!" he assured him with a smile. "I'll be careful, all right?" And then Wally was gone, leaving Woody by himself, his expression instantly fading.

Though it probably would have been a good idea to get a few bites of food down at least, Woody knew he had things to do. After rising form his seat, he scoured the room for the supplies Wally mentioned. Sure enough, he found the flashlight he'd talked about (not even as big as his head, Woody noted ruefully), as well as the radio (it was weird to have something like that fit so neatly around his wrist).

That mostly left something to fight with, but what could he even use? The pens were way too small. Woody considered bringing a chair along, but only as a last resort. Going through the drawers and closet, he found other things, too -- a key ring, a notebook, more uniforms and actual shoes. But then his eyes settled on the clothes rod.

"Ah-hah!" After shoving clothes to the side, he reached for the rod and pulled it out of the closet. It wasn't perfect, but it had a better range than the chair. And anyway, Woody wasn't looking to fight anything if he could avoid it. This was just...a back-up in case he got in a bad pinch, that was all. Couldn't be too careful in a building full of nutcases. Because all that stuff about monsters was a bunch of baloney, right?

Right, he told himself as he adjusted his grip on the clothes rod. Unfortunately, that confidence didn't extend to the uncertain way he moved across the room and over to the door. His fingers wrapped around the door knob, and he pulled it open. Taking in a small breath, he ventured out into the hall.

((To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/990258.html?view=73642290#t73642290).))

Night 52: M71-M80 Hallway

Re: M79

Re: M79

Re: M79

Re: M79