Nightshift 43: Courtyard
[from here]Landing in the courtyard, Yousuke immediately had his flashlight out, checking the grounds for anything that might jump right out at them. The chances of any place outside being safe enough for him and Souji to have their conversation in peace were slim, but this would at least get them away from whatever was in the yard they'd come
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It was unfortunate they couldn't just sit here in relative safety.
"I think I can." But Edward didn't move to stand immediately; even in his pain, he did need to attend the wounds. His face would be fine for the moment, but large patches of burned skin trailed up his arm and leg on his left side, the fringes of the cotton coat turned black around the edge of the angry red skin. Carefully, the vampire removed the outer patient coat, wincing when the cloth peeled away from melted skin. Luckily for him, the two layers had lessened the extent of his burns, and they were smaller than the pain would have him believe.
He followed the same procedure with the t-shirt, ripping holes around the burns, then did the same with his pants. Once finished, he was left with half a pair of pants and a one-sleeved shirt. The project done, only then did he assess his roommate. Jun seemed to have gotten the better end of the deal.
Stuck in a field with no bandanges; the cloth of their clothing would only bond to the skin if he attempted to wrap the burns with it. This was turning out to be a wonderful night.
Slowly leaning his weight on his unharmed arm, he could somewhat easily (if not painfully) roll onto his feet. Lifted into a crotch, he looked to Jun and asked, "What are you going to do about your feet?"
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That being the case, the small building near them was not going to be the way to go. If this truly was an asylum, there must be a first-aid station, a medical wing, or something similar as part of the main building - but those could be anywhere. He'd never physically visited an asylum, and was unsure if there even was a standard architectural blueprint for their construction.
"I'll give you a hand if you need it," he offered, taking his first tentative steps to bend next to the ruined coat, pilfering the pockets for his radio (unharmed, he was surprised to find) and the flashlight (a cracked lens, but otherwise fine). "We need cool, clean water and some sort of non-stick fabric. Gauze, preferably. I suggest finding our way back into the main building. There has to be some sort of first-aid room there, or even a kitchen." Hell, even a bathroom would have cool water - the first effective item to begin to treat the burns. Otherwise, they would remain hot and continue to cook the skin until they naturally cooled.
At least he could walk without much disturbance. The burns started at his upper thigh and ended at his knee, therefore not being too disturbed by the motion of his legs.
Surrounded by grass and dirt was certainly not the ideal place to be with open wounds - but the path in front of them had to lead somewhere. "We should follow the path."
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Master Zato! Master Zato!
The name was on the tip of his tongue as he pushed out of the Cafeteria doors, shoulder aching from having rammed it into the metal in the rush to chase after what he was telling himself was just a sign of stress, but he didn't pay attention to either of those for long. He stumbled into the next area before regaining his balance and then kept running, trying to find where he had went, where he had gone to, where...
Master Zato...
He stopped, feet briefly tripping over the dirt path before he regained control of himself and brought his hands to his head, pulling his hair out of his face and trying breathe. One look at his shoulder proved it was turning as red as a cherry, meaning he must have hit the door with some force and never noticed just how badly it hurt in his determination. This was wonderful. How could he let himself get distracted this way?! The mature thing would have been to return to the cafeteria and apologize for his actions, but he knew the damage was already done. He had just proved himself to be an easily derailed and worthless dead weight. That was fine. They could carry off to their pointless mission on their own; he was sure SubZero would appreciate his absence.
He pulled his hair back down, letting the feel of it on his skin be a comfort. He could still feel eyes on him and hear those voices from the intercom and voices close by, but it wasn't going to disturb him. It wasn't.
He walked on then, stumbling upon two others. One heavily injured with... burns? How did that happen? From the noise and flashes of light coming from the other side of the Courtyard wall, it must have meant they had come from there. And as much as it wouldn't hurt to stay uninvolved, he had already seen the pair. He wasn't going to take his frustration out of them.
So he stopped again and fixed them a concerned look from under his hair. "You shouldn't stay out here," stated Officer Obvious. He didn't want to say his next question. He really didn't, but it came out anyway. "Do you need help?"
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Edward ignored Jun's silent snub, though he was honestly amazed the boy could walk on his injuries directly, especially with the way his own entire left side was sending wave after wave of pain through him. He was lucky his burns didn't need to continually touch anything. His roommate was right - it was important for them to move with haste.
Which was why he followed Jun's eyes curiously as the shorter boy looked behind him; he hadn't heard anything, and nothing was there in the darkness.
What he heard - voices - seemed to be in front of them. Snapping his head back there, he was only met with more darkness, a never-ending curtain of it.
More hallucinations? It wouldn't be so surprising -
The thought was cut off with one that was entirely other, sending a shock of pain that was separate from his peeling skin. A source of static was approaching, and between the white noise were... thoughts.
The vampire actually felt relief. His head wasn't broken.
The source entered the scene suddenly: a dark man with a sheet of white hair covering his face. His calm voice did not belie his thoughts - Edward could see the face of a blond man, eyes covered with cloth, the thought tinged with longing. The last thing he expected to hear from any patient was an offer of help. He would have automatically denied it if this one's mental processes weren't actually audible.
"We're hoping to leave quite quickly, actually," he answered him. "But we need water - clean water. Is there a bathroom or a kitchen or some sort of first aid station near by?"
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"I would think something of that nature would be in the nurses' offices, but those are all locked. I'm sorry." At least the night had ended soon after Alkaid had led them into a completely useless wing of the asylum so he did not need to scold her once again, but the sting of that failure and wasted time persisted. Maybe they would be as lucky to have morning come quickly?
But of course that meant they needed to get to the kitchen, a place he had no interest returning to. It was a location he knew though, none the less one close by. "As for the kitchen, it is just inside those doors and behind the service counter," he answered, looking in the direction of where he just came from (it was no good... He wasn't there anymore). Going to the kitchen itself would more than likely not be useful, though, especially if the water was not running. If the lights lost their power, was there a hope that the water would function during the night? There might have been a freezer nearby, but without proper care or bandages or protection from any other outside sources, it would be pointless.
Needless to say, he didn't have much hope for these two. Maybe pity was the reason he was trying to be polite and give fair warning. "Stay away from the doors opposite of the kitchen. There's an aggressor in the Sun Room and I doubt you could handle it in your condition."
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It was for the better that Edward was quite accustomed to ignoring mental voices, because in the middle of the stranger's explanation his roommate's voice began lifting over the white noise, a chanted mantra a vague outline of a girl - maybe a woman? He wasn't surprised to know Jun's thoughts were laced with pain.
So his hearing had become selective, apparently. Wonderful.
"I appreciate the help," he said truthfully, breaking eye contact (or where he assumed the man's eyes were) with the other to look down at the rawest part of his burn, a licking of blood-red skin inching towards his shoulder. The skin had swelled and blistered, turning the color of too-rare steak with practically the same feel to it. "And the warning. We'll -"
And then he stopped, feeling vertigo. Except it wasn't - the ground began vibrating under his feet, little shakes like ripples on water. But then they grew, until it was a tangible shaking, not soft vibrations.
The shaking wasn't alone - along with the more violent movements was the appearance of chunks of debris (part of the wall?), raining down rock and dirt.
Shit, the girl - is she still following?
"She might still be coming," he told Jun hurriedly, already taking steps towards the door the man had pointed out, giving him a last thankful nod. "Let's move."
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