Night 45: M41-M50 Hallway

[cmdr_exposition]

Hayes paused in the middle of assembling the few useful items he had- the flashlight and TK's map, of course, and maybe one of the pens in case he wanted to note some kind of landmarks- to scowl up at the intercom. He talks like a schoolteacher and laughs like a damned Ilwrath, he thought, with a very slight shudder. A laugh like that was never

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[hes_deadjim]

He'd never heard anything quite like that last announcement. It sounded nothing like he'd have expected from a hospital, instead coming off as strangely menacing. It reminded him more like a man about to watch some game unfold instead of a doctor.

The click of the door unlocking was loud in the next few seconds following the announcement. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. His gaze shifted from the speaker in the wall towards it, in time to see Hayes pushing at the door. It swung open.

McCoy rose. "Well I'll be damned."

[cmdr_exposition]

Hayes' beam of light illuminated nothing particularly sinister, just a wall in one direction and a few prisoners wandering, some with apparent purpose and some without, in the other. He turned back to McCoy.

"Well, I don't see any monsters so far," he said, as lightheartedly as he could manage. This took some effort.

It should have been a relief not to be locked in at night, but apparently all the prisoners had been allowed to wander for as long as they'd been around, and they were all still here. There was no reasonable prospect of getting away tonight. But, as Hayes knew well, you tried anyway. Always.

[hes_deadjim]

"Very funny, Commander," McCoy replied. He fished out the ancient flashlight and turned it on. The beam landed on his boots for a moment.

The doctor stepped out after Hayes, stopping a little behind him. He was right. They came out into a hallway that seemed much more narrow in the darkness. He could make out a few more patients wandering around. Even if he wasn't going to complain about his freedom, a nagging part of him was appalled at the idea of the few patients who did need the help roaming around unchecked. They could hurt themselves like this, he winced

[cmdr_exposition]

There were so many sarcastic comments that could have been made in response to that astute observation that they got in each other's way, forcing Hayes to make do with a grim chuckle as he started down the hall. It would have been frightening under other circumstances- in fact it was- but having a goal in mind made that fear much easier to disregard.

Speaking of which... "I was planning on meeting with TK-622- the one who told me about this place," he said, head half-turned to face McCoy. "It might be a good idea to stay together, since neither of us knows what's out there."

[Probably to here next]

M44

[full_score]

Claude was still concerned about his roommate. More than that, though, he hated that there wasn't very much he could actually do for him. He hadn't been able to save Rey from the staff, hadn't been able to save Dias or Guy. A few days ago he might have clung to the hope that their group had been on the verge of discovering something great, on finding some kind of major breakthrough. And while he knew there was still a lot of the building that he hadn't seen yet, some part of Claude felt betrayed by Mister Radio for leading them into such an awful predicament.

But now it was too late to do anything to save anyone. All Claude could do tonight was pick up the pieces and press forward. He had to meet Anise and Celes so they could find what was left of Dias and Guy. Before Landel tortured them even after death.

Outfitted in his uniform, Claude picked up his sword and flashlight and head out the door. All the while he was mindful of the paper crane that was tucked in his pocket.

((To here.))

[faithful_frost]

He wasn't hearing this, right? It had to be some kind of, of joke. Or trick. All he had to do was stay inside and he'd be okay, right? Chris frowned, eyeing the now open door like it might bite him. What if they were supposed to go outside? Then he might get into trouble for staying.

But the patients that ran around at night, they would be bad, wouldn't they? He took a breath, trying to keep calm and glanced at Sean.

"Did ... did you hear that too?"

[byname_bynature]

Sean frowned, eyebrows coming together. He remembered Artemis' stories--about the doors unlocking and monsters roaming the hallways. But that couldn't be true. Artemis didn't exist, so neither did his stories. Just something to make it seem like he didn't belong here.

He was going to prove it, too.

"Yeah..." he said, walking over to the door. He tested it. It certainly was open. Sean smirked a little and turned back to Chris. Artemis was sitting on the dresser, dressed in his suit.

'Don't go out there,' he said, his tone grave and low. 'You'll only get both of us killed.'

"Looks like your nurse didn't lock the door all the way," Sean said with a small shrug. "Y'wanna go for a walk?"

If Artemis was telling him not to, Sean was going to do it, obviously.

[faithful_frost]

Well, no, he didn't want to go for a walk. That was the point, right?

"Um, I guess if you're going anyway..." He stood up and took his coat from the closet then slid into it. Moving to the door, Chris looked out and frowned.

"It's really dark, and it smells kind of ... damp."

[byname_bynature]

"It's dark 'cause they turned off all the lights," Sean explained, like this was some sort of difficult concept. He thought he heard Artemis scoff behind him. "And maybe it's damp because someone left a window open--it's humid around these parts."

Just... not in wintertime. Which was a little disconcerting.

"C'mon," he said with a smile. "We'll go find a nurse. They'll lock the door, we can go to bed." Without fear of Schuldig trying to get at him. He was only a few doors down, and who knew what the patients who were still sick did in an attempt to get out of their rooms.

Sean took Chris' hand and walked out into the hallway, bare feet cold on the linoleum floor. Chris was right... it was way too damp. And something reeked.

"Just... have to find someone," Sean said, looking down both ends of the hallway. No nurses. Weird.

"There's a Nurse's Station on the end of each block," he said, remembering back. "We'll find someone there."

[unheroed]

As usual, Harvey's conversations with Lunge were clipped and uninformative on both sides. That was for the best. It would cause the man to continue to be suspicious, true, but so long as he didn't find out anything definitive, he couldn't do much about it.

While he considered taking his gun with him again tonight, he decided against it. It was a risk to carry it around willy-nilly, even though it would be useful to have it in the event of a monster attack. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he wanted to waste ammunition on something like that.

Most wouldn't consider it a waste, but he'd rather save the bullets for people, as backwards as that seemed.

So instead he had the metal pipe for some amount of security, and, of course, his flashlight. Jason had said outside the dorms, and while that was vague, he didn't think it would be that hard for them to find each other. With his bandages stripped off, he wasn't easy to miss.

[unheroed]

[To here.]

M42

[scarefaux]

A click from the doors, and the Scarecrow knew it was that time of night. Tonight would be nothing but trouble- not only were his friends out there with the witches and whatnot, but now it seemed they didn't know who they really were or what sort of somethings were out there! He hoped those people who believed all they'd witnessed in the Institute was a lie would just stay in their rooms and out of trouble

[scarefaux]

[To here.]