Nightshift 28: Bus 2

[misterprince]

Sanji was blinking furiously, trying to figure out why he still felt awake though everything was dark. The sedatives, just recently injected into his system, were working full force and he was having difficulty figuring out which way was up and down. All the sounds were reminiscent of something out of a nightmare. Was that what this was

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[reanalyze]

Citan had been dozing on the ride back, waking when they came to a stop. He had only fully woken up when the world began to change and shift. He blinked, frowning as he realized what was going on.

Well, this was certainly a surprise. So this was what happened when they were locked in their rooms. Interesting. He couldn't tell what triggered it - if it was tied to the sun or a manual trigger. He did wonder....

But it was clear they needed to fight their way off the bus. He hoped his body was up to it. He knew a woman was calling to move the injured, but damned if he was going to simply sit by.

He moved to the center of the aisle, flipping his ponytail over his shoulder.

"Form a box in the middle," he called out, hoping people were listening. "Keep open a safe place for those who cannot fight!"

[raptscarecrow]

Kakashi had never liked irony. Or bad luck. Having been watching the nurses at the front when they stepped up, he received a pretty clear view of what followed; and while it was certainly horrific to watch, the surprise wasn't so intense that he didn't react immediately. He had seen weirder in his days, after all.

He jumped up as everyone else seemed to, but paused before moving further to assess the situation. The aisle was already hectic -- it would be best to stick to the front of the bus where he was rather than trying to move farther back, if possible. A woman was yelling orders, the fight at the front was already crowded, and he had no weapons -- given the cramped area, it was a bad place for the hand-to-hand he preferred. Damn it.

His attention was drawn to a man who shouted above the rest nearby; acting quickly, Kakashi moved to join him, squeezing between people and seats to try and put his back to his.

"I'm guessing you're one of those who can, then?" he called over his shoulder.

[reanalyze]

"I am." Citan nodded, remaining calm despite the confusion. It was no worse than when Shevat had fallen, or the Aveh capital, or Solaris itself. "There is no need for us to insinuate ourselves into the fight at the moment. I feel it would be wiser to hold a border and allow those with no fighting ability to open the windows and get outside."

Too many cooks in the kitchen would only lead to something being burnt.

"I'm Doctor Citan Uzuki. Everyone calls me Doc, you're welcome to as well. Are you accustomed to fighting without a weapon?"

[raptscarecrow]

"Good strategy," said Kakashi briefly. Then, with only a hint of dry humor in his tone, "Hatake Kakashi. Pleasure, Doc. And it happens to be my preferred style, fortunately." He was still watching as much as he could; possibly the most since he had arrived at the institute, he wished his Sharingan were still intact. It would have made watching and discerning between friends and foes much easier, for one thing.

"And you?"

[uruz_vii]

Well, Sousuke's diversion at the nail salon had utterly failed, and landed both him and Heero back on the bus--separated. He'd spent most of his time looking out the window and trying to memorize any landmarks, but there really weren't any of note.

Unfortunately, there was something more interesting to look at when the buses stopped inside the gates. Seeing as he was in the back of the bus, he had a front row seat to the most grotesque show New Jersey could offer--short of the chemical waste. Two nurses and one orderly were now leering at all the patients in the bus--transformed into what could only be described as monsters.

This situation could get ugly really fast--considering what a small space the bus was. He heard a woman call to hold the monsters off.

"Roger!" Sousuke shouted, rolling from his seat coming up behind one of the nurses. Quickly, he stripped his manly pink dress shirt and tried to put the nurse in a stranglehold with it. If anything, it'd distract the thing for a bit.

[damned_nurses]

The nurse either was too slow or didn't care about the shirt; it settled around her neck for a moment, tightening. Then she brought her hands up, each finger now tipped with a razor-sharp scalpel, and slashed through the fabric with a rake of her hands. She turned jerkily to face Sousuke, twisted mouth opened to scream.

[Katsu/David - Katsu will post during the night, David if a post is needed during the day.]

[uruz_vii]

Hm. Well, damn.

Sousuke stood with two halves of a sliced shirt in his hands, a monstrous nurse screaming in his face. This was interesting, to say the least. Now that he had no weapon besides his own body, things were about to get a little dicey. The thing was armed to the teeth with scalpels all over its fingers, which, Sousuke guessed, would do quite a bit of damage if unchecked.

Priority number one, however, was getting some space to fight in. The teenaged sergeant delivered a quick uppercut with the heel of his hand to what he hoped was the monster's nose. Who knew if these things could feel pain or have their nose shoved into their brain, but it was what Sousuke was trained to do.

[damned_nurses]

The nurse's head snapped back and she screamed again, blood spraying across Sousuke's arm. Her face still staring up at the bus' ceiling, she snapped her hands up and together, wrapping her fingers around Sousuke's forearm, scalpels biting deeply.

[notachick]

Okita had been so busy doodling on the windows, he hadn't noticed that the darkness had fallen. It wasn't until the monster machine stopped and the monsters actually appeared that he snapped to attention. His head was still groggy and he was slower than he would have liked. He didn't have confidence in his agility or even his aim at the moment, either, but they were in danger

[screwthegods]

What he saw before him was something new to even Homura. It seemed not even five hundred years could prepare a man for everything. The twisting of bodies, the screams of agony; Homura could do little more than watch this transformation, which in a way made him feel sympathy for the staff that surrounded him

[damned_nurses]

The monstrous nurse gained her feet, swaying back and forth. For a moment, she seemed to look at her hands, an unearthly scream bursting from her throat. Then, as Okita approached, her head snapped up, then lolled to the side as she jerked forward, one hand, palm pierced with needles, raising to lash out, the other going to her tattered coat pocket.

[Katsu/David - Katsu will post during the evening, David if a post is needed during the day.]

[notachick]

Homura was following and he could only hope Kenshin was doing the same. The Battousai might not be able to fight tonight, but he could be the eyes and ears that Okita desperately needed. The fog in his head wouldn't clear despite the adrenaline rushing through him and he suddenly regretted finding sedation so funny. The nurse with needles attacked him and he dropped low to avoid her hand. The last thing he needed was another stab with one of those.

Worse yet, he doubted they were clean.

Finding a patch on her arm void of needles, he kicked hard to keep her hand out of her coat pocket. Okita didn't know what could be in there, but he didn't think he'd like it.

[unmocked_lawr]

Night had fallen, but Javert had always had excellent night vision. Now, he was starting to wish he didn't. If he weren't so busy being shocked speechless, he would have been ironically impressed with the creativity the Head Doctor displayed. Every time he thought he'd seen the worst this place could do, Landel came up with something new.

There were patients heading toward both ends of the bus, a few of them brandishing what looked like makeshift weapons - probably, noted a small voice at the back of his mind, stolen from the stores in Doyleton this afternoon. Getting innocent townspeople involved in this was hardly necessary. Still, there would be time enough to be disapproving about it later. Right now, lives were at stake.

"Everyone!" a woman was shouting nearby. "Try to break the windows if you can! If you have weapons, hold them off! Move injured out of the way!"

At least someone was thinking on their feet tonight. Javert turned the window by his seat, running a hand over the frame thoughtfully and pushing experimentally at

[janus_006]

Instead of chatting as the bus made its way back, Alec had been watching the sun nervously as it sank lower and lower. We're not going to make it. He wondered if the town and surrounding woods would come alive with all sorts of interesting beasts if they were caught in the dark, or if they could avoid the night's 'fun' altogether

[unmocked_lawr]

"Lovely of you to show up," said Javert dryly, but he meant it, in his own peculiar way. If nothing else, the two of them should be more than capable of breaking the window together.

Shouting behind him confirmed that someone had already torn a hole near the back of the bus (that was fast, he thought with some surprise), but it was possible that exit might become inaccessible in the chaos.

He jerked his head at the window. "On the count of three, then?"

[janus_006]

"Three sounds nice," Alec said, looking at the window. It wouldn't take half so long now as it would have if Javert had been trying to break the thing all on his own.

There was a sound that Alec knew too well - rending metal - and he flinched ever so slightly. That sound had almost killed him before, and in any case it had put him here. Time enough for neuroses later. They had to get the fuck out of the bus first.

"One..."

[stray_shinigami]

Renji surged to his feet as everything changed. His first reaction was to grab Allen by the back of the shirt, dragging him to the side of the seat near the window. "Tear a hole in the side of the bus so people can get out," he said. "No one else can!"

Without waiting for an answer, he went over the top of his seat, heading toward the back of the bus. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE AISLE IF YOU'RE NOT FIGHTIN'!" he roared at the top of his lungs. He was already only a few seats from the back; he charged at one of the enemies that wasn't already engaged.

[roses_bleues]

[from further up]

Diva wasn't the type to listen, nor strategize, nor care about the wellbeing of others.

When she came down the aisle, she was intent on making space, no matter how or who had to be trampled on to provide it. As a loud man decided to get in her way, her forearm met the small of his back, a forceful blow meant to move him aside.

[transgenix]

As the girl clambered over her lap to get down the aisle, Max blinked after her for the barest of heartbeats before she scrambled up and after her. What the hell was wrong with kids in this place anyways? Even she wasn't this crazy!

...Okay, maybe a little crazy, but she was allowed!

[31st_of_china]

Sanzo hadn't ever seen the actual transition to nightshift before. Watching the shift happen before his eyes was startling, to say the least. The staff became those abominations in the darkness, the bus suddenly loud with the transformation and the patients.

They were trapped in with them. They might have been human earlier, but right now, they stood between the exit and everyone else.

Sanzo rose, and keeping his eyes on the closest "staff", he began to chant under his breath.