Play@YSDC

Posted: **Wed Sep 22, 2021 6:08 pm**

Date and time unknown

The freezing, timeless journey came to an abrupt end as a portal opened in the distance and they felt themselves drawn towards it with increasing speed. Suddenly ejected, they found themselves in a sunken pit, in a confusion of smoke, mud, splintered timbers and shattered bodies.

As they looked over the edge of the pit, a man emerged from the smoke that wreathed the landscape, slowly moving in their direction. Stalking across the ground towards them, he would periodically point a weapon which squirted a gout of flame, accompanied by screams of agony and terror from his unseen victims.

Closer he came, until he stopped just yards away. His face was obscured by some sort of mask with large, soulless glass eyes. He looked at them, brought the weapon around in their direction then paused. He looked up, distracted by a noise that sounded like an approaching train. He turned as if to run but it was too late. With a ear-splitting ‘Boom’, a shell landed behind him, exploding and filling the air with red hot shards of metal that tore into the man, shredding him and causing his weapon to explode in a fireball.

Saved from the worst of the effects by the walls of the pit, nevertheless they were still caught by some of the metal shards, while the burning fuel singed their hair and burnt their skin. Before they could react however, there was a further sound of an approaching express followed by a second explosion, and the wall of the pit lifted and crashed over them, burying them in clods of earth that hammered down upon them… …

… … …

The first they were aware of still being alive, was a periodic shaking, that caused them to shift on the gurneys upon which they lay. Eyes open, they could see that they were in what must be an ambulance, with two stretchers mounted each side of a small cabin. As they looked up, they caught sight of the driver, a young women with haunted eyes. “You’re awake, then,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it back.”

Posted: **Wed Sep 22, 2021 9:29 pm**

"Where am I? Where is this!?"
Lawrence awakens with a start and a brief shout of terror, his eyes wildly darting around the ambulance.

This was not Arkham. Or Massachusetts, or even America. He didn't know where he was, but he was starting to get a good idea of when that portal dumped him out.

This may have been the Great War.

Posted: **Wed Sep 22, 2021 10:58 pm**

"I think this is what we would call...somewhere in France," says William, who had been about to say the same thing and is drawing very similar conclusions. "Thank you for your help, Miss."

Posted: **Thu Sep 23, 2021 3:57 am**

Alex lets out a groan. His first time on the front he had avoided being injured and had had abetter time of it than many of fellow troops, but he still lost a few friends. It was not an experience he was eager to repeat. Add that to them being over a decade behind where they should have been.

"Yes, thank you," He tells the nurse. But his mind was already attempting to figure out how to get out of here. He had no desire to play through this conflict once again.

Posted: **Thu Sep 23, 2021 6:35 pm**

“Of course we’re in France! Where else would we be?!” she muttered to herself, scowling through the windscreen.

Glancing back at Lawrence with a worried look on her face, she said, “Is he alright?! If he’s not safe, there’s some straps, there!”

They could see some thick webbing straps that could be used to secure a patient to the stretcher, if required.

Posted: **Thu Sep 23, 2021 7:02 pm**

"You okay, Lawrence?" asks William. "The phrase 'somewhere in France' is an expression, Miss. It's what they tell soldiers to say in letters home about where they are, because they're not supposed to reveal their exact location, which is what he wanted to know."

Posted: **Thu Sep 23, 2021 11:01 pm**

"I feel just fantastic, William, thanks for asking." Lawrence says facetiously, obviously feeling the least fantastic he has ever felt in his entire life. Something about what he had witnessed in Brichester had opened his mind, igniting a spark of knowledge about the things man is not meant to know of; there was more out there than what he had seen, more than just Yig and Gla'aki and their servants.

Lawrence, needless to say, did not enjoy dwelling on that thought for very long.
"Where are we going, anyways? A hospital, or something like that?"

Posted: **Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:18 am**

"Hell," Alex responds to the nurse.

"Hopefully to a hospital." He responds to Lawrence. "I'd like to confer with both you gentleman-- preferably before we get sent out again." Then again, who knew if the others had even served. Alex had, and while there had been many soldiers on the front, there remained a chance he would run into himself out there.

Posted: **Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:27 am**

The driver frowned at Alex, then looked back at the road. Through the windscreen, they could see they were in a convoy, with another ambulance, its wheels spinning for purchase, up ahead.

As they watched, there was a sound like an approaching express train. Their ambulance shook, then, mere fractions of a second later, the one in front exploded! It was thrown five feet up into the air before crashing back to earth, with everything above the level of the wheels a smoking ruin.

The driver bit the brakes and their ambulance skidded to a halt. She stared dumbfounded through the windscreen, then screamed, “Jenny?! Jenny! Noooooo…!!!”

Posted: **Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:08 am**

"It must have struck a mine," says William. "We should check if there are any survivors. Someone could have been thrown clear by the blast."

Posted: **Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:56 am**

Alex frowns, torn. "I doubt anyone could have survived that, and we're an easy target out here, William." He turns to their driver. "We should keep going."

He's already not sure if that is the right call. Or even still if they had helped to cause the attack by being here; maybe the ambulances would not have been at this exact location if not for them being picked up. People may be dead that otherwise wouldn't be because of their presence here. The guilt gnaws at him.

Posted: **Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:24 pm**

The ambulance ahead had been wrecked by the shell that hit it. There was no way past until it was removed from the road. Until then, they’d be sitting ducks if any more shells came over…

Posted: **Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:05 pm**

"Looks like we have to get out anyway just to push it out of the way," says William.

Posted: **Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:23 pm**

"Let's get this over with as quickly as we can." Alex responds. "Be careful, gentlemen."

Posted: **Sun Sep 26, 2021 12:35 am**

"I plan on it."
Lawrence nods nervously in agreement, departing from the ambulance as quick as he could; he didn't know much about war, but being unable to move would make the ambulance, and by extension the people near it, an easy target for artillery fire. He'd already seen a man explode today, and he did not hope to meet that same fate.

Posted: **Mon Sep 27, 2021 12:10 am**

The artillery strike had shattered most of the vehicle above the level of the wheels. Remarkably, the rear window of the ambulance wasn’t wholly smashed, although it was spattered red and blood dripped down the rear door.

The ground beneath their feet was muddy and it was difficult to get purchase to push the vehicle out of the way.

Posted: **Mon Sep 27, 2021 1:08 am**

William is not the strongest of men.

Posted: **Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:35 am**

Lawrence finds it difficult to get a steady grip on the wreck.

Posted: **Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:01 am**

The thought of being out in the middle of a warzone is all the motivation Alex needs.

Posted: **Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:27 am**

The ambulance rocked back and forwards as they pushed, but it barely moved. Fortunately, a troop of British Tommies was making its way up the line and they stopped to lend a hand, making short work of clearing the road again.

”Blimey, what are you, fellas? A concert party?” laughed one, nudging his mates and pointing out the others that they were wearing…

Posted: **Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:03 am**

"If only; it's a long story, and I don't think we should stay around here for much longer. Thanks for the help, though." Lawrence says, climbing,back into the ambulance; he wondered what any "normal" people would think of his story, if he ever decided to tell it. They'd probably think he was crazy, unless he somehow presented undeniable proof that he travelled through time.

His thoughts drifted briefly to the money he had received in Brichester; that could prove useful, possibly.

Posted: **Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:17 am**

"We'd better get moving," says William. "We don't want to stick around here and get hit ourselves. Thank you!"

Posted: **Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:19 am**

Alex also gives his thanks before returning to the ambulance.

Posted: **Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:38 pm**

Posted: **Wed Sep 29, 2021 12:37 am**

Lawrence doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Going slightly insane has a way of distracting a man, it seems.

Posted: **Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:25 am**

William is a little too focused on getting out of here to notice anything.

Posted: **Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:32 am**

Posted: **Thu Sep 30, 2021 12:29 am**

As they climbed back into their own ambulance, something made Alex look back over towards the wreck that they had moved to the side of the road. Oily black smoke curled up from the engine block, which appeared to be on fire. As he watched, a flock of ravens seemed to appear from within the smoke, cawing loudly and flying down the road in the direction they were travelling.

Posted: **Thu Sep 30, 2021 4:01 am**

"Hey, look at that," Alex points the unusual sight out to the others. After what he's seen so far, something about the ravens spooked him; but perhaps that was just him being paranoid.

Posted: **Thu Sep 30, 2021 4:10 am**

"There must be more dead bodies in that direction," says William. "I guess they didn't get their fill here. We'll have to be careful when we keep going. I'm in no mood to feed the birds."

Posted: **Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:11 am**

Lawrence, still unnerved by basically everything that had happened in the past few hours, along with the fact he was currently in an active warzone, watches the birds with an expression of mild unease.
"My grandfather used to say that ravens are an omen of death, or something like that. It's common sense, really, since they're always eating dead things. Grandfather got a little strange in his later years, though, so he'd blow those birds full of holes with the old twelve-gauge whenever he saw them."

It felt good to share an anecdote in this fearful, dangerous time.

Posted: **Thu Sep 30, 2021 11:36 pm**

To judge by the scared look on the face of their driver, Lawrence’s folksy wisdom had really hit home… …

It took them almost an hour to reach their destination, a field hospital a few miles behind the front line. Eventually, their ambulance pulled into the courtyard of a large villa that had seen better days. The walls were pockmarked with bullets and shell fragments and a tarpaulin had been stretched over a hole in the roof.

A stream of orderlies and nurses came out to meet the ambulance, along with a young doctor who assessed the wounded and issued clipped instructions so that the wounded men were sent to the correct part of the hospital. Alex, Lawrence and William, with slight burns and shrapnel wounds were nevertheless deemed to be ‘walking wounded’ and were soon packed off to a small dormitory, where eight beds were squeezed into a room.

In turn, they were checked over by one of the nurses and their wounds dressed. One of the nurses treating another patient took one look at the outfits they wore and said, ”Where are your uniforms?”

Posted: **Fri Oct 01, 2021 2:41 am**

"It's a long story," says William.

Posted: **Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:09 am**

"We're war correspondents," Alex adds, knowing William's answer won't satisfy the nurse. "We were out here to report on the conflict and were caught in the middle of it. If you have a few moments we would like to ask you a few questions about your recent experiences." He inquires, hoping his boorish behavior will get them thrown out of the hospital and maybe on a ship back home. The detective doubted they would find any answers over here, but didn't want to be conscripted into fighting the war a second time if he didn't have to.

Posted: **Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:53 am**

"I'm their assistant." Lawrence brusquely states, nodding in the direction of Alex and William; he knew nothing about journalism, and thus thought it would be best to not even try to pretend to know anything about it. He was just their hired muscle in this act.
"Do suppose you could tell us where we are, exactly?"

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 12:36 am**

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 2:54 am**

Alex looks towards his friends for assistance in selling his story.

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 3:23 am**

William finds himself tongue-tied.

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 5:34 am**

Lawrence isn't too convincing, himself.

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:02 am**

The nurse didn’t say anything, just pursed her lips and continued to dress their wounds. That done, she left the room briskly without another word.

A minute later she returned with a soldier in tow. ”These are the men, Sergeant Major. I fear they may be German spies… …”

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 5:25 pm**

"We're not German spies!" protests William. "We're Americans!"

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 8:05 pm**

"American journalists, to be clear." Alex adds. "Several people can attest that on our way here we helped moved a wreck that was blocking the road." He's not sure why he says this, except perhaps to show that they were assisting the Allied cause.

Posted: **Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:59 pm**

"This is the first time I've even left the country! None of us are spies, I swear on my life." Lawrence insists, knowing that the consequences of being accused as a spy would be dire, possibly even lethal, to him and his friends.

Posted: **Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:52 pm**

The stern-faced Sergeant Major studied them for a moment, then asked, ”Who’s the President of America?”

Posted: **Sun Oct 03, 2021 9:27 pm**

OOC: Luckily I'm is a big history buff. And considering his EDU, I'll say Alex is as well.

"Woodrow Wilson," Alex says, relieved . "Thomas Marshall is his vice president. They were first elected in 1912, defeating President Taft, Former President Roosevelt, and socialist Eugene Debs. They were reelected last year defeating former supreme court justice Charles Evan Hughes in a close election."

Posted: **Sun Oct 03, 2021 10:42 pm**

William nods, knowing that Alex has the right answer.

Posted: **Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:29 pm**

”Is that right?” asked the nurse, looking to the Sergeant Major.

He studied Alex carefully, then shrugged his shoulders. ”To be honest, I don’t have the faintest clue. It sounds plausible, though. Doesn’t it?”

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:21 am**

"Sounds right to me, but to be frank, I never really was one for politics."
Lawrence, being a fairly young man in 1930, was still a child back when the Great War was still raging and thus had little memory of who was in office back then. Now that he thought of it, his younger self must have still been around in Arkham, completely unaware of what he would end up entangled in.

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2021 1:13 am**

"Yes, it's right," says William.

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2021 6:26 am**

Alex is aghast at their ignorance, but tells himself that not everyone had received an Ivy League education.

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:15 pm**

”If it means anything, they sound like the Yanks I’ve met before,” said the Sergeant Major. ”Now I’m sorry, Miss, but I’ve got to go. Burial detail - can’t keep my lads waiting.”

The nurse looked unconvinced but she couldn’t think of a counter argument so she just let out an exasperated ‘hmmph!’, finished dressing their wounds and left.

The rest of the beds in the room were occupied by soldiers with a range of injuries. Most lay still but two were talking in low tones. When the nurse left, the nearest one looked over. Bandages covered his eyes and it was clear from the way he held his head that he was blind. ”Welcome to the Ritz,” he said, with dry humour. “Have you brought anything with you?”

Posted: **Mon Oct 04, 2021 11:49 pm**

"We came in with some shrapnel, but they didn't let us keep it; I've had a hell of a day, but I'm sure that's just normal out here in the battlefield." Lawrence makes a quip of his own, sounding rather weary from his recent experiences; he'd seen three men die today, one by his own hands, which was about three more than he would have preferred. Well, maybe two, actually; that bastard Brophy finally got what was coming to him, even though that poor paramedic went down with him. Tragedy like that was starting to seem commonplace.

Posted: **Tue Oct 05, 2021 12:07 am**

"I've got some cigarettes, if you want one," says William, taking out his pack. "Fresh out of matches, though." He does have his lighter, but he's not about to take it out, as it hasn't been invented yet in this time. "Don't suppose there's a newspaper around here anywhere?" He's had enough experience traveling in time that he knows the best way to find out exactly when they are.

Posted: **Tue Oct 05, 2021 9:34 pm**

”Real fags?” exclaimed one of the other soldiers. “I ain’t seen real fags since 1916!” He pulled a newspaper from a rucksack by his bed and hopped across the room, dropping down on William’s bed. They could see that he had lost his left leg from the knee downwards, which was wrapped in a heavy bandage.

”I was saving that for, well, you know…” he said, ”But I’m happy to swap. It’s a couple of weeks old - it can take a while for them to get to out to the trenches.” He helped himself to one of William’s cigarettes and dropped the newspaper on the bed.

Picking it up, William could see it was rather worn copy of the Daily Express, dated 25 May 1918… …

Posted: **Wed Oct 06, 2021 5:13 am**

"Thank you," says William, who realizes he will probably have to save the newspaper for the same purpose once they're done with it. That made this early June 1918, which meant it was still twelve years before their own time and five months before the war would end. He peruses the newspaper, sharing it with Lawrence and Alex so that they can catch up on almost current events and notice the date.

Posted: **Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:56 am**

Alex pales a little at the use of the term, but recalls that the Brits use it differently.

OOC: I checked, and it was being used as a slur at this time, but only in America.

Reading the paper's date, he nods. At least they were close to the end of the war, though they were still far from their proper time. He really needs to get the others alone so they can plan their next moves; he has no intention of staying around here any longer than they have to.

Posted: **Wed Oct 06, 2021 8:13 am**

Posted: **Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:34 pm**

"Do any of you gentlemen know where my friends and I could have a smoke in private? I'm sure the nurses complain if you do it inside." Lawrence asks, skimming over the newspaper to get a hint at when he is in time; the portal had dumped him and his companions out a whole twelve years too early, which was not quite as bad as forty-three years, but still too far off for comfort.

Could they be trapped here?

Posted: **Wed Oct 06, 2021 7:56 pm**

Alex nods at Lawrence's suggestion. "Yes, it has been a very long day."

Posted: **Thu Oct 07, 2021 10:45 pm**

”You could probably sneak out. Around the back of the corpse shed is pretty sheltered - not many want to hang out there, for obvious reasons!” laughed the one-legged soldier. “Don’t let the nurses catch you though, they’ll say you’re better and you’ll be off up the trenches again, so keep your head down!” He winked cheerfully, and pulled at the dressing that swathed the stump of his missing leg.

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2021 3:19 am**

"Thanks again," says William. "Sounds like a plan."

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2021 10:50 am**

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2021 7:29 pm**

OOC: Sounds good.

Posted: **Fri Oct 08, 2021 10:23 pm**

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 12:53 am**

It seemed that everyone was busy as none of the nursing staff were in the corridor when they looked outside their ward. A few quick steps were enough to reach the front door unseen and they were quickly outside into the courtyard that surrounded the building.

The guard on the door ignored them - whether the patients crept outside for a smoke was none of his concern - and off to their left they could see what they presumed was ‘corpse shed’, as their fellow patient had described it. A doorway in the wall next to the shed lead off to what looked like an orchard beyond.

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 1:46 am**

"There it is," says William, pointing out the shed. "I can guess where it got its name. Shall we take a closer look?"

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 4:22 am**

"I can't imagine why you'd want to, but I have no objection," Alex says.

When he's sure he's far enough away, he talks to the others. "Loathe as I am to say it, this may be the closest we get to home. Brophy knew the exact details of the rituals, and I'm not sure we'll be able to reproduce it. Anytime soon, at least.

"There's no real reason to stay around here. And while I would like to end the war-- especially as we now know it will only lead to bloodier one a few decades later-- I'm not sure how we can hope to given we're already in the last months of it and without being suspected as spies. We need to consider alternatives. Our former lives are probably out, especially given the age difference. With makeup I may be able to pass and blame the horrors of war for aging me prematurely, but the two of you would still be more or less children! We should probably start new lives. At least with the knowledge we've gained there's nothing stopping us from becoming successful." He laughs bitterly, reasoning that's one advantage to all the horrors they endures, even if it feels like cold comfort.

"Alternatively, we know here Brophy will be in around a decade. Maybe we can prevent all of this from happening before it starts. Save James and any of your other friends who were lost in all of this."

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:05 am**

"I had been thinking of that myself, but I hadn't wanted to say anything in front of Brophy that would give my thoughts away," says William. "I'd been thinking of going to 1929, not all the way back to 1918, though. There are other things we can change too. We know when the market will crash, and we can prepare for it. We may also be able to prevent the next war. That Hitler fellow fought in this one, somewhere on the other side. One bullet could change the course of history. Of course, we'd probably never find him in all this."

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 8:35 am**

The shed was thankfully empty. In the distance they could see a burial party interring the former inhabitants in a local graveyard, watched over by two men standing under a small copse of denuded trees.

A flock of birds was scudding across the sky in the direction of the trenches, just a few miles away.

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 4:06 pm**

"There must be more dead over that way," says William, glancing at the birds.

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:41 pm**

Alex glances up at the birds.

Posted: **Sat Oct 09, 2021 8:46 pm**

"I don't know much about how time works, but I think changing history could have consequences we can't really expect. Nobody's done it before, as far as we know, and if someone has, they aren't around for us to ask any questions." Lawrence speculates, having put as much thought into this as his admittedly-unimpressive wits allowed. That insight into the true nature of reality he had gained in his fit of madness probably helped him reach a conclusion.
"So, if we kill Brophy... Then we never meet him, so we never get sent back to this time, so we never kill him... I think? Hell, this stuff is confusing. I miss when life made sense."

Lawrence, being a bit of an outdoorsman, knows a lot more about animals than his companions.

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2021 12:14 am**

In the distance, beyond the birds, there is the sound of thunder, marking the start of a barrage of shellfire. It isn’t clear which side is shelling which, but it goes on for some time…

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2021 1:08 am**

"Doesn't sound like the shells are falling anywhere close," says William. "The hospital's behind the lines, so they probably won't hit us here. Of course, we may end up with new patients soon."

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2021 3:16 am**

"I'm glad I was too young to serve, to be frank. It seems like a miracle that Reynolds managed to get out of this in one piece." Lawrence says, looking out over the graveyard and the desolate environment beyond. To think that there could be a war greater than this seemed to be impossible, yet Lawrence unfortunately knew better.
"I think our best bet is to may low for a while and start a new life, like Alex said. But ever since we first got stranded in Brichester, I've thought of something: Brophy had to have learned that... spell from somewhere. We need to find it."

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2021 4:34 am**

"It wasn't my most pleasant experience... though it's no longer my least, either." Alex responds, frowning.

"That would mean going back to England. I'm not necessarily opposed. Though part of me wants nothing to do with any of this. It's knowledge I think man is better off not knowing. As for the matter of changing history, we're already made a few changes. Seth died because of us showing up in the 1970's. That paramedic was possessed as well. Even the man here who was blown up when we arrived may not have died had we not appeared here.

"I'm not sure we should go out of our way to change things, especially taking direct action in killing Brophy, but we do seem to have some leeway to act. And, frankly, given the evils Brophy has unleashed on the world I'm willing to take the chance to stop him. But I understand and respect if neither of you are. Being honest, I expected to be nothing but a helpless puppet of that depraved man by now, so I do appreciate my good fortune in getting something of a second chance."

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:23 pm**

"I'm not sure why the spell didn't work quite right when we did it," says William, "unless of course Brophy tricked us again. I'm also willing to try to stop him. If the spell is that inaccurate normally, though, this may be as close as we're going to get."

Posted: **Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:22 pm**

”Ahem!” There was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them, and they turned to see a petit, blonde nurse staring at them.

”Having a constitutional, gentlemen?” she asked, trying to hide an amused smile. ”I think it best we get you back to bed before Mrs Ogilvy sees that you’re missing. Come along…”

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:13 am**

"Of course, Miss," says William, following her back.

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:38 am**

Alex thinks to protest, but the thought of being sent to the front line deters him for the moment. Besides, it had been a long time since he had a chance to rest. He follows the others back.

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2021 4:44 pm**

Lawrence simply cannot be bothered to put up a fight, and returns to the hospital with little resistance. This conversation had unfortunately been cut short, but the corpse shed could be very useful for any future meetings; he'd just have to come at times when it wasn't full of its typical occupants.

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2021 7:14 pm**

The nurse lead the way back to their room, where the one-legged soldier laughed when they returned. ”Nurse Zenna caught you, then!”

The nurse smiled at him and said, ”Settle down, Mr Carter.” She looked at everyone else. ”Now please get some rest. I’ll be back with your medication later.” She smiled again and left the room.

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2021 7:38 pm**

"Well, there are worse people who could have caught us," says William.

Posted: **Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:01 pm**

"I'm not sure I want to take any medication," Alex points out. "Though I suppose insisting we're fine is only likely to get us sent us to the front, and none of us want that."

Posted: **Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:51 am**

"I'll take whatever they give me. The only time I've felt worse than I did a while ago was when I fell off a train and nearly died." Lawrence says with a shrug, recalling his first and hopefully only close brush with death; still, he wondered where he would have gone if he had stayed on that train. It was a damned shame Howard didn't make it, though; he was a good guy, though it seemed like he was starting to crack near the end.

Posted: **Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:39 pm**

”She’s a lovely girl, that nurse Nurse Zenna!” grinnned Carter. ”She can tuck me in bed any time!”

”You’ve got no chance!” retorted the blind man, scornfully. “Her fella’s an officer - well, he was until he copped a packet. She’s not long back from Blighty so don’t be making trouble for her!”

Posted: **Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:50 am**

"I'm a married man myself," says William, wondering if he'll ever see Amelia again. His younger self hasn't even met her yet. "She'd have nothing to worry about from me anyway."

Posted: **Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:53 am**

"Lucky man, that officer." Lawrence remarks, thinking back to his own time in Arkham; he was by no means a Casanova, but he was handsome enough to draw in a few of the local girls. He never really had anything very long-term, though; he was too young and energetic to settle down just yet!

Well, was. Settling down on the family farm to spend the rest of his years in peace was starting to look like a very appealing option these days, although a part of Lawrence believed his war against the supernatural wouldn't come to a close so easily...

Posted: **Wed Oct 13, 2021 6:19 am**

"I've yet to find the right girl, myself." Alex says, doubting that he ever would. "So she has nothing to worry about from me either."

Posted: **Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:35 pm**

After a while, a one-armed Indian orderly came onto the ward with the evening meal, which turned out to be jam sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper, washed down with strong, dark tea sweetened with condensed milk. Carter produced a wedge of fruit cake from somewhere, which rounded off the meal nicely. If it were not for the rumble of guns from the front line, it might have been quite pleasant.

After the orderly had returned to clear away any rubbish, Nurse Zenna reappeared with a number of medicine bottles on a battered metal tray. “Time to take your medicine, gentlemen,” she said, brightly. “Doctor Parker has recommended a sedative expectorant to help you sleep. The noise from the front isn’t the most relaxing is it?”

“Now, who would like to go first?” she asked. It was apparent that she only had one spoon…

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2021 3:56 am**

"What is in it?" asks William.

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2021 4:41 am**

"I'm not sure we require any medicine," Alex points out, wary of being drugged and kept in a field hospital for who knows how long. "As we've pointed out before, we're journalists and must get back to reporting on the conflict. We really should leave tomorrow morning and get back to work."

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2021 6:18 am**

"I'll take it, but I've got to ask, what exactly does it do?" Lawrence inquires, not entirely trusting of the nurse but not quite as suspicious as Alex; he had no reason to believe anything odd was going on here yet, aside from the fact he was present in this time and location in the first place. He had a creeping suspicion that that could change at any time, though; such was the price of knowing the truth.

Posted: **Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:38 am**

Nurse Zenna studied the bottle and said, “ Camphorated Tincture of Opium, Oxymel of Squill, Syrup of Tolu, Concentrated Infusion of Cascarilla, and Water. Perfectly harmless and it will helps you sleep, doesn’t it, Mr Carter?” Carter nodded. ”Slept like a baby!” he grinned.

“Now come along, Doctor’s orders! Or do I need to ask Doctor Parker to come and see you himself?”

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 2:07 am**

"Camphor is mothballs," says William. "I'm guessing it doesn't taste good, but since when has medicine ever tasted good? I had a feeling there would be opium in it. That can be habit-forming if you're not careful, but I think you know what you're doing, and it shouldn't be a problem just having it once. I'll go first." He knew they were going to make him take it one way or another, and at least this way he knows the spoon is clean.

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:35 am**

"I'll go second." Alex says, not happy about it but not wanting a doctor to have to intervene. "Though I'm not sure I need any help sleeping-- it has been a long day."

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 6:00 am**

"It's all diluted, anyways, and if Carter hasn't started writhing around the floor and foaming at the mouth, neither will we. I'll go third." Says Lawrence, his creeping feeling of paranoia drowned out by the prospect of some peace and quiet after what happened over the past several days.

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 8:15 am**

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 4:46 pm**

The medicine goes straight to William's head.

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 7:10 pm**

Lawrence keeps his head screwed on straight.

Posted: **Sat Oct 16, 2021 8:21 pm**

Alex is able to withstand the medicine, though it tastes awful.

Posted: **Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:53 pm**

??????, ?? ?????? 1918. 6.30am.
Field Hospital No.5, ??????, France

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 2:24 am**

William wakes up in a cold sweat.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:30 am**

Alex awakens, briefly confused but quickly remembering where he was. He listens to the sounds of war in the distance and prepares to get up, but doesn't as of yet. It had been some time since he was truly able to rest, so he takes advantage of the opportunity to just catch his breath.

Posted: **Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:31 am**

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:09 am**

Lawrence's eyes snap open as he stirs awake, his own odd dreams of writhing snakes interrupted by the distant roar of the shell's explosive landing. He rises, slowly, and inspects his surroundings; unsurprisingly, he was still stuck in a field hospital about a decade earlier in time than he was supposed to be. What fun his life had become.
"Good morning, everyone."

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2021 3:29 am**

"Well, the morning sure beats the dream I had," says William. "It was about the war, of course."

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2021 3:51 am**

"No dreams for me," Alex reports. "Which suits me just fine. Any plans for the day?" He asks, in away that's obvious he's asking for more than just the day.

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:33 am**

"Let's see if we can get discharged," says William. "I don't want another dose of that medicine."

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:06 am**

"I dreamt of snakes, lots of them; I think it had something to do with that business down in Louisiana. Tell me about that dream later, William; I find them interesting." Lawrence recalls briefly, before moving on to more pressing matters. "Enough about that, though- Before we decide to take our leave, I think we should learn a bit more about where we even are in the first place. It's going to be hard to find our way to Arkham if we don't even know where we are."

Posted: **Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:18 am**

"I thought we were planning to head to England?" Alex asks. "Though I'm in agreement with your main point, we should learn more about where we are."

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:55 am**

"We can certainly do that while we're here," says William, "and I don't think we'll be able to get out of here so easily anyway. We should be careful about how we go about learning more. Someone has already mistaken us for German spies."

Posted: **Fri Oct 22, 2021 7:40 pm**

Nurse Zenna came into the room, smiling brightly. ”Good morning,” she said. ”Did everyone sleep well?”

Posted: **Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:11 am**

"Apart from a bad dream about the war," says William, "but I suppose that's to be expected."

Posted: **Sat Oct 23, 2021 3:53 am**

"Actually, yes. The sounds of shells passing overhead actually helped lull me to sleep-- that or the medicine." Alex says.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:16 am**

"I've slept better, but I'm fine." Lawrence plainly states; he wasn't expecting to get any restful sleep, considering that he in a war zone, and he didn't imagine that his past experiences helped with that.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:44 am**

”Well, if you didn’t sleep then Captain Watts will want to see you,” said Nurse Zenna. ”He’s working on a cure for for sleep deprivation. I’ll let him know.”

She said a cheery ‘good morning’ to Carter then stopped by the bed of the blind man. ”Time to wake up, Corporal Harris!” she said, shaking his foot through the blankets. There was no response so she shook him again, then took a closer look at the form beneath the blankets.

”Corporal Harris? Oh, no…!”

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:31 am**

Lawrence isn't the sharpest man around, but it doesn't take him a whole lot of time to realize when something's gone wrong; it happened so frequently around him, he was starting to wonder if he'd somehow been cursed.

"Good God, is he dead?" Lawrence asks, somewhat alarmed. He had to remind himself that this was a field hospital, where death was unfortunately common; this couldn't be the result of anything odd, that would be insane!

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:47 am**

Alex's eyes widen and he approaches the Corporal, examining the scene with his trained investigator eyes.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 2:05 am**

William hurries over to see if there's anything he can do to help the nurse, in case the man is not dead but in danger of dying.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:37 am**

Corporal Harris was indeed dead. His dull, lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling, until Nurse Zenna stepped forward and carefully lifted the blanket up over his face.

”Poor Corporal Harris,” she said. ”I thought he was on the mend, as well.”

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:43 pm**

"No signs of foul play. It appears he just took a turn for the worse." Alex declares gravely, though he can't deny he's a little relived this was apparently a natural death. He feels shame for feeling relief at that, but after what he's seen it's hard not to.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:42 pm**

"What could have happened?" asks William.

Posted: **Sun Oct 24, 2021 11:45 pm**

"I imagine it had to do with that got him put in here in the first place. The eyes aren't very far from the brain; maybe something went wrong there?" Lawrence blindly guessed, his own medical knowledge practically non-existent outside of what what commonly known. He couldn't help but feel a bit perturbed by the blind man- Harris's sudden death, even though he was just a step above a complete stranger; he seemed quite fine, yesterday.

Posted: **Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:08 am**

”Perhaps he didn’t believe he’d get better?” said Carter, pushing himself up in bed and pulling at the dressing on his stump. ”Belief’s a powerful thing, eh nurse?”

Nurse Zenna shot him a warning look.”I don’t think that’s helpful at the moment Mr Carter, do you?” she said. ”I’ll ask one of the orderlies to remove Corporal Harris’ body and sort out a nice cup of tea for everyone. Does that sound all right?”

Posted: **Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:12 am**

"I won't say no to a nice cup of tea," says William, who had gotten a taste for it on his recent trip to England. "I'm sure the doctors will be able to figure out what happened."

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2021 1:54 am**

"I suppose some tea couldn't hurt." Lawrence admits with a shrug, looking at the body of Corporal Harris with a feeling of distinct unease. "Do you think you could tell me about that dream while we wait, William? I'd like to take my mind off the dead man."

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2021 3:05 am**

"It was the sort of thing you might expect," says William. "There were no other people in it - not living, anyway. I was walking through the battlefield. There were ravens on barbed wire, pockets of mustard gas, the stink of the dead in various states of decomposition. I stepped on a bone at the end, and the ravens all took off as one after it snapped, and then I woke up when a shell passed overhead in the real world."

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2021 4:04 am**

"Odd dream. But we are in a stressful situation, so I wouldn't think too much of it." Alex advises. "But keep an eye out for anything unusual."

"In the meantime, we should plan our next move. I'm not sure how long we'll be given 'lead' as it were.

Posted: **Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:22 pm**

An orderly entered with a flask of tea. With apparent indifference for the late Corporal Harris, he placed the flask at the foot of his bed and dumped a haversack of tin mugs between the dead man’s legs. Straightening them up, he poured out four measures of tea and passed them around, before packing up and leaving the room again.

Moments later, a tall, imposing and stern-faced faced priest stepped into the room.

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2021 2:37 am**

"Good morning, Father," says William, between sips of tea.

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:39 am**

"I'm afraid you came in at a bad time, Father, though I don't think there's any good times here." Lawrence says, pointedly trying to ignore the corpse only a few beds away from him. He quickly drains his tea in one large sip, never really being the refined sort; he was just a farmer, after all.

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:58 am**

Alex remembers his manners and drinks the tea daintily, though it hardly strikes him as Earl Grey. "It is a tragedy, perhaps more so because it is so expected-- the orderly paid him no mind. He must have seen so many dead bodies in his time here."

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:32 pm**

The priest sighs, crossing himself as his eyes alight on the deceased soldier.

“Ah, I suppose when you’ve seen so much death, one more doesn’t add much to the tally,” he mutters in an Irish brogue, tinged with the hard edge of a New Yorker.

His stern features break into a grim smile.

“Fortunately that hasn’t happened to me yet, having only spent one night here so far.”

He extends a large, calloused hand.

“Father Joe O’Toole. Judging by your accents, you fellas with the AEF I presume?”

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:09 pm**

Alex takes the good Father's hand.

"Alex Re--Richards. We're actually journalists covering the front."

Posted: **Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:11 pm**

"You can just call me Larry. Those two are the real war correspondents," Lawrence says, gesturing towards William and Alex, who he knew would be much better at lying about being journalists than he would.
"I'm just their assistant. They needed someone tough, and I was both willing and available."

Posted: **Thu Oct 28, 2021 4:36 am**

"William Preston," says William, shaking the priest's hand. "Good to meet you, Father O'Toole. I just wish it were under better circumstances."

Posted: **Thu Oct 28, 2021 4:28 pm**

“Journalists eh?” replies Joe, somewhat surprised. “What brings you this close to the front? Forgive me for sounding uncharitable, but I’d’ve thought you’d be in Paris, making stuff up like most of your type seem to do.”

Posted: **Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:09 pm**

Posted: **Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:11 pm**

"It's a terrible shame that people do that," says William. "If you want the real story, you have to go where it is."

Posted: **Thu Oct 28, 2021 5:18 pm**

Posted: **Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:19 pm**

"We aren't in Paris? Hell, I was starting to wonder why we aren't dining on caviar and snails right now." Lawrence says in exaggerated mock-disappointment, looking positively "miserable".
"I suppose we're just a cut above the rest."

Posted: **Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:00 pm**

Father Joe snorts a gruff laugh.

“I dare say there’s plenty of snails out in the grounds if you can find ‘em. Caviar we’re all out of.”

“We’ll, if you’re willing to risk your lives for your art, I guess you’re alright.”

“How badly are you fellas injured?” he asks, casting an appeasing glance over the trio. “I could do with a little help tidying up the chapel if you’re up to it.”

Posted: **Fri Oct 29, 2021 7:06 pm**

Posted: **Fri Oct 29, 2021 7:45 pm**

"I don't think that duty will imperil our health" Alex says, looking towards the others.

Posted: **Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:44 pm**

"I've made it through worse. What harm could some chores do?" Lawrence says with a shrug; cleaning the chapel up wouldn't be very interesting, but it was more appealing than just sitting around and waiting for a chance to discuss future plans away from prying ears. It certainly wouldn't be any harder than the daily routine down on the family farm!

Posted: **Sat Oct 30, 2021 1:35 am**

"I'm ready, willing, and able," says William.

Posted: **Sat Oct 30, 2021 6:12 pm**

“Ah that’s grand,” Joe beams. “I’ll square it with one of the nurses, then you won’t get into any trouble.”

Assuming he can find a nurse who’ll agree to the trio helping him, he’ll lead them to the chapel.

Posted: **Sun Oct 31, 2021 9:18 am**

”As long as they’re fit enough, Father, and won’t do themselves an injury, I can’t see it will do any harm,” replied a passing nurse, who Joe managed to collar in the corridor.

Posted: **Sun Oct 31, 2021 11:45 am**

After thanking the nurse and assuring her that the excerpt will be most beneficial, Joe returns to the journalists.

“It’s all agreed. Follow me to the chapel: not content with carving graffiti on the altar, someone has left a bunch of soil-filled urns is front of it. I’ve no idea why, but they must learn that it’s a place of worship, not a garden shed! We need to empty them out somewhere and make the chapel look respectable.”

Posted: **Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:40 pm**

Alex frowns. "That's unfortunate. but we'll help you clean up." He's glad to be of mundane service for the first time in quite awhile.

Posted: **Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:45 am**

The ‘chapel’, as the good Father had described it, appeared to be a former boot room with barely enough room for the four of them to stand, nevermind kneel in prayer. Tucked behind the door was a fairly small wooden shrine with hand-painted triptych panels with half a dozen earthenware urns filled with soil perched in front.

On the floor underneath the shelf was an effigy of the Virgin Mary and a rather battered looking gold monstrance.

Posted: **Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:58 am**

William isn't the strongest, but he gets to work moving one of the urns.

Posted: **Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:30 pm**

"Graffiti? What sort?" Lawrence inquires, his curiosity piqued by this slightly odd occurrence; why would someone carve something into an altar and leave behind several urns full of dirt?
"An altar's a bit of an odd place to put that kind of thing."

Posted: **Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:40 pm**

“Some sort of carving - idle nonsense no doubt,” replies Joe, showing them the symbol.

Posted: **Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:08 pm**

William takes a look at the symbol, wondering if it will look familiar.

Posted: **Tue Nov 02, 2021 6:21 pm**

Posted: **Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:31 pm**

"It looks a little like a stick figure," says William.

Posted: **Tue Nov 02, 2021 8:24 pm**

"Yes," Says Alex.

Posted: **Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:07 pm**

Lawrence's mind drifts to dark places. His interest in this symbol seems to be a little more deep than mere idle curiosity, but even with his experience he can't recognize what it is.
"It could be some sort of foreign letter, but I don't know a thing about any languages that aren't English."

Posted: **Fri Nov 05, 2021 12:34 am**

“What are you men doing out of bed?!” came a strident voice from the doorway. Turning, Joe recognised Mrs Ogilvy, the head nurse. It was clear from her expression that she wasn’t pleased…

Posted: **Fri Nov 05, 2021 2:05 am**

"We were just helping Father Joe," says William.

Posted: **Fri Nov 05, 2021 3:21 am**

"The Father already got approval from another nurse, so I didn't think there would be a problem with leaving my bed." Lawrence says distractedly, giving a shrug; he was still a little fixated on the strange symbol.
"He asked for help and we were the best people available."

Posted: **Fri Nov 05, 2021 6:10 am**

"And surely a bit of light exertion will aid in our recovery," Alex points out. "We may as well make ourselves useful around here; you and your staff have done us such a service."

Posted: **Fri Nov 05, 2021 4:20 pm**

Joe uses the smile he reserves for the more awkward members of his flock.

“I did indeed obtain permission Mrs. Ogilvy. Your staff are extremely helpful and obliging: they are a credit to your leadership.”

Posted: **Fri Nov 05, 2021 5:29 pm**

“Permission?!” roared Nurse Ogilvy. “Only I give permission - not one of my nurses! Who was it?! They’ll be in trouble!”

Posted: **Sat Nov 06, 2021 10:48 am**

“I didn’t catch her name,” Joe replies truthfully.

“Someone has used my chapel as a storage area for these tubs of soil, and these gentlemen have kindly volunteered to help me shift them. I dare say there’s a flower bed somewhere that’ll benefit.”

“However,” he continues, “if you’d rather your chaplain continue this task on his own, then by all means send them back to their idle beds.”

Posted: **Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:37 pm**

"We've done no harm here, we just helped out Father Joe; would you really rather have us sitting around and doing nothing instead of pulling our weight around here?" Lawrence tries to mollify the furious nurse, although he's never really had much of a way with words.

Posted: **Mon Nov 08, 2021 1:47 am**

Seeing his friend struggle, Alex does his best to defuse the situation. "As we said, we do want to make ourselves useful to pay you back for your excellent care, madame."

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 12:50 am**

A look of confusion briefly passed over Mrs Ogilvy’s face. Were these men trying to charm her?! A long moment passed, then, “Get back to your room!” she yelled, her face scarlet with rage. “If you’re fit enough to help out here, you’re fit enough to be at the front!” She glared at Joe. “I’ll be speaking to Major Parker about this! You see if I don’t! Now move!”

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:19 am**

Detective Reynolds brow furrows. The nurse seemed quite irate, especially over such a simple matter. Was this due to her being overworked, stressed by the chaos of war? Or was there something deeper at play here? He looks for any tells in her mannerisms.

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:57 am**

"Yes, ma'am," says William, heading back. He knows better than to argue with her.

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 8:18 am**

Lawrence briefly inhales as if to say something himself, but ultimately bites his tongue and acquiesces to Mrs. Ogilvy's demands to leave; he couldn't afford any trouble right now, considering his unusual situation.

A few moments after his exit, he peeks back into the doorway for a quick request:
"Make a drawing of that symbol for me if you could, Father. I'd like to study it more later."
With that said, he finally departs to the dormitory he'd been staying in.

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:17 am**

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 8:18 pm**

Fighting hard to keep his Irish blood from rising, Joe tries to smile a little brighter at the seething Mrs. Ogilvy while the men depart.

"How now Mrs. Ogilvy, a little forbearance if you please. I did not mean to challenge your undoubted authority in this hospital (or, God forbid, suggest I know better in these matters than you, but I will happily take responsibility for these men while they carry out this task."

He also nods in the affirmative to Lawrence.

Posted: **Tue Nov 09, 2021 8:40 pm**

“These men are my patients, not your flock!” snarled Mrs Ogilvy as she stomped down the corridor in pursuit of Alex, Lawrence and William.

Mrs Ogilvy route-marched the three men back into their ward. “Now get to your beds! If I see you out and about again, you’ll be discharged as fit for frontline service whether you like it or not!” She watched to make sure they did as they were told, then stormed out of the room.

Carter grinned at them. ”Making friends?” he asked innocently.

Posted: **Wed Nov 10, 2021 4:34 am**

"If we sent her to the front lines, the Germans would surrender quickly," says William.

Posted: **Wed Nov 10, 2021 7:30 am**

Alex feels rather foolish. He had been expecting something unnatural about Mrs Ogilvy, something dangerous. Instead she was a run of the mill tyrant lording over the small bit of power she possessed. He feels incredibly foolish,and reminds himself that time period aside, the dangers here were mundane.

"We need to find a way out of here," He tells the others. "I don't trust myself to stay on that woman's good side."

Posted: **Wed Nov 10, 2021 4:57 pm**

"There's no good side to stay on. The best you can probably do is just keep her from noticing you." Lawrence remarks caustically, watching the doorway to ensure that Mrs. Ogilvy wasn't there waiting for something to be angry about.
"What I'm really interested in is that symbol. It could have something odd about it, like the last time."

Posted: **Thu Nov 11, 2021 1:39 am**

”She’s a Tartar and no mistake!” said Carter. ”The Hun would shit themselves if they saw her crossing no man’s land!” He guffawed loudly at his own joke.

He was still laughing when the one-armed Indian orderly entered the room. Under his arm he carried a shroud, and he carried a sharp-looking darning needle between his teeth. Muttering to himself, he set about wrapping the corpse of Corporal Harris in the sheet and stitching it closed.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2021 2:58 am**

"Do they know what happened to him yet?" asks William.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2021 11:08 am**

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:45 pm**

Lawrence is not an observant man, unfortunately; his mind is preoccupied with other matters.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:06 pm**

William is too distracted to notice anything.

Posted: **Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:55 pm**

Experienced by detective work, Alex sees anything out of place.

Posted: **Sat Nov 13, 2021 11:58 pm**

”He probably stopped believing that he was going to get better,” said Carter. ”Nurse Zenna says believing you can get better is just as powerful as any medicine!”

Posted: **Sun Nov 14, 2021 2:06 am**

"I think I've heard something like that before," says William. "I suppose that's true."

Posted: **Sun Nov 14, 2021 5:50 am**

"Hell, anything's possible." "Unfortunately." Lawrence finished the sentence in his mind, a grim expression briefly crossing his face; he knew just enough of the truth to know that he didn't know very much, and that left many things in question.
"I don't know if Harris believed he'd get better or not; I only knew him for less than a day, and he didn't seem like the talkative sort."

Posted: **Sun Nov 14, 2021 7:08 am**

The look is easily caught by Alex, and the detective frowns. Everything in him wants to pursue this, but he remembers what just happened with Nurse Ogilvy and doesn't want to jump to conclusions yet again. Everything was probably normal here. Yet they had surely come to this moment in time for a reason.

For now he just nods a this friend's words, deciding to pick the matter up once the orderly leaves.

Posted: **Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:17 am**

The orderly finished his work, somewhat awkwardly on account of his missing arm, then went to find another orderly to help to lift Harris’ body onto a cart to be wheeled outside.

Carter watched his former roommate leave with a sad shake of his head.

Posted: **Mon Nov 15, 2021 8:32 pm**

Now that they're alone, Alex seizes the opportunity.

"I'm sorry about Corporal Harris," he says. "From what little I've seen he seemed like a good man. I couldn't help observing that the orderly seemed irritated when you mentioned Nurse Zenna and her theories. Do you know why this might be? I would think it's important to remain positive in times such as this.."

Posted: **Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:06 pm**

Before Carter could speak, another orderly entered the room. He looked at the four of them and pointed to William. ”You’re the lad who had the dream, aren’t you? Follow me, please - Dr. Watt wants to see you.”

Once William had left with the orderly, Carter skipped to the doorway then looked up and down the corridor. Happy the coast was clear, he returned to his bed and sat down. ”Nurse Zenna reckons that all of us can be healed, we’ve just got to believe that we can,” he said quietly, his eyes shining with a zealous look on his face. ”Harris could have got his sight back, and me? Well… …” and he tapped the bandaged stump where his leg ended prematurely…

Posted: **Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:52 pm**

Lawrence now realizes that Nurse Zenna's outlook on recovery might be a bit stranger than he previously thought.
"What do you mean? Are you going to grow your leg back?" Lawrence asks, looking quite bewildered; there is a fine line between optimism and delusion, and it seemed that Carter and Zenna had crossed it.

Posted: **Wed Nov 17, 2021 1:27 pm**

Carter just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. ”I reckon it’s worth a try, don’t you?”

Posted: **Wed Nov 17, 2021 8:57 pm**

"I suppose a positive attitude has its benefits," Alex says in a neutral tone. He's not sure if Nurse Zenna is simply very optimistic or if there's something more here, but he realizes they should probably speak with her when they can. "Has anyone had success yet in healing any of their wounds?"

Posted: **Thu Nov 18, 2021 12:52 am**

”Not yet!” said Carter, “But it’s going to happen soon! Nurse Zenna said she’d let me know when.”

Posted: **Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:37 am**

"That is... Very interesting." Lawrence says tentatively, now looking more concerned than confused; now, his interest in figuring out just what the hell was going on in here was starting to overshadow his desire to escape back to England or America.
"Tell me, Carter, do you believe in magic, or ghosts, or anything like that?"

Posted: **Fri Nov 19, 2021 1:33 am**

”Magic? Ghosts? Nah, not me!” laughed Carter. “Now my Aunt Mabs swore blind that she was haunted by the ghost of her first husband. He passed away with food poisoning after she fed him some duff chicken, so I couldn’t blame him if he did! But I ain’t never seen him, or any other ghosts for that matter.”

Posted: **Fri Nov 19, 2021 9:05 pm**

"I see. Did Corporal Harris really take to Nurse Zenna's theories, do you know?" Alex exchanges a look with Lawrence. "I think maybe we should have a chat with her when she has a moment. It could be an interesting story for our 'article. "

Posted: **Sat Nov 20, 2021 11:37 pm**

”I don’t know,” said Carter. “I talked to him about… ” He paused and looked behind them to the doorway.

“Hello, Padre,” he said, and in the doorway was the priest who had got them into Nurse Ogilvy.

Play@YSDC

Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

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Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)

Re: Ch.13a. All Unquiet on the Western Front (Alex, Lawrence, William)