Hospital Car Park

[Laraqua]

"The cab is normally attached to the rest of the ambulance with nothing in between," says Geoff. "We just used enough tape to block off the area once he'd done his doors in. It was his idea, really. He thought the cab was far harder to be sealed." He lowers his gaze. "Looks like he was right. The area up front is more sealed than taking a walk outside but not by much."

The static from the radio continues, causing the little boy to sit up and stare at the tape strung between, but no more speech comes through. Abruptly, it shuts off.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah nods in thanks, putting her finger to her lips. Looks like the problem solved itself, she thinks. But if it happens again... She lets Geoff hold the door and looks around for some moistened wipes to get the ash off of her face and arms. She doesn't dare run water in a sink if there is one, as the noise would alert...whatever that thing is. Or things, she thinks. What if there's more than one of them? She swallows as quietly as she can, but she wouldn't want to suggest that to the others even if noise weren't a concern.

[Laraqua]

She finds the moist towellettes she is looking for, although she does need to stretch over the unconscious man to get them. The ash comes away easily, leaving no stain. It is almost as though it were only ash and nothing more peculiar than that.

[Mr. Handy]

When Sarah finishes, she disposes of the towellettes in the trash receptacle. She then slips on a pair of disposable gloves and begins to examine the unconscious patient.

[Laraqua]

The man is unconscious. Apart from that, he seems to be okay. Perhaps he's sleeping?

[Zombiedla]

Roger whisper to Sarah "What are you doing?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Trying to see if I can help him," Sarah whispers back.

[Laraqua]

"Should we call for help?" whispers Geoff, nodding towards the taped off baricade between cab and the rest of them. "We should tell people we're here. They can come and help us." The last part of that sentence is strained, jumping up an octave as fright enters his voice. He leans in towards the door and presses his ear against it, then seems visibly relieved. "It's okay. It's nothing."

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah shakes her head. "The only things likely to hear us will kill us," she whispers. "Even if we had a phone or a radio, nobody could survive out there to come get us. We have to wait until the clouds go past."

While she's waiting, Sarah recalls the stethoscope around her neck. Now that there's nothing else to do, she tries to listen to her own heartbeat to see if it really is working. If it is, she expects her pulse to be quite elevated.

[Laraqua]

Sarah's pulse is somewhat slower than expected.

The radio crackles to life again. The voice begins muted, hidden beneath the crackle of static, but then whole words can be discerned and the voice seems increasingly familiar to Sarah. "... too well, Sarah. I know ... lying ... love you, but ... once and you'll..."

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears the voice on the radio, and this time her heartrate does accelerate. I know that voice! she thinks. That's Lyle, but it can't be, it's impossible, he's dead! She clutches the gurney's railing for support. Someone must be playing a cruel prank. But...that's his voice, and those were his exact words. How could anyone else know them? They weren't even on the police report. Only I heard them...and Lyle. Am I imagining things? Sarah shivers, then straightens up. I don't have to be afraid of him any more. The nightmares are over. He can never hurt me again...right?

[Zombiedla]

Roger is startled by the sudden noise. He ask noone in particular "What was that? Who was that?"

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah merely raises a finger to her lips and tries to control her breathing. How can I tell these guys about Lyle? she thinks. I only just met them, I can't bloody well just talk about something so personal and traumatic. Maybe I could have told Karlene, but not a couple of strange men.

[Laraqua]

Something moves against the taped off barrier, bending it in somewhat. There is a click and the ambulance starts to roll backwards.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah braces herself, trembling but taking care not to make a sound. She looks at the doors with wide, frightened eyes, hoping no new gaps have formed.

[Wrl101]

As the ambulance begins to shift, Geoff's eyes snap wide open, his jaw going slack. Dread fills his veins, surging up from the painful pit of his stomach and touching every nerve. His mouth snaps shut, pain flaring through his teeth and pushing him away from paralyis. His fear is penetrated suddenly by one crisp vision: the ambulance sliding back and the weakened doors slamming into something - something keen and sharp or, at least, rusty and deadly. Beyond this, his mind is blank, his hands clamped upon the handles to hold the door shut until he has some revelation that can save him.

Failing this, he turns to Sarah, his mouth drawn tight, teeth clamped shut, words hissed quickly and quietly between them.
"What do I do, what do I do?"

OOC: Is that ok?

[Laraqua]

The ambulance continues to roll backwards.

[Mr. Handy]

"Unless you can somehow activate the emergency brake from here," Sarah whispers back, "hang on tight and keep those doors sealed." She scoops up the boy in one arm, more worried about the risk of him being injured in a crash than the risk of contimatinating him. Then she wedges herself in a corner and grabs something solid with her free hand, clutching the child snugly to her chest to cushion him from any impact and keep him from flying loose. "Someone should secure the other patient too," she adds.

[Laraqua]

The ambulance gathers speed as it moves down the slope. It is probably moving no faster than ten or fifteen kilometers per hour but it somehow feels much faster. Just as Sarah finishes speaking, the back of the ambulance smacks into something hard. The ambulance stops abruply. Geoffkeeps his grip on the ambulance doors and manages to keep from being flung forward. Sarah and Roger leans forward with the impact and then are knocked back as their momentum tries to right itself, breaking down some of the sticky tape barricade and revealing some of the cab. Sarah's shoulder was knocked through it but Roger was knocked nearly prostrate, the sedatives still thick in his muscles, so that his head and shoulders were bundled up in the tape, causing it to partially stick to itself. Roger can see the hand brake had been taken off.

Geoff, who is looking back over his shoulder, sees the swirling ash, less thick in the cab but far thicker outside, enter the ambulance. He can also see a pair of headlights in the dark, lighting up motes of soot and ash in the distance. Other than those headlights, he can see nothing but a few vague silhouettes in the darkness, despite it being not quite five o'clock.

[Mr. Handy]

Not again! thinks Sarah, placing the boy down on the empty gurney as far from the broken barricade as possible. This time she does think to grab the blanket, shields her own body from the ash with it, and hurriedly uses it to cover the newly formed gap between the back of the ambulance and the cab. "We've got to tape this back up fast," she hisses.