Jill and Jason's Starting Thread

[Laraqua]

The gap between door and frame needed to be filled. The sink plug holes and toilet were both considerable sized gaps. The vents all seemed blocked by that cellophane-like object on the other side of the grille but that could not be assured.

[SuAside]

With Jill busy, Jason sneaks by and goes into the ward. He flips on the tv, and quickly lowers the sound to make sure no one wakes up yet.

[Laraqua]

Flickering static fills the television screen but some kind of a show can be glimpsed, as though the television is tuned in between channels. Something moves beneath the static, glimpses of things that turn his stomach and intrigue him, patterns that explain concepts his rational mind cannot grasp but his subconscious seems to find reason in it.

As he watches, he sees footage from a newsroom and can hear the voice being only somewhat drowned out by static, the actual words too quiet to hear. A popular reporter whose name Jason cannot remember, is discussing an image in the top right-hand corner of the screen that Jason can't quite see. The static is simply too bad, sometimes obscuring the television screen entirely, making it difficult to see anything, yet implying such terrible things. Concepts, thoughts, theories, all swirl about his head, making him feel somewhat warm. It is as though he could grasp something incredible and terrible if he could only pay enough attention and yet part of him warns that he might just want to switch the television set off.

[SuAside]

Jason looks at his watch: 16:35.

There wouldn't be news at this hour unless something terrible happened. His gut tells him to turn it off, but his curiosity wins.

Reluctantly he cautiously turned up the sound.

[Laraqua]

Voices, words, indistinct mutterings all flow into his ears. He starts, slowly increasing the volume until it reaches halfway to maximum before the remote control slips from his fingers. Still he stares, his mouth hanging slack, his muscles relaxing as images flit across his eyes.

Screaming, running people, followed by a smog that strips the flesh from bone, tatters of bone then disappearing like paper in the wind and then nothing. The line of smog crossing buildings, fading paint, peeling plaster, cracks and lines of multi-coloured rust that grows and bloom like fungus crusting up the sides of cars. Cracking glass. The rumble that comes from beyond and above.

It twists and turns, its limbs a'sunder.

Things beneath that slither in slime. Toad-like heads that turn towards a sun passed over by a cloud that should not be over.

Jason's eyes instinctively close but the weight of what he almost sees sears his mind. He feels it burn inside of him and feels the twisting and turning of the other places. His mouth and throat fill with water and he gurgles as it runs down the corners of his lips and down along his chin. His lungs heave, wet and slippery, but he manages to force it outward. One of the children sit up in panic but his back is to the child though he hears it gurgle and thrash behind him. His eyes roll up so that only the whites are visible and he feels the panic set in.

As Jill finishes with the Men's Room door, she can hear the television noise rise as a blast of static assaults her ears. Beneath it all, she can hear some kind of a commotion.

[SuAside]

His fault... It was all his fault... Wasn't it?

Turning on the TV, the child behind him? All his doing, right?

Jason whimpered for help, dropped to his knees and scurried for the remote to turn this... this infernal machine off.

[imme]

Jill nods in satisfaction of a job well done and goes to check on her darlings. "Jason? Honey, is everything okay?"

[Laraqua]

Jason is on the floor, his front covered in water, groping for a remote and catching hold of it as Jill re-enters the room. Dahlia Summers sits upright on her bed, her small hands clawing at her throat, her eyes rolling in her skull as she sputters, spitting water out with each cough. Her eight-year-old body contorts with the effort.

The television set is on and garbled voices can be heard. A glimpse at the television screen brings flashes of dreams back to mind.

[SuAside]

"Help 'em!" Jason says as he grapples the remote and switches the tv off. (since he hasn't looked back yet, he doesn't know it's a she)

As soon as the television has stopped channeling pure hell into the ward, Jason races to his feet and runs for his poor victim.

[Laraqua]

"Would everyone please remain where they are?" asks a calm voice over the intercom. It sounds like the hospital administrator, Brian Williams. "A chemical incident in London Central has caused massive storm clouds containing high quantities of dangerous substances. Could everyone please remain inside and, where possible, find a secure place to stay until the all-clear is called? Thank you and have a good day."

[imme]

"No, no oh no. Oh no, no." Jill rushes over to Dahlia and desperately tries to do something to help her.

[Laraqua]

Jill attemptsCPR on the little girl but the girl just continues to sputter and cough, struggling against the large woman, though her struggles are weakened by the drugs in her system.

Do you continue or stop after the first six seconds?

[SuAside]

"No, no, no! You have to clear the water from her lungs first." Jason says as he attempts to help as well.

He also tries to focus on finding a way to reverse what he's done, but how? He still can't understand what happened... Did he really transfer this from him to her?

[Laraqua]

Before they manage to do anything else, Dahlia manages to vomit up the rest of the water and flops back against the bed, breathing heavily. Her pupils are very dilated, her breathing shallow and wet, her pulse slightly weak. She just lays there, as though too weak to move.

[SuAside]

Jason breathes a sigh of relief and wipes the sweat from his forehead.

After a few moments of reflection, he rolls up a blanket, rolls the weakened child on her side and puts the blanket behind her back to prevent her from rolling back on her back. This should prevent her from sufficating if she happened to cough anything else up.

[imme]

In a fake, cheerful voice Jill scolds Jason. "Okay, no more television for now. We don't want to wake anyone else up, do we?" With an added sense of urgency Jill grabs her polyfill and scours the rooms (the ward and the toilets) for any last gaps to be filled.

[SuAside]

Jason sits down on the ground next to Dahlia's bed. With his eyes closed and his back against the wall, he can't seem to rationalise what is happening.

[SuAside]

Jason realises that trying to figure this out isn't going to help & that he should just go with the flow and hope for the best. He gets up and checks Dahlia's breathing.

After that, he quietly strolls to the front of the ward and checks the main door for gaps in the polyfill isolation-thing.

[Laraqua]

It takes a good five minutes of pain-staking searching before Jill can be satisfied. The warm of glow of triumph that passes over her clarifies her mind. Her recent memories become a jumble of vague, blurry images and sounds as she stands blinking and confused, the polyfill can in her hand, the chained door in front of her.

This place seems so familiar. Where was she?

The memories start flowing back in fragmented lumps.

"Would everyone please remain where they are?" asks a calm voice over the intercom. It sounds like the hospital administrator, Brian Williams. "A chemical incident in London Central has caused massive storm clouds containing high quantities of dangerous substances. Could everyone please remain inside and, where possible, find a secure place to stay until the all-clear is called? Thank you and have a good day."

[imme]

"A what? A chemical accident?" Jill looks around the room, taking in her surroundings for what seems like the first time. "How did I ...? This is the Children's Ward." She runs a hand through her hair, willing her mind to sort itself out. Seeing Jason, she turns to face him. "What's going on? Why are the doors chained? And why is everyone asleep?"