Hospital Car Park

[Mr. Handy]

"Okay," says Sarah, catching her breath. "I'll stay inside the ambulance with you lot. I'll tag as many patients as I can while there's time. Call for me again when you want me to come back." She checks her watch, then looks around the parking lot to see if anyone remains who still hasn't been tagged. She also looks to see if the little boy is still around. If he hadn't gone inside the hospital, he must still be out here, and he couldn't stay outside. Hopefully there's enough room in the ambulance for him as well if that's the case.

[Laraqua]

What few people remain are either tagged, inside the hospital or trying to leave. The little boy is back in the car which he had started in, curled up on his dead father's lap and clinging to him, head buries in his father's chest.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah hurries over to the car where the boy is, her eyes starting to water again. How long had she clung to her mother like that? She mentally berates herself for her failure to save his father's life, but at least she can save the child. If she didn't go back for him, he might not make it into the hospital in time, and even if he did, if he didn't get into a thoroughly sealed room it might not do him any good.

Sarah bends down beside the boy. "Come with me, sweetie," she says. "We need to get into the back of the ambulance. We'll be safe there."

[Laraqua]

The boy seems almost catatonic, his face still pressed against his father, his body trembling. He doesn't respond to her.

[Mr. Handy]

Gently, Sarah tries to pick the boy up and carry him back to the ambulance, ready to call to Karlene and the other paramedic for help if he proves too heavy.

[Laraqua]

The boy is quite small and easily moved though he holds his body too rigid for easy movement, it isn't particularly difficult to reach the ambulance.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah carefully makes her way back to the ambulance with the child cradled in her arms. "I had found him earlier in one of the cars," she explains when she arrives. "I couldn't do anything for the rest of his family. His father had still been moving when I had gotten there, but he'd had no pulse. I'd tried to revive him, but..." Sarah lowers her head, fighting back the tears.

[Laraqua]

Karlene just nods and ushers the two inside before starting to carefully seal the rear doors with a furiously concentrated look on her face.

The male paramedic just peers at the window, a look of sadness twisting his face as he chews at his bottom lip. "Mark..."

[Mr. Handy]

(OOC: Edited my post.)

Sarah wants to help Karlene seal the doors, but there simply isn't enough room in the confines of the ambulance, so she stands in a corner holding the boy in her arms and trying to stay out of the way. She looks around for any vents to make sure they too are sealed airtight.

Sarah rocks the child in her arms. "My name is Sarah," she says to him quietly. "I'm going to make sure you come through this okay. I've been through the same thing you're going through. When I was about your age, I lost my mum. I was too little to be able to help her, and help arrived too late. I cried for a long time and couldn't let her go. That's why I became a nurse, so I could try to help people. I'm sorry. I wish I could have done more." She sniffles.

[Laraqua]

Karlene examines her work and then peers outside as people continued to enter and exit the hospital carpark. "I'm sorry..." she murmurs, as the carpark goes dark.

The boy squirms, making little mewling sounds in the back of his throat, his head whipping back and forth. "No, no, no..."

The male paramedic just tends to Roger and the other injured patient.

[Zombiedla]

Roger makes some faint lifesigns, a sort of mumbling whisper "will... will I make it?"

[Laraqua]

"You're gonna have one hell of a headache," says the male paramedic in a low voice.

"Shh," says the female paramedic, Karlene.

There's a low mechanic whine that can be heard in the distance, coming closer, only it was oddly distorted, at the same time sounding like thousands of bees. The inside of the ambulance seems somewhat familiar and friendly, a little safe oasis of shelving with transparents drawers, filled with medical goods. The two stretchers are comfortable in comparison. Just looking out the windows at the unnatural darkness, broken only by the odd flash of headlights and the lights from the hospital itself, is enough to give a small shiver up one's spine.

There was an odd smell. Like pine needles mixed with antiseptic. The ambulance? Or something else?

[Zombiedla]

Roger kept silent with a look of grief in his eyes.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah hugs the child in her arms. "It's all right," she whispers. "I'm here for you. We'll get through this. We're going to be okay. We're going to be okay." She's trying to convince herself as much as she is him. She thinks about her father and prays that he's somewhere safe. She couldn't bear to lose him too. At the same time, she knows that he must be worried sick about her.

[Laraqua]

What seems like an eternity passes before the cloud begins to roll over the ambulance and all the while the sound of cracking glass, screams and the terrible buzzing sound gain in volume. A creaking sound can be heard, reminiscent of what she had once heard playing in a nautical museam's recreation of an old galley ship. The walls of the ambulance begin to tremble. The lights within the hospital dim until it is barely a blur as grey and black particles dance between the ambulance window and the car park's end.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah watches through the ambulance window as the dark substance falls, horrified and fascinated at the same time. She had seen its effects before, and she hopes their little lifeboat will keep them safe throughout the storm that is washing over the parking lot and about to reach the hospital. But if they do make it through, she wonders what they will find afterwards.

[Laraqua]

The two paramedics sit in silence as the screams fade into the distance and a deathly calm falls across the carpark. Things seem so much worse now, isolated in a sea of agonised calm. The hospital lights are dimmed by the material in between. A few wink out. Karlene lights up a cigarette. The little boy trembles, gently humming a broken tune that sounds like "Deck the Halls". It feels so cold. As though the temperature inside the ambulance had dropped by ten degrees.

[Mr. Handy]

Sarah shivers a little, thinking about all the people who didn't make it to safety. So many are suffering and dying out there, and there's nothing she can do for them. She continues to hold the boy and listens to his humming, finding some comfort in it. The smoke bothers Sarah when Karlene lights up her cigarette, especially in the confined space, but she says nothing and tolerates it. Under the circumstances, she couldn't blame her for feeling the need. I know if I had some chocolate on me, she thinks, I'd eat it now. Who knows when I'd get another chance?

[Laraqua]

Bam! The ambulance rocks suddenly and violently as though something heavy had just knocked into it. Bam! Karlene squeals and drops the cigarette onto herself. She fights to knock it off with a flurry of strikes, patting down her uniform as she goes. The male paramedic grabs her, shoving a hand over her mouth. Something, long and thin, whips against the glass, cracking it. It happens too quickly to see what it was.

"Daddy," whimpers the boy.

The adrenaline rouses Roger and he feels almost strong enough to sit up.

OOC: Con Roll x 2 to achieve anything, Roger. You may move, but every major or minor movement you do will need to pass that Con check.

[Zombiedla]

Roger is chocked by the sudden rocking of the ambulance and quickly tries to get to his feet.

[OOC: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1075088 Success ]