Jill and Jason's Starting Thread

[Laraqua]

Under close inspection, it appears that both the light fittings and the ceiling itself were somewhat damaged. Parts of the fluorescent lights that touch the ceiling appear to be corroded or perhaps melted, revealing twisted, rusted wiring exposed through the usual tubing. Running his light across the ceiling and towards the wall, it appears that the corrosion ends a bare half-inch down the wall. The cellophane that had blocked the ventilation shafts appears to have been partially melted though he didn't have the expertise to tell whether it was actually melted, burned, or corroded nor which direction it came from.

[SuAside]

Jason grunts, obviously annoyed. How the fuck did this all happen? Metal doesn't simply corrode, ash doesn't simply float around and you sure as hell can't will yourself out of choking or drowning... This has to be a dream right? He pinches himself.

[Laraqua]

He barely feels it. But then again, his fingers and exposed arms are so cold that they barely feel anything. By pinching a warmer section of his body, he finds the pain quite real.

[SuAside]

While the pain is real, it reminded Jason of the cold. Surely, the hospital is heated with gas or oil? That shouldn't stop even if the power failed. Still, if it was a badly corroded as the rest here, it might just blow up if he tried to get it going again.

"Jill, we need to find a better lightsource and find a way to turn up the heat... The weakest patients can't stand this cold..." Jason says, unsure why since the woman hadn't really been any help up til now.

[imme]

"You're right. I was just thinking that there's no way we can move all these children, but it's not safe, er, healthy for them in here right now. Maybe," she takes a big gulp of the cold air, "maybe you could lend me your torch and I could go out into the hospital to see if I could find anything." Since it's all my fault anyway.

[SuAside]

"I ain't going to give up my flashlight." Jason says "You already took my cellphone, use that as light..."

"Check the nurse's station for some heaters, I remember seeing stuff there. I'll go check the male ward if i can steal some blankets."

[trixie]

Brianna rumples her blanket up around her chin, and purses her blue lips.

"I'm....s.so....c.c.cold......"

[SuAside]

"You and everyone else..." Jason whispers as he heads back into the toilets to go to the male ward.

[Laraqua]

Jason enters the Men's Ward, the soot and ash that floats in the room burning his lungs. The beds that line the walls have the blankets drawn up over the faces of the men. A mannequin in a nurse's uniform lays slumped over the nurse's desk, one arm has fallen off and has landed on the floor. In the center of the floor is a glowing lump beneath a sheet. The double doors to the corridor outside are wide open, their shape buckled and contorted somewhat, revealing the ash-smeared floor out in the main hall and the wall beyond.

[imme]

"Oh, right." Jill pulls the phone out of her back pocket and looks hesitantly at the feeble light it emits. She turns to Brianna and pats her shoulder. "I know, wrap yourself up tightly. I'm going to try to find some heaters. Just stay cuddled in your bed." She walks over to the doors and slowly pushes them open, peering into the hallway.

[trixie]

Brianna gives Jill a faint smile as she attempts to comfort her, but her chin is shaking so much from the cold that it must appear strange. She bundles herself up and looks around the ward, at the other children sleeping. After Jill is gone, if Jason is not back from the men's ward, she slips out of bed to find the washroom.

[Laraqua]

Jill is hit with a cold, moist breeze as she opens the double doors. The feeble light of the mobile phone is still enough to light her way now that her eyes are adjusted. The black-and-white diamond pattern on the linoleum floors are streaked with dirt and mud. The double doors to the Men's Ward are standing open. The other doors on the other side of the room show signs of decay and disrepair. Part of the floor in the direction of the Nurse's Station is cracked and pitted. As she approaches the Nurse's Station, she can hear a sharp whistling sound coming from the direction opposite to the Nurse's Station (somewhere in the bottom left of the map).

There is refuse on the floor. A handbag lies spilled, a note hastily scrawled on a handkerchief in red lipstick, surrounded by make-up, by coins and business cards. A jacket lies folded on one of the benches near the vending machine that sits by the nurse's station. The Nurse's Station, itself, from what she can see from her vantage point where the corridor meets the main hall, contains a couple of computers on the bench alongside a box of tissues. The bench itself has a hinged section that she can lift if she wants to get through, she remembers that.

Brianna is hit by the cold as she moves off the bed, her naked feet instantly chilled as soon as they touch the floor. It is entirely dark now and she sees not even the hand before her face. She can hear her own breathing and the snores of a few children around her. Still, when the others were here she had a good look at the room and knew how many beds were between her and the washroom - or at least what she figured the washroom is. She had seen the direction when the lad had headed into it. She could easily guess her way into it. But still, the darkness is frightening and she is so cold. She does remember seeing chests of drawers, small ones, at the foot of each bed while the other two had been in here. Perhaps there are clothes in there warmer than her hospital gown?

[SuAside]

Jason makes himself a mask of his handkerchief. He then goes to look for extra blankets, wanting to stay away from the (once?) occupied beds. While his curiousity is peaked by the glowing lump, he prefers to not let himself get distracted from his primary goal. Some children might not have long to live in this cold...

[trixie]

Brianna pulls her blanket off her bed and wraps it around her, then shuffles to the end of the bed. She is holding onto the side of it to keep her balance, and feels in the dark for where the chest of drawers might be.
"Silly billy", she says to herself. Why attempt this after both Jason and Jill have left with what little light they had? Regardless, she's tired of laying in bed for the moment. As much as her skin hurts, her body aches from sitting still, and that need is winning at the moment.

She pulls at the knobs, and rummages inside the drawers. Hopefully her clothes have been moved with her. Or maybe one of the other children would not mind parting with a pair of pants and warm sweater. She shivers again, and grimaces. Hospitals were supposed to be relatively comfortable, weren't they? Not dirty and dark, and freezing cold! After all, aren't there sick people here?

[imme]

Expecting to be attacked at any moment, Jill makes her trembling way to the Nurses' Station. As she reaches the station, she grabs a few handfuls of tissues and again tries to wipe the ash from her skin. Realizing that she isn't getting any cleaner, she throws the dirty tissues on the floor. Jill almost bends over to pick them up again, before catching herself. Nobody's going to care about the mess right now. She pushes open the section of the bench and looks around for the portable heaters.

[Laraqua]

Jason notices that there are no extra blankets folded up in the ward. He must either pluck one from one of the apparently occupied beds or venture out in search of a linen closet. As he passes the glowing lump, he realises that it is not glowing all over. In fact, it seems the light source was directed towards the toilet door. Even under the sheet he can recognise its rectangular body points away from the light itself. As he absorbs this information, he detects movement out of the corner of his eyes, coming from the double doors, but when he looks, he sees nothing.

Brianna finds a thick, warm skirt that is neither hers nor her size, a belt, a lump of wool that seemed attached to itself - perhaps cloth of some sort - and a hooded jacket, also three sizes too big for her. It appears that she has been lain on someone else's bed. Luckily, it's London and while it may only be mid-Autumn, people have obviously planned for the cold climate. It had, after all, been raining recently.

Jill steps past the contents of the handbag and moves away from the whistling sound toward the Nurse's Station. Movement passes behind her, attracting her attention, but an instinctive turn of her head - the mobile phone light in tow - reveals nothing but peeling paint on the far wall. There's a dark liquid stain on the stairwell, heading up, but she can't see it too well from her position near the Nurse's Station. Inside the Nurse's Station is an overturned chair, a couple of computers - one of which has a CD tray protruding with a CD held within, the Nurse's registrar and rows and rows of shelving along the walls with cupboards beneath the main desk. The radiator is in the far left corner, still plugged in. It appears a bit rusted and she can feel this section is still warm so it may well be still on. As she enters the Nurse's Station, her right foot connects with a low-heeled shoe, sending it skittering across the floor.

[SuAside]

Jason grunts, hoping that what he saw was simply a flash of light from Jill down the hall. He shines his light towards the double doors, but as nothing moves again, he turns to the nearest bed (although his face still towards the doors, he wouldn't expose his back). Slowly he pulls back the sheet of one of the beds, ready to make a run for it if needed. Mannequins he can handle and he has a feeling he'll see weirder stuff before the day is over, but not everything might be quite so harmless...

[Laraqua]

There is nothing beneath the blanket but a damp, ash-smeared sheet.

[Laraqua]

A sharp buzz sounds from behind Jill, startling her. She notices the sound is coming from the reception desk telephone near Jill which has been left off the hook. "Hello?... Hello? Is anybody there?" demands a man's voice, strained and somewhat pleading. There's a pause, as though waiting for a response.

[trixie]

Brianna curls her lip up in disdain at the clothes. Sure she was cold...but jeez. What's a girl got to do to get some clothes that fit around here? She riggles into the hoodie, then pulls at the piece of cloth. It's strange feeling woollen layers turn out to be long things that could only be tights considering their shape from what she can feel in the dark. She shuffles back to the bed carefully, all the while hands suspended midair, so that she can feel in front of her. She sits on the end of her bed, fingers wrestling with the stockings in the cold and dark, moving like frozen slugs, excrutiatingly slow.

"Boy, I didn't think I'd get a chance for Hallowe'en," she mumbles under her breath.