Fifth Floor, Administration Office

[TheKingInYellow]

"Eight to ten full grown men, you say? So do you think you could take ten to fifteen children? We can send them along with all the supplies we can manage... Any chance we could get another ferry for the rest of us... Maybe..."

Aidan has to think about the number of people.

"Eight... Or nine adults?"

[Laraqua]

"That many survivors?" Hawkins sounds shocked. "To be honest, we haven't that much space here but we are thinking of making a break for it to somewhere else... Is it safe in the hospital from those things? Could we just bring people there?"

[TheKingInYellow]

Aidan sighs, feeling that he knows exactly what he means by "things".

"I'm afraid we're having problems here, too... I may have found something they're adverse to, but we're no safer here than it sounds like you are there."

He looks out the window before remembering the ash coming in through the window.

"Is there anywhere safe enough for us to go to?"

[Laraqua]

"Cruise liner?" Hawkins laughs. "Look, we'll just try and get you all over here and then we'll worry about that. Just bring food, medicines and whatever medical staff you got. I'm guessing those children aren't particularly healthy... Well, we don't particularly have anyone who can look after them. That helicopter just happened to be passing through, really. It honed in on our signal. I think those two cowboys are just keen on playing heroes... They need someone sensible up there to sort them out."

[TheKingInYellow]

"Well, any heroes we can get would be appreciated now. I'm going to clear a patch to the roof and get the others. Are you here? Or nearby?"

[Laraqua]

"I'm still in the cop shop," he says. "We got a spot for the chopper to land. Look, be careful, okay? I'll let you get back to it."

[TheKingInYellow]

"You be careful, too. We're counting on you."

Aidan hangs up and grimaces. This isn't the rescue he was hoping for, but he'll have to make it work. He collects his belonging and leaves the office again.

[Laraqua]

The area outside the office is devoid of life.

[TheKingInYellow]

Finding the lack of anything almost as bad as anything at all, he braces himself and crawls through the lattice again, making a point to pick up his briefcase when he reaches the other end.

[Laraqua]

As Aidan's fingers wrap around the briefcase's handle, a Snicker's bar falls out of his pocket onto the floor, followed by a soft chittering sound from behind him.

[TheKingInYellow]

Aidan can't turn around fast enough, rearing the spike above his head ready to strike, as well as clumsily trying to raise the heavy axe up with one hand, but effectively failing that. He immediately tries to identify whatever the noise is and hopefully kill it before it kills him.

[Laraqua]

His torch shakes from its position in his belt. The darkness oppresses the trembling circle of light. There are so many shadows, so many places for something to hide. He hears the chittering sound again - coming from somewhere above.

[TheKingInYellow]

He looks up, all the while backing up, hopefully out from under whatever it is. Almost out of habit he calls out in a voice filled with fear, "Hello?"

[Laraqua]

"Hello G Man," says a young boy's voice from behind him.

[TheKingInYellow]

"Jesus!" Aidan exclaims, swinging around wildly, barely in control of the weapons in his grasp.

[Laraqua]

"You said you wouldn't leave me!" the child screams from behind him as he turns to face the stairwell.

[TheKingInYellow]

"God damnit, come back here! This place is dangerous!" He yells after the child, starting after him.

It couldn't be him, could it? There's absolultey no logical reason why it would be.

Finding that running with an axe, briefcase and spike all in his hands and flashlight in his pocket is going to get him nowhere slowly, or worse yet cause him to fall down the stairs, he takes quickly stuffs the axe handle into the handle of his briefcase and to make the load less awkward, though still not particulary convenient to carry. He chases after the boy.

[Laraqua]

As Aidan crawls back through the lattice, he sees a pair of grimy, dripping wet young boy's legs standing before him. He was wearing the same red sneakers he had on when he had gone missing. Aidan tries to lift his head, to move, but finds himself frozen. "You left me all alone! How could you let me die like that?" The boy turns and runs off into the darkness. Aidan listens to his receding footsteps, then finds he can move once more.

[TheKingInYellow]

Aidan stops and thinks about that accusation.

But I did everything right, didn't I?

"No!" He exclaims. "You're just ... Hallucinating?... Projecting? ... It's the stress, the stress and the guilt... You didn't really see that, you just think you did." He assures himself. It all makes sense really, as there's no way that boy could be here, not that anything else makes sense here...

He brings himself to his feet and feels very, very lonely. He heads towards the stairwell.

[Laraqua]

Return to that other thread.