Play@YSDC

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:28 am**

Sarah returns the gun to her pocket and whips out the key Leroy gave her. She unlocks the door to the roof and throws it open. "WAIT!!!" she yells, waving her arms over her head in desperation, hoping she's not too late.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:32 am**

The helicopter has risen a good two dozen feet off the hospital roof, its search lights on and pointed downwards onto the roof, searching along the rooftop as it moves sidelong away from the hospital.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:37 am**

Sarah rushes out onto the roof and deliberately steps into the light. She holds her knife pointed downwards so as not to appear threatening while waving with her free hand. "OI!" she yells as loud as she can. "DOWN HERE!"

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:55 am**

Aidan stummbles out on to the roof, being too out of shape to keep up right behind Sarah. He waves his arms furiously at the helicopter.

"Wait!" He yells with whatever might he can manage between gasps for air. "Wait! God damnit! We're still here!"

The thought of coming so close and losing them now feels like it will kill him... And if it didn't, something here certainly could.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:51 am**

"You took your time," said a chuckling male voice over the megaphone. "All right, let's take her back down."

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:21 am**

"Oh, sweet Jesus, thank you." Aidan remarks, ducking down to give the helicopter whatever clearance it requires.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:41 pm**

"Oh, thank God!" says Sarah, catching her breath, her chest heaving. Her reckless sprint had taken a lot out of her, but it had paid off. She rejoins Aidan back at the door leading back inside and waits for the chopper to set down on the helipad, and for the first time since all this started she feels genuine hope. She grins at him, though he can't see behind her surgical mask. "We did it!"

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:28 pm**

The helicopter comes in to land and as it does so, the darkness seems to lift somewhat, as the ash thins enough to allow a wan light over the hospital. It has gone from the darkest part of night to the sort of light one gets directly before the sun comes up. The devastation becomes much more obvious - the mashed cars in the car park, the broken windows of other buildings.

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:39 pm**

Aidan tries not to look at the destruction; there's no time to dwell on it.

"We're not out yet... But I have to say, this is about the happiest I've been all day."

When the helicopter lands, he'll duckwalk over to the pilot door (or cargo door, depending on the model).

Posted: **Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:43 pm**

"Great Scott!" exclaims Sarah when she sees the widespread destruction. Once the helicopter has landed, she approaches and speaks to the crew, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the rotors. "Thank God you're here! We've got a bunch of sick kids downstairs and we need to get them aboard and out of here stat. This place is crawling with horrible things. I'll be going with to look after them. We've got a cart of supplies to bring too." She tells the crew how many children there are and how big they are. "How many do you think we can fit in the first trip? There are several other survivors that need to be picked up, and we didn't have time to grab a lot of stuff so there's more that can be taken on later trips. There are also survivors across the street in the cinemaplex, but they're getting ready to make a run for the superstore next door. My father's with them; he's a doctor. Also, one of the children has a dicky appendix that'll need to come out sooner or later. I can do it if I have to, but it would be best if we can pick up my father first and then I can assist him. Can one of you come with us and help us bring the kids up to the roof?"

Posted: **Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:22 am**

Aidan surveys the inside of the helicopter, trying to estimate how many people they can fit inside. Two trips at least, he figures, which mean there's going to be some tough choices coming up. He stays silent, letting Sarah do the talking; he lets his thoughts catch up with him.

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 3:27 am**

A police officer sits in the gap of the slid back sliding door, legs dangling out, as the helicopter slowly descends. "Hey, long time, no show. What took y'all so long?" he asked in a southern American accent. "We were about to go roast some marshmallows... Anywho, we could probably fit a good four adults back here, maybe eight kids? This is no troop carrier, after all. Not far to go, but. Should be easy."

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 3:43 am**

"We ran into one of those...things...when we were gathering the children's medication," says Sarah. "Then when we called the lift I found out that all the buttons had been ripped out, and then another of those things showed up on the stairs. Aidan and I had to run up the ramp fast as we could. I think I set a new record." She brushes her hair out of her face. "I'm Nurse Sarah Carpenter, by the way. I'm so glad you hadn't left. Looks like we got here just in time. So, it'll be me, our cart of supplies, and six kids in the first trip, then. One of those kids will have to be the one awaiting an appendectomy. Some of the doctors in the hospital may have survived, but we can't be sure. There was also a paramedic, but he's disappeared and I don't know what's happened to him. Let's head back downstairs and bring the children and the supplies up the ramp, then. You coming with?"

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 3:46 am**

"What do you mean, things?" asks the cop as he hops off the helicopter and signals to the two pilots. "And sure, let's get this party started..."

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:03 am**

"Well, I guess you could call them zombies," says Sarah, leading the way to the open door that goes back inside. "The water's contaminated, and anyone who drinks it starts bleeding from the face, building stuff, and acting all crazy. Mostly they ignored us, but one of them attacked me. Maybe it ran out of building material and was trying to use me for it instead. Luckily someone was there to save me. He blew it away with a shotgun point blank, and it collapsed. There was no blood, and somehow it was still moving afterwards. There are other things out there that are even worse, but at least they can be killed...I hope.

Sarah takes a deep breath. "We've got over a dozen children down on the second floor. One of the doctors drugged them, so most of them are still asleep. Dianne Hammond, a senior nurse who works mainly in the Children's Ward, is watching over them with Jill, one of the volunteers. I gave out knives so people can protect themselves. Dianne and I both have guns, too." She draws her pistol in her left hand when she reaches the door and peers inside.

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:08 am**

The stairwell is gloomy but not nearly so dark now that light can enter the hospital from the outside world.

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:18 am**

Sarah takes another breath and then ventures inside, her weapons at the ready. "We should be quiet on our way down," she says softly. "Don't want anything bad to hear us. We ought to take the stairs down to the fifth floor, and then the ramp down to the second. These things use the stairwell, so I'd avoid it. If you've got any weapons, you should take them out now. If not, you can borrow my gun. You should put on a surgical mask too."

[OOC: Did Hammond take Sarah's second mask earlier, or was there one left for her to take in the cart? If Sarah still has two masks, she'll offer one to the cop.]

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:21 am**

The cop takes a long, steady look at Sarah's gun and opens his mouth to say something about it. Then he shuts it again with a frown and gestures to it. "I should go first but I... You do know how to shoot that thing, right? I don't want it just going off..."

Posted: **Sat Sep 08, 2007 4:27 am**

"To be honest, I've never fired a gun in my life," admits Sarah. "Someone else found it and gave it to me. I'll be careful with it, or you can borrow it if you like. I'd rather not be in front; I'd probably get attacked by something awful again. Or we can both go side by side if you prefer."

Posted: **Sun Sep 09, 2007 12:37 am**

Aidan follows behind, quietly but dutifully. He seems to only be half-listening to the conversation. He holds the spike with two hands and a firm grip.

"I don't... How many of them are there? How many of them are infected? Do we know?"

Standing at the entrance back into the hospital, he waits for an order.

Posted: **Sun Sep 09, 2007 2:09 am**

"I've seen at least three or four," says Sarah, "but there's probably more than that. There was Carson on the first floor, and that nurse Daniella on the stairwell on the second floor. Earlier there was another nurse on the ground floor, and poor Karlene, one of the paramedics from the ambulance...she didn't seem exactly like the others, though. I think something else happened to her." Sarah can't help trembling. "Come on, chaps, let's get back downstairs."

Posted: **Mon Sep 10, 2007 3:49 am**

"I saw... One... And the one down by the children's ward... But they may've been the same."

Aidan steps into the stairwell, finally raising his gaze now that the destruction is out of view. He gives a pained sigh.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2007 2:31 am**

The police officer doesn't respond, he merely starts climbing down the stairs, gun and flashlight pressed together. He 'slices the pie' when he reaches each landing, slowly turning around the wall to quickly regard the lobbies beyond. Now that there is light entering the hospital, the place looks less frightening and more derelict. Sarah and Aidan realise that the temperature has gone up too, to a more usual London cool day. Finally, they reach the silent and still Second Floor. There is no sight of anyone in here.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2007 3:54 am**

"Wha-" starts Sarah, confused. "Where could they all have gone? There was a whole bunch of people here." She looks around for any sign of their passage, and for the cart of supplies she had left behind. "Maybe they all went up the ramp, but most of the children were still asleep and they couldn't have wheeled them all at once, unless they woke up for some reason. Or...well, I've seen people vanish earlier. Or rather I didn't see them. There were four people with me in the ambulance one second, and the next they were just...gone! I was all alone down there until Leroy and Joel found me."

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:01 am**

"Riiight," says the constable. "We should get you two up in the helicopter."

The wheeled trolley of medical supplies is still there.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2007 4:08 am**

Sarah retreives the cart. "Are you sure?" she asks. "What about all those children? Shouldn't we look for them? And who's going to perform an appendectomy if I'm not here? Dianne already told me she can't do it...wherever she's gone off to."

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:22 am**

"No, we can't leave the children." Aidan insist; his tone is calm and collected, but he's sweating heavily for the temperature. "Please, officer, I understand the direness of the situation. Yet, I would sooner stay here myself than leave the children behind."

He sighs and picks up his briefcase if nobody took it along.

"Just... Give us five minutes to look for them, please... They're just kids, we're their only chance to get out of here."

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:37 am**

It takes a moment for them to realise that the blood and gore has been reduced greatly. No longer are there any pieces lying around, merely great swathes of dried blood. The outer wall has still been ripped open but it looks different somehow, almost as though it had crumbled naturally.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:52 pm**

Sarah gapes. "We were only gone a few minutes," she says, "but it looks like everything has aged decades! I've seen this sort of thing happen a lot tonight. It's as if time isn't flowing the same everywhere." She sighs. "Nobody wants to get out of this hospital more than I do after all the horrible things that have happened, but we've got to at least try to find the children. They couldn't have gone far. I told them to start heading upstairs, and that those who weren't going on the chopper should stay on the fifth floor anyway. I can't imagine they'd go downstairs; it's far too dangerous. If they're not on this floor, we should head up to look for them. We'll use the ramp; that way we can bring the wheeled cart, and if they had taken the stairs we'd have passed them. We can check each floor as we go."

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:22 am**

Aidan grimaces as he puts together the situation.

"Okay... Let's go through the upstairs floors. We can look for the rest and if they're not there, then we can go."

He looks to the officer and gives him a pleading expression. "Please?"

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:40 am**

Sarah nods. "We've got to take the ramp upstairs anyway, so we might as well look for them on the way. Hopefully they went upstairs to reach the chopper. Let's get up to the third floor now. Aidan, can you push the cart, please? I've got my hands rather full at the moment."

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 2:24 am**

Aidan nods in agreement, putting his briefcase on to carry and awkwardly trying to take control of the cart with one hand while holding the spike with the other

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 3:51 am**

The officer looks around grimly. "Yeah, I guess... Yeah... Let's go."

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 3:53 am**

"Okay, let's go," says Sarah. She holds her weapons ready and heads for the ramp leading up with the others.

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 3:56 am**

The constable follows, the gun and torch held in both hands as he checks the floors. The hospital is so quiet. All they can hear is the sound of the helicopter's engines from the rooftop. Everything else ... all of London ... so quiet. The light that filters through the grimy hospital windows is dimming as the sun falls beneath the horizon.

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:02 am**

Sarah carefully makes her way up the ramp following the officer, looking around for any sign of the children or any dangers. She looks back frequently to make sure Aidan is doing okay with the cart. She is surprised to see the sun just beginning to set. I had thought it was later than that, she thinks. Maybe it just felt like it took a longer time, and the ash made it seem like night outside.

Posted: **Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:35 pm**

Aidan tries not to think about it. He isn't even sure what time it is, or even if it's still the same day. The possibility that this could be all of London is too much to contemplate. Too much loss to think about. Instead, he just does his best to focus on pushing the cart, ocassionaly muttering or cursing to himself as refuses to be controlled with just his one free hand.

Posted: **Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:52 am**

The third floor appears grimy and unnatural. The grime and decay are even more apparent in the waning light. A woman who looks like Jill enters the room directly across from the ramp's landing (check the map).

Posted: **Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:38 pm**

[OOC: The map isn't exactly clear, but it looks to me like the woman is heading into the large unlabeled room south of the ramp.]

"That looked like Jill," whispers Sarah, "but why would she have left the children, and why would she be going in there?" She looks to the police officer. "We should get a closer look, but we'd better be careful. She could have turned into one of...them."

Posted: **Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:30 pm**

Aidan is unsettled by the sight. Jill is really the only person he knows in this place, even though he barely knows her at all.

"Perhaps... They've got the children up here?" His voice betrays the doubt in his own words.

He parks the cart to the side and looks to the police officer for some signal that he'll go with them.

Posted: **Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:49 am**

The officer nods, his forehead furrowed, and he crosses the large room, moving his gun around the room and the light as well. The walls are pitted and pocked with pieces of furniture nailed to the roof, to the walls, to everything.

He tries the door knob to the Training Room. It shudders. Locked. He takes a step back, raises his foot, strikes the door by the handle, but it doesn't open. He looks over at the others helplessly.

Posted: **Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:32 pm**

At this point, after the police officer has noisily tried to kick the door down, there's no point in keeping quiet. "Jill, it's me, Sarah!" shouts Sarah. "Please open the door!"

Posted: **Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:35 am**

A young girl's scream can be heard from the lower floors.

A rising cackle can be heard behind the door. Jill?

Posted: **Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:41 am**

Sarah's blood runs cold. "That's not Jill," she whispers to the police officer. "Come on, let's go check out that scream. One of the kids might be hurt or in danger."

Posted: **Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:23 pm**

The scream startled Aidan and he can't help but sweat bullets at the situation. Suddenly being with two other people feels like a small, lonely group. He wipes his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket and follows behind Sarah and the officer.

"Did any of them have a cellphone? Or a radio or anything we could contact them with?"

Posted: **Wed Sep 26, 2007 12:47 am**

"I don't know," says Sarah, pausing briefly at the cart to retrieve her bundle of medical supplies and hoping she won't need it. "I've got my mobile, but I don't know if the others have any or what their numbers are even if they do. Leave the cart here; we'll retrieve it on our way back up. Let's hurry downstairs! That little girl might not have much time." She holds her weapons in her hands and runs downstairs with the police officer and Aidan.

Posted: **Wed Sep 26, 2007 9:21 pm**

Aidan nods in agreement and follows, looking over his shoulder to see if the officer is behind them.

They couldn't have all just come to the roof when I told them too.. God damnit all.

Posted: **Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:29 am**

The officer stops Sarah in her tracks with his hand. "Look, we need back up. Let's get Cael from the helicopter before we go down there..."

A phone starts ringing from downstairs, eerie and persistent.

Posted: **Thu Sep 27, 2007 1:35 pm**

Sarah is torn. She wants to go running to help the girl, but she knows the policeman has a point. If they get killed, they won't do her any good. "Can you reach him on the radio, or do we have to go back upstairs?" she asks.

Posted: **Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:46 am**

Constable Radcliffe frowns. "Yeah, that makes sense." He pulls out his walkie talkie. "Hey, Cael? Anyone? You still up there? We could use a little help down here."

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:40 am**

Sarah looks around nervously while the constable speaks on the radio. The sound of the phone ringing below disturbs her, but she also feels like she should answer it. For a second reality seems to shift, and she imagines that everything that's been happening is just a nightmare and she is safe back in her bed, and that the ringing phone is the one at her bedside. If only it were so... she thinks.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:06 am**

Comes a voice over the walkie-talkie: "I hear ya Radcliffe, the roof door is jammed up here but I have a CO19 kit up here in the bird. I'll bust this door down and get moving, what's your position?"

"Where are we again?" Radcliffe asks the other two. "What floor? Where?"

A few moments pass and then there's a terrible banging sound from upstairs followed by the sound of something being slammed against brick.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:08 am**

"This is the third floor," says Sarah. "That room we were just in is the Training Room, and over there are the ramp and the stairs." She points them out.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:13 am**

"The third floor," says Radcliffe into the walkie-talkie. "Can we meet you on the stairs? And I hope that banging sound was you..."

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:16 am**

"So do I..." says Sarah, having had the exact same thought. "We might as well meet at the stairs, since it's on our way down."

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:18 am**

Radcliffe starts walking, walkie-talkie balanced between neck and shoulder, gun and flashlight held out to keep examining the surroundings. A creak occurs behind him and he twists around, flashing the light across the terrain but seeing nothing. "Yeah, yeah, let's move it..."

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 2:20 am**

"You don't have to tell me twice," says Sarah. She easily keeps up with Radcliffe, glancing back to make sure Aidan is following them - and that nothing else is.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:15 am**

The trio reach the third floor landing and start moving up. Voices can be heard from the stairwell above.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 3:26 am**

Sarah peers through the darkness ahead and tries to make out what the voices are saying, but she can't make sense of them yet.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:38 am**

"Radcliffe?" comes a loud male whisper from upstairs.

"Yeah, we're coming up," says Constable Radcliffe. "We're..." A flicker of shadow and he was gone, dragged down in the gap between the stairs through the floors below - a fine red mist of blood escaping him with a dull hiss. A sudden cry, cut off with a grotesque gurgle. Below, something grumbles.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:45 am**

"RUN!!!" screams Sarah, terror seizing her. She is already racing up the stairs, legs pumping furiously, heart pounding in her chest, blood pounding in her temples. The sight of the constable being brutally slaughtered is etched in her mind, and all she knows is that she doesn't want the same thing to happen to her. Step after step passes beneath her in a blur. Run, Sarah! she thinks. Run like the wind! Don't look back...don't look back...got to get to the chopper...got to get out of here... She can only hope Aidan is behind her.

Posted: **Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:48 am**

Nurse Sarah, her nerves on fire, rushes upstairs before Aidan has the chance to respond. Whether or not he follows, he will lag behind her as she crosses the Fourth and Fifth floor toward the roof (she has higher Dex) and hears her speak briefly to a man who says something about covering her. Then a three-round burst of gunfire is heard (if you follow Nurse Sarah, this will occur moments before you reach the Fifth floor landing and you can post as such). This entire scene will have taken about six-eight seconds - about the time it takes for your average middle-aged fellow to mount two and flights of stairs in an extreme situation.

OOC: Sorry I didn't wait up for Aidan but I figured that it's not such a big deal since nothing all that huge happened until just now. If you wish to post that Aidan does something other than going upstairs, post it here. if you go with the flow and rush upstairs, join the Andrew - Cael thread.

Play@YSDC

Sarah and Aidan

Sarah and Aidan

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