Roleplay

Evelyn straightened up. With a turn of her wrist, she tucked the stray hairs behind her ear and flattened out the wooly material of her coat.

She started to prioritise in her head. First things first, there had to be someone who could explain to her what was going on. Which facility she was in, where she was, and why she was there.

She considered the very real possibility of being placed in a quarantined area. Back at the animal clinic, they would put animals in separate housing from the rest of the population, and did various tests if they suspected Rabies or Parvovirus.

Aside from that, she could feel the urge to relieve her bladder building up.

She opened the door. The smell from the chemicals, along with various other scents, wafted into her room. It was much stronger now, than it had been in her dream just moments earlier. Her dark umber eyes squinted into the darkness, as they tried to make sense of the path before her. She realised that she needed to switch on the lantern to light the way, and did so hesitantly. With a wary motion, she hoisted her thin arm into the air, the beacon illuminating the hallway.

On eye level with her gaze, she saw there to be letters engraved into her room door on the outside. A clear "9M" in stainless steel platelets. The door across the hall from her read "9N", and she assumed it meant that the numerical digit represented the ward or floor, and the letter represented the room number in that ward or floor.

The hallways were strewn with paperwork and various trays of medicine and commuters, from what she could make out. Instead of holding the lamp eye level as she wanted. she held it closer to the floor so that she could see where she was going. She needed to find some semblance of a restroom.

To her luck, she found a keeled over trolley of bathroom supplies. Over the floor lied stacks of sanitary wipes, toilet paper, liquid soaps and a broken mop. Evelyn climbed over the mess, surprised as the sound of her mount carried through the corridor. She swore she heard the sound bounce off of something, but paid little attention, as the only thing on her mind right now was the possible restroom at the other end of the linen basket.

Evelyn was in such a hurry that she barely noticed the figure in front of her with her back to her. She gasped softly, and held a finger up. "Hello, miss! My, you've given me such a fright", she exclaimed. "I quickly need to use the rest room". Evelyn stated, making her way to the door with a feminine sign on it before continuing "but I'll be with you in a second! Please wait for me, I have a few questions." As she finished her sentence, Evelyn slipped into the first open stall door. Crouching down, she heard footsteps following her into the bathroom.

"Miss? Is that you?" She recalled the blank stare of the woman as she turned around outside. She looked like she hadn't slept for days as well seemed like she had just woken up a few seconds before Evelyn stumbled upon her. "My apologies for leaving so abruptly-". She was cut off, as she heard the woman mumble under her breath. "What was that?" She couldn't understand what the woman was trying to say, and wondered what operation she must have had to make her speech so slurry. Again, disgruntled noises from the stranger. "Hold on a moment, I'll be right out, then we can talk."

The noises came closer to her stall, and the woman bumped against the door. "I said, I'll be right out!" Evelyn said, a little more impatient at the woman.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

Quinn had used that simple breathing exercise to calm herself before, and now that the effects of adrenaline had lowered, she was able to think more clearly. These were the facts: The epidemic has made its way into the hospital. The epidemic makes ruthless, unrelenting killers. Doctors can’t be trusted. People can’t be trusted. There is at least one other person in this hospital, affected or not. I merely escaped death. I’m scared sh*tless.

Inhale. Exhale.

Once her leg was comfortable enough to stand on, the girl rose from her pathetic state on the floor. She dusted herself off and scanned the room less frantically, with the help of the phone’s light. Like the rest of the hospital, everything was an unnatural white. Quinn was beginning to grow sick of the colour. She burrowed through the drawers, picking out anything that would be of use to her. A first aid kit, scissors, painkillers, and tablets for headaches and pains. Food and water could be a problem, as she only had her own bottle of water and an energy bar. Perhaps she could raid the hospital’s food stash, that is, if she could find it.

Now, Quinn had another problem to solve. How would she meet up with the other patients in the hospital without drawing the attention of those Things? Surely, others would be trying to look for another person, too. Would it be better to remain where she was or search around herself? After all, the hospital was incredibly large. People could be on any level.

Deciding that it was best to go out herself, the girl cautiously stepped out into the dusky corridor, panic rising again. Her neck pricked as if she were being watched, even though there was no sign of those zombie-like creatures. Her anxiety eased as as she walked. When no Things appeared, though she remained exceedingly alert, checking behind every few seconds. She heard voices to her left, definitely human, as those creatures didn’t seem to be very articulate. Quinn warily followed the sounds, which, for the most part, were frantic screams. Those Things were be within her vicinity.

“Hello?” she called, a slight waver in her voice. Was it worth the risk of attracting one of those creatures? Would she even receive a reply? It felt like she was talking to those perpetual, bone-white walls, her voice lost in a void of darkness. Her efforts felt hopeless.

The robot had had just about enough by now. It floated away from its charges, jamming a plug into the wall, connecting itself to the main announcement system, using its own power to do so. Around the ward, glaring lights flickered into full power, practically blinding everyone used to the darkness. This is a security announcement. All patients converge at the lifts in Ward 9. Handling of Facility breach is underway.

Ana had collapsed at the glaring lights and the blaring robotic voice echoing out of the speakers, her hands over her ears, her eyes scrunched up in pain. Darkness was soft on the senses, replaced within seconds by sensory overload. As the robot unplugged itself from the socket and the lights flickered off, she took several minutes to register it was over. Pulling herself to her feet, her mood suddenly ground down to the bones of irritation, she glared at the two people she was with. "You heard it. Lifts!" It was an angry snap.

The zombie had fallen too, screaming and writhing at the lights and the sound, as though in pain from it. Ana couldn't take her eyes off it, horror and disgust written into her expression. She backed away for a moment before turning and starting down the corridor, not caring if the others followed or not. The robot whirred as it made its way back to follow them.

The incessant banging against Evelyns' stall door kept going. It got more violent with every bump. Anger boiled up from her inside. She sat there incredulous at how insistent the woman on the other side of the door was. Bad manners was inexcusable and would not be tolerated.

From experience, she knew that when some feral dogs awoke from a time of prolonged exposure to narcotics, they could be quite out of it and would perform all sorts of unusual tasks. Some would chase their tails. Some would gnaw at their feet. The latter would get the proverbial "cone of shame". For a moment Evelyn pictured a human with the cone of shame, and she smiled to herself, wondering where she might find one in this facility for this poor woman.

Suddenly the lights went on. The neon fixture overhead shone bright into Evelyn's eyes. It felt like it searched for every possible reflective surface to cascade into. The intercom blared and a robotic voice unfamiliar to her spoke up.

"All patients converge at the lifts in Ward 9. Handling of Facility breach is underway."

The voice continued in a monotone, and Evelyn listened intently for any additions. She noticed that the drumming at her door was gone too, and the footsteps shuffled off towards the sound of the speakers.

She sighe loudly and looked down at the tile floors, rubbing the faux leather of her black flat against the other. Her mind still felt groggy. Since the lights were on, she didn't need her lamp anymore. She didn't know how long the power would be back on, though, so she decided to keep the lamp. Switching it off, she put it into her large purse next to the acquired first aid and the rest of her belongings. She took out her phone and turned on the screen again.

No signal.

She felt like an idiot as soon as she did, but nonetheless she raised her hand out of habit into the air, as if the few inches would allow for a better reception. Her parents might have been worried about her, since she didn't know how long she might have been here in the facility.

A dull ache clawed up from her stomach. She wondered if perhaps she'd had a mental setback. One where they inject you with a narcotic, to sedate you while they drive you away in the familiar white panel Van. It would explain the mental case banging herself against her door. But the odd question tugging at the back of her mind still - where was the personnel? Surely they never let her roam free among the other patients before.

It had been quiet for a few minutes. The broadcast said that other patients should get together at the lifts in her ward. That there was a breach in facility security. Evelyn looked down at her small olive toned hands. One could barely go so far as to call her leaving her room a "breach in security". She felt normal. It had been years since she was hospitalized. Could she trust herself now?

She opened the door. Outstretched in front of her was a large mirror, reaching from one side of the room to the other. On the far right hand side, was the door. Dead flower petals and leaves laid strewn on the floor. Maintenance had not been present here in at least a few days. She stepped closer to the mirror and put her hand bag on the counter next to one or the sinks. Pursing her lips, she wondered whether to go to the lifts as the intercom said or to rather just return to her hotel. The place she was in wasn't very prone to upkeep, judging by the state of what seemed to be Dahlias and Lilies, she thought as her right hand index trailed over one of the bracts.

She turned the faucet and leaned down. The tap gurgled and spat out water with a loud thump against the enamel cast iron. Splashing her face with the water, she wrinkled her nose. It smelled sharply of chrlorine, as she imagined this was one of the new age facilities which relied on their own water filtration system down by the boiler rooms. Unsure whether it was safe to consume, she left the bathroom with her bag slung over her shoulder.

Out in the hallway, everything was just as bright. To her right, the rubble which she climbed over earlier to get to the bathroom. To her left, the woman from earlier, with her back turned to her once again.

Evelyn strode over to her, her arm tightly clasped around her hand bag in case the woman tried anything funny. She didn't know what to expect from the lunatic banger. "Excuse me, miss?" she stepped closer, reaching up to tap the stranger on her shoulder. She was taller in length than Evelyn remembered her to be. Drunkenly the taller woman turned around, snarling, causing Evelyn to stumble backward a few paced, toppling down into the rubble behind her.

The womans - who appeared to be a nurse, donning the baby blue uniform - appearance completely threw Evelyn off balance. Her skin appeared to be a sickening green color, wrinkling over her cheeks and exposed emaciated form. It blotched dark marks all over, and what seemed to be blisters. By a closer inspection, she noticed a piece of her calve was missing. The skin around the wound was greying, and the blood surrounding it was coagulated. This woman should not have been able to walk about. Yet, she found her shuffling closer to her, her teeth exposed, as if she was sizing her up for breakfast.

Just before Quinn’s voice faded completely, an obnoxiously loud, monotone voice blasted over the hospital’s speakers.

This is a security announcement. All patients converge at the lifts in Ward 9. Handling of Facility breach is underway.

“Facility breach? A bit too late for that warning,” she muttered bitterly under her breath, jamming her eyes shut and tucking her head into her coat as the lights suddenly flickered on. The hospital was a more sickening white with the LED light blazing above. Quinn craved the darkness she had loathed only a few moments earlier.

Focus returning to her current situation, she scanned the closest sign. Black text was neatly printed onto the metal plates, pointing to the direction of the lifts. How convenient it was to have an omnipotent voice lead you to other survivors. Quinn hastily followed the signs’ directions, as if being the last one to arrive would result in some grisly punishment. Her head was tilted towards the floor, a futile attempt at avoiding the harshness of the light. On her way, however, she’d spotted a pile of rubble blocking the entrance to a restroom. Of course, the hospital wasn’t in the best shape, but a pile of plaster and tile was still unusual. The girl walked on, dismissing the situation as ‘odd’ and moving forward. She didn’t want to deal with whatever made that mess, anyway.

Further ahead, she could see figures. At first, she wasn’t quite sure if she’d just begun to hallucinate, but sure enough, two women were standing in the hallway. One appeared to be a nurse. Appeared is the key word here, as Quinn very well knew by now that all of the workers here weren’t human at all. She grew tense again, remaining frozen on the spot. She would have to pass that creature. It was the only way to get to the lifts. She profusely muttered a long string of swears before forcing herself to move again.

Quinn ran forward, grabbing the arm of the white-coated woman. “We’ve go to go! Hurry!” she yelled, only noticing now how husky her voice sounded. She gave the ‘nurse’ a sharp kick in the stomach, an equally sharp pain rattling her bad leg. The dark-cloaked girl only spared the nurse a single glance before running off, tightly clutching the wrist of the woman, coaxing her to follow, too stressed to be relieved at the presence of another person. Like the previous creature she’d encountered, the ‘nurse’ had a diseased-ridden face, flesh not fit even for the most desperate of maggots. The sight of it was enough to give Quinn the motivation to sprint faster, even though she stumbled under the pain of her left leg. She didn’t dare look back, and only hoped that the woman was smart enough to follow suit.

Today was a great day.

This was great. Everything was fine and dandy. Veronika only seen monsters with maggots crawling up and out of their open mouths. Only seen organs spilling out from something chasing them, no everything was nice. What a great time they was having! Hearing voices of other people and staying quiet so they didn't have to beat more things to death with whatever they could find.

Nothing was fine, nothing but a positive attitude would help! It didn't it really didn't, in fact Veronika didn't even know why they were doing this, it was kinda pointless. No it was pointless. If anything it was distracting, heck something could be crawling up behind them and they probably wouldn't have heard it.

That was a good time to stop thinking like this and distracting themself. Any minute they might have to beat some rotting skull in. That wasn't a nice thought. Rotting blood was horrible in almost every way. Veronika heard a grown from another walking corpse and bolted.

This is a security announcement. All patients converge at the lifts in Ward 9. Handling of Facility breach is underway.

Woah they hadn't even noticed! There was a problem though where would Ward 9 be. That thought was getting them somewhat panicked, was there directions anywhere? Probably not. Well they would have to wander around. Maybe find someone else. Though they didn't know how happy the other person would be.

The lifts were large and hard to miss, signs leading the way straight to them; the entire ward was half a floor, cut off from the other half by doors that appeared to be locked, and made up of two parallel corridors that each curved in a semi-circle, or oval at least. The shape brought to mind a double rainbow, or perhaps something less absurd for the situation, the two corridors connected by smaller corridors between rooms.

The lifts were metal doors in the centre of the inner corridor, As expected, they weren't working.

Ana ran down the corridor, following the arrows and ignoring the people with her, hoping at least the robot would follow. If they wanted to fight, they could do it without her. She skidded to a halt at the lift doors, realising how utterly futile it was to go to them at all when the hospital was out of power. The robot stopped behind her, whirring quietly.

"Why here? Why the hell here? Aren't there stairs?" Panic was rising as she remembered the rotting skin of the doctor, its hands reaching out for her. There could be more, as far as they knew, and the view she'd seen from her room showed them to be on what could have been the fortieth floor. The lifts would never work, and if they did, the stupidest thing to do in this situation would be to take it.

This is an authorised evacuation gathering point. The robot replied neutrally. Please await further instructions.

"Balls to that." She turned her gaze back to the lift, studying the automated metal doors. They wouldn't take them, no way. There would be a safer route to the ground floor, there would always be a backup plan. It would have been against health and safety to have the lifts alone.

Accessing backup battery...

"NO!"

The robot plugged back into the socket, the lights flickering and then blaring on all through the ward. She covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as though that would help, the glaring, invasive light burning into her sockets through her eyelids. Used to the dark, the normal hospital light was painful to the eyes.

It was painful to the zombies, too; as the lights blinked to life, they stumbled back as though blinded or in pain from the glare. A horrible, rattling scream emitted from them, audible throughout the ward. Coupled with the lights, it was almost too much to take.

All patients converge at the lifts for evacuation. Await further instruction.

Evelyn stared up mezmerised at the corpse making its way to her. Her free hand fumbled among the fallen debris underneath her to assist her in pushing herself up or away. The thin layer of sweat on the palms of her hand made it difficult to get a grip on the steel cart usually used to carpool all the cleaning supplies to the hospital bathrooms. Her shaking attempts were futile.

The demeanour of the entity that should have been dead for all intents and purposes astonished the dark haired woman. She absolutely should not have been able to be conscious. The dried blood around the wound in the womans calve indicated that there had been no blood circulation. That meant that the person had to be deceased. The decaying flesh indicated that the nurse had to be that way for quite some time. Evelyn's medical mind was running all over the place. Scientifically this was not possible.

From the corner of her eye, she saw another one of these shapes approaching her. This one was different. Although limping, the subject was moving a lot faster, and she appeared to be a lot less dead. The asian girls' skin was still a warm golden tone, all pointing to the blood still fresh under her skin. She was running - half sprinting - in Evelyns direction. The violent behaviour of these creatures let Evelyn wonder if maybe her days were counted.

Perhaps due to the fact that the body isn't as decayed as the older woman shuffling, now dangerously close, to her, that made it faster.

Evelyn grabbed hold of the mop edged between the trolley and wall, as she kept inching backwards, in an unsuccessful try at pushing her small frame up from the ground before the fast one reached her, or the slower one got lucky and did so first; however, the damaged nature and age of the mop let it snap in two under the weight of her. Splinters flew everywhere, some lodging in her hand. The woman fell down once more, with a thump against the linoleum tiles, sending some toilet rolls barrelling across the floor.

Before she knew it, the fast one kicked the nurse down and grabbed a hold of her wrist. Upon closer inspection, the girls chest seemed to be heaving with every laboured breath she took. She was in pain, and her body reacted to it. Words came from her mouth, but the volume of adrenaline rushing through Evelyn's body made it impossible for her to comprehend. The words were coarse and felt like they should have been important. She was tugged into an upright position, and followed the girl who seemed to want to get out of this situation just as much as she did.

Cradling her injured left hand against her chest, she dared a look back at the facility personnel member who got back up, stumbling lamely over 5 liter bottles of industrial bleach.

The lights shone bright again, the intercom blared, and another strange thing happened. The nurse seemed to be in physical pain from the lights overhead. The rattle that came from her throat screeched over the nearby speaker. Evelyn still could not understand a word the monotone voice was stating. Her attention were at a dozen other places.

None of this was physically possible.

Her attention returned to the child dragging her stupid body along. The child who was at least half a foot shorter than she was, and at least half her age. She was coping a lot better. Had she just seen what Evelyn saw? She hoped not. It would be something to haunt the dreams of the child forever.

"Converge at the lifts", "Evacuation"

They passed several doors, among others were the building fire escape - colored bright orange- , the nurses office with schedules and charts plastered all over the door and wall unit outsde and the pharmacy. She recalled the distinct smell of mercury chrome compound and mu-cane. Through the glass windows of the pharma section, she could tell they've been raided fairly well. Running past the offices. her slippery flats nearly fell down from scattered papers, grey and black files and various other stationary covering the top layer of the hospital floor. Nearing the elevator, she started seeing shapes converged together. One she could make out to be female, another taller - fairly emaciated like the nurse behind them - , and another to be hovering, which Evelyn assumed to be artificial intelligence. Evelyn would have stopped had one of the shapes not been shouting. It was the shorter one, she thought, as she heard her frustrated tone spitting syllables at the robot.

Behind them, the terrorised screams of what Evelyn could only imagine to be severely ill human beings, carried through the concave hallway. Bewildered, she eyed the two in front of her, switching her gaze from them to the child next to her. "Have you..." She tried to catch her breath and silence the piercing ringing in her eardrums. Her small frame was trembling. She was unsure if it was from fear or the rush. When she spoke, she was certain that it must have been a mixture of the two. "Did you just see that?"

“Y-yes,” Quinn replied through strained breaths, shifting her weight to her right leg as her bad one ached painfully. She used to be able to handle that pain much better. How long had she been unconscious in that hospital room?

“I saw one earlier,” she added softly, thoughts drifting back to the situation beforehand. The image of the creature she’d encountered was still vivid in her mind - literally hollow cheeks, dull, bloodstained flesh and sunken, dead eyes. Her clothes and skin still reeked of *******. Quinn usually didn’t mind gore as she always had macabre interests, but she very much doubted she’d be getting much sleep these next few days.

The girl sunk to the floor for the second time that night, feeling thoroughly disheveled. The hospital’s cold floors were becoming a comfort. She was faintly aware of her hand quivering in angst. This feeling was new and foreign and completely unwelcome, as Quinn usually found a way for logic to control plights, but how could she possibly explain this? Her eyebrows knitted together in scepticism. Zombies were meant to be some silly fiction, used only in dramatised TV shows and movies. They weren’t meant to be a real, dangerous, threat.

She scanned the group of people around her, motley eyes drifting exhaustedly around the room. A few people, all clearly older (who seemed as shaken as her) stood agitatedly by the elevator. To her dismay, she realised how little control she’d have over over her own actions if she remained with this group. As a child, it wouldn’t be likely that she’d be taken seriously. Additionally, one of the hospital’s robotic assistants had plugged itself to a powerpoint, and was now blabbering about evacuation and instructions. However, the distant, tortured cry of one of those Things held Quinn’s focus instead, the sound of its pain bringing her some sick rapture. She felt disgusted with that pleasure, knowing that those things were once human, but she couldn’t help it. The realization that those creatures had a weakness, to light it seemed, brought her consolation.

“What do we do now?” she inquired after some silence. The question was directed to the robot, as the people there seemed just as confused.

Glancing backwards, she glanced as the girl ran off after the robot. Torn between continueing trying to find Tokyo or listening to the robot, her normally organized mind is completely disheveled by the past encounters. While her logical mind was frantically trying to make sense and explain just how these, corpses are walking around and well, not dead, her impulses were to just run. Run until there is a solution to all of this. Give up the planning. There’s no planning when you have no fu**ing clue to where you are! Her confused mind grasped on a brief idea that this is the third time she was not thinking straight, and need to take a deep breath. Reminding herself of her current goal, as to find a fu**ing way out of this hell hole, they give the hallway one last look before taking after the robot and the woman other than the one who seriously pi**ed her off, though the boiling had dimmed down enough for Vi to ignore it.

Deciding that being with others is safer than doing this solo, even though she doesn’t want to admit it because she doesn’t like teamwork. Specifically with strangers since such random groupings often means that they would only get less work done. Sighing, they prayed that Tokyo would listen to the robot and go to the lifts too instead of doing whatever sh** they’re doing right now. She doesn’t have the time, the energy, nor the information to find them in this place.

Pacing over to the lifts, the lights were back on, and she blinked her green eyes, squinting slightly from the sudden brightness. Holding her left hand over their eyes like when someone’s looking for something, she was too alerted and confused to let her guard down. She is already feeling completely helpless, and isn’t going to let some stupid corpse take her down just because of that. Beat the emotions . . . The cries of pain, she assumed, but more like hoped, was from those corpse workers from this abandoned damned place, sent chilling tingles down her spines, and Vi straightened her posture again. Her face was mostly calm, but slits of doubt and worry can be seen through her eyes, the one thing she find the hardest to conceal at the most troublesome times.

Glancing around, she noticed there were people gathering around her. Some were older. Some were younger. She was taller certainly. Which doesn’t always mean a good thing, because taller doesn’t mean bulkier. Certainly more . . . targetable by long range weapons. Vi seriously hoped these corpses, which her mind had finally give in and admits they’re probably zombies, aren’t smart enough to use guns. Even knowing that sounds silly as to how the zombies before seemed to have the intelligence of a lizard, she didn’t want to think about if one of them are still intelligent. A girl, at least to Vi, asked a question, and she didn’t have an answer.

“I don’t fu**ing know . . . .” She thought for a moment, before deciding to stop pretending and just admit she had no plans for once. And she didn’t care a sh** she just swore in front of a minor. These days even babies seem to know at least one profanity.

The lifts just doesn’t seem like a possible way. Even if Vi was more towards the working type, she’d seen horror movies before. No one would go to the lift when the place is dark and filled with corpses. Living zombies. They are more easily ambushed. It’s like throwing themselves in a cage that is to be tossed into an area that they aren’t even sure what kind of sh** is going on. Aren’t there any stairs? She didn’t like the idea of having to go down at least a hundred flights of stairs either . . . An easy ambush too, since there is only one narrow way mainly, she’d walked more than a 100 flight of stairs. She wished the robot would give an actual solution and not just say “Blah blah blah wait wait wait.”

She had a feeling that no help is coming . . .

And that this mess is just getting started.