damned_institute | Night 68: Sun Room

"This room is typically guarded come nighttime, is it not?"

Link's sharp eyes were darting about the sun room, looking for any trace of movement. As far as he could tell, they were the first patients in here, tonight. He picked up his pace, moving ahead of the group toward the middle of the room. If something was going to jump out at them, he was sure that he could protect himself. He had never come to this area of the building at night, before. He wasn't even certain where, exactly, they were headed.

"That's right."

Soma kept her own voice hushed as she scanned the room, eyes half-closed. Her brainwaves were comparatively useless here, but there was always the hope that she might sense an incoming attack in time, just this once.

"If we have to run, head for the kitchen on the other side of the cafeteria. The entrance to the basement is in the walk-in refrigerator there."

It seemed like anything planning to attack them intended to wait until the group moved away from the exit. The Once-ler pulled out the hammer - the only weapon he had - and cautiously stepped forward. He didn't go as far as Link had, instead staying within a few feet of the other two.

The man grimaced as he swept his flashlight back and forth across the dark room. "At what point should we just cut and run?" he asked softly; he was nervous, there was no denying that. When he and Soma had passed through the room two nights ago, they had done it hastily, and hadn't encountered any trouble. "We shouldn't hang around."

Loki cast a wary eye at the hammer - really? What was it about idiots and hammers? "I didn't find it to be occupied the night before last," he commented quietly. "So there is a non-zero chance."

Walk-in refrigerator - whatever that was. But it was good to know where they were headed, in case something did come up. As it was, he was prepared to get at least him and Soma to safety with a bit of visual trickery. The two men could fend for themselves.

"There seems to be nothing in here." Famous last words, yes, but Link hadn't even heard the slightest sound out of place. If there was a monster, there was no reason for it to not have attacked when he separated himself slightly from the group. And he had no idea what a walk-in 'refrigerator' was, but the route to the kitchen was obvious.

"Let's keep moving," he said firmly, dashing for the double doors leading to the kitchen while maintaining a low profile.

[To here]

[From here.]

The Sun Room was just as dark as the hall had been, and Lloyd only barely managed to avoid stumbling into one of the tables. Exhaustion made his limbs feel leaden and sluggish, at feeling at odds with the lightheaded dizziness that made everything spin queasily.

We can't stop. Not yet! Heart hammering, he forced himself to keep dragging Al forward. They couldn't stop. Not now. Not until they were sure they were safe!

Al coughed and gagged as the hair vanished into his body with a vengeance, limbs shaking even as he followed Lloyd and his brother. He didn't want to think about what just happened, that...thing that the cat had summoned. There was something else at the edge of his awareness, something horribly wrong, but there was no time to focus on it. They needed to get to a safe place, and one doorway wasn't going to provide that.

Ed looked around alertly for any more dangers, even looking up from time to time. He didn't trust this place to not have something fall out of the sky at them.

His eyes took in the details of their surroundings and he relaxed fractionally as things continued to not jump out at them.

"How are you two doing?" he asked in a low tone, aware that he was probably the only one up to dealing with any threats.

Lloyd had to resist the urge to touch his hand to his throat. He still had a good grip on Al's arm with one hand, and his other still clutched his knife. Even without feeling it, though, he knew that blood continued to ooze from the punctured skin of his throat. He could feel it soaking into the collar of his jacket.

He swallowed. That hurt, too. He didn't know how bad it was, didn't know if there was more than one reason he was feeling so drained and lightheaded. But there wasn't time. They still weren't safe.

"I'll feel better when we're farther away from... from whatever that thing was in the hall." Even so, his footsteps hesitated as he threw a worried look at Al.

The blood dripping from the numerous cuts on his arms and legs stained his now-ruined clothes, visible through the slashed fabric. He was shaky, lightheaded and heart racing as he caught their worried looks. Swallowing thickly, he shook his head.

"I'll be okay," he said, voice hoarse from abuse both vocal and physical. "I just...let's just get away from there." He looked over to his brother, eyes watery from more than just the hair.

Ed took a moment to play the beam of his flashlight across them and access their condition. He didn't much like what he saw.

"We're taking five minutes to try to get your injuries dealt with and catch our breath," he said firmly. "We'll do it on the end further away from where we came in."

"Here?" He shot an alarmed look at the open door behind them. He couldn't see anything following them, but that didn't mean that it wasn't there. Dammit, what he wouldn't give to be able to turn the lights on in this place!

Al shuddered and shook his head vehemently, looking back at the door they'd just come through with worry. "Not here! We're not safe, just--the cafeteria, then we can patch up, okay?"

"And if there's something waiting for us there?" Ed snapped. "You're both bleeding and Lloyd at least, looks like he wants to fall over. There'll be plenty of room between us and the monster."

Ed, unfortunately, had a point. They didn't know what else might be waiting for them outside this room. Lloyd swallowed again as his mind helpfully provided a whole list of possibilities that that might include. Darting uneasy glances at all the doors that connected to the Sun Room, he finally nodded reluctantly.

"Not at the end," he said. Not after Ed had pointed that out. "Let's... let's stay in the middle." Where they could hopefully see everything.

Al didn't like this at all, wanted to be as far away from that damned hallway as possible, but Ed did have a point. He'd already underestimated this place once, he might not survive doing so again. So instead of protesting he mutely nodded, and looked down to finally take stock of his injuries.

Ed herded them closer to the middle of the room and looked between them to figure out who to deal with first. Lloyd, he decided. As much as he wanted to fuss over Al first, what he could see didn't seem that bad.

"Come on, let's see how bad your neck is," he said to Lloyd with a worried glance at his brother.

Lloyd started to shake his head, but the movement made everything he could see tilt crazily. His hold on Al suddenly became the only thing keeping him up, at least for a moment until the dizzy spell passed.

Maybe arguing wasn't such a good idea.

"...alright."

Drawing in a shaky breath, he carefully lowered himself into a chair. A weight on his leg reminded him that his flashlight was still in his pocket. Just as slowly he pulled it out and set it down to shine its light back toward the door to the main hallway. Then he unbuttoned the top of his jacket, baring his abused throat to Ed. Blood had smeared across his throat and bruises were starting to purple the skin, offering a gruesome, chilling sight. The punctures weren't deep, but unbandaged they still bled.

"How bad is it?"

Al caught Lloyd as he'd started to sag, and helped him into the chair before seeking his own. Al sunk down into it and slumped forward with his elbows on his knees, just focusing on his breathing to try and stop the tremor still plaguing him. All he wanted right now was to barricade himself in his room with his brother until everything went away. The trigger of remembering that night years ago had shaken him deeply, leaving him feeling raw and exposed to the horrors of the institute.

He glanced back up to Lloyd and his brother, and felt a stab of guilt at the sight of Lloyd's injured throat. They wouldn't have been in this state, any of them, if he had used a bit more sense. That a cat of all things would have lowered his guard like that...!

Ed sucked in a breath. "It looks nasty. Al, here," he said, handing over Al's short-sword and his flashlight.

He pulled off his own shirt to start ripping strips off the bottom to make bandages. "That bleeding needs to stop and you're already getting some really ugly bruises. How much does it hurt to swallow?"

Edited 2013-02-13 04:54 (UTC)

Lloyd swallowed at the question, wincing when he did. "A little. I don't think anything's crushed, just..." Just the obvious bruising and damage. Really, he should probably consider himself lucky it hadn't been any worse than that.

Exhaustion was starting was starting to creep from his limbs to his brain, making him long for a moment, just a moment, to close his eyes and rest. It was hard to resist the urge to let them slide shut. He rubbed them with his free hand. "Ugh, I'm tired. I hope the kitchen has coffee in there."

Al took the blade and light, watching his brother tend to Lloyd and turning the light to shine off toward the entrance to the cafeteria. "I can't think why they wouldn't," he said. "Unless the patients aren't allowed any?"

Ed froze at the prospect of no coffee before handing over a folded-up strip torn off his shirt. "Use that for pressure. There better be coffee in there. You know what I'm like in the morning without it."

He had more strips ready to keep the one in place.

[from here]

He heard voices before he saw anyone. Murphy had bad luck with this room, and he already had the desk chair raised in an offensive position. But it wasn't creatures in there, it was people. He lowered the chair, grasping it by a leg, and shined his light towards the voices.

"Hey," he called, because what else was he going to do? Just wander in and maybe get brained for sneaking up on people in this hellhole? "You guys okay?"

Only it wasn't 'guys' he realized, as he peered through the gloomy light cast up from his flashlight. It was kids. Just...kids. A group of teenage boys and his heart squeezed and jittered at once.

Lloyd's heart lurched in his chest with a spike of fear when a man called out. Surging to his feet, he only barely had the presence of mind to keep the folded strip of cloth pressed against his neck as he fumbled his knife up again.

"Who's there?" he demanded, trying to make out features in the dim light of the flash lights. The sudden movement made him feel dizzy all over again, but if the monster had followed them, he wasn't about to just stay sitting down!

Al's head snapped around as well, swinging his light around to shine on the intruder as he stumbled to his feet. His heart was hammering in his chest, but seeing that it was--at least at first glance--a normal human calmed him somewhat.

Still, he held the sword forward defensively, not leaving anything to chance this time.

Ed whipped around, dropping his shirt and the strips he tore off it as his hands went up and he went into a defensive stance.

The adrenaline that had been starting to go away made a spike and put him back on edge.

"I'm Murphy." He kept his hands lowered, even though they were both holding something. The last thing he wanted was to present himself as hostile. He wasn't the sharpest stick in the pile, but he could tell these kids had been having a hell of a night.

"Just...doing the night thing. Didn't want to startle you, I heard you and..."

Some of the tension bled away from Lloyd's shoulders with every word that the man said to them. His name, his reasons, he was talking to them. That was more than the monster in the hall had offered. Slowly, the teen lowered his knife. His eyes flicked to the dark hallway that Murhpy had just come from, but he didn't see anyone or anything else.

"How did you get past the monster back there?"

Al forced himself to calm down, slowing his breathing as he lowered his sword. He kept his light trained on Murphy, and glanced to his brother--he seemed safe enough.

Ed also forced himself to relax and lowered his arms, not yet bending over to pick up what he dropped.

The lights are probably shining off his automail to draw attention now that the initial 'whoa shit' moment everybody was having was over.

Murphy shrugged. "I don't know how I get by most monsters, honestly..." But that had been true even before waking up in this place. He took in the scene, but what stood out to him most were the injuries. They'd had a particularly nasty tangle.

This was quelling his rabid anger. He couldn't lose his own head, not with kids who needed help right here in front of him.

"Holy shit, you guys need help..."

That last comment was the final straw, at least as far as Lloyd's exhausted mind could comprehend. No one who was an enemy would say something like that. He couldn't be anything but another patient, another victim of this place. If he worked for Landel, what would he care about the condition the three boys were in.

Too tired to care about anything short of an immediate threat, Lloyd put a hand to the table to try to keep himself from just sinking back into his chair. "It's not... not as bad as it looks." He hoped. Winced as his throat throbbed and stung. "I don't suppose you have any antiseptic."

Al sighed, sinking into his chair with a wince and rubbing at his eyes. "We just need to patch ourselves up."

Ed finished relaxing and bent to pick up his shirt and shrug it back on. That done, he scooped up the strips.

"Lloyd, sit down so I can make sure that stays put. You're too tall for me to reach otherwise," he ordered, inwardly grumbling at the height difference.

Murphy shook his head.

"No, no medical supplies. But you need a hell of a lot more than just a little patching up..." He knew full well what it was like to stumble, wounded, through nightmare madness. It wasn't good. Hell, it had gotten killed a couple of times. Not that he seemed to stay dead, but it was just another one of those things he'd stopped thinking about. The average human brain had only so much capacity for the introduction of new ideas that entirely contradicted a person's accepted world view. Murphy's capacity had been reached already.

"What happened, anyway?"

Lloyd didn't really need much encouragement to sit back down in the chair. The second jolt of adrenaline was already fading away, and with it went the last reserves of strength he'd been using to stay on his feet.

"A monster attacked us," he said. "A cat. Only... not a cat." Sluggishly, he tried to string the words together to explain what had happened back there. "It tried to take Al... Alphonse..."

"The cat led something to us," Al said with a guilty expression. "It...it was like a mass of hair, grabbed me and tried to get into my body." He rubbed at his eyes again, trying to get rid of the phantom feeling of the strands pressing into them.

Ed took the opportunity of Lloyd getting within easier reach to use the strips of shirt to tie the bit being used as padding snugly in place. "Not too tight?"

He flopped into his own seat the adrenaline having worn off enough for him to really feel the tiredness his attack on the monster brought on. "I really hope we don't run into anything else tonight."

Night 68: Sun Room

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