Welcome to Gaia! ::

He ran inside. He didn't really care right now about what people had said about hospitals being dangerous: all he wanted was some place to lay down.

Of course, it had to be an abandoned hospital. It was the middle of an apocalypse, and everyone was holed up in the prison or the university or Clearview Apartments, not going to work. But it was a hospital, so that meant it had beds, right?

He found an arbitrary hallway and started walking down it, glancing back to figure out a landmark to look for later. "Hey - " he said, feeling the cold night air rush down his throat. Even in here? There had to be an open door somewhere. Or maybe an open window. Wataru wouldn't be surprised. At least he had the light of his ******** candles to let him know who was on their way. "Anyone here?"

His voice didn't echo, and he was glad for it. It'd be nice to see some sort of familiar face.

The other two phones were still ringing, even though Momoka had just hung up on him. Sure, they used to do it to each other all the time, but not in the middle of an emergency. "You have to know what's happening in Delta," he mumbled desperately. Did she? Hadn't she been on her way to visit him when it'd all happened? Yeah, but she wasn't supposed to get in until the day after. Buses sucked.

Still. More phones meant more people outside. "Hey," he said into the next one, cutting them off. "I - uh, I'm Katou," he said, remembering what'd happened over the radio and shivering. He didn't want to know who'd magically learned everyone's names.

"Don't be silly with me like that!" said someone's voice on the phone. "You know we're all having trouble. Can you help me or not? Please, Wataru..."

It was Momoka. "You just hung up on me!" he snapped.

"But I need help!" She was sobbing. "This is...I can't believe I used to cry when we ripped seams."

"Where are you?" he asked. "What do you need help with?"

How did she expect Wataru to be able to help any?

Sawyer prowled through the halls of the hospital, knife brandished and held out at arm's length. Her every nerve was alert, and she moved with all the intensity of a predator stalking prey through the shadows. Maybe that was wrong though. At this point, she found it hard to distinguish whether the roles had reversed. She could in fact be prey. The thought perturbed her less than she thought it would. At the very least, she knew how to bite back.

Gaze sweeping the up and down corridor, Sawyer bristled as breeze rattled the windows. She was on edge, a rarity considering her typical manic spirit. Her experience back in the fog had jostled her confidence. The waves of bodies had been pretty disgusting, and the echo of her own conscience annoying, but by far the worst thing had been the severity of the emotions the events had managed to pull out of her. She had never thought it possible, yet somehow she had become one of the lessers, a flesh suit bogged down by despair and insecurity. Thankfully, since taking refuge in the hospital the feelings had vanished. Whether they were gone for good or just biding their time she was unsure, but it left her feeling... anxious.

The atmosphere generally didn't help.

Hospitals were grim, uncomfortable places, even when they weren't infested by the living dead. To be fair, their usual inhabitants were not all that different: hundreds of people just waiting around to die. Inhabitants aside, there was something unsettling about hospitals. Something in the architecture, or the drab paint job, or the inoffensive wall-hangings. Prim nurses sweeping down the halls. The beep of foreign machinery. The occasional murmur of a distant, indistinct conversation.

Of course, most of those were no longer present. The hospital appeared long abandoned, since before Day Zero even, and was quiet. Well... mostly quiet. From somewhere up ahead, Sawyer could her the steady ring of a telephone. She paused to listen, confirm. It sounded exactly like the generic ringtone for her old cellphone. God, she hated that sound. Annoying as it was, it piqued her curiosity. The phones had been out of order for a month. Even before the last of her battery had died, she was unable to get a signal. Sure, it could have been a landline, but...

Making no more noise than a cat, Sawyer quickened her pace. She kept the knife ready in front of her. After experiencing the consequences of the last time she had gone poking around, she had resolved to take things a bit more seriously. That is to say, now she was armed. Not much else had changed. Nothing else needed to.

The ringing came from up a flight of stairs. Taking note of the sign on the wall to mark her location, Sawyer started to ascend. Moonlight poured out over the steps through a window that overlooked the hospital gates. Sawyer kept to the shadows. She crept directly under the window to hide from the light, then continued up the second half of the stairs. As she reached the last step, she heard something else beneath the ringing.

She strained her ears. It sounded like... a person. A voice. Familiar too. But familiarity meant nothing.

She peered around the corner, keeping breathing shallow. The hall was empty. She was sure though. Somewhere down that passage someone or something was talking. Then all at once a figure came barrelling down the hall towards her.

Sawyer pulled back, counting the seconds. She heard the thundering of footsteps. Then the figure dashed passed her hiding place and she jumped out. She tackled them hard enough to disrupt their balance, but not enough to tip them completely, securing one hand around their midriff. With her freehand she brandished the knife to her victim.