SUBPAR COMPILATION - CHAPTER 3 - DAY THREE
May 12, 2016 11:27:14 GMT -8
Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 12, 2016 11:27:14 GMT -8
>>GM
Ivan danced the night away and wandered around, waiting until nearly everyone had gone to bed before grabbing an armful of blankets and preparing to sleep on the floor of the empty apartment. He got up at three AM and wandered to the balcony for a smoke, when he met Sandy and followed her back to her room.
Ashley woke alone! Probably head out to the 6th floor thread.
>>GM
This night seemed a bit faster, though there were some sudden starts-- the cat yowling, the dog jumping on someone, a creak or a door closing...
Bryce kept being reminded of where he was and feeling awkward but pleasant about it. Seth slept pretty heavily luckily and didn't need to shift around much. He generally kept an arm behind Bryce's head, and sometimes an arm on top of him too. At some point the little dog curled behind their heads to sleep as well. Bryce eventually fell into a deeper sleep and there they remained until...
Seth's phone chirped like electronic crickets, and he stirred, reaching for it as Benji yapped. The sky was a royal blue and a vague light from it was already filtering into the empty living room. He turned the phone off and lay flat again pulling Bryce close like he was an extra warm pillow. He still seemed half-asleep.
Bryce pushed his way out gently, and sat up.
He sat up stiffly and blinked a few times.
Seth stretched his arms and made uncomfortable faces.
He stood slowly, and went over to the kitchen sink and pulled off the saran to splash his face.
Seth pulled his shirt off to wipe his wet face.
He came back into the room, tossing the candy to Bryce and laid down on the blanket again, with his shirt off still.
Seth felt like he dodged a bullet.
Bryce administered an inexpert massage, which was occasionally annoying but occasionally just what the doctor ordered. He alternated between little karate chops and the more typical rubbing.
Then-- there came a rapping at the door.
He was torn for a moment, between pretending he was just being a post-apoc masseur, and hiding-- and then he went for the other room.
He tossed the shirt over one shoulder and went for the door, Benji yapping and running around. He encountered a Chantelle.
Chantelle backed out into the hall and started plodding towards the stairs.
Seth closed the door, and noticed a lack of Bryces. Bryce poked his head out of the bedroom.
Seth hopped up to grab the door frame, trying to test its workout suitability.
He hopped down.
He winked and gave Bryce a friendly pat on the back. Bryce smiled.
Seth went back to the sink to continue washing, and Bryce wondered if that last line was flirtatious or ominous.
They proceeded to the 6th floor thread.
>>GM
The night passed with various people taking guard duty and attempting to clean up the mess left by the party. Nothing particularly eventful happened, except for some SWEET LOVIN PERHAPS???
The new work sign up was on the whiteboard-- presumably many people would take similar jobs to the day before. There was a new special job, to do a run to the nearby city hardware, to gather necessary tools and supplies for the electrical work.
(The location: goo.gl/maps/FWtMH PS-- Alex, look what's next door! ;D)
Two groups would go to make scavenging faster. Seth penciled a few names of people he wanted to ask to join his group, and Abdul-Rahman had already added his.
SEE WORK SIGN UP THREAD AND SIGN UP!
>>GM
Ben woke up in Sonya and Sandy's room, along with Davin and Ivan (who is that guy?). They were all passed out on the pillows and cushions spread about the living room, mostly clothed, after having talked the night away.
Davin awoke with a start.
>>BEN
Ben groaned and stretched. What was going on? Davin? What was he on about? Oh well, if it concerned Ben, Ben was sure that he'd hear more about it soon enough. Sitting up, Ben looked around, wondering what he should do next.
"Good morning," he said, looking at the others.
>>GM
Davin left the room in a hurry.
Ivan-
"We were talking about The Dukes of Hazzard, and blues music. Uh, then what? I don't remember falling asleep."
Sonya-
"We drink too much! Oh, my head is sick hurt."
Sandy-
"Breakfast, we need it. Ben, get it for me."
Sonya-
"Don't be rude, Sandy."
Sandy-
"I was joking. Hey Ben, let's all go get breakfast, huh?"
>>BEN
"Sure thing. Breakfast sounds good. Breakfast with lots of water."
Ben didn't know that much about hangovers, because drinking excessive amounts of alcohol wasn't really his thing. But he knew how dehydration would cause the brain to rattle around inside the skull, making every noise and movement painful. And he certainly hadn't been drinking any water last night. Urrrgggh. Time for a zombie walk down the halls.
He rose to his feet, and in mockery of a mighty leader, he pointed towards the door and quietly proclaimed: "To the community center!"
Then he proceeded to lead his ravenous horde there. And all was well.
>>GM
(Edited in Ben's thoughts on Patti's second post-it note.)
A ravenous horde arrived, and descended like zombiefied locusts upon the available food. That is, slowly and deliberately, trying not to move too quickly.
Ben looked around a bit to see what was going on, but didn't see anything that seemed to concern him overly much. Except for the jobs list, which he skimmed over before putting his name where it belonged. He wondered briefly why Stevie wouldn't be making chargers like the previous day, but then noticed that the man was going out to look for tools and such that would help them keep doing that. Looked like everyone was on the ball.
And Patti's note about a regular work-out schedule was something he'd have to get back to. Didn't seem necessary at the moment, but if Ben was ever going to be able to put his Kendo training to proper use he'd have to get physically fit.
>>GM
That shambolic horde from Sandy & Sonya's room was followed shortly by a smaller group from Patti / Lashonda / Peg's room.
>>GM
Seth caught up to Bryce after he'd changed into some semi-fresh clothes, his only pair of jeans getting a chance to line dry on the roof for awhile. Chantelle had mixed up some instant cocoa and was warming some pre-cooked bacon.
(GM NOTE-- Patti likes waking up so early, we will assume she's co-ordinating locking up the guns with Abdul-Rahman and Derek by now.)
Seth nodded to Abdul-Rahman, and poured himself a cup of cocoa. Abdul came over.
Abdul nodded.
Seth glanced over the work sign up and came to sit by Bryce with the cocoa.
Bryce looked a little disturbed thinking about that.
He sipped his orange juice.
Seth blinked a few times, and assumed he'd misheard, getting up to check on the bacon status.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Three full cycles of torture brought the doctor to a startling awakening. Something had been in his bed; he felt it move over him and panicked, still disoriented and only partially mobile. He disconnected the empty saline bag, his bladder feeling as full as possible, bending his elbow to prevent unnecessary bleeding. He blinked his eyes to regain full vision, in the darkness, while swinging himself over the side of the bed.
His foot found the scrap of paper he left for Micah. Why hadn't he woken me up? The note was clear enough? Dr. Victor rubbed his head slightly, still disoriented. He wasn't drunk, just exhausted; his body still in muscular shock from so much movement. Unwilling to move just yet, the doctor spied out of the room onto Mimi, nuzzled just above an auburn bush of hair.
The doctor let out a loose giggle at the sight, keeping his voice down so as not to awaken the late comers. How long had they been asleep? It must surely not be anywhere after six in the morning, lest he have lost his sense of time completely. At least he could wander the bedroom naked before deciding on what to wear. The bedsheet slipped off his slender form onto the bed as Dr. Victor moved to examine the closet.
The fullness of his bladder, however, had other thoughts. After attending to that need, he went back, sliding the panel to the side as softly as one spreads butter on toast. Nearly empty, there was a single pair of trousers, entirely too large, a button down white shirt, also too large, pieces of a tuxedo, several empty hangers, and a pair of dungarees, woman's cut, with a large frumpy butt. Well, considering we don't have a real laundry service, I think I'll put on the slacks from yesterday... and the Mystery Flannel! Oh, god... maybe I'll just dig around for a tee shirt...
The good doctor continued his nude excavation of the apartment, digging through the drawers and cubbyholes, coming up with some plain white undershirts, a single a-shirt, a few pairs of socks, boxers, and briefs. Does nobody believe in the hybrid ingenuity of boxer briefs anymore? This is a travesty, Peter! The doctor slipped on the briefs, adjusting, snapping and shifting them as best as he could. Might as well go commando, as they say, but that Dr. Melange... Dr. Victor suppressed his shudder.
Washing his face was a top priority, but he declined to shave today, only showing wisps of facial hair where he used to grow his sideburns and mustache. He slid the plain white shirt over his frame, followed by socks. He thought about doing the 'Risky Business' scene but realized Micah would probably just cuss or vomit. Instead, he pulled on last nights pants, tugging the nice belt tight around his waist. He wouldn't don on a shirt unless he needed to, and he figured there would be a lot of working to do. He gathered up what he could of his clothes into a small pile in the corner of the room. Washing his teeth, combing his hair, and applying his hidden stash of deodorant, the good doctor made his way through the apartment.
He let his fingers gently touch Mimi, pleased the beagle just yawned as opposed to stretching. Micah was sawing logs or whatever they called it down there, nearly face down in the leather sofa. Why won't he just sleep in a bed? Tiptoeing around the rest of the living room wasn't so bad. He lifted up his heavy bag and found the small pair of excedrine he had kept from before everything happened. He left them on the coffee table next to Micah with an empty glass. Even sleeping, Micah still looked kissable, though the doctor wouldn't steal kisses like a vampire.
The large load did feel burdensome, but Dr. Victor managed to make it out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor caught himself walking into another early group of people. He tucked his socks into his shoes, oddly sitting outside his apartment. He caught a glimpse of the board and positioned himself to read it. He caught names and jobs, similar to what had been situated before, except for the new excursion to a hardware store. He moved over to the bar and then to Chantelle.
"Oh, it is a nice morning for a change... coffee still hot?"
He took a mug and sipped it liberally. He caught sight of Abdul and gave him a small nod and the morning coffee salute by raising his mug about two inches in his direction.
The good doctor stood once again close to the board, but with his ears peeled to the room. Something in both senses bothered him. Bryce emoted something about vodka and Thierry was not listed. He knew that meant Thierry was probably on some guard duty still; and that meant he'd be staying with people in the 403 building. That would be nice. The doctor caught up with Seth, keeping a wary distance from the bacon.
"Seth, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have some things... well, I guess I should just wait for Dr. Melange. Have you seen her? I'm sure she must be one of those people who didn't have to worry about sleeping by herself, hmm?"
He let his words hang a little on the intimidating side, heavy vowel sounds and tilted his chin upwards before continuing.
"In any event, I doubt these defibrillators we obtained will be of any true use; once you're down... you're down. And I think there might be some useful parts in this for a battery storage. After all, it does just store the charge before unleashing it completely. There may be some way to save the stored charge and release it as needed. Like a car battery. I'm no engineer, but I think it'd be a good start... not to mention using car batteries as well."
The doctor broke up his rambling with a slurp of coffee.
"Chantelle, this is amazing. Are these the beans I gave you yesterday? Oh, it tastes like heaven. Aren't mornings just so much better these days?"
The doctor gave her the coffee salute as well.
"In any event, Seth, I was also wondering if Thierry was on guard duty today?"
>>ASHLEY
Ashley walks out of his room slowly, like a human zombie. Well, or like someone who isn't a morning person. How did he get out every morning bright and early again? He looked over at the doctor and the others congregating nearby, and then nods.
"I'm Ashley. What are you talking about?" He crosses his muscular arms and walks up to Victor. Seemed like a manly enough dude, his respect rose immediately.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor managed to stare down his nose up at Ashley without rising onto the balls of his feet.
"I talk about a great many things. I was trying to catch our leader before he went out on his excursion for supplies. You must be the other one who is going out. Good luck, and all that.
Dr. Victor attempted the coffee salute.
"You must try the coffee. It will pick you up. Straight from the mountains of Columbia brought on an ass of Juan Valdez. Delicious."
The doctor took a guzzlette of coffee, the steam seeming to give him a facelift. His tone was saturated with disinterest, his intent seeming more in tune with his mug.
"I'm Dr. Victor. I ran the emergency medical physicians group at UWMC. What was your occupation, Ashley? Any useful skills to contribute aside from your physique?"
>>ASHLEY
Ashley immediately renegged his opinion of Dr. Victor, all it needed was a few sentences. He narrowed his eyes a little bit before looking at the cups of coffee.
"I can shoot pretty well, I was a bit of a hunter before. Caught a few big bucks. I was...a personal trainer before all of this" He grins, and has a little glow of pride about him. He decides not to mention his actual occupation. It was for the better. Still, he didn't quite have that burstingly welcoming trainer attitude, granted the circumstances could have accounted for that.
"Leader needs someone who can cover his back...I assume that's Micah? Haven't seen him."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"Yes, Micah can certainly do all the running necessary, quite good with a knife, too. Sous chef, Australian, and-"
He leaned closer to Ashley, his voice hushed
"-and if he comes back harmed, I'll be very upset."
The doctor turned back towards the wall, trying to smile.
"In any event, welcome aboard. I suppose you have to have some skill to survive by yourself for two nights, hmm? I doubt they will let anyone have a gun unless it becomes necessary; it seems those things are rather susceptible to a simple baton to the skull. Excuse me."
The doctor walked back in front of the board, slurping noisily.
>>ASHLEY
"You musta been a surgeon or something because you aren't all that tactful or polite." He says back to the retreating man. Or maybe this was how all doctors were. Doctors. He hated visits. Always the fake smiles.
"I'll do what I can to help the group, but those things are dangerous." He spoke more to the others than Dr. Victor. He was done talking to Victor for now.
He left his bit of pipe in the room, but looks back quietly. He wondered what the doctor's deal was. Maybe Micah was an awesome leader, he didn't know, hadn't met him yet, but someone who could throw a party like that must be.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"Pssssh! A surgeon, you're pretty funny. Never heard that one before."
The doctor muttered into his coffee. He thought he recognized Ashley from somewhere, but he always recognized everyone it seemed. The bigger task was figuring out when he saw him; going through the countless images and other needless trivia stored in there was only half the battle.
Finished with staring at the board, he grabbed a plate, took some bacon with a smile for Chantelle, and nibbled it absently. He saved two pieces for Mimi, tucking them inside a rubber glove absently and stuffing it into his pants pocket.
"Has anyone seen Volya? I want to see him downstairs first thing, please. Unless Seth wants him to sign up for some task..."
Setting the plate down at the dirty station, Dr. Victor stretched his sore muscles with a groaning grunt. The doctor proceeded down the hall to his room where he set the rubber glove with bacon just inside the door as he pretended to tie his shoes.
>>ASHLEY
Ashley looked over at the newcomer. "I'm Ashley, I don't think I've met you." He looks over at Chantelle. Seems reasonably friendly, and offered her the same greeting. In the meantime he shot a look towards Victor. Didn't like that guy.
"It doesn't seem I've met many of the people here so far." He puts a hand on his hip where a pocket would be normally. He had a few suits with him from his drycleaning and looked a bit of business casual today.
>>MICAH
Micah was awoken much earlier than planned, by the soft feet of a puppy moving about his head and licking at his ear.
"Gruuomhrrr." He moaned at it, his head felt like it had been pounded in with a mallet. He rolled over, opening his bleary eyes and taking the pills left on the table. He hoped they were some kind of panadol type thing.
He had a quick once over with a sponge and a bit of a deodorant. He changed into the goth sweater and a new pair of briefs he found in a cupboard along with the converse and skinny jeans from before.
The pills did some kind of magic. As he made his way to the comm centre, and straight to the coffee he began feeling better.
"Morning Chantelle, how's tricks?"
He layered a plate with greasy bacon and whatever else he could stomach, along with a mug of coffee. When he had devoured that, he made his way to the board.
He squinted at it several times before shrugging and removing the question mark beside his name, for whatever task it was...
He noticed some strange guy giving him odd looks.
"Smell that bacon... it's fuckin good man. Get in there before it disappears."
He wandered off to find a chair to crash into, while everything was sorted out.
>>ALEX
Alex grabbed breakfast as quickly as possible, with a friendly smile to Chantelle, and crouched beside Micah's chair. He shoved food into his mouth like the task was a race. "Micah, you seen Ione 'round here?"
He wanted to avoid the woman. An encounter could not end well. If he was lucky, she hadn't forgiven him and would ignore him. That'd be awkward, but it was preferable to the alternative. If Ione did forgive him, Alex would have to play nice around a Mormon.
>>ASHLEY
Ashley spares a look over at where Victor was, and then says to the other two who just arrived. "Does this Victor guy always act like this? And who's Micah?" He asks, looking blankly at both of them. He had picked up some bacon and coffee in the meantime, and sighs.
>>ALEX
When Ash stopped by, Alex stopped fretting about Mormons and glanced up.
"Hullo. How was Dr. Victor acting? If you mean rude and crazy, yes, but he's not actually bad." He pointed helpfully at Micah. "He's Micah. You must be confused because I used so many weird names at the party last night. Uh. Okay, here's my nickname list: Homeboy is Micah, Nat Saint Michael is Nat, Dr. Uncle is Dr. Victor. He used to be Dr. Lector, but that changed. Slugger is Seth. Don't call him Snake. I don't like calling women nicknames, because they don't always take good to it, so Sarah is Sarah, Chantelle is Chantelle, and Anna is Anna. I don't know what I'll call you yet, Sir. HEY. Your name! It's like that kid from Pokemon! Marowak was my favorite. Mr. Marowak. How's that for a nickname, Sir?"
Finished with his illuminating explanation, Alex continued eating.
>>ASHLEY
To Chantelle: " Assburgers or not, he's a rude bastard and I don't like him."
To Micah: "..Oh, Hello Mr. Micah. I've been told you're the leader aren't you?" He gives Micah a respectful little nod, and then turns to Alex.
To Alex: "He's both. Guess I'll just ignore him but if he threatens me again I'm going to slug him." He closes his fist and flexes a little. He had a lot of patience but a threat within a few sentences of meeting someone wasn't good manners. "Micah's not even in my group." He looks over his shoulder at the doctor. Acting all condescending when he had all that doctor school. Well, he could have gone to three years of doctor school too! He was smart, just a different kind of smart! He crossed his arms and stewed in his grumbly thoughts.
>>MICAH
(GMs- Feel free to put these into the earlier posts for clarity etc
)
"Morning Alex, nope haven't seen her." He stole a bit of bacon from Alex's plate with a grin.
He turned to where Ashley stood nearby from his chair.
"Yeah I'm Micah, let's get one thing fucking clear Mr.' Ass burger'. I am not a fucking leader of anything. You've barely known the doctor less than a day. Let's wait to develop a deep seeded hatred for at least another 24 hours, yeah?"
>>GM - IN THE CLINIC…
Dr. Melange walked around the former restaurant, inspecting the furniture and taking a look at the great heap of supplies laid out on the large steel counters.
Columbo went slumping up the stairs, and Dr. Melange took a seat on a leather chair and slipped off her spike heels daintily.
>>GM
Columbo entered the room, looking bedraggled and put upon. (Even more than usual.) He picked up a plastic tray that had been brought upstairs from the restaurant, and began loading it with food, balancing a bottle of water and a glass of orange juice on top. He grumbled to himself.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor moved towards the table, his eyes narrowing as he caught a glimpse of Columbo.
"You took Dr. Melange last night?"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"Right, sir. I'll head that way. I just need to drop something off quickly and I'll be right down."
Abdul approaches Ashley, having finished some business with Derek.
He gave Columbo a nod, before moving off to the supply area. He put down the two units to the supply area. He waved at Micah, squinting narrowly at Alex. He offered Stevie and Seth one final coffee salute before retrieving his supplies and heading downstairs. I hope they all make it okay because I want hot and cold running water, yeah, that's why.
>>PATTI
Patti woke early and did the quietest workout she could manage, so as not to disturb her roommates. It was mostly core work, two minute plank rotations, some pushups, and not much else. She wanted to get back on track, but figured she'd wait until she could sit down with Alex, Ashley, and anyone else that was interested.
It was still wildly early, even after she cleaned up and deodorized. She was making a mental list of things to speak with others about as she went through her morning.
When she came out of her room, she saw Chantelle had just gotten up and was starting up fire to warm breakfast. "Morning. If you see Abdul, let him know I'll be back in a few minutes. Thanks."
>>SETH
Seth crunched on the reheated bacon, sitting in a chair on his feet, next to Bryce.
He crunched on the bacon.
Seth laughed.
>>PATTI
Patti came down the stairwell and started looking around the neat stacks of building supplies from the day before. As she remembered, there was indeed a surplus of hammers, including a framing hammer that was a little awkward for most hammering needs. This was a nice one with a metal neck and handle, with a shock absorbing grip molded around it.
She hefted it and swung it a few times. It was a little clumsy, but she thought she could make it work. She headed back upstairs.
>>GM
Abdul approaches Ashley, having finished some business with Derek.
>>GM
INDEED! Might Patti deign to engage a zombie in hand-to-hand combat? Stay tuned!
There was once again, no one in the garage except the back door crew.
>>GM
Hector came in.
>>PATTI
(OOC - Oh, wise and benevolent DMs, feel free to cut this out and edit it in earlier in the thread.)
When Patti came back upstairs, she found Abdul-Rahman sipping on some coffee. She showed him to her apartment where her roommates were still sleeping soundly.
They gathered the guns and ammo and brought it out to the community center. They got some funny looks, but some folks showed signs of relief when they began to stow them away in locked cabinets with the help of Derek.
She put together a plate of almost entirely protein, collected a small mug of tea, and sat down to relax a bit before the day's work began.
She penned some Post-It notes for various people, then affixed them to the jobs board.
When she saw the doctor, she approached him calmly. "Morning, doc. You look chipper this morning considering how much you drank last night. You must have the constitution of a Viking. Anyway, unless you feel a dire need for the thing, I'd like to take that pistol back so we can lock it up with the rest of the firearms, or reassign it to someone on the scavenging team, as needs would dictate. D'you mind?"
>>GM
Peg and Lashonda slept late, hangovers in waiting like the boulder of Damocles. Or whatever that thing was.
>>ASHLEY
To Abdul: "If Patti doesn't mind. I am a good shot and won't waste ammunition. I think I'm pretty good with a handgun, shotgun has more stopping power though, especially against these things."
He picks up the plate and puts it away, and thanks the cook again, before going to settle and wait for Patti's announcement.
>>ALEX
Alex frowned at Ashley's threat of violence and stared thoughtfully at the man as he spoke with Abdul. He hoped that Ash and Dr. Victor didn't fight. He hated breaking up fights. The aggressors always aimed for the face, and Alex loved his face.
If Alex hears Hector ask for help, he'll volunteer to go along on the wake-up-Volya expedition; he figures that his skills for picking things up might come in handy.
>>ASHLEY
He had been considering following Abdul away towards whatever had been happening
To Micah: He seems surprised since he assumed that he was the leader, but he shakes his head. "Nevermind." For whatever reason he had assumed so..
"Is he a friend of yours?" He wondered how he could be a friend of anyone's but apparently he did do things that were useful around here. Then again being a doctor was very useful in a crisis like this.
>>MICAH
"Yeah, you could call him that." Micah blushed slightly.
>>ASHLEY
Ashley squints and doesn't understand that reaction, he just nods and goes to try to find Seth. Where is this Seth person anyways? He'd look ahead for Abdul.
"Then I'm sorry for upsetting you. I doubt it upset him at all." He gives a little snort of annoyance at the thought. What was Assburgers anyways?
>>ALEX
Alex noticed Micah's blush, and his mouth dropped a little. Could it be that ... noooo. No way. He stared at his empty plate, seeming more than a little concerned and confused.
"Just ... turn the other cheek, Sir," Alex muttered at Ashley. "It's not worth fighting over."
>>PATTI
When Patti hears Hector's comment about Volya, she immediately thinks about the doctor's warning about a possible viral cause. Making sure her pistol was still covered by her shirt, she stood up and followed Hector.
"Is he hammered or just sick? Let's get the doctor."
>>GM
Hector looks at Patti with some alarm, but leads her toward the north stairwell.
To Patti's recollection, there was no roof exit in the north stairwell... PROCEED HENCE!
Abdul noticed Ashley looking for the leader and pointed out Seth. They went over to him, where he stood with Stevie.
>>MICAH
>>GM
Seth, Stevie & the rest of the hardware crew gathered, and went downstairs. Others milled around and went to their various jobs.
Everyone please go to your appropriate thread as you can! Feel free to finish conversations here though.
PATTI- let's assume you finished your business with Volya, and we can fill it in later.
Hardware crew-- meet in the alley!
>>MICAH
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor arrived promptly stuffed, carrying a half-filled mug of coffee and the dufflebag. He looked at dismay at the pilled supplies, mostly because it indicated the lack of effort from the previous clean up. His attitude seemed to sour, setting the duffle on the counter-space available.
"Dr. Melange, I welcome you into this five hours of mess. I'd like to apologize for a lack of their concern for our profession. It seems many people don't understand exactly what it took for us to achieve our titles."
He moved back into the restaurant area, dragging over the plush leather chair next to hers.
"I believe there will be a lot of thinking today. I have to treat a bite victim, and given the nature of disease and infection most human bites have, zombie-gnawing not withstanding, I'd like to get him started on some antibiotics. We have enough for a few people; I just don't like rationing out medication... if only because it twists my arm in the way triage does."
He slurped his coffee.
"The board said to go through and document... which is not my forte, if only due to my unique talent of hieroglyphics. I don't even know what they want us to document it for... after all, it would be pertinent knowledge only to us. I'd rather focus our time on something a little more productive. I guess you have had your fill with 'speculation.'"
Dr. Victor let his words hang in the air, crossing his leg over his other knee. He drank his coffee, hiding behind his mug.
"Dr. Melange, I will keep this mercifully short on that account. I thought about what Dr. Green had mentioned, regarding animation. I have seen heat coming from their fluids, mostly blood. I have witnessed both lack of agility as well as fine dexterity... one dead officer shot a pistol, or so I have been told. I did witness another open a door. I believe there are other things, as well, but we need to master the basic and the most prevalent. What are your thoughts?"
>>GM
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor smiled warmly.
"I think I like where your mind is going. If that theory is correct, though, wouldn't our little fiesta, in a city of probably now no more than a few hundred, have attracted more attention? Well, it might have, but I have become accustom to not peering outside the window unless necessary."
He set his mug down, pursing his lips in thought.
"I believe, if we are to say only the more primitive, say reptilian, brain remains in some sort of function, wouldn't scent also be an indicator? Obviously, sound, and of course, vision. But, they may still smell perspiration, hygiene, or maybe I should state they don't smell... well, I dare say I'm becoming more against the word 'infection' but clearly there is something akin to odor that I just can't shake from smelling like an infection. You can only catch the scent of so many pilonidal cysts, c. diff stool samples, and dare I say the walk of shame before you recognize it intimately. If we cannot use the nomenclature of 'infection' or 'disease' we should at least title it. I always like to know what I'm destroying."
He looked about the room, shrugging.
"I asked for that one guy, Volya, to be sent here promptly. It chafes me a little bit... But anyways, yes. I do want to get my hands inside one of them. I hope that doesn't sound to perverse, but 'elbow deep' is where I think I might be able to find some answers. I just can't treat them like normal patients, considering there most likely is no way to bring back the dead... aside from whatever is doing it all ready."
"I like you a lot for making me not feel so insecure about my intelligence. After a few nights with some of these people, it does make you feel like you're missing out on the big, obvious picture. If there is anything else I can do to assist you in your transition here, please just ask. I might not be a real puller in terms of the political structure here, but Seth is pretty much as much a push over as Dr. Feingold is."
"Maybe we should just start by doing H&Ps on them. I don't like the thought of really getting to know too many people; the thought of fixing someone's leg one minute and then delivering a swift kill blow to their temple isn't something they exactly outlined in Ethics class. When Columbo comes back, maybe he would be kind enough to go and gather the people who are relatively unoccupied first? You know, once I introduce you to Volya... er, you know, again... medically speaking."
(GM NOTE: H&Ps? Please let me know what that means.)
The good doctor turned a bit, rising out of the chair. He moved towards the supplies and began meticulously organizing them while he waited.
"We should also get the prescription medications, as well as good old fashioned over-the-counter medications that are in the 'general supply' if only so we know what we truly have access to. I never took a compounding class, but I guess I can learn. I hocked the defibrillators for the engineers to make a battery supply pack or something. I figured if we have to resort to trying to save someone from cardiac arrest, it might be too late before we ever got around to charging the things, let alone the turn-around factor on..."
The doctor felt the initial blush on his face fade as he added,
"Death, Part 2."
>>GM
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
<History and Physical>
The doctor turned, nodding to the Columbian with a flat smile.
"Mr. Columbo, thank you for assisting Dr. Melange this morning. If you could be so kind as to see what is happening with Mr. Volya? He is late for his appointment, well... his suggested appointment. Dr. Melange and I are just in the middle of sorting things and I would be greatful for you to use your skills in routing him for us, as Dr. Melange would also be. Do you have a clue where he might be located?"
>>GM
Columbo-
"Oh god, I hope these stairs aren't part of my job every damn day. *SIGH*"
He took off again.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor leaned out of the door way.
"I think communication between the various floors will be worked on today or tomorrow, Columbo. Thank you for your help in the meantime."
He turned back to face Dr. Melange. His voice was a little calmer than this morning.
"So, they do hold a charge... but, there's nothing quite like the Cardiac Thump! Never believed it, with all the d-fibs about, but let me tell you, it does work like a charm, as long as you don't break their rib cage. Reminds me of the time I saw Dr. Doynow pop some 38 year old guy in the chest and didn't even spill his coffee... no lid! I swear, that man had some ninjitsu touch, barely used any pressure."
>>GM
Dr. Bebe-
"Haha, that E.R. bravado! I've only had to do resuscitation once and it was wretched. Had to pump that lady for ten minutes with no good news until they got defib on her. I saved her life and she didn't get any damage worse than cracked ribs, but her pulse just wouldn't get back to normal without that interruption. Also, the AEDs give directions that can help non-doctors do it right.
What do you think of the no-breaths CPR they were starting to push? I have my doubts about it.
Hm... I have to admit, I like the physicals. It's fun to see things no one else gets to see. Not fun enough to keep me from going into research, but pretty damn fun."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor, had he less tact or respect for coffee, would have spit it out in a comical spray at Dr. Melange's ending statement. He shuddered and turned, choking down what was left of his lifeblood.
"Well, I'm not sure if we should do any more than a verbal... I tried to get some of them to disrobe in front of me and they pretty much flipped out and called me a loon. Do they not disrobe for their own PMD? I think they need some sort of dressing gown or something. I'm sure there was a screen we could use around here. I didn't even ask them to get completely naked. Just remove tops and bottoms. You'd think they were Puritans or something."
He set his empty mug on the counter and started looking through what medications were there. He began scribbling notes down for medications in a pristine doctor's script.
"Maybe a locked cabinet too. Not for lack of trust in so much as responsibility. Also a medication schedule... and we need to come up with some sort of wheelchair. Do you think we can manage one without resorting to Franco's tirade again?"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor shrugged a bit more, leaning on the counter.
"Oh, no-breath CPR is probably just going to be a short-lived phase when they realize how much oxygen is not being supplied to keep the brain of the patient alive. Or, when some poor group of doctors suddenly develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome... well, I suppose if the 'Assembly' or whatever it was over there decides. If it is of any consolation, I seriously doubt anybody up there has any more medical depth than what they watched on Grey's Anatomy or House."
The good doctor wrapped up writing down quick levels of medications, including a short proposal note for a locked area of drugs, It listed the basic OTC medications, such as aspirin and acetaminophen. He knew it would be a shame if someone was to come down with a small cold and die of a fever or some other nefarious parasite that would have been quashed by the pharmaceutical equivalent of chicken soup. He knew his handwriting wasn't atrocious and marveled at the glorious script. He wondered if objects such as pens and paper would become something akin to food in the coming months. Dr. Victor doubted anyone would be willing to risk certain death to stop by a Kinkos or CopyKing.
He cleared out the cabinet, finding a wine refrigerator and nodding slowly.
"Well, Dr. Melange, we can at least have an area to keep some of this, well, relatively safe. This chest here has a small glass door... and a padlock... or what's left of a padlock. I wonder if you have any expertise or I should say, experience in pharmacology or compounding?"
The doctor shrugged absently.
"I don't have any skill in either, but I do know the small pocket pharmacist guide memorized so, at least, I can... jury rig the appropriate concentrations. I'll go ahead and start listing things like infant dose conversions and mls to mcgs... the formulas aren't that bad but... Oh! We'll need a calculator of some sort. Maybe we can teach math classes on the side or do you think that is just too demeaning of us on them?"
Giving a stretch, Dr. Victor made sure his legs weren't going to lock solid in place. The dull, iron feeling was unpleasant, if not quite annoying. He rubbed his upper thigh.
"Sorry if this is seemingly dull compared to last night. I think the rest of it is going to become rather muted and plastic for a while. Well, I'd hate to say it, but I hope it does. I certainly am not one for keeping up people's spirits; I didn't do well in doctor comedy class. I hardly can make a pun they'd understand... "
"And I actually think I overheard someone mention my bedside manner was on the equivalent level of a surgeon. Which is just ridiculous! Surgeons get more respect than that and the act of cutting into a body, while still living, is the ultimate sign of respect. They should have called me an Anesthesiologist or something. Those guys are all jerks and they are the ones that gas the patients or dope them up. If I wanted to be a jerk, I'd make sure they were still awake and... well, let's not get too carried away with the semantics of plebeian humor."
Dr. Victor let out a huge chuckle at the last statement. He piled the papers he finished on the ugly yellow legal paper, setting them aside. He tucked the pen into his shirt pocket, just in case, and moved around to the entrance of the new clinic.
"What is taking them so long? The building isn't that big. Maybe I should go and teach them the importance of wasting precious time. It's not as if we can operate through the night... well, not the way they intend to do it."
As if on cue, Patti, Hector, Volya, and Columbo came in. Patti retrieved her gun from the doctor and left Volya in his care. Hector stayed to hang out, and Columbo ostensibly to help with work he was totally unqualified for.
>>GM
Patti left.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor shrugged a little but was great up for the verbal compliance. He turned quickly to Dr. Melange and spoke in a soft tone.
"I believe we need to gather some information about everyone here. Seth had spoken to some people and mentioned counselors. If we see them first, we can apply a stamp of approval on their fitness. Some of these things are devious; but not impatient. I witnessed it playing sympathies off some people for assistance. Needless to say, her physical body was quite deceased."
"In any event, what I'm getting at is doing a full screening on everyone in the building. Between shifts and even with the pair of us doing general histories, it might take a day. Information is vital and doing a mass triage is important. I heard there was an infant as well. I dislike doing those exams... In any event, yes. We should gather information on these people."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor nodded slowly.
"Volya, I'm going to recommend you take a little rest. I have some medicine that will help you with your infection. It's called penicillin; unfortunately, it's going to probably taste pretty bad. And, also, lay off the alcohol for a week, all right?"
The doctor went behind the counter and came back with six pills.
"Look, I'm going to bend the rules for you, since you're all right. Take one pill every day. If you feel worse, you come find me, okay? I won't lock you up or anything as long as you promise me you'll take one pill every day, okay?"
"Volya, I'm serious. Thank you Hector, for the water. Now, comrade, can I trust you?"
>>GM
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor shrugged, pulling on a pair of gloves. He meticulously made sure each finger was well outfitted with latex, tugging and sliding them over his hands. He did, however, think better of making fun of Volya's comment. The good doctor wondered if Dr. Melange had anything to do with that change of attitude in him.
"Volya, we won't do anything to harm you, okay? We'll need you to take your shirt off so we can look at your arm. Now, tell me about what happened, so Dr. Melange can hear."
"Hector, if you could, why don't you bring Volya some water. Over in the ice machine there is some, just press the button for ice and it'll come out. I'm sure he's pretty thirsty after the party."
Dr. Victor returned to the patient. He checked his vitals, using slow motions so Volya wouldn't flinch. (Temperature was slightly elevated, heart rate quick side of normal, perspiring yes but hard to tell if it was significant or just drunkenly going down the stairs, lookin' a little pale, wound still stitched and clean, but starting to misbehave - moderately swollen, reddish, and was that a trace of clear fluid?) He kept his words as simple as he could, trying not to over-reach Volya's grasp of the language. He knew he did speak a little louder than normal when doing so, but at the time, it was just force of habit.
"Volya. Does your head hurt, or do you feel hot or cold?"
"Da, it hurts bad. Uhh... warm."
"Did you have a lot to drink last night?"
"Oh yeah."
"Any weird dreams?"
"Don't remembers. Wait, maybe Patti was giving somebody a blowjobs... Uh, is that weird?"'
"How about your muscles, do you feel stiff or sore?"
"I am stiff as a zom- Uh, I'm stiffs a little."
Dr. Victor made sure to check Volya's pupils, his ears and his throat. (Fine, fine, fine - but winey as hell.) The distinct lack of hygiene was only a mild cause of alarm, and almost non-existent if Volya choked down as much vodka as the good doctor imagined. He knew full well it would be better not to confer with Dr. Melange, not out of arrogance, but out of concern. Patients usually get worried with a doctor, Volya was no exception. If he kept asking Dr. Melange for her help, it would only lead to an acute over-reaction of the patient; fear wasn't something Dr. Victor managed in patients and the scarcity of medication meant he couldn't knock him out of after the verbal communication failed. The good doctor did offer up a comforting, if slightly deflated, smile.
Hector came back with the water.
>>GM
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor nodded absently. His voice was still calm and he offered a parting smile to Dr. Melange.
"I would love to accompany you, Mr. Columbo. I am sure you would do well to tell me of the things you have witnessed these past few days. If not we can always complain about bad movies."
"Dr. Melange, I will see about getting you something more appropriate for traversing. We will return shortly. Is there anything else I can gather for you? Something else to drink, or some magazines, maybe a clip board?"
Dr. Victor nodded absently. His voice was still calm and he
Dr. Victor gently clapped Columbo on the back.
"Right, then. Let us go and discuss things with Marie. I believe I will make a few notes on her mental chart for progress. I think I still have some antiseptic ointment for her. She is really my second patient; Volya was the first. Well after Micah, but let us not dawdle about. Daylight is burning."
They went up stairs fast enough to catch up to Hector and slowpoking Volya. Volya looked at Doc like Charles was a dracula of some kind. What a goose.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor chuckled at the conversation and glanced about the community center. He knew my the very nature, Marie hadn't gotten far. He felt a little guilty at still lacking some form of mobility for the woman; however, the task for procuring such things was always placed on the nursing staff and social workers. Dr. Victor usually just scribbled consults down. Glancing around, the good doctor spoke quietly to Columbo.
"I'm going to talk to Marie. You're free to do what you want; I won't hold you to this task unless you want to do it. I know civil servitude isn't everyone's choice, and god knows it isnt my forte. If you're hanging around, though, you might want to see if there are a good pair of homely shoes for Dr. Melange. I know her feet are not hurting her yet, but she will thank me when the procedures begin and she ends up tripping on her heels."
He made his way towards the end of the hall, then paused. If Chantelle was out, he would offer her a smile and politely ask for more coffee. If the area was a mass of unwashed heathens, however, he would dart right towards Zoe's apartment.
Heathens. Heathers too.
"Ah for another cup of coffee. I think it is going to be a half-way decent day. Sometimes, a doctor just has the intuition about these things. It can be wrong; it isn't science, but it can't help to try and be positive in an atmosphere like this."
The tone would change from pleasure to sarcasm depending on the circumstances which he finds himself.
He should go to the specific rooms, 6th floor, marie/chantelle/zoe's room...
>>GM
Melange kicked up her heels and rubbed her face.
Ivan danced the night away and wandered around, waiting until nearly everyone had gone to bed before grabbing an armful of blankets and preparing to sleep on the floor of the empty apartment. He got up at three AM and wandered to the balcony for a smoke, when he met Sandy and followed her back to her room.
Ashley woke alone! Probably head out to the 6th floor thread.
>>GM
This night seemed a bit faster, though there were some sudden starts-- the cat yowling, the dog jumping on someone, a creak or a door closing...
Bryce kept being reminded of where he was and feeling awkward but pleasant about it. Seth slept pretty heavily luckily and didn't need to shift around much. He generally kept an arm behind Bryce's head, and sometimes an arm on top of him too. At some point the little dog curled behind their heads to sleep as well. Bryce eventually fell into a deeper sleep and there they remained until...
Seth's phone chirped like electronic crickets, and he stirred, reaching for it as Benji yapped. The sky was a royal blue and a vague light from it was already filtering into the empty living room. He turned the phone off and lay flat again pulling Bryce close like he was an extra warm pillow. He still seemed half-asleep.
Bryce pushed his way out gently, and sat up.
Bryce-
"Ahhh why'd you set the alarm man? Where does anybody have to be anymore?"
Seth-
"Mm I thought.... should get up when I used to. Gotta... work out..."
He sat up stiffly and blinked a few times.
Bryce-
"How do you feel? Don't you think yesterday was enough of a workout?"
Seth stretched his arms and made uncomfortable faces.
Seth-
"Ugh... I wouldn't have thought it was... but maybe it was. So stiff argh..."
Bryce-
"Hmm do you have a candy bar around here somewhere?"
Seth-
"Oh, hungry? I think I put a Twix in my shirt pocket over there."
He stood slowly, and went over to the kitchen sink and pulled off the saran to splash his face.
Bryce-
"Okay, that's it. That's what I needed, and now I tell you, I have a secret power."
Seth pulled his shirt off to wipe his wet face.
Seth-
"Secret powers huh?"
Bryce-
"Yeah, for sore muscles. I took a massage class at college."
Seth-
"Aw yeah! This is what the post-capitalist world is all about, bartering for services. I'm into it."
Bryce-
"Yeah yeah, I might want to value those services cheaply, because I only showed up for one day of class, and it wasn't the first one."
Seth-
"Well, anything'd be nice I'm sure. Better than Benji running around on top of me all night at least."
He came back into the room, tossing the candy to Bryce and laid down on the blanket again, with his shirt off still.
Bryce-
"Boy, you aren't modest. Not like you'd have to be. Oh that's kinda funny... You wax your body hair. You can see the little stubbles."
Seth-
"Ohh... yeah. Y'know, some people are into that. I'm obviously going to grow it in though. What do you think?"
Bryce-
"That seems like a pretty extreme thing to do because 'some people are into it', but yeah... whatever you like man."
Seth felt like he dodged a bullet.
Bryce-
"Alright, let's commence to implementing my semi-learned technique."
Seth-
"Go for it, sensei."
Bryce administered an inexpert massage, which was occasionally annoying but occasionally just what the doctor ordered. He alternated between little karate chops and the more typical rubbing.
Seth-
"Not bad, worth a Twix I think. I'm not that into Twix."
Bryce-
"Maybe I should have charged more."
Then-- there came a rapping at the door.
Bryce-
"Eh..!"
He was torn for a moment, between pretending he was just being a post-apoc masseur, and hiding-- and then he went for the other room.
Seth-
"Aw man..."
He tossed the shirt over one shoulder and went for the door, Benji yapping and running around. He encountered a Chantelle.
Chantelle-
"Hey... somebody's putting guns in the community center in a cabinet and I thought you should know about that."
Seth-
"Oh yeah, I talked to that soldier woman about that. Well that's good, I guess I should go check it out."
Chantelle-
"Yeah, I dunno. It feels a little weird to me, but I guess I got cookin' to do. Back to the old grind."
Chantelle backed out into the hall and started plodding towards the stairs.
Chantelle-
"Later boss!"
Seth closed the door, and noticed a lack of Bryces. Bryce poked his head out of the bedroom.
Bryce-
"Is it gone?"
Seth-
"Yes, you poor sensitive soul, the boogey Chantelle is gone."
Bryce-
"Hey, she has very scary hair. Don't judge me."
Seth hopped up to grab the door frame, trying to test its workout suitability.
Seth-
"Eh, not strong enough."
He hopped down.
Seth-
"Hey thanks for hanging out with me last night, that was fun."
Bryce-
"Oh yeah, no prob. I mean, it's really cool that we got so many gay guys here but... those guys are fuckin' nuts."
Seth-
"I might not phrase it that way, but yeah. They're very... odd."
Bryce-
"That's generous. Well alright, I guess I'm going to sit around the community center and wait for breakfast. Heyy... I get up there early, I can sign up for some bullshit duty. Great!"
Seth-
"See the benefits of getting up early?"
He winked and gave Bryce a friendly pat on the back. Bryce smiled.
Bryce-
"I am going to sleep for at least four hours today at some point."
Seth-
"Good, conserve your energy. You might need it, haha."
Seth went back to the sink to continue washing, and Bryce wondered if that last line was flirtatious or ominous.
They proceeded to the 6th floor thread.
>>GM
The night passed with various people taking guard duty and attempting to clean up the mess left by the party. Nothing particularly eventful happened, except for some SWEET LOVIN PERHAPS???
The new work sign up was on the whiteboard-- presumably many people would take similar jobs to the day before. There was a new special job, to do a run to the nearby city hardware, to gather necessary tools and supplies for the electrical work.
(The location: goo.gl/maps/FWtMH PS-- Alex, look what's next door! ;D)
Two groups would go to make scavenging faster. Seth penciled a few names of people he wanted to ask to join his group, and Abdul-Rahman had already added his.
SEE WORK SIGN UP THREAD AND SIGN UP!
>>GM
Ben woke up in Sonya and Sandy's room, along with Davin and Ivan (who is that guy?). They were all passed out on the pillows and cushions spread about the living room, mostly clothed, after having talked the night away.
Davin awoke with a start.
Davin-
"Sandy, Rex! Oh no!"
Sandy-
"What, who? Huh?"
Davin-
"I gotta go to my pets! I hope that weirdo Luke didn't eat them for breakfast!"
>>BEN
Ben groaned and stretched. What was going on? Davin? What was he on about? Oh well, if it concerned Ben, Ben was sure that he'd hear more about it soon enough. Sitting up, Ben looked around, wondering what he should do next.
"Good morning," he said, looking at the others.
>>GM
Davin left the room in a hurry.
Ivan-
"We were talking about The Dukes of Hazzard, and blues music. Uh, then what? I don't remember falling asleep."
Sonya-
"We drink too much! Oh, my head is sick hurt."
Sandy-
"Breakfast, we need it. Ben, get it for me."
Sonya-
"Don't be rude, Sandy."
Sandy-
"I was joking. Hey Ben, let's all go get breakfast, huh?"
>>BEN
"Sure thing. Breakfast sounds good. Breakfast with lots of water."
Ben didn't know that much about hangovers, because drinking excessive amounts of alcohol wasn't really his thing. But he knew how dehydration would cause the brain to rattle around inside the skull, making every noise and movement painful. And he certainly hadn't been drinking any water last night. Urrrgggh. Time for a zombie walk down the halls.
He rose to his feet, and in mockery of a mighty leader, he pointed towards the door and quietly proclaimed: "To the community center!"
Then he proceeded to lead his ravenous horde there. And all was well.
>>GM
(Edited in Ben's thoughts on Patti's second post-it note.)
A ravenous horde arrived, and descended like zombiefied locusts upon the available food. That is, slowly and deliberately, trying not to move too quickly.
Ben looked around a bit to see what was going on, but didn't see anything that seemed to concern him overly much. Except for the jobs list, which he skimmed over before putting his name where it belonged. He wondered briefly why Stevie wouldn't be making chargers like the previous day, but then noticed that the man was going out to look for tools and such that would help them keep doing that. Looked like everyone was on the ball.
And Patti's note about a regular work-out schedule was something he'd have to get back to. Didn't seem necessary at the moment, but if Ben was ever going to be able to put his Kendo training to proper use he'd have to get physically fit.
>>GM
That shambolic horde from Sandy & Sonya's room was followed shortly by a smaller group from Patti / Lashonda / Peg's room.
Sandy-
"You'd think it would be quieter in here with the hangovers..."
Sonya-
"Sandy shooosh."
Peg-
"Am I a zombie? I think I'm a zombie."
Bryce-
"The Misfits have a song about that, I'm pretty sure... Good morning, people."
>>GM
Seth caught up to Bryce after he'd changed into some semi-fresh clothes, his only pair of jeans getting a chance to line dry on the roof for awhile. Chantelle had mixed up some instant cocoa and was warming some pre-cooked bacon.
(GM NOTE-- Patti likes waking up so early, we will assume she's co-ordinating locking up the guns with Abdul-Rahman and Derek by now.)
Seth nodded to Abdul-Rahman, and poured himself a cup of cocoa. Abdul came over.
Abdul-Rahman-
"Well, things seem to be coming together. That was a good idea to keep the guns in a central location."
Seth-
"Yeah, I figure if we get some sort of attack we can run and get them, and we'll know where to guard if someone gets possessed."
Abdul nodded.
Abdul-Rahman-
"I... hope we have coffee."
Chantelle-
"Come and get it man!"
Seth glanced over the work sign up and came to sit by Bryce with the cocoa.
Bryce-
"Hey, I get a personal visit from the president."
Seth-
"It's pretty exciting, isn't it? Get the job you wanted?"
Bryce-
"Yeah, I'm all about it. They're just gonna have to hold me back."
Seth-
(a little quieter) "Hey how are you feeling?"
Bryce-
"Huh? Why do you ask that?"
Seth-
"I dunno, you seem fine. I just wanted to make sure."
Bryce looked a little disturbed thinking about that.
Seth-
"Sorry. I won't bug you."
Bryce-
"No, um... I guess it's important to know stuff like that. I told Kenny about it. I was just fucking around. I ain't gonna get anybody hurt, I sure the hell ain't gonna go out on missions and stuff."
Seth-
"It's okay, I wasn't asking because I want you to do work or something. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay because..."
He shrugged and smiled a little coyly.
"You can tell me if you need anything."
Bryce-
"Hm... Ice cream. Just... we need refrigeration."
Seth-
"Yeah, we're going out to get some tools and stuff today. Gotta be able to keep that seagull meat for longer."
Bryce-
"Oh man. I hope it doesn't come to that. I bet those guys are riddled with amoebas and mercury and stuff."
Seth-
"--And meat! Haha... Actually, I'd rather eat a Canadian goose. Or a pigeon."
Bryce-
"Eww, I don't even wanna think about it. Get outta here-- and, I love you."
He sipped his orange juice.
Seth blinked a few times, and assumed he'd misheard, getting up to check on the bacon status.
Bryce-
"This needs vodka."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Three full cycles of torture brought the doctor to a startling awakening. Something had been in his bed; he felt it move over him and panicked, still disoriented and only partially mobile. He disconnected the empty saline bag, his bladder feeling as full as possible, bending his elbow to prevent unnecessary bleeding. He blinked his eyes to regain full vision, in the darkness, while swinging himself over the side of the bed.
His foot found the scrap of paper he left for Micah. Why hadn't he woken me up? The note was clear enough? Dr. Victor rubbed his head slightly, still disoriented. He wasn't drunk, just exhausted; his body still in muscular shock from so much movement. Unwilling to move just yet, the doctor spied out of the room onto Mimi, nuzzled just above an auburn bush of hair.
The doctor let out a loose giggle at the sight, keeping his voice down so as not to awaken the late comers. How long had they been asleep? It must surely not be anywhere after six in the morning, lest he have lost his sense of time completely. At least he could wander the bedroom naked before deciding on what to wear. The bedsheet slipped off his slender form onto the bed as Dr. Victor moved to examine the closet.
The fullness of his bladder, however, had other thoughts. After attending to that need, he went back, sliding the panel to the side as softly as one spreads butter on toast. Nearly empty, there was a single pair of trousers, entirely too large, a button down white shirt, also too large, pieces of a tuxedo, several empty hangers, and a pair of dungarees, woman's cut, with a large frumpy butt. Well, considering we don't have a real laundry service, I think I'll put on the slacks from yesterday... and the Mystery Flannel! Oh, god... maybe I'll just dig around for a tee shirt...
The good doctor continued his nude excavation of the apartment, digging through the drawers and cubbyholes, coming up with some plain white undershirts, a single a-shirt, a few pairs of socks, boxers, and briefs. Does nobody believe in the hybrid ingenuity of boxer briefs anymore? This is a travesty, Peter! The doctor slipped on the briefs, adjusting, snapping and shifting them as best as he could. Might as well go commando, as they say, but that Dr. Melange... Dr. Victor suppressed his shudder.
Washing his face was a top priority, but he declined to shave today, only showing wisps of facial hair where he used to grow his sideburns and mustache. He slid the plain white shirt over his frame, followed by socks. He thought about doing the 'Risky Business' scene but realized Micah would probably just cuss or vomit. Instead, he pulled on last nights pants, tugging the nice belt tight around his waist. He wouldn't don on a shirt unless he needed to, and he figured there would be a lot of working to do. He gathered up what he could of his clothes into a small pile in the corner of the room. Washing his teeth, combing his hair, and applying his hidden stash of deodorant, the good doctor made his way through the apartment.
He let his fingers gently touch Mimi, pleased the beagle just yawned as opposed to stretching. Micah was sawing logs or whatever they called it down there, nearly face down in the leather sofa. Why won't he just sleep in a bed? Tiptoeing around the rest of the living room wasn't so bad. He lifted up his heavy bag and found the small pair of excedrine he had kept from before everything happened. He left them on the coffee table next to Micah with an empty glass. Even sleeping, Micah still looked kissable, though the doctor wouldn't steal kisses like a vampire.
The large load did feel burdensome, but Dr. Victor managed to make it out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor caught himself walking into another early group of people. He tucked his socks into his shoes, oddly sitting outside his apartment. He caught a glimpse of the board and positioned himself to read it. He caught names and jobs, similar to what had been situated before, except for the new excursion to a hardware store. He moved over to the bar and then to Chantelle.
"Oh, it is a nice morning for a change... coffee still hot?"
Chantelle-
"You know it, doc! We need a coffee expert to get this really nice, but no one with barista experience has been willing to admit it yet." :-)
He took a mug and sipped it liberally. He caught sight of Abdul and gave him a small nod and the morning coffee salute by raising his mug about two inches in his direction.
The good doctor stood once again close to the board, but with his ears peeled to the room. Something in both senses bothered him. Bryce emoted something about vodka and Thierry was not listed. He knew that meant Thierry was probably on some guard duty still; and that meant he'd be staying with people in the 403 building. That would be nice. The doctor caught up with Seth, keeping a wary distance from the bacon.
"Seth, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have some things... well, I guess I should just wait for Dr. Melange. Have you seen her? I'm sure she must be one of those people who didn't have to worry about sleeping by herself, hmm?"
Seth-
"Oh yes, I haven't seen her yet this morning. I'm not even sure what room she's been assigned... I'd imagine you two will be working on setting up the clinic today, Jonah and Kaito spent yesterday cleaning so it should be in a lot better state today."
He let his words hang a little on the intimidating side, heavy vowel sounds and tilted his chin upwards before continuing.
"In any event, I doubt these defibrillators we obtained will be of any true use; once you're down... you're down. And I think there might be some useful parts in this for a battery storage. After all, it does just store the charge before unleashing it completely. There may be some way to save the stored charge and release it as needed. Like a car battery. I'm no engineer, but I think it'd be a good start... not to mention using car batteries as well."
Seth-
"Good thinking, I'll mention it to Stevie today."
The doctor broke up his rambling with a slurp of coffee.
"Chantelle, this is amazing. Are these the beans I gave you yesterday? Oh, it tastes like heaven. Aren't mornings just so much better these days?"
Chantelle-
"Hope it stays this nice, might be less nice when we have to eat seagull bacon, haha."
The doctor gave her the coffee salute as well.
"In any event, Seth, I was also wondering if Thierry was on guard duty today?"
Seth-
"Yeah, him and Davin both are kind of on a 'break' day. I figure we should rotate who goes out, who has big jobs and what not. If you'd like him to help you out in the clinic, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you asked."
>>ASHLEY
Ashley walks out of his room slowly, like a human zombie. Well, or like someone who isn't a morning person. How did he get out every morning bright and early again? He looked over at the doctor and the others congregating nearby, and then nods.
"I'm Ashley. What are you talking about?" He crosses his muscular arms and walks up to Victor. Seemed like a manly enough dude, his respect rose immediately.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor managed to stare down his nose up at Ashley without rising onto the balls of his feet.
"I talk about a great many things. I was trying to catch our leader before he went out on his excursion for supplies. You must be the other one who is going out. Good luck, and all that.
Dr. Victor attempted the coffee salute.
"You must try the coffee. It will pick you up. Straight from the mountains of Columbia brought on an ass of Juan Valdez. Delicious."
The doctor took a guzzlette of coffee, the steam seeming to give him a facelift. His tone was saturated with disinterest, his intent seeming more in tune with his mug.
"I'm Dr. Victor. I ran the emergency medical physicians group at UWMC. What was your occupation, Ashley? Any useful skills to contribute aside from your physique?"
>>ASHLEY
Ashley immediately renegged his opinion of Dr. Victor, all it needed was a few sentences. He narrowed his eyes a little bit before looking at the cups of coffee.
"I can shoot pretty well, I was a bit of a hunter before. Caught a few big bucks. I was...a personal trainer before all of this" He grins, and has a little glow of pride about him. He decides not to mention his actual occupation. It was for the better. Still, he didn't quite have that burstingly welcoming trainer attitude, granted the circumstances could have accounted for that.
"Leader needs someone who can cover his back...I assume that's Micah? Haven't seen him."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"Yes, Micah can certainly do all the running necessary, quite good with a knife, too. Sous chef, Australian, and-"
He leaned closer to Ashley, his voice hushed
"-and if he comes back harmed, I'll be very upset."
The doctor turned back towards the wall, trying to smile.
"In any event, welcome aboard. I suppose you have to have some skill to survive by yourself for two nights, hmm? I doubt they will let anyone have a gun unless it becomes necessary; it seems those things are rather susceptible to a simple baton to the skull. Excuse me."
The doctor walked back in front of the board, slurping noisily.
>>ASHLEY
"You musta been a surgeon or something because you aren't all that tactful or polite." He says back to the retreating man. Or maybe this was how all doctors were. Doctors. He hated visits. Always the fake smiles.
"I'll do what I can to help the group, but those things are dangerous." He spoke more to the others than Dr. Victor. He was done talking to Victor for now.
He left his bit of pipe in the room, but looks back quietly. He wondered what the doctor's deal was. Maybe Micah was an awesome leader, he didn't know, hadn't met him yet, but someone who could throw a party like that must be.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"Pssssh! A surgeon, you're pretty funny. Never heard that one before."
The doctor muttered into his coffee. He thought he recognized Ashley from somewhere, but he always recognized everyone it seemed. The bigger task was figuring out when he saw him; going through the countless images and other needless trivia stored in there was only half the battle.
Finished with staring at the board, he grabbed a plate, took some bacon with a smile for Chantelle, and nibbled it absently. He saved two pieces for Mimi, tucking them inside a rubber glove absently and stuffing it into his pants pocket.
"Has anyone seen Volya? I want to see him downstairs first thing, please. Unless Seth wants him to sign up for some task..."
Setting the plate down at the dirty station, Dr. Victor stretched his sore muscles with a groaning grunt. The doctor proceeded down the hall to his room where he set the rubber glove with bacon just inside the door as he pretended to tie his shoes.
>>ASHLEY
Ashley looked over at the newcomer. "I'm Ashley, I don't think I've met you." He looks over at Chantelle. Seems reasonably friendly, and offered her the same greeting. In the meantime he shot a look towards Victor. Didn't like that guy.
"It doesn't seem I've met many of the people here so far." He puts a hand on his hip where a pocket would be normally. He had a few suits with him from his drycleaning and looked a bit of business casual today.
>>MICAH
Micah was awoken much earlier than planned, by the soft feet of a puppy moving about his head and licking at his ear.
"Gruuomhrrr." He moaned at it, his head felt like it had been pounded in with a mallet. He rolled over, opening his bleary eyes and taking the pills left on the table. He hoped they were some kind of panadol type thing.
He had a quick once over with a sponge and a bit of a deodorant. He changed into the goth sweater and a new pair of briefs he found in a cupboard along with the converse and skinny jeans from before.
The pills did some kind of magic. As he made his way to the comm centre, and straight to the coffee he began feeling better.
"Morning Chantelle, how's tricks?"
Chantelle-
"G'morning mate! Haha, was that pretty good? Eh, I'll leave the Australianing to you maybe."
He layered a plate with greasy bacon and whatever else he could stomach, along with a mug of coffee. When he had devoured that, he made his way to the board.
He squinted at it several times before shrugging and removing the question mark beside his name, for whatever task it was...
He noticed some strange guy giving him odd looks.
"Smell that bacon... it's fuckin good man. Get in there before it disappears."
He wandered off to find a chair to crash into, while everything was sorted out.
>>ALEX
Alex grabbed breakfast as quickly as possible, with a friendly smile to Chantelle, and crouched beside Micah's chair. He shoved food into his mouth like the task was a race. "Micah, you seen Ione 'round here?"
He wanted to avoid the woman. An encounter could not end well. If he was lucky, she hadn't forgiven him and would ignore him. That'd be awkward, but it was preferable to the alternative. If Ione did forgive him, Alex would have to play nice around a Mormon.
>>ASHLEY
Ashley spares a look over at where Victor was, and then says to the other two who just arrived. "Does this Victor guy always act like this? And who's Micah?" He asks, looking blankly at both of them. He had picked up some bacon and coffee in the meantime, and sighs.
Chantelle-
"I'm Chantelle, the chef! It's a weird job description these days...
Dr. Victor? I think he has Asperger's Syndrome or something. I'm sure he can't help it. And Micah is Australian, so... Oh, you don't even know who he is! Um, he's my sous chef! Oh, there he is now!" She gestured toward Micah's chair, and Ashley recognized him (from Indea's post on the last page) as the guy who recommended he get some bacon...
>>ALEX
When Ash stopped by, Alex stopped fretting about Mormons and glanced up.
"Hullo. How was Dr. Victor acting? If you mean rude and crazy, yes, but he's not actually bad." He pointed helpfully at Micah. "He's Micah. You must be confused because I used so many weird names at the party last night. Uh. Okay, here's my nickname list: Homeboy is Micah, Nat Saint Michael is Nat, Dr. Uncle is Dr. Victor. He used to be Dr. Lector, but that changed. Slugger is Seth. Don't call him Snake. I don't like calling women nicknames, because they don't always take good to it, so Sarah is Sarah, Chantelle is Chantelle, and Anna is Anna. I don't know what I'll call you yet, Sir. HEY. Your name! It's like that kid from Pokemon! Marowak was my favorite. Mr. Marowak. How's that for a nickname, Sir?"
Finished with his illuminating explanation, Alex continued eating.
>>ASHLEY
To Chantelle: " Assburgers or not, he's a rude bastard and I don't like him."
Chantelle-
"Yeesh."
To Micah: "..Oh, Hello Mr. Micah. I've been told you're the leader aren't you?" He gives Micah a respectful little nod, and then turns to Alex.
To Alex: "He's both. Guess I'll just ignore him but if he threatens me again I'm going to slug him." He closes his fist and flexes a little. He had a lot of patience but a threat within a few sentences of meeting someone wasn't good manners. "Micah's not even in my group." He looks over his shoulder at the doctor. Acting all condescending when he had all that doctor school. Well, he could have gone to three years of doctor school too! He was smart, just a different kind of smart! He crossed his arms and stewed in his grumbly thoughts.
>>MICAH
(GMs- Feel free to put these into the earlier posts for clarity etc
)"Morning Alex, nope haven't seen her." He stole a bit of bacon from Alex's plate with a grin.
He turned to where Ashley stood nearby from his chair.
"Yeah I'm Micah, let's get one thing fucking clear Mr.' Ass burger'. I am not a fucking leader of anything. You've barely known the doctor less than a day. Let's wait to develop a deep seeded hatred for at least another 24 hours, yeah?"
>>GM - IN THE CLINIC…
Dr. Melange walked around the former restaurant, inspecting the furniture and taking a look at the great heap of supplies laid out on the large steel counters.
Dr. Bebe-
"Hm, the biggest difficult will certainly be lighting. For a proper inspection, you need very good light."
Columbo-
"That's why hospitals always give me a headache!"
Dr. Bebe-
Uh, if you say so.. We need something that doesn't require power. Maybe, we can use powered lighting for inspections but use something else for the interim. They were using a brazier upstairs, a small bonfire in a controlled circumstance with a lot of mirrors... Multiple light sources would be ideal.
Columbo-
"Oh man, I can't think. Too hungry..."
Bebe-
"Hm. You know Columbo, perhaps you should go get some food. In fact, go up there and get food for both of us and bring it back. I would like, if it's available-- eggs, bacon, biscuits... butter and jam, hmmm... and orange juice. And some water as well. Bottled water. Perrier."
Columbo-
"Damn you are fussy for the Armageddon. They're probably serving M&M stew with mashed Doritos."
Dr. Bebe-
"I said if it was available. If all we have available is M&M stew, then I would like M&M stew with orange juice and Perrier."
Columbo-
"Ookay baby."
Dr. Bebe-
"It's 'Bebe', I would prefer if you would not translate my name into English."
Columbo went slumping up the stairs, and Dr. Melange took a seat on a leather chair and slipped off her spike heels daintily.
>>GM
Columbo entered the room, looking bedraggled and put upon. (Even more than usual.) He picked up a plastic tray that had been brought upstairs from the restaurant, and began loading it with food, balancing a bottle of water and a glass of orange juice on top. He grumbled to himself.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor moved towards the table, his eyes narrowing as he caught a glimpse of Columbo.
"You took Dr. Melange last night?"
Columbo-
"Eheheheh! Whatever do you mean my good doctor? Oh oh, you mean... Eh eh... Nevermind. Hey, you should come down to the clinic man, the Doctor is all talking doctorspeak and I can't understand it."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"Right, sir. I'll head that way. I just need to drop something off quickly and I'll be right down."
Abdul approaches Ashley, having finished some business with Derek.
Columbo-
"See you in the office, man."
He gave Columbo a nod, before moving off to the supply area. He put down the two units to the supply area. He waved at Micah, squinting narrowly at Alex. He offered Stevie and Seth one final coffee salute before retrieving his supplies and heading downstairs. I hope they all make it okay because I want hot and cold running water, yeah, that's why.
>>PATTI
Patti woke early and did the quietest workout she could manage, so as not to disturb her roommates. It was mostly core work, two minute plank rotations, some pushups, and not much else. She wanted to get back on track, but figured she'd wait until she could sit down with Alex, Ashley, and anyone else that was interested.
It was still wildly early, even after she cleaned up and deodorized. She was making a mental list of things to speak with others about as she went through her morning.
When she came out of her room, she saw Chantelle had just gotten up and was starting up fire to warm breakfast. "Morning. If you see Abdul, let him know I'll be back in a few minutes. Thanks."
>>SETH
Seth crunched on the reheated bacon, sitting in a chair on his feet, next to Bryce.
Stevie-
"Hey! It's my pleasant young gentlemen. Good morning. Let us feast on the last protein of man's world."
Seth-
"Good morning Stevie. Ugh... I hope we get more protein or I'm going to be looking like Skeletor in five minutes."
Stevie-
"Yeah you got that high speed metabolism. Where'd you get that from? Are you part Masai?"
Seth-
"I think my peoples must have been living in the land of milk and cheeseburgers. Maybe we can hit a GNC and I can get a protein shake IV going."
Bryce-
"Man, you guys are freaks. Trying to get my drink on and you're speaking Martian at 75 rpm."
Seth-
"We're quippy, Bryce. Like wacky characters in a movie. Anyhow, ready for our big trip Stevie?"
Stevie-
"Yeah! I really feel like I'm starting to get the hang of the katanas. It's weird at first, it's not... intuitive. I guess I didn't watch enough Kurosawa movies."
Seth-
"You look like a real pro when I seen you use those things. I feel like I'm using left handed scissors with that club, but it gets the job done. I'm worried the head's gonna break off though and I'll be left with just a pokin' stick."
Stevie-
"Poking... a lot of time with my katanas, it's better to stab 'em in the eyeball than try to chop anything. Why not take the head off the club and use it for poking?"
Seth-
"Hey that's not a bad idea. I'm usually just crackin' 'em in the heads, but maybe a sorta... spear would be good. Like... I could poke 'em in the guts."
He crunched on the bacon.
Bryce-
"Oh man! You're putting me off my eggs."
Seth-
"Oh sorry... Maybe just pretend we're talking about playing Castlevania. We gotta whip brick walls to make turkeys fall out."
Bryce-
"I need turkey..."
Stevie-
"You know at the hardware store, we could put some nuts over the end of the golf club, get something to sharpen that pokey part... then you could use it to club 'em and also still have the stabby bit."
Seth-
"Yeah! That's getting your post-apoc resourcefulness on! I won't be able to be a hit at the country club though, what a shame."
Stevie-
"Ahh the country club, I'd love to go hit the green and see all them snooty ass fuckers staggering around with golf balls in their eye sockets."
Seth laughed.
Seth-
"Maybe we'll get the chance one day..."
>>PATTI
Patti came down the stairwell and started looking around the neat stacks of building supplies from the day before. As she remembered, there was indeed a surplus of hammers, including a framing hammer that was a little awkward for most hammering needs. This was a nice one with a metal neck and handle, with a shock absorbing grip molded around it.
She hefted it and swung it a few times. It was a little clumsy, but she thought she could make it work. She headed back upstairs.
>>GM
Abdul approaches Ashley, having finished some business with Derek.
Abdul-
"Ashley, good morning. I see that you have approved of my suggestion on the work sign-up sheet, thank you. I am given to understand you have some experience with firearms. I prefer not to go into a dangerous situation with Stone Age technology, unlike our leader Mr. Clemans, and was wondering if you would prefer to be armed appropriately for the expedition? We can discuss this with Patti, who unfortunately has the only handguns in our collective resources. Or, if you'd feel more comfortable with a shotgun, perhaps we could requisition one of those for you, for the day's doings..."
>>GM
INDEED! Might Patti deign to engage a zombie in hand-to-hand combat? Stay tuned!
There was once again, no one in the garage except the back door crew.
>>GM
Hector came in.
Hector-
"Oh man, I'm sick... Hey, anyone want to help me get Volya? He isn't waking up."
>>PATTI
(OOC - Oh, wise and benevolent DMs, feel free to cut this out and edit it in earlier in the thread.)
When Patti came back upstairs, she found Abdul-Rahman sipping on some coffee. She showed him to her apartment where her roommates were still sleeping soundly.
They gathered the guns and ammo and brought it out to the community center. They got some funny looks, but some folks showed signs of relief when they began to stow them away in locked cabinets with the help of Derek.
She put together a plate of almost entirely protein, collected a small mug of tea, and sat down to relax a bit before the day's work began.
She penned some Post-It notes for various people, then affixed them to the jobs board.
When she saw the doctor, she approached him calmly. "Morning, doc. You look chipper this morning considering how much you drank last night. You must have the constitution of a Viking. Anyway, unless you feel a dire need for the thing, I'd like to take that pistol back so we can lock it up with the rest of the firearms, or reassign it to someone on the scavenging team, as needs would dictate. D'you mind?"
>>GM
Peg and Lashonda slept late, hangovers in waiting like the boulder of Damocles. Or whatever that thing was.
>>ASHLEY
To Abdul: "If Patti doesn't mind. I am a good shot and won't waste ammunition. I think I'm pretty good with a handgun, shotgun has more stopping power though, especially against these things."
Abdul-
"It is my understanding that stopping power is less important than accuracy, given a moderate head injury is sufficient to bring them down. But a shotgun may prove useful, especially if it turns out that the possessed are more powerful in the day than we've thus far seen."
He picks up the plate and puts it away, and thanks the cook again, before going to settle and wait for Patti's announcement.
Chantelle-
"Have a beautiful day, and don't punch anyone who is differently abled!" :-)
>>ALEX
Alex frowned at Ashley's threat of violence and stared thoughtfully at the man as he spoke with Abdul. He hoped that Ash and Dr. Victor didn't fight. He hated breaking up fights. The aggressors always aimed for the face, and Alex loved his face.
If Alex hears Hector ask for help, he'll volunteer to go along on the wake-up-Volya expedition; he figures that his skills for picking things up might come in handy.
>>ASHLEY
He had been considering following Abdul away towards whatever had been happening
To Micah: He seems surprised since he assumed that he was the leader, but he shakes his head. "Nevermind." For whatever reason he had assumed so..
"Is he a friend of yours?" He wondered how he could be a friend of anyone's but apparently he did do things that were useful around here. Then again being a doctor was very useful in a crisis like this.
>>MICAH
"Yeah, you could call him that." Micah blushed slightly.
>>ASHLEY
Ashley squints and doesn't understand that reaction, he just nods and goes to try to find Seth. Where is this Seth person anyways? He'd look ahead for Abdul.
"Then I'm sorry for upsetting you. I doubt it upset him at all." He gives a little snort of annoyance at the thought. What was Assburgers anyways?
>>ALEX
Alex noticed Micah's blush, and his mouth dropped a little. Could it be that ... noooo. No way. He stared at his empty plate, seeming more than a little concerned and confused.
"Just ... turn the other cheek, Sir," Alex muttered at Ashley. "It's not worth fighting over."
>>PATTI
When Patti hears Hector's comment about Volya, she immediately thinks about the doctor's warning about a possible viral cause. Making sure her pistol was still covered by her shirt, she stood up and followed Hector.
"Is he hammered or just sick? Let's get the doctor."
>>GM
Hector looks at Patti with some alarm, but leads her toward the north stairwell.
Hector-
"Don't worry, he's breathing. He's on the roof."
To Patti's recollection, there was no roof exit in the north stairwell... PROCEED HENCE!
Abdul-
"Guess we'll find out about the guns later, Ashley..."
Abdul noticed Ashley looking for the leader and pointed out Seth. They went over to him, where he stood with Stevie.
Abdul-
"This is Seth Clemans, the elected leader of our group in this building."
Seth-
"Oh hi! Yeah, I don't think we met." (Shakes Ashley's hand.)
Abdul-
"Seth, this is Ashley, I don't recall the last name, sorry."
(Ashley probably says his full name, Jarahamee say what you like.)
Seth-
"So, since you're new here, you should talk to Marie, if you haven't yet. She's kind of the brains of the operation. We've mostly been working on getting this place secure. Haven't had any breaches so far, so it seems to be working. What do you do, Ashley? Anything you'd like to do around here?"
(Jarahamee write Ashley response two.)
Abdul-
"Ashley is going to come with us on the mission to the hardware store. Anything you'd like to tell us about that?"
Seth-
"Yeah, so last night you probably noticed, we've got rudimentary power generating systems. We're going to this hardware store nearby to pick up some supplies that should help us expand on it. I figure while we're out, we take two groups, and if one spots clear, the other group can look in other buildings nearby for any useful supplies - or whatever the situation demands."
Abdul-
"Very well."
Stevie-
"Welcome to the wreckin' crew, Ashley!"
>>MICAH
>>GM
Seth-
"Well, let's finish talking outside, shall we?"
Seth, Stevie & the rest of the hardware crew gathered, and went downstairs. Others milled around and went to their various jobs.
Everyone please go to your appropriate thread as you can! Feel free to finish conversations here though.
PATTI- let's assume you finished your business with Volya, and we can fill it in later.
Hardware crew-- meet in the alley!
>>MICAH
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor arrived promptly stuffed, carrying a half-filled mug of coffee and the dufflebag. He looked at dismay at the pilled supplies, mostly because it indicated the lack of effort from the previous clean up. His attitude seemed to sour, setting the duffle on the counter-space available.
"Dr. Melange, I welcome you into this five hours of mess. I'd like to apologize for a lack of their concern for our profession. It seems many people don't understand exactly what it took for us to achieve our titles."
Dr. Bebe-
"I don't mind. It's kind of meditative to set a mess in order."
He moved back into the restaurant area, dragging over the plush leather chair next to hers.
"I believe there will be a lot of thinking today. I have to treat a bite victim, and given the nature of disease and infection most human bites have, zombie-gnawing not withstanding, I'd like to get him started on some antibiotics. We have enough for a few people; I just don't like rationing out medication... if only because it twists my arm in the way triage does."
Dr. Bebe-
"Yes... The one thing of use that we determined at the research center was that it's useless to worry about the vector for the disease - that it seems we all have it. We can study the living to find out if it has any effects on them we are presently unaware of, and try to keep people like your bite victim from dying, and that's sufficient."
He slurped his coffee.
"The board said to go through and document... which is not my forte, if only due to my unique talent of hieroglyphics. I don't even know what they want us to document it for... after all, it would be pertinent knowledge only to us. I'd rather focus our time on something a little more productive. I guess you have had your fill with 'speculation.'"
Dr. Bebe-
"What do they want us to document? Aside from beginning analog medical records for everyone..."
Dr. Victor let his words hang in the air, crossing his leg over his other knee. He drank his coffee, hiding behind his mug.
"Dr. Melange, I will keep this mercifully short on that account. I thought about what Dr. Green had mentioned, regarding animation. I have seen heat coming from their fluids, mostly blood. I have witnessed both lack of agility as well as fine dexterity... one dead officer shot a pistol, or so I have been told. I did witness another open a door. I believe there are other things, as well, but we need to master the basic and the most prevalent. What are your thoughts?"
Dr. Bebe-
"The animation does seem variable in its effects, but from a neurology standpoint, it seems clear that all higher thought is lost. A sufficiently trained and appendaged animal can open a door or fire a gun - but unlocking the door or reloading the gun starts to become too complex for them. Given time, one could chance to get those activities right, but I am positive they can no longer read, for example, or manage even the crudest social activities.
Particularly, I believe they are using the social wiring of the brain for the purpose of choosing the living from the dead. Perhaps that phrasing isn't accurate. OK, try this: They can still pick up on social cues from the living - signs of thought, or emotional reactions in the facial features and voice - but instead of understanding those cues as a social animal, they are excited by them to attack the living, and attempt to eat them.
One practical upshot is that, if I'm correct, a good enough actor could trick zombies into not attacking them, and a person with a condition that limited their expression may be naturally immune to zombie attention."
>>GM
Dr. Bebe-
"What do you think of that?"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor smiled warmly.
"I think I like where your mind is going. If that theory is correct, though, wouldn't our little fiesta, in a city of probably now no more than a few hundred, have attracted more attention? Well, it might have, but I have become accustom to not peering outside the window unless necessary."
Dr. Bebe-
"We were six floors up and our system wasn't exactly booming. The city is quiet enough without power and traffic that we may have been heard anyway, but their memory sucks and any accumulated crowd could have dispersed by morning. Though of course, that has nothing to do with whether or not they'd be drawn to our social cues. I do believe they are.
At a distance, they are drawn to noise and movement the same as any animal. Hence zombie clustering - they are drawn to the movement of other zombies the same as humans. But when they get close, if they can see a hint of fear, or hear words, they come to think of you as prey. Other zombies lack expression, and so they don't attack each other. Though if a zombie seemed to have an expression, they may become a target. We could test that, by surgically altering a zombie's face to look emotive, and see if a fellow zombie attacks it."
He set his mug down, pursing his lips in thought.
"I believe, if we are to say only the more primitive, say reptilian, brain remains in some sort of function, wouldn't scent also be an indicator? Obviously, sound, and of course, vision. But, they may still smell perspiration, hygiene, or maybe I should state they don't smell... well, I dare say I'm becoming more against the word 'infection' but clearly there is something akin to odor that I just can't shake from smelling like an infection. You can only catch the scent of so many pilonidal cysts, c. diff stool samples, and dare I say the walk of shame before you recognize it intimately. If we cannot use the nomenclature of 'infection' or 'disease' we should at least title it. I always like to know what I'm destroying."
Dr. Bebe-
"Oliver Sacks suggested that humans have neurological limitations on our senses that could be lifted by certain kinds of brain damage. That hypothesis was highly flawed, being based on a personal subjective experience - an unusual drug trip.
Humans have far fewer scent receptors than even similar mammals and they haven't been proven to play a significant role in our social interactions. In fact, I've heard of studies that disproved the notion of pheromones influencing human behavior.
Based on that, I suggest the only way zombies could smell something on a human that might influence them is if the condition grants them senses that they would not possess if healthy. I find that more difficult to believe than the notion they have some kind of 'soul sense', because it involves physical apparatus, and their ambulation doesn't seem to require any improved physical capacities. But it could be tested by dissection, of course."
He looked about the room, shrugging.
"I asked for that one guy, Volya, to be sent here promptly. It chafes me a little bit... But anyways, yes. I do want to get my hands inside one of them. I hope that doesn't sound to perverse, but 'elbow deep' is where I think I might be able to find some answers. I just can't treat them like normal patients, considering there most likely is no way to bring back the dead... aside from whatever is doing it all ready."
Dr. Bebe-
"Haha! But of course. I still hold out hope that death by cardiac arrest does not immediately convert one into a zombie, therefore allowing us a chance at resuscitation. But we won't know until it happens."
"I like you a lot for making me not feel so insecure about my intelligence. After a few nights with some of these people, it does make you feel like you're missing out on the big, obvious picture. If there is anything else I can do to assist you in your transition here, please just ask. I might not be a real puller in terms of the political structure here, but Seth is pretty much as much a push over as Dr. Feingold is."
Dr. Bebe-
"You may have been able to push Feingold, but I never could... Then again, my pushing techniques may be a bit too specialized, haha."
"Maybe we should just start by doing H&Ps on them. I don't like the thought of really getting to know too many people; the thought of fixing someone's leg one minute and then delivering a swift kill blow to their temple isn't something they exactly outlined in Ethics class. When Columbo comes back, maybe he would be kind enough to go and gather the people who are relatively unoccupied first? You know, once I introduce you to Volya... er, you know, again... medically speaking."
(GM NOTE: H&Ps? Please let me know what that means.)
Dr. Bebe-
"Of course everyone will need a good physical, and having a doctor of each gender should help everyone feel more comfortable about that."
The good doctor turned a bit, rising out of the chair. He moved towards the supplies and began meticulously organizing them while he waited.
"We should also get the prescription medications, as well as good old fashioned over-the-counter medications that are in the 'general supply' if only so we know what we truly have access to. I never took a compounding class, but I guess I can learn. I hocked the defibrillators for the engineers to make a battery supply pack or something. I figured if we have to resort to trying to save someone from cardiac arrest, it might be too late before we ever got around to charging the things, let alone the turn-around factor on..."
The doctor felt the initial blush on his face fade as he added,
"Death, Part 2."
Dr. Bebe-
"Haha, part 2... That give-away may have been hasty. But it's OK - AEDs grow on trees. We'll get some new ones. A good one can hold a charge internally for a while. I really do hold some hope that cardiac arrest isn't an instant Z switch."
>>GM
Dr. Bebe-
"Ah, there's Columbo! Thank you for the food, sir."
Columbo-
"No problem, bab- um, Bebe! Hello again, doctor."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
<History and Physical>
The doctor turned, nodding to the Columbian with a flat smile.
"Mr. Columbo, thank you for assisting Dr. Melange this morning. If you could be so kind as to see what is happening with Mr. Volya? He is late for his appointment, well... his suggested appointment. Dr. Melange and I are just in the middle of sorting things and I would be greatful for you to use your skills in routing him for us, as Dr. Melange would also be. Do you have a clue where he might be located?"
>>GM
Columbo-
"Oh god, I hope these stairs aren't part of my job every damn day. *SIGH*"
He took off again.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
The doctor leaned out of the door way.
"I think communication between the various floors will be worked on today or tomorrow, Columbo. Thank you for your help in the meantime."
He turned back to face Dr. Melange. His voice was a little calmer than this morning.
"So, they do hold a charge... but, there's nothing quite like the Cardiac Thump! Never believed it, with all the d-fibs about, but let me tell you, it does work like a charm, as long as you don't break their rib cage. Reminds me of the time I saw Dr. Doynow pop some 38 year old guy in the chest and didn't even spill his coffee... no lid! I swear, that man had some ninjitsu touch, barely used any pressure."
>>GM
Dr. Bebe-
"Haha, that E.R. bravado! I've only had to do resuscitation once and it was wretched. Had to pump that lady for ten minutes with no good news until they got defib on her. I saved her life and she didn't get any damage worse than cracked ribs, but her pulse just wouldn't get back to normal without that interruption. Also, the AEDs give directions that can help non-doctors do it right.
What do you think of the no-breaths CPR they were starting to push? I have my doubts about it.
Hm... I have to admit, I like the physicals. It's fun to see things no one else gets to see. Not fun enough to keep me from going into research, but pretty damn fun."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor, had he less tact or respect for coffee, would have spit it out in a comical spray at Dr. Melange's ending statement. He shuddered and turned, choking down what was left of his lifeblood.
"Well, I'm not sure if we should do any more than a verbal... I tried to get some of them to disrobe in front of me and they pretty much flipped out and called me a loon. Do they not disrobe for their own PMD? I think they need some sort of dressing gown or something. I'm sure there was a screen we could use around here. I didn't even ask them to get completely naked. Just remove tops and bottoms. You'd think they were Puritans or something."
Dr. Bebe-
"People feel much more comfortable with a woman, and also in a more formal clinical environment. Just a little more work around here and I bet they'd drop trou for either of us. Hehe."
He set his empty mug on the counter and started looking through what medications were there. He began scribbling notes down for medications in a pristine doctor's script.
"Maybe a locked cabinet too. Not for lack of trust in so much as responsibility. Also a medication schedule... and we need to come up with some sort of wheelchair. Do you think we can manage one without resorting to Franco's tirade again?"
Dr. Bebe-
"I'm sure with you present, we might not even have to go upstairs. If the lobby is attended, knock and Lee will let you in."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor shrugged a bit more, leaning on the counter.
"Oh, no-breath CPR is probably just going to be a short-lived phase when they realize how much oxygen is not being supplied to keep the brain of the patient alive. Or, when some poor group of doctors suddenly develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome... well, I suppose if the 'Assembly' or whatever it was over there decides. If it is of any consolation, I seriously doubt anybody up there has any more medical depth than what they watched on Grey's Anatomy or House."
Dr. Bebe-
"My thoughts exactly."
The good doctor wrapped up writing down quick levels of medications, including a short proposal note for a locked area of drugs, It listed the basic OTC medications, such as aspirin and acetaminophen. He knew it would be a shame if someone was to come down with a small cold and die of a fever or some other nefarious parasite that would have been quashed by the pharmaceutical equivalent of chicken soup. He knew his handwriting wasn't atrocious and marveled at the glorious script. He wondered if objects such as pens and paper would become something akin to food in the coming months. Dr. Victor doubted anyone would be willing to risk certain death to stop by a Kinkos or CopyKing.
He cleared out the cabinet, finding a wine refrigerator and nodding slowly.
Dr. Bebe-
"In the kitchen here, it's probably as shielded from the ambient temp as it gets... But still too warm for my liking. Perishable meds are already going sour. Poor diabetics! A lot will be on Metformin, for as long as that lasts."
"Well, Dr. Melange, we can at least have an area to keep some of this, well, relatively safe. This chest here has a small glass door... and a padlock... or what's left of a padlock. I wonder if you have any expertise or I should say, experience in pharmacology or compounding?"
Dr. Bebe-
"The merest hint. Feingold has more knowledge, but even he'd need to figure out substitutes for chemicals we'll never be able to cultivate a replacement for, and some medieval techniques for things we used to do with technology, like freezing."
The doctor shrugged absently.
"I don't have any skill in either, but I do know the small pocket pharmacist guide memorized so, at least, I can... jury rig the appropriate concentrations. I'll go ahead and start listing things like infant dose conversions and mls to mcgs... the formulas aren't that bad but... Oh! We'll need a calculator of some sort. Maybe we can teach math classes on the side or do you think that is just too demeaning of us on them?"
Dr. Bebe-
"I love that most calculators are solar powered. I know it better than 99% of Americans, but math still sucks."
Giving a stretch, Dr. Victor made sure his legs weren't going to lock solid in place. The dull, iron feeling was unpleasant, if not quite annoying. He rubbed his upper thigh.
"Sorry if this is seemingly dull compared to last night. I think the rest of it is going to become rather muted and plastic for a while. Well, I'd hate to say it, but I hope it does. I certainly am not one for keeping up people's spirits; I didn't do well in doctor comedy class. I hardly can make a pun they'd understand... "
Dr. Bebe-
"I'm sure you have other charms, Victor. Still, humans are at our most resourceful when trying to have fun."
"And I actually think I overheard someone mention my bedside manner was on the equivalent level of a surgeon. Which is just ridiculous! Surgeons get more respect than that and the act of cutting into a body, while still living, is the ultimate sign of respect. They should have called me an Anesthesiologist or something. Those guys are all jerks and they are the ones that gas the patients or dope them up. If I wanted to be a jerk, I'd make sure they were still awake and... well, let's not get too carried away with the semantics of plebeian humor."
Dr. Bebe-
"Anesthesiologists... I sometimes fear that the medical professions have become too balkanized into specialist fields... I will have to bow to your knowledge of diverse methods, but even you may not be the most qualified man for some jobs. We didn't have to do it all before, you know?"
Dr. Victor let out a huge chuckle at the last statement. He piled the papers he finished on the ugly yellow legal paper, setting them aside. He tucked the pen into his shirt pocket, just in case, and moved around to the entrance of the new clinic.
"What is taking them so long? The building isn't that big. Maybe I should go and teach them the importance of wasting precious time. It's not as if we can operate through the night... well, not the way they intend to do it."
As if on cue, Patti, Hector, Volya, and Columbo came in. Patti retrieved her gun from the doctor and left Volya in his care. Hector stayed to hang out, and Columbo ostensibly to help with work he was totally unqualified for.
>>GM
Patti left.
Dr. Bebe-
"Oh welcome gentlemen. Nurse Columbo, would you care to get an extra seat for us?"
Columbo-
"Sure thing, your highness!"
Volya-
"Don't cut me to piece doctors, I think I'm, uh, I don't feels so good."
Hector-
"He's just fucked up, you know? Take it easy on him, mang."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor shrugged a little but was great up for the verbal compliance. He turned quickly to Dr. Melange and spoke in a soft tone.
"I believe we need to gather some information about everyone here. Seth had spoken to some people and mentioned counselors. If we see them first, we can apply a stamp of approval on their fitness. Some of these things are devious; but not impatient. I witnessed it playing sympathies off some people for assistance. Needless to say, her physical body was quite deceased."
Dr. Bebe-
"The possessed I heard of... Yes, checking for vitals shouldn't be too difficult."
"In any event, what I'm getting at is doing a full screening on everyone in the building. Between shifts and even with the pair of us doing general histories, it might take a day. Information is vital and doing a mass triage is important. I heard there was an infant as well. I dislike doing those exams... In any event, yes. We should gather information on these people."
Dr. Bebe-
"Of course..."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor nodded slowly.
"Volya, I'm going to recommend you take a little rest. I have some medicine that will help you with your infection. It's called penicillin; unfortunately, it's going to probably taste pretty bad. And, also, lay off the alcohol for a week, all right?"
Volya-
"I bet they don't let anyone get in that stuff after last night anyways. Haha."
The doctor went behind the counter and came back with six pills.
"Look, I'm going to bend the rules for you, since you're all right. Take one pill every day. If you feel worse, you come find me, okay? I won't lock you up or anything as long as you promise me you'll take one pill every day, okay?"
Volya-
"I'll put a reminder on my digital planner. Oh waits..."
"Volya, I'm serious. Thank you Hector, for the water. Now, comrade, can I trust you?"
Volya-
"Da, da. I'll take these pills. Don't wanna be a zombie, yeah?"
Hector-
"Great! That stuff is freaky."
>>GM
Bebe-
"Good work. So, how should we divide our efforts for now?"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor shrugged, pulling on a pair of gloves. He meticulously made sure each finger was well outfitted with latex, tugging and sliding them over his hands. He did, however, think better of making fun of Volya's comment. The good doctor wondered if Dr. Melange had anything to do with that change of attitude in him.
"Volya, we won't do anything to harm you, okay? We'll need you to take your shirt off so we can look at your arm. Now, tell me about what happened, so Dr. Melange can hear."
Volya-
"OK, so last night there was a bunch of drinks and I saw them and thought - you know, it's kinda tough rights now and I saw this fucked up shits, -
Oh, the zombie. Uh, this zombie bitch bit my arm, and it broke the skin."
"Hector, if you could, why don't you bring Volya some water. Over in the ice machine there is some, just press the button for ice and it'll come out. I'm sure he's pretty thirsty after the party."
Volya-
"Any clear liquids will do - make it vodka."
Hector-
"You're crazy, ese."
Dr. Victor returned to the patient. He checked his vitals, using slow motions so Volya wouldn't flinch. (Temperature was slightly elevated, heart rate quick side of normal, perspiring yes but hard to tell if it was significant or just drunkenly going down the stairs, lookin' a little pale, wound still stitched and clean, but starting to misbehave - moderately swollen, reddish, and was that a trace of clear fluid?) He kept his words as simple as he could, trying not to over-reach Volya's grasp of the language. He knew he did speak a little louder than normal when doing so, but at the time, it was just force of habit.
"Volya. Does your head hurt, or do you feel hot or cold?"
"Da, it hurts bad. Uhh... warm."
"Did you have a lot to drink last night?"
"Oh yeah."
"Any weird dreams?"
"Don't remembers. Wait, maybe Patti was giving somebody a blowjobs... Uh, is that weird?"'
"How about your muscles, do you feel stiff or sore?"
"I am stiff as a zom- Uh, I'm stiffs a little."
Dr. Victor made sure to check Volya's pupils, his ears and his throat. (Fine, fine, fine - but winey as hell.) The distinct lack of hygiene was only a mild cause of alarm, and almost non-existent if Volya choked down as much vodka as the good doctor imagined. He knew full well it would be better not to confer with Dr. Melange, not out of arrogance, but out of concern. Patients usually get worried with a doctor, Volya was no exception. If he kept asking Dr. Melange for her help, it would only lead to an acute over-reaction of the patient; fear wasn't something Dr. Victor managed in patients and the scarcity of medication meant he couldn't knock him out of after the verbal communication failed. The good doctor did offer up a comforting, if slightly deflated, smile.
Dr. Bebe-
How do you like him doctor? What do we need?
Hector came back with the water.
>>GM
Dr. Bebe-
"... Nurse Columbo?"
Columbo-
"You're mighty weird, lady."
Dr. Bebe-
"We need to go upstairs again, and see Marie about a few issues - medicine control and arranging physical examinations, preferably to begin today."
Columbo-
"Please tell me one of you is coming. My miseries need company!"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor nodded absently. His voice was still calm and he offered a parting smile to Dr. Melange.
"I would love to accompany you, Mr. Columbo. I am sure you would do well to tell me of the things you have witnessed these past few days. If not we can always complain about bad movies."
Columbo-
"Thank you!"
"Dr. Melange, I will see about getting you something more appropriate for traversing. We will return shortly. Is there anything else I can gather for you? Something else to drink, or some magazines, maybe a clip board?"
Dr. Bebe-
"I've got a planner, a pen, and raw materials for a bit of re-design... It's enough to stay busy with."
Dr. Victor nodded absently. His voice was still calm and he
Dr. Victor gently clapped Columbo on the back.
"Right, then. Let us go and discuss things with Marie. I believe I will make a few notes on her mental chart for progress. I think I still have some antiseptic ointment for her. She is really my second patient; Volya was the first. Well after Micah, but let us not dawdle about. Daylight is burning."
They went up stairs fast enough to catch up to Hector and slowpoking Volya. Volya looked at Doc like Charles was a dracula of some kind. What a goose.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor chuckled at the conversation and glanced about the community center. He knew my the very nature, Marie hadn't gotten far. He felt a little guilty at still lacking some form of mobility for the woman; however, the task for procuring such things was always placed on the nursing staff and social workers. Dr. Victor usually just scribbled consults down. Glancing around, the good doctor spoke quietly to Columbo.
"I'm going to talk to Marie. You're free to do what you want; I won't hold you to this task unless you want to do it. I know civil servitude isn't everyone's choice, and god knows it isnt my forte. If you're hanging around, though, you might want to see if there are a good pair of homely shoes for Dr. Melange. I know her feet are not hurting her yet, but she will thank me when the procedures begin and she ends up tripping on her heels."
Columbo-
"If it doesn't involve fucking stairs, I'll do it at this point."
He made his way towards the end of the hall, then paused. If Chantelle was out, he would offer her a smile and politely ask for more coffee. If the area was a mass of unwashed heathens, however, he would dart right towards Zoe's apartment.
Heathens. Heathers too.
"Ah for another cup of coffee. I think it is going to be a half-way decent day. Sometimes, a doctor just has the intuition about these things. It can be wrong; it isn't science, but it can't help to try and be positive in an atmosphere like this."
The tone would change from pleasure to sarcasm depending on the circumstances which he finds himself.
He should go to the specific rooms, 6th floor, marie/chantelle/zoe's room...
>>GM
Melange kicked up her heels and rubbed her face.
Dr. Bebe-
"What are you getting yourself into, girl?"
, I can go with Alex if someone else can join us too. We can hit up the religious place next door as well."
"
