Empty Streets, Chapter Two: Silent Dream

[Rutskarn]

You all make your way through the twisting hallways, navigating the darkness with the help of Sam's map. Finally, you come to the janitor's closet. It appears to be locked, but one of the keys opens it.

You find:

A toolbox containing one toolbelt, a hammer, a pipe wrench, a small box of nails, a tape measure and a portable crowbar.

Two brooms.

One mop.

A crate of disinfectant.

A bucket of white paint.

Miscellaneous cleaning supplies.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Oh, sugar!"
Sam greedily picked up the item that was of most interest to him: the crowbar. He'd always wanted one of these babies. He heard these things really opened doors for you. In Sam's mind, just about any door could use some opening. He wrapped the toolbelt around his waist and hung the crowbar from it.

"Suppose it's fair to share. What do you gents want out of this veritable treasure hoard?"

[Adlan]

Saul
'Anyone here a , what you yanks call it, Handyman? if not, I'll bring the toolbelt, might be useful.

He picked up the Broom. It had a stout wooden handle, affixed to the plastic head. The Plastic Head came off with a good wrench and a little bit of twisting.

'Any one else want a Staff? Good for all manner of poking and proding, and even fighting.'

[rubakhin]

((OOC: You have no idea how long it took for me to figure out how to phrase this without telling the entire board how to make high explosives. If the DM wants the materials for Jordan's specific recipes just for fact-checking, he can PM me, but they're very common and there's no reasonable reason why they shouldn't be there.

Also: why do I know this? ))

Jordan's eyes light up. He starts sifting through the supplies muttering something about flammables and oxidants.

"Okay, men. Now we can take out just about any door."

[Rutskarn]

((I'll take your word for it.))

[MrEdwardNigma]

Saul
'Anyone here a , what you yanks call it, Handyman? if not, I'll bring the toolbelt, might be useful.

"You're gonna steal it from my waist while I ain't lookin', are ya? I'll be keeping my eye on you, ya scunner"
Samedi shook his head at the sheer insolence of the man. It was as if he was on the streets again, people spitting at him for asking for some coin, and then acting surprised and offended when he spit back. Sam could produce some mighty thick, brownish spit. He called it a talent.

"Well, we'd better not hang around here for too long. This place reeks of death and brimstone"

Samedi checked the map again, looking for possible exits.

[Rutskarn]

The only exit appears to be the main entrance. There appear to be no service entrances, back doors, or other exits of any kind.

[MrEdwardNigma]

They'd hung around long enough at that dusty old cupboard, and all these people watching his every move were making Sam nervous. It was high time they left this place. Samedi led the way to the entrance.

((Could I have some details on what's on the map?))

[rubakhin]

Jordan trails behind with his arms full of pipe bomb supplies.

[Rutskarn]

((The map shows the hospital--the (short) security wing to the left, the administrative wing to the right (a few offices, the administrator's office) and a sprawling network of hospital rooms, all of which are clustered around a main hallway leading to the entrance.))

You begin trudging through the dark, cold main hallway. On either side are doors, some shut, some hanging open a crack, only shadow beyond. The hallway is long, and you begin to feel as if the white doors of the wards on either side are lurking, watching you silently as you proceed through them. The smell of burnt air, of moldy leaves and charred earth, grows stronger and stronger as you approach.

Finally, you come to a door marked Lobby. You can see only your own reflections on the glass doors, what lies beyond appearing merely shadow.

[drum-n-bass]

Bjorn slowly opens the door before entering in. He seemed to have disappeared earlier but now reappeared when they found the door.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Sam wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"If we find the way out, can you wait for me by the exit while I go and get some stuff, gents? The place seems awful strange, and I'd hate to be caught on them empty streets we saw on the picture-box alone"

[Rutskarn]

The door slowly swings open.

Beyond it, the light from your lantern illuminates the lobby. The lobby is stark and white, smoothly tiled floors gleaming even in the dimness. Ahead is a desk, cluttered with papers, a blank CPU monitor lying flat and knocked over. There is a desk chair behind it, sitting motionless, casting long and spider-like shadows over the floor. Lying in the center of the floor is a crumpled-up sheet of paper.

You can see the front doors up ahead, but they're completely covered in what appears to be brown paper, inside and (as you can see from the few places where the paper is torn) out. There are a handful of windows that are similarly covered. However, the paper in the door flutters slightly--there is a breeze beyond.

A pale, thin light shines from the cracks at the bottom and top where the paper covering does not reach.

There are also doors to the right and left, leading to the administrative and security wings.

[rubakhin]

Jordan frowns in disappointment. "So. We can just leave." Shrug. "Oh well. At least we can still make a pipe bomb. Never a bad time to make a pipe bomb."

He sets his stuff down on the desk and studies the papers. His earlier fear hasn't totally subsided. The image of that figure on the screen is still making his skin crawl. But now that they've been making progress at grasping their situation, his confidence is boosted considerably. He's curious more than anything else now.

[Rutskarn]

The papers all appear to be notes, written in the same rough hand. They are written in black pen.

They read:

State of city: unknown.

Sent to a quarantine mode a week ago--building wasn't breached anywhere. Does the government know something we don't?

Matherson--Administrator. New. He got out first--men in black coats, they were there a month ago.

Windows seem breakable.

Checklist:

Food
Weapons (Nobody can use--leave it.)
Medical supplies
Water
Fuel (any kind)
Maps

Military base to the east--quarantined there too?

Strange smell--NOT COMING FROM HOSPITAL. Chemcials? LEAK SOMEWHERE.

Can't afford to let the quarantine patients out. We don't know what they have...nothing seemed to work.

What to do with Carlson???

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Might be interesting to check that handwriting with the notes we saw earlier))

"I don't much see the use of making bombs myself. Once the legions of hell are after you no amount of fire and chaos is going to stop them"
Sam shrugged. He tore down some of the brown paper to create some light for the others and then walked off to the hallway.
"Before we leave I'm going to check out the administrator's office. You boys have fun while I'm gone. Try to get that computer working or something"

Dark Sam left for the offices alone, with the lantern. He would first head down to the administrator's office and then he would loot whatever seemed worth looting in the other offices.

[Rutskarn]

He makes it to the administrator's office, whose door is fully open.

Inside, the office looks ransacked. There are drawers lying on the floor, forms and paperwork scattered everywhere on the floor, potted plants smashed onto the tile.

Lying in the center of the room is a framed portrait of the man you saw leaving the building in the last few minutes of the security tape, smiling. The frame appears to have been heavily damaged, and the glass is cracked irreparably.

There is nothing of value in this office.

In the other offices (similarly ransacked), you find:

Two black staplers
Assorted office supplies (pencils, thumbtacks)
A few books on medicine (although the shelves are mostly vacant, a few tomes on subjects as esoteric as gum diseases and Tay-Sachs disease remain.)
A small box knife

[Adlan]

Saul

Saul read the notes, and examined the papers at the door ways.

'Looks like we're in a quarentined buildings. I got told about this, RSM was in Malaysia when fungal disease broke out, they stoppered up the hospitals with brown paper and paraffin oil.'

'I reckon we got summit. Maybe a Biological attack in the undeground? Maybe thats what got us put in this place?'

'Whatever it was. They sealed us up. Maybe it's infectious?'

A thought crossed his mind, and not a pleasent one.
'do you think the reason we're left alone is because we're dangerous? Plauge carriers?'

An even less pleasent one crossed his mind
'Or, do you think we're left alone, because we are alone. They made some pretty nasty biologicals, I know that for a fact. Damn Russians and Yanks both kept them.'

He glanced up at the others.

'I wonder who Carlson is... or was.'

[MrEdwardNigma]

The take was less good than he had expected. It wasn't even worth dumping those college boys that were tracking behind him. Still, Sam took some office supplies and the box knife and then returned to the lobby. He tossed some of the medical books he'd dragged along on the floor there.
"If any of you gents need something to read, or you need some toiletpaper, I brought you a souvenir" he said.
He looked at Saul. he'd only caught the last line of his speech but felt the need to contribute anyways.
"Carlson was just a crazy coot who worked here, and of no consequence whatsoever. I say we get out of here before they find out we're up and take the next train outta town"

Inventory:

Spoiler

Show

Lantern
Bottle of Jack Daniels
Gauze (wrapped round fists)
Rubber band (wrapped around wrist)
Filtration Mask (equipped)
Toolbelt (equipped), holds:
[Portable Crowbar]
Security Uniform (equipped), holds:
[1 small, worn supply key
1 gleaming new supply key
Pawn Shop Ticket
Map of the Hospital
Marker
Pencil
Pen
Flask of Alcohol
Box Knife]
Street Clothes (equipped)
Heavy-Duty Boots stuffed with Scrap Paper(equipped)

[Rutskarn]

((You guys ready to leave, already?))

[rubakhin]

"So." Jordan picks up his stuff. "No point in sticking around. Let's get out of here, men."

He's not looking forward to seeing the rest of the city. He gets a sudden strange sense of claustrophobia, thinking about what they may find out there - blocks and blocks of dark buildings and dead streets, no people, nobody and nothing left but that thing on the monitor.

Well, he grimly thinks, at least he's got a pipe bomb.

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Well, we should off course make some stops before leaving, and, well, we haven't found our stuff yet. Say we try to look through the entire building? I had some belongings I didn't want to lose"

[MrEdwardNigma]

After looking through the entire building without anyone else lending some much as a hand Sam grudgingly decided the compass was no longer to be found in the hospital. He pushed open the hospital doors and went after his only other lead: the pawnshop ticket.

[Rutskarn]

The doors do not open, but in your pushing, a bit of the quarantine paper shifts. A pane of glass from the doors is missing, and exit can be obtained by tearing it away, emerging from the gap in the door like an infant crawling its way into the light and chaos of the world.

And although a sort of twisted, wrong-feeling serenity does exist here, you do indeed see light besides that of your lantern. Though the light may calm your frayed nerves, what it illuminates inspires only a dark, intangible dread.

CHAPTER TWO: SILENT DREAM

??, ??, 2011

It is close to dawn. Pale, dim grey light filters through clouds thick as wool, casting a silvery, unreal feel over the city. The streets are empty. There is no sound save the low, quiet whispering of the wind, trailing of buildings and signs.

The buildings, unfamiliar to you, look unnervingly unkempt. Refuse collects near them, unswept and left to rot. Several of the windows of the buildings (seemingly residential buildings) are broken, and the doors are boarded up. One tall building, looking like an apartment complex, has no door at all. Graffiti covers the walls, paint hardly eroded by time, overlapping itself.

The air is filled with a burnt odor, stronger now than ever, seeming to come from the air all around you. It is then, getting your bearings, that you notice something--coating the ground, nestled into corners, fogging up window panes and covering on every available surface, a thin layer of grey, ashen dust has settled. The source of the dust is not apparent, and it seems wrong somehow--it's not quite like any substance you've ever seen before, not lint or ash or simple city dust.

A thick, low-hanging fog prevents you from seeing too far in any direction, but off to the left of the hospital, you can see a faint orange glow from off in the distance. To your right, you see only darkness.

[Adlan]

Saul

'Anyone have any idea what this dust is?' Saul poked a pile of it with his finger, then slowly backed away from it.
'I really hate to say this, but I think this might be fall out'

Saul ripped away some more of the protective paper on the door, fashioning a crude filter, and he tied it in place with a scrunch of paper.

'if we've been down for a month, and no direct hits here, we should be fairly safe, just gotta wash it out when we can.'

'Anyone know where we are? I ain't local.'

[MrEdwardNigma]

"I'm as local as can be, son, but all this dust is making it hard to see where we are"

Sam tried to find his location on the elaborate map of the city in his head. He was a vagrant, he knew everything there was to know about the streets of this city.

[rubakhin]

"Do you know where we can find a library?" Jordan asks. "We could look up some of the names we found, or we can look through the news type materials, magazines, papers, microfiche. Whatever. Maybe figure out what's been going on. You know, there's probably newspaper dispensers around here somewhere ... " he adds, his voice trailing off in distraction as he starts glancing around.

[Rutskarn]

Sam looks around, looking for some landmark.

Behind him, the hospital looms, lit sign dark. You can read, "Emergency Hospital" in red letters--no other name or identification. It doesn't look familiar to you.

However, the apartment complex across the street does seem somewhat familiar. You appear to still be in Scranton, albeit a part you spent very little time in. This area is mostly residential, with apartments, small shops and delis. Libraries would probably be hard to come by, but newspapers might conceivably be found in the apartments or in the shops somewhere further along the streets.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Sam tried to find his way to a more familiar part of town, from where he'd try to head to the pawn shop. He wasn't giving up on that compass yet.

[Rutskarn]

Although you are vaguely aware that the street in question isn't more than, say, ten miles away, this area seems unfamiliar for some reason. The street-level fog isn't helping--you can't spot any familiar landmarks.