epidemiology | EVENT ★ (ABOUT) 28 DAYS LATER

EVENT ★ (ABOUT) 28 DAYS LATER

GENERAL HOSPITAL

All signs point to the hospital having something to do with the virus, though further investigation is required in order to find exactly what is going on. The hospital is average sized, with contemporary facilities and equipment, and is usually considerably cleaner than it is now. The constant flow of injuries coming in -- from riots, attacks, and accidents that are happening from just sheer panic -- have filled the hospital to the brim. Many staff are too over-exhausted to show up to work, and those that remain are nearly to the breaking point. Due to the overall confusion and chaos, now might be an opportune time to quietly sneak behind the scenes . . .

ON THE INSIDE

The waiting room is crowded and there aren't enough staff people to go around. If you snag yourself a lab coat or some scrubs, you should be able to just waltz right in if you look harried enough to go unnoticed. Or, if you're not the doctor-looking type, fake an injury and get one of your scrubs-wearing teammates to usher you inside.

Inside the hospital, it's just as busy -- gurneys line the halls, filled with moaning, scared patients. How many of them have the Bristol Virus? How many of them have just been injured in the unrest? It's impossible to tell, so be careful as you move through the halls. One of those grasping hands just might belong to someone who is very hungry.

Be careful while you look through the hospital -- the staff are busy and preoccupied, but they’re not blind. If you are caught somewhere you shouldn’t be, you’ll find yourself escorted from the premises, or worse -- thrown in jail.

PLACES TO SEARCH:

MATERNITY. There are no pregnant women to be found here, and for good reason: the maternity wing has been converted to a treatment center for known Bristol Virus carriers. Biohazard suits hang near the entrance, and the doors are sealed by makeshift plastic shielding to prevent the virus from spreading airborne. Patients are strapped to their beds for their safety as well as for the safety of the staff, and seem to be heavily sedated. But be careful -- you never know when it’ll wear off.

MORGUE. In the basement of the hospital is the morgue. Temperature controlled to 3º C (37º F), you may need a sweater if you choose to investigate here. The bodies kept in here have primarily died of natural causes -- that is, if you count being chewed on by cannibals as natural. The few bodies that are known to be infected by the Bristol virus are marked as such: the morgue drawers containing their remains have been sealed by biohazard tape.

NURSE’S STATION. The most dangerous place to investigate, but perhaps the most lucrative. The nurse’s station is located in the center of the inpatient ward and is in the middle of all hospital activity. It will be very easy to get caught if you’re looking here. However -- this is where most paperwork is kept, as well as computers connected to the hospital intranet, where patient records can be found.

OFFICES. Doctors’ offices are an obvious choice to look for paperwork clues, but be cautious and have an excuse ready: you never know when someone will come in.

TOXICOLOGY. Because most of the patients being treated right now are in the hospital for injuries, toxicology is not as busy as one might expect during a viral epidemic. The toxicology department is filled with test tubes, beakers, and the like. This is one of the more dangerous areas to investigate, as you never know when a lab tech or doctor may walk in and catch you snooping.

Other hospital areas include: cafeteria, doctors’ mess, inpatient ward, pharmacy, surgery, supply warehouse (entrance outside), etc. If you're not the investigative type, it might be a good idea to cause a scene and distract the staff from your teammates' snooping.

While you're here, it might be a good idea to gather fluid samples from patients known to be infected. Their sedated state will make it easy (until, of course, the sedatives wear off -- hopefully not while you're in the middle of collecting a sample!) and not only will it help the efforts in finding a vaccine, it may also help your fellow recruits find a cure. Especially now that some of your number are starting to feel the effects of the virus themselves.

FINDING CLUES

This post, we will be holding an RNG to decide who receives clues. We have a maximum of five clues to go around, one per hospital area, so you'll have better chances if you team up! Please see this comment to sign up. We will be closing clue sign-ups after 48 hours, after which we will notify the RNG winners of their results. Those who do not hear back may assume they have not found anything of interest.

OOC NOTES

Because this log is being posted late in the month, threads are eligible for February or March AC, but not both. Beginning this month, we are also allowing AC threads to be eligible for AC Bonus Bank.

Please remember that participation in the HMD is mandatory to pass AC this month! Please fill out your HMD comment by 28 February 23:59 UTC.

REMINDER: activity and hiatus changes go into effect beginning this AC. Please review the changes thoroughly!

Questions about Woodhurst can be submitted to this thread. Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ. You may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time, and don't forget the Bounty Board!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The good news—the initial clatter is a familiar member of Audentes ducking hastily in through the far door of the lab. The bad news—he's maybe not as alone as he'd like to be.

Coming around the labs at night means breaking curfew and risking a run-in with the sicker, hungrier parts of the population, and at least one of those run-ins had gone a little too far off book. He's bleeding down his neck and into his shirt from a close encounter with a broken-bottle-turned-makeshift-weapon, pinning something red under his arm, and holding his free hand up to Stiles as if in surrender. Pitched low, soas not to carry any more than it needs to—]

Not so loud, sparky, you'll bring the whole hoard in on us.

[Haven't you ever seen a horror flick? He figured you for more genre savvy than that.

As if to punctuate this warning, there's another slamming of doors down the hall. Right on cue. As if Stiles really needs to encouragement, Jason brings his raised hand to his lips to signal for quiet for a second until it passes. And in the dead of night, every other sound carries loud and clear. The footsteps on the other side of the door are a little shambly. Unsteady. But heavy. Several sets, from the sound of it. They get closer until they reach the door—and then slowly start to fade away in the opposite direction. (For now.)]

[ look — usually, he'd be unwilling to even speak. at city hall, he'd told Asher the same thing, to be quiet because talking in a loud voice is the surefire way to get killed. the thing is... the labs have never really been that dangerous. it's a miscalculation brought on by the mistaken sense of surety that the infected are kept in the maternity ward, that the labs have never had anyone else around than those who work there. but as it is... one miscalculation is all it takes.

fortunately, this is not a horror movie, and despite everything, the people outside pass along the hallway until the echo of their footsteps is nothing but a whisper. that's as long as Stiles waits — as soon as he deems it safe, he makes a beeline for Jason. ]

What the hell happened?

[ close like this, his voice is barely there, low and quiet but still enough for Jason to hear as he gestures to the wound, already scanning the tables for disinfectant, something to place on the wound to stop the bleeding. ]

[We all make mistakes. Case in point.]

Zigged when I should've zagged.

[As the immediate danger seems to shift away, he finds a lab stool to lean on and sets something down on the table—looks a lot like a red motorcycle helmet, sort of, but with opaque eyes instead of a visor. Weird. He'd taken to keeping it around as a precaution while he's working the street, given the biohazards at work. But the swing of the shrapnel had caught him just beneath the edge of it, and he'd wrenched it off to keep himself from aggravating the wound any more than he had to.

It's bleeding a lot, even if it's probably not deep enough to be immediately life threatening. Hard to tell, since he can't really see it, and he's got his free hand clamped down against it to stem the bleeding.

Close up, he smells like cigarette smoke and looks like hell. (Pale, though surely the bleeding has something to do with that, right? Tired, but everyone's been stretched thin lately.) With a frankly obnoxious amount of deliberately inappropriate enthusiasm—]

Any closer of a shave and I'd be playing touch tag with the angels.

[(Y'know. Again.)]

Clearly.

[ short, said through his teeth. he's no stranger to making light of serious situations, but Jason is taking it to a whole another level. a glance at the red helmet, a voice at the back of his mind whispering Gotham, but no, no. he has no time for that now, not with Jason's hand stained just as red, even more so, or perhaps it's just the paleness of his skin that makes the blood stand out so much more.

(Stiles feels queasy at the sight, but he can't — he can't. there's no time.) ]

Alright, Snow White, let's thank whatever deity was watching over you today and get you patched up.

[ taking care to be quiet, he opens one of the cupboards, takes out bandages, wipes and disinfectant. just as quietly, he walks back to Jason, nodding his head towards the hand placed on his neck. ] Okay, let's see how bad it is. Oh, and if I faint, you're on your own, got it?

[Ah, what a hero. Well, what else is new, he's been going solo for a while, now. He continues, sharpish, and more seriously.]

Deep breaths, Prince Charming. I think I've earned the monopoly on swooning, tonight. Stealing the limelight for yourself's just greedy.

[It's fine, he's fine. He'll have to be, passing out is not a luxury either of them have, so lets nip that in the bud. He doesn't pull the pressure off the wound just yet, looking back up as Stiles comes back with his haul. Eyes narrow, mouth set in a thin line. Tersely—]

Gloves?

[This is a lab, surely the public panic over infection hasn't cleared the place out of precautions already. (Surely. Hopefully. Even his luck can't be that bad. He's only sitting on suspicions, but times like these, suspicions are more than enough to take seriously. Blood's a biohazard, and he's bleeding. He can spare a few more seconds of leaking to cover some bases.)

Except the supplies seem...remarkably sparse, in this regard.]

[ hey, it's not his fault he still gets somewhat queasy at the sight of blood... he'll deal, though, because he has to — making sure Jason is alright is far more important. ]

Fine, but if you faint, I'm not kissing you awake.

[ a hollow joke to lighten the mood, to balance out the way it is now Jason whose tone is sharp, on an edge. Stiles takes the suggestion, pauses to look around for a pair he could use, pulls open some of the drawers, groaning in frustration when there's absolutely nothing useful in them.

after some seconds of deliberation, he shakes his head. ]

We don't have time. Don't worry, man, it'll be fine.

[ there is no way he can guarantee that, the reassurance empty as it is, but he's willing to take the risk — Jason is looking even paler, now, and if they wait for much longer... ]

Move your hand.

I'd be offended, but I don't think I can blame you. Never know who might be catching.

[If you catch his drift. If you don't, he'll spell it out harder next time. Of course, getting all bloody is only slightly less dangerous than swapping spit if he's right. So he looks, briefly, like he's aggravated by the way Stiles persists when he comes up short on the matter of precautions. What kind of lab doesn't have gloves lying around in an epidemic.

They don't have time for this. He closes his eyes and clamps down on his mounting aggravation and reassesses. Get your breathing slow, get your heart rate down. His pulse feels far too fast, anyway. Head's too light. Going into shock would really put a damper on his day. (But he's been marking the way he's never not hungry anymore. The way it lines up fine with the progression of symptoms on the dossier. So how much of a risk does he expect Stiles to take for his neck? That's a funny one.)

He pries his fingers off the wound, but only to hold the hand up between them in a way that says "hold up a minute." Here's what they're gonna do.]

You're gonna back the hell up and walk me through what it looks like from there. If I can't handle it, then we'll consider other options.

[Because, y'know, he's been handling it so well so far.]

[ oh, he catches the drift, all too well. he knows the risk, recalls the word biohazard, looks at the blood that drips down Jason's neck, despite his hand trying to stall the bleeding. ]

Look — I don't care.

[ it's a fight, to keep his eyes on Jason, even with the red-stained hand held up between them, the wound now free to spill all that blood, soaking into Jason's clothes — a fight he wins, despite the way his stomach roils, the way he wants nothing but to look away. but this... this is more important. he has to keep it together. ]

Listen to what you're saying! "If you can't handle it"? Dude, you're not handling any of this! We need to disinfect that wound and close it, and fast. Do you want to go into shock? I told you, I don't care. I don't know about you, but you're my friend, and I'm going to make sure you get out of here alive. Don't make me sedate you.

[ that should make it all too clear he knows full well what he's dealing with here... and still willing to go through with it. hastily, he grabs the bottle of disinfectant, gauze — they need to keep the pressure.

out in the hallway, there's the echo of footsteps, as sudden as it is unwelcome; unsteady, stumbling. Stiles looks at the door, then at Jason, eyes wide. they don't have the time. ]

[His hand drops, knuckles pulling white while Stiles reads him the well-deserved (unexpected) riot. Shoulders square and attention poised sharp, like he might just and snap up and grab him if Stiles tries to get closer. Aggravation rising up too-fast, impatient and caustic in a way it shouldn't be, even in a tense situation like this one. (He's seen worse. So why—)

Then, the noise from outside the door. It seems to rattle him out of the irrational defensive funk he'd kneejerked back into. He grinds his teeth and waves Stiles on, reaching with his less-bloodied hand to pull a pistol from his side.]

Better make it quick.

[They're going to have company soon, at this rate. It's not gonna matter if Stiles gets himself all bloody if he gets himself bit instead.]

[ he recognizes the signs — has to, really, from having seen far too many full moons, his friends being affected by it one after another. but aggression like this... it's not something new to him, and all it does is make him stand straighter, unyielding. try to intimidate him, just try it —

he doesn't have to, though. the noise starts the clock, startles them both awake from the standstill. stiffly, he nods, grabs bandages and steps closer. ]

Sure, now you agree.

[ it's not like he has been saying that from the start or anything... with a wary glance to the door, he sets to work on halting the blood flow of the wound, wrapping it in bandages that will apply constant pressure to keep him from bleeding out. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ (ABOUT) 28 DAYS LATER

okay, how about II.

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