[ rita will definitely fit because datz is pushing her down there instead of taking the hand himself, mouthing "thanks" to this poor kid who he appreciates very much right now.
i guess he's joining jolyne in like, trying to hide in a corner or something. at least the two of them are good at punching shit if they need to, and they can always bash someone's head in with this office chair. ]
[Rita fits comfortably under the desk with the teenager. They are both tiny. As long as Rita lets Datz shove her in there and makes sure to keep her legs pulled up to her chest, then she will be practically invisible to anyone who walks behind the nurse's desk.
Datz and Jolyne? Not so much.
Sure, they're not visible from the elevator, given that the desk is in a little corner. But unless they decide to find another spot to hide, anyone who gets close enough to the desk will be able to see them. Maybe that won't matter in the long run, though.
The elevator dings when it arrives at the third floor. The doors open with a terrible scraping sound, like nails down a chalkboard. They will hear someone fiddling with the fence, sliding it open with a wet crunchy noise, and then there is the sound of something sticky flopping across the floor before fence slides shut with a click.
The flopping comes closer. It sounds like something moist and tacky is repeatedly slapping the linoleum floor on its way down the hallway. The voice they hear as it approaches is significantly worse.]
Y̷e̷s̶!̴ ̴I̶'̸m̶ ̵l̷o̶o̶k̶i̵n̸g̵ ̸i̴n̵t̵o̶ ̷t̷h̶e̴ ̴c̵o̸d̶e̶ ̸i̶n̵ ̵3̴-̴4̵ ̷n̶o̴w̵,̷ ̷g̴o̷d̸.̶ ̷ ̶I̵'̸v̴e̷ ̴b̸e̷e̶n̷ ̶b̷u̶s̸y̵.̵ ̸I̵-̵-̸ ̴ [It's the voice of something completely and utterly alien. A set of vocal cords that were not meant to imitate human language. The flopping comes to a stop close to the desk.] ... H̵e̴y̷,̶ ̸s̵e̷n̷d̵ ̴s̷o̷m̶e̴o̵n̴e̴ ̶e̷l̸s̶e̶ ̵u̶p̶.̶ ̸S̶o̶m̷e̴t̵h̸i̵n̸g̸'̷s̷ ̴w̷r̸o̴n̸g̵ ̴i̶n̸ ̷3̶-̴1̵.̶
[The teen remains very, very still. Not daring to even breathe.]
[ you know what. actually. leaving the door open wasn't a bad idea, for now at least. it's maybe proving a small distraction? who knows. they're bringing someone else up now so they only have a small window. rita and the mysterious girl can stay safe under the desk for now though.
she looks over at datz and kind of prepares herself for a fight if need be. the voice are... so strange. just alien and grinding, it makes her grit her teeth, but she stays as still as can possibly be. her and datz aren't going to stay hidden for long - but at least it seems like it's just one person. they might have the chance.
the slapping sound really just creeps her the fuck out, but. a silent gesture, looking towards the sound, and the barest nod. what if we were naughty. what if we jumped this weird alien sloppy thing we haven't seen yet? she looks like she's ready to spring if they want to one-two tackle this... person (?) ]
[ help. rita's shoved under the desk, and she huddles in close to the other teen.
she winces at the sound of the voices, then looks over to meet the teenager's eyes. don't worry, she mouths. either they'll go undetected, or datz and jolyne will beat the shit out of those things. even in a place as horrible as this, there's nothing to fear from them. she's sure of it. ]
[ boy, that weird voice and those wet floppy sounds do not fill a guy with confidence, and he gets the feeling maybe this is going to be like fighting jolyne's meat curtain nemesis back in the first room, but.
yeah, as long as whoever or whatever that is is focused on the room across the hall, this is probably their one chance to catch it off guard, and there's no way they're not going to get found eventually otherwise, so he nods at jolyne. this is probably not gonna go great, but fuck it, we ball. ]
[Under the desk, the teen studies Rita's face after she tries to reassure them, almost as if searching for something. Then, a few seconds later, some of the tension drains from their shoulders and they smile at her. Thank you, they mouth right back at her.
Jolyne and Datz prepare to tackle the unknown fifth person. They continue their conversation, completely unaware of what's about to happen. They're arguing with someone now, presumably over the phone or some kind of communication device, saying, G̵̘̯̥͙̤͌ȍ̵͈͙̫̘̤̮̪͈̓̉̂̕ḑ̵̨͓͙͓̎̓̕s̸̛̺͓̹̪͍͎̀͆̆̋, t̵̮̏̈́h̶͍͇̕e̶͉͗͗y̵̬͑̆'̸̩̣̈́r̵̻̯̃̔ẻ̶̬͍ ̴̜̼̀͝n̴͈̈o̶̜͂̎͜t̵̯̓͒ ̸̧͛ọ̶́͋ͅv̵͇̗͑e̴̜̜͊r̷̦̕r̶̞̅e̶̱̅͘ǟ̸̖̤c̸̃͝ͅț̸͂̓ȉ̶͍̋n̸̲͖̅g̸̜͓̈́.̶̢̹̈́͊ ̷̼͒ ̶̧̘̏T̸͓͝ḣ̸̜͈̍ë̷̼́ ̶̘͈̄͗d̷͚̥́ǫ̶̛͇o̵̱͑r̸̟̾ ̵̧̑͠ȋ̶̳s̴̗̘̿̅ ̵̜͑w̶͔̫͗͝į̷͉͋d̷̡̹͒̉e̶̻̦̾ ̶̣̋͑o̷͇̟͑p̸̦̖̃̕e̶̢͐ͅn̸̜̖̑͋.̶̰͎̀͘ ̴̼̀̀ ̷͔͐͝I̸̟̓̾t̵̥̱͌͋'̷̳̪̌s̷̰̎ ̷̮̕n̷̚͜o̶̜̤̔̑t̶̯̭͌ ̴̲͗s̷̳̣̕u̷̠͌p̶͙͆p̸̥̀̉o̴̙͗̿͜s̸̙͇͑̈ẻ̸̱d̶͉̓ ̷͍̽̓t̸͇̂o̵̭͗ ̴̟̬̏b̵̠̃ͅè̴͉͝ ̷̟̃̅o̵͎͎̓͝p̸̹̓̽ȇ̸̢̚ņ̶̫̈́.̴̦̊̾ ̴̳̗͋̀ ̴̺́̅Ĉ̴̱͜o̵̪̟͆͘ú̷̧l̷͉͑d̴͇͒ ̶̧̹͠ẏ̶͕͝ò̸̠ͅṷ̵̢̏ ̶̩̈́j̸̘͝u̴͔͓͑́s̷̤̜̅͝t̶̛̠̑ ̴̗̙̕ṡ̴̼̥̃h̸͓̯̾u̵͌ͅț̵͕̏̒ ̵̡͉̑͛ȕ̵͈͓ṗ̷̧̗͗ ̶̩͂a̴̪̝̓n̶͚̊͠d̷̹̼̽ ̵̙̭͌s̴͔̲̉̄è̴̮̙n̷͔̝̎d̶̯̑ ̵̨̙̉ṡ̶̞͔ǫ̸̪̂͝m̷͍̩̈́͠è̶͓̒o̴͎͈̔̈́n̷̙͕͊͒è̶̦̹̓?̵̰́
They fail to notice Jolyne quietly slipping out from behind the nurse's station. With her roll of 16, they don't notice when she begins to turn the corner, the third floor hallway coming into view.
They do notice, however, when Datz bumps into the office chair behind the desk with his unfortunate roll of 4. The chair hits the desk with a sound not unlike flesh slapping into flesh. Several of the items sitting on top of the desk are subsequently knocked over, with some of them rolling off and falling onto the floor. A mug that looks like it's carved out of bone shatters on the floor, scattering pens, a ruler and a letter opener.
Under the desk, the teen sucks in a breath and grabs Rita's hand, squeezing.
The figure standing in front of 3-1 stops, seconds away from hanging up on the person on the other line, and quickly turns around to face the nurse's station. Jolyne is the first to see them in their entirety.
A thoroughly inhuman creature stares at her. Its sagging, bulbous flesh drips pus and blood while something squirms just beneath the surface. Like worms. Like maggots. Like hundreds and thousands of little bugs live beneath the decaying layer of skin and call the bulging veins, visible under its ghostly pallor, their home. The creature stares at Jolyne with unevenly sized, overly large eyes, so terribly dark that the pupils are barely visible. Bright yellow spittle falls from its mangled maw when it immediately hisses—]
W̵̪͊̽̚h̶̦̅́̊a̴̠͍͌̈t̴͖͈̘̽̌͝ ̵̀̒ͅt̷͙̗̎̏́h̶̩̭̘̄́͘e̶̝̋ ̵̘̲̔͌f̸͖͉̅̔͌ǘ̷͈̾͘ć̵̗̾͋k̴̡̦̹̆̈́̀?̸̼̰͂!̴̛͔͙̐̍ [It presses what Jolyne and Datz will vaguely recognize as a phone to its face as it backs up, like it's trying to retreat back to the elevator.] D̴̢̺͈͆̉o̶̼̰̐n̸̻͍̅̾̒'̷̨̍̆̇t̶̞̪͆ ̴̲̩͍̑͐ẖ̵̜̈́͛̿a̸̛̠͚̳͋̕n̶̢͖̓͆́g̴̟̜̩̾͆͝ ̵̘͆u̶͕̲̳͐p̵̦͘!̶̗̬̰̓ ̷̼̅ͅḐ̶̋͑o̵̺͓̅̒͜n̷̬̬̑'̷̢̺̓̄ţ̵̝̪͆̈́ ̸̙͊͗͋ḣ̵̭̗͒ã̶̛̳͠n̷̖͑̕g̷̲̗͇͛ ̵̹̱̮͒̈̚û̷̢̥͘p̸̟̋,̸̳̾̆͝ ̴̝̄̃͌á̵̻͘͜n̸̛̯̯̹̐d̴͔̄ ̶͓̫͇͛̂l̶͙̜͗̔i̷̩̼̔͘s̵̩̠̖͑̀̎t̴̼͆e̵̦͙̖͂n̵̠̐ ̶̢͕̄̍t̶̳͓͝ͅȏ̵̦̥̽ ̵͇̩̤́m̶͎͌ẹ̸̘͋̄ͅ!̵͉̀̎ ̷̳̭̅̈̍I̴̫̞̍̋ ̶̢̢̩͂n̸̟̠̩̍ȅ̴̠͔̙e̷̪̯̘͠d̵̼̗̻͒̑ ̶̰͉͋͑̾s̸̳͖̄̍̚ẽ̵͈̦̓c̶̮͕͓̍͘u̸̥͂̏͜ŗ̴̩̑͘i̸̬̚ṯ̷̻͖̏̐́ŷ̵̲̣̞̔ ̷͍͐ò̸̝̲̼̅ņ̴̞̒ͅ ̶̩̖̂t̶̝̖̭͂͒h̷̡̖̪̄e̶̗̖͗̐͝ͅ ̸͇̈́́t̵͈̻̂̐h̴͚͚͂͂͒͜i̷̢̟̍͝r̸͔͔̈́̐͌d̸͛̿͜ ̵̘̄̃̒f̴̟̲̳̂͗ḻ̴͎͊̇o̸̩̝̖̐͛̚o̵͓͊r̵͙̟̿̍-̵̬̘̈́̓-̸̯͋̒͘
[Hm. Well. That sounds bad. They should probably do something about that before help arrives.]
[ YEAH WHAT THE FUCK INDEED, BUDDY. OR WHATEVER YOU SAID!
jolyne is just frozen for a moment in shock as she takes all of this in. this is a monstrosity, stretching before her in a strange place where she has 0 clothes, 0 dignity, and just a flimsy hospital gown to cover it all. that being said, she's sort of in fight or flight mode so when everything goes toppling down she does the only thing she knows she should maybe do and that's
springing into action and attempting to grapple, baby.
she's going to try and just get her arms around this pile of flesh as disgusted as she is, shaking and scared as fuck but angry. she may frow up a little in her mouth in the process because this is. disgusting, but she cares more about rita and datz and their new emotional support teen than this alien....... creature....... who may or may not be responsible! for their current situation!
not screaming, but calling out as she tries to hold onto it and smack the phone out of its... slimy mits before it can call for more help. she feels every wriggling thing underneath the surface and gags. ]
[ yeah, the downside of being a pretty big guy is that you don't do great with stealthy maneuvers in tight spaces. whoops. but no problem, the only reason he didn't just pick up the chair as a weapon in the first place was because he was afraid of it making too much noise, so now that that ship has sailed and i somehow got a fucking nat 20 on this, we are going all out!!
he hefts the chair up over his head (as rita and the teen hopefully shield their eyes because this hospital gown is not long enough to accommodate this) and kicks the letter opener over to her across the floor when he catches the glint of it out of the corner of his eye. ]
Here, grab this!
[ then he's just full-on rushing at this poor goopy fuck— ]
And you eat this!!
[ —and slamming the chair down on whatever looks to be its head. ]
[ rita's focused on trying to follow what's happening just out of view, judging from what little she can see (ignoring datz's ass), the sounds...
there's a look of surprise when the teen grabs her hand, but she squeezes it back. ]
... Come on. We're going to make a run for it.
[ rita's seen enough situations go from "let's lay low" to "absolute shitshow" to know what stage they're in now. still holding the other teen's hand, she'll crawl out from under the desk and gestures for them to come out with her. they won't have much time, so they'd better be ready to bolt once the coast is clear. ]
[The teen considers this for a moment, and then they nod before quietly crawling out of their little hidey hole under the desk. Still holding Rita's hand, their voice is soft but undoubtedly human when they speak:]
Okay... I'll follow you.
[It's a pleasant contrast to the awful, bloodcurdling screams of the creature a little further down the hallway.
With a sad roll of 12, it stands no chance against Jolyne's 16 and Datz's hecking natural 20. The creature is noticeably smaller than both Jolyne and Datz. Only by a couple of centimeters in Jolyne's case, and by a lot in Datz's case. Perhaps it's not surprising that Jolyne has no trouble grappling it when push comes to shove. The cellphone(?) goes flying out of its hand and right into room 3-1. They won't see where the cellphone lands, but they can hear the sound of it hitting the ground and then sliding until it thumps against something. Sounds kinda meaty. Wet.
The creature struggles against Jolyne's grip, of course. It kicks and screams and claws at her arms, leaving scratches behind on her already aching limbs. One of its nails catches on the needle still buried in her elbow, pushing it further down until it meets bone. It's just as painful as it sounds.
But its struggles are all for naught because, in this horror house, we honor Nat 20s.
Baring what his momma gave him, Datz hefts the surprisingly heavy office chair over his head and brings it down on the creature's skull. There's a sickening crunch as the chair slams into the poor goopy fuck's head, and Jolyne will get a face full of blood — along with some gritty little chunks of what may or may not be bone and brain. The body in her arms goes completely limp.
Datz may or may not have intended it, but he has successfully bashed the creature's skull in. It is dead.]
[ jolyne is just holding on for dear fucking life, determined to keep latching onto this weird meat beast until the chair comes down. she can't help it, she yelps as the strange meaty creature claws at her arms, and when the needle scrapes bone, she bites down on the inside of her cheek just in time to be
sprayed with brains and gore. w-wonderful.... she lets go immediately, letting the thing slide to the ground, but her arms are kind of shaking and the one that was clawed is just. trembling now from the adrenaline-slash-pain coursing through her now. she claws her other hand over it, squeezing slightly like it's going to stop the pain. ]
Fuck... thank shit... [ she looks over at datz to make sure he didn't get hurt though he did just like. brain the creature over its weird smushy skull so. /sweats looking to rita and her tug-a-long teen from under the desk. ] Elevator? We wanna try it? I think it might have been calling for reinforcements...
[ it's not quite a smile, but rita manages a soft, reassuring look to the other teen as they come out of hiding and into the hallway, just in time to see the creature drop to the floor. she stops to stare at the revolting thing. what even is it? ... something to worry about later, is what. ]
... Yeah. We don't have time to go around looking for an alternative.
[ pulling the teen along, she's making a beeline for the elevator. any time wasted just creates more opportunity for reinforcements to catch up. ]
[ oh. uh. he'd kind of just been going for blunt force trauma there, and he looks a little shocked himself at the spray of gore that comes with the impact. ]
...Okay, did not mean to go that hard, uh. [ looks at jolyne covered in blood like :tails: as he puts down the chair ] Sorry.
[ shakes his head... ]
Yeah, let's try it. Should make sure we're ready for whatever might be waiting for us, though. You get that letter opener?
[ looks on the floor for that and also glances in the direction he thinks he heard the phone skid off in... can he see what it hit... is it bad... ]
[Everything is worse in the meat dimension. Even nat 20s.
Approaching the elevator with the teen in tow, Rita will become aware of a big problem:
The elevator gate is shut and, even amongst the gore, Rita can recognize that the gate needs a key to open it. Furthermore, there's another keyhole in the panel that operates the elevator, where the button to call for the cabin would normally go.
Datz can't see where the phone skidded off to. The curtains are still drawn on all three beds in room 3-1. In the silence of the hallway, they can hear a tinny voice coming from within the room, unintelligible.
It's not surprising. The creature didn't quite manage to end their call before Jolyne throttled it.]
this is a puddle of meat creature on the floor. she's going to loot its pockets - so she picks up the letter opener and uses it to kind of scour the bludgeoned meat even if it makes her sick... ugh. she has to steel herself just a little and holds the back of her (gross) hand for a second).
do you have anything useful on you, meat person? do you? anything? cards? wallets? while datz goes to look for the phone maybe. ]
[ rita tugs at the locked gate, then gives it a kick and looks back to the fallen creature. ]
There's got to be a key. Jolyne, anything in its pockets?
[ if it has pockets...? she's looking down at it again, trying to make out its features, but focusing too much on anything in this place just makes her feel sick to her stomach. her gaze drifts to the hand she's holding, and the person beside her. the one thing in this place that isn't horrible to look at. ]
It should have one, right? I mean, it came in here that way. Though maybe there's a spare in a desk somewhere...?
[ he's actually going to run back to the nurse's desk quick to see if he can find anything that looks like it could be a key in any of the... meat drawers...
but if there's nothing there then i. guess he'll actually go glance inside 3-1 since the light's already on in there, unless someone else announces that they found one before he gets there. ]
[Kicking the locked gate does nothing except make the whole thing slosh around. Wiggle wiggle.
Thankfully, Jolyne will find that the creature does, in fact, have pockets! Its clothes are raggedy and filthy, soiled by its own bodily fluids. They look a little bit like a set of scrubs. No wallet in their pockets. But they find a lanyard with a card attached to it, a pager, and a keyring — all thematically meatified. Three tooth-like keys dangle from the ring, jingling as they are removed from the creature's pockets.
The teen is staring at the corpse with neither disgust nor horror. If anything, they seem to be mildly surprised by this turn of events.]
... You killed him?
[Softly. They scrub at the blood on their face with an equally as bloody hand, but the blood has long since dried and all they really do is irritate their skin a little.
Datz will find a single key in the desk drawers. He will also find some other miscellaneous items as he looks through the desk: a stapler, another letter opener, a few unopened bottles containing a murky yellow liquid, and an unopened bag of Oreyeos. Yum.
The tinny voice emanating from 3-1 sounds desperate now. But since Datz found stuff in the drawers, the location of the cellphone remains undiscovered.]
jolyne "aha"s! and then groans as the gross factor kicks in... she tries to wipe some of the fluids off of the card, pager, and keys, wincing as she realizes they are just. toothy keys. ]
Found something, [ getting to her feet and getting herself Away from the body (?) now. she's bringing them over to rita and the teen to hand them over to her, albeit with a quiet "careful, they're weird" under her breath. ] It's a card - a few... keys, too.
[ calling over to where datz is, her voice is a little strained. ] Find anything worth takin'?
Uh, found a key — maybe to the room back here behind the desk? — and another letter opener.
[ both of which he's taking. he has no idea if the key's for that room but since it was locked and it's right there it seems plausible. ]
Also a stapler, which, I dunno, might be good to throw if anyone wants that?
[ but he clearly has no pockets so he's not taking it himself right now. does the yellow liquid look like the same stuff that was in their IVs earlier? does it have a label? ]
[The liquid appears to be similar in shade to what was in the IVs, but its consistency is not the same. The liquid inside the bottles is a bit more watery, while the IV fluids were slightly thicker. It's labeled Diesani. Whatever that means.
The teen hums.]
... I got caught. The shift change happened earlier than I was expecting. [Quietly. Their gaze flickers to room 3-1 momentarily.] You're like me, so you shouldn't get caught either. They'll hurt you if they find you.
[With three keys to work with, Rita will first have to test all of them to figure out which one belongs to the gate and which one belongs to the elevator. She gets as far as finding the one key that unlocks the gate before the gang hears a faint noise coming from the floors below. Humming. The elevator is moving up, but not because they managed to call it.
[ well. fuck. they are seriously in some kind of place. not a hard place. a squishy, meaty, terrible place. ugh. she just looks back at the body and then down at her letter opener. she lets out a breath. ]
Shit - reinforcements.
[ she doesn't want them to hurt the teen again hello? what the fuck? and she definitely doesn't want to be caught again and strapped down to whatever the hell that was having weird yellow crap pumped into her body. jolyne is going to gesture. this way. ]
Let's find somewhere to actually hide, see if we can sneak into the elevator. Is there another room?
[ she'll look at 3-3 and just try to open it......? do you open 3-3... ]
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i guess he's joining jolyne in like, trying to hide in a corner or something. at least the two of them are good at punching shit if they need to, and they can always bash someone's head in with this office chair. ]
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Datz and Jolyne? Not so much.
Sure, they're not visible from the elevator, given that the desk is in a little corner. But unless they decide to find another spot to hide, anyone who gets close enough to the desk will be able to see them. Maybe that won't matter in the long run, though.
The elevator dings when it arrives at the third floor. The doors open with a terrible scraping sound, like nails down a chalkboard. They will hear someone fiddling with the fence, sliding it open with a wet crunchy noise, and then there is the sound of something sticky flopping across the floor before fence slides shut with a click.
The flopping comes closer. It sounds like something moist and tacky is repeatedly slapping the linoleum floor on its way down the hallway. The voice they hear as it approaches is significantly worse.]
Y̷e̷s̶!̴ ̴I̶'̸m̶ ̵l̷o̶o̶k̶i̵n̸g̵ ̸i̴n̵t̵o̶ ̷t̷h̶e̴ ̴c̵o̸d̶e̶ ̸i̶n̵ ̵3̴-̴4̵ ̷n̶o̴w̵,̷ ̷g̴o̷d̸.̶ ̷ ̶I̵'̸v̴e̷ ̴b̸e̷e̶n̷ ̶b̷u̶s̸y̵.̵ ̸I̵-̵-̸ ̴ [It's the voice of something completely and utterly alien. A set of vocal cords that were not meant to imitate human language. The flopping comes to a stop close to the desk.] ... H̵e̴y̷,̶ ̸s̵e̷n̷d̵ ̴s̷o̷m̶e̴o̵n̴e̴ ̶e̷l̸s̶e̶ ̵u̶p̶.̶ ̸S̶o̶m̷e̴t̵h̸i̵n̸g̸'̷s̷ ̴w̷r̸o̴n̸g̵ ̴i̶n̸ ̷3̶-̴1̵.̶
[The teen remains very, very still. Not daring to even breathe.]
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she looks over at datz and kind of prepares herself for a fight if need be. the voice are... so strange. just alien and grinding, it makes her grit her teeth, but she stays as still as can possibly be. her and datz aren't going to stay hidden for long - but at least it seems like it's just one person. they might have the chance.
the slapping sound really just creeps her the fuck out, but. a silent gesture, looking towards the sound, and the barest nod. what if we were naughty. what if we jumped this weird alien sloppy thing we haven't seen yet? she looks like she's ready to spring if they want to one-two tackle this... person (?) ]
no subject
she winces at the sound of the voices, then looks over to meet the teenager's eyes. don't worry, she mouths. either they'll go undetected, or datz and jolyne will beat the shit out of those things. even in a place as horrible as this, there's nothing to fear from them. she's sure of it. ]
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yeah, as long as whoever or whatever that is is focused on the room across the hall, this is probably their one chance to catch it off guard, and there's no way they're not going to get found eventually otherwise, so he nods at jolyne. this is probably not gonna go great, but fuck it, we ball. ]
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Jolyne and Datz prepare to tackle the unknown fifth person. They continue their conversation, completely unaware of what's about to happen. They're arguing with someone now, presumably over the phone or some kind of communication device, saying, G̵̘̯̥͙̤͌ȍ̵͈͙̫̘̤̮̪͈̓̉̂̕ḑ̵̨͓͙͓̎̓̕s̸̛̺͓̹̪͍͎̀͆̆̋, t̵̮̏̈́h̶͍͇̕e̶͉͗͗y̵̬͑̆'̸̩̣̈́r̵̻̯̃̔ẻ̶̬͍ ̴̜̼̀͝n̴͈̈o̶̜͂̎͜t̵̯̓͒ ̸̧͛ọ̶́͋ͅv̵͇̗͑e̴̜̜͊r̷̦̕r̶̞̅e̶̱̅͘ǟ̸̖̤c̸̃͝ͅț̸͂̓ȉ̶͍̋n̸̲͖̅g̸̜͓̈́.̶̢̹̈́͊ ̷̼͒ ̶̧̘̏T̸͓͝ḣ̸̜͈̍ë̷̼́ ̶̘͈̄͗d̷͚̥́ǫ̶̛͇o̵̱͑r̸̟̾ ̵̧̑͠ȋ̶̳s̴̗̘̿̅ ̵̜͑w̶͔̫͗͝į̷͉͋d̷̡̹͒̉e̶̻̦̾ ̶̣̋͑o̷͇̟͑p̸̦̖̃̕e̶̢͐ͅn̸̜̖̑͋.̶̰͎̀͘ ̴̼̀̀ ̷͔͐͝I̸̟̓̾t̵̥̱͌͋'̷̳̪̌s̷̰̎ ̷̮̕n̷̚͜o̶̜̤̔̑t̶̯̭͌ ̴̲͗s̷̳̣̕u̷̠͌p̶͙͆p̸̥̀̉o̴̙͗̿͜s̸̙͇͑̈ẻ̸̱d̶͉̓ ̷͍̽̓t̸͇̂o̵̭͗ ̴̟̬̏b̵̠̃ͅè̴͉͝ ̷̟̃̅o̵͎͎̓͝p̸̹̓̽ȇ̸̢̚ņ̶̫̈́.̴̦̊̾ ̴̳̗͋̀ ̴̺́̅Ĉ̴̱͜o̵̪̟͆͘ú̷̧l̷͉͑d̴͇͒ ̶̧̹͠ẏ̶͕͝ò̸̠ͅṷ̵̢̏ ̶̩̈́j̸̘͝u̴͔͓͑́s̷̤̜̅͝t̶̛̠̑ ̴̗̙̕ṡ̴̼̥̃h̸͓̯̾u̵͌ͅț̵͕̏̒ ̵̡͉̑͛ȕ̵͈͓ṗ̷̧̗͗ ̶̩͂a̴̪̝̓n̶͚̊͠d̷̹̼̽ ̵̙̭͌s̴͔̲̉̄è̴̮̙n̷͔̝̎d̶̯̑ ̵̨̙̉ṡ̶̞͔ǫ̸̪̂͝m̷͍̩̈́͠è̶͓̒o̴͎͈̔̈́n̷̙͕͊͒è̶̦̹̓?̵̰́
They fail to notice Jolyne quietly slipping out from behind the nurse's station. With her roll of 16, they don't notice when she begins to turn the corner, the third floor hallway coming into view.
They do notice, however, when Datz bumps into the office chair behind the desk with his unfortunate roll of 4. The chair hits the desk with a sound not unlike flesh slapping into flesh. Several of the items sitting on top of the desk are subsequently knocked over, with some of them rolling off and falling onto the floor. A mug that looks like it's carved out of bone shatters on the floor, scattering pens, a ruler and a letter opener.
Under the desk, the teen sucks in a breath and grabs Rita's hand, squeezing.
The figure standing in front of 3-1 stops, seconds away from hanging up on the person on the other line, and quickly turns around to face the nurse's station. Jolyne is the first to see them in their entirety.
A thoroughly inhuman creature stares at her. Its sagging, bulbous flesh drips pus and blood while something squirms just beneath the surface. Like worms. Like maggots. Like hundreds and thousands of little bugs live beneath the decaying layer of skin and call the bulging veins, visible under its ghostly pallor, their home. The creature stares at Jolyne with unevenly sized, overly large eyes, so terribly dark that the pupils are barely visible. Bright yellow spittle falls from its mangled maw when it immediately hisses—]
W̵̪͊̽̚h̶̦̅́̊a̴̠͍͌̈t̴͖͈̘̽̌͝ ̵̀̒ͅt̷͙̗̎̏́h̶̩̭̘̄́͘e̶̝̋ ̵̘̲̔͌f̸͖͉̅̔͌ǘ̷͈̾͘ć̵̗̾͋k̴̡̦̹̆̈́̀?̸̼̰͂!̴̛͔͙̐̍ [It presses what Jolyne and Datz will vaguely recognize as a phone to its face as it backs up, like it's trying to retreat back to the elevator.] D̴̢̺͈͆̉o̶̼̰̐n̸̻͍̅̾̒'̷̨̍̆̇t̶̞̪͆ ̴̲̩͍̑͐ẖ̵̜̈́͛̿a̸̛̠͚̳͋̕n̶̢͖̓͆́g̴̟̜̩̾͆͝ ̵̘͆u̶͕̲̳͐p̵̦͘!̶̗̬̰̓ ̷̼̅ͅḐ̶̋͑o̵̺͓̅̒͜n̷̬̬̑'̷̢̺̓̄ţ̵̝̪͆̈́ ̸̙͊͗͋ḣ̵̭̗͒ã̶̛̳͠n̷̖͑̕g̷̲̗͇͛ ̵̹̱̮͒̈̚û̷̢̥͘p̸̟̋,̸̳̾̆͝ ̴̝̄̃͌á̵̻͘͜n̸̛̯̯̹̐d̴͔̄ ̶͓̫͇͛̂l̶͙̜͗̔i̷̩̼̔͘s̵̩̠̖͑̀̎t̴̼͆e̵̦͙̖͂n̵̠̐ ̶̢͕̄̍t̶̳͓͝ͅȏ̵̦̥̽ ̵͇̩̤́m̶͎͌ẹ̸̘͋̄ͅ!̵͉̀̎ ̷̳̭̅̈̍I̴̫̞̍̋ ̶̢̢̩͂n̸̟̠̩̍ȅ̴̠͔̙e̷̪̯̘͠d̵̼̗̻͒̑ ̶̰͉͋͑̾s̸̳͖̄̍̚ẽ̵͈̦̓c̶̮͕͓̍͘u̸̥͂̏͜ŗ̴̩̑͘i̸̬̚ṯ̷̻͖̏̐́ŷ̵̲̣̞̔ ̷͍͐ò̸̝̲̼̅ņ̴̞̒ͅ ̶̩̖̂t̶̝̖̭͂͒h̷̡̖̪̄e̶̗̖͗̐͝ͅ ̸͇̈́́t̵͈̻̂̐h̴͚͚͂͂͒͜i̷̢̟̍͝r̸͔͔̈́̐͌d̸͛̿͜ ̵̘̄̃̒f̴̟̲̳̂͗ḻ̴͎͊̇o̸̩̝̖̐͛̚o̵͓͊r̵͙̟̿̍-̵̬̘̈́̓-̸̯͋̒͘
[Hm. Well. That sounds bad. They should probably do something about that before help arrives.]
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jolyne is just frozen for a moment in shock as she takes all of this in. this is a monstrosity, stretching before her in a strange place where she has 0 clothes, 0 dignity, and just a flimsy hospital gown to cover it all. that being said, she's sort of in fight or f
light mode so when everything goes toppling down she does the only thing she knows she should maybe do and that'sspringing into action and attempting to grapple, baby.
she's going to try and just get her arms around this pile of flesh as disgusted as she is, shaking and scared as fuck but angry. she may frow up a little in her mouth in the process because this is. disgusting, but she cares more about rita and datz and their new emotional support teen than this alien....... creature....... who may or may not be responsible! for their current situation!
not screaming, but calling out as she tries to hold onto it and smack the phone out of its... slimy mits before it can call for more help. she feels every wriggling thing underneath the surface and gags. ]
Double D! Grab whatever you got!
[ let's go defiant dragon on this thing. ]
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he hefts the chair up over his head (as rita and the teen hopefully shield their eyes because this hospital gown is not long enough to accommodate this) and kicks the letter opener over to her across the floor when he catches the glint of it out of the corner of his eye. ]
Here, grab this!
[ then he's just full-on rushing at this poor goopy fuck— ]
And you eat this!!
[ —and slamming the chair down on whatever looks to be its head. ]
Snitches get stitches, pal!!!
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there's a look of surprise when the teen grabs her hand, but she squeezes it back. ]
... Come on. We're going to make a run for it.
[ rita's seen enough situations go from "let's lay low" to "absolute shitshow" to know what stage they're in now. still holding the other teen's hand, she'll crawl out from under the desk and gestures for them to come out with her. they won't have much time, so they'd better be ready to bolt once the coast is clear. ]
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Okay... I'll follow you.
[It's a pleasant contrast to the awful, bloodcurdling screams of the creature a little further down the hallway.
With a sad roll of 12, it stands no chance against Jolyne's 16 and Datz's hecking natural 20. The creature is noticeably smaller than both Jolyne and Datz. Only by a couple of centimeters in Jolyne's case, and by a lot in Datz's case. Perhaps it's not surprising that Jolyne has no trouble grappling it when push comes to shove. The cellphone(?) goes flying out of its hand and right into room 3-1. They won't see where the cellphone lands, but they can hear the sound of it hitting the ground and then sliding until it thumps against something. Sounds kinda meaty. Wet.
The creature struggles against Jolyne's grip, of course. It kicks and screams and claws at her arms, leaving scratches behind on her already aching limbs. One of its nails catches on the needle still buried in her elbow, pushing it further down until it meets bone. It's just as painful as it sounds.
But its struggles are all for naught because, in this horror house, we honor Nat 20s.
Baring what his momma gave him, Datz hefts the surprisingly heavy office chair over his head and brings it down on the creature's skull. There's a sickening crunch as the chair slams into the poor goopy fuck's head, and Jolyne will get a face full of blood — along with some gritty little chunks of what may or may not be bone and brain. The body in her arms goes completely limp.
Datz may or may not have intended it, but he has successfully bashed the creature's skull in. It is dead.]
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sprayed with brains and gore. w-wonderful.... she lets go immediately, letting the thing slide to the ground, but her arms are kind of shaking and the one that was clawed is just. trembling now from the adrenaline-slash-pain coursing through her now. she claws her other hand over it, squeezing slightly like it's going to stop the pain. ]
Fuck... thank shit... [ she looks over at datz to make sure he didn't get hurt though he did just like. brain the creature over its weird smushy skull so. /sweats looking to rita and her tug-a-long teen from under the desk. ] Elevator? We wanna try it? I think it might have been calling for reinforcements...
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... Yeah. We don't have time to go around looking for an alternative.
[ pulling the teen along, she's making a beeline for the elevator. any time wasted just creates more opportunity for reinforcements to catch up. ]
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...Okay, did not mean to go that hard, uh. [ looks at jolyne covered in blood like :tails: as he puts down the chair ] Sorry.
[ shakes his head... ]
Yeah, let's try it. Should make sure we're ready for whatever might be waiting for us, though. You get that letter opener?
[ looks on the floor for that and also glances in the direction he thinks he heard the phone skid off in... can he see what it hit... is it bad... ]
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Approaching the elevator with the teen in tow, Rita will become aware of a big problem:
The elevator gate is shut and, even amongst the gore, Rita can recognize that the gate needs a key to open it. Furthermore, there's another keyhole in the panel that operates the elevator, where the button to call for the cabin would normally go.
Datz can't see where the phone skidded off to. The curtains are still drawn on all three beds in room 3-1. In the silence of the hallway, they can hear a tinny voice coming from within the room, unintelligible.
It's not surprising. The creature didn't quite manage to end their call before Jolyne throttled it.]
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well.
this is a puddle of meat creature on the floor. she's going to loot its pockets - so she picks up the letter opener and uses it to kind of scour the bludgeoned meat even if it makes her sick... ugh. she has to steel herself just a little and holds the back of her (gross) hand for a second).
do you have anything useful on you, meat person? do you? anything? cards? wallets? while datz goes to look for the phone maybe. ]
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[ rita tugs at the locked gate, then gives it a kick and looks back to the fallen creature. ]
There's got to be a key. Jolyne, anything in its pockets?
[ if it has pockets...? she's looking down at it again, trying to make out its features, but focusing too much on anything in this place just makes her feel sick to her stomach. her gaze drifts to the hand she's holding, and the person beside her. the one thing in this place that isn't horrible to look at. ]
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[ he's actually going to run back to the nurse's desk quick to see if he can find anything that looks like it could be a key in any of the... meat drawers...
but if there's nothing there then i. guess he'll actually go glance inside 3-1 since the light's already on in there, unless someone else announces that they found one before he gets there. ]
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Thankfully, Jolyne will find that the creature does, in fact, have pockets! Its clothes are raggedy and filthy, soiled by its own bodily fluids. They look a little bit like a set of scrubs. No wallet in their pockets. But they find a lanyard with a card attached to it, a pager, and a keyring — all thematically meatified. Three tooth-like keys dangle from the ring, jingling as they are removed from the creature's pockets.
The teen is staring at the corpse with neither disgust nor horror. If anything, they seem to be mildly surprised by this turn of events.]
... You killed him?
[Softly. They scrub at the blood on their face with an equally as bloody hand, but the blood has long since dried and all they really do is irritate their skin a little.
Datz will find a single key in the desk drawers. He will also find some other miscellaneous items as he looks through the desk: a stapler, another letter opener, a few unopened bottles containing a murky yellow liquid, and an unopened bag of Oreyeos. Yum.
The tinny voice emanating from 3-1 sounds desperate now. But since Datz found stuff in the drawers, the location of the cellphone remains undiscovered.]
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jolyne "aha"s! and then groans as the gross factor kicks in... she tries to wipe some of the fluids off of the card, pager, and keys, wincing as she realizes they are just. toothy keys. ]
Found something, [ getting to her feet and getting herself Away from the body (?) now. she's bringing them over to rita and the teen to hand them over to her, albeit with a quiet "careful, they're weird" under her breath. ] It's a card - a few... keys, too.
[ calling over to where datz is, her voice is a little strained. ] Find anything worth takin'?
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while working, she glances over at the teen. ]
... Yeah.
[ datz may be occupied with looking for items of use, so she'll just confirm it. ]
Did they hurt you? [ the blood... ]
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[ both of which he's taking. he has no idea if the key's for that room but since it was locked and it's right there it seems plausible. ]
Also a stapler, which, I dunno, might be good to throw if anyone wants that?
[ but he clearly has no pockets so he's not taking it himself right now. does the yellow liquid look like the same stuff that was in their IVs earlier? does it have a label? ]
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The teen hums.]
... I got caught. The shift change happened earlier than I was expecting. [Quietly. Their gaze flickers to room 3-1 momentarily.] You're like me, so you shouldn't get caught either. They'll hurt you if they find you.
[With three keys to work with, Rita will first have to test all of them to figure out which one belongs to the gate and which one belongs to the elevator. She gets as far as finding the one key that unlocks the gate before the gang hears a faint noise coming from the floors below. Humming. The elevator is moving up, but not because they managed to call it.
Someone is on their way here. What now?]
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Shit - reinforcements.
[ she doesn't want them to hurt the teen again hello? what the fuck? and she definitely doesn't want to be caught again and strapped down to whatever the hell that was having weird yellow crap pumped into her body. jolyne is going to gesture. this way. ]
Let's find somewhere to actually hide, see if we can sneak into the elevator. Is there another room?
[ she'll look at 3-3 and just try to open it......? do you open 3-3... ]
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the elevator starts moving just as rita unlocks the gate... so she just locks it again. might as well leave an obstacle for their pursuers. ]
They won't hurt us. Because we're not getting caught.
[ jolyne's checking out 3-3 and datz is still back there, but if this teen knows the shift change, maybe they know other things... ]
Do you know if there's another exit on this floor?
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