02-21-2015, 04:10 PM
A scream followed the scalpel as it sank into the sorcerer’s shoulder. The mutilated nurse on the other end of the blade let out another vicious screech as she pulled out the ensanguined weapon and tried another swipe at Shang’s neck. Before she had a chance, a knee found her gut and staggered her, leaving her open for the arm-blade that tore through her chest a beat later. As the corpse toppled into a heap in front of him, the sorcerer clutched a hand to the wound in his shoulder. Just like the one’s outside of Silent Hill, the nurse lying on the ground was a ghastly shade of a person, with her bloody face wrapped tightly in something like cellophane.
Reaching down to his hip, Shang collected the walkie-talkie and clicked it on. “Spartan, are you out there?” The sorcerer released the button and set the device on a nearby countertop as he glanced around the infirmary for anything of interest. From the look of things, the room had been used for a lot more than surgery. Bloody hand prints marred the walls and cabinets. The linoleum floors were covered by puddles of coagulated blood and various footprints that marked the presence of a more than a few individuals.
Despite all the blood, there were no bodies other than the nurse near the doorway. There were signs that corpses had once decorated the gurneys, but someone had removed them.
“Sorcerer?” Atelos’ voice rang out through the walkie. There was something… gruffer in the Grecian warrior’s tone.
“I have some bad news to tell you, Atelos.” Shang spoke as he scooped up the handheld transceiver and made his way over to an old computer terminal in the corner of the room. A quick glance showed him that the machine was probably a few years old, which placed it in Shang’s version of the late 1980s.
“The people you took with you are dead, aren’t they?” If he didn’t know any better, it almost sounded like the Spartan was smiling on the other end of the walkie.
“Yes,” Shang replied. “We were ambushed by some of those nurses, and they were killed.”
“Pathetic.” Atelos rasped. “We were attacked by some… I don’t know what the hell it was, but it killed the people I was with. This place is more dangerous than the paladin thought. I’m left to wonder if he’s even still alive.”
“I’m sure he is… have you found anything?”
“Just a lot of dust, corpses, and monsters. This feels like a waste of our time, Sorcerer.”
“I agree. I’ll meet you back in the lobby in twenty, deal?” Atelos grunted and the line went back to static, prompting Shang to turn off the device and clip it back onto his concealed belt. Pulling out the old stool in front of the terminal, the sorcerer sat down and jiggled the mouse. When nothing happened, he glanced at the side of the monitor and found the switch that controlled the power. Once that was in the correct position, the old box hummed to life, revealing whatever the equivalent of Windows Explorer was for this operating system. A glance through the contents of the window showed nothing of real interest except for a handful of .txt files with names that seemed to correspond with journal entries. Opening one that appeared in the middle of the sequence, Shang glimpsed through to see if anything stood out.
‘Today we received a shipment of individuals infected with an unknown contagion. I checked their records, and they were employees of the Umbrella Corporation who worked at the nearby Alchemilla Hospital. When I went to try and learn more about their previous health, I was told that there was no record of them having worked at Alchemilla! My supervisor told me to forget about it and focus on treating them.’
The next entry’s time stamp was a few days after the first.
‘The patients from Alchemilla aren’t doing well. When they came here, they suffered only from mild headaches and slight fevers. Despite the fact that we’ve kept them on the best nutritional regime, their health continues to deteriorate. Blisters and sores have spread throughout all of the infected patients, and almost all the patients are suffering from uncontrollable itching and swelling of the flesh on the arms, legs, and face. Whatever disease they have, I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.’
‘Six days after they reached Cedar Grove, and I cannot believe the rate of deterioration among these patients. Most of them have lost their higher-motor functions, with only one of them still capable of communication. Even so, the man’s words are slurs and grunts that revolve around itches and aches. A closer examination reveals that their skin has actually been decomposing while they’re still alive. I believe I saw one of them actually gnawing on his arm the other day… I’m afraid that at this rate they’ll be dead within a few more days.
Shang snickered as he loaded up the next entry.
‘We had an incident two days ago… one of the orderlies opened the door because one of the patients was unresponsive. Said virtually comatose individual then proceeded to attack the orderly, biting through to the dermis and nearly killing the victim. We managed to subdue the patient from Alchemilla, but the Sanitarium administration demanded we lock up the orderly in the same treatment block. At the time, I was outraged, but since then, the orderly has begun to show all the signs of the disease as well…
I know my supervisors are willing to overlook this, but I think I’ll pay Alchemilla a visit tomorrow. A disease that is this virulent and has such a rapid infection rate should be higher profile. We need real resources if we want to try and create a cure or an antivirus. With any luck, I can get the wheels rolling on this. In the meantime, I’ve left the key to the Male Acute and Infectious Ward in the Admin office on the second floor.’
Sitting up from the terminal, Shang smirked and glanced at the small map of the facility on the wall. The office and the ward that the journal mentioned were above him, which meant he’d need to find some stairs. Once he verified that there was another stairwell down the hallway, the sorcerer turned on the walkie-talkie. “Sorcerer, you don’t need to respond to this. I found something interesting in an old computer, so I’m going to go investigate something on the second floor. Try not to get stabbed.”
Reaching down to his hip, Shang collected the walkie-talkie and clicked it on. “Spartan, are you out there?” The sorcerer released the button and set the device on a nearby countertop as he glanced around the infirmary for anything of interest. From the look of things, the room had been used for a lot more than surgery. Bloody hand prints marred the walls and cabinets. The linoleum floors were covered by puddles of coagulated blood and various footprints that marked the presence of a more than a few individuals.
Despite all the blood, there were no bodies other than the nurse near the doorway. There were signs that corpses had once decorated the gurneys, but someone had removed them.
“Sorcerer?” Atelos’ voice rang out through the walkie. There was something… gruffer in the Grecian warrior’s tone.
“I have some bad news to tell you, Atelos.” Shang spoke as he scooped up the handheld transceiver and made his way over to an old computer terminal in the corner of the room. A quick glance showed him that the machine was probably a few years old, which placed it in Shang’s version of the late 1980s.
“The people you took with you are dead, aren’t they?” If he didn’t know any better, it almost sounded like the Spartan was smiling on the other end of the walkie.
“Yes,” Shang replied. “We were ambushed by some of those nurses, and they were killed.”
“Pathetic.” Atelos rasped. “We were attacked by some… I don’t know what the hell it was, but it killed the people I was with. This place is more dangerous than the paladin thought. I’m left to wonder if he’s even still alive.”
“I’m sure he is… have you found anything?”
“Just a lot of dust, corpses, and monsters. This feels like a waste of our time, Sorcerer.”
“I agree. I’ll meet you back in the lobby in twenty, deal?” Atelos grunted and the line went back to static, prompting Shang to turn off the device and clip it back onto his concealed belt. Pulling out the old stool in front of the terminal, the sorcerer sat down and jiggled the mouse. When nothing happened, he glanced at the side of the monitor and found the switch that controlled the power. Once that was in the correct position, the old box hummed to life, revealing whatever the equivalent of Windows Explorer was for this operating system. A glance through the contents of the window showed nothing of real interest except for a handful of .txt files with names that seemed to correspond with journal entries. Opening one that appeared in the middle of the sequence, Shang glimpsed through to see if anything stood out.
‘Today we received a shipment of individuals infected with an unknown contagion. I checked their records, and they were employees of the Umbrella Corporation who worked at the nearby Alchemilla Hospital. When I went to try and learn more about their previous health, I was told that there was no record of them having worked at Alchemilla! My supervisor told me to forget about it and focus on treating them.’
The next entry’s time stamp was a few days after the first.
‘The patients from Alchemilla aren’t doing well. When they came here, they suffered only from mild headaches and slight fevers. Despite the fact that we’ve kept them on the best nutritional regime, their health continues to deteriorate. Blisters and sores have spread throughout all of the infected patients, and almost all the patients are suffering from uncontrollable itching and swelling of the flesh on the arms, legs, and face. Whatever disease they have, I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.’
‘Six days after they reached Cedar Grove, and I cannot believe the rate of deterioration among these patients. Most of them have lost their higher-motor functions, with only one of them still capable of communication. Even so, the man’s words are slurs and grunts that revolve around itches and aches. A closer examination reveals that their skin has actually been decomposing while they’re still alive. I believe I saw one of them actually gnawing on his arm the other day… I’m afraid that at this rate they’ll be dead within a few more days.
Shang snickered as he loaded up the next entry.
‘We had an incident two days ago… one of the orderlies opened the door because one of the patients was unresponsive. Said virtually comatose individual then proceeded to attack the orderly, biting through to the dermis and nearly killing the victim. We managed to subdue the patient from Alchemilla, but the Sanitarium administration demanded we lock up the orderly in the same treatment block. At the time, I was outraged, but since then, the orderly has begun to show all the signs of the disease as well…
I know my supervisors are willing to overlook this, but I think I’ll pay Alchemilla a visit tomorrow. A disease that is this virulent and has such a rapid infection rate should be higher profile. We need real resources if we want to try and create a cure or an antivirus. With any luck, I can get the wheels rolling on this. In the meantime, I’ve left the key to the Male Acute and Infectious Ward in the Admin office on the second floor.’
Sitting up from the terminal, Shang smirked and glanced at the small map of the facility on the wall. The office and the ward that the journal mentioned were above him, which meant he’d need to find some stairs. Once he verified that there was another stairwell down the hallway, the sorcerer turned on the walkie-talkie. “Sorcerer, you don’t need to respond to this. I found something interesting in an old computer, so I’m going to go investigate something on the second floor. Try not to get stabbed.”
![[Image: Shang.jpg]](http://www.omniverse-rpg.com/images/Shang.jpg)