07-09-2016, 04:59 PM
As the group finished checking the area around the blocks for any signs of potential inhabitants, Carmelita, Amber and Arturia prepared to enter one of the three high-rises.
The three of them readied their weapons as they approached the building. Since none of them owned a keycard, Carmelita was lifted up to the balcony of the first floor by the other two, and she slipped into the room through the open glass door.
The flat was unkempt, rainwater soiling the carpet by the open window and leaf litter blown about the apartment. Clothes lay dusty strewn about the bedroom, and Carmelita eased open a door to find herself in the kitchen and living space. The main door to the apartment was locked with a bolt, and an intercom lay nearby to buzz people into the building.
She furrowed her brow. If the bolt was drawn, and no one was in… where was the occupant? Cautiously, she eased open the last door to find a bathroom, slightly mouldy, with a bin full of feathers next to the shower. A quick browsing of the toiletries revealed a can of wing wax amongst talon polish and moisturiser, and she filed that piece of information away for later discussion.
Satisfied she was alone in the apartment, she buzzed the others in with the intercom.
“Is the door unlocked?” she asked Amber, who had been patiently waiting with her scroll.
++Yes.++
“I’m surprised the electricity is still working... I wonder if there’s a generator?”
The three reconvened in the entry hall, a small square room that lay at the bottom of a well of stairs that wound up all six flights above them. Most of the doors visible hung open, and those that didn’t opened upon pushing. One of the windowless rooms on the ground floor appeared to be a laundromat, a few of the machines still with sodden piles of linen inside, while the other contained a small generator, though what exactly was generating the electricity was kept firmly within the crazy pipework that lined the walls of the room. A sign cheerily warned all residents to call an expert if something went wrong, and that the last person who tried to DIY it ended up with three heads.
They looked at each other in concern, but opened the front door and gestured the others to come in and take shelter in the laundromat.
As the door clicked shut behind Jeremiah, the three discussed how to handle clearing the floors.
“There’s six floors above us, each with four flats, and it’s getting dark,” Carmelita observed. “We should check them all before night falls properly.”
Arturia nodded and gestured to the ceiling, where a skylight allowed natural light to filter down the stairwell.
“I’ll take the top two floors. I want to get a good view of the land before the light goes.”
“Bottom two means less stairs for me!” Amber chipped in cheerily, before turning to check Carmelita was okay with the division of labour.
She smiled and nodded, amused by Amber’s chipper tone. The four syntech employees were happy to have a rest before carrying everything up the stairs, and were rummaging through the shopping carts discussing what should be eaten for supper. The three primes all headed up the stairs, and Amber popped into the room Carmelita had entered to close the glass door there.
On the third floor, Carmelita gave Arturia a nod before trying the first door on the landing. It opened easily, and she found herself in a garish orange kitchen with pictures of puppies on every wall. A copy of the residents guide lay pinned to a cork board by the door, the words NO PETS scrawled repeatedly in thick black marker over the faded paper and underlined multiple times. Aside from that, it was identical to the apartment she’d looked at downstairs, with a bedroom with a glass door onto a balcony and a bathroom off the other direction. Out of curiosity, she tried the plumbing, and the toilet flushed out some heavily coloured liquid with dirty, muddy water. Carmelita was glad that they’d had the presence of mind to grab bottled water back at the gas station.
The next two flats were empty, dusty and lifeless, the beds neatly made and the cupboards bare. The last apartment on the floor, however, was painted pitch black. Even the light had been fitted with a black lampshade, and Carmelita spotted a sticky note on the door of the black fridge which had a date and time, along with the words ‘Goth Festival starts’. The bedroom’s glass door had been painted over as well, and the light dimly illuminated an empty coffin in place of the bed. The bathroom contained several epipens labelled for holy water and garlic, and Carmelita’s eye twitched upon finding several bags labelled AB+ in the freezer compartment of the otherwise empty fridge.
Leaving the floor with rapidity, she grasped her shock pistol’s grip tighter as she began on the fourth floor.
The three of them readied their weapons as they approached the building. Since none of them owned a keycard, Carmelita was lifted up to the balcony of the first floor by the other two, and she slipped into the room through the open glass door.
The flat was unkempt, rainwater soiling the carpet by the open window and leaf litter blown about the apartment. Clothes lay dusty strewn about the bedroom, and Carmelita eased open a door to find herself in the kitchen and living space. The main door to the apartment was locked with a bolt, and an intercom lay nearby to buzz people into the building.
She furrowed her brow. If the bolt was drawn, and no one was in… where was the occupant? Cautiously, she eased open the last door to find a bathroom, slightly mouldy, with a bin full of feathers next to the shower. A quick browsing of the toiletries revealed a can of wing wax amongst talon polish and moisturiser, and she filed that piece of information away for later discussion.
Satisfied she was alone in the apartment, she buzzed the others in with the intercom.
“Is the door unlocked?” she asked Amber, who had been patiently waiting with her scroll.
++Yes.++
“I’m surprised the electricity is still working... I wonder if there’s a generator?”
The three reconvened in the entry hall, a small square room that lay at the bottom of a well of stairs that wound up all six flights above them. Most of the doors visible hung open, and those that didn’t opened upon pushing. One of the windowless rooms on the ground floor appeared to be a laundromat, a few of the machines still with sodden piles of linen inside, while the other contained a small generator, though what exactly was generating the electricity was kept firmly within the crazy pipework that lined the walls of the room. A sign cheerily warned all residents to call an expert if something went wrong, and that the last person who tried to DIY it ended up with three heads.
They looked at each other in concern, but opened the front door and gestured the others to come in and take shelter in the laundromat.
As the door clicked shut behind Jeremiah, the three discussed how to handle clearing the floors.
“There’s six floors above us, each with four flats, and it’s getting dark,” Carmelita observed. “We should check them all before night falls properly.”
Arturia nodded and gestured to the ceiling, where a skylight allowed natural light to filter down the stairwell.
“I’ll take the top two floors. I want to get a good view of the land before the light goes.”
“Bottom two means less stairs for me!” Amber chipped in cheerily, before turning to check Carmelita was okay with the division of labour.
She smiled and nodded, amused by Amber’s chipper tone. The four syntech employees were happy to have a rest before carrying everything up the stairs, and were rummaging through the shopping carts discussing what should be eaten for supper. The three primes all headed up the stairs, and Amber popped into the room Carmelita had entered to close the glass door there.
On the third floor, Carmelita gave Arturia a nod before trying the first door on the landing. It opened easily, and she found herself in a garish orange kitchen with pictures of puppies on every wall. A copy of the residents guide lay pinned to a cork board by the door, the words NO PETS scrawled repeatedly in thick black marker over the faded paper and underlined multiple times. Aside from that, it was identical to the apartment she’d looked at downstairs, with a bedroom with a glass door onto a balcony and a bathroom off the other direction. Out of curiosity, she tried the plumbing, and the toilet flushed out some heavily coloured liquid with dirty, muddy water. Carmelita was glad that they’d had the presence of mind to grab bottled water back at the gas station.
The next two flats were empty, dusty and lifeless, the beds neatly made and the cupboards bare. The last apartment on the floor, however, was painted pitch black. Even the light had been fitted with a black lampshade, and Carmelita spotted a sticky note on the door of the black fridge which had a date and time, along with the words ‘Goth Festival starts’. The bedroom’s glass door had been painted over as well, and the light dimly illuminated an empty coffin in place of the bed. The bathroom contained several epipens labelled for holy water and garlic, and Carmelita’s eye twitched upon finding several bags labelled AB+ in the freezer compartment of the otherwise empty fridge.
Leaving the floor with rapidity, she grasped her shock pistol’s grip tighter as she began on the fourth floor.