Aberrant: Dead Rising - 12i: Socialized Health Care [Complete]

[Karren Gaunt]

Sarah frowned at the... ritualized nature of the room as the flashlight played over the surfaces and grissly findings. Bad bad bad, ritual turned wrong and twisted to destroy humanity instead of preserve it. "I'm going to try the third door on the right, the one across from us, Dan. Back me up, okay?" she commented softly, hopefully professionally despite the sick roiling in her gut, and did just, unlocking it if it was locked and stepping back to swing the door open, her blade at ready.

[Dawn OOC]

The new room was a nursury. The room had eight cribs crammed into it; it looked like someone with Venus's womb capacity was expecting. The cribs were currently empty, but they had been used; blood stains decorated all of them. But not like the babies had been hurt; the marks resembled spit up stains more than carnage. Another of those giant bottles was in the room, a reddish stain on the inside.

The rest of it was so normal - the frilly coverings and baby clothing, all immaculately clean and hung on the rods around the room. Baby booties were on the shelves, along with toys and other baby items. And here and there were those damning red stains.

There was a baby monitor in the room. From it, Sarah heard a sudden baby's cry.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin looked down at her large fists, giving Myfwany a nod, accepting her comment as true. After all, she had killed the mutant zombs dead with her own hands and axe. But she didn't want to be down here anymore, finding the gloomy and disturbing complex confining. Taking Dan up on his offer, Kristin began heading back outside.

"Yeah, I... I just need some fresh air," Kristin agreed, giving herself a little shake. "You don't have to come with me, Dr. Shattuck. I'm okay, really, I just some space, is all. You probably need to see what's down here anyway, right?"

With that, Kristin strode briskly for the stairs up, not running, but certainly not wasting any time either, her strides long and strong. Exiting the underground complex, Kristin took a deep breath of air, getting fresher every day with fewer people around and even fewer vehicles and factories running. Still, her eyes narrowed as she caught the putrid stink of the dead zombs she had dumped by the chain-link fence. She wanted nothing more than to chop them up into tiny pieces - See how they like it! - but she had broken her axe, unaccustomed to her burgeoning strength, and didn't have a sword.

So, Kristin began looking around for some wood to start a pyre to burn the bodies, wishing she could burn away the pain and memories of Paradise just as easily. And with resignation, she knew the wounds in the mind were no so easy to cauterize.

[Karren Gaunt]

Sarah backed upagainst the wall next to the door as her mind pieced it together, free hand covering her mouth and dropping the flashlight. Oh no. Oh god no. No no no no..! The very idea was... She couldn't have it so wrong and... They couldn't breed. That was something people did, not Zeds. But if Metahumans turned into Super Zeds, at what point did one stop doing what the other could do and when did it affect the... the children enough to crave blood instead of milk? She didn't know. She didn't want to know.

Oh god. All three of the rooms on the right side of the hall had been bedrooms so far, so the fourth... the fourth had to be where that cry was coming from. Where... Where the remaining thing was.

"Pull it together, Sarah. Kill the thing and get out of here once we clear the complex," the blonde megamorph whispered brokenly to herself, vocalizing her thoughts to pull them together. The flashlight was reclaimed. Her grip on her weapon was sure. And Sarah Daunt headed towards room four on the right side of the hall, mind stiffened against the horrors to come she hoped and prayed.

[SalmonMax]

Myf went with Kristin to the door out of the hallway, and when it seemed the girl had pulled herself together she came back and went to where Dan had called from.

"Dan, I'm here. What is it?"

[Dawn OOC]

The body of the girl wasn't in great shape; she'd been dead at least a month. It was uncertain why she'd been left here to rot, when clearly Jon and the others had been seeking human-shaped food. Myf steeled herself and did a preliminary exam. "Oh, not good."

"What?" Dan asked.

"She died during childbirth," Myfwanny stated. "Complications occurred and she bled out. Had she been in a hospital, she probably would be alive today. Or if Jon had come to get me." The burden in Myf's voice wasn't quite guilt. It was sorrow and regret at this needless loss of life. This could have been prevented. "Dan, the baby isn't here - it might have survived. It'd be about a month old."

They heard the cry of a baby then, muffled by closed doors.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan moved with stunning alacrity upon hearing the baby's cry. He followed the sound and found Sarah already heading for the room. "You heard the baby as well?"

It was the first sign of hope registering on his face Sarah had seen since they entered.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany didn't waste any time. She pushed past Dan AND Sarah and followed her ears to the place the baby cries were the loudest.

"In here," she called, and opened the door immediately.

(OOC - Myf has mega-perception...I gotta figure that's enough, but if you want a roll I can do that too. )

[Dawn OOC]

The baby was in the bassinet wearing a green onesie. It appeared to be a normal baby in all respects; there were no slimy leech parts attached. Myf hurried over, wrinkling her nose when she smelled the baby. Quickly, she stripped off the onesie and the soiled diaper. “It’s a boy,” she said, looking closely, “and he appears to be healthy.”

[Karren Gaunt]

"Careful, Doctor," Sarah intoned soft and grimly as she stalked into the nursery, grip tight on her weapon as she played her flashlight over the room. She had seen the look of hope on Dan's face in passing and it grated against her fresh mental wounds to possibly be destroying it. She *wanted* to believe in this miracle, too. But she... couldn't do so blindly. Not after today.

"There... There's a room full of empty cradles one door down, full of things for children just as normal looking by all signs. Including bottles that had been filled with blood and bloody burb-up stains in the cradles. I think the super-zeds had been... breeding," she barely finished, looking away from the others and letting out a shuddering breath, "Just double check before assuming anything, okay?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan looked relieved, and nodded. "I was affraid of that."

He looked at the infant, and then to Myfwany. "How about the other way you see things? Is he alright that way as well?"

Hewanted to be sure, especially with what Sarah had already found.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany frowned at that. Something in her suspected that the 'super-zeds' might have tried breeding, but that it hadn't worked out well. This baby seemed healthy...but it wouldn't hurt to check.

"Shh...it's okay, baby...we'll have you cleaned up in a jiffy," she cooed, and let her concentration focus her vision past light, into the other spectrum that lay on the other side of her senses.

(Using Life Sense and Quantum Attunement to assess the bay-bee's condition)

[Dawn OOC]

The baby was healthy, the green of his life force shining brightly. The pale golden aura was a surprise; a hint of a halo around the baby was barely noticeable. Once she had him cleaned, her physical assessment matched her quantum one – until she checked his gums. There were indentations, as if his teeth had already come in, but had been pulled.

[SalmonMax]

"He's not a zombie," Myfwany reported. "But...dear god..."

Her momentary silence gave everyone's imaginations ample time to do their worst. It seemed like forever before she finally finished her sentence.

"...he has what looks like a power aura. I think he's a super. He's practically a newborn though! And there's something strange about his gums. If he wasn't so young, I'd say he's already gone through his first set of teeth..."

[Dan Hawkins]

"He's healthy, and that's what matters. He can't stay here, not right now at any rate."

He looked to Sarah and Myfwany. "If he's really a super like us, that's amazing."

"How would you like to proceed Myfwany? You're the doctor here. I'll back what you decide."

[Karren Gaunt]

Sarah relaxed marginally upon hearing Myf's prounouncement, mind too fried to regard it as wonderful yet, merely glad she wouldn't have to kill an infant right now for being a threat in merely existing. Yet.

"I suggest we clear the remaining three rooms as a group and get the child back to Fox's with the first portal he opens. It's not like we can do much here with the generator and boiler as destroyed looking as they are, anyway," the blonde megamorph commented tiredly, drawing herself up to her full height.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin ripped up some dry bushes growing next to the chain-link fence to use as kindling, but she needed something more substantial to keep the pyre burning. Looking around, she saw a house on the other side of the chain-link barrier, across the street, with an old wood fence, the planks grey and cracked. That would do.

With a casual flex of her muscular legs, Kristin jumped the fence and ambled across the two-lane road. Down a cross-street, a zombie slowly jerked around, sensing a source of life, then began shambling towards her. With arrogant unconcern, Kristin continued towards the wooden fence and started stripping it apart while she waited for the zomb to come closer. Some of the planks cracked in half, but that was okay, but she even ripped out the 4x4 support posts, their ends encrusted with hardened cement.

One such support post crushed the zomb's chest when Kristin swung it around as the zomb shuffled into range, nearly ripping it in two. The girl-woman glanced down at her arm - she was still much stronger than normal, but she could feel the pilfered power draining away at an increasing rate and she was pretty sure her engorged muscles were growing leaner. But I can get it back whenever I want with just a touch and a male volunteer, willing or unwilling, Kristin thought with a smirk that was meant to be mean, but held too much melancholy to be truly vicious.

Getting all the wood back over the fence to Jon's laboratory was a bit awkward, if not actually difficult. The weight was minuscule for her, but she still only had the two arms. Using some twine she had in her backpack made the load manageable.

Soon, Kristin had a crackling fire going, dark grey smoke and the smell of roasting meat rising up into the clear blue sky. Kristin walked the perimeter of the compound looking for zombs or dead animals on either side of the fence to dispose of her in roaring fire.

[SalmonMax]

"Would you and Dan do that without me?" Myfwany asked. "We shouldn't leave the baby by himself. I'll stay here, you two check the last three rooms, and then..."

She sighed and poked her finger playfully at the baby's instinctively grabby hands.

"Then the real work begins. I had no idea things would be so bad here. I thought the place would be...functioning. In at least decent condition. As it is, it may be salvageable, but doing so would take a lot more resources than I personally could bring to bear on it."

[Dan Hawkins]

"I'll help you how I can Myfwany, that's not an issue, just first we're going to have to sanitize this place."

He looked to Sarah. "Let's finish this."

[Karren Gaunt]

Sarah couldn't help but chuckle briefly at Myf's 'baby fingers' game, having done the same thing with her older cousin's children on holidays. That very thought grounded her in the horror of what she had learned today and just how long it'd been since she had seen a baby in this post Z-Day world. God.

The melancholy flitted across her face visibly as she nodded to Dan's comment and suggested, "Lady's and then men's, search the bathrooms in a team before hitting the last door on the left?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nodded, and led the way to the next door, the first of the two remaining lady's side rooms. He poened the door carefully and walked in, hoping to find nothing, but looking for anything.

[Dawn OOC]

Dan found a women's restroom, largely clean and untouched. It was dark, but he was sure that could be fixed. The water, when he checked it, seemed to be alright though the pipes were drained. The only unnerving thing was the personal items scattered throughout.

Satisfied, Sarah and Dan moved to the next room, the men's room. It was the same - dark but clean, with some man's personal items there. Neither had been used in a while.

The last room was a common room. A flatscreen TV with a couple of consoles and games was in one corner, while a pool table was in another. A circle of couches offered a cozy place to sit and talk.

[Dan Hawkins]

The base now fully explored, Dan looked to Sarah. "It's rough, but we can get it working I think. It will take a good deal of work."

He head back to Myfwany. "It looks clear Doctor, I say we go outside and wait for Morgan, We will take the baby with us, and I'm sure we can keep him isolated, just to make sure."

"Unless you have a better idea."

They couldn't take a chance here, and he wasn't happy.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany hesitates, then nods slowly. This place was obviously no place for a baby. There was nowhere to keep him other than the refuge for now.

"All right, we'll bring him back with us. But...when this lab is back up to snuff, I need to bring him back. It's incredibly important that I know how he was born. What specifically happened to bring him about."

[Dan Hawkins]

"Fair enough. Once we get this place clean, sanitary, and in reasonable shape, which I already plan to help with, You can bring him back here with you."

[Karren Gaunt]

"I can grab some of those files in the small lab on our way out. Take them with us so you can catch up on what happened here back at the base," Sarah offered helpfully, all eager smiles in the dancing light of the flashlights now that they were 'go go going' in time for the first portal. She didn't envy the Doctor that reading, but... if what had happened here could be prevented...

She squeezed her free hand into a fist at her side and forciably relaxed it.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany nodded. "That's a good idea. Those, and that laptop computer. Anything that might help me understand what happened here. Maybe even security recordings, from before the power went out."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nodded. "I'll work on getting them. You two get the other things you wish, I've already got the laptop."

Dan moved off, back into the room they'd found most of the computers in, and turned on one of them with his hand,putting in the passcode he'd found to gain access, and with any luck find the video Myfwany requested.

[Karren Gaunt]

Sarah, for her part, headed into one of the abandoned bedrooms and liberated a sturdy cloth bag enroute to the first lab, the one full of desks and papers and those blood-painted eyes that screamed how wrong things had gone here before the end. The next few minutes consisted of her searching the desks by the light of her flashlight and placing the more promising sounding papers and files into the bag.

Most of it was throughly above her comunity college level understanding of the science involved and she hoped that she was getting something good as opposed to more random trash.

[Dawn OOC]

When Fox came back for them, he was unhappy to hear about the extent of the damage. "Alright... so what kind of resources are we talking about needing here?" he asked, his green eyes both wary and weary as he pondered what the Refuge could spare. "How many man-hours. I don't think supplies are going to be a huge deal. We're real close to some very urban areas. It's the people numbers I'm worried about."

[SalmonMax]

"I just need Dan to get the power running and show me how to keep it running," Myf said tiredly, "And someone strong...Sarah or Kristin would be fine...to help with clearing debris. The rest I can handle on my own, or come back and get project-specific help with as needed. With you reviewing and approving each project before it begins, of course."

[Dan Hawkins]

"What about the baby Myfwany. Are you going to be able to take care of him as well as your research work?"

It had been something he'd wondered about for awhile. he could get things going again, it would just take some work, but what happened afterward was equally important. He didn't want to screw up here like he had with Paradise.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

By the time Fox showed up, Kristin had shrunk down in size... though not down to the size she was before. To those familiar with the buff girl-woman, she stood a few inches taller, maybe five-foot-five, and despite the softness due to her progressing pregnancy, she also seemed to possess a deeper... solidity, her shapely and defined musculature radiating an even greater sense of strength. She had kept some of the strength she had stolen.

Kristin stood apart from the others, somehow giving the bundle in Myfwany's arms a dark look without actually looking at it, her heart pounding like a kettle drum beneath her breast. It only served to remind her what was growing within her defiled womb and that the baby was found in the apparent care of two disgusting, sluggy super-zombs only served to fill her with dread. Is a monster growing inside me?

Ignoring the mention of the baby, hand balling into a fist with the effort, Kristin gave Myfwany a nod. "I can help with the debris and other stuff, Dr. Shattuck." Kristin nodded at her burning pyre. "I already started."

[Karren Gaunt]

"I don't mind volunteering my services helping the doctor to get set up here either, but there is one thing I'd like to talk to you about if you have time in the next few days," Sarah wearily contributed to the conversation for the first time beyond a simple 'I'm okay' in response to any inquiries into her health, nodding at the leader of the Refuge before turning her gaze back towards Kristen's foul-smelling bonfire.

The blonde megamorph was tired, leaning against the entrance to Myf's future lab and cleaning the gunk off her blade mechanically, burdened with the bag full of documents and waiting for the debriefing to end so they could go back to the Refuge.

[SalmonMax]

"I don't know, Dan," Myfwany answered. It wasn't a pleasant thought for her either, but what else could she do? "I'll try. If I need help, I'll ask around. The Refuge isn't the only settlement around here."

[Dawn OOC]

Fox nodded at Sarah, letting her know he'd take some time to speak with her.

"I'm sure someone will adopt him," Fox replied, smiling a little. He tapped the baby's chin; at this point, the poor guy was very hungry and his cries weren't getting any softer. "I have some formula saved; you can have some for him. He's a cutie. Someone will want him."

Looking at the adults, he said, "Ready to head home for now?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nodded. "I know somewhere I might be able to help there too."

He looked to Morgan. "Let's go home, we've got enough to start, and we can come back better prepared next time."

Once they'd left the interior, Dan had gone back and resecured everything, hoping to keep any other group out.

[Karren Gaunt]

Sarah nodded emphatic agreement and sheathed her sword after a final polish, ready to go.

[Dawn OOC]

Fox opened a warp home without anymore fanfare. Already, his mind was on resources and support. This would be quite an endeavour to support, but he was sure it would be worth it. Time to do more than just survive, he thought. Time to fix the world.

Click to reveal..

5 xp, this thread is officially closed. Go and fic yourselves, my children.