Consumption

[LadyHarpy]

Commune Alpha was a large place, a safe place. Something like that was rare in these times. It's walls stood strong, mounted with some of the best military grade artillery available. This place was a fortress, nothing could get in without being approved by the millitary and the lab officials that controlled the commune. However, even in such a safe place, things were starting to slip.

Over population was taking its toll on the food supply, causing prices to rise and starvation to become a major problem. Crime also grew at such a rapid pace the the police force had trouble keeping up with it. In the mist of the chaos it seemed the the strong commune that had surived for so long would crumble from inner turmoil, but fate was not done with them yet...

A call for new test subjects was posted in the town square a few days before, the experiment testing a new serum that had been developed. There were not many details but the promised paycheck that came with it caught many civilians eyes. Many went in to be examined and interviewed to see if they were qualified for the job. Most were turned away while a chosen few were invited back into the labs burried deep under the surface of the guarded city, an honor that was rare even for some of the most power officials.

Those that were selected were sent a letter with a time and date, followed by a set of instrustions to help them find the proper room.

That was where Harper was currently going.

Harper trotted down the street quickly, holding up the skirt of her long cotton jumper so she could move faster. A hearty cough passed her lips as she pushed herself to move faster, her weak body not used to working so hard. To her this was the chance of a lifetime, to finally be independent of the help and nursing that her parents had given her since she was a baby. With the money from the job she could finally start to pay for her apartment on her own instead of her father pouring all of the money from his job into it. She always felt guilty for making her parents take care of her so much and now it was her chance to finally do it herself.

As she arrived to the center of the town the elevators came into the view. The very things that connected the labs to the city, the veins that fed the houses with power and delievered food to keep the innocent alive and the strong going. Unlike the scenery around them, which looked akin to old time England with it's cobble stone streets and old styled buildings, the elevators were a bright shiny silver with pale blue lights aluminating the outside. It was a clash of times that she couldn't help but find alluring, the clean power of the furture mixing with the strength of past structures that still stood.

For a moment she just stood and watched people enter and exit the elevators in a massive rush, her hands clinging to the letter. Off in the distance she could hear a store owner calling out to the people to buy his wears, probably too poor to afford a proper advertisement in the paper. A sudden jolt from a tall passerby running into her woke her from her awed state and she quickly scurried over to an emptying elevator. She hoped to ride down on her own, not because she was anti-social but because she did not want to pass on her current sickness, a nasty cold at had her with a nasty fever and horrid cough. The only thing that kept her on her feet today was the fact that she desperately wanted to make a good impression and not call in sick before she was even working.

When the elevator was finally empty she stepped in and looked at her letter, pressing the instructed button and waiting for the doors to close, though all the doors had a long pause time to allow plenty of people to enter, whatever their business may be...

 

[October Knight]

Sweat poured off Cameron Green's bare back as he shoveled seemingly endless amounts of dirt. With each thrust of his shovel into the soft ground he felt more and more determined to go through with his plan. The backbreaking labor of laying 30 yards of irrigation pipe by hand was the last thing on his mind. Today there was something bigger floating through his thoughts, today he would finally be able to help his family get ahead in a struggling society, and more than that, help that same society in it's constant fight against the swarm. These thoughts helped him get through his work twice as fast as usual, working through the morning and all the way to lunch without a break.

Over the past couple years things had been getting harder and harder for Cameron and his father, as small time farmers they struggled to survive in the Alpha Commune. Cost of living skyrocketed, but their seasonal yield of crops stayed the same. Even with the two of them working full time, plus the half dozen others they hired during harvest season, they just couldn't seem to get ahead. Matters were made terminally worse when Cameron's father hurt his back, leaving him bed ridden and Cameron to handle all the responsibility. Now, it was all on Cameron to see that their crops made it through another harvest, and in turn get them through another winter. He was distraught for weeks after his Father's injury, unable to sleep and constantly stressed. However, there was a light shinning through the tunnel. A hope, a new possibility.

"Cam!" He heard his fathers voice through the screen door that led into the kitchen, booming and powerful. It hurt Cameron to see his father injured and stuck making sandwiches with so much work to be done, he had always been such a strong and commanding man. "Lunch time!"

John Green, or farmer john as he was fondly referred to by most that knew him, was finally able to get out of bed for short periods of time, against doctors orders, but he was not the type of person to lay around, even when in pain. He felt the least he could do was make his son grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

Cameron grabbed his shirt off a near by fence post and wiped his face before putting it on. Small prickles of pain shot up on his skin, letting him know that he had been in the direct sun for a bit too long. After lunch he would have to use sun screen, or else suffer the consequence of a vicious burn. Cameron made his way into the house where his father was now sitting. In front of him a large plate of grilled cheese sandwiches and a pitcher of ice cold milk. Light plumes of steam rose from the plate and Cameron thought briefly back to his childhood, when on more than one occasion he had burnt the skin off the roof of his mouth. As tempting as piping hot grilled cheese was, he decided to wait until they cooled and poured himself a glass of milk.

"Oh, Cam. I almost forgot." Said John Green "A letter came for you." Cameron stopped mid gulp, but tried his best not to look too concerned.

"A letter?" He said, knowing damn well it was the light at the end of his tunnel before even looking at the envelope. He hated lying to his father, but this was something that he knew had to be done.

As soon as he was finished eating, Cameron announced that he had to go to town and that he was done working for the day. He took a hot shower and got dressed, wearing only blue jeans, a pair of black boots and a white T-shirt, true farmer boy apparel. He headed out and made it to the center of town in record time. He approached the elevators just as they were closing and saw a young women with a letter clutched in her hand. He assumed it was the same letter that was currently stuffed in his back pocket.

This was it, no turning back now. Cameron pushed the button for the elevator and prepared to become a test subject for a hopefully effective vaccine.

 

[Fluffy]

'I hate this city and this city hates me. But I can't do anything about it... I shouldn't complain.'

Being stationed to new places was something Lionel rarely complained about. Lots of the other soldiers did, though. Too hot, too cold, too far away, too boring, too dangerous... No one could be satisfied. They signed up for this, so they should deal with it. He knew it was a bitter way of thinking, knowing that it was a last resort for some, but complaining never did good for anyone.

The sergeant walked along a pavement with a trio of other soldiers right behind him. All four of them were dressed in uniform so they wouldn't be mistaken for civilians. They were armed, too. Lionel knew they were in Commune Alpha for a reason and that reason was not something to underestimate. They walked proudly with stoic expressions; they took their job seriously.

Passerbys assumed they were patrolling the streets. Many other army men and women did to enforce safety of the people. Sgt. Christensen was headed someplace, though. The laboratory that had potential threats to the innocent. Everything about it disgusted him. Running tests on people and paying them for it? That was unethical. He felt the same way about animal testing, too. His failure in biology class resulted from that belief; he refused to operate on a dead creature that didn't agree to be dissected.

Sadly, his opinion meant nothing.

The reason he and his squad was headed there... It was a request. Scientists wanted some protection and also someone to tell the higher ranks what was going on. Their protectors deserved to know why they were deployed. Keeping secrets was more foul than the testing itself.

When he approached the front door, he pushed it open, his trio of followers right behind him. People who glanced made quick salutes before getting right back to work. He stopped in the lobby, though. Moving further would be impossible without the necessary pass-codes. Besides, he expected to be given a tour by the person who invited him.

 

[PhoenixArrande]

Kat sighed and sat at the kitchen table across from her sleeping brother. He must've fell asleep reading his favorite book again which was oddly about genetic engineering. It kept him entertained while she was gone to work and school, but she wouldn't be leaving him alone for hours anymore. The economy of Commune Alpha was dropping faster than Kat could comprehend and while things were already tough enough with 2 jobs, school, and a mute, 10-year-old little brother to take care of, as well as herself, things had already become too difficult here and they would have no other choice but to leave. She was going to tell Ryan as soon as she had gotten home, but it could wait until he woke up----it's not like she would have anything to do tommorow anyway. She had already quit both her jobs and dropped out of school. Getting up quietly, she gently picked Ryan up and carried him upstairs to his room and laid him on his bed. How was he going to react when she would tell him they had to leave?

Kat Thomas and her brother had only been living in Commune Alpha for 3 years. Even though they haven't been there for that long, Ryan instantly fell in love with the place as soon as they had arrived. She herself had a hard time adjusting, though, and after 3 years, she still hadn't come to terms with the city. Looking down at Ryan, she could see that he was happy, and that's really the only reason they both were still here. He hadn't made any real friends here, but he seemed content with the atmosphere, and just seeing him smile was enough to keep her going. But, now, there was no use in killing herself to make ends meet and all the young woman could do was hope he'd understand. She just hoped he wouldn't mention those notices again talking about becoming test subjects for whatever. There was no way she was donating her body to science for anything, no matter how much they needed the money.

 

[Effort]

In a hidden part of the Commune, Jerry was tightening a bolt that was holding a pipe into place. His first job was to fix a pipe and the second job was to open a new channel of water through all the pipes. It was simple but fairly tedious. This last bit of pipe was the last piece and he made sure the bolt was tight and the pipe was secure for the new flow of water before putting his wrench in his bag of tools and then toting the thing down the tunnel a ways. Now all he had to do was turn the pressure back on, which he did. He turned the valves and watched gauges to make sure everything was running properly. It was. Satisfied Jerry turned and walked down the tunnel until he reached a door.

Through a maze of tunnels and doorways Jerry went, dropping off his tools and changing out of his jumpsuit, he took a swift shower, threw on fresh clothes and headed through more tunnels and doorways. Finally Jerry climbed a ladder and and put his sunglasses on before walking through a door of the room at the top of that ladder out into the sunlight. He crossed the street and went into the building he had been invited to come to, which he accepted obviously. It was a busy lobby. Jerry walked in farther and looked at the elevators, there was one that just opened and some walked into, making it occupied by two people. Jerry noted the bustle and decided to walk past the elevators to a door that had a sign with a kind of zig zaggy line. Using a key from a ring of many Jerry opened the door and closed it behind himself before heading down the stairs.

 

[Fiona]

​Amber wasn't the kind of girl who generally did well at mornings, but for whatever reason when the sun cracked through her curtains that morning there had been a smile on her face. She had slammed her hand on the alarm beside her bed, turning it off before it began its wailing wake-up call, and bounced out of her room to shower before one of her obnoxiously loud siblings used all the hot water. Downstairs she could already hear the sounds of a morning in her father's house. The still-cracking voice of her kid brother, Danny, was engaged in a presumably ridiculous and mundane yelling match with the shrill-sounding voice of Hayley, the middle sister. The stairs were creaking as the elder brother traipsed very audibly down them. She could imagine her poor father would be downstairs already, resisting the urge to throttle the annoyances that were the teens.

Crashing down the stairs herself, pink-faced with her hair still damp from the water, she grimaced at the now much louder shouting. She stopped in the kitchen to pick up a slice of toast before she left for the time being. Her father was sitting between the two yelling siblings, a twitch developing below his eye, the typical sign he was going to blow up in the not too far off future. "I'm out for the day, dad." Amber raised her voice to be heard, wincing as Danny's voice rose in an angry squeak. Not even waiting for an acknowledgement, she turned and strode out of the kitchen. She paused at the front door to tap her shoes on, only to hear her father's temper snap and the deep, familiar roar of "Shut up, the both of you!" A stunned silence replaced the yelling as Amber slipped out the door, a smirk playing across her lips.

Her family was becoming increasingly more and more trying to be around. Danny and Hayley were constantly at each other's throats, and while Amber and her elder brother had cooled right off it was still enough to make the household seem unwelcoming at times. She set off at a run for the centre of town. The wind ruffled through her hair and cooled her pink cheeks, shaking the last of her shower away. Amber was always glad of the cool breeze after a shower; her ginger hair didn't go well with a red face. The centre was always easy to hear before you actually got to it, what with the masses of people that passed through every day. She slowed to a walk before turning into the square, smoothing her hair back and catching her breath so she didn't seem too out-of-place. Given the number of formal suits that wandered the centre, her grey sweats and lime-green tank top already marked her out as one of the unemployed rabble.

Amber spent a lot of her time in the centre. The bubble of other people going busily about their lives made her smile and she liked to let it wash over her. It also went without saying that a central area with a larger network of people was also the place you would most likely find something entertaining to do. Today of all days, she saw a few uniforms passing through the town. It seemed more purposeful than the usual, routine patrol sweeps. She wandered around, watching them for a short while, curious, but abandoned her observations when they stepped inside. She instead stood in the centre, staring into space as she fought the temptation to follow the uniforms and risk the trouble she could get herself in, disregarding the fact she was probably getting entirely in many people's way.

 

[LadyHarpy]

Harper glanced at a taller man wandering into the elevator, his appearance not that of a scientist or a business man. In fact, he looked more like the people who worked in the fields of the commune and such. She didn't say anything to him though and just held onto her letter more tightly, getting a bit nervous as the doors closed and the elevator started to descend into the laboratory. The lights buzzed softly as they two of them went down in silence, Harper glancing at her letter from time to time to make sure she didn't get lost.

The elevator gave a soft ding as it stopped the the doors opened to a busy open hall, people in bright white lab coats running back and forth with papers or tools. The doors along the walls all had numbers and Harper quickly went to work finding the proper door. She lifted her skirt slightly and started to wandering quickly down the hall, her small feet tapping lightly as she walked over the white tile floor.

Everything in the area was so clean, she stood out terribly among the white. Her black hair and dark clothing made her feel like a stain in this environment. She tried to keep her pace quick and eventually stopped in front of a simple door, the number 408 displayed in stainless steel. She turned the knob slowly and peeked inside, a small reception area with the same cold and clean appearance as the hall. She wandered inside and looked around for a moment, there was no one at the simple metal desk and she wasn't to comfortable with trying to peak into the back. She stood there as she tried to figure out what to do now, only having gotten the instructions on how to get there, not what to do once she arrived.

 

[October Knight]

While the elevator made it's mechanical decent towards the unknown, the realization of what Cam was about to do hit him like a semi truck. Government test subject, human guinea pig, and worst of all 'willing participant'. All of the sudden his urge to help the commune seemed crushed under the weight of reality. Before the elevator even stopped, he was thinking about that movie "Fire starter" based on the book by Steven King. One book, like many, he had never read because it was well above his reading level. Either way he got the gist of it; Terrible side effects is what it boiled down to. He recalled a part of the story were a test subject actually ripped his own eyes out! Suddenly he was well aware of his heart beating in his cheat like a heavy metal kick drum, as his pulse thundered against his temples. Cameron Green, never a religious man, said a silent prayer as the Steel elevator door slid open.

When the door opened, Cam noticed for the first time, that he had been sharing the elevator with a girl. His nerves were definitely clouding his mind. When they got out he caught his first look into the lab and was overwhelmed. What a change from the town square! This place was like nothing he had ever seen. Clean, white and shiny. Although he had showered before coming here, Cam still felt dirty in this place. He fell a few steps behind the girl, who he assumed was heading to the same place as he, and followed her. When they finally reached the door numbered 408, Cam nearly ran into the Girl when she stopped in front of him, but caught himself at the last second.

"Oh, Hi." Said Cam to the girl, who for the first time he noticed was wearing a long skirt and had beautiful black hair. However, given the situation, talking to her was really the last thing on his mind. He was doing it more out of being nervous than anything else. "So, you here for the testing too?" he realized how stupid of a question that was before the words even left his mouth. Why the hell else would she be here?

Cam was interrupted just as he spoke by a lady, who he assumed was either a nurse or receptionist. She was completely dressed in white and looked at them both, smiling widely.

"Hello! and Welcome!." She exclaimed. " I just need your numbers and the doctors will be right with you." She cocked her head in question and looked at them both, waiting.

"Oh." Said Cam fumbling with the letter that he had hastily jammed into his back pocket " I've got number....5012638" He said.

Right away the nurse/receptionist was on an intercom relaying the message to an unseen Doctor "O.k. we have number 5012638 here and....." Cam blocked out the rest, startled by the sudden realization that he was being referred to as a number. As soon as they got into the back room, the testing room, Cam felt his knees growing weak as the lab began to take on a frightening appearance. Beds on either side of the room were lined up like coffins. IV stands with bottles of a brownish yellow liquid hovered above the foot of each bed, like a tomb stone marker in a cemetery. The lack of any natural light didn't help matters either, and the sunny day outside of the lab seemed miles away...almost as if in another world. If there were any other test subjects here already, Cam didn't noticed as he shifted his gaze immediately to a man in white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck, who may have been a doctor, but given the situation looked much more like a mad scientist.

"Welcome, My name is DR. Genkins. I am pleased to have you both here, your first dose of a potential cure to the outbreak will be administered shortly" He held two sheets of paper in his hand "Now, if you could both sign here, just stating that you are aware of the testing and that you understand the risks, we'll get started immediately."

Cam gave a slightly nervous look to the girl as he signed with a shaky hand.

 

[LadyHarpy]

Harper turned toward man as he spoke to her for the first time, not having realized that he followed her the whole way to the room. She had been more focused on not getting lost or embarrassing herself among the scientists. She had to tilt her head all the way back to look him in that face, her constant sickness having made her rather short for her age. She smiled politely though, it was hard to not be happy that there was someone who was going through the same exact thing as her. She nodded her head slowly at his question but before she could elaborate more upon it the receptionist wandered in and quickly started to check them in by asking their numbers. She shuffled with her letter and scanned it quickly before looking back up at the woman.

"My number is 6373221..." She spoke softly, her voice slightly scratchy from her current cold.

After the woman checked her in as well they were lead into the back, the place even more sterile than the front. The cold room reminded her of her childhood, running back and forth from the hospital and countless hours being poked and force fed nasty medication. However, this time she was here willingly and she would finally be able to take care of herself. She smiled kindly at the doctor, any nervousness that she had having slipped away in the sadly familiar setting. She looked at the paper for a moment before glancing at the man next to her, noting his nervousness from his shaky writing. She wrote her name quickly and neatly before handing the paper back to the doctor without second thought.

Dr. Genkins smiled at her before he glanced over her paper and filed it away to be documented at a later date. Once the other man turned over his paper the doctor motioned to two nearby beds for them to sit upon. Harper sat down quietly, her eyes lingering on the doctor as he wandered over to another door for a moment.

"Alright, I have to go get the drug, it will only be a moment." He said professionally before leaving the two of them alone..
_______________

Elsewhere in one of the work buildings on the surface, a young Female scientist wandered over to the group of armed soldiers, giving them a small salute.

"Good morning, You are Sgt. Christensen and Co I presume? I am Dr. Randolf." She said to the in a business like tone. "Let us hurry, The Chief is waiting to speak with you in his office."

She then turned on her heel and headed toward an elevator in the building, not looking back to see if he was following her or not. She pulled out a card and swiped it in a slot on a key pad before punching in the required code to activate the doors. She stepped in and made room for the others before selecting the proper level for them.

 

[LaharlSama]

Shinji awoke to the same dim lighting as usual. He had promised himself often to replace the light but never got around to it. His eyes slowly adjusted and he realized that the small red numbers were blinking on and off signaling that the power had gone out and that the time was off. He quickly got dressed throwing on some loose fitting pants and a red shirt before grabbing his jacket. Once he had finished putting his clothes on he began to walk out the door grabbing his keys and his gun which he placed on his hip holster. As the door opened he closed his eyes from the sudden difference in brightness. He began his slow stroll through the city waving to friendly faces along the way.

The day was young and the sky was relatively clear for how bad the world was. He started to drift off to memories of his childhood when he would run around outside all day enjoying the wonderful weather and swimming all day, now it was all but a dream. Instead of swimming he now immersed himself in his work and tried to keep active so he wouldn't succumb to boredom. The thing he was trying to avoid the most though was thinking of the "swarm" and how they were getting to be a bigger problem. As he reminisced about the past his mind drifted towards the letter he had received a few days ago. The letter had mentioned that the tests he had taken a few days ago verified him as a candidate for the experiments. Shinji decided to head off to the labs as quickly as he could so that he could see what they wanted to experiment on.

Shinji stretched a bit before getting a running start down an alleyway and leaping onto one of the ladders hanging from the building. He quickly climbed the ladder and reached the rooftops of the buildings before he started to run towards the metallic and menacing labs. They were never a favored place for him due to its dull look and sterile appearance, it was too organized for him. While he was running along the rooftops he was able to breath deeply and really relax while watching the people below him walking through crowded streets. After a while he finally arrived at the labs and climbed back down to ground level before getting into an elevator. While waiting on the elevator he pulled the letter from his jacket where he had stuffed it the day before for safekeeping.

"Well, i guess there isnt anything to lose but time. And hell i guess i can always look for someone nice around the labs, besides a little bit of extra cash never hurt. Especially in these tough times."

 

[October Knight]

Cam sat with his feet hanging off the edge of the bed. The lab's once nightmarish form had slowly faded back, although hints of his paranoid fantasy were still present. He swung his feet, hitting them lightly against the hard metal frame of the bed. The words repeated in his head like an echo 'this is for humanity this is for humanity this is for humanity', and it was true. All for humanity; The survival of the human race. The testing of the serum would be the first step in creating a weapon to combat the swarm. Cam straightened up a little, but the anxiety sharks in his stomach still circled.

He turned to the girl "My name is Cam, by the way." He looked at the ground, unable to meet her eyes. Cameron had always been a strong person, seemingly fearless, this was very hard on him to be in such a vulnerable state. "I live out on the east end of the commune, my father and I got a farm out there." As if the tan that ended where his shirt did wasn't enough evidence of that. " I guess we are going to be like...heros for doing this. More like unsung heros though, I guess, seeing as many people won't even know what we did." Cam was rambling, and was more than relieved when Doctor Genkins returned.

"Alright." He said " Now just lay back and it will all be over soon. After the intial administration of the drug we would like to keep you under observation, not long, just an hour or so."

Cam laid back as a nurse rubbed something rough on the inside of his arm "Did you bring any veins with you today?" She joked, Cam didn't laugh. After a another moment Cam felt a cold, sharp prick of steel, then pressure as the syringe slid into his arm. He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch as the serum pumped into his body.

 

[LadyHarpy]

Harper sat there quietly while the doctor was away getting the serum. She stared into space quietly as her mind started to drift off in thought. She wasn't nervous at all, years of sickness had made her used to this cool and clean environment. In fact she was a little excited to see what this serum would do, the most she knew about it was that it would help battle the swarm. In the beginning she thought that she should at least know more but the doctors were quick to bash down any questions that she had. In the end she didn't think it mattered much since the actual doctors didn't seem to care about it.

She glanced over to the man and smiled a bit as he told her his name. It seemed that he wasn't used to a place like this, his farmers tan gave that away.

"I'm Harper, It's nice to meet you..." She said softly to him before, the doctor entering once more before she could speak anymore.

Harper laid back as instructed and smiled up at the nurse that was taking care of her, the woman smiling back as she looked over the young girl. Soon she was back in her own little world once more, her eyes closing as she calmed herself and felt the drug slowly flow into her veins.

 

[PhoenixArrande]

Kat pulled off her Washington-Porter jacket and went outside to sit on the porch. A lot of people in and around the neighborhood were moving away, making the whole street look deserted and not very comforting. Most of them had left beacause of the swarm, and when asked why she wasn't leaving too, all Kat could do was sit there dumbfounded. "Beacause we really have nowhere else to go" is what she wanted to say, but it's not like it really would've mattered to them. The only thing that could be heard was a few cars passing by every few minutes, and the only other neighbor left across the street trimming his hedges. The artist waved at the middle-aged man who smiled in response, and laid back in the sun. To her, it was nothing like the sun in her old hometown even though it was relatively the same one. One too many times she had caught herself wishing she was still there, but they couldn't go back---at least not right now. "I'll figure something out, right?" she said to the cat pawing at her arm. Realizing she was worrying again, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. I'll figure someting out....

 

[LaharlSama]

Soon the door of the elevator opened, it seemed to happen so slow but once it was over he felt a large wave of anxiety and anticipation. Shinji walked into the elevator and waited for the doors to close, the last thing he saw as the doors closed was a woman he knew before the swarm smiling and mouthing the words good luck. His face went pale and his heart beat rose rapidly. After a moment he closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath knowing that she wasnt really there, the not so fond memory returning.

____________

Isabelle: Come on shinji~ Lets go play at the park! Ill meet you there okay~
Shinji: Yea ill be there soon i just gotta finish something alright. Catch ya then!
A few hours had gone by when he got a phone call, it was a random number so he guessed it was a payphone. When he picked it up all he heard was a loud crashing noise and then the phone going dead. His heart beat fast and he rushed to the park hearing the sirens and seeing a small plume of smoke. When he arrived his fears were confirmed as his childhood friend was found being put into a body bag and then carried away.
_______________

*DING*
Shinji snapped back and looked out as the elevator doors opened. He slowly walked out with a glazed look over his eyes. Soon he found the room for the experiment.

 

[Effort]

Although there were many stairs Jerry sometimes preferred taking them to standing in an elevator waiting for people. Also he was slightly nervous about this experiment deal, he was doing it for the best interests of the Commune but he wasn't sure what the symptoms may be. Oh well. Hopping down the last two steps he put his hand on the doorknob of a door and then turned it, with his hand, and opened the door stepping into the extremely clean and white hallway. The elevator started whirring as it ascended back up the building to where it had been called. Jerry went up to the desk and looked around a bit, catching the eye of a lady in one of the backrooms, he also glimpsed the contents of another of the backrooms where a couple doctors were moving around and he also spied some beds. The lady made her way to him and greeted him with a cheerful "Hello!" She leaned down to an intercom speaker and said to him, Jerry, "There's a number for you on the letter could you tell me what it is please?" Leaving the letter in his pocket Jerry said "1111111." She repeated the number through the intercom within a sentence of other words around it and gestured pleasantly toward the back room Jerry noticed.

Jerry found his way into the room easily enough, since it was just right there. In the room were many beds on either side with the pouches of liquid with the hoses hanging down from them. There were already two test subjects sitting on beds. He waved to them. He thought he recognized the dude but didn't dwell on it. One of the doctors approached him with a paper to sign, Jerry signed it with a professional kind of signature. After he signed the paper the doctor asked next for the paper sent to him and then directed him to occupy a bed. Jerry chose a bed on the opposite side of the room from the two others and once seated was directed to lay back for the shot. Which he did do, laying back that is. He watched the doctor prepare the syringe and started thinking to himself. For the Commune and for my family, I hope this doesn't kill me but if it does oh well I signed the paper. He felt the needle pierce his skin and felt the fluid pouring out of it into his blood stream. Not a pleasant sensation.

 

[October Knight]

Cameron gave a weak smile to the new comers, for the moment that was all he could manage given the fact that he was feeling a bit light headed from the sudden rush of fluid into his veins. As the bottle drained, so did Cam's fear, surprisingly a new found inspiration was bubbling up inside him. He was no longer consumed by the self pity and doubt. Now he felt like he was a part of something, he and these three others were pioneers, like he had said jokingly before to Harper, Heros. He took one last glance at the bottle and saw that it was nearly empty. With his new found strength came a new found sense of understanding. Just outside the gates of Alpha commune were a vile, horrible, wreathing breed of demonic killers. They were everything that Cameron, and the others, were not; Good Vs Evil. If he didn't feel righteous before he sure as hell did now. When the nurse took the needle out of his arm, Cam stood up, and he noticed that the room that had looked like a crypt before, now looked like a nice, relaxing hospital. And the IV stands that had appeared as head stones in a graveyard were nothing more than medical devices.

Cameron Green, noticing that the others were being unhooked too, stood up and faced them. Although he had barely met the girl, and knew nothing of the others, he felt that they were all intertwined, and would be for a long time.

"OK." Said the nurse in a very nurse like tone, you know the professional one that says 'I've done this a million times before', but somehow Cam doubted she had ever done anything like this before. "Now that wasn't bad at all, was it? The Doctor is busy, but you are free to go now. The exit is just down the hall and we'll see you next week." With a smile at all of them, but at the same time none of them she left the room.

Cam got his first real look at the new comers, two young men like himself.

"Well, Harper and I have already met, sorta."He paused then offered his hand to them both, not at the same time, but one after the other "My name is Cameron, Cam for short"

 

[LaharlSama]

Once he had entered the room he saw two others being administered the drug already while the third was being hooked up, shortly after he was done the nurse had come to him with a false smile on her face, he could tell it was fake because her eyes were so nervous and insincere. After a moment of awkward silence she broke it with her voice. "What are your numbers sir? They should have been in the envelope you received a few days ago." Shinji only stared at her for a bit before replying in his calm voice which only let out a little hint of him being nervous. "My numbers are 8675309"

The nurse nodded and sat Shinji down on one of the uncomfortable beds and pulled out a syringe. The syringe was full of a strange liquid, it appeared to be a bluish tone and was nearly see through although it distorted everything. She then put the needle in his arm after finding his main veins. As the strange liquid drained into his body he felt the familiarly cold wave washing over his body as he was once again dragged into a flashback. It was when he was in the hospital, everything was hazy and all he could see was red and white. His left eye hadnt been working for some reason, it skipped forwards and he was in a bed with saline and morphine slowly pouring into his body leaving him with a sense of calm and cold, he snapped back to reality again when Cam offered him a handshake and he had noticed that the needle had been pulled out.

"Hmm? Oh my names Shinji. Its nice to meet you."​ he shook Cams hand and smiled a little bit while feeling weary.

 

[Effort]

Jerry's decision was finalized for eternity when the plunger pushed the last of the drug into his veins and his heart pumped it irrevocably through his body. Now it was time to wait and see if this cure would work. Speaking of work he should really get back to it. Jerry stood up once the nurse had left him but was confronted by the first guy he saw in here, now he knew his name was Cameron, and the female was Harper. Oh and the last person to come in, he learned his name was Senji, he'd actually seen him around too.

Jerry took Cam's offered hand and shook it "I'm Jerry. I do maintenance among other things for the Commune" he said while turning to give Senji and Harper a 'Nice to meet you' handshake.

 

[LadyHarpy]

Harper finished up without much trouble, having gotten used to the feel of a shot when she was little. She wandered over to the men slowly, feeling a little nervous since she was the only girl, and smiled at them all kindly. She learned that one was Jerry and the other Shinji, both seemed to be regular workers unlike her, making her a little curious as to why they would offer to be a test subject when they already had jobs. Harper shook Jerry's hand kindly before speaking softly.

"It's nice to meet you...Um, I don't mean to impose when I say this but I think It might be a good idea to share contact information. I-I speak from experience when I say that doctors aren't the easiest to get a hold of. If we can contact each other than we can tell others about what symptoms we go through and what to watch out for...There's nothing worse than being surprised by a new development." She said to them politely, speaking far more than she had gotten to before.

 

[LaharlSama]

Shinji had looked down at the frail and tiny looking girl who had been talking the most. She wanted everyone to share contact information so that they could all stay in touch rather then trying to reach the doctors. He didnt mind the idea so he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from one of the clipboards in the lab and began to write his number down. Once he was finished he handed a piece to all the people in the room before ruffling the little girls hair and walking off.

"Well i got business to attend to so ill catch you all later if you decide to give me a ring. Ill just add your numbers as you call me. If you wanna come with me though im probably heading out towards the cafe down on fifth avenue." With that Shinji opened the door and strolled outside into the sterile hallway and into the elevator which took him back towards the surface. Once he got to the surface and exited the elevator he began to head towards his favorite cafe in the district called Twilights Bane, it was kind of ironic since a lot of people only came there during the night time but hell he didnt mind. It had become like a second home to him... well third since the swarm took his first.