Episode 12: Of Twenties Part 2
Of the twenty-three people inside the hospital, we still have yet to meet fourteen. Fortunately, most of these had arrived together; in fact, the fourteen had arrived in two groups. The first to arrive had been a group of ten.
These ten people were a fairly… eclectic bunch, to say the least. They didn’t quite know how they had come together, but for the last couple of years they had traveled together. Their leader was named Camron, and he was a nice, if sort of gruff, young man. The other nine were John Edrews (a weirdo who had strange ideas about religion), Fiona (A faux-goth chick, obsessed with Anne Rice novels), Nole (a wolfish young man, just a few months older than Camron), Hunter Gloom (A man who insisted that he was from another planet, but didn't seem to be violently crazy), Corwin A. Courte (constantly mystified and a year or two younger than Camron), Gworkin F. Mortimer (Who claimed to be the illegitimate son of Gary Gygax), Cherry (a severe nymphomaniac, who wasn’t particularly attractive), Amy (a brilliant woman, about the same age as Cherry), and Desiree (Very kind, very beautiful, and vaguely psychotic, with a list of minor medical problems long enough to kill her). For two years they had traveled across the country, looking for something that they couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
They had met due to a severe bout of synchronicity, all traveling to wherever they felt like, looking for that thing that might be the same for all of them, and might not even exist, though they felt sure that it did. Amy and Desiree had been traveling together in 2011, having both run away from their homes another two years prior, based on a feeling that they were missing out on something that they needed to have. They had been friends with each other before that, via the internet. They had met up with the other eight in a Starbucks, while they checked a map to figure out what state had the right weather for whatever they were trying to do. They weren’t sure what the right weather was, but they thought they would know it when they saw it.
Coincidentally, the other eight had been looking at similar maps looking for similar things; some were looking for terrain, population, common pets, et cetera instead. But they each noticed this about the others and let it sink in for a few hours. The Starbucks staff eventually started getting upset with them, particularly concerned that these strangers weren't buying anything.
Camron finally put it all together, and realized that they were all looking for something at least similar. So he proposed that they start working together to find that thing. They left the Starbucks together, stole a school bus from the local district (the normal driver was Billy Bo Bob, and he was accused of being the thief. He was never convicted, for a lack of evidence, but he was fired from his position. Eighteen months later, his credit card was seen buying a large number of black robes), painted it blue, and drove off in search of their destinies.
What they didn’t realize was that their destinies in that sense didn’t exist in this universe. They were receiving an improbable pattern of bio-electric waves that had managed to permeate the veil between universes. Which is to say, in the Alternate Universe that we have briefly mentioned, they had all become, along with a number of other characters (including Nurse Lotus), embroiled in a bizarre battle in New York City, the details of which are much too complicated and stupid to get into now. After the battle, their minds were wiped of the incident. The memories were not obliterated, however, as that is impossible. Rather, the residue floated throughout the multiverse and, often, bits of it implanted in the bio-electric manifolds of their alter-egos beings.
But, we’re getting far too complicated here. These ten people had, in their blue bus, been in Colorado for a couple of months now. They felt a strange connection to the place, as it was the birthplace of most of those seven brothers, one of whom had been amongst their number in the battle. They had been searching the West Denver area in particular on July 4th, and had been surprised by the sudden flash of multi-colored light. They were, however, used to this sort of thing, and instantly returned to the bus.
They had first noticed the onslaught of zombies when they passed the hospital. Camron, who was driving, turned the bus around and stopped at the hospital, on the other side from where Mario and Judy arrived. They quickly piled out of the bus, with their favorite weapons (a katana, a couple of hand guns, a fairly balanced middle ages style sword, a mace or two, and such things. They charged into the hospital and helped Joseph clear out the zombies. But he and Doctor Mabus had quickly forbidden anyone to leave. They had kept their weapons, despite John trying to attack Joseph briefly. The others had held him back. They calmly, but bitterly, sat and waited.
The last four unnamed characters at the hospital didn’t seem to special. The nice, quiet types. Didn’t draw much attention to themselves, never seemed to hurt anybody.
They had come in together, just as the mayhem had begun. They had managed to, miraculously, avoid much harm.
The first man was named Jack. He was a very proper seeming man, and had a penchant for speaking in only double-entendres that only he caught. Mostly he was the only one who caught them because he said them to himself. He had smoothed hair which you could tell by looking at it was generally wild. He also sported a spiffy, purple top hat.
The second went by Charlie. He kept scratching at his forehead. He also bore the make of a Leader. People were instantly drawn to him, despite his wild eyes and mussed hair. What he kept scratching on his forehead was a scar; it looked kind of like it may have been a tattoo. His appearance was a bit helter-skelter.
Sitting next to him, was a young woman named Lizzie. She looked to be about twenty-eight. She occasionally swung her arm, which some would call characteristic of chopping wood. She had a sort of out-of-it look, and she spoke very highly of her parents. But she rarely spoke.
The last was named John. He had the smile of a clown permanantly painted on his face, without the aid of makeup. He occasionally was heard to say that a clown could do anything. He was kind of large, and had a powerful fear of needles. Especially needles with thick substances in the syringe.
No one knew where they had come from, or why they had come to the hospital. There wasn’t really time to think about such things. They were surrounded on all sides outside by the walking dead, and there were probably a few that were managing to still lounge about in the building. No one had the time to figure out why they were together, either.
The four of them harbored all these secrets with masterful skill.
The last resident of the hospital that we have yet to talk about is Andy. Andy lived up west in Golden. Yet, rather than staying there, he drove at least fifteen minutes, maybe even half an hour, to get down to a hospital in Denver. Why would he do such a thing?
It has been suggested that it was because he wished to escape any chance of encountering his wife, for some fight they may or may not have had.
It has also been suggested that he wanted to check up on the rest of his extended family and stopped there for some unknown reason.
The third, most plausible suggestion, is that even he didn’t know.
The truth of it is, he had not even driven down there. His car was still sitting in his driveway, although the driveway did not really go where it was supposed to anymore. He had been sitting at his home when the flash filled the sky. He had then found himself, and his house, to be no longer where he, and his house, had expected to be. No one has been able to explain this completely, so far. It escapes the bounds of our current physical laws. The most common theory is that his house was built on an unstable foundation, not an unstable physical foundation, but an unstable psychological or "magick"al foundation. There are those that suggest that it was built in an unstable region of the universe; a highly localized Schwartzchild radius that disappeared as soon as it started moving the house. Either of these explanations is both viable and highly unlikely. But it was, almost definitely, caused by the same energies which caused the rising of the dead. And, regardless of why, the house had certainly moved to a completely new place.
Andy had noticed this when the house began to shake, and suddenly everything was sliding to one side. And then he felt the force of gravity start pulling him that way. And yet, even when he fell into the wall where the TV had once been, he still felt the force of gravity pulling in that direction. And then, just as suddenly as that had started, he found himself and his house somewhere else entirely.
The dining room had vanished, and in its place was a huge wall of water, rushing at him. He screamed and dashed back up the slope-which was no longer a slope, but was back to being level. The fact that he was in the ocean just wouldn’t calculate; all he knew was that water was rushing into his house. Just as the water hit him, he found that he was in yet another place.
He was out in space for a brief moment; all the air in his room was sucked out into the vacuum, and he almost was too, but found himself somewhere else again.
This time, a huge rush of air hit him, filling the vacuum that had developed in his room. Luckily for him, the blast of air sent him flying through the window. He got a few cuts and scrapes, especially from the landing, but he was out of the mysterious rift in space that seemed to surround his living room. Which was extremely lucky; the next place the house (at least, the part he had been in) was sighted was in the burning nitrous swamps of Glaucon 7, which is quite possibly the most dangerous place in the universe for the human physiology. The specific combination of chemicals there flows into the human sinus system, and disables movement. Frighteningly, it does not disable the nerve endings, and so feeling still persists. It is inhabited by various horrifying creatures that don’t need much to live on, but have horribly sharp teeth. Every couple of days, they will return to the still living body and take small bites. It is a horribly painful existence for humans, especially considering that the same chemicals that disable movement also attack the nervous system. They don’t disable it, as we already mentioned; rather, they cause it intense pain. Strangely enough, the corpses of all life forms known in the universe absolutely thrive there.
But Andy was not there. He was, rather, on top of a building. He sat there astonished for an hour or two, and then stood. He found a ventilation shaft, smashed an opening in it, and slid down. He was just in time to not get killed by any zombies, and so sat in the hospital waiting area with the rest of them. Dr. Mabus took a quick examine of his wounds, and determined that they were superficial.
We here at the Department* understand that this was a very short episode. But, luckily, it wrapped up our examination of the neglected characters. Now we only have to do a few more episodes to get everyone where (and when) they belong, and then we may continue on with the major thread of the plot. The import of this cosmic history, and every character within, will become apparent soon enough. Or maybe not. We're not so sure, really.
Previous Episode
Next Episode
*Which still doesn't exist
These ten people were a fairly… eclectic bunch, to say the least. They didn’t quite know how they had come together, but for the last couple of years they had traveled together. Their leader was named Camron, and he was a nice, if sort of gruff, young man. The other nine were John Edrews (a weirdo who had strange ideas about religion), Fiona (A faux-goth chick, obsessed with Anne Rice novels), Nole (a wolfish young man, just a few months older than Camron), Hunter Gloom (A man who insisted that he was from another planet, but didn't seem to be violently crazy), Corwin A. Courte (constantly mystified and a year or two younger than Camron), Gworkin F. Mortimer (Who claimed to be the illegitimate son of Gary Gygax), Cherry (a severe nymphomaniac, who wasn’t particularly attractive), Amy (a brilliant woman, about the same age as Cherry), and Desiree (Very kind, very beautiful, and vaguely psychotic, with a list of minor medical problems long enough to kill her). For two years they had traveled across the country, looking for something that they couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
They had met due to a severe bout of synchronicity, all traveling to wherever they felt like, looking for that thing that might be the same for all of them, and might not even exist, though they felt sure that it did. Amy and Desiree had been traveling together in 2011, having both run away from their homes another two years prior, based on a feeling that they were missing out on something that they needed to have. They had been friends with each other before that, via the internet. They had met up with the other eight in a Starbucks, while they checked a map to figure out what state had the right weather for whatever they were trying to do. They weren’t sure what the right weather was, but they thought they would know it when they saw it.
Coincidentally, the other eight had been looking at similar maps looking for similar things; some were looking for terrain, population, common pets, et cetera instead. But they each noticed this about the others and let it sink in for a few hours. The Starbucks staff eventually started getting upset with them, particularly concerned that these strangers weren't buying anything.
Camron finally put it all together, and realized that they were all looking for something at least similar. So he proposed that they start working together to find that thing. They left the Starbucks together, stole a school bus from the local district (the normal driver was Billy Bo Bob, and he was accused of being the thief. He was never convicted, for a lack of evidence, but he was fired from his position. Eighteen months later, his credit card was seen buying a large number of black robes), painted it blue, and drove off in search of their destinies.
What they didn’t realize was that their destinies in that sense didn’t exist in this universe. They were receiving an improbable pattern of bio-electric waves that had managed to permeate the veil between universes. Which is to say, in the Alternate Universe that we have briefly mentioned, they had all become, along with a number of other characters (including Nurse Lotus), embroiled in a bizarre battle in New York City, the details of which are much too complicated and stupid to get into now. After the battle, their minds were wiped of the incident. The memories were not obliterated, however, as that is impossible. Rather, the residue floated throughout the multiverse and, often, bits of it implanted in the bio-electric manifolds of their alter-egos beings.
But, we’re getting far too complicated here. These ten people had, in their blue bus, been in Colorado for a couple of months now. They felt a strange connection to the place, as it was the birthplace of most of those seven brothers, one of whom had been amongst their number in the battle. They had been searching the West Denver area in particular on July 4th, and had been surprised by the sudden flash of multi-colored light. They were, however, used to this sort of thing, and instantly returned to the bus.
They had first noticed the onslaught of zombies when they passed the hospital. Camron, who was driving, turned the bus around and stopped at the hospital, on the other side from where Mario and Judy arrived. They quickly piled out of the bus, with their favorite weapons (a katana, a couple of hand guns, a fairly balanced middle ages style sword, a mace or two, and such things. They charged into the hospital and helped Joseph clear out the zombies. But he and Doctor Mabus had quickly forbidden anyone to leave. They had kept their weapons, despite John trying to attack Joseph briefly. The others had held him back. They calmly, but bitterly, sat and waited.
* * *
The last four unnamed characters at the hospital didn’t seem to special. The nice, quiet types. Didn’t draw much attention to themselves, never seemed to hurt anybody.
They had come in together, just as the mayhem had begun. They had managed to, miraculously, avoid much harm.
The first man was named Jack. He was a very proper seeming man, and had a penchant for speaking in only double-entendres that only he caught. Mostly he was the only one who caught them because he said them to himself. He had smoothed hair which you could tell by looking at it was generally wild. He also sported a spiffy, purple top hat.
The second went by Charlie. He kept scratching at his forehead. He also bore the make of a Leader. People were instantly drawn to him, despite his wild eyes and mussed hair. What he kept scratching on his forehead was a scar; it looked kind of like it may have been a tattoo. His appearance was a bit helter-skelter.
Sitting next to him, was a young woman named Lizzie. She looked to be about twenty-eight. She occasionally swung her arm, which some would call characteristic of chopping wood. She had a sort of out-of-it look, and she spoke very highly of her parents. But she rarely spoke.
The last was named John. He had the smile of a clown permanantly painted on his face, without the aid of makeup. He occasionally was heard to say that a clown could do anything. He was kind of large, and had a powerful fear of needles. Especially needles with thick substances in the syringe.
No one knew where they had come from, or why they had come to the hospital. There wasn’t really time to think about such things. They were surrounded on all sides outside by the walking dead, and there were probably a few that were managing to still lounge about in the building. No one had the time to figure out why they were together, either.
The four of them harbored all these secrets with masterful skill.
* * *
The last resident of the hospital that we have yet to talk about is Andy. Andy lived up west in Golden. Yet, rather than staying there, he drove at least fifteen minutes, maybe even half an hour, to get down to a hospital in Denver. Why would he do such a thing?
It has been suggested that it was because he wished to escape any chance of encountering his wife, for some fight they may or may not have had.
It has also been suggested that he wanted to check up on the rest of his extended family and stopped there for some unknown reason.
The third, most plausible suggestion, is that even he didn’t know.
The truth of it is, he had not even driven down there. His car was still sitting in his driveway, although the driveway did not really go where it was supposed to anymore. He had been sitting at his home when the flash filled the sky. He had then found himself, and his house, to be no longer where he, and his house, had expected to be. No one has been able to explain this completely, so far. It escapes the bounds of our current physical laws. The most common theory is that his house was built on an unstable foundation, not an unstable physical foundation, but an unstable psychological or "magick"al foundation. There are those that suggest that it was built in an unstable region of the universe; a highly localized Schwartzchild radius that disappeared as soon as it started moving the house. Either of these explanations is both viable and highly unlikely. But it was, almost definitely, caused by the same energies which caused the rising of the dead. And, regardless of why, the house had certainly moved to a completely new place.
Andy had noticed this when the house began to shake, and suddenly everything was sliding to one side. And then he felt the force of gravity start pulling him that way. And yet, even when he fell into the wall where the TV had once been, he still felt the force of gravity pulling in that direction. And then, just as suddenly as that had started, he found himself and his house somewhere else entirely.
The dining room had vanished, and in its place was a huge wall of water, rushing at him. He screamed and dashed back up the slope-which was no longer a slope, but was back to being level. The fact that he was in the ocean just wouldn’t calculate; all he knew was that water was rushing into his house. Just as the water hit him, he found that he was in yet another place.
He was out in space for a brief moment; all the air in his room was sucked out into the vacuum, and he almost was too, but found himself somewhere else again.
This time, a huge rush of air hit him, filling the vacuum that had developed in his room. Luckily for him, the blast of air sent him flying through the window. He got a few cuts and scrapes, especially from the landing, but he was out of the mysterious rift in space that seemed to surround his living room. Which was extremely lucky; the next place the house (at least, the part he had been in) was sighted was in the burning nitrous swamps of Glaucon 7, which is quite possibly the most dangerous place in the universe for the human physiology. The specific combination of chemicals there flows into the human sinus system, and disables movement. Frighteningly, it does not disable the nerve endings, and so feeling still persists. It is inhabited by various horrifying creatures that don’t need much to live on, but have horribly sharp teeth. Every couple of days, they will return to the still living body and take small bites. It is a horribly painful existence for humans, especially considering that the same chemicals that disable movement also attack the nervous system. They don’t disable it, as we already mentioned; rather, they cause it intense pain. Strangely enough, the corpses of all life forms known in the universe absolutely thrive there.
But Andy was not there. He was, rather, on top of a building. He sat there astonished for an hour or two, and then stood. He found a ventilation shaft, smashed an opening in it, and slid down. He was just in time to not get killed by any zombies, and so sat in the hospital waiting area with the rest of them. Dr. Mabus took a quick examine of his wounds, and determined that they were superficial.
* * *
We here at the Department* understand that this was a very short episode. But, luckily, it wrapped up our examination of the neglected characters. Now we only have to do a few more episodes to get everyone where (and when) they belong, and then we may continue on with the major thread of the plot. The import of this cosmic history, and every character within, will become apparent soon enough. Or maybe not. We're not so sure, really.
Previous Episode
Next Episode
*Which still doesn't exist
posted by Pope Richard Corey at 9:34 PM
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