[b][u]Mess/Engine Room[/u][/b]

Connor recalled the first time he ever saw a dead body. It had been a dismal day, complete with grey clouds and a light, freezing drizzle that chilled him to the bone. He had been dispatched out to one of the many uninhabited archipelagos to investigate a fishing trawler that had foundered in the shallow waters around one of the plentiful tiny islands. The ship's hull had been pitted with rot and slowly-expanding colonies of barnacles and the sails were little more that rags desperately clinging onto the yard. The sight and smell of the bloated, rotting and partially eaten bodies had made Connor throw up and swear that he would never see a sight more discomforting.

The thought was brought to the forefront of his mind as now, as he stood in the engine room, he felt an even greater pull at his heart as he saw the still bodies of those that had been trapped with him. No, their bodies were far less decayed and mutilated than those he found in the trawler, but oddly enough, he felt a lot more for them than the fishermen. It did not make sense to Connor, and he doubted that it ever would. Perhaps it was all to do with the fact that he actually talked to and at some level, knew those in the engine room.

With a shake of his head and a mental shrug, Connor set about pulling the bodies towards the ladder. "Thank you," He said to the other man who had climbed down with him. Granted, in hindsight it would have been better for Connor to stay up there to assist with pulling the bodies up and out, but for a reason that he himself could not discern, he felt the need to return to the engine room. A series of coughs alerted him and he rushed over to the boiler where Risa was still leaning against. He immediately rushed to her and knelt opposite the girl who had opened the trapdoor. TamTam, she had introduced herself. People in the future certainly have odd names, Connor figured.

"Feckin' hell, you're still kicking." Connor said, though from the looks of it, that was not going to be the case for long. Spying the pistol-like object that was on the ground beside Risa, Connor picked it up and tucked it into his belt, if not for safekeeping - it was a dangerous item, after all - then just in case. It could turn out to be quite useful in future. "We can't drag her, not while she still breathes, and I can't carry her on my own." Connor said quickly and looked at TamTam. "I'll need a hand. You take her arms, I'll take her feet, we bring her to the ladder."

He paused for a moment as he thought of a way to say the next sentence without sounding too morbid or pessimistic. "Then depending on her...State, we can go from there." Connor said after a few moments of silence, his voice low and his gaze shifted to the floor beside Risa. If there was a God above, and he did answer prayers, then Connor prayed that at least someone in the engine room would live. It was so unlike him to actually pray for someone else's wellbeing - people he had only just met, even - but after the whole debacle with the creature that may or may not have existed, he needed at least one person to be alive so that he could in good faith tell himself that he did the right thing.