[hr][center] [img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLmJmYzRjNS5VbWwwWVNCV2IzSnZibUUsLjA,/divat.regular.png[/img] [img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLjkyM2Y2MC5VR1Z1Ym5rZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjA,/youth-and-beauty.regular.png[/img] [code]St. Mercer Hospital[/code] [sub] [@Ruler Inc][@Fernstone][/sub] [/center] [hr] Oh no, this was her fault. Rita recoiled as she watched Zoey grab Penny and shove her; the blonde girl shouted in protest and balled up her fists. If she had just kept her mouth shut, Penny wouldn’t have said anything. Yet between the bloody bodies and the frightful reunions her nerves had gotten the best of her, and the question had just blurted itself out. She pressed herself up against the reception desk and made herself as tiny as possible, a hand tightly shoved against her lips to keep her mouth from asking any more damning questions. Rita cast a nervous glance over at Tuyen. Tuyen would know that she was responsible. “I didn’t mean to,” she whispered as she lifted her hand for just a second before she slapped it shut again. Rita was ready for things to turn explosive. Penny didn’t have the best track record of keeping a cool head, and this Zoey girl had clearly taken plays from her friend’s book. Her [i]dead[/i] friend’s book. Rita hadn’t known that. She was afraid of Claire, but didn’t like the idea of her being killed. It implanted the idea that maybe more of their ragtag group of misfits had also died in the chaos with their run-in with the Glutton. The hospital had records and ways to look up patients, right? She looked over her shoulder at the desk. Maybe there was something. Even a calendar. Anything to give them perspective. “Zoey, calm down…” Rita turned her attention back to the two girls, ready to watch Penny drop an atom bomb of assholery on Zoey. But screw harsh words. Zoey was lucky that Penny didn’t repulse her across the room. She didn’t drop Zoey’s death glare. If the other girl thought that Penny would back down then she was in for a world of disappointment. This was the same girl who had gone after Scott Reese on her own before; who had stood on the same ground as the Glutton and gotten away. A bitch with a bad dye job in a hospital gown wasn’t going to intimidate her, even if she did have a few unimpressive sparks. Hell, Penny had stood against Claire a number of times, even though she knew fully well that her abstraction would likely have been pulverized by that girl’s aura. Penny felt her stare waver. Despite their differences, Claire had also gone after Reese—Penny had just rushed off first. And if it wasn’t for Claire and that damn good punch of hers, Penny would’ve been skewered by the Glutton. She felt tears come to her eyes. It wasn’t like this was a new realization or anything; Penny had been aware in the moment that she owed a lot of things to Claire, as awful as that girl could be. She just didn’t realize until now that she never really would be able to pay that off. She opened her mouth to talk, a dry crackle came out instead. For a moment, she was speechless. A rarity, and in just about every case except this one, a blessing. By the time her voice came to her, Caelea was already trying to defuse the situation. “For fucksakes...Zoey, she’s right. Look, I’m sorry for what I said. I’m an asshole, but I’m still on your side. Before anything else we need to make sure that we’re safe,” said Penny as she caught sight of the stranger’s arrival. Another awakened, judging by the shades, and scared out of his wits too. Damn it, in comparison to this she rather be fighting those two goons again. “I swear to you, I’ll explain everything the moment we’re out of here. We need to just find anyone else that survived first.” As Penny tried to calm Zoey down, Tuyen attempted to help explain to the newbie why everyone else seemed so nonchalant about a couple of dead bodies and some powered-up young adults. Rita couldn’t blame him for freaking out, but she did find it odd how numb she had become towards witnessing death. Back at the camp, she had been absolutely paralyzed by even the sight of violence. Now, well, she wasn’t comfortable with it at all, but she could still function. That realization didn’t really make her feel any better; it was just simply a fact. “It’s hard to explain,” finished Tuyen after having told Cyrus just about the worst of it. “Looks like he understood well enough,” said Rita under her breath as the man turned and bolted. She heard Penny swear loudly and bark at Justin to go after him, but it ended up not mattering. Within a few moments he had warped back to the location he had been before and fell to one knee. Rita began to walk over to him to offer some sort of comfort—God knows she would want some if she was in his position—but stopped a few feet before him, a quiet “shit” escaping from her lips as a figure loomed behind Cyrus. [hr][center] [img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLmY4YzE1OS5RbWxzYkhrZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjA,/playtime.regular.png[/img] [code]St. Mercer Hospital[/code] [sub][@MagratheanWhale][/sub][/center] [hr] “Man, this looks about right,” said Billy, a smirk on his face as he scanned the lobby. “Can’t leave you kids alone without y’all making a mess.” It was quite the vivid scene, and he took it all in. Almost immediately below him was some guy he didn’t know having a classic freak out; considering Billy had witnessed him running away from the lobby to suddenly snapback to it, it was probably justified. Still, the dude should cheer up. The kind of shenanigans one could get in with an abstraction like that. Across from the cry baby was the pair of dorks. He was surprised the lamer of the two hadn’t bolted yet; it was her new favorite hobby. Billy was excited to see that Zoey was back, or was it that he was excited to see Zoey’s back in that hospital gown? That left Caelea, Justin, and, of course, Penny, or the Albino, the Asian Guy, and the Asshole. Sounded like the lineup to a tasteless joke. Oh, and there were also a couple of freshly deaded folks. Nothing out of the ordinary. Billy let out a low whistle. “Shit, that’s pretty fucked up. You do this, sis?” he said, his voice definitely too sunny for the mood of the room. “Oh my fucking God, I’m glad you’re alive but now is not the time, Billy!” barked Penny, her voice growing hoarse. “I’mma take that as a maybe. Hey dude, you’re not crying are you?” said Billy, craning his neck to look down on Cyrus. “It’s gonna be okay, bud. It’s not like it’s the end of the world. I mean, it might be, but we had a good run.” He gave him two uncomforting pats on the shoulder before turning back to the group. “Sooooo, what does a guy have to do to get some pants around here?” “Please let me go so I can hit him,” muttered Penny.