Update

Sorry for leave you all hanging there. We're fine. Well, relatively.

The lockdown ended a few days after the last post. Surprisingly, there was only one casualty on our side: a runner named Sandra Kirkpatrick was killed by the Choir. Some of the other runners, the ones that participated in the pushback (recounted here) ended up with bruises, some cuts, but nothing major. They were also all given a full spread of anti-virals and anti-fungal medication, the best I could find, since I don't want any of them coming down with a severe case of greyskinness.

There is also good news and bad news.

Good news: Ruby Tuesday is dead. She was apparently controlling the Greyskins and when she died, they all collapsed. Her body (and all the other bodies) were taken into custody by some agents from the SMSC (they always come after, never during an attack, don't they?).

Bad news: the reason Ruby Tuesday is dead is because Sheryl absorbed her Red Cap-ness. That meant the surgery, the transfusion, it was all for nothing. I didn't see Sheryl in the aftermath. I think she realized what had happened, so she didn't want to be around other people. She just left.

A lot of other runners have left, too. Having two major Fears attack us at once (three if you count the dead Doll we found on our property) did not help us. And yet...I heard one group of runners, as they left, say that we were able to fend off the Fears, like we were valiant heroes or something.

The truth is, we didn't do anything. I locked us in to keep Them out, but I knew it was only a stopgap measure. And it didn't even work. If it hadn't been for Sheryl, there probably would have been a lot more casualties.

So wherever she is, I hope she finds peace.

Locked

Well we're locked in and everyone else is locked out. Because more fears have arrived that are better deaths than the one awaiting me. So death is certain and our defense is metal shutters.

Brightside... With no ins or outs the record work should be easier. I'll probably still have stuff to do with people dying but otherwise no work. I just get to stay here and lament my existence and watch him as he watches me. I hope we still have alcohol cause with nothing to do I'm intent on getting as drunk as possible.

Preparing

I just finished stitching up some rather grievous injuries, and we're on lockdown?

I have no idea if I have enough supplies here.  We've been somewhat taxed lately.  I hope I have enough.

I wish I could call Jackie.  I just...I know, things have gone well, so far.  I know nothing has catastrophically failed.  But, I have a very real feeling that my skills are soon going to be taxed to their limit, and I don't really know what to do.

I just feel stress creeping into me.  I'm afraid I'll crack again, like I did after...after my first major failure.

...I can't dwell on that.  I have to stay firm.  Hopefully, these people won't need me, but if they do, I'll be ready.

State of Lockdown

Over the course of the past week, we have had the threat of Ruby Tuesday, the appearance of a Willing Doll (which Curtis tells me is no longer a problem), and now the appearance of the Choir. Two of our guests tried to go outside, only to be violently ill just stepping out the front door.

So it's time for a lockdown. We haven't needed it until now, not when the Dying Man piece was still here, but now we do.

I've locked all the doors and the windows and shut all the metal shutters that I installed when we reopened. I've brought out all of the food and water I've been stockpiling, because I am a paranoid motherfucker and I knew this day would come.

The basement is open. Any guests that are here are free to stay there for the duration of the attack. I'm not sure it's any safer than their rooms at the moment, but it may give them an extra sense of safety, so what the hell.

The cameras I installed outside are still working. They may not be soon, but at least for now, I can see what's happening. I know what's coming.

And I know it's not just the black-and-white monitor making those people's skin look grey.

More Visitors

Three more visitors just arrived. One man and two women. They looked like they were in an awful hurry to get here. (Perhaps they think we're still under some protection. Oh, well, the other guests disabuse them of that notion quickly.)

Things are still a little tense here. I think Alyssa and Curtis are on the verge of leaving -- although they keep trying to "help" and fix the stuff that inevitably breaks around them. And Sheryl is...well, I think Sheryl is okay. I haven't seen her around that much lately, but whenever I think she's left, I see her sitting in her room, staring at her creepy doll.

And now we have more visitors added to the mix.

I think I'm just tired. I need to get some rest.

See you all in the morning.

Fun Fact

I'm still alive. I know how worried you all must have been.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't infected either.

By the sex or the operation I mean. I've been bed ridden for a while though... Good thing my hiding place is within arms reach from the bed. Still I'm worried one of the guests might have spotted the card before I woke and hid it... I recovered a bit ago actually but when I tried to leave my room I ended up opening the door to see The Black Dog standing right outside my door. I'm pretty sure it was on it's way to go mess with one of Sheryl's group and it was just a coincidence but still seeing it standing there I decided to just go back to bed for another few days.

Anyways more important topics. My time out has severely messed with my job. I have no idea who's arrived or left anymore and the records are a mess. In fact I'm pretty sure I've missed out on quite a bit. Apparently Ruby's back and I have no clue how I wasn't aware of that... Guess I've been preoccupied with my own problems.

So anyways the only important aspect of this post is there are going to be no accurate records kept of the time between this post and my last post.

Thanksgiving

Sorry for not posting. It's been a bit busy this month. We've had a bit of trouble -- I'm sure Ivory has been posting about the operation done on Sheryl to remove the Red Cap from her blood. I'm still not sure if it really worked or not, as I haven't seen much of Sheryl around lately.

We had Thanksgiving yesterday. It was the traditional Thanksgiving for the Raw Youth Hostel: pizza. If it's just us, we'll get two pizzas; since we had a number of other runners staying, we got a total of six pizzas. And one salad, for anyone who was vegan. Oh, and a shitload of beer.

The dinner was fine, nothing particularly notable happened. I have to say, though, that the hostel seems to be bouncing back from its bad reputation -- we've gotten a lot more runners in here this month than I expected. We're still having trouble, though: Ruby Tuesday still lurks outside and I have heard sightings of the Black Dog.

During Thanksgiving, however, I noticed one runner, a young woman in a hoodie, was being very careful about covering up her arms. I got a few glimpses of scars, indicating that she was Scarlet-marked. I didn't want a repeat of the last time the Scarlet-marked came here, so I decided to talk to her, but she wasn't here this morning. She had left. Which, I guess, is good. We don't want more trouble.