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.

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.

Nerves

I have a major operation to perform soon.

I must replace all of the blood in a person.  Sheryl.  It's my task to replace as much of her blood as I can with untainted blood.  If this works...we may have a way to save others like her.  However...there's no way to tell if it will or not.

I'm not sure how I feel about performing this operation.

I've been doing better, but...  I had a rather tense conversation with Alyssa the other day.  The outcome was very confusing and very troubling, and to be honest I'm not sure if it made me feel better or worse.  There was some catharsis in it, though.  I suppose that will have to do.

The transfusions start tomorrow.  I should get some rest.  I haven't been sleeping the best lately, I want to be in my best possible form.

I hope this works.

Blood donation.

So I'm gonna be donating some of my blood to help Sheryl and her buddies.

Yes Sheryl the bitch I was just complaining about in my last post and all my previous posts since she showed up. So why am I helping her out?

Well  a number of reasons.

No one regardless of how much of a bitch they are deserves to be the plaything of one of the creatur- Ahahahahaha... I couldn't finish that statement...

Nah the real reasons.

One: Hopefully if I do this thing her and the others will leave sooner.

Two: Nothing I do could actually make life worse for me so why not just do whatever.

Three: I was paid in advance for services rendered. Regardless of how much of a dick I might seem I'm honorable and if I've already been paid I can't change my mind.

What kind of payment you may ask... Well if you've been paying attention you can probably guess.

No not money.

I'll give your simple minds a few seconds to work it out.

I'm sure you're all reading this with stunned faces now so let me explain why I'd be willing to accept such a payment even though I hate her.

She's a bitch but she's an attractive bitch.

I... Am not exactly handsome. Especially now a days. I don't sleep much or pay much attention to hygiene issues. So I'm not ashamed to say that if I get that kind of an offer from an attractive woman I don't care much who she is.

Like I said can't get worse.

You know what I love?

Ingratitude.

Of course I'm being sarcastic.

I'm sure all my adoring fans out there in The blogosphere (What can I say Record Keepers are like Rock Stars to these people) saw my little conversation with Sheryl shortly after the death?

Well I'm not normally one to air my grievances in public but she is really getting on my nerves now.

After her outburst got slapped down by my obviously superior argument me and her didn't really talk. Which was all good with me and now she's bedridden and I haven't even had to see her around. Seems perfect.

Get this though! Apparently after we were nice enough to take her and her buddies in and try, obviously not hard enough but still, to save her friend she's repaying us by not paying us. That's right she has not paid any of the rent for her or her friend's stay since the whole reappearance of Ruby, Sal was talking about earlier. If I was in charge I'd of kicked them out after the first failure to pay but I guess Sal is a better but less financially minded man than I and he hasn't kicked them out yet. She probably thinks that with her friend's death and her problems she can get away with things like this.

Well listen here. This is not a charity. It's a business. We run because people are willing to pay. It's not like we charge much. I mean all our clientele are penniless runners and they all manage to pay. There is no excuse at all for you to not pay what you owe.

You're preying on Sal's good nature and it sickens me.

The Worst Doctor

I have just advised an alcoholic patient to continue destroying herself rather than stop altogether.

Yes, it may be healthier for her to wean herself off slowly, especially given the circumstances, but I can't help but to second guess every decision I make lately.  I've not been sleeping well.  Fortunately, I've gone from spending all my time studying to simply sobbing.

Sal has tried to speak with me.  I've brushed him off.  I brushed everyone off that hasn't come to me for help.  I know, yes, I'm not the first doctor in history that has ever lost a patient.  I know Blair won't...probably won't be the last.

But what if I told Sheryl the wrong thing?  What if this is a huge mistake?  What if my advice...what if it kills her too?

I've spoken with...a friend, about this.  She says I'm being too hard on myself, and maybe I am, but aren't doctors supposed to be on a higher standard than others?  We take peoples' lives into our hands.  Aren't we supposed to work hard to be worthy of that task?  Am I still worthy of it?

I don't know.  I don't know what to think anymore.  If I can lose so much confidence in myself over losing just one patient...how can I persist in a job like this?

Trouble With a Capital T

Ruby's back. Probably because of our lack of protection. I've seen her a few times now, just sort of waiting outside, sitting on benches and at street corners.

And that's not all. Alyssa and Curtis and their friend Sheryl are still here. I'm giving them leeway, because their friend died and I know how hard it must be for them. Still, I have a troubling feeling whenever I see them, especially Sheryl and that creepy doll that she sometimes leaves around. And Alyssa broke one of the doors, I think.

In any case, as long as they don't bring any trouble, I'm letting them stay.