Thread: âOverexposureâ - Survivor00 & darkangel76

Danny and Jess walked into the hospital, though according to Dannys parents it wasnt even close to the hospitals of old bright, shiny buildings that stood tall and proud, had bridges of glass connecting them together, where people bustled about and had equipment and medication at their fingertips. Danny had a difficult time trying to imagine such a thing. Their hospital in Mriya Station was nothing like the ones her parents had told her stories about. No. The only hospital Danny had ever seen was small, cramped and all too often way over crowded. Usually, they didnt have enough beds for their patients, which meant a lot were just laid on the floor or a table if they were lucky enough to have one at the ready. And meds? Forget it. Most of them were fabricated by the doctors themselves since most werent available any more. Yeah, the hospital Danny knew was more of a place where you kept the sick and deranged isolated from the rest of the population. You kept them there and tried to make them as comfortable as you could until they either died or got lucky enough to make it through their illness. As for accidents, that was a whole other story. They did what they could, but the success rates werent all that high. But that was the way of it. It was grueling work, harsh, cruel. And, more often than not, left Danny in tears by the end of the day. The two girls were greeted by a flickering oil lamp as they entered the hospital, followed by the moans and groans of various patients. The place was crowded today, making it hard to walk anywhere. The floors, tables and what little beds they had were littered with patients. Danny just tuned everything out as she and Jess made their way through the crowd of patients, her head throbbing. A few of the electrical lights illuminating the placed buzzed and flicked as Danny and Jess moved past them. The wiring wasnt the greatest and the few bulbs theyd managed to score for the time being were starting to go bad. They had back up oil lamps, but the light the electrical bulbs provided was a lot brighter, which came in quite handy a lot of the time. There you are! came a voice. It was Dannys mother, Joanna. The womans hands were covered in blood and some other oozy-looking mess. But this was something Danny was used to seeing, so it hardly fazed her. Hell of a morning, huh? Danny asked. Joanna nodded, You could say that. First a seizure and then a bleed out. Its a mess today. Danny chuckled to herself. Really, it was unlike any other day at the hospital. But for some reason, acting like it wasnt, finding a reason to bitch more about something than usual, made everyone feel more at ease. It gave them all a weird sense of balance since there really was none. When every day was hell, you had to start looking at things a bit differently. That sucks, mom, Danny said. It does, but what can you do? Joanna said with a shrug. Anyway, we got word earlier this morning that youve got to go on a salvage expedition. Dannys eyes widened. What?! she shrieked. She could see Jess eyes pop at the mere mention of the word salvage. Such expeditions were dangerous. A lot of them ended in disaster or near disaster since most required that they go to the dreaded surface. Why? Joanna heaved a sigh, Because youre a skilled medic, Danny. Fuck that! Danny shouted. Jess winced and cast her eyes down at the ground as she began to fidget with her hands. Well, no one said you had to like it, Joanna said sternly. Your father and I definitely dont like it. But what choice do we have? Danny scowled, her face reddening as anger washed over her. Theres always a choice, mom. Not when our survival is on the line. Besides, if you dont go, theyll just come here and haul your ass there. Joanna paused. Better to just go willingly, even if its with reluctance than to have them drag you kicking and screaming. Danny rolled her eyes. She knew her mother was right, but that didnt make her any happier about the situation. Fine! she shouted as she stormed out of the hospital, leaving both her mother and Jess behind, not waiting for either to say anything. She was pissed off and needed to be alone as she made her way to the armory where the salvagers all congregated before heading out. Storming down the dimly lit tunnels of Mriya Station, Danny rubbed at her temples. Her head hurt so very badly. It was as if the voices of everyone she passed by were on high volume. They were louder, more muddled, more confusing. She tried to tune everything out, but she couldnt for some reason and that only put her in a worse mood. Danny headed into the armory where she was given her suit and gear shed need for going to the surface. With deliberate slowness, she suited herself up. When she was ready to head out to the platform, she took her time. She was angry and she wanted the world to know it. Plus, her head was pounding and the fact that there was nothing she could do about it meant that everyone else had to suffer to as far as she was concerned since her day had gone from bad to worse all because of a salvage call. On the platform, Danny was surrounded by a rag-tag group of salvagers. They were typical for such a team and she knew who most were, if not personally, at least by name and face recognition. Mriya Station wasnt so big that people got totally lost in the crowd. So, though you may not associate with certain people, you at least knew who they were. Suddenly, the Colonel who headed the group up gave a smirk and shouted out. Took you long enough, Arthur. Everyone, including Danny followed the Colonels line of sight and turned in that direction to see this Arthur he was addressing. Once again, you're late, and have delayed this entire operation. Danny recognized the guy, though she didnt really know him well. She tilted her head a little and watched to see what his reaction would be to the Colonels words. From what she could tell, Arthur didnt seem to even care about what the Colonel had said. He just falling into line and gave the guy a salute. Forgive me for not wanting to rush to an uncertain death, Colonel, she heard him mutter. Danny quirked up an eyebrow and began to tug on her lip as she watched Arthur meet up with his salvager buddies. Looking away, she could feel his eyes suddenly give her a glance. It was brief, but for some reason it unsettled her a little. It was like he found it weird that she was going on the salvage expedition with him and his group. In a way, she couldnt blame him. She wasnt very experienced in such expeditions, but then again, she was confident in her medical expertise. Deciding to ignore him, she just kept her focus on what she needed to do. Yeah, Danny had been right. Today was going to be a long day. Just not the kind of long shed originally thought it would be. Giving her temples another rub, she followed the others in the group onto the railcar.