Path of the Vampire forum

"Hey Buddy my name is Grace not Zo."

Doc looked at her pointedly as she spoke. Zodiac was a mute. His lips curved into a closed mouth smile. His eyes twinkled with devilment. This girl was a dead ringer for Zodiac, but she said her name was ‘Grace’; and what’s more.. she was human. He looked at the pair men headed below, he said nothing to them, before looking once more at the girl and winked at her saying just as the pair disappeared. “Zo.. Darlin.. I didn’t realize you were this upset with me. I thought we were friends..” he then shrugged and grimaced playfully, “Well.. ‘more’ than friends.. as you well know.” He allowed his smile to grow a bit wider, “And I am sure you know who I am with now.. and since you had her first.. it’s like I get you all over again as well…” He let the innuendo hang there. “I will be in the tomb..” He turned on his heel and strode off to the room where the bodies were stored, before she could reply.

Once in the tomb, he made the decision that when things settled down, he was going to get a photo of this girl. He may not be able to get a cell connection to send it Zodiac, but when communications were restored, he wanted to have something to show to her. However, for the moment, he had to return all the bodies to their drawers. On the floor before him, was a pile of half a dozen bodies that had been shaken free from their metal holding cells. He maneuvered his way around the tangle of bodies, to collect the clipboard that had also fallen to the floor. It would be a pretty simple task of matching the correct toe tag with the correct drawer. The tricky part would be putting the bodies back without the humans seeing him toss the unwieldy bodies as if they were nothing. It was just as well the cagey human was downstairs. That left only Grace. And she didn't seem like the type to venture past where she shouldn't be.

To make sure Grace, the dead ringer for Zodiac, didn't catch on, he made sure to offer the occasional grunt of physical exertion as a body landed on the metal slide out drawer. One body returned to its tomb, but due to the darkness, he could not see effectively to see if any damage had been done to the body by it tumble. If there was one thing that he took seriously, it was his duty to his profession. So he was careful to notate and document the time of the quake, the location of the body on the floor before it was returned to its drawer, and finally the time it was returned. He went through the same process with the remain five bodies. Chances were no one would ever need to go back and review those notes, but in any of these bodies were involved in a murder case, any and all post mortem wounds should be clearly noted as not being done at the hands of a murderer.

There was logic in the man’s decision to bring the phone from upstairs that Daniel did not consider himself, which made him smile at the cleverness of the man. Even how he called him Dan did not bother him too much, like it would have with others. Then again, this situation was not the same as anything else, so there was room for changes to be made. At the door, he hesitated only a moment, mostly to ensure that the door would open and nothing had caused it to be collapsed on the other side. A wave of relief washed over him and he led the way down the stairs toward the sound of the generators that had yet to kick over.

It was dark and the air felt damp, but otherwise there were little signs that anything had happened down there as opposed to the floor above. There were a few cracks here and there, with some debris scattered about, but overall it would have appeared to be well built or at least structured to handle the punishment from the earthquake. Beam of his flashlight cast ahead of them, he stepped over the sections of the ceiling that had fallen over and finally the both of them could see the backup generators.

Large, yellow beasts of machines gleamed in the light that was shined upon them. He could hear it as it went at a steady pace, similar to a person trying to start a car, but the engine just would not turn over.

“Alright, we could just try to reset them and see if that works. Failing that we could take a look under the hood, as it were, and see if made there is something lodged within that caused the issue in the first place,” he said to Fireball. “If we can get some lights going and maybe some heat we can all be safe until help can reach us,” he said with a hint of optimism. Then went to the main breaker for the generator and tried to reset the device, his fingers crossed in hopes that this would be the easy fix, though a part of him doubted this would be that easy.

Grace rolled her eyes and watched as men went one way or the other. She walked around the room and ran her hand over the coffins. Who ever made these did good work. The detail was good. She let out a squeak though as an aftershock hit and she dove under one of the coffins. "Damn it. I forgot about aftershocks." She stayed under the coffin till the aftershocks died down and she was rummaging through her bag yet again. This time she pulled out her tablet again and looked up to see what the activity was around the area. Local news was saying that the quakes where a freak of nature. The ice and snow was on the radar. She then turned on a game to pass the time as she waited.

Andy nodded at Daniel's suggestions. "As my dear departed grandpa always said 'Start simple and go from there'. " There was a chance that's all that was needed. A simple reset of the system. The man flipped the switch to off. Andy counted five seconds before it was flipped back. The hum returned, but the generators were still dormant.

"Turn off your flash light and try it again, Dan, would ya?" he asked. Suddenly the pair was in pitch darkness, but he was not watching his unlikely assistant but the generators themselves. When the circuit was reset a second time, a tiny spark was seen in the darkness. "I think I see our problem." Andy turned his flashlight back on and moved along the gap between the gennies and the wall. "System tells that box the power is off, so it tries to start these beasts," he looked around and found where a few pieces of the roof had dropped. He played the light over the damaged relay box that had sparked. "Sends the start signal to the relay that should have sent power to the generators, but it isn't getting through. Squeeze yourself back here, Dan my boy. I'll see if I can fix this or by pass it. Doesn't look too bad. Hopefully just a wire or two pulled loose when the box got hit." He was already pulling a screwdriver from his tool bag to open the relay box.

He wondered about Doctor Skippy above as he worked. Something about that guy sent his nerves into danger mode. Nothing like the vibe he was getting from Daniel at all. Yes, he 'felt' they were both vampires, but Skippy was dangerous somehow. He could not put his finger directly on why he felt that way, but it was there. Daniel, on the other hand, was basically trying to help save the same boat they were all stuck in now. He wondered about the girl as well. Grace (wasn't that her name? He barely paid attention.) He could handle himself if needed, but he wasn't sure about her and how safe she might be.

He also wondered how safe he was now. In the darkness the flashlights were not touching he saw his tats that peeked out of his shirt cuffs beginning to glow. Something that only happened when the night shift was around. "Oh joy." he frowned as he opened the damaged box. This was going to be, to say the least, interesting.

Doc was just finishing up the notes on one of the cadavers when the aftershock hit. Having never been in an actual earthquake before these, he couldn’t help but feel there was something not right about the whole thing. Was it a result of fracking? The states were having issues with fracking rights and such, but with the glut in the oil market lately, fracking was no longer cost effective. Most fracking sites were on hiatus. So, that left the ‘other worldly’ reasons for the earthquake, apart from ‘natural reasons’. He immediately looked back at the lobby, called out to the Zodiac-look-alike. “You alright out there Zo?”

Doc didn’t expect an answer from her. He had only called out to her, because it would be expected; personally he could care less if she was alright. Well.. apart from the amusement he was going to get from showing the photo of the look-a-like to Zodiac. Pulling his cell phone he turned on the flash from the camera, and used it to navigate to the locker room. The temperature outside was cold and falling, and it was starting to feel cooler in the building, he wanted his overcoat. He managed to maneuver past the debris and ceiling tiles,to get to his locker. He changed out of the scrubs, mainly because the scrubs were not made to hold heat, like his mohair suit was. Layers kept heat in. Yes it might seem odd that he would take the time to change; but this situation was not usual. He had no idea what to expect in this situation.

Having shrugged into the overcoat, over his suit, he felt warmer. It was small thing, he was used to the cold. It did not mean he liked the cold. He used the cell’s flash once more to find his way, sans obstacles back to the lobby. Leaning down he snapped a photo of Jane.. no.. wait.. Grace. “There you are... Comfy? Cosy?” He asked, but he didn’t really expect an answer from her. He moved over to the waiting area where family was directed while staff readied the recently departed for their identification from family members. He sank down into the uncomfortable sofa, as he absently called over to the girl under the casket. “You weren’t this stand offish last time we meet. I am .. well.. offended.” He paused, “I called you.. you said you had an awesome time.. when can we do it again.. and now.. Now you pretend like you don't know me. You’re married aren't you? You were married the whole time.” He sighed heavily. “******* married females out on the hunt…”

Daniel watched the sparks as they played across the top of the generator box, his vision in the dark not overly impaired, though he did note the faint glow that came from beneath Fireballs shirt. Must be some kind of new age tattoo thing. He thought with a shrug and managed to forced himself back into the tight spot. Actually wishing he was not so broad of shoulder, for it would have made this a lot easier. The pair of them worked in moderate unity and with surprisingly teamwork, if only because Daniel saw no reason to not be friendly and helpful.

The human seemed to same way. Again, Daniel found it…odd? Or just different how he was called Dan, but not in a bad way, kind of in that friendly way he had never had with other people. It was nice, actually, so he saw no reason to stop it. Another few grunts and even Daniel managing to jam his finger against something, but it looked like they got it fixed.

“Let’s give it a go?” Daniel squeezed his way back through and waited for Fireball to join him. The switch was once again thrown and that familiar sound of the engines could be heard once more. Only, this time, when it tried to start there was just a minor stutter before it kicked over and the hum of electricity coursed through the room. The lights overhead flickered but a few times before they came on, “Yeah!”

Daniel could not help his exclamation as they managed to get the power to come back on at least. “Now, I think we could try to find a phone down here? Or at least a jack to plug in that phone you brought down here with us?”

Upstairs the power would have turned back on as well, so that at least now they could be a bit more comfortable to some degree. It would not be perfect, but it was better than sitting in the dark.

“Is your name really Fireball?” Daniel asked with a smirk.

Grace looked at Doc and gave him a wicked look. "Yes though the casket is a bit much to sit under." She looks at him then down to her tablet. She listens to him as he speaks and growls softly. f she could she would curse the man but she did not know anything like that. She concentrated and made sure her rock skin was still going she was so not getting hurt. Looking up at the man she stood up placing her tablet on the coffin. "Look buddy I just came into the town. Do you hit on all girls that look like this Zo person."

"Isn't that a thing of beauty?" Andy smiled as the lights began to gain strength. He wasn't sure how much the emergency system powered or how long it would last but at least they would have lights and heat for a time. Maybe Doctor Skippy might calm down a bit now. His thoughts were broken by Daniel's suggestion.

"Capitol idea, Dan." Andy played his light around in the area that held the generators but did not find an outlet. "I can't say how high we would rate on the rescue list, but letting the outside world know we are here has to be a plus in our favor."

He was warming up to the man now. You had to like someone who was not afraid to get their hands dirty and do what needed to be done. "Fireball was a name given to me during the war," he laughed a bit as he paused to relight his cigar. "Real name is Andrew. Andy if you like. Navy man. Seabees. Only difference working on things on land is the ground stays still." he smiled. He wasn't going to bore the vampire with war stories, besides, none of what was happening now reminded him of anything he had been through in the past. 'Yeah, I was locked in the morgue with 3 other people and a bunch of stiffs and two of the people I was talking to could have sat on either side of the alive/dead line." he thought as they walked back out to the main hall. Sure. Happened to me all the time back in the day.

"Tell you what, Dan. You go right, I'll take the left, first one to find a outlet yells. Fair enough?" He turned his flashlight off. Now that the power was back on, his curiosity was beginning to grow a bit. He had never been inside the guts of a morgue before so he wondered what else might be stored below a place like this. "You take the phone and the line," he explained. "I got a tester in my bag that will tell me if we are getting power on the line or not."

He handed Daniel the phone and gave him a couple 'manly' pats on the shoulder. "Cheer up, Dan. I've survived bigger storms than this. We'll be fine." He then turned to the left and began to walk down the hallway singing softly.

OH..........I love to go swimmin', with bowlegged women...

Doc looked at Zodiac (aka Grace) dispassionately, “Zo.. you know as well as I, that if the female is over the age of consent, and pretty.. I am going to ******* hit on her. I can thank you for that.. as you well know.” Then he shrugged, “Unless she’s blond. I don’t care for blonds. They are mostly insipid and dull. There are a few exceptions.. but not many.. and those few exceptions.. well, they are already taken.”

He looked at her, this dead ringer for Zodiac, “So what is up with pretending you don’t know me? he looked at the doorway where the other two disappeared through to hunt for the generator. “It’s not like I am late with the child support; or alimony or something of that nature. Is it because the I got the kid in the divorce? She’s not all that. She’s more work than fun let me tell you. I know how you love your beauty sleep.. well you wouldn’t be getting any, if you had her. She is up every ******* two hours. Needing a bottle, needing a diaper change.. needing a cuddle”

Suddenly he snapped his fingers, “That’s it.. you don't want them to know you’re my ex.. and that you were deemed unfit as a mother; and I got the kid in the divorce.” He smirked, “Let’s face it.. when I thought you were having an affair.. I never dreamed it was with another chick.. and a blond at that. Maybe that is why I dislike Blonds..but those photos the private eye got for me..” he winked, “those were hot even if it was a with another chick. You know.. you could probably get paid by one of the internet porn sites..” He nodded absently as he checked his watch.