I'm Stuck at a Hospital and I Can't Leave - Part 06

I screwed up.  I think I tried to push too much and whatever is in control decided to push back.  The watchers weren't ignorant or oblivious to what I was doing.  They were paying attention and learning from my actions.  I made too many waves in here and they made it so that I can't splash around.  I'm more afraid now than I have been in here, and I'm not sure what I can do right now.

I have had a couple new suggestions since my last post, and I would like to address them.

One that I have received twice in the last 24 hours and never before was to record the static next time I hear it then try and play it for a watcher, and see what happens.  I am honestly so glad that I was given this suggestion, because I never thought of it.  I was very excited when I read this, and was planning on doing it.  I even have the static recorded already.  I was going to doing it immediately, but after the most recent events, I don't know when or if I will do it.

I was advised that I should dissect a watcher to see if they are human.  If they are human, then maybe they have some weird tech in them.  That is a very smart idea, but I don't know if I would be the best person for this job.  I didn't take any type of science after grade 10, and I never got higher than a 70%.  I wouldn't really know what to look for biologically speaking, and if there is any tech in them, I would probably break it while trying to dig around in them.

I was told that I need to 'wake up'.  That's all I was told.  Once again, this goes back to possibly being in some sort of coma/drugged state/hallucination/simulation.  I honestly don't think I am in any one of those states.  The more time that goes by, the more unlikely I think it is that I am in one of those states.

Someone mentioned that maybe I was abducted by aliens or that aliens are behind everything that is going on.  This doesn't seem that unbelievable to me, and I was wondering that myself.  Whatever is happening here has to be caused by some sort of magic or advanced technology.  The fact that static causes their eyes to flash and pause, has always seemed a little extraterrestrial.  The time field that I am trapped in also seems like alien technology.  There is also something that I just discovered that makes me think they are a sort of collective, but I will touch on that later.

Finally, I was told that if I don't figure my way out of here, I should take my own life.  This way, whatever is controlling the watchers wont get the satisfaction of whatever they want to do to me.  Honestly, that is so dark!  But I get it, and I would be lying if I said that hadn't thought of that through my stay.  What it comes down to is that I wan to have faith that I will get out, but part of me wonders if I even can.  I don't want to think about that too much, but I guess it might be my only option at some point.

Anyways, here is what's happened since my last post.

As soon as I knew that my update was posted, I called Dr. Ashby, hoping to make an immediate appointment with him, either to play along and try to sleuth what is going on, or to force some information out of him.  I called his number and I was greeted with this message:

“The number you have dialed is not in service.  Please enjoy your stay.”

Obviously, that did not sit well with me at all, but I was too determined by that idea to be discouraged.  I dialed the number again and I received this message:

“This number is not in service, please stop dialing this number.  It will interfere with the greater design.  Please enjoy your stay.”

I think I actually shouted, “YES!” when I heard this.  I wouldn't be getting these messages unless I was making some headway, right?  I couldn't stop now, so I dialed again.  This time, it actually rang and I was greeted by a familiar voice.  Dr. Ashby picked up and addressed me directly.  He asked how I was, and I answered how I would if I was having a regular call with a regular doctor.  When he asked why I was calling, I just asked if I could have a sooner follow up.  Surprisingly, he said that it wouldn't be a problem, and he would be happy to see me first thing tomorrow.  Satisfied, I told him to have a good day, but he interrupted me, to say this:

“When I see you tomorrow, to best assess you, please bring only yourself.”

He hung up immediately after.  I didn't think much of that, assuming that he didn't want me to bring in a bag full of telephone receivers and my knife.

I was very wrong.  But I didn't know that till later.

I tried talking to some of the watchers from a distance.  For the most part, it didn't work.  They don't react to yelling or questions from a distance.  The only reaction I have got was from questions involving locations within the hospital, or those regarding the specifics of the job a specific watcher is supposed to do.  It really was futile.

I then tried to talk to them close up, and then asking the same questions from a distance.  They are far more responsive when asked questions at a normal tone from close up, rather than loudly from far away.  I tried asking so many questions, and whenever I tried to ask anything of substance they wouldn't answer.

“How do the shifts work here?”

"How long have you been here for?”

“Do you know why I'm here?”

“Why is it light out at 10:00pm?”

It was a little bit discouraging and I almost gave up, but then I had an idea.

Deborah.

She seemed more normal than the rest of the watchers, and she seemed more important than some of the others.  So I tried talking with her, at first from close up.  I ordered a coffee and tried some small talk, and it did work!  I even tried flirting a bit, and she also responded to that.

Now a little disclaimer, I am very bad at flirting and getting a date is the very last thing on my mind, I was just trying to break her out of her cycle.

I was glad to see that I was getting through to her, and I was starting to think that whatever is controlling these people, didn't have that good of a hold on her.  So I tried putting some distance between us and tried to resume conversation.

What once was easy conversation about non-hospital or non-coffee related topics, was strained.  It was almost like my proximity to her undid some of the influence on her.  So I closed the distance and she started talking more normally than before.

But that is when the static happened again.

This was a first.  I have never been engaged with a watcher when the static appeared over the PA.  Her answer to a question about some music that was playing around the cafe started to slow, like someone put her speech on 50% speed.  Eventually her mouth slacked open as her eyes started flash pink.  I looked at her as she stared passed me, while her head twitched, trying to face up.  I called out to her:

“Hey Deborah, are you alright?  What's happening to you?”

She just continued to stare through me, but then something truly odd happened.  Her body stiffened and she stood impossibly straight.  Her blank face turned to me, and she cocked it to the side.  Her lips trembled and whispers escaped her mouth.  I inched forward, in an attempt to hear what she was saying.  I called out to her again, clutching my knife.

“Deborah?”

“Subject is contaminating the greater design.  Awaiting instructions for next phase.  Observation is becoming difficult.  Subject has ceased escape attempts.  Completion is approaching."

I stopped in my tracks and my mouth flopped open.  What did that all mean?  I guessed that I was the subject that she was talking about, especially because I was trying to find the PA room and I had stopped leaving the hospital.  But what was the next phase?  What is the completion?  What the HELL is the greater design?!

I had to get more answers.  I approached her slowly, almost like how someone would approach a stray dog.  I kept asking out to her, trying to get more information.  What happened though was a big mistake.

Now, Deborah is dead.

I thought that she was different, I thought that this occasion was different.  I thought I could break through the force that was controlling her.

I touched her shoulder.

As soon as I did that, she snapped at me, grabbed my shoulders quicker than I thought was possible.  He mouth flew open extremely wide and I could feel myself starting to vibrate.

The knife was in between her ribs quickly, and it was in her stomach even quicker.

Her grip loosened almost immediately, but that didn't change much.  I stepped back as quickly as I could, but she still fell on top of me.  This was awful for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, my bones are still healing and my muscles are still damaged, so falling hurt like a bitch.  But what was worse, is that during that fall, it was no longer a bleeding barista falling on me, it was the post.  I was back on that warehouse floor; pinned and broken.

I started freaking out, screaming and yelling for help as the pain shot through my body.

Then it was gone.  Sure, there was still some pain, but I was back in the pristine hospital, and I had a bleeding woman on me.  I rolled her off of me and slowly got to my feet.  I looked down and saw the dark, old, blood pool out of her torso.  I looked down at myself and confirmed that I was covered in it.  I would need to get a change of clothes at the gift shop.  I looked down at Deborah again, and bent over to close her eyes.

I'm so sorry Deborah.  I never meant for this to happen to you.

I found a change of clothes and stopped trying to interact with the watchers.  I took a short rest after that, just to get away from their eyes.

I noticed something though, and I mentioned it earlier in this post.  The fact that they are a collective, or a hive mind.

Ever since the incident with Deborah, the watchers have all been more observant of me, and they all have an agitated look when they look at me now.  They watch me for longer, and they seem aware of the little things that I am doing, like taking the land line receivers.  They also look at the knife that I have.  The knife that has killed two of their own.

There were no others around when I killed Deborah, so I can't think of any other reason the others know  other than them being a hive mind.

After my rest I continued to look for the PA room, but I wasn't successful.  I have looked in every open room, on every floor, and I cannot find it.  I felt defeated after this, and I didn't know what to do.  I wandered around for a while, until I found the answer.  Maybe there was no central PA room, but maybe there was a central PA control in another room?

I thought back to the years I worked in retail, and there was a central control to the PA system, in the security room.

I slapped my forehead at my own stupidity.  It shouldn't have taken that long to figure that out.  I started on a new quest, and eventually I found it, near the main entrance.  Only problem was that the door was locked.  I knew there were keys, and I knew where they were, as there was one wandering security guard who was still around.

I sat around his route and watched him for hours.  Sure, he saw me, but I didn't think he knew what I was going to do.

I had two options, one that might work, and one would be extremely bad, but also might work.  Once every few hours, he would walk passed a beam and he would stop and look at the entrance.  If I hid behind the post and moved around it, I might be able to grab his keys.  The second option would be me trying to take the keys when the static was one.

God, I hoped my first plan worked.

I waited and waited, and when the guard came around, I slowly moved my way around the pillar, and reached for the keys.  As I grabbed the keys, I threw a can of pop around the pillar, and as the security guard turned to see what made the noise, the keys just slid out of his pocket.

This was an incredible victory, and I was so happy I pulled this off.

Except I didn't, because I didn't hear the other watchers approach me.

They swarmed me and pushed me to the ground.  I thought they were going to start stomping me so I turned to cover my right side and awaited the worst.

But they didn't kick me.

They screamed at me in that silent way that they did.  My head pounded as it felt like it was in a vice.  My whole body ached and spasmed.  I spat blood as my vision went red and the scent of copper filled my nose.  I thought I was going to die, and for a moment I thought I did.

Because everything went black after that.

I awoke hours later, when it was dark outside.

My head was killing me, and my body felt like I was at the gym for hours, especially my right limbs.

I tried to get up but I couldn't find it.

I couldn't find my cane.

I scrambled on the ground to find a solid object to help me get to my feet, but that's when I saw it.

My arm cast was removed.

While I was unconscious the watchers took my can and my cast.

I managed to get to my feet and hobble over to a seat, and that is where I am writing for.  I think I found a new level of fear in my new state.  I was already weak and vulnerable, but now my distance range has been effectively cut in half.  Three times.

If I cant walk, I can't explore.

If I can't explore, I can't get to the security room.

If I can't get to the security room, then I don't know how I can get out of this.

For the first time since I've gotten here, I think I might not make it out.

- Cody S