Sitting in S I L E N C E [ Open ]

[ECHO DAWSON]

There was no distinction between days in this place. Everything flowed together- minutes, hours, days and weeks. Echo had tried keeping track of the days in the beginning but the longer she stayed confined within the walls of the CDC the harder it became to keep track of such things. Now, in what seemed like a lifetime since everything had started, Echo sat in an office that she'd been given upon her arrival at the CDC. Even though she wasn't certified as a doctor that apparently didn't matter- they needed people with medical knowledge and she fit the bill.

Sitting at the desk that had been given to her Echo played with the locket around her neck, twisting it about on its chain and rubbing the exterior of it with her finger. It was a small trinket but it gave her more comfort than anything else she had. Sighing quietly she opened it up and stared at the picture inside, one of her fiance whom she missed more than she had thought possible.

Each day she wondered what had become of him, whether he had even made it back from overseas or if he was out there, somewhere, in the hell that had taken over the world. What if he was already dead? She would never know if that was the case and even if he was alive she still might never know, not unless he somehow turned up at the CDC. That was the one hope that she clung to with ever fiber of her being, that someday he would come through those doors and she'd be able to hold him in her arms once more. Things could never be like they had been, she knew that much, but maybe they could at least try and build some sort of life together within the walls of this damn place.

Closing the locket once more she closed her eyes and brought the locket to her lips, kissing it gently as though it were her beloved. She then carefully tucked it beneath her shirt and ran a hand through her hair, staring upwards at the ceiling. It was so quiet.... it was nearly a maddening silence. She stood and began pacing the floor, her heels clicking against the tile in a rhythmic way- it hardly made things better. She just couldn't stand to sit still any longer. When that served to no longer help she went and grabbed one of the various medical books from a nearby shelf and brought it back to the desk, once more sitting down and beginning to read. It was a book she had read plenty of times before, but really what else was there to do?

All she could do was sit and wait for someone to come to her for something or other. Whether it be another doctor giving her orders or a patient that needed help, it didn't matter. Whoever it was would not be turned away.

[NICOLE ANDERSON]

Nicole could not understand how she managed to last a year in the CDC. She never was the type for indoors. She was raised a wild child and the forest was calling her back. When Nicole first arrived at the CDC, she doubted she could ever take a step back into the real world again. The horror of seeing people grotesquely ripped apart right before her eyes scarred her to the point where she didn't know if she could recover. Yet, time, as ever, healed wounds. She still woke up screaming in the middle of the night, yet the longing to breathe fresh air held a much stronger grip on Nicole's wants.

Nicole paced angrily in her room. As days went on, she got continually ansy. If she was out in the open, her mind would be focused on survival. Here in the CDC, Nicole was left alone with her thoughts. She wanted to know if her father was alright, or if he at least died a painless death. She wanted to know if zombies finally took over the world. If Nicole was subject anymore to that frame of mind, she was sure she'd go insane.

She turned and kicked the her door open and started her way down the hall. She had to find someone to talk to. She didn't care if it were a fellow patient or even a stupid idiotic doctor. If something could distract her, she'd be alright. She paused when she arrived at a fork in the pathway. She lived at the CDC long enough to know where each pathway went. The right was the gym and left was the doctor's office. Seeing as though she didn't want to get sweaty, she headed left. Doctors were usually at the offices; it was their job, after all.

Nicole's brow rose when she entered the offices. In an open door, she saw a green-haired woman kiss a locket. She treated it as if it were her life. Nicole unconsciously fiddled with her own locket. She walked up to the office and leaned against the doorway. "Is the person dead or something?" She asked roughly. Though Nicole did not mean to sound demanding, it naturally came out that way. Nevertheless, she was genuinely curious about the woman's locket. Sometimes, she managed to forget that the doctors and nurses were humans too.

[ECHO DAWSON]

Echo didn't get visitors to her office too terrible often. More often than not she went out to see her patients, making visits to their rooms and speaking with them there. She figured it probably made them feel more comfortable, being in their own rooms rather than having to sit in some white walled office that was made to look professional. Their rooms were the only places they had that could be considered somewhat sacred, places they were able to simply hide away in and try to forget the situation they were in. That was what she tried to do, anyway....though really it was impossible to forget about the reality of things.

Hearing someone's voice Echo quickly looked up from the book she had pulled, looking over to the woman. She wasn't one of her regular patients, though she had seen her around before (then again she'd seen probably everyone around- it wasn't as if the place was so big you were unable to see everyone that resided there less than a few times). As her question registered in her mind her hand instinctively went to where her locket was resting underneath her shirt and she looked downwards.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully after a moment. "He left the country before any of this started..... I pray each night that he's still alive and alright, and that no harm has found him." She wondered how much good her prayers could do though, especially when it seemed as though God had completely forsaken the world.

Clearing her throat slightly she looked back towards the woman, the small smile that she usually wore finding its place upon her lips once more. "I'm sorry, is there something you needed? I should've asked that first instead of just going on about personal things..... did you need medical assistance or were you just looking to talk?" A part of her hoped it was the latter- she could use the distraction.

[NICOLE ANDERSON]

Nicole's brow rose at the woman's response. So it was a man, huh? Most of the people stuck in the CDC were like that. Their lovers, family members, and friends were stuck somewhere in the outside world. Whenever Nicole went down to the gym or to eat, she’d hear people talking about their families and how they hoped that their families were okay. She’d wake up every night by the sounds of screaming in the adjacent rooms. Nicole was no different. There was not a day that went by where she didn't think of her father. There was no night that went by that she had nightmares; some of which involved her father.

It somehow irritated Nicole to see how quickly the woman reverted back to her job. She couldn't understand how the doctors and nurses could just ignore the outside world as if it weren't there. It made her wonder if the authorities were even human. Nicole could barely hold in the urge to break out of the CDC yet the doctors just stayed there as if they never had a life outside of the CDC. Still, Nicole made sure to bite her tongue. She didn't want to insult a woman she just met.

"No, I'm bored out of my mind right now. Don't you guys have something interesting to do here?" She asked thought it came out like a demand. Nicole was not used to talking in a gentle tone. Even when she tried to sound nice, somehow everything she said turned into an accusation. She sighed and walked into the office. After pulling out a chair, Nicole quickly sat on it. She tilted the chair back and draped her right arm over the back. She probably looked way to casual on that chair, but Nicole didn't care.

"I don't mean any offense, but if you have someone you're worried about, why aren't you doing anything about it? You could be out of the CDC searching for your man but instead, you guys choose to stay in here. I don't get that," Nicole said a bit louder than usual as she waved her hand as if it would help prove her point. She probably scared the woman, but she didn't care. Nicole wanted to talk so the nurse would just have to learn to deal with it.

[ECHO DAWSON]

She couldn't help but chuckle somewhat at the woman's response- she knew how easy it was to become bored around the complex. Though there was a gym that patients could go to in order to give them something to do, that could easily grow old within a short amount of time. There were many things they no longer had- TV, radio, internet.... all things that people normally relied on to take care of their boredom and distract them from the world around them were no longer able to be used. And of course they couldn't go outside- that was far too dangerous.

"Sorry, I'm not the one in control of activities," she replied as she watched the woman sit down in the chair across from her desk. She sat so casually compared to Echo, whose back was completely straight and no slouching could be seen. It was more a force of habit than anything that caused her to have such posture- even when she tried to relax and sit casually she simply couldn't.

At the woman's next question, Echo paused. She had, of course, asked herself that same question many times over. Why didn't she simply try and leave, see if she could somehow get in contact with Zach? Of course she wanted to be with him, more than anything else- he was her world. But she always came to the same conclusion. "Because there are those that need me here," she replied, looking to the woman. "I would give my life to know that he was safe and out of harm's way, but the fact of the matter is that if I left this place there's little I would be able to do for him. I'm useless with a gun and frankly I'd be more likely to die sooner than I'd find him." Again she paused for a moment.

"I can do more here than I can out there. Here there are people that are genuinely sick and need medical attention- I won't abandon them for my own selfish reasons." As much as it killed her inside to be away from her love, she knew that the chances of her finding him were slim. There was no guarantee that he'd even made it back from deployment. Of course she prayed every day and night that he was safe somewhere but the cruel fact of the matter was that there was no guarantee.

[NICOLE ANDERSON]

Nicole rose her brows at the nurse's words. Nobody was that selfless. Hell, if she really loved a man that much, she wouldn't be spending her time in this god forsaken dump. Of course, Nicole had never felt that way for anyone. Yet whenever her father spoke of her mother, Nicole knew what real love looked like. If her mother was lost in such a hellhole as this, there was no way her father would just sit there and twiddle his thumbs. No way in hell. Leaving for that reason was not selfish. And if it was, wouldn't trying to save the one you love make up for it?

"With all respect, people here need psychiatrists, not regular doctors," Nicole answered quickly. It was the truth, after all. People here were so damaged internally that some of them seemed to have stopped functioning. Others, while they hid it well, changed. Even Nicole willingly admitted that she probably needed some help. None of the doctors at the CDC were psychiatrists, and if there were, they certainly did not introduce themselves to any of the patients yet. The way that Nicole saw it, the CDC patients would die from some kind of mental illness then from physical health problems. Nicole? She'd die of boredom.

"If you're terrible at using a gun, why don't you do something about it? Isn't there some kind of armory here? Learn how to fight. For all you know, your love could be right outside of these doors. He could be in trouble and you're only a couple seconds from him," Nicole said harshly. She knew that the nurse's love was outside of the country, but who knew? It has been a year since the zombie invasion. There were so many things that could have happened in that short time.

"I don't see why you have to stay here at the CDC anyways. It's not like the place is truly helping anyone. Sure it gives protection against the zombies, but it's a prison. Once people are let in here, they never leave. Sooner or later, the supplies will run out. Then what will happen?" Nicole shrugged mockingly. She didn't care if her words did not flow evenly. The woman was the first person she talked to in a long while. Somehow, Nicole's rant just managed to flow out of her mouth. Not that she cared. Somehow, it was a bit therapeutic. She just hoped the woman would not take it too seriously.