#elizabethcrow

[christopherearlheim]

Day 37

We awoke late in the morning and and after our breakfasts set to work, extending the tent and transferring our equipment from the caravan into the town hall. It was a long and arduous process and by the time we actually had a functional lab established the sun was already beginning to set once again. It was pleasant for all three of us to work together once more and i’ll admit, although out working conditions are far from satisfactory, they will most certainly make do. At about midday we stopped for a break, Elizabeth went off into the city on her own, whilst myself and Professor Fenwick remained at the tent to ensure that no one would go poking their nose where it wasn’t welcome. We sat, drank tea, and for what felt like the first time in months had a normal decent conversation. We talked fondly of our memories of Manchester, of our shared educations and even such topics as mundane as the weather. It felt normal, and i revelled in the sensation as for quite some time now my life has felt far too exciting, i long for the days of diagnosing mild afflictions like the common cold, or a sprained ankle, as opposed to attempting to cure such an infection as this. 

After our conversation it seems that Malidia is finally warming to me once more. I can understand her stand offish and cold nature towards me as of late, after all i have betrayed much of the trust i had earned during our time in university. As such to further strengthen our emotional bond i told her how it had been i that had sent for the Huntsman. She seemed un-surprised and an awful lot less angry than i had anticipated. I have no doubt that at the time if i had openly admitted to such a thing she would have flayed me, but i think now even she can see that ultimately it was the right thing to do. I can only imagine how few of us would have made it to Manchester if it hadn’t been for the hunters. 

Settling down for the night was an awful lot less comfortable than nights previous. In order to accommodate such a large amount of equipment in such a small space without drawing too much attention we had to sacrifice practically all of our living space, leaving us with a very small section of the tent almost two small for our three sleeping bags to rest side by side. I drifted into sleep rather seamlessly that night but was awoken recently by Elizabeth returning from her nightly rendezvous with her newfound lover. I tried to sleep once she settled but i couldn’t help my mind from wandering. What has become of Wigan, and what are those hunter’s doing now that the infection has spread to Liverpool? Are any of them even still alive? After all Wigan was in a terrible state when we left, perhaps now we are England’s only hope, perhaps the council of huntsman have fallen? I was somewhat shocked to find myself worrying after the Hunter General, Henshaw McGrim. For a hunter he was an awfully nice fellow, it’d be a great shame for the seemingly only normal one of them to have been killed. 

-Christopher Earlheim

[christopherearlheim]

Day 36

This morning was off to an awkward start. It started well enough, i awoke early, bright eyed and bushy tailed. The town hall was alive with talk for the first time since arriving, it would seem as if the Wiganers are finally beginning to warm to their makeshift accommodation. I ate breakfast with them all and went outside for a breath of fresh air, and then began the feeling of malaise. Sat alone on the stairs to the town hall was Professor Fenwick. I tried to scurry past her quickly, not yet ready for confrontation, but as i reached the bottom of the stairs she called out my name. I dreaded for the worst, perhaps Elizabeth had let slip of our plans, or perhaps she suspected me of stealing the box? But the worst i encountered was your average awkward conversation. She pointed out how we had no interacted much in the past few days, of which i agreed. An awkward silence followed soon after and once a few moments had past i quickly made my excuses and scurried off into the city centre. 

I would’ve delighted to say that the days conflicted had ended there, however that would be far from the case. I stopped in an alleyway to calm my nerves and think things through when i was approached by a strange man. He was dressed in the clothes of a beggar, bound in linen wraps and with a makeshift brown leather hood. The man seemed far too over familiar for my taste, and as i tried to make my escape he quickly blocked my exit from the alley way, enquiring as to who i was. I figured there was no sense in lying to the fellow and so told him the truth, that i was a doctor and that i was currently staying with some refugees in the town hall. Upon mentioning my occupation his demeanour changed to one of legitimate friendliness, though i could scarcely take my eyes off the spool of garrote wire hanging from his makeshift belt. He insisted he give me a tour, and we spent the day marvelling at Manchester, much like i had the day previous, and talking about our lives. How i’d left my family for a life of science, and he spoke of how he had been saved at a young age by a doctor, and of all the dodgy streets a man of my standing should avoid. 

He led me to a long cobbled street crowded with merchants of all kinds, and there i accidentally let slip to him of my work with the infection, and my attempts at making a cure. For a man just learning of the sudden emergence of the great plague he seemed awfully undaunted, and i soon found out why. He led me to a street urchin, selling newspapers. The boy addressed him as Wasp and handed me a paper free of charge, the headline read “Wigan fallen, Liverpool next?”. Apparently the first signs of the infection had begun to spring up in Liverpool as well, and there were already three casualties. I thanked Wasp and the urchin for their help and ran back to the town hall where i confronted Professor Fenwick.

I took Malidia into the alley and told her that i knew everything, about the box, about the limb and about Liverpool. She seemed surprised at first and after a lengthy argument i discovered her intentions. She clarified that she was indeed working on another antidote, but that the process was slow going and she had no wanted to involve me so that i wouldn’t get in trouble. I gladly offered my services and she accepted. I informed Elizabeth and told her that we would begin setting up a makeshift lab in our tent tomorrow and that we would begin working on the antidote as soon as possible, in the hopes of preventing the infection from spreading any further. It feels good to be on Professor Fenwick’s side once again. 

-Christopher Earlheim

[christopherearlheim]

Day 35

I barely slept at all last night. I tossed and turned till the sun came up, my mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. By the time i eventually got to sleep it was already four in the morning, and as a result i slept well into the middle of the day. Thankfully Elizabeth didn’t have the gall to awaken me and so i actually got some decent sleep. I awoke in the afternoon to a relatively peaceful scene, Malidia was off with the townsfolk, just talking. I hadn’t the time to ask them what they were all talking about, but i presumed it was of the recent bereavement and of the great amount of loss they have all suffered. I have suffered, but i can only imagine what it must’ve been like for them. 

I quickly made my way outside and within the hour caught up with Elizabeth on her way back from an ‘outing’ presumably with this new suitor of hers. We crept away to the alley by the town hall, and i told her at length about the contents of the box, she seemed just as shocked as i. She asked me all the questions i was already thinking, to which i still had no answers. I told her i’d think about what to do next, and that in the mean time she should say nothing of the sort to Malidia, after all, i’m still at a loss as to her motives. 

I then decided that in order to clear my head i would go for a walk around the city, take in all the familiar sites, foods and smells. As much as Manchester is still the city i remember it to be there is something different. The streets seem dirtier, and there are far more vagrants and urchins about, to the point at which i kept a firm hand in my pocket to prevent any would be pick-pockets and thieves. I bought a meal, ate, and returned back to my tent late at night. As i arrived back at the town hall the majority of the townsfolk had already gone to sleep, including Elizabeth and Malidia. I’m still at a loss as to what i’m supposed to do, though i feel myself innately drawn to confront Malidia about it. She may be unstable as of the time being but she is certainly not insane, she has most likely kept the limb for research purposes. But i am not yet ready to confront her, perhaps later in the week. 

-Christopher Earlheim

[christopherearlheim]

Day 34

I woke especially early this morning with the sole intent of stealing that wretched box away from Professor Fenwick. For the past few days now we have all been sleeping in the same tent, pitched inside the town hall for privacy’s sake. I intended to persuade Elizabeth to distract the Malidia with a ‘trip’ into Manchester in order to get her to relax, whilst i went to recover the box. Only, when i turned to look at her sleeping bag it was empty, Elizabeth had vanished. 

I quickly got out of my bedroll and crept my way outside, making sure to not wake the Professor. Moments after leaving the town hall i spied Elizabeth with a young man tucked away in a nearby alley. Of course, ever being the fool, i set forward with the intent of helping Miss Crow with the ruffian. A few paces away they had still not seen me, the young man lent in, pressing her against the wall they...well...you can imagine what they did. I stopped mid-stride, baffled for a moment i watched them, unsure of how to act. Eventually i built up my confidence and cleared my throat loudly at the pair. They quickly pulled apart and after a brief goodbye the young man scurried back into the town hall. It turns out that the young Miss Crow had in-fact gained her self a secretive suitor whilst in Wigan which had attributed to her increased day dreaming and excessive worrying. Shortly after i told Elizabeth my plan, of which she agreed. 

Professor Fenwick woke up at about ten, an incredibly late start by her usual standards, and within an instant Elizabeth swooped down on her and dragged her out to town for a ‘girl’s day out’. The professor seemed hesitant but as soon as they were far enough away from the town hall i rushed to the alleyway and retrieved the box, before returning to our tent to open it in secrecy. 

The box smelt worse than ever, and as i pried open the lid i finally learnt why. All my years of tending to injuries and disease hadn’t prepared me for this. Within the box was a child’s harm, but unlike which i had ever seen before. Small grey hair’s where burrowing their way out from the child’s skin, and what pink flesh could be made out was covered in thick black veins. Worse still, the severed hand curled it’s fingers, flexing. It was somehow still alive. I quickly closed the box, but entered a panic. If i put this back in the alley anyone could find it, and possibly become infected, or accuse the Wiganers of witchcraft. But if i kept it or returned it to the professor she would know that i knew. I decided the best course of action was to hide the box away in her sleeping bag and then leave. I spent the rest of the day wandering the streets, thinking of how to approach Malidia about this issue. When i returned Professor Fenwick was already asleep, i talked with Elizabeth and all seemed well. Apparently Malidia had shown slight confusion upon finding the box, but thought nothing of it. I told Elizabeth i would inform her of the box’s contents tomorrow which she begrudgingly agreed upon, apparently she had a date with this suitor of hers.

Finally i know what is in the box, but now i am faced with an even larger conundrum, what to do now? 

-Christopher Earlheim 

[christopherearlheim]

Day 33

It would appear that a doctor’s work is never done. I woke up late today as a result of my sleep being plagued with thoughts and conspiracies regarding Malidia’s box, and as i roused i was greeted by a bewildered Elizabeth. Apparently a small fight had broken out amongst the citizens of Manchester and Wigan, something to do with the people of Wigan not belonging in the city and taking up too much room which could’ve been used to house the citizens of the already cramped city. Several young men had been injured on both sides of the fray and one woman had been beaten unconscious with a piece of cobble pried from the street. 

Myself and Elizabeth ran to the scene of the crime, but Professor Fenwick was nowhere to be found so we alone tended to the injured. I helped to stitch up several cuts and apply healing salves to many of the wounds, but by the time we reached the woman who had been struck with the piece of cobble it was too late, we found no pulse on her and so allowed the townsfolk to mourn her passing, such a tragedy that could easily have been avoided had we had another physician to tend to the injured. 

A short while after i found Professor Fenwick skulking around the back of the the town hall so i confronted her. I blabbered on about the Hippocratic oath and how it had been her who had ultimately lead to that woman’s death because she neglected her duties. Only too late did i realize the tears streaming down her face. Apparently the guilt of what had happened in Wigan and the long journey to Manchester had been weighing over her head more severely than i thought and that she had inadvertently started the fight outside of the town hall as she had attempted to defend the young woman from verbal abuse by the young Mancunians. I lead her back inside and as we rounded the corner of the rear wall of the town hall i noticed that the box that she always carried with her now laid abandoned where she had been crying, however i did not mention it to Malidia. I lead the Professor back inside and there with the aid of Elizabeth we comforted her til she calmed and eventually fell asleep. However that night once again i could not find rest, the box was now unguarded, and i could finally discover it’s contents and relevance to Professor Fenwick and i decided i would go and retrieve it early next morning before Malidia awoke.                                                                                                     -Christopher Earlheim

[christopherearlheim]

Day 31

We where informed this morning by the city council that myself and my fellow doctors are going to be moved back to our original place of residence here in Manchester. I believe that it will be good to return to an infirmary that we're all familiar with, and perhaps now that we've left Wigan things will return to normal and it will have been as if we where never there. But I doubt we will forget everything, no matter how hard we try, those who did not make it to Manchester will forever plague my thoughts. And what of Wigan? Despite all the horrible things that occurred in that town I still wish to know what the council of huntsman are doing there to contain the plague, I have no doubt that they will be successful, but sinister visions lurk in my mind, visions of Manchester suffering the same fate as wigan. Although myself and Elizabeth are happy to be returning to our old infirmary, Professor Fenwick seems troubled. I presume that she still feels a sense of responsibility for the townsfolk and that she wants to see them all through to a better place, a better life after Wigan. However I think she needs to let go, they no longer need our help, the city council will rehouse them here in Manchester. She should drop this mantle of responsibility before it once again consumers her. However, her strange attraction to power is not the only thing about Malidia that is concerning me as of late. I have noticed that recently she has been carrying around with her a small, rectangular wooden chest, no bigger than the distance between my forefinger and elbow length wise. She never leaves the box unattended and I have even seen her sat alone staring thoughtfully into the box. I have no clue as to its contents, except that of the foul stench that it radiates from time to time. There is no doubt that these miasmas are bad for her health so I shall endeavour to discover the box's contents and unravel the truth behind her possession of it. -Christopher Earlheim

[christopherearlheim]

Day 30

We awoke early, just as the sun was beginning to peak over the distant hills and shine its glorious light through the dense thicket of trees. To be treated with such a peaceful and calm morning almost made me forget the past few days' trauma, almost. By the time the sun had risen fully over the hills what remained of our caravans had begun the finally leg of our journey to Manchester. Only four of our caravans remain with thirty eight people spread out across each, ten people in both the first and second caravans, fifteen in the third caravan and three in our caravan at the very back. We had already had a dangerous enough journey fraught with death and so, like many others, I prayed that we would manage to make it to Manchester unscathed. However it would seem that, whatever benign force controlled our fates, had other plans for us. The morning was peaceful and tranquil, till about midday when the caravans in front of us unexpectedly stopped. Myself and Elizabeth where piloting the caravan and strained to see what was going on up ahead but the first caravan had turned around a bend whilst only half of the second caravan was visible. I instantly suspected trouble and so rushed to the back of our caravan and uncovered a box which contained several weapons that myself and Malidia had collected to defend ourselves with back in Wigan. Malidia took a rather large and lethal looking meat cleaver, Elizabeth readied herself with a exquisitely crafted rapier which was an heirloom of the Crow family and had been passed down onto her by her father, and I opted to arm myself with an iron morning star. As we stepped foot off our caravan I heard the first scream. It was short and cut off halfway through, but as it subsided a dozen or so other screams and pleas for mercy or help arose from the first caravan. Malidia went on to investigate, cleaver at the ready, whilst Elizabeth went to check on the second caravan and I readied those in the third caravan for combat. After a short while I heard the clash of steel upon steel followed by several burly shouts and within a matter of moments I was leading the cavalry to aid in Malidia's protection of the townsfolk. I turned the corner to see a dozen or so bandits, the first caravan had been completely ransacked and a few villagers lay dead, however both Malidia and Elizabeth where in the thick of combat, closely accompanied by the survivors of the first two caravans. The bandits may have been able to take Professor Fenwick and the townsfolk had it not been for my arrival with the cavalry as now, we greatly outnumbered them almost two to one and within a few minutes the fight was over. However, in the process we had lost a number of townsfolk, though I wager we would've lost far more had we complied with the bandits. Only three of our caravans remained drivable, and only twenty eight of us where left. Nevertheless despite our losses we continued one, reinvigorated from our victory in combat and we arrived in Manchester just as the sun began to sink behind the distant hills. As of right now we are being temporarily housed in the city hall, though I imagine that by tomorrow the townsfolk will have new homes and we will have a new infirmary. -Christopher Earlheim

[christopherearlheim]

Day 28

The evacuations began today, a whole day before they where scheduled due to a sudden spike in the activity by those infected by the plague. Luckily we had already packed all of our things and where in the process of loading them onto one of the eleven caravans that had been despatched to our town in order to help with the evacuations. However, due to the sudden spike in activity from the Infected two of the caravans where left abandoned in the town as sadly all those who where supposed to be boarding them had died and the caravans where now seen as more of a burden than a refuge to what little remained of the surviving townsfolk. So nine caravans, two of which carried supplies, began the long trek from Wigan to Manchester. Unfortunately only seven emerged from the towns southern boarder as during our exodus two caravans where attacked by a large pack of infected townsfolk, there where no survivors and two townsfolk from another caravan where severely injured and a few moments later put to death, to prevent the plague from spreading. It would appear that we left Wigan just in the nick of time, but at a great cost. It is merely the first day of our two day journey to Manchester and already simply in leaving the town we have lost at least forty two of the people that should've left Wigan with us. Only sixty eight of us remain. Elizabeth seems shaken by the experience thus far and is currently residing in the back of our caravan whilst Malidia drives, it would appear that professor Fenwick is being strong for all of our sakes. I am terrified, our caravan is at the back of the trail moving south and there are only three of us aboard as our caravan was tasked with carrying medical supplies and not people, making us a larger and much more vulnerable target. -Christopher Earlheim