Sick

The power went out entirely, emergency lights and all. I was vomiting at the time, and had to find my way from the bathroom back to my room to get my torch. As I walked in the dark, my stomach clenching and sweat dripping from my face, I kept hearing things skittering around me. Small, malevolent things. The walk seemed to take days; when I switched on my torch, there was nothing there.

I went to find some of the other scientists. They were huddled together in one of the corridors, gathering all the tools they could find and planning a trip to fix the generator. I felt terrible, but I wanted to see what sort of state it was in. I went with them.

The main generator doesn't look like it'll ever work again. As far as I could tell it was entirely dead. The backup generator is more primitive; we topped up the diesel and cleaned it out. It started. It coughed and spluttered, but it started. The emergency lights came back on and everyone cheered. Except me.

The lifts won't work on emergency power. Lots of the doors will stay sealed. I tried to raise the issue of whether we could get the lifts working, but the others didn't care. They think we just need to wait and someone will come to get us. I'm under no such delusion. Though I'm shaking, exhausted, and nauseated, I'm going to do whatever I can to get out.