The Hospital Ship of Azur Lane (Slow Updates)

The meeting part 2

After driving for about fifteen minutes, the medical convoy stops outside an old two storey building. Judging by its black and brown spots, the place hasn't been repainted in the last seven years. The structure looks very unstable and it's as if it's slowly being swollen by mother nature. With all the plants growing on the walls, it's pretty hard to distinct what's building and what's nature. In fact, the building is so old that the plants have given it the perfect camouflage against aerial attacks. Maybe that's why it appears to be intact after all the damage done to this isalnd. Come to think of it, Doctor Solace has driven around the island for fifteen minutes, and the only thing he and his ambulances have seen that is intact, is this building and one or two cranes at the dockyard. Apart from that, they did not see anything else that is still in one piece. It would seem that the entire base has been completely flattened to the ground. Any building, depot, and other installation is seen burning or collapsing. Looks like DS was right to bring his backup vehicles with him. He and his ambulances have a really long day ahead of them.

-'Here it is, the HQ of our base', says Vestal and points at the building.

-'Not much of a building I must say', says DS as he keeps inspecting. 'But it does have the perfect camouflage. No wonder it has survived so far'.

-'This isn't just our HQ', continues Vestal and starts to explain. 'It's both our main war operation room, our radar station and our briefing room all in one'.

-'I see', replies DS, not knowing whether he should say anything.

-'Were you expecting anything else?', asks Vestal, having noticed how unimpressed DS is even though she can't see his face.

-'Not really', replies DS again as he keeps staring at the building. 'I've seen bigger command centers in the three years of my carreer, and there's not really much difference between them and this one. Personally, I think it's rather typical'.

-'I see', says Vestal, not knowing what else to say to DS' statement. Even if she did have something to say, it would have been very pointless.

-'Anyway, should we get off?', asks DS again as he picks up his walkie talkie radio.

-'Oh, yes you're right. Follow me', says Vestal as she gets off the Jeep.

-'Right behind you', says DS as he also gets off the Jeep. He then sets his walkie talkie radio to the right frequency once again to contact his vehicles. The faulty battery has really started to get on his nerves, and if he doesn't replace it soon, he'll have no means to contact the ambulances when necessary. After having fixed the radio once again, he contacts the vehicles. 'DS to rescue convoy. I'm heading inside the building. You are to stay here until further orders'.

-'Copy that', all vehicles reply in their typical electronic voices.

After inspecting his ambulances once again, he picks up his first aid kit and walks towards the building. Normally, there's no reason for him to carry it around since this is no emergency situation. It's rather a habit he developed ever since he was built. Whenever he comes across an accident or any other sort of trouble, he'll always be prepared to assist. It might seem like an exaggeration, but as most doctors in the Red Cross say, better safe than sorry, and DS is a perfect example of that. He may not have come across any emergency situations yet, but that doesn't mean it won't happen or won't be necessary.

Vestal opens the door and DS follows her inside. For a building taken over by nature, its interior seems rather new. At first, DS thought it would be nothing more than a wooden hallway with a few wooden chairs and tables on the left and the right since most old buildings have a similar appearance. On the contrary though, it's much more modern than what he expected. The interior in reality, looks more like a government building, with a stairway at the right corner leading to the upper floor and two hallways at each side leading to various red doors from the right or the left side. In the central hall, there are two brown tables, one on the left and one to the other side of the room while there are also six wooden chairs, three near each table. This must be the main room. After all, aside from the stairway and the two hallways, there isn't anything else. To be honest, this looks more like the Red Cross clinic in Thessaloniki. DS might not know what it looks like on the interior, but he's been to the harbor of Thessaloniki and he has seen the building from the outside, so he can clealry tell the resemblance. Maybe if the plants weren't in the way, it would have been identical.