[Inanimates driven to Insanity] - Inanimate Insanity Fic

Everybody's afraid.

Day 2 of the Hotel Quarantine.

Test tube reached the hotel, and people were waiting. Their faces went from a hopeful sparkle in their eyes, to a desperate, terrified look. Everyone was devastated, they had already lost someone. When she came in, she ripped the gas mask and hazard suit off and stood before a sad crowd, shaking her head with tears in her eyes. Bow was gone. She didn't need to say anything.

Test tube kept her mouth shut. She was too traumatized. She isolated herself, and Fan grew worried.

Yin and yang wanted to separate for some extra hands, but they couldn't get a hold of test tube, since she's shut everyone but fan out. They both are wondering what she's seen. Knife has gotten quieter. Guilt is eating at him like a parasite. (Pun intended) he knows he could have prevented Bow's death, and cursed his delayed reaction. He didn't sleep. At least test tube got rest, but Knife just couldn't. He was burdened by the fact that he didn't seize the opportunity to have potentionally saved someone from a horrible fate. Rumors were spread through the hotel like forest fires, all speculating what could have happened to Bow.

Oj gathered everyone.
After settling them all down, he spoke.

O: "Guys, I.. I know we're all worried, and, well, afraid, but we need to come to an agreement. We need to make, a, uh.. sort of schedule. I know some of you may disagree, but we've all been wondering what would happen if we were to run out of food. So we'll need to arrange something. Does.. does anyone have any suggestions?"

He is greeted with a silence, and he begins to lose hope.

Someone speaks up.

"Maybe we can send groups out? And, um.. set-"

All eyes turn to the speaker, Taco.

T: "..set a certain distance we can go from the hotel?..'

Oj sighs.

O: "That sounds like a good idea. I'll set a sheet of paper out on the fridge so everyone can see it.. all of you can go back to your rooms."

Everybody trails out of the living room, murmuring among themselves. Some people thought this was a good idea, some people didnt.

When they get to their shared room, since they obviously wanted one where they could hang out, Salt and Pepper shut the door and sat on the floor, resuming the usage of a nail-painting kit.

With a sigh, salt begins to chat with pepper about this 'schedule'.

S: "Pepper, does he REALLY expect us to.. OUT THERE?? Is he TRYING to kill us?"

P: "Salty-salt, I have no clue. Let's just keep hoping this gets fixed. SURELY you heard lightbulb at the edge of the stairs last night?"

S: "What?? Girly, I did NOT hear anything down there, nobody has super-sonic hearing."

P: "oh, please. No, but since lightbulb is, like, REALLY loud, i managed to catch ONE thing she said, and she had to have been talking to someone. She said that 'stuff like this usually sorts itself out'. Or something along those lines."

S: "you don't ACTUALLY believe her, right, Pepper? She's a dummy!"

Pepper sighed.

P: "I know, but, for everyone's sake,
We should hope she's right."

Salt thought about it quietly, realizing Pepper had a point.

She decided to sleep on this thought.

Nickel noticed that baseball was worrying a lot, and tried to calm him down. Balloon saw them both, and couldn't help but resent Nickel just a bit.

Apple wouldn't leave Marshmallow alone, but both of them needed company anyway. Even though Marshmallow was even a bit bothered by this, she still appreciated the fact that she wasn't alone.

Soap was more chatty, and twitchy. She couldn't stand the fact that the outside was so unclean, so awful, and the longer they stayed INSIDE, the worse. Nobody is taking the quaranine well, and it's barely started. Filth. Filthy filth. She can't go clean it. She's resorted to stress-cleaning the hotel, and while she's just beginning to crumble, everyone is relaxed and happy it's clean, which is keeping her together. Everyone has a different coping mechanism. Mic just keeps singing to herself. Apple just makes up new games to play with Marshmallow, which keeps them both sane.

Tissues, while in the kitchen one day, hears a knock on the door. He didn't see anyone around, and worried it was an infected, but he heard them speaking.

Desperate cries, begging to be let in.

He doesn't budge, but upon hearing them reason that the infected don't talk, he realized that whoever that was had a point. He overheard from test tube talking to herself in her room that that thing, not MePhone anymore, didn't say a word, all while 'brutalizing' Bow. He had a small idea of what happened.

He approached the door and cleared some furniture, shoving a chair over to have a visible hole to the door to which someone could fit in. He slowly opened the door through the stuff.

The cherries were there.

And only one of them.