There's a horrific metallic screech, with a video displaying only the floor of the elementary school for a few moments. Then, it rises, showing a much more intact school than the current travelers would be used to.. Two unknown people are speaking, both women.

"Are you seeing that?"

"No I--wait, yes. What are those?"

"Get it on video, quick."

The display jerks down another hallway. None of the lights are on; the only point of light is the distant illumination of the other end of the hallway, where the lights still work. Shadows seem to shift and twitch--no, shadows are shifting and twitching. Darker than the gloomy surroundings, humanoid shadows can be seen. They're twitching and wandering aimlessly in the middle of the hallway.

Once the camera really focuses on them, though, their heads all turn at once to face it. And, with torn apart voices, they begin to scream.

The video ends.

[video]

[When Clayton wakes up this morning, he is immediately aware that something is very wrong. Not just because he doesn't remember how he got here or where he is, but because he's sealed up inside a body bag. The claustrophobia kicks in before the rest of his brain does, and within seconds he's on the floor, bag and all, flailing and swearing and tearing at whatever he can find purchase on. His fingertips and throat are raw by the time he finds the zipper. He needs to lie down for a little bit. He does, for several minutes.]

[Now: Where the hell is this?]

[Nothing is familiar. The building isn't familiar, his coat isn't familiar, the tablet telling him to leave isn't, the backpack full of random household supplies and a suspicious amount of dry cat food isn't--his own mind isn't familiar, apparently stripped of its power to focus and meditate. This is so strange. What happened? Where is everyone? Where are his shoes?]

[After a quick examination to make sure he hadn't hit his head at some point, and a quicker look around the funeral home, Clayton decides that he doesn't have much of a choice but to head off and see if he can find someone. The owner of this bag and tablet, perhaps. It's not until after he's stepped outside, balked at the massive wall of ice swallowing up the far end of the funeral home, then followed it through the apparent wasteland to the nearest shelter he can find, that Clayton settles down again to see if the tablet has stopped throwing whatever fit it was having when he woke up so he can figure out who's it is.]

[He's immensely surprised to discover that it's his.]

[Clayton spends an hour or so just going over some of the old posts he made and replied to. There's got to be something wrong with him. He doesn't remember any of this happening. Has he been drugged? The hell?...]

[Only one way to confirm, as far as Clayton can tell. He starts the tablet's camera and stares into it for several long, quiet moments, completely baffled. Eventually he clears his throat.]

I, uh...I ain't too sure how to approach this. [Clayton laughs, nervously, and runs a hand through the hair on the back of his head.] Has anybody...do any a y'all know where I was, yesterday? I don't...remember...

[He pauses, tries to regain his composure, and fails spectacularly with a frown and a quick shake of his head.]

I ain't gonna lie, this is real weird.

[The outside camera is on, focused on Enoch's hand, which is holding some foam that looks kind of like this. Both his hands are shaking a little, and he's breathing fast, definitely unnerved by everything that's happened. It appears he's just checked the network now that they've all been locked in for the night. He's muttering to himself at first, not really paying attention to the tablet.]

Screeching shadows and deaths that aren't...could this "admin" have lied, or...? Oh- oh, you've prepared the cameras already, I'm sorry.

[He clears his throat a little. Takes a couple deep breaths.]

I'm sorry to interrupt everyone, especially with all the...disturbing events happening of late. But I don't recognize this substance I've found, and I'm wondering if anyone knows it, if it could be of any use. And... [Another breath.] ...One more thing.

[The camera shifts and he sets the tablet down to stare up at the ceiling of the building he's staying in. A zipper is opened offscreen, there are some rustling sounds, a muffled clatter of metal hitting something else, and a light thump as Enoch comes back into frame, reaching for the tablet again to pick it up and reorient it, now pointing at a photo album, open to a page with photos of a protest in front of a town hall of sorts.]

Has anyone seen this building? Or if not the building itself, anything else about it, such as what it's called or where it might be?