Basil felt his lip curl upwards in a sneer involuntarily as his mind processed all the information entering through his nose. Fungus, unknown variety, varying in thickness from one to three millimeters in places. The air was thick with the pungent odor of decay, and the taste of rot fastened onto his tongue. Any comfort or familiarity in the scent of his blanket was lost amidst the utter reviling stench of the world around him.
A subtle noise caused his ears to twitch. It came from above. It was both incredibly familiar and totally alien at the same time; as if water was passing through a sponge. Before he could look up a colorless drop of fluid hit the blanket, causing him to jolt violently as it soaked in and made contact with his leg.
Now he didn’t even feel safe in his blanket. What in the world was going on?
This was at least slightly comforting. People in circumstances worse off than himself - something he was trained to take pity on. However, like in his last nightmare, this could very well be a bait-and-switch. But at least he could look at some of those present, if not all.
The first person Basil’s attention was drawn towards was a young man furthest away, who appeared to be both conscious and lying with his head propped up on an uncomfortable angle. He didn’t appear to say anything outside of violently coughing, but the emotions on his face were quite vivid and ranged from worry to desperation to a sinking suspicion. He would have to watch him, for certain.
There was a series of soft, metallic sounds, which ended in a hollow voice posing a question. The voice was feminine, but rather deep, and sounded almost artificial in the emotion it carried. The person responsible for the query seemed to be recovering from being tossed into the wall, and it was difficult to tell what she looked like from the angle Basil was situated at.
“I d-”
Basil opened his mouth to make an attempt at a polite response, and then what what what What What What What WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT
WHAT in blue blazes is THAT?!
At first it appeared to be a rather well-built woman propped up in the corner opposite Basil. Everything about her seemed normal enough given the situation he was in, except that she had a MASSIVE EYEBALL IN PLACE OF HER CRANIUM. He could feel his ribcage tighten at the thought of making eye contact with that horrible, singular ball, floating ominously above her shoulders.
“I don’t-”
A fragile tap tore his eyes off that sight to see a fish collide with the lightbulb in the center of the room.
A fish.
Basil’s arms crept closer around himself. There were at least two other individuals in the room, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at them lest they be worse than he had previously imagined. This was waking up into another nightmare.
“I don’t know.”