Warehouse Op
Woodlands Hospital 1
Shaughnessy Hospital
Woodlands Hospital 2
Riverview Hospital
Chudcoon Drain
Other Distractions
Mission: Shaughnessy Hospital
(Photos open in new window when clicked)
Of stealth and security
In search of something new and cool to explore, we decided to investigate
the rumor of the abandoned hospital known as Shaughnessy. Despite setting
out with the best intentions, none of us actually knew where the place
was located- and so we drove around for over an hour, passing the place
several times without realizing it.
Eventually, I was able to make sense of a roadmap, and we parked the car
and walked over. Shaughnessy is not your typical abandoned hospital; in
that it's connected to and located on a very large, active hospital complex.
Since we'd never even seen the building before, we walked around a bit,
doing some scouting of the general area. Our target building wasn't hard
to find- it was the only one without lights blazing inside. There were,
however, still a few lights on in the building itself, but we assumed
the place was unoccupied.
[PHOTO] - During
the day
[PHOTO] - Slightly
disused. Moss 'n Concrete SLuRPee!
We did a walk-around, and Pixie found us an entrance. We sat for a while,
debating whether or not to attempt entry. The building was obviously not
currently in use, but there were lights left on inside, and the structure
was definitely not abandoned. I wondered aloud if there would be motion
detectors inside, which made the us all pause. Eventually, Jester decided
to head inside and check for motion detectors or other visible alarms,
and Pixie and I would wait outside, keeping in contact by radio.
So we sat, Pixie listening to her radio, while we waited outside in the
darkness. A cat, with a bell tied around its neck, walked around the bushes
nearby. Jester soon radioed back to us that he saw several things on the
ceiling which were either smoke detectors or motion sensors; he wasn't
sure. I was getting impatient by this time, and decided that we should
go in. Jester met us back at the entry point, and we all carefully crept
into the building.
Inside, we were at the end of a hallway, in the basement. There was stuff
piled all over the place- ranging from old medical equipment to plywood
for film props. We moved slowly around, listening often, on the lookout
for alarms. We followed the hallway, our footsteps silent on the carpeted
floor, towards the center of the building. We crossed a connecting hallway,
and I stopped to look around a bit, noting the carpeting had stopped.
I still hadn't seen any motion detectors, and was starting to feel a little
more at ease. The lights were mostly on in the hallways, which made it
easy to look for alarms; but the ceiling was covered with smoke and other
detectors, and I think our watchfulness waned. The Wraiths ventured further
down the hall, toward the main elevator bank, then came back towards me.
Worried that we'd be seen through the exterior windows, Jester was doing
his best to keep a low profile. He crossed over into another hallway,
and I walked up to where the Wraiths had just been standing, because I
wanted a photo of a wayward hospital gurney parked in front of the elevators.
[PHOTO] - A
bit of the carpeted hallway
[PHOTO] - The
wraiths at the end of the hall. Where they're standing is where I heard
security.
I was bracing my camera on the wall, and was just about to snap a photo,
when I heard a strange noise. I recognized the clumping of footsteps,
and heard some faint voices. My pulse quickened as I turned around and
started quietly walking back up the hallway, stashing my camera in its
case as I went. I motioned to Pixie, who was standing a short way in front
of me, trying my best to convey my impending sense of "SECURITY!
RUN FOR IT!". She must have understood, because she turned wordlessly
and started walking, hitting the alarm button on her radio to alert Jester,
who was in a hallway that ran parallel to ours. The voices and footsteps
behind us got louder, and Pixie and I started walking really fast- to
me, our steps sounded incredibly loud. We dashed to the connecting hallway
and must have turned the corner with less than a second to spare- I could
clearly hear the sound of security guards in the hall behind us.
In the lead, with Pixie right behind me, I dashed back up the hallway
we'd originally entered through. Realizing that using out entrance point
as an exit would be way too noisy at the moment, and worried that the
security guards would be in close pursuit of us, I ducked into the nearest
open room I could find. The carpeting kept our steps silent, but the room
was small and mostly empty- the only cover was provided by some medical
junk right near the missing door. I tried ducking down behind the junk
(an incubator?), but as Pixie came over I realized we'd be spotted instantly
should the guards look into the room. I could hear the guards making some
noise, approaching up the hallway. Desparate, I went over to a window,
and after undoing the latch, tried to lift it open. It seemed stuck, so
I motioned Pixie over, but even together we couldn't get it open.
[PHOTO] - The window that would not open. You can also see the incubator-thing that would have made a poor hiding place.
Security was still getting closer, the blood thumped through my ears.
I noticed a doorway in the corner of the room, and went over. It opened
into a small bathroom, so I went inside, Pixie following right behind
me. I was slowly closing the door behind her, and had just eased it shut
against the latch when the security guard's flashlight swept into the
room we'd just been in. Pixie was standing in the lone stall, and I had
my back to the wall near the door. We heard a woman's voice say something
about "body heat" in the room beside us. My heart was pounding
so loudly, I'm sure the guards would hear. The guards, luckily, didn't
venture into the small bathroom where we were, instead moving back out
into the hallway.
Pixie's stomach made gurgling noises, and I was more on edge than I've
ever been. We heard the guards as they moved down the hall, and I kept
breathing, trying to calm down and focus. I started to think about escaping,
now that the immediate threat had passed, and noticed the small window
in the bathroom. I went over to it, and got it open after a little effort.
We'd gotten separated from Jester as soon as we had fled from security,
so Pixie tried radioing him. She didn't want to leave without knowing
his situation, but I insisted that he could take care of himself, and
that we should get out while we could. I opened the window all the way,
and boosted Pixie out; I quickly followed her up, and shut the window
behind me. We dashed off across the hospital grounds to where we'd parked.
We kept trying to radio Jester on the walk back to the car. Someone was
responding on the other end, but I couldn't tell who it was, or what he
was saying. We were almost to the car before we just gave up on the radio.
Walking down the middle of the street, we saw a car start up and drive
towards us- Jester was already out! We piled in, and raced away.
Jester had a very close brush with security on this one! Click [HERE] to read his account, and see more photos!