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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 8:22:55 GMT -8
( Map here: goo.gl/maps/8hcbX ) This little corner of Seattle features the Paramount Theater, Tower 801 apartments, the Convention Place bus station, a large parking lot and some other small businesses on the periphery. This is a relatively quiet area of downtown, except when there's a concert on. The marquee of the Paramount reads:
"STG PRESENTS ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS APRIL 12th"
You can see the ivy covered entrance to the convention center down the road, the tall and oddly shaped Tower 801 building, and the complicated white vertebrae of the Convention bus station, which had many escalators and stairs leading down to the outdoor bus station. From there, buses can go directly on to the freeway north, I-5, or south to enter the bus tunnel. Across the street is the WorldMark by Wyndham hotel. If one continued up the hill, they would come to Capitol Hill. The streets here are relatively empty, the roads blocked off by car wreckage at various junctures. Anna's apartment is a one bedroom, very small apartment. The walls are decorated with various anarcho-punk bands posters, some Banksy artwork and a signed, vintage Rage Against the Machine poster. She's got some interesting African tribal tchotchkes and pseudo voodoo dolls, and some various self defense weapons like brass knuckles, small knives, mace and a taser. The clothes in her closet are almost entirely black except for a few military jackets, and would only fit a rather tiny person. Her fridge is filled with PBR, a few doggy-bags from fancy restaurants, soy sauce, and fancy health waters from Whole Foods. All apartments have a small balcony, Anna's view is partially blocked by very tall buildings but she can see down to the street.
It was 9:45 PM.
Anna microwaved some old boxes of takeout on one of four plates she owned. Anna - "Who wants.. um, vegan tofu scramble? I call this dim sum, but someone can eat these green peppers for me. Also uh... whatever this is. It was really fancy on Tuesday. I think it's... chicken."
Jackson had been checking in on everyone's health/well-being and was now gathering all of Anna's decorative candles and getting them lit in case of another power outage.
Jackson- "I'm vegan but someone who's hungrier can have it. I might eat the green peppers if no one wants them."
Anna - "Wow, how do you have any muscles with just soy? Oh well, vegan stuff is good for the planet and shit. Who wants a PBR? Let's not get wasted but I need one pumped in me intravenously at this point." Also in this room are James, Eric, Luke, Kaito, Sarah, Patti, and any PCs that want to be. Eric and James are talking furiously in Chinese. Kaito is sitting on the couch rubbing his temples. Luke is slumped in the corner. Kaito- "Beer? Yes, please. Thank you ma'am."
>>ALEX As people settled down, Alex wandered towards Anna's place. He planned to stuff himself with food before showering and raiding the colonel's closet for a shirt. The young woman's apartment was decked out like that creepy Ripley's Believe it or Not Odditorium exhibit, the one that gave him nightmares about shrunken heads. Was she a Satanist? Weren't all punks some sort of Satanist/anarchist/somethingist?
Anxiously, he touched his crucifix. A drop of blood had dried on Jesus's little upturned face. Alex cleaned it vigorously with his finger. Blood, blood everywhere. How many blood-borne illnesses did he pick up during the fight? Oh, God. What if he caught lupus or sickle cell? No, no. He couldn't worry about that now.
Was that a voodoo doll? Good lord.
Alex decided to hold his tongue. If Anna could kick open a door, she'd have no trouble kicking his impolite ass. Anyway, that microwaved food smelled REALLY good. Alex heavily dropped onto the couch beside the bottle-blonde man and stretched. Alex- "Please, I’ll eat anything!" he called out. "But most especially that chicken. If nobody wants it." Should he ask for a beer, too? Go for it. "And a beer, please!"
Anna - "Sure thing champ." Anna tossed Kaito and then Alex a cold beer, and put the too-hot plate of mystery chicken on the coffee table, using a skeleton-hand printed oven mitt.
Anna - "Sorry I don't have more food, I usually eat out." She sat on a black recliner next to Jackson and across from the sofa. She had a plate of strange looking dumplings and green peppers, and had her own beer. She offered the plate to Jackson, and pointed out the green peppers, which took him about two bites to eat. The coffee table was now covered in lit candles, and the room started to smell like a strange mixture of vanilla, Nag Champa and Chinese food.
Anna - "Well, this is it I guess. Part of me says that the police are gonna come around and have a state of emergency or whatever, but I somehow doubt it. Wonder when the power's going to go out... "
Jackson - "I think if we can wait until morning, it will be a lot better. I can't imagine those ghost things flying around in the day time."
Anna - "Maybe... Hey what all do you guys do? Alex, you a student? I go to Cornish. "
>>MEANWHILE IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT… This apartment is completely empty save for the bare minimum of appliances and fixtures. All apartments have a balcony, this empty apartment has a clear view of the street below, but is somewhat blocked in the other directions by buildings.It was 9:45 PM. The apartment was super-small and filled quickly with people. Each of the two rooms was like a pie slice with a balcony of its own, and the crowd mostly accumulated in the living room slice. Sonya and Sandy sat with each other near Ben. Behind them in line for the showers was Man 1, Woman 1, Russian kid, Woman 2, & any other PCs that would prefer to be in this apartment. In the bedroom's slice, the doctor and Micah were in the bathroom. Davin poked his head in the door to toss them some towels and soap. Davin- "Don't take all night. It's gonna be weird to shower in the dark if we lose power." He went out to the living room and started talking to people, asking questions like "Where would you most want to be in a crisis like this? What do you want to do when you can get out of here?" and so on. Likewise, Tyrone tried to make himself useful.
Tyrone (To Ben's group) - "Any of y'all need anything?"
Sandy- "Haha. No. What can you do? Not to be rude. Sorry."
Tyrone- "That's fair. Maybe I could get you somethin' t' drink."
Sandy- "No thanks. My bladder would explode."
>>MICAH Micah nervously eyed the other waiting patients, as the doctor helped him inside. The patients who probably actually needed help. The ones that were actually wounded in some way. Micah was too ashamed of himself to say anything, so as usual he just let the situation spiral out of his control. The doctor placed him down on the loo, and proceeded to check himself out, talking in a low voice to the mirror. Micah- "Uh yeah, I'm fine thanks"
His friends always asked him how he managed to get into all these awkward situations, lack of forethought he guessed. Micah tended not to think things through, and it had cost him more than a couple of jobs. This wasn't completely bizarre, the ship had communal bathrooms for the staff, and in the morning rush, sometimes you either shared a shower or went without.
The man wasn't paying him much mind anyway, proceeding to undressing and watching himself in the mirror. When the wretched scarring on his back was revealed, it tore Micah's breath away, but then he turned to reveal an even worse scar on his chest. A pentacle blazed in red twisting skin, the same skin that had curled around the man's back. He tried not to look too shocked, the last thing the man needed was his pity. Micah felt horrendous for his earlier faux-pas, even worse because he was unharmed. Micah- "It's fine, really....I am afraid you will find my injuries were purely psychological, I'm sorry doctor. I found the other passengers dead dead not undead, and gravity, it ends up truly hates me. The worst part was when I realised no one was coming, I was stuck in a confined space with at least twelve dead bodies. Alone, as fucking usual...ah I'm sorry, it's trivial...compa.." Micah was relieved when the towels and soap being thrown in interrupted him.
He took off his Docs first, trying not to spill the blood that was left inside, then the blood red dripping socks which reminded him of human flesh. He fought back bile in his throat.
He stood up, taking off his gore covered jacket, he had to rip it off taking a part of his shirt with the dried-on blood. The shirt was stuck to his skin in places, fuck. He braced himself, and pull the shirt off which took pieces of skin and hair making him wince.Micah- "As you can see doctor, my injury is just due to fucking cowardice and shock, nothing more..." >>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor inspected Micah's flesh as though one would judge a blue-ribbon vegetable at a fair. His fingers were remarkably smooth, and refreshingly warm. Dr. Victor- "Micah, I believe I spoke about cowardice once before, so I'll spare you the re-lecture and instead go for something less philosophical and more medical. You're just feeling the effects of adrenalin. It's still rushing through your system; it doesn't just wear off after the event occurred. You just need to take less of the stress on your supposed short comings and rest." The doctor approached the younger man, moving him towards the shower. He turned the water on to a high temperature, enjoying the steamy clouds as they filled the tiny bathroom. Testing the heat caused Dr. Victor's arm to turn a rosy pink. The man quickly slid out of his gory trousers, socks and slip-on shoes; after all, the man had practice in quick-changes. He nicked the soap and if necessary, dragged Micah into the cramped space. As he spoke, the doctor suddenly sounded less sterile, almost human, a rich baritone voice nearly coming out of nowhere. His face broke into a childish smile, eyes squinting shut and his face relaxing from its perma-grimace. Dr. Victor- "You know, the oddest thing... I can't stand cold showers; even if the heat causes me to worry a little, its like my own adrenalin supplement. This one guy at the hospital always asked me why I shower with my eyes closed... I told him I was thinking of his mother doing something profane, but I just hate getting water in my eyes. Just, remember, please? You're not as useless as you feel; you're not as afraid as you think. And you're not going to be alone..." The doctor changed his tone back to the usual brackish inflection. Dr. Victor- "Well, alone tonight. Considering we have almost two-dozen people cramped into a few cheese-wheeled apartment, half of whom probably are mouth breathers, the other half too paranoid to sleep... the empty sounds of the city, every errant noise sending people to tears, maniacs screaming, hell erupting on earth, Lady Gaga unplugged... all apocalyptic Mayan calendar malarkey suddenly turning real. It's almost like the universe is telling me I never should have given up my bleak, goth attitude." He added casually, "I can get some ointment from somewhere for your abrasions." >>BEN Ben couldn't think of anything he needed at that precise moment, other than the bathroom. Did they have toilet paper? That would be useful. And apparently Davin had brought some towels and soap? More bathrooms would probably be welcome though. And then it struck him. Ben- "We could probably use some mattresses and pillows, because the floor is going to feel pretty hard after a few hours. Maybe we'll have to open up more apartments after all? And maybe we should get started on that as soon as possible?"
>>MICAH Micah allowed the man to continue his inspection, he eyes not leaving the red skin scarring the doctors back. He followed the doctor into the shower and was surprised at the change in the man. He almost looked? happy? The doctor certainly was a puzzling man.
Micah closed his eyes too, but mostly to avoid the currents of red bloody water that flowed beneath him. He was grateful when the smell drifted away, and was replaced with the sickly sweet smell of soap. He grinned at the doctor's words and found the man's changed tone, soothing. He moved out of the shower, avoiding touching the doctor's burnt red skin, to avoid the questions in his head. Micah- "Thanks, I guess it wouldn't hurt. I'm going to hurry up the clothing situation." He popped his head out the door of the bathroom.Micah- "If anyone wants a shower any fucking time soon, you'd best please find some fucking clothing for the doctor and I. Some shoes and socks would be nice also. Thanks." >>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor- "Ah, the miracle of simple pleasures!" The doctor leaned out of the shower, turning off the precious gift that was warm water. He paused a moment before grabbing a pair of gloves tucked into his back right pocket out of his ruined trousers. Sloshing the destroyed clothing into underneath the sink's cabinet, the good doctor made sure the gore was as tidy as gore could be. This reminds me of the time of the lower intestinal cancer patient celebrating his golden anniversary which succeeded in performing several tasks in near-simultaneous precision: rupturing his bowels, vomiting his fecal contents, aspirating on said fecal vomit, respiratory arrest from the aspiration, and death. Now, if anyone had made an 'eat shit' comment, it would have been perfect. Too bad, because I really liked those boots.Dr. Victor took what remained of his button down and wiped up Micah's discarded waste and sloshed some soapy water onto the tiles for good measure. Removing the gloves, he tossed the twice-ruined shirt as well into the cupboard, letting out a little shudder from the stench which all ready emanated from the enclosure. Stepping onto a cleaner floor, the doctor took the dry towel he was left with and began to pat Micah's tender skin dry. Though the mirror was fogged significantly, the doctor did think his tone betrayed his slight sheepish smile. Dr. Victor- "Not so rough with the towel, next time. You could make your 'owie' worse. I shouldn't personalize this, but I think I rather enjoyed the shower. Doctor/Patient privilege not withstanding, I think your accent is growing on me... and you do have a fine, er, arse I suppose." Tyrone looked to Davin. Tyrone- "Damn, y'think we ought t' bus' in some more doors?"
Davin- "Maybe, but only to find stuff we need. Honestly, I think we should try to cram the whole two dozen of us into as little space as possible, so we can keep an efficient watch for ghosts... Christ that sounds weird to say."
Tyrone- "OK. Hm. We'll need a list of things t' get. A shoppin' list. Haha."
Woman 1- "Yeah! Let's get mattresses or futons, or maybe couch cushions - easier to move and smaller."
Sandy- "And all the blankets and pillows... By the way, maybe we could just use other people's bathrooms while we're at it to get that out of the way. I'm dyin' here."
Tyrone- "Las' I saw, no one was using the bathroom in Anna's for showers, so maybe jus' start a line in thera." Sandy and others leapt up and went next door...>>MICAH When the others just racked off, in search of blankets and other non-clothing type things, Micah sighed. He allowed the doctor to put the cream on the abrasions, the guy was a doctor after all.
Micah blushed scarlet at the doctor's words, he suddenly wished he was still covered in blood. He was never very good at navigating these situations. He certainly found the man to be attractive, but his mind was on other things, such as his body's sudden realisation that it contained an empty stomach. Micah- "Ah..T-thanks, that's also Australian, I..enjoyed.. it too. Your arse isn't so bad either" With that he made sure the towel was secure and left the bathroom in search of clothing and food, his face burning red. He ignored the strange looks of the people left in the room and grinned awkwardly at Nat.Micah- "Do you mind giving me a hand searching for clothes? The good doctor forgot to get some, before whisking me into the bathroom. I can make something actually edible, unlike whatever god awful.." He sniffed. "Chinese? They are having in there." >>DOCTOR VICTOR The good doctor chuckled at Micah's words. That Aussie is rather awkward. Wrapping the towel against torso, the doctor frowned. He did not want to expose his physique to the rest of the group. Slouch, wobble a little bit, smirk, swoon... I'm just a weak feeble old man... ignore the rest of me. Or, rather, stare at the scars... Yes, play the guilt card. Nice play, Doctor Victor. Nice play indeed!With a weary step, the doctor made sure the towel was secured high on his waist, giving his legs a longer, wobbly gait. He moved to open door and moved towards the less vacant side room. Dr. Victor- "Bathrooms free. Water's hot. Towel will be relinquished upon clean, dry clothes. And if you break the... Is anyone even listening to me? Is anyone out there? Right. I will do examinations on the cleaned people. If you have any serious injury, let me know. And someone bring me my damned dufflebag all ready!" An ass I am lest an ass I become.The doctor left the bedroom door open, casting glances occasionally out the balcony from the middle of the room. He ignored his stomach's noisy protests. After all, he had run through enough shifts and horrible, life-ending tooth infections to basically ignore most of his bodily functions. But, oh god, to have a handful of almonds... but I'll stop at the hot shower for today. No need to try and tempt either end of fate. Just get through the examinations, Dr. Victor. Flush out any other Mary or what-have-you and get the group secure.Dr. Victor- "It's so damned cold in this state!" >>NAT Nat had followed the rest into the empty apartment, and then parked himself in one corner of the room to wait for the line to grow shorter. He was glad, actually, for the chance to sit and rest a while. He had slipped his satchel off his shoulder, and set it against the wall with the remains of his 'weapon' - the torch. As for the Doctor's bag - he had set that aside as well, opposite his own bag.
It was a good bit of time to think, at least, and he found he could calm down at least a little. He was still worried that things might come in through the walls, but at least he doubted zombies would be able to make it up to them easily. He wondered if his roommates were still alive, how they were handling this, and he wondered about his aunt. What would Magda do in this situation? If anyone knew how to deal with ghosts, it would have been her - she did seances after all. Maybe... salt? Salt was a component in a lot of her books, and he recalled having seen movies where it was used to block the progress of evil spirits... Or perhaps red-tape?
Nat was still thinking when Micah wandered up to him: red-faced, wrapped in a towel, and grinning like he was embarrased about something. He blinked up at Micah, uncomprehending for a moment, then nodded. Nat- "Oh, um, allright. Ah, maybe we can look for other... things too? Food and, you know, bottled water maybe? Um. Flashlights. Batteries. First-aid stuff. You know?" He was rambling, and he cut himself off, looking a touch flustered. Nat pushed up to his feet quickly, smiled, and then made for the door. He stopped just infront of it, however, as he heard the doctor shouting for his duffle. Nat- "Oh, um... I'll... meet you in the hall Micah?" He smiled nervous-quick again, then ran back to get Dr. V's bag for him. "Here! I, ah, held on to it..."
>>MEANWHILE… BACK IN ANNA’S APARTMENT >>PATTI Patti sighed. She couldn't keep pacing about like a hyena. At the same time, she couldn't stop worrying. Socialize. People seemed to be congregating in the kitchen. As she approached, the smells emanating from the microwave made her gag. She was never going to have potstickers or coconut cream pie at Dahlia again. Maybe she could hold out until morning. She had one of those pies in her freezer. Socialize. Patti- "I'm gonna go check on the others, make sure things are going smoothly." That's not socializing. She headed out into the hall and saw Ben stepping out into the hallway. "Hey. Everything quiet so far? I don't know about you, but I doubt I get much sleep tonight." >>BEN Ben- "Yeah, it's quiet, but we're going to open up more apartments to find more bathrooms. And mattresses and pillows and stuff. And clothes! For those who need new ones after showering." Ben hadn't been splattered by much blood, but his shoes and the lower parts of his pants were stained with dried blood from the floor of the Westlake Center, from when they had blocked the entrance. Since the blood had already dried, he figured it could wait until later. And finding shoes that would fit as well as his own didn't seem likely.>>MICAH ( Micah will try the Colonel's son's place with Nat, but since they will bump into these guys. I will place it here.) Micah- "No worries, I'll wait outside." Micah meandered out of the empty apartment, to find Pattie and Ben chatting about getting supplies. Micah cringed, of course everyone would be around when he was half-naked. Micah's face reddened even more and he looked at his feet.Micah- "Uh I suppose you wouldn't mind if Nat and I came along, I kinda need some clothing. I can cook something for you guys too, if you don't want to eat whatever the other's are having."
Ben- "Of course," Ben nodded to Micah. "We'll probably find some food in the other apartments too. You'll be like The Naked Chef!"
MEANWHILE IN THE 10TH FLOOR HALL This is the hall with Anna's apartment, and the empty apartment. There are three other apartments, which are ostensibly occupied, but no one answers any of the doors.
>>BEN
Ben decided to go for the apartment closest to the empty one. After having knocked and warned any inhabitants of the imminent door-kicking, he tried to mimic Anna's flying kick. It didn't work the first couple of times, but the third time he got it right, and the door flew open.
>>MICAH
He rolled his eyes, original. -He will obviously head straight to any bedroom in the hopes of finding clothing first
The first room smelled strongly of garlic, and was completely dark. After turning on the lights, Ben was amused by the strange 'cowpoke' themed decor. Suede furniture, framed photos of country stars. The fridge was full of strongly smelling Korean food, and the scraps of paper he saw laying about were mostly in Korean.
Micah finds the closets to be full of women's clothing, though there are some passable cardigans that might make him just look like a fan of Weezer. The shoes and bottoms are all too small, unless he's willing to wear a stretch miniskirt.
No prob, Sorry for being over-posty. Micah will attempted to ram his body into the door while holding on to his towel of course, we wouldn't want that to slip hahaha. Micah will wear the suggested less slutty attire along with the boots and head back to the Korean place to cook.
OK, maybe modify your previous post to describe how he busts the door down and...
The next apartment is also dark, Micah flicks on the lights and is a bit shocked to see some rather large paintings and photographs of nude men in various states of arousal. He goes to the bedroom and has to face similar, but more graphic artwork. The closet is full of clingy club wear, designer 'occult-chic' sweaters with giant pentagrams, skin tight sparkly leggings, chunky boots with lots of straps, tank tops with black and white photos of naked men on them... They do seem to be in Micah's size though. The least slutty things are a pair of black bondage pants and the baggy pentagram sweaters. The shoes are a little big and fancy but they could do in a pinch.
>>BEN (Ben will look for spare toilet paper and spare soap, and spare towels, leaving the bathroom usable. Any type of easily movable mattresses or pillows will be brought to the empty apartment. And candles too.)
Before actually moving anything, Ben decided that he should use the bathroom. Actually showering could wait until after he'd be done lugging things around, but other concerns were more... pressing. Then he rounded up all the spare soap and toilet paper he could find, and brought that over to the empty apartment.
>>MICAH
Beggars couldn't be chosers, he put on the gothic attire, thankful that it was at least in his size. The clothes didn't smell like death, which was a bonus but faintly of cigarettes and incense. The boots were somewhat hard to put on, requiring to be laced and tied several times. He shuddered at what the doctor would think, the guy had mentioned being a past goth. He wondered where Nat had gone off too, perhaps he was still in the hallway?
Micah decided that the Korean place would be the best kitchen to cook from, something fresh and spicy sounded good. A bim bim bap or poky salad perhaps? He wandered over there and checked what was left in it's fridge, hoping to catch up with Nat along the way.
(Micah will check out the fridge/pantry and use whatever is there accordingly).
>>NAT Waylaid as he was, when Nat came into the hall there was no one else out there. Two doors were open, however, and he was just checking inside of the first when Micah came out from the other doorway in a rather... interesting outfit.
Nat- "H-Hey, um, sorry."
He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, looking a little flustered. That entire ensemble looked like something Ari would have worn, coming back to the house after a night out clubbing. "That's, um, nice. That you found some clothes, I-I mean."
Nat glanced down a moment, then back up.
Nat- "Did you, um, did you see anything else we could use? Batteries, flashlights? B-Bug-out gear, you know? Or um, or salt?" Micah- "Sorry I didn't take that much time to look, but yeah could have I guess...It's kind of occulty in there. Bug out gear? What the hell is bug out gear? Ah.. this? It was this, or a mini-skirt and a cardie, I just don't have the figure for it"
He grinned, hoping that Nat would catch on that he was kidding. The kid was pretty serious.
Nat- "Occulty...?"
Nat furrowed his brows, frowning a little. Maybe he should look in there?
"Um. B-bug out gear is for... if you have to bug out? Y-you know? Like, emergency stuff. Um, I, um, I guess I should go look..."
"I, ah, I bet if you tried, you could pull off a miniskirt." Nat smiled and offered a nervous laugh. "It-it would lighten the mood, maybe. Y-You know? Good for a laugh..."
Awkward? Oh, more than a little.
Micah- "Uh...yeah, probably not, I'll save a shred of dignity. Errr...good luck finding stuff, I'm going to rustle up some food."
Wow, Nat was even more awkward than him. He shook his head as the blonde moved into the apartment behind him. (Once he's done talking with Micah, Nat's gonna go check some other apartments for useful gear - either with Ben or Micah, or on his own. I imagine it'd take him a bit to break down one of the doors on his own, 'though. He is looking for any sort of useful emergency-type supplies - flashlights, batteries, candles, bottled water, etc. Also a change of clothes. And salt, preferably a nice big bag of it. >> )>>PATTI Patti followed the guys into the first apartment. She checked the bedroom thoroughly for firearms or other weapons, doubting she'd find anything. This is Seattle, after all. She wasn't feeling very conversational, though the thought of fresh-cooked food was sounding fabulous. Just as she came out of the bedroom, Micah came back in quite the club-goth outfit. Patti- "Hey, Micah, I will figuratively kill for the first serving of whatever you're making. Is there anything you could use as we're searching apartments? I could keep an eye out as we go." >>MICAH Micah began to fish through the contents of the Korean food containing refrigerator, there was a great deal of unusual cooking ingredients like runny mayonnaise and bags of fresh cilantro. There were quite a few styrofoam takeout containers as well, one mostly full of beef bulgogi with pearl onions that looked quite nice-- could most likely feed at least two people if he added some vegetables.
--- Ben found: a couple full multi-roll packages of toilet paper and some fancy girly-scented soaps and shampoos. He can have time to get at least mostly done with a shower before...
---
Nat found a lot of black candles and lighters in the club-goth apartment, as well as lots of graphic gay pornography on and off the walls! The fridge was full of Absolut in various flavors, and Vitamin water.
The queue for the bathroom was re-ordered in the wake of Ben rallying people to go door bashing, and Tyrone mentioning bathroom availability in Anna's apartment. Remaining in queue in this room, by the time the doc was in a position to check them out: Sonya, Man 1, Russian kid, Woman 2, Woman 1, and Sandy.
Other than the Russian, no one seemed at a casual glance like they were especially injured, though a few of them were indeed covered in gore. Sonya- After her shower, she put on the same slightly gory clothes she had on before, though they were a little nicer having been rinsed in the sink. She did not like the idea of being inspected by a naked dude in a towel, but wasn't very good at expressing herself in English. She was pretty clear about refusing to disrobe herself. "My ankle hurt a little. Why do these question? I don't understand... It's very rude." She didn't show signs of undue fatigue, shortness of breath, or lack of vitality.
Man- "Just bumps and scrapes, you can see." He also refused to disrobe. This man, together with James, saved the Russian kid from a zombie attack back at the mall, but he didn't seem to have more than the injuries advertised. No signs of abnormal health. Appropriately tired. "Steve Heeren, 33, Loan Officer at Citibank, Hey what do you need to know this crap for anyway? Whatever."
Russian Kid- He disrobed without issue, a fit young man with a few angry bruises and a human bite that broke skin on his left forearm. "It's bite from that dead woman. She broke skin, the bitch. Yeah. I'll bite on something while you disinfects it. Taking a shower was a motherfuck." His breathing occasionally seemed slightly labored, he was sweating, someone supplied the doctor a thermometer and he verified that the man had a fever. His pulse remained strong. "Volya Tschernev, 28, delivery boy." He seemed lucid and fairly healthy, but for a wound that was surely swimming with foul germs that already had his system working overtime. Dr. Vic will not have more than a few minutes to do anything in response to this post before somethin' happens...Davin and Tyrone were trying to haul mattresses and bedding as fast as they could through the halls. Tyrone- "Doesn't this seem like a waste a time? People should jus' sleep on the floor. It's less hassle an' it's a damn emergency."
Davin- "I hope some people will be a little more useful when they're properly rested. At least it'll give them one less thing to bitch about tomorrow."
>>BEN And Ben was helping!
Sure, he knew it was perfectly possible to sleep on the floor. But he had only done so when he was dead tired from an anime marathon, and trying to fall asleep on a hard floor without being dead tired seemed like it wouldn't be nearly as easy. Then again, some people were bound to snore, so perhaps that would keep people awake anyway?>>NAT Nat gathered up the candles and the lighters, making a point not to look at the walls - or really, much of anything - for all that long. In afterthought, he also gathered up the Vitamin water - it was better than nothing.
The blonde exited the club-goth apartment looking *very* embarrassed, with an armful of bottled sugar-water, candles, and lighters. He planned to drop those off in the Empty Apartment before returning to look into other apartments.
Of course, who knew if he'd make it much further than the apartment... The hall went completely dark, all ambient electrical noises suddenly gone.
Micah and Patti watched the microwave grow dark, and the LED timer suddenly switch off, with 30 seconds to go on a plate of soft greens.
MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S APARTMENT Anna - "Well, ya never know, things might be hella different now, but I think being an athlete was probably never more useful than now. Yeah, glad it wasn't my senior year, or my big show would be like, in two weeks. I feel bad for those kids, all stressed out for nothing, now. I do sculpture, performance and installation and stuff. Mostly interested in performance... inspired by Butoh dance and radical anarchy and shit. "
Jackson - "Damn, art school and you live in a place like this? I know it's small but... how much does this run you? I get pretty good money and I live in a hole in Georgetown."
Anna - "Ehm... I got grandfathered in, it's not that... bad."
Anna looked a bit flustered by that line of conversation.
Anna - "Anyway, once we get this food down let's--" The room went completely dark, save for the glow of the candles. All electric hums went dead, leaving the room eerily quiet.MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT The empty room went completely dark, the room suddenly eerily silent without the dull hum of electricity. Someone gasped rather loudly and startled a few others.
>>NAT Nat had just returned and begun to set his armful of candles, lighters, and Vitamin Water on the floor nearish the wall when the lights flicked out.He gasped sharply, startled, and dropped the armful of stuff onto the floor with a thud and a clatter.
The blonde cowered against the wall, waiting for something terrible to happen.
After a few moments passed and nothing launched out of the dark to devour him, he fumbled at the fallen pile of candles, lighters, and drinks - he found a candle easy enough, although finding a lighter amidst the jumble took a bit longer. He had never actually used a lighter before - he didn't smoke - and it took him a few tries to produce a flame. After lighting a candle, he let the lighter's flame die.
Nat- "Is-Is everyone okay? Th-that was just the power going out right?" Nat saw several relieved faces in the dim, orange light. Sonya jumped up to help him light candles.
Sonya- "Wow, haha I get scared. No I think everyone's okay. I wonder if power is going out everywhere?"
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 8:23:18 GMT -8
MEANWHILE… IN THE 10th FLOOR HALL >>MICAH ( I will let Micah have the hallway conversation with Nat later in converse here and we can plonk it in. Don't want to get in the way of the spookies) "No problem, uh nah I think I am okay here thanks." More bloody take out?? Did anyone cook in this apartment? His stomach didn't seem too concerned with where the food came from. He placed the takeout into the microwave and began grabbing out any vegetables he could find.1:32 He found some capsicum, coriander and carrots. It would have to do. Out of habit he began cleaning the surfaces off, getting rid of any lingering germs. He searched for the right knives, finding only a blunt carving knife. Philistines .0:40 The chopping board used to be red. Used to be, it was now a dull pink and stained brown in the middle. Ugh. His stomach groaned at him, he began slicing the carrot and capsicum. The familiar rhythm was pleasant. He was just about to wash the coriander."Ding!!" Everything went black. "Fuck!!"
MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S ROOM >>ALEX Butoh dance? Alex knew a fair bit about tango, ballet, and a couple native styles (his Mom thought he looked cute in bustles and porcupine quills), but he'd never watched anybody do the Butoh before. It sounded new-agey. He'd have to Google it later, if the internet still worked. On the lighter side, Alex was relieved that Anna supported anarchy instead of less scrupulous alternatives.
When the lights died, he groaned softly and finished his drink. The apartment was now cast in deep, amorphous shadows that fried his nerves all over again. The way they all sat around moody candles in the dark was too damn creepy for him. Like a seance. "I have to find a shirt. No shower now. No way in h ... no way I'm showering in the dark." He took a breath to calm down. "Thanks for the food. If anybody wants to come with me, that's cool." Alex was glad he'd fallen into this group of people. Much better than being alone. But honestly, without a mortal emergency, he never would have broken bread with a tattooed man, some Chinese guys, and a radical art student. He took one of the candles, navigated to the door, and then cautiously stepped into the hallway.
>> ALEX Now in the hallway, Alex called out, "Anyone there?" His voice sounded more timid than he'd intended. That was no good. Ghosts and undead probably flocked around weakness. He held his candle out to better light the way and tried again.
"Hey! Micah? Patti?" Better: this time, his voice was a firm baritone. MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT >>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor nodded slowly at Volya, inching backwards to get to the balcony. He attempted to keep his voice as calm as possible, given the circumstances. "We will find you some antibiotics. If there's no one else in line, can you send Patti in? I'm sure-" The night swallowed the doctor, suddenly making him catch his breath. He quickly whipped the towel off from around his waist and wrapped it securely around his right arm, wrist, and hand. The image of blood appeared in the depriving darkness... the steaming blood that poured out, the fevered and infested blood from one of the zombies. It's an infection with a short incubation period. It's an infection and that man has it. I can't be in here with him, in this darkness."Right, Volya. Uhm, I suggest just leaving and getting Patti. Grab what you can of your clothes. Why does everyone think I care about their nudity anymore than I care about the time of day? People are ever strange about modesty. Don't they know that I'm a doctor?" His voice broke like the predicating darkness at his favorite utterance of his professional title. The doctor hoped the sliding glass door was unlocked; he attempted to get outside as fast as possible and to re-secure the door. The doctor got out onto the balcony, dreading the Russian's incipient zombitude, and shut the sliding glass door behind himself.
It was intensely cold, one hundred and ten feet above the city streets, wind tearing at the towel and his skin, exposing his tender bits to the night air.
After wincing in the wind he untangled his eyelashes enough to see the world beyond. There were still streetlights on, not far away. Some flickered badly. In the distance, some buildings still had power, but others had the flickering or were dark like this one. Rolling blackouts, it seemed.
Below, people could be seen in the streets, some moving with purpose, chasing or fleeing, some staggering as if blind, and others engaged in violence. Occasional cars still careened madly down roads where they were open, hoping in vain to find a way out of town that wasn't jammed shut. Intermittent gunshots and screams were dull as casual conversation at this height, and the wind in his ears louder than all.
*TONK* A sound on the glass behind. Volya stood on the other side of the glass, looking at him in confusion. Then he shrugged his shoulders, opened the hanging blinds wide, and walked off into the darkness. The doctor could see a flickering orange light from the living room cast on the wall near the bathroom, and didn't feel like going inside ever.
Inside... Sandy- "Oh my god, you guys are great! Um, the guy who brought the candles, what's your name?" Davin and Tyrone bustled into the room with armloads of bedding, followed shortly by Sarah, who sidled up to Nat. Tyrone- "God in heavun, this is a gian' mess. Make way, people."
Davin- "This is all we could manage, and I REALLY don't think it's safe to muck around out there in the dark. I hope it's enough."
Sarah- "Nat, I don't want to let you out of my sight again!"
Sandy, Sonya, and Woman 2- "Awww!" Volya came into the room. Volya- "The doctor is kind of weird guy. Maybe an exhibitioner?"
MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S APARTMENT Anna- "Where the hell does everyone keep running off to? Well, sorry anyone who didn't get fed. If you're desperate, we can go into the abyss and find something. Otherwise, we'll do it when Apollo turns the lights back on tomorrow. For now, let's cover the fire alarms, get a bright fire going, and get to sleep."
Sarah- "I'm worried about Nat. Anyone know where he is?"
Jackson- "Who was that?"
Luke- "Blond kid with glasses. Soft touch."
Basil- "Likely next door, my dear. I'll check if you'd like...?"
Sarah- "I got it. Thanks!"
MEANWHILE… IN THE 10TH FLOOR HALL >>BEN Ben was in the stairs between 10th and 11th floor, wrestling with a foam mattress that Tyrone and Davin had left out in the hall to be picked up by whoever. When the lights went out, Ben froze. Crap! It was of course bound to happen sooner or later, but why couldn't it have waited until they were ready for it? Tough to be fair, they kind of were ready for it in this place. Would've been so much worse if they had been in a zombie-infested building. Speaking of which, the lock on the front doors, would it be unlocked by loss of power, or would the doors be jammed shut with no electricity? Or was it powered by some kind of battery? It would be bad if zombies could just start wandering inside, though the stairs made for excellent choke points. And they'd have the high ground!
Suddenly Ben could hear someone calling out from the 10th floor. He started to slowly feel his way down the stairs, while still maintaining a hold on the mattress. Once he got down, he saw faint candlelight coming out of the doorways, and used that as a guiding beacon to the apartment next to Anna's.>>PATTI Patti was using the bathroom in the cowboy's apartment when the lights went out. She washed her hands quickly (who wants to die of dysentery during a zombie apocalypse?) and headed out to the main room. If anyone is still there, she will gently herd them out and across the hallway to Anna's apartment.>>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor shivered. The strange night silence was attempting to shake him off the balcony, but the detrimental primitive light danced dangerously close for his tastes. Death from exposure on the left, death from ... stupidity on the right. Oh, how nice everyone is to me! They bring me warm food, and warm clothes. They listen to my advice and help secure a dangerous situation. They speak English and respect the authority and knowledge! The sudden draft took his callow train of thought and blew it half-way across the city. "Why won't this place just leave me be?" The good doctor began to shield himself against the glass window, awaiting the sound of carnage to erupt from the diseased man as he tore into the flesh of the unsuspecting people. Why hasn't he gotten Patti? Where the fuck were my fresh clothing? Why can't I- DAMNED ITS CHILLY! Dr. Victor sneezed. With his failing will, the good doctor slid the lass door open as slowly as could a man succumbing to uncontrollable convulsions. He strained his ears against the whistling wind to catch any sound of possible death throes or calamity which might have befallen. Only being satisfied of a lack of carnage by mere seconds, he stepped back ino the room, though he left the door open enough to jump back out if needed. And go where, Chucky? Going to jump over to the other balcony? Maybe down floor by floor like some video game? Even his own keen intellect soured like chunky-style milk in a bachelor pad. The doctor, like a wounded, half-frozen caribou, bound to the bedroom's door and made sure it was shut and secure. He then hollered, attempting to keep his voice sounding in control. He managed to make it sound akin to an over-privillaged five year old watching commercials about candy or toys. "SOMEONE BRING ME A DAMNED PAIR OF PANTS AND SHIRT! I WANT CLOTHES NOW! SOMEONE GO AND GET PATTI! I WANT PATTI NOW! SOMEONE GO AND GET MY FLASHLIGHT! I NEED MY FLASHLIGHT NOW! SOMEONE GO AND GET ME SOME FOOD! But, of all these needs I ask for, I CAN DO THE REST MYSELF IF I HAD A FUCKING PAIR OF PANTS!" The doctor sunk dejectedly against the door, removing the towel from around his arm and hand, using it like a security blanket. Why don't people ever respect the twenty years I devoted to saving peoples' lives? Don't they even understand how much I've all ready given up to humanity? I just want the basic necessities of life; food, clothing, shelter. It's not like I'm asking for much more than those things. Dr. Victor wiped away some excess ocular drainage from his cold cheek with numbed fingers. The doctor yelled out of the small crack in the door after the security guard. "DON'T FORGET PATTI! Preferably pants before Patti I suppose... BUT PATTI ALSO!" Dr. Victor paced impatiently around the room, snatching up the flashlight and turning it on. He passed the time practicing swinging the flashlight around like some sort of sword, ignoring the various clicks, wheezes, and obtuse bumps that would undoubtedly cause him to panic further than necessary. His mind wandered over to something he could control... sort of. So what if logic and reason, morality and civilization is gone as we know it. To the nine hells with it all, the one thing that can still be sustained, even with humanities errors and flaws, is science. Deduce you fool! Infection. If he's still mobile, he needs rest. Maybe he's just a carrier or some other sort of problem. Mary caused people to kill themselves to gain greater control over them. That and laughter. If she has some sound control... or maybe it wasn't auditory, but visual?
What about the fever, Dr. Victor! Concentrate! Cold fish-cold fish like your cold feet... Fevers are caused by the bodies response to fight off invaders... trying to cook them out, in basic laymen terms. If the body is trying to cook it out, maybe it thrives in heat? After all, we keep dead bodies cold to prevent further deterioration. Maybe that's what Mary was so pent up about going all 'fiery/hellish?' Sad, though, the poor ruskie has to be a victim to it. Duration and onset of the final, uhm, symptom will be useful.
But, Patti may be the only one who has the balls to do what needs to be done. If I had the medical equipment, I most certainly could handle it! But, considering how little potassium I have access to... Blah, I'm thinking in as many circles as I am pacing in! Onset, initial symptoms, final outcome. If the ruskie is getting sick, how is it transmitted? It must be some form of virus then? Transmitted by body fluids? Could other people who've been wading in the muck and mire be affected too? Should we initiate droplet precautions? Quarantine? How do I tell the others without starting some sort of panic? Oh, shit, are we all infected?
Easy, doctor, easy. All this time practicing and now you're going to blow it simply because you're wearing a towel in an abandoned apartment building with a possible pandemic eradication of human kind just shooting the shit to some chicks in the other room... Why can't I just turn the brain off? It's all Patti's problem now. I did my part.
How the HELL did Mary paralyze me? It must be something less... sciency. Maybe... Oh, hell no. Don't EVEN try that path, Dr. If there was some magic in the world, you wasted twenty years on saving lives when you could have been searching for some old lamp at the bottom of the desert! Ectoplasmic apparitions aren't exactly true science, but they did call it something or other... Mmm... Seedless raspberry jam mixed in vanilla yogurt and a tall sparkling lime spritzer to wash it down with...The doctor let his thoughts continue to occupy his time as meandering and erratic as his personality was. MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT About the paralysis, he couldn't help but recall - It felt like he could actually twitch his muscles, send the signals, but that he was held in a giant external vise - like an iron maiden...
Not paralysis, but constraint? Invisible bondage?>>PATTI Patti heard her name yelled next door. Shit, what now? She flicked the safety on the pistol and ran next door, nearly crashing into Tyrone at the door. He didn't look panicked. "What the hell's going on in there?" Tyrone- "Doc's come undone. Imma get him some drawers, he's callin' for you. Careful now, he ain't playin' with a full deck."
>>BEN "Ben here," Ben said as he approached Patti, Tyrone and Alex. He figured he'd better announce himself before someone thought he was a zombie or something, shambling around in the darkness as he was. Then he paused briefly with his foam mattress outside the door to the 'empty' apartment, waiting to hear "what the hell was going on in there" before actually stepping inside. >>NAT "H-Hey, um, sorry." He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, looking a little flustered. That entire ensemble looked like something Ari would have worn, coming back to the house after a night out clubbing. "That's, um, nice. That you found some clothes, I-I mean." Nat glanced down a moment, then back up. "Did you, um, did you see anything else we could use? Batteries, flashlights? B-Bug-out gear, you know? Or um, or salt?" "Sorry I didn't take that much time to look, but yeah could have I guess...It's kind of occulty in there. Bug out gear? What the hell is bug out gear? Ah.. this? It was this, or a mini-skirt and a cardie, I just don't have the figure for it" He grinned, hoping that Nat would catch on that he was kidding. The kid was pretty serious. >>ALEX Alex could hear the doctor hollering from the empty apartment near Anna's place. He needed pants? What happened to his old pants? Maybe he used them as tourniquets. But if that was so, who'd been injured? Alex supposed he could offer the doctor HIS pants, for medical purposes. He did wear boxers. But he really, really, really didn’t want to be pantless. He felt exposed enough without a shirt. Ben approached (with a mattress - good find, Sensei), and Alex nodded once at his greeting. Then, he stepped into the candlelit room. It had transformed into a sprawling mess of bedding and mattresses that was considerably larger than Anna's place. Scanning the dimly lit faces, Alex wondered where everyone would sleep. He'd bet his last dollar that Ben spent the night sandwiched between his fanclub. Nat had his coworker to keep him company. Alex realized, suddenly, that he felt lonely. Where was Micah? The doctor might know. Hey ... what if Micah was the one who needed a tourniquet? Maybe he HAD been attacked in the train. "MICAH!" he shouted. "Micah, you here?" Alex hears Micah in another room and leaves the empty apartment.>>MICAH Micah had ignored Pattie's attempts to herd him back to Anna's place. His stomach had taken full control, but it was fucking dark. He had spent the last five minutes trying to find a plate and locate the microwave again, when he heard his name. "In here Alex, bring a light will you?" He called back.
>>ALEX He was relieved to hear Micah's voice. It didn’t sound pained or frightened. With his pleasantly scented candle, Alex went directly to an apartment that he'd sooner expect to find in Texas than the West Coast. The smell of spices and good food tantalized him, but he resisted temptation; the chicken at Anna's place and whatever the hell he scraped off an abandoned table in P.F. Chang's would be enough that night.
When Alex saw Micah, he could not stop the peals of laughter. "Ahahah! Hoooly Mother. Where'd you find that outfit? You look like ... like ... like one of those kids who wears black lipstick." He snorted.
>>MICAH Micah grinned back."Fuck you, It's all I could find in a hurry apart from some Korean chick's clothes. Your welcome to her mini-skirt... Err I'd give you some Bulgogi and vegetables, but I think Patti may kill someone if I don't leave half for her." Micah got the food out and placed it all into two bowls. He found a couple of pairs of chopsticks. He began wolfing down one bowl, it wasn't fantastic, but he really didn't care at this point."What have you been up to? Still shirtless I see. There were some tank tops in the apartment where I found these." He grinned slyly. >>NAT "Oh, um. I'm Nathaniel. Or, um, Nat if-if you like..." He smiled a bit shyly at Sandy. "Um, there are... there are kind of a lot of candles still here, if, um, if anyone wants to take them? W-we can use them to light some of the room... I, ah, I was hoping for flashlights, too, but I couldn't find any..." Nat was cut off when Sarah bustled in. He smiled sheepishly at her. "Oh! Of course. Um. Sorry, I-I would have gone with you, but I was carrying the doctor's bag..." He paused to set down his candle, careful-like and well away from his bag and the lighters - best not to tempt fate and set it near something flammable. "I... I wish I'd found more supplies. But, um, I guess we should wait 'til morning to look?" Nat flinched slightly when he heard the doctor yelling in the other room, turning quick to look over that way. Maybe he shouldn't have brought back candles, given the man's fear of fire - but everyone else seemed appreciative of the light. Nat looked at Sarah, worried. "Should I put out the-the light for him...?" >>ALEX Alex- "Thanks, I had some chicken at Anna's place, so Patti's welcome to it. Tank tops, huh?" Tank tops were versatile, and they stretched. "It’s the place next door? Ha, I’ll check that out. S'long as they don't have those devil stars on them." He pointed at the pentagram on Micah's sweater. "Be right back." Alex will go next door and get as far as the bedroom before, in the candlelight, he realizes that there's graphic porn on the walls. In his attempt to leave the apartment as quickly as possible, he will drop his candle and run face-first into the wall. He'll make a pained sound, but will not call for help, because that might bring more respectable people into the den of sin. He cannot live with himself if somebody cool like Davin or Anna catches him stumbling around shirtless with a bloody nose in a stranger's sex bedroom. Alex will try to find his way out in the darkness.
>>NAT Nat stepped from the dark interior of the apartment, into the just-as-dark hallway. While he had felt at least somewhat safe in the apartment, surrounded as he was by other people, the dark relative emptiness of the hallway reminded him of a scary movie. He almost turned and stepped back into the apartment, but Sarah was behind him and he couldn't stay there, not with the doctor shouting.
Nat padded down the hallway slow, passing the gaping black doorways that had already been kicked in - the korean-food apartment and the gothy-gay-porn apartment. As he neared the final apartment, Nat was surprised to see Alex standing just outside, talking with... someone?"Um... Is... is someone in there?" He asked as he came up, offering the shirtless Alex a small, nervous smile.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 8:24:02 GMT -8
>>THE FOLLOWING IS THE GRODIN ALIKE BIT After navigating out of the scary apartment, Alex will relight his candle and try to break into the third apartment with an Anna-esque kick. He is tired, traumatized, and wants a shirt really badly.BAM! Alex kicked the door down, and found a startled and cranky looking man.Cranky man- "...I would have answered the door. *glower*" >>ALEX Hahaha Alex, you dumbass!Alex gaped. Did he just break into an innocent man's home to STEAL clothes? What had he become? He'd been worried about the others turning into monsters, but never expected the transformation to happen personally. "Ooooh ..." Alex covered his face and bowed it with shame. "Sorry, Sir. I am so sorry. I ... the dead ... and then I saw ..." He realized that blood still trickled from his nose, over his lip, and onto the floor directly outside the man's doorway. "Can I borrow a shirt? I’ll pay you all I have!" He took out his wallet and removed two twenties - his thumb left large, bloody prints on the money. Alex weakly held them out, though he did not enter the apartment. "Don’t you know what's happening out there? Why are you alone? It’s the End Times! Jesus, I'm so sorry. Swear, after all this is over, my parents will buy you TWO new doors. I’m sorry!" Cranky man- "...Yeahhh... okay... Now what do you want exactly? "
>>ALEX Alex- "Anything. Anything you don't need. A t-shirt. Or a hoodie."
Alex preferred light colored clothing. Yellow, pale green, sky blue. But he would not be an ingrate and ask for a shirt that complemented his skin tone. "There’s a bunch of us in the room over there." He pointed to the empty apartment. "And in Anna's place. You don't have to be alone, Mr. Grodin. We even got a doctor and guns." Grodin-Alike- "You really think I'm Charles Grodin? That guy is almost eighty by now. You're a strange kid." His manner was very deliberate and shockingly calm."Um... I'm not leaving my apartment. You can keep your guns and doctors, son. Wait here a minute." He went into his apartment, and the sound of a heavy piece of furniture being moved behind the door could be heard. Alex was alone with Nat, Sarah, and their candles in the dark. Sarah- "That was weird."
After a few minutes, the group waiting outside began to realize the man wasn't going to come back.
Sarah- "Alex, maybe we can go check out that place upstairs? That guy walking down the stairs earlier looked maybe your size, and wasn't as... uh, fashionable as some of these other people."
Alex- "I'm sure he'll be back. Have a little faith." Alex will wait another minute. "Okay, no he won't. Let's go upstairs."
Sarah- "OK, I think it was on the 12th floor... I should stay with Nat but maybe--" Davin and Sandy returned from a stairwell door Davin- "Well, we're getting too creeped out to keep checking these places out in the complete dark so we give up. Found a few people but they want to stay where they are."
Sarah- "Mr. Davin, um, Alex here needs a shirt. There was that Colonel's son's upstairs?"
Davin- "Oh yeah, we found it. Upstairs, 12-B, it's open."
Sandy- "I can go with you."
Unless Alex wants to look for anything else, he can easily find a variety of sporty wear in his size upstairs, generally University of Washington themed. If he doesn't have any other concerns for the night, everyone else is going to bed.>>MEANWHILE IN ANNA’S APARTMENT >>MICAH Micah was too busy snorting with laughter, and choking on the luke warm food to realise the source of light had just left. Damn it! It took him a while to recover from the amusement.
He grabbed hold of both bowls and attempted to make his way back to Anna's, in search of Patti. He hit his elbow several times , spilling out some of the contents of the bowls but eventually made it into the hallway. He followed the glow of candles and found Anna and the others sitting on an arrangement of couches chatting."Uh Have you guys seen Patti?" >>MEANWHILE IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT Sandy - "Cool, thanks man. "
Sandy took a candle from Nat.
Sandy - "Hey... do you guys think we should like, go door to door and see if anyone needs help or wants to help us? There's like, a million floors here, surely a lot of people are still home."
Davin - "I don't know what's causing all this to happen, but it could be dangerous. Where did those 'zombies' come from? What makes someone turn into one? We don't know if we knock on a door that a zombie won't answer. Sounds risky."
Sonya - "What if someone is hurt and needs help though? Old people and children. I worry for them..."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor banged his head against the door. He did it once more, attempting to jar some sense into his hijacked mind. "Hey, whoever is out there, Volya is not well. We need to get his temperature down. Someone get the tub filled with cold water and have him submerge himself in it... uh, please? We have to fight his temperature before he cooks himself from the inside out. Fuck it all. I need people to quit their petty bitching and start trying to work together? For crying out loud, why are you all just sitting around in the dark? Aren't some of you managers? Manage the situation! "If you want to have some sort of Hyper Emotional Lilith Fair reunion tour because you're a bleeding heart, and get yourself killed, go right ahead. As far as I'm concerned unless you serve some useful purpose, you're part of the problem. I know it sounds harsh, but I doubt you'll hear any less words from Mary or whatever else is lurking out there." The good doctor hoped no one implied some sort of hypocrisy on his part for refusing to come out from his position in the abandoned bedroom. After all, Mr. Page had indicated he would fetch proper clothing and Patti would be able to deliver the important niceties and rephrase what needed to be said for those of more tender sensibilities. Pants, then IV fluids, and close monitoring... I need antibiotics... or maybe just additional clotting factors? Hrm. The ice pack placed at the neck and groin could rapidly decrease his body temperature. Maybe it was heating him up to... Woah, that's a little too archaic. Smoking out a fever, Dr? What's next? Leeches? ... LEECHES?!? Blood letting... like I could actually find a microscope? If it is a pathogen, blood or body fluid... GAH.
"Look, can you just make sure he stays as cool as possible? While there's still time?"
>>PATTI
Patti tucked the pistol in her shorts and waved at the room with what she hoped was a calming gesture. "Hey, doc, can you calm down for a second? I'd like to come in and talk to you, but I'd appreciate it if you could say something that made me confident you weren't about to start crawling on the ceiling. Okay?"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor groaned, grunted and stood up on his feet.
"What could I possibly say to make you not shoot me other than the fact that I'm a doctor? Patti, I'm naked and cold stuck in a room with a flash light and a towel. Just open the damned door all ready, will you? Hasn't anyone brought me any clothing yet?"
>>BEN
Ben made his way into the apartment, and carefully put down the foam mattress in a suitable location. Then he joined the conversation that was going on in the living room.
"I'm a bit worried about which parts of this building is dependent on electricity. I figure Anna might know from experience, but maybe someone here knows more about buildings than she does? The lock to the front door for instance, would it be open or jammed shut without power? Do we still have water, or does that require electric pumps?"
>>NAT
Nat could hear what the Doctor was shouting, at least some of it - it was kind of muffled through the door. Something about them all being useless. Nat frowned slightly. If he were anyone else, he would have been very tempted to go in there and slap some sense into the doctor - but he was not someone else, and he decided that he would much rather just get out of the room for a short while.
"Um. Sarah? Let's, um, let's take a candle and-and see if we can find any useful stuff? Th-there was another apartment on this floor that I didn't get to check... M-maybe there are flashlights..."
He was going to head back out into the hall with or without her - although he *would* much rather 'with'.
>>PATTI
"That'll do, doc. I'm coming in." Patti let herself into the room. Just before closing the door behind her, she leaned back into the room. "If Tyrone comes back with pants, please let us know promptly." She closed the door.
Patti walked over to the bed and sat down, pulling the gun out of her waistband and gently tossing it onto the mattress behind her. "What's your name? I feel like Bugs Bunny calling you "doc" all the time."
"In all seriousness though, this ain't cool. You need to calm down. More importantly, they need you to calm down. You're probably the most educated person here and, whether you like it or not, that makes you the grownup. I've got a gun and I know how to use it, so, in this scenario, I'm right there with you. People will look to us for guidance on how to handle all this crazy shit. That's wrong and, to be completely honest, fucking stupid, but that's how folks work." She let out a long sigh.
"Now you and I could probably run off together and do a hell of a lot better on our own, but those people out there need us. Maybe you don't feel social obligations like I do, but I'm sticking with these people, for now, until it becomes too dangerous to do so or they're all dead..."
"You said something was wrong with somebody out there. Who is it and how bad is it?"
Patti would have sat down on a bed, but there wasn't a scrap of furniture in the room the doctor was in. His flashlight made the place slightly more appealing than the flurry of beds, bedding, and candles in the living room that made fire a worry.
In the living room, Volya, Steve, and the women sorted things out with help from Davin.
Davin- "You have a fever kid?"
Volya- "I'll take aspirins. Maybe go to Anna's apartment now?"
Davin- "Yeah... Stay here a moment and I'll go get that stuff. We gotta get people to stop running around in the dark and sit their asses down, and soon. This is getting fucking stupid."
Sarah- "Of course I'll come with you Nat."
NOTE TO KILNARAK- Sarah is still "your" NPC, you can cart her around as you wish. That will help keep her in the same place as Nat, which realistically I think she would be.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
Dr. Victor allowed his face to sag at her words. The disturbing maternal qualities seemed to be almost as strong as Mary's lack of the same. Still, his words were a wash in the same defeat he had felt since he entered this building.
"You can call me Dr. Victor. If that is too difficult, call me Victor. I am not used to working with incompetent ingrates! Sorry, still a bit testy since I asked for pants what seems like hours ago. And staying calm is long since past. Volya is sick! No one is even listening to me, let alone doing anything productive! Blarrh! Damn it all to fucking hell! I'm NOT cut out for this bullshit!"
The doctor kicked the wall, wincing upon contact.
"I can't... I'm not capable of functioning without a well oiled machine. Every doctor has nurses, aides, clerks, billing, processes, procedures, protocols, guidelines. All of it is gone and I'm left working with sticks in a cave in the dark like a neanderthal. I can't promise I won't lose it. You know Micah, he lost it. But I fixed that... and I can only ridicule myself with the prophetic 'Physician Heal Thyself.'
The doctor turned back around, his eyes seeming to glimmer in the reflections of the white walls from his flashlight.
"Patti. I'll... gah, I'll try to keep it on the level at least, but it may mean I bite my tongue until I choke. Will that be the better alternative? I'm sorry. If you didn't notice, I'm used to having a little, tiny bit more control of my surroundings. I am not one to relinquish it easily.
The doctor put a hand to the back of his neck, rolling his head until a few pops and snaps eased the tension which mounted with every passing nude moment.
"Volya. The Russian kid. Volya has an infection. And, he's got a fever to end all fevers. The incubation period is almost non-existent... and I don't know what it actually means. But you want me to use my intelligence, so I will be blunt. He's got whatever every other thing we've been beating has. And who else knows how many of those 'people who need us' have it, too.
"As for what I can do about it, I'm not sure. We need Levaquin... Levofloxacin. It's probably one of the strongest antibiotics out there. And I need to get it in his system fast. If my hypothesis is correct, it's some form of pathogen, but I don't know if it is viral, bacterial or fungal. Levaquin is only useful if its bacterial, but considering he was bitten, it's one of the better candidates. Without the drugs, I don't know how long he will last. At the most, I give him until morning. His fever will most likely increase until he cooks from the inside out. Cold bath, cold compresses against his neck and groin. Keep him still. But...
Dr. Victor looked Patti directly in the eye, unwavering for the first time since she entered the room.
"Patti, if he has it just from a bite, we all could have it. Droplets have a way of spraying... and any mucus membrane - eye, nose, mouth, ear- can be a gateway. I fear he is as good as dead all ready."
>>MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S APARTMENT
Davin came in quickly, grunting, grabbed something out of the bathroom, and said one thing in the living room before leaving again abruptly.
Davin- "Try to get everyone to stay put, can you? This futzing around in the dark is insane." ...and he was gone.
Anna- "Uh, think Patti went to bump into walls randomly in the hall... You should stay put unless you wanna be ghost chow. I think Davin's right. We can get baths and clothes and shit tomorrow, but for now it's safer with less movement and a formal watch. But whatever Micah. Anarchy rules."
>>MEANWHILE… BACK IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT
Tyrone returned to the room and threw some clothes to Dr. Victor - Some kind of stretchy black leggings and a neon yellow top with purple sequins sewn in satanic patterns.
Tyrone- "Sorry doc. Maybe we can do better in th' light tomorra. I'm gonna sleep in my filthy whatever and do like that. Tomorra." He left Patti and the doctor alone.
Davin gave Volya some Excedrin and water in a spit cup, then went to help sorting the bedding again. Things began to take shape. Mostly women would get beds and mattresses and men just blankets on the floor. The blinds were drawn tight and everyone began to settle down.
Davin- "I'll take the first watch for a few hours."
Sandy- "We were really hoping to organize a way to go door to door looking for other survivors..."
Steve Heeren- "I'll just be the watch here for everyone left until the search and rescue guys come back, if you have a notion...?"
Davin- "Crap, you're right Sandy. OK, I'll get a volunteer and start on the top floor."
GM NOTE: We'd rather "long and short" the evening and get it done with, so the door to door thing will be performed off-screen by NPCs.
Sandy- "I'll go with you. Sonya, stay safe, sweetie."
Sonya- "Thank you!"
>>DOCTOR VICTOR
"About damned t- I mean, thank you, Mr. Page. Good night."
The doctor took his newly caught costume, dropping the flashlight instead of the towel. He moved to stand over by the balcony and used it to get dressed in some modicum of decency. The shirt smelled faintly of... clove? His eyes appraised his reflection in the mirror. It's pretty sad they didn't even get half the runes right. Shame.
>>MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S APARTMENT AGAIN >>MICAH
Micah suddenly realised he'd been seeing double, he'd only brought back the full bowl of Bulgogi. His legs starting shaking again. He quickly placed the bowl down on what he hoped was the real coffee table and crashed in a empty space on the couch.
"No worries, help yourself.."
He didn't wait for an answer before dozing off...
Thunder rumbled pleasantly in the background, Williamstown beach was full of families enjoying the summer heat. Micah sat on the soft sand, a group of seagulls fought over fish and chips nearby. He closed his eyes, enjoying the familiar smells and sounds of home. He lent back into the sand, it had all been a horrible nightmare after all.
Opening his eyes again, the blue sky was a stark but familiar contrast to the rumbling of thunder kilometres away.
“'S'kuse me!” A small child looked down at him, snot dribbling from his nostril and ice cream smeared across his face.
“Fuck off!” Micah growled. Fucking kids. He closed his eyes again, willing the child to disappear. “S'KUSE ME!!” the boy yelled more urgently. “What??!!” Micah yelled back. “You're lying on my Mummy...” Micah shot up and looked down. Sure enough, a large over-weight woman buried in sand up to her chest, lay beneath the spot he had been lying on. A sandcastle beginning on her left leg.
“Oh god I'm sorry, I- I didn't see you t-there.”
The woman leered at him, it seemed to stretched right across her face splitting her cheek. She began shuffling off the sand, slowly coming to a stand, as crimson blood and guts began to gush out from her side along with the sand. The boy looked up at Micah, his crushed skull and broken neck hanging on by a thread. Micah backed away, bile rising in his throat, oh god not here too...
THUMP! He had backed into large man. Micah almost fainted, the sickening familiar smell of fish and chip oil, beer and cigarettes enveloped his nostrils.
“What the FUCK are you doing here Mike?? I did'n think ya show ya face here again. You little fucking cunt!!”
His uncle grabbed him by the shoulders, lurching him around until his rank breath was in Micah's face.
“You cowardly little piece of SHIT!! It was'n bad enough to leave ya poor mum once, to go to your expen'sive fuckin' cookin' school, leav'n me an' ya brother ta' mind the shop. You then leave again on a fuckin' cruise ship, the day ya mum gets diagnosed with cancer of the bowels. An' she still misses ya! Ya'd be happy ta' know the cancer ain't eating her no more, ya brother is though...” Blood began dripping from his uncle's beady eyes and poured from his mouth. His face seemed to have muscles in places it shouldn't. His eyes became a startling milky white.
“REEEEHEEEHEEEEEEEEEEEEE, Did you really think I'd forget you Micah? Oh My poppet, the others just got a taster but I'm saving something special for you...”
A warm liquid began licking at his socks and he didn't have to look down to know what it was.
“Westlake Station -- this is the last stop for Micah in downtown Seattle. Please try to disembark, door's on my right.” Micah turned and saw what waited for him in the carriage and screamed...
>>MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT
Steve Heeren- "Ben, you're right of course... We're going to be out of water quick. I don't think it's all dependent on electricity, but yeah, my guess is that when we're out, we're just out. I don't know about the door, but I think we can cross that bridge when we come to it."
Woman 2- "God, I don't even want to think about it. I just gotta sleep!"
Volya- "I'll need a cushion at least... Kinda fucked up here. Thanks."
Tyrone- "Now I lay me down t' sleep... Well, g'night, folks."
>>MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S ROOM
Luke- "AAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEE! ugg, uff..."
Jackson- "Could everyone who is having a nightmare please wake up and then try to go back to sleep again? Thanks!"
Basil had been on watch.
Basil- "Just a bad dream, lad... Sogni d'oro, bello."
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 8:24:20 GMT -8
>>MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT >>PATTI "Fair enough, Dr. Vic. If I had my druthers, these people wouldn't be running around looking for more helpless sheep to add to our flock, but I doubt I can do anything to stop them. If we're lucky, -" she stopped mid-sentence. "Never mind. I think we should make the pharmacy a priority after the firearms in the morning. If I remember correctly, Davin and Ben's apartment building is right next to the hospital. If this is a contagion though, it might well be overrun. I recommend that, regardless of anyone else's plans, you and I split a guard shift tonight. I wouldn't trust anyone else to take the necessary actions if Volya hops up in the night for a snack." "As for the rest of us being infected, I think we should hold off panic until we see symptoms. If this thing incubates as fast as you say in a bite victim, it wouldn't take a whole lot longer to incubate in a blood-splatter victim, right?" "Do you know how to use a gun?" >>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor nodded. He had used a gun once. It shouldn't be that different; he remembered the recall and everything, blow-back. "Just can't use it in the dark... or I might drop it. But, the scent is quite different. I'll take first watch. If I go to sleep with a gun and you try and wake me up, I might try and pop off a couple rounds. Just show me the safety..." The doctor smiled, though only managed to pull of a ripped-off Van Gogh look. >>BEN Much like everyone else, Ben decided to let things be, and went to lie down on the floor, with his head resting on a rolled up towel. Tomorrow they'd have to get some supplies, and perhaps even get out of the city. And food. Without electric heating they'd have to rely on being warm-blooded mammals, and that required fuel. After staring up at the dark ceiling for a while, Ben got up. The floor was uncomfortable enough that he might as well wear his armour while sleeping. And then he'd be ready to run if a ghost appeared before dawn. Which didn't seem too unlikely. And hey, while he was up he might as well walk down and check the doors, just to be sure. He didn't need a candle for that. The apartment building wasn't a maze, and stairs weren't complicated. He used his bokken as a blind man would use a cane. Tap tap, tap tap. He wasn't afraid of no ghosts. Down in the lobby he noticed the shapes outside the glass walls. The door wouldn't open from the outside. But from the inside? From the inside it had a mechanical override. Of course! How else would it have worked? He opened the door and let them in. The demon woman from before peeked down from the outside wall, letting her hair hang from her upside down head. "You're a good boy, Ben." He was a good boy. He would lead an army upstairs. And everything would be his. Everyone would be his. He wondered if he should eat Sonya first or save her for last. Then a sudden noise woke him up. He was on the floor of the apartment, wearing his armour. And he was hungry. >>PATTI Patti handed the pistol to the doctor, indicating the safety mechanism. "I'll be sleeping in Anna's apartment, near the door so you don't disturb too many folks when you come to get me. I suggest you sit somewhere within ten or fifteen feet of Volya. Your chances of missing at that range are relatively slim. Also, you've got the flashlight. Wake me as soon as you start to get drowsy, we don't want any accidents. Good night." Patti went across the hall to see if Micah had left her any food. Sure enough, there was a bowl of rapidly cooling food. Screw it, she was starving. She gulped the food down in a few minutes, then headed back to Anna's apartment where she settled on a couch cushion, leaning against the wall by the door. >>DOCTOR VICTOR The good doctor took the pistol, nodding slowly. He also fetched the dufflebag and pulled out the cold compress. "Yes. Good night, Patti." Dr. Victor moved around the room, tucking the pistol into the side of the stretchy pants, double and then triple checking the safety was engaged. He plunked himself down on the ground against the wall, next to Volya. He whispered to the man in a soft voice, holding out the pack. "Volya, I'm going to pop this and it's going to get very cold. I need you to keep it at the base of your neck. Think of it as a cool pillow, okay? Tomorrow, I'm going to get you some medicine... and it should help you. And, I'm not crazy. I'm just a little scared like everyone else, okay?" The doctor scooted against the wall, slowly rising to his feet. He kept his shoulder propped against the empty wall, eyes focusing in the darkness on the other man's sleeping form. He tried to count the other various shapes on the floor, but had difficulty with the extra forms of bedding and mattresses. It is like the on call room. Everyone as uncomfortable as possible and crammed together tighter than bodies in the morgue... Three more hours and I will have passed 24 hours. I hope Patti can function on a little sleep.(REPOSTED IN EVERY THREAD)
The night dragged on for anyone who remained awake, and next to no one enjoyed a full night's rest. Most people woke up in random panics, confused and terrified as to where they were and what they were doing. Rooms full of strangers snored and mumbled to each other in the pitch dark, lit only by the candles of those who found the prospect of staying awake a little easier in this circumstance. Outside, it was surprisingly quiet, mostly they just heard the sound of wind and the screech of a tire now and then. Lights flickered on and off outside, and just before dawn, all lights were out.
Davin set his phone alarm for a half hour before sunrise, and got up, talking briefly to Tyrone and started gathering some supplies to set out.
Dr. Victor stayed watch over Volya and found himself jumping a few times as the man coughed or snored. Nothing seemed to happen to him.
Sonya and Sandy slept next to each other, and whispered quietly in a broken Korean/English mixture through the night.
Anna let as many people as could fit sleep on her bed, and also woke up early, starting to pack clothes and memorabilia.
Eric slept on Anna's couch, the gun propped on the sliding glass door, and James woke him up as Anna started moving around.
The sun rose at 6:40 AM.
The apartments filled with light, even the halls. Every room was surrounded with windows, and the cloudy morning sky faded from a blank blue to a blank white. Steve Heeren and some others were chatting about Easter, which would have been that weekend. Was this of religious significance?
Outside, if anyone stepped on to the balcony for a view, they would see a nerve-wracking site.
Groups of people milled around. Here a group of twenty, here a group of fifty. Down the road a ways, was that a hundred or more? The occasional car tore by, gunshots, someone running past their slower attackers. Birds chirped incessantly.
It was 6:50 AM.
>>MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT >>PATTI Having taken over for the doctor at around 1 in the morning, Patti was awake when the sun began to approach the horizon. She walked to the window and looked out to see what the night had brought. Very suddenly, all concern for Volya fled her mind. She was cornered. There was no way out of this hell hole. She stood there, transfixed by utter despair, until people began to wake and took notice of her near-catatonic state. >>BEN By daybreak Ben was really hungry, and he needed to pee. But without water they'd only be able to flush each toilet once, so he figured he'd try to find some kind of jar that could be closed securely with a lid. Had he seen anything like that in the Korean cowgirl apartment? If not, he'd have to go search in any of the other open apartments. And while doing so, he could grab anything readily edible that he came by. He wasn't very particular at this point. Ben poked around the cowgirl's apartment, and found lots of suitable jars of kimchee and other foods, though the least odoriferous one was a glass jar of olives. The food in the fridge was still cool, but maybe heading into the danger zone of food safety. Sonya and Sandy followed him, and were amused at the decor. They found new clothes and helped Ben find a passable breakfast. They seemed to be in relatively good moods now that they were around each other.
--
On the patio, Tyrone came to check on Patti.
Tyrone- "Damn girl... I don't know if you should look at that..."
He joined in though, looking out at the city. They noticed intermittently, people running in small groups and were horrified at first, thinking the zombies could be that fast-- until they realized the people carried bags, weapons... Could it be possible to survive out there?>>NAT Nat eventually returned to the apartment, empty-handed. When he saw Doctor Vic near the door, he shied clear of the man and went back to where he had left his bag. He gathered it up, along with a few candles, a pair of lighters, and one of the bottles of vitamin water, and moved nearer to Sarah to go to sleep. Hungry and with his bag for an uncomfortable pillow, Nat went to sleep for the night. Nat's dreams were amorphous and terrifying: pale shapes moving in the dark, soft gray spaces that shifted like ash under his touch to reveal the hard ivory bones of the world, blood and drywall. He awoke to the sound of someone moving, feet shuffling past him and the too-bright light streaming in through the windows. It frightened him a moment, and he thought he was still dreaming - the room was an odd sight, the floor littered with lumpy pillows and mattresses, still bodies, and the woman at the window standing statue-still. Nat pinched himself and flinched, pushing himself up and simply sitting for a moment, his eyes squinted against the light. His stomach rumbled and his neck and back ached from his night on the floor. He wondered briefly about food - hadn't Micah said something about cooking the night before? But at the moment, the woman at the window seemed to be more important. Nat reached over and gave Sarah's shoulder a light shake - trying to wake her - before turning his attention to Patti. "Um. Is-Is something out there...?" >>DOCTOR VICTOR The good doctor let his eyes pop open. He immediately checked the pistol, arm wavering. No dream. Thank goodness. No dream. Stretching, which was even more awkward in the latex stranglehold someone decided to call pants, he moved a little bit and rubbed his sore neck and shoulder. Picking up the duffle where he had set it, he let out a sigh to cover the grumbling of his stomach. Dr. Victor waved away anyone from disturbing the sleeping Volya. His voice a little louder than the squawking cacophony , he murmured, "Let him rest. He needs what he has to get moving." The doctor then leaned down next to the sleeping Russian man, attempting to visually diagnose his patient again; he checked for radiating heat, steady respiration, sweating. Moving around, the good doctor took inventory of the remaining people, frowning at each one in turn. He clutched his sequin shirt at his abdomen in a mild hunger pain. He looked over at the balcony, finding Patti's immobility disturbing. Don't jump, please? I don't want to deal with the fall out. Especially after I was the LAST person you talked with. He ducked his head outside the room and gave a holler. "Micah? You out there somewhere? I want to get a consensus... and coffee. Of all the fluids that would possibly flow in this glass and steel prison, why can't there be coffee?" Dr. Victor sought out Davin. He was short and to the point. "Look. You don't like me, and I doubt you ever will. And frankly, I don't care about that. But I am a doctor. And that guy is sick. If you're still set on going to your apartment for whatever, the hospital is close by. Please, though, I don't think Volya has that kind of time. We should try the pharmacy around the corner first... but I don't want to cause another rift." He lowered his head. "I don't think it is going to be easy getting out of this building let alone getting out to the pharmacy. Even less likely we could get to your apartment. The hospital is most definitely overrun if it spreads as fast as what I fear... I'm rambling. If we do split up here today, thank you for what you've done." The doctor turned and moved out into the hall waiting on the errant youths still floating about various rooms. >>ALEX When Alex woke, he felt something warm and wet on his face. Were his eyes bleeding? No. Oh, no, no. He was crying. He quickly rolled over to hide his face from the half-awake group in the apartment and wiped his eyes vigorously. Why was he crying? Alex remembered dreaming about his family. Nothing too traumatizing. A few people stood on the balcony, observing the scene below. Alex wasn't sure he wanted to know what the city looked like right now. He stood and charged to the bathroom. Alex will try to shower quickly in his clothes, if the water still works.>>MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S ROOM >>MICAH Micah somehow managed to get some dreamless sleep. It was funny, he almost couldn't remember the nightmare anymore. He had flashes of his uncle, blood and the horror on the train. He groggily opened his eyes, oh god he'd been drooling on someone's lap. He look up into the snoring face of Basil Pringle, the nightmare wasn't over after all. He removed himself from the creepy Englishman. Looking around the room, he couldn't see Alex or Nat or any of the more familiar faces. He got up to go to the empty apartment, finding the doctor looking tired and out of it in the hall. "Uh hey, did you get any sleep? Nice outfit." Micah smirked, the doctor looked more ridiculous than he did.
>>DOCTOR VICTOR The doctor glared at the Micah, shaking his head. He looked the other man up and down, eyebrow raising at the footwear. "I got something you could call sleep, yes. I have to say, you did look a lot better without your clothes. Ah, and you laced your boots wrong." The doctor closed the distance with Micah, leaning his head next to the other one's ear. "One of them is sick. I need to find some meds for him but I don't know if it will even work. People are going to split up and I need to know if I can depend on you." The doctor reached out to take Micah's hand and place it on the pistol tucked on the side of his hip. His tone slipped back into the joyful almost manic tone he used in the shower. "Patti gave that to me to do what needs to be done. I just want to make sure you don't go and leave me alone with these creeps again." >>MICAH Micah flinched as the doctor moved in, his uncle still swimming around between his conscious and unconscious mind. All the horror they had seen yesterday and it was still his uncle Frank that inspired the most fear.
Micah was still frozen when the doctor placed his hand on the gun. His fingers recoiled from the gun like the legs of a spider. Was the doctor threatening him?"You don't know me very fucking well doctor, I have put my own life above that of others for a long time. I left my mum sick with cancer to escape my uncle. I think I can handle whatever shit needs to be done... I-I'm sorry?" Micah attempted to regain his composure, he removed his hand from the doctor's."Trust me, you looked much better naked, than in that sequinned nightmare." He smiled. >>DOCTOR VICTOR The good doctor let Micah's smile wash over him... and a hint of fear? The doctor shrugged his shoulders, sequins glinting in the horrible morning light. Dr. Victor tried to let the urgency out of his voice, but his exhaustion only seemed to heighten his anxiousness. Confusion, indeed, would seem to be worse during the morning. "I'm sorry to hear that. Micah, I really am. I just wanted to give you solidar- Oh, fuck it all. Patti said I need to be a better 'leader' and I just don't think I can. I should know these people better, and you're right. Whatever your uncle has done it was not deserved. And... and we all have great sins which we bear, but now certainly is not the time to let them devour us. Okay? "Well, in any event, for what its worth, there should be some sort of meal prepared this morning. I don't know what to really have... maybe dried bread or some continental breakfast? You know what we need, dear Micah, a big steaming pot of coffee. You're a chef, right? You probably could make a decent meal out of scraps." >>MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT Nat reached over and gave Sarah's shoulder a light shake - trying to wake her - before turning his attention to Patti. "Um. Is-Is something out there...?" Sarah rolled over with a sleepy face, looking at Nat confused for a moment. Sarah- "Oh my gosh... hahaha. I'm an idiot."
She suddenly seemed to blush in the dim light and covered her face, chuckling. Sarah- "I'm not drunk, I'm just tired. Haha..."
>>DOCTOR VICTOR The doctor then leaned down next to the sleeping Russian man, attempting to visually diagnose his patient again; he checked for radiating heat, steady respiration, sweating. Volya woke up groggily. He seemed a bit sickly, but his fever had reduced and the injury didn't seem any more angry than it had before. He flashed the Doctor a peace sign and went back to napping.Dr. Victor sought out Davin. He was short and to the point. "Look. You don't like me, and I doubt you ever will. And frankly, I don't care about that. But I am a doctor. And that guy is sick. If you're still set on going to your apartment for whatever, the hospital is close by. Please, though, I don't think Volya has that kind of time. We should try the pharmacy around the corner first... but I don't want to cause another rift." He lowered his head. "I don't think it is going to be easy getting out of this building let alone getting out to the pharmacy. Even less likely we could get to your apartment. The hospital is most definitely overrun if it spreads as fast as what I fear... I'm rambling. If we do split up here today, thank you for what you've done." Davin was lacing a pair of unfamiliar sneakers, and nodded as the Doctor spoke.
Davin- "Gotcha. I really don't want to go back towards downtown. Have you looked over there? UWMC is just a block or two from my apartment. If we go back roads as far as we can in a car, ready to jump out and run for it, we can get to my place. I'll take the sick guy, at least. There's people out there, running past those things. I can't just wait here for death to come for us, and someone's depending on me to get home. If I get there, and you don't, I'll try to send someone back, or come back myself."
>>ALEX Alex will try to shower quickly in his clothes, if the water still works. Alex found the water to be still running, but it was icy cold. He could jump in like a hardcase, or just use a wet towel to wipe down.That water was COLD. Alex turned the shower on full-force, removed his shoes, and stood under the stream for thirty seconds, turning and rubbing his exposed skin. His breath quickened and hitched, and then he couldn't take the icy temperature any longer. He stripped out of his wet clothes and quickly changed into a U of Washington shirt and some athletic pants he found in the apartment upstairs. Breakfast time. Maybe Anna had something prepared. He drank some cold tap water before heading to her place. >>BEN Last night Ben had been tempted by the kimchi, but had decided to abstain, since he wasn't sure how the girls would feel about his breath if he ate that kind of food. And at that time he didn't know that the power would go out, so he thought he'd have plenty of food to choose from as they'd open more apartments. While they were eating their breakfast they could hear the faint sound of running water, and Ben realised that peeing in the emptied jar of olives might not have been necessary. Then again, at this point it seemed like an awful waste of water to use it to flush a toilet if they could avoid it. After breakfast Ben decided to try to clean himself with the cold water that was available. He didn't quite figure out that he could use a wet towel for a sponge bath, but he was smart enough to realise that he should shower one bodypart at a time to minimize the uncontrollable shivering from the chill. Still: Brrr! Done with that, he tried to find some kind of belt that he could tie around his armour, and then a bag or two to hang from that belt. Or perhaps a small backpack? It would be handy to have a place to store his kote gloves while he was moving around and needed the use of his fingers. And he needed something to put his pee jar in, which he planned to empty in a sewer drain once they hit the streets. That jar could come in handy if they'd ever had to hole up in a place without a toilet. He wasn't sure how much time they'd spend scavenging supplies from the other apartments before moving out, but he was planning to do as much of that as possible before people decided that it would be time to move. Water would be a good thing to bring along, so if they could fill empty bottles, that would be great. Flashlights with batteries was another good idea that he'd heard mentioned. And candles and lighters, since all sources of light ran out sooner or later, and both candles and batteries tended to be of the "sooner" variety. If they survived the day, there would be another dark night to deal with. And if they'd eventually head out of the city, soap would be a precious thing. >>MEANWHILE… IN ANNA’S ROOM >>MICAH The doctor was right of course."Sorry, I'm being a mopey fuck, you're right." He put his hand on the doctor's shoulder."Fuck that, you don't need to let everyone cry on your fucking shoulder to be a leader. Just be honest, those people are fucking sheep, prod the fuckers. It was easier on the ship, you just fired them. I guess I can see what colonel Teddy's son left us, I'm not cooking for all these guys without pay though. First in, first fed. I'll make an exception for those with a use, you and Patti. " Micah moved past the doctor and head up to the 12th floor.( He will look for cereal, coffee, milk, eggs and bread etc) >>ALEX As Alex passed Micah, who was leaving Anna's apartment, he gave the guy a friendly shoulder slap. "Ey, Homeboy. You sleep all right?" At this point, Alex caught sight of the doctor. Tights. Sparkly sequin shirt. TIGHTS. For a wonderful moment, all the fear and sorrow he'd experienced recently was replaced by that image: the arrogant and long-wordy doctor wearing sequins and tights. Alex thought he'd pass out from the laughter. He just couldn’t stop. He felt dizzy and had to lean against the door frame for support. "Doctor ... Doctor Victor ... have a wild date planned, do you?" >>DOCTOR VICTOR The doctor took the laughter in stride, slowly following up the stairs after Micah, head shaking slowly from the other man's laughter. "Alex, I normally don't try and form an elaborate insult this early in the morning; especially when I haven't had my coffee. However, I will just let this one slide by: stop staring at the monster for it might wake up and strangle you, hmm?" The doctor adjusted his crown jewels mockingly. "Hey. Do you have anywhere you want to go? I'm following my stomach upstairs... for clothing... where the hell did you get that outfit? Care to bring me some more of them upstairs? I might negotiate you a snack. Vol-" The doctor let his words cut off, almost seeing Patti's disagreeing face and waggling, chastising finger. "You're an excellent sportsman. I bet you enjoy running. It may come to that, but at least I can count on you to make it faster than anyone else, right? And you're strong. You can take care of yourself; I think you'd make an excellent scout with those attributes. Think on it, please?" The doctor nodded slowly, his face a blank canvas. Turning, he followed Micah upstairs, not willing to sit in the uncomfortable plague-infested floor for longer than he had to. And not one person had even bothered to do any oral care at all. The doctor wished he had a pack of gum... no matter how bad it made the coffee taste. In Anna's room, there was only drama - an echo of the Patti scene on the balcony next door.
Luke and Kaito looked off the balcony, transfixed. James and Eric furiously discussed plans in Chinese while Basil looked on. Someone he didn't recognize that kinda looked like Charles Grodin was standing with Anna and Jackson, and they were arguing. Anna- "You can see people running down there - it's because we're faster than zombies and running is still possible. I sure ain't gonna wait for nightfall and the demon patrol strolling in through the windows like the fucking Lost Boys."
Jackson- "Don't run alone! Zombies may be slow but as far as we know, they don't need rest... We need to only move when we can and when we know where we're going."
Anna- "You wanna try wrangling these muppets? It's anarchy baby - not the way I wanted it, but anarchy just the same."
Grodin-alike- "You're a pepper. You should stick around. These apartments will be a hoot."
Anna & Jackson- "Buzz off!"
Anna- "Jinx, you owe me a coke."
Jackson- "Please? Just stick with Davin, Tyrone, and Patti a bit longer... See how it goes."
Wait ... was the doctor the monster, or were his awful clothes the monster? Alex was staring at both, admittedly. He bit his lip and tried to puzzle through the insult, with zero success. When Dr. Victor mentioned scouting, Alex cleared his throat and flashed a smile. "Hey, no problem. Ever hear of Apache scouts? Count on me." Then, he wove through the apartment and spotted Anna, Jackson, and Not-Grodin surveying the city. They were having a serious discussion. Surely, Anna didn't really want to strike out alone?
"This isn’t anarchy at all," Alex remarked quietly. "Anna, I can help carry your things, if you need it. Just come with us, like Jackson said."
Anna- "Oh good grief. Alex, was it? I don't need help. That's what I'm getting at. I'm probably better off on my own, because I can move fast if I'm not worried about hauling slowpokes with me. Most of us are probably better off alone."
Grodin-alike- "It's the door basher, and his clothes are all wet. Broke into the wrong room?"
Jackson- (to Grodin-alike) "Why are you even in here, dude? Jesus."
>>ALEX Alex blushed when Not-Grodin mentioned the door incident. He wasn't cut out for breaking and entering, and that's why the group needed one-kick-wonder Anna. But he doubted she'd do anything for altruistic reasons. "My father says that when a man looks north, death comes from the south. Maybe you are fast, but unless you have a third eye I don't know about, it's still safer with a team. Do what you want, though." He almost added: I'll pray for you. But that line didn't go over well with Micah, so he doubted it'd go over well with her.
Anna- "Eh, you're right, Al." She ran her fingers through her hair, a stress gesture that felt sensuous to Alex's young man brain. "OK, I guess we should talk to everyone and find out who's in and who's out. Hey guys!" People checked in from around the room, the balcony crew finally coming in from the cold. Anna- "Anyone have any big ideas on what to do next? Family members they must reach? Stuff like that?"
Grodin-alike- "No. Not really."
Jackson- "She wasn't talking to you! Jeez."
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 8:25:08 GMT -8
>>MEANWHILE… IN THE EMPTY APARTMENT The other inhabitants of the empty apartment were argumentative. Maeve and Shawna (woman 1 and woman 2) were too freaked out by the crowds outside to move on, wanting to stay with the other inhabitants of the apartments that Davin and Sandy had located the night before. Steve Heeren was upset about his family off in Bellevue and hell bent on trying to get back. Tyrone was trying to convince Patti they could get through this. Volya was drinking another Pabst and scratching his belly.
Out on the floor, Sandy and Sonya helped Ben find any bags with straps for carrying and survival supplies from the various apartments. Davin found them and he was in a short mood. Davin- "That's smart trying to load for survival, but we do need to travel light. AND we need to stick together for fuck's sake. The doctor and the scoobies and god knows who else are running all over the fucking building, Anna & Steve are yapping about running off on their own. Get back to the empty apartment as soon as you can. We need to settle this and get a move on. I'm not going to wait all day to get out of this building."
>>PATTI Afer what seemed like an eternity, Patti reached reflexively for the pistol. Fuck! The doctor must still have it. She spun around and grabbed Tyrone by the shoulders. "Where's the doctor, I need to speak with him now." Tyrone- "Whoa! I damn near jumped outta my skin. Not feelin' well? Sure, I seen him back inside puttering around in the hall I think. Want me to fetch for him?"
>>BEN "I'm ready to go whenever everyone else is," Ben told Davin. "I just figured we should use the time we have to gather supplies that we know that we'll need wherever we go. And I doubt that we'll find more of that than we can carry. But as far as I recall, we're heading to Patti's apartment first to get her guns. Right? So whenever she's ready to go, we can go. Maybe we can post people in the stairwells to relay the "go" signal by calling out?" And by "people", Ben mostly meant Sonya and Sandy, since those were the only one's who were helping him at the moment. But if other people were scavenging on other floors, they'd be reached by the signal as well, and would therefore be easier to reach for the main group. Ben was mostly concerned with two things: Not getting left behind, and not becoming a source of aggravation for delaying the group by going off to some far away apartment where it would take ages to find him. >>NAT When he realized he wasn't going to get an answer, Nat turned his attention back to Sarah. He blinked owlishly at her, a bit confused - had she thought he was someone else? "You're not an idiot. Um. I'm sorry I woke you up so soon..." Nat combed his fingers through his hair absently - it was likely sticking up at all sorts of weird angles. Then he felt around for his glasses and slipped them on. He offered Sarah a smile. "I, um, I wonder if we can find some breakfast, before we have to, y'know, leave..." He didn't really want to think about leaving. There were things outside. Nat got to his feet, tried in vain to smooth his rumpled slept-in clothing, and then offered a hand down to Sarah to help her up. "You're coming, right? We can, um, check across the hall. I think that's where, um, Micah was cooking, last night..." >>PATTI "I'll find him." She tore out of the room to the hallway and looked around. "Doc Vic! Where are you?" She checked the other apartments on the floor and didn't see him anywhere. She stood in the hallway, working hard to get control of herself. Breathe. He wouldn't leave. He wouldn't leave. He wouldn't leave. Davin considered Ben's idea. Davin- "OK, I like that you're thinking straight. It's better than some people I could name. But posting in the stairs splits us up even more. We'll be ready to leave when people are together. I say stay on this floor, wait for idiots to return, and if they're taking too long, send somebody to get them. But while you guys wait, could you ransack the apartments for car keys? We might be able to caravan a few blocks more easily in vehicles."
Sandy- "Who needs keys? I've seen a hotwire done before. It's not that hard."
Davin- "Haha! Alright, one less thing to do. I'll see you guys in a bit." Davin went back into the hall.
Sarah looked at Nat seriously as she began to wake up. Sarah- "It's kind of crazy in here. I'd be glad to go to another apartment, but I'd prefer if one of these tough guys would come with us... Maybe we should stay here a bit longer? I know. I'm hungry too." Tyrone looked out in the hall after Patti.
Tyrone- "C'mon, Patti. We shouldn' all split up all th' time. Wait for him, right?" She noticed the gun at Tyrone's hip. She could just ask for it back, maybe...?
Davin came up the hall the other way. Davin- "It's the gun owner. Good morning. Let's get everyone together so we can come up with a plan and do something. You want your gun collection, right?"
>>PATTI Patti finally managed to calm herself before panicking anyone. "Yeah, I think more firepower needs to be a priority. Hopefully we can get everybody back here soon so we can move on." >>BEN Ben got the impression that Davin was quite the control freak. That may have worked at Microsoft, but under these circumstances it felt... stifling and suffocating. And what was up with calling people "idiots" just because they weren't exactly where Davin wanted them to be? Must be that 'computer expert arrogance' that was all too familiar to Ben. Still, he figured he might as well do what the man said, since that would give him one less thing to bitch about. "So... Do you have any families or such that you'd want to get in touch with?" he said, turning to Sonya and Sandy. Ben remembered that Davin wasn't actually a tech guy at all - just theoretical knowledge at best. He was technology management major, which wasn't a category of person he'd never really understood. Sonya- "No one close... All in U district or Korea."
Sandy- "I'm worried about all my friends, but wouldn't know where to start. I figure they're all doing their best to stay alive right now, so I can't let myself worry about them. What about you?"
>>BEN "Well, I've got mom and dad up in Woodinville, and I hope they're OK. Maybe if we ever decide to head that way we could check, but hopefully they've made it out of the city." Without electricity and an inflow of food and goods, Ben figured that Seattle was a rotting corpse, and slow death was the only future for those who chose to stay. Just fighting off the zombies would not be enough to change that. They'd have to restore civilization itself in order to bring life back to the city. Until then it seemed to make perfect sense to get out as soon as possible. Then again, if they managed to loot a supermarket or such, they should be able to hold out for quite a while. And hey, neither girl had mentioned a boyfriend, so there was always that. And speaking of which, where had that Kaito guy gone off to? Had he found someone more interesting to hang out with? Ben started to feel a bit better about the situation. Yeah, he'd just go with the flow and see where it took him. >>NAT The good doctor let out a heavy sigh of relief. He nodded in appreciation and hastily tugged the hideous attire on. Grabbing up the extra clothing and metal pistol, he gave one last look over the apartment. "I wonder what I will miss most of all. Do you think it will be something as basic as toiletries? Maybe a toothbrush and running water? I was tending to lean towards the conveniences of a roof and four walls. Come on, then. I think there's some form of backpack in the closet for things if we need them. Only essentials in them! Clothes, food, coffee, GQ, those little after dinner mints. The essentials! We can't have enough force though. Too bad we can't find a percolator though..." Dr. Victor shrugged his shoulders and as the two departed, he closed the door. I bet Alex would have said some sort of prays by now blessing us on our journey. And, maybe everyone will be as ready as I am and we can get going. I just hope they don't hold me up! I certainly gave everyone enough time!>>MEANWHILE… IN WIL’S ROOM >>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor moved through the apartment, nodding in approval. Tugging the sequin shirt over his head, he was pleased to remove the scratchy, irritable fabric in lieu of something sporty, even if it was for a substandard apparel line. A few sighs of disappointment seemed to slip from his lips as more and more objects disinterested him. The good doctor appeared to make his next comment at the framed Gandhi poster at the wall. "It's a shame, really, because they had a good thing up here. Very spartan!" Tossing a small pile of plain, tan and navy shirts, the doctor laid out all options for him as far as pants went in the living room, frowning at the possibilities. Jeans, people. They're called jeans. They're one of the most durable fabrics and probably the most common place! He began pointing at each option: khaki pleated pants, windbreaker 'mafioso' pants, sweat pants. After a few grumbling remarks regarding style, the doctor reached for the khakis and sweat pants. Dr. Victor placed the pistol inside the sweatpants and wrapped them around the gun. He moved over towards the kitchen and began to peel off the stretch pants slowly, a wry smile. "Micah, I hope you found me some coffee because there are only two reasons I ever get out of bed in the morning. One of them is coffee..." >>MICAH It looked like Micah would be spending the apocalypse in goth rave wear. The clothing was too large and Micah didn't practically want to look like a muppet.
He plundered the pantry, looking for anything they could take with them. There was no cereal to speak of, it was mostly asian food and things that didn't stand a chance of keeping."Yeah there's coffee" He grinned. "... but I think we should bring it downstairs after all. People were looking either drugged or antsy as fuck down there. We move out today after all...I have toast, coffee and some weird arse asian spreads." ( I know it's not specified, but coffee is a basic necessity after all ) >>DOCTOR VICTOR The good doctor let out a heavy sigh of relief. He nodded in appreciation and hastily tugged the hideous attire on. Grabbing up the extra clothing and metal pistol, he gave one last look over the apartment. "I wonder what I will miss most of all. Do you think it will be something as basic as toiletries? Maybe a toothbrush and running water? I was tending to lean towards the conveniences of a roof and four walls. Come on, then. I think there's some form of backpack in the closet for things if we need them. Only essentials in them! Clothes, food, coffee, GQ, those little after dinner mints. The essentials! We can't have enough force though. Too bad we can't find a percolator though..." Dr. Victor shrugged his shoulders and as the two departed, he closed the door. I bet Alex would have said some sort of prays by now blessing us on our journey. And, maybe everyone will be as ready as I am and we can get going. I just hope they don't hold me up! I certainly gave everyone enough time!Anna, Jackson, Grodin-alike, James, Eric, Luke, Kaito, and Alex were discussing plans for the near future when Davin poked his head in. Davin- "We've got most people next door and are about to get this going. What are you guys up to?"
Anna- "Same thing. We're asking everyone what they want to do, and if they are adamant about splitting we'll help 'em do it. Otherwise, it's planning how and where to go to."
Davin- "I nominate my place, but just in case that's a sticking point for you guys, say 'shared place X' is where the group will go. When we're done with this part, we'll get the group together and decide for sure where it's going."
Anna- "Yeah... Uh, that's a mouthful but I think we got it." Davin popped out again. Anna- "So... James, what are you guys talking about?"
James- "Eric says best tactic is to stay here for longer, he's a military intelligence, I do what he say."
Anna- "But these windows seem like an easy way for freaks like Mary to get in. I don't see how you can make it safe."
James- "Don't worry. We're good madam."
Jackson- "OK... Well, Kaito, Luke, and Alex then..."
Kaito- "Nn. I think we will go."
Jackson- "You're speaking for your former employees?"
Kaito- "Former?"
Jackson- "Not a whole lot of call for staffing the dollar store right now, is there?" Kaito just shook his head and stopped talking, but they assumed he was in. Luke- "I don't like it. I don't know what's going on."
Anna- "We're under attack by zombies and such, and we're trying to get to a safe place. Did you have someone important you wanted to see again, or a place you want to be?"
Luke- "... Um... I'll go with, but I got my eye on you."
Anna- "OK... Yeesh."
Jackson- "Alex, what do you think? I do think it's a good idea to stay together and try to get to a safer building for now. You wanna stick with the wild bunch?"
Grodin-alike- "Stay with us. You can have Anna's apartment." Jackson slapped the back of the man's head.Davin and company rounded up everyone they could find into the empty apartment to start the meeting. Present were Davin, Maeve, Shawna, Tyrone, Patti, Volya, Steve, Ben, Sandy, Sonya, Sarah, and Nat. During the morning bustle, a few more people had managed to squeak in sponge baths or scrounge some clothes. Davin left to touch bases with Anna's apartment, then came back in. Davin- "So this is it, the moment of truth. I think we all know this building isn't very safe, and the heart of downtown is too hot to handle. I'm going to my apartment, and I think that neighborhood is a good jump-off point for people trying to go elsewhere - or as good as it gets starting from here. My building is more secure than this and has a lot of vacant apartments.
But some other people don't feel safe making the run, and others have heartfelt reasons to be elsewhere, and so on. Let's hear from everyone and then decide what we'll do. It's fine if anyone wants to duck out of this deal, but I swear it's our best chance of getting through the worst of this disaster - or at least the best first step to wherever we end up going. Who doesn't want to go? We'll hear from you first."
Tyrone- "I'm all for stickin' t'gether, but Patti's guns... We need 'em. Le's talk about that when we'r done, OK?"
Davin- "OK. You. Steve?"
Steve- "I'm done fucking around. I've got to get to my family!"
Davin- "Where are they?"
Steve- "On the east side. But like I said, I'm done fucking around."
Davin- "Not to be a dick, but how will you get there?"
Steve- "I've thought it out. The highways are probably blocked with abandoned cars, if the streets outside are a good indicator. So I'm gonna load with water and granola and set out on a bicycle. I'm going to that bus station across the street and using the cheater freeway entrance the buses have. If I find an open car along the way, I'll use it for as long as I can, but keep the bike in the back. It's how I'll do."
Shawna- "That's so brave, Steve, I wish... I wish I could. My husband is out there too. But I can't go. I think anyone who leaves this building right now is dead meat. I'm sorry, there's just no way! No way! Either Jesus will get us out of this now, or Uncle Sam will rally. But we have to try to make this hiding spot work."
Maeve- "Shawna's my sister, so I ain't going anywhere. Best of luck, kiddos. You're gonna need it out there."
Davin- "Are other people more or less with me, or do you find these arguments more compelling? Look outside if you haven't. The zombies are slow. We load into a couple of cars and do a barrel run, 9th to olive to terry, no serious obstructions likely. And even if we ended up on foot, we can outpace those things, have our strong guys bash the ones we can't, and get through. It's doable. It'll be safer there."
Volya- "Taking cars? Sound likes fun. Let's fuck up some zombies, man."
Sarah- "I remember that 'Mary' crawling on the ceiling, and all I can see is her crawling in these windows. Your building is more secure, really? You think we can make it in cars? That would be great."
Davin- "I bet we can, and if we can't quite get all the way there, I'm sure we can still make it on foot. No one here is eighty-five or crippled with arthritis, last I checked."
Sarah-(to Nat) "I think we should do it, definitely."
Sandy- "Sure, it makes sense to me. Maeve, are you guys seriously going to stay here?"
Maeve- "We can ask you the same question in reverse. There's no way to know what's safest. All I know is that if what you're doing turns out to be a bad idea, regardless of how things go for us up here, I will have lived longer than you guys."
Sandy- "Damn that's cold. Haha."
Tyrone- "OK. How we do this run for Patti's guns, then?"
Davin- "Like I said - my place is close. You get the address, go with Patti to grab what you can, and meet us there. Take bikes." And so it continued...(NOTE!! To move things along to the next chapter, I'm just going to write a bit of "how it wuz" and then you guys can go back and say what your character did, reacted, have a conversation with PCs or NPCs in the converse here thread and so on, just as long as you start and end in the same place! 'Axe for help if you need it.) Davin gathered everyone in the lobby after talking his plan over with Anna. They steered clear of the front with its glass windows and stood around a dated cabana with overstuffed sofas and stained carpet. Davin- "My building isn't far from here, less than a minute in a car, ten minutes on foot if you're very slow. It's further from downtown, and has only two entrances that aren't lined in glass like this and all the big buildings around here. Trick is, getting there. Anna's volunteered her car, and Sandy and Sonya are.. um, well they're hot-wiring a van in the garage." (Some uncomfortable looks) Davin- "Anyhow, there's also a full bike rack of bikes. It's up to you what to do. Keep in mind we will probably have to get out of the cars and hoof it, so you might be better off with a bike to start with. We're gonna barrel run down 9th here, and round the corner past Romio's, and get on to Terry. It's a little one way road without a lot of traffic, that is, until we get to Denny. I'm sure we're gonna have to book it when we hit Denny, but just follow me and we'll run down the back road. Piece of cake. So who's doing what?"
Anna - "I'll bike it. Easier to split up that way."
Jackson - "Likewise."
Everyone else sorted out into two groups-- a larger one to fit into a minivan driven by Kaito, and a slightly smaller one into the giant boat of a early '90s Cadillac that belonged to Anna. They milled around in the pitch black garage, lit only by a variety of under-powered flashlights. Shadows stretched ghoulishly and made everyone look more than a little spooky.
Anna rolled up with a helmet and red fixie. Jackson stood behind sheepishly with a blue mountain bike, his helmet hanging on the back of his neck still.
Anna - "We'll lead the way, blaze some trails 'n' shit. So we'll just get there however, it's across from that creepy white-guy basketball player mural right? Larry Bird or whatever?"
Davin - "No-- Well, yeah but they just painted over that."
Anna - "Good, that thing was super creepy."
Davin - "Patti and Tyrone will meet us there if they can, let's hope they do. We can do this!"
Anna - "You're no Obama, but thanks bro. Let's go already."
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 8:25:47 GMT -8
--- Jackson looked just a little terrified, as he and Anna set out into the bright morning light. The garage rolldown was electrical, and everyone had to yard it open, and beat back zombies before jumping back into the safety of their cars.
Kaito drove an oversized blue minivan, the child safety seats dumped out onto the ground. Davin lead in the large beige Cadillac, the interior scented strongly like Nag Champa and covered with black stickers. Anna and Jackson drew the zombies from the garage door, and the cars pulled out into the daylight. Zombies looked over, interested, and ambled over. Sonya let out a little shriek as one pawed at the window slowly, rubbing its slack face against the glass like a merry prankster.
And they were off-- pulling corners as fast as they dared, dodging zombies with the large vehicles as best they could. Sarah cringed as they pushed one over and underneath, the sickening snaps of limbs breaking under heavy tires. Terry was a surprisingly clear block, just as Davin had predicted. As they turned on to it, they could see down the road to the glitter of wreckage blocking the entrance to I-5. Anna and Jackson criss-crossed paths through a large parking lot, trying to lose their pursuers. Sandy covered her face in terror, gnawing on her fingernails and shaking her legs nervously. They sped down Terry, past some retro run-down businesses and abandoned buildings. Lurking zombies look like dogs that heard their long-lost master coming to the door. They passed a modern looking college-- were there lights on in there?! Before they even reached the end of the block, they saw the blockage. Empty cars filled Denny, doors hanging open, half on to sidewalks, turned to various angles.
Davin- "LET'S GO!"
Davin yelled louder than he needed to, and hopped out of the Cadillac. Anna- "I'LL BE BACK FOR YOU CADDY!" Anna yelled somewhere on the other side of the cars, disappearing down a skinny alley.
People hopped out of the cars, and began navigating the labyrinth of vehicles. Sarah had to help Luke out of the car, he was dazed and frightened. Figures began gathering at the entrance of a large plaza, and from the other side of the once busy street. Anyone who glanced to the large glass Amazon building on the corner, saw with horror-- figures moving with purpose towards the building, as though they were going to work. Dragging ruined limbs and trailing gore. Heads with blank eyes turned interestedly, and threw their cold bodies in a new direction. Davin lead the way down the narrow alley, the ground was pitted and full of puddles. A man in blood-stiffened coveralls seemed to appear from nowhere, throwing himself at the bicyclists ahead, and on missing his target, scrambled towards the oncoming group. Davin swung a fire ax with an overhand chop, blood spurted out of the zombie's neck thick and coagulated like he'd chopped into a can of cranberry sauce. A few other zombies lurked under a covered parking lot, lurching out and snapping at the survivors. They were beaten back, and the group moved on.
Down a corner and they saw Jackson lurking behind a parked car, he joined the caravan. Jackson- "Anna's circling the block!" Past some small storefronts and comically scattered vehicles, they arrived.
The 403 building was an entire block, a grey metal rectangle with greenish plexiglass windows. It was not an attractive building. The first thing they saw was a giant paper banner-- multiple banners actually, that were taped to the front of metal patios on the higher floors. On each was a word, painted or drawn somewhat crudely with assorted colors. Each word together formed a phrase, if one read them together. It read:
HUMAN? USE BACK DOOR KTHX
Indeed, the front door was obviously blocked, the outside had trashcans stacked in front of it. The windows on the bottom floors were papered over with newspaper.
Davin waved, and the group ran around the building, where the back door was already open a crack. A middle-eastern man peered out.
Man- "Hello. You are welcome to come in if you can answer a question."
Davin- "A FUCKING RIDDLE YOU HAVE GOT TO BE--"
Man- "I understand your frustration, but we have found a simple way of detecting whether someone is one of the--"
Davin- "We're all alive, I can assure you. But oh hell, go ahead."
Man- "Please tell me your favorite drink."
Davin- "Wow, it's just like Tiger Beat. Fucking vanilla milkshake."
Man- "Wonderful, please enter." The man changed up the question as people came in, 'what is the president's first name?' 'What year were you born?' 'What color are your socks?' Nervous people babbled out various phrases as they hurried inside to another dim parking garage. Eventually the man gave up with his questioning, as the alley began to fill with unfriendly new friends. Anna used her bike as a weapon, throwing it at a disturbingly large group, before she ran full-bore inside. The middle-eastern man and a timid looking woman slammed the door when the last of the survivors had entered, and the man wedged a heavy piece of wood beneath it, holding it in place. Man- "Welcome everyone, I apologize for the strange questions. Last night we found ourselves under an attack, a zombie that pretended to be human. We found a way to interrogate it, it could not answer simple questions. I am Abdul-Rahman. The others have worked through the night and are mostly asleep. I received a radio from the roof that--"
Davin- "I'd love to hear more about this later. I live here, thank you."
Abdul-Rahman- "Certainly. If any were not questioned, please check in with us, thank you."
The Tower 801 posse had arrived in once piece, miraculously. They milled around in the darkened garage, getting their bearings.(YAYY Everyone please post here with your own character's reaction-- feel free to control some NPCs for bad-assery, fight some zombies, get lost, etc etc. You can ride in either car, or take a bike. We'll work on setting up the new chapter while you do this stuff! ;D)>>ALEX Alex hoped that he'd meet Eric, James, and Not-Grodin in the land of the living someday. Maybe, when good triumphed over the undead, they could reunite in the mall's ruins and rebuild. He earnestly bid them goodbye, after apologizing once more for Not-Grodin's door, before following Davin's group to the lobby. Once Davin finished calling the shots, Alex made his choice. He'd take a bike. It was probably more dangerous than riding a car, overall, but he hated feeling cooped up and defenseless. What if the car stalled, and the zombies tipped it over? "I'll bike, Sir," he said. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, Alex made the sign of the cross on his chest and shouted, "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen! G ... gloria in excelsis Deo!" Maybe his enthusiasm could win the group some favors, atheists included. Quietly, Alex prayed to his patron saint, Catherine Tekakwitha. He wondered if she'd protect him, or encourage him to be a martyr. She DID die at twenty-four. Alex will follow the bikers, and follow them closely, since he doesn't know the city well enough to be alone. If they need to fight, he'll use his metal pipe and swing away. As always, he's a noisy fighter, so this hopefully will not draw too many zombies. At the enclave, he'll answer the gatekeeper's question honestly. >>MICAH As Micah trudged down the stairs his heart sank, it was strange to live in a world where each day could really be your last. Sure people died every day before yesterday, but not so horrifically or so many. He didn't want to stay, but the apprehension of what was out there still haunted him. When they arrived on the tenth floor, Micah saw Davin ducking back into the empty apartment and followed. The talk was one that Davin had clearly been trying to make for some time. Micah listened quietly from the door as everyone spoke. Wives, sisters and loved ones, all influencing and inspiring the actions of the others. All Micah had was the will to survive. The closest things to family were Nat and Alex, and he'd known them for little over 10 hours. It was pretty sad really. When there was a gap in the conversation, Micah opened his mouth for what it was worth. "Well, I am in. I think anyone is bloody crazy to die ... I mean stay here. The one guarantee of death here is starvation. Unfortunatley in your busy lives, most of you seemed to forget how to fucking cook. So your take-away is only going to last you another fucking week. It's your decision. On that note I am fucking busting to go to the loo, excuse me." Micah made his way to the toliet and relived himself of some pressure. The last thing you want in an Apocalypse is to piss your pants. Speaking of which, he remembered he'd left most of his gear in his jacket pocket. Which was now in the most rotten looking pile of dirty clothes in fucking history. Fighting back the urge to puke, Micah got the toliet brush and used it to go through the pile, until he found his old jacket at the bottom. He used a piece of toliet paper to carefully take out the sashimi knife, blowtorch and wallet. He then left the bathroom, following the others when they made their way downstairs >>DOCTOR VICTOR Dr. Victor remained silent as a ghost, following Micah down the stairs. His eyes darted to a small scrapped piece of grey paper. He pondered the news headlines for this date... World Ends today? Or maybe it was something like Real Housewives of New Jersey to cancel next season, details inside! The echoed steps slowed as Davin made his appearance. The good doctor kept his trap shut, the idiocy filling the room was more than enough to smoother a lesser person; and, his mind was eased at the decreasing group they had accumulated. He let his eyes meet Davin's gaze like a personal challenge. "I am not setting up a practice here." It was simple enough, to the point. He tried not to appear as if he was reading everyone in the room for their reaction, but he failed. Unfortunately, to him, the majority still looked as stable as Michael J. Fox on a trampoline. Upon departure, he noticed the group splitting into their respective tentative cliques. He opted to ride in Davin's car as opposed to sitting with the sniveling women. Hysteria is so unbecoming.>>DOCTOR VICTOR Davin's car wasn't exactly up to the good doctor's standards, but he knew better than to comment on such. Given the standard position of 'shotgun' and its actual meaning, the doctor allowed himself the humble position of middle-back seat. His duffle securely seated on his lap, he took the time to stuff what passed for clothing, along with the pistol, into the bag. He passed the time, erratic driving, shouting and shooting, by humming pieces of Chopin, including the Prelude in E min and Sonata No.2 in B flat minor. Just as long as there is a place we can park and drive into, I'll be a hap-"Run? You want us to- Oh my word, I dare say, I wish I had some more warning. I could have grabbed a better pair of fitted socks! Disgusting! Absolutely, disgusting!" Dr. Victor kept decent pace, deftly weaving behind Davin as best as he could, ignoring the growing perspiration on his brow. He let his eyes roll 360 degrees at the sign. "We are going to use 'leet speak' now? Has society degraded itself to ending all proper communication and grammar? Did this unholy plague take down all the English teachers first or have they just diluted down the curriculum?" He let his voice carry no louder than one would in a library; well, at least a decent library where people read books with spines. He followed, still murmuring under his breath and casting his sneer and half-glances about as one would sew seeds into the earth. The man behind the door gave him the least amount of pleasure. Abdul-Rahman- "Sir? When- "It's Doctor. Doctor Victor. "Doctor, what is your favorite color?" "I don't like colors but if that answer will get me shot, I'd have to go with chartreuse. Wait, maybe I should say 'I'm a doctor, let me the fuck in?' No? Then, chartreuse is my favorite color." >>MICAH When they arrived downstairs, Micah sat in next to the doctor in the Cadillac. The idea of the bikes was too iffy considering he had no knowledge of Seattle. He'd be fucked with a wrong turn. The van made him think of those dead bodies in the train, something he'd need to get over but not today. Seattle really had gone to hell in a handbag, the faces of the hoards of zombies like beaten dogs with rabies. They milled towards the garage until Anna, Jackson and others smacked them off. Apart from the zombies occasionally running at the car like insane fans at a premier, the ride was surprisingly uneventful, until they had to get out of course. Micah took off at full pelt towards the strange sign suggested back door. He used what he had been told were useless skills, to jump on top of cars and over trash cans, using them to stay away from the few undead milling around the building. Let the others tackle them if they liked. Abdul-Rahman- "What was your first pet's name?" "Uh I've never had one, I had rock when I was 8 called 'Rock'. Does that count?" Everyone, please move to the Chapter Three board -- "PARKING GARAGE" THANKS! <3
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on May 7, 2016 9:34:52 GMT -8
>>PATTI’S STORY… Patti and Tyrone hopped onto the bikes and pedaled as fast as they could, across the street, hopping the curb like seasoned bike messengers. They hopped off the bikes at full speed once they got to the building, running and dragging the bikes into the building. The glass doors had been smashed in and there were several bodies strewn about the lobby. Patti- "This doesn't look promising." Patti pushed her bike off to the side, behind some small, potted trees. "Hopefully my car's still here and we don't need these bikes to go the rest of the way. Tenth floor." She directed them to the stairwell and they jogged all the way up. Tyrone was winded by time they got to the tenth. Tyrone- ""Hang on... Some of us ain't quit smokin' yet. Jus’ a secon'."" He took a couple deep breaths, coughed once, then stood up. "A'right, le's go." He checked the chamber of his pistol and nodded once. Patti flipped off her safety and together they entered the hallway. The emergency lights were still on, casting a reddish pall over the walls, even with the morning light filtering through the windows. Several doors were open and they heard voices carrying down the hall. Man's voice- "I know they're heavy man, but we'll be able to use 'em eventually. Shit. Do you think we're gonna get this lucky again?" Second man's voice- "There's just three of us, man, how fast you think we can move with all this artillery?" At that, Patti moved quickly but quietly down the hall to the door where the voices were originating, Tyrone on her heels. She leaned close, the smell of stale smoke clinging to him. Patti- "This is my place. I think they have the guns, but they don't have the keys. They might have other firearms though. You ready?" Tyrone- Tyrone looked hesitant, but nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be." With that, the two reluctant warriors entered the room, guns leveled. Three men stood in the apartment, two in the dining room, one in the kitchen. The men in the dining room each held a shotgun, the man in the kitchen, a fork full of Patti's coconut cream pie. Patti- "Drop the mother fucking fork, you slack-jawed fuck." She closed the distance and kicked the stunned man away from the refrigerator. Tyrone kept his pistol leveled at the other two men. The two men in the dining room had the shotguns at their shoulders, one man covering the each of them. The tall one- "You're not the only ones here with weapons. We've got shotguns, so we don't even have to aim as carefully. Drop your pistols and we'll let you go." Tyrone glanced at Patti for guidance. Patti- "First off, the chokes on those are wide open, so if you take a shot at me, you're gonna hit your buddy too. Second, you may have gleaned that I'm familiar with those weapons, which should clue you in that you're in my apartment. I also know those are top of the line trigger locks that you almost certainly haven't been able to open yet. So, if you want to pretend like you know what you're doing, I'll put a bullet in your chest and your buddies can carry on without you." The shorter guy immediately dropped his weapon like it was a poisonous snake. The other guy set his down a little more slowly. They both raised their hands. The guy in the kitchen whimpered. Patti- "Everyone on the other side of the table." The guys moved quickly where she indicated. The tall one- "Look, it's nothing personal. We're just trying to survive here-" Patti- Patti cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We did the same last night. You just weren't as lucky as you thought you were. Tyrone, keep these guys in place, I'm gonna get changed, gather the supplies, and I'll be back in a few minutes." She lowered her firearm and headed in to her bedroom.
The tall one- "Look, you got us dead to rights. Just send us on our way and we won't bother you again. I'm worried what she might do when she comes out." Tyrone- Tyrone laughed. "S'you can go set up 'n ambush in the stairwell? I don't think so. And I wouldn't worry about her." He waved his gun a little. "We're not plannin' to shoot no one, so jus' hold yer horses and we'll be out of yer hair in a minute." Patti stripped off her clothes as she walked to her bathroom. She ran the faucet, wetting a towel and scrubbing her body quickly. Back in the bedroom, she pulled on a sports bra and a pair of compression shorts. She picked out three full sets of hunting attire, donning one and tossing the others on the bed. She pulled her hunting duffel and her skeet duffel out of the closet. She stuffed one change of clothes in each, then began loading in the ammo, distributing it as evenly as possible. She grabbed a small drawstring bag and filled it with spare socks and underwear, dropping it into one of the duffels. For now, she wore a pair of running shoes, but she laced her boots together and tossed them over her shoulder. A few miscellaneous items were added to the bag, then she returned to the living room. She placed the duffels on the counter and began loading the shotguns in, as well as the handguns. She popped open a box of 40 cal and loaded up the spare magazines. Patti- "Tyrone, can you see what we've got to eat in there? I've got these guys covered." She set her pistol on the counter right next to the duffel. The tall one- "Look... My name's Adam, this is my brother Craig and his roommate Hector. We don't want to cause any trouble, but if we go out there without guns, we're as good as dead. Can we come with you?" Patti- Patti remained quiet for a minute, weighing her options. Tyrone placed half a pie on the counter, a couple of boxes of leftover dumplings, and a pitcher of iced tea. "Help yourself, Ty." She slid the pie over to where she stood and began shoveling it out with the fork that was left in the tin. Oh, sweet lord in heaven. This was going to be her last taste of civilization and she planned on enjoying it. Tyrone chomped on a few dumplings, making satisfied noises as he did. The three men looked on uncomfortably. Patti had enough sense to offer the last portion of pie to her partner. Patti- "S'good, man, finish it." She turned to their captives. "I hate to be pragmatic about this, but what do you have to offer our group? What can you do that we can't do?" She pointed at the tall guy, Adam. "Speak." Adam- "We're strong. We know how to use guns. Um, we, um..." Patti- Patti cut him off. "That doesn't sound like a very exclusive skill set, Adam. We've got enough people to protect, we don't need a couple of meatheads that we can't necessarily trust. You guys are on your own. And, I swear to God, if you follow us, I will fucking shoot you." Adam- Adam pleaded. "At least leave us one shotgun and a box of rounds." Patti- Patti shook her head. "Sorry, guy. Not happening. There's no telling how long we're going to be in this situation and I'm not handicapping my chances." She took a long drag from the pitcher of tea. "Ty, under the counter, there's a couple boxes of protein bars. That's good nutrition and it doesn't weigh much." He pulled them out and set them on the counter. Tyrone- "There's some Vitamin Water down here too, should we take some of those?" Patti- "Just a couple each, we've got enough weight to deal with." In the corner of her eye, Patti caught a flash of movement. Adam produced a revolver out of his waistband. She thought as quick as she could, with Tyrone's back turned. The pistol came up in her hand and she fired off two rounds quickly before the man could raise the revolver to take aim. Craig and Hector hit the floor. Patti ran around the table to make sure nobody came up with the gun. Patti- "Don't even think about picking-" Craig pointed the gun in her direction and she quickly fired two more rounds, hitting center mass with both. She coughed as a cloud of gypsum dust erupted out of the wall next to her head. Hector was screaming incoherently in Spanish as Tyrone grabbed him by the back of the neck. Tyrone- "Don' move, damnit! We don' want trouble!"He pushed the man down to his knees. Patti was frozen. That bullet missed her by inches. Zombies were one thing, but these were fucking people. Why'd they have to be so fucking stupid? Her dream flashed back through her mind and she shuddered. Tyrone- "Patti? Patti? You okay? Patti?" The voice in her head had a distinct southern drawl. Tyrone- "You hit?" She looked up and saw Tyrone standing over the cowed Mexican, gun in hand and lips moving. Tyrone- "Patti? Talk to me. You hit?" She looked down at her body. Nothing hurt and everything hurt. Tyrone- Yer freakin me out, sister, say somethin'. She looked back at Tyrone. He was talking. "Say somethin'."
Patti- Patti shook her head. "I'm - I'm - I'm fine." She bent over and picked up the revolver. She popped out the cylinder, dumping the rounds into her palm. Thirty eights. She threw the bullets across the living room against the wall behind the couch, then dropped the pistol on the floor. "Get the bag, we need to go now." Tyrone tossed a few Vitamin Waters into the bags, zipped them up, then tossed one over his shoulder. Hector stood up, shaking. Hector- "Don' leave me here alone. You might as well kill me if you leave me here alone. I can fix stuff. I'm a mechanic." Patti- Patti glared at the man. "You have bad taste in friends." She slung the second duffel over her shoulder and tightened the strap. "There's some reusable grocery bags on the counter there. Fill them with those bottles and any cans you can find in the cupboard. Did you guys have a car?" Hector ran to do as instructed. Hector- "Lots of cars downstairs. I can hotwire in less than a minute." He filled three sacks as full as he could, mostly with Vitamin Water, but also a dozen or so cans of various vegetables. "We go now?" Patti pointed him towards the door and he hustled out. She and Tyrone followed. Patti- "Stairs." The trio made their way down quickly, exiting into the lobby. Three zombies had apparently caught up with someone here. They hunched in the middle of the floor, tearing apart the body. Tyrone and Patti made quick work of them, with Hector flinching at every shot. Patti- "Hurry." The group ran out to the parking lot and picked out a ten year old Jeep Cherokee. Hector pulled a can out of the bag and smashed the window. He popped the door and climbed under the dash. A group of about a dozen zombies took notice and began hustle/shambling in their direction. Patti and Tyrone opened fire, waiting desperately for Hector to get the car started. The engine rumbled behind them but before they could open the door, the tires squealed and e Jeep leapt out from behind them. Hector swerved out of the parking lot. Patti- "That fucking asshole!" Tyrone- "That's jus' funny, I got t' admit." Patti thought about shooting at the moving vehicle but decided she should keep shooting at the zombies. The Jeep spun about with a high pitched squeal and then lurched forward towards Patti and Tyrone. Hector ran over the crowd of undead and then screeched to a halt in front of the two gunmen. Hector- "Get in!" Everyone piled in quickly and they tore out of the lot in a cloud of black smoke. Patti guided Hector to their destination. In short order, the car turned out to be useless. Abandoned cars littered the road in a practical hedgemaze the closer they got to the intersection of Westlake and Denny, a nexus they'd need to cross to get to the place. Hector drove quickly in forward and reverse, crushing zombies and hedges, scraping against cars and walls, desperately angling for a spot to cross, until they gave up and committed to crossing on foot. Hector found a relatively open street (only a dozen zombies and widely spaced, few cars) near the intersection and parked there quickly. He leapt out in a panic. Tyrone collared him. Tyrone- "C'mon man. Jus' calm y'self. Take a breather, help us unload-" He interrupted himself to shoot two nearby zombies in the heads, while keeping an arm on Hector's shoulder. "Help us get as much as we can. We'll get t'cross Denny an' be there in no time." (OOC - I won't be trying to maintain that high maintenance formatting here)Hector unloaded the grocery bags from the car, while Patti and Tyrone provided cover fire. The trio ran to the sidewalk and began working their way quickly up the block, shooting zombies as they went. Patti- "That alley could be a shortcut, but we might also get trapped more easily. I say we just keep going." Tyrone- "Y' prolly right. Le's move faster though." Hector remained quiet and stayed as close to the other two as he could. As they moved past a storefront, the glass shattered and a zombie lurched out of the window. Hector- "Madre de dios!" Hector swung the bag of canned goods at shoulder height, braining the zombie and sending it back through the broken window. When they came around the corner, they saw the sign hanging from the balconies. "HUMAN? USE BACK DOOR KTHX." The street was pretty clear, so they ran to the building and worked their way around the side. When they got there, a throng of several dozen zombies had congregated at the back. Tyrone- "You got' be kiddin' me." Patti- "Fuck. We need to draw them out so we can circle around and come back." She began firing into the horde and yelling obscenities at them. "HEY, YOU UNDEAD SACKS OF SHIT!!! OVER HERE!!!" Tyrone followed suit, firing and yelling. The three of them ran back to the front of the building. They were going to have to circle around the whole block. The front street was still mostly empty, so they were able to put some distance between themselves and the zombies, but not so much that they lost interest. Eventually, they were able to make their way around the block, though the side street presented more resistance than they had hoped. When they got back to the door, there were only four of the undead milling about and they took them out quickly. Patti banged on the door. Patti- "Humans here! Let us in, please!" The door opened a crack and a middle eastern man spoke from within. Abdul-Rahman- "Hello. You are welcome to come in if you can answer a question." Patti- "Seriously? A fucking riddle? Who are you, fucking Gollum?" Abdul-Rahman- "I'm sorry, I must insist. It is for everyone's safety." Patti- "Hurry up then." Abdul-Rahman- "First, m'am, what is your favorite food?" Patti- "Coconut cream pie." Abdul-Rahman- "And, sir, with the gun, your first kiss?" Tyrone- "Janet Jackson. No, not that one. Let us in!" Abdul-Rahman- "One more. Mexican sir, where were you born?" Hector- "Aztec, New Mexico. Please let us in." With the last answer, the door was opened and the group was let in. The man moved a wooden barricade back to block the door.
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