18:35 - THE LABYRINTH

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Dr. Jar ∆§Indea§∆ Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse


Ryan--

Mills ran off the opposite direction, leaving you in darkness.... You hear the splashing footsteps of two other people approaching, and their flashlight beams getting ever closer.


Harriet & Edmund--

You hear

"Don't hurt me, I was only trying to help you. OH GOD, MILLS NO!!"

And then the splashing water of someone running away.

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Damn. I really thought I was going to get a rise out of him with that. I remained on the ground. Damn. Wish it was someone with a gun.

Ryan--
"Doc, you win, he's all yours."

[∆§Indea§∆]

(Neurotic)

Edmund-
(mumbled)

^{"Medication... Would medication do it? Hypnotherapy..."}

I tried not to topple as I leant against Harriet. I couldn't help myself, I chuckled. Somehow the banality of it was amusing. I had many concerns right now but a 'war' with this man was the least. At least I had kept my suit, which was now torn and covered in several substances such as black soot, muck and blood. My left leg had a red stain, still wet and my right was sprained to hell. Blood and muck also covered my face, I didn't want to consider my hair. This was not what I wanted the lawyer to see. Hopefully he'd had just as bad time as me.

Edmund-

"What? He's alive? We saw him get eaten by some flesh beast. Are... Are you sure you weren't alone? This place can make you see things... feel things. Familiar or horrible." 

[Dr. Jar]

Harriet-

"Hey, what's going on? What happened?"

I hold my spraycan out like a weapon, noticing the nearly naked man. Someone I wasn't familiar with. Was he the lawyer?

I half step to support Edmund, walking slowly through his sprained ankle. It was all very unfortunate, really. And was Mills really still alive in all of this? Where had he gone?

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

The splashing continued on into the distance.

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Ha! Sounds like the doctor wasn't handling this very well. A few dead people and flesh monsters and he's a gibbering wreck. Maybe I could help him along. Let's see what opportunities presented themselves.

Ryan--
"I got attacked by some of his cult friends. They stripped me down for some sort of ritual, but I escaped and got lost in the tunnels. Someone was chasing me, so I took some clothes off one of the dead kids and tried to hide amongst their bodies. Turns out it was Mills chasing me and he picked me out immediately. He attacked me with a big flashlight, I think he may have taken it off a dead officer."

To clarify from some earlier confusion, Ryan is completely clothed in some ill-fitting black jeans and a giant black hoodie. The clothes are wet and smell STRONGLY of rotting flesh.

[∆§Indea§∆]

(Neurotic)

(mumbled)

^{"That all sounds very nice.."}

My eyes glazed over as he began speaking, the exhaustion and pain getting to me. I felt spread thin, weak in both mind and body. Was I a liability? No, no. I was going to write the book, I had a PHD that had to give me some worth surely. The idea of a nice large roast entered my mind and I licked my lips hungrily. If I got out of here I was going to spend a week lying in a bed, smoking cigars and eating. I would call it a work holiday. My mind needed it. I couldn't work like this. I felt like I was constantly on the edge of some cliff about to jump down into nothing. I couldn't be nothing.

Oh. He'd been speaking.


Edmund-

"Of course, of course. How did it make you feel?"

It was obvious I hadn't caught a word of it.


BWr81BiL+ (+2 -2=) +0·

[Dr. Jar]

Harriet-

"Let's get going before things get too late. There has to be a way out... I bet Mills is going the right way."

I turn my head in the direction of the splashing and start walking, supporting Edmund.

I didn't want to spend too much time meditating on the lawyer's new clothes, or the cult ritual. It is all pretty awful honestly, and the thought of more cultists in here was more than I would have liked to consider.

So that was what they were doing following us around all day. Everyone had been in the know but us. We were simply the fools who were part of this whole plan. I looked at the lawyer thoughtfully. If we got out of here alive, I'd have a lot of questions for him.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

In the distance, you hear a man screaming, the splashing more intense with some kind of struggle.

[Dr. Jar]

Harriet-

"What's that? Come on, hurry!"

I walk faster in their direction, and raise my hand to my face to shout!

"HEY, THERE'S A LOT OF US DOWN HERE! WE'RE COMING!"

I wondered what kind of hell had befallen the screaming person, and realized that in some capacity, it did not matter. I had a duty to try to save any of them, and maybe, we might survive today.

[∆§Indea§∆]

(Neurotic)


Edmund-

"Whoa whoa there... I can't run. If you need to you'll need to leave me behind..."

I weezed as I struggled to move faster towards the sounds..

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

Maybe Mills found the cops. Hehehe... maybe Butcher was drowning him, that would be hilarious.

Ryan (distressed)--
"Let me help."

I put an arm around Edmund to help hold him up.

Ryan (distressed) (to Harriet)--
"If you need to go ahead to help catch Mills, go ahead."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

There is some more commotion and yelling. Sounds like more than one voice now.

Harriet--
Being closer ahead, you make out some words:

"You're one of them! HELPPP!!"

Ed & Ryan--

The left wall seems strangely reflective, maybe being formed of some kind of shiny glass. Odd movement catches your eye. One of those giant, transparent-bodied roaches scurries past. But that wasn't it; something bigger. It seems at first to be Ryan's reflection, as it follows his movement. But it distorts as you walk along, growing larger, loping at a different gait.

[∆§Indea§∆]

(Neurotic)


Edmund-

"WAIT! THERE'S SOMETHING HERE!! OH GOD! HELP!!"

I involuntarily clung to Ryan like a heroine in a horror film. My fingers digging in deep. I began lurching myself and him forward as fast as my injuries would allow.It was going to eat me alive. I didn't want to find out what it was. The lawyer didn't seem above sacrificing me to live.

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

I let the doctor lean in as we ran, with my arm around in a seemingly protective way, though I still kept him between me and the creature. I eyeballed the thing. What was it, exactly?