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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 20, 2012 7:02:22 GMT -8
The Pan-Pacific Hotel looms tall among the buildings of South Lake Union. It's above Whole Foods, the only grocery store of any size in the neighborhood, and the upper plaza of that complex (which includes the hotel's main entrance) is lined with small ritzy businesses, as well as the entrance to a condominium.
That upper plaza is adorned with small trees and attractive stone tiles, and with its closest entrances up stairs or clogged with abandoned cars, it is a relatively zombie-free oasis of sanity. Within the glass-fronted lobby lurk police men - agents of order in whatever community resides within.
But to get there, the 403 crew must brave the streets again!
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 20, 2012 7:25:25 GMT -8
As the Thierry, Tyrone, and Ashley descended the stairs of the 403 building, Thierry addressed his fellows.
Thierry-
"It's been decided I should speak for us, being something of a charmer. As I began to say up there, I have some reservations about the way this is going thus far.
Ashley, you're injured. You know that, but you still try to labor. Do me a favor, and in areas like these stairs, move slowly and carefully. Minimize the chance of re-opening your wound.
Tyrone, I know Seth thought someone should have a gun, but I disagree. Keep that thing out of sight. If you end up feeling like you have to pull it, we've already lost. This is diplomacy.
Seth mainly wants you thus armed in case we meet one of the possessed dead out there."
Tyrone-
"Sure, man. I'll keep it tucked. Don' wanna get in a gunfight any more 'n' you."
They reached the alley, and moved through the barricade slowly and carefully, to avoid jostling Ashley unnecessarily. And then...
They were out in the streets! You know how it is... They had to go to Terry Avenue and south a few blocks, then get through the traffic jam on Denny, up a short hill, and they'd be on the plaza to the hotel...
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 20, 2012 10:06:48 GMT -8
 Injured Ashley had more trouble getting around than uninjured Ashley, and would do his best to stay out of direct combat. "I have a small gun. We shouldn't need it no matter what, but you two stick close to me just in case." He had a strange tone, it was almost authoritative, or maybe like he knew something. He kept the pipe in his good hand, but won't fight unnecessarily if possible. |
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 20, 2012 18:07:11 GMT -8
Open streets were a breeze - zombies too shambolic to cause real trouble. Terry was in the shadows of tallish buildings, and emerging onto Denny bathed the men in milky light. Zombies had become tangled in the maze of cars, and Tyrone easily dispatched any in their way. unfortunately, with so little room to maneuver - or for corpses to fall - they had to step on top of his victims' remains to get between the cars.
Terry was a little worse - a dozen zombies on a relatively open street. Tyrone looked at the ride he'd abandoned here, remembered shooting at zombies while trying to calm Hector, remembered hauling eighty pounds of crap over the last leg of the journey. He chuckled to himself.
The three ran back into the shadows of the Hotel's courtyard, and turned to face the zombies. As they entered, two or three at a time, Thierry and Tyrone ran up and bashed them. Over eight nervous minutes, they laid twenty one corpses at the entrance to the plaza.
While they worked, Ashley saw the men through the glass of the hotel lobby. No one he recognized at this distance and this lighting. They stood mutely, letting the violence go on uninterrupted.
Tyrone-
"Hey, Ashla. Think you can handle on of th' easy ones? Hey, it's a little girl. That's terrible."
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 20, 2012 18:32:26 GMT -8
Pain wasn't going to let this bit of excitement go down without his input. Little girl or no, he rushed the young girl down, cracking her on the head with exceptional force for a man with one mostly useful arm. The sting of sensation afterwards was unpleasant, but he couldn't help but feel some satisfaction through all of this. He approached the building cautiously, looking out for others, and attempted to hail them when close enough. |
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 20, 2012 19:39:48 GMT -8
The cops inside didn't move from the shadows. Ashley, Tyrone, and Thierry finished the last of the zombies flowing in behind them. It was a hideous mess on a beautiful day. Corpses with misshapen heads lay all over the entrance to the plaza. Thierry looked at them with sorrow. Some of these had once been beautiful young people from the art school.
With no further distraction, the three came to the door and stood staring through the glass at the people within. Thierry began to rap at the door slowly, insistently. One of the cops neared the door, a hand near his gun, but not yet on it.
Ashley recognized the younger man, a kind of Ashley successor, strong and skilled at fighting, a little disturbing to sensitive types. They'd sparred before, and it generally went the younger man's way.
Donati stood on the other side of the glass as he spoke, muffled but audible.
Donati-
"What do you want?"
Thierry-
"Not much, sir. We'd just like to discuss the opening of amiable relations between our communities, trade perhaps. We only know there are people in this building because they are sometimes visible to us from the balcony."
Donati-
"Huh. (He looked at Ashley with a smirk.) Whaddya think, Cassius? Should we trust you?"
Tyrone and Thierry glanced at Ashley, with synchronized cocked eyebrows.
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 20, 2012 20:50:00 GMT -8
((OOC: What's Donati's rank?)) "I hope I'm trustworthy, Donati. Open up, you're starting to worry me." He sounded just a touch sarcastic, he knew the man, wasn't sure about his quality but he liked his attitude. He put his mostly useless hand in his pocket, and motioned with his other to have Tyrone and Thierry stay near him. He waited for them to let him in, just a bit impatiently, he had respect before, and hoped they'd continue to respect it. |
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 20, 2012 22:16:50 GMT -8
((OOC- Let's say his rank is comparable to Ashley, but he makes less money and doesn't get the better assignments because of experience difference.))
Donati-
"Haha, well, fine, you can come into the vestibule, but not the lobby. For now."
He let the men through the first set of doors, then went through the second, leaving them standing. He gestured for them to wait, to which Thierry nodded, and he went back to talk to his confederates. One of the other officers hustled to the stairs.
Tyrone-
"You a personal trainer for the 5-0, Ashla? What a job..."
Thierry-
"While they have us waiting, what can you tell us about these men?"
Here's the long and short of Ashley's memories of the cops, now more visible to them as their eyes adjusted to the dimmer vestibule...Bernie Donati, MMA fan, likes to use Krav Maga moves, spars dirty, taste in clothes similar to Steven Seagal circa 1988, bigger and buffer than Ashley and not slower. Women seem fearful of him. Don't remember his name. A beat cop. Didn't he have a few complaints about using slurs against gay people? Also distrusted by women, but less feared because he's 5'3" and skinny. Graham. Atheist dick. Spends too much time he's supposed to be patrolling playing with his iPhone, but never gets caught. Not a cop. He's a loudmouth cop wanna-be in some pre-cop program that he'll never make the physical specs to get out of. Don't know the name.
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 20, 2012 22:35:26 GMT -8
He seems disappointed, and exhales. Was this really everyone who made it out? "None of them are friends of mine." The tone was dark, but the wording had a sort of forced politeness that came from having to live with people who weren't precisely one's friends. "Sgt Donati is a good man to have around, but he's no better than the rest of them." He reflected on something that was said a long time ago, only the mean ones survive. Did that mean he was mean? He imagined somewhere he probably was. Actually he very likely was. |
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 20, 2012 23:50:35 GMT -8
Thierry-
"It seems doubtful they run the place, given that they're down here, which tells me they can't be totally corrupt. Otherwise, with that armament they'd be living in the penthouse. On the other hand, they didn't feel obliged to help us earlier, so perhaps they have some deficit of empathy.
What sort of person do you think they'd accept as a leader?"
In answer to the question, the Officer Graham came back down with a man and a woman, both wearing bathrobes. The three men waited on the vestibule to be invited in.
((What does Ashley say to Thierry before they are let in?)) |
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 20, 2012 23:57:04 GMT -8
"They must be like security, I'm surprised I wasn't given a warmer welcome." He says simply. "They may also not be supposed to leave their posts. And as for that, I think that is a fair assessment for everyone here." He verymuch wished that it was Lt. Mannheim here instead of these three losers and one young lion. He wondered what happened when the king lion got old. |
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 21, 2012 0:50:10 GMT -8
Donati let the men into the lobby, where they were surrounded in a loose semi-circle by the police, and their apparent leader introduced himself...  
"Edgar Pan," said the man. He and the lady were both wearing hotel monogram bathrobes. and smelled powerfully of marijuana. "I'm the leader of the community here. Welcome!"
Thierry-
"Thierry Harrison, pleased to meet you. We are representing another community nearby - indeed, within a few blocks. We just came to extend an olive branch, perhaps see if you needed anything, or wished to trade." Donati and the others eyeballed the 403 team aggressively while the casual couple had a more relaxed demeanor. Ashley used to get the impression that Donati had latched onto him as a rival, back in the day. Now the look in his eye made it seem as if he was prepared to take that rivalry to WWE levels.
What did Ashley think?
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 21, 2012 12:53:03 GMT -8
(not paying attention)Ashley decides to ignore Donati, he had a thousand questions on his mind, like if Lt. Mannheim made it out. He had gone on a fishing trip with him and his kids when they were offduty. It was nice, like a company meet. He liked Mannheim. It bothered him that he could not speak to them freely and directly but he was on duty, that was more important. Being on duty and working. He paused and then realized to some confusion, that was what this was like. "Ashley Cassius, we were wondering about the nature of your community, we've seen you from afar, and we're curious about what you represent." He puts his single good arm in his pocket now.
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Nov 21, 2012 16:16:35 GMT -8
Lady- (to Ashley, British accent)"Our community represents the Mighty Sweetleaf, baby." Edgar- (to Thierry)"I don't know... It's hard to trust outside communities. I know we're doing things right here, but what can I know about you? You could claim to be an anarcho-syndicalist commune, but actually be a crypto-fascist lady rape camp." He took a little doobie butt off his ear and lit up, then looked at them rather emotionally. "Listen, if you want to come to a truly free place, to join our community, you are welcome. But I'm not ready to do these other things." Thierry- "I don't know if I'm getting a contact high, but I can't really understand what you're trying to say here. You don't trust us enough to even establish cordial relations, let alone trade, but you would invite us to come live here? This seems logically inconsistent." Edgar- "No, no, no. Too many words, man. You're talking in circles. Just, like, nevermind. You can leave now." |
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Post by Dr. Jar on Nov 21, 2012 22:10:42 GMT -8
He shakes his head. "Wait, so this is some kind of stoner colony?" He supposed that explained all the nudity, maybe they'd be of use later. "We're just a group of survivors, we don't have any agenda." He remarks, and then looks to the beat cop. Not a friend, but less hostile than the young lion Donati. "Did Lt. Mannheim make it?" He crossed his fingers. The others, he knew were truly dead. |
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