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Post by kilnarak on Sept 24, 2012 3:51:15 GMT -8
Really, had he been in a more sane state of mind, Nat would have probably heeded Micah's advice (and refuted Alex's assumption that Basil was his father). Of course, he wasn't - he needed a bit of time to regain some sense of stability, of sanity, and to process just what was going on. He was also half-certain he needed to wake UP and thrash his way out of this nightmare. Sadly, that 'waking up' thing didn't seem to be working so well. By the time Nat finally regained his senses, the party had already left him here, with Basil and the other 'weaker' survivors. It was the smell that brought him out of it - at first he had been able to ignore it, too many other things to worry about, but now as he regained some sense of calm, it came to his attention that he was clinging to a complete stranger, and a rather creepy one at that. Nat pushed himself away from the man and staggered a few steps back - trying to put some distance between them. He felt embarrassed and it likely showed in the way his gaze refused to lift from foot-level and in the faint flush that crept across his face. He took a few deep breaths of non-stranger-scented air, forced a smile, and said: "Um. S-Sorry. I'm okay now." It wasn't really true, but that didn't really matter. Nat took a moment to look around, realizing that their numbers seemed rather reduced - the only familiar faces still nearby were a few of the Starbucks refugees, Sarah, and Basil, of course. He found himself suddenly wishing that the man had left as well - but no such luck. "W-Where did everyone go? Is it safe for us to be up here?" His gaze swept right past Basil and focused on Sarah - or really anyone else who seemed 'in-charge' at the moment. With so many of their numbers gone, it would be easier for them to be picked off - not to mention most of those who had left seemed to be the ones with weapons. A frown tugged at the blonde's lips, as he glanced up to note the open air above, and the smears of blood and ichor left behind by that woman's (Mary? Was that what the crazy doctor had called her?) assault. It was a good place to gather, but not very defensible. Maybe one of the store fronts would be a better choice? "We-We should go inside, m-maybe barricade the doors. Just until the others come back." Nat said, loud enough for at least those near to him to hear. He was still looking around for a store-front that looked decent - not too open, or too far from the stairs should retreat prove necessary. He didn't stop to think of situations that might require retreat, however - no, it wouldn't do just now to think about all of the terrible things that might happen. He hoped the others would come back soon, he didn't relish the idea of having to leave to try to find them.
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Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Sept 24, 2012 20:18:02 GMT -8
The room still held a bit of a crowd. Basil pardoned himself from Nat to round up the remaining survivors, including Russian mafia guy, Sonya, James, two other men, and four other women.
Sarah dealt with Nat. She tried to focus his gaze and calm him down with soothing gestures, while responding to his ideas. Sarah- "Sure, we'll get together and hide. I don't see any doors that can be barred, but we'll figure something out. The main thing is to stay quiet and stay together until we can come up with something better." In the Southeast corner an inconsequential tchotchke shop (flanked by a few other booths) seemed like the best hidey hole. No room apparent on the floor could be secured, but this spot had only one way in and wasn't super obvious to anyone coming up the escalators.
They huddled behind the counter, russian kid and another man holding cordon posts as potential bludgeons.
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Post by kilnarak on Sept 25, 2012 3:41:12 GMT -8
After looking at it a moment, Nat decided that the little shop was indeed their best bet - at least, on this floor. Perhaps one of the larger stores on the second floor may have served better, however he was loathe to leave the dubious safety of the third floor - and he doubted many (if any) of the other survivors would go with him. Not to mention, then the others wouldn't know where to look, when they came back! (When, not if, when. They were most definitely coming back, with all of their guns and knives, and implements of zombie-slaying.) Nat joined the others huddling behind the counter, keeping close to Sarah. Every so often he would look around the counter, his eyes darting nervous-quick over the empty space they had left, searching for any sign of a threat - a hare seeking the dangerous presence of the hound. "C-Can you, um, you all help me keep an eye out? In case the others come back, or... or..." Nat grimaced, hardly even wanting to consider the possibility of anything else coming up the stairs, or that possessed woman reappearing, or anything worse. "We-We need to keep a look-out, anyway."
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Sept 25, 2012 11:41:38 GMT -8
Inside the shop, the roll down was pulled most of the way, just enough room to see whether any feet were approaching. The store here had already been closed, and the lights were off, with only the dim fluorescent glow from outside.
From outside the shop, some people still hung behind in the larger area of the third floor, too afraid to move. Someone screamed, "What is that?!" from behind the roll down. Some running, the sounds of people moving downstairs. "What are you-- Todd, don't! Come ON!" More screams. Nat noticed a strange scent, had it always been in here? Kind of musty, earthy... Maybe a bit alcoholic. Was it the strange smell of a fellow survivor? It made him think of mushroom schnapps, if there was ever such a hideous beverage. The scent seemed to increase, or perhaps just his awareness of it. Sarah pulled her shirt over her nose, did she notice it too?
The room seemed suddenly brighter. A small glowing orb appeared in the middle of the roll down, and grew. The room was cast in a gray, dim light. Nat recognized what the shape was, suddenly. A face. A dull-y glowing human face, sticking out of the roll down. As it pushed forward, he realized it was an entire glowing figure, that was just passing through the gate. It was a dark eyed woman, her features vague from the illumination, but her expression was one of abject sorrow. She moved her lips silently as the shop's 'guards' fell over themselves to not touch her.
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Post by kilnarak on Sept 26, 2012 5:41:39 GMT -8
Nat tried not to panic when the screaming began, and for the most part he managed. The blonde huddled nearer to Sarah, his eyes wide behind the lenses of his glasses, and he watched for feet below the roll-down - it should be easy to place a zombie, right? Wouldn't their steps be staggering, dragging? They always seemed to be in the movies, at least in the older ones - and Haitian zombies were little more than mindless slaves, drugged and shambling at the whims of their Vodou masters. Perhaps if he had a little salt, he could ward them off? But no - that wouldn't work, that was something his aunt would suggest. And besides, this store wasn't a foodstand - it wasn't like there would be salt just lying around. The air took on a strange scent while Nat tried in vain to think of anything he could remember about Vodou and zombies. It wasn't something he had paid much attention to, truthfully - an excuse to watch The Serpent and The Rainbow for class credit. Nat wrinkled his nose as the scent grew stronger, drawn out of his thoughts and forced to focus on... whatever it was that was emanating that stench. Was there something rotting, somewhere inside of the shop? But that wasn't quite what it smelled like... It wasn't quite rancid, but it certainly was unpleasant. Nat was about to ask if anyone knew where the smell was coming from, when the room suddenly brightened. Had someone lifted the roll-down? No, he realized, as he saw the slowly growing orb. It was about the time that he realized it was a face that he stood awkwardly, startled, and gestured for everyone to move back. "G-Get back, don't-don't let it touch you!" That certainly wasn't a zombie, the ethereal woman looked more like a ghost. For a second he thought it may have been their possessed 'friend' from earlier, however that seemed... wrong? This one didn't seem hostile yet, but Nat didn't trust it. He clutched at Sarah's arm and looked about, desperate for an escape.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Sept 26, 2012 12:39:46 GMT -8
The room's guards backed away from the woman, who stepped through the slots of the gate daintily like she was stepping over a puddle in very nice shoes. Some people moved to the back of the store, looking in vain for some kind of exit or window in the back, but it seemed they were trapped. The woman wore an expression of ultimate sorrow, her eyes glistened wetly in the dim, flat light, like they were about to run over with tears but never did. She moved her lips again, inaudible. The edges of her form were blurry and hard to look at, and she moved like she was filmed by a low frame-rate digital camera. She wore a white hoodie, her hair pulled back in a messy bun, the tendrils of hair writing around like she was underwater. She walked dazed, looking through people like she was looking for a book at the library. Russian Mafia guy panicked, pulling up the roll down to escape. Someone stood there, he noticed too late. Impossibly, the same woman, white hoodie and messy bun. This one did not glow, and was in fact quite corporeal, with a slack expression and a smear of blood on her shoulder. For just a moment, both the ethereal, and earth-bound seemed to look at each other. Then, the corporeal version snatched the man's arm and pulled him towards her, her teeth glittering as she snarled.
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Post by kilnarak on Sept 26, 2012 20:00:27 GMT -8
"No!" was all Nat managed to cry out before the Mafia-guy pulled up the roll-up and left them open to whatever hell was outside. The blonde had even taken a step away from Sarah, dropping the woman's arm in a futile attempt to stop the man. But he hadn't the time, and Mafia-guy had already rushed right into the arms (and teeth) of the ghostly-woman's mirror-image. Where the ghost had almost seemed safe - or at least oblivious to their presence - her corporeal doppelganger most certainly did not. Had the ghost merely been some sort of ruse, meant to drive them into the waiting maw of the beast? Nat froze a moment, uncertain of what to do - part of him wanted to save Mafia-guy through a mix of compassion and, well, the fact that he looked like he could hold his own in a fight, but the rest of him stifled that urge. The man was doomed, that terrible woman would sink her teeth into him soon enough. "D-Downstairs! We need to get out of here!" Nat decided suddenly, grabbing at Sarah's arm again and trying to drag her with him. The others would follow too, weren't they? Either way, Nat took his chances and bolted while the zombie-woman was distracted with Mafia-guy, making for the stairs.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Sept 28, 2012 1:13:32 GMT -8
Nat and Sarah ran out into the open hall, Nat shuddered at the ruined corpse of the boy and his mother. Sarah shuddered violently, he assumed that she was moved by the corpses as well, until he turned and followed her gaze. Drifting around the edges of the room, a black cloudy shape hung in the air. Something paler within seemed more solid, tendrils of black whipped around it, and Nat finally saw that it was a human face, that stared with black wet eyes.
Unlike the sad silent ghost he'd left behind, this one opened its mouth and black hairlike strings poured out and an unholy, piercing shriek shocked him and made his ears throb in pain. He tried to move Sarah, and realized that she was transfixed, staring at the ghost in abject horror. She shuddered violently in his arms, her skin felt cold to the touch already. The black ghost loomed forward in jerky, unnatural movements. Nat smelled it again, stronger this time. Mushroom schnapps, acrid and pungent.
A woman in a red parka suddenly ran in front of Sarah, noticing too late the dark shape that lurched forward at her. Sarah seemed to be knocked free of the ghost's stare, but was dazed and stumbled weakly in Nat's arms. The dark ghost suddenly manifested two skeletal hands that gripped the other woman's shoulders, and Nat saw its glossy eyes stare at her, until she went limp. The ghost released her, and her body fell, but something else remained behind. An ethereal shape that seemed to be wearing a red parka. The body that fell to the ground did not stay still for long. It began to scramble to right itself.
People from the store ran past them, here and there, some hiding on the monorail platform or down the stairs. James shoved the hoodie zombie that grappled with the Russian Mafia guy, allowing the attacked man a chance to regain his footing. The sad pale ghost almost seemed to be looking on at the carnage, hanging back in the darkness, swaying gently.
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Sept 28, 2012 10:59:59 GMT -8
James glanced at the eerie ghosts and did a double-take.
James - "Uhhh! Hey gotta go, follow me people please!" He ran for a stairwell door. Sonya, Basil and some others staggered after him, trying to not let the freaky ghosts out of their sight.
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Post by kilnarak on Sept 28, 2012 15:27:36 GMT -8
While he had initially frozen like a deer in the headlights upon seeing the... what the hell was that? A ghost? Nat was quick enough to shake it off. Sadly, Sarah was not - she didn't move when he tried to pull her with him. "we-We can't s-stay here!" But just as Nat began to panic, another woman rushed infront of Sarah and broke whatever spell had been laid on her. Nat clutched at Sarah as she all but fell into his arms, just holding onto her for a moment as the red-parka woman fell. When the parka-wearing corpse began to move, however, Nat hurriedly released Sarah, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and lead her to the stairway as fast as he could manage. He didn't look at the ghosts, as he fled for the stairs - focusing entirely on his goal so as not to panic anymore than he was already. Still, hurrying and all, Nat didn't reach the stairs until the asian man (James) had disappeared down them. (And now I move down to the first floor, yes?)
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Post by ◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊ on Sept 28, 2012 16:07:07 GMT -8
Right o! See you there.
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