WESTLAKE CENTER - METRO LEVEL

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

(Floor plan here: www.ggp.com/content/corporate/data/siteleaseplans/WESTLAKE%20CENTER-4341-LP1.pdf )

Not known about to nearly anyone, this floor is mostly filled with an under construction "Nordstrom Rack" outlet clothing store, this part of Westlake center is currently only accessible from the lower section of PF Chang's Chinese restaurant, or from the bus tunnel. Construction has obviously been halted, and the temporary walls will needed to be busted down to access this floor. There are strange, industrial goings on here, including components for the Monorail's repair and maintenance, and construction tools and equipment. One can also access the underground bus tunnel from here, that leads through the city.

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

Downstairs, James and Eric's group waited for some others to catch up before proceeding, glad the space seemed free of monsters for the moment.

Russian Kid-
"The way out... Where is it?"

Eric pointed at a large wall behind him, seemingly just the back wall of the restaurant. It read "Coming Soon! Nordstrom Rack" and had lovingly Photoshopped super-hi-res shirts blowing through a void of kicky white and pink geometry.

Basil - That's not much of an answer old boy!

James - Wait a mome-

THE LIGHTS WENT OUT. It was utterly black in the room, sounds of shocked gasps and rustling in the darkness, Sonya yipping from the stairwell hall.

Dr. Victor's flashlight turned on, pointed at Eric, who did a fancy kung-fu kick to the wall. The whole fifteen foot length of it collapsed with a Fwump-WAK, revealing a large space, under construction, extremely dark, but with a hint of filtered moonlight from a far corner of it.

Eric-
"(one syllable)"

James-
"He says don't go toward the light. Bus tunnel is a other way. Follow me!"

[Gillsing]

                As soon as the lights went out, Ben heard two gunshots, and someone yelling from upstairs. Was that the Australian guy? What was going on up there? If it was something dangerous, should they go up and help out, or should they try to escape while there might still be time? Ben was torn, and when he heard footsteps in the stairs he decided to wait and see.

                "Something is happening up there," he told the others. "Should we go up and help them?"

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

You heard two gunshots upstairs. There is ONLY ONE FLASHLIGHT BETWEEN THE LOT OF YOU. Unless Doc Vic runs back with it leaving every one low in the dark, it would seem a very bad idea to try to get back upstairs.

Doc Vic - People are starting to use lighters as supplemental light sources. First russian guy, then Tyrone, then two ladies.

[Suyoi]

The good doctor for once was truly pleased in his dual weapon and beacon.

"Look, Ben, I just believe they will be fine. If we try and go back now, we could get shot and I will not have fear dictate our first injury by friendly fire. Well, first injury to people that aren't completely subsumed by their stupidity."

He gently clasped a hand on Ben's padded shoulder, using the flashlight as a child would when telling a spooky story, his facial features grotesquely masked by both light and shadow.

"Trust in their abilities to get through it..."

Turning the flashlight down the corridor, the doctor paused. The ember glow dotting the passage ahead was entrancing... exactly like the time Mary held him... when the sparks set his home ablaze. The beam of light trembled and finally clattered to the floor as the good doctor sank to his knees.

He rocked, gripping himself about the legs, clutching ever tightly - wrapped in a ball, chin on his knees. Eyes locked at the flames as they flickered, he babbled incessantly, increasing his volume as the flames grew closer.

"...low... smoke... eyes... fault... low... smoke... eyes... fault... low... smoke... eyes... fault... low... smoke... eyes... fault..."

[Thy Dungyeon Maestyr]

Tyrone-
He leaned forward with his lighter held near his head.
"Y' OK, doc?"

[Suyoi]

"LOW SMOKE EYES FAULT LOW SMOKE EYES FAULT LOW SMOKE EYES FAULT!"

The doctor scooted away from Mr. Page, wincing as though he were slapped. The tears began rolling down his cheeks, eyes overflowing with fear and pupils fully dilated. He continued to back away, almost scrambling on the ground, tethered to the cement by an invisible rope emanating from the wobbling flame of Tyrone's lighter. His voice broke suddenly in a whisper.

"Am I going to die again? Smoke... Eyes... Fault... My FAULT! ...low... smoke... eyes... fault... low... smoke... eyes..."

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

Tyrone hung back, and put a calming hand up towards the doctor, moving the lighter back.

Tyrone-
"Whoa whoa whoa, Doc... take it easy, man. Jes' take a second and breathe, man, it's okay."

Tyrone waved off anyone who came near them, trying to give the doctor a chance to calm down, and to see if he could figure out what was wrong with the poor guy.

[◊◊BLOODBEASTER◊◊]

(Some flava text...)
The room was dark and the only source of light besides the tiny lighters was a flashlight the doctor had dropped in some kind of panic. Sandy sneaked behind the doctor and grabbed it, holding it up to illuminate the dim environment.

The room behind the large walled-in space was open and filled with bizarre obstructions that cast long black shadows that stretched in every direction. Wooden saw horses, large planks, a construction out of metal bars that looked like jungle-gym material. Anyone who hadn't yet gathered a weapon took the chance to find something-- a sledgehammer, a sturdy metal bar, a large hammer...

The room beyond was dim and murky as a fish tank, the air was filled with dusty particles, and the flashlight couldn't reach the back wall. People began to creep forward, looking back to the strange scene with the doctor and nervous to blaze the trail with so many potential terrifying creatures.

It was very quiet. Everyone's ears were still ringing with gunfire and screams, the silence was oppressive. They wondered what sounds they weren't hearing.

[∆§Indea§∆]

Micah felt his hunger turn sour by the shear grossness he had witnessed by Alex gorging. The sheer velvety darkness unnerved him as they descended and he worried about the strength of the glass upstairs.

When they came upon the others, Micah was mystified as what the fuck was going on. The Doctor had lost the plot, babbling and shaking in a heap on the ground. The others just pinpricks of lighters scattered around. Micah was grateful for his torch. He moved closer to the doctor, ignoring Tyrone's wave, to see what was the matter.

"Hey mate, are you okay? Do you need anything?"
Micah spoke like he was talking to a customer, slow and slightly condescending.

(Bahahaha, I'm so cruel. Sorry Suyoi)

[DKender]

As Alex descended the stairs and entered the quiet room, he finished licking red sauce from his fingers and looked for a decent weapon: something sturdy, heavy, and well-balanced that he could swing at the undead (Alex will choose a solid metal bar, if it's available, or anything of that nature). The doctor was rambling again, but this time he sounded really messed up. Christ, had something happened while Alex, Micah, Anna, and Patti were searching for torch material in the restaurant? Maybe the group down here witnessed another ghost, and it tipped the poor doctor into the deep end. Perhaps Mary made an appearance and the doctor saw visions of hell.

Personally, he felt better with a full stomach. A deep, skittish breed of fear still nagged Alex, but his thoughts were more focused. Maybe these weren't the End Times after all. God killed tons of people during the big flood. This might be another cataclysmic event. If Alex and his friends could survive it, they'd live long and peaceful lives. He could teach his children how to play baseball, too. The game didn't have to die out. Almost unwittingly, Alex surveyed the women present. Then, he felt deeply ashamed for thinking about something so disgusting and trivial. Everybody was fighting to survive. They might not last the night. But good God, he didn't want to die a virgin.

Speaking of death, why had Micah saved his life? Alex hadn't given the man enough credit. Now, Micah was trying to comfort the doctor. The foul-mouthed Australian was a pretty nice guy. A diamond in the rough? Yeah, that. With his new weapon in hand, Alex stared ahead, searching the shadows for threats.

[kilnarak]

When the lights suddenly went out, Nat released another yelp - sounding more like a kicked-dog than anything else. Once the initial terror at his sudden blindness subsided, he flailed out, reaching for anyone to hold on to. It felt like forever before a light bloomed in the dark, but it couldn't have been more than a few moments.

"Oh! S-Sorry," Nat stammered, letting go of his death-grip on the back of the black security-guard's shirt. However unfortuitous the darkness was, Nat was at least lucky that no one could see his flustered expression very well.

The gunshots, so soon after the loss of light, nearly sent him straight back to clinging to Tyrone's shirt. Instead, he dropped like a stone, arms cradled protectively over his head - as if that would do any real good if someone opened fire on him. He huddled on the floor for a long few moments after the echoes of the gunshots died out - not thinking anything beyond that he needed to stay low, stay still. Almost distantly he heard Dr. Victor's babbling, but it merely seemed an altered refrain of his own internal mantra.

He felt someone tugging at one of his arms - it took him a moment, be he eventually recognized it as Sarah, trying to pull him back to his feet. He let her, pushing back to his feet and keeping close to her. His shoulders slouched, and his cheeks flushed beet red in embarrasment at his cowardice.

He finally noticed the doctor, who seemed to have shared his momentary lapse into panic - the man was also huddled on the floor, babbling about smoke in his eyes. He wondered if the man was possessed, like that woman had been earlier, but after a moment he pushed away the concern - he wasn't possessed, he couldn't be possessed, nothing could have touched him in the dark; it would have gone after all of them, not just him.

Nat took a hesitant step toward the doctor, then another. After a few more he came up beside Micah and lowered himself to a crouch, reaching carefully for Dr. V's shoulder. "M-Mister Victor? Th-There isn't any smoke. There isn't anything down here. We're gonna be okay, okay? N-No one's going to die, but you need-need to get up." He tried to speak as calmly as he could manage, given the situation.

[Gillsing]

tab The doctor had always seemed a but unhinged, but this was something new. Ben wondered how crazy the man really was, and if they were all crazy. He had at times wondered how he would act if everyone turned into zombies. Would he really believe in it?
tab He'd read news stories about people on drugs doing crazy and violent things, believing that other humans were demons or whatnot. And now he was seeing ghosts. Now they were all seeing ghosts. He didn't know if he wanted that to be true or not. Because if it wasn't true, were they all a bunch of crazies seeing 'ghosts' and 'monsters', but in reality killing innocent people?
tab Maybe the bio-terror was some kind of powerful hallucinogen, turning people into crazy mass-murderers? Though it seemed strange that they would all see the same things. Assuming that they really had seen the same things. Maybe they were all just highly suggestible due to some kind of airborne chemicals?

[Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse]

tab When Patti arrived at the bottom of the stairs, all hell had broken loose. The blond kid from Starbuck's was cowering on the ground and the doctor seemed to be in a full on panic attack.

tab Patti flicked the safety on and tucked the pistol into her shorts. The gun was way too heavy, but she wasn't planning on leaving it there for long. She headed over to where the doctor was crawling across the floor. Smoke? Micah leaned closer and began talking to the doctor. Patti stood next to the security guy, looking on to see what she could do to help. Smoke? What had he said earlier? 'Fire should never become the answer'?

tab Oh... crap. Patti started to open her mouth to say something to Micah, taking a step closer to the doctor.

[Suyoi]

The good doctor cried out, pulling at his shirt, making horrid gagging sounds at Micah's approach. The sweat rolled down his face, tears blurring his vision. He continually coughed and gasped for breath, keeping as much distance from the horrid beacon as he could. His mind raced through every single encounter with living flame, not allowing him a single solid thought. He began to flail wildly at Micah with the hand that was free, but only mustered a feeble claw-like motion. His legs kicked out from his seated position in an exaggerated scooting motion. The whites of his eyes became reddened and paltry bits of mucus and phlegm sputtered out.

"I CAN'T... NO! NOOOO!"

His mantra slipped and the good doctor began to whimper. Didn't they hear me? Wasn't I clear in what I was saying? Why aren't they saying anything? They're all going to burn! They're all going to die and burn and it's going to be my fault!