PDA

View Full Version : Evil Dead - Versus the World [CONTENT WARNING]



Pages : [1] 2 3

HellFencer
2006-08-07, 09:14 PM
2:40 A.M.

Darkness.

Darkness covers the horizon. Street lamps buzz and flicker along the harsh streets. Rain falls in sheets, as if trying to smother the world into nothingness. It is early...too damn early for some of you. For others, this is standard routine. 2:40 A.M. to be exact. You have all recently boarded a public bus called the Transpo, and paid your fare. It isn't a grand bazaar of a ride, but it does get you out of the bone chilling rain.

The hydraulics of the bus sound as though the metal frame is a living being, sighing at some deep thought. The last of the passengers climbs aboard and takes a seat near a window, clutching himself to warm up from the weather. It is Wednesday. So far, this day has started rather depressingly, the only good thing being the running of the buses.

2:43 A.M.

As you look around you at the other patrons, there are about nine of you on board. A man young into his twenties with blonde hair and the complexion of someone who is on the beach all day sits in the back, staring out the window. Another young man with dark brown hair and brillant blue eyes sits with his leg across the seat, and his back to the window, finishing up a call on his cell phone; he seems rather important, or as if he perceives himself that way. An older man late into his thirties sits in the middle of the bus. He has a rather patriotic air about him, and is easily the tallest person on board. His black hair and blue eyes make him seem even more rustic and authentic for some reason. Of last note is a heavyset man of muscle sitting in the front half, and it looks as though he could easily tear someone's head off, despite his silence.

The rest of the people on board are of rather imparticular note, seemingly mundane in their own ways; the old lady at the front of the bus sleeping, the teenager listening to his rock music entirely too loud, the mother and her daughter of at least 9 years sitting quietly humming a tune to pass the time.

2:48 A.M.

As you climbed onto the bus, you each noticed an open, and half used, box of caffiene pills, and several cans of mountain dew half crushed and tossed behind the seat. The driver was a rather portly man, easily thirty two or so, and seemed to be sweating like a pig in his undersized uniform.

However, this is all of little concern to you, as you each have a different topic on your mind, consuming most of your thoughts and attention, be it a wife far away, a time of killing so long ago, or knocking a man clean off his feet.

2:53 A.M.

The constant whine of the road and the loud pinging of the rain is enough to induce drowsiness in each and every one of you. Some manage to stay awake, while others drift slowly between dreams and reality. The lights overhead flicker in much the same way, unsure of whether to be awake or not.

The driver is also in a state of lacking complete awareness, as he pops yet another pill into his mouth, chasing it down with the mountain dew, emtying yet another can. He wipes his arm across his brow, staining the sleeve with sweat. It is to no avail, however, as his eyes slowly start to flutter closed, and his body slowly slumps over, being caught by the locking seatbelt.

2:58 A.M.

A minute or so passes as the driver drifts into sleep, and starts to finally relax after such a long shift. And then his head jerks up, eyes fluttering back open, head snapping back and forth looking for something amiss. His eyes finally settle on a fast approaching car stopped in the middle of the road. He panics, slamming onto the brakes, spinning the wheel hard to the right.

Each of you can hear the tires squeal and shriek as if crying out in pain and have but a second to brace yourself as the bus slams into a car ahead of it, crushing the windows and taking the driver under. You can feel the back end of the bus pull up from the ground a little as it fish tails around and starts to tilt over. Each of your are thrown around the inside as if you weren't even there. Not even the strongest of you can hold onto the years old leather, worn smooth and full of holes. As the bus reaches around with the back end, it fully tips over and scrapes and across the wet pavement, shattering most of the windows.

The metal seems to scream and sparks as it curves around to nearly be a one-hundred eighty degree turn. However, as it nears the crash, the bus then tips fully onto its top, crumpling down and shattering the rest of the windows, sending shards of glass in all directions. As the bus slams into the line of cars outside, it stops with a deafening crunch of metal.

Everyone is now painfully awake, adrenaline pounding through their veins, blood pounding out. There are screams of terror, cursing, and crying all at the same time. It is enough to drive someone insane from the sound alone.

3:00 A.M. - The soul's midnight

Welcome to Evil Dead.

((OOC: I need you all to give me reflex saves, and post what you are doing after the crash.))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-07, 10:20 PM
(Reflex on the Bus (1d20+4=14) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=550690))

*Jack quickly attempts to right himself, looking around. His brain, suddenly jolted from a quiet brooding to full alertness, instantly snaps back into combat readiness. He hisses quietly, holding his body low to the ground*

Status! anybody wounded?

UnrealTiger
2006-08-08, 12:21 AM
Ed

((Reflex Save:1d20+5=11 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=550919)))

After the bus stops spinning and tipping over Ed crawls out of the bus, groaning in pain and checking to make sure that he didn't break anything during the crash.

GazMania
2006-08-08, 05:50 AM
Tom

"Ach' me 'ed..." Tom groans as he pulls himself up from the ground."This 'aint good, not gonna get to no fight in time..." Once upright Tom stumbles to the front of the bus and tries to wrench open the doors.


(( Reflex save (1d20+1=11) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=551253)))

((Edit: I have re-written my sheet. (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=31696) Should be right, will work until the other profiler is back up and i can copy it better))

HellFencer
2006-08-08, 02:46 PM
As the people are tumbled around inside the bus, shards of glass slice across several of the occupants, flaying skin and sending a spray of red into the air.

Jack slams his shoulder into the window, busting the glass out into small fragments, several of which lodge themself in the muscle. Warm, dark red blood is sent traveling down his arm.

Tom is thrown out of his seat as the bus smashes the car in front, sending him into the metal just above a window. He wrenches his back against a seatback and finally comes to a stop on the ceiling, his head spinning.

Ed finishes a conversation, clicking his phone shut, just as the bus stops, throwing him over the seats into the teenage boy whom is being spun around. Their heads collide, Ed hitting just above his right eye, splitting the skin open. As he comes to his senses, he realizes his phone is missing from his hand.

The young woman on board, at least in her thirties, is craddling her daughter in her lap. She cries out, "Annie, please wake up....please....you're going to be ok...God please help us!" She repeats most of this over and over. It is hard to tell what is going on, as the girl is held nearly to the woman's chest.

Tom manages to get to his feet and makes his way past the others in the bus. He sees the teenager unconscious with the ipod still playing, as well as the old woman out cold. When he reaches the front of the bus, he can smell the sickly sweet aroma of blood. As he rounds the corner to reach the door, he sees the driver secure in his seat thanks to a seat belt, though his arms are hanging down and his face beat red. A corner of the bus has sheered off at the base of the window and dug its way into the driver's abdomen. It is quite a site to behold, as he is cut from one side of his belly to the other.

(Jack: 3 damage. Tom: 3 damage. Ed: 2 damage. I'm going to need a fort save from Tom, as well as a strength check to open the doors.)

GazMania
2006-08-08, 03:41 PM
Tom

"Oh god, that is awful.. jesus...." Tom mutters as he puts his hand over his mouth and trys not to give his breakfast back to the world. He fails and clutches his stomach as he spew all over the floor. "Ach thats disgustin'..." he says as he wipes his mouth on his sleave.

"Right then.. lets try to sort this out.." Tom grabs the bus' door handle and heaves with all his might, muscles bunching across his back in the process as he attempts to open the door.



(( Fort save (1d20+2=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=552313) im assuming this makes me throw up, awful roll, will edit post if not.))

((Strength check to open door (1d20+1=15) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=552316)))

Logain
2006-08-08, 04:03 PM
((Sorry I'm late everyone))

Reflex Save (20 + 5 = 25)

HellFencer
2006-08-08, 05:34 PM
As Jeff feels the bus smash into the car, he uses the seats around himself to brace into a crash position, though he is still rattled around by the bus tipping over, and then upside down. He has some bruising on his left leg, but nothing major.

Tom tries to hold back the urge, but by the time he has a mind to resist, he is already throwing up. His early breakfast passes back over his teeth, following the several waves of bile, stomach acid, and wrenching pain from compressing his abdomen. He also ends up with a nose full of the sickening brown liquid. As he rights himself, trying not to slip in his own vomit, he pulls and pulls at the doors, but to no avail, as they feel locked in place by something. They do not budge one centimeter.

(Jeff: 5 subdual damage.)

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-08, 08:35 PM
*Jack looks around, assessing the situation quickly. Not good, but not nearly as bad as it could be, at least these are his first thoughts. Need to check out the little girl, see if anyone can do first aid. Better check for emergency exits as well. Deciding on a priority, he kneels down next to the parents*

How bad is it?. Somebody see if any of the emergency exits are unblocked. If not, we can crawl out the windshield. Somebody wrap a shirt around their hand and make sure all the bits of glass are out of the edges.

HellFencer
2006-08-08, 08:51 PM
As Jack kneels next to the woman craddling a little girl, he can't see much, as the woman is in the way. She has also begun to rock back and forth, weeping as if her child is dying...as if she can feel the soul slowly being ripped away from the girl's body. It appears that the woman does not even hear Jack.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-08, 10:29 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack leans forward and taps the woman on the shoulder, speaking in a firm, authoritative voice*

Ma'am, please, how is your child? if it's bad, we'll see if we can find a first aid kit on the bus.

Logain
2006-08-09, 03:52 AM
Even with his excellent perch, Jeff gets bounced around enough to make him dizzy. Everything seems to be happening in a trance. The bus tips over on its side, the people around him are screaming.

It's almost a reflex that makes him grab the seat, keeps him from being trapped under the bus, or worse- being ground into the pavement.

Hand to the side of his head, Jeff wanders among the other bus passengers, moving through the crunch of the glass.

He'll look around at the other passengers, trying to figure out who is the worst hurt. He sees one passenger trying to comfort the old lady and her child, so he'll stoop and check on the kid with the ipod before moving up to try and unstrap the busdriver.

UnrealTiger
2006-08-09, 04:53 AM
Ed Kaitler

Clutching his brow to try and stop the blood flowing from it Ed realises that he doesn't have his phone anymore, looking up he takes full stock of what had just happened at starts to scrabble around looking for it. "Anyone got a mobile here, we need to get some ambo's here now in case anyone's seriously hurt!"

Search/Spot(whichev is applicable):1d20+1=17 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=553416)

GazMania
2006-08-09, 06:24 AM
Tom

"Damn it!" Tom says as he removes his hand from the door, "stupid door not go openin'...". Tom wracks his brain as he tries to think of how the bus drivers open the doors, but he never really used them that much. Damn.. should'a been on these buses more often...

Tom steps away from the door, carefully making sure he wouldn't fall on the vomit, and walks back to the other people who were on the bus. " 'Ere kid, this good 'enuf for ya?" Tom says as he reaches into the pocket of his jacket and comes out holding his phone. He holds it out for Ed to take off of him while at the same time helping him look.

((Assisting Ed look for his phone))

((Edit: Looking for phone (1d20+1=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=553720) Sorry, thought you could still assist another in modern.))

HellFencer
2006-08-09, 09:07 AM
As Jack finally intervenes between the woman and her child, she looks up at him, tears streaming down her face. The mascara has run slightly, giving her a look of utter desperation. As she lowers her arms, Jack can see several shards of glass have lodged themselves into the girl's ribs, just below the right breast. Blood stains most of her shirt as she appears to not be breathing. From this distance, Jack can't tell whether the girl is alive or dead. However, it does remind him of the pain in his own shoulder, the blood staining a large portion of his sleeve now.

The woman looks pleadingly in to Jack's eyes, quietly saying, "Please....help....her" as if she has no greater strength to speak with any longer.

Jeff slowly makes his way over to the knocked out teen, kneeling to get a better view. He does not see any injury on the backside of the boy, however, he would have to roll the boy onto his back to check the rest. As Jeff realizes, that is probably a bad idea. In any case, the iPod is still blaring rock music, one earbud still in the kid's ear.

Ed tries to hold his wound shut, but that only causes some blood to drip down into his eye. As such he has no luck finding his phone, instead, trying to wipe the blood out. By this time, his eyes have teared up and fouled the whole search. He does finally get the wound under control and his eyes cleared up for the most part.

(Tom needs to roll a spot check)

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-09, 10:10 AM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack quickly tries to bind his own wound to staunch the bleeding, tearing pieces of his shirt to use as bandages. Meanwhile, he calls out*

Someone see if there's a first aid kit in here! look for something marked with a red cross.

*As quickly as possible, he checks the girl's pulse*

HellFencer
2006-08-09, 10:56 AM
Jack quickly realizes he won't last long himself with glass sticking out of his shoulder, and begins trying to bind the wound. Afterwards, he checks the girls pulse and after several moments of wondering, he feels a slight pulse, just as he was about to pull his finger away. She is alive, but just barely holding on.

(Jack needs to make a heal check so as to not worsen his condition, and also to pull out the glass without doing more damage. Higher heal DC to bing the wound while leaving the glass in, if he thinks he will just do more bad than good in removing it.)

Logain
2006-08-09, 02:48 PM
Jeff will pull the bud out of the kids ear, and turn it off. He doesn't take it, but leaves it right there by the kid- on second thought, he stuffs it into the kids pocket.

Once someone starts asking about the first aid kit, Jeff moves toward the front of the bus, remembering the driver. There's a first aid kit in the front of every bus, up by the driver's seat. Sometimes they're supplemented by driver's 'habits' but since the driver had a bottle of caffiene pills, it's probably going to be pretty standard.

Standard quick search to figure out if the first aid kit is still in the bus, and not outside somewhere in the wreckage: d20+3=18

Once I'm up there, I'll also see that the driver is hung in his seat, and grab the guy trying to open the doors to help me get him down.

HellFencer
2006-08-09, 11:42 PM
As Jeff looks around the broken console, warped into a bow shape, he does find a med kit stuffed into a compartment. The door to the area has been ripped off and lays on the floor.

Tom is tapped on the shoulder by a man he heard walking up, and sees him point up to the driver. As Jeff gets a full view of the gore, he feels his stomach begin to churn. There is a large chunk of steel embedded in the man's abdomen and large amounts of blood have begun to flow down onto the floor, staining the driver's shirt, jacket, and face.

(Jeff needs to make a fort save.)

Logain
2006-08-10, 01:38 AM
Jeff will grab the med kit and vomit as he moves away (Fortitude Save 1d20+0 = 3). Wiping his mouth, he'll look at the guy near the door, and say, "Sorry dude- watch your step." He'll slip as he moves back to the man helping the kid. Once the guy has the med kit, he'll tap his shoulder, and say "Dude, check out that kid too- I think he's probably hurt."

GazMania
2006-08-10, 05:18 AM
Tom

Just as Tom held out his mobile phone for Ed to take he was tapped on the shoulder and lead to the front of the bus by the other young man. Like Tom, this man also couldn't stomach it. Tom carefully stepped over the vomit, whether it was his or that mans he wasn't sure, and put the mobile back into his pocket. "Well.. the lad can find is own.." he mutters as he starts looking around the bus.

"I dun't wanna worry no-one" he says to the people on the bus, "but we just been in-a crash. I dun't know, but it might be leakin gas... We better be gettin out before long.." With this said Tom starts looking around the bus for an emergency exit that would be use-able.

((Search check for emergeny exits (1d20+1=14) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=555138)))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-10, 11:01 AM
Remove glass from wound and bind it (1d20=20) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=555412)

(Hooray for my first ever nat 20 on IC. On another note. I apparently can't decide what my own name is. It is, in fact, Jack, not Jake. The description is specific enough that you can tell it's my roll :p)

*Jack quickly picks the glass from the wound and binds it, once more looking down at the little girl, then waving at the man with the medical kit*

Damn it.. wish Doc was here.. I wasn't a medic.

*Jack looks the girl over, concentrating on the head and neck, but making sure not to touch her*

All right, ma'am. Let's not move her. If she has head or neck trauma, that's the last thing we want to do


Damn damn damn hell.. This is the last thing I need... never a goddamn medivac chopper when you need one.

HellFencer
2006-08-10, 12:58 PM
As Jeff empties the contents of his stomach in a rather painful upheaval, the old woman near the front of the bus begins to stir. She is not fully aware, but not asleep either. He body and fingers twitch every few seconds as if her synapses are triggering her body into a restart.

Jack manages to slide the glass out rather easily and is surprised at how well he binds the wound. Perhaps he was a doctor in a previous life... As he speaks to the woman, she just looks up into his face, as if he has been sent to help her. "The lord has sent me an angel, hasn't he? You're here to help...I know you will succeed." Despite the praise Jack recieves, all he can find are the two pieces of glass in the girl's chest. As far as he can tell, she is alright beyond that.

As Tom walks carefully around the bus, the sounds of glass crackling into metal is heard undertoe. He sniffs the air as he speaks of gas, but doesn't quite notice any. He very easily spots the door in the back of the bus. As he moves up to take a look, he can see a small indentation for a key.

Outside of the bus, a polyphonic ringtone can be heard going off. It is obviously some sort of song, but you can't tell what. Ed immediately recognizes it.

Logain
2006-08-10, 03:25 PM
With the lady at the front of the bus going into convulsions, Jeff will stop by her once he's passed the small medical kit to the guy helping the little girl. Then he'll move back over to the twitching lady, and put a hand on her, speaking calmly. "Lady, you've been in a crash. You're going to be okay, though."

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-10, 04:11 PM
*Jack tries to remember what Doc used to do when he checked for head trauma.. his mind races as he tries to think what might be wrong, how he could check without further damaging the girl. He looks at the woman*

I'm just a man, ma'am, and I'm going to do everything I can to help her. As far as I can tell, she's fine, but I'm afraid that she have sustained some kind of head trauma. We need to get some kind of medical team here immediately.

*He yells to the entire bus*

Whoever has a cell phone, call 911 right now. If nobody has one, find that one that's ringing and use it.

HellFencer
2006-08-10, 06:33 PM
The old woman just lies there, continuing to convulse every few seconds or so. As Jeff holds his hand on her, he can feel the muscles spasming just beneath the surface. It almost feels like writhing....but that couldn't be right.

The younger woman continues to stare into Jack's face, though it is rather dark in here. She almost pleads with him saying, "You're going to save her, right? We're going to get out of this alive, right? Please..you have to..." she begins trailing off and repeating herself once more.

As if of its own volition, the cell phone ringing gets slightly louder as it is talked of. It is going on ring number fifteen by now. Whomever is on the other end must really want through.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-10, 06:42 PM
Jack Goodwell

I'll do the best I can, ma'am. That's all I can promise. I intend for everyone to get out of here.

*Jack begins looking around for anything that could be made into a stretcher.. he's surprised how well he's reacting to this situation*

I guess some old habits never go away.

GazMania
2006-08-10, 07:08 PM
Tom

Tom stares around the bus until he sees the door at the back. He rushes towards it and starts feeling the door when he sees the key-shaped hole. Oh no... I can guess where that will be... he thinks to himself as he tries to think of a way to put off the inevitable search. Jack gave him that reason.

As he hears Jack ask for the phone Tom puts his meaty hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out his phone. He flips it open and punches out 911, not checking first if it had a signal. He puts it up to his ear and waits for a reply.

Logain
2006-08-10, 07:27 PM
Jeff will gently ease the old woman down on her back, while she's 'writhing,' and try to get a response out of her. "Hey... Lady, are you okay?"

HellFencer
2006-08-10, 10:20 PM
The woman stops sobbing as much and quietly nods to Jack's comment, still deathgripping the child. As time passes, the girl looks as though more blood is pouring out, and her breathing getting shallower. Jack knows she will die soon if nothing is done.

As Tom waits for someone to answer on the other end, he hears it finally pick up, except it is an automated voice. "We are sorry, but all available circuits are busy. Please stay on the line and we will get to you as soon as an operator becomes available." Then, there is silence on the phone. Utter, blank, silence.

Jeff seems to comfort the woman by settling her into a better position, as the convulsions come in further intervals, though not completely going away. The woman does not wake up, nor appear to hear him.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-10, 10:25 PM
*Jack curses under his breath. He takes another look at the girl's wounds. If the blood is really pumping badly, he will attempt to suture the wound closed, assuming there is something in the medical kit he can use to do so. If there isn't he will look for something to cauterize the wounds. If the wounds are not that serious, he will just attempt to bind them.*

Heal Check for the girl (1d20=18) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=556350). Apparently Jack is a medical savant.

HellFencer
2006-08-10, 11:03 PM
Jack does find something to suture her wounds shut, as well as a needle to thread it on. As he gets closer, he sees that removal of the glass will be necessary. As he slowly pulls them out, he finds that they are about as large as the ones he pulled out of himself not but a few minutes ago.

He surprises himself with how well he sews the girl back up, thinking she will make a full recovery. The woman can only gape on in horror as she holds the child steady, but looks extremely relieved as he finishes. "You really are an angel, sent by God to deliver us from woe and suffering! Praise to Jesus!" she exclaims.

As she leans down to kiss the girl's forhead, Jack sees a necklace drop out of her shirt. It is a simple silver chain with a crucifix upon it. However, the cross hangs upside down, tangled in the chain for a moment before correcting itself.

The cell phone outside the bus grows even louder as Jack watches the crucifix dangle about. It has now rung for at least a full minute or two without stopping.

UnrealTiger
2006-08-10, 11:11 PM
(( Sorry 'bout not posting yet, had a real busy coupla days and it just slipped my mind. On the plus side I now have a nice new wallet, after about five or six years of abuse the old one was ready to die long, long ago :D ))

Suddenly the Ed hears the ringtone on his phone going off and judging by how loud it was it'd been going for awhile now. Must be pretty shaken by the crash if I hadn't heard it till now. Still gotta call the ambo's though.

With that thought he makes his way towards were his phone is and telling that it's outside he kicks out the remaining glass in a window a quickly goes to pick it up. Pressing the answer button he put's the phone up to his ear "He-hello, who is it?"

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-10, 11:21 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack stands up and stretches, breathing a sigh of relief as he finishes suturing the girl's wounds closed. he pockets the broken glass, not wanting anyone to step on it*

Damnation, but that was close. If I ever see old Doc again, I'm buyin the rounds. Seems like a nice lady. Little high on Jesus, but I guess you could do worse. Just hope everything works out all right for her and the girl... man.. that upside down cross really messed with my head..

*Jack shakes his head, then looks around. He looks out the window, trying to spot the cell-phone*

Well, I can't begin to guess at His plans, but I just have to do what I can. In any case.. someone really wants to get through.

HellFencer
2006-08-10, 11:48 PM
As Ed's hand reaches for the phone, the sounds of the ringtone seem to flow together into a sort of ping sound. Its almost as if time slows down and the sounds blend into one horribly long note. Ed feels as if he will never reach the phone. When he finally does, the sound reverberates through his mind for a moment as he hits the answer and hears only slight static.

As he is about to hang up the phone, he hears a sound. And then another, and then a few and they get louder each time. After about five or so sounds, he can tell it is the sound of a person laughing.

"heh heh......hehehe.....heh heh heh hehe....hahahaha.....hahahahahahaha..heeeeehahahaa aa... Hahahaaaaa... Hahaha Haaa.. Heh Heh Heh... HA HA HA...HAHAHAHA...HAHAHAHAHAH AAAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA......"

It slowly degrades into nothing more than a hysterical maniac on the other end of the voice, however the laughter send a chill striaight down Ed's spine. He can't let go of the phone, as much as he wants to. He can't even speak back. Finally the laughing subsides and is immediately followed by a whispering voice and echoes in Ed's mind. It feels as if his ear is being tickled by breath, it is so real...

"join....us...."

After that, the phone starts beeping as if a call was lost and Ed is in control of his movements once more.

As all this is going on, the woman says to Jack, "You shouldn't be so modest. There is a plan for all of us, in the grand design. We were meant to meet like this." She actually smiles a little at this point, and Jack can tell that the girl is in less pain as before. In a bout of mad luck, the girl actually shakes her head a little; her eyes fluttering open.

"....M...mommy?"

(Ed needs a will save :))

UnrealTiger
2006-08-11, 12:06 AM
Will Save:1d20+1=5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=556485)

(( Well I don't think that this is going to turn out well, no I don't think that this is going to turn out well at all . . . ))

(( Also it just had to be my bad saving throw didn't it ::) ))

HellFencer
2006-08-11, 12:37 AM
As the voice drops away from the phone, there are images of death implanted into his mind. Corpses piled into massive hills, blood drenching everything, skeletons stretching out to claw at him. Then darkness. He hears the sound of chopping. It is a fleshy sound, like that of an axe hitting a wet log..or sinking into thick mud and hitting a lump. In fact, as the image lights up, he can see it is an axe chopping a human. The view pans around and it shows Ed holding the axe, going at the body as if driven by it. His face holds a distinct grin.

Logain
2006-08-11, 02:14 AM
Jeff will feel for the old lady's pulse, and check her for any wounds or obvious injuries. While he's doing this, he'll shout out to the other passengers "Did anyone ever call an amublance?"

GazMania
2006-08-11, 04:47 AM
Tom

Tom stand patiently with the phone to his ear and when some-one finally does pick it up he is about to talk when the fact that it is a robot gets through his brain. "Damn it! What damn thing we pay damn taxes for damn it if there aint even no man to answer me call when someone need help damn it..." With his little rant over he puts the phone back inside his pocket.

That damn ringing better stop soon... he thinks to himself as he leans on the nearest wall and watches Jack work to save the child. "Wonder if he a doctor..." Tom mutters as he rubs his back, "not good to have no damn injury before no fight.."

As Tom leans on the wall the young man gets up, kicks a window in and pulls his inanely ringing phone out. Tom watches him, unable to hear the laughter on the other side. Wonder why he aint sayin' nothin'. is the thought that crosses Tom's mind, but the words that come out are "you all right kid?"

At Jeff's comment Tom answers him. "Yeah, I rung the ambulance, but he aint comin'. There aint no man to answer me call."

((Stupid laws of physics, I knew that))

HellFencer
2006-08-11, 08:38 AM
((Just so you know, the bus is upside down, meaning you can't sit on anything except the metal cieling, covered in broken glass.))

Logain
2006-08-11, 01:06 PM
"Well, this lady is having a seizure, and I was too scared to check that kid," he says, pointing to the kid who was wearing the blaring iPod.

Jeff swallows hard, and glances back up in the driver's direction. "Maybe someone should go twist the handle thingie to open the door. I can't imagine it's doing any of us any good to sit in the glass."

Jeff coughs, still tasting his own vomit, "Or at least, we could check on the poor souls in the car in front of us."

HellFencer
2006-08-11, 01:11 PM
Its right about at this point, that all of those conscious can start to smell something strange in the air. At first, it smells sickly sweet, and deathly familiar, but you can't put your finger on it. A few seconds go by and then it hits you hard in the face like a brick; you can smell gasoline, and not just a little. You can get away from it. You can't hear it leaking, as the rain is still pounding away outside into the street.

GazMania
2006-08-11, 01:17 PM
Tom

"Your right.. we should check on that car, but..." Tom stops as he smells something and sniffs the air a few times to figure out what it is. "Ya know.. that smells like.. GAS!" The last word is a frantic yell as Tom realises what it is he can smell. "We gotta get outta here.." Tom says as he begins smashing at the emergency door behind him to try and open it.

((Strength check to open door. (1d20+1=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=557099)))

HellFencer
2006-08-11, 02:04 PM
Try as he might, Tom is not able to bash the door open. At best, he makes a dent in it. Breaking the glass would prove foolish, as there is black criss-crossing metal inside the window for added protection. Tom does realize that several of the windows have been broken out, and with a little time, could be cleared of excess shards.

Logain
2006-08-11, 02:46 PM
Jeff will take off his heavy jacket (it is raining, after all) and use it to protect his hands as he knocks the glass out of the edge of a frame. He'll shout to the medic guy, "Start helping the lady and her daughter out, okay?"
He'll then turn around, and shout to the big guy pounding on the door, "Can you grab this old lady?"
Jeff will do his best not to do more damage to the unconsious kid with the earphones, and drag him out the window after everyone else.

GazMania
2006-08-11, 03:27 PM
Tom

Tom stands pounding on the door but it does no good. He's about to lose hope when he sees the windows that are already broken and an idea forms in his mind. Hes about to go over there and knock the glass out of the frame when the young man gets to it first.

"Right.." he says after being told to pick up the old women, "but 'urry up with that there window" Leaving the boy to knock the glass out of the frame he steps up to the old women and trys to pick her up.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-11, 03:48 PM
Jack Goodwell

*The smell of gasoline triggers a flood of images in Jack's mind.. burning, deathpainscreaming... he finds himself breathing hard, bent over a little hands clenched into whiteknuckled fists, teeth gritted. Then he stands, straightening up*

Damn.. get ahold of yourself. This is NOT the time.


All right, folks. We need to get out of here, now. Get the glass out of the biggest windows you can, front windshield preferably. is there anything long and flat that we can use as a stretcher for the girl?

Logain
2006-08-11, 04:57 PM
((I was under the impression that the front of the bus was still entangled with the car that we smashed into. If that's not the case... well... I'll still knock out the side windows. I've already seen the dead driver, and it gives me heaves.))

After Jeff is finished clearing the glass from the frame, he'll toss his jacket to the medic guy, and say "Use this- we just need to drag her outside."

Once the glass is clear, and he's passed off his jacket, Jeff will move over to the kid with the headphones and slowly and gently roll him over onto his back. If there are no obvious wounds, he'll try to check the kids pulse (his hands are shaking).

HellFencer
2006-08-11, 05:31 PM
As Tom attempts to pick up the old woman, he finds no problem doing so, except that she seems rather awkward for such a small person. He drags her out of the bus carefully, not doing more harm than good.

Jeff has no problem clearing out the rest of the glass, minus a few new scratches to his coat. He tries to check for a pulse, but is worried about getting the hell out of the bus and has some toruble finding it.

Jack shakes his mind and finally gets a grip on reality. Or so he thinks. He knows its not real, and yet can hear the gunfire of automatic weaponry, the screams of people burning to death in fire choking on their own ashes. It is enough to drive him mad, save for the coat that hits his leg. If done slowly, the coat would suffice, in Jack's opinion.

As you are now moving around more, and breathing a bit heavier from panic setting in, you are getting a little bit tipsy from the fumes. Not enough to effect your movements, but you are growing slightly numb on your extremities and lightly dizzy.

(Jeff: heal check baby, with a -2. Everyone can attempt a Will save at a -2 to calm themself down; if not, you are shaken until you are out and away from the bus for awhile.)

Logain
2006-08-11, 06:13 PM
Heal Check: (1d20+1=21)
Will Save (to calm down): (1d20+1=9)

http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=558455

Once people are moving, I'll start to get jittery. I mean, this bus could go up at any moment. And there's no telling when help will arrive.

I'll gulp some air and try to take the kid's pulse again. I just have to focus. I did have to do CPR that time Johnny got hit by a riptide. This isn't any different.

UnrealTiger
2006-08-11, 06:38 PM
His hand shaking slightly as the images leave his mind and he hears the voice on the phone whispering to him softly "join....us...." and then . . . nothing. The call connection was lost. Lowering his still shaking hand Ed looked at the phone in his hand, lights soft illuminating it. What the f#&k was that ****. Jesus that crash must've been much worse than I thought, I really . . . and suddenly Ed's thoughts are cut short by a cry that pierces through the haze of his mind "GAS!".

Looking back towards to the bus he see's everyone concious in there scrambling to get everyone else out and even outside the bus he smells the distinct whiff of petrol in the air. Snapping the cover of the phone shut he quickly goes back to the bus window and see's some guy asking for a stretcher for a girl. "Man forget a stretcher we haven't got time for that, just pick her up and pass her out to me out the window quickly before the petrol finds some flames!"

GazMania
2006-08-11, 06:53 PM
Tom

"Calm down Tom.. you out now Tom.. you be fine Tom.." Tom mutters as he bounces from foot to foot. It seems to be that hes fighting an invisible foe, Tom was doing the one thing he is most used to to calm him down, his boxing. "Might still get to fight on time Tom..." he mutters, seemigly oblivious to whats happening around him.

((Will save to regain cool (1d20-2=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=558520)))

((This is assuming im outside the bus and not inside, will edit in the morning if not))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-11, 07:53 PM
(Will save on bus (1d20=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=558559) -2 = 5)

*Jack is unable to get the death-screams out of his head, or purge the stench of burning flesh from his nostrils. He looks down at the little girl again, though, and can't bear the thought of hurting her. He takes off his coat, and gently places the girl on it, motioning the nearest calm person over to help him carry her, being as careful as possible not to jostle her in any way, while still moving with as much haste as possible.*

HellFencer
2006-08-12, 02:33 PM
Jeff steadies his hand for a moment long enough to find a pulse in the boy. It is strong and healthy, as the boy appears to be. However, panic is beginning to set it more rapidly, as his heart starts to beat as though he was running. hsi vision starts to become blurry on the edges and he feels a little more dizzy.

Unfortunately for Tom, all his mind can focus on, is the crash, the squealing of tires, the sounds of metal crunching, and the thought that he, or anyone else, could die in an explosion. Thoughts of his best fights race through his mind. He tries to run through scenarios in his mind to calm him, but all it does is get his heart racing.

As Jack desperately tugs at the girl wrapped in his coat, the woman helps with the other end. As they get her to the window, Ed outside helps pull her out. When he gets outside, he looks around, somewhat wearily as if a chopper is about to fly over but shakes it off.

Watching everyone but himself get out of the bus, Jeff starts to worry even more.

Logain
2006-08-12, 03:28 PM
Okay, you're really starting to freak out, Jeff- take deep breaths... wait... there's a gas leak. Just do tai chi or some **** later- grab this kid and pull him out into the rain. Maybe he'll wake up, and everything will be cool...

Jeff is starting to panic, his breath coming in short gasps. As everyone leaves him behind in the bus, he starts to have throughts of hollywood blockbuster explosions, and his firey death. Jeff will make sure he has his backpack wit him, and then he'll pull the kid with the headphones out of the window, and into the rain.

Now that he's in (slightly) cleaner air, he'll start breathing heavily and trying to calm himself down while he drags the kid further from the bus. Once he's out, he'll look around and ask "Is that it? Did we get everyone alive out of the bus?"

GazMania
2006-08-12, 04:05 PM
Tom

So then I dodged to the left, jabbed to the right and he hit me with a bus. GAHH!. Tom's thoughts are interrupted by the memory of the accident and he is dismayed to realise he is still there. "Just gotta calm down.. breath deep, all the crap.." are barely audible as Tom mutters to himself as his previous attemps at calming down had failed.

"Yeah, hes right, we all all right, right? No one on bus still, right?" His voice sounds hopeful, no way I gonna go back in there

HellFencer
2006-08-12, 05:15 PM
As you all stand in the rain, chest heaving for real air, the cold chilling through all your clothing, you feel...sad for some reason. Its a strange sensation, seeing the wreckage of the bus. It feels like a part of the journey has died...and the sky is crying to see it end. You all see soem sort of flickering light from the front of the bus, but can't tell where its coming from.

As you are all standing safely away from the bus, there is a feeling deep in your gut that something is watching you. Something...not right. The hair on the back of your neck stands on end, followed by your arms, and finally running down your legs.

Off down the road, you hear a loud crash of metal against the street. As you snap your heads to look, you see a second one tip over and smash into the street. And a third bashes into the concrete, sending sparks into the air. It occurs to you that they are falling over in your direction, and speeding up. By now, the nearest one has fallen down a half a block away from you.

As they "fall at you," the sense of fear, panic, and...evil...heightens in your mind, making it feel as if you should flee for your very life.

GazMania
2006-08-12, 05:24 PM
Tom

"What in the?... Run!!" are the only words Tom manages to get out before hes turning around and running away. He stops to grab the old women and slings her over his shoulder. He pumps the powerful muscles in his legs as fast as he can as he runs in the opposite direction to the lights and attempts to look for anything to take cover in, but in the panic he is under he doesn't do a very good job of it.

((Search check to find somthing to hide in (1d20+1=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=559731)))

((Dont count on me to find any cover, or to run very fast carrying the women))

Logain
2006-08-13, 08:14 PM
Jeff sees that something bad is going to happen. Something very bad.

He'll drag the kid at as close to a run as he can manage, to the closest building, (one with a not-so-sturdy door) and try to kick it in.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-14, 01:33 AM
Jack Goodwell

*Hackles rising, Jack snarls, his face a blank mask. He quickly scoops up the girl in both arms, running towards the closest building, following the overs for now, muttering to himself*

Cover, damnit.. gotta get to cover..

Logain
2006-08-15, 03:44 PM
Is there a gun store, hardware store, pawn shop, or some place that would have weapons nearby? I'd rather have a chainsaw than a .38, but either will work in a pinch.

HellFencer
2006-08-15, 06:59 PM
As you all begin to run off opposite of the falling poles, the poles start falling faster and faster. Tom hefts the old woman onto his shoulder and starts running, followed by Jack with a girl in his arms. The girl look up at Jack, then shifts a little and looks over his shoulder.

The next thing Jack hears is the high pitched squeal of a small girl. The sound is absolutely horrific as she cries out for dear life. Her mother is running right behind Jack, trying to keep up. Ed runs past the both of them, his eyes searching for someplace safe. He spots a certain building and runs to it across an open parking lot. The others recognize the lettering across the front that say "American Legion".

Jeff brings up the rear, draggin the teenager as fast as he can. His hair bristles along his body, and everything tenses up. It feels as though his heart will jump out of his throat, he is so panicked.

Ed gets to the door of the place and tries to turn the knob, but to no avail. He bangs with his fist, then turns to kicking, but all proves for naught.

The evil feeling is getting closer and closer...

Logain
2006-08-15, 07:03 PM
I'll drop the teenager once I get to the door, and help hit it with my shoulder. "Give the kid to her mom and help, dammit!" I shout at the medic guy.

Apparently the girl is feeling better, because she has one hell of a set of pipes!

HellFencer
2006-08-15, 09:05 PM
(Include a strength check in your post if you are trying to force the door.)

UnrealTiger
2006-08-16, 03:03 AM
After his stout kick on the door frame didn't work Ed took a few quick steps backwards and breathing in deeply he turned his shoulder towards the door and charged towards it, trying to put every ounce of strength he had into his shoulder. Please god let this work, I dont want to find out what's back there, not after that phone call, not after the phone call.

Strength Check: 1d20+1=14 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=565040) plus Action Point:1d6=4 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=565042) for a total result of 18.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-16, 04:03 AM
Jack Goodwell

*If the door doesn't bust on Ed's attempt, Jack will draw his pistol and try to blow the lock off.*

HellFencer
2006-08-16, 12:11 PM
Ed's shoulder rams hard into the door, and through the fear, you can all hear a loud crackling of wood. Ed nearly tumbles over as the door flies open. He is standing inside of a small hallway that leads into a large open room. It looks mildly defendable, but definitely better than staying on the street.

The falling lamp posts are nearly on top of the group and the primal terror is climaxing within your minds. The little girl stops screaming and seems to have passed out once more. Now, it is the girl's mother whom is screaming her head off, as she tries to shove Jack inside the building.

Inside, the building smells of disuse, but is otherwise in decent condition. It is, however, extremely dark inside, save for the moonlight shining through the doorway, making Ed's shadow appear slightly strange. He hardly has time to ponder it though.

GazMania
2006-08-16, 01:25 PM
Tom

Tom carries on running with with the old woman over his shoulder when he hears the sound of splintering wood in place of the falling lamp-posts he had gotten used to.

Skidding to a halt he turns around to see Ed entering through the door and Jack beind 'helped' through by the young girls mum.

He rushes over to the door, "C'mon, hurry up!" and gets inside as soon as there is an opening.

Logain
2006-08-16, 02:51 PM
Jeff gets there too late to help push open the door, but he grabs the kid by his collar, and drags him in as he pushes the lady holding her daughter through the door.

He is terrified, and his only thought is getting away, but at the same time, he doesn't want to leave these people to it. How weird is that? His breath is coming in pants, his eyes a little glazed, and his adrenaline rushing.

"Come-on-hurry-we-got-to-get-inside!"

HellFencer
2006-08-16, 03:58 PM
Ed is pushed into the interior of the building, quickly followed by Jack and the little girl's mother. Tom jumps inside and sets the old woman down, heaving for air. Last but not least, Jeff gets inside, tugging the kid by the collar. As he is desperately pulling the teen inside, he sees the poles falling within twenty feet of him....then ten feet....

Jeff stands and, being the last person inside, throws the door shut. It opens inward, so he rests his back against it as it shuts. Just as the door shuts, there is a loud thumping from the other side. It is strong enough to push the door back open several inches, then gives way to Jeff's weight making the door shut again. This goes back and forth for about thirty seconds. After that point, the pounding stops, Jeff suddenly stops yelling, and the inherent sense of evil calms down.

Logain
2006-08-16, 04:07 PM
Jeff shakes himself... suddenly realizing that the voice screaming was his own. He sits down, out of breath, and suddenly not terrified, as the evil leaves.

He looks around the near-total darkness of the room, and sighs. Without giving up his spot by the door, he arranges the unconscious kid to sit next to him, as kind of a temporary doorstop, and takes the iPod out of his pocket. He thumbs it on, hoping to find some music to calm him down. If nothing else, the little light will be nice.

HellFencer
2006-08-16, 04:41 PM
Most of what Jeff finds is rock music, most of which is popular on a rock station right now. However, there is nothing that one could consider calming. The slower slongs are better than the faster ones in terms of calming down, but overall, it is a moot point.

Logain
2006-08-16, 05:57 PM
With nothing worth listening to on the iPod, Jeff will look around at the other crash survivors.

One by one, he's going to look them over, and when he's done, he'll speak up and introduce himself.

"Uhhh... okay, everyone. I'm Jeff. I'm from California."

UnrealTiger
2006-08-16, 07:24 PM
Standing in the middle of the room rubbing his aching shoulder Ed walks over towards one of the walls and pressing his back against it he slowly sinks to the floor, sitting down with his legs splayed out. As the man by the door attempts to introduce himself Ed glances towards him and letting out his breath in a sigh he reaches into his pocket and brings out his mobile phone. Quickly punching in a few numbers he presses the dial button and waits for the person on the other end of the phone to pick up.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-17, 02:24 AM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack nods to Jeff, and shakes his hand with a firm grip*

Jack Goodwell. Pleased ta meet ya, Jeff. Shame things couldn't be more.. friendly-like.

GazMania
2006-08-17, 05:44 AM
Tom

Inside the room was a lot better than outside it in Tom's eye and he sighs with relief. " 'Ello, the names Tom. Ya might a seen me box.. if you inta that sorta thing.." He then looks around the others expectantly, one of 'em must of seen me...

HellFencer
2006-08-17, 02:37 PM
As introductions are being made, the woman walks in front of Jack, and takes the girl from him. They walk around to where the bathroom is, and go inside. Everyone can hear the sharp click of the lock.

Looking around, the room is rather...quaint. There are several american flags on poles, clearly oversized. In fact, they look as if it could mostly wrap up an adult. There is a Podium in the other end of the room and most of the carpet is flattened down from years of use.

As Ed let's the phone ring, several rings go by, when a frantic woman on the other end picks up. "Ed, is that you?....Ed....I'm so scared.....Ed, please help me....." she says. Its obvious the person he was tyring to reach, however, her voice is very shakey and distant.

UnrealTiger
2006-08-17, 07:20 PM
Hearing the panic in her voice Ed's hand tightens around the phone and he starts to break out in a cold sweat. Breathing in deeply to try to calm himself he answers the voice on the other end of the line, fear still colouring his voice "Sal don't worry baby, it's Ed, I'm here. What's wrong over there Sal, did you hurt yourself or did something bad happen? What is it?"

HellFencer
2006-08-18, 10:12 AM
The girl's voice on the other end of the phone seems to calm a little. However, she still seems plently scared. "Ed...there are things outside my apartment....I don't know what they are....I just--," she says, getting cut off. Ed hears a loud thump in the background and another girl's voice screaming, "Sally, get off the phone!! HELP ME WITH THE DOOR!" Ed hears the phone drop to the ground and pounding on the door.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-18, 11:17 AM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack stares for awhile at Old Glory, lost in thought.. this whole place reminds him of dad, of the second Great War, where men became heroes.. why couldn't it have been like that for him? But no.. now is not the time. It looks like war is here again. Any maybe this time, there will be a place for him*

All right, folks. I think we all know by now that something is seriously FUBAR. I think we have two options here: Barricade ourselves here and wait for rescue, or try to break out as soon as possible. Personally, I reccomend breaking out. Why? This place just ain't defensible. There's no weaponry, no food, no nothin. We get trapped in here more than a few days, we're goners. Even faster if the water gets cut off. As soon as we can, we need to make a break for it.

GazMania
2006-08-18, 03:14 PM
Tom

"Run from what? Fallin' lamp posts and crashin' buses? I get what you sayin' though, this don't seem the most secure of all places.. and all that stuff which just happens is a wee bit.. coincidental?.. Yeah thats the word.."

Tom grins sheepishly and fumbles around under his jacket. The hand comes out holding the handle of a gun.

"Your right about the food.. but wrong about the weapons. You never know when you'll need it, right?"

Logain
2006-08-18, 04:05 PM
With all the talk of 'defensible' and weapons, Jeff just shakes his head. "Well, we could always go out in groups and check on that 7-11 about twenty feet from here. Those falling lampposts passed right by it, and they'll have food and drinks... maybe a gun under the counter, too."

After he says this though, he'll ask "Hey, where did the mom and daughter go?"

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-18, 09:24 PM
Jack Goodwell

Coincidence my $@#. You all FELT whatever that was. I learned to trust my instincts a long time ago, and they were telling me someTHING was out there. Not someone. SomeTHING. yeah, I've got a piece on me too, but no heavy artillery. The 7-11's no good. It'd be fine to raid for supplied, but it's got those huge windows in the front. They'll get shattered in a moment, and I doubt we'll be able to patch them up very well. Look, you folks might think I'm crazy, but let me tell you a little secret: I did five years behind the Bamboo Curtain during the Cold War, and after. I learned a few things. Like what it feels like to be hunted. And that's how I felt out there tonight. And what I'm telling you is that if we don't get somewhere with plenty of hardware, stock up on supplies, and get our heads down, we are going to be regretting it....

*At Jeff's words, Jack looks around concernedly*

Damn good question.. I think she went into the bathroom.. but she's been in there a while.

*Jack moves over and knocks on the door*

Ma'am? You and your girl all right in there?

HellFencer
2006-08-19, 11:51 AM
There is a short yelp from the woman, then a sigh. "Oh..yes, we're fine thank you. If we could just have another minute?" she says, practically pleading with Jack.

The old woman shifts around and shakes her head a little. She opens her eyes slowly and looks around, very confused. "Oh my...where are we? I was on my way to see my son, but this isn't the bus at all...." She groans a little as she tries to get up, and holds a hand on her low back. She gives up and stays leaned against the wall.

Logain
2006-08-19, 08:36 PM
Jeff will gesture to her, but stay holding the door with his back. "Careful, lady- we were in a pretty bad bus wreck, and everyone here got hurt. We dragged you in here for saftey."

Looking around the room at whatever is in here, I'll speak up and say "Hey Jack, Tom- is there anyway you guys could bring those flag poles or anything else you can find so we can brace this door? I'm tired of sitting against it, and we need to figure out what's in this place."

GazMania
2006-08-20, 05:26 AM
Tom

At Jack's answer to Toms statement he replies "No, no, I meant that it was like too coincidental.. ya know? That summet caused it.. Yeah, that what I meant.."

Tom stands up as Jeff asks for the flag and grunts his acknowledgement. "I'll try to find something better..." he says as he scans the room for anything that could be used as a barricade.

((Search check for barricade items (1d20+1=12) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=571759)))

HellFencer
2006-08-20, 11:01 AM
The old lady looks over at Jeff with a blank look and continues to rub her temple. She appears to be very confused aobut what is going on. "Where is my son? Have any of you seen him? He's such a nice boy..."

Tom glances about the room and takes note of four flagpoles, a five foot tall podium, and a folding table that is six foot across.

((I will get a picture of the room up on monday))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-20, 02:18 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack sighs and shakes his head*

All right, let's get this place barricaded up for now. But I still say we need to get out of here, at first light, preferably.

*So saying, Jack examines the windows of he room, meanwhile moving the poidum infront of the door, getting help if it's too heavy*

UnrealTiger
2006-08-20, 07:32 PM
Letting his hand that held his phone drop to the ground as Sally went away from the phone Ed looked at it, quietly contemplating what he had to do. She needs help, that's obvious. To help her I'll have to go back outside though, with whatever the hells out there and her place isn't real close-by. But maybe on of this lot will know how to...

Having made his decision Ed lifts his gaze from the floor and stands back up, slipping his phone into his pocket as he goes. Looking across the room he looks towards the three other guys there "Before you barricade this place up, if that's what you're doing, I'm going. My girlfriend needs my help and I have to get to her now, if any of you knows how to hotwire a car that would help me get there fast but if not then so be it."

HellFencer
2006-08-21, 07:23 AM
As Jack tips the podium, he realizes that its not made of anything real sturdy, as he can easily move it by himself. However, when he gets to the door, there is still an unconscious teenage boy and Jeff both sitting against the door.

GazMania
2006-08-22, 03:23 PM
Tom

Tom shifts his weight as Ed says that he needs to get out and stands up to help him.

"I dunno nothing bout no hot-wiring.. but if something is really happening around here... then you gonna need some 'elp."

Tom sighs before carrying on with "an if you really goin out there.. then im gonna come with you.."

Besides.. if theres something out there, i'd rather not sit and wait for it

Logain
2006-08-23, 02:54 PM
"Yeah, my wife is out there too- but she's across the country in California, so there's not much I can do about her. We need to check the news and see if there's anything on there about this. You can help her more by looking for a TV in this place."

If someone brings a flagpole over, I'll break it in half and shove it through both sides of the door handles. Then I'll tip the podium and wedge it under the door handles as well.

HellFencer
2006-08-23, 03:33 PM
Through the combined efforts of Jack and Jeff, the podium is securely wedged in front of the door, keeping it shut. Tom and Ed then both agree to go outside, however, there is now a podium neatly holding the door shut, disallowing access. This leaves a dillema; two want to stay, two want to leave...


((I'm posting a map of this place in the OOC thread))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-23, 04:01 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack coughs*

I know a little something about enginges and vehicles. I might be able to get something running, if It's not one of the new jobs all done up by computers. Anyway, I say we get out of here and find somewhere with some firepower.

Logain
2006-08-23, 04:55 PM
"Are you kidding me? You did see the giant invisible evil thing following us, right? Knocking down telephone poles and all that? It apparently didn't break down the doors, because I was able to hold them, but I don't want to go back out there. If we could find a TV or something, and figure out what's going on, that would be better."

Jeff's actions, like his words, hope to prevent the others from leaving. He moves between them and the podium/door, hoping to convince them to stay.

GazMania
2006-08-23, 05:08 PM
Tom

"Look, mate, I know exactly what your saying. But look at it another way, the 'evil invisible thing' managed to knock down them there lamp-posts. Jack 'ere managed to move that podium with just a bit of 'elp fromyou. You really think that something strong enough to knock down a lamp-post 'aint big enough to knock open that there door? Well I dont wanna wait around and fight out.. and im sure if you think about it you don't either.."

He starts to move to the door before saying "anyways, you heard the lad, his girl needs 'elp.."

Logain
2006-08-23, 07:03 PM
Jeff will put his hands up, gesturing for them to slow down.

"Yeah, but if she's in trouble, police are already on thier way- they're probably on thier way here too, and we're not going to make things better by stealing a car and driving cross town."

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-23, 07:37 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack laughs at Jeff's comment*

Police? oh, I doubt it. Something is going wrong in a lot of places, I think. Did you hear our friend's cell phone conversation? something's going wrong with his girl, too. I'd bet the crap's hitting the fan all over the city. The police have bigger butts to save than ours, friend. In the end, it's always just you and your friends against whatever's out there. And like our big friend here said.. anything that can knock down lamposts just because they're in the way is gonna have no problem with this door. We need some place a lot safer, hopefully involving a lot of steel.

HellFencer
2006-08-23, 07:55 PM
As the three of you are going back and forth about leaving or not leaving, Ed stands up and says "Alright look, I don't know what's going on, nor do I pretend to, but my girlfriend is out there and needs my help! And DAMMIT I'm going out there! Now move!" He clicks his phone shut as he moves towards Jeff, and slides it into his pocket. He tries to move past Jeff and tug on the podium to unblock the door.

The sound of a door unlocking and opening is heard over by the bathroom as the woman and her daughter both walk out. Its obvious they've both been crying, as the woman's mascara has run and the girl's eyes are red and slightly puffy. They walk over, hand in hand, to Jack. The woman says, Thank you so much. Without you, I don't know what would've... she says, almost crying once more. She stops herself, swallows, and continues talking. "I don't even know your name...I'm Melissa, and this is Suzie."

GazMania
2006-08-24, 04:45 PM
Tom

"Where we goin' then? Where does ya girlfriend live kid, that call sounded urgent, like we need to go there soon. Right?..."

Sounded damn urgent thats what it sounded...

"And where ever we goin to.. lets not take the bus.."

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-24, 05:47 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack nods in agreement with the big boxer*

Tom's right. We need to get going soon. Something's really, really not right.. it's like being hunted, all over again.

Logain
2006-08-24, 07:10 PM
Jeff shakes his head, all too aware that he's losing the argument against leaving. He backs up and rests against the podium, his body still between those who want to leave and the doorway.

"Yeah, but what happens to these people when you leave? Are you planning to take Suzie along with you? What about the old lady? What about this unconscious kid? They'll slow you down, and if this thing really is as fearsome as you think, then you're leaving them for dead if you leave."

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-24, 11:20 PM
*Jack gives the woman and her daughter a small smile*

Name's Jack Goodwell, ma'am. And i'm just pleased to help

*He then turns back to Jeff*

we'll all go together. Splitting up is just about the dumbest thing to do in this sort of situation. Now look, son, i'm telling you, we do NOT want to wait around in herel like rats in a trap for whatever is out there. We need to get somewhere that's really safe. This place doesn't look like it would stand up to a good windstorm, let alone whatever *it* was.

UnrealTiger
2006-08-25, 05:44 AM
Eyeing Jeff critically Ed makes a step towards him, slight anger showing in his eyes. As he does so he points his finger to Jeff's chest sharply "Like he said they can come with us, if anything is out there than they're better off not stuck in this place. Once we go get my girlfriend and her flatmate we can find somewhere better to go if something's happening." Turning his head towards Tom he answers him "Sally and *insert DM chosen name here* are only about two miles from here, only thirty minutes walking and alot less whichever way I end up going."

HellFencer
2006-08-25, 07:39 AM
Melissa smiles, saying "Jack..." under her breath. Just as she starts to say something else, the old woman starts moaning loudly. She moans as if being woken up, but soon the moaning turns into wailing and eventually screaming.

Before anyone has a chance to walk up to the woman, the window near the bathroom, just over the large table, is shattered, sending glass into the building. Instantly, an overwhelming feeling of dread overcomes you as the utter sense of evil emanates just in front of you all. The old woman screams and howls, trying to move, but it unable, whether out of fear or pain you can't tell.

And when the woman's screaming reaches its appex, you feel the evil overtake her and writhe inside of her before disappearing.

The entire ordeal is over in a few seconds, giving no one time to intervene...how they'd intervene is still in the air though...

The woman slowly looks up at you all, licking her lips. She takes her time watching each of you in turn. Once satisfied with that, she stands up as if there were nothing wrong with her. "Alright, dearies, let's get out of this hellhole, alright?" she says sweetly.

GazMania
2006-08-25, 09:25 AM
Tom

Tom was walking over to the door when the old woman began her display. What the hells hapnin' to her.. he thinks and begins to walk over to her when the window shatters, stopping him in his tracks. He brings his arms up over his face to protect himself from the glass when the feeling washes over him.

"Oh dear god.. What the hell is that!?"

He starts to feel ill when the horrible feeling washes past him and into the old woman. He felt a mixed feeling of happiness, that it was gone from him, and dread for the old woman at the same time. The dread part increases when the woman stands up and speaks to them all.

Something aint right 'ere.. but what is it?.. "Mam.. I suggest you tell us what the hell just happened to you.." he says while reaching under his jacket to get his gun. Its okay Tom.. if something is in her.. then you just have to get it out..

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-25, 01:03 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack snarls and reaches inside his coat, pulling out the heavy Ruger revolver and taking aim at the old woman*

All right, whatever the hell you are. I hope you have a damn good explaination for whatever just happened. Something is seriously FUBAR here, and I want some @!#$@$% answers right now.

Logain
2006-08-25, 03:25 PM
Jeff will throw his hands up, "Whoa! Whoa! Easy there, Jumpy McShoot-a-lot! She's just an old lady!"

That being said, I'll move over to her and ask her in a low voice how she's doing- she was talking about her son earlier, so I'll try and figure out if she's the same person as before.
"Are you alright? I know you've just been through something traumatic, but we need to make sure you're okay. Can you remember your name? Or where you were headed?"

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-25, 04:31 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack growls, his nerves dancing the razor's edge as he keeps his aim trained on the old lady, trying to keep her in his sights despite Jeff's interference*

Jeff, if I were Catholic, I would be callin' what we just saw a demonic possession. Now i'm not, but we all just felt something... evil. Now I reccomend you step away from the woman, because every instinct in my head is screaming at me to shoot right NOW. I'm being polite, on account of the unusual circumstances, but you do not want to be over there right now. Something is very, very wrong here.

Logain
2006-08-25, 08:19 PM
Between the crazy guy who wants to kill people like the world is suddenly lawless, and the crazy old lady who is probably posessed, that doesn't sound like bad advice.

Jeff moves out of the way, back toward the blockaded door.

HellFencer
2006-08-26, 06:02 PM
The old woman, as kind and sweet as they get, slowly walks towards Jeff as she says, "Well of course I know my name, silly goose. I'm Barbara, and I was on my way to visit my son Patrick. I don't remember how I got here, but I must say I am quite ready to leave. Are we going soon?" She holds a sweet smile the entire time, and seems to be telling the truth.

UnrealTiger
2006-08-27, 06:54 PM
Hairs all over his body standing on end from the feeling of evil flowing throughout the building before Ed looks briefly at the old lady with eyes opened wide with shock and fear at what might have happened to her. Is something like this why Sal was so frightened? I have to get there now then...right now.

After a moment's hesitation looking at the old lady a bit longer Ed turns his attention to the door, quickly moving towards it and starting to drag the podium out of the doorway.

GazMania
2006-08-28, 06:23 AM
Tom

Tom's hand comes back out from under his jacker, but not holding the gun. Jack there has this under control.. I'll go help the lad with the door..

This thought in mind he steps over to the podium Ed is trying to tip and puts his bulk behind it and tries to help him with it.

((Sorry about not posting earlier, but the only think I could think of would have been to shoot the old woman, and im sure we don't want that ::) ))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-28, 02:31 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack grits his teeth, sweat beading on his brow as he considers his options. His mind is in that strange, cold place that it always went during combat, the strange, buried lizard-brain underneath all the fleshy mammalian feelings, the part of the brain cooly calculating the optimal chances for survival and how to achieve them*

I know I should just put a bullet in her head now.. but that wouldn't work, no. They would disapprove.. they don't believe, because they don't want to. Best to wait, I guess.. but if she makes one false move...

*Keeping the gun trained on the woman, Jack speaks in a calm, controlled voice*

All right, let's all get out of here.. ma'am. I want you to stay in front of me and not make any sudden moves. I don't like this one little bit.

Logain
2006-08-28, 05:35 PM
Jeff moves aside as the other guys push the podium out of the way. After they move around for a moment, he'll take the unconscious kid and drag him out of the doorway, freeing up more room.

His eyes go wide with shock at Jack's words. "Dude, I know we've been through some freaky stuff tonight, but you're threatening an old lady?" He steps between her and Jack, and puts a comforting arm around the old woman, and says "Here, have a seat over here, and we'll figure out some transportation," as he leads her to sit next to the unconscious teenager.

HellFencer
2006-08-28, 05:47 PM
The old lady doesn't even seem fazed by the gun pointed directly at her head, as she walks up close to the two men trying to heave the podium back up. In fact, she almost looks....happy. To Jack, there is a strange, slight grin on the edges of her mouth, and when he looks away for a second, or blinks, it seems as though her eyes stare directly at him, but when he looks at her, she is clearly watching the men pull the podium up.

At this point, the woman pulls her daughter behind her and steps back away from Jack. Her face is that of shock, and near disgust as she reaches the table at the side of the room. "What are you doing Jack!? Put the gun away! You were supposed to be an angel! But now I see that you were just a devil in desguise..." She makes a break for the double doors, slamming her shoulders into them. They fly open with ease, and a glimpse of a kitchen is seen before the doors swivel a few times before shutting all the way again.

[Ed and Tom, strength checks. Tom is aiding Ed's roll.]

Logain
2006-08-28, 05:56 PM
"Holy crap. That's not going to go well."

Jeff will bolt after them into the kitchen, trying to stop them from leaving.

GazMania
2006-08-28, 06:05 PM
Tom

Tom was busy straining at the podium to see the woman bolt out of the door, never mind caring about it. He was still aching from the bus accident earlier so couldn't put as much force into it than he usually would.

((Strength check to move podium (1d20+1=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=586009)))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-28, 06:44 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack mutters a curse under his breath, torn between running after the woman and child and keeping his eyes on the old woman. The decision is made easier when Jeff runs after her. Despite his youth, the kids seems to have a good head and a good heart. Jack continues to watch the old woman, sure that she's planning something, but not willing to make any fatal decisions based on a hunch alone, however poweful.*

UnrealTiger
2006-08-28, 07:18 PM
Heaving at the podium to make it move Ed thinks again of Sally and what trouble she may be in, his determination to get to her giving him newfound strength in getting this obstacle to his goal out of the way.

Strength Check:1d20+1=19 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=586062)

HellFencer
2006-08-28, 08:24 PM
Tom's muscles ache and scream at him to stop when he tries to pull the podium up, however, Ed has no problem yanking it up away from the door. For being a piece of wood, it sure was hard to move. As he pulls on it, it levels out, and then tips slightly the other way. A low scraping sound is heard before a small bang on the floor and several "clinking" sounds are heard. The podium rights itself, conveniently out of the way of the door.

On the other side, Jack sees a box of rifle ammo fall out of the podium and onto the floor. This sparks an idea in him; he remembers seeing an old rifle on the wall behind where the podium was. Whether he looks for it or not...

Sensing the fear coursing through Jack's veins, mixed with the strength of adrenaline, and the training of his past, the old woman slowly turns towards him and shuffles his direction. He walks closer and closer to him, moving up to him with the same nearly grinning mouth, though she looks as sweet as ever. She holds her purse in both hands against her chest. If Jack backs away, she continues to follow him.

As the woman gets closer to him, he levels the gun at her head, ready to fire directly into her face. His heart is pounding, yet there is a serene calm that takes him over. And yet...the woman walks close to the gun, and opens her mouth, then shuffles close so that the end of the gun is in her mouth. She clamps down on the gun with a tremendous strength, her lips stretching into an unnatural grin. Try as Jack might, something won't let him drop his gun, nor pull it away from the woman's intended path. He can hear the clink of her teeth on the cold steel...

In the kitchen, the younger woman runs to a door in the back and tries to push it open. The door doesn't budge, and her hand slips, letting her shoulder beat itself into the door. She let's out a yelp and the little girl looks up gently to her. "Mommy, are you alright?" The woman pushes herself off the door and start to unlock the deadbolts. By this point, Jeff is all the way up to her, though she doesn't see him.

Logain
2006-08-28, 08:29 PM
(to the woman) "Wait, wait- don't leave yet- it's not safe out there. And I'm sure he wouldn't shoot that old woman- we're just all so shook up from that accident that we're all acting a little crazy."

Jeff will put a hand on the door handle to keep her from opening it, but make no real effort to hold it closed.

HellFencer
2006-08-28, 08:34 PM
As the woman was not expecting someone behind her, she screams for holy fuggin' murder while she spins and swings at Jeff. She is screaming about Jesus protecting her, and banishing the demon spawn.

When she swings, however, she completely misses, and is thrown of balance, nearly falling over. She has shoved her daughter completely behind her.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-28, 08:40 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack shudders, looking into the woman's eyes.. he feels the desire to pull the trigger.. it would be so easy. He speaks in an eerily detached voice*

Tom.. I think you had best come restrain this woman before I have to do something she regrets. She seems to be a little off kilter, and from me, that's saying something.

Logain
2006-08-28, 08:44 PM
Seeing her panicked state, Jeff panics himself more than just a little bit; "Oh- Nononononononono! Calm down- I'm not here to hurt you, I'm trying to help! If you go out there, I'm afraid bad things will happen to you."

He focuses his attention on the mother, trying to calm her.

HellFencer
2006-08-28, 08:50 PM
The woman continues to scream and rave loudly, as she is clearly in a state of dire confusion. Eventually, she quiets down a little and begins to cry, slinking down along the door. She draws her knees up and holds them and her daughter close. "I just want to go home...I just want to go home...just..go ...home...just....home....."

In the front room, the old woman moves her jaw left and right, slightly twisting the gun in Jack's hand. He feels as if he has full control over himself, and feels as if something is telling him to pull the trigger...

What would be so wrong?....do it....pull the trigger...do it now...she's asking for it...she wants you to help her....help her.....help...her...do it....pull the trigger now....you are a savior...an angel in black clothes...a dark angel....pull the trigger...give her release....

Logain
2006-08-28, 08:57 PM
Jeff will crouch near the woman, and try to remember her name... Susan? No... that was the girl.

"Hey, I know- I want to go home too. My wife is there waiting for me. But we need to figure out what is going on, so we don't just walk into deeper trouble. Okay? Why don't we go sit down and figure out what we can do?"

She probably doesn't want to be touched, but Jeff will put a hand on her arm, and start to help her to her feet. Once she's starting to move up, he'll reach out an open hand to the little girl, and try to coax the two of them back into the main room.

GazMania
2006-08-29, 06:20 AM
Tom

"Oh.. that hurt.." Tom mumbled to himself after helping to heave the podium out of the way. He stands massaging his muscles when he hears his name and turns around to see the old woman apparently eating the gun.

"Ma'am.. I don't wanna hurt ya.. but you are outta ya mind.." He steps over to her and tries to grab her and pull her off of the gun, but his nerves were on edge from seeing her eating the gun and so he couldn't get a good a grip as he would of liked.

((Grapple check to pin the old woman (1d20+2=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=586888)))

((Never thought i'd have to make a roll like that again. Im also under the conclusion that invisible castle hates me))

Velvet Elvis
2006-08-29, 08:35 AM
It had been a bad night. A slim man in a long, rain-dampened leather coat had spent the last half-hour dodging falling lampposts that had been dogging his steps ever since his cab all but took a swan dive into the now rain-swollen St. Joseph River a few blocks back. The cabbie, an amiable fellow from India or maybe it was Pakistan, was spectacularly ejected straight through the windshield, arcing with a sickening grace out of sight into the roiling water that had risen menacingly since the rains began.

Being in the back seat which was compartmented away from the front with a plate of that protective acrylic that's expected to seperate crazy cabbies from crazy passengers, the lanky young man was simply slammed against the back of the bench seat and wedged into the footwell. The front of the vehicle was soundly wrapped around one of the support posts set at intervals along the sides of the short bridge the cab was traversing at the time of the accident. Fortunately, the angle of the impact and the thickness of the retaining wall was enough to keep the old converted chevy from fishtailing off the edge and into the drink.

Recovering fairly quickly, the slim man looked out the window, or what used to be a window--its chunks now strewn across the seat he'd been sitting on--and witnessed the ridiculous sight of lampposts warping then, as if thrown down, slamming into the pavement, or into whatever else happened to be in the wrong spot at the time.

A couple shots with a steel-tipped boot functioned well enough to pop open the slightly bent, but already ajar back seat, and the man leapt out onto the rain-slicked street. Slightly dazed from the impact but otherwise alert.

"What the HELL is going on!?"

As if in reply, another lamppost slammed down about thirty yards from where he stood, near one end of the bridge, its buzzing halogen bulb dying out as it shattered and was doused by the rainwater that splashed up as it hit the ground. The whole street beyond was dark now and as if from within its blackness a sense of dread washed over him in an almost palpable wave.

Confused, the man looked down the length of the bridge to the other side, the side he was headed toward before the crash. The lamps remained upright, and the street was lit, so he started to jog in that direction, not quite sure where he was going as this was a section of town he only occasionally traveled through. As long as it was away from the mayhem it was good enough.

Just as he was about to pass between one of the three pairs of concrete-jacketed lampposts that ran along the very edge of the bridge, next to the pedestrian sidewalk, the one to his left began to bend. And as it did, shards of water-darkened but still sparkly concrete began to shoot off in all directions. And also as it did, the crash survivor began to run like he'd never run before.

The somewhat slick soles of his boots--soles definitely not made for traction--slid several times along the sidewalk pavement, threatening to introduce his face to the concrete, but he managed to stay upright and moving forward as the remaining bridge lampposts began to snap and fall behind him.

He continued past the end of the bridge as fast as he could manage with any control, and ran straight down the block towards an intersection with still functioning lights. But there was no traffic. No one waiting at the red, nor passing through the green. Even at after 3am there should have been some traffic. But his preoccupied mind didn't register that detail. It also didn't immediately notice that beyond the intersection, the street was completely dark.

Reaching the crosswalk he ignored the red hand beneath the glowing yellow light that told him to stop and let the nonexistent cross-traffic pass by. Running across the street he didn't have to strain to hear the already familiar sound of lampposts once again crashing behind him, feeling each thud through his boots.

On the corner there stood a darkened 7-11. Seemingly out of place a wispy thought ran through the man's head, "...I thought those things stayed open forever...". Beyond it was a large open parking lot strewn with already toppled posts. The thudding behind him grew closer and his black-rimmed eyes darted east down what was a moment ago a fully lit street, but now was possessed by falling lampposts that were frantically making their way towards him like a bizarre opium-induced giant zipper, first one side, then another, inexorably closer.

To the west, the same was happening. The man's doused but still mostly erect mohawk wobbled as his head turned abruptly forward again and he began to sprint towards that open lot, thinking "...lamps are already down there, should be okay...". He had no time to rationalize anything else, and it was pretty much the only choice, anyway.

So he barreled past the closed doors and darkened windows of the 7-11, and around the eastern side which led into the heart of the large parking lot beyond it. He ran along one side, the hard soles of his boots oddly echoing as they clattered over the asphalt, and suddenly heard a woman's muffled screaming coming from around the back corner of the structure. This was the first human sound he'd heard since the cabbie had released his own scream a second before impact, and he was drawn to it, not so much out of concern for the screaming woman, but because it meant there was a way inside. It didn't occur to him then that the screaming was probably a bad sign.

The man skidded around the corner, the sweep of his long leather coat following a moment behind. He ran his hand along the damp whitewashed wall as he jogged towards a back door near a pair of large dumpsters. Though the crashing thuds were now in the distance and no longer at his heels, the stifling sense of dread hadn't lost its potency and it sparked an equally intense sense of urgency to get out of this rain, out of the night. He was more than determined to get inside where he could at least regroup, maybe find a phone.

The screaming from inside had stopped some moments ago, but he could see a sliver of light squeezing out beneath the improperly placed weatherstripping at the bottom of the metal braced door, and in that light the telltale breakup indicating someone moving around inside. And he thought he heard voices.

With adrenaline-charged passion, Cuthbert Thompson III, former member of the punk band PUS, grabbed the slick metal knob and with all his 120 some odd pounds backing it up twisted and pulled as hard as he could.

The door flew wide open, spilling light out into what was a nearly pitch dark, rainy night to illuminate a slim man tangled in a full-length, rain-slicked leather coat lying on his back a few feet from the now open door.

Still on his back, but with enough energy to wrack his whole body you hear anger, frustration...and fear rolled up into one word: "DAMMIT!"

Those inside see him begin to rise to his feet....

HellFencer
2006-08-29, 02:07 PM
As Tom walks to the woman, he can feel his still aching muscles pin prick in spots, telling him not to move so much. He tries to pull the woman, but manages only to look like a pushover, as the woman bats him away with her arms. Her face, however, maintains its deadly glare upon Jack.

In the kitchen, Jeff touches the woman's arm and tries to heft her up. She resists a bit, but eventually gives in, feeling completely drained. She slowly rises to her feet, but keeps Suzie out of Jeff's reach, smiling weakly at him. As they start to move away, the outside door swings wide open, revealing a man lying on his back now. The rain pours into the doorway. The woman screams a little, and ends up nearly leaping into Jeff's arms, while the little girl grabs onto his leg.

Logain
2006-08-29, 02:57 PM
Jeff will put one hand out, ready to cast one of the anchient chinese spells, if he needs it- in the back of his mind, he realizes that these things, whatever the hell they are, don't open doors- they shatter glass and break doors down, but they don't slip and fall when the door is unlocked and gives way.

Maybe this is just a normal guy- maybe he needs help too. Jeff pushes the woman and Suzie behind him, so if the guy does attack, Jeff can try to handle him.

GazMania
2006-08-29, 02:58 PM
Tom

"Damn my image didn't need that..." Tom mutters as he picks himself up form being knocked back.

"Make a fool of Tom will ya granny.." he says angrily as he walks back over to try again, every muscle telling him not to.

((Grapple check to pin the old woman, take 2! (1d20+1=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=587540)))

((I dont see this being too successful either..))

UnrealTiger
2006-08-29, 07:04 PM
Looking impatiently over at the old woman and then back towards the door Ed makes an angry grunting noise and then runs over towards Jack and the old lady grabbing her arm and trying to pull her away from Jack "I don't have time for this ****, let's get the other's and get the hell out of here. We don't exactly have time to waste right now, if you didn't hear Sally when I called her she's kind of desperate right now!"

Grapple Check:1d20+1=21 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=588073)

((Apparently Invisible Castle loves me GazMania ;D))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-30, 01:43 AM
(If he manages to get the old lady off his gun, Jack relaxes a bit, but not too much. He's stil lwatching her.)

Velvet Elvis
2006-08-30, 01:51 AM
Rising to one knee as he shifts the edge of his coat out from under his foot, the man looks towards the open door, quickly shielding his eyes with one ring-laden hand from the glare of the only light in the area. A grimace appears on his face as he peers into the bright light.

Two silhouettes stand in that light, one appearing to be a woman with a large misshapen leg and another a towering figure nearly as high as the door's lintel. For a moment, only the pelting rain can be heard, most loudly as it plinks against the closed metal tops of the nearby dumpsters.

From behind the shadow cast by his hand you hear the man speak while rising to his full height, his leather coat unfurling to hang just above his black, steel-tipped boots. "Hey, can I get in there!? I've been in an accident and something's been chasing me, I need to get in there and get to a phone! There's some freaky **** going on, man!" Despite the rain which muffles the volume of his voice, you can easily sense the urgency in his words.

HellFencer
2006-08-30, 07:18 AM
The old woman shoves Tom away yet again, though this time he feels an unnatural strength come from behind the push. She felt stronger than him. And yet, she's shorter, smaller, and more delicate. At least, that's how it looks.

Ed, however, has more luck. He grabs the lady around the shoulders, and eventually moves his arm around the front of her. He pulls hard and finally the woman gives way. The two stumble backwards several steps. In a moment, Ed feels something warm on his sleeve.

To Jack, this is a relief, as he doesn't have to shoot the lady in such close quarters. Except, when Ed pulls her away from the gun, she ends up having several of her teeth ripped not so cleanly from her face. In the wake of the pull, blood spurts out of her mouth, and sprays Jack. He sees her still h as a twisted grin that shouldn't be possible, as blood drips somewhat profusely from her mouth onto Ed's arm.

In the back of Jack's mind, he hears the voice return...

Why didn't you help me?..... you're worthless.... you can't do anything right... you're the reason your men died... a black angel with clipped wings... worthless...

Logain
2006-08-30, 12:53 PM
Uncertain, and hand still ready to cast the chinese spell, Jeff will wait for half a second and then say "Uh, sure... you can come in, but I don't even know if there's a phone in here."

He'll gently try and move the mother and Suzie behind him, and whisper to them ""Move toward the main room- if this guy is bad news I'll deal with him. You'll be safer with the others."

HellFencer
2006-08-30, 01:31 PM
Melissa takes her daughter and they both go out to the main room when a second later there is another scream. She puts her hand across Suzie's eyes when she sees the old woman bleeding from the mouth, now missing teeth.

The lights throughout the building that were on for whatever reason, suddenly flicker out, leaving everything encased in near black darkness. Everyone's nerves jump for a moment, seeing a crackle of lightning illuminate everything, then a loud rumble of thunder. The room shakes slightly due to the proximity of the bolt.

Logain
2006-08-30, 01:39 PM
Jeff grabs a penlight from his pocket, rolling it on and moving to find out what Suzie and the mother are screaming at now. The guy outside will have to deal with himself for the moment.

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-30, 03:59 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack clutches his head, stumbling back a little, breathing hard*

That's a lie! I did evertyhing I could! THERE WAS NOTHING MORE I COULD DO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

Velvet Elvis
2006-08-30, 04:10 PM
Relieved he wouldn't be required to either threaten his way in or hop into a dumpster if that failed, the leather-bound man reflexively says, "Cool."

His eyes finally adjusting, but one hand remaining up to shade them from the glare, he takes a step towards the doorway and in tandem, the man inside moves deeper inside. Seeing him whispering to what has resolved to be a womand and child, a warning shoots through his brain, defensive by nature and forced conditioning. Whispering means secrets and secrets all too often turn out to be a bad thing for him.

After only a few steps, the lights in the room ahead flash out, and Cuthbert stops dead in his tracks, half in and half out of the driving rain, the overhanging edge of the roof directly above his head. Under his breath he wonders, "What the hell are they up to?" Then a flash of lightning quickly followed by thunder pushes Cuthbert inside despite his misgivings. He didn't want to add lightning strike victim to his long resume of abuses.

One step inside the darkened room and a scream resounds throughout the darkness. A hand darts into one coat pocket, then another, a jangle of keys and a moment later a narrow beam of light* floats in mid air as Cuthbert nervously looks around the room.

...christ...i'm not sure this is getting any better...

Cuthbert yells, "Hey! Where the hell are you guys!?" Then in a far quieter voice, "Damn whackos everywhere I go."

His mini-flashlight is cast about the room in search of the doorway the others must have passed through. He leaves the outer door open, despite the rain, feeling more secure that there is a quick way out if being in here is less appealing than he'd hoped.

* - impromptu wealth check to see if I have a penlight of sorts on me (penlight=DC3, wealth=5 + -10 on this sort of check = -5 net on the 1d20 roll.) (1d20-5=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=589710)

Logain
2006-08-30, 04:57 PM
Glaring at the guy who came in from the rain behind him, he curtly shouts over his shoulder "Close the damn door behind you- we don't want whatever was chasing you to come in after us too.", and then moves into the main room to figure out what in the hell is going on.

GazMania
2006-08-30, 04:57 PM
Tom

Being pushed away by an old woman for the second time really angered Tom, but he got a little comfort through the realisation that she was strengthened by some strange powers.

He was angered even more by the fact that the kid could pull her away from the gun easily. "Just warmin up I was.." he mutters, more to reassure himself than anyone else in the room.

Seeing the woman pull her teeth out on the gun really creeped Tom out. "Damn that 'aint right!" he says as he backs away from the woman.

HellFencer
2006-08-30, 09:19 PM
The old woman begins cackling, quietly at first, then rising to a great and terrible laugh, breathing in as much air as she possibly can. The copious amounts of blood dribble down her neck and into her blouse, staining the bright wool into a vibrant red. She throws her head back in the laughter, nearly using her entire body. Again, everyone is suddenly uncomfortable around her, some already backing away.

Jack clutches at his temple, pleading with the voice to go away. But it doesn't. In fact, it taunts him more.

No.... we won't go.... you don't deserve it.... a dark angel.... a useless angel... even animals are more deserving.... You let those men die.... You wanted them to die.... you wanted to be the hero.... pitiful man.... you are nothing.... nothing.... nothing.................

The words "nothing" echo throughout his mind. He slowly begins to lose his grip on reality and his eyes begin to dart around the room. The walls suddenly feel as if they are closing in, threatening to crush him to a pulp if he doesn't do something. The darkness is not helping, as he can't see definitely how big the room is. And with the people crowding him, its only getting worse. The old woman leers at him with each flash of lightning.

Cuthbert can see the dimensions of the kitchen just fine, as it is a rather small room, and can easily follow Jeff out through the other door. However, on the other side, Melissa and her daughter have backed into a corner and are half panicking, half crying.

(Jack gains 1 madness point, and a mild phobia of enclosed spaces. Just mark the point somewhere on your sheet.)

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-30, 09:55 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack growls, rising to his feet. He feels the world drawing in to swallow him, engulfing him, send him crashing into darkness. But like any maddened beast, he refuses to go without a fight*

Stay the hell out of my head, bitch!

*Jack takes aim at the old woman and fires off a shot from his Ruger.. but something goes wrong, whether he becomes delusional or simply poor aim or mechanical failure with the gun*

Shooting the Hag (1d20+2=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=590210)

Shooting the Hag (Crit miss confirmation) (1d20+2=20) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=590215)

(I don't know whether or not you like to roll to confirm critical misses for extra bad effects. I've had DM's who do, so I went ahead and rolled. If you don't, ignore the second result)

UnrealTiger
2006-08-31, 01:35 AM
Ignore this post for it's information that was contained within was meaningless, meaningless I say! *fwoosh*



((Fwoosh sound may or may not have been previous post disappearing and this entry may or may not be valid for later entry))

Velvet Elvis
2006-08-31, 03:33 AM
Cuthbert yells back into the gloom, "Dude, whatever was chasing me was slamming streetlights into the ground, this door won't mean **** to it!" But, having said that he figures, what the hell, if these people freak, he can probably handle them easier than he can handle whatever's outside. He steps to the doorway and reaches out to grab the handle, but before pulling the door shut he casts his flashlight's narrow beam around outside.

If he sees nothing notable:

Seeing nothing more spooky than the bulky sidewall of a dumpster, he finally pulls the door shut. His head wobbles and his face contorts into an Elvisoid sneer as he silently mocks the man's demand. Once shut, in a voice barely above a whisper, "Okay, whackjob number one, the damn thing's closed." In a shout over his shoulder he's more diplomatic, "Okay, man, door's shut!"

Releasing the knob and turning again towards the inner doorway another hideous cackle rattles his ears. ...i don't think so... He quickly returns to the door, grabbing the knob and turning it to leave the door just a tiny bit ajar, not enough to open it to the night, but enough to keep the handle stud from slipping into the notch. If need be, he could kick it open on the run to escape this hellhouse within a hellhole he was so lucky to find.

HellFencer
2006-08-31, 01:38 PM
[Check the OOC thread for an updated map]

Cuthbert sticks his head out of the door, and looks around, seeing nothing but the occasional spark of electricity from a downed street lamp. As he reaches for the door knob, however, he feels the same evil staring at him from within the parking lot. He doens't know what or where it is, but knows it is watching him. Then, it moves as if to swallow him whole. His eyes go wide, and slam the door shut.

As the lock clicks into place, there is a loud thumping against the door, sending dents into place. This astounds Cuthbert, as it takes an awful lot of force to dent a steel door. He can visibly see dents coming through to his side of the door before it just stops, and is replaced by the sounds of the rain upon the roof, clinking off of everything.

A second later, as Jack fires the gun, Ed comes to the sudden realization that he too is in the path of the bullet. Only Ed can see the fear and desperation upon Jack's face, as the burst from the gun lights it for a moment. An instant later, there is a sharp pain in his chest, following a sudden jerk backwards. He stumbles several steps and tries to keep his balance.

Ed knows something is wrong, as his extremities become a little colder than the rest of his body, and he feels liquid enter his lung. In reaction, he starts to cough, and what exits is blood mixed with his breath.

To everyone else, all that is heard is a flash of light, followed by the sound of a gunshot. To those whom have never been around a gun, it is merely a loud pop. Then everyone can hear coughing, and the sound of liquid within that cough. More lightning illuminates Ed in slow motion, stumbling back. The thunder seems to accent the dire situation as it occurs, neatly framing everyone's reaction.

The old woman continues her cackle as Ed stumbles. She stops as he starts to cough up blood, and tilts her head back down to look at Jack. In the flashes of lightning coming from the window behind him, he can see that her face has transformed slightly, appearing warped and pale. There are extreme dark circles around her eyes which have turned milky white.

[Ed takes nine points of damage and needs to make a fort save. Please edit your post accordingly.]

GazMania
2006-08-31, 04:17 PM
Tom

"Ed!" Tom shouts as the the ligthning makes it apparent to Tom what the sound he had just heard was. "You all right kid?" he says, the shock of what had just happened forcing the dumbest question out of his mouth.

Aint no doctor.. not able to help him do nothin'... Only one way I can help.. This thought in mind Tom lunges at Jack, fury at what he had seen and pent up anger from all of the wierd crap they had suffered during the night pushing the pain of his muscles out of his mind and powering his attempt to pin Jack to the floor and to stop him before he injures anyone else.

((Grapple check to pin Jack (1d20+2=21) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=591386)))

((So.. Invisible Castle shows me some love when im attacking our own team.. Just great... ;D))

WhiteKnight777
2006-08-31, 05:24 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack drops the gun and goes limp as Tom grabs him, his eyes staring sightlesly as he withdraws within himself*

No...no... damnit, what the hell is wrong with me? what have I done.. I've failed, just like always.. no.. no...

UnrealTiger
2006-08-31, 08:35 PM
Edward 'Ed' Kaitler

Fortidude Save:1d20+2=14 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=592086) [Also Hitpoints are at -1]

Slowly stumbling even further backwards from the old lady Ed brings his hand up from his chest to in front of his face and see's from the lightning flashes that his hand which felt slick and wet in the darkness is bright red from where he just touched his chest.

It's...blood...it's...my...blood.....but.....why?

Gasping as another coughing fit enveloped his body Ed slowly rocked forwards and backwards on his teetering legs before bit by tiny agonizingly slow bit he fell backwards onto the floor of the room. With his vision going darker by the second he saw his phone had fallen out of his pocket as he fell and remembered where he was supposed to be going right now "Sally...I'm...sorry..."

Logain
2006-08-31, 09:21 PM
Jeff will bolt across the room, pushing the old lady out of his way, dropping his pen-light in the process. It's spins around on the ground, illuminating the room like a horrid game of spin the bottle, finally ending up on Jeff, as he lays Ed down on his back. Jeff rips his soaked and dirty shirt, and probes a finger deep in the wound, trying to figure out how bad it is.

He'll spend the next three rounds stabilizing Ed.
(Heal Check)
http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=592135

Or... maybe not.

He'll put his face close to Ed's and say "Dude, you're lucky- I think it broke one of your ribs, and even though you're coughing up blood, you're going to be okay. But we still need to get you to a hospital."

Velvet Elvis
2006-08-31, 11:35 PM
Gunshots, crazy cackling, ghosts at the door, and this damnable darkness. Cuthbert's mind races trying to figure out a rational course of action in an increasingly irrational situation.

...fusebox...sometimes they're in the back rooms of these sorts of buildings...this is a back room...maybe...come on...come on...

Again, forced to rely on what would ordinarily be a pathetic source of light but which now has become something of a lifeline to hang on to, ...where the hell's my maglite when I really need it... Cuthbert begins casting about the room, crisscrossing the walls at a height of about five feet, looking for an attached metal box or the telltale line indicating a recessed version.

...come on...come on...where the hell are ya...

spot check - (1d20+2=9) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=594505)

HellFencer
2006-09-01, 02:35 PM
Jeff attempts to remove the bullet from the wound, not realizing that sticking his finger into a sore could cause infection. However, at the choice between infection and death, one would assume it to be a viable option. Jeff is in luck, as his finger tip finds the chunk of lead, and is able to slowly pull it back out. He then tears off a strip of Ed's shirt and binds the wound with it. Futher attempts to stop the bleeding anymore, fail. All Jeff accomplishes, is getting himself stained all over his hands and the tops of his pant legs with Ed's deep red blood.

Tom manages, quite easily pins Jack to the floor, as Jack's entire body goes limp, and his face is an expression of partial shock and partial fear. The gun bounces out of his hand and lies next to them.

In the kitchen, Cuthbert frantically looks around for a cuircut breaker box, but is having trouble in the bad lighting. His eyes dart violently around the kitchen, but he doesn't find any recesses in the wall nor any telltale signs of a box.

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-03, 10:22 AM
*Jack continues to lay limp, his mind turned inward on itself, lost in his own small world of private misery and flashbacks*

UnrealTiger
2006-09-04, 06:36 AM
*Edward is completely unconcious, thank god for that too, otherwise that whole 'let's stick the finger in the bullet hole' dealy would have been a whole lot worse (w/hole!)*


((Yes this was just a poorly disguised bump really, I mean it's not like you needed me to tell you Ed was unconcious. Or did you!?!))

Logain
2006-09-04, 01:38 PM
With Ed bandaged up, and Jack whimpering in the corner with Tommy, Jeff is going to look around.

"What the hell happened in here?!?!"

(What is the old woman doing at this point? How about Suzie and her mom?)

HellFencer
2006-09-04, 01:49 PM
Melissa and Suzie are still frozen in the far corner of the room, staying far away from anyone that comes near to them. Melissa also has pulled the cross from her necklace out and is saying silent prayers.

The old woman, oddly enough, finishes cackling and stares down at Jack, even when Tom's body gets in between their line of vision. It appears as though she is wholly interested in him alone.

Logain
2006-09-05, 03:44 PM
Jeff will move over and kneel by the woman and her daughter, wiping his hands on his already-dirty jeans so he doesn't smear blood on them. (He doesn't know about the old lady, and the lights are still out)

He'll kneel in front of them, and in a voice as calm as he can manage, tell them "Don't worry- he's going to be okay. The bullet wasn't too deep, and it didn't hit anything that's going to kill him. We should still get him to a hospital, but he should be okay." He'll stop for a second here, as he can't remember the mother's name. He'll calmly look her in the eye, and ask "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name, but I'm Jeff. Are you doing alright?"

Still trying to remain calm, Jeff will look over at Tom- Jack has apparently lost it, and ask "We leave for a second and come back to a gunshot wound- what happened?"

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-05, 04:45 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack growls, trying to fight off the doubt in his own mind, slowly struggling out of the blackness that seems to envelope his world. He clenches his fists, and roars in defiance, pulling himself back to his knees and staring down the old woman, his eyes filled with terrible rage*

What.. the Hell.. are you?

*Jack coldly searches the floor for his gun, all the while staring at the woman*

Will check: (1d20=18) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=601046)

HellFencer
2006-09-05, 07:45 PM
Jack sits up slowly and calmly, though Tom would like to think otherwise, as he still tries to pin Jack to the floor. Jack's mind tries to warp around the situation, as the crazy old woman stares down at him with increasing intensity, and someone whom he thought was friendly. However, in the blatant insanity of it all, Jack finds the courage to stare the old woman down.

The woman looks down at Jeff with disdain in her eyes, speaking the prayers louder and louder as if to block out his words. She pulls the necklace completely off of her and holds the cross out to Jeff, as if it were a ward to stop him in his place. Suzie stares out at Jeff with worried eyes, long since devoid of all tears.

[OOC: Jack and Tom - opposed grapple checks, please. Also, a search check -2 from Jack.]

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-05, 08:14 PM
*Jack struggles with Tom's restraint, still fumbling for his gun*

Let me up Tom, I'll be all right. That *thing* did something to me, but I'm better now.

Grapple check vs. Tom (1d20+2=9) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=601284)

Searching for gun (1d20=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=601301) (-2 is included)

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-06, 06:22 AM
[OOC: Umm...I guess I didn't find what I was looking for, so...]

Cuthbert Thompson continues to search, having seen nothing on the wall with his all but useless flashlight beam being swallowed whole by the dark.

He moves carefully to the wall opposite the sink and begins feeling around with one hand while the flashlight beam erratically follows it along. ...if there is a fusebox, it'll most likely be on the back wall, out of the way...

In his search he'd all but forgotten the others that were already here when he arrived. He calls out over his shoulder, "Hey! Anyone know if there's a fusebox or something in here?"

Unaware of the bizarre drama playing out in the main room between flashes of lightning Cuthbert wonders, ...why aren't these morons helping me get the damn lights on?...

HellFencer
2006-09-06, 07:20 AM
[Search check at a +2 for Cuthbert.]

GazMania
2006-09-06, 10:32 AM
Tom

Tom feels Jack trying to push himself up. He tries to restrain him, but the momentary surge of strength he had gained for seeing Ed shot fails him and once again he feels as weak as a kitten. Rather than show this to Jack he instead stands and releases him.

"Right.. But you do anythin' like that again.." he leaves the threat hanging in the air, when he apparently realises than Jeff spoke to him too.

"I dunno Jeff... The old woman 'ere must a felt hungry.. took a bite outta Jack's gun. When Ed 'ere pulled her off she left a few too many teeth in the gun for my likin'.. Jack tried to put 'er down.. an he missed.."

At least.. I hope he missed..

((Grapple Check vs. Jack (1d20+2=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=602232)))

((Ah.. good to back old normal rolling.. At least I can keep my dignity with this roll..))

Logain
2006-09-06, 12:47 PM
"She bit the gun?"

Jeff turns around to say something to the old woman, and then hears Cuthbert's call from the kitchen. Suddenly remembering that guy he let in from the rain.

Leaving his flashlight on the ground, he'll move over to the closet, saying "Hey, let me check some places in here..."

Searching the closet for the fusebox or anything useful.
http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=602543 (10)

HellFencer
2006-09-06, 04:20 PM
As Jack's hand gropes the darkness, it is greeted with a cold metallic surface, ridged in places that are all too familiar to him. Without even thinking about it, his hand properly grips the gun as Tom stands back and let's him up. There is a wild calm across Jack's face, seen only in the flashes of the lightning.

In the closet by the front door, Jess finds a white and lime green windbreaker that has seen better days by far. In one of the corners, a rifle leans silently. In the frequent flashes of light, he can tell that it does not have the clip loaded. In the top of the closet, is an old looking black box. It is a flat black, suggesting non-metallic.

[Reminder: still need a search check +2 from the Skunk-man ;)]

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-06, 04:22 PM
Search check as requested:

(1d20+4=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=602864)

Includes my woeful Search skill (+2).

Logain
2006-09-06, 07:02 PM
Jeff will pull the old-looking black box down from the closet and open it on the floor. He'll leave the rifle in the closet, but make a mental note so he remembers where it is.

HellFencer
2006-09-06, 09:16 PM
Upon opening the black box, Jeff finds that inside are old photos of people standing in and around the building. Also there are various old awards piled along the bottom, including medals and simple ribbons. Of last note, there are four rifle bullets rolling around the bottom, and a small pendant on a silver chain in the shape of a magnifying glass.

With further inspection in the kitchen, Cuthbert's hand slides across a cold metallic spot on the wall. His fingers find a small pull tab, and upon opening the door, finds a panel of fuses. They are all set to the "on" position, however.

Logain
2006-09-07, 02:47 AM
Jeff will put the bullets in his pocket, thinking maybe they'll come in handy later. Once he's done, he'll call out "Hey dude- there's no fusebox out here. Any luck in there?" as he walks toward the kitchen. He's trying not to think about the old lady biting the gun, or any of that craziness, so he's keeping busy with other things.

(He'll also glance at the mother and Suzie again, checking on them)

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-08, 08:10 PM
The feel of the metal shoots a little thrill through Cuthbert as he realizes he's found what he was looking for. In a voice barely above a whisper and far too low for anyone else to hear over the sounds of rain drifting in from outside, "Oookay, now we're talking. Let's pop this mama open and have a look."

Grey eyes gaze into the starkly demarcated disk of bright light shining upon an array of switches. Seeing they're all flipped on, he peers more closely at the row of fuses themselves to see if they're all blown, expecting that to be the case. As he does so, he also glances inside the bottom and sides of the box housing to see if there are any replacement fuses lying about or taped to the side.

Hearing the man he saw leave the kitchen earlier calling out, Cuthbert replies without turning his head, his voice resonating in the metal housing. "Yeah, actually I found the box, but I think the fuses are all blown. Lookin' for some extras right now. Hey, you happen to have a penny on ya? Not sure I do, I don't normally carry change."

Cuthbert continues examining the contents of the box, then adds to the last question. "I don't suppose you've seen any candles or anything around? Can ya check the cupboards in here while I'm lookin' at this thing? Might be some in there."

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-08, 08:41 PM
*Jack's voice is steely as he looks intently at the old woman, raising his hand once more. He snarls at her as he pulls the trigger. This time, his aim is much better*

Go to back to hell, whatever you are.

Shooting the Hag again (1d20+2=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=607634)

Damage v Hag (2d6=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=607636)

Logain
2006-09-09, 12:40 PM
"HOly SPOON!"

I'll run, head down, grabbing Melissa and Suzie, and dragging them to the kitchen. That crazy bastard is shooting people?!?!?!?

I'll swear when I get through the door and realize that I left Ed in there, unconscious.

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-10, 07:04 PM
Hearing only another resounding gunshot from farther inside the building in response to his innocuous question about candles, the slim man with the floppy...and still wet...mohawk searches for the fuses as fast as possible.

...come on!...this is spooning ridiculous!...whackos inside...whatever the hell it is outside...i should'a stayed home...

HellFencer
2006-09-11, 11:27 AM
Cuthbert strains his eyes in the darkness, searching, now frantically, for extra fuses. He feels along the edges, looks at the door, even the counter nearby. He finds none. Upon further inspection, no fuses even appear to be blown out. Suddenly, there is a few more people clammering to get inside the kitchen. Cuthbert sees Jeff and the woman from before, with her daughter, all wideeyed at the shot that was just heard.

Another crackle of lightning strikes nearby, as the accompanying thunder is a mere second away, and the subsequent rumbling causes the building to shake violently. The pattering of the rain against the steel roof drones out most of the screams of Melissa and Suzie as Jeff drags them into the kitchen.

There is only cold hate and absolute resolve within Jack's eyes and voice, as he raises the gun and levels it at the woman's chest. He slowly, and calmly pulls the trigger, letting the gun jump in his hand as he is accustomed. The bullet flies from his gun, finding its home directly below the woman's collar bone. A small gout of blood finds its way onto the floor with a sickening sploot, and the woman teeters backwards a few steps, but keeps her eyes fixated on Jack, with a menacing grin, full of teeth. The woman coughs, seemingly gagging on her own blood, spitting forth dark red icor onto the carpet.

Tom watches in horror as Jack fires his gun yet again, though he is quite used to seeing blood in such quantities. He can see Ed start to stir.

Ed regains consciousness at this point, soon enough to see another bullet fly from Jack's gun. This time, however, he sees that the bullet is meant for the old hag of a woman, whom spews blood onto the ground near him, getting his shoes wet with red.

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-11, 11:54 AM
Jack

*Jack eyes the old woman with undisguised hate, keeping the gun leveled directly at her. If it looks like the first round won't finish her, he will fire again. His mind is icy calm as he regards her, eyes boring into hers*

Logain
2006-09-11, 12:29 PM
Jeff, not wanting to leave Ed behind unconscious (or leave his flashlight there), will push Suzie and Melissa into the kitchen and then move back into the room, shouting the chinese spell to cast Daze on Jack.

After he's been hit with that, Jeff will literally run across the room at full speed, grab Ed (conscious or not) and then throw him over his shoulder and start back.

GazMania
2006-09-11, 12:41 PM
Tom

"Ah man.. not again.." Tom mutters as he sees Jack fire his gun again. An after I gave him it back too... Tom sees Ed start to regain consciousness out of the corner of his eye and moves over to him, knowing that he could not help the woman, nor could he stop Jack from what he was now doing.

"You alright kid?" Tom says as he starts moving towards Ed.

((Sorry about the lack of posts over the last few days, my internet has been off))

UnrealTiger
2006-09-12, 07:13 AM
Watching the old woman fall to the floor in front of his feet with a calmness completely contrary to the horror he felt before Ed just slowly blinked for what seemed to be long minutes until a voice shocked him out of his passionless reverie.

"You alright kid?", the voice coming from a large man moving towards him That's that Tom person...

He coughed slightly then sharply drew in an agonizing breath as the pain from his bullet wound suddenly came back to him in full "Not too bad considering I just got shot I gu-" he said, getting abruptly cut off in the middle of his sentence by Jeff quickly hauling him up and taking him away.

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-12, 03:41 PM
Skunk

...figures... Once the worst case scenario is realized, Skunk finally gives in to failure. He slams the breaker box closed adding a lound metal-on-metal ring to the other noises bouncing around the room. "Dammit! Unless someone can find candles and matches or something, we better all get used to the dark, cuz it ain't the fuses, the power lines are down or we got blown transformers around here."

It suddenly occurs to Cuthbert that he should've known. All those, what were they, oh, street lamps that were falling like dominos behind him might explain the situation, just a little bit.

The flash of lightning and the almost immediate shock of thunder indicating this old building was probably right under the heart of the storm just about now compounds the sense of helplessness one gets from being in the dark. And then more gunshots.

Cuthbert screams in a voice not unlike that of a wounded hyena, "What the hell is going on in there!?"

Flashing around and simultaneously feeling for the cabinet doors, he starts popping them open one by one in an effort to find a measly candle. Just one, just friggin ONE! The sense of helplessness and frustration brings flashes of his home, burnt to cinders before his feet. The panorama of darkness acting like a movie screen to bring out all the suppressed details. The charred remains of his father that he fought so hard to forget. His blackened, shriveled hand seemingly reaching out for him. The melted frame that then only surrounded the ashes of his mother's favorite photo, of baby Cuthbert being held by his father, and his mother in her best Sunday dress standing over them both, everyone beaming smiles; a remnant of better days. The memories are coming too close. Cuthbert begins to slip, just a little.

Cabinet doors begin to slam back and forth as the voice of a man some in the room haven't even seen yet begins to scream and rail against the darkness.

"God dammit to hell! What the spoon is going in this spooning place? Spooning fuses, spooning candles, spooning gaddamn whackos everywhere! Lamp posts chasing me! What the spoon is up with THAT?!"

It was almost by instinct, it must have been by instinct because up til now Cuthbert had forgotten he was packing. He reaches into his coat, to a spot just below his left armpit and grabs the butt of his pistol so tightly he was able to yank it out of the holster despite the unwilling leather closure's formidable attempt to keep the two metal snaps shut.

Though it was likely no one could actually see him do it, Cuthbert backs off along the line of cabinets affixed to the outer wall and slides blindly into a corner near the stove.

His sharp, unnerving voice again slices through the void. "If no one's gonna try to get some spooning light in here, I'm gonna set the whole goddamn place on fire! And until we get some spooning light, stay the spoon away from me, all of you!"

Only Cuthbert's suddenly frayed mind knows just how easily he could make good on his threats. Or for that matter how easily he could be moved to pull the trigger over which hovers his dangerously twitching finger.

HellFencer
2006-09-12, 05:22 PM
Jeff darts out of the kitchen, reading off something in a strange, archaic sounding language, while running towards Ed's now slowly moving body. As he finishes the words and gestures, Jack feels an intrusion into his mind, similar to the voices before, but this is obviously weaker, and he shakes it off, blinking several times.

The old hag of a woman suddenly straightens up and she looks just like she did before any of this mess happened. She blinks confusedly, staring into Jack's face for some recognition. Tears well up in her eyes and she grabs at the spot on her dress where he had shot her. Blood wells up and stains down the front of the dress as if she hadn't been shot until just now. The flashes of lightning are like snapshots of a murder. The woman slowly staggers towards Jack calling out to him in a kind old voice, "Help me, son... please, I'm ok now, but I've been shot... please help me....help me... I know you can help....." The entire seen is enough to make Jack question his motives and rethink his plan.

Jeff manages to get an arm under and around Ed as he begins to speak. Tossing Ed over his shoulder, Jeff darts back to the kitchen, adrenaline pumping through him once more, keeping him strong and aware. He grabs the dropped flashlight on the way back, not wishing to be in complete darkness for much longer. The light offered sanctuary, no matter how little.

With the removal of Ed, this leaves Tom the only other person near Jack, besides the old woman, whom now looks to have returned to normal. He's probably wondering about his luck right about now...

In the kitchen, Skunk snaps into a seemingly violent rage of incoherence. He opens and slams shut cabinets looking for something. His eyes seem to attack the darkness, daring it to make his life any more difficult that it already is.

However, life has a funny way of responding to violence and insanity. It tends to respond with pure and simple logic and utter resolve. No matter how many times Skunk looks, he can't seem to find what he is looking for. And it drives him all the more crazy with anger.

Melissa and Suzie both scream as Skunk yells at the top of his lungs, and pulls his piece out. They have no idea where to go, because Jack is firing shots, and Skunk may just fire. They decide that the back door is the best option, running towards it. Suzie is pulled by her frantic mother, but she stares at Skunk, enraptured by his presence and outbreak. Time slows as she runs off, her face illuminated in pure white light from the storm. She stops as they throw the door open and stand out in the rain. The rain drops splash down onto Suzie's face, running down her cheek like tears. Still, she stares into Skunk's eyes, trying to find some rhyme or reason as to his pain and desperation. Eventually, the door slams shut in between them, cutting off their line of sight for who knows how long...

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-12, 08:12 PM
Jack

*Jack looks at the old woman confusedly.. what has he done? has he shot an innocent woman? no.. he knows what he saw.. nevertheless.. the thing.. it seems to be gone, right? He begins to cast about, looking for anything to bind the wound with*

Logain
2006-09-14, 12:22 AM
Moving into the room where Skunk is shouting at the darkness, Jeff doesn't realize that the guy is waving a gun around until the lightning flashes.

Seeing that, he freezes. He also notices that Melissa and Suzie aren't in the room anymore. He'll talk, half to himself, half to Ed, arm draped over his shoulder (rather than a fireman carry), "Sorry about that, buddy. Out of the frying pan and into the fire."

GazMania
2006-09-14, 10:58 AM
Tom

Smiling to himself as he realises Ed is okay, he carries on walking towards him when Jeff snatches him up and runs off with him. "Well blow me.." he mutters, "things 'ere just keep gettin' stranger an stranger..."

He was thinking of following them out when he heard the old woman speak again. Yet, this time it was different. Her voice was free of whatever menace had driven Jack to shoot her and was once again filled with the innocence of old age. "No.. Not someone else.." he says as he backs off into the back room, looking for Jeff.

"Jeff!" he shouts as he makes his way in there, "its happened again'.. the old woman needs ya help now..". This said he realises that the last thing he had told Jeff was that the woman was biting the gun, and he probably wouldn't be in the best mood to help her.

"She allright now.. there was somethin' wrong, but she seems better now.. Please, ya gotta do somethin'!" With this said he tries to take Ed off of Jeff, oblivious to the fact that Cuthbert was in the room.

Logain
2006-09-14, 06:58 PM
Jeff stays frozen, not sure what set off the stranger's burst of crazy, but not wanting to see if he was kidding about the gun.

As Tom comes in behind him, Jeff will whisper out of the corner of his mouth, Ed draped over his shoulder "Dude... We got problems."

Not sure if Cuthbert will freak out at anything, Jeff will lower Ed gently to the ground, and look over at Tom. "Dude, that lady and her little girl ran outside- can you try and find them or something while I try to help the old lady? I'm no medic, but I can try something."

GazMania
2006-09-15, 05:27 PM
Tom

We got problems... that don't sound too good. I dunno what problems he thinks we got.. but whatever it is, that woman probably be better inside..

Nodding his acknowledgement to Jeff, and thinking that Ed would be fine left where he is, Tom walks outside of the building and begins his search for the woman.

"Ma'am.. I know some damn strange stuff been hapnin' in that buildin' there.. But its all better now.. Things gonna be all right... Ya just need ta come in with me.. an we be all right..." He is not really sure which of them he was trying to convince, but none the less he carries on looking for the woman, though he seemed distracted in his search as he begins to realise he had left the relative safety of the building.

((Search check for woman and kid (1d20+1=6) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=619065)))

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-15, 10:45 PM
Skunk

Cuthbert sweats profusely in the envelope of his leather jacket, made all the more constricting by his position, stuffed in a corner, in the dark.

A flash of light illuminates a suddenly open doorway, within it a million heavy raindrops frozen in their tracks. And a child's face, her eyes staring innocently into his. She is unfairly calm as she stands in the suspended rain, in the light for an endless moment; he is jittery and confused, his nerves about to collapse in on themselves. But as that immeasurable moment drags on, he feels a calm washing over him, as if the little girl's gaze were cleansing his tattered soul. She stared forever, and he stared back, a jagged bolt of lighting somewhere out there in the night, hanging suspended in the sky. And hovering over it all, an utter, absolute silence.

Then it ended, the door slamming shut, the darkness slamming in right behind it. Voices in the room, incoherent to his ears. But this time, there was no frustration tearing at his mind, not yet. The calm he'd inherited belayed that. He relaxed his rigid muscles slightly and shrunk farther into the corner, his twitching finger now stilled and removed from the trigger. His inner demons appeared sated for now.

But on his lips, if anyone could read them in their own eternal instant of light, were the pleading words "don't go out there...don't go out there."

HellFencer
2006-09-16, 07:22 PM
In the poor lighting that flashes only every few moments, Jack can't find anything with which to bind the woman up with. Her eyes plead with him for help, her voice being lost to gurgling blood the dribbles out down her chin and across the flowery blouse. She reaches out for him desperately...

Tom exits the kitchen to be met with a torrential downpour of rain. To his eyes, the darkness is all coming, save for the bolts of lightning that strike down at the earth, as if punishment. He cannot locate the woman and child and he thinks that his words have fallen upon deaf ears, as the rain fills the air with its sound. It has become almost a sound of gray, mixed only with the sound of the thunder. There is a sudden feeling of thousands of eyes staring at him. He can sense teeth dripping with hunger, just waiting to rip him limb from limb.

The calm that overtakes Skunk is exaclty what he needed. However, he is startled once more as Tom launches himself outside the building. His hand jumps, but he maintains his grip. He sees a slightly more relaxed Jeff in front of him, thought the gun is keeping Jeff on edge.

Ed's body seems to get heavier and heavier the longer Jeff holds him on his shoulder. This angle is almost making the blood rush to Ed's head, causing him a dreadfully painful headache. The pounding is enough to keep out the cracking thunder outside, even.

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-17, 01:50 AM
Skunk

By now Cuthbert has sunk to the floor, wedged into the corner between a cold wall and a dimly warm stove, the unseen pilot light still flickering within. He flinches as a man appears briefly in the light of the latest flash, flinging open the door and running out into the night. ...crazy...all crazy.... His lip is curling, but he isn't aware. In the pitch blackness, his wrists resting upon his knees, he rocks the gun in his tired hands. Barrel up, barrel down, staring at the memory of its form within his mind's eye.

In tandem with the next burst of light, without lifting his head, his eyes flick upwards to the man he saw at first, in that same doorway. When the darkness returns, in a voice worlds away from the shrieking released earlier, he utters what to him is a purely rhetorical question. "He shouldn't be out there. You know that, right?"

Barrel up, barrel down....

GazMania
2006-09-17, 06:06 AM
Tom

Tom's search began firstly without any discovery, when his mind began to race ahead of his body. He pictured snarling mouths waiting in every doorway, clawed monstrositys standing shoulder to shoulder with winged beasts. The feeling of countless hungry eyes boring into his very soul filled him with dread and honed his nerves to a point where he just couldn't stand it any more. One large hand went into his jacket pocket, and it came out holding his gun.

"Ma'am!", his voice little more than a whimper, "it aint safe out 'ere ma'am.. Ya shouldn't be out here.."

Who shouldn't be out here Tom?.. You, or her.. Leave them, get back inside, bolt the doors! It doesn't matter about them, only two lives Tom, only two lives...

Raising his voice in an attempt to drown out the thought of leaving the woman and child here, Tom's next sentence is almost yelled at the top of his voice. "We need to get ya inside, both of ya! If you aint goin ta come in, least let me know ya still alive.." Gulping down his fears, and in the midst of it all forgetting that his phone has a torch option, Tom cautiousely descends into the darkness and furthers his search for the pair.

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-17, 10:12 PM
Jack Goodwell

*Jack's instincts are at war with his compassion. On one hand, he dearly wants to comfort the old woman.. on the other hand, what if what was inside her wasn't really gone? what if it was just hiding, playing possum? he wavers, looking deep into the old woman's eyes, teeth gritted*

Logain
2006-09-18, 08:39 PM
Jeff glances back to Ed on the floor against the wall behind him, not sure how to proceed. He had heard the second two gunshots, and if that whacko in the other room was still only two feet away from that old woman, she was as dead as he was crazy.

The punker, soaked to the bone and shouting at the darkness, that might be someone he could help.

Debating with himself for a moment, Jeff bites his lip with indecision.

UnrealTiger
2006-09-19, 12:39 AM
Ed

His head throbbing from the blood rushing to it started to send a continually pulsing wave of pain through his head, hitting him hard then moving away only for the pain to come back once again. Ugh..at least it help's distract from pain in my chest. Still can't believe that he did that to me even if it was an accident...

Suddenly with a thump he felt the pain in his head start to recede and stay away for longer, all this accomplished was to bring back feeling into his chest. Opening his eyes he saw that he was in a different room, a kitchen of some sort perhaps. With a flash of lightning the whole scene was revealed to him, Jeff standing by the door to the other room, the door outside open showing rain bucketing down. None of this registered compared to the strange man waving a gun around wildly, seemingly not even in control of himself. "Oh god not another one, this night is bad enough already."

HellFencer
2006-09-19, 01:09 PM
[OOC: Is Ed referring to Skunk as the crazy one waving the gun around? Because the door to the outside is shut; you can't see Tom with his gun out.]

There is building tension in the air between Jeff and Skunk, as neither one have confronted the other. The lightning flashes, revealing the cold swear upon each other's brows and perhaps an understanding can be decided upon, even in the silence.

Tom has no such luck, however, as the rain pours down on him in buckets, soaking him entirely. His clothes are all wet and clinging to him, and his gun is becoming rather slippery in his hands. However, he is concerned only for the wellfare of the woman and her child. The pounding rain drowns out his voice to the point where he would have to be nearly next to someone to hear them. He wanders aimlessly through the parking lot and gazes at the streets. Lights are missing from the scene for quite a ways down. He guesses maybe six blocks down or more, there is more lighting.

The old woman stumbles towards Jack eventually putting her arms on his to help her balance. She coughs blood once more, splashing it up onto Jack's shirt and down onto his shoes. The wound looks to be deepening and festering as he stands so close to her. the flashing light reveals her suffering and he feels the pull of the room once more. The walls begin to teeter inwards from all angles and the woman so close to him makes it seem as though he is being strangled. His breath comes in shorter stints now...

GazMania
2006-09-19, 02:19 PM
Tom

Tom trudges through the rain but sees no sign of the pair. He wanders around the buildings parking lot, little idea of where he was intending to go to, when he looks down the street. His eyes are drawn to the light like moths, simple ideas forming in his mind at the new discovery.

Light.. Means someone might be down there.. Or something.. But if something is down there, and the woman went there.. then I better get down ta there now..

He looks back at the way he came, trying to work out how long it would take him to get back. He thinks long and hard about it, and finally makes his mind up. Stepping heavily he trudges onward towards the source of light.

"They probably can work out where ah gone if they need me for nothing.. Least, I hope they could find me" he says to himself in the dark gloom as he makes his way towards the light.

Logain
2006-09-19, 03:07 PM
Jeff will chew his lip, seemingly coming to a decision- he slowly backs toward the door to the front room, the one with Jack and the old lady.

While he's slowly doing so, his voice is low and pleading with Skunk. "Calm down, man. I don't like this any more than you do, but we don't need anyone else shooting people. Ed here is already hurt, and I'm going to go in the other room and grab my flashlight. Don't panic, everything is going to be okay."

At this point, Jeff has his back to the door, and then he pushes through to the room beyond. He says a silent prayer that Tom is doing better than he is, and he pushes back into the front room.

Once he's in the front room, his thoughts will change, as he sees Jack holding the injured old lady, with her leaning on him.

All thoughts of grabbing the flashlight and running for it are eclipsed from his mind as he sees the injured old woman. She's probably gone, and somewhere deep in his mind he hears Tom telling him she was hurt, but he moves to the old woman, pulling her away from Jack and laying her out on the ground.

(Checking Wounds: Heal Check DC 15)
http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=626222 ( 8 )

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-19, 11:54 PM
Skunk

Skunk regards Jeff's shadowy form, as he rises to leave the room. His words coincide with a general calming and together they seem to bring his more conscious mind to the surface.

"Dude, don't worry about it, this hardly ever happens anymore. I'm good. Can't say the same for the other guy out there. He's up spoon creek, for sure. And the lady and her kid? No chance."

He lets things sit as they are after that, still holding his gun lightly in his hands, more as a tangible anchor to focus on than with any remaining threat to use it.

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-21, 08:27 AM
Jack

*Jack breathes deeply, trying to get ahold of himself, peering closely at the old woman in his arms. Is she really what she seems? or something else..*

Lady.. is that really you? or.. the other one?

HellFencer
2006-09-21, 03:04 PM
In the flashes of lightning, Jack's eyes behold the women's face look as though it is withering with the sands of time. In each flash, she looks another five years older; her lips draw up, the skin grows taught and her eyes sink into her skull, revealing deep pits of black, with tiny red gleams in the middle. Her grubby hands run up along Jack's to reach his throat, as she tries to strangle him and pull herself closer. Her gritty voice gurgles out, "Give us a kiss..."

Tom stumbles through the rain as it pelts him with a fury unseen in many years. Its as if the sky is trying to drown out everything bad with the world. The chill of the October air finds its way under his skin and he begins to shiver at the loss of precious warmth. The lights are still quite a ways down the street, but it appears as if the area he is around has lost power, leaving everything else in tact.

Ed's headache slowly slips away into the night as he rests upright against the wall. The pain in his chest is still prevalent, as it takes all he has to stay awake. The air is hot and stuffy as there is more and more movement inside the small building. When Jeff leaves, the doors shutting bring with them a cold breeze from the broken window in the main room.

As Jeff walks into the main room, he approaches the old woman and Jack. After a moment, however, he sees the woman change and begin srangling the life from Jack. And he thinks she said something about a kiss. He's not quite sure, but Jack looks like he might be in trouble again...

[Jack, its grappling time.
Tom, do you head east or west? Lights are in both directions, but about six blocks away each way.]

Logain
2006-09-21, 06:24 PM
I'll totally pull her old ass off of him- I don't want him shooting her, but I don't want her crazy posessed ass killing him either.

(Grapple Check is D20 + BAB + Str, right?)
Invisible Castle: http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=630794
(It's a 4, so I'm probably not grappling much of anything. Although an old lady with three gunshot wounds shouldn't have the strength to push me off, so she just started to convince me she really is posessed.)

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-22, 07:53 PM
Outside the frequent crashes of thunder, the kitchen is almost quiet and it spurs Skunk into motion again, like a bat sensing the onset of dusk.

Rising to his feet, he holsters his pistol carefully, but leaves the snap enclosure open. Just in case.

In a voice intended for an empty room, Skunk considers what to do. "Hmm...well, might as well try this again."

Moving to the nearest bank of cabinets, he flips his mini-flashlight back into his hand and shines it ahead in an effort to reorient himself. He chooses a lower cabinet to start with as he remembers his mother always telling him to put the judiciously used holiday candles back in a box under the sink. Could be there's something universal about that.

He shines the narrow beam into the now open cupboard. For a brief moment the image of a slavering beast staring back at him from within that deeper darkness invades his brain, but it fades quickly. A good sign for Skunk. After his occasional anxiety attacks he tends to have hallucinations that play out, sometimes for minutes. His friend, Jojo, who fancies himself some sort of eastern mystic *** pop-pyschologist had been treating him, after a fashion, for a year or so. Once a week he'd visit his one room apartment on the east side where he'd sit on a clear plastic blow-up chair and drink cheap chardonnay while allowing him to massage his brain. He'd claimed those "trailing visions" as he called them, would diminish as long as Skunk kept up the weekly therapy. Since Jojo wasn't charging, it seemed his diagnoses were sincere, if possibly entirely off the mark. Either that or he was more crazy than Skunk. In any event, those "trailing visions" did seem to be lingering less and less ever since last March. At least one thing was improving.

In an open whisper Skunk begins a chant specially designed to lure candles from dark cupboards. "Come here little candle, come to old Skunkman, you know you want to, you want to, want to. You love the way I burn you, and then snuff you out. You want to, you want to, want to. My little candle baby...." Hardly a question remains as to why Skunk never convinced anyone to let him handle the lyrics. Not fathoming the lameness of the words, he continues the ancient coaxing ritual.

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-22, 09:12 PM
Jack

*Jack's eyes go cold as he brings the gun up to the withered old woman's mouth, placing the barrel directly in her mouth, ***** an eyebrow, and in a deadpan voice says:*

Kiss this.

*And pulls the trigger*

HellFencer
2006-09-25, 06:57 PM
Skunk searches through the cupboards one by one, in a much more calm state. This allows a much more thorough attempt at finding anything, were there anything to be found. However, the cupboards are bare at the moment, looking to be unused in quite some time, as there is a fine layer of dust along the tops of the shelves.

As Jeff creeps through the darkness, he can hear the throaty sounds of death coming from the struggle between the lady and Jack. He attempt to pull the woman off, but she seems to possess a strength that her meager body should not be capable of. In this same instant, a bolt of lightning illuminates the woman's face and makes Jack's a silhouette, holding up a gun. The gun slides effortlessly into the woman's mouth as the trigger is pulled back. The hammer slams down, exploding a slug from the barrel through the back of the woman's neck.

As blood sprays forth in copious amounts all over Jack, the bullet continues to travel and lodges itself into Jeff's chest, just under the collar bone. There is an instant of fear, panic and heroics all bundled into one as Jeff realizes he is hit. In Jack's point of view, he didn't see Jeff standing behind the woman until he had already pulled the trigger. Jeff stumbles back away from the woman, clawing at the searing heat and pain from the wound.

Logain
2006-09-25, 11:35 PM
Jeff falls backward at the gunshot, clawing at the wound and writhing in pain."OH SPOON ME!"

Landing hard on his back, Jeff will shake for a little bit... and then descend into darkness. His last thoughts are of his wife, and his words are a whispered.. "No, I need to get to her... I need to save her..."

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-26, 01:18 AM
Skunk

Were it not for the thunder and the incessant rain pounding away at every external surface, Skunk could be heard ticking off one cupboard after another, each being relegated to the "Nope, nothing here" category.

As the last shelf mocks his final attempts to find something as annoyingly mundane as a candle, he feels his anger and frustration begin to rise again. But this time, it is instantly derailed by yet another gunshot, one followed by a somewhat familiar voice cursing in pain.

His frustration is now, oddly, replaced by a sense of simple curiosity. In words more mouthed than spoken, he resolves at least one thing. "A'right, that's enough of this spoon."

Following the pitiful beam of his mini-flashlight and once again drawing his pistol, Skunk moves along the wall to the opening that leads into what he gauges is the main room. He knows this is probably not such a good idea, but the whole evening's stress has overcome some of his natural sense of caution. One doesn't trot into a darkened room where gunshots have been fired, especially not while shining a flashlight to give away one's location. One doesn't do that. At least not when one's entire wits are about them.

Upon reaching the doorway, Skunk leans around the jamb just a bit, just enough to shine his tiny light into the relatively cavernous room. Into the pitch blackness he offers a defensively placating question: "Everyone alright in there?"

HellFencer
2006-09-27, 08:53 AM
With Jeff's body no longer supporting the woman, she falls to the ground growling and screeching in pain. She too claws at her own wounds, but succeeds only in tearing the flesh that used to be her cheeks. There is an unholy aura about her and it becomes painfully obvious to everyone that she is no longer what she appeared to be. The skin melts off of her hands and arms, collecting in an oozing pile on the floor, as her bones begin to fall apart.

Sickly pale blood gurgles up into her mouth, depositing equal amounts out the back of her neck, as out her tatterted cheeks. Her entire body begins to twitch violently, scattering finger bones around on the floor, and eventually dislodging the bones lefts in her arm up to the elbow. Through the gurgling blood, those need her can whisper the words, "We're coming for you." After she speaks, she loses any movement and lies still.

Logain
2006-09-27, 12:58 PM
Jeff's legs twitch... he's either dead or having a horrible dream.

WhiteKnight777
2006-09-28, 12:15 AM
*For a moment, Jack is satisfied when he sees the woman bleeding green. He was right! but then he sees Jeff.. on the ground.. dying.. NO! Jack rushes over to him, tearing off a piece of his shirt and attempting to bind the wound...*

UnrealTiger
2006-09-28, 08:33 AM
Leaning against the wall Ed is slowly slipping back into the comforting darkness of unconciousness against the pain and confusion of what had been happening in the last few minutes when his dazed reverie was interrupted by a sound he'd grown to know all to well in those few minutes - a gunshot ringing through the building.

Grimacing against the pain rising in his chest Ed slapped off the welcoming embrace of unconciousness tugging in his mind and rose unsteadily to his feet, bracing himself against the wall as he did so. Clasping his left hand over his chest wound as he did Ed started moving towards the door, noticing as he made his slow way over an arm holding a small flashlight shining into the room. Making his way over he stumbled near the door and reached out with his free hand, grabbing Skunk's shoulder to steady himself and wheezes out to him "What's happened in there, I heard a shot come from the room."

HellFencer
2006-09-28, 10:11 AM
As Skunk peers out into the darkness trying to see the source of the gunshot. His tiny beam of light pierces the darkness like a bullet rending flesh. As he sweeps the light across the room, he sees the sounds of the gurgling gore as his light illuminates the woman's body. The mere sight of her is enough to turn his stomach, and he fights to keep down his last meal. In his pain, he sees an older man rush over to Jeff and try to treat a wound. However, the sight of the woman clawing at her own flesh has preoccupied his mind.

In Jack's desperation, he runs to Jeff and looks the wound over. Jack feels for a pulse to make sure there is someone here to still save. He fumbles for a moment but does manage to feel a somewhat weak beating beneath the skin. He tears off a strip of cloth that more or less ruins his shirt as it pulls along a seam, but he applies it to the wound regardless. After a few moments of screwing with the cloth, he has succeeded only in soaking it with blood, and not stopping the bleeding in the least.

Outside, amongst the rain, Tom hears some sort of loud thud. Then again a few seconds later. It gets louder as her approaches the wreckage of the bus and cars. In a flash of light, he sees a person trying to get out of a vehicle near the front of the line of cars that bus had hit earlier. The woman happens to look up and see Tom staring back at her. A crack of thunder breaks the monotony of the rain as it is unnervingly loud. The pounding rain on the roof of the car is deafening from inside.

The door is jammed on the driver's side, and completely blocked on the other by a car. The woman appears to be struggling to get out. The two stare at each other for a moment, not knowing if they can trust the other...

[Skunk-man: fort save please.]

GazMania
2006-09-28, 12:20 PM
Tom

"Damn wet out here.." Tom grumbles to himself as he trudges through the rain. He starts to get bored and begins to think he will not find the woman, or the child. It was around here that he heard the thudding sound of rain water slamming onto the metallic wreckage which seemed all too familiar.

"Oh no.. Not this place again.. Not where it all started..." Tom looks around hurridley, attempting to spot any falling lamp posts or monstrous beings waiting in the dark. What he did see however was a trapped person inside the car.

Tom rushed over to the car she was trapped inside and spotted the jarred door she was banging against. Without much thought for if she was actually a human Tom pocketed his gun and grabbed onto the car's door. Powerful muscles bunched together and strained, anxiety to help the woman fueling his strength as he wrenched at the door to free her.

(( Strength Check to open car door (1d20+1=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=643809) ))

HellFencer
2006-09-28, 04:49 PM
In the cold wet rain, Tom grips onto the slick metal door handle and pulls as hard as he can. His hands cramp from the cold and the tight area, but the door comes flying open. Tom not expecting quite the give it had, he slips and tries to maintain his balance. Tom is granted a view of a head full of red hair, kept up neatly, despite the accident, and brillant green eyes amidst the dark and harsh scenery.

Inside the car, Jane sees a man running up to the door and grab onto it without even a pause. He seems almost heroic, if it wasn't for the throbbing pain in her head due to smacking into the window in the crash, and the fact that he gets off balance when the door flings wide. The cold air is a shock to the relatively warm interior of her car. The chill sends a shiver down her spine, and let's her know that the world if definitely real, no longer the dream she was having.

[Tom: Balance check, please. Jane: please describe anything relevant, such as clothing, etc.]

GazMania
2006-09-29, 05:01 PM
Tom

Tom did not expect to be able to open the door, and the fact that he succeded in wrenching it open suprised him. He started to slip backwards, turning his feet sideways as he did so in an attempt to steady himself before arching his body over to brace himself if he did fall.

((Balance Check (1d20+1=13) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=646445) ))

Twilight
2006-09-29, 05:16 PM
The young woman gasps as the cold air pushes all of the warmth outside of the vehicle. She shivers and stares in awe and fright at the strong man that just tore her car door open. She pauses briefly looking somewhat stunned.

Without the streetlights and the reflected illumination of an entire city, it is difficult to make out colors. It almost comes as a shock to the retinas when the car's reading light comes on. The sight that greets Tom's sore eyes is a study in loveliness.

Brown leather shoes and khaki pants are all that are visible beyond the neatly cut jacket that emphasizes Jane's trim waist. It is her face that draws the eye however, she is Galatea come to life. A halo of golden red light crowns her head.

This is without a doubt the kind of girl that makes women clutch the arms of their boyfriends in a quintessential gesture of possession. Yet her grace is effortless and there is none of that hyper sexualized energy that usually crackles around young women of this day and age.

Jane practically jumps out of the car in her haste remove that caged feeling that had been preying upon her mind since she opened her eyes into the pitch dark that was the street.

“Thank you! I felt as though I would never get out…”

She shivers again but this time it is the pressing and oppressive memory of the unlit vehicle that shakes her to the core.

((Is anyone green? I'll change it if the color has been previously claimed. :) ))

Velvet Elvis
2006-09-30, 12:15 AM
Skunk

That last meal seems to have a mind of its own, and with the things going on tonight, it may very well be the case.

It twists and turns inside him, pushing in all directions to escape. Skunk, like most humans, automatically fights against the sensation, but the usual ridiculous odds against resisting that seemingly primal urge continue on course.

Were there enough light to see, it would have been a technicolor nightmare come true. Projectile and copious to an unnatural extent, it spews forth in heaving gouts to splatter across the floor, an equally sickening sound accompanying it.

Skunk doubles over as the heaves continue even though the fuel is mostly exhausted. The sound of weak retching interrupted periodically by coughing and deep gasping continues in the darkness, yet another precious memory to add to the collection.

Somehow through it all, Skunk has kept a death grip on his pistol, though his worthless little flashlight has dropped to the floor. It bounces a few times in a direction away from the unsavory puddle as if it too had a mind of its own, spinning its narrow beam uselessly into the darkness.

As if to justify the gun in his hand, a brief thought flits through his brain that perhaps using it on his own head might take away the overwhelming nausea....

HellFencer
2006-10-02, 12:09 AM
As Tom's mighty grip upon the car door is unwavering, he feels the ground under his shoes give way just as easily. He is granted the vision of a gorgoeus woman with red flowing hair before he lands right on his ass. The embarassment and irony are not lost in the rain...

Inside, as Jack holds Jeff's still body, Jack hears the kitchen doors open and an immediate retching, followed by dry heaving. It is enough to unnerve anyone, were there not an old woman clawing at her face a few feet away.

WhiteKnight777
2006-10-02, 02:00 AM
*Jack sighs, looking down at the body of the young man.. he checks for a pulse on last time, then gently closes his eyes.. another dead man in another battle. Another nameless battle. And for what purpose? who knows. Damnit all.

Shaking his head, Jack slowly gets up and begins to work his way to the kitchen*

(All this assuming there is no pulse, of course.)

GazMania
2006-10-02, 12:50 PM
Tom

"Ouch.." Tom mubles to himself as he gets up from his elegant fall. He may have freed the woman, but was at a loss of what to do next. What was it he was always told to do when meeting someone new? Introduce himself was it?...

"Ello, the names Tom. I aint sure, but I thinks it was us who crashed into you.. Sorry bout that, but, least I found ya and could help.." Now mumbling his words and speaking incohearently, Tom decides that talking about something other than the near death experience she just had might be a good plan.

Clearing his throat he says "not seen a woman and kid have ya? Whole reason I come down 'ere was to find em.. No good 'em runnin off alone.. Well, im gonna go look for 'em, ya can tag along if you want.." He then smiles at the woman and begins to carry on in the direction he was already going in.

Twilight
2006-10-02, 08:18 PM
Jane looks more concerned than anything when Tom falls down.

"I'm Jane." She half-smiles. "Thanks again...um..."

She looks around at the twisted metal poles that used to be streetlights.

"Wait up!"

She grabs her bag and keys and runs to catch up.

"I didn't see anyone come this way. Say...Do you have any idea about what happened? I mean...Are we suddenly at war? Shouldn't we find shelter from the bombs or something?"

GazMania
2006-10-03, 02:24 PM
Tom

"Jane... 'Ello Jane, and don't mention it...

Tom thinks to himself when Jane mentions war. War?... Well, I guess that is an idea.. Dunno how no terrorists could do none of that freaky crap back there..

"I don't think we at war lady, though you would think so bein' with the people I was with... Ya should watch out, theres some freaky stuff been hapnin' today.. Very freaky stuff.. Anyway, I am a looking for this woman, and her kid, like I said earlier.. Not seen them have ya?"

Twilight
2006-10-03, 03:15 PM
Jane shakes her head indicating a negative.

"No, no one...until you came along.

What do you mean? Are people in a state of panic? What IS going on?"

Velvet Elvis
2006-10-03, 10:22 PM
Skunk

After a short time, the threats in his stomach dwindle to just the occasional, and he is able to stifle them. Rising again to his feet, Skunk takes some tentative steps towards his little flashlight, avoiding the direction of his known but unseen disgorgement.

Though he can see the beam splaying across the floor, it is difficult to judge the distance. It appears nearby, but a step or two in that direction seems to bring him no closer. The bile in his throat, in his mouth, eats away at his teeth and lips forcing him to swallow dryly a few times. Then he hears a very strange sound in the darkness, a sound that he realizes he's been hearing all along but which was too disassociated with his actions to pay attention to. It seems to be coming from somewhere deep in the room and it curdles his blood just a little, though he can't bring a solid image into his mind to explain it.

Mostly under his breath he asks the blackness before him, "What the hell is that?" Then he forms the question properly, "Hey, what's that weird noise? You hear it?"

The relative quiet as compared to only a few minutes ago seems deafening despite the drumming of the ceaseless rain.

GazMania
2006-10-04, 11:17 AM
Tom

"A state of panic? Ya could say that.. Of course, people are panicin', but its tha reason they panicin' that is the problem... Right.. maybe it will be better if i explain my day so far.."

"The day started with a nice bus ride, you can see the results of that ride back there. The lamp posts... now that was fun... Falling lamp posts chasin us down tha street before we broke into some shop. Us.. its me and tha people I was on the bus with. Those people was this kid Ed, who got shot, but I think he is okay. Theres the guy who shot 'im, Jack, he 'aint so calm right now.. Jeff.. it was him who sent me out 'ere, he was alright when I left, think he was goin' ta see on the old woman. I dunno if she is alright, she was a wee bit mad in tha head.."

"When I say a wee bit mad, I mean a lot mad. She attacked us, well attacked Jack, and when she got pulled off she got a bullet in her chest. That was when ah came out here to look for the woman and her kid, Jeff was gonna 'elp the woman, I hope he could..."

"Then thats where I met you.. It be a pleasure to meet you, but ah really need to find that woman.. Nothing good out 'ere right now.. If ya don't mind, could ya please help me find 'em?" His account of events so far over, Tom starts to walk again, motioning for Jane to follow.

Twilight
2006-10-04, 02:08 PM
Jane hesitates. It isn't exactly her usual modus operandi to simply follow strange men along empty streets. Then again...if the other two choices were to stay alone some more or to go looking for others signs of life...

Jane inhales the cool night air in order to give herself some courage and catches up once again to Tom.

"The lamposts just bent on their own? Why did this woman you are seeking run away?"

WhiteKnight777
2006-10-04, 04:54 PM
*Feeling a slight pulse under his fingertips, Jack does everything he can to keep the young man's condition from worsening*

(Take a 20 on a heal check)

HellFencer
2006-10-04, 09:03 PM
Jack manages to bind the wound properly, and notes that the pulse is just as weak as before, but blood isn't oozing out all over the floor. He hears a new male voice in the darkness, in the direction of the earlier retching sounds. In the flashing lightning, he can see a quick outline of a young man... with a mohawk, looking for something on the ground. For a moment the eyes of Jack and Skunk meet, and there is a strange sort of stare down to see what the other's intentions are.

By this time, the old woman's body has dissolved into a sort of greenish, red icor and is soaking into the carpet, leaving a vicsous, bubbly material behind.

Outside, Tom and Jane trudge through the constant rain, as even now Jane's clothes are all but soaked through to the bone. The torrential downpour drones out most other sounds, leaving the two to stand close together to even hear the other's words.

GazMania
2006-10-05, 09:33 AM
Tom

Standing close to Jane and nearly shouting so he could be heard over the rain, Tom replies to her question. "Bent? They was fallin' over, and I got no clue what was makin' 'em do so. I 'aint too sure what made the woman run out either, I think she thought it would be safe out 'ere..."

WhiteKnight777
2006-10-06, 02:31 AM
Jack

*Jack sits back, nodding to the young punk.. wierd dress, but at times like this, who gives a rat's ass?*

Evening. Quite a night we're having.

Twilight
2006-10-06, 08:12 AM
The cold sinks into her bones and Jane begins to tremble a bit.

"..."

Jane begins to say something but is drowned out by the rain, she repeats it more loudly.

"Tom, how can we hope to find this woman if we can't even see ten steps in front of us? We don't have any light and we're going to get hypothermia if we stay out here. How long have you been searching for this woman? And how far in one direction?

You said that she was with a child...I doubt that they would have stayed out in this rain for very long. They must have found shelter and we should do the same.

We're going to catch our death out here. We need to get indoors sooner than later."

Velvet Elvis
2006-10-06, 12:49 PM
Skunk

In one split-second flash of light, just like in one of those horror flicks, Skunk sees in dull colors a puddle of disgusting greenish goop in one spot, a puddle of chunky orange goop in another spot, his little flashlight lying steps away and a man hunched next to another that is quite a bit more bloody than any healthy man should be.

Subdivided within that split-second, the hunched man turns and reclines, then casually speaks to him. Lights out! Well, if you don't count the pitiful dribble of his errant flashlight.

Skunk fails to answer the man immediately, and instead takes two careful steps towards his little crackerjack toy, trying to avoid any obstacles his eyes might have registered but which his brain has yet to process. At least that little beacon helps him orient a bit better now that the lightning's provided the whole dreary scene for his mind's eye to work with.

"Yeah, just wonderful. What happened to that guy? I heard the shots, he take one or two?"

His civility now taking a backseat, he again launches into a bit of a snit, "Dammit man, how about just telling me what the hell's been going on in here?! Ever since I stepped through that back door, this place has been jumpin' like a dog's ass in a bucket of fleas!"

Skunk blinks in the darkness as he tries to figure out where the hell he picked up an old backwater simile like that.

WhiteKnight777
2006-10-06, 02:31 PM
Jack

*Jack runs his fingers through his hair, not minding the mess, sighing a bit*

That's a damn good question. We were on a bus, and we crashed.. we got out of there, but wierd **** started happening all over the place.. it was like something was coming at us.. lightposts falling down for no reason. We ran in here, but the old woman that was with us, something happened to her... it was like she was.. possessed.. Long story short, I ended up shooting her. What's left is that pile of goop over there, so I guess that goes to show there was something badly wrong with her.. this guy, well, he was on the other side of the woman, and the bullet went through her and into him.. poor kid.. he's alive, and he's not bleeding out anymore, but he needs some medical help.

Velvet Elvis
2006-10-06, 08:48 PM
Skunk

...finally, something rational...heh, you should talk, dude...

At the mention of falling lightposts, Skunk's adrenaline begins to flow. "Lightposts? They fall at you, like they were chasin' you? Same **** happened to me! Crossin' the river at the bridge, just everything went funky all at once. Cabbie rammed into the bridge retainer and flew out the window, lampposts began to slam all over behind me, until I ran over here and saw the light under the back door."

Once he recaptures his flashlight, he switches it off, not knowing now how close the tiny battery was to conking out. Then he steps over to the wall and begins feeling his way toward the sound of the man's voice. Anyone here not shooting or screaming was more inviting than hanging out in the middle of the darkness all alone.

"Umm...so that goop is some old lady? I should be thinking you're a total whacko right about now, but I'm not all that surprised."

Sensing he's near the two men, he flips on his mini-flash and catches sight of the speaker, then moving the beam down to the gunshot victim.

"Oh man. Wish I could help, y'know? I'm not, like, good with that sort of thing. Had medics in military school, but I wasn't one of 'em."

While Skunk doesn't exactly harbor the sort of compassion of an average social-worker, his history has given him some, at least for an apparently innocent victim. That seems to spark an idea in his mind. "Hey, how about we move him into the kitchen and I try to get the oven on? Or at least the burners. He'll be better off if he's kept warm. Maybe we can find some blankets or something, too." He tries to ignore the previous fiasco of the candle search.

Twilight
2006-10-06, 10:57 PM
Jane hesitates to move any further when no answer if forthcoming from her companion.

"...Tom?"

GazMania
2006-10-07, 08:00 AM
Tom

Tom's mouth opens and closes a few times, as if he was speaking, yet no sound was coming out. After a while, when Jane had again said his name, he stopped and sighed. "You're right.. There is no hope.. Well, we better get inside somewhere.."

Lost in his thoughts and now silent, Tom looks around for a place to shelter in. It okay Tom, ya saved one person.. Maybe the woman will be ok, and if she okay, the kid is okay...

HellFencer
2006-10-07, 04:45 PM
As the two stand outside in the cold, hard rain, Tom begins to shiver, an obvious sign that he's been out in the stuff too long. He is losing precious body heat, and the wet limbs that rub across each other are beginning to chafe. When Jane mentions sheltor, the first place that jumps to his mind is the American Legion building he had exited mere minutes ago.

UnrealTiger
2006-10-08, 05:55 AM
Ed

His hand clenching the frame of the doorway so tightly that his hand was already completely white from lack of bloodflow, Ed stands silently listening to Skunk and Jack talking to each other, swaying around slightly as though outside in a warm summer's breeze though it's obvious that only his grip on the doorway is keeping him from slumping to the ground. "Y'know it might have helped him if someone around here wasn't firing his gun at anything that moved in the room, eh Jack?" he spits out in a weak wavery voice filled with sarcasm.

Giving up his struggle to hold on to the doorway with a long sigh he backs up to one of the ovens behind him slowly and using it as a support sinks back down to the ground with his back to it. Taking his other hand back of his chest and the cloth strapped to it he tries to see how it looks, failing to get a good view from the sporadic lightning flashes.



Edit: Just noting the remembering to CTRL-C every time before you post is a life saver, there was a forum overload or something the first time I tried to post this and it would have been lost if I hadn't learnt that painful lesson before now ^_^

Velvet Elvis
2006-10-08, 02:29 PM
Skunk

[OOC: gonna step ahead a move before waiting on Jack to reply so I can get a post in between the server problems.]

Skunk hears another disembodied voice as it chastises the man he now knows as Jack. He's slowly piecing together what's been going on out in this room while he was in the kitchen.

"Hey, how many people are in here all together? I count you, me..." For a second he thought to say "and the other two guys you shot" but thought the sarcasm would be totally misplaced. "...and these other two guys. I remember the lady and her kid taking off out the back door and some other guy. Anyone else?"

Not letting the situation lie, he stands and says, "This is bull****, we have to have some light or this night's gonna be a helluva lot longer than it's been already. Have you searched this room thoroughly? Any upper floor? Didn't notice when I ran over here. Any cabinets or closets or whatever? I can't imagine a building this size not having any kind of quake kit or something like that...would need one by law, anyway, since it's obviously a public building."

He picks a direction to head in, choosing to start to the left of the kitchen doorway he takes the first steps.

GazMania
2006-10-09, 12:12 PM
Tom

"Ya know what Jane?.. I got a great place we can go, where I came from. Its safe enough in there.. and at the least its warm.." A clear direction of where they could go in his mind, Tom turns around and begins to walk back to the building he had just come from.

HellFencer
2006-10-09, 12:22 PM
As Skunk stumbles in the darkness, a quick flash of lightning, following by terrible rumbling alerts him to the wall he is coming close to. He is not able to pick up an details, as the flash is there for but a moment.

In the same flash, Ed can see a punker type walking slowly through the building parallel to the kitchen. The most notable feature is, of course, the large semi floppy mohawk upon his head. To Ed's best guess, he looks fairly harmless.

WhiteKnight777
2006-10-09, 09:19 PM
Jack

*Jack nods in agreement, looking down at the young man*

Good idea.. only thing is, I dunno whether or not it's safe to move him...

*Jack shoots a venemous glare at Ed*

Mmm.. right. I should have let whatver that *Thing* was run around and tear us all to shreds. Good plan.

Velvet Elvis
2006-10-10, 08:05 AM
Skunk

"Hmmm...yeah, you might be right. Where'd he get hit?"

Skunk continues his trek along the wall, using his mini-flash to provide some guidance.

The last stroke of lightning finally revealed why the rain seemed so loud and the cold so chill in this room: a window directly ahead of him was broken.

Beneath the window he sees a desk, its surface appearing not just damp but sopping wet from all the splashing drops that have bounced in over the sill. There appear to be papers and other documents on top, but they're entirely soaked and probably illegible by now.

"Hey, anyone have time yet to rifle through these desk drawers?"

Skunk steps toward the desk with a plan to have a closer look.

Twilight
2006-10-10, 11:21 AM
Jane's light frown goes unseen in the gloom that permeates this damp evening.

She speaks up so as to be heard.

"Ok, lead on."

HellFencer
2006-10-10, 03:41 PM
Tom and Jane soon reach the front door of a simple building that has a sign out front reading "American Legion, local 303". To Tom's best recollection, the front door was a viable entry, as the podium had been moved. As they near the door, they can both feel the water inside their shoes, feeling as through their feet are swimming in the stuff. Through one of the windows, they see a tiny light beaming around the room seemingly at random.

When Skunk approaches the table just below the broken window, he sees that there are no drawers beneath the simple table. As he has guessed, all the documents have had their ink run profusely, and it is impossible to read what they might have once said. The carpet makes a squishy sound that reminds him of the sound of the puke hitting the carpet.

Twilight
2006-10-10, 10:46 PM
Jane hurries to the door and knocks.

GazMania
2006-10-11, 04:48 PM
Tom

Tom follow Jane over to the door. He mutters something along the lines of "don't bother.." as he sees her knocking and reaches out to open the door himself.

HellFencer
2006-10-11, 06:31 PM
Jane's knock, while audible to those inside, is lost among the two outside, as the rain drowns out all sounds. Tom, knowing better, walks up and turns the knob. The door slides open quite easily, as it had been broken open the first time they came in. To those inside, the front door swings open and the sound of the pounding rain fills the tiny building.

Twilight
2006-10-11, 09:22 PM
Jane lets Tom take the lead into the building. He did mention gun toting nuts at some point earlier...

Velvet Elvis
2006-10-11, 10:51 PM
Skunk

Seeing no drawers Skunk wonders about this place, "Hmm...this place seems awfully empty, y'know? This an American Legion joint, right? Supposa be a place where a lot of people come and do whatever it is they do, so should be some kind of junk around that gets used a lot."

Not really expecting answers to his essentially idle rhetoric, he continues tracing a path along the walls, no to the left of the table, if for no other reason that to keep himself busy and maybe dig up something useful.

*KNOCK*KNOCK*

Skunk jerks his head in the direction of the sound, but the general darkness obscures the actual source. After all, he'd been in the place for how long now? And he still hasn't seen hardly any of it.

The sound of someone unbolting and opening the door leads to the vague silhouettes of two new people standing out in the rain.

"...hmm...more whackos prolly..."

He returns to his search, but continues to glance toward the newcomers just to keep an eye on things.

GazMania
2006-10-12, 03:08 PM
Tom

Seeing Jane wait for him to take the lead, Tom enters the building which had become all too familiar to him. "I'm back Jeff!" he calls into the darkness, "and I brought someone with me.. Jeff?.." With this he begins to look for Jeff so he could tell him off his failure, but also off his un-suspected success.