(IC) An Unceasing Hunger [Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf]

[Metastachydium]

Carine's not even sure if Jim's actually trying to oblige and respond or not; all she knows is that he sounds horrible. She feels cold and numb and her eyes begin to water. Don't you ****ing die on me, Jim. she whines, her voice growing oddly nasal. She pulls even closer, wrapping her slender left arm around Jim's neck, trying to raise his head somewhat (it usually helps when her nose congests; it must help with Jim's breathing as well, in some way) just as she runs her right palm all over his chest, looking for an injury or whatever that's more concrete than what she sees and hears. Something that can be fixed. Anything I can do? Pull you away? Get something soft? J-just tell me. S-speak to me, Jim!

Spoiler: Carine

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Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (not equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze, a powerful feeling of dread

[MaltholLoth]

As Carine brings her arm around his neck his chest twists sending a wave of pain and he let's out a a cry. It may be his body wanting to avoid the pain, or the touch of Carine reminding him she was there but her voice reaches him. He looks at her through his watery eyes and smiles. "You made it, you're OK!." then winces as he tries to move. "My... Chest.. . Eurgh.. The stone caught me good. Just, mmm help me up.. Uhh... Oh snnn I think I can't be your crutch for a while I'm afraid".

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[7LayerDipstick]

Chelsea pokes her head into the open door and looks around. The exhibit room is decently sized and separated into two parts. About a quarter of the room is divided by a low counter, and this area is where the door leads. It seems to be part information desk and part office if the stacks of papers under the counter and old desktop computer are any indication. The opposite side of the counter accentuates how neat and orderly the office space still is because the exhibits are in a state of complete disarray. It appears as though every item that was being used to showcase the wonders of nature and wasn't bolted down has been shoved haphazardly against the door into the lodge. Everything from display cases to branches and stones from the two formerly sealed environments against the wall to Chelsea's left that presumably held some form of native wildlife but are now empty save for the pine needles that cover the floor of the enclosures. The floor is almost completely clear of anything but some broken glass from a display case.
If she were to hide, she would be hidden from the door she entered on the opposite side of the counter, and there seems to be some space between the wall and the makeshift barricade. As well, if she took a bit of time, she might be able to move some of the stacks of paper to create a space where she could huddle, hidden behind what would hopefully look like a ridiculously sized collection of informative pamphlets.
Chelsea can still hear the hanging man's panicked shouting through the employee door, but the volume has decreased to the point where she cannot make out any words and can only recognize that they are words of some kind. Whatever he's saying now is lost to her and may very well be only for his ears, or perhaps Shia's as well. She certainly hasn't heard any other noises from the other side of the door since the hanging man's pleading cries.

Carine does what she can to aid the newly injured Jim. Her searching hand can find no sign of external injury on his torso, be it a clear gash of some kind or an area of clothing soaked with blood. Whatever damage he sustained must not have broken skin, at least based on her admittedly amateur search.
Jim's most significant pain is where the stone struck him, and that pain is enhanced anytime Carine's hand passes over the wounded area. Aside from that, he is vaguely aware of the abrasions and aches on his arms and legs that were undoubtedly a result of being thrown across the ground. Otherwise, Jim can feel no other pains, and his limbs don't seem to be noticeably impaired by the damage they sustained.
Just behind the two, the boulder continues to swing, the motion seeming slower than when it was a threat. Now it is merely an oddity swinging across the path, and, though it was only a few moments ago, there doesn't seem to be any sort of follow-up, no secondary trap or trapmaker coming to see the results of the invention, at least so far.

[MaltholLoth]

With the help of Carine and a nearby tree, Jim stands up. Pained breaths and restrained sobs still present, he looks at the floor. "We eee should probably go oooh. Off the track... A hhhh bit"

[Metastachydium]

Still huffing from helping Jim get back into a more healthily vertical position, Carine bends down again with a couple more pained hisses to pick up her trusty spade. **** this whole ****ing ****. she mumbles in a tone that should sound irate but really doesn't. The ****'s wrong with you, Jim? That was stupid, stupid, so damn ****ing stupid I can't believe it. Should have let it smack me. Not like I'm good for much. Now we're both as good as crips and it's a ****ing trap and he'll be back any minute. How's that sound? Fun? she goes on as she limps back beside the man. She stops, very suddenly and slaps herself on the forehead, before laying a gentle hand on Jim's upper arm. Right. Just… Don't answer. You better not talk much. Sounds like it hurts and I kind of don't want that. she says softly, her hand sliding down along his arm and clutching his. Let's get offroad. That promises an arduous trek, but Carine does her best to block out the thought. They have enough to worry about even beyond that.

Spoiler: Carine

Show

Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze, a powerful feeling of dread

[MaltholLoth]

Wipes his face, gives a long blink at Carine and a deep breath he regrets as soon as he starts it. Squatting down to get the knife, he stands and dutifully follows her off track.
A quiet mumble comes from him which you may not fully hear "I couldn't have done that"

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[WindStruck]

Well crap. At first glance, this didn't really look like an ideal place to be. Being on one side of the counter or the other was a toss up, but it still wasn't really hiding. All the stuff from the displays was pushed against the other door too for some reason, so there went her cover. And then there was broken glass on the floor...

This wasn't going to work, Chelsea thought. So she stopped peaking and went back to the hallway, still leaving the door ajar as it was, and quickly trotted down the hallway to hopefully find a more promising doorway.

Spoiler: Chelsea

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Blood Tokens: 5
items: bikini
-excellent swimmer
-fairly dirty

[7LayerDipstick]

Chelsea makes her way down the hallway toward the two remaining doors. Once she's a short way away, she can read the labels. The one on the right reads "Warden's Office", while the door on the left reads "Storage". That left door is also open just enough to peer inside, and, while the lights inside are off, there is enough light slipping through the crack that Chelsea can see several stacks of boxes piled up, some sort of small all-terrain-vehicle, and what looks like an overhead door on the far wall.
As she is looking through that sliver of space into the storage room, she suddenly hears the sound of a door slamming open, reverberating down the hallway. Turning toward the sound, she can see him, Shia LaBeouf. He seems a bit worse for wear from when he nearly uncovered her in the woods. He still has the bandages about his ribs, though they look torn and tattered now. As well, he has a vertical line of a wound on his side that has soaked the entire left leg of his pants and stained his shoe red with blood, and a small river of red tracing down the right side of his face from within his hair, which has become matted with congealed blood.
"... bleeding, that's impossible..."
Shia glares at Chelsea for a brief moment before he raises a finger and, without changing expression and barely opening his mouth, lets out that same howl she heard from the cabins. Finger still raised and howl still bellowing from within him, he begins to stride purposefully toward Chelsea. If he continues this pace, it won't be but a few seconds before Shia is upon her.

Out in the woods, Jim and Carine, now reduced to providing only moral support to each other's damaged bodies, trek off-road in the direction of the lodge and luckily make decent time. The duo only requires a single slight detour onto a walking trail, and it doesn't take long before the two can properly make out the structure through the trees as well as the burning wreckage of some sort of vehicle that is the source of the black smoke billowing up into the trees.
It isn't but a few moments after finally catching sight of their destination that the pair can hear a muffled but powerful howl coming from within the lodge, instantly recognizable as the same howl they had heard before. Whatever is happening, Shia is inside that lodge, and something has his attention.

[WindStruck]

The storage room looked really promising. As Chelsea peered inside, she thought she could probably even remove something from a box and hide in the empty box. But then the door behind her slammed open and Shia came striding in.

****!

There was no hiding now. The mad man howled at her and began approaching with his menacing grin. Chelsea nearly choked on her own spit as she just barely managed to stifle a scream. If only she had just a few more seconds....

Since the storage room idea was probably just a dead end death sentence, Chelsea in her panic quickly tried to open the door to the warden's office.

Spoiler: Chelsea

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Blood Tokens: 5
items: bikini
-excellent swimmer
-fairly dirty
-about to be eaten!

[Metastachydium]

The howl brings back memories, and not quite those of the pleasant sort. Not long after she's first heard it, Carine lost a good portion of a calf to an apparently preternatural, anthropophagous weirdo. She nervously reaches out to grab a good hold of her absolute favourite crutch, only to remember he was recently forced into retirement. As she pulls her hand back, twisting instinctively, her stupid body shifts her weight over to her bad leg in an attempt to preserve her balance. The flash of sharp pain takes care of the rest, and Carine finds herself hitting the ground with a yelp like a sack of potatoes right behind Jim.

He ****ing beat us to it. she comments, rolling onto her back, not sure she's keen on the idea of getting up for now. If life gives one a cold hard floor to rest on, one might as well take that break, after all.

Spoiler: Carine

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Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze, a strange apathy

[MaltholLoth]

Jim grimaces at the howl up ahead, now dots are connected and he knows what it means... They're walking towards him. He who had been hit twice by a spade, knifed and a couple of other injuries presumably under those bandages, not forgetting a couple of wonky fingers. Bleurgh! He'll have to try and forget about those fingers. Now where were his thoughts.. Oh yer.. How could he...

At this point, he heard a scuffle of noise followed by Carine's yelp. He turns around. "Ouch... What happened? Are you OK? Was there another trap? Ahh... Hmm yes" Jim replies guessing at what happened. He reaches out and felt the stretch twinge his injured ribs. Better not do that, he instead crouches down on one knee. "C'mon, just because he's ahead of us doesn't mean... Err.. He's not still moving out we can't grab a lift from a passing car. I know I said no being a crutch, but if you're going to fall over, then I think it's probably better I suck it up and try".

He again, offers out his hand, but this time, keeps it there before her.

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[Metastachydium]

Carine's face takes on a vaguely pinkish hue which Jim might recognize as blushing and which otherwise mostly just serves to make her even dizzier, her blood being in a supply way too short to spend on displays of emotion. Sorry, Jim. she mumbles apologetically, tugging on the closest finger of the man's extended hand, but retracting hers immediately afterwards. No need to strain yourself. she adds, pulling herself into something more like a sitting position and bending her good leg in a strange angle in a bid to facilitate getting back up on her feet. I'm just clumsy as ****. That's nothing new, though.

She stands awkwardly with a little hiss of pain and rolls her shoulders. Man. Being down to one leg just sucks. she mutters under her breath. Now, that's prolly gonna sound weird coming from me, but could we just, like, sit tight and play wait-and-watch for a while? Maybe he'll go away. she petitions Jim, tilting her head. Meanwhile, you could help me get those damn needles out of my hair or something. she adds with a weak, but inviting smile.

[7LayerDipstick]

Luckily for Chelsea, the door to the office is unlocked, and it swings open freely. Inside, the room is dimly lit by a single desk lamp and a single, thin beam of sunlight making its way through the window on the back wall at an oblique angle. Chelsea notices that the window is large enough to climb through if she has time to open it. The room itself is a mess, though not the sort of mess resulting from a struggle if her brief moment to take in the space is correct. It is more of a general clutter from someone disorganized, especially the piles of loose papers scattered across the desk sitting in the middle of the room. Aside from the papers littering the desk, the desk lamp provides that slight illumination, and a computer monitor is seated near the edge of the desk. The wall with the window is bare save for a few framed images and documents, while the other three are lined entirely with chest-high filing cabinets, seemingly stuffed with more papers if the corners of pages sticking out of the closed drawers are any indication.
Shia, meanwhile, continues his advance, the howl getting louder as he gets closer to Chelsea, reaching the midway point of the hall as he passes the Janitorial door. His step doesn't seem to quicken, remaining that same purposeful stride he began with. His hand remains raised, a single finger pointed toward Chelsea in a clear indication of his goal.

Meanwhile, Jim and Carine continue to hear Shia's howl distantly as they discuss their course of action. As Carine rights herself, either a timer trips or a sensor activates as the external lights of the lodge trigger, bathing the parking lot, still mostly obscured, in the stark white glow of LED lighting. With that contrast, the pair realize that it has gotten much darker since they left the cabins. The night is fast encroaching now, leaving them only a few minutes before their eyesight is drastically impaired and simple navigation becomes a challenge.

[WindStruck]

Chelsea wastes no time running through the door. She prays there's a lock on it. If there is, she quickly flicks it. And just for good measure, since she has an idea of how freakishly strong this guy just might be, she decides to attempt to barricade the door a bit too. With fear and adrenaline pumping through her veins, she pushes and tips over a filing cabinet closest to the door, obstructing it. "Kyaa!"

Then she hurries her way toward the window, intent on opening it...

Spoiler: Chelsea

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Blood Tokens: 5
items: bikini
-excellent swimmer
-fairly dirty

[MaltholLoth]

"Sure thing" he says, how could he set no when he could no longer be the crutch for her. Moving behind Carine, he picks out some of the larger clumps of pine needles then runs his fingers gently through her hair from the bottom, upwards and out taking care not to pull more than he can help.

"Well that may have to do, it's getting a bit too dark to be sure. Your hair is lovely and soft by the way. As much as it pains me to say, I think we should get closer. Just to the edge of the light, so we can see the ground before us. I'd rather not fall foul off some other trap if possible. It would also make watching for him leaving easier." Jim rationalised aloud, doing a final comb through of her hair and then running his finger around her ears to tidy her her to her back. He notices some needles stuck to her trousers and brushed them off, including one on her bum. "Sorry, just some extra needles..." gives a couple more patting brushes to an already needle free derriere.

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[Metastachydium]

"Well that may have to do, it's getting a bit too dark to be sure. Your hair is lovely and soft by the way.

Carine's smile widens as she bathes herself in the light of the compliment. Hey, thanks. she mutters with a proud little chuckle. Reckon that's mostly the balsam's doing, though.

As much as it pains me to say, I think we should get closer. Just to the edge of the light, so we can see the ground before us. I'd rather not fall foul off some other trap if possible. It would also make watching for him leaving easier." Jim rationalised aloud, doing a final comb through of her hair and then running his finger around her ears to tidy her her to her back. He notices some needles stuck to her trousers and brushed them off, including one on her bum. "Sorry, just some extra needles..." gives a couple more patting brushes to an already needle free derriere.

Largely oblivious to Jim's ultimately harmless misconduct, Carine makes a cautious half-turn to gently stroke the man's arm in a manner equally cautious (what's she going to do if she somehow breaks him, after all?). 'Kay. she says with a sigh, pulling closer to Jim. I'm all sold. You've just did a great service to my hair. Would be a **** move not to reward that. We she relents. One proviso, though. No more playing the hero, mister. she mumbles into the man's shoulder, pinching his ear ever so lightly. Like you better in one piece.

Spoiler: Carine

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Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze, a noticable lack of gross resin in her hair

[MaltholLoth]

"And what kind of man would I be if your beau..." Jim starts, then stops, swallows, holds his look at her. "Nnnngg... well ok... sigh we... we both got each others back right. Nothing over the reckless from either of us. Agreed?" he says half bringing a hand up towards hers on his arm.

Spoiler: Jim

Show

Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[7LayerDipstick]

While Jim and Carine discuss approaching the lodge and perform general grooming, Chelsea finds herself locked in an office looking for a way to open a window. A quick examination shows that the window is two panes separated by a small horizontal beam. The lower pane is completely sealed and cannot move, whereas the upper pane can swing open by a hinge at the top of the window. Flicking open the latch, Chelsea can push the window to the point where it locks in place, limited by the length of the support rods holding it open at less than a 45-degree angle. It only leaves a few feet of space, but it is enough to squeeze through with some squeezing. Chelsea could probably climb up with some time and effort. Some sort of step would be invaluable in reducing the climbing and clambering needed. In either case, she will have to contend with the drop on the other side of the window. It's only six or seven feet, but even that could hurt if she lands wrong.
Only a few moments after she swings the window open, Chelsea hears the sound of Shia still howling just outside the office, his volume never wavering, followed by the crash as something heavy slams into the closed door, which rattles in its frame as a visible crack forms vertically down the middle, sending a small spray of splinters into the room.
After a moment, another spray of wood shards flies across the room as a fist bursts through the door just off of the center. The rest of the arm follows suit as Shia begins blindly groping for the lock on the door handle, seemingly unaware of the toppled metal cabinet preventing the door from swinging.

Outside, the pair cleaning the evidence of their proximity to nature can suddenly hear Shia's apparently everlasting howl much more clearly and can more accurately determine its source. It sounds like it is coming from somewhere near the front right corner of the lodge. If Jim remembers the layout at all, he may recall that being near the exhibits.

[MaltholLoth]

Once at the edge of light and hearing the howl come from the right side. The left side seemed the better option. Or it would but for the scene of chaos lit up before them all through the car park.
"Well that was the fire accounted for... Do you have any ideas?" he says quietly to Carine.

Spoiler: Jim

Show

Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[Metastachydium]

"Nnnngg... well ok... sigh we... we both got each others back right. Nothing over the reckless from either of us. Agreed?" he says half bringing a hand up towards hers on his arm.

Carinetakes the hand and gives it a(n ultimately more in)firm squeeze (than she intended; blood loss is a pain). You've got yourself a deal.

"Well that was the fire accounted for... Do you have any ideas?" he says quietly to Carine.

Carine looks around for something at least vaguely resembling good cover. Knowing their luck, she'd be mighty surprised if Shia didn't have better nightvision capabilities than either of them. Yeah. she half-whispers, trembling ever so slightly. How about we stay the **** away until after he's howling elsewhere?

Spoiler: Carine

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Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze

[MaltholLoth]

"So just get comfy by one of the trees, just out of the light and keep an eye out for him, hopefully leaving? Sounds good by me. Then if one of us looks to the light of the car park and the other can watch into the shadows?." he confirms, still without another plan that would then replace this.

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[Metastachydium]

Yeah. Carine agrees to the plan with a languid nod. At this point, she's not entirely sure if it's just the blood loss or also the acute caffeine withdrawal, but she's pretty sure she could use some rest. Some sleep, even. Dibs on not-the-car-park.

[WindStruck]

There really wasn't much time. Could Chelsea make it out of here alive before that freak muscled his way through the door? But even if she did, she saw how fast he was moving outside...

She needed something to help her climb out the window and so began to push the desk chair against the wall. Then she had an idea. Maybe another crazy idea, but probably way better than the last, and it would probably save her, or... well, she'd die anyway!

Grabbing at her bikini top, she gives it several hard yanks to break (maybe untie) the thin strings holding it together. Then she haphazardly wedges the tiny garment between the window and the latch that kept it locked. And finally, she hurries under the desk trying not to make a sound and to slow her breathing.

With any luck, the crazed cannibal would think she already managed to climb out the window but her bikini got caught in it, and waste no time chasing her down.

Spoiler: Chelsea

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Blood Tokens: 5
items: Let's not talk about this...
-excellent swimmer
-fairly dirty

[7LayerDipstick]

Carine and Jim creep forward slowly and carefully until they reach the very edge of the lit area. As they draw close, they hear Shia's howl interrupted by what sounds like metal scraping over concrete. Then, after a few moments of silence, they hear the sound of glass shattering, and Carine can see the shape of a person fly through the air originating from somewhere around the right corner of the lodge. She watches as they land on the ground easily twenty feet from the lodge and, though it is hard to tell in the growing darkness, rise back to their feet in less than a second. The figure stands still for a few seconds, and for only a moment, Carine sees the person's eyes glowing in the darkness like those of a cat. However, whoever it is either doesn't see the two or simply has no interest in them as they turn and begin a light jog into the woods. Unless she imagines things, Carine could swear she sees the figure bring their hand up to their neck before they are entirely lost in the darkness of the woods.

Chelsea, meanwhile, successfully gets her top off and caught in the window latch just as she hears the faint click of the lock through the howling and the rattling of the door trying to be opened against the toppled filing cabinet. She tucks herself under the desk as the rattling becomes more intense until it becomes a rhythmic slamming accompanied by the sound of cracking wood. After about twenty seconds, there is a brief lull, leaving only Shia's incessant vocalizations, before even that is cut off by a cacophony of noise. Chelsea is bombarded by the sound of wood shattering as the door breaks into fragments which she can see strike the far wall and tumble to the ground, and the ear-splitting sound of metal scraping across concrete as the filing cabinet skids across the floor and rams into the corner of the desk. Luckily, it seems the cabinet had lost much of its moment, as the desk is only slightly knocked askew. Still, it is enough that Chelsea has a direct line of sight to the window she was hoping to use as bait.
She listens as Shia walks into the room and apparently stands in silence for a few seconds before walking toward the window. Chelsea can see as Shia rounds the corner of the desk and approaches the window. He stares at the opening and the article of clothing caught in the latch for a long moment, his right hand drifting up to grasp the fabric. Suddenly he lets out a grunt that Chelsea could almost swear was vulgar as he swings his arm down, ripping the bikini top from the latch with the sound of tearing fabric, and casts it to the ground behind him. With no fanfare, Shia takes one step back and crouches before leaping bodily through the lower pane of glass into the darkness outside. With what little light is diffusing out the window, Chelsea can barely make out the shape of Shia standing upright and jogging out of her view.
In the silence, Chelsea can see that her garment, initially only slightly damaged by her hasty removal, has been further damaged by Shia. One of the straps on the right has been completely severed near the middle. It's probably salvageable, but the string would be shorter once the broken ends are tied together.

[MaltholLoth]

"What was that noise I wonder?" Jim puzzles as the metallic scraping sound is heard. "I wonder how long we'll have to wait" he asks as he looks through the wreckage that is the car park.

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[Metastachydium]

"What was that noise I wonder?" Jim puzzles as the metallic scraping sound is heard.

Hope we'll never know. Carine replies, shrinking back into a comfortably deep patch of darkness.

"I wonder how long we'll have to wait" he asks as he looks through the wreckage that is the car park.

Not for long if you keep talking. she retorts, her voice a tense whisper. ****. Sorry, Jim. she adds almost immediately afterwards, with a sigh, laying a palm on his shoulder. I'm just sick of it all. Most of it all.

♣

Carine tenses up again upon seeing the strange creature leap straight through a window and fails to stop a squeal from escaping her lungs as she plasters herself against the ground. The eyeshine, in particular, makes her cringe. Their murky hiding place doesn't feel quite as safe anymore than it did mere moments ago. But then, the thing jogs away. She waits for a moment and then another, but everything stays still and silent (by the standards of a creepy crepuscular forest). With light trembles still dancing all over her body, she cautiously crawls closer to Jim and pulling herself up on his closer shoulder, she presses her lips against his ear. Jim. she whispers from up close. He's gone. Or is he? Was that Shia? That must have been Shia. That better have been Shia. Or we're ****ed and there's another, but let's pretend that's not possible.

Spoiler: Carine

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Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze, a measure of optimism

[MaltholLoth]

Carine's breath was warm but the tone of her voice was what held his attention. So looking out, he whispers his reply "If that's was him... Do you want to head over to the lodge? We could go direct or round I guess?".
He brings a hand and rubs a little bit of her arm that he can reach at a skewed angle. "I don't know when it will be over, but we will see it through soon"

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat

[Metastachydium]

Jim's little gesture is more than welcome (especially given that with the evening chill setting in, fear's not the only thing giving Carine goosebumps anymore); his suggestion less so. Sticking close to his earlobe, she makes sure to voice her doubts. Dunno. Creep's been in there. Likely left a mess. Can we just get the **** out of the park? she asks. And then, she wavers. Could use some ****ing coffee, though. And some warmth, of course, but she has a portable source of that, who doesn't seem averse to the idea of keeping hypothermia off of her. So, your call.

Spoiler: Carine

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Blood tokens: 4/5
Item: folding spade (equipped)
Other belongings: white one-shoulder T-shirt, light gray high ankle skinny jeans (now slightly redesigned), flat thong sandals, a dishtowel and half a roll of gauze, a horrible dilemma

[MaltholLoth]

"With night setting in, many miles to town and your leg in the condition it is... I don't fancy or chances with that. If it's what you want to do. I won't leave you to try alone. There's also that woman who said she was coming this way to get help. I don't know if she was able or not but this place would sure have the best chances of finding or getting any." He says as he shifts to get up. "There may also be some lost and found clothes or the likes, you're starting to feel cold. Come here" and that he tries to rub her arms a bit to warm them up.

Spoiler: Jim

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Blood tokens: 4
Item(s): multitool with torch, cabin kitchen knife, couple of alcoholic wipes, a door handle?
Dressed: Comfy waking boots, loose cargo trousers, loose t-shirt (tear near shoulder) and lightweight waterproof coat
Emotional/mental state: hopeful, weary, sore

[WindStruck]

Chelsea steels herself as the door splinters open and the filing cabinet skids into the desk, but thankfully her cover isn't blown. She holds her breath as Shia approaches and examines the window. And then suddenly, he leaps through the window and quickly disappears.

After a few moments, she breaths again with a sigh of relief. It worked. It worked! She had lost the crazy guy. But for how long? He was super strong, super fast, and from what she could tell, he seemed to have an extremely good nose too. Looking down at her bikini top, however, she frowned.

Oh god damnit.

It was ruined. Completely ruined! She'd probably never be able to fix it properly. But then again, maybe she could fix it if she had plenty of time on her hands. Which she absolutely didn't. For what it was worth, Chelsea took some solace in the fact that the park was deserted, and.. well.. that chances are, no one was going to see her in her current state. Because chances are they had already left, fled, or the crazy guy killed them. Then again, there was probably still that one guy hanging on the rope...

Chelsea slowly and carefully crawled forward, feeling around for shards of broken glass and splinters. She needed to get out of here and she probably did not have much time until Shia realized it was just some trick. Once able to stand, she takes just as much caution feeling and shuffling her way towards the door, until she can step over the filing cabinet and back out into the hallway.

Now that she was safe for the moment, and not at risk of stabbing her feet on sharp pieces of glass or wood, she hurried over to the employee break room and went in. She was determined to make herself a hiding spot here, where the crazy guy might never possibly look. But for now, she'd have to see if that was even remotely possible.

Spoiler: Chelsea

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Blood Tokens: 5
items: half a bikini
-excellent swimmer
-fairly dirty