Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 8a: The Refuge Does Dallas

[Dawn OOC]

One of the monstrous creatures took the bar from Morgan, its long teeth not touching his hand. It carried it carefully to the child, who took it and sniffed it thoroughly. Then the child tore into, eating it in seconds. At that, the three monsters disappeared - which Myf sensed - and the child began to gather up toys and trinkets from around the room. Most of what was collected was junk: a rock, a glass bottle, broken toys. But each was treated reverently. He or she put them in a battered Spiderman backpack and then put it on. "M'kay. Ready."

Walking over to Morgan the child said, "Up er down, mist'r." The kid gazed up at him critically, waiting for him to move.

“Ok,” Morgan laughed. Grinning, he flew up the ladder – only to find the kid next to him when he landed, a breeze still being generated by his or her passage. To Jasmine and Priest, the kid had moved in a blur, climbing the ladder in a second.

They had a super kid on their hands.

[Mr Fox]

Morgan smiled at the kid again, this was going to be trouble, but at least it was the good kind of trouble. "You survived here alone since things went bad didn't you? That's very brave you know." He looked around and saw Priest and pointed to him, "This is Priest. He has a nice comfortable truck to ride in if you want to ride. So what's your name? We can't just call you Kid you know, that would be confusing to the other children back where we live."

[Dawn OOC]

"My daddy calls me Pumpkin," Pumpkin said, peering up at Fox with very blue eyes. "What does your daddy call you? And you?" he added to Jasmine.

[Mr Fox]

Fox kneeled down to be eye level with the child, "Pumpkin is a fine name. My daddy passed away, but he called me Morgan, and this is Jasmine." He looked to Jasmine hoping she would step in and say something. Morgan had never really been very good with kids having not really had much of a childhood himself.

[Dawn OOC]

"My daddy pass'd 'way, too. Zombies got him, and they ate him up. I saw 'em eating, but my friends couldn't get there in time," Pumpkin said sadly. "And my mommy ran off 'cause she was sick." Suddenly a red puppy that looked a lot like Clifford the Big Red Dog in miniture appeared next to Pumpkin, and the child bent down and picked it up. It began to lick the kid's face, making Pumpkin giggle happily.

Once again, Myf could tell it was comprised of pseudo-life.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine kneeled down in front of Pumpkin, and smiled softly and sadly. Kids were something she knew how to deal with all too well. Sadly, dealing with kids who were suffering with tragedy was even more familiar to her than dealing with the regular kind. So she didn't patronize Pumpkin the way some people might have, or try and gloss over what the girl had just described. Instead she spoke softly, and motioned outside.

"Well, Pumpkin, I've seen lots of people get eaten up by zombies too, or get sick and have to leave. So to try and make sure that doesn't happen to anyone else, those of us who managed to be brave and survive, like you and your friends here, are trying to stick together. Now, we have to drive a little ways to get back home safe, so would you rather drive with Mr. Priest and his friends? He has quite a few of them, and a daughter in the truck who's probably pretty close to your age. Or would you rather drive with me and my friend, Mr. Jim? It's completely up to you."

She hadn't asked Jim yet, but she hoped he wouldn't mind. This little kid had been through a lot, she might not be comfortable in a big truck with a lot of people. Then again, she might be okay with it, you never knew.. kids were so different.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany stared. She couldn't help it. She wasn't immune to the near-terminal cuteness of a kid named Pumpkin, but what was obsessing her was the -dog-. It wasn't a dog! But it was...trying to be...somehow. It wasn't made of the same 'stuff' that the people in the room were made of, but it was sort of organized in ways that were familiar, if not quite right.

She stepped closer, managing to put a smile on over her intense interest, and offered Pumpkin her hand.

"Hi Pumpkin. My name's Myfwany. I'm a doctor. You can just call me Myf if you want, or Dr Myf. What's this guy's name?"

She indicated the dog, but didn't move to touch it.

[Dawn OOC]

"Clifford, duh," Pumpkin said, sound fourteen for a moment. The squirming puppy settled down, panting happily while gazing at Pumpkin with complete devotion. "He's just little here 'cause he's a puppy. He'll be bigger later. If they're too big, they have tro'ble 'comin vis-able, or getting into places."

[SalmonMax]

"Can I pet him?" Myfwany asked, unable to take her eyes off the dog. It was red. And...cartoonish, for want of a better word. Solid and three-dimensional, but modeled off a caricature of a dog rather than the actual animal.

If allowed, she reaches out to touch the animal's head and stroke it gently between the ears. She pays attention not only to the feel of its fur and the shape of the bones, but to how the 'energy lines' of it react to contact with her own.

[Dawn OOC]

Pumpkin allowed the petting, and the dog felt like a dog to her, other than obvious deformities from the cartoony features of the animal. The energy lines reacted like 'normal' energy lines - until she tried to push healing into them. Then they rejected her energy, or maybe just ignored it. It was hard to say which.

[Priest]

"Hey Pumpkin, I'm called Preist. That's my last name. What's your last name?"

Instinctively he reaches out and scratches the dog under its chin.

"My daughter is back in the truck outside. She likes dogs too. She has two, though neither is as famous as your dog. I'm sure she will recognize Clifford."

"Do you want to come this way while we check out the rest of the library? I'm sure we will be done here soon and then we can get back to our home. I'm sure you'll like it. It's safe and has lots of people and we are will have plenty of books there soon."

"Doc, why don't you and Pumpkin come with me to the truck. You gals can become good friends there."

[Dawn OOC]

"Whazza las' name? I'm Pumpkin," the child announced. "Hi, Pri'st..."

The kid didn't seem too keen on going to the truck. "M'kay, but you gotta bring my stuff," Pumpkin said. The child turned and pointed at the shelves of supplies. "Those mine. I got them. They're mine."

[Jasmine Gentian]

"Don't worry, I'll get your stuff for you, Pumpkin."

Jasmine climbed back down and packed all of the little girl's things in a small, worn-out box she was able to locate. After packing everything carefully, she lifted it up and climbed back up the ladder, glancing at the girl for approval.

"I didn't miss anything, did I?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan notices an increase in the number of zombies he has to kill as they remain there. He calls over the radio. "Ok people we need to move out. The zombies are starting to get thick and surround us. We need to get moving." he punctuating his transmission with another shot and another dead zombie.

[Priest]

"Pumpkin, Jasmyne can carry all your belongings and I'll carry you."

He bent down to pick her up, but when he was on face level, he added,

"Is that okay with you - to be picked up?"

Outside he could bet that the team had heard Hawkin's pernouncement. It was indeed time to go. All Priest had to do was get their special survivor out of harm's way.

[Dawn OOC]

"Uh huh," the child said. When Priest got the kid in his arms, he became all too aware of the child's lack of access to bathing facilities. They could remedy that at Jon's. But he tolerated the smell long enough to get the kid into his truck.

As Priest put her in the truck, he caught his daughter's expression. She looked a little like a woman who has found her husband hugging another woman; she has faith in his love, but that niggling doubt is tormenting her.

[Wesson]

Wesson was quit, calm. He had found what he was looking for. He would find more local maps on the way back. He spoke to Priest in a gentle tone, as the young man entered the truck.

"We need to talk, and the sooner the better."

He pulled his Radio up.

"I would like to make a request. Can one of you two fly boys drop me off by Something blue. I have feeling we will need the space."

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany watched the girl as she was taken out. When the door shuts after them she looks at the others.

"That was the most amazing thing I've seen yet...and that's saying something."

[Dawn OOC]

Amazing had to wait a bit, as would Wesson since it was judged they didn't need Something Blue just yet. The truck was loaded up with what they could find of worth in the library and a nearby elementary school. The rest would have to wait until tomorrow; it was rapidly growing too dark to see.

Pumpkin had settled into the back of Priest's truck, while Sarah was studiously ignoring him/her. Sarah was more interested in the puppy, though she did everything in her power to not stare longingly at it.

They trucked back to Jon's and settled in for the night. Even though Jas wanted to finish caring for her father, she recognized the need to see in the darkness. At least they had a safe place to be for the night, and most of them slept well.

Bethany took over Pumpkin and got the child a bath, then a hair cut. When it was done, a cute little girl had emerged from the grime. Bethany wasn't sure she wanted to care for the kid long-term, for as she confided to Priest, "I'd rather not be responsible for bathing someone who puts mini-sea serpents in the bathtub."

The morning found them with their next set of tasks to accomplish, and a rainy day in which to work.

[Mr Fox]

Morgan frowned at the sky but just got into the truck anyway. "Ok, folks, there is a high school and middle school and elementary just a few blocks north of here. I figure those are good places to hit for educational materials, text books and stuff. Let's head out and see if we can get this done by lunch."

[Priest]

Priest nodded to Bethany.

"I'll get Leo on it if we need another session and talk to Jules when we get back to base. I'm not sure how ready she is to take over for another child, but it needs to be one of us 'different' people to handle her and her powers. It's too dangerous otherwise. Thank god she hasn't had a major tantrum yet. Disciplining her is going to be a bear - literally."

He taps her in the shoulders and then they bump knuckles.

"Here's to the open road. The sooner we do this the sooner we go back to honest work, no?"

Noticing that Sarah was looking at the puppy, Raphael went over to his daughter.

"It will be okay. We'll find you a puppy soon enough. I'm sure an enclave has had a few by now and we can trade for it."

Quietly he adds,

"This is just til we get to Fox's then she'll most likely be situated with Jules ... unless you want a little sister? I could probably arrange that too."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine and Bond climbed into the Hummer after waking up, saving time by grabbing some bottled water and downing it while they waited, along with a few granola bars each for energy, and to curb the boredom. They waited for everyone to roll out, and Jasmine flipped on the radio to try and forget the events of the day before as best she could for the moment.

[Dawn OOC]

Sarah frowned. "I don't want a stupid sister," she said. "But a puppy would be ok, if it's my puppy and doesn't love anyone else. And can't be hurt by zombies." She gave her dad a fierce hug and asked, "Can we find a super puppy? Like you're a super daddy?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan watches the exchange a moment and briefly smiles. The he heads out for his Humvee, stopping by Fox. "I'm going to hit the pawn shops. They should have guns and ammunition, after yesterday, we need to replenish our stocks. I'll keep my radio on, just in case. You got any requests?"

[Dawn OOC]

"Yeah," Bethany said suddenly. "Grab any musical instruments that don't need electricity, please. I have some stuff to offer in trade for your efforts." She smiled at Priest. "We're going to need creativity and music to help make people happy. And also, people who already have musical instruments are going to find them starting to break down soon."

[Mr Fox]

The drive from Jon's lab to the high school took less than two minutes even with pushing a couple cars out of the way. That was one silver lining of the zombie apocalypse, no more traffic, no more obnoxious traffic lights, and no more stopping at stop signs.

The school itself looked practically brand new as did most of the community surrounding it. This area had obviously been built in the last five years or so. Just northeast of the high school stood a middle school, between the two there should be no problem getting all the supplies and musical instruments they could want.

[Dawn OOC]

Inside, the high school has been vandalized. Someone has spray-painted the interior walls, leaving notes like, "Fuck the world", "The end is here" and "Leave one bullet for yourself." Lockers had been pried open, and some contained dried stains from various bodily fluids, including blood. Used condoms, empty liquor bottles and butts from various inhaled substances littered the floor. It was the state of the world, displayed in a microburst of destruction.

In the classrooms, books had been torn apart, or left on the floor with broken spines. Not all had suffered this treatment, but for the scavengers, the sight was a blow. It was all so senseless, a sign of people gripped by absolute hopelessness. As emotionally dead as the zombies were physically, the vandals had externalized their despair.

In the gym, they found what was left of the vandals. After their mad orgy, the twelve teens had killed themselves. Their bodies were sprawled on the floor, and it looked a little like someone had messed with the corpses afterward, moving them and, in one case, drawing a Sharpie mustache on one boy's face.

[Priest]

Priest, Willie, and Colt made their way to the music room hoping ie wasnt' vandalized. Bethany had a good idea, and Priest wanted the team to capitalize on it. It took them a little time to find it though and they had halogen lights out by the time they found the entrance.

[Dawn OOC]

The music room had been hit, but the storage closet with the instruments had been designed to repel teenaged intruders. The sheet music was a lost cause, but the instruments themselves just needed some TLC.

[Priest]

Treasure found, Priest called all three support vechiles around to the closest door so they could rapidly get their treasures on to some rolling stock. It was late and Priest hated working with the lights out, but his senses were going full time and he was hurrying with the rest of his people to make something good come from this school run.

"Tuba's too, Willie," Priest joked. Colt chuckled which was more like a whispered wheeze.

"But Boss, how can somebody get into this itty bitty hole," the big man joked back, arms full with Obos and clarinets. Colt brought along a guitar case and a bass.

Priest doubled back until ever last piece was taken and the backs of his vehicles were stocked to over flowing. They would have to hope it didn't rain, because the Tuba was sticking out of the top hatch. It seemed crazy and Priest had to hope they wouldn't get into a fight on the way home.

Still, it was worth it. Bethany was right. Music was important and valuable. They could be doing good and getting paid at the same time. It was a win-win.

[Mr Fox]

It wasn't just the high school that mattered, the middle school would have just as much good stuff as far as instruments and supplies and was less likely to be as badly vandalized. Hitting one of the book rooms was like hitting the jackpot. It had been locked up tight and had been proof against the vandals and since nothing but text books and reading copies of the classics that the literature classes had to read were in side there hadn't been any motivation for the teens to bust in. Of course 12 teens can only do so much destruction anyway and with literally thousands of copies of the text books in the various classrooms even their rampage through the school could only do so much damage. At least they hadn't torched the place. Thanks goodness for small miracles.

Morgan was spec ops and had seen more than his share of death even before the Z, but the teens were just one of those little straws that could really weigh you down if you dwelled on it. Best thing was to focus on the objective and try to ignore those things. Just to be safe though, "Guys, if you haven't already gone into the Gym, don't. And keep any of the kids out of there, it's not pleasant." Despite his words he did detail a couple of the ones that were with him during the discovery to clean out the locker rooms of basketballs, footballs and other sporting equipment that they could grab. Some day he would want to come back for some weight lifting equipment; that is if a day ever came that they could relax enough to consider such things.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine had been one of the few who discovered the gym with Fox, so she helped him out with the sports equipment. She pressed her lips together when she saw the teens, but something in the back of her mind whispered that this was still better than going out as zombs. After they were done, and since Fox briefly mentioned a desire to return later for more of the weight-lifting equipment, Jas excused herself, pulling Fox aside long enough to mention that she was going to drag the teens out back and light em up, so that they wouldn't be left around for someone else to find, or in case they were to return later. With her strength, he knew moving the bodies wouldn't take long, and it seemed to be important to her, so he relented.

After finishing the unpleasant task of piling the bodies up outside, behind the school and far enough away so that no stray embers would reach the building, she lit them up with a touch, and watched them burn for a few minutes.

She headed back into the building, and on the way she paused at an art room. It looked, at first glance, as if the teenagers had hit the place, grabbing some of the cans of spraypaint and large art markers for their doomsday messages. But upon scavenging a bit, she was able to find a decent supply art materials - different colored clays that were still wrapped and were still soft, a few boxes of markers and colored pencils, and a nice-sized box with several different tubes of oil paint and watercolor palettes. The later were especially nice, since it was just dried circles of pigment and would work just fine with a little added water. She scavenged that, and whatever else she could find, along with three large rolls of art paper, tablets, and about ten spare copies of the art history curriculum that the school had utilized.

She stacked all of the art supplies in a large box, and ended up carrying it all out on a reshelving cart that the teens had been riding up and down the hallways until one of them had probably crashed it into the wall, bending the front wheels. A quick twist and her super strength was enough to right the wheels back into place, and she piled the art supplies up in a couple spare boxes, along with the rolls and pads of paper stacked on the top of the cart with the books. She wheeled it out of the high school, and over to the truck where Fox was overseeing the loading.

"Don't forget to teach them about beauty and creativity too, Captain. Otherwise there's not all that much left to live for.. is there?"

[Mr Fox]

"They say a lot of great art came out of tragedy," Fox mused, "If that's true we should get a hell of a lot of good art out of this mess."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine nodded, a bit sadly, before glancing down into the box.

"I forgot to grab paintbrushes. I'll be with Bond when we're ready to go.. just give me the word."

With that, she walked off in the direction of the high school, to retrieve paintbrushes for the artists at the refuge. Whether they painted the horror of the zombie apocalypse or rainbows and puppies, Jasmine didn't care. At least someone would be able to do something besides survive. The more she saw.. the more important she believed that to be.

[SalmonMax]

For her part, Myfwany decided to stick with the broken books...salvaging what she could. She heard Fox's edict about the gym, and it wasn't hard to put two and two together about what was probably inside. It was easy to forget sometimes that human beings needed more than food, water and air to live. The spirit could die too, without hope.

Christ. What's that? Hope is the food of the soul? I guess I can finally abandon my go-nowhere job as a doctor and become a writer of pithy new age cards like I always dreamed.

From the remains of the books she was able to salvage a few. They'd need re-binding, but at least now they had some age appropriate texts on math and history. Not enough for a whole class at once, but kids could share if they had to. Until they got more.

With an armload of pages she comes out and heads back to the vehicle.

As Fox and Jasmine return she asks, "Hey. We've got some curriculum now, but do we have any teachers?"

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine shrugged, loading all the paintbrushes in with the other art supplies in the box.

"Maybe, maybe not. I guess if we don't, someone will have to learn to be. We've all been through high school, right? Or at least, most of the way. I was.. I was gonna graduate in a month."

She trailed off for a second, and then shook her head, refusing to indulge in fantasies.

"Besides, these aren't just for children, you know. We'll all have to teach ourselves new things in order to keep going."

[Dan Hawkins]

As the others raid the school, dan makes his way around town, hitting what pawn shops he finds. He picks up a smattering of musical instruments, mostly brass, along with one clarinet, and an old acoustic guitar. The guns themselves he finds aren't worth taking, and the ammunition aside from a few boxes is all non standard calibers. He picked up 3 whole boxes of cigars, figuring someone asked for them, he might as well take them.

He takes to the Sky, finding a bookstore a ways off in McKinney. He goes back to his Humvee and calls to Fox. "I"ve gotten some small stuff Fox, but i found a bookstore in McKinney that looks intact. I'm going to head over there and scout it out. If it turns out to be more than I can handle, I'll radio you again."

[Wesson]

Life was hard when you were not. Life was death. The fact that most people never saw the death they caused did not change that. The death youths was a painful twinge in Wesson's side in this seemingly near pointless trip today. Music is good, and well, but music was something you did with what you had. A barrel was a drum after all. These toys were not going to keep people warm in winter. As for the text books. Yea these text books were keyed to teach people how to plow fields, or work in a machine shop. Wesson remained silent for the most part.

"Jasmine, I have this to tell, I worked with many of people in my life, those that graduate form high school are no more blessed than those who did not.You have been robed of many things of great value that piece of paper isn't one of them. Still if you think it is, I think I can put together the last bit of one for you. I do have a pile it higher and deeper after all."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine shook her head, a faint but sad smile crossing her lips.

"Thanks for the offer and all, but it wasn't about the diploma. I used to be.. really sick. I had been for a really long time. I'd looked forward to crossing that stage with the rest of my friends, to be able to look at my Mom and my Dad and say 'Look, even though we had to go through hell together, I still did it!', you know? I studied through chemotherapy, I did homework despite the nausea, and I took my tests on my trips home from the hospital. But I didn't want to let the cancer ruin my chances for the future."

She shook her head a little, motioning around.

"All that's gone now. My friends.. school.. Dad.."

She choked over her words a little as she spoke the last part, as if saying it had made it more real. But she stopped, and drew in a deep breath, and gazed at Wesson with eyes that were older than her almost-eighteen years.

"At least the cancer's gone now too. I used to think that's all I wanted, but if I could take it back to change everything that's happened since then, I would. That's not an option though, so I'll just make do with what I've got now. So.. thanks for the offer. But it was never really about the piece of paper."

[Nuri Solomon]

Nuri’s battered Dodge Ram slowly cruised up the 121 through McKinney. So far it had been a good couple of days; between the garden center, the hardware store and the medical, her sizable U-Haul trailer was nearly packed. In addition to the books, cds, dvds and clothes she’d picked up in Richardson, she’d also collected enough fertilizer and seeds to start a small vegetable and herb garden, she now had a sizable collection of household tools and gardening equipment and best of all were the small cache of medical supplies she’d looted from the medical center.

Nuri pulled off the highway into a residential area and drove carefully though the streets, avoiding the zombies that always seemed to congregate in such areas. She discovered early on that residential area could be a treasure trove of canned goods even if the risk was pretty high. She never worried about the zoms too much and had yet to find one that wouldn’t fall to her pyrotechnics. That fact had emboldened her.

Nuri continued her cruise, looking for a target that struck her fancy and realized that the zombie population was fairly low. Either she was lucky and this neighborhood was already pretty evacuated on Z-Day or scavengers had already been through here and popped the zooms out of necessity. As she cruised past a high school she saw a convoy of vehicles that could only belong to other scavengers. They had at least 1 big assed truck that she could see and all the vehicles looked to be in good condition, unlike he battered pick up.

She quickly turned down a side street, parked her truck around the side of a house out of sight, and got out. She did a quick check of the area where she’d parked, committing it to memory in case she had to flamewalk back here in a hurry. Slowly she made her way back towards the school. She was getting low on food supplies and trading with other scavengers would be a lot faster and safer if they were friendly then scrounging through a dozen houses while trying to avoid any of the walking dead. She kept her 9mm pistol in her hand as she approached and kicked the fire aura on. Nuri was suffused with an inner glow and the occasional flame licked across her body. She wasn’t sure how her powers worked but now that her flame armor was on she felt more confident.

“Hello,” She called out in the gruff voice she used around people once she got close enough to the convoy. “I’m come in peace, I’m looking to trade.”

Click to reveal..

Stamina + Force Field

1d10=9, 1d10=4, 1d10=8, 1d10=1

2 Successes

Nuris's Soak is now 10/8 and her Quantum Pool: 24

Disguise Roll

1d10=8, 1d10=4, 1d10=2, 1d10=7, 1d10=10, 1d10=8, 1d10=4

4 Successes