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Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 9d: Harbringer


Dawn OOC

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Satisfied that Autumn would at least not die in the time it took to talk to Pat, Myfwany stood up and went to where Pat and Fox waited.

"Lets talk outside," she murmured. When they joined her outside the room, Myf looked around to ensure no one was within hearing distance, then said in that same low tone of voice, "Pat, I need to know...are there any others you know of that have symptoms like Autumn?"

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"No, none that I know,” she said, then sighed and added, “save the young mother who just spoke up. Would you be going to look at her child next? It might let you understand better what you’re seeing, and you’ll realize that this is just a case of people being sick, nothing abnormal.”

---

“No, Pat’s not my mom, Pat’s nicer than my mom. She was kinda of... well, I guess gypsy was the word, or traveling whore,” Nashwa said. She gave him a bit of a sad smile. “Before Pat, I thought that all a woman could really do was seduce what she needed from a man. Pat taught me better, to be stronger.

“As for before, I was my mother, at first,” she confessed. “I didn’t sleep with them if I could avoid it, but sometimes the chips came due and you had to put out, ya know? Then I tried that on Pat’s son, her biological son, and they caught me. But they didn’t react like others who had caught me. They said they saw my potential, and they offered to help me become me.” She smiled at him. “I went to their commune, and there we were until Z-day. Now, they’re my real family.”

Turning, she looked out over the landscape beyond the building. Stepping forward, she muttered, “Damn, I don’t see any here, eith-” The roof gave way under her suddenly, and with a startled shriek, she fell into the building.

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Myfwany shook her head.

"It's not, Pat. I'm sorry, but it's not. Autumn has the symptoms of advanced z-plague. I was able to buy her some time, but I couldn't cure the condition."

"But I think there's something about this -place- that might be affecting her. I think we should try moving her someplace...healthier. Somewhere where there's more life around."

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James nodded in sympathy as Nashwa spoke to encourage her to keep talking. He wanted to hear this. After she was done he said, "It's good to have family..."

Quote:
Turning, she looked out over the landscape beyond the building. Stepping forward, she muttered, “Damn, I don’t see any here, eith-” The roof gave way under her suddenly, and with a startled shriek, she fell into the building.
James yelled "Nashwa!"

James mentally cursed that he was unprepared for this. His standard SOP was to be well equipped off the base. He should have weapons, flashlights, rope, other gear, even an air horn. Unfortunately he'd been over-eager and Fox had taken him directly after Myf had done her thing. He'd been expecting to resupply but Nashwa and the whole 'no more zombies' thing had distracted him.

Moving as quickly as he dared James crawled to the hole, then regardless of whether or not he could see Nashwa he dropped into the hole, swinging to one side so he wouldn't land on top of her.

{Blind fighting on. Q-Pool: 19/22}

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Fox spoke up, "Pat, three times mutant zombies have been spotted in his area, much worse than the normal. One of them killed my nephew, it was super fast and strong and it was cunning, not mindless like regular Zombs. The second sighting was of two acid spitting zombies that were locked up in the old armory and had nested there. The third was spotted by one of our people and it stalked him like a hunting cat him when he came here to the library to look for books. Maybe Mwf is right and there is something about this place that isn't normal."

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Pat stared at them, her face unreadable. "Fine, we can move her, but until you can provide some proof that this place is unhealthy, I cannot advise that people leave. I will not suggest that they go out where zombies are, where infection is sure, on the chance that a strange claiming to be a doctor with mystic powers tells me that it isn't safe here."

She turned to Morgan and said, "Thank you for the information. We'll keep a close eye out for these monsters, but I doubt they'll breach my spell." Arrogance peeked out of her eyes as she stared at them. Anger simmered there, too.

---

James dropped off the ceiling and landed five feet from Nashwa, who was just starting to stir. Unfortunately, he was eight feet from a zombie, who turned to stare at him. As Nashwa saw it, she froze in fear, her eyes wide with horror. The zombie lifted its arms and stumbled over her, straining to reach James.

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James closed on the zom and said loudly to it, "Right here! I'm bigger, there's more meat to me!"

*They're close together, any spatter could infect her. So no big swings, just a poke to the head, blade cauterization should work.*

James held up his hand to the zombie's mouth, it opened it's mouth and was reaching to him when he extended his blade.

Click to reveal..

10d10.hits(7) [4,9,3,9,8,4,3,6,10,6] = (4) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2247583/

Head Shot is +2 diff so it hits, autos kill it without rolling damage.

James let the zombie fall like he'd just stepped on a cockroach and surveyed the room.

If there were any more zombies he moved between Nashwa and it.

If the room was clean James moved to check Nashwa and ask, "How are you?"

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Myfwany hesitates, but nods, realizing she doesn't have social authority here. At least not more than Pat does.

"Fox, can you pick her up carefully and bring her with you? I'll tell you when we can stop."

Assuming all goes without a hitch, Myfwany will guide Fox and Autumn to a spot where she can see plenty of healthy life-lines around. At that time she'll try to heal Autumn again.

(Question - is it just Pat and Autumn who seem to lack strong energy, or is it the environment as well?)

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"I'm fine," Nashwa's teeth chattered as she spoke, and she had the distant look of shock in her eyes. "It... it..." She tried to stand, but slumped back to the ground. "Ah! My... ow, my leg, James..." She touched her left leg and then pulled her hand back; he could see already that it was swelling.

---

Fox picked her up and carried her out of the building. Myf followed, telling him when they were getting close to the edge of effect. Oddly, there were no zombies clustered around the edge, though one standing listlessly started to amble toward them.

The edge of the effect was clear; Myf couldn't see any signs of small life, even bugs, until they were clear of the effect. Then one could see birds, rabbits and insects; when she saw the effect - life on one side of the line, death on the other - it was startling.

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"My god...Fox, Pat, can you see it?" Myfwany asked. "The border's right there..." she moved her pointing finger in an arc. "Look at the grass...you have flies and beetles on one side, and nothing on the other. Just...nothing."

She shakes her head. "Set her down there, and keep an eye on that zombie. I'm not sure how it'll react when I try to heal Autumn."

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James shifted into his full, 'professional reassurance' mode and checked Nashwa out. He said with confidence designed to prevent panic, "I know a broken leg when I see one. We could risk me setting that, but like usual, there's someone else around with a lot more practice at this." James continued, "I know it doesn't seem like it, but you're in luck. I know two people who can heal with a touch, and one of them is close by."

James eyed the ceiling and decided he could pick up Nashwa and leap out without much risk of bumping her in transit. James said, "I'm going to pick you up now. It's going to hurt, but I can't leave you here and go get help, I need to take you to the doc. Zoms are like cockroaches, if you step on one there's always another around."

With as much care as he could James picked Nashwa up, tried to shield her body with his own for the trip, then launched himself up to go look for Myf.

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Fox couldn't see what Mwf saw, but he could tell a difference once they crossed back into the living zone. It wasn't any kinds of quantum sense, but he could just tell now that it was pointed out. Ever since they had arrived he'd had a feeling of unease that something was just not right, now it had gone.

As he carried the potential zombie out into the living zone he kept a close eye on Pat. If she was the one casting spells then she was likely the one that caused this and might actually be the one responsible for the mutant zombies in the area, or it might be that there was a mutant zombie here and they Pat was just delusional and thought she were casting a spell when really it was the effect of yet another mutant zombie in the area. On the other hand maybe Pat was a mutant zombie... any way you looked at it, Fox was on his guard for threats.

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Pat just shook her head. "No, the spell can't do that, it's not right. You're wrong." Her tone was almost begging with Myf to be wrong; in an instant, her resolve cracked and she turned and ran away, back into the strange zone.

Myf, bending over healing Autumn, didn't have a chance to stop her. She was focusing to see if her attempt to help her had any effect. To her sorrow, the lines began to fill up with energy again - the sickly yellow-green color of illness.

---

"Whoa, what happened to you?" the 'sentry' in the chair asked, finally looking alert since James and Nashwa landed. He stared at James, his eyes wide.

"The doctor that came with me?" James asked. The man pointed away from Norman. Nashwa whimpered and tightened her arms around his neck, steeling herself for another leap.

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James winced in sympathy but leaped anyway. Morgan might warp Mfy away if he took too long to find them. The original plan implied James would be left here by himself so he couldn't complain if Morgan left him after Myf finished gathering data. James hoped they'd be at the edge of the effect, it was the most obvious thing to head for.

Landing as gently as he could James looked around and spotted them, and hustled on over yelling, "Hey Doc!"

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Myf looked up from the still-sick, and probably dying, Autumn. Sorrow for the one she knew she probably couldn't save was pushed away, and she rose to tend to Nashwa. The broken bone fixed itself easily under her 'magical' hands. The soreness and bruising didn't quite all go away, but Myf was able to get her to the point that she could walk on her own.

The immediate crisis resolved, Myf set about discovering what she could do about this. The answer, after several hours of monitoring and research, was nothing. Autumn had contracted the z-virus. Nashwa had been drained like her and Pat, but after a time, Nashwa's color started to retun. She had to admit that somehow, Autumn had been exposed to the virus, and she couldn't be cured. She could only assume that it was the same for all the others who were falling ill.

Something strange had happened here, and Myf wasn't sure what the cause of it was, especially since Pat had disappeared after running away.

Click to reveal..
3 xp for all involved
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