Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 10a: Hell [Mature]

Mr Fox · October 10, 2009

"No, I don't have to have been there, but I don't want to put us too close either. I'm gonna shoot for about 20 miles out, that will give us enough distance and cover to go unnoticed as we set up and prepare the assault."

Fox · October 11, 2009

"Good plan." Bond nodded as he popped some cinnamon gum into his mouth. "Okay then. I guess we're ready when you are. These portals are handy, aren't they?" Bond gave the Captain a grin and another nod, then turned to the two women, patting the hood of the Falcon. "Ladies, your chariot awaits."

"Oh, one thing." He turned back to Fox. "Might I recommend a spot about 20 miles north? There's a nice plateau there which should give us excellent visibility to the prison." He smiled a little. "I've been studying maps of the area. It would be an ideal staging point."

SalmonMax · October 11, 2009

Myfwany followed the others out and trailed along at a distance. She was a bit confused about why suddenly everyone was going before the plan was done, but they all seemed pretty confident in it, so she'd chalked it up to her own inexperience.

"Am I going too, or are you going to make a door for me when you're all done?" she asked. "I'm willing to help you storm the place too."

Mr Fox · October 11, 2009

"Thanks Mwf. We're all going at the same time to the staging point. We're going to wait till dark and I'm going to do a flyover and spot out the best places to open gateways, then we'll let the advance team do their thing. After that I'll open gateways to let everyone else go in for the rescue."

He looked over to Bond, "Good plan. Let me take a look at the map. That'll help me zero in on the spot."

z-Jules WhiteElk · October 11, 2009

"God damnit, can't we just do this shit!" Jules barked. The outburst was a little startling; she'd been so quiet until now. "Don't you guys get that people are suffering, right now? We have all this firepower, and we're nancing about like teens necking in church! Morgan, you can drop warps into the main cell area, and we get the women covered. From there, we kill anything with a dick! Done!"

She was shaking when she'd finished, the strain of holding back what she really wanted to say shaking her body.

Jasmine Gentian · October 11, 2009

Jasmine glanced between Bond and Jules, and arched a brow.

"Well, we've finally gotten around to some useful information at least. This is the kind of thing we need to know. Jules, will it be that easy? Do they keep all the women in the main cell area together? Or do they have them separated out? Because if we go in there guns blazing, I'm afraid they're going to start using women as hostages. The women in there are suffering, I know, but.. I'd rather not get any of them killed because of us. And.. I might have family in there. My mother and my sister were heading to my aunt's, and she's so close, that.."

Her voice trailed away for a second, then she cleared her throat slightly and continued.

"And what about if they found women with other men, younger ones like teenagers? What would they have done with them - capture them, or.." She hesitated for a moment, but avoiding the truth wouldn't do her brothers any good, nor would it prove her capable of being able to deal with these situations. "..or just kill them? Cause if you think there's a chance, I'd hate for one of you to accidentally shoot my teenage brothers if they haven't done anything wrong, and they're somehow still alive after all this."

She held Jules' gaze steady as she spoke, trying her hardest to keep her voice steady. If it wavered slightly when she spoke of her brothers it wasn't something the young woman seemed ready for anyone to call her on, and she kept going without any hesitation.

"So anything you know that can make this go faster for us, and keep those women out of danger as much as possible.. that would be great. You're the one who's been there. Do you know what kind of schedule the men keep? Do they sleep at night or during the day? Do they guard in shifts, and are they equal, or is there a "light shift"? Please.. tell us anything you can. And then let's get the fuck out of here, and do it."

Venus · October 11, 2009

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox

"Violet, I'd like you to keep your... heart, open. Listen to the feelings people are giving off and if you suspect anything be sure to let Ger and Walker know."

Violet nodded eagerly at the Captain - it was the least she could do to help with her abilities if it was requested. It was times like these when she wished she could be more useful - like being able to fly, shooting laser out of her eyes and shrug away automatic fire...

But she wasn't Supergirl - she wasn't a hero.

Violet's eyes followed the other's as they left and Dan could see a distant sadness in them. She tried to shrug it away but she couldn't. It would always be like this and she had to learn to accept it.

The buxom succubus sighed heaving her breasts enticingly for everyone to see. In her dreams being rescued was much more romantic and exciting than the truth was. She would have to make the best of the time of waiting for the heroes to return and hope that no one would get hurt.

"Things are going to be ok Dan, right?", she asked him just wanting to hear it from him. It would make her feel better and that was one of the most important things to her.

Dan Hawkins · October 11, 2009

Dan nodded to Violet as she stood by him. "With everyone going, I'd have to say yes, Violet. We'll go handle these bastards and come home. I can't speak for the others but I've got a very good reason to come back now. He looked at her and it was obvious he meant her.

"Do your best to keep things quiet here. I'll be back when it's done. Thenwe can get back to being happy together."

z-Jules WhiteElk · October 11, 2009

Jules sighed, looking tired. "I know where I was held, and there were a lot of other women there. I suspect that anytime we'd go in, we'll find that some of the women are not in their cells. They'll be in other areas, being... raped, beaten, whatever. I don't know that we can pick a time or place to hop in that will completely deny them of their hostages."

Jules looked at Jasmine and said softly, "I can't tell you what they do with young men. I guess they could recruit; I didn't see any men in cells. They let Ben live, but I'm sure that was so that I could be controlled through threats to him." It had worked, too, but that didn't seem important. She studied the young woman, then decided to be truthful. "They wouldn't need your brothers for that with your family." Jules' eyes said that she was sorry, both to say that and to know it was true.

Mr Fox · October 11, 2009

Fox looked seriously at Jules. "I know you are eager to get it done. I can't imagine how you must feel, but you need to remember this is a military style operation. We're not going in guns blazing without regard to consequences. That way would only get people, innocent people, killed unnecessarily. If you can't keep it under control, you can stay behind. The last thing we need is someone with no thought to lives she's putting at risk. Stick with the plan and I swear that I'll do everything in my power to give you your vengeance, but if you're going to go off half cocked like a runaway train then you can just stay right here."

He wished he didn't have to say it. She might hate him after this, but it had to be said. If she cost other people's lives she'd hate herself, better that she focus that anger on him in the short term than the alternative.

z-Jules WhiteElk · October 12, 2009

Jules stared at Morgan, looking hurt. That hurt quickly turned into anger. "Guns blazing? I've said get the lead out, not turn it into the OK Corral! Damn it, Morgan, I have been patient while every other piece of business has been done! I have fucking tended to your refuge while you have gone off doing other things! I've cooked your meals, done your paperwork and aside from asking occasionally when we were going to do this, I have not pushed to rush in like Rambo! Even now, all I want is for us to stop fucking talking and start doing. Why wait for night? Not all of us will have an advantage in the dark, and it's easier to shoot innocents in bad lighting or darkness. Women will die if we go in? Women - people - are dying right now, killed by those bastards as we speak!

"Sorry I can't give you more intel," Jules added, her voice thick with anger and sarcasm. "I'll know next time I'm being raped, branded and tortured that I need to stick around a bit longer so that you'll have all the data you need for a raid you'll wait to complete.

"And," she hissed, leaning in close, speaking just to him, "if you leave me behind, don't you dare come looking for me when you get back." Stepping back, she gazed at him wrathfully, waiting for his response to her ultimatium.

Fox · October 12, 2009

"Excuse me." Bond smoothly interposed himself into their somewhat spirited discussion. "I think Jules has a place on the advance team, Captain. I trust her to take the longer view and realise that any revenge she wants to take is better served cold... or at least lukewarm."

He turned to Jules, catching her gaze with his. "Ms WhiteElk, you understand that I and Jasmine here are as eager as you to see this done, and done right. I don't want Hornsbeck to get away, or have any sort of warning or fighting chance. I want the first sign he receives of anything going wrong to be a gun muzzle pressed to his head." His voice was quietly intense, his manner reassuring. "We can do this: you, me and Jasmine. The Captain here will be overhead ready to bring in the cavalry on our mark. Right, Captain?" He said without removing his gaze from Jules. "Let's not give these bastards any more lives. Let's steal that satisfaction from them before we kill them all, Jules. What do you say?"

Click to reveal..

Mr Fox · October 12, 2009

Morgan repressed the sigh that wanted to come out. He'd probably just made her hate him, but it had to be said. The way she was sounding was like someone who didn't have the patience to take care with the lives of the people they were trying to rescue.

"Jules. I'm asking for a few hours. That will allow me to fly in close in the dark when no one is likely to see me or raise an alarm. Doing that means I can put my gateways precisely where I want them. Exactly where you need them. If we rush you guys in right now during the middle of the day, then you are facing every one of those bastards awake and alert and without me having any clue where to drop the gateways. That means they can be on top of their prisoners before I can have time to get everyone in. It takes a few seconds for every gateway I make and it takes energy, I can only do so many before it drains me. We go in at night and I can drop the gateways, probably, all of them and have everyone in before an alarm is raised. That just can't be done in the day time. Besides all of that, late in the night around 4:30 to 5:00am the human body is at it's lowest point and even guards on duty tend not to be very alert. It's a known military fact. Just ask Bond, or Dan, it's the best time for any infiltration situation."

He looked hard at her, "Jules, you know I wouldn't dream of denying you closure with that bastard who hurt you, but the way you were talking didn't sound very rational, and I've got to think of the lives we're trying to save."

Courier · October 13, 2009

Originally Posted By: Bond

"Excuse me." Bond smoothly interposed himself into their somewhat spirited discussion. "I think Jules has a place on the advance team, Captain. I trust her to take the longer view and realise that any revenge she wants to take is better served cold... or at least lukewarm."

James looked from Jules to Bond to Jaz doubtfully.

*Jaz and especially Jules don't strike me as being especially cold. I'd always figured the effort to recreate-the-branch-Davidian-Waco-incident was Prima's fault. If Bond thinks this crew is controllable and cold then maybe I should rethink that. He's selected them because they're impatient and unwilling to follow orders. Having done that, 'stealth' and 'my plan will be followed' aren't the expected outcomes.*

Jasmine Gentian · October 13, 2009

Jasmine studied the other women quietly as Bond and Fox tried to reassure her. Finally, she stepped in as well, trying to sound calm.

"We were only asking you for the information you had Jules, not chastising you for what you didn't. And whoever's plan we follow, we need to do it right. To screw this up could be.. catastrophic. So I suggest a compromise. It's getting later in the day anyway - what is it now, about.." She glanced briefly at her watch, then back at the others standing there. "Four o'clock. I say we follow Fox's plan, warp our way there - the plateau sounds like our best option. Give it till dark, and let the Captain do some surveillance. Then.. we'll head in."

She caught Morgan's eyes, and took a deep breath, continuing before anyone else had the chance to chime in just yet.

"I know you'd rather wait, but we don't know their schedules, Morgan. They may sleep till noon and stay up till six a.m. Hell, they may alternate and sleep and eat and rape helpless women whenever the hell they feel like it, with plenty of them awake at all times. And I don't think most of us, once you get them there, are going to want to stand around knowing what's going on. Especially if we can see it - prisons have yards, right? And they probably use them. So we'll go.. you'll survey.. and then Jim, Jules, and I will go in after Hornsbeck, and give you the signal to send in the calvary when he's secure. Does that sound like a plan everyone's okay with?"

Her eyes flickered back and forth between Fox, and Jules, and Bond. Jim could see the slight anxiety in them when they met his, the hope that she'd said the right thing and that they could get things moving. Everyone would feel better once they got going.

Mr Fox · October 13, 2009

Fox nodded reluctantly, "I'd rather wait till late in the night, but that's a compromise I can live with."

Fox · October 13, 2009

"Excellent." Bond said, smiling at Jasmine before opening the passenger-side door of the Falcon. "Now, ladies, let's get comfortable while we wait for everyone else to get ready. Jasmine, your gear is in the back if you want to change now."

After assisting the two women into his hummvee, the mercenary climbed into the driver's seat himself and got comfortable, idly chewing his gum as they waited for Fox to lead off.

Jasmine Gentian · October 13, 2009

She climbed in through the open door, and stepped to the back to grab her gear. She changed quickly, and then settled herself into the front seat. As much as she appreciated the offer to say goodbye to Pumpkin for now, she'd had the foresight to do so earlier, and with the way things had gone at this meeting she was glad she'd done so. She didn't want to hold them up with any more delays. She climbed back into the front seat of the Hummer, and kicked her feet up onto the dash as she had on the way to Dallas. Her fingers drummed lightly against her leg, and then she glanced over at Jim, her expression somewhere closer to annoyed than amused.

"I think I'll take some of that gum now."

z-Jules WhiteElk · October 16, 2009

Jules nodded a little to Bond, but gave only hurt, angry eyes to Morgan. She hopped into the Humvee and stared out the window, her sharp features made sharper by the anger that sculpted them. Impatiently, she waited for the caravan to roll out.

Courier · October 16, 2009

Looks like the show is over. For now. James shrugged and went to find a car.

Mr Fox · October 19, 2009

Once everyone was geared up and ready to go Fox concentrated as usual and willed point A to become point B bending space and time and making it his bitch.

The two points became one with a slightly sickening raw edge where separate spaces overlapped, looking almost like a rip in the fabric of Space/Time. Despite the disturbing edges there was easily enough room to drive a humvee through the opening if careful. Fox gave the signal and the vehicles and people on foot quickly moved through and out onto the plateau chosen ahead of time for the assembly point. From there the groups would wait on darkness and the chance for Fox to scout out the best places to open his gateways.

Jasmine Gentian · October 19, 2009

Jasmine, Bond, and Jules were the first through the portal, and settled themselves in comfortably as everyone else rolled through. Once everyone had cleared the disturbing spacial anomaly, they settled in and waited. Eventually, day turned to dusk, and dusk to dark.

Jasmine forced herself to wait until closer to that time of entry before she finally opened up her senses, listening for whatever sounds she could hear, including the radio airwaves around the prison, just to see if there was anything they should be aware of. Part of her dreaded this, afraid that she would be able to hear the sounds of women suffering through the most unspeakable torture. But it had to be done - there were sounds radios couldn't pick up on that might do them good.

Click to reveal..

Dan Hawkins · October 19, 2009

Finally on the move, Dan eschewed the sled, knowing it was virtually pointless. Instead he climbed into his own Humvee and drove through, waiting with the others, checking the different radio bands manually to see if anyone was talking.

Dawn OOC · October 19, 2009

Waiting was the hardest. Jules paced endlessly, watching the western horizon or the prison through glasses. The prison seemed quiet; they were too far away to hear anything. In the heat of the day, there didn't appear to be anyone outside. There were a couple of courtyards that could have been used, but the walls were too high for the distant observers to peer into.

The only sign of life came from the carrion birds to the north, which rose and fell in the sky according to some arcane rhythm only they knew.

Courier · October 19, 2009

On the other side of the gate James relaxed and tried to encourage other people to do the same. He'd brought a deck of cards and tried to start up a game. Other people could and would burn themselves out waiting, part of his former job had been dealing with that.

Jasmine Gentian · October 19, 2009

The far-off sounds of screams and the occasional crack of what sounded like a baseball bat against a slab of beef caused her to flinch slightly. But from the other's invader's lack of reaction, she could tell that she was the only one who could hear it. And it was only dusk - not late enough for Fox's scouting mission by far. So she reached over, her hand resting lightly against Bond's arm to get his attention, and murmured quietly.

"I need to walk for a minute. I might check out that group of birds, it's probably just an animal dead or something but.. I've never seen them around zombies before, maybe there's a group of them or something. You wanna come, or stay?"

Fox · October 19, 2009

"Excellent idea." Bond had been watching the circling carrion feeders for a while now, trying to discern their relation to the prison. He had an idea, but doubted it was anything reassuring enough to voice. "You realise there's a lot of birds, and that means a lot of death." was as far as he commented as he fished out a compact-looking assault rifle from behind the driver's seat and screwed a silencer into place. "Let's go."

"Fox?" He called to the Captain as he and Jas walked away from the Falcon. "We're heading to check out what those birds are circling to the north." He pointed, then gestured back south towards the prison. "No sentries on the walls or in the towers. If they're that slack come nightfall, this will be a cinch." He tapped his belt pouch, then fastened an earpiece into place. "We're on the radio net if you need us."

With that, the two set off at a swift jog-trot in the direction of the buzzards, senses alert.

Courier · October 19, 2009

James watched the others leave with a raised eye brow. Hmm... boyfriend and girlfriend? If that's what they are. Either the tension has gotten to them or they spotted something. James eyed the prison and then eyed Fox. So either I'm staying next to Fox as mobile support, or just unwelcome. Fine either way I guess.

SalmonMax · October 20, 2009

Myfwany, sitting in the same vehicle Fox was in, leaned forward to talk to him from behind.

"Let me know what you want me to do, but remember I'll need plenty of energy after the fight for healing people. One thing I've found is that changing the weather is hard...it takes it out of me very fast."

Mr Fox · October 20, 2009

Fox waited as patiently as he could. Always before a mission his nerves were bad. Once the mission started it would all fade and there would be just the mission and focus.

"Yeah Mwf, save your energy for healing people, no need to mess with the weather." He barely paid attention to Jasmine and Bond walking off to check out the birds. He had noted them but frankly didn't want to know what was there just yet. There would be time for that after the mission and what they found might just make Fox abandon the plan which would be bad.

He was just marking time until it was dark enough to scout.

Dawn OOC · October 20, 2009

The two trotted off, keeping up their pace easily. Distances were deceptive, and it took them a little longer than they’d thought to navigate the twisting turns of the rock formations around the prison. As they ventured into the canyons, the screams and cries faded, which pleased Jasmine. For a while, all they heard was the sound of their boots on the rocks; then Jasmine heard the raucous cries of the carrion birds.

They found the site of their focus; a charnel pit filled with bodies. Men and women, as well as children, were heaped in the natural bowl. Some bore bite wounds, and they had single shots to their skulls. Those were understandable, but some of the others weren’t. A few, all men, had gun wounds with no evidence of bites. Many of the women were naked, and clearly in bad shape even before the animals had eaten at them.

The two stared, disgusted, until Jasmine found herself staring at a set of tennis shoes on a body which was half-buried under other bodies. They were red Keds, with line work drawn on them with a Sharpie. She had seen those before, but not for a long time.

Jasmine Gentian · October 20, 2009

"No..."

Her voice was barely a whisper, almost a warning, but before Bond could stop her she'd leaped down into the pit of carnage, landing with supernatural grace at the edge of the pile of the dead. At first she moved them aside carefully, trying to make her way to that pair of crimson-colored sneakers without harming the other bodies. But eventually, respect gave way to despair and she pushed aside the corpses without regard to honor or ceremony, intent on knowledge that only made a difference to the living, now. Finally, she reached her destination and pulled away the last nameless body, a final gruesome curtain against the truth. Jasmine's grasp faltered then, and it tumbled down the hill, landing carelessly against the edge of the pit with a sickening thud.

Beneath that faceless horror lay a young man, or an older boy. It was hard to say which, for he seemed to have died somewhere on that dividing line. Maybe it had been easier to tell once, but he had only been partially protected from the ravages of sun and wind and hungry vultures. Fingers that had once drawn intricate patterns on the soles of those same tennis shoes were now mostly eaten away, with only the faint remains of muscle clinging to a skeletal hand. He was dressed in jeans, and the remnants of a red t-shirt, though whatever design had been on it was now stained with the blood of the body that had covered him. The skin that remained was darker than the delicate hands that traced his face, or the fingers that trailed over the front of his shirt, as if wiping away the blood that stained it could wipe away the rest of the horror that she was staring at. Painfully though, the eyes were the same, chocolate-colored eyes frozen wide with terror in a mask of death that had been protected, almost cruelly so, against the elements for his sister to find.

She stood there, silently, half-holding the rotting boy in her arms. She made no noise, uttered no cry or wail or howl of grief. The only signs of emotion were the tears that streamed unchecked over her dusky-skinned cheeks.

"Denali..."

Fox · October 20, 2009

Then Bond was there beside her, rifle cradled in the crook of one arm as his other rested on her shoulder. He said nothing for a few moments, his face a mask concealing his true feelings, but his eyes glittered as he cursorily examined the body she held, trying to determine if the boy had been bitten before dying. In the wider view of things Bond's opinion was that dead was dead, but in this instance someone might be held to account, and therefore it mattered.

Finally he spoke quietly. "Jasmine." He moved around to take the body from Jasmine. Her grip tightened reflexively, and Bond caught her eye. "Jasmine. Let's bury him, okay?" She stared at him for a moment as though he were speaking some other language, her brown eyes rendered near-insensible with pain before something she saw in his face brought her back, at least a little. It was enough for now, at least.

They made their way up out of the pit, the caws of the carrion birds circling overhead a grisly processional. Bond carried the boy while Jasmine plodded along behind, lost in her memories and thoughts and regrets. A fresh dose of survivor guilt, another remnant of her old life that she had outlasted, whether through fate or the malignancy of Man. She was aware that Bond had stopped, had laid Denali down on a flat table of rocks, composing his limbs and closing his eyes, and had approached her. He gave the girl a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Sit with him for a while. I'll gather stones for a cairn."

Jasmine Gentian · October 20, 2009

She nodded softly, and caught his hand for just a second before he could walk away, her fingertips twining through his and squeezing gently before she let go. After he walked away, she sat down next to the mangled form that used to be her brother, and took his hand gently, her fingertips barely touching what was left of his. Very softly, though it carried far enough for Bond to hear where he was gathering stones for the boy's grave, she began to sing. Her voice was untrained, but it was soft and tragic, and she sang the lyrics of the song without pause, as if it was something that she had heard many times over in her life until she didn't even need to think about it.

Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,

While we all sup sorrow with the poor;

There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;

Oh Hard times come again no more.

Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,

Hard Times, hard times, come again no more

Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;