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

[Dawn OOC]

The creatures shifted away from James, half-dragging four legs. It had an oozing crater where Kristin's rock had hit it, but she hadn't hit the brain - or all the brains. It was clear that more head shots would be needed. For now, it was functional.

The massive head twisted impossibly around on its body, drawing the shape into something like a cone. Flesh cracked and ripped; bones groaned and squealed as it resorted itself. It peered around, white eyes looking for something. When it saw the group clustered around Bond, it seemed to find what it sought.

The thing roared, but the fierce noise was cut off as it disappeared-

-and reappeared directly in front of Jasmine. She was face-to-face with the heaving blob's current front. Bond, Jules, Hornsbeck and Kristin found themselves displaced and shoved to the side as it focused on the armed teen. She had time for one shocked scream before a half-dozen arms grabbed her and jerked her against the mass. All she could see was melded, rotten flesh; all she could smell was the choking smell of dead meat. And all she could feel was the strange burning, itching sensation here it touched her skin.

Click to reveal..

Jasmine cannot breathe or see; she'll need to make an opposed Strength check to get out of the grapple. She has gained two temporary taint; the hurting starts next round.

Myf et al

"I know first aid," the man said, "and Ashley can help me."

"Yeah!" the girl chirped quickly, grinning at him.

"Oh, and my name is Simon," he added as he picked up a first aid kit. Bending next to a flinching woman, he and Ashley began to work. He was focused, his lips set in a firm line; she was pale and clearly scared, but she didn't leave his side.

[Fox]

"Get her free." Bond called out to Kristin, his crystal-quick mind shunting aside the brief animal panic he felt at seeing Jasmine in peril. He slung the shotgun behind his back and took a single step backwards, sizing up the solid cliff-face of rotting flesh in front of him, his hands unhooking two small cylinders from his webbing. Then he moved.

One grasping arm served as an initial foothold, then a protruberance of rancid flesh a few feet above it. As arms grasped at him, the preternaturally agile merc caught hold of one, using his momentum to flip up onto another fleshy outcropping before fairly dancing up a steep slope of zombified flesh. He never hesitated, never even appeared to consider his path up the mountainous bulk, but his footing never so much as faltered, his balance was perfect.

A smile on his lips, the daredevil Brit brought first one, then the other white-phosphorus grenade up, tossing each with uncanny accuracy straight into two separate maws of deformed flesh and teeth before turning and launching himself off the thing in a rolling somersault, flipping down the side of the monster as agilely as he had ascended just as a double-*crump* could be heard from inside the beast.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin reacted instinctively to Bond's call, dropping her second improvised missile and springing after Jasmine and the Zomb-blob with remarkable speed. Closing on the enormous monstrosity, Kristin surged against an unseen tide of force, gritting her teeth, the oversized shirt she wore pressing tight against her, outlining her toned, curvaceous figure.

She reached around the enveloped Jasmine, her hands passing between multiple arms, getting a secure, comfortable hold on the other girl. She pulled, muscles bulging with effort, struggling against the Zomb-blob's grotesque strength.

We're almost free, Ashley is going to be safe, I can save this girl too!

Keeping her hold on Jasmine, Kristin pulled up her legs, bare feet pressing against the disgusting bulk of the zomb-blob for more leverage. She strained, a thick vein rising in each toned arm, emitting a soft, fierce growl, kicking at pulpy arms to break their grip.

"Let! Go!"

Finally, with a sickening, slurping sound, the Zomb-blob lost its hold, stubbornness and compact muscle defeating sheer mass and the two girls tumbled free, skidding a couple of yards back.

[Courier]

James shook off his shock and refocussed on the monster. Worry about these black lines and whatever they do later. Big and Bad is right here right now. Zoms are dumb. Let's try replaying history with the correct ending this time.

James leaped behind the creature again, and again sliced into it's rear with his burning blade. Now you pop up and bite me, but this time I'm reading and waiting you SOB.

James readied his blade to attack when the monster's head came out.

Click to reveal..

Q-Leap again. Healing for 2q (still 1 lethal levels down). Q-pool: 14/24. Willpower: 7/8 FF: +14/+14 (2nd round of 3 before maint)

Split action: 1 to attack (-3 dice) with primary action held in reserve (-2 dice). When it's head pops out to attack, James will interrupt and try to attack it first.

Secondary Action (-3): Attack

7d10.hits(7) [7,7,6,3,6,3,5] = (2 Sux) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2344144/

Damage: 7d+acc(1d)

8d10.hits(7) [9,5,4,7,8,6,4,1] = (3 Sux) + 15 auto => 18 damage (lethal: fire) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2344150/

Primary Action: (-2): Attack (contingent on head appearing)

8d10.hits(7) [1,9,1,5,3,1,2,4] = (1 Sux) (hope it's enough) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2344153/

Damage: 7d10.hits(7) [8,10,9,4,2,4,2] = (3 Sux) + 15 auto => 18 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2344155/

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine let out a cry of surprise as Kristin was able to pull her free, and for a moment the two super-girls tumbled across the ground from the sheer momentum.

But Jasmine, adrenaline and fighter's instincts having reached their peak as she struggled briefly against the rotting flesh, let go of Kristin and rolled to a knee, still holding the shotgun. She fired two more rounds straight at the thing's gaping maw, her expression a mixture of hatred and disgust.

[Mr Fox]

Fox circled around in the air a good 40 feet above the creature and a little off center so that should something happen and he fell, it wouldn't be into the thing. He pulled back the bolt and chambered another huge .50 caliber round and fired into the things head.

[Dawn OOC]

It hungered. There was pain behind it, but that was insignificant compared to the promise before it. As its size grew, so had its appetite. It had a vague memory of being satiated, at one time, but that was long ago in the awareness of now in which it lived. Now, right now, it was starved for food.

Life was food.

Life abounded now, and those pinpricks of food that danced and leapt and flew around it were just morsels to be caught and eaten. But two morsels, the two just before it, were especially good. They would sustain it, fill it, maybe forever. Some part of it knew that promise wasn’t true. It could never eat enough. But the two before it were drunk with life, overflowing with it, and it wanted to drink, too-

The rocks that the food had thrown into its mouths hurt it with a sudden rush of fire and pain. It screamed, crying for a respite that wouldn’t come. The burning hurt so much, but some of it, the primal core that was IT, survived.

Life was food. If it could just eat, it would live.

It lunged forward and enveloped both of the forms brimming with life into it. Once it had one, it could leave. One evaded it, dancing to its left, to the damaged, fire-eaten side. The burning hurt too much; it couldn’t see, couldn’t smell that one.

But the other… the sweet other one, it enveloped within it. It felt it fight and struggle, to try not to Become One, but it was persistent and Hungry. It began to Feed.

Click to reveal..

Kristin is grabbed this time; Jas got away. Kristin, 2 temp taint. It’s clearly badly damaged, with most of the head missing.

[Fox]

"Damn it." Bond rolled as he landed, spinning up and onto one knee facing the beast. Kristin broke Jasmine free of it's foul grip, only to be captured herself, and Bond's white phosphorus was still smoldering nicely inside the thing. It was badly injured... from what he could tell, anyway. He'd seen a lot of injuries since Z-Day, and read a lot of medical textbooks as a survival aid, but there weren't any textbooks on teleporting blobs of reanimated dead flesh as big as main battle tanks.

He brought the assault shotgun up to his shoulder once again, firing five more tight clusters of flechettes into the thing's bulk at close range.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin barely had a chance to regain her feet before the mass of dead flesh plowed into her. Panic rose up her throat as she felt the cold flesh of many arms and legs envelop her, her quavering wail muffled by the Zomb-blob's bulk. It reminded her too much of the times Master would give her to a gang of his men, the many hands twisting and grabbing, grasping and prodding.

She began struggling wildly, fists pounding at pulpy tissue, steely muscled legs pushing against the horrid monstrosity with inexorable strength. It wasn't fair! She could taste freedom it was so close, but now all she tasted was the dead, dirt-encrusted meat her face was pressed against.

[Courier]

James waited for the head to appear and be vanquished, but it didn't show up. I'm dropping enough heat on this thing to melt a brick wall, it felt it before, it's got to be feeling it now. I refuse to believe it's smarter than me, so let's try more encouragement.

Yelling, "Come ON!!! Don't take that from me! Pop up and bite me! James ran around the creature, pulling his blade along at chest level and waiting for the monster's counter-strike.

Click to reveal..

Healing for 1q back to full. Q-pool: 13/24. Willpower: 7/8 FF: +14/+14 (3rd round of 3 before maint, he'll have to pay next turn)

Same as before: Split action: 1 to attack (-3 dice) with primary action held in reserve (-2 dice). When it's head pops out to attack, James will interrupt and try to attack it first.

IC is down, this is at WW under "James" http://umbralechoes.com/WoDRoller.php

Secondary Action (-3): 7d: Attack 2009-12-19 19:11:14

3,2,4,3,9, 5,3 (1 success)

Secondary Action Damage: 7d+[15]: 2009-12-19 19:14:51

5,8,6,7,1, 9,1 (1 success) => 16 sux (lethal: fire)

Primary Action: (-2): 8d: Attack (contingent on head appearing)

2009-12-19 19:17:41

9,10,10,6,8, 9,10,10 (7 successes) !?!

Damage 12d[15]: 6,5,5,8,8, 5,8,7,10,7, 2,4 (6 successes) => 21 sux

2009-12-19 19:31:12

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan fires a few times shooting the zombies that wander nearby. He notices the fight, wishing he could help the others, but knowing with so many here it was his duty to protect the Doc while she treated her patients.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine swore viciously, and swung the shotgun over her shoulder as she dived for the area where the powerful young woman had been engulfed by in Jasmine's place. She reached in, trying to grab hold of her hand or any other part of her body she could get to. She wasn't sure entirely what she grabbed, but she pulled with all her might, though it was a strain to keep her grip against the dead limbs pulling against her.

,,

Through the strain, she yelled in desperation to the other three men still combating the beast, though she knew they were trying their hardest. It was the first time any of them had actually heard Jasmine use any truly foul language - though of any of the situations they'd been in, this one seemed the most appropriate.

"Kill the fucker already, for Christ's sake!!!!"

[Mr Fox]

Fox remained where he was. There wasn't anything he could do for the girl other than try and take the creature down as fast as possible.

"Damn it!" Firing multiple shots back to back with a sniper rifle was not a good idea, it could cause the barrel to warp due to the intense heat of the bullets, but this was life and death, it had to be done even if this was Morgan's favorite weapon.

He fired three quick back to back shots at the critter's head if it was visible otherwise just into it if not. The shots made the flesh quiver like when a rock was thrown into a still pond as they tore into the critter causing small fountains of gore.

[SalmonMax]

"Dan," Myfwany snapped, "Go help! We'll be fine here. There's not enough zombies here to overwhelm us."

[Dan Hawkins]

"It's almost Dead Myfwany. With that many supers on it it will be by the time I get there." Dan trusted in the other supers to handle the zombie, that was part of why he stayed. "Besides, this allows you to focus on helping these people. I'll do my part."

To accent his statement his rifle barked twice more, killing another pair of ZOmbies that was wandering too close.

[Dawn OOC]

It was impossible for the watchers to tell when the creature died. It had slowed considerably in the last few seconds, and Kristin, buried in its flesh, felt resistance to her efforts fade. By the time she'd dug herself out of its mass and stood, it was clear that the matter was done.

For a second: silence. Then there was the sound of a dozen zippers made of meat and bone coming undone, and the body began to split apart. Once attached pieces rolled away as the mountain of undead flesh - now, finally truly dead - sagged and collapsed. There was another long moment of silence as the world waited to see what would happen next.

Then the moment was gone, blown away in a whisper of wind.

[Mr Fox]

Fox was the first to speak, "Well that sucked." Then louder as he called to those on the ground, "Everyone ok?"

Regardless of the response he wasn't about to lower his guard, the big zombie-blob might be dead but there were still plenty of normal deaders running around and there was no way to know if Hornsdick's guards might still be looking for a fight. Speaking of the ass, "Did you guys get Hornsby?"

[Fox]

Shotgun still at his shoulder as he scanned the area, Bond swept a glance over the others on the ground before nodding up at Fox. "We seem to be still standing. Minor injuries for the most part." He looked harder at James. "You going to be alright? Might want to get yourself to Dr Shattuck." He looked up at Fox, grinning slightly. "As for Hornsbeck, Jules has him neatly collared over there." The mercenary pointed to where the Native American woman stood holding their captive neatly in a painful-looking armlock.

Relaxing slightly, resting the barrel of his assault weapon on his shoulder, Bond sauntered over to where Jasmine and Kristin stood. "Well, that was exciting." he announced with a crooked smile, his blue eyes twinkling. "And how are you ladies doing? All okay?"

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin pulled herself free of the discombobulated mass of zombie, spitting the foul taste from her mouth. She glared at the Zomb-blob, then gave it a kick, limp arms breaking with brittle pops. At the sound of a man's voice, Kristin whirled around with a flinch, hands balled into fists. Seeing Bond, she let out a sharp breath and unclenched her hands.

"I'm fine, it's only a zombie," Kristin boasted with forced nonchalance, a slight tremble to her jaw. She ran a hand through her hair, and Bond noticed despite being engulfed by the sloughing flesh of a dead and dread monstrosity, Kristin's hair still fell in a perfect swath to her chin, gleaming like golden fire. Her skin and purloined shirt showed not a single greasy stain or speck of dirt.

[Courier]

James replied to Bond, "I think I'm good. It took a lot out of me and trashed my shirt, but... I'm good and they're busy." James said that last with a trace of hesitation. The creature had hurt him, the memory of pain faded quick but there had been enough odd things about this one that he would want to see the doc.

James followed Bond over to the ladies, the lines across his chest undrawing themselves in some reverse photography-ish effect. Introducing himself to Kristin, James said, "Greetings, I'm James."

Let's see... a pissed-off super-strong half-naked gorgeous woman who managed to come through all this without a stain. Let me guess, one of us? And didn't you get burned bad enough with Violet? This isn't the time or the place, and probably not the woman either.

Almost as an afterthought James continued, "Please tell me there's only one of those things around."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine glanced at James for a second, then shook her head slightly, looking tired and a little annoyed.

"Asking the wrong person, don't you think?"

Jasmine walked over to Jim. She felt off, like there was something different or dark or slimy hiding inside of her now, as if somehow some of the creature's evil had been transferred to her as she'd struggled to escape it. But it was probably just nerves, and she didn't feel like making a big deal about it at the moment. She just wanted to get out of here. So she pulled one of his golden pistols out of his shoulder holster, and offered him a playful smile.

"I'll be fine - you don't mind if I borrow this, right?"

And with that, she walked over to where Jules stood, Hornsback held in a lock. She dug the pistol uncomfortably into his temple, finger resting calmly on the trigger, and tilted her head to study him for a moment. Then she spoke, her voice and gaze as smooth and cool as if she'd been taking lessons from Jim for ages.

"Any more surprises for us, sugar? Refuse to answer or lie to me and I will blow your brains out all over the side of this pretty gray concrete building."

[Atomicweasel]

The loud zipping pops of Dan’s gun startled Hana out of her game of binocular star-gazing. She uncurled her legs and rose up to kneel upon the roof of the Humvee, swiveling her head to follow the motion of his rifle. She saw the straggling zombies drop and half a heart-beat later heard the crack of the rifle. With the binoculars held to her eyes she watched another zombie fall. And then another.

Dan was not wasting his bullets, Hana saw. She could see through the binoculars how he lined up his shots, how he seemed to relax his body and breathe out at the very instant he pulled the trigger. Dan fired again and a zombie’s brains blossomed out the back of its skull, pink and gray against the background of the night like a splotch of oily paint against a dark canvass.

Hana had only fired her gun once, at Marmac. The recoil had knocked her flat on her ass and left her shoulder and elbow aching for days. Maybe if she asked him to, Dan would teach her how to shoot.

[Dawn OOC]

Hornsbeck just grinned at her, his eyes wild. It was Jules who pulled him away from her gun, saying, "No one kills him, Jas, not until Fox says so."

Hornsbeck giggled. "Saving me for another go-around, sweetheart? I know you want to get those strong, red hands on me again."

Jules looked angry; then it passed. "Just wait," she said mildly. "I have my own fun planned."

Click to reveal..

Jules' first WP roll: 2 sux

(12:21:25) ChatBot: (Jules) rolls 7d10 and gets 6,1,5,1,9,10,3.

Jules' second WP roll: 3 sux

(12:22:07) ChatBot: (Jules) rolls 7d10 and gets 10,2,10,3,7,1,1.

[Courier]

James watched the interaction between Hornsbeck without comment. Dead man. He knows it. We know it. He knows we know and so on.

James said out loud, "So... room by room search? Although we could and should try the loudspeaker again. Oh, and I ran into a woman who said she was married to some guy here. She seemed pretty determined that I not hurt him."

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jasmine's faintly annoyed gaze rested on Jules for a long moment, then she shrugged and walked back over, handing the pistol back to Bond. When she spoke, it was directed at Fox and Jules.

"All right then, it's all yours. I'm tired, and I'm done."

With that, she turned and started walking back towards the convoy. She'd be more likely to try and figure out exactly what had happened to Denali from some of the women up there anyway.. and if she didn't, it wasn't as if it was going to bring him back to find out.

Stupid bastard looks half-crazy anyway. These people really need to learn to bluff a little.

[Fox]

Bond spun the ungainly-looking pistol around twice in his hand, then snapped it smoothly back into it's holster with jaunty insouciance. He tipped a salute to Jules and Fox, then looked at Kristin, shotgun still resting on his shoulder.

"Care to come along? Your friend is with our doctor now, back with the others." He smiled and indicated the direction Jasmine was heading before moving to follow her, letting Kristin decide for herself whether to come along.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

The large, muscular man joining the group made Kristin anxious, despite herself, those weird, dark lines unspooling across his chest. Holding herself back, without seeming to try to, Kristin glanced up at Fox flying over, before turning her wary, jade eyes back to James. Again, that stunning girl's face was an odd complement to her toned, curvaceous, adult body.

"Um... hi? I'm... Kristin. How - how many...er, people like you are there? And you're James too?" Her eyes slid to Bond, who had to turned to look at her, then back to James. "You don't look like James Bond, not even the Connery one."

Originally Posted By: Bond

"Care to come along? Your friend is with our doctor now, back with the others."

Kristin immediately turned back to the Real-Life Movie Character, trailing him in a way that was both eager and hesitant at the same time.

"Ashley, she's free and safe? Really, for true? I'm coming!" With a burst of speed, Kristin sped pass Bond and quickly caught up to the other 'Slayer' that had fought the Zomb-blob. "Which way is the Doctor?" she beseeched fretfully.

[Mr Fox]

Fox finally let his feet touch the ground just a few feet from Jules and Hornsbeck. He gave Jules a little smile that said he had known all along that she could be trusted and was proud of her for it.

"Ok, James, Bond, Jasmyne and anyone else that feels up to it, room by room search but be careful. Once we're sure everyone has been released we'll head back to the vehicles. Meanwhile I'll make an announcement over the PA that any survivors are welcomed to join us. Oh, and if you see any guards, I don't care if they do have a woman vouching for them. That could just be Stockholm syndrome speaking. Any guards from this place go on trial, at the very least they allowed the atrocities here to occur and did nothing, even if they didn't actively participate."

He called over the walkies to the others that had come in on the raid, "Make sure you round everyone up. Be gentle with the women, but herd everyone to some place safe until we can sort out who is who. Room by room."

Looking over to Jules, "As soon as we get everyone together we'll have a quick trial, then perform whatever justice is appropriate. I don't see any reason to drag things out or act like a bad Bond super villian and give them a chance to escape." He chuckled and looked to Bond, and shrugged. It was still hard to get used to seeing this super turned into James Bond.

"Now, give me a sec and I'll make the announcement over the PA."

Fox walked off and a few minutes later his voice could be heard coming out of the speakers all over the compound sounding very reasonable. "This is Captain Morgan Fox of the United States Air Force Special Forces. I run a sanctuary in Texas that welcomes any survivor. I know that terrible things have happened here and anyone not guilty of the crimes I have seen since arriving will be welcomed and protected. Anyone guilty of rape, torture, abuse and the other vile things going on in this prison will receive a fair and swift trial. If you are found not guilty you will be welcome to join us at the Refuge. I encourage everyone to meet our people in the yard. You have the choice to join us, or go about your business as you please once we sort everyone out. Medical attention will be provided to anyone that needs it."

Once he was done he moved back out into the yard where the others were gathering the remaining survivors and guards.

[Jasmine Gentian]

Jas smiled a little at the somewhat unnatural looking young woman. At least, she seemed and acted young, even if she didn't completely look it. She was certainly more "filled out" than Jasmine was, although Jasmine had always been pretty but modestly gifted in the curves department. Getting over the leukemia had done a little bit for her there, but she was still more athletic and subtly curvy than full-fledged seductress. Yet the almost Violet-like figure in front of her (save three or so cup sizes) had a face like a girl a touch younger than Jas herself, so that's how she communicated with her.

"Doc's up this hill, we'll get you there and let everyone know what's going on. You can stay with them while we go check the place for other women and guards, okay? You can check up on Ashley yourself."

She and Jim led the girl up to the area where Myf was working diligently on the wounded, along with the help of a couple people Jas didn't recognize from the refuge. She pointed to where Myf was, and directed Kristin's gaze that way.

"There.. that's the doctor. You see your friend?"

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan finished off the last of the wayward Zombies with a final crack of his rifle and then radioed. "All Zombies neutralized. I'm coming down to help with the room by room."

He descended to Hana and smiled. "Hang loose, we've got a little bit more left to handle, then We can go back to the refuge."

He took off back into the skies and made for the prison, starting at the upper floors and towers and working his way down, roughly depositing two guards who had surrendered on the ground after evicting them from towers. He then began upstairs and started clearing the top floor.

[Dawn OOC]

Ashley had her face down, concentrating on the bandage she was holding in place. Kristin looked at her; Ashley was safe, and different, more sure of herself. It was as if something in the prison had strengthened her rather than tearing her apart.

The man next to her was familiar; one of the guards, Kristin knew. He'd never hurt her, or anyone, that she remembered, but he was a guard, and that made him a monster to the blond girl. He saw her before Ashley, his expression unreadable. But he smiled at Ashley when he spoke to her, and her cousin looked up and saw her then. She and the man exchanged a few more words and then Ashley was running toward her, grabbing a rag to wipe off the blood on her hands. "Kristin!" Ashley shouted, bounding over a small pile of medical supplies to grab her in a hug.

[Courier]

Originally Posted By: Kristin Mackenzie

"Um... hi? I'm... Kristin. How - how many...er, people like you are there? And you're James too?" Her eyes slid to Bond, who had to turned to look at her, then back to James. "You don't look like James Bond, not even the Connery one."

The lines on his arm and chest finished fading into oblivion and James replied in a mock formal tone, "Pleased to meet you. I'm DeBeer. James DeBeer", and then the woman (girl?) ran off. How old is she? The chest says 20 but the attitude says a lot younger.

James listened to Fox talk and nodded. He still felt up to doing a room by room. Then Fox made his announcement on the PA and James frowned. A fair trial probably isn't a strong selling point for the people with guns. Well fine, what's done is done, let's get started.

James walked into a building and started walking from room to room, looking (smelling) for people.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristine gave Jasmine a grateful nod, taking a deep breath that stretched her shirt tautly. It felt... odd, liberating to finally be outside, without Master Hornsfucker's! hand on the chain hanging from her steel collar. Tentatively, her hand reached up for that solid band around her throat. Her strong fingers were able to dent the metal, but wasn't sure if she would be capable of wrenching it apart, not without getting jabbed in the neck. She was going to have to get it OFF!

"Thanks... Jas? I'll - yeah, I'll wait outside," Kristin said, a haunted look in her eyes as she glanced back at Paradise. "I can't go back there. I won't!"

Led to the impromptu field hospital, Kristin's eyes rove restlessly, looking for her cousin. She froze, finally seeing her, holding a bandage to another woman, one of the guards standing next to her; she spared him a brief sneer, he was only one and unarmed - she could take him. For a moment, she could hardly believe it, they were out, free. They were going to be okay.

"Ashley!" she cried, running to her cousin, the last person she had in the world. They met halfway, pulling each other into a tight hug. "You're okay! We're free! I should have listened to you, Ash. We should've stayed at our camp, we were safe there. But we can go back now," Kristin said with rising hope, raising her head. "Maybe our dads are even waiting for us!"

[Atomicweasel]

Hana lowered the binoculars as Dan flew closer, letting them hang from her neck and settling back onto her heels by the time he alighted atop the Humvee. She nodded her acquiescence at his instructions, pushed a strand of hair from her face and barely murmured an "okay" at him as he flew off again.

For a little while she tracked him again with the binoculars, until he'd flown out of sight behind the prison walls, and then Hana scootched over to the edge of the Humvee's roof and dangled her legs over the side. Sitting there, with one Adidas sneaker perched lightly atop the driver side mirror, she swept the field with the borrowed binoculars. Kristin and Ashley caught Hana's attention among the other refugees from the prison.

Violet had told her the women and girls there had suffered terribly at the hands of their captors...and they mostly looked the part, all bedraggled and battered and fucked up. Ashley and Kristin were smiling and hugging. They were both pretty, though Kristin looked to Hana like a professional body-builder. Her thickly corded biceps and the sharply defined muscles looked out of place with the teen's young face.

She's probably not much older than me... Hana surmised. And even though she was only wearing a shirt and had probably been raped more times than Hana cared to guess at, she looked happy. She looked clean even. Really clean.

Cleaner than me. Hana watched them hug a while longer and then, as they broke their embrace, she twisted around and lowered herself carefully from the roof of the Humvee where she clung to the side before dropping the last two feet.

Tentatively, Hana started walking towards the pair of teens.

[SalmonMax]

Myfwany looks up at the fracas, momentarily distracted from taping a gauze pad over a livid bruise. Even in the midst of doctoring, she's not so singleminded as to not feel a little tug on her heartstrings to see the tearful reunion, even if she doesn't know the whole story behind it.

She finishes up the bandage, and gets up to her feet, patting her patient on the shoulder. She spies Jasmine there, standing and watching the two sisters as well, and goes over to her.

"I think everyone's patched up as well as can be done out here. We need to get them to the infirmary where Dr. Singh and I can give them more thorough checkups. They're all ready to move though...no injuries that would make it unsafe."

After a moment she adds, "What were you fighting towards the end? It sounded pretty intense."

[Dawn OOC]

"Oh, thank god you're alright!" Ashley cried, tears choking her. She pulled back and said, "Simon kept telling me you were alright, but it's good to see you actually are! And yeah, we should find our folks. We've got to, I bet they're looking for us, now. But we should finish helping out here, and you probably want to rest for a while."

Ashley's eyes clouded with tears and she grabbed Kristin in another hug. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I wanted to stop them... but I couldn't! I'm sorry!"

The other guards were being rounded up. A trend was emerging; there were a handful of guards being defended by women. In one case, there were three of them defending one of the guards; another woman claimed he was her husband before Z-day. Worse, some of the women who had been only lightly wounded were starting to try to attack the bound guards, including the ones being defended by others. Things were getting complicated by angry women, rapidly.

[Fox]

Bond walked past the knots of wounded that Myf was seeing to, smiling faintly as he saw Kristin reunited with (he presumed) her friend. He gave Jasmine a friendly nudge with one hip as he walked up to stand beside her, then gave Myfwany a lopsided smile.

"I'll give you a hand with the wounded, Doctor. The Falcon stands ready to take those that can't walk through one of Fox's gateways." The blond Brit unstoppered a canteen and took a long drink of water before offering it to Jasmine, then gave Myf a wry grin, one cheek smudged with gunsmoke. "As to what we were fighting, it was some sort of hideously mutated amalgam of zombies... A blob, if you want the technical term."

As he spoke, those pale blue eyes roamed the group of women and children around him with seemingly idle curiosity, singling out and marking the silent man near Ashley and Kristin, as well as the other teenage girl approaching them. As he watched, Bond pulled a pair of foil-wrapped energy bars from another of the ubiquitous pouches on his webbing and offered one to Jasmine before tearing the wrapper of the other with his teeth.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Ashley could feel Kristin trembling in her embrace, her face pressed to her shoulder, tears soaking her shirt. Muscles like steel cords twitched beneath her skin.

"I'm... not okay, Ash," Kristin said in a quavering murmur, "It - it was bad. But at least Mast - that motherfucking Asshole! seemed to keep his word." Kristin took a step back and held Ashley by the shoulders, looking her up and down. A painful grin tugged at the corner of her lips. "You look fine - better than fine even."

Kristin looked past Ashley's shoulder, watching the women attack the guards - she knew those men, every one!. Her grin turned vicious.

[Atomicweasel]

As she came closer and got a good look at the expression on muscle-bound teen's face, Hana veered away from the pair of girls faster than Kristin's mood change.

Instead, she ambled over to where Bond stood with Jasmine and Myfwany. Her eyes fixed first on the energy bars Bond and Jasmine were sharing, until she came right up to the group and paused...with a puzzled frown marking a cute little furrow in her brow.

"I know you." Hana said, staring hard at Bond, fixing his eyes with hers. "You're that actor. You're Daniel Craig." Even in her excitement, Hana sounded subdued, her voice barely raising with alarm.

[Courier]

Not quite pushing two people in front of him, James walked back out and surveyed the situation. Right. Riot starting in a few minutes. Let's see if we can't head it off. First lets attract their attention. James took out his horn and let loose a

Hoooonk!!!

Holding up his hands James said loudly, "People, that's enough of that. Everyone Calm Down. Fox is in charge, there will be trials and all of that, but if anyone dies it will be after calm deliberation and not from an angry mob." Although said calmly James words weren't a request. James had a personality even bigger than he was and he let it fill the area.

Click to reveal..

{Command Roll please: 6 dice + 2 mega, megas go first.}

IC is down: http://umbralechoes.com/WoDRoller.php 2009-12-22 21:33:06

8,10,4,1,1, 9,4,9 (7 succ)