Aberrant: Dead Rising - Holiday Land [Complete]

[Mr Fox]

Thur: May 10th. Two days after 10e Chaos.

Fox didn't really have to sleep much these days, but after the exertion at Paradise and then directing the efforts at settling the victims the day before, he had been completely drained. Luckily his constitution was up to the task and after a good night's sleep he was ready to tackle the next big task. The bedroom was quiet though. He was surprised at how lonely it was in the command bunker without the sound of another person's breathing. He hoped Jules would get over it. He had said what he felt had to be said knowing she might not forgive him, but it hadn't been easy. Now he was facing the consequences and it left him with a hole inside.

He sighed as he finished lacing his boot and headed for the surface. He didn't bother hitting the radio since everyone knew what was planned for the day. They were to meet in the parking lot just after dawn for a trip to Holiday Land, the biggest RV dealership in the Dallas Metroplex, and if they didn't have enough then there were two more locations in Houston according to the phone book. Between them they ought to be able to acquire enough RV's, trailers and campers for everyone in the community to get out of tents and into the more pleasant accommodations of the mobile trailers. It was a shame he couldn't make his gateways any bigger or mobile homes would be an even better solution. As it was it would be a difficult time fitting the trailers through. He could create 9x9 openings and the average RV was 8 wide but around 10 tall.

When he arrived at the parking lot he was happy to note that he wasn't the first there. Markham and a contingent of 10 heavily armed security guys waited to provide fire support for the raid. He settled in chatting with the men and waited to see who else would show up.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan Arrived, looking straight to Morgan and making a beeline for him. "Morning Morgan, ready for a good day's work?"

He was fully decked out in battle fatigues, his rifle slung on his back, combat knife and pistols in their holsters, and a small bag of demolition supplies in his right hand, A metal toolbox in the other.

"Most of these things will have been sitting up. They're might need a little coaxing."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Still staggering from what Dr. Shattuck had told her, Kristin had heard about the raid on Holiday Land, and realized that was exactly what she needed, a distraction, hopefully one involving the opportunity to chop some zombies in two. It was also a chance to contribute to the Refuge, in return for them breaking Paradise - her and Ashley could carry their own weight, they didn't need the charity.

Her nightmares had been bad last night, the news from Dr. Shattuck and memories from Paradise blending into a horrifying whole that left the short, strapping girl whimpering the entire night, despite her cousin's desperate reassurance. Still, her stride was firm, and if her eyes were a bit sunken, they were still hard and clear as emeralds, a shotgun slung over one shoulder and her improvised, steel-hafted axe held easily in her hand.

The girl with the young, stunning face and powerful woman's body presented herself to the Master of the Refuge, her jaw tight with the effort of hiding her anxiety by being around so many men. She was dressed in a jumpsuit that fit her well enough, given to her by Violet, that looked like it had come straight from the set of Kill Bill, the yellow and black one-piece outfit snug across her shoulders, bust, and thighs.

"I want to help, too," Kristin stated with determination, handling her axe with instinctive casualness that spoke of intimate familiarity. "I'm good killing zombies, and I know how to drive, some."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nods as Kristen showed up. "Good to hear, there's still plenty of them in Dallas."

She looked better than she had the first time he'd seen her, but she still looked haggard. He looked over to Morgan. "We all just gonna walk on through, or do you want to take one of the vehicles?"

[Mr Fox]

Morgan shook his head in answer to Dan's question, "No. We'll be walking. Some of the RVs will need coaxing like you say, but with us here I think most of them will just need to be pushed through the opening. We'll start with the easy stuff that won't be any trouble getting through the gate. I figure with you, James, Kristin and myself, we should be able to get half a dozen to maybe a dozen through at a time."

Looking to Kristin, "Thanks for joining us. Your help will be appreciated."

[Courier]

James showed up outfitted for exploration and nodded hello to Dan, Fox, and the guards. Interesting. I think I'm on speaking terms with Dan, at least as long as Violet isn't in the same room.

James looked over Kristen for a moment then walked over. Nodding to the ax he asked, "How does that hold up for you? After I broke a number of axes I switched to swords."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

When the large, powerful man walked over to her, Kristin took a step back in anxiety, then gritted her teeth and stubbornly refused to move any further. She had every right to be here, Morgan had even thanked her for coming.

She wasn't afraid.

"I don't have a sword and I broke my axe too. But after replacing the haft with some flat, stainless steel bars, it works fine. The others said it was too heavy and that the handle vibrates too much after hitting something, but it's not a problem for me."

[Courier]

James looked at the ax's handle more closely and said, "Nice... Smart too. Now why didn't I think of that? Right, Jill introduced me to swords and after that I always had a blacksmith around." Jill...

Pain flickered across James' eyes at the mention of Jill but he moved on. James said, "Good to have you with us Kristin."

[Mr Fox]

Deciding that none of the others were coming Morgan figured it was time to get the show on the road. He called out, "Ok, folks here's the plan. There are two Holiday World's in Dallas, but as tiring as these gateways are I doubt we'll be able to clear out even one of them in a single day so we're going to organize this as best we can to maximize the gateways. I don't know how long I can hold each one open and I don't know how much that will cost me in energy so we'll get there and clear out the zombies. After that we'll line up the trailers and such in straight rows from easiest to move and most likely to fit through one of my gates to rows of bigger heavier RVs that may or may not make it through. That way we are sure to get as much through as we can before I tire out."

Seeing that there weren't any questions yet, he opened the gate to the RV store and let James, Dan, Kristin and the security guys proceed him. What he saw was not what he expected. He had expected a few zombies to be running around and a few of the class B and maybe a few of the class A's to be gone, having long since been 'acquired' by survivors. That wasn't the view he got...

[Dawn OOC]

The parking lot was empty. All of the trailers and RVs were gone, at first glance. Then the observer could see that the black bumps scattered around were slagged mobiles homes, all melted down into nothingness.

The devastation, the wanton destruction was complete. There wasn't anything usable left.

[Dan Hawkins]

"Damn." He walked up to one of the slagged hulks looking to see if the damage was recent, or if it was old.

He felt one of the hulks and looked to Fox. "They're still warm. This isn't a good sign." He brought his battle rifle up as he moved back with the others.

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin chewed on her lip at the sight of the wanton destruction, hefting her axe worriedly. She had been ready for zombies, had wanted there to be zombies, something for her to lash out against. Instead, there was... nothing, not even any trailers or RVs.

"Zombs don't do stuff like this!" Kristin declared, head twisting around, looking for anything, shoulders knotted with a niggling of doubt. The Zomb-blob had done weird things, could there have been a different type of zomb-blob that had done this?

[Courier]

James was taken aback by all the destruction. This had been wasteful. He inhaled sharply and tried to smell for anything other than fire damage. Whatever had done this could still be around.

James replied to Kristin, "True. This looks more like something a super would do. If we're lucky it was just someone practicing. If not..."

[Mr Fox]

Fox shook his head, "No, this was targeted directly at survivors, most likely us. Why would any super go after survival gear except to hurt the survivors and make their chances worse? Destroying mobile shelter like this means they have to seek permanent shelter."

Fox's tactical mind considered motives and strategies. "Doing this means anyone in this area would likely have to come to us for aid, either that or hole up somewhere in a regular house out in the country. That means people are being herded toward us, or isolated to make them easier targets." He really didn't like the implications.

"Only two things capable of this, the RUS, or a mutant smart zombie, neither of which makes me happy. Let's get over to the other Holiday Land real quick and see if it was hit the same way."

He ushered everyone back through and into the parkinglot at the refuge from where they had started. Given a situation like at the Holiday Land he wasn't going to cut off their avenue of escape by letting his gate close and strand them out there. Once back in the parkinglot, "Ok, here's what we do, I stay on this side and hold the gate open. One person goes through to recon and see if there is the same kind of damage there. If so jump back through immediately. If someone is out there doing that kind of thing they could also be trying to lure defenses away from the refuge in order to strike."

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan nods "I'll go."

[Courier]

James followed Fox back through the gate and commented, "We really should go back there. Just to see if it was RUS or not. Also... Fox, how long have you been planning this and who knew about it?"

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin paced restlessly, feeling a building fury at being thwarted. She had been looking forward to chopping up some zombies and helping getting the trailers and RVs for people to live in. She was planning on getting a really nice one for her and Ashley.

But there was nothing. Now the men were talking and she wasn't really sure what they were referring to other than that there was another Holiday Land to check. She rolled her shoulders and was almost bouncing on her toes, eager to be off. As long as she was doing something, she didn't have to worry about other things.

Why are they talking about smart zombies? Everyone knows that zombs are dumb. And why do they think-

"The Russians are coming?!"

[Dan Hawkins]

"The Reclaimed United States. What's left of theformer US military from all reports. Normally I'd say a good thing, but not right now."

He looked to Fox. "Ready when you are."

[Mr Fox]

Fox had waited a minute to make sure everyone was in the right frame of mind and ready for an assault if necessary. When the marine said he was ready Fox reached out with his will and forced 'there' to become 'here' with the normal gut-wrenching twisting of spacetime. What formed was a tear in the fabric of reality with scary looking edges through which could be seen the second Holiday Land looking equally as blasted as the first.

Fox swore. "Ok, we need to investigate and see if we can find any clues about who or what did that. I think it was aimed at us so let's be careful out there."

He clicked on his radio to the private channel, "Ger, Markham, Jules. The Holiday Land thing is a bust. Looks like someone deliberately destroyed all the trailers and RVs. We're going to investigate and see if we can figure out who did it. Be on heightened alert while we're gone. We'll be back in less than an hour unless we find something definite."

[Dawn OOC]

"Roger that, Fox," Markham replied, his deep voice steady and reassuring. "We'll keep an eye on things for you."

The group stepped through slowly and cautiously. Tense and alert, they scanned the area with various senses.

Click to reveal..

Perc + Awareness rolls, please detail any Mega-Perc enhancement you might be using.

[Courier]

James looked around cautiously, and inhaled deeply to smell around.

Click to reveal..

Awareness with Bloodhound

First two dice are megas (as stated on ic)

12d10 → [9,4,3,9,9,3,2,6,10,3,2,1] = 5 http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2396943/

Rerolled the 10 & nothing. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2396945/

Total = 5 sux

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin stepped through the rip in reality, yanking her eyes away from the writhing edges, as she scanned the blasted lot, the slagged heaps of trailers and RVs. Her gaze scanned back and forth in quick arcs, looking for lurching zombies or men. To her eternal regret, she had learned that men were every bit as dangerous as zombies, their malice a conscious choice.

She held her steel shafted axe in a steady had, the sharp blade weaving like the head of a deadly snake. Her other hand held a large rock, an improvised missile if needed.

Click to reveal..

Perception + Awareness: 4d10.hits(7) = 4 Successes! Hot Damn, Kristin doesn't want to be surprised again.

[Dan Hawkins]

Dan looked around, senses honed with years of training and exposure to bad situations on full alert. Something just felt bad to him.

Click to reveal..

Per+Awa no M-per

(22:49:31) ChatBot: (Dan_Hawkins) rolls 9d10 and gets 2,7,5,5,9,10,6,10,3.

(22:49:41) ChatBot: (Dan_Hawkins) rolls 2d10 and gets 4,8. (5 successes)

[Mr Fox]

Click to reveal..

Fox is waiting until the others give him the signal. He doesn't want to step through and become a target and potentially strand the others at Holiday Land.

[Dawn OOC]

Kristin thought she saw something; a dark point in the sky that was gone so quickly she was sure she'd dreamed it. But James and Dan both were sure - someone had been hovering in the air at a great distance, too far to discern features or identifying marks. Whomever it was, they had disappeared within seconds of being spotted by them.

[Dan Hawkins]

"Unidentified Super. Extreme range."

he frowned "This isn't good. this is way too much of a coincidence. I think we need to call this a wash and go home. Unless you want to try to track them down."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin scanned the blasted grounds, neglecting the speck she thought she had seen in the sky. It was probably just a bird or something. She was getting mighty irritated. She wanted to help the Refuge somehow and getting the RVs and trailers seemed like a good way, plus she was hoping to get a nice one for her and Ashley. But there was nothing, again! There wasn't even any zombies! She wanted to hit something!

Originally Posted By: Dan Hawkins

"... Unless you want to try to track them down."

"Track who down? There's no one here." Kristin looked around, no even seeing any tracks from trucks or tanks or something. A tank could do something like this, right. "That's it, we're done? Come on, there's like five or six RV dealers in Albuquerque. I remember, Dad was looking for one, one year. We only had it a few years before he sold it though."

[Courier]

Eyes locked on where the black dot had been, James said, "I might be able to track him. Even through the air, but actually following him..." Unless...

"But Dan could do that. Pick me up and follow that dot."

[Mr Fox]

Fox could hear the conversation but he had not stepped through the gateway. He waited to hear what Dan said before doing so, but he did answer Kristin, "Kristin, I can only go to places I've been before with my gateways. I haven't been to Albuquerque. I have been to Houston however, and they have at least three big RV places, probably more, but it would take me an hour or two to fly around town to find them, and with what we've seen here I think sticking around here would be a better idea. I've been gone from the refuge a lot lately and that's dangerous, especially if that guy was waiting here for us to show up. It might signal an attack on the refuge."

[Dan Hawkins]

"This reeks of a Trap. A big time Ambush."

"Morgan I think we need to either pack it in, nor try somewhere else at random. They were waiting for us here, and you know what that means."

[Mr Fox]

"Yeah, we're callin this a day." He motioned for everyone to get back through the gate. Once they were he let it go.

To the security guys that were going to go on the RV scavenging mission he gave instructions to head for guard duty on the walls instead. "Be sure to keep an eye on the sky. If the RUS has a flyer he or she could drop bad things in on us. I doubt we'll see any attack today, but they are definitely checking us out."

[Krysti-Lynn Magnussen]

Kristin grunted and stomped back trough the eerie rip in space, completely dissatisfied. She really wanted to get something for her and Ashley, someplace they could call home, at least for now. Slaughtering zombs would have been a big bonus.

"Well, damn!" Kristin swore on the other side, thumping the head of her axe against the ground. Gets a little hard, and the men give up. "We're gonna try again another time, right?"

She cocked her head at Fox, waiting for an answer, then her huge, jade eyes widened. The warning about the skies reminded her of something else she could be doing. "I gotta go," she said, giving the men a small wave, then hustled off, breasts bouncing and ass flexing enticingly. Fox, Dan, and James couldn't help but feel at least a trace of guilt at noticing the adult figure on the fifteen year old girl.

Kristin jogged off to collect some seeds and to go meet Gabrielle. Maybe she'd be able to get into the skies herself.

(OOC - Kristin has run back to The Hardest Choice)

[Courier]

Kristin was an eye magnet as she bounced off. Down boy. Too young. Too hurt. She's one of those ducks to your dog. And you're full up anyway...

James thought sarcastically, ...and I'm just *stunned* to find that it's going to take longer than expected to deal with the temporary housing situation.