Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 11a: Shop Smart, Shop S-Mart

[Dawn OOC]

July 10, 2007

Felicia fell into a deep sleep before they'd driven ten miles. Privately, Ira wondered if it really were a sleep, or if the trial that Felicia had endured already had taken too much of a toil on her. She breathed, and he was loathe to wake her. Cassandra was staring out the window, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

The sign ahead advertised a Wal-Mart off to the right. Ira took the turn a little sharply, relieved when Felicia stirred on her own. "Where?" she asked.

"Not far," Ira told her. "Just go back to sleep, baby." She nodded and sank against him, putting an arm across his lap. He wasn't sure if she was aware of it, but he sure as hell was - and that Cassie was just on the other side of her.

He took the turn into Wal-Mart with more care, trying not to wake Felicia until the last moment. As he was doing a drive-by to check out the building, Cassie looked at him and asked, "What is the Highrise of Satan? Why does my knight need to know of it?"

[Ira Sagebrush]

It had been a long time since he had been back to a Wal-Mart. Ira had been afraid to venture into any of them since this all started. He reflexively scratched his left arm, rubbing at it through the fabric of his clothing.

Click to reveal.. (Flashback)

Good morning Wal-Mart shoppers...!

"C'mon Baby, we still got five minutes left on break." Ira said, playfully tugging on his girlfriend's bright blue apron, trying to entice her to stay in the sporting good's break-room haven.

"Let me go, Ira...something is going on out there..." Lisa said, jerking away and exiting back into the store.

"Whatever, I got five minutes." he called after her.

"Probably some fat Welfare cow and her brat kids." Ira mumbled to himself.

He pulled out the earbuds to his Zune from his pocket and was starting to put them in when he heard an all too familiar scream. Lisa's cry was followed by a cacophony of destruction and sounds normally reserved for Black Friday openings.

"The fuck? Uh uh, not today, I do not need this shit." Ira said, his irritation flaring.

He grabbed the keys from his belt and unlocked one of the gun safes, pulling out one of the display shotguns. It wasn't loaded, nor did it need to be. The sight of a gun was always enough to quell even the most upstart asshole customer on the worst day. His Manager had threatened to fire him more than once over it, but never seemed to get around to actually doing it.

Ira burst out of the back room, the gun held in front of him as he scanned the scene, looking for the cause of the commotion and his Love's despair.

"Holy fuck on a stick!" Ira screamed as adrenaline flooded his system. His pulse ramped up and his breath started to come in short, ragged gasps. "What the Hell is going on...this doesn't happen...what the fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!"

The carnage was on full display from his vantage. Lisa was busy beating on a prone form with a nine iron, blood splattering everywhere. Various blood-drenched zombies were chasing what customers were still present, weaving in and out of departments.

An undead trucker chased a soccer mom through the islands of baby clothing, a small herd of ghoulish children were gathered around the corpses of two employees and a nude adult man was gunning full bore after an elderly couple.

Ira fumbled with his keys as he panicked, wishing he hadn't locked the ammo up after his last customer.

He more sensed the form behind him than heard it, but when he turned around, his Manager was there.

"Steve...you're suppose to be at home, sick..."

'Steve' looked like he had crawled out of bed, still sporting a pair of Superman pajama bottoms and an old Metallica t-shirt. What was even more not normal, was the streaks of dark red on the front of his chest and oozing from the corners of his mouth.

Fulfilling a wish always sought, but never fulfilled, Ira wasted no time in swinging the shotgun around and playing t-ball with his boss' head. Content with the satisfying 'thunk' and crack of the skull, Ira turned and rolled over the counter, not waiting to see if his attack was enough.

Play it like the movies, play it like the movies, Ira.

He darted out into the aisle as the elderly couple ran by, fueled by survival instinct to a speed never seen before. The nude zombie was still pursuing them, a hole clean through his chest the size of a fencepost much more obvious at this angle. Ira stepped into his path.

"Hey dumbass...no shirt, no shoes, no service!" Ira yelled as he swung for the stands. The connection was sound, but Ira let go of the gun in shock as the trauma of missing his mark and striking the chest nearly bowled him over.

"Sonuvabitch!" Ira exclaimed as he grabbed his left shoulder, the fiery pain nearly blinding him.

Ira's recovery time was cut short as the naked zombie, now on the ground, was grabbing at him, pulling on Ira's jeans to yank him down. There was a new, large cylindrical impression in 'romeo's' chest that was beginning to ooze viscous gore.

Yanking away his leg, and nursing his arm, he darted back into sporting goods, looking for something he could manage one handed with force. Thinking back at Lisa, he was headed for the golf clubs when he was tackled from behind.

Pinned face down, the last thing he heard was the sickening sucking sound as his left arm was pulled out of the socket.

Ira stopped the UpChuck for a moment in front of the store and gazed through the broken windows, keeping his eyes peeled for even the slightest movement, his hand itching on the trigger of the Citori that rested on the driver's door now that the window was down.

"Had myself a vision while I was climbing out. Something told me to head there," Ira said, softly, itching at his arm again, "You see anything? I have a bad feeling about this."

[Dawn OOC]

"The Knight seeing when the Oracle is blind?" Cassandra asked, blinking at him. After a moment, she glanced at the store again. "I see rotting greed," Cassie added, shrugging. "If threat is the hawk over the mouse, then this mouse is looking into the sun."

Was it Ira, or did she seem a little miffed that he'd seen something?

Before he could say something, Felicia said drowsily, "Go 'round back, break in. If I were hiding in one, I'd trap the open front doors." She straightened, smiling a little. "And if we want to see if its zombies, we should just wait in front for them to wander out." She yawned. "Got a gun I can use, Ira?"

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Don't worry, Cass...you're still the authority on prophecy. This was more like a shot, and you're still a distillery." Ira said before he addressed Felicia, "Sounds like a plan, and yeah, I got guns, long as they didn't take them. You think I ride with just ol' Bessie here?"

Ira drove around to the back, plowing through a stray blue shopping cart as he went, sending it tumbling over a landscape strip overgrown with grass that had long since died.

It looked like the back of any typical large store, dumpsters, a loading dock for receiving freight and lots of open space. Ira parked the car, but left it running. "Stay here. Felicia, check behind the backseat for a gun, should be loaded. I'll motion if its clear."

Ira got out, checking to make sure the Citori was fully loaded and dropped a couple extra shells in his pocket from the box under his seat. He knew that any tactical advantage from surprise had long since disappeared from his his thundering automobile, but the faster he moved, the less prepared any ambusher might be, or the less likely a zombie would be at the back door waiting.

So he darted up the concrete steps to the back service entrance that employees used. The badge reader's little LED light was out, but that didn't matter, as it appeared the last person to use the door had failed to make sure it closed. Grinning at his luck, he opened the door quickly and stepped back, only to see the reason it hadn't closed.

Sprawled in front of the door were the remains of a long dead person, the decomposition so progressed that there wasn't even a smell. Ira curled his lip and stepped over the corpse, trying to find something to prop the door open further. Nothing was readily apparent, and he wasn't about to venture further just yet, so shrugging his shoulder, he dragged and pulled the rotting remains outside further and sat it up against the door to keep it open.

He waved to the girls, gesturing them in before he re-entered the building, keeping his shotgun at the ready. Ira's cautious pace allowed Cassandra and Felicia to catch up to him quickly and together the trio exited out of the employee area and into the store itself.

[Dawn OOC]

The interior of the store was dark. Little light penetrated this far back into the store. Everything was cloaked in a hazy, murky twilight of half-day. Despite the gloomy interior, they could tell that the store had been trashed; everything they could see was covered in a layer of broken and discarded stuff.

Just outside of layaway, the floor was littered with towels and sheets from the linens section. Shelves hung askew, dribbling towels and accessories. The scent of herbal soap and shampoo hung in the air like the lingering trail of a woman’s perfume. Cables hung from the ceiling like whip-thin sentinels, silent and watchful. As soon as they’d just cleared the layaway and restroom section, that all changed.

The only warning was that the cables shivered a touch before they tightened and snapped upward. The debris underfoot had been covering the net that was spread across the floor. The three explorers found themselves trapped by a net – for a moment. With a pop that was painful this close to their ears, Cassie disappeared, and Ira found himself alone with Felicia.

“Well, well, well.” The voice that echoed out of the darkness was young and very smug. A second later a spot light snapped on, bathing them in light. As Felicia gripped her gun tighter, forms moved out of the wrecked area, looking up at them. The man speaking was no older than Ira, but he was a little taller and better built. “What do we have here?”

[Ira Sagebrush]

"Obviously not zombies, dumbass! Let us down." Ira growled as he shifted, trying to get his gun into any kind of position without sending them into a disorienting spin.

As he hung, he tried to get a count on how many he was actually up against. Yes, up against, because Wal-Mart's friendly customer service was not evident, and based on the sound of his captor's voice, he wasn't gonna get to speak to a manager either.

And for the first time in a long time, the thought that came to the forefront of his mind was not of his own escape and survival, but that of the two women he was with. His lightning-quick mind was concerned that Felicia hadn't been hurt when the trap sprung or that he was somehow causing pain in the entanglement.

Also, where had Cass gone? He didn't dare look too much for her so that his captors didn't suspect a third person was free.

[Dawn OOC]

"No, not zombies," the young man replied. "We knew that. "But you did break into our place, dumbass." The other five people visible tittered like cheerleaders around the star quarterback. "I assume you were trying to steal stuff. Our stuff."

Ira looked at the six of them – the man talking looked like a prep. His shirt and khaki shorts were ragged but clean, and he had sunglasses pushed up on top of his head. The other two guys were black twins – tall and young – maybe former basketball players. They nudged one another with their elbows, clearly drawing courage from one another. The tallest girl was still shorter than Ira, with dark hair and eyes. The second girl was clearly athletic and fit, her strawberry blonde hair brushing her toned shoulders and framing a face like a horse’s. The last girl was almost invisible. She hung back from the others, still so far in the shadows that Ira couldn’t see any details about her.

"We didn't know that anyone was in here," Felicia said quickly. "We can leave." Her voice was tinged with empty optimism; she'd said that without really believing that it could happen that easy.

“Oh, no. No, no. You’ll find that we’re more hospitable than that ‘round these parts,” the guy said. “What supplies are you looking for? Food, clothing? Drugs?” He grinned. “We are a super-center.”

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira wasn't gonna argue with the boy, it would just fuel the exchange. He wasn't exactly sure what their angle was, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it.

Though until he got out of this net, any thoughts about their motives were immaterial anyway. Felicia didn't seem to be in any position to help, not that she was strong enough if she was. So Ira decided he had to resort to a less likely way of escape.

It was easy to bring on the tears, many events from Z-day made them flow freely and once his voice was sufficiently hitched, anything he said sounded authentically pitiful.

"We were...just looking for food...Its been so long...just let us go...please...We won't say anything...promise..."

[Dawn OOC]

Felicia didn't attempt to duplicate Ira's proformance. She simply stared at them with her fragile, sickly features and looked like she was at Death's door. Not a lie, sadly.

"Sure, no problem. Sorry about the net," the guy said. "It's a trap, not something we spring ourselves. Jay-jay!" He made a motion, and his position as the leader of the gang was clear as the twins jumped to lower the net.

"So," the guy said, "I'm Chaz. That's Jay-Jay, known individually as James and Joshua." The twins waved nervously. Chaz waved to the brunette, "That's Emerald." As he waved at the blond, she nodded and said, "I'm Becky."

"And our shrinking violet is Daisy," Chaz finished pointing at the girl hanging back. He threw an arm over Ira's shoulder. "Don't cry, friend. We'll have your supplies soon... right after you pay for them."

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira gathered himself and stood up, casually wiping away the tears on his sleeve. He gave his gun a quick glance over before helping Felicia up. It took a moment for her to steady herself, and only after he received a moment of knowing eye contact and a slight nod did he turn to Chaz who had just finished introductions and thrown an arm around him.

Ira noted the small firearms they were all carrying and where. They're armed, so not complete dumbasses. They did live this long afterall.

"Pay?" Ira questioned, trying to keep up the act of being naive and worthless. "What could we have that you would want?"

[Dawn OOC]

"Don't worry, it's nothing gross," Chaz said, "though neither of you look up to that task, lemme tell ya. Anyway, all we need is for you to get something for us."

"What?" Felicia said, her soft voice shaking a bit. Ira could tell it wasn't just from fear; the former soldier was pissed, too.

"Come on, lemme show you." The group turned and headed for the front of the store. They had kept the center aisle clear but Ira caught sight of some suspicious-looking objects which led him to believe that some of the off-aisles were booby-trapped. Chaz led them to the doors and pointed across the highway. “See that Target?”

“Yeah,” Ira answered, adding a little sniffle for realism.

“You need to steal back our flag from them,” Chaz said, “and steal theirs, too. Do that, and I’ll fill up your trunk with food and let you go.”

[Ira Sagebrush]

You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me.

"They gonna try and shoot us? I'm more than happy to be hungry and not dead."

[Dawn OOC]

"Probably," Chaz said, his tone deceptively good-natured, "but only if you're dumb. See, they know us. No one's brought an outsider into the game before, so they won't be expecting you see? Just play it smart and shooting won't be a problem."

"We're not supposed to really kill each other," Becky said.

"Supposed?" Felicia echoed.

Becky gave a 'shit-happens' shrug while Chaz scowled. "Those cocks have gotten really desperate," Chaz growled.

"Wait, has someone gotten shot?" Felicia asked, going a great job of seeming freaked out and nervous.

"Yeah," one Jay said.

"But he lived," the other Jay added, as if that made it ok.

"Or, ya know, we can shoot you," Chaz said softly. As Felicia stared at him, trying to tell if he was joking, he winked. But he didn't retract his statement.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira gazed off across the parking lots of the two opposing retail giants and wondered what, if any, real benefit this could be for him or the girls.

Supplies obviously, sorely needed. An obvious delay, but only a short one.

"Fine...but I want intel...if I'm gonna go Halo on their ass, I wanna know the map." Ira looked to Felicia, "And my girl stays here, she's in no condition to play this game."

[Dawn OOC]

"You got it," Chaz said, grinning like a used car salesman that had gotten exactly the deal he wanted. "We'll take good care of Filly."

"Felicia."

"Felicia. Very good care," Chaz said. He reminded Ira a little of a dirty old man as he added sincerely, "If you don't come back, we'll take care of her for you."

"Take care of?" Felicia asked dryly, before miming shooting herself in the head, "or taking care of?" Ira hid a flinch; he wasn't sure if being so sick made her more willing to make light of death or if she was trying reverse psychology on them. Either way, he wished she wouldn't.

"Take care of," Becky said, giving Chaz a hard look. That wasn't reassuring - at all.

"Here," Chaz said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of back pocket. It was a handdrawn map with notations like 'trap' and 'ambush spot' marked on it, was well as notes about blockades and open paths. "Here's our latest information."

Click to reveal..

The actual map has more in the way of notes; I just didn't want to put them all in. This will give us both a reference map.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira snatched the map from Chaz and started walking towards the back of the store and towards his car. He wasn't intending to drive, but he wanted to be better armed. His shotgun alone was not going to be enough to take on a band of wannabe entrenched marines.

Not to mention, these guys had survived the crash course on post-apocalyptic zombie survival, so one had to assume they either ran really fast, or were a fair shot. Either way, Ira wasn't about to let some punk-ass kid riddle him with holes just because he ran out of ammo.

There were also zombies to consider. The attention that the Hatfield-McCoy battle had inevitably attracted was almost guaranteed to give Ira some trouble as he went through the vehicle junkyard that was the highway and parking lots of these once formidable corporate competitors.

Upon reaching his car, he opened the trunk and rifled through the disorganized leftovers of military looting, outfitting himself as best he could in his standard scouting gear.

Ira grabbed a fancy jet-flame lighter and a can of hairspray. He lashed his machete and its make-shift fast draw sheath to his thigh, ripping it away once to test the Velcro's pull. He added the twin to the pistol that Felicia had and snapped the holster around his waist, letting it find a comfortable spot near his front pants pocket. He shoved a handful of zip ties into his back pockets, they weren't the cuff types, just ones for construction garbage bags, but worked the same and had the side benefit of being more painful. Lastly, he shoved a switchblade into his pocket, knowing the possibility of another net trap was high and not so easily escaped.

Comfortable with how everything sat and doing a little jump to settle things, Ira looked over at Chaz, who had come out to observe Ira's preparation, "Any last bits of advice?"

[Dawn OOC]

“Don’t get eaten?” Chaz asked in a tone that was designed to annoy. It worked; Ira was scowling as he turned to Fecilia, who had followed as well.

She slipped her arms around his waist, squeezed him with all of her meager strength. “Be careful,” she whispered.

“Seriously, I’d not come from our storefront,” Chaz added after a moment. “They’ll be watching it. Circle around our shopping area. We keep it clean because we have to, or we’ll have non-stop zombies. They patrol their parking lot, at the least. We’ve seen them doing that. So you need to be careful crossing the interstate.”

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira returned the affection, if gently and somewhat carefully. Giving himself the moment before playing commando, even if his mind was drifting towards a woman other than the one in his arms.

I hope Cass is okay.

"Why would I care if they saw me coming? Also, a large lack of concealment options and the fact that nothing else will be moving except me, makes the chances of escaping notice about to slim to jack shit. Any other bright ideas?" Ira said, his tone dripping with disdain.

Ira's diplomatic skills had disappeared along with his pathetic weakling guise, leaving nothing but the smart-assed survivor.

[Dawn OOC]

"You're on your own then, bub," Chaz said, stepping back and waving for Ira to depart. "I won't keep you any longer. Happy hunting."

Ira snorted at the remark and took off, picking his path around the building. It was zombie clear so far, but they didn't clean up after themselves. Boxes and garbage were piled high; a rent trash bag showed that they went no further than their loading docks to throw out the trash.

No sooner was he out of their sight when he heard a pop. Grinning with relief, Ira turned to see Cass throwing herself at him. "Does our lucky one fare well?" she gasped as they collided in a hug. "Is my knight hale?"

[Ira Sagebrush]

"I'm fine, Baby." Ira quipped before giving Cass a kiss in relief. Every time she popped away unplanned, he feared she would return battered and beaten. Taken down by some unknown enemy that she couldn't even describe and that he couldn't protect her from.

As they separated, his gaze looked over her with a careful eye, making sure that she was safe and sound, but not letting her go. "I have to conquer the neighboring kingdom to receive the King's bounty." Ira said, scowling towards the building.

Realizing his last comment might be taken as mockery, he continued quickly, "They play some stupid, mock war-game with Target. I need to get their flag back along with the quote 'enemy's' and they'll stock us and let us go...don't suppose you can just pop in there and snag them can you?"

[Dawn OOC]

"As well as a blind man can walk into a cow and grab the heart," Cassie said, scowling as she spoke. The irritated look on her face was the familiar one that said she was annoyed with her 'oracle-speak' not his question. "My knight must know where the crown is kept before it can be stolen."

"Yeah, right," Ira sighed, expecting no less. "Couldn't hope it'd be easy or anything."

"But a cat can steal favors while the Knight distracts," Cassie said softly, looking a little nervous, but resolute, too.

[Ira Sagebrush]

"I don't know that I like the idea of ya poppin' around by yourself...but we shouldn't be encountering anything aside from more punks and maybe the occasional mulligan man. It would probably be to our advantage if they didn't see you walking across to their store with me, that way you could surprise 'em. Follow as best you can, keeping to cover...port if you have to. Once I start knockin' on the door, you start trying to find the flags if you can...grab anything useful if you can't." Ira said, his gaze wandering a bit before he continued.

"I have a feeling our friend Chaz may not live up to his side and if I'm gonna go conquering, I might as well take the spoils of war."

Cass merely nodded in deference to her knight's plan and the pair continued to walk together hand-in-hand until they approached the front corner of Walmart.

"Alright, Baby, I don't know what kinda eyes they have, so we better split here. Be careful, my parts grow back, yours don't." Ira said, his voice tinged with genuine concern.

He gave her a quick kiss before jogging to grab a stray cart. Ira walked it slowly over the rough lot, kicking up dust behind him and quietly whistling to himself as the sun beat down on the one-man siege. As he passed broken curbing, any decent pieces he felt he could throw well went into the cart until he had a good assortment.

This did double duty of giving him some primal ammunition and making enough noise that if any zombies were lazing about, he would attract their attention without falling on them unexpectedly.

[Dawn OOC]

Cass popped away suddenly, leaving an echo of the pop in his ears. Ira began to gather his ammo, getting two dozen or so bits of ballista. He also found a couple shells of an unknown calibar of ammo, which he pocketed rather than leave in the open.

As he pushed the cart along, it seemed to catch on something. Before Ira could check and see what it was, he heard a tinny snap and the cart could move again. "Shit," he muttered as he realized that he'd just tripped over a thin wire and snapped it. It was probably some kind of warning or trip wire, since nothing had blown up.

He'd probably just tipped them off. Since he hadn't been hiding before, it wasn't quite as bad as it could have been. But it was still unnerving to know that they knew he was here. He hoped Cassie could avoid them as well.

[Ira Sagebrush]

I hope this plan isn't as dumb as a box of rocks.

Ira glanced down at the blue cart as he pushed it down the paved lot between the faded white lines.

Or a cart of rocks. Price check on metamorphic, Bob.

Sighing wistfully at the absurdity of the entire situation, Ira finished his approach to the entrance of Target, stopping just short of the concrete pylons that used to keep crazy-drunk old people from ramming their land yachts into the storefront.

He put his shotgun across the cart so he could snatch it at a moment's notice and replaced it with one of the larger concrete chunks. Ira tossed it up once to test its weight and then with the gusto of a left fielder trying to throw out a man at home, he heaved it at the glass of the automatic doors.

"Knock, knock, motherfuckers." Ira said to himself.

I miss Tarantino.

Pausing only a moment to see the results of the first shot, Ira then reloaded and threw again, not pausing again until he was out of ammo.

[Dawn OOC]

The first blow shattered the glass and littered the ground with trash. It only took three rocks before his answer came in the reply of a rifle shot. It landed three feet in front of his cart, kicking up a blast of concrete. Some of it richotted off the cart to ting off to a location unseen.

"Stop fucking up our building," someone male shouted back. "What the fuck do you want?"

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira kept it simple.

"Flags...Plural."

"Go to Hell, Walmart pig!" The voice responded, followed shortly by another rifle shot, this one a little closer to him.

In another day and age, Ira would have flinched, perhaps even pissed himself, but the shot was hardly considered threatening to him anymore and he was tired of dealing with idiot megamart denizens. "I won't ask nicely again. Gimme the flags or else."

Ira casually tossed the aged concrete in his hand, careful not to lose his balance as he leaned on the cart slightly.

"Better bring your 'or else' then, Wally! We ain't giving up the flags!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Ira said, turning around.

He pushed the cart away and towards an old mid-eighties Mustang that was sporting a bad case of sunburn. The little paint that was left, curling and flaking away in the open exposure.

Bingo

Ira quickly closed the distance to the car and making use of the long ago shattered window, opened it from the inside, wrinkling his nose at the stench of molding upholstery. He got a good grip on the empty window frame and planted his feet. Giving himself a count of three, Ira reefed on the door as hard as he could, sending it well past the point it would have normally stopped with metallic crunching and a horrid popping sound that sounded all too familiar.

However, much to Ira's dislike, it did not come completely free on the first try. Keeping to his methods, he took a longer piece of concrete from the cart and bashed the hinges, focusing on the bottom bolt that refused to give.

After a good dozen swings, he finally had a good notch in the corroded piece of metal and with one last heave that landed Ira on his back, the door finally popped free.

Sexy

Brushing himself off, the Knight of Cassandra picked up his shield and tested its weight and balance.

Not too bad with no glass. Whoever said a Ford wasn't useful?

He used zip ties to make better handles, his knife puncturing the interior board surprisingly easily. Happy with his defenses, Ira quickly ran around to the back of the store, knowing he had their attention.

With a blaze of action, Ira piled bags of the Targetian's trash up against the rear access door and the loading dock and set it ablaze with his can of hair spray and lighter. Eliminating an escape route and hopefully setting the building on fire.

[Dawn OOC]

As he turned to get away from the burning trash, something clattered off the roof. Ira spun to see a bit of roofing bounce; when he looked up, Cassie blew him a kiss before she stepped back and disappeared from view. Confident that his backup was still with him, he darted back around the side of the building.

It seemed to take them a moment to notice that their place was on fire. Then a staccuto of bullets tore through the front. Ira had been around long enough to recognize cover fire when he saw it, so he wasn't surprised when three people burst out of the store, each carrying a backpack. They were ready to leave fast, it seemed, a philosophy Ira appreciated.

Click to reveal..

Perc + Alertness

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira noticed that one of the three had some dowels he was carrying, when the guy briefly glanced back behind him.

Fucker has the flags! Where the hell do they think they are gonna go?

Using his inhuman quickness, Ira came out around the front corner of the store and quickly started closing the distance between them, ignoring the poorly aimed cover fire. Which was his first mistake.

It wasn't the first time he had been shot, so the white-hot, burning pain that suddenly engulfed his thigh right below his make-shift shield didn't surprise him entirely, but it did knock him down to his knees.

"MOTHERFUCKER SHIT ASS CAN OF CHEESE!" Ira screamed, trying to deal with the pain. Growling with hatred at the injury, the person who shot him and the world in general, he slowly tried to rise. He pounded the asphalt a couple times and used the Citori as a brace to pull himself up.

Even as he came fully upright, the wound had already stopped bleeding and was starting to close, though Ira now had a pronounced limp as he continued to pursue the three would-be escapees.

Ira heard a barely audible 'holy shit' from the direction of the store and the three had stopped and looked back at Ira, looks of shock on their face.

"Well ass-wipes, gimme the flags and live to steal 'em another day, or I throw you back into the store, infected." Ira said, continuing to walk as he pulled off the glove of his left hand, revealing the diseased and decayed looking flesh.

[Dawn OOC]

Two shotguns came up at the threat; Ira wasn’t sure if the kids were reacting to all threats that way or if his afflicted arm had freaked them out. Regardless, he was facing two scared kids who were answering their problems in gauges. The third kid hesitated for only a moment before turning again and running –

Right into Cassie. His girl popped into existence in front of the running kid; they collided. Almost comically, Cassie and the other person tumbled onto their asses. Cassie fared a little better; the kid was wearing a heavy backpack which dragged them down. The baseball cap popped off and long hair tumbled loose. What had appeared to be a skinny boy was a young girl, mocha-skinned and pert-nosed. But of more interest to Ira was the two flags that tumbled to the ground.

Before Ira could react to this good fortune, the other two fired at him again.

[Ira Sagebrush]

It didn't take a lot of intelligence to notice that his threat didn't work as the Remington's rounded on him, but as Ira went to escape the incoming ordinance, his injured leg gave out. This sent the first spray of pellets partially over his head, but the rest he took to the face, which knocked his head back sharply from the impact and sent his shielded arm wide in an instinctive attempt to regain his balance.

Punctual in the more ways than one, the second shot hit him square in his unprotected chest, blasting a wide hole in his shirt. The force knocked him clean to the ground and sent the Citori skittering off along the pavement.

As the rapport of the shotguns echoed off the surroundings, Ira's head listed to the side, and there was no further movement.

[Dawn OOC]

Cassie sat up to see her boyfriend lying still and motionless on the ground. The girl froze, her eyes widening as fear gripped her. Then one of the men said, "Hey, I think he's dead!"

Then the other made a mistake. "Double tap, just to be sure."

"IRA!" Cassie's scream was heart-breaking. Here was the one man who'd never tried to use her powers for his own profit, the man she'd fallen in love with and he was, to all appearances, shot dead. Rage, horrible and black, rose in the young woman, filling the normally-gentle oracle with a terrible purpose: revenge.

She was barely to her feet before she popped out of existence, stepping through the holes in the world to appear behind the shooter who had just suggested the double-tap. He heard her and spun, but it was too late for him. His last sight was of her tear-stained face, her hands grabbing at his arm.

Cassie could take other people with her, within her limits. But that was far from her only trick with her natural 'porting ability. She grabbed the boy's arm and sought out the holes in him. They were there, just as they were in the world; they were in everything and everyone. And she funneled her power into his holes and triggered her teleport.

The other two watched in horror as Cassie blinked away again - with their friend's arm and part of his torso. She appeared again next to the flag bearer, the arm and partial torso still in her hand. As the flag bearer gaped, too terrified to even defend herself, Cassie dumped the partial corpse on her lap. The girl found her voice then as the dead meat and blood flopped over her legs. Her shrill scream shocked the other guy into action; he raised his gun, only to hesitate at the proxmity of his friend to the teleporting terror.

It cost his friend her life. Cassie grabbed her by the hair and disappeared again, taking the top part of her head. The scream continued but without the upper palate, it just sounded like an organic teakettle.

The last armed guy turned and ran for his life, fleeing before the purple-eyed demoness returned.

Click to reveal..

For those that care, that was Disintegrate narratively described through Teleport.

[Ira Sagebrush]

First a puff of smoke erupted from his mouth. It was followed shortly by a gasp of air as Ira quickly rolled onto his side. He coughed and hacked like a lifetime smoker, spitting out bloody chunks wrapped around shotgun pellets.

His head burned and hurt like nothing he had ever felt and as he rolled up onto his hands and knees, Ira lifted a hand to his face gently, expecting a large portion of his head to be gone from all the pain, but instead felt the weird ripples of dimpled scar tissue. Even that was quickly fading as he moved his hand around his head and face.

Am I dead? Hurts enough to be Hell. You're not that lucky...

Coughing and expelling a few more chunks, Ira finally took a deep breath without any hitching and slowly got to his feet. His leg protested madly and a small hoarse yelp escaped his lips as he staggered a bit to the side.

Oh my fucking god, I'm gonna kill those fuckers.

Ira slowly turned around, spotting his Citori a bit away, but wasn't able to judge the distance as one eye still didn't seem to be working correctly. He kept turning, these few seconds seeming to last eons as his pain receptors fired and his brain continued to regenerate and formulate what exactly happened. He saw the last remaining kid running away, but couldn't hear it for the ringing in his ears.

As his gaze finally swept over the remains of the two kids, he stopped, still swaying slightly as he tried to keep weight off his right leg.

"What the fuck?" Ira said, the massacre penetrating his clouded mind.

Just then, he felt more than heard Cass' familiar 'pop' as she appeared in front of him, drenched in a carnage straight out of Carrie.

"What the fuck?" he barely managed again before being embraced in a desperate hug by an ecstatic woman.

"You okay, Baby?"

[Dawn OOC]

Cassie was a blubbering mess in addition to being a bloody one. She was talking but her words were muffled by Ira’s chest. The Knight held her, trying to calm her down; suddenly, she turned away from him and vomited. “Whoa!” Ira managed to step back enough to avoid splatter.

“Baby,” Ira said, kneeling behind her and putting his arms around her. “What’s wrong? Did they… hurt you?” It seemed ridiculous to even suggest that with the two bodies cooling on the ground, but she was clearly upset.

“I am… whole,” she wept, shivering against him as she tried to be sick again. “… not a Hallmark card for this.”

Ira hugged her again. He was worried about her but they were exposed here. He glanced again at the fleeing gunman and was just in time to see him duck into the burning Target. Clearly, something had scared him, badly enough he’d risk fire rather than it. But the only thing out here was Cassie. “Cassie, what happened?”

“My Knight fell broken,” Cassie wept, “and his Oracle broke the three fighting him.” She turned her head enough for him to see the pain and guilt in her eyes – and the fear. She was afraid of what she’d done.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Whatever it was, Ira didn't really want to know the exact details, judging on the mess.

She must have cut them somehow...

"Well, Baby," Ira started, wincing at his aching body, "we got what we came for, let's get the flags and move on. I am so done with this place, we can talk about it later. I really don't want to get shot again, standing here.

Ira reluctantly pulled away the comfort and physical support of Cassandra, then quickly snatched up the two flags that were the origin of their issues.

"C'mon." Ira wrapped an arm around Cassie, for both his and her support.

He stopped to grab his Citori as they walked back over to Walmart. "The last school bell would be nice." Cass said, through tears, nodding.

Holding each other, they slowly made it out of the Target parking lot and onto the highway. They had just hopped the jersey barrier that once divided the two directions of traffic when Ira heard the telltale rapid footsteps of a pursuer.

"You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me." Ira said in exasperation as he turned around. Expecting a foolishly brave kid, Ira was pleasantly surprised to see just a zombie in hot pursuit.

"Not today, sweet-cheeks." Ira stated, as he lifted his shotgun and waited for the undead to close distance. As it came within 'no way I can miss' range, Ira shot, popping the head like an overripe tomato. The momentum took the rest of the body forward and it crumpled on the cement divider.

"Quick, lets get back over there before its friends show up." Ira said. He grabbed Cassandra's hand and started to jog, scrunching his face in pain occasionally.

Soon they rounded the back corner of the store, and much to Ira's annoyance, there was no fanfare, just another zombie that was idly pounding on the Up-Chuck's trunk. His temper enflamed, he broke from Cass and tossed the flags at her before quickly approaching the zombie as he pulled out his lighter and what was left of the hairspray.

"You go to Hell, you go to Hell and you die!" Ira yelled.

The dried outer layers of the zombie was surprisingly combustible and the flames took readily. Unhampered by the crackling and popping of its own flesh, the zombie turned on Ira, but that was all it got to do before he kicked it square in the chest and sent it backpedaling away from the Nova. Not wasting any more time, he pulled his pistol and shot it once in the head.

"Time to collect, Baby, time to collect." Ira opened the back door and with a sweep of his arm, ushered her in behind him.

[Dawn OOC]

Cassie watched him with wide eyes, then nodded nervously. She was close behind him as he walked into the building, the flags held loosely in his hands. They’d only gone a step before one of the Jays met them. “You’re back!” he said, his eyebrows rising. Then they rose more as he added, “And you got the flags! And another girl. Hi, girl. What’s your name?”

Cassie put Ira between the Jay and herself with a side-step. Her purple eyes were wary and she remained silent. “She’s Ira’s,” Ira said, taking her hand between his back.

“No worries, Ira,” Jay said, visibly backing down. “Miss Ira. Lemme tell Chaz you’re here. Wait here.”

After a moment of waiting, Chaz appeared out of the gloom. Becky and Felicia were with him. Felicia broke into a grin and pushed past them to start to hug them. She drew back, her eyes widening as she saw the mess of their clothing. “What happened?”

“You have the flags! Awesome!” Chaz was grinning like a little kid. “So, what do you guys want? What supplies do you need? We’ll get your trunk filled and get you on your way.”

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira looked at Felicia and tried to convey a 'just wait' look before turning to Chaz.

"Food, water, clothes. A sun shower from sporting goods. Whatever firearms you will part with and ammo." Ira said. He pulled gently on Cass' hand, pulling her out from behind him and put his arm around her, making sure the carnage was clear. "And whatever else I can think of."

Ira was pissy, and almost wished they would try to go back on the deal just so he could have a clear conscience if he blew Chaz away.

[Dawn OOC]

"Okily-dokily!" Chaz giggled, apparently tickled to the nith degree about the flags. He reached for them; Ira pulled back.

"How about our stuff, first?" he asked.

"Ira. Amigo." Chaz's pronounciation of the word was the most Anglocized version that Ira had ever heard of the word. "I'm not gonna cheat you. I kinda want to kiss you, but that's not cool."

"No," Ira ground out, his expression conveying his disgust. "Just get our stuff."

It took half an hour, but the trunk of the Nova was soon filled again. Clothing for all three of them, jugs of distilled water (still sealed), cans of food, the sun shower, a tent, three sleeping bags and four new shotguns with ammo now filled it. Ira noticed as they worked that the residents of Walmart kept darting looks at him and Cassie. The blood seemed to be unnerving them, so Ira didn't try changing. Let them think it was a massacre.

"Is there anyone left over at Target?" Becky asked suddenly as she straightened from dropping a case of canned pineapple in the Nova.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Quote:

"Okily-dokily!" Chaz giggled, apparently tickled to the nith degree about the flags. He reached for them; Ira pulled back.

"How about our stuff, first?" he asked.

This guy is a fuckin' basketcase.

Quote:

"Ira. Amigo." Chaz's pronounciation of the word was the most Anglocized version that Ira had ever heard of the word. "I'm not gonna cheat you. I kinda want to kiss you, but that's not cool."

"No," Ira ground out, his expression conveying his disgust. "Just get our stuff."

Before I decide to shoot you anyway.

Quote:

Ira noticed as they worked that the residents of Walmart kept darting looks at him and Cassie. The blood seemed to be unnerving them, so Ira didn't try changing. Let them think it was a massacre.

"Is there anyone left over at Target?" Becky asked suddenly as she straightened from dropping a case of canned pineapple in the Nova.

"If they got the fire out, yeah." Ira said, considering the benefits for these kids of just burning the flags and forcing them to prepare for when their supplies ran out. Chaz was obviously an ineffectual, obsessed crackjob and that didn't give the rest of these kids, nor the survivors over at the Bon Target any chance to live outside a couple months.

"You guys oughta stop worrying about this stupid game, and start putting together a plan for when this place runs out of food. Even Busch's Beans are gonna go bad eventually...just sayin'. Ira said, shrugging.

[Dawn OOC]

Becky was quiet for a moment. "What's your plan?" she asked Ira. "What are you going to do when your canned food goes bad? When the gas runs out?" She looked oddly blank as she stared at nothing, toward the brush behind Walmart. "We're all just spinning our wheels until things get so bad we can't take it any longer."

Ira looked at her and Becky smiled. It was a sad fatalistic smile. "This is my plan," she said, digging something out of her pocket. In her palm was a bullet.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Ira would have objected, but that had been his plan once, in the not-so-distant past. He was grim as he shrugged his shoulders in a 'whatever'. He had said as much as he was going to. It didn't really matter what any of these people did with their lives, it was just that, their lives, nothing he said or did was truly going to change the path they had put themselves on.

As soon as they were done, Ira tossed the flags at Chaz's feet and got in the car. The Citori found its home on the dash, his Zune quickly found itself plugged in, and soon the sounds of Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" was taking away Ira's stress on a wave of hard rock bliss.

Felicia started to say something as he pulled out of the parking lot, but Ira quickly held up his hand and shook his head.

Not yet.

He needed quiet, he needed to be alone, and this was as close as he was going to get.