Nightshift 42: Callahan's Grocer

[toxicspiderman]

S.T. was bored. Bored and feeling useless. He'd stomped around town, looking for a distraction from his own self-pitying funk, as the light had waned. Boredom and feigned anticipation had given way to dread. He'd circled back around to the grocery to see if there was anything less useless on the bulletin. No dice.

Then it happened. Everything changed, without the comfort of a closed door and an unchanging dormitory room. Usually it was like an elevator with a dinner service -- if the doors open on the same sight as you left, either it's a crap elevator or you're in a stockbroker's office tower. And if it were the latter, the food would need more unpronounceable French things.

This had no frame, no steady point of reference. The smell of rotting fruit, esters and alcohol, hit him first. Papers curled and became brittle. The ambient temperature dropped at least five degrees.

It was night, and the closest thing he had to a weapon was a ballpoint pen and a rack of rotting tomatoes. At least he hoped the tomatoes were on his side.

[for Spider Jerusalem, open to threadcrashing once we get going]

Comments

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=55567033#t55568313)]

Out of all the places that had been affected tonight, this was probably the grossest. The rotted food stank horribly. This was why oil and energon was superior to human food. Transformer fuel didn't rot like this.

And, like everyplace else, it was full of zombies. Lockdown quickly decapitated one, and slashed at another's neck with his knife, since it was too close to use the axe. The latter didn't die right away, so Lockdown did what he had threatened to do to others at least twice: he twisted the zombie's head backwards, causing the tear in its neck to widen, allowing him to rip the head off and toss it aside.

Looking at HK, Lockdown said, "Come on. Let's find the way upstairs."

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

Eugh, the rotted organic products in here reeked. But HK ignored such things such as the gag reflex or eye-watering stench in favor of cutting a zombie's head off, kicking the corpse at another one and then chopping yet another into nonfunctionality with another blow from his axe.

And... Oh, my. Watching that zombie get it's head ripped off was beautiful. At least, by HK's definition of the term. That nearly made up for all the times he'd been terrified by Lockdown. "Acknowledgment: Searching." He scanned the area, mostly finding more zombies. Well, that wasn't a problem.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lockdown searched for a door indicating it led upstairs, not sure if it would be a stairway or elevator that lead to the top floor, disposing of more zombies as he searched. He was mostly expecting the former, since everything else here was so primitive.

"I just hope there's a wash area or something," Lockdown stated. The blood on him was starting to smell bad and get more sticky as it dried. His goggles already had a few small splatters of the red vital fluid on them.

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

"Cautionary: The stuff I found masquerading as 'water' in the Institute's pipes last night was better described as 'polluted run-off from an effluence factory,' judging by how it smelled," he warned, idly chopping the head off of the zombie he'd pushed over before. His own hands were quite covered in other meatbag's blood by now. It was mostly a satisfying feeling.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Lockdown growled under his breath, "Disgusting." Perfect, even the water here wasn't right. Maybe he'd get lucky and find some other way to get this goop off him. He wouldn't mind it so much if only it hadn't started to smell.

After nonchalantly disposing of another zombie, the bounty hunter asked, "You find anything yet?"

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=55607737#t55607737)]

Suzaku reached the door of the grocery in record time. Unfortunately, stopping to wrench it open meant he was standing still and his back was turned, if only for a second. Suddenly there were hands ripping at his shirt, cold and slimy, and all Suzaku could smell was decaying flesh. Cursing, he whipped around and barely spared the thing a glance before decking it. He didn't wait to watch it flailing on the ground.

The first thing he saw when he ran in was a group of patients whacking away at a few customers who were past their expiry date. But none of them mattered to Suzaku right now. "Lelouch!" he screamed, not caring if he drew the attention of every zombie in the world. "Lelouch! Are you in here?" If he wasn't, Suzaku had to try the next probable location immediately. He didn't have time to waste looking down every aisle.

[kingside]

Needless to say, Lelouch had not reacted well at all to the sudden switch from the idyllic, quiet version of Doyleton to the pestilent, nightmarish version that had greeted him as soon as soon as night fell. He'd considered the possibility of something like this happening, of course, but he hadn't honestly expected-- they should have at least gotten a chance to return to the buses, damn it, not found themselves trapped in the town itself! At least if they'd done that, they could have escaped, but as things were--

He covered his nose and mouth when the sweet smell of fresh vegetables became a fetid stench, and after seeing for himself what had happened to the store's staff and customers, he ducked behind the nearest barrier and tried not to throw up as all of it slowly sank in. The townspeople-- all of them had turned into-- how could this be happening?! Hadn't the institute staff been enough?! And if he didn't stay quiet, all of them were going to find him, and he didn't even have a weapon to defend himself or someone he could use Geass on to--

Uneven footsteps much too close to him drew his attention, and head snapping around to the source of the sound, Lelouch spotted one of them suddenly turning down the aisle he was hiding in and coming straight for him. He let out a loud gasp, scrambling to his feet again and nearly falling over in his haste to get away. If he'd known this was going to happen-- oh god, if it ran faster than him, he was going to die in this wretched building and he was never going to see Nunnally again, even if he-- run, damn it!

Someone called his name, and recognizing the voice immediately, Lelouch altered course, somehow dodging another thing (there were too many and he couldn't fight them off and if one of them touched him--) and stumbling again as he made for the store's entrance. Suzaku-- "Suzaku!" he called, already breathless as the second thing's hands tore at the back of his jacket. If it caught him-- "Here!"

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

Suzaku whirled around, panic subsiding in favor of relief. "Oh, thank God," he said fervently. If Lelouch hadn't been here, he had no idea what he would have done. Just seeing his face, terrified but alive, brought on a flood of emotion that Suzaku had no particular desire to recognize. The thought of Lelouch dying alone in the dark, needing Suzaku but with help nowhere to be found -- he couldn't bear it.

He darted forward, grabbing Lelouch's wrist and tugging him forward even as he stepped to the side, kicking upward. His sneaker caught under the zombie's chin and snapped its head back. Suzaku grabbed a can of something off a shelf and beat the thing a couple times for good measure before dragging Lelouch away. Then he could finally pause and take a couple deep breaths, trying to bring his racing heart back under control. Until he could calm down and process what had just happened.

. . . Heh. Lelouch was slower than a zombie.

Teasing him about it could wait until later, though. "We need weapons." Suzaku peered out the window of the store -- the streets were indeed full of shuffling, moaning monsters. "But it's probably a lot safer in here than out on the street. What do you want to do?"

[kingside]

The snapping sound and subsequent beating did little to help Lelouch's nausea, but beyond looking away from the scene, there was little he could do to block it all out. There were too many of them-- far too many of them, and if they waited here, their numbers would only grow-- for him to be able to relax even with his knight finally by his side. The town had all too quickly degenerated into pure chaos, and as what he could see in the store could only be a small taste of it-- but he couldn't panic now. He had to think of what move they should take next, even if the the smell and his fear of those rotting hands and the horrible, bloodstained maws each one of the zombies was sporting was--

He shifted closer to Suzaku unconsciously, eyes wide and horrified as he tried to take the scene in and evaluate the best way to get out of it. Where could they go? They could hardly stay here with how poorly defended this place was, but if they charged outside now-- "We need to arm ourselves," he said softly, eyes flitting between the-- zombies (did they have to use the z-word?) and the exit. "We won't survive long otherwise. Perhaps--" Perhaps what? With as many fruits and vegetables there were taking up space in the store, there wasn't exactly a wealth of convenient weaponry for them to choose from (unless they went the route that Spider had gone and decided to start flinging watermelons everywhere), but-- ah, of course.

He gestured towards the (former) butcher, swallowing convulsively as he took in the man's transformation. "There should be knives at least, but you--" What? It wasn't like Suzaku couldn't get past the man, but if he were hurt-- no, Suzaku could do it. Now was not the time to start doubting his knight's abilities, even if they were faced with hoards of undead that seemed to be gathering now solely for the purpose of impeding them. "Hurry."

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

Suzaku looked towards the counter, too. The knives would be pretty useful, especially if they could get a bunch of them, or at the very least they could serve until they found something better. He'd have to get past the zombie butcher, but -- that couldn't be harder than any of the other mindless, moaning cadavers he'd already knocked over. The one thing that worried him was that Lelouch would be undefended while he was occupied. He'd just have to be quick.

"Here," he said, passing off the can to Lelouch. Who'd probably think it useless, but it could work as a blunt instrument in a pinch. And with that, he dashed up to the counter, jumping up on the edge before kicking out at the former butcher.

[iwascloned.livejournal.com]

Hah! The produce aisle! Perfect hiding place for wily SECRET DOORS. Spider picked up a watermelon and hurled it at some bananas. The overripe melon splattered and the air around it became infested with the stagnant smell of rotten fruit. Spider did not notice the condition of his projectile, however,as he was busy noticing something else. Or rather ... SOMEONE else.

"Taylor!" he called, stomping down the aisle towards S.T. "Just the man I never wanted to see again! Where's the party? And why the FUCK are you clutching that ballpoint pen in your weasely little rat-hands?"

[toxicspiderman]

"Spider! Hey! Sorry about the party, man." Good going, S.T. Way to blow what cover not moving had managed so far. Though it was less not moving and more frozen in terror and/or the indecision of someone with shitty aim and no shotgun.

"The pen is not, as it turns out, mightier than the sword." He flung the pen at the pile of tomatoes. It bounced off with a dull squelch. His voice took on the brain-dead patter of a radio announcer on the graveyard shift of an oldies' station. The kind that knew all their listeners were tucked into their Alzheimer's wards by 8pm, and the only listeners were the FCC.

"Last year, more people were killed by automobile accidents, heart attacks, lung cancer, and natural causes combined than by any one tomato." It was true, though he'd put entire phone-tree squadrons off their pizza by pointing out that it'd be decades before the US crop was DDT and dieldrin-free.

"I was looking for information when the special effects started. Found the usual passive-aggressive soap opera and fuck all else. Come on, let's get the fuck out of here before the meat counter decides to walk again." Or before the smell got to him and he puked on Spider. Again.

[iwascloned.livejournal.com]

Spider's focus was momentarily interrupted by a shuffling sound behind him. He spun around to see a bloodied, lifeless-looking teenager in an apron stumbling towards him.

"FUCK YOU!" he screamed, front-kicking the advancing zombie in the chest. It lost balance, and tried desperately to grab his foot as it dropped to the floor. He turned back to S.T.

"WHERE ARE THE GUNS? TAKE ME TO THE GUNS."

[move them out of here. PLEASE!]

[toxicspiderman]

"Quit dicking around with the stockboy and move, then. He's underage. Or overaged. Fuck this, MOVE!" S.T. took his own advice and bolted.

[to here]

[toxicspiderman]

[ducking back from here]

S.T. sprinted back into the grocery. One shoplifted six-pack of diet blue-black-purple-berry soda, two chocolate bars, and one package of extra-long matches later, he was back out the door. Except for the part where the six-pack became a five-pack, due to one stuck in zombie teeth.

"There's more dental disasters in that mouth than a double-decker bus of British rugby players. Try flossing, cheesebrain."

[returning to here]

[scarabspeak.livejournal.com]

It must have been later than he'd thought, because Jaime thought he'd only been talking with Daphne for a short while before the sun had disappeared behind the mountains and the entire town had turned into a late night monster movie.

He barely had any warning at all before suddenly the Scarab was shrieking in his head about things he couldn't even begin to understand beyond that all together they added up to be a Very Bad Thing and the smell of rotting food and flesh swept over them in a wave that turned his stomach.

Jaime wheeled around, eyes wide and one hand clamped over his mouth as he took in the suddenly different grocery store. The walls, floor, and ceiling were splotched with stains and cracks and who knew what else, while apparently the entire contents of the store had gone bad like no one had invented preservatives after all.

But the worst of it, the part that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and the Scarab start screeching about weapons and attack patterns, was turning around and watching the effect extend to the staff of the store as well.

Zombies. Real live - well, close enough - zombies. For a hysterical moment, Jaime wished that Paco and Brenda could have seen this, 'cause there was no way they'd ever believe him with the story of 'I was abducted to a crazy asylum and then there was a zombie apocalypse'.

But the problem with zombie apocalypses? Was that people got hurt. And Jaime was going to do everything he could to make sure that didn't happen tonight. There weren't many other people in the store at the moment, and those that were here seemed to be doing okay, so he turned back to Daphne, swallowing hard to fight back the bile rising in his throat.

"We've gotta get out of here. Find weapons, somewhere safe, anything!"

[blessedaccel.livejournal.com]

The stench of rot assaulted Daphne's nose, bringing to mind sick rooms and murder and piles of dust where people should have been. The weird warp of the building, and the weirder warp of the staff within it, sent a spike of adrenaline through her, setting her heart hammering and her blood pounding in her ears.

"Oh, God..." she muttered, clapping one hand over her mouth and nose in a mostly futile attempt to block out the stench. She felt as though she was about to be sick, and fought down the queasy churn of her stomach. If she started heaving, she was afraid she wouldn't stop, and being eaten alive by undead hordes while being sick to her stomach would just be embarrassing.

She nodded emphatically at the suggestion that they get the hell out of dodge, and turned too-wide eyes out toward the street. Through the windows, she could see shambling shapes starting to stir outside, too. No safer out there, then, but at least they would have more room to maneuver.

"The hardware store," she suggested, then stopped herself as another thought crowded in. "Or...someone around here has to be a hunter."

[scarabspeak.livejournal.com]

It might not be any safer outside, but at least they weren't confined to a small building without much space to move and a bunch of zombies. Jaime would take outside with a bunch of zombies over than any day of the week. Well, unless they happened to be trapped in an armoury instead of a grocers.

Not waiting a moment longer, he grabbed Daphne's hand and dragged her towards the doors and outside, dodging around the few grasping hands as he did so.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=55768505#t55768505)]

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

Going into the grocery store was in many ways like walking into a solid wall. Haseo skidded to a halt, hitting the depressingly filthy floor halfway on his hands and knees in haste and reaction to the foul odor put off by all the rotting produce. He choked for a moment, eyes watering as he slapped a hand over his mouth, struggling to keep his stomach under control as he scanned the immediate area inside the entryway for enemies.

"Close the door," he said thickly, hoping that it wasn't too dilapidated to force completely shut, and then righted the chair he'd brought in with them and pushed it forward. He would have never thought he'd be glad for a door that opened manually on a public building, but here he was fighting to keep himself and two others from the clutch of the undead, so maybe anything really was possible.

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

Leon pulled the neck of his sweater over his nose the moment they entered the building, eyes already watering. Perhaps this hadn't been the best of ideas after all. There were plenty of things worse than a rotting odor, such as the zombies still trying to get in through the front door. As Haseo did his best to block it, the young mage backed up and found himself grabbing hold of the hem of Kibitoshin's shirt.

He wasn't a child. He needed to get a hold of himself, help Haseo fight off the zombies in whatever way he could. ...Whatever way that was. If the shelves weren't laden down with food, they might have been able to move one of those...

There were other people in the store, he now realized, and they were engaged in combat. Of course there were zombies in here as well. It was foolish of him to think that there wouldn't be. There were handbaskets near the door for carrying groceries. Leon grabbed one up as though it might work as a sort of flimsy shield.

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

If the smell had been bad outside it was even worse in here. Diving in through the door, Kibitoshin nearly reeled straight back out again. But rotting food was better than rotting flesh, and maybe it would cover their scent or something. Anything to buy them ti- was Leon holding onto his shirt? He blinked at the boy for a moment, startled. Inadvertent though it was, the action gave him a brief boost; he had people relying on him! Just standing around wasn’t going to do any good!

The second Leon moved Kibitoshin sprang back to defend the door (were there people outside? It was hard to tell…), teeth gritted so hard they could have bitten through solid steel. Like those zombies outside. I bet they bite pretty hard too…

Fortunately for him, any possible panic the idea might have caused him was promptly overruled by the realisation that they weren’t alone in the shop. And not only were they not alone, they’d stumbled across a vicious fight. “Over there! By the counter!” The exclamation was directed at Haseo more than anyone. It was too difficult to see just what was going on from where he stood, and he couldn’t leave Leon just to get a better look…

[feartehreaper.livejournal.com]

Haseo was depending on these things not being very smart- otherwise, it'd be a matter of minutes instead of-- however long this would go on before they burst down the door and ate them all to death! He was pretty sure there would be no respawn here too... he was beginning to really regret ever thinking the idea of the lone swordfighter fighting off a horde of enemy combatants was "cool." Certainly when he'd become the Terror of Death it hadn't been anything like...! And why was he thinking of that in a time like this?!

Somehow they managed to get that door mostly closed, though after a moment of emergency decision-making, he had to throw his shoulder into it, severing what used to be an arm sticking through at the elbow. Haseo tried to ignore it, and tried to ignore how barricading the door with not much more than their bodies and a chair stolen from the business down the road was almost hilarious in its futility. Next they'd have to kill the zombies inside, kill any that came up through the damned floor, and then... something. But they could do it... they'd have to do it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Kibitoshin, and he turned to look too, stepping away from the door. "I'm going to look for something to hit with or..." he started, but then trailed off and shook his head, "Just... watch out and don't be a hero." With that he bolted, desperately hoping that the few zombies in the store would ignore the two while he was away.

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

Where was he going?? Leon started to follow after Haseo, then stopped. It looked like the other boy was going to do the heroic thin and try to help those fighting zombies nearby. The young mage would help out as well if he thought he'd be able to get anywhere with a single spell. Unfortunately, these looked bigger than the zombies he'd seen outside and one blow might not be enough. Then again, a distraction might be all they needed...

For now, he stayed close to Kibitoshin. He didn't seem to be a fighter like Haseo, but he was at least trying to hold the door. He could keep an eye out with him, at least. The other he'd keep on his new friend. If it looked like his help would be needed, he'd do his best.

[Main Street, directly outside]

[fourtharcana.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=55786937#t55786937)]

...this was definitely weird. With as many of the damn zombies as there were around, they should've been attacked again by then, and...they hadn't been. It wasn't that Akihiko was questioning it, but it was weird. He shrugged it off as nothing after a minute, though.

He stopped just outside the grocery store's doors, scanning the area ahead. There were the faint sounds of a fight coming from inside, but that was probably to be expected - there was fighting everywhere else in town, so why wouldn't there be any here?

"I don't know what's going on in there right now, but I don't think we need to get in the middle of that fight if we don't have to. So. Thoughts?"

Re: [Main Street, directly outside]

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

Junpei followed his senpai, clutching the chair to his chest and on alert for any more zombies. None really came close enough to go after them, instead wandering off toward other people. Weird.

When Akihiko stopped, so did Junpei. He looked at the grocery store and noted the fighting. Well, duh, there'd be more fighting. On a night like this where there were hordes of undead chasing after anyone warm and hot and--

The teen's train of thought was disrupted as Mitsuru shifted a bit in front of him. He blinked his eyes and stared at her for the moment. She smelled good...