Nightshift 42: Germaine Street

[giftofstars.livejournal.com]

[from here]

The streets hardly seemed to be a better alternative to the pet shop. In fact, it seemed like there were more zombies on the street than where they were originally. Sakura glanced around the town in a frenzy. Zombies were everywhere! Where were they supposed to find somewhere safe?

She picked up a rock and pitched it at a zombie approaching them from behind. "Fai-san, where do we go?" she asked, looking up at him once more.

Comments

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Things weren't getting better and he was starting to question his plan to find the others first. Outside, it seemed as though there was an endless number of the undead town people. They couldn't possibly be alive, but... maybe it was best not to think about it.

He kept Sakura close, kicking out every few moments to keep the creatures back. He didn't know what they planned to do, but it couldn't be good. Yue had to be near, he could swear he'd felt the guardian's magic, but so far he hadn't caught sight of him.

"This way, I think there's some of the other patients ahead," he said, lying even in their dire circumstances. It would be tough, but they could get through it, he told himself.

Letting go of her hand for a moment, he had to shoulder one back, grunting with the effort before he served another kick to its head. Too close. There were too many of them. And without a single wall to put behind them, it made it pretty difficult to keep the creatures away.

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

(From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55578061#t55578061))

"Sakura!!" Touya called, spotting her immediately next to... to... Fai. That was his name. The young man ran a bit to catch up to Yue's pace, stopping in front of the pair. He turned to Fai and Yue, looking around frantically.

"What's going on?" he asked. "I never heard anything about anything like this!"

[tightsofmight]

[HUWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH BIGTIME HERO COMES IN FROM HERE]

More zombies. Here, there, and everywhere. Ooooooooh, and that smell. Gag.

"Excuse me - hey, excuse me, only my girlfriend touches me there!" He delivered a kick to the groin that literally sent the former woman flying through the air. "Come back when you have a pulse!!"

He didn't linger, not even when he spotted the group of four hovering near the pet store. There was safety in numbers, and three of them were capable adults - enough protection for the little girl tagging along with them. Right now Brainy was his priority.

[Heroing along to here.]

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

Ploughing through the thrumming mass in the park, survival was just about the only thing he could think about. It was only when he reached the gates and stopped to wipe the head of the screwdriver on his shirt that Depth Charge even remembered that he wasn't alone in this. Oh, slag.

His pulse suddenly seemed to leap up by a few hundred beats per second and he turned sharply on his heel again. "All here?" If anything had happened to Astor or Javert while his back had been turned...

[buteo-sapiens.livejournal.com]

Tobias was powering his way above the heads of the zombies, wings already beginning to ache, barely keeping out of reach of their grasping arms. Ocassionally he dipped down, screaming out his hawk cry and raking at a hand that got too close before beating achingly higher, using any breath of moving air he could catch.

< Here, > he replied, and passed over Depth Charge's head before stooping what few feet he could spare, raking his claws forward and gouging the rotting eyes out of the next zombie's face. Oozing rotting flesh clung to his talons in gruesome ribbons. < Someone out there has a vile sense of humor. > Slowly, he beat his way back upwards, regaining the altitude he'd lost.

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

It had gotten crowded near the gates, to the point where it was impossible for even someone of Soma's stature to avoid all of the gathering undead. By the time she had escaped the confines of the park, her jacket was spattered and the branch she was holding was drenched in gore. She tried not to think about it as she ran down Germaine Street. It was one thing to kill someone in a mobile suit, but this was different--for one thing, it could hardly be called killing.

She and the girls had only gone as far as the pet store today before turning back to the park. Soma berated herself silently for the mistake. She had done little this afternoon; she should have taken the opportunity to familiarize herself with the town.

But there was no time to dwell on that. Main Street - that looked promising. There would probably be stores there; perhaps she could find something worth taking. Soma turned and headed down it without hesitation.

[madeinthehrl]

[to here]

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55596749#t55596749)

She paused for breath again on the street, eyes glancing around rapidly. "Zombies," she muttered in disbelief. "Fucking zombies." The larger street close-by was full of them, and people all over in chaos. Something ached in Senna to act here, but she fucking needed something! Anything! Before she could do anything. Weapons, then.

"We'll stick to the small streets," she said, glancing to the left. "Hopefully, there's not as many there. Man, I wish we had explored the town more, now!" Senna's agitation was clear. It wasn't the situation that was getting to her--zombies were seriously too close to Blanks to shake her that much, the main difference being Blanks wanted to crush her to death until all her nice shiny memories floated free while zombies just wanted to chew on her a bit--but the fact that she was fucking powerless in it.

She shook her head once. No time for that now. "Maybe we'll find a 7-Eleven or something that has hunting knives. There's always something like that in those old movies."

[sheisthecause.livejournal.com]

They just kept coming! Meche felt fingers grabbing for her hair and lashed out instinctively with a punch. It connected with the zombie's face--no, there wasn't much left of the face, she realized with a sudden flip of her stomach. It connected with the zombie's skull.

She covered her mouth with her other hand to stifle another scream. Four years, no, ten if this was 2008. How long did it take the human body to decompose? Is this what my body looks like now? she thought wildly.

No, she didn't have time to worry about that. The monster didn't even react as if it had felt the punch, just kept grabbing for her skull. She would've been in real trouble if Senna hadn't cleared the path on the other side just then, and they took off running into the street.

They had a second to rest there, and Meche tried to take deep breaths while she applied herself to the situation. She'd looked around a little in the afternoon last week, but navigation wasn't her strong suit at the best of times. This definitely didn't qualify. She tried frantically to at least remember what she'd seen, even if she couldn't put a where to the places. There were restaurants, a casino, the spa, the salon and the beauty shop...nope, it was no good. Even if those places had anything they could use as weapons, she couldn't get them there.

"Let's just keep moving!" she urged loudly, so Senna would be able to hear her over that constant, terrible moaning. "We'll use whatever we can find, but we'll have a better chance if we get it before we attract too many of them!"

[roger-hug.livejournal.com]

(FLEE!!! from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674856.html?thread=55624232#t55624232).)

Bridget, running with Kagura's hand in his, slammed his shoulder hard into a rotted body, trying to ignore the way the skin felt, all rotted and gross. He paused for a moment to look around, shying back from the zombie that was now struggling back up to it's feet.

"Was it this way Miss Sohma?" He was still trying to be brave, though there was a thread of fear in his voice, making it sound even more feminine than usual.

[kagurazuki.livejournal.com]

Kagura did her best not to scream, half afraid it would draw even more zombies in their direction. But it certainly wasn't easy, not when they were almost surrounded and she heard the nasty squish as Bridget shouldered one to the ground.

"I... I think so," Kagura replied, hardly noticing the change in Bridget's voice. She just wanted to get somewhere safe. "W-we have to hurry. We can't stay!"

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

(From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55682509#t55682509).)

Haku had to change direction when a large group of zombies surged towards them and he nearly stumbled. It had been a while since he'd carried someone without aid of chakra. It was a bit harder than he'd thought it should be...

(to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676744.html?view=55692936#t55692936).)

[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=55604665#t55604665)]

The pursuit of perfection had its benefits - especially now. In her free time today, between contemplating what her next move was and deciding she needed to speak with her father, she had wandered the town and taken stock of the establishments present. Restaurants, a hotel, a bar, antiques store, pet store, hardware store - the usual for a town of this size.

At the time, she'd thought it was rather quaint, but now as she ran, whipping the undead hordes with her jacket, it was anything but. She was thankful that the creatures didn't seem to have any sort of hive mind or anything resembling intelligence. It made avoiding their clusters a little easier as they tended to bunch up together, heading for the sounds of the living. This really is like those horrible American movies, she thought, ducking past a shambling group of what used to be teenagers.

Franziska glanced over her shoulder just to check on the other two and then headed toward the building at the end of the street.

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

Indy gasped as he felt a sudden hand at his shirt collar jerk him back, just in time to avoid a lunging Zombi. It went sprawling as it missed; Indy recovered and stomped sharply on both its hands, feeling the sickening crunch of half-rotted bone under the sole of his shoes. He wouldn't have pulled that move on a human appointment, but it was already clear that you couldn't afford to be sportsmanlike with these bastards. When he got enough of a break in the action to look around, he realized Dent had been the one to yank him out of the way.

"Thanks," he called over the moans, just as the woman started to run. Dent wouldn't be happy about the pet store, but Indy figured they could worry about comparison shopping once he and the girl had whips to work with. He turned around and ran through the path she had cleared, without looking back over his shoulder to see if the other able-bodied zombies were following him. Judging by the volume of the moans, he'd say they were definitely moving slow enough for him to outrun, at least for a while.

He didn't have too much trouble getting to the building. A couple of figures he thought he could make out on the roof gave him pause, but there wasn't any moaning coming from up there, so he relaxed a hair--just patients. The front door was closed; didn't look like anyone had been in there yet.

"Get ready," he warned the girl when he got in speaking--shouting, really--range of her again. "We could be looking at a whole swarm of them in there."

[141-12.livejournal.com]

[From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676338.html?thread=55722482#t55722482)]

It was a tiny town, and every acre of it was crawling with zombies. Otacon steered the pickup truck down North Street at top speed, crossing from one end of it to the other, and everywhere he looked, an undead army had seemingly spilt out of all the cracks and corners of Doyleton. His neatly pencilled town map now bore only an ironic resemblance to reality, but it remained clear in Otacon's memory as he headed for the Black Rock Inn. He took the turn into Germaine Street too fast, scattering zombies as the truck skidded, and slammed the brakes in time to avoid hitting a pale-faced but determined young patient. Their eyes met through the grime-splattered window of the truck. He lifted his hand in an uncertain wave. She ran.

It was crowded here, and not just with zombies. Patients weaved in and out of the clusters of monsters, some fighting, some fleeing, some trying to do both. Otacon was aware of activity going on in all the buildings around him — doors kicked down, looting, people running in and out — and realized that finding Fox from here would be next-to-impossible. That is, if Fox was even still here, and never mind Snake, who could be anywhere at this point.

On-site procurement, Otacon reminded himself, pushing up his glasses. Snake could make a weapon out of anything, but if he was aiming for greater firepower, there was the sheriff's office halfway down Main Street. It was a possibility, and the only one he had right now. Otacon checked out the windows for a way through: Black Rock on his right, pet store on his left, pandemonium ahead.

[stiffserpent.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676352.html?thread=55696128#t55696128).]

With a skidding run, Snake forced his way through the hotel's doors and came into the entrance, trying not to stumble on the uneven, cracked ground that had once been the hotel's entrance, and pivoted into a wide, defensive stance.

It was a small swarm, made of at least thirty, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, emitting rattling moans. He noticed most were slightly injured, and some were oozing stinking black fluid from cuts on their bodies. A tinkle of shattered glass beneath his feet made him look to the shattered windows above his head. Things must have forced their way blindly through the windows to get out of their suites, he thought, and got cut up on the way down. Looked like he'd have to break through them. Snake had always hated crowds.

Using fire at close range would be too dangerous, so as one member finally detected him and the swarm became aware of his presence all at once, he brandished the bottle in both hands like a baseball bat and slammed it straight across the leader's jaw like a baseball bat with a satisfying crunch that travelled all down his arm. Rotting undead bones gave easier than he'd expected. A swift raking left hook tore black gashes out of the next zombie, and then all of a sudden there was something wet on his back and he drove his body around with a vicious roundhouse, taking down two with the weight of the body of the one that had got the jump on him.

Wait -

A sudden bright light poured into the area. A headlight?

As if possessed, he broke as far as he could through the crowd, trying to get a closer look. Bodies toppled and fell, but there seemed to be no end to them.

Silently, he begged for the person in the car to notice him and help, as he caught the neck of one in a twist and snapped the crumbling bone with hardly any effort, leaving it dazed as it sunk to the floor. He didn't know how much longer he could last without making a mistake, but he didn't have a choice except to carry on trying to break through.

[godforsaken]

[From here.]

Sync wasn't sure how long it took them to reach the end, but by the time they made it to Germaine Street there was hardly an inch of him that wasn't covered in blood. The coagulating liquid had long since soaked into his shoes and pants, turning them a dark shade of reddish black that bled all the way to his thighs. Meanwhile his arms suffered the same fate, the same rotting blood drenching both his sleeves up to his shoulders.

The teen had expected this kind of mess considering the staggering amount of monsters, but he wasn't prepared for the wave of exhaustion that was beginning to envelop his entire body. Even now his limbs quivered, joints protesting each time he moved. It was strange; endurance was a key factor to being a fighter, but he found it odd that he'd be so tired so soon...

However, he didn't have time to think about it now. Everywhere they went there were even more monsters, but Sync stubbornly moved forward, keeping an eye out for anything that remotely resembled an inn. Unfortunately, relief wasn't there even after they moved through the entire street, but the teen was already on the move.

"Let's go this way," Sync shouted at Dahlia above the roar of her weapon, pointing north.

[dahliahasthorns.livejournal.com]

Sync wasn't the only one tired or covered head to toe in gore. The more she cut that blade into them, the more that got on her, the more her weapon dulled, and the harder she had to push. Her arms were already shaking from effort and all those cute bruises lining her arms from those disgusting hands and their grip, but she didn't complain. It was just something else she had to do if she wanted to survive.

Dahlia followed behind Sync with his same determination, taking off to where he pointed. They had better find some place they could rest so she could switch blades and check the batteries.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676352.html?thread=55859712#t55859712)]

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676744.html?thread=55680648#t55913352)]

It seemed things wouldn't be as easy as "wading up two flight of zombie stairs". Apparently "crossing a street full of them" came first.

"Should we just run for it?" asked Yukari, looking over at the ninja she was shouldering along. There wasn't exactly a way to avoid the shambling masses, which had luckily yet to notice them. They had to decide quickly before that stopped being so, or the zombies from the barn caught up with them.

Oh, how she wished she could still manipulate the border of life and death and put these souls to rest.

[mizuhomaiden.livejournal.com]

"Sorry, I'm getting blood all over you," Sheena mumbled, relaxing just a little upon hearing that the youkai wasn't hurt.

Up stairs? Sheena knew that wasn't going top be possible considering she'd pretty much blown up the main staircase in the lobby and the service stairs had to be crawling with zombies by now. She'd planned on just scaling the side of the building to the third floor window of the room, assuming that card was still in place signaling which room they were holed up in. Climbing the side of a building wasn't something she was going to be doing anytime soon unless she healed herself. Unfortunately, Sheena didn't have any viable targets except Yuka-- No. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Just no.

Forcing herself to focus on the zombies, the ninja shuddered again seeing how many of them there were. "I've got three cards left, so I can clear a small path through them... I think. I should have the mana left."

She swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "Was going to scale the hotel - stairwells packed with zombies. Can't now, though." She paused. "Maybe. Maybe I still can."

[denied-future.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55962061#t55962061)]

Nothing noteworthy here, unless one counted the hoards of zombies. Mostly avoiding them, aside from a few thrown punches, Rey continued to run down the street. There was some blood on his hands and shirt now, but he paid it no attention.

[denied-future.livejournal.com]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=55980473#t55980473)!]

[aleaderwillrise.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?thread=56025529#t56025529).]

They were here, too. Nathan hadn't been so stupid as to think he was out in the clear just yet -- he was still convinced they needed to find a bus and get out of there that way -- but the sight was unnerving, nonetheless. He did another double-take, looking back at Peter, making certain his brother was still there. The worst thing would be to look back too late, and find out Peter was gone again.

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

Even though his hands and knees smarted after that fall, Peter made sure to follow right behind Nathan as they reached the next street. He wasn't in the best physical shape and he didn't think Nathan was, either, but it seemed that in a case like this one adrenaline would be enough to push them forward no matter how tired they got.

He hoped that was the case, anyway.

"We're almost there. The buses should be..." Peter skirted around a zombie and was surprised when he saw a light coming from the parking lot.

He kept running, and it wasn't long before he could see the smoke as well. He instinctively stopped, whipping around to look at his brother. "One of them is on--"

A screech from ahead of them cut him off, though. He didn't like that sound one bit, although it was markedly different from the noises the zombies had been making. Peter felt a chill run through him. He'd heard that the nurses changed at night, but he'd never seen one for himself. It would make sense that there had been some around the buses...

Still, it probably wouldn't have been screaming like that unless someone else (someone alive) was around, and sure enough, Peter could spot two not-rotten forms, lit up by the blaze behind them.

"Sam?!" he exclaimed, even though his roommate wouldn't be able to hear him. He knew that people generally ran away from fires, but Sam (and his brother, it looked like) were definitely in a bad spot. There was no way he could turn his back on that.

"Nathan, we've gotta help them!" he yelled, not even waiting for the man to reply before he took off again.

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

(From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/676744.html?thread=55692936#t55692936).)

(to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674338.html?view=56035874#t56035874).)

[adorkabledragon.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=55800525#t55800525).]

Keman didn't stop running until they were out of the park and onto one of the main streets in town. Not that it made them any safer, of course; there were almost as many zombies in the streets as there were in the parks. But he felt as if his lungs were about to burst, and he needed to get a few deep breaths before they decided their next move.

"So," he panted, hands on his knees, "I...think we can...safely rule out getting back to the buses...tonight."

[notmyfather.livejournal.com]

Oh ancestors, Valyn was tired of running. He doubled over when they reached the street, sweating despite the chill of the night. Already he was unkempt and ragged looking, his hair escaping the neat tail he'd fastened it into that morning. His stomach hurt, and he didn't know if it was from fear or from exertion.

"We need....to find someplace safe." Where on earth would that be here? He knew the safe places in the institute, but in town? Were there even any safe places?

"Would it be safer out of town, in the woods?"

[lastlovesong]

[from here]

At the intersection between the street they were on and Germaine Street, Chise spotted a bright glow from behind the park. Countless bodies(that were still moving) littered the entire area. Small groups of people were running in and out of the buildings and--was that a horse? She stared at it in shock as it ran towards the inn.

"I think the buses are past that park," she pointed towards the glowing trees...which aren't suppose to glow. Normal trees don't glow yellow and fire-orange...and why do I smell something burning? "Do any of you smell something burnNIIIING!!" While directing her attention to the mysterious smell, Chise forgot to watch her footing and tripped over a broken arm into a puddle of zombie-goo limbs.

Ew...ew...ew..so grossSOGROSSSOGROSS! It was all over her clothes. She inwardly fought to keep the bile in her throat down. Suddenly, a whole hoard of moving limbs and torsos crowded in on her, grabbing onto whatever they can. A zombie with half of it's face crushed inward and a dangling eyeball rose on her left side. To her horror, it opened it's jaw, preparing to sink it's teeth into her virgin flesh.

She screamed.

[rubbermancan.livejournal.com]

Luffy smelled it too, whatever it was. Actually, it kind of reminded him of that night someone had set one of the buses on fire, right after their first trip to this place. As boring as Doyleton was in the day, things sure got exciting at night, that was for sure!

He didn't really have any problems with letting Kuro lead the way -- there was a lot to see from where he was following, after all -- which was why he was next to Chise when she suddenly fell over. To be honest, the pirate didn't get why she didn't lash back at them when she had a perfectly good frying pan, but maybe some people just didn't think of frying pans that way.

Well, Luffy sure appreciated a frying pan for what it did in the kitchen, but he also knew a good weapon when he saw one. And right now? A frying pan was the best thing to kick zombie ass with. Gritting his teeth, he lunged forward in an attempt to bring his pan down onto the monster that was about to bite Chise.

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674253.html?thread=56152013#t56152013).]]

Hokuto all but held her breath as she helped Falis walk; she wasn't good enough to fight more than one zombie at a time, and Falis was no longer in any shape to fight back at all. It helped that the hordes around them weren't interested in the infected, but since she still wasn't she just wanted to get them both to relative safety, now.

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

[[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/675435.html?thread=56219243#t56219243).]]