damned_institute | Nightshift 42: Morris Park

ZEX was on edge; they really should have been taken back to the buses by now. It was getting unusually dark and cold, and there was a mist rolling in, and by this point...

He heard something like earth being moved and a low groan. He paused, looking around curiously for the source of the noise. He could see movement, dimly... he peered through the thickening fog. Some human was approaching him... no, more than one. Quite a few humans, actually... all of them moving a bit strangely.

ZEX stood there, blinking, as the shambling creatures approached him. They didn't look like normal humans... but what else could they be? They sort of resembled his invisible admirer, actually...

"Hello?" ZEX called out to them. "Do you need something?"

The humans did not respond to him except with more low groans. And there were a lot of them, and they were moving towards him quite purposefully...

ZEX may not have understood the concept of zombies, but he wasn't stupid. He'd seen nurses get transformed into creatures before, and the change in atmosphere and environment definitely indicated night time. Signs were pointing at these humans as being transformed by the influence of night somehow, and therefore they were probably more inclined to do him harm than discuss romance, as disappointing as that was. That meant he had to prepare to defend himself.

"If you need something..." ZEX said, trying to keep his voice friendly as he looked around for some kind of weapon. It wouldn't hurt to try and be sociable as long as he was able. They might be capable of reason, after all, like his admirer. Bah, where was Teisel when you needed him? "I'm willing to help you if I can."

They were still moving towards him. Quickly analyzed the situation... outnumbered, definitely, and he wasn't sure how dangerous these creatures were. That and he still didn't have a weapon. But he'd faced worse odds - he was Admiral ZEX, renowned military genius, and if there was a way out of a hopeless situation, he would find it. He'd survived this long, after all.

He took a few steps backwards as the shambling creatures approached him, and he saw a tree nearby. Deadened by the odd fog and change in atmosphere... he grabbed a branch and pulled as hard as he could. Thankfully it snapped off somewhere near the base, and at least now he had some way to defend himself, inelegant as it was.

"Surely there's no need for conflict..." ZEX said, despite the fact he was settling into a defensive posture, his branch at the ready. If they wanted to fight, he would fight... but the intelligent thing would be to get out of here and find some relatively safe place to wait this out. Shame that was a bit difficult now that he was somewhat surrounded.

Hmm.

[xigbar? :O]

Had he not kept track of what was going on, Xigbar would have sworn that he had had just a little too much vodka. There was no way that there could be zombies around, and yet, just before nightfall, boom, zombies. Everywhere. The idea was absolutely absurd, and yet, he still had to accept it.

After he had, he realized that there were zombies everywhere. So, after the initial shock wore off (that of the zombies and of Rangiku's kiss,) he immediately went to do what he did best. In this case, re-enact Halloween Town and kick a bunch of zombie butt!

Of course, there was someone else right there in the middle of a swarm, and Xigbar had to roll his eye. He could identify that shock of hair anywhere, and that meant he had to work quick to make sure Admiral ZEX didn't get eaten. Which would really be a horrible thing; how could he have a pleasurable conversation ~~and more after that~~ when he was reduced to "Uuuugh... braaaaaaains..."?

That in mind, Xigbar wobbled towards the crowd, throwing his pokeball at the zombies nearest him first. Not only was it amazing that he could hit his target even while the world was spinning, but that he had enough clarity of mind to call out, "Dude, Admiral! C'mere before they have you for a snack!"

One of the creatures had come too close to him for comfort. His human body was a far cry from his VUX one, but one makes the best of what they have. Hopefully it wouldn't make this too difficult.

He waited, swung out with his branch and struck the creature right in the face. It sent an unpleasant shock through the stiff joints of his arms, but the blow seemed enough to take care of the transformed human for now. It crumpled to the ground with a low groan. He tried to spin and continue the momentum of his swing, but his human arms didn't bend as his natural arms would have, and he stumbled back a bit to try and regain his balance. Even though these human-esque monsters apparently weren't the sturdiest of creatures, they had numbers on their side. Taking them out one by one would be foolish... there were far too many of them, and they'd no doubt overcome him by sheer force of numbers soon enough. Hmm.

He blinked when he heard someone call out to him. That voice sounded familiar... it was difficult to see through the fog and groaning bodies, but if that was who he thought it was...

"Xigbar?" Yes, assistance was most welcome right now! Far preferable to facing these things by himself. Now he just needed to get over to him... ZEX struck out again, managing to knock another of the creatures to the ground. Ugh, the stiff joints of human limbs made this more painful than he'd expected! "Do you know what these things are?" No one had mentioned anything like this to him before-

A jolt went through him. These creatures were endless, and his allies... "Have you seen the Captain?"

"C'mon, I'll tell you more when we get outta here!" Clearly, Admiral ZEX had never survived a zombie attack. Granted, Xigbar hadn't either- they weren't quite the same as the Halloween Town Heartless- but he knew well enough what to do. The simple fact of the matter was that ZEX was probably going to get himself eaten at this rate, and Xigbar couldn't allow that!

So he used what he had at hand. He grabbed a trash can as he ran to the Admiral, then used it as an impromptu battering ram, shoving zombies aside as he tried to rush towards the VUX. Sure, it was a rash idea, and totally not Xigbar's style at all, but darn if he was going to let his Admiral get eaten!

Once he managed to get to the other man, he shrugged. Zelnick could be anywhere, and trying to find him in this place? Totally not going to work. At all. Besides, wasn't it just a tad annoying to have someone ask about another dude, especially when they were in a really complicated not-really-settled series of relationships? Dude! "C'mon, we can talk when we don't have people trying to eat us."

Getting out of here was definitely a good idea. Particularly since it seemed that one of the zombies he'd knocked down didn't seem inclined to stay there. While he waved his branch wildly at the other grasping creatures to try and keep them away, the one near to him began grabbing at his feet. At least these things didn't have claws, but this was already far too close for comfort. He tried to kick it off and not fall over in the process, and it was really only luck that kept him upright.

At least Xigbar was close to him now (interesting tactic getting here, too!), enough so to hopefully cover him should something go wrong. And there were definitely enough of these things to make that a distinct possibility.

"Yes, I agree." ZEX kicked the one on the ground in the face, causing it to finally let his foot go, although he wasn't sure it'd stay down there for long. He sounded a bit breathless. Human adrenaline never did him any favors. "This doesn't seem like the best place to be at the moment." He would have felt better knowing where his Captain was, but he had to make sure he himself didn't die first. "Where do you think we should-"

Something behind him grabbed the loose cloth hanging from the neck of the long-sleeved garment he was wearing, and ZEX choked for a second as it tried to yank him back. Some of the creatures must have gotten behind him... he struggled to break free and not strangle himself in the process. Ugh, who designed human clothing this way?!

Wait, ZEX had just been grabbed by a zombie? By the collar? Now that just wasn't the way it was supposed to be! Xigbar tried to think rapidly, his booze-addled mind making him feel both reckless and bullet-proof at the same time. He was the freaking Freeshooter! This meant he was totally going to be able to do this!

Which meant that he grabbed ZEX by the arm, deciding that it was finally time for him to show off, just a little bit. That, and he didn't have anything sharp, so he couldn't remove ZEX's shirt... er, get the zombie off of him. Yes. That was totally what he meant.

With that, he used his power, warping space around the both of them. He wanted to show that he had awesome teleportation powers, but being more than slightly tipsy, the results were... well... practically non-existent. Barely even happened, let alone drained him of anything or even moved them over an inch.

Which was more than a little aggravating. So, in a fit of pique, he used the trash can and slammed it over the zombie's head, letting it slide all the way down to its thighs. Should buy them a little bit of time, right? Right. Time to book. Now he tried to lead ZEX again, this time towards the outer end of the swarm. He hoped. "We gotta find somewhere safe where they can't get to us an' get some weapons too. Police station, one hundred percent!"

ZEX's human mind was panicking and flooding him with chemicals as usual, great, so if anything strange had happened with space and time, it escaped his notice.

Not so much the metal can, which thankfully broke the creature's grip on his clothing. He coughed a bit when he was released, stumbling away although thankfully Xigbar's grip on his arm kept him standing. At this point he was more than willing to follow Xigbar's directions. He didn't have many other ideas, and pretty much any place other than here had to be safer.

"Yes," ZEX said a bit breathlessly, trying to keep up behind him and avoid the creature's grasping hands. How many of these things were there? Where did they call come from? "Yes, let's do that."

By now, Xigbar had kind of figured out what the Zombie Attack Pattern was. Try to grab with the hand, pull close, then try to bite with those nasty, but sharp, teeth. Simple attack, but deadly if it worked. Especially considering that if they slowed down for even a second, then the rest would start joining in.

That meant Xigbar had to push away the offending limbs, his inherent grasp of space and distances working to keep both of them at least moving quickly. Even zombie swarms couldn't last forever, after all, and after some harrowing near-misses, Xigbar broke through the lines and dragged ZEX after him.

All they had to do was get to the sheriff's office. After that, they should be sitting pretty. He sincerely hoped, anyway- just a pokeball alone was no good at all for his purposes. And why couldn't he have his gun arrows!? If he'd just had his equipment, this would be the most kick-ass game ever! It'd be him with a load of zombies, and a very clear prize if he won. After all, the action hero always got the damsel in distress, and in the absence of that, ZEX would do. But now? Nope, gotta run, and run fast.

((To here, ruuuuuun!)) (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html?view=55808953#t55808953)

[For Yuffie and Homura]

The fight had been an interesting one to break up. Kadaj was back, and while he didn't remember Okita, that mattered little. Kadaj was back and that meant something. Okita wasn't sure what it was, but right now, his shoulder was sore and he was having a hard time breathing. Once Kadaj was gone, Okita retreated a step and leaned his back against a nearby tree, trying to smile despite the urge to cough. "That was certainly--"

Behind him, he felt something shift and froze. There seemed to be a fog crawling in at the edges of the park and, although it was still daylight (albeit it dim daylight), the trees seemed to be...

This wasn't good.

Okita pushed himself off the tree and turned, watching in horror as the park changed around them. The trees decayed and the long grass turned more tangled and brown. The fog rolled in and somewhere further off, Okita sword he heard the sound of people stumbling and groaning in voices he hadn't heard since the aristocrat terrorized Kyoto. The sound of the undead, the unnatural, and the deadly. Falling into a defensive stance, Okita turned his back on his friends and watched the encroaching fog. "...Yuffie-san? I do hope you're capable of healing soon, or we're all going to be in a bad spot. Homura-san? You wouldn't have happened to pick up something useful in your travels today?"

All Okita had were straws and a pack of tobacco sticks - and he highly doubted that was going to kill fast enough to help.

After having been a prisoner of the Institute for so long, it was impossible not to have a growing sense of wariness as the light steadily faded from the sky. The idea that they weren't going to return to the Institute that night had started off as little more than a notion, but now with this grim turn of events, Homura was left with little more than wits, fists, and regret only reinforced by Okita's question.

"I'm afraid not." Like the other swordsman, Homura turned to face outward as he knew that the danger quickly approached. Though he had no recognition of the sounds, the stench of decay was more than familiar to him. Through the fog he could just barely make out movement now, human in shape, but stumbling and awkward. Yet their direction was sure, forward, and Homura shifted his position to meet the ones that would likely meet them first.

"If you can heal him, I suggest you hurry." More and more were coming, even before the first wave attacked. For all his experience in battle, Homura knew he could only hold the numbers off for so long. Okita had to be treated, then the group would have to clear a path to safer, or more fruitful grounds. "We're going to have to fight our way through to find weapons. I doubt this is going to let up anytime soon."

Light fading, thick fog advancing, what sounding--and smelled--like a zombie horde prowling; Yuffie would have been almost totally unsurprised, if her fight with Kadaj hadn't made her lose track of time. Being practically back to back with Homura and Orangello? Yeah. Now that, that was surprising. She uttered a sharp Wutaian curse under her breath, keen eyes taking a quick inventory.

Well. Uh. Crap.

There was nothing else for it. Yuffie was more than used to fighting a mob of opponents at once, and battle didn't scare her anymore. Her grin was quick, grim. "Heard you the first time, guys," she replied, with similar urgency. "I can do it. And I'm gonna trust you both not to leave me behind, 'cuz this is gonna really weaken me -- worst of it should be over after about half an hour at most." Gawd, talking wasn't comfortable at all. That silver haired bastard had strong hands; she'd been lucky to shove him off when she had. "Here goes."

She sucked in a breath, drew on her spirit; the will to fight; the desperation that would creep in to plague her after too long with no end at sight. The determination to survive. Clear Tranquil, feeling to her like a whirlpool or the eye of some storm, expanded. The two blue bubbles grew, burst, flew outward in arching chains of smaller bubbles that were quick to fade. Yuffie wavered. Her knees hit the browned, sad excuse for grass; she slapped her hands--newly healed--down to steady herself, breathing hard but shallow. It wasn't quite as bad as it had been last night, but even this--it was too much.

If Yuffie's spell did what similar spells did to MOMO, Okita knew they needed to stay. A half an hour didn't sound so bad, but then, Okita still wasn't able to see what was coming at them. He saw people, their shapes barely outlined within the fog, but they seemed to be moving awkwardly, almost shambling. He knew what that indicated, but he still clung to the small hope that maybe he wouldn't have to deal with touching the dead again.

"Here goes."

"I won't let anything get to you; I promise." Hopefully, Yuffie would trust him enough despite their differences, seeing how she had no choice but to do so. Despite himself, Okita tore his eyes from the battleground to see just what Yuffie's spell would do. He'd seen it once before (which gave birth to her secret nickname), but at the time, he hadn't known what it was. Now that he did, he was glad, or the bubbles would have startled him. As the smaller bubbles faded, Yuffie hit the ground and Okita felt the pain in his arm dull to a mere ache. The stiffness that came with injury disappeared and while he knew he'd have to be careful, his arm was mobile and he could ignore the pain well enough that he'd be able to use it. Tentatively pulling his arm from the sling, he clenched and unclenched his fist, rolling his shoulder gently to test the results. So far, so good.

And just in time. The first of the creatures broke the fog line and stumbled forward, lunging toward the group, half-rotten jaws open to reveal jagged teeth. Pulling the sling off, Okita stuffed the cigarettes into his pants pocket, scooped a large rock off the ground and launched it straight at the creature's face. It felt damn good to have his arm back in order, even if it was complaining about being used so soon. The first creature fell back and Okita reached for more rocks, piling them into his sling as more appeared to fill its place. He had no other weapons at the moment, but this at least gave him a little bit of range.

Unlike his friend, Homura never looked away from what approached. He had to trust that whatever magic Yuffie had available to her would be enough, that it would heal Okita so he could fight, and that it would be worth the danger she'd be putting herself in for it. A half-hour seemed a short period of time, particularly to one who was nearly immortal. But on a battlefield, even a few minutes could stretch beyond perception, and with the approaching mass, Homura doubted this would be an exception to that phenomenon.

When Okita took down the first of the oncomers, Homura dashed forward to meet the second. He'd only have a few moments, but that was all he needed. He couldn't cut a way through this swarm with his bare hands, and without his blade or any metal, his two best weapons weren't available to him. Still, he hadn't survived so many centuries as Toushin Taishi without learning to be resourceful, or willing to do whatever he had to in order to go on.

As soon as he was within reach, Homura caught the wrist of the shambler in one hand, and the top of its skull in the other. The bones were brittle, a fortunate turn, and without hesitation Homura squeezed the head until it shattered, the object that was once a brain oozing around his fingers as it was crushed. Nothing about this would be clean or pretty, but that wasn't the point. Surviving was the only thing that mattered, and that was a truth that Homura embraced whole-heartedly.

As the creature fell, Homura stomped on it's shoulder until the joint shattered, and nothing but rotting muscle still connected the limb to its torso. The arm he ripped off would have to do as a weapon until something more ideal could be found. The mass hadn't stopped coming, and Homura moved back to the others just as several more of the things began to crawl out of the ground he'd just been standing on. Okita was gathering rocks, but Homura had another concern, and he moved in front of where Yuffie was kneeling.

"You aren't going to argue with me." There wasn't time for pettiness, and Homura turned his side towards Yuffie as he dropped to a knee. "I'm better suited to carry you than Okita, and until you've recovered, that's what I'm going to do. We need to be able to move quickly. Now get on, and hold on to me."

A half hour. At most. At most. Yuffie prayed fervently that it'd clear before then, to Leviathan and Da Chao, to the Summons, to Holy and hell, even the Lifestream.

Every second counted. Every second spent clutching the grass, breathing in a soft hiss to steady herself, was a waste. Ugh, this was so embarrassing; knelt behind Okita like some kind of - some kind of lame puppy, counting on his protection, because of her own Limit! She'd known the risks, but still… still, it shouldn't be like this! She should be fighting! Strength without determination means nothing. There was a zombie, ambling, shambling, out of Okita's line of sight, about ten feet away. He'd notice it soon enough. Determination without strength… Yuffie's fingers closed around a rock, a sharp looking, round thing, all chipped edges. …May be equally useless, but I'm still gonna try!

The rock was round enough and flat enough--kind of--that she used the basic throw meant for discs. She willed her hand steady for the release, the crucial little flick, the itty-bitty minute details -- the rock flew in a wavering arc, before slamming into the zombie's throat hard enough that it stumbled back and fell. "Yeah!"

Oh, damn, it was still moving. Never one to let some undead freak rain on her parade, Yuffie was gathering herself to snatch up another rock when Homura re-appeared in front of her, telling her--wait, he wasn't seriously serious, was he?--that 'she wasn't going to argue', and to get onto his back. She bristled. What he was suggesting made sense, but the way he suggested it - ugh! What gave him the right?! Angry retorts bubbled up, filled her mouth. She choked them back like she were swallowing shuriken. Her only reply was an incoherent sputter, followed by -- "Zombie, eight feet, two o'clock, and I can carry my damn self if you're gonna be that much of a jerk about it!"

Her hand flashed to the next rock, closing hard around it. As much as she'd have liked to throw it at Homura just then, she had enough presence of mind to send it speeding toward her zombie friend instead. With a sickening crunch, it slammed into the center of the thing's forehead, lodged there, and sent it straight back to the ground again. Yuffie was making to hop to her feet, feeling the ground waver beneath her. Slowly but surely, it was steadying.

[OOC: Homura can grab her if he wants. It wasn't the idea itself that offended her, so much as the way he expressed it.]

Edited 2009-07-25 19:57 (UTC)

The sound of cracking bones from behind him made Okita smile. Even if the battle wasn't one he would have chosen, it felt good to be in a fight again, to be useful and to have a clear enemy to attack and kill. Swinging the rock filled sling around, Okita smashed it into the temple of a creature that was clawing its way through the ground. The skin split, bone shattering under the weight and Okita stepped back, giving a hard kick to the neck, just to be certain of the kill.

A flash of movement and he twisted, spotting a creature about ten feet away, a rock lodged in its throat. He could hear Homura and Yuffie speaking behind him, but over the moaning and the general chaos of the battlefield, he wasn't entirely certain what they were saying. Turning, he kicked a zombie hard to the face, twisting to bring the rock sling around to smash into its head. A rock smashed into a zombie's head (Yuffie's aim was certainly nothing to be dismissed, even if she was weakened at the moment) and the creature went down with a thud.

In that same moment, he realized just what the others were saying and he pulled a rock from his sling - smooth, flat, cool to the touch - and sent it flying at an undead woman emerging close to the group. "Yuffie-san, we're in an extremely vulnerable position. I suggest doing as he says for now, if only so we can better defend oursel--"

Something grabbed his leg and Okita stumbled back, cursing as he brought his other foot down on the hand, breaking the fingers. Thankfully, his pants kept the rotted skin from touching him, but he still felt his stomach turn at the thought of what could have happened. The creature was still pulling itself up and Okita turned, taking his eyes from the field to look at Yuffie. "We need to get out of here - you know that as well." Raising his eyes, he took stock of Homura's position and his new weapon, and then turned back to the field, swinging the sling at another creature as it lunged closer. "Homura-san, there's a kitchen supply store just up the street from here. I suggest heading that way."

Homura couldn't say that he didn't appreciate the woman's spirit, even if the timing bordered on the horrible. Regardless of how he enjoyed a strong will, however, the demi-god also enjoyed staying alive. That was why he reached out as Yuffie tried to stand, grasping her shirt to pull the woman over his shoulder. It was hardly ideal in terms of combat; Homura's left arm would be incapacitated due to Yuffie's weight, and he'd have to be careful with his balance. But if hoisting her over his shoulder was the only way to start moving, then there really was little choice in the matter.

"You're wrong." Homura kept a tight grip around Yuffie's waist as he stood. There was a touch of strain in his voice, but it wasn't nearly so evident as his smirk. "If I was being a jerk, I wouldn't have warned you."

His hold remained firm enough to send Homura's refusal to put her down quite clearly. Moreover, any struggling Yuffie attempted would only end with her falling into the ground, likely face first. As soon as Okita pointed out both Yuffie's foolishness, and more importantly, directions to better weapons, the demi-god started moving. There was no time to waste with the mounting numbers, and Homura already had to lash out as he moved in order to keep a clear path as they ran.

[To here]

And he'd thought Anise's story about the busses was bad. Kvothe cursed under his breath as he looked around and realized that the people he could see that weren't institute prisoners like himself looked...

...Well, they looked dead. It was like the stories he'd heard about the shamblemen back home had come true. There, though, they weren't real. He should have expected that in a place like the institute they could be.

He took a slow, deep breath, stayed calm, and set about breaking down a stout branch to use as a weapon with his good hand.

[free]

Kvothe tried to think quickly as he tried to keep away from the creatures, he needed a better weapon than a branch. Some place to wait for dawn. There was a store down the street that he'd passed, Kitchen something, he could get a knife there. He could work with that. And he was confident in his ability to get to the rooftop, which should be safe from attack. Probably.

He set his jaw determinedly, swung his branch against the head of the nearest zombie with as much force as he could manage, and started running for the exit of the park with every ounce of speed in his wirey frame.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/678104.html?thread=55634648#t55634648)]

Tanaka had spent most of the day getting his legs back and looking for the Captain - wandering around town, noting the lay of the land, and eventually finding himself in a secluded corner of a park that seemed much more like the untamed jungles of Kyabetsu than the trimmed and tended plot he'd seen last week. The stagnation of this place was getting to him. Whether it was a lack of information, or sickness, or sleep, or the shift from night to day, the bastards seemed to be reducing him to his old form - a worthless shell of a Shofixti, resigned to hopeless waiting instead of true action. Except... he wanted action this time. He wanted to go out, sword outstretched, and strike a blow against the enemy. He just kept being denied the opportunity.

The Shofixti was shaken from his internal monologue by a chill wind - colder even than the usual chill of this planet - and a strange sense of forboding which only took a moment to reveal its source: the park was dying. Trees twisting and rotting, underbrush going brown and lifeless. Tanaka furrowed his brow; he had suspected that the town was just as corrupt as the Institute, but he hadn't expected Landel to let them see it themselves.

And then, things got even more interesting.

Rotting humans. No. Rotting, half-dead human corpses clawing their way out of the ground and shambling towards everything in sight that still had a pulse. Tanaka could honestly say that he had not seen this particular perversion coming.

Well, if the glorified compost-feeders wanted a fight, they'd get one. Grabbing a large, decaying branch from the ground, the Shofixti began to make his way through the crowd of putrid dead, soon learning (to his satisfaction) that they were as soft as they were numerous - clearly, someone with experience in hand-to-hand combat wouldn't have too much trouble with them. Then again, with these kinds of numbers on their side... well, any Shofixti knew what one could do with enough bodies, especially to one unused to combat against large groups.

Right. New plan: get out of this park and find the Captain and his other allies before the Captain got overwhelmed or Fwiffo did something stupid.

[will soon be leaving for an appointed thread, those attending or wishing to tag along welcome to come with]

Lugnut had half-dozed on the park bench once Depth Charge had left him, the amount of thinking that had gone into his ~~denial~~ reasoning leaving him feeling rather... drained.

It didn't help that the slice of orange human food had been the only thing he'd eaten all day.

It wasn't until after the sun sank down behind him that he started to rouse himself. It was night, and he was outdoors. That was a bad combination--

A very bad combination, his optics landing on the hands clawing their way up through the dirt, and had the organic plants all just gone bare and dead-looking? Everything looked much darker than it rightly should, in fact, and he nervously climbed to his feet, pulling the crutch up to his side.

Faint moans filled the air, and rotting humans followed their rotting hands up into the cold night.

Lugnut let out a very un-Decepticon noise of horrified disgust, scrambling away from the monsters, then turning and running full-speed away, ignoring the sharp bursts of pain from his foot because holy slag.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/673721.html)]

Alec looked down at the ground as the mist rolled in. Wasn't it past time for them to be collected and re-bused? Apparently, since there were...things...popping up out of the park's cold soil like gruesome flowers, humanoid wrecks with shreds of skin and exposed bone and soulless blank eyes...

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," he deadpanned, his eyes darting around for any possible weapons against the zombie horde. The faintest ghost of a smile came to his lips when he heard James. Just like old times. The master of British understatement. "This is new." He had gotten the same idea James had - taking a tree limb seemed remarkably sane. "It's not going to do us much good standing here, unless you fancy becoming an hors d'oeuvre," he said, walking slowly towards a tree with low-hanging branches and kicking a zombie in the head as it clambered up out of the dirt. He leapt up at a limb, grabbing on with both hands and pulling downward. Gravity took over, but not entirely - the branch bent, but did not break.

Trevelyan was suddenly aware of how stupid he must have looked like this, dangling inches off the ground by a tree branch. "Come over here and jump on. I need the extra weight to break this."

No, he did not expect his meeting with James to go like this at all.

Bond was not quite willing to turn his back on the park's growing pack of undead, though given the number of the things and the apparent lack of pattern to where they were erupting out, this seemed an almost futile hope. "As fascinating as that sounds, I'd rather not contribute to tonight's supper," he replied, conjuring up a dry tone as he paced toward the stand of trees.

One half-entombed zombie clawed at his ankle as he passed, and the squelch of rotted flesh and crunch of too-brittle bones as he trod the hand into the ground was less than pleasant. More unpleasant still was the lack of reaction, viscerally wrong; the thing just swiped with its other hand, though at that angle, it was a sure miss.

"How many of those damned things are there?" he muttered, hesitating just a few heartbeats before he sprang up to add his own weight to the overburdened branch. There were far too many shadows moving in and out of the mist, far too many echoing moans. It would have been positively nightmarish, if it didn't make nightmares seem almost pleasant by comparison.

"More than there are of us, which is all I need to know," Alec said as James jumped up onto the branch as well. That had been enough - the limb separated from the tree with an almighty crack like a gunshot. Trevelyan had braced himself for the landing, and managed not to fall over and break his tailbone, or end up as a zombie's dinner.

The branch was like a large club, unwieldy and about seven feet long. Perfect. Once he'd regained his balance, he put his foot down on the middle of the branch and pulled up on the broken end.

Crack. The branch snapped again, this time in twain. The branch's thickness didn't vary much - one piece was thicker and heavier than the other, but the thinner one was still relatively hefty.

Alec grabbed the one that was thicker, grasping it by the thinner end and testing it out on a zombie that was busy coming out of the ground. Branch met corpse with an unpleasant dull splatting noise, and the zombie toppled. "Not bad. I'd prefer a gun, but not bad."

"This is America." Bond's voice slid toward dry humor as he picked up the thinner of the two pieces, pausing to block the clumsy lurching attack of one newly-freed zombie, before staving its head in with two swift, sharp swings. "If we can get to the streets without being surrounded, we might be able to find one."

It wasn't nearly that simple in practice, he knew, but the town seemed small and rural enough to have a hunters' store, or barring that at least one or two amongst its citizenry. The difficult part would be breaking away, finding the appropriate place to look, and finding anything that hadn't already been snatched up. He doubted any of the hospital's inmates would be at all worried about the legality of looting, considering they'd likely found themselves surrounded suddenly by the walking dead as well.

You're hallucinating, a small, practical part of his mind informed him. He ignored it for the moment; hallucinations, he thought, probably wouldn't spurt like a dropped melon if hit. And even if they would, he didn't really think it sensible to wait around in case he did snap out of it.

Well, this was new.

She'd thought that the nurses were leaving it a little late to get them back on the buses; night was swiftly falling and she'd already begun bracing herself for another fight like there had been last time. Renji had been there then, and Rukia and... no, this was not a time for regrets. Not when night came swiftly and they were able to witness first hand the change which overcame the town, like a wave of corruption across the town. Even the grass and trees in the park seemed to change around them. And then came the creatures. She was familiar with the dead, but these creatures were not hollows. They weren't the spirits of the deceased; she could feel no souls within them. These were just the corpses of the human dead.

"Xigbar..." she hissed softly, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing for one of the bottles which he'd acquired. Not the best weapon but she was a veteran of a hundred barroom brawls and if anyone could use a bottle as a makeshift weapon, then it was her.

The Nobody quietly put his own bottle back into the pokeball, his one eye sweeping around for danger. That was... really, really odd. He got to see the entire thing go to heck, and now the 'and back' part seemed like it wouldn't be coming for a long time. This wasn't good, and even worse, when things started to move.

Which meant that he slowly stood up to his feet, straightening himself on a tree and sloppily grinning at Rangiku. Alcohol made him think that he could almost feel, and impressing a hot chick was always close to mind. "You can leave 'em all to me. I'll totally take 'em all down for you!"

Rangiku couldn't help but grin back and she couldn't help but be very very glad that she'd had a drink before all of this started. She didn't think she could take this while she was sober. Fucking dead. They'd interrupted her drinking and now they must pay!

"I'm sure you will," she purred, giving a slightly wild laugh. Ah what the hell? She grabbed Xigbar's collar and pulled him down to plant a deep kiss right on his lips, holding his head in place before she pulled away, licking her lips. "For luck, right?"

Had he known what she was thinking, Xigbar would totally have agreed. This was not a situation to handle while sober. It, like Halloween Town and Wonderland, were both areas that really benefited from having a little something extra to get a body through everything.

That 'something extra' just happened to be Rangiku's kiss. It caught the Freeshooter completely by surprised, and seriously, it was clear that she had loads of experience. The kiss left Xigbar completely speechless, dazed as his mind tried to catch up with what just happened. He'd been kissed by a drop-dead gorgeous chick...

...so he responded, as reasonably as he possibly could, "Y'know, this is awful dangerous. I might need a lot of luck to get through~!"

Rangiku couldn't help but smile at the pole-axed expression on Xigbar's face after she kissed him. It was kind of cute, although he seemed to put on the act of someone who'd been around the block a few times. "Mmmm, we both could I expect," she replied, giving him another peck on the lips before pulling away again. The hordes of the undead were getting awfully close and she wasn't exactly relishing the idea of getting ripped limb from limb.

"So stay alive hm?"

Well, sure, Xigbar had been around the block and the whole city while he was at it, but it wasn't every day that a gorgeous chick just laid a lip-lock on someone- not once, but twice! It caught the Nobody clear off-guard, but now he was hitting his stride more, as the questions stopped and he just enjoyed the moment.

Still, zombies. He had to deal with them, now didn't he? So he stood up as well, then squeezed Rangiku's shoulder with a comradely pat. "You too. You're too cute to get eaten, got it?" Rough, but he meant it clearly. Those zombies had better not eat Rangiku, or else!

"I've got it," she replied with a nod, patting his hand where it rested on her shoulder. "I'll catch you tomorrow, Xigbar," she continued and then began to move towards the tree line where the zombies were beginning to move closer. They were numerous, and Rangiku could see more of them beyond the edge of the park, shambling, groaning monstrosities. They had the numbers but hopefully Rangiku could outmaneuver them until she got a better weapon than a mostly empty bottle of scotch.

She gave Xigbar a wink and then headed off into the town.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/674856.html?thread=55855656#t55855656)]

After that amusing conversation in the Hardware store, Sechs spent the rest of his evening wandering about the town. His mood was lifted from the hilarious antics he had with Teisel; Sechs made a note to himself to bug the guy later. Despite it all, Sechs was still stuck in a town whilst under the vigilant eyes of the institute's nurses. His search for Kibitoshin's friend bore no results and all the information Sechs absorbed was grinding down on his brain like an axe on a blade sharpener. With the day aging into night, Sechs eventually found himself loitering in Magus Park's less cheery twin, Morris Park.

As the ebbing darkness of the newborn night grew, Sechs glanced towards the setting sun. Watching it slowly sink behind a crown of mountains instead of the silhouette of Tiphares disheartened the Replica. If only he could get some sort of idea of where he was now... His once encouraged mood now sinking down with the dying sun, Sechs shuffled through the untamed grass until he stopped by a lamp pole and an overflowing trashcan. Leaning against the pole with his arms crossed over his chest, Sechs frowned at his surroundings whilst his brooding grew pessimistic.

Sechs was sure that everyone should have been loaded on the buses by now... What was going on?! With a quiet buzz of electricity, the street lamp flickered on with the epilogue of twilight; placing the Replica into what resembled a spotlight. His instincts bristled with caution as a foreboding fog rolled in with the night. Something was very wrong here...

It was then that Sechs' agitated nerves caught wind of danger... But where was it? He didn't have to wait long to find out what set off his alarms. A rotten hand suddenly came bursting out from the ground near Sechs' feet before its skeletal fingers clasped around the startled Replica's ankle.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Sechs' reflexes kicked in as he ripped his ankle away from the hand's clutches. With his leg withdrawn, Sechs immediately pounded down the offending hand with his shoe. The decomposed hand loudly cracked and squelched from the crushing blows. Yet after Sechs "killed" the disgusting limb, another hand exploded from the ground!

Kicking the new hand off its fetid wrist, Sechs backed into the lone source of light as he watched the monstrosity unfold before him. Within moments, heads and bodies emerged from all directions. Sechs' panicked breathing quickened once he could see the figures shuffling towards him. Oh shit...! The creatures resembled the first monster he fought; their decomposing states and the brutal hunger in their eyes weren't a far cry from what he witnessed the night before. Only this time the monsters didn't come from mirrors... They were coming from everywhere!

Within a flurry of violent movements, Sechs sprung into a series of kicks to knock away his assailants. Each of them crumpled over from the blows, but they swiftly heaved themselves up for another strike. Before Sechs knew it, the groaning creatures were closing in on him. His attacks weren't doing enough damage! Like the mirror creature, they were invulnerable to pain! However, they were slow and mindless; but they made up for their lack of combat quality with their sheer quantity in numbers...

"Dammit! I can't keep this up!" Sechs thought as he plowed his left fist into a zombie's jaw, knocking the lower mandibles right off its hinges. "My right arm is practically useless and these bastards just keep coming back for more! I need a weapon! But where...?"

The Hardware store! That was the nearest place he could get to that had potential weapons! But how was he going to get through this crowd?!

A spark of inspiration came over Sechs when his eye caught the glint of the lamp's light reflecting off the nearby trashcan. Sechs grabbed the metal dustbin and shoved it over onto its side. With a strident roar, Sechs sent it tumbling through the creatures like a bowling ball blasting through alley pins. Garbage flew through the air as the sluggish zombies collapsed into a messy heap, granting Sechs a clearing through the hungry mob. Making sure he trampled on as many downed zombies as possible, the Replica made a dash towards the outskirts of the park.

Edited 2009-07-24 05:09 (UTC)

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/680883.html?thread=55781043#t55781043).]

Okay, here we are, thought Leonard as he kept his eyes on his surroundings. He could see shadows moving, and heard the calls of the undead coming from all directions. Great.

The trees hid what little light there was in the night, making it even harder to see. He walked briskly and looked for a path, a trail, any sort of way to follow that would lead them to the other side of this place. Being here any long than necessary is not a good idea.

Anise stuck close to Leonard as the two of them made their way into the park. Her little heart was still pounding after her last close call, and she definitely wasn't ready to fend off more monsters. The guy seemed willing enough to protect her though, so she supposed she ought to take advantage of that while she could.

Maybe the park wasn't such a good idea. Anise had figured it would be a big open space, with less places for enemies to hide, but from what little she could see in the darkness, it was a dump, cluttered with trees and overgrown foliage and beat-up fixtures.

She'd also hoped that getting farther away from the middle of town might mean less zombies, and while it was hard to say whether that was the case or not, the moaning and shuffling she could hear told Anise that they were still a long ways away from any kind of reprieve. How much longer could they last, at the rate they were going? Anise's arm was already getting sore from swinging a weapon she wasn't used to handling...

But this could be their only chance for escape. That's what Anise kept telling herself. Giving up and getting killed just weren't options. They had to press on, no matter what.

As they moved farther away from Main Street, the sounds of screams and crashes grew fainter. It was eerily quiet, save for the uncomfortably close moans of the undead. Never a fan of long silences, Anise spoke up. "Um, so... you're pretty good at this stuff," she applauded the man. A grilling spatula wasn't something Anise would normally consider a good weapon, but he seemed to be making good use of it. "Have you done a lot of fighting before?" Besides breaking the silence, it was probably a good idea to find out what her new ally was capable of.

"Let's just say I've been in a few fights," Lenny responded, still watching the shadows around them. "I've learned to depend on myself. It's hard to trust anyone some-- " He cut off, halting his pace and listening. He couldn't tell where the gurgles and gasps and moans were coming from, and it was hard to tell if he'd heard something even more out of place or not.

"Thought I heard something," he said, deciding the latter. "I'm not trained, but I know how to throw a punch if I have to. Desperation and adrenaline help."

Leonard followed the path as best as he could see it. The noises from the creatures that roamed the city weren't far away, but there didn't seem to be any in sight, either. Probably not good. He fished through his pockets, fingering his journal before realizing there really wasn't enough light to merit even trying to look at it. Where's a flashlight or a lighter when you need it? There's the flash on my camera, but that'll just blind us and probably draw the attention of whatever-the-hell is out there.

"You wouldn't happen to know the way of here, would you?"

A lot of what Leonard said rang true for Anise's own life. Getting stronger out of necessity, not being able to trust anyone... Well, at least the guy had a decent amount of experience, both in combat and in life. Anise didn't want to think they were surviving through a string of flukes.

"Hard to trust anyone? Yeah, I guess so." Out of nowhere, she gave him a big, playful grin. "Then... do you trust me?" Partly, she just wanted to see how Leonard reacted to sudden, awkward questions. But if she got a serious answer, that would be interesting too.

When asked about the way out, Anise just shrugged. "How would I know something like that?" It wasn't like anyone had ever left town, besides in the buses. And Anise didn't have any special information that wasn't common knowledge among most patients. "I just thought if we went in the opposite direction from where we came from, we'd eventually get away. I've never been this far before."

She thought she could see human-like silhouettes somewhere ahead of them, so Anise slowed her pace. They could have been bushes or trees, for all she could tell, but they couldn't afford to take any risks.

"I don't really have a choice but to trust you at the moment, considering the circumstances," he answered truthfully, looking over his shoulder briefly. "Frankly, it's easier to watch for monsters with two sets of eyes."

Okay, so neither of us has a clue where we're headed. Great. He slowed his pace as she did, hearing rustling from both sides of the path. The sooner we get out of this park, the better.

He didn't have time to think long as two or three vaguely human-shaped creatures emerged from the shadows, gasping and garbling through their torn throats and rotted teeth. It was hard to tell their numbers- the suffocating darkness and fog made their shapes blend together as they approached. Leonard took a couple of steps backward, keeping Anise behind him as he readied his weapon.

"Fuck," he cursed as the shapes came closer. "Figures we wouldn't make it through here without incident. Maybe we can knock them down and make a break for it."

No hesitation, no weird look, no real sign of surprise. Boooo. Looked like this guy wasn't the sort that was easy to tease. Anise gave a small sigh, looking somewhat disappointed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she admitted. It was a pretty good answer, anyway. She might've been worried if the guy was too trusting or too suspicious.

Anise had to admit, she was a little surprised when Leonard moved to shield her once trouble came staggering along. After all, this was a Guardian getting guarded by someone else! But that wasn't all bad, in her view. Even though Leonard wasn't exactly a prince on a white horse, it felt good to have someone coming to her rescue, like she always dreamed about.

Still, Anise wasn't very good at the role of a damsel in distress. As much as she wanted to think she could leave everything to Leonard, it was hard for her to stand back and do nothing. "Knock them down? But against this many..." Well, they were all crowded together. Maybe she could manage something with her artes.

"If you can buy me a few seconds, I might be able to do something about them," she offered. Anise wasn't sure how much damage she could do against them, but she had a feeling their rotting skin offered a lot less protection than the thick hide and muscles of the last monster she attempted an arte on. The girl took a few long steps backward to give Leonard space, then began to focus on amassing what power she could into the mallet in her hands.

Leonard watched the approaching shapes, still trying to gauge their distance and numbers. Not sure what good she can do with a few seconds, but what the hell. It'll take me longer than that to bash the hell out of these bastards, anyway.

Without a word, Leonard went for the one he judged to be closest, swinging his weapon downward toward the creature's head. The sharp corner pierced the weakened skull of the zombie and stunned him, knocking him to the ground. This seemed like a minor victory until another zombie appeared from the fog behind the first, lunging toward Leonard and digging its jagged fingernails into his right arm. Leonard struggled, barely managing to keep the beast's gaping mouth from connecting with his wrist.

A third zombie shambled from Leonard's left, trying to walk past him and toward Anise. Leonard made a grab for the zombie's arm, pulling it back to slow his assault. The undead man hissed and moaned, first trying to free himself from Leonard's grasp before turning his attention toward his captor.

"Fuck! There's three of them!" he called, hoping the girl would hear him and do something to protect herself.

Anise really wanted to use one of her shadow artes since they were her specialty, but she knew they probably wouldn't be very effective. Those were spells that drew on negativity and pain, and inflicted that dark energy on enemies. Not much good against monsters that didn't seem to feel pain in the first place.

The Sixth Fonon it was, then! Light seemed like a good choice against the undead. This time, Anise knew better than to try to draw fonons from the area around her: she'd learned from her last attempt that it was no use. Instead, she focused on drawing fonons from her own body - those that could be spared, of course.

But once she felt she had enough to release into an arte, Anise heard Leonard shout, and looked up just in time to see a creature trying to make its way over to her. Even worse, Leonard was right in the middle of all of them! So much for getting them all at once. She should've known it wouldn't be that easy. Time for a last-second change in plans! Her new goal was to use the arte to do some damage without catching her ally in the middle of it.

The one that had tried to make its way over to her was the only one she could see clearly, so Anise made that one her target. Leonard may have been holding on to it, but there was just enough distance between the man and the monster's body to be safe. Probably. Raising the mallet she had focused her energy into, she unleashed the spell on the creature. "Don't look back!" she shouted at Leonard, hoping to spare his eyes the bright flash that would follow.

A narrow pillar of light shot up where the nearest enemy stood, with blinding light searing through the creature's body and shining out through its eyes and mouth. A moment later, the light vanished, and the creature crumpled lifelessly to the ground. Anise's guess about the creature's defense was about right: even a weakened arte was enough to take it down. And it still looked pretty cool! It was probably a good thing it had been weakened anyway, with it detonating so close to Leonard. The shorter range and lessened damage probably meant he didn't feel a thing! Or so she hoped.

"Got one!" she cried triumphantly, trying to ignore the dizziness she was beginning to feel.

Just as Leonard was starting to lose his grip, monster on his left suddenly erupted in blinding light. He closed his eyes, opening them moments later to find the monster lying lifelessly on the ground. Even the one in front seemed a little dazed by the event, giving Leonard the chance to grab him by the neck and throw him to the ground. The zombie's grip on Leonard's arm was still strong, and left a few deep scratches through his shirt and skin. Lenny spit another curse as the zombie hit the ground, his face immediately crushed by Leonard's foot. He swore under his breath as the monster's movement stilled.

"What the fuck was that!?" Leonard asked as he turned around to face the girl. "Where did that light come from? What the fuck is going on here?" Fucking zombies and magic shit or something like she's some sort of fucking witch. Fuck, what is going on here? Leonard crammed his hands into his pockets for his notes again before realizing the futility of trying to read in the darkness. Fuck, I need my notes. Nothing makes sense and I have no idea what's going on and it's hard to keep focused with fucking monsters attacking us.

He closed his eyes, putting his hands to his face. Focus. This is important. Suspend disbelief for right now and just go with it. Fuck monsters and magic and whatever the hell it is that's going on right now and just survive.

"Sorry, I just... " He tried again. "I'm having some trouble comprehending all this."

Whoa. Looked like there was a way to get under Leonard's skin after all.

Anise just stared back at the man with a surprised look when he snapped at her, but her smile came back immediately when he started to backpedal. So his world didn't have anything like her artes, huh? She thought most people at Landel's knew about that kind of stuff, though. He had to be new.

"It's called a fonic arte! I can explain it later if you want, but for now it's probably easier to think of it as something like magic." There wasn't time for a lesson with monsters still on the prowl. They had to keep moving.

Even after waiting a bit, the dizziness didn't seem to go away. It seemed like it was getting worse, even. Maybe once they cleared the park, they could take a breather. Not likely, but maybe. "They're out of the way now, so we should get going before more show up," she suggested.

Leonard nodded. "Yeah, let's move while we can." Got to keep moving. No time to stop and think. But... fuck, all of this is too much. He ran a hand through his hair, wanting to vent frustration, but knowing now really wasn't the time.

He started walking again, stepping over the bodies of the fallen zombies and finally making it to the edge of the park.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/686083.html).]

Nightshift 42: Morris Park

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2, as the saying goes.

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

Re: Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

Re: Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

Re: Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

Re: Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

Re: Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

Re: Backthread with Xigbar - Before he meets ZEX

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject