Rapture

[Kestra15]

Stunned, Mak allowed himself to be Erin-handled towards the van, though he twisted around the spot that Jaune had vanished from. Reaching the door his mind and body finally started to reconnect, pulling his backpack off and putting it in the front passenger foot-well as he fished the keys out of the front pocket. Setting into the van he twisted the key and started the engine up before he closed the door, and gunned the vehicle away the nano-second the other three had been belted into place. He was not gentle with the accelerator, and while he may have had control of the vehicle he certainly didn't make a slow exit from the hospital grounds. Only once they'd reached the Busway and the horizontal drive wheels connected with the raised kerbs did he finally relax, letting the van steer itself along the Busway and merely supplying the power with the accelerator.

[Quhanta]

Ez let herself be pushed toward the van by Erin and climbed into the back seat. Without putting the little girl down, she slammed the sliding door shut and tossed her medication filled bag off to the side. Mak had taken off at a very fast pace, sending her and the child toppling over to the side. Once she sat back up, Ez and the child were secured between the two doors as Ez had lay down with the girl on top of her and held her tightly.

Once Mak’s driving had slowed to the apparent speed limit, Es sat back up again, hugging the child that was limply wrapped around her neck and waist. As a straight part in the road appeared, Ez began to detach the girl from her now sweaty torso. The car was silent.

“What the actual f*ck just happened?” Ez spoke as she carefully began to lay the child down in the back seat. Her voice was more of confusion than fear, but apparently she had missed the important part. Gently, she shifted the child into a cradling position in her arms. Since they should be back at the house within ten minutes, she had decided not to bother with shifting the tiny body onto the seat beside her, but instead, just held her head close to her own shoulder, protecting her head.

 

[Avialae]

As Micah began to draw his head back in, not seeing anyone yet in the dim light, he felt himself suddenly be pulled back by the back of his shirt. Only just remembering not to reprimand Alistair due to the need to avoid making noise, Micah turned his head towards the other man, seeing him mouth something at him. Micah didn't know how to read lips so he had no clue what Alistair was trying to tell him, but given the man's reaction to him looking out of the doorway he figured it was probably best to wait where he was.

 

Micah kept his eyes glued to the half-opened door to the studio as the footsteps continued to grow louder. A cold feeling clenched in his gut as the knob turned and the door swung farther to the side.

[Fangirl05]

Erin gripped the side if her own door so hard her hands hurt, and that was before getting thrown around by Mak's probably-fear-induced crazy driving. When they were out of the hospital lot and therefore more-or-less safe, she finally relaxed and tried to catch her breath.

 

"Hey," she gave Ez a sharp look and nodded pointedly at their new addition, "Language? And to answer your question, Jaune just got his deranged ass Raptured after we probably got chased out of a hospital by a pack of things straight out of a sci-fi movie is what just happened!"

 

She shrunk back further into her seat. "Okay, new rule" she decided, "From now on, nobody leaves the house unless they absolutely must, and then not without some kind of weapon, preferably a firearm."

 

Her gaze shifted to the front passenger seat. "Your bow's fine, Mak" she added a little inanely.

[Peelzies]

(( Assuming you intended to leave creative authority to me on our intruder, i'll make him up. Else i will edit my post. ))

 

Warm breath escaped Alistair's lips as he worked to control his exhalation. Micah seemed to have gotten the message about staying put, and backed off from the door a bit.

 

Alistair put his back to the wall and prepared himself for whomever might come in the door. As it swung further open, a tall man in a suit stepped into the studio. What was remarkable about him was the very clean suit and... white eyes?

 

Alistair was taken aback by the disturbing mutation, but proceeded to launch himself at the man in an attempt to utilize the element of surprise.

 

Unfortunately enough for him, this would not be effective. With movements that were almost instantaneous, the man's head turned to glance at the attacking military remnant. He sidestepped and lifted his knee into Alistair's gut, resulting in a cough and spit exploding from his mouth.

 

As out of breath as this left him, Alistair stumbled back to his fighting stance, 8 inch combat knife in hand. His attempts to inhale were rugged and strained.

[Quhanta]

"Did you just say 'language'?" Ez almost laughed, but she stopped herself as Erin kept talking. Her idea to never leave the house unless it's absolutely necessary was acceptable, but were they safe in the... A thought interjected itself and she couldn't hold it in.

"Erin... Are you sure it was Jaune that was watching us sleep?" Ez went a bit pale at the thought of them being asleep and at the mercy of those things. If a hospital were overrun, what made a regular house so safe? How any of those things were there? What we they? What could they do? Her mind filled with unanswerable questions, so she was very quiet it waiting for Erin's response.

Edited August 15, 2015 by Quhanta

[Kestra15]

Mak watched the countryside slip by as the van made it's way down the Busway, rubbing his bandaged hand absently as they made their way home. Whatever it was that was taking people he'd seen it - had he? Now they had removed themselves from the terror-inducing situation he was already starting to doubt what he'd seen. Had he actually caught sight of whatever it was that took people? Or had he simply wanted Jaune to stay in the vehicle, and his adrenaline-flooded brain had painted the image with a whirlpool-like effect in retrospect to explain the disappearance? That was the problem with memory, it was faulty and could be tampered with even when the person didn't intend to. Excitement, stress, anger, fear, love, all of these could colour the past in their own vibrant hues and give a completely different version of events.

 

"We can't just stay holed up in the house," Mak interjected quietly. "Whatever it is, it ignores walls. Think about it - there was that kid Jex who just disappeared from the hospital in Hawkingsthorne. Ari got snatched the next day from the pub we were sheltering in. And did any of you see Nay this morning?" He sighed, glancing in the rear view mirror at Ez and the young girl. "I think Erin is right about being armed, but hiding? No. We can't just shiver in fear for what remains of our lives. If I'm to be snatched up tomorrow evening, I want it to be out in the open while living my life."

[Fangirl05]

"No," Erin answered Ez, "no I was not. I was pretty sure it wasn't him, honestly." She explained how she'd talked to him the other night before he'd gone off on his own until, presumably, that morning. And she hadn't really noticed before, but when Mak mentioned Nay...

 

She hugged her knees into her chest and admitted in a small, terrified voice, "I'm scared."

 

Her eyes widened at an idea:

 

"Do you think these things are going after people they think are isolated? Jaune was alone in the van, I think Ari was rooming by herself, it seems like Nay's been kind of on her own..."

[DragonSpirit009]

James was at first a little puzzled when Emily bent down to pick up a random rock, however he quickly realised she was probably hoping to use it to get the leopard's attention. The barn didn't give them much cover though, only the corner of the building hiding them from view.

 

"Just be careful where you throw it" he whispered back.

 

He felt in his pocket for extra shells. He didn't want to have to reload in a hurry, but if he did he'd have to do it fast. Real fast.

“Okay here it goes.” Emily whispered.

 

She tossed the rock so that it landed a metre or two away and glanced around the corner to see if the leopard had taken the bait. And they were in luck… sort of.

Leopard tail stopped flicking left and right when it heard the sound. At first it just kept laying there but then she could see it was sniffing the air. Soon it might pick up on their sent or the blood on James clothes. No the less the large cat climbed off the truck and slowly started to move toward their direction. It was then that Emily got a bit worried. It seemed quite large and fit. James would have to move fast and shoot heads on if the were to make it.

 

Emily then patted James on the shoulder and moved behind him for cover. Hopefully they can kill it before it kills them.

 

[Fortune86]

Well...at least the rock had gotten the leopard's attention. The large cat clambered down off the truck's cab and slowlt sauntered towards them. James had to admire the easy grace with which it moved. It was the beautiful creature, but in a them or me situation he was going to pick himself every time.

 

Ad the leopard drew closer James suddenly remember the blood stain on his leg. . What if it caught the smell? Tightening his grip on the gun he waited for the animal to come into range. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was rather nervous. He'd never actually fired a shotgun before. This wasn't exactly his idea of practise either.

 

Emily was right behind him, he could feel her breath on his neck. If he screwed this up he wouldn't be the only one in trouble. He'd have to make the shot count.

 

As sod's bloodly law would have it, the leopard stopped out of what Jame's had guessed the shotgun's range was. It just stood there, sniffing the air with tail twitching back and and forth. It was still between them and the truck though. If he was going to hit it, he was going to have to go and get it.

 

"I'm going" he whispered to Emily, not taking his eyes off the big cat. "I won't hit it from here. Stay well back and be ready to run. You got the radio right? If this all goes pear shaped them you can call the others for help."

 

Taking a deep breath James darted round the corner of the barn and began to run towards the leopard.

 

The big cat didn't seem at all surprised to see him, it must have caught his scent after all. As James got closer he raised the gun, aimed and pulled the trigger, hoping to catch it square in the face.

 

It moved! The blasted, blasted thing moved!

 

Instead of blowing it's brains out as he had hoped, James caught the leopard across the top of the left shoulder. Enraged and in pain the leopard shot towards him, but James was already running away and to the side, digging desperately into his pocket for the shells. Up in front of him was a stack of old crates. Maybe if he could scarmble up them he'd be able to catch just enough of a break to try another shot. That is if the leopard didn't catch him first.

[DragonSpirit009]

Emily wanted to grab hold of James arm trying to convince him he shouldn’t go but she was to slow. Before she knew it he ran off and soon a shot followed. Emily looked around the corner only to see James running a different direction. The girl knew he had missed his target. As he ran she finally got view of the large cat noticing a bit of redness on its back. Without thinking Emily started running down the length of the barn. She wasn’t running away because of James order she ran because she saw a spade at the end of the barn.

Grabbing the spade Emily darted back towards James and the leopards screaming at the top of her lungs while occasionally hitting the ground.

 

The animal nearly caught up with James when its attention was drawn by the sudden noise and it paused in its tracks. When she saw she got the leopard’s attention Emily herself came to a halt but continued screaming and hitting the ground with the spade.

 

At first the leopard was torn between hunting James and the noise. She could see that the leopard was annoyed by the sound and Emily knew if she kept going it will rather attack her. She kept screaming and saying words in her mother tongue, while smacking the ground with the spade.

 

Finally the cat had enough and turned towards her, starting off in a slow trot. Emily gave a few steps towards the animal trying not to look afraid. It was all about intimidation… the alpha. Emily lifted the spade above her head trying to make herself look bigger but it didn’t seem to work. The leopard kept coming closer. All Emily could do now was stand with the spade in her hands, ready to hit the large cat.

 

“Shoot it!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

[Fortune86]

As he ran James fancied he could almost feel the leopard's claws sinking into his back, but he didn't get far when he heard a strange noises. Risking a glance over his shoulder he saw Emily whacking the ground with a spade. The leopard hesitated, unsure of if to continue chasing James or to do something about the strange noisy girl.

 

James ran on a little further, the fumbling the shells in his fingers as he tried to reload the shotgun. By the time he got the damn thing sorted the leopard had already made up its mind and was no trotting back towards Emily, growling deeply with every step, and moving out of range again.

 

"!" cursed James as he ran after it.

 

Emily was making so much noise that the leopard didn't seem to notice James catching up with it. As Emily raised the spade in defense she cried out to him to shoot and at the exact same time the leopard suddenly turned to face its pursuer. Thankfully James was ready this time and squeezed the trigger just as its face came round. This time he didn't miss.

 

Blood, bits of bone and all kinds of matter sprayed across the farmyard. Emily, who had been standing more or less right behind the leopard got covered in most of it. James, breathing heavily, kicked the corpse after it fell to the ground and then looked over at her.

 

"You okay?"

[DragonSpirit009]

Emily was for the first time in her life frozen with fear. She wasn’t even sure if she could swing the spade if the leopard did reach her. All she could do was look into the eyes of the animal as it approached her. Suddenly a shot went off and Emily covered her eyes. She stood there wondering what had just happened. Eventually she moved her arm away noticing blood dripping of her clothes.

 

First she thought it was her own which almost caused her to feel a bit light headed. The spade dropped out of her hands while she stared at her own bloods stained clothes. Trying to breathe she noticed that she didn’t have any pain. Her spirit lifted when she finally realised what had happened.

 

It took Emily a few minute to reply to James question but still did not move from her spot.

 

“I-I-I’m fine.” She spoke slowly.

 

[Fortune86]

"Oh good" said James weakly.

 

He sank down to the ground and sat down, his legs splayed out in front of him and the shotgun put down at his side. The excitement of the last few minutes had caught up with him and he suddenly felt bone tired.

 

"I hope all farming isn't like this" he muttered. "If so you can bring one of the others tomorrow."

Edited August 17, 2015 by Fortune86

[DragonSpirit009]

“I think we should leave.” Emily spoke looking at James. “There could be more out there.”

Emily cleared her voice a bit. It was raw from all the screaming and she wouldn’t mind something to drink, maybe something a bit stronger than water. Besides she didn’t want to staying blood stained clothes the whole time. Who knows what else it might attract.

 

[Fortune86]

The idea that there could be more of the damn things on the prowl gave James all the motivation and strength he needed to get back to his feet. Hauling himself up he grabbed the shotgun and reloaded it again, just in case.

 

Giving the dead leopard another kick he turned around and headed back towards the truck.

 

"You think it came from a zoo or something?" he asked over his shoulder.

[Salix]

Wisperlee’s comment about ‘Whatever is going on, it’s still taking people’ sent a cold shiver though Petra. Was there a time frame to whatever was happening, would the remaining people continue to get picked off one by one?

 

Petra felt herself teetering on the brink of dark despair, before she happened to look across at Cujo. The big dog was happily wagging his tail as he wandered about sniffing at various objects near the car, he wasn’t bothered by what was happening, or what the future may hold, he lived in the ‘now’, Petra decided that she should try to follow his example; there was no point in trying to guess what the future may hold, instead she should concentrate on what she had right at this moment.

 

Taking a deep breath she exhaled and said “Right, we may as well make a start then” Even allowing for rest and fuel stops, all being well they should be able to arrive back to the others by early evening.

 

“How are you doing for fuel?” She had taken note before they had stopped, that the Land Rover as a little under half way full, “I think that I will need to fill up again once we leave the city, I don’t want to risk letting getting too low on fuel” Petra knew that there were some full jerry cans strapped in the back of the car, but if possible she wanted to avoid using those, keeping the fuel they stored for dire emergences only.

 

Once Wisperlee and Cujo were settled she started up the car and waited for Wisperlee to lead the way.

 

As the women talked they were unaware that they were being observed, ‘it’ was biding its time, safe in the knowledge that it could not be detected, it waited, watched and evaluated.

 

[Kestra15]

"Then why don't we disappear when we're on the toilet? I've slept alone the last couple of nights and I still wake up here. Jaune and Jexxal was physically with us, they just disappeared...well, Jexxal when our backs turned, and Jaune right in front of us." Mak sighed and gripped the wheel as they Busway came to a crossing with a proper road, slowing down to check they didn't run into someone - especially since they were now closing on their 'home turf' - before guiding it across the road to the last stretch of the Busway. "No...whatever it is, it is random. I'm not even sure if it is sentient." He shivered - whatever it was, he'd seen it. And it scared him.

[Fangirl05]

Erin just kept her mouth shut, embarrassed at how quickly Mak cut her idea to ribbons. She just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about this whole nightmare that she just wasn't getting, some connection she just couldn't make.

 

At least they were almost back to the relative safety of the house.

 

She looked back over at the girl in Ez's lap, who had apparently fallen asleep. She hoped that she would be in a more chatty mood when she woke up, because she still had questions for her.

[Mistress of Whispers]

"I'm good," Wisperlee replied to Petra's fuel question. She'd filled up where they'd met the French couple, and the bike was surprisingly thrifty. "We'll stop at the first gas station we'll see though." Last they they needed, was to get stranded with all their supplies. The tools in no way compensated for finding and losing three people, but it was a consolation prize of sorts at least. Wisperlee had always been pragmatic - she'd take what she could get, and waste no time crying over couldhavebeens.

 

She left her helmet off as they rode this time. Irresponsible, she knew that, but she relished the wind blowing throug her hair. Besides, the odds of getting in an accident while navigating Birmingham's abandoned streets were slim to none, and she'd don the helmet before they hit the freeway. Less that fifteen minutes later, she pulled over at a gas station as promised. The place was abandoned - of course it was - but unlike at the last station, Wisperlee made no move to load up on snacks. Instead, she positioned the bike so her back was to the gas station's wall, and the pumps were in clear view in front of her. She might not deal in couldhavebeens, but she did acknowledge threats that were still clear and present - she would watch over Petra while the other woman filled the car.

[Quhanta]

Ez listened to the others speak, but just barely. She was intensely distracted with the feeling of the little girl's heartbeat. It was not strong, but it was constant. The little trooper was hanging on, and Ez was not going to disappoint her. As soon as they got back, she was going to sit that child up in the big armchair and prompt her into consciousness, feed her and keep her alive. Erin turned to look back at, presumably, the child. What was going on inside her own chest? She was worried and nervous, like the first time she went into the police station, as a kid. Her father told her never to go there, but she needed to. Was it maternal instinct. Ez hoped that it was only the need to preserve life among the few remaining survivors.

"If, whatever it it, was taking people that were on their own, Alistar and this kid would have been taken away. Me too, probably. If it's random, than we have zero control over it and we can't protect ourselves. We saw some freaky monsters, then Jaune disappears, so those creatures should have something to do with it. Could you have not seen the monsters for all of the other people that got taken?" She had waited and responded to what bits she heard.

[Avialae]

Micah couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Alistair charge at the admittedly strange-eyed man. What was Alistair thinking, attacking another survivor without provocation like that? Granted, they wanted radio equipment that this man was most likely using, but wouldn't it be better to try to work something out first than just rush in and attack without even having determined if this person was hostile or not?

 

"Alistair, stop!" Micah hissed, and stepped forward to restrain his companion, not quite getting there before the stranger kicked Alistair in the gut. Which actually wasn't all that surprising of an action, considering that Alistair had just attacked him. "I'm sorry for my friend," Micah told the man in what he hoped was a conciliatory tone, keeping his own guard up in case the stranger decided to attack him as well. "We're with a small group, and we came here looking for a radio . . . We didn't think anyone else would be here for, well . . . obvious reasons. We're not looking for trouble, I promise, it's just that after going so long after seeing a new person sometimes we tend to get . . . excitable when we do." Micah kept a wary eye on the stranger, hoping for a response that wasn't hostile, but trying to be prepared for one that was.

[Salix]

Petra waited for Wisperlee to park up in the petrol station, before choosing a petrol pump to park next to; she made sure to position the car so that she would be able to keep watch in the opposite direction to Wisperlee, not that there was much to see.

 

The station was a little closer to the city then she would have liked, but the nearest buildings were a good 200 meters away and there was plenty of open ground between them and what looked to be mainly office/commercial type buildings. In the forecourt of the station there were two other vehicles, a battered looking white van and a small hatch back, both looked forlornly abandoned.

 

In no time at all the Land Rover’s tank was filled. Debating with herself Petra eventually decided to resist the temptation to quickly nip into the petrol station building to have a look around. It was a small building and the chances were that it would only hold a few items, just the generic snacks and drinks etc, and they had plenty of those at the moment.

 

She did however walk quickly over to the abandoned cars, to see if they held anything of interest. The small hatch back was very clean and tidy, with no personal items on immediate display. The white van was more cluttered, bits of paper, and discarded fast food boxes were left as evidence that the owner of the van was not overly fussed on the upkeep of his vehicle.

 

Petra was just about to walk back to the Land Rover when she thought she heard a faint whimper, and movement in the foot well of the passenger side of the van. Walking around to the passenger side she cautiously opened the door, and there, curled up looking starving and de-hydrated was a small to medium sized black dog. In its bedraggled state it was hard to tell what kind of breed the animal could be, but the faint wagging of its tail indicated that it was friendly.

 

Unwilling to shout over to Wisperlee, for fear of startling the poor dog, and for possibly attracting unwanted attention, Petra bent down and scooped up the poor dog and carried it over to where Wisperlee and Cujo were waiting.

 

[Kestra15]

Mak shrugged as they finally reached Oakington, guiding the van off the Busway and onto the short stretch of road to their accommodation. "Maybe," he simply replied. He had no answer for Ez or Erin; he was just as scared and confused as the next person in these matters. Parking the van outside the house he killed the engine and jumped out, moving around to open the side door for Ez before opening the front door. "Put her in the downstairs bedroom," he said, moving to the back of the van to fish out the observations machine.

[Fangirl05]

Ez apparently had the girl taken care of, so Erin decided to help Mak haul the thingamajig from the hospital out of the van. She made sure to throw a glare around the area to maybe persuade whatever might be watching them to stay away.

 

"Where do you wanna put this?" she asked as she grabbed the end Mak wasn't holding, "And what the heck is it, anyway?"