70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school taking a really hard test, and then Dracula shows up, and then everybody's naked ... anything is possible when it comes to what people see in their sleep.]

[But what appears in the darkness in this particular spot in the spaceless, shifting mass of dreaming souls... is a door.]

[It's old, and covered with boards and bolts, rusted near-through in some places. The lock is broken-- mangled and half-melted and wrenched out of the keyhole. The only thing on it that doesn't look ancient is a scrap of torn notebook-paper that's taped up on it at roughly eye-level. It reads only a single phrase:]</sub>

Fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.

<sub>[More importantly, though... the door is ajar. Through the gap come the scents of rust and metal-- and something organic, fleshy-- and a low, deep hum of industrial machinery. It's not a door that anyone in their right mind would want to go through. ... But for anyone who may have stumbled this far into the dreams of their fellow lost souls, either in flight from some other nightmare or just pure, wandering curiosity... there's just no other place to go but through the door.]




[Go on. Open it. After all.... it's only a dream.]</sub>

[ooc: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, GUYS. Thanks for being patient! If you commented on that planning post, there's something spooky planned for your character to do here so please feel free to tag or not tag as it pleases you!]

~*~

[ooc: This is the IC post for what was announced over here! Even if you didn't comment there, feel free to participate! I'm still happy to whip up Silent Hill scenarios for folks!]

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

[[Bakura for his part, takes a very small step back, bracing himself for either an attack or, what he figures is more likely, gunfire (because what else would she be reaching for?)]]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Oh, it's better than the gun!]

[Whatever it is shuffles closer... and closer... and by the time it's close enough that Bakura should be able to pick out something resembling a humanoid form in the darkness, Heather has finished drawing out whatever it was she was pulling from her vest.]

[IT'S PARTY TIME]

[She snaps the flashlight back on, illuminating... well, this.]



[... Not that anyone will get to look at it for long, because before it even has a chance to raise the gun it holds, Heather is... um... kind of swinging a heavy chunk of piping (where the hell did she get THAT?!) at its head with the same kind of force and mild ferocious glee that a kid might swing a bat at a tee-ball.]

[There's a loud and sickening SNAP.]</sub>

[shiromadoushi]

[[... oh wow. Even Bakura can't help but be startled a little, heart jumping at the snap.

Respect for Heather just went up a lot. A girl who can hold her own against zombies?]]

That was amazing...

[[Lurking creeper + hospital zombies (made sense, they were in a hospital setting), experienced PC, makeshift weapons + firearms, traditional slow, mindless zombies, attracted to light, physical method to defeating the zombies... creeper possibly connected to zombies? Post apocalyptic setting? The creeper didn't fit in that context. Isolated town infected or cursed was more likely. Zombie was in work clothes, so likely a quick infestation or a curse where the affected weren't aware of what was going on. State of the hospital suggested it'd been this way for a while. Still didn't explain the stalker. Hrm. Complication or boss battle? Maybe he was the one who caused the curse into existence to gain power to achieve his goals...? Or possessed by the town. That was always pretty common, the one person still living who was the mouth piece or puppet for whatever was causing the darkness...

...

Maybe he should stop running scenarios and figure out how to actually help instead of being the escort mission.]]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Oh, she can hold her own against much worse than zombies...]

[While he's speculating, Heather is busy making sure the thing doesn't get up again. For all the survival-horror game tropes he's pushing around in his head, the creature... doesn't look virtual. Its body spasms as it's beaten down, and there's already deep, dark bruises spreading around each blow. When Heather brings a foot back and delivers a vicious kick to its throat, it finally shudders and goes still. It doesn't fizzle or fade away in a nicely-sterile manner, it just... lies there. A pile of useless dead flesh. A dark, shiny stain starts to spread from underneath the nurse's head, which is bent at a grotesque angle.]

[As for helping... Heather is working on that as we speak. :Ib]

[After giving the creature a couple more kicks to make sure it's dead and not just playin, she bends down and picks up its gun, giving it a shake to get the blood off of it before snapping the chamber open to peer inside and see how many bullets were there. Whoa. :I This nurse was PACKIN'.]</sub>

How's your aim?

[shiromadoushi]

[[That is almost exactly why he's running the tropes so he doesn't wind up committing that gruesome scene to memory. It's quite a different thing watching a horror movie and seeing that happening right in front of you...]]

Aaa.... I've never... [[his voice peters out a little.

So useless...]]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[.... :I Bakura. Y u so useless.]

[Heather linefaces a bit... before groaning and rubbing the back of her neck. Yeah, she's not totally sure she wants to hand a gun to someone who doesn't know how to use one, and who will in all likelihood be walking behind her a lot.]

[She sometimes forgot that not everybody had been taught how to handle a firearm from an early age...]</sub>

Christ... okay.

Can you handle a knife at least...

[shiromadoushi]

[[because he comes from a world based on games? Now if there were dice involved...!

And yeah, handing him a gun would be probably less than helpful. The kickback alone would be deadly.]]

I'm used to cooking knives, but I'll do my best! [[really REALLY doesn't want to be useless!]]

[foolishwren]

_{[Sorry, no dice. did you see what I did there]}

How about a switchblade?

<sub>[She pulls a handle from her pocket, pressing the button that brings the blade snapping out.]

[And then holds it out, flat in her palm.]</sub>

I'm doing this with the assumption that you won't stab me at any point. I'm not totally sure you won't, but if you're gonna get out of here intact, I really ought to give you a weapon.

[shiromadoushi]

[[no not at all what pun?]]

[[Looking a little unsure, but he timidly takes it anyway, giving a small nod.

Really, he'd probably do better with something blunt, but beggars, choosers, starting weapons and all.]]

The zombies here... they aren't the dead type, are they. [[if she was giving him a knife... he didn't think that would work well vs the undead.

It was too bad he could somehow call up the White Mage. Turn undead and holy magic would be epic in this situation... too bad magic and survival horror rarely mixed..]]

[foolishwren]

They're not zombies.

_{[Magic had its role here... but none of it was quite the sparkly, flowery stuff that mention of the word usually conjured up. It was an older, fouler brand that most people thankfully did not remember.]}

[shiromadoushi]

Eh? But... [[and he looks down at the crumpled heap.]]

What are they...?

[foolishwren]

_{[Her tone is flat and dull.]}

Monsters.

That's all.

[shiromadoushi]

[[Almost a little vague, but he wasn't going to push the issue. Not with that tone.]]

Sorry...

[foolishwren]

Nn. It's okay.

_{[She pockets the gun, then reaches out and nudges the lifeless body with her pipe.]}

This is the most human-looking one you'll ever see while you're in this place. ... You'll see what I mean if we run into anything else.

[shiromadoushi]

[[a nod]] So they're pretty obvious to tell from normal people, then. [[that was a bit of a relief at least...]]

[foolishwren]

Oh yeah.

There's no mistakin' 'em.

_{[Many had human qualities, in some way, shape or form... but none of them were human. Not a single one.]}

[shiromadoushi]

[[nods, taking a deep breath. You can do this, Bakura Ryou. Just pretend it's a game. It would be just like the Ring to use a survival horror game for a yami no game, wouldn't it?]]

If it's that clear... I think I can do this. [[a small smile that's just a touch unsure. But he's psyching himself up.]]

[foolishwren]

You'd better be able to.

_{[She says it not as a... threat, really. But the meaning in her statement is pretty clear. This place isn't safe.]}

C'mon... we should keep going.

[shiromadoushi]

[[a nod. Hopefully, he'll manage...]]

Un. I'm right behind... [[and he will follow when she starts walking. Giving her space, but still being close by, trying to scan for any change in the hallway or any sign of creatures.]]

[foolishwren]

All right. Stick with me.

<sub>[AND SO THEY'RE OFF.]

[The halls are just as dark, though between the flashlight and the ring (should he choose to use it), they at least have enough light to see by... and enough light to note when the walls start looking... reddish, and sort of sticky. The air is moist.]</sub>

[shiromadoushi]

[[Like the tunnels under Duelist Kingdom, only more horror themed. And less likely to have a pair of player killers to challenge them to a card game at the end.

Still not a particularly fun parallel, but he was already wearing the Ring so what else could happen?]]

Do you know where this comes out?

[foolishwren]

Hard to say.

It'll probably come out wherever it damn well wants to.

[shiromadoushi]

[[a nod]] Like going on a dungeon crawl... I almost wonder if I should be mapping this, just in case. Though it'll probably change, so I don't know if that would help.

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather pauses to dig in her pocket-- then pulls out a crumpled mass of paper.]}

Good idea, actually. Here. You can take care of this. _{[The paper is a map-- one that's already covered in marks from locked doors and blocked hallways.]}

It does change, but not so much that a map is worthless to have around.

[shiromadoushi]

[[Yes! Something he was GOOD at! Time to carefully smooth that out and find his pencil and orient and get working on filling in details and notes. Every little detail and bit of info he has is going on that thing. Now, if they'd been traveling for this long, the spot where they'd encountered the monster would be--- and the trail of papers was...

He's going to be a bit quiet and busy with the mapping for a little bit, pardon him, Heather. He has a pretty good visual memory for things like this so he has a lot of back mapping to fill in!]]