The Storm

[The Joshness ™]

(Ack, corrected, sorry. I thought it said "RED truck' not just 'truck', Sorry!)

[dagodevas]

(OOC: Sorry if I'm going out of order, it would make more sense for Loki to reply but...I'm impatient.) <Resume IC>

Patrick couldn't help but laugh, maybe it was out of fear, but he started chuckling as Loki was being yelled at for his triumphant first kill.
"I'm sorry, we'll refrain from shooting out of the truck again, won't we?" Patrick continued to chuckle at the results of the shot.

[Catrux]

Loki too bagan to laugh as he was scolded. In response he waved to the driver and began rummaging around for somthing in the back with them. In response to Patrick saying they would stop shooting he said "Es possible." It didn't take Loki too long before he got a hold of what he was looking for, two silencers. "I had a feeling these would come in handy." He then began affixing the silencers to his .45's. Once finished he took a second to admire his work, then turned and replied to the driver, showing off the silencers, "There that should be better for you. Sorry bout that though."

[Ninjz]

Derek sighed and looked down at the laden backpack. He was quietly mourning the loss of his lab to the zombies.
He hefted the heavy desert eagle pistol in his hand. This gun had slain the inflicted tech staff of his department. He had grown up as a privileged army brat, his father being a general, and as such he began to study weapons at a young age. He had learned how to disassemble a rifle in less than 30 seconds by the time he was 15. He served a stint in the U.S. special forces working with the night ops unit, running infrared cameras and other gear.
So by the time he had gone off to MIT to study radio waves and military equipment, he had already learned more about tactical tech than most of the professors in that field. That's when he decided to go to a little college, and start his own lab, submitting developments to MIT in exchange for a steady flow of gifted grad students. Some of the others, especially Casey, gave him a few dirty looks when he began to remove cash register pieces and parts from the loading equipment in the back. However he knew that every battery he could collect would be vital, and making a working generator would be of incalculable help to combating these menaces. For, with an alternating current generator, he could run his laptop and accessories, and with those he could start to run some tests on these zombies. If he could settle down in a quiet place for about 12 hours, he could make a diagnostic of these beasts. Then they could start to wipe out these damn beasts en masse...
But until then, he would make laser sights and silencers for all the guns he could find, so that no precious ammo would be wasted, and maybe we could keep them all alive for longer.

"I guess I'm in too, tapping Loki on the back then dropping a twenty into his waiting hands. "I'm Derek by the way."

[† The Jaxness †]

For years, people have been asking themselves the same bloody question. "What is the world coming to?" Looking down at the mass of moaning corpses, she had finally come to realize what it was that the world had come to. A place of blood, disgust, and suffering. Hell, that isnt what the world had turned into, it's BEEN a place of blood, disgust, and suffering. Years of being in the Air Force will get you the knowledge of what the fuck the government was doing to other countries. Bombing towns over 'rumors' of some weapon of mass destruction. So now karma has come back to bite the world in it's ass, and the government doent have a cover-up.

Well I, for one, am glad that the world got what it deserved.

They had been stupid enough to stick her in a mental ward, so let them pay. Sitting on a rooftop trying to figure out what the hell it is that you're gonna do next, the only thing you can do is swim through the channel of thought... and fight back the damn nic fits. Just as she was debating on whether or not to jump off the roof and duke out her already wiltering chances in life with the walking hunks of flesh, she heard a sound below her. The rumbling of an engine. The fact that the zombies below couldnt possible still hold the brain power to start a vehicle after the morbid transfiguration their bodies had gone through made her stand up straight to see a van down the street, engine rumbling with noise.

But if the noise was loud enough to attract her attention, that means.... yep. It also entered the ears of the hundreds of zombies on the block. As they made their way to the van, she quickly made up her mind to take this way out. She dropped to her knees on the roof, grabbed her rifle, and peered through the scope. Taking aim, she quickly put a bullet through the heads of the 5 zombies nearest to the van. But to no avail, the moaning bastards kept on coming. Saving her ammo, she took sight one more time through the windshield of the van to see a man in the driver's holding what appeared to be a mic near his mouth. Seeing that he lacked any sign of having shifted, she took her eye from the end of the scope and stood up on the roof. Collapsing the stand on her rifle, she quickly fastened it to the sling she had attached to her back and starting running down the roof. Reaching the edge, she jumped over the allyway below, and landed on the next roof.

Repeating this several more times, she stopped on the one closest to the van. Peering over the edge, she calculated a 10 foot jump across to the van's roof. Looked to be around a 20 foot drop. Not bad, she'd done worse. Taking her footing on the ledge, she lept out just as she had realized that it had been raining, and more then likely, the van wasnt going to be dry. As the bottom of her boots connected with metal, she spread her hands for what she knew was coming. The rubber of her boots slipped and went across to slide down the windsheild. The rest of her body went with them, and she came to be at a half sit on top of the windshild wipers, looking in at the man in the drivers seat, puffing away at what seemed to be a cigarette. Her hopes raised at the idea of getting a smoke, enough to make her oblivious to the fact that the bloody corpses were advancing on her position.

Reminding herself that they were being robbed of time, she did the quickest thing she could to reassure the person inside that she wasnt a demented, mindless drone and to let her in. She placed one hand on the glass of the windsheild, gave a pathetic stare towards the man holding onto her treasure, and said 3 words.

"Got a smoke?"

[foxx]

For whatever reason, be it a release of tension or simply participating in as casual an act as swearing at fellow citizens, Foxx felt better. Vanman was back on the radio and the gun-toting men in the back had apologized for nearly killing them all. All was right with the world, or close to it. She didn’t ask much. Feeling almost amiable, despite the Hell around them on every side, she smiled to herself, then called back to her passengers.

“Cool. Thanks, guys.”

Shifting in the seat, for the first time in awhile she noticed her ass was going numb. From hips to thighs and from knees to toes shooting pains and tingling were an irritating reminder of just how long it had been since she’d stretched. Zombie infested or not, she was getting out at the gas station if she had to run every threat down with the truck to do it. With a burst of tedium-inspired confidence, Foxx eased the truck to the right lane with one hand while the other caught the dangling mic with one swing. Without gunshots sounding from directly behind her head, Vanman was easy to hear. “Shifted? Huh. That’s a new one.” Foxx mused aloud to the empty cab. Flexing first her toes and then her fingers, she accelerated until she could again see Casey through the passenger side window of the Bug.

“Vanman? You think you can find Interstate 56 from there? We’re on it headed south for the nearest gas station. We have to get to the border. The radio said there’s more uninfected holed up there. Find the highway and follow it till you see a gas station with VW bug and a red truck out front. We’ll wait as long as we can. Hurry! Got that?”

Whether or not he had it, she set the mic down in favor of cranking her window down. She kept her message to the other car short and to the point so much so that they could probably read her lips.

“Got him!"

[Leila Darkmoon]

*Leila cast a worried glance over at Casey as she drove. Although he was the big military man and an authority figure to be listened to, he seemed to have “checked out” momentarily, and it worried her. She knew nothing about fighting, less about guns, and even less about zombies or what the hell was going on here. When she had had the good fortune of literally running over Casey, she had thought the army man was a gift from above, a small sense of normalcy in this crazy world. And, until this moment, he had been. Without his knowledge or expertise, she doubted she would still be alive and still in possession of her beloved Bug. Now though, he just stared blankly out the window, his mind obviously drifting to another place and time. He paid no attention to the van beside them, or Foxx’s shouted news that they had made contact with another survivor. After Leila and Foxx had finished conversing and the truck had fallen back in line behind them once more, Leila cast another glance at Casey before she turned her worried gaze back to the road in front of her.

The wind was now in full gust, as tumbleweeds and debris blew across the deserted highway. Lightning flashed, silver slashes of light against the dark purple sky, this time alarmingly closer than they had been previously. Leila knew the storm was nearly upon them, and she could only pray they would reach the Gas Station in time. Subconsciously, the need to hurry caused her foot to press down further on the accelerator and the Bug groaned slightly in protest as she pushed it to a higher speed. This was enough to finally cause Casey to return from wherever he had blanked out to, and she nearly jumped out of her skin as his voice broke the silence of the Bug’s interior.

"Easy there, We will get there soon enough. I want you to be calm. Here is the plan, I want you to pull right up to the pump, I dont care if there is a zombie orgy going on in front of it. Just hit them. I am going to sweep out, In this area there cant be too many zombies in the first place so I might be able to clean up an area so everyone can exit the vehicles. I want you to pump the gas with one hand and hold a gun in the other. I want everyone else to follow my lead and sweep into the station and pick up rations. They want to eat us but what good are we without our food either? Just follow what I say and no one is going to get infected or die. Understand?"

She nodded and eased off the gas pedal, chewing nervously on her bottom lip as she glanced up at the stormy sky. Almost on cue a loud clap of thunder boomed overhead and she jumped again.

~I understand.. but how are we going to get the message to the guys at the back? And.. uh.. what if its raining by the time we get there? That message said to avoid the rain at all costs! What if the Gas pumps aren’t under cover… what if we don’t get there in time..?~ she trailed off from her flurry of questions as she saw something glinting up ahead on the horizon. Fearing that it was another abandoned car/ zombie smorgasbord, she prepared her stomach for another grisly scene but was pleasantly surprised when she saw it was another sign. This one said GAS STOP NEXT EXIT. ~We’re nearly there!~ she cried to Casey in excitement, barely resisting the urge to press her foot down further. Squriming in her seat as she realised that her own ass had grown numb, she looked up to see the truck had sped up and was beside them once more. Foxx simply yelled out that she had “Got him!” Assuming she meant the other man she had contacted, Leila gave her the thumbs up and pointed ahead so that she too would see the sign.

~We are nearly there!~ She shouted out of the window. ~When we get there, pull the truck in close and wait for Casey to instruct you!~ Turning to offer Casey a nervous smile, she drove on until they reached the exit. Signalling quickly, she slowed the bug down considerably as they exited the highway. The Gas Station was now in view, close enough to the highway to still be in view but situated on its own service road.

~Here we go..~ she whispered to Casey, unaware that she was holding her breath in anticipation of what was to come. *

[Ninjz]

listeneing to the shouted conversations of the two drivers, derek began to get ready. Pulling out his vest, he stuffed magazines into the pockets placed for that purpose. Hefting the Desert Eagle in his hand he attached a lazer sight to the rack on the barrel, and listened to the soft hum of the beam turning on. He walked to the side of the truck and ducked down, ready to come out blasting when they stopped.

[Catrux]

Grasping the twenty that Derek placed into his hand, Loki smiled. "Good, good. Now things might get a bit more interesting." Once again, Loki stuffed the twenty into his pocket and returned to his seat against the back of the cab. When the truck once again sped up, Loki only half listened. The mention of a Gas Station was about all that mattered to him. After the truck returned to its place behind the bug, Loki looked over to Patrick. "Looks like were stoppin now, every one ready?"

When he returned his attention to Derek he just about started laughing, though on second thought he couldn't blame him for sheltering himself. His years of football had taught him to remain calm under pressure, and most of all, never show weakness. While Derek was concealing himself, Loki began rounding up his guns. He had his shot gun strapped accross his back and his silenced .45's in hand. He had decided to leave his sawn off in the truck when a better idea came to mind.

"Hey Pat, you want this?" Loki asked holding up the sawn off. Chances were Pat would take it, it was always good to carry a secondary weapon and judging by the previous one he had chosen, the sawn off would be a welcome addition. Whether Patrick took it or not Loki set it down for him to take and then leaned back once more. The main reason Loki was confident enough to leave his head exposed was for the simple reason, when has a zombie ever used a long range weapon? As they neared the gas station Loki's head began to bob, a song was running through his head. One so fitting for the situation, it was Swinging the Dead by Devil Driver.

[dagodevas]

"I don't know, we'll see. First we have to worry about carrying supplies back to the truck. I'll start stuffing my bag and running back and forth. If this place is infected we'll need cover fire for people taking supplies, I know you'll all over killing things, even if they're already dead. Food, bottled water to avoid infection, and anything we'll need to build extra supplies." Pat looked at the gun. "I'll let you know based on how bad the situation is here, for now I think we'll just have to move quickly."

[foxx]

It was considerably difficult to steer eating half your hair while the rest of it pummeled your face, but this was the only position suitable for hearing what Leila had to say. Over the rush of the wind and the roar of an approaching storm, it would have been impossible to tell the Bug’s driver was speaking at all had it not been for the fact that Foxx was hanging her head as far out of the truck’s window as was physically possible. Her eyes watered and her windblown locks leapt around her like wild, angry snakes, though with the extra inch of closeness she caught nearly every other word. Every other word led her to believe they would be stopping soon. Foxx’s heart sank and her throat tightened. She gave a half hearted thumbs up to confirm she understood the plan.

Until now, piloting the truck had been a cinch. Making it move was no more complicated than pushing down on a pedal, lightly for slow speed and harder for more speed. Easy. Stopping, especially along side something, was a little trickier. For one thing, it was hard enough to see over the hood of the large vehicle much less predict how close its enormous tires were to the curb. What if she blew out the tire trying to get up close? What if she hit the gas pumps head on and blew them all up? As everyone would be dead after scenario 2, with no one left to criticize her, scenario one seemed much scarier than even instant death. Foxx’s knuckles whitened again on the wheel and she sank back into her seat. Deep breaths did little to comfort her, but she kept a bland look of indifference on her face to hide the fact that she was not as confident about her braking capabilities as she’d like. Or as anyone else probably thought. Guilt bubbled in an already nauseas belly. Forcing any trace of it from her tone, she called back to the men in the truck bed.

“’Kay guys, this is it. I’m going to pull in”- Slow, steadying breath- “and we’re going to wait for the gun dude to give us the word when to move. Alright?”

Foxx found the brake with her free foot and coasted down the ramp after the Bug. With no one behind her but a scattering of infected, she saw no reason to signal. It was better if they didn’t know precisely where she was headed. Close as it was, the gas station appeared so very far away.

[Abira]

It squatted heavily on a small rise, wreathed in a plethora of neon signs and plastic banners proclaiming its exceptional service (via messages such as “Coldest Beer In Town!” and “We’re Here To Help YOU!”). Of course, this “exceptional service” had been limited to a handful of middle-aged, tired-eyed employees and an array of budget-quality merchandise. Rows of sterile white shelves bulged with chips, candy, canned food, near-illegal fireworks, and an array of personal hygiene products and painkillers. Some of these had been knocked over in zombie-related scuffles and now lay dented, their questionable contents scattered haphazardly. The red-and-white tiled floor, once covered by rubber mats and runners, now mirrored the grisly conflict that seemed to grip the entire world—splotches of dried blood and quickly-decaying bits of flesh sprinkled the place like madman’s confetti. Those “tired-eyed” employees had been reduced to nothing more than the walking dead…and Abira found it no trouble to dispatch them from her makeshift fort.

Crouched in the former manager’s office behind a wall of stools, heavy crates, and flats of soda, Abira took aim at yet another monster that had wandered into the gas station. Plugging him between the eyes with a hot piece of lead and grinning with the air of a satisfied cat, she settled back into her nest of discarded uniforms and clean towels. She wasn’t exactly a certified zombie exterminator, but under current circumstances, Abira was queen of the fiend-infested convenience store.

Rows of gas pumps lined the small, concrete island out front. Under a heavy steel-and-plastic awning that provided lights and cover, the pumps had been deserted for days…despite the fact that Abira had authorized every single one of them in hopes of a rescue party. “Authorizing” them had been no small feat—flying to the register during a rare ‘the coast is clear’ moment, she’d punched in the buttons to allow the gas to be ready for pumping at any time—then skittered back to her hiding place, beef jerky and an Orange Crush in tow.

That had been two days ago…and Abira was getting restless. And worried. She’d trekked to this place in hopes of finding someone not yet infected with the zombifying agent; her family and friends had left behind to chew on someone else’s brain. It was tragic that they’d all been turned into monsters, as her family was close—her Persian-born mother had seen to that. The middle sister in a troupe of six children, Abira had fond memories of her parents and of their little brick house…in fact, it was these memories that sustained her courage in the midst of a zombie war.

Quick, black eyes half-hidden beneath a fringe of dark lashes, the self-crowned Convenience Store Queen nestled deeper into her makeshift fortress and sipped the soda. The constant moans and shuffling noises provided by the living dead were beginning to get on her nerves; blowing a hole in the head of yet another zombie who’d stumbled too close to the manager’s office, Abira wondered if there was anyone left in the world still sane and…human.

[The Joshness ™]

Vanman, sitting quite content while the horde of zombie approached his home on wheels, that is, until the lady came crashing down on him. He had just successfully lit the joint in his mouth at that point, and when she hit he took one very big, deep hit filling his lungs to the max. He started coughing and gagging about the time Trucky came in over the CB.

“Vanman? *Static* 56 from there? We’re on it headed south for *static* the radio said there’s *static* infected holed up there. Find the highway and *static* VW bug and a red truck out front. *Static* wait as *static* can. Hurry! Got that?”

*Vanman* "ON MY WAY!"

When she came down to view of Vanman, she’d be looking down the barrel of his 12 gauge through the window. And if it wasn’t for the “Got a smoke?” comment he would have ended her there. But instead of giving a reply he drops the Van into gear and squealing the tires on the wet ground. The Shifter we’re now bum rushing the van as the lady made her existent apparent to them the way she did. There were a few standing directly in front of the van, and they were subsequently run over and plowed right through. They made a futile unprepared attempt to grip the hood with their hands and maybe her leg or something. But they fell victim to the monstrous vehicle and it plowed on. They were gaining speed now. He knew he had to go to Interstate 56 then head south then search for a VW and red truck. Shouldn’t be too hard. There was also the woman on his hood right now that is more than likely out of her mind as Vanman made no attempt to swerve around the swarming Shifted, hitting another one sending it hurdling over the hood inches above the woman and bouncing off the roof then to the asphalt behind them to eat their dust.

“Shit!” he screamed realizing he’s about to miss his turn and quickly jerking the van around the left turn corner harshly going 50 something mph and 0just sliding half of the way on the wet ground. “Hold on!!” He was obviously yelling it at her, because a second later he hit a motorcycle dumped over in the road and that sent the entire front end of the van into the air, but the funny thing was on the way down a Shifted got caught under the falling tire and was –completely- obliterated into a mushy pile of rotten flesh and broken bones into a big smudged red skid mark. Vanman quickly regained his control on the vehicle in order to dodge the various cars and city vehicles abandoned or destroyed in the streets.

The large bars he had installed on the front of the van for easier towing basically protected the entire front end from all forms of damage the Shifted could even cause. He wasn’t slowing down, that much isn’t going to change as every Shifted he hits gets thrown and plowed over even harder and even more distance is gained when they are hit. The grill now caked in dead flesh and portioned of skin. It only took another minute or so before they reached the onramp to the interstate where Vanman pulled onto the spiral ramp half way then stopped. He had smoked all but the roach of the joint, and then he snatched the roach and ate it. Still lit.

“Well, are you going to get in or not? You’ve got 30 seconds before I start moving again.” He was watching her carefully, the 12 gauge right in his lap, it wouldn’t be a problem at all to blow her away if she has any stupid ideas.

[Leila Darkmoon]

*Leila’s indigo hued orbs shifted back and forth as she drove slowly down the service road, hunched over the steering wheel and peering through the gore stained windscreen at the Gas Station ahead. After a quick sweep with those worried violet eyes, Leila’s gaze finally settled on the fuel pumps. It was towards these pumps that she steered the Bug, and in turn, the truck, chattering nervously to Casey as she drove.

~There’s lights on! That has to be a good sign surely? At least it means they have power and we should be able to get the pumps working..?~

The fact that the pumps were undercover was an added bonus, as it was at this precise moment that the heavens chose to erupt above their heads. Rain fell in levels that could only be called torrential, dwindling down her already diminished view and causing her to squint as she flicked on the Bugs ancient windscreen wipers. She had hardly driven the Bug in the rain when it wasn’t covered in gore and body parts, but now that she was, she realised that her windscreen wipers were on their way out the door, if not already well past their use by date. As the rubber crumbled to dust and fell away, the sharp metal bar scraped against the glass with a horrible screeching sound that made Leila shiver. Suprisingly though, the blade worked better now at clearing the screen and she could see a little better as she drove slowly through the pouring rain. Her foot eased off the gas as she shifted into low gear and approached the pumps at a crawl.

Pulling in close to the pumps to assure that everyone would have adequate cover from the storm, Leila pulled up to the first pump, allowing room for the truck to do the same at pump two. Stopping the car, and putting it into park, had a strange effect on Leila as she was finally able to let go of the steering wheel in front of her. With a shaking hand, she reached up to turn off the ignition, before she remembered Caseys command that she leave the engine running.

Looking to Casey, she cleared her throat as she looked in the rearview mirror to check on the trucks’ progress

~Here we are..~ she murmered to Casey. ~Now what?~ *

[Talisen Phoenix]

The Rain was loud… the thunder was louder, but there was a sound that was breaking through the high winds and thunder, the even eerier groans and moans of the dead.

They were running, their limbs were missing, their mouths were open and their eyes were white, but they ran, blood and drool drizzled from their gaping mouths. There were even some children, they were faster than the adults, their once tiny podgy fingers were now contorted into dead sharp talons, their nails splintered and cracked, their bones broke free of their fingers making them claws. Their dark dead flesh hung off their bodies loose and swinging against their bones like once baggy clothes. Their run was more of a lumber, like a wounded ape or what scientist imagined early humans moved like. They were predatory, they had one prize and they wanted it. They needed it. The ripe flesh of the living.

The Zombies slowly began to stop their predatory hunt. How they used their sense was impossible to tell, they could barley move well let along track a truckload of people and a small Volkswagen. They began to walk slowly once again, theirs arms outstretched, they didn't need to move fast anymore. It wouldn't be long before that were on the group, tearing and pulling, could the group take them all out without injury without being infected?

Their moans were drowned out, no by the rain of the thunder, but a third car was approaching at high speeds. It was black once, but now it was streaked with blood and gore, the rain was starting to get rid of some of the blood but the insides of Zombies remains stuck fast to the exterior. Whoever was driving the car was a mystery, the Driver didn't slow down as it approached the Gas Station, He drove straight for the Zombies. With a sickening thud and the crack of the windscreen, the driver drove into the group of oncoming Zombies, they flew into the air, and rolled over the bonnet, their already decaying bodies were flung in separate directions. This wave were dead but their were bound to be more coming. The driver finally slammed the breaks on, apparently realising how close he was to the gas station, he swived to avoid the parked truck, the road was too wet however and the car swerved dangerously and eventually rolled onto it's top and skidded further away from the gas station. There was a minute or two before anything happened, slowly the door was pushed open, even as it was crushed downward and a man began to make his way out of the car.

Harvey stood up, he was limping a little and holding his arm up against his body painfully, a small hand pistol quivered violently in his hand, his glasses were askew. Harvey was covered in blood, his dark hair was matted thickly to his face and almost every inch of his skin was covered in blood. It quickly began to wash away in the rain giving him more of a terrifying appearance than when the blood was dry. His eyes met with Leila and Casey, they would be the only two that would recognise him.

"I followed you… There was so many of them Leila… it's not my blood"....

If anyone could see through Harvey's blood stained glasses they'd see tears well up and fall from his eyes. Harvey's eyes then rolled into the back of his head, his entire body quivered on the spot for a second before falling in a heap on the ground. Harvey began to violently shake on the ground, every muscle in his body was contorting and pulling, his head lifted and smashed back on the cement again and again.

((For you guys that don’t know, the last we heard of Harvey was at gun world, he decided to stay back because he was too scared to venture out into the big bad world, he thought he'd be safer at Gun World. This was never played out, it was just one of those things that happened without anyone mentioning it... lol))