Turning to Zero when she and Twelve came outside, Scott put on his gas mask and pointed directly in the direction the hotel was facing, further into the city whilst saying "That's the direction we're headed. You see that tower over there?" He pointed to a short tower that stood out as a long chimney for fumes to escape from. "That's the chemical plant. We'll be getting close, but hopefully not too close." Scott nodded to Zero and set off down the street.
Zero looked at the tower, slightly hesitant. Glancing down at Twelve, who was following Scott and humming to herself. Zero adjusted the straps on her backpack and took the rear, following behind the other two. She wanted to make sure nothing would snatch Twelve. She looked around the area, staying alert and observant to anything that may pose a threat to the group. Twelve looked up at the sky as she walked, sporting a few birds and she smiles, continuing her humming.
After walking for a while, Scott, Zero and Twelve came into a long street lined with ruined buildings and destroyed cars. Glancing down the one end through his gas mask's visor, Scott saw a left turning going the way they needed to go. A few small mutated creatures wandered, scavenging corpses of the less lucky people and animals that hadn't found shelter. A strange pack of large birds picked at a dead man's body, although it looked old. Opting to stay quiet, Scott moved at a hasty jog into the delapidated interior of a bus, crouching behind the cover inside and beckoning Zero and Twelve to follow. They would have to stay quiet and make smooth but fast movements, blending in with their grim surroundings of ruined grey and rusted browns.
Zero had paused a ways away, ducking behind a rusty car that had lost it's passenger door. "I'm sorry but I won't take you any farther, Twelve. You can fly yet and I don't want you in harms way. Wait in this car, alright?" She whispers softly and pushes Twelve In. Twelve opened her mouth to protest but Zero covers her mouth and takes off the backpack, handing it to Twelve. "There is food in there in case you get hungry, theres water and a blanket too. You'll need to be quiet and you absolutely cannot move from this spot. Don't talk to strangers and if you see something strange, duck down and stay hidden. Wait till we come back." She paused a minute and reaches in the wastebqnd of her pants, pulling out a pocket knife she found the day before. "Use this only to protect yourself. Be a good girl, I'll be back as soon as I can." Twelve pouted, but nodded and took the pocket knife. Zero kisses the little girls forehead and makes her way to the bus Scott is behind.
After Zero had said her goodbyes to Twelve and joined Scott behind the bus, he took a look down the street. These birds were large, possibly dangerous. Although, by the looks of the rest of the mutated animals on the street, they weren't really feared. Most likely scavengers. Scott stood up, deciding it was safe with a nod and gesturing for them to continue down the street at a walking pace, quite slowly. He also took the pistol he was carrying out of it's holster and handed it to Zero, reassuring her with "Just in case." As well as a nod. They started walking cautiously. Towards the end of the road...
Zero looked at the gun, hesitantly taking it. She had never used one, and only seen one used on rare occasions. The last one, of course, was when she and the other experiments started a riot and the scientists tried to defend themselves with it. She flinched at the memory, but held onto the gun any way. She figured in the heat of a moment, her reflexes would take over and she would figure out how to use one. If she missed, she would get closer to her target to make sure she wouldn't. Looking at the ugly big birds, Zero followed behind Scott cautiously.
As Scott and Zero approached the end of the street, Scott felt that something was coming their way. Maybe it was a change in the air, or a distant sound, or some movement. Something was following them. Or maybe more than one thing. Stopping suddenly and motioning for Zero to do the same, Scott examined the surrounding area. A smashed up bus shelter lay on the ground to their left, with the empty shells of what used to be shops acting as walls to the rectangular road. What was different here? Was it the floor? The walls? The roof? Scott checked all three things, but saw nothing. And then he realised what it was. An expensive upper-class type building was at the end of the street. It was lined with gargoyles close to the top, but the gargolyes seemed different. Staring intently at one around 60 metres away from him, Reikan saw something. These weren't like gargoyles you saw on a church. In fact, they seemed detached from the building. Looking at them all, they looked something like large, four legged lizard like things with sharp teeth and a realistic looking face, with eyes that seemed almost to blink. Wait.
Scott stared at the eyes of one for a while. It blinked. And it breathed. They weren't mere statues. They were grey coloured mutants. Slowly turning to Zero, Scott put his finger to his lips and gestured to move forwards again. Very slowly. He unslung his gun in a smooth, lingering fashion and prepared for the lizards to pounce. They started to get down from their perches, crawling down the walls until they followed the two people, stalking behind them. Scott made an effort not to acknowledge them, but it was no use. He gave a signal to Zero, counting down from three silently. Then they would shoot. Three. Two. One...
Rose waved away the small mutants grabbing what she could from the dead bodies. She continued around until she saw another person! And alive. The little girl was crouched behind a rusted car door, the window smashes and glass shards inside the car. The four-year old was trembling, clutching onto a small knife staring directly at her. She saw fear in her eyes. Rose grinned, and hoisted up her backpack heading towards her.
"Hello there," she said. "Do you wanna play?"
She bolted forward before the little girl could react and grabbed her backpack. The annoying girl tugged at it yelling
"No, thats mine!" as they both wrestled for control. When Rose almost had the bag, the little girl lashed out with her knife, cutting Rose's hand. She retracted, stumbling backwards and clutched her hand. In her right palm a diagonal gash cut deep into her hand, blood pouring out. She yipped and her eyes filled with rage. Snapping up her knife with her left hand she walked over to the terrified girl. "Now... Hand over... The backpack," Rose said, her teeth clenched together in frustration.
Twelve watched the girl for a minute. Quickly, she bent over, grabbing a rock and chucks it at the car with a loud "BANG" . The sound caught the attention of near by mutants, hungry for a meal. As the overgrown animals charged towarss them, Twelve took off in the opposite direction, her wings snapping out and flapping as hard as she could. She didn't get too high off the ground, only 12 or so feet off the ground, but it was high enough for Twelve to flee the scene with her backpack and Oli before the mutant animals showed up. She flew her way to the nearest building, grabbing onto a rusted pipe and climbing her way to the roof of the building.
Zero watched Scott's gaze go to the creepy looking... Things. Were they gargoyles? She wouldnt know, she was never really taught what they were. She didn't understand why Scott was watching them closely till she saw it blink too. So she followed Scott's lead, moving as quietly as possible, watching his fingers carefully. Just as he got to 1, the loud bang of Twelves rock hitting a car rang through the streets. It seemed to get the beasts riled up because they began charging at her and Scott. Her eye widened as she spun around, firing the gun. She missed the first time but she fired again, this time hitting the one of the beasts in there shoulder.
(I love how this has taken off and all, but I think I have to reenter with another character since the guy Sunset was interacting with poofed into nothingness. :( Been waiting long enough)
As soon as the monsters charged, something changed inside Scott. It had been a long time since he'd been in any real combat and he was surprised at how ready he was. He seemed to transform from a man with feelings and emotions into a cold, calculating machine. He turned at sharp angles, firing off controlled bursts from his Kalashnikov. He fired at each of the mutants in turn, finishing them off with a shot to the head. Maybe there would be too many for them to handle. Scott noticed in a part of him that seemed far off that Zero might need some help. She hadn't been in combat much before by his guess. Gradually backing towards Zero and thinking out the ranks of the lizards, Scott regained the human side of his mind once again. Firing with the same degree of accuracy, but more tactical now, instead of just picking each one off alone, he began spraying shots at larger groups and then firing in bursts at individuals. Turing his head in Zero's direction, Scott caught her attention over the hissing and yelping of the mutants with a sharp "Zero!"
Scott nodded towards the next street, narrower than the first and gestured for her to follow him. Beginning to slowly back up towards the street, Scott noticed the mutants too seemed to be more cautious, backing away too.
Rose fell back surprised. She screeched as the mutants ran towards her, and ran for her life. She jumped up a pipe, climbing up, then ducked behind the roof where the mutants couldn't see her. She stayed there panting, hearing gunshots outside and the snarls of mutants
Ayla had felt the disturbance. Only those who were attuned to the universe could. It seeped into her conscience like a sedative, settling at the forefront of her mind in a murky swamp of color and noise, eclectic and uncorrelated bits that were only the beginnings of an image. As she began receiving vision, her irises darkened as if they were being injected with ink. When there was naught but inky blackness, there emerged... two figures, male and female. They appeared to be on a journey. Ayla tried to close her eyes, to shut out the visions, but there was no 'Off' switch. Instead, the number zero floated where the inside of her eyelids should be. After a few minutes, she stopped receiving. Solemnly, she packed her camp and set off for the destination designated by the visions.
The journey to the center of the city had been arduous, but Ayla had been able to keep the mutants at bay by altering their senses to remain hidden. She could feel that she neared the end of her journey, her mind prickling at the large mass of bio-energy just a few blocks away. Gracefully, Ayla sieved herself through piles of rubble and decay until she emerged on what must have once been a street. Both sides were lined with decrepit shops, hollow shells that produced echoes of a city lost long ago within the confines of Ayla's mind.
Behind her, was a Gothic style church. Ayla had felt the electromagnetic energy given off by the mutant, gargoyle-like creatures nearly thirty minutes ago. Safely hidden from their senses, she continued gazing at the ruined shops. She had been forlornly admiring some pieces of discarded jewelry when her concentration was broken. Reverberating thuds filled her body as she whipped her head around to find that the gargoyle-like mutants were leaving their perches.
Ayla panicked.
Hadn't she hidden herself? She double-checked, and then double-checked again, magnifying her powers so harshly that she thought she may cease to exist at all. Fear seized her in its icy grip, and she stood like a doe in the limelight. The creature closed the distance between them, its jaws gnashing and its claws extending. Ayla shivered as she gazed upon its ash-grey skin, pulled taut over underlying muscular structures. Just as she was sure that her abilities had failed, the creature stalked right past her.
Confused, for a moment, Ayla glanced around. Kya! Kya! The sound of the bullets bounced around the street before finding a home in her ear canals. The first creature fell. Then another. Ayla ran to take cover behind an upturned, metal dumpster that had somehow found its way out into the street. Gingerly, she craned her neck to get a view of the origin of these bullets.
Standing a small ways down the street was the pair from her vision, firing vigorously into the throngs of approaching mutants.
[OOC: Hello everyone! So there is no confusion, I want to explain a bit more about Ayla's powers. Every organism, no matter how small, produces its own electromagnetic field. When Ayla was exposed to radiation in the fallout, it altered her biological matrix to be able to recognize and interact with this electromagnetic field. Also, the radiation destroyed most of the melanin in her body, which has left as an albino. She used to have dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Happy roleplaying! Feel free to follow me!]
There was all manner of noise and commotion that awoke the slumbering beast, gunshots and voices particularly. From her spot hidden in an empty shop, behind the counter, the gunshots echoed and made her jump. A rumbling growl came from her, and she poked her head out from behind the counter.
Now, Alana was no common beast, rather a human mutated into a half-animal form. She had dark brown skin, and the fur that covered her from her bust down, and on her limbs, was the rich black of her long, unruly hair. Her ears had been elongated and allowed to swivel like any animal's to hear her surroundings. Her eyes were gold and wolf-like, scanning around to see what was going on. Her paws still resembled hands and feet, and she had the slightest noticeable snout, almost like a cat.
Her ears lowered as the rumbling growl escaped again, irritated. Whatever caused her to awaken from her pleasant nap would pay dearly.
Rose silently crawled across the roof, leaping down. She crouched and waded through a puddle to wash off her scent. Slowly she made her way back to the camp
In the abandoned chemical plant something stirred in a pile of stained rags and torn curtains, awoken a nightmare riddled slumber. The influx of activity closeby, but not too close, was unusual and it caught the attention of the plant's current denizen. A gaunt figure of dark robes and soot covered features rose from its makeshift bed. It turned toward town and delicately picked its way out of the building.
On the outside the creature resembled a being that has always been feared by humans, yet long since forgotten. With its dark robes and skeletal body type the still groggy lightweight resembles the one called death. He, for this is a male or at least identifies as one, looks at the structure he has called home for days. A slight voice, barely above a whisper says "I think I left the kettle on..." a covered arm reaches out, and with a gloved hand pulls one of the corroded support beams from its place. The corner of the building and the chimney collapse sending up a cloud of toxic dust and vapourized organic remains. The wind catches it and blows it down the path ahead of him, toward the town. With a sluggish movement he reaches down and grabs a six foot metal pipe, almost as tall as himself, and makes his way toward the town, using it as a walking stick.
(( I saw the chemical plant and thought that it was a great place to put in my character. (He only looks like death, for those of you who might have been worrying.)))
Turning and slowly running away from the mass of giant lizard like beasts, Scott noticed he hadn't seen Zero after they'd agreed on the plan a few minutes ago. Turning a few times to fire off more controlled bursts from his Kalashnikov, he began to panic slightly. "Shit." He cursed, clear of the lizards by now. They started to scatter into nearby building and up onto nearby rooftops. There was no time to panic. As he turned his back to the retreating horde, a small rumble shook the ground. Part of the chemical plant collapsed about three streets away. He still needs that armory. Turning into a nearby building, Scott Maskimov settled in until nightfall. Tonight, he'd finally make it. Well, he'd have to hope that he did.
Rose turned back to hear the thump of rock hitting ground, as the chemical plant crumbled down. She started to run, although she couldn't make it very far. When she reached her camp, she realised the deer was off, so hoisted up the meat and travelled far away, leaving the meat there and then came back. Rose went hungry that night. She had to forage for more food and find a way to freeze it.
