Tower of Eternity - IC

[Spekkun]

The sheer chaos that erupted because of the exploding vehicle was enough to cause Satele to step back as the crowd rushed forward. She almost regretted her decision to come here, she had expected everyone to be scared and she did expect some sort of conflict, the scale of it just shocked her. With every gunshot and every cry she heard, she visibly cringed. Coming here was a mistake, she could end up injured, arrested or dead…again. None of those options sounded appealing to her at all so she began to back away from the crowd slowly.

The only reason she didn't turn around and fully run was to get one last good look at the tower. And perhaps that was a bad idea because she stopped retreating. She could hear something, some sort of chanting from behind her. Another mob maybe? She didn't need that, she had enough to deal with this mob of people fighting.

Now Satele was thinking twice about leaving and debated heading towards the tower. With all the chaos she surely had some chance of reaching the construct without being injured, right? She had to make it through the warring crowd and national guard, which was a task in and of itself. She could see people trampling over one another, pushing and shoving against each other and she had to admit, it made her scared to try. But her eyes had caught someone pushing through the swarm of people and making it past the barricade. If others could make their way past, she could do it too. She just had to be smart about it.

With a deep breath, Satele focused entirely on the crowd and with a sudden burst, ran into the crowd. At first, things seemed to be going well for her. She was found herself having to shove past people on her own, but for the most part, she was able to get into the thick of the civilian mob without too much contact. But all good things must come to an end. With all the people before her, she found it difficult to find a path to get past the guard. As she slowly moved forward her eyes scanned left and right, looking for anything.

Bang!

Satele was so focused that the gunshot startled her, despite having been hearing them the entire time. Unfortunately, it was the man in front of her that was shot, a heavyset fellow. His body went limp as he fell backward, falling directly onto Satele, who wasn't prepared for this. The sudden dead weight caused her to lose her footing and topple over to the ground.

"Errgh…" She groaned as she pushed against the weight of the dead body. She had to hurry before she ended up getting trampled. So far this seemed like a bad idea to her. She was so close to the tower and the chanting she was hearing only fueled her desire to reach the damn thing. With the maximum effort, she lifted the body enough for her to roll over and be free, although in the process her hand was stepped on by someone turning tail to run. "Tch..!" She bit her lip and fought the instinct to grab her hand, instead of attempting scrambling to her feet. But she was knocked to the side by another person, and then another.

So far getting to the tower didn't seem like it was going to be impossible. She couldn't even collect herself so far, but she was close…! The constant getting knocked around however proved to be a blessing in disguise. Because she was so low to the ground she was able to scope out a spot that she believed was open enough for her to make it to the tower. All she had to do was get up and run again.

After being shoved once more, Satele shoved back, pushing against everyone around her as she finally managed to get onto her feet and book it towards the barriers once again. She couldn't remember the last time she'd run this fast, maybe she was channeling into some unseeable power, just like her namesake. Had the situation not been so grim she would have chuckled slightly at her own thoughts.

Without too much interruption Satele was able to make it past the barricade and to her goal finally: the tower. She didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't this. The feeling she got from being near it was unnerving and enough to make her forget about her throbbing hand, it was like this inanimate object had eyes of its own. She would have spent longer staring at the damn thing if she didn't hear the voices of others around her, obviously the ones who had made it before her. She only gave them a wave of acknowledgment, and a small, hardly but still audible "Hello.." It was awkward and nearly smothered by her gasping for air, but it was there.

@RJS @Greenie @Astroblaze @Starlighter

 

[RJS]

Belle​

Belle frowned at the words. Others, like her. Not entirely unexpected really, there was enough weirdness going on for several lifetimes. And yet, having forced their way through the riot, and with more arriving panting and exhausted, it seemed odd that most of them were just standing around staring at the tower. What had they expected to find? A wise hermit waiting to welcome them with open arms? Chuckling at the thought, she wandered over to the one that had walked past their group and starting intently studying the tower's surface. After all, if any answers were to be found they'd be found there.

She scrutinised the shifting patterns, feeling the eldritch chill reach out to her, almost invitingly. After all, shouldn't she just touch it? Then all the questions would be answered? All it would take for her was to reach out. And she would know. Her eyes were fixated, her mouth moving wordlessly as she slowly, tentatively reached out towards the tower to rest her hand on it.

 

[Greenie]

Looking at the others gathered and listening to what they had to say, Sean couldn't say he was surprised. In fact, he was pretty sure there were probably more like them out and about, like Chani who'd been left behind in the crowd. The question in his mind was no longer 'how many' but rather 'what' and 'why'. What the hell was this tower and why was it here? Why had they all been compelled to make their way to this city?

He glanced at the newcomer woman, who seemed as if she was gasping rather than greeting. And another one, he thought dryly. For a moment he wondered whether he should head over and see if she was okay, but then his eye caught sight of two others. First was a man who had decided to inspect the tower rather than swap stories with the rest of the class... and second was the turquoise haired woman, heading off in the tower's direction as well.

"Hm... you sure you want to touch that?" he asked, eyebrow raised when he saw her reach out for the tower. "I'm all for figuring out what the hell this thing's supposed to be but touching it with your bare hand seems kinda... foolhardy."

@RJS​

 

[Spekkun]

Satele closed her eyes for a moment and raised her hands far over her head, focusing on her breathing. It was better to take deeper, longer breaths than it was to breathe rapidly. It was eerie how that, even with her eyes closed the presence of the tower was no less strong than when she was looking at it. What would they find out about the structure? She'd already jumped to the conclusion that it couldn't be a good thing, in fact, she believed that it was a bad omen through and through. If this thing was responsible for her subsequent death and revival then it was bending even more rules other than appearing out of nowhere. And that was damn scary.

Once she had recovered her breath enough that she felt she could talk with minimum panting, she lowered her arms and opened her eyes, greeted by the site of one of the strangers, the blue-haired woman, reaching out to touch the tower. "Don't!" She spoke suddenly, stepping forward with a hand reached out to grab the woman's wrist. "That's not a good idea, it might not be safe!" She didn't know what the damn thing was, let alone what would happen if one were to touch it. Despite her stoic expression she was filled with scrutiny and even fear. Stopping her probably saved her life as far as she knew.

@RJS

 

[Starlighter]

@RJS @Greenie @SkittlesAndSpike

---

At the sound of footsteps, Stanley glanced warily back over his shoulder at the turqouise haired girl as she approached, then proceeded to join him right up next to the tower. His brows lowered slightly and he quickly looked away - at least someone else was showing a bit of initiative in actually investigating instead of loligaging around chitchating. But really - could she not do it right next to him?

Slowly, so as not to make it too obvious, he started edging away from her bit by bit. Right up until she reached out to touch the tower. He hesitated, a word of caution on the tip of his tongue - but someone else beat him to the punch, and a second later, one of the other gals had inserted herself by making a grab for Turquoise Gal's wrist. He scowled, ever so slightly. Dang, I was wondering what would happen....

He glanced at the tower, head tilted in consideration. I didn't come all this way and start a riot for nothing. Screw it. "Oh for goodness sake, people," he muttered with an exaggerated eye roll. He took a quick breath, raised his hands, and placed both palms firmly on the tower.

 

[RJS]

The moment Stanley's hands touched the surface, the cold seemed to freeze his hands in place, rendering him incapable of removing them himself. Through his head a voice roared in a language that he could not comprehend, though the emotions carried clearly enough. Envy. Pain. Rage. The voice seemed to scour him internally, as if searching for something, before it let out a howl of frustration and swooped back down his arms into the pillar. His hands unfroze from the pillar and Stanley was left feeling hollow and exhausted, as if the voice had sapped all his energy. The experience itself had seemed to last hours.

All the others saw was Stanley yell out shortly after touching the pyramid, before his hands came free and he slumped. He had been in contact for only a few seconds. They only had a few minutes to react though, before a deep earthshaking roar split the air.

 

[Starlighter]

@RJS @Greenie @SkittlesAndSpike @Eru @Astroblaze @HelloBeautifulChild aka someone pls halp

---

Stanley screamed.

The tower was ice, maliciously latching onto his hands to immobilize them with biting, crushing cold. If not for the voice raging in his ears like a bomb hitting a waterfall, he might have had enough self-awareness to try and pull away, but instead, he remained statue still, unintelligible words screaming and clamoring inside his head in a desperate cry of pain.

Although he understood none of the words, the sound of bitter anger held a unique distinction that would forever remain universal, tinged with a cruel envy that he couldn't bring himself to fully understand. He felt a sick feeling stirring in his stomach, a sense that something - maybe even someone else was not only screaming at him but looking through him, investigating every nook and cranny of his being for the cure to its madness.

It persisted, seconds, then minutes, then hours of excruciating yelling and searching,

Then, sweeping up through his arms and out through his hands, it evaporated along with every bit of strength and energy. The real world crashed back into his senses, eliciting a low groan as he collapsed to the ground.

 

[HelloBeautifulChild]

Community or not, it was clear to Pennie that none of them had any idea what was going on. It was nice to not be afraid alone, but it didn't seem to be helping much now. She did her best not to appear disappointed, feeling stupid for thinking that someone there would know and could tell her what was going on.

"Hm... you sure you want to touch that?" he asked, eyebrow raised when he saw her reach out for the tower. "I'm all for figuring out what the hell this thing's supposed to be but touching it with your bare hand seems kinda... foolhardy."

@Greenie @RJS

She agreed. Not with the man, however. They'd already died, everything now was a bonus. Suffering, god-forsaken, but a bonus. On one hand, she was remembering her mother's words 'Don't be reckless, child, you're a lady, not a monkey.'. On the other... She kind of wanted to touch the tower too. What was the worst that could happen? If she died, she'd already passed her time anyway.

"Don't!" She spoke suddenly, stepping forward with a hand reached out to grab the woman's wrist. "That's not a good idea, it might not be safe!"

@SkittlesAndSpike

The woman wasn't wrong but rushing through a crowd was something that got people killed, Pennie knew that first hand, and they'd all done that. Someone else seemed to agree, because while she was focused on the women in front of her a man reached forward, touched it, and screamed.

She watched as he yelled out in pain and took his hands away, falling roughly to the ground. She rushed to him as a loud roar filled the air, the tower was dangerous and as much as she had needed to see it she now needed to get away. That said, she couldn't leave a man on the ground. She wrapped her arms under his armpits to pull him in the opposite direction of the tower. She couldn't move as fast, he was heavy, but she tried her best. "Sorry if this hurts you more," She said, glad that her body was strong enough to pull him. Hopefully, she wouldn't accidentally shock him a little in her panic. She had no idea if he could hear her, but spoke anyway. If anything, the words were to calm her down. "Are you awake? I'm sure we can find a doctor or something."
@Starlighter

 

[Eru]

M A X

---

Through all of this, Max had simply observed. He'd been the last to arrive at the tower, somehow, and the eerie atmosphere that surrounded it seemed to have been the culprit for that. He shivered involuntarily, half-imagining he'd seen Amanda Jennings among the officers, as the blue-haired girl from before began to ask questions.

So... these people, too, had died. Like Max, they had also awoken the next day in perfect health. Why wasn't this utterly blowing his mind right now? He shivered again, his gaze straying up the tower's height, his eyes lingering on the faint tracings of symbols that seemed to be whispering a call, almost. It was for this distraction that Max made no answer yet to the girl or the party, instead only remembering they were present when the tower was touched.

The wretched scream that followed tore Max back to reality. One of the others, a younger man, had collapsed, and fallen in a heap to the ground. If Max had had a cigar, it would have fallen from his open mouth at this moment.

"Are you awake? I'm sure we can find a doctor or something."

Another young woman in the group had rushed forward to support the downed man. Max moved in alongside, taking some of the weight of Stanley's body from Penelope, and looking at the man's paler face. "He doesn't need a doctor," Max stated gravely. "He needs a cuppa' soup and a damn exorcism after that ride."

And then, the air was sundered with sound. Max winced at the intensity, nearly losing his grip.

"I don't know about y'all, but that didn't sound like sunshine and rainbows to me." Max half-turned, addressing the blue-haired girl as he helped carry Stanley. "I've seen enough for today; best not stick around. Come back to my place, if you would -- I think we have some things to talk about."

---

@y'all

 

[Astroblaze]

[fieldbox="Leah McCloyd, #22AAEE, solid"]

fright

#22AAEE Date: 3 days after the EMP
Time: mid afternoon
Location: Philadelphia, PA—The Tower
Tags: Stanley (@Starlighter), Belle (@RJS), Sean (@Greenie), Satele (@SkittlesAndSpike), Pennie (@HelloBeautifulChild), Max (@Eru)
Character Profile

While she was as curious about the tower as everyone else seemed to be, Leah strongly doubted that touching it was the best method of determining what exactly it was, no matter how much she inexplicably wanted to. With this in mind, when she looked up at the blond's warning to find that the turquoise-haired girl had joined the one man of the three who had joined their group shortly after she herself did in exploring the tower's exterior, standing at a proximity to it's dizzyingly shifting obsidian surface that struck her as more than a little risky, she hastily started forward to pull her away if necessary, but the girl who appeared to have Asian heritage beat her to it, grabbing the other girl's wrist with her fingers inches from the tower. Relieved that what she was certain would have been a crisis was averted, she failed to notice that the other who had been standing nearby had done what she had been prevented from doing. Alerted by his painstricken scream, Leah spun around just in time to watch him crumple to the concrete. With a horrified gasp, she rushed forward, accompanying the Southern girl in transporting him to a safe distance from the tower.

"Are you awake? I'm sure we can find a doctor or something."

"I wouldn't be so quick for your phone if I were you," Leah warned, looking up to her. "We did break into this area, after all, and I don't know about you but I don't really want to get arrested today. Besides," she added, looking to the man in question, "he looks like he's okay, just stunned." Tentatively, hoping that his pale, glassy-eyed face didn't mean that he was actually going into shock, she asked him, "Is that about right?"

"He doesn't need a doctor. He needs a cuppa' soup and a damn exorcism after that ride."

grimly noted the older man as he moved alongside to help the two of them.

Leah grimaced at that.

"I certainly hope not the latter. This is all crazy enough as it is."

With that, she glanced apprehensively toward the tower. Its already foreboding aura had shifted into something darker, angrier even, that made her shudder involuntarily.

"Okay, so we definitely shouldn't touch it. Any other ideas?"

At that moment, a vast, enraged roar split the air, causing her to start with a yelp.

"Whoa! Okay, that does not sound good and I really don't want to be here anymore."

Apparently the older guy agreed with her.

"I've seen enough for today; best not stick around. Come back to my place, if you would—I think we have some things to talk about."

Worried about the potential risk of joining a bunch of strangers into an unknown home but definitely not willing to be left behind, Leah looked to him hopefully.

"Is that offer for all of us?"[/fieldbox]

 

[The_J]

Hazel's split focus was hard to maintain, but she managed to keep it going for now - her power did help with that somewhat, boosting her multitasking faculties.
"You came to see the tower? Why?" Hazel asked, realisation dawning on her. Did she find another of the Deathless, two in quick succession? She supposed it was fate that the one time she showed a little compassion she would be rewarded for it.
"Did you... get hurt, badly? Before you came here?" She asked as well, to be sure. She couldn't ask outright "did you die?", but she was trying to hint at it without being blatant.

Initially flinching back at the man's sudden response, she realised quickly that he was just being defensive, not having seen her coming. When he expressed hesitation at coming with her rather than just going to the tower as he'd been trying to do, she realised he was going to be difficult. She'd have to be harsher, make it seem like it was the only option, or-
A primal scream erupted from the tower's direction, and both of Hazel's heads moved to face it at once. Something was going wrong. Did someone touch it? Idiot, why would you touch that, you had no idea what it'd do...
Before she could even take action, and ear-splitting roar resounded through the streets, terrifying Hazel to her core. Her normally olive-toned skin turned a shade paler and her eyes widened further than they already had been. The scream had surprised her, but the roar terrified her. She needed to find every Deathless she could and make them leave before it could catch them. Even if they could circumvent death, it'd make them infinitely harder to find.

"We need to leave, now." She said to both the man and the woman at once, "whatever that is, it won't be pleasant. Come with me." Both of them would've felt her hand on their shoulders and she began to march away pushing them along with her away from the tower. The synchronous actions helped ease the strain on her mind. From the Hazel closest to the tower, trying to direct the stubborn man away from it, she popped a third into existence just out of the man's view, crouched down initially before coming back to a standing position once out of view. She sprinted towards the tower, vaulting the barrier, going against every one of her instincts to leave those at its base and get out of there.
Once nearer to the tower, she saw a scene of disarray. People standing around, one of them carrying another by the armpits. The guy being dragged looked to be passed out. He must've been the one that touched the tower.
"All of you! We need to leave, immediately. I don't know what that sound was but it's going to be hurtful I'm sure." She called as she got close, stopping next to the group to make sure they all responded with either agreement or turning to run. Hopefully at least one or two would be Deathless.

 

[Greenie]

Chani looked to the woman, glanced away momentarily and then looked to her again. "I... I felt... I don't know why exactly. I just felt it was the answer to all that happened-" She paused, nervously chewing on her lip, and then nodded. "Yeah, I was shot, right here." Lifting her hand, she pressed her index finger against her forehead. "I- I died. And then I woke up again. I don't know how it happened, but it did."

She was fine with leaving, truth be told. Now that she was here, she wanted to be anywhere but. She thought maybe seeing the tower would give her some enlightenment, or maybe some divine guidance- all she had found was more pain, and now even more trouble. That scream and following roar were probably just harbingers for worse events to follow...

But what can be worse than death? Chani didn't want to find out.
​

Meanwhile at the tower...
​

Called it was what went through Sean's mind when he saw what had happened to the man who had touched the tower's wall. He felt instant guilt for that thought, but he still thought it was a stupid thing to do. Of course, there was nothing much to do or say, others had made their way to help the poor guy off the ground, and while Sean would have been happy to help, he suspected he'd cause more of a hindrance.

Those thoughts paled, however, when he heard that deep, terrifying roar.

Effing hell, what now? He looked at the others in turn, feeling his heart race climbing. Sweat was forming at his temples, drops slowly making their way down the side of his face, hidden by his mop of hair.

Then he heard the man, somehow reminding him of someone from a film noir, speak up and offering them a place. At least, that's what he presumed, until one of the women asked if it was an offer for all. Sean suspected it was and frankly he hoped so too- he was nearing his limit of remaining calm and in control; it would be nice to rely on someone else for... at least until they were out of whatever danger was coming their way.

And that was when he heard yet another voice, a female one now, telling them they had to leave.

"Good, that dude over there's offered his place." Sean jerked a thumb in the man he had dubbed 'Film Noir' in his head. "Just before you came actually. I think we're all pretty okay with getting the hell outta here!"
​

 

[RJS]

Belle​

She awoke, as if from a dream. The woman who had just turned up was gripping her arm, tantalisingly close to the surface of the tower. She had been so close to...to...to what? The certainty, the reassuring whispers had faded from her mind the moment that grip had tightened around her wrist. There was a sense of loss, a sense of wonder...a sense of longing. But no longer the cast iron certainty that had gripped her and guided her movement.

That evaporated the moment she heard the howl of pain and watched the person next to her collapse away from the tower. That told her everything she needed to know about it. Flashing a relieved grin at the person who had grabbed her, she stood by as the others fussed over the one lying on the floor. They seemed relatively ok, if somewhat...drained by the experience. So she took a deep breath, regrounding herself. Everything was ok, everything was as close to as it should be as it could be.

And then the roar split the ground, pounding and resounding in her ears. Well, now she really needed a drink. That could wait for later though - they needed to get away. Whatever it was, it sounded mindless and pissed off. So when another person ran in and yelled that they needed to leave, Belle couldn't help herself. "Oh are you sure? Because I was just thinking we could hang around, have a fucking picnic, ya know? Seems like the best time for it." She turned to the others. I'm with Canuck here - it doesn't really matter where we end up, what matters is we aren't here now! We can argue the specific not here when we're....well...not here." She cursed at how her words stumbled. "Just run, alright?" With that said, she set off running in her best guess of the opposite direction to the roar.

 

[Spekkun]

As terrible as it was, Satele felt at least a little pleased when the man erupted into a scream of pain from touching the tower, in no small part thanks to his smug attitude. In fact, had the situation not been so dire and dreadful she might have snickered just a little bit, at least to herself. Still, when the others fussed over him she was happy he hadn't died from contact and hoped that he would recover fine. At least now it was confirmed that touching the tower was not a good idea, she only wished that she knew how and why.

She removed her hand when she saw Belle's grin, a small smile gracing her own face. She'd saved one person from that kind of pain, so that was something she could take some pride in. "Well, I-" She'd started to speak but the roar of the tower cut her off, startling her enough that she jumped a little. The hideous sound was reminiscent of a monster in a horror movie, and it instantly made her want to flee the area.

So when the stranger ran in, yelling that it was time to go, Satele had no problem with that plan of action. "I've seen all I needed to see.." She muttered, hands covering her ears somewhat. She couldn't think about what direction to flee in, she didn't want to run into anymore mob-goers or National Guard on her way out, unless they'd fled as well. "Sure…I'll go with you. Lead the way." She decided, this woman seemed sure of herself, something Satele was not at the moment. To her, it was better to trust this woman than to run away blindly.

 

[Astroblaze]

[fieldbox="Leah McCloyd, #22AAEE, solid"]

fright

#22AAEE Date: 3 days after the EMP
Time: mid afternoon
Location: Philadelphia, PA—the Tower
Tags: Hazel (@The_J), Sean (@Greenie), Max (@Eru), Satele (@SkittlesAndSpike), Belle (@RJS), plus everyone else in the Tower group
Character Profile

"All of you! We need to leave, immediately. I don't know what that sound was but it's going to be hurtful I'm sure."

Leah had already begun to back away from the tower, looking to see what the rest of the group would do, when the newcomer ran up shouting that. She was all for leaving and as quickly as humanly possible, but who in the world was this? Leah quirked a suspicious eyebrow at the girl. "Um, who are you?"

At that moment, the blond cut in as well.

"Good, that dude over there's offered his place. Just before you came actually. I think we're all pretty okay with getting the hell outta here!"

Apparently he had assumed what she had asked.

"Yeah, I'm with him on this," Leah agreed, glancing to the blond. "I don't know any of you from Adam, but" she looked to the man who had offered his home, "at least I've been around you long enough to get a general impression about you. You're free to join our group if you want," she added, looking back to Hazel, "but I for one would rather not run off with someone who literally just showed up."

Meanwhile, the Asian-looking girl muttered something about going with the new stranger while the turquoise-haired girl saw fit to snap off a couple sarcastic comments before splitting off toward the barrier as quickly as her legs could carry her.

"Wait! We should probably stick together!" Leah hastily called after her, leaving the man who had touched the tower with the other two and starting in that direction herself to stop the other girl, hoping the others would follow.[/fieldbox]

 

[RJS]

As they were all preparing to start running, the ground began to shake violently, as if a giant creature was passing beneath. As Belle and Leah ran, Belle several steps ahead, the ground between them cracked and burst. A creature of purest black leapt from the gap, landing in front of Leah. Terrified, but unable to kill her momentum, she stumbled forwards and was stunned to find she passed clean through it, collapsing to her knees on the other side, panting for breath. Up ahead, Belle continued running, not even thinking of looking back.

The others could now see the beast clearly. Its entire body was a featureless black, though contours suggested the face and upper body of a human, though the lower half resembled a serpentine tail. The arms growing from the upper body were humanoid, though ended in vicious claws. And as it began to slither forwards, disregarding Leah, a menacing hiss emanated from it as it drew closer.

 

[Astroblaze]

[fieldbox="Leah McCloyd, #22AAEE, solid"]

fright

#22AAEE Date: 3 days after the EMP
Time: mid afternoon
Location: Philadelphia, PA—the Tower
Tags: Tower group
Character Profile

Leah's blood ran cold as the jet-black monstrosity surged from the ground directly in front of her. In horror she realized that her momentum was taking her right into its deadly claws. She tried to stop, to change course, but her momentum was too great, causing her to trip over her own feet. She was going to die again.

Her vision filled with black for a moment before clearing as her hands slammed into the road, rough asphalt scraping against her palms as she sprawled, tumbling onto her stomach. Struggling onto her elbows, she tensed, squeezing her eyes shut in preparation. When the anticipated blow did not come, Leah hesitantly opened her eyes to find that she had somehow fallen through the creature and now lay behind it. Did... did she do that?

Either way, if she was in the clear now, maybe she could escape before the monster turned on her. Preparing to bolt, she scrambled to her feet before noticing that the monster had ignored her to corner her companions, an ethereal hiss emanating from some hidden orifice somewhere on its hideous person. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the man who had touched the tower a moment ago. He seemed to still be out of it, leaving the other two responsible for him.

As she stared, torn between terror of this new threat and a protective instinct for these people who shared her predicament, she recalled in a flash the gun strapped to her belt. She had no idea if it would help, but she had to try. Hastily reaching under the hem of her shirt, she undid the clasp and pulled out the weapon, clutching it in hands that shook with uncertainty and fear. Taking a quick breath to steady herself, she pointed the gun at the uppermost lump that seemed to be the monster's head and pulled the trigger.[/fieldbox]

 

[Joan]

fright

Layen Carsen
Interactions: Hazel (@The_J)

---

Before the woman could respond, somebody screamed. Layen turned his head to face the tower again, eyes wide. What could have caused that? The tower? A person? Then came the roar. He froze, feeling a chill growing inside him. That definitely wasn't a person. The hell have I gotten myself into...?

The woman tugged on his shoulder again with surprising strength, leading him away from the tower. He didn't resist. He was still curious, but he wasn't stupid enough to go towards whatever had made that sound. Except...he had seen somebody go through the barrier. Shit.

"I saw somebody go through there," he told her, gesturing toward the barrier with his free arm. "What about them?" Despite his protest, he sped up to match her pace. He didn't want to be left alone with whatever had made that roar, and she didn't seem like she would let him lag behind in any case.

 

[Greenie]

Sean had been all for running, though the ground shaking had easily hampered that effort for him- he had to hold out his arms to balance himself, not wanting to fall on the ground and hurt himself on top of all the other ruckus taking place.

When he managed to stand steady and look ahead, readying himself to run once more, he saw it. His immediate thoughts were wishing he'd fallen into some abyss that would just take him away from this world that obviously had it in for him.

"Effing hell!" It looked like nothing he had ever seen before, and nothing he ever wanted to see again! Hellish was the best word his mind could come up with at that moment. His eyes jerked away and looked to the woman who was closest to the beast. "Run-"

No other words were said as he simply watched in shock. She was no longer befor the beast, she was behind it. How on earth...?!? His mind refused to comprehend what had happened just then. Thankfully the gunshot that resounded was enough to break him out of his stupor.

But... it had no effect! "Bloody hell, what the hell is this?" Panic was clear in Sean's voice. "It's not hurt! We- we gotta run!"

 

[Starlighter]

@Eru, @HelloBeautifulChild

---

A pair of hands latched onto Stanley, and someone strong proceeded to drag him across the pavement. The world slipped by in a foggy haze, one image blurring quickly into the next before he could focus on it long enough to fully register what was going on. He heard a woman's voice - apologetic, then questioning, consistently high-strung, and no more clear than a whisper under water. A second person joined in, adding more indistinct mumblings, then a third person, and instead of being dragged, he was being carried.

Initially, he was just glad that the dragging bit was over. Then, slowly, realization began to sink in through the cacophony of reality that he desperately wanted to ignore.

Why in the blazes are three strangers - No, scratch that. One of them was gone now, people were talking too fast for him to keep up, and he thought he caught a glimpse of one or two people booking it back toward the barricade.

The ground started shaking, rumbling not quite like an earthquake, but more like something was moving underneath the pavement. Stanley had barely finished processing how ludicrous that was when the ground split apart and a black monster just in from horror town burst up out of the gap and began slithering closer.

That was the last straw. He lashed out, kicking and struggling at the people who for whatever reason hadn't dropped him to run screaming for the hills. In his panic, he somehow managed to summon enough energy to successfully pry himself free of the woman, but despite his racing pulse pumping pure, terrified adrenaline through his veins, it wasn't enough to replace what the tower had taken. Briefly, he was half extricated from his would-be helpers, but his own two feet failed to support him and by reflex, he latched onto the older man for support, his fingers freezing into a stranglehold on the man's arm.

A gunshot ripped through the air and he winced, ducking his head away from the ear splitting crack. Still dazed and barely upright, he was sure only of the monster advancing, and that his life depended on the guy whose arm he was crushing.