Evil Dead - Versus the World [CONTENT WARNING]

[HellFencer]

With Skunk in the passenger seat, and Jeff behind, Ed leaps into the vehicle, almost as crazily as the punker with the drenched mohawk. The door slams shut, sending a small thud through the SUV that is slightly reassuring, feeling just how sturdy it is. As Skunk yells his commands, Tom manages to open the back hatch just as Jeff unlocks all the doors. All that is left running, is Jane, Jack, and six beings covered in black fire.

Jane dashes towards the vehicle, and leaps up into the cargo area, spinning around so that her back is against the seat. Her chest is pounding just from the thought of whatever the hell is chasing her. Tom, seeing everyone, save for Jack, inside the vehicle, climbs halfway inside as well. He waits, hoping Jack won't need the help, but is ready just in case. As Jack screetches to a halt, he hops inside and jams the keys into the ignition, throwing the massive vehicle into drive. Tom pulls the door down into place and grips onto his surroundings for dear life.

The beings have quickened their pace and appear to be testing their forms, as if becoming more in tune with it, almost like a body builder discovering new muscles. In fact, as the SUV pulls away, the creature at the forefront, pulls its hand back and a ball of flame begins to grow rapidly between its fingers until it is the size of a softball or so. It doesn't really matter how big it is, because an instant later, the creature throws it towards the hatch door where Tom and Jane sit. The door it self is dented inwards several inches and makes a terrible creaking metal sound as a small explosion goes off. The glass from the window covers the two in back, as well as the back of Jeff's and Ed's head.

The car begins to swerve, and leaves Jack in a position to guide the fate of himself and five other passengers. Skunk realizes this as well, as he reaches out next to himself for the passed out teenager, and instead, finds only the carpeted floor. Panic washes over him, as he looks back and sees two of the creatures beginning to burn the kid alive. The only thing that makes Skunk feel better in the least, is the fact that no one could survive heat like that for very long.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

"Holy ****! I forgot the kid!" screams Skunk as he catches sight of the fire creatures crisping the doomed teenager's body in the receding distance. This was the first time he thought to himself how much better it would be if the kid would have just died in the bus crash that apparently took most of the other passengers.

He pounds the dashboard in frustration but remains quiet except for a stream of mumbled expletives. For now, he simply looks forward through the windshield and watches the rain pound the street and the parked cars as they rush by. "...this truly sucks..."

[GazMania]

Tom

Tom brushes glass off of himself with his right hand, his left clinging onto the door for dear life. He does his best to brush himself down and keep the door shut at the same time, while looking around to see if everyone else is okay. "You all right back there?" he calls into the cargo area of the SUV, directing his question at Jane. Hopefully she would be unharmed by the attack they had just faced. As he was asking the question he heard Skunk's vivid scream. The colour drained from Tom's face as he saw what was happening and he quickly turned away. Oh man, thats bad... I shouldn't have left that kid for that Skunk guy to get... Should have looked after him meself... Realising that there really is nothing they could do for the kid, Tom goes back to keeping the door shut and hoping to himself that Jack could drive.

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff curses as the glass hits the back of his neck, slapping his hand up to a place where the glass shards managed to draw blood. Fingers and toes crossed, Jeff watches out the back window for any sort of confirmation that they've escaped the fire things.

[WhiteKnight777]

*Jack growls and swears, trying to keep the car in control and get away from whatever those THINGS are as fast as humanly possible*

Hold on, folks.. these are NOT happy trails.

Drive Check - (1d20+7)[23]

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Jack's driving well despite Skunk's insistance on gripping both his seat belt strap and propping his other hand against the dashboard.

This area of town's not familiar to him. He came by cab for that reason, not wanting to get lost in his own car in unfamiliar territory. He'd heard plenty of news reports defining that as a rather bad thing to do. As such, he has no clue where the car's headed.

"Jack...you know where we're headed? Where's the nearest hospital?" he asks assuming Jack must know more than he does. After all, he's driving, isn't he?

[HellFencer]

The car swerves violently to the side, but Jack deftly spins the wheel and applies necessary brakes to keep it in motion. Swerving once more back into a forwards facing direction, Jack speeds off, hitting nearly sixty miles per hour within less than ten seconds.

[WhiteKnight777]

Knowledge - (1d20+2)[20]

to find nearest hospital

*Jack desperately wracks his brain to think of the nearest possible hospital, even as another thought preys on his mind*

i'm thinking.. but, the thing is.. what if this is going on all over the place? The hospitals, police stations, whatever, are going to be flooded with people.. I doubt we could get any care.. and what's worse.. if those things come after those places.. there'd be no way out. We'd be trapped.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Straining against the seatbelt, Skunk sways from side to side, wondering briefly if this would be a better way to die than at the firey hands of the things they fled.

"Umm...maybe we should actually slow down...a little...? Those things are way behind us...it'd be kinda sad if we all ended up in the hospital."

If it hadn't been so long since he'd eaten, he'd swear a ham sandwich and oversized gherkin were worming their way toward his throat.

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff sits in the back seat, the back of his neck throbbing where the glass cut it, but otherwise having an extremely Zen moment. He notices, much to his suprise, that the woman next to him isn't in fact the lady from the bus- he works his mouth for several seconds, securely strapped into the car with his seatbelt, his his feet wedged under Jack's chair to keep him from moving with the car flying around. Finally, he decides that he'll have to explain later, and looks over his shoulder to Tom, who was also showered with glass.

Raising his voice above the shrieking of the tires and other driving sounds, he'll tell Tom, "I'm sorry if I freaked out at you back there- have you ever had one of those dreams where you had a hard time telling between what was real and what wasn't? I had a bunch of those in a row, and I wasn't sure what was going on when I woke up."

Jeff then turns back to face forward, not really sure why he had to offer the big lug an explanation. Except that, of course, of all the people on this litte crazy adventure, he seemed to get along with Tom the best. And maybe Ed. But Ed and he had taken turns being out most of the evening with a gunshot wound, so it was hard to say how well the two of them clicked.

[GazMania]

Tom

Tom smiles broadly at Jeff, his mouth full of teeth which are suprisingly straight when his choice of occupation is taken into mind. "Don't ya worry 'bout it, I understand." However, while Tom thought that Jeff should not be worrying about offending him, he should definately be worrying about Jack's driving. "You all right up there Jack? I 'aint too sure where any hospital is round 'ere. Ya might want to think 'bout slowin' down when we away from them things..." Holding onto the door and seat as if his life depended on it, which it did right now, Tom searches his memory for where any hospital is around here.

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge Check (1d20+1=14)

[HellFencer]

Jack, in his state of panicked driving, does manage to remember how to get back to the hostpital. Unfortunately, he remembers that its in the opposite direction. He'd either have to backtrack, or go around another way. Slowly, the images of burning men fades from the view of any in the vehicle, giving both a feeling of relief, and worry.

The rain lightens a little, as the first cracks of dawn encroach upon the world, like a cleaning light that burns away all the wicked and vile things that have gone wrong with this day. Up ahead, those looking forward can see that the city looks to have gone slightly mad, as it looks as through a massive riot came through overnight. Cars are upturned, street lamps knocked over, windows and doors broke out. The carnage is unreal for such a civilized area. Several vehicles are abandoned or smashed in the middle of the road, causing Jack to slow down. As the heartbeat within each of your chest slows and evens out, the sound of sirens can finally be heard. Lots of them, it seems.

[WhiteKnight777]

*Jack mutters to himself, shaking his head*

The hospital is the other damn way... we'd have to double back or turn around. If you want me to be perfectly honest, I think we'd have better luck salvaging a medical kit from somewhere else, getting some antibiotics and other supplies, and patching up those as need it.. then finding somewhere to hole up. Prefereably after snagging a damn bit of firepower.

[GazMania]

Tom

Tom's eyes widen a little at the destruction he can see in front of them. Thoughts run through his mind, humans doing this would be dangerous enough, but with all the other supernatural crap that had been happening through the night, is it certain that something more sinister is not the cause of it all?

"I don't know 'bout you lot, but that out there.. Whatevers caused it, do we really want to hang around in case they come back? An them sirens.. If the police 'aint mad, or worse.. You think we could get the blame for this? Ya know, wrong place, wrong time an all that... I really don't wanna stay and find out..."

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Seeing the wreckage ahead, Skunk says, "Whoa! Looks like this crap wasn't isolated to just where we were. Did we miss a tornado or something, cuz I don't remember one." He knows, as he blithely passes blame to some natural phenomenon, that the lampposts that flung themselves at him the night before weren't doing so because of weather, but for now, it was easier to just consider the situation in more rational terms despite everything.

At the voiced concerns of Jack and Tom, Skunk thinks a moment as the car slows. He shrugged not really knowing what to make of the situation now, but says, "Unless the cops think we're capable of throwing cars into the street or ripping down lampposts, it figures unlikely we'd be blamed for anything. However, I guess it'd be a good idea to remind everyone that some of us are are carrying firearms and driving a stolen vehicle. We'd be more likely to be arrested as looters, and that ain't a good thing either."

He looks around through one window then another, and finally says to Jack, "I think we should split away from this area and maybe find a phone booth or something to look up a hospital nearer by--911 even, if the line isn't dead--or maybe we can just drive away a bit and double back through an area that isn't screwed? If you know the area enough to do it, that is."

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff gives Tom a grin, and turns around to keep an eye on Jack's driving. He was more than a little glad the big guy was okay with him. After hearing Skunk's assessment, Jeff finally felt the need to speak up.

"I think the 911 dispatchers are already going to have a lot to deal with. I say we find a gun store and load up. If this is the apocalypse, I want to be packin heat."

With the mention of weapons, Jeff notices that this guy grabbed the rifle from that closet, and a thought strikes him. Sticking his hand in his pocket, he comes out with a half box of bullets. "Hey man- these are for that rifle. I forgot all about it."

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Skunk looks back over his shoulder as Jeff offers the box of shells, and says in return, "Ah! I was wondering why there weren't any shells with this thing. Hey, you got a weapon? I have a pistol, which I'm fine with, you want to use this rifle, then?" He turns away from Jeff and grabs the barrel of the rifle, as it sits diagonally with its butt in the footwell and the barrel leaning against the seat, then turns back to Jeff....

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff shrugs after passing the ammunition to the punker. "Naw, dude, I'm not really one for guns. I try to have a more zen outlook on things." He glances momentarily over his shoulder at Tom, aware of how hypocritical that sounds to himself.

"I just figure that Jack here seems to have some combat experience, you seem to know how to handle a gun, and I'd feel a lot more secure if you both were armed. Maybe I could carry a fire extinguisher in case those flame things show back up."

[WhiteKnight777]

Jack

*Jack chuckles a little at that*

yeah.. you could say i've got some combat experience. And I agree, we should get tooled up. Let's see...

(Do I know if there's a sporting goods, or better yet, a gun store in this area? or do I need another check?)

[HellFencer]

Moved to OOC.

[WhiteKnight777]

*Jack remembers a local gunstore. Making a beeline for it, he turns south on St. Logan street, then west onto Lincoln Way, heading for the Midwest Gun Exchange*

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

"Oh, I can use the thing, just figured until we can suit up we might be better off spreading the goodies around," he says to Jeff, as he ultimately accepts the box of shells.

Skunk peers into the rear of the SUV noting after a long absence of paying attention that it wasn't just Jeff that had been shot, but also Ed. Up til now, he hadn't even noticed Ed had been injured and wondered now when that happened. But then the memory of shots ringing out from the darkened main room as he was searching for the breaker box wandered to the forefront of his mind. Must'a been.

"Hmm...if I'm not mistaken, I think we're also headed in the right direction to get to St. Joe's...." He once again turns his attention to the occupants behind him, speaking in general but obviously expecting answers from Jeff and Ed, "Hey, you guys got insurance or anything? How we gonna do this at the hospital? They ain't gonna be able to take care of you instantly especially seeing as how neither of you are exactly bleeding to death, and they might even be regulated so they have to call the cops when a gunshot wound comes in. That might get messy if the rest of us are hangin' around knee-deep in guns'n'ammo."

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff is still putting pressure on his gunshot wound, and he glances over at Ed, who seems to be dazed. It doesn't look like he's responding to anything, which means the injury might be worse than it seems. At the punk's question, Jeff shakes his head no, and then mutters "Don't worry about that- I got it covered. My friends at the Bureau can cover for us."

Okay, you just lied to these guys and sort of told them you're an FBI agent. Your damn spell better work this time, dude.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Skunk nods his understanding, but adds, "Well, I'm gonna hang back when we get there. I don't think everyone will have to go in, anyway. Hmm...we gonna leave you guys there and split, or what?"

He catches himself just before he continues, an odd look on his face.

"What exactly are we gonna do? If the hospital's workin' like normal and cops are on calls and stuff, where's that leave us and the weird **** we played with tonight? I mean, something's goin' on, even if it ain't made it very far yet. Hmm...I wonder..." He trails off and reaches toward the radio, flipping it on and pressing the proper buttons to tune it to 960AM, the frequency of WSBT, a local news radio station.

[WhiteKnight777]

*Jack nods, slowing the car to a more sedate pace to give the group some time to think*

Good thinking.. we need some information here. I really think it's best to avoid the hospital, but if you guys think it's vital i'll get us there... I just think it might end up being more dangerous there than on our own. I'd prefer to get us a boatload of ammo.. then find somewhere defensible.. like one of the old-style prisons with the fifty-foot tall concrete walls. Assuming all the prisoners were gone... And hole up until this **** blows over. If it does.

[HellFencer]

A chill runs up Jack's spine as he considers what it could mean if none of this every goes away, and just progressively gets worse. He follows his instincts and drives carefully up to a light at Logan and Mishawaka Ave., noticing that the lights are still on. A block back, the lights all are intact, meaning the group has passed through the "blackout zone". Its a sigh of relief as he turns the corner. That is, until he sees part of the wall on the bridge is broken off, and several cars are piled up around the area. As you approach, it is obvious that some amount of cars have been pushed over the edge, as skid marks show blatantly what happened. The steet lamps are oddly still intact here, and buzzing away.

Over the river, you can all see the beginnings of the rising sun as Skunk flips through news channels to find the local WSBT. As you all pull around the next corner onto Licolnway, heading west, the news station finally comes in with a broadcast.

"..I repeat, stay indoors if possible. We have reports coming in from multiple sources confirming previous accounts of violence. As far as our knowledge extends, the only safe place is indoors, as far away from the violence in the streets as possible. Do not, I repeat do not engage any of the aggressors in any way. They are considered extremely dangerous. The Government is considering putting many cities under martial law at this point, but nothing concrete at this point. If you are just tuning in, then you should be aware that the city of South Bend and surrounding counties are in a state of extreme danger."

At this point, he is interrupted by shouting people and the sound of a gunshot, followed by howling screams of panic. The soundstage is thrown into chaos as people scream about madmen in the streets. The sound of automatic weapon fire is heard, but abruptly cut off, followed by a quick shout and a thud. Groans and shouts of "I'll eat your brain! I'll eat your brain! I'll eat your fecking brain!!!!!" before gurgling screams fill the station. At some point, the sound is shut off, probably from a remote source.

By now, the gun shop is within view, though it looks to have seen much better days. The windows are all broke out, and the door is pulled down into the parking lot. Oddly enough, the lights are still on on this block.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

With his eyes rolled up into the top of their sockets in a brief waiting period after the radio silence cut in, as if expecting it to suddenly all go back to normal, Skunk finally says, "Umm...****ing ay. Well, boys and girls, it looks like we're definitely not in Kansas anymore!" The statement would be oddly humorous if not for the prevailing situation. It would also be more effective if not for that fact they were in Indiana, which isn't a helluva lot different.

He grabs the empty rifle, positions the box of shells in his lap and begins slapping them, one by one, into place. Five shells go in, and the rifle is locked.

"I'm just a whole lotta whatever right now, but I'm keeping the rifle now! And I dunno just what the hell's going on, but at some point I want to go back to my apartment and get my baby. If the ****'s hittin' the fan, I want my best fan." The punker, whose mohawk, by now, has re-solidified not only bent, but at an odd angle, seems to be talking mostly to himself, though at full volume. Whatever he's talking about is, so far, lost on you.

[GazMania]

Tom

Tom hadn't really been listening to the others as they worked on the plan of what they should do next. His mind had wandered into a world of its own, a world he was all too familiar with, when the sight in front of him snapped him back into reality. "Oh man.." he mutters under his breath, more than thankful when the car turned the corner and out of sight of the bridge. His quickened heart rate started to slow down a little, at least it was until the radio tuned in. His eyes widened at the broadcaster. In some way, the horror they had faced during the night seemed to become more real with the realisation that others were experiencing the same thing. He kept quiet for the rest of the broadcast, whincing a little at the gun-shots and shouts. His beating heart slowed down to a roughly normal rate just as they pulled up outside the the gun shop, although he wasn't entirely sure how much of a blessing that was. "So.. err.. We want to go in there?"

[Logain]

Jeff

"Yeah, I'll side with Tom on this one. That gun store looks like it's already been hit, and that means there's probably people holed up in there who aren't keen on sharing."


Jeff scratches his upper lip with one finger, suddenly pulling the anchient chinese text out of his bag and looking through its pages.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

"I'm not sure why anyone would just stay in there, but there might not be enough left to risk it. If we can head back toward my place, there's a shop on Michigan not too far from there. I got me a sweet South African 12-gauge there a couple years back--the owner's got some hot connections for foreign gear. Anyway, if the shop hasn't been ransacked, I bet there's a helluva cache there," Skunk says with obvious enthusiasm, perhaps sinking into the morbid spirit of the situation a bit too much.

He fishes around under his jacket with his left hand and produces the pistol he brandished earlier in the kitchen. Checking it briefly, he lays it flat on his thigh while retaining a grip on it.

"Hmmm...anyone happen to know where the WSBT broadcasts from? From here to there, we know there's mayhem...."