Evil Dead - Versus the World [CONTENT WARNING]

[HellFencer]

The incessant shouting is enough to trigger Jack's deeper formed wiring as a soilder, however it seems to be wearing a little thin. Jack's face goes from a little glazed to focused.

To Jack, the world suddenly seems a bit jarred, as he calms down, and his military training tells him that this never happened in his career. However, with all that is going around, it is enough to snap him back into reality. He clearly sees Jeff trying to help him down to the ground, and Jane with a medkit. The pain in his shoulders flares back up as if it is burning, but only for a few seconds.

Skunk has little trouble finding the door to open, as Ed stands near it, shaking a little. He looks anxious to get out, as if being in this room a second more is a death sentence. It is probably a feeling most here share.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Finding the door that, apparently, leads out into the main store was easy enough. Ed's look of subdued desperation was a bit distracting and Skunk thought for a moment that he might consider it a good idea to split through that door before the rest had their plan set.

Instead of paying any attention to the door, Skunk just made a hard turn, saying, "Heya, Ed." and began briskly walking back through the aisles toward the office where he'd acquired the keys. If that exiting door took one key, then there were two other locks around here that hadn't been bothered with. One might be to the back door, which was now warped beyond the need for a key--maybe an arc-welder or some C4--but not a key. That still left at least one, and the office itself might be the right place.

Just out of caution, he tries to find the path to the office that leads at least one aisle away from the three J's. Even though Jeff looked like he was playing the role well enough, he knew full well that shellshockers could pop at a moment's notice.

[Logain]

Jeff
Jeff is watching Jack rather closely, hoping to have some warning if the guy snaps... again.

Easing him down on the ground, Jeff takes some of the supplies out of the medical kit, and patches Jack up as best he can. Almost apologizing to himself, almost complaining, Jeff sighs "I'm sorry, dude. I wish I could do more. I just don't know enough about this kinda stuff."

With Jack aware and a little patched up, it looks like it's time to grab everyone, get into this place, and get some supplies.

Standing, Jeff looks around to find everyone- Tom, Ed, Skunk, Jack, and Jane. When he finds Skunk, he nods to the punker and asks "Hey, did you have any luck with that box? Do we have keys?"

[Twilight]

Once Jeff is done patching Jack up, Jane picks up the medkit and carefully places it into her pack where it lies next to her textbook.

She follows along and tries to keep a mental note of the layout in this place. You never know when that generator will run out of juice...

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Skunk looks over his shoulder at Jeff, and says, "Yep, three keys. I tried to show 'em to ya earlier, but...you had some screamin' to do. Right now I was just about to check to see if any of them go to anything in this office. One key's enough to unlock the door to the store, assuming one of these is even for that, but the other two must go to something, too."

He begins taking a fairly quick assessment of all the drawers in cabinets, filers, desk and anything else that presents itself.

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff keeps the thought to himself that the keys might all be copies of one master key, and moves off, leaving Skunk to his own devices. Jeff wanders around until he finds Ed again, and tries to bring him back to sit with the group- they're safer together than they are alone, and this way maybe Jeff can use some more of those supplies to patch Ed up.

Trying to guide Ed back to where Jack is sitting, Jeff is going to look for Tom, too. "Hey, dude. Do you think you could give that punker guy a hand? He's going to try all the keys, and I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to wander around alone."

[HellFencer]

Ed refuses to move, yet again, and simply shakes his head. "No way man. We need to get in here. We need to get away from that thing over there..." he says to Jeff, avoiding his hands if need be. Should Jeff become persistant, Ed with shove him away and curse at him. He's still quite pale, but seems strangely renewed.

In the office, Skunk finds very little that might actually be locked, save for a desk drawer. By its shape and location, he deduces easily that sensitive files are probably kept inside since its locked.

[Twilight]

Jane's been following Jeff for lack of better purpose.

"Ed...the thing...it's dead. So if you follow along with us we can move you away from the puddle and corpse. Alright? The faster we figure out supplies the faster we can go get your girlfriend. Ok?"

She uses her most soothing tone in the hopes that it will get Ed to calm down and cooperate.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Spying a locked desk drawer, Skunk wastes no time testing the various keys.

[Logain]

Jeff

Jeff will move back if shoved, but he isn't dropping the issue, and he isn't leaving Ed alone. "Dude, calm down. A moment ago, you were on death's door, and now you're freaking out and shoving people. I don't want you to die or anything man. Come sit down, and we'll get through the door as soon as we can."

[HellFencer]

Jane succeeds in calming Ed down, as he seems to jitter less, and is generally more relaxed. "Look... something.. something just tells me I need to be out of this room. Adrenaline, shock, whatever... I need out of here guys.." he says, almost pleading with his eyes. He still refuses to move from his spot, however.

Skunk tests each key on the desk drawer, finding the last one on the ring opens it. Inside, his vision peers over nearly a hundred files, some labeled with names, others with a department. Even with a thorough search around, behind, and underneath them, Skunk finds exactly nothing of use. One key down, two more to go.

[GazMania]

Tom

"Right you are Jeff..." he mutters as he follows Skunk, realising it would probably be best if at least one person would stay with him. He wished it could be someone else though, out of all the people thrown together into this nightmare, the punker is probably the one Tom finds the weirdest, and he'd had enough of weird for one lifetime.

"Anythin' I can help ya with?" he asks, pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to, but offering nonetheless. Not like ya really need them keys anyways...

[Twilight]

Since Ed refuses to budge from his seat, Jane sits down next to him again. She tries to look him in the eyes as much as possible so that he has something upon which he can focus.

"Ok...well if you're going into shock I think we need to try to keep you awake and as alert as possible, don't we? So let's talk. Where do you feel the need to go if you don't want to stay in this room? Into the store? Outside? We were just going to move to the office before expanding our search for medical supplies such as pain killers. You sure you don't want to at least move there for now?"

She keeps her tone soothing but firm. She tries to sound as though there is a plan underway and hopes that Ed agrees to follow along. Her eyes are closely trained on his face so that he feels that her attention is on him.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Skunk doesn't really pay much attention Tom, his focus on a quick flip through the files. There was absolutely no point in doing it, but it seemed somehow wrong not to at least pay the contents some lip service. Under other circumstances, he might want to read through some of them just out of pure nosiness, but right now it was irrelevant.

Shutting the drawer with something less than compassion for its contents, he turns to face Tom.

"Ahh, there's nothin' in here, anyway. Buncha stupid files, but we got one key that doesn't seem to go to anything. Maybe it's in the main store. The other, I'm guessing, is to the door to the main room, and I'm kinda tired of snooping around in here, anyway."

He steps toward the door, doing a sidestep dance to get around Tom to exit the office.

"Might as well go and see if everyone's ready to split Dullsville."

[HellFencer]

Ed focuses on Jane's face for a moment before tilting his head back. Closing his eyes, he lets out a long sigh, then looks back at her. "Well, that thing is over there, and the only direction I want to go, is through this door away from it. Its gotta lead into the main part of the store right?" Suddenly, a shiver runs through him, as if he's expended too much energy. He grips his shoulder again and sweat begins to form on his brow. "I've gotta.. save..." Ed says, unable to finish.

[Logain]

Jeff

Since Jeff is there, he's going to kneel down next to Jane and check Ed's pulse. He's going to speak softly to Ed and Jane, almost as if trying to make up for shouting at Jack. "Hey man, you alright?"

[HellFencer]

Ed makes a sound with his mouth as though he is out of saliva. He looks as though he is dizzy, even sitting, and leans his head against the wall. Jeff can find a pulse easily enough, though not as strong as he would like it to be. "Yeah... just.. dizzy and.... thristy," he manages to say.

[Logain]

Jeff
Jeff will glance over at Jane. "Where did you leave that first aid kit?" and then turn his attention back to Ed. "Hang on, man. As soon as we stock up on supplies, we'll head down to your girlfriend's place."

Jeff gives Jane a weird look as a thought occours to him. "Maybe he just needs water. I don't know any medical stuff, but he has bled an aweful lot. Maybe we should get him something to drink."

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

The punker spares some time to watch Ed go through his bout of fatique, but saves any remarks he might have for himself. When Ed asks, in a roundabout way, for something to drink, Skunk says, "If we could just decide to make our entrance into the main store, we could probably do a lot better for these guys." A slight wave of his gun hand fairly well indicates he's referring to both Ed and Jack.

"The longer we screw around in here, the worse they're gonna get. Jane, are you all souped up and ready to go see if you can make some new friends out there?"

[WhiteKnight777]

Jack

Jack shakes himself like a dog getting out of water, sweat flying from his brow as he blinks rapidly his breathing calming slowly as he fades back into reality... all be it a rather distorted version.


Thanks. I needed that. What is it you needed me to do again? I kinda zoned out there for a minute. Too many memories, I think. And something's dredging them up.

[Logain]

Jeff
Jeff's face gets a strange look on it- after the nightmares he had while passed out, he can imagine what sort of twisted things Jack could have been thinking about.

After Skunk speaks, Jeff nods. "That sounds good to me. Let's figure out a way to get into the store."

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

"Door to the main store is thataway, I think. It's pretty much the only one I've seen that leads away from the back. If one of these keys doesn't fit the lock, I'll take care of it the old-fashioned way. So, what're we actually going to do? You guys still on the idea of reasoning with a buncha petrified, probably hair-triggered civilians who think this room is their crazy zombie locker?"

He tried not to sound snide, but the idea, while appropriate in normal circumstances, just seemed so out of rational bounds. The attitude pretty much forced its way into his inflection.

Idly, he wonders and mutters the thought, "Maybe if they're just housewives and armchair quarterbacks, they might not have thought to--or had the guts to--put someone nearby to guard the door." Another thought popped up just as he voiced the first. "And we've shot off how many rounds in here? Someone out there must've heard that. Gonna make it even dicier to flip open that door to play ambassador. Better think it through. I'll go with the majority 'cuz I don't wanna be in here any longer than the rest of you, but I'm not gonna get offed by a spastic plumber."

From snide to defiant. Frustration was setting in.

[Logain]

Jeff
"So... if they're listening at the door, and they're waiting for someone to come out, why don't we just shout through the door and talk them into opening it? Seems easier than trying to dodge bullets."

Jeff looks around at the small group. Not that the other people would be able to see them at all, but none of them looked particular trustworthy, himself included. Pretty much everyone but Jane was covered in blood, thier own or someone else's, and that never did much to inspire confidence in ones sanity.

"So, who wants to convince them that we're not psychopaths?"

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

"I dunno. Having the door as a barrier would be great, but anyone out there that could be convinced to open the door based on a voice from in here would have to be a total bonehead. I mean, if you trapped a monster in your closet and a voice from the closet started pleading for you to let it in...err...out...whatever, would you?"

Skunk sorta left it at that, though his somewhat bent brain was already considering alternative options. Nothing more attractive comes up immediately.

[Logain]

Jeff

After a moment's pause, when Skunk's statement sinks in, Jeff swallows. "Well, awesome." he says, standing. Under his breath, he adds, "That was helpful."

Standing, Jeff interlocks his fingers behind his head, trying to relax. He walks around impatiently, and then sighs and drops his arms.

"Well, Dude, we'll never know if we don't try. If you want, I can try and open the door."

Taking the keys from Skunk if they're proffered, Jeff will look at Jane, and with his most convincing smile, asks "Well, wanna come with me and see if they'll let us in?"

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

"Sorry, man. Hard to be upbeat and positive about things while sniffing the stench of a melted zombie-spider, y'know?"

Skunk idly rubs his nose a bit.

"I'll be right behind ya, though. I guess we gotta get in there somehow, but I'm warning ya again, be prepared for a less than civil response. Heh, maybe we'll get lucky and all but one of them in there will have already offed someone else out of panic. Make our job easier, at least."

His seeming nonchalance at the morbid concept was disconcerting enough without the nature of the concept itself.

He regards you with wide, dark-rimmed eyes, waiting.

[HellFencer]

Ed slides up the wall slowly, getting his footing once more, and looks at Jeff and Skunk. "Look, are you two going to argue about the door.... or are we going through?" he says, stopping for a breath. Having not been moving around for a while, Ed seems to have some of his color back, but not much.

Seeing neither of the two move to open the door, Ed pushes off the wall and snatches the keys from whomever is holding them. It takes everyone by surprise a bit, as the mania begins to set in to Ed's face. His eyes go wide and he musters every bit of strength he has left to shove the keys in the doorknob and turn the handle. By some miracle, the knob turns and the door cracks open with a familiar unsealing sound. As if the jar had just been relieved of its lid, to let its contents spill out.

And spill, it does, as Ed presses his body against the door to open it. He slides a little, and Jane moves to catch him, gripping his shoulders. She hauls him up, Jeff reaching to help now as well, though Ed is quickly freed of their grasps as his mania reaches new heights. "SARA, I'M COMING!" he screams insanely, and leaps out of the door, taking several clumsy steps.

The next series of sounds is one that makes everyone, including those used to it, jump a bit out of their skin. Jeff, Jane, and Skunk watch in horror as Ed stumbles out into the flourescent faux heaven, only to be shot six times in the chest and head. Ed drops to a single knee, then the other, spitting up deep red blood. It contrasts how pale he is, spilling out haphazardly onto his shirt and jacket. He twists to the left and hits the ground with a sickening thump. The last word he mouths, is "Sara" before lying still.

And for a moment the chaos is gone, until there is a second sound. This one is much higher pitch, like a snap of glass, and then liquid spilling out. Before anyone can react, Ed's body is covered in a sheet of liquid fire, and the flames rise high, sending warping heat into the air. Shouts of victory are heard, distorted and muted, through the fire.

Spoiler

Show

Ok, I may have taken a few steps that people would have wanted to stop Ed, but I want to keep this story alive, so measures had to be taken. Think of it as a cut scene. I will try to keep these kinds of things to a minimum. Carry on.

[Velvet Elvis]

Skunk

Though he was watching Ed go through his bout of desperation, he wasn't prepared for his actions.

"We're not stalling buddy, we're gonna do someth...."

His words were cut short by Ed's sudden grab for the coil of keys which still dangled from Skunk's finger. Skunk jumped back, away from Ed, but the keys were already in the man's hands. As Ed became more animated, Skunk fell another step away, raising his gun and leveling it at Ed's side.

He knew there'd come a point when the group would try to get inside the store, but hadn't anticipated this scenario. As such, he was left dumbstruck as he watched Ed taking the initiative--or going whacko, whichever.

The results of him flinging himself through the door, were hardly surprising, at least intellectually--Skunk's paranoia was rightly placed often enough--but viscerally it was painful. In his mind's eye he could see Ed being riddled with bullets and...something else...the flare of yellow light only a moment after indicated...fire!

And suddenly he was faced with the image of his parent's apartment ablaze, though he never actually saw it burn, allowed by the timestream to arrive late and enjoy only the smoking aftermath. He'd imagined it so many times, it was as good as reality. An autonomic reaction in the form of anger and depression threatened to pull over his mind the same veil that seemed to have affected Ed, but instead, Skunk reacted physically.

He dives to the floor, left arm outstretched to grab the edge of the open door. He briefly exposes himself to the main room, but his prone position probably hides him from the view of those inside, that and Ed's frying corpse, to which he was unfortunately compelled to cast a glance. For an instant, it wasn't Ed, but Cuthbert Thompson II. He slammed his eyes shut in tandem with the door, rolling up against it.

One rather understated word caps the moment, "Dammit!"

[Logain]

Jeff
As Ed seizes the keys and opens, the door, a dozen half-muttered protests leave Jeff's lips. He grabs the man who falls against the door, intent on pulling him up and giving him a shoulder to lean on, but Ed's manic burst pulls him out of reach. Jeff puts a hand on Jane's shoulder, half telling her to stay back, and half offering to go get him.

Then the shots are fired. The world seems a little surreal, like this horrible day wasn't really happening. As Ed falls dead, and then is set aflame, no thoughts run through Jeff's mind. The horror of it, the shock of it, after this long horrible night, something makes him snap. Skunk rolls forward and slams the door shut just in time, as Jeff leaps forward, pounding against it. In his feral rage, he doesn't seem to think of turning the handle.

"NOOOOOOO!"
"You sons of BITCHES! HE WAS A NORMAL GUY! YOU JUST KILLED MY FRIEND!!!" He shouts into the cold, uncaring steel of the door, punctuating his statements by pounding his fists against the barrier. His face is pulled gaunt, ugly, ferocious, and feral. And for the first time, Jeff doesn't notice or care. "YOU SPOONING BURNED MY FRIEND!!!"

[Nighteyes5678]

Things were not going well. Charles supposed that in some alternate universe, going well would be defined as shooting a complete stranger dead, lighting his corpse on fire and then standing around, waiting for the rest of the stranger's "friends" to attempt to avenge him. This, he was fairly sure, was not that universe and so, things were not going well at all.

Straightening his thick leather coat, Charles made sure that his white collar and the cross hanging by a leather cord from his neck were visible, then stepped forward toward the flaming corpse. Standing at the edge of the ring of men, he made the sign of the cross and muttered a few phrases of Latin; May God have mercy upon his soul. May God have mercy on all their souls.

There was truly only one thing left to do. Mark wouldn't like it; they would most likely have words later, but this was an unquestionable part of his duties here. Madness must be staved off, or it would be the end of them all. So, without hesitating, Charles walked through the ring of men, trying to ignore the various weaponry now pointed at his back. Taking a deep breath, he banished all fear from his voice and spoke loud enough to be heard through the door and, hopefully, the banging and screams from the other side. "Peace, we mean you no harm, believe it or not. There has been a dreadful error made tonight and I trust that we can come together like reasonable men and put it to rest. Will you be willing to talk? I swear upon my oath as a man of God that no immediate harm will come to you." The speech was not the most comforting one Charles had ever delivered, but it was honest. Besides, it was a much warmer welcome than he himself had received at the store; in comparison, those on the other side of the door should be grateful.