[4-14] The Town

[Karl Jak]

Granite
Colonel
Abner
2 Secondaries

 
The five fled from the beach into the forest.
 
It continued to rain through the thick canopy, but for the time being, they were relatively safe.
 

Thought I’d give you some time to collect yourselves.  Expect another update mid-round

[Zack Fair]

The rain pounded against the leaves overhead, but plenty of water still made it down to continue soaking the group of five. They had made it some distance from the chaos, and stopped at Abner’s exhausted insistence. Apparently these other two primes had a lot more endurance than he did, and the two secondaries were clearly fueled by fear and adrenaline. But dammit, he was tired and he needed a break. The idea of taking a moment to compose themselves had appealed to the robot leading the retreat, so that was what they did.
 
A short time later, Abner was sitting on a log and stitching up a nasty gash on one of the secondaries, a young fellow named Trent who obviously didn’t have a lot of worldly experience. The other secondary, a girl named Kristen, was about as equally prepared for this and was pacing not far from them. Abner wasn’t thrilled about having to play babysitter to these two, but at the same time he sympathized with the plight of a secondary far more than that of a prime.
 
The truth was, Abner was certainly learning that he despised primes, even if he was one now. His experience as a Stormtrooper and his meeting with Omni certainly set that belief in motion, and this ordeal with Karl Jak wasn’t helping much. There was certainly a pattern of behavior with those that could shape this world, and it was rarely a helpful one.
 
“Almost done,” Abner said as he nearly finished with the stitches. He wasn’t a trained field medic, but he’d picked up a trick or two over the years. More likely than not, it would hold the injury together until they got off the island. He was still optimistic.
 
“Thanks,” Trent quietly mumbled, still overwhelmed by this entire experience.
 
“Ain’t a thing,” Abner shrugged as he worked. He shot a glance up at the look on the boy’s face, and could see the thousand yard stare he gave off. A little small talk might do the kid good. “So how’d you end up on that plane, anyway?”
 
“Followed a girl,” Trent sheepishly confessed.
 
Abner followed his line of sight to Kristen, who stood oblivious to them as she surveyed the area. Being involved in some castaway soap opera love story didn’t bother him quite as much as he thought it should. He could really only chuckle as he finished sealing the gash.
 
“Me too,” Abner admitted, then stood up. “Get a little rest. We’ll probably need to move soon.”
 
As the girl walked over and the two secondaries sat together, Abner approached Colonel, who stood nearby. Granite, sensing a meeting of the minds, also approached his fellow primes. Colonel looked directly at the human prime when he neared with a stoic stare. The former Stormtrooper, for his part, took his can of chewing tobacco out and put a much needed pinch of dip in his mouth.
 
“Abner, by the way,” he introduced himself, finally. It had been so chaotic that they’d skipped the formalities.
 
“Colonel,” the stern robot replied, then gestured to his companion. “And this is Granite.”
 
Abner nodded as he pocketed the tin of dip. He may have felt a growing dislike and distrust of primes, but he was perfectly kind and agreeable to these two. After all, they hadn’t wronged him in any way, yet. He was sure they’d find a way to eventually, but the chief bastard on his mind was Karl Jak at this point in time.
 
“So, now what?” Abner asked the obvious question. So far, this was the best opportunity he had seen to really make a plan.
 
Colonel allowed a brief pause before he spoke. “We were separated from one of our own in the crash. Reuniting with him would be preferable.”
 
“You think there were others that survived the crash?” Abner asked, crossing his arms as he did.
 
Abner thought back to the plane crash, and the last time he’d seen Christa. Through the chaos the same look of determination had been on her face. He knew that girl was going to get her sister back, come hell or high water. Even as she disappeared into smoke and fire between them, he never lost faith in her.
 
“Me too,” Abner said, simultaneously with Colonel nodding in agreement. Finding Christa was his top priority, now. He looked around and surveyed the jungle that surrounded them. “Don’t know which way to go. I’m new to this prime thing. Anyone got any cool super powers?”
 
“It is difficult to tell on this island. We seem to have been affected in some way,” Colonel admitted.
 
“Whatever we do, we probably shouldn’t stay here long,” Granite chimed in.
 
Abner spat a bit of tobacco on the ground and nodded, as well. Couldn’t argue with that.

[Albert Wesker]

The biggest question they had facing them as of the moment was which way to go. They had no clear options, what with being on an unidentified, unfamiliar island and what not. It made their options limited to 'pick a random direction and go', or 'plan more thoroughly and carefully'. They didn't have the time to do the latter, and the former...wasn't exactly the most appealing prospect, especially after their run-in with the no longer entirely dead back on the beach.

And there was the matter of the two secondary survivors of the crash that had come along with Abner. Just one more complication added on to an already very complicated situation. Looking after them while simultaneously being aware of other possible danger to themselves was just going to make this already stale experience rapidly wear out what little novelty it still had left. And it would also probably be a weight on the minds of the other two. Colonel was just heartless enough not to care if the two secondaries got left behind or died along the way, but he had the distinct feeling that Granite and Abner would be a little less willing to leave them to whatever miserable fate this misbegotten island had in store for them.

The soldier program turned turned away and paced several strides forward, turning his eyes toward the general lay of the forest. Hoping, futilely, he might see something through all the trees. Predictably, he couldn't. The gloom of the forest itself, from the rain still making it through the canopy overhead, and the closeness of the trees themselves effectively blotted out anything more than a couple yards out. "...fantastic," he muttered under his breath. He turned his sight upward, toward the canopy. There was every chance he might be able to catch sight of something from a higher vantage point... Then again, there were the complications of the rain, and his own metallic bulk to be considered. The tree limbs that high up probably wouldn't take kindly to his presence. And the odds of being able to see much of anything in the rain were also not...not that great, really.

This would be a good time to have his operator here. Baryl had been a soldier, in the physical world. He would have had a better idea of what to do in this instance than Colonel did. The cyberworld had its own rules for navigation and survival; the real world had an entirely different set of rules and dangers to watch out for. He was reluctant to admit it, but as he turned back to his two unexpected allies, his grim expression said it all. "It doesn't matter much which way we go. We'll be just as lost."

The human, Abner, didn't look exactly pleased at hearing that, but didn't say much. "Yeah, figured as much. So we just pick a direction and start walking?"

"Preferably one not back the way we came," Granite supplied helpfully.

"Yeah, that'd probably be best, alright." It was hard to tell whether Abner was being sarcastic.

"...right." Colonel cast a glance back in roughly the direction they'd come from. The rough, trampled path they'd made through the forest growth, accompanied by the severed and burned underbrush as Colonel had literally cut his way through, made it quite clear which direction they'd come from, even in the gloom. "Take a bit longer. Rest as you need to. We'll move out at your ready." He didn't like waiting around, even for another minute, but he was forced to accept it might be for the best. Letting the ones who needed rest get what little they could, and taking the time to assess his own damage and distribute power to override or bypass damaged areas. He was going to need to stay at optimum functionality.

A flicker of electricity from a jagged gash in the plating of his arm drew a faint darkening to his expression. Yes. Definitely optimum functionality.

[Karl Jak]

End of Round 4

The quintet of primes and secondaries had just started their trek into the depths of the jungle when they knew the situation was about to go south.

“What is it?”  Colonel asked when he noticed that Abner had stopped moving forward.  Trent and Kristen paused as well, and at the rear of the group, the gargoyle came to a stop and waited to hear news.

“Don’t you hear that?”  Abner whispered before a nearby tree suddenly exploded outward in a shower of sap and splinters.

“Run.”  Colonel barked is everyone started to charge through the forest—their eyes on what lay in front of them, rather than the growing sounds in the misty unknown that surrounded them.

So the group ran.  They kept running until the mud beneath their feet gave way to pavement, and the trees around them were replaced by brick buildings.  While the initial change carried with it a small shock, there was little time to stand in awe of their decrepit surroundings.

There was a heavy crash behind the first four members of the group, but it was only Colonel who turned in time to watch as Granite was bisected by the jaws of some unnatural creature.

“Run!”  The machine shouted once more.  

You’ll escape safely into the city.

Granite is dead and will respawn at the Nexus in three days.

[Karl Jak]

Amber
Art(h)uria
Carmelita

These three have entered the city at a different point. The two groups must remain separate for Round 5 but may decide to link up during Round 6 if they so desire.

[Carmelita]

The town was dark. If there were people living here, there were much fewer than had been at one point, for the windows were dark and curtainless, doors lay open and vehicles were strewn across the streets. The roads that led into the surrounding forest were rapidly lost beneath a carpet of vegetation and soil, even as they turned from solid concrete to dirt.

The group were rapidly entering the suburbs, as a group clustering together, when all of a sudden reality began grating against their senses. Pain, terrible and abrupt, came upon them, and just as quickly it was gone, the only sign it had been there the aching of muscles and nerves that had just been on fire.

Carmelita groaned and held her head. As she did so, a beep sounded in her ear, and she blearily activated her earpieces. The eyepieces came down across her eyes, joining up and displaying the message: signal found.

For a moment she thought that she could open contact with the rest of the Omniverse, but her hopes were quickly dashed when another message appeared: unable to connect to wider network, local service only.

“Do any of you have communicators?” she asked, as they got their bearings back.

Arturia shook her head, and the syntech employees made wry faces. Carmelita turned to Amber. The faunus smiled and pulled a white item from her pockets, which expanded into a small see-through screen.

“I have a scroll. Is yours those earpieces you are wearing? They’re quite fancy.”

“I had help designing them,” Carmelita explained. “If we exchange contacts, I’ll be able to call you in if I see something while I’m scouting.”

The two exchanged the numbers, wavelengths and digital tags that were needed for communicators to call each other, Carmelita typing it in using a virtual keyboard and verbal commands while Amber simply typed it in the keyboard. To test, they rang each other’s communicators, and were happy to find that it worked.

With a way of communication in place, Carmelita suggested she cloak and scout around the side streets for any signs of life or useful supplies, while the others stick together and follow the main streets deeper into the town for safety. If Carmelita found anything, she would call Amber’s scroll, and the group could join her quickly.

There were a few hesitant frowns, but eventually the group agreed. Carmelita gave a friendly salute before pressing a digit to her collar and fading from view down a side street.

---

It wasn’t long before the strategy paid off, though not quite as intended. A battered pharmacy, bricks worn and window broken, lay half boarded up nearby, and Carmelita called the group over from the main street to join her.

The two storey building had the entire ground floor as a store front, while the tenants had likely lived in a flat above. They cautiously entered through the window, but not before they had checked for signs of recent habitation. There were none.

Arturia found the store room, and while the shelves themselves were empty a quick inspection found a box of painkillers and vitamins nestled away where it could easily have been missed. She passed it round, each of the others swallowing a few of the orange tablets and red and blue pills. The knight herself waved them off, stating she prefered her senses sharp, so Carmelita pocketed the remaining pills for later use.

As they sighed, feeling mild relief from their aches, pains, and Amber’s illness, the fox and the cat faunus found themselves looking at a fire escape up a nearby three storey town house that looked as though it had been gutted in a fire.

“Do you reckon we could get a better view from up there?” asked Amber, already moving to rest a hand on her sword. “I reckon I could knock it down if I just…”

Carmelita moved out of the way as the ladder clattered down right where she had been standing, turning to give the faunus a raised eyebrow, to receive a sheepish grin of apology. She shook her head in amusement before they ascended to the metal balcony at the top.

There they could see where they had come from, more or less. The road they’d come in from was one of a bunch that came from the suburb they were in, and the jungle canopy stretched away until broken by the dark blue of the sea beneath the grey clouds. The two of them sat there in silence until Jeremiah called them down to continue on their way.

[2B]

The group found themselves standing once more in the apothecary, as Arturia resumed her search for something that she could use to properly tie the wound in her arm. It took her a small while, before she stumbled upon some unopened packages of gauze, still seemingly clean, as the woman took off her gauntlet, set it onto a nearby shelf, and went to work.

As the rest of the group rested, conversed about possible courses of action, the knight treated to her wound, finally able to properly bandage herself and cover up the wound. After she was done, the knight equipped her gauntlet once more to provide further protection to the wound.

As she finished and approached the others, she offered the remaining package of gauze to Carmelita. “You seem to be in charge of our medical supplies, please, take this.”

Carmelita looked at the knight, as she took the package and examined it for a passing second, before she responded with a slightly thankful voice. “Ah, excellent. I’ll take care of it.” the officer finished as she tucked away the small package, for easier transportation and future use. With that, as she seemed to have the lead in conversation, she presented a simple, yet vital question regarding their future; After all, they’d secured what they had came for. “What do you think we should do next, people? We need water, food and shelter. And once we have settled, should fortify ourselves in this town for the best chances of survival.”

With haste, the knight sought to interrupt. “I am afraid I can not stand idle. I have a companion, companions that I must find. I refuse to stand idle, and should you choose to remain here, I shall not be able to remain with you. While I agree we should rest here for after our journey, and for Amber to get rest, I believe we must scour the city for what supplies we can, and then move out. Whilst I would agree that fortifying ourselves may be wise, I shall also say, that we know not what inhabits this island, and as such we know not if this place is safe for us to inhabit.” With dignity, the knight finished with a curt nod.

“I was not suggesting we stay here forever, merely a night or two to recover in what seems like relative safety. If we plan to seek out more survivors, we'll want a vantage point as both a lookout and somewhere to reconvene if we get separated.” the vixen explained her point of view, offering more insight to what she had thought about their current situation.

The changed, or further elaborated stance was something the knight could attest to, as she responded; “I see. I can agree to that, aye. Then I believe we should head out for supplies as soon as we can, alas, we have just journeyed for hours on end; I suggest we rest a moment.” the knight offered, as she saw the winded state of their companions whom they’d saved from the beach. Whilst none of them were willing to admit such, Arturia had experience in leading her people in battles, so she could see the signs of settling fatigue with ease.

In agreement with their current approach, the group continued their discussion about their upcoming course of action a small while, many of them took the rare chance to rest.

573 words. Not counting the contents of quote.

[Amber Veritz]

As Arturia and Carmelita discussed what they should do next, Amber sat down on the second floor height of the fire escape they'd used to climb up the building. A second to reflect on her condition and situation. Her curiosity of this world had got her stuck on this damn island. She had thought about being stranded before. Being starved, completely dehydrated and no hope of survival. Although now that she looks at it, it was not as bad as she imagined. Sure they were stuck with no apparent escape or necessarily a hope for survival but they were doing their best. Amber had made new acquaintances and she loved it. Working with people other than her team was an odd change but it was thrilling. For once, Amber was not the one making all the big decisions. She merely helped decide the next course of action. Being a leader was her calling, but even the best leaders need a breather on the bench.

The pain in the faunus's knees had subsided, and she didn't feel so sickly anymore. It had not been more than an hour since she had taken the medication they found but just knowing it was in her system boosted her confidence that she would soon feel better. Amber took a deep breath and looked off into the midday sky. One of the few things that she could consider beautiful on this island, and she was not a girl just to call something beautiful.

Distracted, the zoned out Amber stared into the distance as Carmelita called for her to come down. “Hey! Amber come on, we're leaving now!” No response. The cat girl was too deep in thought. Carmelita raised her voice a little more. “Amber!” Finally coming to her senses, Amber jumped as her name was called out and looked down. “Uh, sorry! I got distracted.” She slid down the ladder to the bottom and met up with her companions. “I highly suggest we find a munitions store if one exist around here. I'm running dangerously low on bullets and I obviously can't provide fire support without bullets.”

“Alright, let's get Amber her bullets if we can find any, then we can look for a grocery store or something similar. After we get food and water we can hole up in a house, where there's hopefully furniture. Sound good?” The whole team nodded and continued on their journey of survival. They walked around the cars that littered street. Vines of weeds rose from cracks in the pavement that used to be a road. Carmelita scouted ahead as usual as the rest of the group followed behind her. After short period of walking, they did happen upon an ammunition depot. Unfortunately, all that was left in the store was ammunition, no extra guns for their secondary friends, who had settled with some extra knives the in the case counter. On the plus side, Amber was able to find her bullet type. Enough to make three clips in fact. “This'll hold me off for awhile longer.”

“Good, let's find some food, I'm starving.” Jeremiah said. “Alright, alright. Let's find a grocery store or somethin’. Carmel lead the way.” After leaving the ammo store, it didn't take long for them to find food. Less than a mile away, they found a gas station. It was locked up but Amber just smashed down the door with Razorback. If it was still locked, that means no one has been inside. Hopefully some of the food was not too badly aged. Looking around, they did find some food that didn't smell terrible and some freezer cooled food they could heat up. The paper on the cans were too worn to read the expiration dates. After a quick meal, the seven man team resumed their previous search for shelter.

[Albert Wesker]

Colonel whirled back around as he gave his single word order. There was little time to do anything else. Granite had been made of stern stuff; he was extremely hardy and durable. If whatever was after them could bite right through him...then none of the rest of them stood a ghost of a chance. He didn't like retreating, but he liked fighting the unknown a whole lot more.

"Any bright ideas?" Abner called back.

A low, crackling noise heralded the response. "You might say that." It was hard to build up a charge on the run. The focus it required made it difficult to keep fully aware of his surroundings, and left him able to only charge straight ahead. Which suited his current plan just fine.

His eyes snapped to the right, to a gap between two buildings up ahead. That should suffice. "Turn up ahead. Down that alley."

"I just hope you know what you're doing here..." came the response from the man, Trent.

"I'm improvising." The soldier navi's response did not inspire confidence, but all the same the group did as instructed. "Shout if it's a dead end!"

"It's clear!" Abner this time.

"Good. Go!" Colonel made it only to the entrance of the alley before he spun on one heel and leaped up and backward. His energy saber came up, and after a moment's delay, lining up his angle of attack just so...he struck. A blade of emerald light crashed into the two nearly adjacent buildings near the base, producing a horrendous cacophony of exploding brick and the thunder of energy sizzling in the still air. Huge sections of both walls came tumbling down, only producing more of a racket and throwing up thick clouds of dust and soot, and quite effectively blocking the way to follow them on foot. Whether it would do any good or not was anyone's guess.

If it really had been a wild animal, that much of a ruckus would hopefully scare them off, or at least make them hesitate. And even then, just a few seconds to get more of a head start on vanishing into the city could be invaluable.

...but it wasn't all positive.

The war machine came stumbling out of the roiling clouds of dislodged grit, his left arm desperately clutching at the navi emblem on his chest in a very human fashion. Expression twisted into a teeth-baring grimace, he slowly made his way forward, down an adjoining alleyway. This wasn't natural. The sudden output of energy coincided all too eerily with clawed hand deciding to rummage about in his internal components, smashing and shifting things about at its random, cruel whimsy. It was all he could do to stay upright and moving, slowly shuffling down the alley and out into the street again.

A short, sharp whistle from the other side of the street alerted the machine to the presence of his other three companions -- for now, at the least -- and he made a beeline for them. They looked just about as terrible as he felt, and there was the alarming presence of blood splattered on the ground near them. Whatever it was that got him, probably.

He shoved aside the expected "The hell was THAT?!" question with a simple "Keep moving!" and barged right past them. The pain in his chest was easing now, and he suspected the human term for it might have been it was 'becoming easier to breathe'. His pace slowly quickened, his focus sharpening without pain to distract and dull it, and after a time, he finally relented in the mad dash.

"No sounds of pursuit..." He made a short survey of their current surroundings, taking in the depressing state of the city about them. He seemed satisfied at whatever he found -- or didn't find, as the case more probably was.

"Right. So, next order of business: avoiding letting anything sneak up on again, yeah?" Abner spoke up. "And seeing if there aren't any supplies somewhere in this city. Grabbed some from the plane wreckage, but they ain't gonna last forever."

"...right." Supplies. Very human thing to need. For a moment, Colonel debated shooting down that idea, as they really didn't have the time to waste, but had to stop himself. He was a machine, at least here in the Omniverse. He could keep running just about indefinitely, provided he didn't get too badly damaged. Even back home, humans had been different. They had more basic necessities they required. "Given the state of this town, don't get your hopes up. But start looking."

782/2400 words, according to on-site wordcounter.

[Carmelita]

It was as they discussed options for shelter that Arturia turned to Carmelita and raised the point they’d discussed earlier.

“You said that we should find somewhere we could reconvene at that would also serve as a vantage point, correct?”

“Yes,” Carmelita nodded, unsure as to where this was going. “Why?”

The knight pointed at the skyline of the town. From where they stood in the open lot of the gas station, most of it was hidden by the two-story houses around them, but the street revealed a set of tower blocks further into the city, on top of a small hill that raised them above the surrounding houses.

“Then perhaps we should rest there for the night.”

The group looked at each other and gave signs of approval. The sun was beginning to peek out of the clouds as they lessened, casting afternoon light on the group. Jazz was the one to spot the problem, looking at the canned food that remained.

“So how are we going to get this lot over there?” she asked. “I may be wearing my age well, but that’s a long way to carry all this.”

Amber kicked one of the abandoned vehicles that lay in the street, flat tires and all.

“This lot won’t help,” she said. “It’s not like someone abandoned perfectly good cars and vans. Every one we’ve passed has had something wrong with it, a broken axle, busted engine, empty fuel tank…”

They nodded. Carmelita had checked the pumps as the second thing that might have been booby-trapped when she had scouted the location, and all of them had been drained dry. Some vehicles had had their fuel tanks siphoned, she could tell, though how recently was anyone’s guess.

“Hey, where’s Jess and Jonah?”

Jeremiah’s query was swiftly answered as the two emerged from the vandalised store across the street wheeling several trolleys. Carmelita wasted no time in giving them a dressing down about going off on their own without some type of backup, but after the sparks stopped flying the group gathered the food in the trolleys and set off for the high-rises.

As they walked, Carmelita pressed a digit to her collar and the familiar smell of singed air wafted into her muzzle. With a wave of a fading hand, she jogged ahead down the road, the asphalt beneath her feet slightly damp.

There was a shallow valley to cross between the gas station and the high-rises, and Carmelita slowed down as she reached the bottom of it. There was a crossroads with a set of inactive traffic lights proudly displayed on the left hand side of the road, and she put a hand against the cool metal as she looked around for any signs of an ambush.

A glint caught her eye, and she carefully made her way to a small betting shop. The door inside was open, so she snuck over to the stairs which were thick with undisturbed dust. She carefully climbed the stairs, feeling each wooden step to avoid the sound of creaking, and opened the upstairs door to find herself in an abandoned flat. A telescope, the source of the glint, lay abandoned by one of the open windows, and she stood next to it to survey the rest of the buildings.

Satisfied that the crossroads was secure, she swung out of the window and lowered herself from the sill, dropping onto the top of an abandoned pick-up truck before heading along the road up the hill. She could see the others halfway down the street, and called Amber’s scroll on her earpieces.

++What’s up?++

“The crossroads seems clear, I’m heading up the street to the highrise. I’ll call again if I see anything.”

++Got it++

Ending the call, Carmelita continued on her way. There was a gutter, clogged with leaves, whose puddle was filled with cigarette butts, and she spotted a few railings that had blood on them, not washed away from the rain. Frowning, she slowed her pace, carefully examining each house as she passed for any signs of possible occupants.

She saw more signs of recent living beings as she got nearer the high-rise, including the skid-marks made in mud near the top of the hill. The high rises themselves seemed untouched, though, except from some graffiti.

“Amber,” she called again, her eyepieces sending an image. “I’ve got evidence of people. No idea where they’re living, but someone’s around. Keep an ear out for vehicles.”

++Sure. We’re halfway up the street. Is there anyone at the high-rises?++

“Not sure, no outside evidence. If there is, they’re keeping quiet inside.”

As the remaining six crested the ridge and entered into the small unkempt grassy area that surrounded the three tall buildings, Carmelita waited, her shock pistol drawn as she crept around cloaked, looking for any sign of an ambush.

[Zack Fair]

With a moment to breathe and think, Abner first wondered how exactly this town had time to be built, inhabited, and then abandoned so it could degrade into this derelict state. Either something big was happening right under Karl Jak’s nose, or the overseer of this Verse was playing them all very well. In Abner’s mind, both options were equally likely and also equally as bad. This place was full of surprises, the latest being whatever the hell had just ran them into this town. He just wanted to get Christa and get the hell out of here. Was that really too much to ask?
 
“Probably,” Abner muttered the answer to his rhetorical question out loud, earning himself two confused looks from the duo of secondaries.
 
Colonel was right, though. The odds of finding something useful were abysmally low. Abner spotted a building worth investigating, however. In the midst of this city was a decent sized saloon, complete with old school swinging doors, just like in every old western movie he’d ever seen. Sure, the odds of finding alcohol were part of the appeal, but other supplies would likely be in here, as well. Despite its traditional appearance, the building was still made with the same brick and mortar that all the others on the block were constructed out of. Combined with the few exits he saw, this would make it defensible for the duration of their search, which should also ease Colonel’s processors.
 
Convinced this was the place to start, Abner drew his pistol and approached the saloon doors. He shoved them open and immediately stepped in with his gun raised, avoiding lingering in the doorway. To his great pleasure, the place was completely deserted. While he scanned the open floorplan, Trent and Kristen followed behind him, with Colonel entering last. Abner grimaced. He didn't doubt Colonel's ability, but with these two untrained secondaries in tow he couldn’t exactly clear the building like he wanted, so he’d have to chance it.
 
“This place should have a storeroom,” Abner announced, holstering his firearm as he did. He grabbed Trent by the man’s good arm and guided him to a chair, then forced him into it. “Sit. Rest.”
 
“Get what you need,” Colonel was brief and stern as he stayed near the doorframe and peered out at the abandoned streets. The only thing that escaped the observant machine’s eyesight was Abner’s silent, mocking imitation of his orders.
 
Abner got serious, though, pointing to Kristen and then the back room as he approached one of the doors. “Come on. Let’s take a look.”
 
The young redhead jogged after him, and Abner kicked the wooden door leading to the back open. He honestly had no idea if it was necessary to enter it so forcibly, but it did feel good. Little victories. Fortunately, nothing jumped from the shadows, so they were free to investigate in peace.
 
“Alright, look around, grab anything useful,” Abner ordered, not even looking to Kristen to see her blank look.
 
“Like…what?” the shellshocked secondary asked quietly.
 
“Anything that’ll keep us alive,” Abner explained as he started ripping cabinets open. “Preferably some medicine for your boy, out there.”
 
“I, like…I don’t know what exactly to look for in medicine,” Kristen flatly admitted. She wasn’t exactly a survivalist.
 
Abner groaned. It wasn’t her fault, but he really didn’t need this level of inexperience slowing them down. “How about food? You know what food looks like?” He turned around to see the girl silently nodding in embarrassment. The older man just rolled his eyes in response. “Find food.”
 
Leaving Kristen to her task, the ex-trooper continued to rip through cabinets, grabbing anything that looked possibly useful. This place had clearly been looted already, though in somewhat of a rush. Anything remotely hidden was still there, so he found a little bit of painkillers, medicine, and all the makings of a first aid kit with a bit of spelunking. What really concerned him was wondering why this place had been ransacked once before. Best case scenario to him was that it was Christa, or another survivor from the plane crash that had hit it. Maybe they'd even still be nearby.
 
Abner gripped his stomach suddenly, feeling a pain unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. It was as if something was churning from inside of him, trying to rearrange his internal organs. He stumbled forwards and braced himself against a table, and suddenly vomited a glob of blood onto it. Just as soon as it happened, he felt fine again. Abner turned to see Kristen puke in much the same way.
 
“You alright?” Abner asked the girl. Was there something in the air here?
 
“I think so?” Kristen responded, the confusion dominating her tone.
 
Abner stormed back into the main room, where Colonel was stepping away from Trent. He looked to the machine, then the boy. There was another stain of blood on the floor near where he was seated.
 
“Did he just throw up blood?” Abner asked Colonel directly, because he needed to talk with someone that could keep it together. “Because we just did, too.”
 
“Yes, and something felt like it was tearing me apart, as well,” Colonel replied. “I’m sure I would have too, were it possible.”
 
“What the fuck?” Abner asked aloud, looking back to Kristen as she entered the room behind him, then at Trent. He then looked back to Colonel. The robot should not be suffering the same effects as them. It just didn’t make sense.
 
“We need to go,” Colonel announced, and Abner had to agree. Sleep could wait. After all, the ex-trooper figured the machine was sticking around for strength in numbers, and if the rest of them became a liability he would likely bail.
 
“Yea,” Abner agreed, then pointed to Kristen again. “Get everything we set aside bagged up. We’ll sort it later.”
 
Kristen quickly nodded and ran back into the storage room, and Trent followed after her, wanting to find a way to be useful. In the meantime, Abner and Colonel went to the entrance, and stood  on opposite sides of the doorframe. They gazed out at the empty street, staying ever vigilant.
 
“What the hell is this island?” Abner asked aloud, unable to stop himself. He was beginning to feel overwhelmed, too.
 
“I don’t know,” Colonel replied without emotion.
 
Abner could only sigh in exasperation. He’d seen a lot of strange shit in his days in the Omniverse, but the Dante Verse really took the cake.

[Karl Jak]

End of Round 5

As the two separate groups settled into the town, they remain blissfully unaware of two additional figures slipping out of the woods and finding themselves in the shadow of a dilapidated hotel building.

Gin and Remilia have entered the Town.

[Carmelita]

As the group finished checking the area around the blocks for any signs of potential inhabitants, Carmelita, Amber and Arturia prepared to enter one of the three high-rises.

The three of them readied their weapons as they approached the building. Since none of them owned a keycard, Carmelita was lifted up to the balcony of the first floor by the other two, and she slipped into the room through the open glass door.

The flat was unkempt, rainwater soiling the carpet by the open window and leaf litter blown about the apartment. Clothes lay dusty strewn about the bedroom, and Carmelita eased open a door to find herself in the kitchen and living space. The main door to the apartment was locked with a bolt, and an intercom lay nearby to buzz people into the building.

She furrowed her brow. If the bolt was drawn, and no one was in… where was the occupant? Cautiously, she eased open the last door to find a bathroom, slightly mouldy, with a bin full of feathers next to the shower. A quick browsing of the toiletries revealed a can of wing wax amongst talon polish and moisturiser, and she filed that piece of information away for later discussion.

Satisfied she was alone in the apartment, she buzzed the others in with the intercom.

“Is the door unlocked?” she asked Amber, who had been patiently waiting with her scroll.

++Yes.++

“I’m surprised the electricity is still working... I wonder if there’s a generator?”

The three reconvened in the entry hall, a small square room that lay at the bottom of a well of stairs that wound up all six flights above them. Most of the doors visible hung open, and those that didn’t opened upon pushing. One of the windowless rooms on the ground floor appeared to be a laundromat, a few of the machines still with sodden piles of linen inside, while the other contained a small generator, though what exactly was generating the electricity was kept firmly within the crazy pipework that lined the walls of the room. A sign cheerily warned all residents to call an expert if something went wrong, and that the last person who tried to DIY it ended up with three heads.

They looked at each other in concern, but opened the front door and gestured the others to come in and take shelter in the laundromat.

As the door clicked shut behind Jeremiah, the three discussed how to handle clearing the floors.

“There’s six floors above us, each with four flats, and it’s getting dark,” Carmelita observed. “We should check them all before night falls properly.”

Arturia nodded and gestured to the ceiling, where a skylight allowed natural light to filter down the stairwell.

“I’ll take the top two floors. I want to get a good view of the land before the light goes.”

“Bottom two means less stairs for me!” Amber chipped in cheerily, before turning to check Carmelita was okay with the division of labour.

She smiled and nodded, amused by Amber’s chipper tone. The four syntech employees were happy to have a rest before carrying everything up the stairs, and were rummaging through the shopping carts discussing what should be eaten for supper. The three primes all headed up the stairs, and Amber popped into the room Carmelita had entered to close the glass door there.

On the third floor, Carmelita gave Arturia a nod before trying the first door on the landing. It opened easily, and she found herself in a garish orange kitchen with pictures of puppies on every wall. A copy of the residents guide lay pinned to a cork board by the door, the words NO PETS scrawled repeatedly in thick black marker over the faded paper and underlined multiple times. Aside from that, it was identical to the apartment she’d looked at downstairs, with a bedroom with a glass door onto a balcony and a bathroom off the other direction. Out of curiosity, she tried the plumbing, and the toilet flushed out some heavily coloured liquid with dirty, muddy water. Carmelita was glad that they’d had the presence of mind to grab bottled water back at the gas station.

The next two flats were empty, dusty and lifeless, the beds neatly made and the cupboards bare. The last apartment on the floor, however, was painted pitch black. Even the light had been fitted with a black lampshade, and Carmelita spotted a sticky note on the door of the black fridge which had a date and time, along with the words ‘Goth Festival starts’. The bedroom’s glass door had been painted over as well, and the light dimly illuminated an empty coffin in place of the bed. The bathroom contained several epipens labelled for holy water and garlic, and Carmelita’s eye twitched upon finding several bags labelled AB+ in the freezer compartment of the otherwise empty fridge.

Leaving the floor with rapidity, she grasped her shock pistol’s grip tighter as she began on the fourth floor.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Their travel back through the forest had been much lovelier now that the vampire’s basic needs had been met and the urgency of survival had passed over. With a day under their belt the insurmountable terror of the island had lost of some of its edge, although both the vampire and the fighter knew it would be folly to believe that they were safe. But they did take this time to look farther into the future for longer term goals. If they’re to get off this island, if that was a possibility, they would have to search for some kind of transport. If they could get a message back to the origin then there was the possibility that whatever had marooned them here would do the same to their rescue and only cause further complications and misery. The outcome itself would be just as harrowing if they failed, perhaps left in the middle of a endless ocean and left delirious and wishing for the quicker death of the island.

Although it wasn’t mentioned, both Remilia and Gin came to that same conclusion and shuffled that thought for when they had regrouped with everyone back at the beach.

“I’m not seeing a town” Gin commented as he tried to ignore the existential horror. It was true, the canopy of the forest lacked the characteristic blocky skyline that any sign of modern civilization would have whenever they could peak through the thick foliage. There was already the question of if they should trust a scribbled of a psychopath, and they knew that the island played fast and loose with geography.

“It’ll be there” Remilia’s confidence and charisma pushed out as always, giving the redhead at least some small comfort. At least she optimistic.

And sure enough, as a few bushes we pushed from their path, the tall grass gave into road and building built thick far across the clearing. It wasn’t there a second ago, but it was where the map said it would be and that raised their spirits as things now started to seem like sense. There was a method to his madness and that meant progress could be made.

Or so they hoped.

The first building that stood out to them was a hotel that sat at the corner of the widest road in sight, meant for weary travelers but now left to the weeds. It was one of those chain hotels, nice enough to look at it with the sun shined off it’s many windows checkered across the front. But once inside you’d find your room not meant to live in but rather to hold the things you didn’t want to carry. The liquor store across the street from it in particular gave a good picture of what kind of patrons it expected.

Since its existence meant it expected travelers to come here, an unlikely prospect on this island, it meant that this town like the carnival before them had been abducted as well. Unless it was here to fulfill some greater illusion that even the scarlet devil could not fathom the scheme it was a part of, there had to be some treasure inside. There was little hope for anything to entertain Remilia (the pool in particular, and there’s always a pool, would probably be more a man made pond at this point), but she was sure there would at least be something to find for food and if nothing else a perfectly good roof to scan the surrounding from.

However, as the duo stood anxiously in front of the shattered glass double door at the front of this abandoned inn, the prospect of who, or what, might still lurk inside kept them rooted on the cracked concrete path. It had been bad enough back at the open street of the circus, inside the cramped hallways and many rooms of this building was a tactically horrifying thought. Gin was used to such close fighting in his life before the Omniverse, but that only meant that he knew more than most on this island what kind of nightmare that was. Remilia was just simply weak, her ability to summon new spell cards lost with her flight.

“We need a plan” Gin was the one to step forward this time, and Remi nodded “We’ll head straight for the pantry. I’ll take point, and you keep watch” He psyched himself up, as if it was another mission, but the doubt ate a little at him (as well as his emptying stomach). “I’m not sure how much food would be left, though” Time had not been kind to this part of town, floral and fauna had spread its influence far enough in to give the area that extra look of abandonment.

“Rice!” Remilia answered, a look of beaming pride fell on her face with a knowing finger in the air. “It keeps forever as long as it’s in a cool and dry area” That was at least something she remembered from Sakuya’s talk of her maid duties. Certainly she wished her head maid had been here, her knowledge of cooking as well as killing would had made her a valuable asset. 

“On a tropical island?” Gin asked innocently enough, but Remi’s mood still soured as that bit of information crossed over with her point, a pout replaced the smile she had and everything drooped a little (yes, even her umbrella). “Well, it’s still worth a look” and the two walked in.

The lobby had been torn to shreds, all matter of scavengers had plundered anything of value from where the sunbeams that shined in the skylight would allow. What wasn’t either taken or torn apart had been worn down by rain and wind, muddied and dulled. The hallways looked better, but for the same reason that the two hadn’t charged in earlier: who would want to risk going into the unknown?

Well, can’t be cowards now. Gin and Remilia moved into formation and crept through the ill lit hallways.

[Amber Veritz]

Amber took a look at the stairs leading up to the second floor after Arty and Carmel went ahead. They looked safe enough, but while walking on them they seemed to give the opposite impression. The combined weight of both the faunus and her sword was only 120 pounds and both her companions made it up without trouble, yet to the cat girl the stairs felt like they wanted to cave in and swallow her.

The second floor was a bit dark due to the dim lighting along with there only being two windows on either end of the hallway near the stairs. Lucky, being related to cats had its perks. Her keen eyes pierced the darker parts of the hallway in shady gray hues. “There should be four rooms Carmel said. Make sure there's no bad guys, right.” Amber knew she was alone on this floor and that unsettled her, but it wouldn't stop her.

The first room, 201, was on the faunus's left. “201? Why not just make it room 1? There's not hundreds of rooms in this place. Ah nevermind let's just get this over with.” She tried the knob to find it was unlocked. Pushing the door open carefully, with rifle at the ready she moved in quickly. The curtains were open so it was much brighter in the room than the hallway. It was a simple, standard apartment room. The basic one room, living room and bathroom. “Maybe the rooms are better on the upper floors? Well, nothing here. Next room.” She whispered to herself and proceeded to the hallway. Across the hall was room 202. Amber smirked as a joke floated in her head. “Let's see what's behind door number two!” She twisted the handle and pushed the door to find this one was locked. “Well, the new sports car has to be behind this one.” The gears in Razorback hummed as the blade spun around and the grip of the sword shot out.

With a mighty swing, the door cracked open where the deadbolt was. Wood splintered back towards Amber and bounced off her face. “No one denies me my sports cars!” She yelled, as her scroll started ringing.

++Amber what just happened, it sounded like a wall just caved in down there.++

“Everything's alright, found a locked door and busted the deadbolt out of place to get in.”

++Alright, be careful if the door was locked.++

“Yes yes, I know.” She closed her scroll and pushed the door open, Razorback at the ready once more. She stepped in and was met with darkness again. This room smelled terrible, like some left a dead animal carcass lying around. The room was so gray in here to Amber that it was hard to make out anything but general shapes. As she carefully edged her way to open the curtains, something caught under her feet and tripped her up. It rolled away and hit something else with clinking noise. Now the smell was even worse, in fact it was unbearable. The cat girl covered her nose. “Oh my god, who died?! I just wanted my sports car!” She stood and found herself directly in front of the curtains. Swinging them open, she turned around and fell back onto the sliding glass door that led to the balcony covering her mouth trying not to scream. A dead, decaying body lied on the couch of this room surrounded by bottles of beer. Rats scoured away as they saw the light and flies shifted slightly startled at the sudden movement. The female body laid there, obviously well past dead, but Amber’s mind flashed back to the beach. The dead bodies there weren't nearly as decayed but nevertheless her heart skipped three beats. Bolting out of the room, the faunus closed the door behind her. She continued to search the last of the rooms, a little more shaken up than necessary.

[2B]

The knight didn't waste any time climbing up the stairs, after all, she didn't have the luxury to do so, given that she had to reach the top floor before the lights were out.. And as such, her course of action was different from the others. In her tactically driven mind, she calculated the risk of leaving the fifth floor unchecked for a few moments; and as such the result came out favourable. And as such, the knight passed by, rushing to the top of the building, intending to return later.


Pushing open the door leading to the roof blinded her eyes with the sudden brightness of the sun, as a gust of wind slammed the rusted door open, tearing it from the barely attached hinges and flying it across the ceiling, clattering down somewhere. Grimacing, the knight knew what kind of clatter and clang left, when such thing tumbled down and eventually landed upon the ground. Luckily enough for her, the side of the building was covered in grass, so it was more of a thump, than a clang.


At least that way, it was less likely to be heard by anyone.. or anything hiding within their surroundings. Slowly, the knight walked out into the open, taking a look at their surroundings, accompanied by what seemed like the remains of a satellite dish.  The roof was empty for the most part, aside the rubble and fallen leaves. Gandering over the edge, the knight took view of their surroundings, drinking in every last detail she possibly could've, taking a walk around the rooftop.


What the knight's eyes caught, matched her knowledge of the modern area. They seemed to be in somekind of a suburban area, or at least that's what Arturia gandered the term was. As such, she had also spied a downtown area, as well as somekind of slums.. It seemed to be a fairly standardized modern city. As stood there in vigil, the knight burned the snaking roads into her retinas for future's sake, when they would leave this town. In her heart, she wanted naught more to just leave. Just go and find Fiara, she'd been separate from the poor girl long enough; yet here she was, in charge of six lives. How could she govern over mere six, if she'd already lost a country?


Gandering up to the sky, the knight relied upon the friend she knew watched over her, even when naught else did. "I will find her, Shiranui. I will find Fiara, and I will ensure she leaves this place alive to find you. And we will come for you." the knight stated, bowing to the sun, before she turned her back to it, heading back.. It was a horrible day to rain, the girl thought as she used her gauntlet to wipe whatever moisture had leaked from her eyes.


The knight began her other task in the shadows; exploration of the uppermost floors, even if there was very little to be found. Engaging with caution with Excalibur in her hand, the knight approached each building with professional caution, there was naught to be found, a corpse and some rats aside. Poor sod, the knight thought as she exited the building, even if it didn't phase her. Arturia had acknowledged the fact long before entering; this place was empty for a reason. Something had made everyone leave.. But whenever people left in masses, there were those who stayed behind.. And those, those few would be there for others to find, telling a story of their very own. This one had been in a bathtub still halfway filled with water, likely kept in it's current state by the leaking water, rotting, decaying across times.


Fifth floor, the knight expected to find no surprises there either.. Yet she couldn't leave her duty undone, and risk the six she was charged to take care of. Seeking through the final four apartments, one filled with all things of the pink kind, Arturia thought there was naught to be found, before she found something at least a little cheering; bottled water. With caution, the knight checked the remainder of the apartment, before she allowed her sword to disappear from her hand, and went through the rest of the cupboards. The knight scavenged six unopened, and clean-seeming bottles in total. She knew there was seven of them, one for each of them, except herself. And for that, she was glad, after all, to Arturia the safety of their group was above her own.


As such, the knight amassed her newly found stash, heading down to distribute one bottle for each of their team.

784 words according to site, not counting the ones within this quote.

[Albert Wesker]

"...It's strange." Colonel spoke up after a few moments. As ever, his tone measured and stoic, bordering on monotonous. What he might have been referring to was anyone's guess, for all the hint his inflection gave. His cold, mechanically unblinking stare remained firmly rooted staring straight forward. Only the slow, routine sweep of his pale green faux irises gave any indication he hadn't just zoned out entirely.

Abner just shifted, giving a faint shrug. "Yeah? I hadn't noticed. What part of it's got you, exactly?"

"All of it." There was a faint tinge of actual feeling to the words this time. A sharp, cold spike of anger — and unease. "This island. It doesn't feel right." He finally turned his head to look directly at Abner, his eyes glowing dimly under the steadily advancing cover of night. "The Omniverse works strangely all on its own. After a while, that strangeness starts to become routine. Normal. This is an entirely different kind of strange."

"Y'know... Was just thinking that myself." Abner just shook his head. "It's real bizarre, alright. But that's just how it works, y'know? Weird shit on top of more weird shit."

"And then that...that incident." The war machine's gaze snapped back front. "I was effected by it, just the same as you were. I'm a machine. You three aren't. It doesn't add up." A moment later, he also added, "...and that it just came out of nowhere like it did is even more worrying. An unpredictable, unexplainable, and unknown factor when we're already this deep into territory with every intention of proving itself hostile."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it... Bad news. Real bad news."

Colonel's features tightened into a grim scowl, his eyes narrowing in consternation. This would have been a good time to have Cricket along. He was insufferably cheery and his particular brand of wit wasn't exactly missed — not yet, at any rate — but he was clever, and another mind pondering over this whole mess couldn't possibly hurt matters.

The wait, while Trent and Kristen gathered up the found supplies, compounded with the silence of the town to give rise to one further unsettling revelation: the state of the town itself. In his time with Baryl, Colonel had seen more than one evacuation. And this scene, the way this town was so thoroughly deserted... It damn sure looked like an evacuation. Which raised several questions of varying import.

"...who evacuated this town?" he muttered under his breath, turning his head this way and that to get a broader view of things. "And for that matter, why?" He strode several paces forward, out into street, and paused there. He went silent and still again, his eyes drifting closed. He wasn't looking anymore, that hadn't told him much that wasn't obvious so far. He listened, as intently as he could. The advanced auditory programming he'd had to help identify battlefield sounds and get the drop on an enemy had yet to be restored, but he had a much higher threshold for picking up noises — and specifically, pitches and ranges of sound — far and away above most humans and other organic lifeforms.

To his simultaneous dismay and relief, he heard nothing. Only the faint pattering of rain as it continued to drizzle, and the lonesome sighing of wind through the abandoned streets. It was peaceful, and eerie all at once. And it was setting off every danger alarm and bad feeling in Colonel's head that there was. It just felt off; very wrong, somehow. Abandoned cities were rife with places for possible ambush and danger to lurk. Always a shadowed corner you couldn't keep a watch on. Always some rooftop corner out of view. Someone — or, on this island, something — just waiting to jump out of a blind spot you didn't know you had.

"Ready to go. Or, uh...I think, anyway." It was the voice of Trent, finally stepping back through the obnoxiously Western double doors alongside Kristen, and the sound of it drew the soldier navi's attention back outward from his increasingly paranoid thoughts. He turned on one heel, surveying his erstwhile companions. It was a matter of convenience, more than anything. Strength in numbers. And while two of that number didn't look like they would add very much strength... Well, two more pairs of eyes and ears never really hurt things.

Besides. They were secondaries. If they died out here in this crazy hell, that was it for them. He and Abner had it a bit different. A bit worse, some might say. As grim as it was, that made them expendable. They would come back, sooner or later — hopefully, at any rate — and be none the worse off for it. A little downtrodden and disgruntled at the whole dying aspect, but otherwise unharmed. Honestly, it could be worse.

Kristen shifted uneasily under the weight of the combat program's gaze, and he promptly turned aside, looking first one way up the street, then the other. "...It's gotten dark," he finally said, stating the painfully obvious. "As much as I want to move on, it would be a fool's errand to do that at this point. In the dark, and with the threat of rain still looming..." His eyes drifted back the way they had come, where he'd been forced to 'improvise'. "...and with who knows what else out there."

"And unlike a certain robot with a sword for an arm, we could use some rest." Abner just spit angrily off to one side. "I don't like it much either. But it doesn't really change facts much."

"Shelter for the night, then." Colonel's lack of enthusiasm over the idea was plain, even through his monotonous way of saying it. But it was equally clear he knew it was required. "Then let's get a move on. We won't find it standing around here."

"Well, how about I just lead the way again, then?" Abner grunted.

The sarcasm went right over the machine's head.

1043 words, according to on-site wordcounter.

[Gin Yatreg]

The two slowly crept down the dimly lit hall, the floorboards beneath them creaked and moaned with every step they took. If something was in the hotel with them, it was certainly alerted to their presence by now. Gin's stab wound, despite being closed, still sent pain through his body as he moved. He tried his best to hide it from Remilia, it was best to not worry her at the moment; however he wasn't sure if he was successful at that or not. Finally; they arrived at the first door. It was a standard wooden door, and appeared to be unmarked as well. Gin laid flat against the wall and reached for the handle, he then quickly pushed the door open. He peeked around the corner and surveyed the room, finding it to be an unoccupied closet. "Nope, just a closet," he told Remila. Gin stepped inside and squinted his eyes, looking for the shape of a certain object that would be invaluable to them at the moment. 

Remilia then poked her head inside, " Looking for something?" she asked.

"Yeah, a flashlight," Gin said.

"I think it's on the shelf to your right," Remilia said. 

Gin looked over at her slightly confused, "Wait, how do you know that?" he asked.

"Vampires can see better in the dark than you humans can, dummy," Remilia said condescendingly before she gave Gin a light bump on the head with her closed umbrella.


Gin shrugged off the umbrella and slid his hand along the shelf he believed Remilia referred to; sure enough he eventually made contact with a large flashlight. He clicked the on button, and the bulb inside sprang to life, illuminating the entire closet. "Alright! Now we're in business!" Gin said enthusiastically. With flashlight in hand, Gin walked out and continued down the hall with Remilia. Having the place lit up took some of the edge off their minds, knowing nothing could ambush them from the darkness anymore. However with the new light, subtle details of the halls were visible to them now; there was a bit of water damage on the walls, with wallpaper sagging and even peeling off in places, nails were actually missing from some of the floorboards, and extremely large cobwebs covered the ceiling. Finally one other detail revealed itself in the light; Even numbered rooms were always on the right side of the hall, while odds were on the left. 

They continued onward and eventually found the kitchen towards the back of the hotel, its condition however did not lift their spirits. It was at least as bad as the lobby, with utensils and silverware, drawers pulled from their cabinets,  and multiple food wrappers  were strewn about the room. In the center of the room were two stoves and ovens, the second pair being connected to a lengthy counter top. 

"Hey, over here," Remilia called out to Gin from across the room. On the wall next to her was a very large metal door with a window in the center. Peering through the window, she could see racks of what she hoped to be food as well as a large freezer. Remilia grabbed the door handle and began to pull, only the realize the door was locked. "Of course, that's why the looters didn't touch it," she said. Remilia turns to Gin, "Hey, find the key for this thing," she ordered.

Gin's stomach growled, and he complied without hesitation. He backtracked to the lobby, where he began to search the desk for the keys. Unfortunately, all he found in the desk was a bunch of papers covered in mildew and blurred ink. At a loss for where to search next, he began to walk back to the kitchen. Just as he was about to walk past the edge of the desk however, something caught his eye. Scratched into the wooden finish on the desk were the roman numerals for one and three, followed by an arrow pointing down. "One, three, and down? The hell is that supposed to mean?" he thought. Gin stared at the strange markings for a short time until a thought crossed his mind, "Could they be...Room numbers?"  he pondered. Gin walked to room one and tried to open the door to no avail. The same result happened when he attempted to open room three as well. "What did I even think was going to happen? I must be losing it," Gin thought. However he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that the message on the desk was important. "...Wait, what if..." Gin mumbled before walking back to room one's door. He then walked down the hall, keeping count of the doors he passed. "Three down from one, which means..." he stopped in front of room 7, "Lucky Number 7!" he thought before grabbing the handle and twisting it. To his surprise, the door opened with ease, allowing him to walk inside. 

The room appeared to be a permanent living space for the manager, or rather that seemed to be its original intention. The owner was nowhere to be found, however their clothes and other belongings remained. Gin quickly went to work searching the room for the keys of the hotel, finally finding them in a sock drawer. He stuffed them into his pocket and ran off back to the kitchen. 

"About time, I was getting bored waiting here," Remilia said as Gin walked in.


"You could've come with me," Gin said.

"But that would defeat the point of sending you to get it now wouldn't it?" Remilia said.

"Let's just get some food out, I'm starving. Oh, I also found a room with clothes if you want to change into something that isn't ripped," Gin said as he handed the keys to Remilia.

"Ah, excellent. Show me after we eat." she said, unlocking the large door. 

Inside the pantry, the two unsurprisingly found lots of expired food.  Thankfully, through some miracle, the freezer was running on some back up power grid. Most likely so the food inside never spoiled in the event of a black out. Among the food in the freezer, the duo found frozen waffles, hash browns, blueberries, and even a whole turkey. Taking the waffles, hash browns, and blue berries back out into the kitchen; Remilia forced Gin to cook her blueberry waffles. 

"Someone who doesn't like hash browns, my god what is wrong with this world," Gin said, lighting the gas stove with a match taken from the cupboard. 

"Stop complaining and cook," Remilia ordered.

And now for bed -_- [spoiler]For extra fun, play this whenever they pick up an item: [/spoiler]

[Zack Fair]

Anger boiled inside Abner, threatening to burst through his skin. The only problem was that he had nowhere to direct it. Trent and Kristen certainly didn’t deserve any of his rage, and Colonel only probably didn’t. Either way, Abner didn’t dare lash out at the robotic member of their party, for he still didn’t trust the machine to not simply walk away. If that happened, Abner wouldn’t be able to protect these secondaries alone. They weren’t totally unlike the rookie Stormtroopers Abner used to supervise in the Nexus, except Karl Jak hadn’t bothered to give these two any weapons.
 
So, he kept his mouth shut. Abner instead lit a cigarette and led the team down the dark street. The dark night was aided by the island’s mysterious fog and inclement weather, bringing visibility to an all-time low. Trent and Kristen wandered blissfully ignorant in the middle of their party, but Colonel followed at the back, paying great attention to make sure they weren’t flanked by anything. Abner was at least grateful for that.
 
It was all he could do to keep calm as they moved down the street. Years of training and experience informed him how exposed and vulnerable they were as they searched for refuge. His heart pounded and adrenaline pumped through his body. What lurked beyond the fog was the unknown, and that threat was always the most terrifying prospect. The seasoned veteran knew that he had to keep it together, though, because if he let himself be overwhelmed by the situation, he wouldn’t be able to react appropriately when an actual threat emerged.
 
Suddenly, there was a gasp behind him, followed by several quick, pained breaths. Abner turned around to see Trent collapsing to his knees, and a trembling Kristen clutching him tightly. Abner was beginning to understand Colonel’s various shades of monotony, so he was pretty sure he saw a twinge of confusion on the solder navi’s face.
 
“Trent! Trent!” Kristen screamed, fighting back tears as she held onto the hyperventilating boy tightly.
 
“What happened?” Abner tried to keep his voice low as he quickly dropped to a kneel by Trent and Kristen, looking the boy over for an open wound of some sort.
 
“I...I…I can’t do this,” Trent stuttered out. He wasn’t too loud, but he sure wasn’t quiet, either.
 
Abner groaned. They hadn’t been ambushed, or hit a trap. The secondary was having a small panic attack. How could he forget, in his struggles to keep himself in balance, that these unexperienced teenagers were far more susceptible to a breakdown?
 
“What’s wrong?” Colonel’s tone was direct and demanding. He wanted facts and information. This wasn’t easy to explain to a machine.
 
“Cover us for a minute,” Abner snapped back up to him.
 
“Get him up and get him moving,” Colonel firmly ordered his fellow prime as he scanned the area. Not only were they easy to see, but now they weren’t hard to hear, either.
 
“Just give us some fucking overwatch, Terminator,” Abner said back just as sternly. He then looked to Kristen, who also seemed to be bordering on hysterics. Seeing Trent lose control was causing her to freak out too, and Abner knew he needed to stop this chain reaction swiftly. “Keep it down, goddammit. We’re already sitting ducks without everyone hollering.”
 
“Sorry,” Kristen said, then covered her mouth with both hands, clearly to prevent herself from saying much more. Her eyes stayed on Trent, clearly broadcasting her primary concern.
 
“Hey, Hey!” Abner shifted his attention to the actual problem at hand, grabbing Trent by the shoulders. “I need you to get it together, right now. We have to keep moving.”
 
“Mr. Jak is going to come get all of us. He wouldn’t abandon us,” Trent said, his speech rushed and slurred. “Let’s just go back to the bar. I don’t want to know more about this island and I don’t want to run into anything else.”
 
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Trent,” Abner said, trying to sound reasonable and in control.
 
“It would be preferable to standing in this street,” Colonel chimed in.
 
Abner briefly scowled, struggling to maintain his composure. It had been a lot easier to give a pep talk with an emotionless white helmet masking his own expressions. Robbed of that luxury, he sure didn’t feel as convincing.
 
“Are you sure?” Kristen questioned from behind her hands.
 
“Not you, too,” Abner immediately ordered the girl, looking between the secondaries as he spoke, now. “Look, I’ve been doing shit like this a long time, and I can tell you that the only people we can really trust are ourselves. I need you, both of you, to get it the hell together to we can find a safe place to sleep it off.”
 
“Movement,” Colonel announced as he peered down the street. His voice was just the right volume to get the urgency of his message across. “Unable to identify.”
 
Abner hoped the machine was just saying that to stir the secondaries into running, but the chill he felt run down his own spine was enough to convince him that they weren’t alone.
 
“Trent, you’ve got to trust me,” Abner said, watching as the boy’s breathing slowed to normal. He seized that progress and continued to calmly goad him towards action. “I’ve gotten a lot of people out of a lot of shitty places, but I need your help to do it again. All you have to do for now is get up, and walk to that building a few yards to our left.”
 
“The one to your right is more defensible,” Colonel volunteered relevant information, once more.
 
“The right, then. Whatever,” Abner mumbled, then stood up, pulling Trent to his feet as he did. Kristen, luckily, stood beside them of her own volition.
 
“I don’t want to die here,” Trent stuttered the words out, plainly speaking his paralyzing fear.
 
“If a bum like me can make it all the way to Omni, you can get off this damn rock,” Abner said, patting the boy of the shoulder. That statement elicited reassured looks from Trent and Kristen, as well as a curious glare from Colonel. Knowing what their escort was really capable of seemed to pacify the secondaries.
 
“Okay, let’s go,” Trent spoke with fake determination, though he did seem a bit more encouraged. Abner had given him a little inspiration, and he didn't want to collapse in front of Kristen again, after being here because of her in the first place. It was enough to allow him to put one foot in front of the other for the time being.
 
The four of them hurried to the building that Colonel had identified, and Abner wasted no time forcing the door open. They piled into the dark building, and Colonel closed the door behind them. He wasn’t sure what he’d caught a glimpse of, but he certainly didn’t want to directly engage it without knowing more. The robot glanced over to see Trent and Kristen sitting on the floor, while Abner looked around the immediate area.
 
A low growl caught his attention, though thankfully it was coming from outside the premises. Not that he expected the walls of this building to protect him, but the concealment was enough to put him at ease. He creeped to a window and looked out into the street they’d just been standing in.
 
Half masked in the fog was the creature that had chased them into the town in the first place. It was prowling the streets, and obviously still hunting for them. Abner dropped to a kneel as he peered out, and silently mouthed a few of his favorite curse words. Sensing something was wrong, Colonel slowly approached Abner, keeping his hand extended towards the secondaries like he was telling a dog to stay.
 
“What is it?” Colonel asked, not approaching the window, since there was no real point if Abner could just tell him what was out there.
 
“That thing that chased us in here,” Abner quietly said, trying to discern the monster’s features. The fog made it difficult, but he already knew he hadn’t seen anything like this beast before, even in all his travels. Even under the darkness of night he could see the powerful fangs that had come so close to devouring him once, already.
 
Colonel paced a few steps back with that information. He stayed near the secondaries, and carefully watched Abner for the slightest reaction. They both knew what that monster had done to the man made of stone, so it would tear through any of the others in the group much quicker.
 
Abner watched as the massive creature spun around, suddenly. It must have caught a whiff of their scent, or maybe he wasn’t hiding as well as he thought. It didn’t matter, because he knew the game of hide and seek was over. Abner stood and ran towards the other three just as soon as he saw the beast’s new focus.
 
“Move!” Abner ordered, and Colonel responded by dragging Kristen to her feet.
 
The monster ripped through the wall, sending shrapnel and splinters in every direction. Abner stumbled forward from the percussion of such a violent entrance, but he regained his balance and ran after the other three survivors. Fortunately, Trent and Kristen were not seized with fear this time around, instead overtaken by their “fight or flight” reflex, and were both following Colonel. Abner fired a few stray shots back at the monster with his pistol, but it didn’t do anything except stun the beast temporarily, as expected.
 
Just as soon as they crossed the building inside, Colonel leaped from a window. The secondaries hesitated when they approached it, but Abner shoved them out without even thinking about what might be on the other side. They fell forward, but having lost his momentum, Abner couldn’t jump out after them in a hurry. Instead, he ran down a separate hallway, barely dodging the beast as it tore through the wooden structure of the house. As he fled, he could feel the heavy breath on the back of his neck, and drops of saliva hitting him. He didn't want to know how close he was to those jaws. Another opportunity for escape presented itself soon enough, and Abner jumped out of another window and into the night, then hit the ground and rolled down a small hill. He fell off a small ledge, and landed on cement. Groaning and mumbling, he got to his feet, only to see Colonel and the secondaries approaching. At least everyone was alright.
 
The beast ripped through the wall, and the four remained in silent agreement on what to do next. They took off down an alleyway, with Colonel on point again and Abner taking the rear. Once more, they would have to lose this thing, or find the opportunity to kill it.

[Karl Jak]

It was nighttime outside.
 
Inside the hotel, Gin and Remilia had gone their separate ways for the evening.  The youthful vampire had way her way upstairs in search of a more extravagant room.  After loading up the dishwasher and setting it on the correct cycle, Gin had retired to Room 7.  With the door shut and an ornate wooden chair jammed up under the lock just in case something came at them with lockpicks, the redhead allowed some of the tension to ease off his shoulders.
 
He made his way over to a desk in the corner of the room and plopped down into an upscale leather computer chair that had probably been beautiful in a past life.  The chair let out a sigh of dusty air as Gin settled into it and flicked on the nearby lamp.  How long had it been since the plane had gone down?  The youth rubbed his temples as he poured over the events of the day—days?
 
Reaching over, Gin pulled open the shade and looked up at the dark sky.  It was clearly nighttime but had they really been here that long?  When the plane left from the facility, he clearly remembered the sun was rising, but the island was telling him that it had been night for a good long while.  Remilia would be happy, but Gin was certain that something was off.
 
“You’re not far from the mark, Champ.”  The smooth voice almost spooked Gin out of his shoes.  Jolting upright, the redhead immediately noticed the man standing in front of him dressed up in very outdated business attire.  Who the hell wore pocket watches and top hats anymore?  And the pencil-thin mustache didn’t help things.  The man, who appeared to be in his early forties from bits of salt and pepper around his temples and sideburns, pulled up a chair and sat down on the other side of the desk.  When he saw Gin jump almost entirely out of the chair, he lifted a hand and smiled.  “By all means, you may enjoy my chair.  It’s a good one.”
 
“Y-your chair?”  Gin asked as he eased back down and watched as the man leaned over and produced a pair of small glasses and a large decanter filled with a brown liquid.
 
“Bingo,” the man remarked as he set one glass on his side of the desk and the other in front of Gin.  Twisting up his lips, the businessman slipped the top off the decanter and poured a few fingers of the liquor into each of the small glasses.  “I’m going to ascertain that you’re a man who prefers his scotch neat?”  He inquired as he popped the top back into the decanter and set it equidistant between the two men. 
 
“I guess,” Gin remarked as he watched the man pick up the glass and casually pour the scotch down his throat.  When he tried to follow his guest’s lead a moment later, Gin started to gag the moment the strong-smelling, strong-tasting liquor hit his taste buds.  His first reaction was to smack the glass down and clamp his mouth shut before he spat up the scotch onto the man’s suit.
 
“It’s always rough the first few times,” the guest replied as he poured himself a fuller cup and took a small sip from it.  “I’m Jace Morgans, and you’re inside my hotel.”
 
After recovering, Gin subtly pushed the glass away and turned his focus to the businessman.  “I’m sorry to intrude… the place looked empty when Remilia and I arrived.”
 
The man smiled a tight, thin smile that almost made his little mustache vanish from sight.  “That’s quite all right, Mr…?”
 
“Gin,” the redhead spoke as he reached across and shook hands with the manager of the building.
 
“Mr. Gin,” Jace finished as he leaned back a little.  “You haven’t noticed anyone, because they’re all gone.”
 
“Dead?”
 
Jace smiled as he shook his head.  “Oh no, my boy.  Dead would be better.  You see, my staff and my guests were all taken.  The ones that survived, of course.”
 
“Kidnapped?  That’s a busy kidnapper!”
 
The man once again shook his head.  “Do you know what ‘omnilium’ is, Mr. Gin?”
 
“Yea, I’m a prime.”
 
“Then you know that it can be bent to your will.  You can craft wonders from the stuff.”  The redhead nodded his head.  “And secondaries, like myself, can harvest the stuff and process the raw material, but we lack the gifts to impose our will onto it.”
 
“Yea, that’s pretty basic stuff.”
 
Jace grinned as he drank some more scotch.  “Smart boy.”  With that, the businessman leaned forward across the desk until he was no more than six inches from the prime.  “What if one day, the omnilium decided to impose its will upon you?”
 
Gin furrowed his brow as the thought sat in his head.
 
“What if, unknown to you, it crept into your mind and body and changed you into something you never were?”
 
“That’s… it can’t possibly work like that.”
 
The hotel manager shook his head.  “Tell that to the townspeople.  Tell that to them as their bodies rotted and their minds were twisted.  Tell that the husbands who beat their wives to death or the mothers who devoured their children.”
 
“But where’d they all go?”
 
Gin received a shoulder shrug in response to his inquiry.  “I don’t know.  I wasn’t around.”
 
“You seem okay.”
 
Jace smiled.  “Wake up, Gin.”
 
With a gasp, Gin lifted his head up from the desk.  In front of him, the scotch decanter was empty, but there was only the one glass a few inches from his right hand.  Had he gotten drunk and passed out?  It was still black in the streets outside, but he had given up on using the time of day to figure anything out.  As he stood up, his legs wobbly beneath his lithe frame, he caught a whiff of something that smelled completely awful.
 
“Ugh,” the redhead remarked as he grabbed the lamp and held it in the direction of the stench.  When the light hit the corner of the room, Gin saw that there was a corpse in a crisp, old fashioned business suit lying at the side of the master bed.  A top hat and a pocket watch lay a few feet away from the body, which had probably been decomposing for a few weeks. 
 
Nestled into Jace’s hands was a revolver, although Gin quickly noticed that the man’s fingernails were broken and busted and there was a smear of blood near the body.  Lifting the light from the lamp, Gin saw that there was a dried message left on the wall.
 
Wake up.
 

***

 
Amber had tried to nap.  In her dreams, everything was red and angry.  Thoughts crept into her head that didn’t belong there, and her ‘friends’ had left her behind.  In those dreams, secret voices told her to tear their throats out.  It wanted the faunus to drink their blood and eat their bodies while they gurgled for mercy. 
 
In the end, the sickly woman would wake up with a yelp or a faint cry.
 
When she woke up from his particular dream, it changed everything.
 
With a scream, Amber’s eyes shot open, but before she could process the dreams, her brain picked up on the fact that she wasn’t alone in the small bed.  Even worse, everything around her was wet, and there was a stench that hung in the air of the small apartment room.  Throwing off her sheets, Amber swallowed a scream when she saw that there was part of a mutilated corpse in the bed.  The body had been torn apart by an animal of some sort, and despite how mangled it was, the girl could see that it was one of their companions—Jeremiah.

Amber tried to say something, but as he tongue moved around, it slid against something thicker than saliva.  The faunus felt her stomach twist up as she spit onto the bed in front of her.  Lying in a pool of spit and blood was half of an ear.
 

***

 
Carmelita had been tired until she found the directory nestled inside the building supervisor’s room.  As she rifled through the old book, a sheet of laminated paper slipped free and onto the floor.  A quick look showed a map of part of the town, detailing a few of the landmarks.  A few of the buildings were circled in permanent marker and labeled ‘Hope?’ – A hospital, a radio station, and two other buildings that didn’t have any printed names on them.
 

End of Round 6
 
Gin receives a golden pocket watch.  If you play around with the back of it, you'll discover a small key.  The key will open a safe somewhere in the hotel (delayed Rd 4 prize).  Contact me through PM when you reach that point in your writing.
 
Amber takes 4 points of Accumulated Damage.  Her skin will swell and start to fall off.  She will start to look as pale as a corpse.  It’s up to you whether Amber killed the person or if it’s just other forces messing with her.
 
Abner ‘won’ Round 6.  I tend to not be a fan of one-shot hyper posts, but that was an excellent piece, both with the emotional bits and the chase action at the end.  Seriously.  Prize forth-coming.
 
Abner, Colonel, and Company – Y’all can keep going with your current story.  Feel free to fight back or defeat the creature at some point, but your stuff was solid.  If you don’t hold off until the last minute with posting, I’ll try and give you two a dedicated update before the end of the round.