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1. Take care of it now.

0 (0%)

2. Secure the front.

0 (0%)

3. Lay low.

4 (50%)

4. ssssssssssssssss

4 (50%)

Total Members Voted: 8

[Guild]

Fuck new people. We're good on our own. Let's book. I did want to know what the writing on the whiteboard said, but not enough to check now. Oout ouuut out!

[Friday]

Option 2 leads 4-0.

2. You've got a gun. Time to get out while the getting is good.

"Let's get the hell out of here," you say.

Jesse narrows her eye at you. "We're not even gonna check?"

"Nope," you say, heading for the door.

"There could be more guns or ammo," Jesse says.

"Don't care. I've got a bad feeling about this. Come on."

The two of you head back out the way you came in, Jesse following somewhat reluctantly. When you reach the rear exit, she puts a hand on your arm.

"This isn't like you," she says, looking into your eyes.

"I've just got a bad feeling, alright? That noise could be anything. Now let's go," you say with some force.

Jesse looks back down the hall, where you can still hear a faint noise, like someone yelling, coming from somewhere in the building. She then turns back to you and holds out her hand.

"Give me the revolver," she says.

"What?"

"I'm going to check. Someone could need our help."

"Jesse, this is not the best time or place to --"

"You're just scared. I understand. But I'm not leaving until I've seen what's making that noise."

You shake your head, exasperated. "This is not a good idea."

"So come with me, then."

"We need to get out of here."

"Why? Because there's some empty dog cages and blood in the hallway?"

"Listen, just, this place gives me a bad feeling, alright? Obviously some bad shit went down here, and I just don't want to be around when --"

Jesse shakes her head. "Either give me the gun and wait for me in car, or come with me to see who's yelling for help," she says flatly.

"I can't convince you to leave now? That sound could be literally any goddamn thing," you say angrily.

"You're not my boss. I don't have to do what you say."

"You're gonna get us fucking killed, Jesse."

"Give me the gun. Go sit in the car if you're scared."

******************************

1. Continue to argue, try to get her to leave.

2. Go with her to check out the noise.

3. Give her the gun, wait in the car.

4. Give her the gun, but ditch her at the station. If she won't follow orders she's useless to you.

5. Leave her there, taking the gun with you. If she won't follow orders she's useless to you.

6. Shoot her.

[the asshole you hate]

arguing! fun in a 'pocalypse!

[Romosome]

Splitting up is asking for us both to be fucked over, and I was already on the fence about it. Let's go check it out together.

[Cthulhu-chan]

Is she not aware that they can pull some mimicry bullshit?  Are we, technically?

[Friend]

If she's going to go in anyway, can we pull up in the front with the car?
Since we've already made ourselves known, rolling up to the front of the police station in a car probably won't make much of a difference. It'll also help us with a quick getaway if we come across a situation.
Also, since we're not really worrying about making too much noise, we can bring Max along. If there's trouble in the police station, he could probably use his dog instincts to alert us or something.

If that's not possible, we can always just follow her I guess.
 

[Guild]

If she's going to go in anyway, can we pull up in the front with the car?
Since we've already made ourselves known, rolling up to the front of the police station in a car probably won't make much of a difference. It'll also help us with a quick getaway if we come across a situation.
Also, since we're not really worrying about making too much noise, we can bring Max along. If there's trouble in the police station, he could probably use his dog instincts to alert us or something.

If that's not possible, we can always just follow her I guess.
 

2nding if arguing doesn't work and she tries to storm off. Stop her and explain this plan in that scenario.

so that'd be option 4-1 hybrid.

[Guild]

Sorry if three options aren't sufficient in a life and death scenario!!

* Guildenstern angry harumph.

[Friday]

2. Go with her to check out the noise.

You sigh. "Alright, fine. Let's go. But be careful. We don't know what this is."

"If you're worried it's a trick, I know it could be," Jesse says. "But I'm not about to just leave someone who could need help behind."

"New people are new problems," you say.

Jesse looks at you for a long moment. "Is that really how you feel?"

You throw up your hands. "I don't know. I just want to find Nicole."

Jesse shakes her head. "Your obsession with that girl is weird, Jon."

"Who's obsessed? I'm just trying to save a little girl."

"Whatever. Let's go."

Jesse turns and heads back into the station. You follow, checking the revolver to make sure the safety is off.

You glance into the room with the whiteboard as you pass it. The scrawling writing has a new addition added in huge red text written directly on top of the other writing:

How's your mom? :)

You stop and take a few steps into the room, squinting at the tiny text. It seems to just be that strange poem again, written over and over and over in crazy, looping scrawl that sometimes crawls up, or down, or spirals inwards on itself, frequently overlapping other words:

One bright day, in the middle of the night
Two dead boys
Got up to fight
Back to back, they faced each other
Drew their swords, and shot each other
Two deaf policemen
Heard the noise
And they came running
And killed the dead boys.

However, some of the neater text toward the top of the board seems to be otherwise.

They come at night when the moon is full. They come at light when the wind is cool. Ten days. Seven days. A river of blood. Chief is dead. Shot him. The worms crawl in they don't crawl out. Am losing my mind. Where is the fucking army? Explosions. Found a nest of them downtown. Crater. Bodies. The worms crawl in. I saw two dead boys laying together arm in arm. Dead. Eyes all rotted out. Then they moved. They moved. Looked right at me. Both of them. Started to get up. Rotted eyes. Legs all torn up. Got up anyway. Worms coming out now. Open mouths, no teeth. In my mind I heard their voices. They said 'come with us come with us join us the blood is warm the blood is sweet.' Shot them. Heard their laughter in my head as the bullets ripped them apart. Laughing. 'You can't kill the dead,' they said. Their bodies laying on the ground, putrid. Kept shooting them until the voices finally stopped, until the laughter finally stopped.

Oh god. I think I am insane. I see my old partner Christian. He's dead. I saw him die. But he's there and he's watching me. He doesn't know I can see him but I can and he's watching me BUT HE WON'T FIND ME I'LL BURY THE DEAD. I'LL BURY THE DEAD SO THEY CAN'T FIND THEM.

I can taste blood in my mouth. Tongue all bitten through. Chewy. Rolling around in my mouth tasting it. I think I will be leaving now. Two dead boys. The sun is so bright. They come at night when the moon is full. Goodbye.

The rest of the text devolves into the poem which covers the entire board.

You turn around after finishing reading to see Jesse standing behind you. She is watching you carefully.

"Can you see this?" you ask.

"See what?" she says, stepping forward a bit.

"This... writing," you say, gesturing.

Jesse squints. "Sure. What about it?"

"Er, do you see the big letters?"

"Eh?"

You turn back to the board, but the "How's your mom?" is gone, leaving only the smaller text.

"... nevermind," you say.

"It just looks like the ramblings of a crazy person," Jesse says.

"Yeah," you agree. "Let's go."

You both continue toward the noise, passing through the cubicle room and down a new hallway toward the other end of the station. The front lobby is wrecked from the pickup truck that crashed through the doors. As you continue, the noise gets louder, and you can plainly make out a male voice yelling for help. There are signs of a fight in addition to the wreck; the pickup's front is riddled with bullets, as is the windshield. There are old bloodstains on the tile floor, splatters and cuts of blood adorning the walls. A 9mm pistol lays on the floor, but the barrel is all smashed up.

You pass through an open heavy steel door and step into a hallway with several holding cells off to either side. The noise is coming from one of the cells in the back out of sight.

"Hey! Can anyone hear me! Help! I'm trapped in here!"

You look at Jesse meaningfully, who looks back at you and nods. The two of you proceed down the hall.

You come into view of a locked cell. Standing behind the bars is a tall, skinny man with long ragged brown hair hanging from his head. He looks to be about twenty-five or so. He's dressed in ripped jeans and a yellow polo shirt.

"Hey, hey! Let me out of here!" he says, his face breaking into a grin. "Fucking finally, some other people!"

"Who are you?" you ask, peering around him. There seems to be some supplies in there, a couple of sacks and boxes with food and water. Empty water bottles and food packing trash litters the floor of the cell.

"Gary," the man says, sticking his hand through the bars. "Nice to meetcha. Now could you do me a big favor and get me the hell out of here?"

You ignore the offered hand. "How'd you end up in there?"

"It's a long story," Gary says. "I'd be glad to tell you all about it, but first can you be a pal and let me out of here? The toilet is all backed up and I've been holding it."

You look at Jesse. He seems human enough. No missing eye, and though he looks a bit scraggly, he doesn't show any other visible signs of being infected.

**************************************

1. Look for a way to open the door.

2. Interrogate him further.

[Guild]

time to go and keep an eye on garry

[Friday]

2. Interrogate him further.

"We'll let you out when you've answered some questions," you say. "Like why you're locked up in a cell in a police station. You some kind of criminal?"

"Ahhh, man," Gary whines, his grin vanishing. "You have no idea how bad I gotta go! This is like torture!"

"Answer the question," you say.

Gary throws up his arms and shakes his head. "A criminal? Nah, man, I ain't nothing like that. Just a guy, you know?"

"Then what are you doing in here?" Jesse asks.

Gary's eyes shift. "Had to find a place to hide. Those things out there were chasing me."

"Yeah?" you say. "So you locked yourself in a cell that just happened to have food and water in it? How long you been in there, anyway?"

"I dunno, man," Gary replies. "Maybe like, a week? I can't keep track in here. You're the first people I've seen."

Jesse tugs on your arm, pulls you aside. Whispering, she says "This doesn't add up. Something about this guy seems off to me."

You nod at her slightly and turn back to Gary. "You better start making sense, Gary, or we're not gonna let you out."

Gary sighs. "Alright, alright. The truth is I was locked in here by the group I was traveling with."

"Why?" Jesse says.

Gary shrugs. "They thought I was infected. Left me some food and water. Cruel of them, in my opinion. Just let me suffer longer. Though I guess it kept me alive till you folks showed up, so."

"Infected?" you ask. "Why'd they think that?"

Gary shakes his head. "I dunno, man. They were crazy. Everyone knows you lose an eye. They get in your head like that. Do I look like I've got an eye missing to you?"

You and Jesse regard him silently.

"So, what, are you gonna let me out yet? Seriously, I don't have much food left in here."

Looking behind him, it certainly appears to be true that he is almost out of food and water. You notice the sleeping bunk is all torn up, like someone took a sword to it and just started hacking at it. Bits of sheet and fluff are scattered all over.

Jesse is looking at you, concern clearly outlined on her face.

**********************************

1. "Alright, we'll let you out. But you're not coming with us."

2. "Alright, we'll let you out."

3. "Sorry, Gary. Or whatever you are. You're staying in there."

[Romosome]

If we let him out and don't let him come with, can we just throw the key in there from a distance and book it?

[Friday]

Sure.

[Friday]

1. "Alright, we'll let you out. But you're not coming with us."

Gary stares at you for a moment, and for an instant you think you see something cross his face. Anger? Shock? You're not sure.

Then he shrugs. "Good enough, I guess. I've been on my own before."

"I'm gonna throw the key in. Then you're on your own."

Gary raises his eyebrows. "Is that really necessary? I won't bite, I promise."

"That's actually exactly what I'm afraid of, among other things," you reply, glancing around. "This of course is reliant on us actually finding the keys."

Gary sighs. "Check the guard's office down the hall. I think there was a spare set of keys in there."

"We'll be back," you tell him. "Sit tight."

"Not like I can do much else," Gary replies, and sits down on a pile of trash.

Jesse follows you down the hall past the empty cells, glancing over her shoulder back at Gary. When you're out of earshot, she leans in close.

"I don't think we should let him out," she whispers.

You half chuckle. "It was your idea to find out what the noise was."

"Yeah, I know," she says, shaking her head. "But something about him bothers me. Maybe he's locked up for a reason."

"I don't want to just leave him in there," you say. "It's a death sentence if we do."

"I know," Jesse says. "Still... just... something is wrong with him. I know it. Did you see the bed?"

You hold up the revolver you just recently picked up. "If he gives us any trouble, we've got this."

The two of you cautiously step into the guard's office at the end of the hall. The table is overturned, cards and poker chips spilled everywhere. A one way window shows the hall you just stepped out of. Against the opposite wall, a dark stain of red splattered wraithlike leers at you. What seems to be scattergun bullet holes pepper the bloodstain. The floor is both slick and sticky in patches.

You check the lockers against the side wall next to an empty weapons cabinet. All seem to have been unlocked rather hastily except one. Searching through them, you find a set of keys marked "Holding Cells". You also pick up a pair of handcuffs and a handcuff key.

"Sorry, I'm not into that kind of thing," Jesse smiles at you as you examine the handcuffs.

"Darn. Oh well, might come in handy anyway," you reply.

You return to the hall. Your footsteps echo loudly in your ears as you walk. Jesse puts a hand on your arm.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful," she says.

You nod, checking the gun in your pocket.

Gary gets to his feet as you return. "Find the keys?"

You dangle them in front of you.

"Great," he says, smiling. "I was worried I'd starve to death in here."

As you are about to reply, Gary suddenly lunges forward, thrusting his hands through the bars. Jesse gasps and takes a step back. Gary's entire upper body below the neck suddenly splits open down the middle, ribs ripping through flesh and shirt like a bear trap unfolding. Greenish tinted blood sprays like a fountain as long, black, thick tentacle vines unfurl from Gary's gaping chest cavity and shoot toward you.

"Lucky for me you came along," Gary's smiling face says.

************************************************

1. Shoot him.

2. Dodge away.

3. Need a hand?

[Romosome]

Run. Run. If he could have followed us that far he would have, or eaten us the second we turned our backs. Just dodge and get away from the tentacles and don't stand our fucking ground, get away.

[Friday]

2. Dodge away.

It takes almost a full second for you to recover from the shock of what you're witnessing, despite everything you've seen so far. When you do recover, it's almost too late. Lunging to the left, toward Jesse standing behind you, you shove her violently to the ground, down, away from the horrible reaching tentacles that even as you fly curve toward you. Some smash into the wall behind where you just were standing a split second ago.

"Run!" you scream, though as a command to Jesse or yourself, you don't know.

But it's too late. You're simply not fast enough. Didn't react in time. Like Jacob.

A long tendril wraps around your leg as you desperately try to scramble away. It immediately starts to pull, with a strength you can hardly believe. You reach outward, but there's nothing to grab on to.

"Why do you run?" Gary asks, frozen lips turned upwards as horrible slithering clockwork vines reach out toward you below his face.

You claw at the tentacle wrapping itself tighter around your leg even as another descends toward your neck.

And then Jesse is there, wildly swinging her crowbar like a baseball bat. She smacks the tentacle reaching for your face away with a wet thud, then stabs downward at the one wrapping around your leg.

Gary screams, a roar lower pitched and wetter sounding than the ones you're accustomed to. The noise comes directly from his chest. His smile doesn't waver. The tentacle holding you spasms, jerks, and releases. You scramble backwards.

Three more tentacles whirls and wrap around Jesse even as she turns to flee, roughly pulling her back toward the cell and the monster within it.

You get to your feet and pull out your pistol, taking aim. "Gary" calmly positions Jesse between you and him, sliding a longer, slimmer tentacle slowly out of his mouth up and around toward Jesse's screaming face. It positions itself right next to her ear.

"Let her go!" you say, mindlessly, not knowing what else to say.

"Her life for the keys," Gary says, his speech slightly distorted by the tentacle.

You blink, then realize you're still holding onto the cell keys somehow. You must have stuck a finger through a loop in them.

"Jon, don't --" Jesse begins, but is muffled by a tentacle wrapping itself around her mouth and head.

"You'd better hurry and make up your mind, for her sake," Gary says. "I'm rather hungry, you see, and I can taste this girl already. I'm not sure how much longer I can control myself."

You waver.

*****************************************

1. Try to shoot past her, into his chest cavity.

2. Give him the keys.

3. Walk away.

4. Things look pretty bad, champ. Sure you can handle this on your own? Last chance.

[Romosome]

Fuck it. I'm not dying without seeing what this does.

[Friend]

Ok, so we're in a bit of a bind here.
Let's review our our options:

1. Try to shoot past her, into his chest cavity

You get to your feet and pull out your pistol, taking aim. "Gary" calmly positions Jesse between you and him

I don't think shooting is a good idea. The word "calmly" connotes that Gary clearly has positioned her at a place where he knows will protect him from your gun. Shooting will probably kill Jesse, or at least injure her.

2. Give him the keys.

"Jon, don't --" Jesse begins, but is muffled by a tentacle wrapping itself around her mouth and head.

Probably the worst option. Even Jesse thinks it's a bad idea. You're conceding what little advantage you have and gaining nothing. There's no reason for Gary to let go of Jesse after you free him. In fact, once he knows he's free, he can kill her with no repercussions since you no longer hold any power over him.

3. Walk away.

Basically the default option. If you walk away, or at least threaten to leave, Gary loses all bargaining power. He will probably kill Jesse, but if you can get him to believe that he's going to be stuck in there, he might be willing to strike a better deal. Or hell, he might be so surprised by your callousness that he might present an opening.

4. Things look pretty bad, champ. Sure you can handle this on your own? Last chance.

Actually, this is the worst option. The last time you turned red you were going to kill Jesse yourself. There's no guarantee that going red this time will save Jesse from this monster. In fact, you can almost guarantee that Jesse will die if we choose this option.

So in conclusion:

"You'd better hurry and make up your mind, for her sake," Gary says. "I'm rather hungry, you see, and I can taste this girl already. I'm not sure how much longer I can control myself."

Gary's clearly trying to trick you into making a rash decision. However, the moment he kills Jesse is the moment he loses all bargaining power. No matter how hungry he is, he must be thinking of his own long term survival more than eating now. I'd say Option 3, unless this option really means ditching Jesse. In that case, Option 1. Small chance of survival is better than no chance of survival.

[Cthulhu-chan]

fuck it

[Friday]

Interesting. Before I left, option 3 was in the lead, 1-2-1, but now it has zero votes and option four has 3. Looks like some voters reconsidered.

4. Things look pretty bad, champ. Sure you can handle this on your own? Last chance.

That voice. That pulsing, swelling pressure you're feeling at the back of your mind. Almost without realizing what you're doing, almost without consciously thinking about it, you relax that part of you that keeps it caged, keeps it in the back of your mind.

Some part of you fights it, screams at it, claws at it. No matter. The red flushes into the front of your mind like blood breaking through a dam.

You're gambling, risking. You don't know if you can regain yourself after letting it in like this. But things have gone to shit, and you honestly don't think you can handle this situation without getting somebody killed. And unlike before, this time you're the one choosing to let the red take control. Some part of yourself, of your brain, like a bubble underwater, remains pure, watching from eyes that are no longer yours.

The change doesn't take long. A few seconds at most. From outside yourself, through Jesse's eyes, you observe your own eyes turning a darker, reddish brown.

"Eat her," you say. You watch yourself say.

Gary blinks. An undeniably human reaction. "What?" he replies.

"Go ahead," you say. "Gobble her up."

"I will, unless you give me those keys," Gary says.

"Nah, I don't think so, bro." you say. "Not that I give a shit. But there's no way you're going to eat that girl. Not while you're still stuck in there, at least."

Gary simply stares at you. The expression of befuddlement on such a grotesque face makes you chuckle inwardly.

"I'm warning you, give me those keys right now or --"

"Or what? You'll eat her? OK, go ahead."

Gary simply stands there, holding Jesse between you and him.

"See?" you say after a moment passes. "You're not gonna do shit."

Gary's tentacles undulate, sliming their way back and forth across Jesse's body. A low hissing noise begins to emanate from him.

"And you know why you're not gonna do anything?" you continue, calmly twirling the keys around your finger. "Because you're stuck in that cell."

Gary constricts his tentacles tighter around Jesse, hissing louder now. "You don't know who you're playing with, boy, but you're gonna regre --"

"Regret it? I doubt it. Look, we both know you're fucked unless you get these keys from me. You could kill that girl, sure. Eat her right on up, maybe last another week in there. At the most. But you can't hide the blood from doing that. Not all of it. It'll stain this hall, this cell. You think anybody else who comes along and sees all that shit is gonna let you out of there? We both know your own blood that you just sprayed everywhere will fade away, vanish, eat itself to nothingness. It's just designed that way. But not human blood. If you could get out without these keys, you'd have done it. Your best bet now is to let the girl go. That way, if someone else does come along, you might be able to convince them that you're human again, once you zip up all those lovely tentacles back into that husk you wear."

Gary eyes you, his face a mask of rage.

"If I give you these keys, you'll just kill us both and escape. So there's no reason for me to do that. I could try to shoot you, but I doubt I could kill you with the ammunition I have, even if I managed to shoot past that human shield. So that's out too. Which makes my only option to walk away. Even if you do eat her. But if you do kill her, you're digging your own grave. You'll make a mess of it, no matter how careful you are, and then you're fucked. Nobody will let you out. Your best bet now is to simply let the girl go, and hope someone else comes along that you can convince to release you."

"Or I could kill this girl simply to spite you," Gary says.

"True, but like I said, any other option than walking away makes no sense from my viewpoint," you reply. "So really, this isn't about me, is it? It's about you. You can choose to kill that girl for petty vengeance, or you can release her and hedge your bets as best you can toward your own survival. If I'm wrong, then by all means, go ahead and kill her."

Gary stares at you for a long moment from over Jesse's shoulder.

You shrug, and turn away.

"Wait," Gary says, and you glance back to see him releasing Jesse to the floor.

You smile. "Wise choice, bro."

Gary backs away from the bars as Jesse crawls away quickly.

"You play a dangerous game," he says, as he starts to literally pull himself back together. Tentacles slither back into his chest cavity and coil themselves in piles, like intestines.

"Danger is my middle name, bro," you say.

Gary smiles. "You've still lost. I can smell the infection in you. It's taken hold now. Deep. It's only a matter of time before the both of you turn."

Jesse turns and spits at him. "We've got a cure, shithead. We're going to wipe your fucking kind off the face of this planet."

Gary smiles. "A cure? There is no cure. At best you can hold us off for a while. But we always adapt. We always win. We've been doing it for thousands of years, and your little planet isn't going to be any different. Even if I die in this cell, I'll live on in the others. You can't stop us."

Jesse blinks. "You're... you're fucking aliens?"

Gary just laughs and shakes his head.

Jesse takes your arm. "Come on, let's get the fuck out of here."

You nod and follow her away.

********************************************

As you exit the station, Jesse glances at you. "That was some cool headed shit you pulled off back there," she says. "Thanks. I didn't think he'd go for it."

You smile. "I'm a cool guy," you reply.

********************************************

1. That dog can smell you. Better get this over with now before Max can interfere.

2. But before you do that, it might be worth your time to secure yourself up here. You've got the nagging feeling that the Other still has some sort of foothold up front.

3. On second thought, maybe it might be best to lay low. Go with the flow for a bit. Avoiding confrontation until the moment of truth.

4. ssssssssssssssssssss