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[Friday]

4. "There's... not really time for a story, now. I got the generator, can you X-Ray me?"

"What happened to you? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Jacob says, looking at your face as you take your sunglasses off.

"Almost. Come on. Can you X-ray me, or not?"

Jacob nods. "If you've got the generator."

"It's in the car," you say. "In the trunk. Do you know how to hook it up to power the building? I don't know shit about stuff like this. I was barely able to get it unplugged."

"No," says Jacob, "But David might. He's an electrician, or was, I think."

The two of you head out to the car and grab the generator. Jacob peeks inside the car. "Shotgun?"

"Nevermind that right now. Come on, let's go."

You carry it inside. "I'll go get David to hook this up," Jacob says. "You go into the X-ray room and lay down."

"Alright," you say, and set the generator on the floor.

Jacob leaves and you head into the building to the X-ray room.

The room is cold. You shiver and put your arms around your chest. Then, realizing what you're doing, slowly lower them.

Jacob appears a few moments later. "David is hooking it up as we speak. He says he wants to talk to you after this is over," Jacob says.

"Sure. At least if I explode into vines it'll be next to him," you say.

Jacob tsks. "I don't want to hear that kind of talk."

"How's Nicole? Is she asleep?"

"Well, yes. She's resting now. She did wake up once. She seemed a bit dazed, which is understandable. Asked where you were. I told her you were out trying to get us electricity."

"Her arm?"

"I put it in a sling. It should heal, though I don't think she'll be able to lift her arm past her shoulder for the rest of her life."

"Damn."

"She got off lucky, really. We all did. You shouldn't have pushed David that far. I warned you," Jacob says gently.

"Hey, he's the one who fucking shot a ten year old girl. I just wanted some information about what the hell is going on around here," you say angrily.

"Alright, alright. It's over and done with. All I ask is that you try to make up with David. I don't want us falling apart."

You sigh, and nod.

The lights turn on.

"We're in business," Jacob says. "Lay down. Here, put this over your... you know."

He hands you a lead lined bib. You place it over your genitals. You feel like you're at the dentist. Laying back, the machine slides you under.

Jacob stands behind the wall, and you hear him pushing buttons. "Close your eyes..." he says.

Eye, you think. Eye. Only got one left.

that's how they got in

they? still thinking it's someone else?

they come when you're asleep and they crawl in the hole and into your brain and they--

There's a clicking noise. You open your eyes.

"...Hey. Hey, are you there? Can you hear me?" Jacob's voice slowly floats in, banishing the other voices.

"Yeah," you say, groggily. "I'm alright."

"OK, you can stand up. It's over. I took the X-ray."

"And?" you say, getting to your feet. You ache all over.

"And we have to let it develop. Come on. David wants to see you, remember?"

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

1. "Alright. I'll talk to him."

2. sssssssssssssssssssssssss

3. "Where's Nicole? I want to see her first."

4. "Actually, can we talk? I'd like to hear your story."

5. ssssssssssssssssssss

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

[Friday]

3. "Where's Nicole? I want to see her first."

"Uh, she's in the den where you two slept, on the couch," Jacob says.

You get up to leave.

"Listen, I understand you wanting to see her, but promise me you'll talk to David, OK?" Jacob asks.

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

1. "Yeah, OK. I'll talk to him, I promise."

2. (Lie) "Yeah, OK. I'll talk to him, I promise."

3. "I'm not promising anything. I'll do what I want, got it? If I decide to talk to him, I'll talk to him."

4. "Fuck David. I'm not talking to him."

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

[Friday]

1. "Yeah, OK. I'll talk to him, I promise."

"Thanks," Jacob replies. "I appreciate that."

You nod curtly and leave the room.

The door to the den is shut. You open it, softly. Nicole is sleeping on the couch. The blankets are slowly rising and falling. You slip into the room and start to walk over to her. Try as you might, you can't help feeling a little bit better seeing her safe. Her arm is propped up above her head, in a white cloth sling. It looks homemade.

Something catches your eye. There's a dead bird outside the sliding glass door.

For the moment curious, you walk across the room, nearer to it. It looks exactly like the one from this morning. There are no visible wounds, you have no idea what killed it.

you did, remember? hahahaha

You groan. Damn it. The voices are still there.

Nicole's eyes open. She smiles and sits up.

"Hey," you say.

"Hey yourself," Nicole says back to you.

"How you doing, kid?"

Nicole looks at her arm. "I'm OK, I guess. Don't be mad at David. He's only pretending to be crazy. He'll be better now."

"Pretending, eh? You seem more talkative. Were you pretending to be crazy before, too?"

"No," she says, her eyes dimming. "I wasn't pretending anything."

You walk over and kneel down. Nicole is starting to cry.

"Hey, hey. It's alright now. I'm here."

"Don't leave me alone again, please. I was scared."

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

1. "I promise. I'll take care of you."

2. "Well, sometimes I have to go away for a little bit to take care of some things. You need to be a big girl now."

3. sssssssssssssssssssssss

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

[Friday]

1. "I promise. I'll take care of you."

Nicole smiles up through her tears as the words pass your lips.

"Good. Don't worry, I'll take care of you, too," she says solemnly.

You smile back at her, and chuck her under the chin. She giggles a bit.

She lays back down, and her eyes start to close again. "Don't go away anymore," she murmurs.

You hope you won't have to.

you'll have to

You take a seat next to her, waiting for her to fall back to sleep. After about five minutes, her breathing evens out and you stand up.

why are you so attached to her?

she's a liability. she'll only slow us down. get rid of her.

she's one of them. did you see the way she was grinning when we ran over that man?

you have to kill her. kill her so she can't kill us.

sssssssssssssssssssssssssss

You silently fall to your knees and grab your head. The voices are louder, arguing. The creeping feeling returns. You want to stick your finger in your eye to scratch.

You hiss under your breath from the pain, then cut it off and fall face down to the floor with a soft thump.

You're pretty sure you can guess what the X-Ray is gonna tell you.

You lay there until the pain becomes manageable again, then lift yourself up with your hands.

The Billboard Man is standing right outside the sliding glass door.

This close, you can see the reason you weren't able to make out his face. It's because he doesn't have a face.

Not like the faceless, where it's nothing but a bloody hole. Not like the bowler hat guy in that famous picture, either. There are hints of a mouth, a nose. Eyebrows. But no face. It's not 100% blank, but it may as well be.

He's wearing what looks to be a black business suit, but it's not any kind you've ever seen before, on TV, or anywhere else.

He's pointing at the dead bird.

Your eyes follow his arm down, to his long pale finger. His fingernails are blood red, and long.

The bird is writhing. Writhing. Smoking. Splitting.

Jesus, it looks like it's turning inside out or somethi --

Small worms erupt from it, twining around and around the small body. It ceases to be a bird and is now a small blob of worms and vines.

It launches itself at the door. Splat. It leaves a trail of slime and blood as it slides down the glass. When it hits the ground, it rolls away a bit.

It launches itself again. A small crack appears in the glass where it struck. The crack lengthens like a lightning bolt across the door as you watch the thing slide down again.

Mr. No Face is pointing at you.

Kill the girl she's the one behind this

No shoot the No Face he's the source of this

why didn't you tell Jacob about this, hmm?

sssssssssssssssssss

hahahahahaha you're still just sitting there what are you gonna do mr action hero mr love em and leave em mr deals pain and death for justice

shut up. do something.

Your mind clears.

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

1. sssssssssShoot Nicole.

2. ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

3. Shoot No Face with your 9mm in your pocket.

4. Shoot the ... bird.

5. This is all a hallucination. A figment of your imagination. Close your eyes, count to ten, and ignore the thuds as that bird thing hits the glass. They'll be gone when you open your eyes, because they don't exist.

6. Scoop up Nicole and get the hell out of there. Find Jacob.

7. Put your 9mm to your head, and pull the trigger.

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

[Friday]

6. Scoop up Nicole and get the hell out of there. Find Jacob.

You don't think shooting is a good idea at this point, and the other ideas... don't appeal. You get to your feet as the bird-thing launches itself at the door again. No Face's arm follows you as you move.

You turn and gently but quickly scoop up Nicole. Her eyes open.

"What --"

"Shh," you say. You look back over your shoulder. Nicole lets out a frightened gasp.

"Can you see them?" you ask, as you run to the other side of the room to the door.

Nicole nods, her eyes wide. "The man brought the bird back."

You rush through the door into the vet. Hallways. Lights pass above you. As you run you start yelling.

"Jacob! Jacob, I need you!"

You're in a sort of panic. You squeeze Nicole tight to your chest. Behind you, you hear the sound of glass shattering.

You burst through another door, into the lobby. You weren't heading anywhere in particular. David and Jacob are both there.

"What's wrong?" Jacob asks.

"There -- there's something coming in through the glass. In the den. Did you hear me yelling?"

"Yeah, I -- Jesus. Faceless?"

"No, not exactly. I --"

David steps forward. "Where's my rifle?"

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

1. "It's in my car. Come on, all I've got is a 9mm. The rest of the guns are in the car."

2. ssssssssssssssssssssssss

3. "Not now. I just needed someone to make sure I wasn't going crazy. I can handle this. Come on."

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

[Friday]

1. "It's in my car. Come on, all I've got is a 9mm. The rest of the guns are in the car."

David nods, and runs out the front door. You follow him. He tries to open the door to your car but finds it locked.

"Here, I'll take care of Nicole," Jacob says. "I don't much like guns."

You set Nicole down and she dutifully runs over to Jacob, who holds her hand. She looks back at you, then at David.

You unlock the door and grab your shotgun. David takes his rifle, checks it.

"Here," you say, handing the revolver to David.

David nods at you, and tucks it into his belt.

The four of you head back inside.

"What is it that's in there?" asks David.

"A bird and a scary man," says Nicole.

David looks at you.

"A dead bird. It... had worms in it. Like a faceless, sort of. It broke through the sliding glass door, I think. I was already out of the room. I don't know about the man."

Jacob is looking at you carefully, you notice.

"Er... does it fly?"

not since you killed it hahahaha

"Not anymore, the scary man took away his wings," Nicole says.

Jacob shushes her.

"No, it was just sort of... rolling. And jumping," you say.

"Alright. Let's go," David says, taking the lead.

You follow him back toward the den. When you reach the door, he listens for a moment at it. Shakes his head. He motions for you to be ready. You nod, and brace your shotgun against your shoulder. He opens the door and immediately steps inside, to the left. You follow and go right.

The door is broken open. A trail of slimy residue goes into the room. The bird and No Face are nowhere to be seen. Following the trail of slime, it ends about ten feet into the room.

"I don't see anything," you say.

"Me neither," says David.

Jacob and Nicole are back in the hallway, peering in.

"The scary man took away his wings, but now, now he can climb almost as well," Nicole says.

You swallow, a dry taste in your mouth. Your eyes go slowly up to the ceiling.

It launches itself down on you.

You bring up the shotgun, but it's too late. Small vines extend from the center of the balled up mass, reaching toward your face. You yell, and try to bat at it with the shotgun. It wraps itself around it. You quickly throw the gun across the room. The bird wraps around the gun, then detaches itself and rolls toward you, vines propelling it quicker than you'd have thought possible. You fumble for your 9mm.

CRACK.

The creature explodes, and rolls about a half foot to the left. The vines go dead and cease moving.

You turn to see David lowering the rifle.

"Nice shot," you say.

David smiles a bit back at you. "I took a course."

"Well, it paid off," you say, finally getting out that 9mm. You cautiously point it at the creature, but it's not moving. "Thanks."

David nods.

Jacob enters the room, looks at the door. "What about the man?"

"I don't know," you say. You give Jacob a meaningful look.

"He must have fucked off, whoever he was," says David. "I'll do a quick sweep of the premises."

He leaves the room.

Jacob is looking back at you questioningly.

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

1. Tell Jacob everything that has happened to you since you left for the gas station. Admit you're pretty sure you're infected.

2. "No idea. Nicole says she saw a man when the bird-thing was coming in."

3. ssssssssssssssssssss

4. Tell Jacob everything except the part about ssssssssssssss and your mind being fucked.

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

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Academy Veterinarian)
Health: Unknown. At this point, you're pretty sure something is wrong with you.
Weapons: Lead Pipe, Revolver (3 bullets), 9mm automatic pistol (10 rounds), Hunting Rifle (Scoped, unknown number of bullets), Sawed-off Shotgun (11 shells)
Assets: change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 2:31), Swiss Army Knife, Roughly five day's worth of food and water, Car, near full tank of gas, Flashlight, batteries, lighter
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: None

Nicole:
Health: Shot in shoulder. Assets: Clothes. Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Medium, can be killed by massive damage to torso
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

"No-Face"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Unknown, seemed to summon other faceless. Changed a bird into a Crawler.
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Can suddenly vanish, or turn invisible. May be all in your head.

"Crawler"

Form: Vermin
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Low
Speed: High
Special/Notes: Can climb and stick to walls, ceilings.

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

[Friday]

1. Tell Jacob everything that has happened to you since you left for the gas station. Admit you're pretty sure you're infected.

"Nicole," you say. "Go to the lobby and sit down. I have to talk to Jacob for a little bit."

"Is the scary man gone?" she asks.

"I think so, sweetie."

Nicole trudges off.

You quickly fill Jacob in on what happened to you at the gas station, at the billboard, and in this room.

"It's like there's this hissing noise in the back of my head, all the time. It sometimes gets louder, and it's getting harder and harder to ignore," you explain.

Jacob says nothing. He just looks scared. Finally he wipes his eyes and sits down on the bean bag, somewhat awkwardly.

"Uh... has the X-ray developed yet?"

"Yes. I was looking at it when you yelled for me," he says.

You hold your breath. Maybe you're just stressed out, and --

"You should have a look at it," Jacob says, and by the tone of his voice, your hope falls.

kill him before he tells the others

Jacob silently stands and leaves the room. You follow.

As you walk behind him through the hallway connecting the house part to the vet offices, you hear voices in your head, arguing. Most of them you're unable to make out, and soon, you stop trying. It's only making it worse.

You enter a room with one of those lighted boards. You don't know what they're called. Your X-rays (or you assume them to be, anyway) are stuck up on it.

Jacob walks over to a near full body one. He points at it.

You step close and examine the X-ray. You see a normal human looking skeleton. Yours, you suppose. But there's something else. It looks like a mass, centered in the chest and stomach area. And --

"Whatever it is, it's in your entire body, mostly localized in the upper and lower torso," Jacob says. "But there are tendrils of it in your arms, your legs. Especially going up your neck and into your brain."

You look at him, horrified.

"Best I can tell, this thing is in your veins. But maybe not. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it. It appears to be a mass of these worms. Vines. Some of them are wrapped around parts of your brain. Some of them even look like they're poking into it. It's impossible for you to be alive, according to what I know about biology."

He pauses, and seems to consider something.

"If these things are in your brain, then you may very well be suffering hallucinations, ranging from auditory, to visual, to, well, the entire sensual range, really. But... if this thing is doing it to you, actually manipulating the brain or somehow causing the effect, then... well, the hallucinations, if that's what you want to call them, could very well be real. To you."

"To me?"

"Yes. We couldn't see them, of course, but even if you knew that whatever you were seeing wasn't real, it wouldn't matter. The brain makes it real. It's possible."

"Great. So in addition to the real monsters out there, now I have to deal with a set all of my own, existing entirely only inside my head."

"Not for long," Jacob says. "These things inside you look identical to the worms or vines that the faceless feature. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before you... change."

You drop your head. Your hands clench and unclench.

"We have some options," Jacob says.

"Yeah," you say. "Can you cut this out of me? I mean..."

"Not a chance. I'd kill you removing this many infected areas. And I don't think I could manage it even if it was only, say, the chest. I'm not trained to perform surgery. Like I said before."

"Then what options are you talking about?" you say angrily.

"We could try drugs to try to find out if this thing in you is intolerant to anything. The way it's parasitically bonded to you, I don't believe it could filter anything we put into you out. If we could find something to retard or even destroy its physiology..."

You think. "The only thing that seems to work against it that I've seen so far is bullets. I don't suppose you could inject me with lead."

"Are you sure? Think about it. Anything that you've noticed."

You concentrate. The hissing in the back of your head continues.

"Well, we have the Crawler thing in the den. We could do some experiments."

"Yes, but that thing is dead. So there's nothing that says what melts it will melt a live specimen inside you. Whatever passes for these thing's metabolism is shut down in dead specimens. We need an idea of what to try. I don't have very many drugs."

"The answer is near," says Nicole from behind you. You whirl, and she's standing at the door, eyes huge. "The answer is behind you, near you, but it must be found. Everything has a weakness, and they are no different."

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

Think carefully. An idea with two endorsements will be tried.

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

[Friday]

"Benny's notes seem to indicate beer tasted like shit to him," you say.

Jacob shrugs. "It's worth a shot. Got any beer?"

You scratch your head. "Uh... yeah. I think Benny put some in the car."

Nicole comes over to you and clasps your hand. You look down at her.

"I thought I told you to go and sit in the lobby."

"Do you always do what you're told?" she replies.

You shake your head. Nicole is weird, that's for sure. You still want to

kill her

ask her some questions, later. But first things first. You head out to the car, Jacob following.

As you exit the building, David is coming around the side yard. "Everything looks clear," he says. "Nobody's around."

You nod. No-Face must have split. You pop open the trunk and take a beer from a six pack that's been sitting in there since last night.

"Uhg. I hate beer. I drink wine," you say.

Jacob grabs one too. You glance at him, and he pops his top open.

"Bottoms up," he says, and holds out his can.

"Cheers," you say, and pop yours open, clink it against, and take a swallow.

The taste is horrible. You spit it out. "Jesus!" you say. "I didn't know beer went bad this fast."

Jacob lowers his can and looks puzzled. "It tastes fine to me. I mean, it's warm and it's been sitting in the trunk for a day, but..."

You stare at him, then back at the can. You try another taste. Horrible. You force it down.

Jacob has his eyebrows raised. "Bingo," he says.

"Let's hope so. Shit. This tastes like liquid chalk, or something."

David comes up. "Uh, did I miss something? What are you guys celebrating?"

"Well," Jacob says quickly. "Surviving another day."

"I'll drink to that," says David, and grabs a beer.

"I think I'll turn in. We should really put the alcohol inside. It's just gonna get worse out here in the trunk," you say, gathering a few six packs.

"Here, let me give you a hand."

David looks back and forth between you, then shrugs. "I'm gonna go finish my book," he says, and heads inside.

After he leaves, Jacob looks at you. "Beer doesn't have much actual alcohol in it. If that's what we need. It could be something else in the beer. I'd suggest getting drunk ASAP. Only way to find out for sure."

You nod. "I've always wanted to get pissed for reasons other than wanting to get pissed."

You turn to Nicole. "Stay with Jacob. I'm gonna go to bed."

Jacob helps you carry the alcohol inside, then turns to leave with Nicole. He hesitates at the door. "Uh," he says.

"Yeah?"

"Just in case this doesn't work. Uh. Guns?"

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

1. Hand them over. Then get pissed.

2. ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

3. "No. If I turn, it won't make any difference. You have the rifle and the revolver."

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

[Friday]

1. Hand them over. Then get pissed.

You motion to your shotgun on the floor, where it has remained since you flung it away with the crawler on it. Jacob walks over and picks it up like you would a snake. You take the 9mm out of your pocket and hand it to him as he walks back. He quickly tucks it away.

"Are you gonna be alright?" asks Nicole. She looks concerned.

"Yeah, sweetie. Everything will be

jussssssssst fine

OK."

Nicole nods. "You'd better be. Jakey smells funny."

Jakey smiles. "That's old man you're smelling, dear."

"It's more like a sort of bloody smell," Nicole says, very seriously.

Both of you look at her. "Quite a mouth you've got there, girl," says Jacob finally.

"Jakey," you say, taking a swig. "I like that."

"You should hear her pet name for you," Jacob says, and turns to leave. "Good luck."

You raise your can. "Yeah," you say. "Good luck."

You tilt your head back and drain the rest of it. You almost gag from the taste. You briefly wonder if the hangover is going to taste like chalk, too.

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

You've gone through about half of the stash Benny had in the car. You're not sure, because you lost count a while ago. You've never been very good at holding your liquor. You've lost control and vomited twice from the taste already. The first time you managed to make it outside first.

"Looksh like Nicole won't be shleeping on that bean bag anymore!" you giggle.

"Fucking shit. This was a bad idea. A bad bad bad idea," you say, and fall to your knees on the couch. Your head is spinning. Your insides feel like they're moving around. You throw up again.

It's the last thing you remember before darkness.

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

Day 3

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

You are standing in a blank hallway. To your left is a door. To your right is a writhing mass of vines. The entire right wall seems to be made out of it.

"I'm dreaming," you say.

"Bingo," says a familiar voice, stepping out the door.

You turn and Benny's corpse is closing the door behind him.

"You. You're dead," you say, pointing. Your fingers have long, red fingernails.

Benny taps the side of his head. "Not up here, I'm not."

You look closer. Benny seems to be a human corpse. The wounds you inflicted on him with the shotgun are visible, and bleeding, but the blood is red and there are no vines. Plus his face is still there. Lip piercing and everything.

"You're still alive inside your own --"

"Listen, friend. I'm not here to explain shit to you. I'm here to offer you a choice. You can come with me, through this door, or..." he gestures to the wall of vines behind you.

You turn and look. No-Face has emerged from the vines and is staring at you. Or, er, he would be if he had eyes. The vines caress him, twining around his legs and torso. Leaving small trails of blood across his face.

You turn back to Benny. He looks serious, and slightly bored. "Can I try door number three?"

"Sure," Benny says, shrugging nonchalantly. He points down the hallway, which extends as far as you can see, curving away into darkness.

You take a step toward it. Benny puts a hand on your shoulder. "That's the great unknown mystery, man. You choose that path, and this story ends, and another begins. I don't give a shit, I'm just saying."

"Another story begins? What the fuck do you mean?"

Benny laughs, and it's just as annoying as you remember it being. "Man, you're fucking thick. That way lies la muerte, man. Death. As in, adios. See ya around. Took a trip to the farm where you'll chase the other dogs and play. Took a really long blink."

You stare at him. "If you don't give a shit, why warn me?"

"It's my job, man."

"Your job?"

"Look, fuck off with the questions, alright? I'm not here for that. If it were up to me, I wouldn't be here at all. Just pick. Me, Mr. Personality, or the long walk."

You turn around, and look behind you, the opposite way down the hallway, away from "Death".

Nicole is standing at a dead end about twenty feet away. She smiles at you as you see her.

"Hey, Nicole! You're here too?!"

Benny sighs. "Fucker. You weren't supposed to see that."

"Aha. So there's a fourth choice. What happens if I choose that way?"

"You don't wanna do that," Benny says, adjusting his piercing.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Even I don't know what will happen if you ally yourself with her."

"Sounds like a plan," you say, but Benny again restrains you.

"Listen to me, man," he says, looking directly at you. You belatedly realized he has both eyes, again. He looked better with one missing, it distracted from how ugly he was. "I'm telling you, the only thing worse than going with The Man Without A Face is going with tits over there. She will fuck you up, understand? G-Man is a fucking cakewalk compared to that shit."

"I don't believe a word of anything you're saying," you say.

Benny laughs. "Alright, fine. Like I said, I don't care. I'm dead! You fucking killed me already. Why should I give a shit?"

"You pulled a fucking gun on me!"

"Details, details. Come on, Mr. Hero."

"It's time to choose."

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

1. Go with Benny.

2. Go with No-Face.

3. Go with Nicole.

4. Go down the long hallway.

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

This choice will be decided differently. Whichever choice has the most votes 24 hours from now will be executed. In the case of a tie, I will run a tiebreaker of some sort.

[Friday]

You angrily brush Benny's hands off your shoulders.

"Fuck off, 'bro'. I don't want anything to do with you," you say.

Benny just grins, leans back against the door, and watches you.

"Suit yourself," he says, smirking.

You turn away and walk toward Nicole. As you near her, her smile widens and she holds up her arms. You move to embrace her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Benny says from behind you. It is the last thing you hear from him as you fold Nicole to your chest.

"Thank you for choosing me," Nicole whispers softly, in your ear.

You smile. "I promised you I'd prot --"

There is a sudden, flaring pain in that same ear Nicole whispered into. You instinctively pull back, but you can't. Nicole's arms are around you, holding you in place, amazingly strong.

You yell in pain.

"Arrrrrrrrrrggghhh! Nicole, what the fuck are you --"

Your eyes, straining to the side, can barely make out Nicole's mouth next to your ear.

Something is coming out of her mouth. It's alive. It's boring into you. Right through your ear.

Nicole is grinning. "I'll take care of you," her voice says, though her mouth does not move. "I have a present for you."

You wake up.

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

Your eyes slowly open. The room looks similar to how you left it.

... eyes?

You bring up a hand. For a split second, you think you see a single red fingernail. Then it's gone.

Gingerly, you put a finger to your left eye.

Ow.

Blinking, you step around the empty cans and into the hallway. Your head feels heavy.

"Yep," you mumble. "It tastes like chalk."

Leaning against the walls, you manage to stumble your way into the bathroom.

Mirror. Ughhhh.

Yep. Two eyes again. Good as new. Impossible. You grew an eye overnight?

You strip and step into the shower. You realize as the water comes on that the white hissing noise that you were actually getting used to is gone.

The water is cold, but refreshing. You feel better after you get clean.

You step out, and dress. You feel actually OK. It's been a while since you could say that. You made extra sure to clean your fingernails.

The door opens. This time you made sure to shut it.

"Jacob," you say, turning. "I'm in he --"

Benny walks into the room.

You step back. For a few seconds your brain refuses to work.

Finally you point at him. "You. You're dead. Aren't you?"

Benny shakes his head, smiling. "Man, you just never fucking learn," he says, and this time, he reaches out and taps the side of your head.

Something is different about him. Again, he looks a corpse. His wounds you remember blasting into him are dripping blood on the floor, but still, no vines. Red blood. But...

His eye is missing again.

"Hey, fuck you, Benny. I chose Nicole. The fuck are you doing here?"

Benny actually slaps his knee. "Do I look like the same Benny, motherfucker?" He puts a finger in his eye, pulls out a blob of... something, and eats it with apparent relish.

Disgusting. "Then what the fuck are you doing here?" Your heart sinks as you realize this has to be another hallucination. Which means you're still infected.

"I told you before, man. It's my job. I didn't choose it. Man, I'm not even getting paid for this shit."

"You just told me that you're not the same Benny! What the hell is this 'before' shit?"

Benny shrugs, and goes to check himself out in the mirror. "Whoa, there Benny! Loooooking good. Maybe I'll get an eyepatch," he cackles.

You angrily finish dressing and brush past him, leaving the room. You slam the door on him on your way out.

He's ahead of you, in the hallway, wagging his finger.

"I'm not that easy to get rid of, sad to say," he says.

"Fuck off. You're not real. I'm going to close my eyes, and you're going to be gone when I open them."

You slowly shut your eyes

both of them

as Benny grins at you. You count to five. Open.

Benny is still standing there. His grin widens.

"Fuck. Why won't you go away?" you ask.

"You tell me, bro," he says, leaning against a wall. "You're the one who summoned me here. I'm a figment of your imagination, remember? Part of you must want me around."

"I find that hard to believe. I think this is just another worm caused hallucination."

"Well, that too," he says, cracking his knuckles. "But either way, we're stuck together. For now."

"For now?"

Benny just smiles.

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

Many options are now available to you. You could interrogate Benny some more, go see if you can find Nicole, or Jacob, or David, or, just get in your car and leave.

I will leave any of these, or other, options up to you. First plan (in bold) two receive two endorsements (also in bold) will be pursued.

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

[Friday]

Find Jacob.

You walk past Benny, back into the den. It's empty. The door is still partially shattered, and you can feel a gentle breeze. You check behind to see if Benny is following you, but he's not. You head toward the lobby.

David is there, reading. His Rifle is resting up against the wall. You have a moment of Deju Vu.

"Hey," he says as you walk in. "Good morning."

You nod. "Where's Jacob?"

David gestures to the front door. You turn and look out a window to see Jacob and Nicole out on the lawn, throwing a Frisbee back and forth.

"Hey, I --"

"Later," you say, cutting David off, and walking out the front. As you leave David sputters "Hey, what the hell? What happened to your eye?!"

You leave him there and approach Jacob and Nicole. Jacob turns and waves at you. You raise a hand, and Nicole runs toward you.

"Hey, you," you say, kneeling. She hugs you.

"I'm glad you're back," she whispers. "Thanks."

"For what?" you say, but she only smiles.

Jacob walks over, then does a double take.

"The hell? Your eye..."

"Yeah, no idea. I woke up like this."

Suddenly something strikes you. The lawn, the Frisbee, the nice, sunshiny day. The birds chirping.

This is still a dream.

"Nope," says Benny from behind you. "Not this time, bro. This is as real as it gets."

You look over your shoulder to see Benny leaning against a wall. He takes a bite of an apple, then tosses it to the ground.

Jacob looks at the wall, then back at you. "Uh... do you see something?"

You narrow your eyes. "Nicole, sweetie, do you see a man over there?"

Nicole looks confused. "What man?"

Benny laughs. "Nobody can see me but you. I told you, man. I'm just a figment of your imagination. Your buddy in your brain."

You shake your head. "Jacob, we need to talk. Nicole, can you..."

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

1. ...come with us?"

2. ...go inside and keep David company?"

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

[Friday]

1. ...come with us?"

Nicole nods, and lifts her arms up at you.

"Up," she says.

You raise your eyebrows.

"Up," she says again, and jumps a bit.

You reach down, grab her, and put her on your shoulders. She is very light.

"Giddyap, pony!" she says, slapping your back, kind of hard. She then points at the door back into the vet.

You shake your head, and look back over your shoulder at Jacob, who is smiling in spite of himself.

"I hope this symbolism is not lost on you," Benny says as you pass him by. You ignore him.

David glances up briefly from his book as the three of you go through the lobby, but doesn't say anything. He seems a bit frustrated.

Nicole reaches out and opens the series of doors leading back into the den. When you get back in the room you set her down, and she makes an ewwwwwwwwww sound.

"An echo of my sentiments," Jacob says, looking at the bean bag, which is covered in dried vomit. "But did it work?"

no

"I'm not sure," you say. "I don't think so. Not all the way, maybe. But the hissing noise is gone. I feel a lot better, too. Best I've felt since I woke up near the crater after the blast, actually."

"And your eye? What happened with that?"

"I really have no goddamn idea," you say. You take a look around the room despite yourself, checking for Benny. He's nowhere to be seen.

Jacob watches you. "Still seeing things?"

Nicole is playing over by the couch. She does not seem to be paying much attention to the two of you.

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

1. Tell Jacob everything. Leave nothing out.

2. Tell Jacob everything, but say you chose Benny. Omit the fact you are continuing to see him, but admit you still think you're suffering hallucinations.

3. Tell Jacob everything, but say you chose Benny. Admit to seeing him after you woke up.

4. "I think we can get the story later. What's important right now is getting me X-rayed again."

5. "No. Can I have my guns back?"

6. "We should really get the hell out of here. If what you said about the faceless was right, they'll be showing up here anytime. We should prioritize leaving."

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

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Academy Veterinarian)
Health: Unknown. At this point, you're pretty sure something is wrong with you. Alcohol may have improved your situation a bit.
Weapons: Lead Pipe, Revolver (3 bullets), 9mm automatic pistol (10 rounds), Hunting Rifle (Scoped, unknown number of bullets), Sawed-off Shotgun (11 shells)
Assets: change of clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 8:41), Swiss Army Knife, Roughly five day's worth of food and water, Car, near full tank of gas, Flashlight, batteries, lighter
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole

Nicole:
Health: Shot in shoulder. Assets: Clothes. Skills: ????

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Medium, can be killed by massive damage to torso
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

"No-Face"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Unknown, seemed to summon other faceless. Changed a bird into a Crawler.
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Can suddenly vanish, or turn invisible. May be all in your head.

"Crawler"

Form: Vermin
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Low
Speed: High
Special/Notes: Can climb and stick to walls, ceilings.

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

[Friday]

4. "I think we can get the story later. What's important right now is getting me X-rayed again."

"I guess you're probably right," Jacob says, sighing. "Let's go."

Jacob starts leading you down the hallway toward the X-ray room. As you walk, Nicole skips along behind you, stopping every now and then to inspect some invisible object on the wall.

"I'm also worried about staying here much longer," you say.

"I was thinking about that, actually, this morning," says Jacob ahead of you. You strain to hear him, partially because he's talking away from you, and partially because Nicole is saying something in singsong behind you. "If the faceless are moving outward systematically, in --"

"London Bridge is falling down, falling dow --"

"-- obably using scouts at the edg --"

"-- on Bridge is falling do--"

"-- king for concentrations of food. Survivors, maybe, Or --"

"Ring around the posy, ashes, ashes--"

"-- could see a full scale attack any minute. But I --"

"-- ashes, ashes, ashes, ashes--"

"-- things seem to have at least some form of intel--"

"-- the worms go in and the worms go out, some are dead but some still live--"

"-- hen relay the information about what they find back to the main group."

You turn. "Nicole! Sweetie, please." Nicole goes quiet, folding her hands in her lap as she walks behind you.

You reach the X-Ray room. Jacob looks at you. "Well, whenever you're ready. No, Nicole, stand back. Here, with me. We're going to give him a X-ray so we can see what's inside him."

"Like his bones?" Nicole asks, wide eyed.

"Yeah, exactly," Jacob says.

"Gross," Nicole says. "But, also, sort of cool."

You shake your head. "Jacob, I couldn't hear you back in the hallway. What did you say? Nicole was--"

"Oh. Uh, let me think," Jacob says. "Just that, well..."

"If the faceless are moving outward systematically, instead of randomly, they're probably using scouts at the edge of their widening circle, looking for concentrations of food. Survivors, maybe. Or whatever. If they're more random about it, we could see a full scale attack any minute. But I don't think that's the case. These things seem to have at least some form of intelligence. I suspect they're using scouts who then relay the information about what they find back to the main group," he finishes.

"So you're saying that the first time we see any faceless here, it's only going to be one or two?"

"Exactly," he says. "Though I could easily be wrong. I agree with you, we can't stay here, regardless."

You go and lay down on the table. Jacob starts the machine and you close your eyes.

Good to have two again, you must admit. You'll be able to aim a lot better, at least. Depth perception was a bitch with only one eye.

Speaking of which...

The machine clicks and whirrs above you. It's over. Jacob says you can get up, and you do.

You've got a bit of time before the X-ray develops.

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

1. Tell Jacob everything. Leave nothing out.

2. Tell Jacob everything, but say you chose Benny. Omit the fact you are continuing to see him, but admit you still think you're suffering hallucinations.

3. Tell Jacob everything, but say you chose Benny. Admit to seeing him after you woke up.

4. Ask for your guns.

5. Go see if you can talk to David. You did promise, after all.

6. Take Nicole aside, and talk to her alone.

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

[Friday]

5. Go see if you can talk to David. You did promise, after all.

"I'm gonna go talk to David," you tell Jacob. "Can you watch Nicole?"

Jacob nods. "I'm glad," he says. "I'll have those X-rays in a bit."

You walk to the Lobby. David is outside, staring at something. You push the front doors open and come up behind him.

"Looks like rain," he says, as you come up behind him.

Indeed, in the distance, heavy clouds seem to be approaching from the mountains. You can't see the smoke from the hills anymore, perhaps the rain has put out the fires.

"I'd like to talk to you, now that I have a minute," you say.

David turns to face you. His rifle is slung over his shoulder, and you can see your revolver poking out of his pocket.

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

1. "Listen, we need to talk about what happened with Nicole."

2. "I just want to make something clear, David. If you ever point a gun at me or Nicole again, I won't hesitate to kill you."

3. "Hey, can I have my revolver back?"

4. "Hey, can I have my rifle and revolver back?"

5. "Jacob said you wanted to talk to me, too."

6. "I still need to know what it is you saw, David."

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

[Friday]

5. "Jacob said you wanted to talk to me, too."

David sighs. "Yeah."

You wait.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier. For... when I freaked out."

"And shot a little girl?"

David gulps. "Yeah. Listen, I feel really bad about the whole thing. I was really out of my mind, and you kept asking me questions. I didn't --"

"You didn't what? Listen, I'm not going to beat around the bush, here. What you did is inexcusable. I almost had a mind to kill you. You should thanks Jacob, he talked me out of it. If it weren't for him, you'd probably be dead right now."

David nods. "Listen, about Jacob..."

"What?"

"Have you... noticed anything odd?"

"Oh, Jesus," you say, rolling your eyes. "Not this again."

David grimaces. "I know how this must sound, but, I swear to god, I just felt like, well, listen. I saw something before, and, I was out of it. But I think --"

"What, are you going to tell me you think Jacob is 'one of them' now, too?"

David takes his glasses off, and nervously wipes the lenses. He pushes them back onto his face. "I. Uh. Well. I don't know. You have to admit he's..." David swallows, and seems to come to a decision. "OK, look. Before we go any further. I want to again apologize. I don't know what came over me. I'm not... I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of stuff. I..."

You simply wait and stare at him.

"I just... listen, all I wanted was a normal life. I can't handle this. Or, I couldn't. I had a wife, a house, a job. And then five days ago everything turned up side down. I lost everything. I saw my wife... my wife... she. Oh, god," David is starting to hiccup, and a tear slides down his cheek.

You shake your head. "Listen, I'm sorry, but you can't go around shooting people because your wife died."

"Died? No, no. She's not... Listen, you and I need to talk. But not here. Not now. Later. When Jacob can't hear us."

"What? Why? He's inside. He can't hear us now."

"You don't... listen, I've said too much already. They may be listening. There's more to them than just the faceless. They have ears and eyes where you can't see them. They can look just like us. I thought Nicole was one of them. I don't know. Maybe I was wrong. But she... when I first saw her. Her eyes. Just like my wife's..."

The way David is talking is finally starting to make you feel less angry and more afraid. You don't think he's lying, or making something up. He seems emotional, but also rational at the same time.

"What do you mean? Nicole --"

"Forget about Nicole. I've been watching her, and I can't tell either way, now. But... I know about you. You're infected."

You stiffen.

"No, no. It's OK. I saw the X-rays, I snuck in while you and Jacob were doing something else. I was listening when you were talking, once."

"What!?" you exclaim. "You little --"

"No, stop. Please. Not here. Please. Just, hear me out," he begs.

You grit your teeth and comply.

"I know you're infected by those vines. Those faceless things. But you've managed to beat them, I think. It doesn't matter. You can't be one of them if you're infected."

"You're crazy. I can't be one of them if I am one of them? What?"

"No, listen," David says. "I think there's more than just one breed of these things. And I think they might not be overly friendly with each other. I just... your eye is back. I had a dream about this. I think you're the only one I can trust."

"You'd gain my trust a lot faster if you didn't shoot small children," you say.

"I said I was fucking sorry!" David says angrily, then looks ashamed.

You narrow your eyes. David lets out a heavy sigh.

"OK, sorry. Again. But we need to get past this. I need to talk to you in more detail, but not now. Later. Please, just... wait. Trust me. It might be very important."

You sigh yourself.

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

1. "Alright, David. I'll trust you, for now. We'll talk later."

2. (Lie) "Alright, David. I'll trust you, for now. We'll talk later." (Go inside and tell Jacob about this.)

3. "No, you're crazy, and I'm telling Jacob exactly what you've said to me here."

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

[Friday]

1. "Alright, David. I'll trust you, for now. We'll talk later."

"Thanks," David says, and turns back to look at the clouds. "I guess we're gonna be getting out of here pretty soon."

"Yeah," you say. "It's not safe here. I have some maps if we have to hit the road."

"Good," David says absently. He suddenly laughs. "Oh, here. You'll probably want this back," he says, taking out the revolver and offering it to you.

"Yeah," you say, taking it. "Thanks."

You check the chambers. Still three rounds left. Safety is on. Seeing it makes you remember that note you found in the same car you got the gun from.

they look just like us

Maybe there's more to what David is saying than just crazy ramblings or delusions brought on by trauma. You tuck the gun away.

Heading back inside, you notice the apple Benny had discarded onto the grass is still there. There's a worm in it. A regular one.

Pushing open the doors to the lobby, you take one last look at David. He stands like a statue against the oncoming storm, looking out into it. A wind is starting to pick up. You shut the doors behind you.

Nicole runs into the room. "Look what I found!" she smiles. "Look!"

She's holding up some kind of toy. Looks like a dog toy of some kind. A chew rabbit. You kneel and examine it. It's pretty soft to the touch. Nicole squeals.

"His name is Mr. Benny," she says.

You do a double take. "What did you say his name was?"

"Mr. Bunny, silly! I can't name him Mr. Turtle! He's a rabbit!"

"Oh, OK. What if I told you his name was actually Mr. Chew Toy?"

"Noooooooooooooo!" she says, and runs away giggling.

You stand and shake your head. This is a very different Nicole from two days ago. She actually seems like she's returning to life, or something. Still occasionally creepy, but you can almost believe she's a fairly normal little girl.

"Oh, yeah. Perfectly normal little girls shoot worms out of their mouths into your brain all the time," Benny says from behind you.

"Go away, dipshit," you say, without turning, and leave the room. You hear Benny laughing behind you.

Entering the den, you figure you might as well clean up the empty cans. You throw the ruined bean bag outside.

"You know, there's a ten thousand dollar fine for littering," Benny says, coming in through the broken sliding glass door.

You stand, walk over to Benny's grinning face, and punch him in the jaw.

Benny's grin vanishes as your fist connects, and he goes crashing to the ground, spittle flying. Your hand hurts. You really clocked him good. Benny looks up at you from the ground, his eye afraid. There's a bit of blood coming out of his mouth.

Wait a minute... you can hurt him? Your mind goes to the gun in your pocket.

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

1. Shoot Benny. Maybe you can get rid of him. This might be how to remove the infection.

2. Nah. Leave him and find Jacob, ask about the X-rays.

3. Actually, you want to talk to Benny. Ask him a few questions. He's probably full of shit, but it might learn you something.

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

[Friday]

2. Nah. Leave him and find Jacob, ask about the X-rays.

"That felt better than it probably should have," you say, shaking your hand off.

Benny gets to his feet. He's no longer smiling.

"We don't have to be enemies," he says, softly. "I'm trying to help you, bro."

"I doubt it," you say, and leave the room.

Heading to the X-ray room, you find Jacob putting up the X-rays against the lighted board. He looks closely at them.

"Oh, just in time," he says. "Have a look."

You peer at the full body shot. Looks like the... things... inside you have significantly decreased. You can still see a big mass in the upper and lower torso, but the vines reaching into your limbs and head are almost entirely gone.

"From what I can tell," Jacob says, "There's about a sixty-five to seventy percent reduction. Seems like the alcohol did the trick."

You smile, relieved. You suspected as much, but seeing it here, in front of you, proof that you're beating this thing, well...

It hits you, finally. You might actually make it out of this mess alive.

"Great," you say. "So I'll just get pissed again. Finish the rest of them off."

"Well..." Jacob says. He looks concerned. No, not quite. Cautious.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. From what I can tell, the worms inside you that survived... well, here. Look."

Jacob goes to a stack of papers, grabs one, and comes back. Puts up another X-ray on the board, next to another one showing just your neck and head, in closer detail. Jacob points.

"You can see here, in this X-ray we took before the alcohol, the worms in your head."

You nod.

"And here, after."

You look. It seems like the bigger worms survived the transition. The smaller, "branch like" worms did not. You lower your head. The hope you had starts to slip away.

"Great. That's just great."

"From what I can tell, the older, bigger worms are able to survive the alcohol in your system somehow. Perhaps they've grown enough to be able to become immune or resistant to it. I don't know."

"So it's just a matter of time, then. Until they grow back, and I turn."

"No. Well, yes. Listen, I could be wrong. But worst case scenario, don't you see? We can keep them repressed. Put you on a 'diet' of alcohol. Keep the worms from spreading, taking control. It's the same all over your body. The central, thicker and presumably older worms stayed alive in you. The small, secondary worms died out."

You shake your head. "This doesn't make any sense," you say.

Jacob sighs. "I'm just spouting conjecture, here. You may be able to kill off the worms with another round of booze. But my gut tells me that these things are resistant to smaller doses. Maybe you could actually kill off the worms, with enough alcohol."

"But... I'd die of alcohol poisoning, too," you say.

"That's my idea. Obviously we need more data, first. But if I had to hazard a guess..."

You put your finger to the board, the worms in your brain. "Damn it. I was so sure I had beaten them. That just one more night of drinking would finish them off. Now I'm stuck with them. Forever."

"Now, don't say that. We have no idea if there is a cure or not. Likely case, there is one. And we can keep them from spreading with the alcohol in the meantime. You were lucky. If the worms in you had matured to the point of the older worms, it would have been too late. A change would have been inevitable at that point."

"Motherfucker," you say. "What the fuck is going on around here, anyway? I mean, we're talking about worms in my head. There are worms in my head. This is some seriously fucked up shit."

Jacob only looks at you.

You sit down on a small bench, taking out your revolver and fingering it. Jacob looks a bit startled for a moment, then seems to control himself.

"I wanted to ask you," he says, swallowing. "Are you still experiencing hallucinations?"

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

What do you tell him? Everything? Leave out your talk with David? Admit to seeing Benny? Lie, and say you chose Benny in the dream, or tell him you chose Nicole? Or simply deny everything, and ask to get packed, get your guns back, and get out of here before it's too late? First plan (in bold) with two endorsements (in bold) goes through.

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

[Friday]

X-ray Everyone

"No," you say. "I just... my head feels a bit funny, sometimes."

Jacob looks at you long and hard, and rubs his beard. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Not since last night," you say.

"I see," Jacob says. you can tell something is bothering him.

"You know, just to be on the safe side, I'd like to X-ray everyone. You, David, and Nicole, even."

Jacob raises his eyebrows. "Is that really necessary?"

"I think so, yeah. For everyone's peace of mind."

Jacob shrugs. "Alright. I'll go talk to David. Why don't you find Nicole? She should be running around here somewhere."

You nod, and both of you leave the room. You head toward the den.

"Nicole, sweetie!" you say, loudly. "Where are you?"

There's no reply. You enter the den. It's empty. "Nicole?" you say, starting to get a bit worried. You can feel the breeze that was picking up earlier coming in through the broken glass. You absently reach down and pick up a can you missed earlier.

"You might want to check on that generator," Benny says.

You look up to see Benny grinning at you. You again get the urge to punch him to make him stop.

"What?"

"Just an idea, you know."

"I can hear it running," you say. "It's fine. I have another can of gas for it in the car."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about it running out of gas," Benny grins.

You narrow your eyes at him, and start to head back toward the Lobby.

The generator sputters. The light in the hallway flickers.

Benny starts laughing.

You run toward the Lobby. You've got to find Nic --

The lights go out. The generator dies.

"Motherfucker!" you curse. You're not sure where it's hooked up to. David was the one in charge of it. You pull out your revolver, switch the safety off. The damn gun is starting to feel almost natural.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Benny is sitting on the counter, swinging his feet. "You're in trouble now, bro!" he giggles.

The scream sounded like it came from outside, around back. You rush out the front door and start to circle the building. The chain link gate to the backdoor area has been, well, mutilated. It looks like someone has bent the metal and tore open a hole in it, as well as mostly pulling it off its hinges. You step through.

The backyard has that perfect green grass. You come out of the side yard and into the back.

A Faceless is walking slowly toward Nicole in the open yard. She's just standing there, her back to you. The Frisbee lays discarded next to her.

The Faceless is what could have been a lawyer. You're about thirty yards away. You can't tell how far Nicole is from it, exactly, but not far.

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

1. Fire at the Faceless from where you are.

2. Run forward, try to grab Nicole before the Faceless gets to her.

3. Move forward halfway, then fire.

4. Run forward, trying to get to Nicole, while firing.

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

[Friday]

3. Move forward halfway, then fire.

You decide quickly, and run forward as the Faceless closes with Nicole, who has still not moved away at all.

You're closer, now. But so is the Faceless. Christ, it's right on her. It could grab her any second.

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

1. Take the shot. Nicole is short, you'll aim over her head.

2. You don't want to risk hitting her. Finish the run, and dive tackle her out of the way.

3. "NICOLE! DUCK! NOW!" Fire as soon as she does. If she doesn't, well, shoot anyway. Hopefully waiting for her to duck won't mean the Faceless grabs her.

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

[Friday]

1. Take the shot. Nicole is short, you'll aim over her head.

"Nicole, duck!" you scream, but you don't wait for her to do so. You sight for the upper chest of the faceless and fire.

Your first shot goes high. You were too cautious, trying not to hit Nicole, and missed.

You grit your teeth and re-sight.

The Faceless leans downward, vines about to close in on Nicole's face.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE --

Your second shot hits him right dead center in the upper chest. You see his tie get blown sideways as he lurches back and the vines recoil. You blew a hole in the tie.

The second shot seems to snap Nicole out of it. She screams and runs to the side.

You've got a clear line of sight, now. The Faceless is making hissing noises, and sort of flailing a bit. But then it rights itself and turns slightly to face you. It screams again, and you feel the heat from it on your arms.

"What's a thousand lawyers turned into tentacled monsters lying dead on the ground?!" you say, and shoot it dead center in the chest again.

Greenish blood spurts out from the wound, and the Faceless goes to it's knees, then falls face-forward onto the grass.

You lower your now empty revolver and walk forward toward Nicole. "A good start," you say.

The Faceless suddenly pushes itself up and screams again. You hear a bubbling sound in the roar this time, and it's sort of choppy. You scoop up Nicole, who is still screaming, and rush backward toward the building.

You see Jacob coming out of the den. David is coming around the opposite side that you did. He takes a quick look, unhooks his rifle from his shoulder, and goes to one knee, sighting the Faceless.

You run toward Jacob as the crack of the rifle rings in your ears. He's holding the shotgun out to you.

"Trade you," he says, gesturing to Nicole.

You set Nicole on the ground, and Jacob passes the shotgun to you as he takes her hand. You turn to see David firing again at the advancing Faceless. He hits it in the leg, but the Faceless barely flinches.

"Aim for the chest!" you yell, and pump your shotgun.

"I've got to reload!" David says, and takes his rifle down.

You advance to within fifteen feet or so, and brace the shotgun as best you can against your shoulder. You're probably not doing it right, but, whatever.

"Safety!" Jacob yells from behind you.

Right. You back up a bit and switch it off, then put the shotgun back up, aiming for the chest.

The shotgun spits buckshot as you pull the trigger, and the Ex-Lawyer's chest turns to shreds. It falls over backward.

You stare it down for a bit. Not moving. Greenish bubbles form and pop. The vines are all dead except for one or two still weakly slithering on the grass. They soon cease moving.

There is a clapping sound from behind you. You turn, puzzled that Jacob would do that, but it's not him. Benny winks at you with his one good eye. "Good going, champ. You really fucked that dude up. I've got deju vu, for some reason," he says.

You check once more to make sure the Faceless is down, then walk over to Nicole.

"You OK, Sweetie?"

Nicole nods. Tears run down her cheeks.

"You can't wander off alone like that," you say. "Not outside at the very least, OK? I was worried about you."

She nods again. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I was just playing."

"I know," you say, and hug her. Her hair is soft on your shoulder.

She brings her mouth close to your ear to whisper something.

You jerk away, then abruptly turn and face Jacob.

"What the fuck happened? The power went off."

"I was going to ask you that same question," he says.

David joins you. "I have some bad news, guys," he says, shouldering his rifle again. "When the power went off, I checked the generator. It's torn up. Ruined. The Faceless must have gotten to it."

You eye David. "Well, let's see it."

He takes you to the electrical shed to the side of the building. The door has been torn off it's hinges. Inside is a mess. The generator is ruined.

"That's great," you say. "Just great."

"If the Faceless knew to cut the power, they're smarter than we thought," Jacob says.

"Why cut the power at all?" you ask. "Wouldn't it have just been better to go to the building directly? Cutting the power only gave us warning that something was wrong."

Jacob shrugs. "I don't have any answers."

"I think," David says, "It's time to leave this place. Before more of those things show up."

You shake your head. "Fine. Let's pack. Daylight is wasting."

David moves off. Jacob follows, holding Nicole's hand. She looks over her shoulder at you as she leaves the shed.

You stand there for a moment, then kick the wall. Son of a bitch.

Did David do this? Jacob? The Faceless?

... or... Nicole?

Nothing is going right lately. At least you got your god damn shotgun back.

You head back and pick up the revolver from where you dropped it. No bullets, but it'd be dumb to just leave it here. You head back inside, look around. Pretty much everything you own is in your car, already. The den stinks. You grimace, and head to the bedrooms.

Jacob is there, packing a suitcase. He seems to have a few of them.

"Can I have the 9mm back?" you ask.

Jacob pauses, then goes to a desk, opens a drawer, and silently hands it over. "Thanks," you say.

He nods. "I must admit I'm not entirely comfortable with you being armed," he says.

"I understand."

He looks at you for a bit, then goes back to packing.

Well, what the hell. You don't have anything to do. While David and Jacob get ready, you'll...

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

1. Ask Jacob about his story.

2. Tell Jacob your story. Leave out seeing Benny.

3. Go and talk to Nicole.

4. Familiarize yourself with your weapons. Do some dry firing at targets in the back yard.

5. Study the maps in your car. Maybe you can figure out where you're going to go.

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

Location: Northern California, ruins of your hometown (Academy Veterinarian)
Health: Unknown. At this point, you're pretty sure something is wrong with you. Alcohol seems to have improved your situation a bit.
Weapons: Lead Pipe, Revolver (empty), 9mm automatic pistol (10 rounds), Sawed-off Shotgun (10 shells)
Assets: Clothes, contents of wallet, Nice watch (Showing 9:23), Swiss Army Knife, Roughly five day's worth of food and water, Car, near full tank of gas, Flashlight, batteries, lighter
Skills: None that would be useful spring to mind. Damn the school system!
Members in party: Nicole, Jacob, David

Nicole:
Health: Shot in shoulder. Assets: Clothes. Skills: ????

Jacob:
Health: Normal. Assets: Clothes. Skills: Medical

David:
Health: Normal. Assets: Hunting Rifle. Skills: Rifle

"They" encountered:

"Faceless"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Medium, can be killed by massive damage to torso
Speed: Low
Special/Notes: Central nervous system does not seem to be present in the head

"Flesh Worm"

Form: Worm
Attacks: Mouth, Unknown
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Unknown

"No-Face"

Form: Humanoid
Attacks: Unknown, seemed to summon other faceless. Changed a bird into a Crawler.
Resilience: Unknown
Speed: Unknown
Special/Notes: Can suddenly vanish, or turn invisible. May be all in your head.

"Crawler"

Form: Vermin
Attacks: Vines
Resilience: Low
Speed: High
Special/Notes: Can climb and stick to walls, ceilings.

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