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Poll

Choice

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


Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 5

Author Topic: The Ends Act 5: The Return  (Read 7396 times)

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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #40 on: August 03, 2011, 05:58:15 PM »

I know most of the people who read this have long since left due to inactivity, but I feel I should post here to say that I am still working on ideas for this and haven't given up on it. I'd like to see the end of this as much as anyone (and rest assured it will end, player death being the cause or not)
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Brentai

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #41 on: August 04, 2011, 05:23:52 PM »

Wolfy, you're overstressed.  Why don't you go find the nearest puppy, put it in your lap, close your eyes, and just pet it?
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #42 on: August 26, 2011, 07:17:16 PM »

3. Armory.

After deciding, the two of you continue down the highway. You stare out into your adopted hometown as you pass through a large commercial area.

Things look... almost neat. There's signs of chaos and destruction here and there, but overall, the town looks in much better shape than Limestone was. Or maybe it's just the lack of fog making everything look creepy and run down. As you pass by a Ford dealership, you see the giant nearby flagpole is bare. The lack of flag strikes you as probably the biggest change. Down under the flag the cars and trucks shine gleaming in the sunlight just like they always used to, but the glass walls and windows of the dealership itself are almost entirely shattered. You catch a quick glimpse of a large bloodstain on an interior wall above an overturned desk and potted plant.

On the other side of the road you pass a batting cage. You remember taking one of your dates there, one sunny afternoon, not much unlike this one a few years back. You tried to show off your batting skills in the fast pitch. You remember how hard she laughed at you when you finally got frustrated with a stalled launcher and left the plate, only to have it immediately fire once you were out of range to swing.

"I remember going on a date to that batting cage once," Jesse says, interrupting your memory. You look at her and she continues. "The guy I was with was trying to show off. I remember laughing pretty hard at him when he walked away from the plate and missed a ball."

You raise an eyebrow.

Jesse glances at you. "What?"

You shake your head. "Nothing. Probably. Something like that happened to me, once."

You continue on down the road. It gradually inclines and becomes a freeway passing over the park and town ahead. Not many cars on the road so far. From the backseat, Max sticks his head up front and whines. You gently pat his head and scratch behind his ears. He sighs and then curls up again.

"Something's been bothering me," you say.

"Well, you've got a lot to be bothered about," Jesse replies.

"It's just... well, I'm in a parking lot, talking on my phone, when there's a sudden explosion. Then some weird shit happens and a couple of people's heads explode and I pass out."

Jesse gives you a look.

"The thing that gets me," you continue, "Is when I woke up, I was missing an eye, and I had no idea how long I'd been out. But the world was completely normal before the explosion and me passing out. No crazy worm monsters."

"And?"

"And I've encountered signs that this ... apocalypse has been going on for quite some time. Weeks, at the minimum."

"So, you think you were asleep in that parking lot for a lot longer than you originally thought?"

"I guess so? I must have been. I can sort of remember, now. I've been thinking about it. And it's like... I have these... memories? I don't know what to call them exactly. Maybe... feelings would be a better word. Like images or emotions in my mind. Images of something... holding me down. Something... boring into me. I'm beginning to question what exactly happened to me back when this all started."

"I see."

You turn to face Jesse. "What was it like with you? How long has this craziness been going on, as best you can remember?"

Jesse scrunches up her face as she thinks. "I would guess about a month. Maybe more. Kinda amazing how fast you lose track of time."

"Yeah," you agree, and fall silent.

Greenwood flashes below you as you cruise down the freeway. You can see into the backyards of houses. You blink as you see a kiddie pool filled with blood.

"Uh oh," Jesse says.

You look ahead, and see the tail end of what looks like a huge pileup, completely blocking the freeway. Cars are smashed into each other haphazardly, like fallen dominoes. It even looks like one truck tried to drive over the mess but got stuck itself.

Jesse slows to a stop. You look over the right side of the freeway, seeing the green of the park below. The other side of the freeway looks clear, but you'd have to go over the divider, which is a concrete abutment over five feet high.

"How far is it to the armory from here?" Jesse asks.

"About two miles, maybe?" you say, trying to remember.

"Well, we could turn around, find another way," Jesse suggests.

"Yeah, OK. I don't want to leave this vehicle unless we have to."

Jesse silently turns around. As she begins to backtrack, you find yourself a bit weirded out from driving down the wrong side of the freeway. Not like you're going to meet oncoming traffic, though, so whatever.

"I wanted to ask you more about... when you... 'were' me."

You turn and smile slightly.

"You didn't... peek at anything, did you?" Jesse asks, returning your smile.

"I was the perfect gentleman," you say sincerely.

"But seriously. You mentioned it seemed like you had some degree of... control over me."

You nod, remembering. "Yeah. I did. Kind of. Sort of. Like driving a car in a heavy blizzard with no traction. Mostly it just goes where it wants to."

"Even so, if that's true, that really creeps me out. But more importantly, it doesn't make any sense."

"Eh?"

"Well, our theory is that these... aliens, or whatever, have some sort of hivemind, right?"

"Right."

"Well, then, if it's a hivemind, why are you the one giving the orders? Shouldn't it be more like... shared consciousness?"

"I... don't know," you say, slowly.

You both fall silent. Jesse takes an offramp down to street level, and begins to navigate surface roads through old neighborhoods. Lots of trees cover the lawns. Greenwood was pretty well named, you guess. You remember when you first moved here how much you loved all the trees everywhere. Now, in this world, you worry that faceless horrors hide within and behind them, both literal and metaphorical. Slowly but surely, you have adapted, even acclimated to this reality, and now, even the thought of parasitic alien hivemind worms growing inside you doesn't really phase you all that much.

Maybe that's a bad sign.

The houses on either side of you look nearly like you remember them, with just a few signs of neglect and decay. But abruptly you pass a large house that has shattered windows, with corpses litering the lawn.

Hold on. Corpses?

"Wait, stop!" you exclaim. "Go back!"

Jesse slows to a stop and puts the vehicle in reverse. As you pull alongside the lawn again, the corpses have vanished.

"What is it?" Jesse asks.

You stare at the lawn for a long time. "I... don't know. I thought I saw bodies on this lawn."

Something about the house bothers you. You can't put your finger on it, but staring at the front door, you feel bile rising in the back of your throat. The windows seem like eyes staring out at you, unblinking and eerie. A Weeping Willow presides over the lawn set off to the right side.

Max whines softly.

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

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

The rest of the trip is relatively uneventful. Within ten minutes you pull down the dead end street that leads to the armory. A few cars litter the road, blocking the way forward.

"Looks like we'll have to go in on foot," Jesse says, throwing the vehicle into park.

The three of you climb out, Max circling briefly in a tight circle. "Stay close, boy," you tell him. He looks at you but does not reply.

The road to the armory isn't long. Hemmed in on both sides by nondescript storage buildings, you make your way past the cars, peering briefly into each. All are empty. Some of them still have their drivers side doors hanging open. Some have crashed into each other or buildings. In one small sedan, the force of the head on collision has popped open the trunk. Peering inside, you see a crowbar. You reach for it grimly and hold it up for inspection.

Jesse is watching you. "I won't say it if you won't," she says.

You continue on, and shortly reach the parking lot for the armory. Behind a barb wire fence, you can see about ten military jeeps parked in a separate lot, apparently untouched. None of them appear to be armed. The armory itself looks completely normal. The front doors, set atop some steps with a railing,  are slick black glass, reflecting your appearance. A flag flaps in the slight breeze above you.

"Well, shall we?" Jesse asks.

You glance around. Apart from the cars haphazardly strewn over the road coming in, the place looks pristine, and deserted. A crowbar isn't much of a weapon, but isn't that why you came here in the first place? It doesn't seem like you have much choice but to go inside and take a look around.

"Alright, let's go. I don't think I need to tell you to be careful," you say.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who poked a Bovine with a stick," Jesse quips.

You mount the steps and tentatively try the doors. They open easily, revealing a hard marble interior foyer. A desk sits to the left, with little American flag stands, paperwork, pamphlets, and everything else you'd expect sitting atop it. Opposite you is a thick closed door. Above the door in neat block capitals is written "NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY, GREENWOOD, CA". Some plastic chairs have been set up for people to wait in.

Max sniffs the floor, and then steps inside. He looks back at you with an expression of "Well?"

You walk in and check the desk. There's a small door behind it that leads to a supply closet. The drawers are unlocked and filled with useless papers. A jar of pens sits atop the desk, and you idly take one and scrawl on a pamphlet.

"Nice place," Jesse says. It is noticeably cooler inside.

The door forward is locked. Grunting, you return to the desk to do a more thorough search. Under the desk is a small drawer you missed the first time. It's also locked. You pry it open with your crowbar, and it snaps open with a twisting crack. A couple of keys tinkle to the floor. You collect them and then try them systematically in the door. The third works, and you pocket the keys.

You give Jesse a look, she nods, and you push the doors open.

Into a large auditorium. Probably a hundred plastic chairs are set up, facing a podium. Big American flag behind it. Nice wooden floor. Lots of doors and halls leading off in the back.

"Lets get to exploring," you say. "Stick together."

You begin to stride across the room when your peripheral vision suddenly picks up on a figure in a corner. You whirl, only to see Benny grinning at you with what remains of his teeth.

"Waste of time, bro," he says.

"What is it?" Jesse asks.

"Benny," you almost snarl.

"You're a real smart guy, coming to a place like this looking for guns," Benny says. "You realize that you'll never get in past the locks, right? And even if you did, they probably don't even store the ammo here. You'd be better off just going straight to the Church."

You ignore him and continue your way across the hall. Jesse follows you, worried.

"Hey pooch! Hey doggy, come here! I've got a treat for you!" Benny calls.

"Don't listen to him, Max," you say.

"I wasn't talking to the dog," Benny grins.

You grit your teeth and reach for a door handle. Opening it, you see Benny standing in the hall ahead of you. Several doors branch off to the sides. For a brief moment, you experience Deju Vu, your mind flashing back to that strange dream with Benny and Nicole and No-Face in the hallway.

"Nicole ain't here," Benny says. "And besides, wrong Benny."

"Go away," you tell him.

"No can do, bro. We gotta talk," Benny says, his face serious.

"I don't have any intention of talking with you," you tell him.

Benny shakes his head. "Your funeral."

You sigh.

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

1. Benny isn't here to help you. Ignore him, and search the armory.

2. On the other hand, he does (seemingly) have some sort of vested interest in your survival. Maybe it would be wise to see what he has to say.

3. Punch the motherfucker in the head.
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #43 on: August 27, 2011, 10:55:54 AM »

Gonna bump this a few times until people realize I'm writing again. In any event, I won't move forward with say, less than 4 votes total.
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LaserBeing

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #44 on: August 28, 2011, 01:04:54 AM »

reminder that this is roughly 100× better than that stupid cat slut scrolls comic so if you don't get your ass in here and vote I officially hate you
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Guild

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #45 on: August 28, 2011, 05:57:40 PM »

my bumps

my bumps my bumps

my lovely lady lumps
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #46 on: August 30, 2011, 11:58:11 AM »

2. See what he has to say.

"Alright, Benny. What."

Benny smiles, and as he does, you get the distinct impression of something moving around in your head.

"You're not actually going to talk to him?" asks Jesse. "Didn't he try to take control of you to kill me?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm under no illusion that Benny is here to help. But he DOES want me to survive, and if he can tell me something about what we might be facing later, I can't pass up that opportunity."

Jesse looks at you. "OK. But be careful, please?"

"I will. Don't worry. I won't let him take control again."

You turn back to Benny, who is scratching at his face. As he does, one of his fingers seems to hook or sink into his cheek, and it peels away like an onion off his face, leaving only a thin bloody mess barely covering the skull. What looks to be maggots or worms thread through the meat. Benny glances down at the skin on his finger and shakes it to the floor.

"Damn acne," he says, grinning horrifically at you. A maggot crawls into his mouth and he crushes it between his teeth.

"What do you want, Benny?"

"Same thing I've wanted from the beginning, bro," he replies.

"And that is?" you ask.

"World peace and a Lamborghini," Benny grins.

"Fuck off. I'm talking to you like you wanted. Stop wasting my time."

Benny laughs. "My man, you have no idea just how fucked you are, do you?"

"I'm doing alright," you say, but there's a hint of uncertainty in your voice.

"I told you, you dumb fuck. I told you you'd be in serious shit if you picked her."

"You?" you say. "You just said you're not that same Benny."

"Potato, po-tah-to. I say a lot of things."

"Man, I wish I could kill you again," you say.

Benny grins wider, exposing a hole in his jawline. You're pretty sure you can see into his brain. Somehow. "Listen, bro. That bitch is bad news. Bad, bad news. Way worse than anything you've seen or met so far. You're so goddamn dumb that all you've been doing this whole time is trying to get back to her, and even I can't convince you otherwise. Fine. But take my advice, bro. When you find her? Put the bitch down. Trust me."

"Trust you?" You laugh, loud and hard. "Are you fucking kidding me? Trust you?"

"What have I ever done to you?" Benny asks. "All I've ever done is try to help you out. Keep you alive."

"Yeah, I'm sure you have my best interests at heart," you reply.

"What, you think little miss blue balls is any better?"

"She's saved my life."

"And I haven't?"

"You tried to kill Jesse!"

"Of fucking course I did, you ignorant fuck. She's a ticking fucking time bomb! Staying around her, or that stupid dog, is just an invitation to get yourself killed!"

"We can keep the infection under control," you say.

"What, really? How long do you think getting pissed every night is going to work? You know eventually it won't be enough. And then they're fucked, and they'll kill you."

You shake your head. "What you're saying doesn't make sense. I'm infected too. Hell, what you probably actually want is for me to succumb to the infection. You're just a worm in my brain arguing that the host should stop fighting it."

Benny sighs. "You continue to amaze me with your complete lack of self-preservation."

"And what about what you did to Kyle and Shawna, back at the bunker? How's that helping me, exactly?"

Benny throws up his hands. "What, can't a guy have a little fun once in awhile?"

You shake your head. "Get fucked, Benny. Is this all you had to say? You're not helping me. Go away."

"Listen," Benny says, and his face falls into what you've come to know as his expression for when he might actually be telling the truth. "Everything else aside, you need me. The ... Other is coming, and he's not someone who can be reasoned with, or argued with, or stopped with anything less than a tactical nuke. I'm the only thing you've got in your corner against that guy. So you can't block me out. You've got to let me in so I can protect you."

"I'll make do," you say.

"Idiot. You won't. When he finds you, there'll be no stopping him. And once he's done with you, his mission is to proceed to kill little miss creepy eyes. You care about that, don't you? Care about her? You think you can stop him on your own? Outrun him? Hide from him? Even you can't be stupid enough to think that. You know you and he are connected in some way. You know that no matter how far you run, or how well you hide, he'll find you. And you know you can't stop him alone."

Your only reply is silence. Benny watches you.

"Think about it, bro. You wanna survive? You wanna protect the ones you care about? You need me."

Benny reaches out and puts a filthy hand on your shoulder.

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

1. "I need you."

2. "No."
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Guild

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #47 on: August 30, 2011, 03:37:22 PM »

Noooope.
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Romosome

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #48 on: August 30, 2011, 05:54:18 PM »

fuck's sake. We may need him eventually but this sure as shit isn't the time or place, especially if he insists on being so unhelpful.

If it wasn't for Jesse I'd threaten suicide just to get some straight answers out of the prick.

so No, for now. Let's hope the crybaby doesn't fuck off for good if what he says is true
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Cthulhu-chan

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #49 on: August 30, 2011, 10:47:41 PM »

all of my nope.
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #50 on: August 30, 2011, 10:47:51 PM »

2. "No."

Benny narrows his eye.

"No," you say again. "I don't need you."

"Listen, bro --"

"No, you listen, 'bro'. You get the fuck gone, right now, or I'm going to take a fork and dig you out through my eye socket."

Benny removes his hand and gives you a long look. There's a fair bit of anger in his remaining eye. "You're making a mistake."

"No, the only mistake I made was not killing you so hard you couldn't come back as a ghost to annoy me. Now get away from me."

Benny steps back and raises a hand to point at you. "You'll regret this," he says, and then abruptly vanishes from view.

You stare at the empty space in the hall where he was for a minute, then turn to face Jesse and Max, both of whom have been watching the entire exchange.

"Is... is he gone?" Jesse asks.

"Yeah," you say.

"Good," Jesse sighs. "It's fucking creepy, watching you talk to yourself like that. It gives me shivers."

"Sorry."

"I just hope I don't end up like that."

You smile. "I don't think Benny likes you."

Jesse doesn't return your smile. "Sometimes... sometimes I think I... I have dreams. About my dad. He's all... messed up. Like how you describe Benny. He says things to me. Bad things."

You put your hands on her shoulders. "Try not to think about it. Come on, let's get to searching this bastard."

Jesse swallows and nods. Beside her, Max barks once.

"Yes, Max! Go! Find us some guns!" you exclaim, gesturing down the hall.

Max barks again and takes off down the hall, sniffing the floor.

"If I didn't know better I'd say he's searching for guns," Jesse says, watching him.

"Maybe he is," you say. "Max is probably smarter than us."

Jesse laughs and starts to follow him. "Probably."

"Alright, stick together. We don't know whats in here. If anyone was here, they probably would have met us in the front, but keep on your toes."

Jesse nods and gives you a thumbs up. "I'll keep my eye peeled," she says, using her thumb to flip her eyepatch.

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

Two hours later, you've gotten no results. You found mostly empty or locked rooms, and though some of the keys you took opened a few of the doors, none led to anything of any use. The only thing you found was a storeroom full of MREs, which you helped yourself to in the main hall.

The main door which leads to the armory itself is heavily reinforced and locked with two separate mechanisms. None of the keys you have fit either of the locks, and a careful search of the rest of the building gives up no more keys.

You and Jesse carry some MREs out to the SUV, the only fruits of your search. The sun is starting to sink toward the horizon, though you've got at least a few more hours of daylight left. Max trots happily ahead of you, nose to the ground.

"Well, this turned out to be a waste of time," Jesse says, dumping some MREs into the backseat.

"Yeah, oh well. I thought we might not actually get anything from here. Was worth a shot."

"Come on," Jesse says. "Let's take one last look around."

The three of you head back inside for a final check. You're in the middle of checking the bathroom for any kind of first aid when you hear Max start barking. Quickly making your way to the source of the noise, you come to a door you've previously checked as locked marked PRIVATE. Max is pawing at it and whining at you.

Jesse comes around a corner and gives you a questioning look.

"Dunno," you say, motioning at Max. "He just started barking, so I came running."

"Can you open it?" Jesse asks.

You try all the keys you have again. Nope.

"Maybe the crowbar?"

"I tried that on a few other doors. They're all pretty thick and reinforced. Obviously they don't want people getting in where they shouldn't be. But I'll give it a shot."

You attempt to jam the crowbar into the space between door and wall, but despite your efforts you are unable to pry the door open. It always looked easy in the movies.

"Here, let me try," Jesse says, taking over. She works at it for a bit, then gives up, handing the crowbar back to you. "Man, it always looks so easy in the movies."

You narrow your eyes at her. "That's weird."

"Eh?"

"That's the second time today you've said something I was just thinking."

Jesse shrugs, dismissing it. "I wonder what has Max so worked up."

"No idea. Maybe there's a really big strip of bacon on the other side."

Jesse chuckles. "Can we maybe take the hinges off?"

"Thought of that. These doors all have their hinges on the other side. Besides, no tools."

Jesse slaps the door with her palm. "There's got to be a way in."

You raise your hands. "I dunno. Places like this are built to keep people out. Whoever had the keys to this place is probably long gone, or in some worm pit, or wandering around as a Faceless by now," you say. Max looks up at you, panting slightly. You reach down and pet his head and neck. "Sorry, boy. Looks like your bacon is gonna have to wait."

Max barks and jumps up suddenly onto you, almost knocking you over. "Whoa! Down, boy!"

You manage to push him off of you, and he barks again, once, loudly. "Look, I'm sorry, but we can't get the door open!" you tell him.

"What about the vents?" Jesse says suddenly.

"Eh?"

"Well, this building has got to have some sort of ventilation system, right?"

"Even if the vents were big enough to crawl through, they'd all be locked up too," you say.

"Yeah, but maybe we can pry those locks open," Jesse replies.

"I guess it's worth a shot," you say.

Searching around, you find a vent in the ceiling of the main hall. You stack some chairs up and stand under it, trying to jam the crowbar into the grate. Finally you manage to pop it out along with a good chunk of the roof.

"We're in business," you say. "Boost me up."

Your head barely fits inside. The shafts are extremely small and narrow. Jesse couldn't fit, and she's much smaller than you.

"No good," you say. "Like I thought, too damn small for either of us."

"What about Max?" Jesse asks.

You pull your head out of the vent and look down at her. "Are you serious?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Uh, because he's a dog? What's he gonna do, open the lock from the other side? And besides, it'd be a tight fit, even for Max. Maybe if he was like, a chihuahua."

"Hey, you're the one who said Max is smarter than either of us."

"Sending Max into the vents is stupid and risks his life. He could get stuck, or worse. And we don't have anything to gain from it, barring miracle dog that unlocks doors."

Jesse sighs. "I'm just so curious now about that room."

"I know, me too. Plus, you know, I'd like to get my hands on some guns."

You climb down and dust yourself off. "Unless you've got any other ideas, I say we get out of here."

Suddenly, the whole room trembles briefly, knocking some of the chairs over. After about three seconds, it stops.

"What the hell was that?" you say.

"Earthquake?" Jesse says.

"Maybe," you say doubtfully.

Again, the room shakes. Five seconds this time. The two of you stand there, silent, waiting for another round, but it doesn't come.

"OK, I'll take that as a sign it's time to go," you say.

You, Jesse and Max hurry outside and back to the SUV. Max licks at a MRE and you open one for him. He gives it a long look before daintily licking it up.

"What now, Clark?" Jesse asks.

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

1. Proceed to the Church. You've wasted enough time.

2. You still need to get armed. Head to the Police Station.

3. You KNOW you can get access to the guns in the gun shop downtown.
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #51 on: August 30, 2011, 10:59:27 PM »

"Ssssssssssssssssknowing you you probably need a reminder, sssssssssso:

Quote
You shake your head. "The gun shop downtown is right near the crater here. Which means it's close to the nest."

You can thank me later, bro.
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LaserBeing

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #52 on: August 31, 2011, 01:26:08 AM »

Watch Clark. Watch him close.
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Zaratustra

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #53 on: August 31, 2011, 11:17:38 AM »

"Uh, because he's a dog? What's he gonna do, open the lock from the other side?"

I'm a Dog

Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #54 on: September 02, 2011, 11:40:10 AM »

2. You still need to get armed. Head to the Police Station.

"I guess we'll try the Police Station," you say. "I still want some weapons, and we've got time before dark."

Jesse pulls back onto the main road and starts backtracking through town. "Stay on this road," you tell her. "It curves around eventually. Then you'll need to take a left."

As you pass by the empty shops, houses, and buildings of the town you've lived in for almost four years, you're struck again by how mundane everything looks. There's the odd out of place element here or there, but by and large it looks completely ordinary, except for the complete lack of any people.

You pass several mundane billboards advertising local businesses. One of them has a giant red smiley face splashed on it, covering a depiction of a smiling female doctor. A local used car dealership has several inexplicable craters in the lot that several of the cars have slipped or sunk into.

"I don't get it," Jesse says. "Where the hell is everybody? Shouldn't there be, I don't know, survivors somewhere?"

"I think everyone either died or got the hell out," you say. "But we may find survivors at the Police Station. I suspect that, or we may find the place already stripped of all the guns and other useful equipment. But maybe we'll get lucky."

"Where the hell is the army, or whatever? I don't mean those guys in the black helicopters, those special op guys or whatever. I mean the actual regular army," Jesse says.

"Hopefully busy somewhere else," you reply.

"Hopefully?"

"Hopefully they're busy, and not losing the war."

Jesse shakes her head. "They've got tanks. Jet planes. Machine guns."

"I don't know," you say. "If they're fighting things like ... whatever is after me, I don't know if that's enough. Turn right here."

You turn onto a main highway that goes through the center of town. "Up ahead is the turnoff to the station. It's right near the freeway. Be careful," you tell Jesse.

Passing a 7-11, you see a lone Faceless staggering around the gas pumps outside. It turns to watch you pass. The body looks like maybe a ten year old, but the gender is impossible to determine. It looks almost lonely standing there in the empty lot.

The 7-11 vanishes behind you. "This is the turn off to the station," you say, motioning.

"Should we just drive right on up?" Jesse asks.

"Eh?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe a quieter approach might be better."

"I don't know. I don't want to leave the car in case we need to get out of there fast," you say.

"If anyone or anything is at that station, driving a big SUV up to the front entrance is a sure way to let them know we're there. We could go in on foot, check things out, and if it looks bad, slip out quietly."

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

1. Drive.

2. Check it out on foot.
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LaserBeing

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #55 on: September 02, 2011, 03:24:22 PM »

If there's something nasty in there, sneaking in unarmed and wandering around opening lockers is probably not going to increase our chances of not being eaten by it, particularly if it is psychic like half the monsters wandering around. On the other hand, if there are regular people inside, sneaking in and prowling around stealing weapons is exactly the sort of thing that might get our heads shotgunned in a dark corridor.

Rolling up in an Explorer on the other hand would give any terrified and trigger-happy survivors a heads-up that fellow regular not-at-all-infected humans are stopping by to borrow some bullets.
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Cthulhu-chan

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #56 on: September 02, 2011, 09:24:57 PM »

agreed.
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #57 on: September 03, 2011, 11:25:26 AM »

Hmm. Votes are deadlocked. Well, I'm going out of town for two days. We'll see how it looks when I get back.
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Friday

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #58 on: September 09, 2011, 08:46:15 PM »

Alright, finally an option pulls ahead.

Close one, 5 to 4.

2. Check it out on foot.

"Yeah, alright," you agree. "Let's get going. Daylight is burning."

The two of you step out of the vehicle. Max begins to follow, but you stop him. "Sorry, boy. You've got to stay here."

"We're leaving him?" Jesse asks.

"Well, the whole point is to stay quiet. He could give us away."

"What if we don't make it back?"

You roll down a window partway. "There. If he needs to get out, he can fit." You turn to Max again. "Stay here. We'll be back."

Max watches you go silently until you've disappeared around a corner.

"Alright, the station is up ahead, around this curve," you say quietly. "Let's get into those trees that follow the road. Stay low."

The two of you move slowly from tree to tree, keeping as much cover between you and the road as possible. Eventually the station comes into view up ahead. You circle around behind it, staying in the bushes. The parking lot has several police cars still parked. The only sign of anything out of the ordinary is a rather dramatic pickup truck crashed right through the front doors.

The area behind the station is fenced off, but the back gate is open. Upon closer examination, you see someone has cut the padlock. There's a large generator, as well as several dog kennels, all with open doors except one, which has a hole chewed through the side. The backdoor is hanging open.

You glance meaningfully at the kennels and then back at Jesse. She nods.

"That's probably the biggest warning sign we're gonna get," she whispers in your ear. "Should we go in?"

You think about it. If what you understand about these creatures is true, any Cavines should be roaming in search of food to bring to the nest. It's unlikely if any were created here that they'd still be around.

"I think we gotta risk it," you whisper back. "But be careful. I don't know how good of hearing these things have. No talking, even whispering, unless it's an emergency from now on."

The two of you creep slowly forward. You can feel your heart beating in your chest like a rusty piston. You tighten your grip on the crowbar, though you doubt such a weapon would help you much even against only one dog.

You pass through the backdoor into a long hallway that turns to the right up ahead. All doors that you can see are open. You slowly draw near the first and look into a small storage room. It looks like it's been ransacked. The next door seems to open into some kind of meeting room. Papers are strewn everywhere. A whiteboard behind a podium has what seems to be an insane scrawling hand covering the entire space. The writing is so small you can't make it out from the hall. You continue down to the next door.

AMMUNITION STORAGE

The door is broken open. It looks like someone took a shotgun to it. You slowly push the door inward and see rows and rows of empty shelves. Looks like someone already cleared the whole place out. You swear inwardly. Jesse shakes her head at you and points to a few 9mm bullets that seem to have escaped whatever box they were in and rolled into a corner. You bend over and retrieve all three. Not much of a haul, but better than nothing. You pocket them.

The next door leads to the woman's locker room. All the lockers have had their locks broken and stand empty.

The bathroom has a cracked mirror. For a moment, looking into it briefly, you see Benny's twisted reflection instead of your own.

You reach the place where the hallway turns and take a careful look around the corner. Whatever semblance of what little order remains here vanishes as you see bloodstains, bullet holes, and what appears to be a severed human hand. You make your way slowly down the hall to another open door marked "Men's Locker".

Again, it's been ransacked. Some of the lockers have been thrown to the floor, and miscellaneous useless crap litters the floor. You do a quick search for any keys or anything else useful, but don't find anything. If you decide it's safe you might come back for a more thorough search.

Stepping over the bloody hand in the hall, you walk into a large room filled with cubicles. Most of the desks have been overturned and a few cubicle walls have collapsed. Off to one side is a room with the shades drawn, and a shut door marked "Chief of Police, Andrew Lawson".

You check the door. Open. The room is sparsely furnished with only a empty fish tank apart from the desk and a few chairs. The room looks ransacked like all the rest, but under the desk you find a locked drawer that whoever was here before either missed or couldn't open. Your crowbar makes short work of the lock and you slide open the drawer.

Bingo. .357 Magnum, 6 inch barrel. You check the cylinder to find all six chambers loaded.

Exiting the chief's office, you suddenly trip over a displaced chair, and before you can stop yourself, you've crashed into a cubicle wall, knocking it the rest of the way over.

Jesse helps you to your feet. "Well, I guess if anyone is here they know we're around now," you say quietly.

Just as you finish speaking, you hear a faint noise. You and Jesse both cock your heads. The noise comes again, from somewhere on the other side of the building.

"Sounds like somebody is yelling for help," Jesse says, looking at you.

Now armed, you feel significantly more confident. Though a part of you knows that six bullets, even from a magnum, won't help you for long.

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

1. Check out the noise.

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

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Re: The Ends Act 5: The Return
« Reply #59 on: September 09, 2011, 09:14:48 PM »

the last time we went back to help someone we died

but at the same time this guy doesn't sound like he's being eaten?

I guess we could check
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