Tayne Peregrine (hunterperegrine) wrote in downfallrpg, @ 2010-05-14 11:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | # death, # group, # villains, 2015-09-05, erin, jasmine, keith, tayne, verity |
Escape Attempt
Who: Tayne, Erin, Keith, Verity and Jasmine
Where: North of the hotel; Oakwood Mall
When: Early morning
After the group of hostages were searched and rendered weaponless, they were escorted to a bedding store in the back of the mall on the top floor. There was never a moment where they were alone, or where they felt their powers returned to them. The group seemed almost too confident, too sure of themselves. There was another figure that stayed nearby, but out of sight enough that his face was never fully visible. As soon as the metal gates were pulled into place and locked, the group left, no second thoughts given to their hostages. For now, they had other business to tend to, and the hostages were last on their list of priorities.
The dark store was barely lit by the faint emergency lights coming from the main section of the mall, heavy shadows falling toward the back. There was no way out, and aside from a small office space in the back, it was a dead-end section of space. Most of everything had been removed from the store aside from a handful of mattresses that had been tossed onto the ground. Toward the back, on the last mattress before the office area laid a figure, curled in on itself and apparently sleeping. The form was hard to recognize immediately, appearing to the still adjusting eyes of the survivors as a person huddled up underneath a blanket.
A lot of very random things had gone through Tayne's head during the search and locking away. The eggs, back at the hotel, needed to be turned, and the heater turned on for the night. Would someone do that for him? Would Terry? Dhaval? Would Erin be pissed when Tayne didn't show up with the promised books? Would Dhaval be upset when he didn't show up for the promised evening? Was Dhaval feeling better? Had someone wheeled him back to his room? Would they send someone out to find them-- only to let them get caught, too?
Underneath it all, he was constantly testing the air for scents-- not finding them. Constantly looking around for an escape route-- not finding one. Keeping himself focused on the others-- though there was nothing he could really do for them but try to keep calm and steady, to keep them calm and steady. There'd be an opening. Eventually. Their powers would come back. Eventually. He'd just keep watching and waiting for it.
When they were finally left alone, he patted himself down, trying to think of what the bastards might've missed-- not his swiss army knife, damn them; that'd been a gift from his brother-- and looking around. The body under the blanket caught his attention immediately, and he started towards it. "Hey," he said, announcing his approach. If this was another prisoner, maybe he'd know something useful.
The body moved when Tayne's voice broke the silence, and what had previously appeared to be some kind of blanket shifted, sliding in an almost circular movement as the body began to raise up. It was slow, as though the person were sleepy or drugged, still very covered by shadows... but it was definitely the form of a man, obviously shirtless even through the dark.
Well, there could be worse ways to be taken hostage... At least they weren't being spit-fire roasted. That could be kind of unpleasant. ...haha?
...Keith tried to keep a positive attitude, but it's not like he had anything to build that on. Life had been going on so well after all, and now they were stuck here and... how were they going to get out? And how was he going to be of any help? He lost his guns. Oh, and now he was wallowing in self-pity. ...which made him feel even more useless. Crap.
He mostly kept to himself on the side, something he knew he was good at and sat there, dozing in and out of consciousness. The whole time he kept a handle on his necklace. At least he didn't lose that. Maybe that was supposed to be a sign or something.
Verity stood still at the door, studying the lock. He definitely missed his power. That would have given him a perfect picture of the inner workings, and let him nudge whatever tumblers needed to be in place. As it was, though, it was far from a mysterious mechanism. All he really needed was a long bit of metal. Any bit small enough. If need be he could probably even pull off a bit of the metal grating if it came to that. But first he'd check for the easy options. Verity turned and began to scan he floor as he headed back to the little office. By what logic, after all, would their captors have carefully cleaned out every paper clip, binder clip, clamp, pushpin, staple, fastener, safety pin, and screw post in the place? Those things took on lives of their own and set up small civilizations at the bottoms of drawers.
He looked up when Tayne began his discussion with the figure on the bed. He was interested, definitely, but this was more of a Tayne thing to do. The stoic, admirable leader could handle the diplomacy. The squirrely nerd could get them all out with the intention of fighting another day. He thought about stopping to make sure Tayne had come to the same conclusions he had about who they were fighting, which seemed self evident. Two to four powers shown already, likelihood of the need for concentration to keep up this "no powers for them" thing, the likely fact that taking out crazy lady, preferably by pushing her off one of those little balconies, would solve a lot of their problems... Easy stuff, really. But he didn't want to discuss it out loud in case they were being listened to somehow. It'd be cool to assume everyone else had at least that much sense.
Jasmine wanted nothing more than to just curl up on one of the mattresses and pretend she was anywhere but here. She was barely avoiding panicking, mostly because she didn't want to be that girl-- the one who broke down into a panic and was worse than useless in a bad situation. Therefore, she took a few deep breaths, trying to leave the tears and panic for later. Instead, she too followed Tayne quietly as he approached the fifth person in the room. It was dim, and she'd have done anything to have a flashlight with her. "H-hello?" She asked the form, frowning slightly as she squinted in the dim light. There was something strange in the movement of the other person, but she couldn't quite put a finger on why it caught her attention. He was probably just disoriented at suddenly having "cell mates"... right?
No longer being able to see in the dark was disconcerting for Tayne, and the faint light from the emergency lights outside their office-space cage wasn't helping illuminate this guy much. Maybe we could shut off that power, and use the darkness to get out, that way.... He put the thought aside, for later, if they managed to get the door open with some kind of wedge or something. For now, he just paused a few feet from the current prisoner, if that was who this was, and asked, "Who're you? We j-just got here, there's four of us. My name's Tayne." His hand came halfway down, as if to offer a handshake, but he didn't quite complete the motion, part of him suspecting something worse and half-prepared to snatch his fingers back, just in case.
As he was spoken to, the other survivor raised a hand to touch his face, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he moved forward. He approached them without moving, or so it seemed. There was no bounce as he came out of the darkness, and when the sheets never quite fell away it became clear that this man didn't have legs. Wide eyes and dark hair, long arms and the tail of a snake -- "Hi. I'm Erin. Uh, Murray. Erin Murray. You guys got thrown in here too?" He appeared uneasy, glancing at the front of the store several times. "I haven't had company in a couple'a days, now. I think the last ones were uhh... killed or something."
When it sounded like something was happening, Keith looked up from his private little bubble and observed the others quietly. It was a little disconcerting--seeing the way he moved, and how his body was, but at this point he was used to the whole physical mutations thing. (Er... Maybe there was a better phrase for that...? It had this taboo connotation about it. And there was nothing wrong with them! They were the same as um.. everyone else and he. Uh. ...sigh. Right.) And something else about the guy struck him as funny, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it...
He kept quiet and let the others do the talking.
Oh! Maybe they could help this guy escape too. That would be a nice thing to do.
Verity was still mostly ignoring the proceedings. That could be Tayne's job, really. He wasn't finding much in the office space. Maybe they hadn't restocked in a while? Ah, well, that was just the easy way. He gave the furniture a long, level look and decided to start with the handle on a cabinet drawer. Not that those little screws would do it, but he could use the handle to pry the thing apart the rest of the way and salvage all sorts of useful little lockbreaking aids, from longer, thinner screws to hinge pins and even just strips broken off the inner lining. He was aware he was being excessively singelminded, but he worked best this way, absorbed in his work. If he stayed focused, he'd get through this faster, get straight home to Jasper, who must be in a terrible state.
The sense of uncomfortable familiarity increased as the form slipped off of the bed and moved closer, making Jasmine stare. When his face became visible and he introduced himself, her blood started to run cold. So many things ran through her head in one instant; Murray? How did he get here? Who let him out? Is it really him? No, there's no way! She had been advancing along with Tayne but at this point she stopped dead beside him, shaking her head and staring at "Erin". "No." Her voice was louder than she intended, fully conveying her confusion and dismay. "You can't be." She looked over at Tayne helplessly. "He can't be!"
Tayne was staring in shock for that moment it took Jasmine to talk. Then, rather than responding to Jasmine's statement, he started to swear. He rather badly, and rather childishly, wanted to throw something, but there was nothing to throw. Anything was possible, these days-- apparently even making clones of people. "The other one d-d-d-doesn't know his last name," he growled to Jasmine after a moment, the stutter coming out more in his distress; he wasn't angry with her, and that showed pretty clearly, but he was definitely upset. "This one d-d-does. Which one do y-y-you think is the real one?"
Staring at the woman and man in front of him, Erin reached to touch the wound on his left arm, absently scratching at the badly infected bit of skin toward the back. "I... I can't be what...?" His expression deepened into concern at Tayne's words, his dark eyes widened. "What can't I be...?" His voice was quiet, easy to takl over as the other survivors talked about him.
Keith watched curiously at the other's reactions towards the man. He was wondering the same things--what couldn't he be...?
...and that was when he remembered, wasn't there a snake man back at the hotel that had caused some trouble? He hadn't talked to him or anything, but he'd definitely heard about it. He pieced together the fragments of conversation to try to figure out what in the world the pair was talking about... real one? Did... was this guy the same as the other one, or something?
Yeaaah... if that was the case, he would understand why they seemed kind of freaked...
Verity braced his feet against the cabinets while he pried, leaning backward to watch. Oh, yeah, there was a snake back at the hotel. With his lousy memory for names, faces, and details he wasn't immediately immersed in, that was all he knew, but judging from everyone else's reactions, well, they had a case of bizarro on their hands. "Um, guys? Just a thought but, like, how is it relevant? It's not like we know either one of them really, right? Or very well? Can we just go with the assumption that he's some poor schmuck stuck back here with us and just roll with that? Figure out the rest later?" The handle he'd been working at popped off just then and Verity wound up on his back. But he had a crappy improvised prybar! things were looking up.
Jasmine shook her head. "Erin's back at the hotel," she insisted. "I know it. Just because... because he has amnesia doesn't mean that he's fake. For all we know they stole his memories." She stared at the other Erin, unable to fathom what was happening. It was just insane, all of it. All she knew was that the man in front of her wasn't the Erin she knew. Listening to Verity speak, she crossed her arms and turned away, assuming an almost haughty stance to cover up her own emotions. They didn't know why she felt disturbed, and they probably wouldn't understand if they did know. She waited until Verity finished speaking before she replied.
"Fine, why don't we do that, then," she said coolly, clenching her fists to keep her hands from shaking as she walked away towards another mattress. It took a lot of effort to hide that she felt like crying; really, this was too much. Either there was a fake Erin here to confuse them, or the one she'd started a friendship with was fake. Neither option seemed pleasant.
"Some of us might need a minute, kid," Tayne told Verity, a little shortly, shooting him a quelling look. "Whatever weapon or plan you g-got, can wait a second while p-p-p-people stop reeling." He took a deep, hopefully steadying breath, and focused on Erin. The other Erin. "We, uh, kinda got another person just like you, only who don't remember nothin' 'cept his first name, back where we're from. Who k-kind of attacked people. That's what's up, in case you were wonderin'."
Now he could look back at Verity, expression stern. "You wanna share what's in your head, now, or you g-gonna keep us all in the dark?"
Erin was fairly shell-shocked by the information, not quite sure what to do with himself or the other man's words right away. He watched as the woman turned away from him, very obviously upset, and found himself more and more unsure of what was happening. It didn't really make any sense. Erin looked down at the infected would on his arm, wondering if the bite that had been inflicted on him had anything to do with this. There was no way of knowing for sure, though, and that was frightening. How could there be another one of him somewhere? He chose to remain silent for the time being, moving away to try and find himself a comfortable spot to sit on a nearby mattress. It was laid out on the floor, which made it much easier for him to get on and off of it.
Heh. That was an interesting possibility. Though Keith doubted his own memories were stolen, as his amnesia had come upon him before the end of the world. It was probably from something normal, like falling down the stairs, or running into a door. The latter of which he may or may not have done before. ...several times.
And though he felt Verity could've maybe been a bit more sympathetic--he had a point. Right now all it mattered was that this guy was here with them, and they should probably focus on busting out instead of trying to solve mysteries.
He got up from his place on the floor and silently walked towards the others to show that he was at least there with them.
"Oh, yeah, far be it from me to make the ridiculous suggestion that we all run with the assumption that he's a human being that needs help. 'Cus unless we're all having the same hallucination, he's real. And so's the guy back at the hotel. From what we've seen with mind-control crazy lady, they've probably both been fucked with, right?" Verity realized he was still on the floor and hopped to his feet, holding up the broken handle. "Um, getting us out. I learned to pick locks when I was bored one summer. There're no paperclips or anything more useful around, but if I just break some junk off the cabinets, I'll work it out. Could totally just snap my fingers and have it work if my technojuju was back, but that'll have to wait until we find whoever's doing that and break their concentration." Much as Verity talked, only snippets of what was going on in his brain ever escaped.
Jasmine all but ignored the conversation going on behind her as she climbed onto a display bed. Too bad they were only trying to sell mattresses- she would've preferred to pull the sheets up over her head and have a little privacy at least. As it was, she laid down and pulled her knees up against her chest, clenching her eyes closed. There was too much going on, and at this point she didn't care what the others thought of her for it. Being as silent as she could, she finally just let herself have a bit of a cry... It was better than continuing to hold it all in, anyway, because if she didn't let off the pressure soon she'd just start screaming out of frustration.
Yeah, she was no help. It wasn't like she was much help before anyway, so she was sure they'd be fine.
Tayne suppressed a sigh and even managed not to roll his eyes at Verity. As if anyone here had actually suggested that Erin-- this Erin, anyway; or even the other one, for that matter-- wasn't a human being that needed help. No one had, and suggesting that they were thinking it-- Tayne, at least, hadn't been-- was insulting. But bickering right now wasn't going to get them anywhere. "All right," he said patiently. "And I take it you have some plan to get us out past all the monsters that the rest of these people have under their control, too? Or should I be working on that part?"
Even as he said it, he was thinking about it. The make-shift crow-bar might help. So might having a giant snake-person-- though having the proof that purely physical mutations weren't muted by whatever this field was, was reassuring-- who could crush people if he got a coil around them. He started glancing around for anything else he might be able to dismantle that might help, too, peering out past the metal grating, as well, for nearby shops he might be able to plunder. Of course he noticed Jasmine, but he couldn't exactly do much about that right now... and comforting wasn't really his forte. "Also," he added, kind of absently, "we don't have any proof that our powers are gone due to anyone's concentration. It could be a kind of... blanket field that, once in place, is just there. Or...." He didn't want to say it could be permanent. But it could be.
"Wait," Erin said, blinking as he watched the conversation happening between them. "You... you're gonna try to escape? That's... that's not a very good idea." He let out an anxious laugh, glancing toward the front of the store. There wasn't anyone watching them... well, no one they could see anyway. "They've got eyes everywhere. I tried to escape about a week ago..." He turned a little to show Tayne the wound on his arm. "I got uh... bit by one of them... he like, tore a big chunk out of me and spit it on the ground." Erin furrowed his brow, not looking at anyone, staring at the floor. "It started, uhhh... kinda hissing or something... I dunno, it was really weird, but I kinda got dragged back here and they kicked the snot outta me."
Keith walked over behind Jasmine. He felt bad for her after all, this was a stressful situation to be in for all of them, and he couldn't really blame her. Heck, the only reason he wasn't in the corner crying his eyes out was probably because he was just... tired and dead right now. Oh, right and because he was a guy and that would be a very princess-y thing to do. Which, as much as he claimed the title for himself in their little party here, was not something he was eager to show off to the rest of them.
He knelt down and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder. Keith would much rather try to comfort people than figure out how to escape. He wasn't very qualified in the latter. He said nothing, partly because he didn't know what to say, partly because he felt words weren't necessary at the moment. He just wanted to show that she had people looking out for her, even right now.
"That's prolly a no." Verity turned his broken handle on the cabinet door. Hinge pin would be perfect. "On the blanket effect, I mean. Otherwise they wouldn't have their powers. And clearly someone's calling monsters and doing other mind control weird shit, so nah. So what I figure is, try and focus on everyone in this room. At the same time. Doesn't work, huh? Now try everyone but me. Nah. It's like trying not to think about a white bear. Just try and pull that off and do other shit, right?" Verity bumped his thumb nastily as he worked his makeshift prybar and swore. "And yeah, duh, we're going to try and escape. Because otherwise we can sit here and wait for them to eat us. Which'd be stupid."
Jasmine was surprised as she felt Keith's weight on the mattress and then his hand on her shoulder. The fact that someone would actually try to comfort her in this situation hadn't actually crossed her mind, and she'd been prepared to just lie there for a while. Instead, she found that the slight human contact made her calm down a little bit. She took a deep breath and wiped her face with the back of her hand, the other reaching up to her shoulder and squeezing Keith's gratefully. Slowly she sat up, looking back towards Verity as he spoke and biting her lip.
"What if... What if it's just a small blanket area? If it were focused in a specific spot, couldn't they have it just where it'd be convenient? Then others could be outside it or whatever..." She rubbed her fist against her eye, thinking. "I mean, I don't pretend to know a lot about how my power works, much less other peoples'. But, y'know... we should take all possibilities into account or whatever. Just in case." Still sitting, she pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. "They wouldn't really eat us, right? Not other humans..."
Tayne didn't have a real answer Jasmine's question, but the look he gave her wasn't terribly encouraging, if a little apologetic. After all, he didn't want to upset her further, but he didn't do well lying, either. "Got no idea. Might have something against eating monsters, for all we know, since somebody has some kind of power over 'em here. We can hope not, but b-best not to think about it too hard." To be honest, he couldn't think of another reason why they were keeping the little group alive. They already had an in at the hotel, so they didn't need information out of them....
He focused back on Erin, who seemed to have the most information here of anyone. "What else can you t-tell us? Do you know any names? Or who has which power? Or which one it was that bit you? Do you remember how long you've been here?" He had to wonder if they were only keeping him alive as some kind of connection to the other Erin. It was a sad kind of thought, and he really didn't like this whole damn situation, much less the dissonance of talking to someone who he knew was locked up back home.
Erin nodded at Jasmine, listening to her speak. "I think that actually might be right... what she said about them using the effects only where they want them. I haven't seen the guy that does it, though. I don't really know who's running the show around here. I mean... there's the woman. They call her Alexis. But then there's this guy, too... he's like, real old... and he kinda creeps around at her side, whispering in her ear. Really creepy stuff, man. He um... he's got some kind of mental thing going on. I'm not sure what it is. I haven't really had a lot of social interactions with the bunch. There's a guy that breathes fire, too. Big dude, with claws and shit. And uh... the guy that bit me? He's a short dude with blond hair." Erin turned to the front of the store, headed toward it a few feet. He paused before he'd gone very far though, tongue touching his lips as he thought about what else he'd seen. "They keep people in here for a while, but they always end up being taken away. I don't know why I'm still here, to be honest with you."
Ugh... the thought of them getting eaten... was not pleasant. Actually, the thought of dying wasn't pleasant. (which Keith was sure was a prerequisite before... yeah.) He really did just want to get out of this place... He paid some attention to their conversation--but he didn't really have anything helpful to throw in and all of this didn't really apply to him. He was more concerned with getting their weapons back, really. Or else he was going to be completely useless to the group. He didn't want to fist fight people who could breathe fire and bite chunks outta other people. ...not if he had a choice, at any rate.
He stayed where he was, quietly listening on the discussion.
Verity struggled to resist quoting Firefly. No one else would get it, and it was probably a little inappropriate. By some standards. "Well, I'm pretty sure eating us is on the to-do list. I can't think of anything else she'd have meant by portentiously mentioning dinner back there." Ah, hinge pin. Good times. He grinned at the slightly corroded strip of metal. "Well, if it's an area effect, then we'd want to be in close if it comes down to it, or scatter, depending, see how far we can stretch it." He even managed to not bring up how guns had penalties in melee combat. He was almost having a good day in that respect. "I know if I get mine turned back on, I'll have all their guns permanently useless in a couple of seconds." He left off how useless that much telekinetic tweaking, that fast would leave him. He didn't want anyone to tell him not to.
Jasmine shrugged, looking antsy. "It's just... The 'dinner' or whatever, that wasn't all they mentioned, you know?" Still hugging her knees to herself, she stared at her feet on the mattress. There was one thing that had really stuck in her mind, but she wasn't sure she even wanted to think about what it had meant. Shifting slightly on the mattress, she looked back up towards Erin, taking what he'd just said into consideration as she phrased her thoughts. "Especially now that I've heard about this 'creepy' old guy... The first thing she mentioned was, well, was about them being... lonely. I don't like what connotations that could have, honestly." She swallowed, forcing her to ask Erin the question that was on her mind. "The others, that were here before. Do you have any idea why they took them? Had they been... I don't know. Acting out, making nuisances, or did it just kind of come out of the blue, or... what?"
"Never heard of anyone having a physical change and power," Tayne mused, frowning, thinking of the guy with claws but who could breathe fire, too. He wished to hell he had something to write with, not to mention on, so he could write all that down, but he supposed he'd just have to commit it all to memory. "I'm pretty sure you're still here since the other you is at the hotel, Erin. So as long as they want you there, you're safe here. Doesn't mean we ain't gonna try to break you out at the same time, though." He shot the guy the best grin he could, which admittedly wasn't much.
He paced the length of the room, peering out the grating, as he thought, trying to make out as many details as he could in the dim light, of the hallway beyond and the nearest exits. Malls had a lot of exits, usually-- maybe if they made a break through the department store, they could lose any pursuit and get to an exit that way. That'd be less predictable than trying for one of the mall exits. He let Jasmine and Erin talk, listening as he tried to plan. Scatter or stick together? Probably stick together; they stood a better chance of all getting out that way....
Erin looked concerned about Jasmine's suggestion, but he shook his head when she was finished voicing her concerns, holding a hand up. "I... I don't think that's the case. I mean, I don't really know them well or anything, so that uh... could happen, potentially, I guess... but I don't think that's really what they're after. It seems like something bigger to me. Or maybe they just present themselves that way. Whatever it is that's going on out there, it's a hell of a lot more organized than anything we got going on in here. There's a lot of them, too, more than what you saw. At least ten or so hanging around. That's what I've counted so far." He paused, licking his lips as he refocused, bringing up Jasmine's questions again. "The others... were just taken away one by one, ever few days or so... They always... um..." Erin reached up to scratch the back of his head, his hand falling to the wound on his arm again, rubbing it anxiously. "There's always a lot of smoke when that happens. Like... they're burning them or something."
...Keith didn't really enjoy the sound of that. Because... the sound of that? It sounded like they were going to get eaten. Why couldn't he just die peacefully? He was so stupid, to take all those previous lazy days for granted, it was bad karma! Man... He was really hoping that they were gonna manage a getaway though, and he promised to God he would not take another lazy day for granted. Or lazy anything. If life managed not to be a living hell anymore, that would be awesome. ...but he really doubted that was going to be the case. Sigh.
"Okay, so if it's an area effect, we want to either surround them or scatter." Verity stretched, eying the lock on the gate. Probably not hard, but maybe he should give it a try just so they could get moving as soon as they had a plan? Because waiting around to be food was clearly not an option. "If someone's calling monsters, and we could manage to get them into the no power zone once they already have a crowd, there'd be bigger problems than us to tie up their guns. Also, we're in a mall, so that's got the potential to be to our advantage. Lots of weird little nooks. Better for a small group to fuck with them than a big one to be organized. Should be lots of exits and windows. But we probably still want a diversion. Maybe once I open the door one of us can go start a fire or something on the other end of the hall, something to occupy them while we slip out. Or just start the fire alarms going. Those run on batteries, y'know. Legal thing. They'll still be functioning. Ooh, the more I think of this the more I like that plan. Anyone have a lighter?" Verity organized his thoughts via noise pollution.
Jasmine sighed, biting her lip nervously. She was so not up for this escape plan. She didn't think she'd be able to do anything but cause problems with it. Standing, she started to pace around the room to ease her nerves. "We don't really need a lighter just to, to set off the fire alarms. You know? You just gotta pull down the little lever things. Not that a real fire wouldn't be... handy or whatever." She hugged her arms to herself tightly, completely freaked out over the entire situation. "Which way do we go? I've never been here before." She moved slightly towards the door as well, swallowing nervously. "We're on the top floor, so we're going to have to find a way down, too."
Thinking just in terms of getting someone, anyone, out to the rest of the hotel to warn them and maybe get help, maybe scattering was best. With the instruction not to stop even if they heard or saw someone else get recaptured. "There'll be stairs and escalators all over the damn place. We just need to get to those. I think there's one not far down this hall, one up and one down, we could take those. The department store that way--" Tayne pointed, mostly from memory from when they'd come inside, since he couldn't see that far from in here. "--ought to have escalators to use as stairs, too." He looked around at everybody. "Do we really want to do this. In the dark. If we've got a good diversion, setting off the fire alarm-- though no, V, I don't got a lighter; it was in the bags on my motorcycle--" Which he had now also lost. Fucking bad day. "But I know how to start a fire if we can get some shit together."
Side-tracked. Tayne shook his head. "If we've got a diversion we can use whenever we wanna use it, might be smarter to wait for morning. Then we're not runnin' in the dark, and won't be as likely to run into monsters outside. Plus, maybe we can get some rest in here and not, you know, be running on a long day and no sleep."
"Um, not to be rude or anything, but I really don't see where this plan is going to get us anywhere. These guys aren't messing around. These guys are scary." Erin shook his head, moving away from the group to where Jasmine was pacing, watching her as she stressed out. He looked from her to the front gate, not sure what he could offer as help at this point. His arm was really aching, and he was starving. "They also don't do a very good job at being good hosts. I haven't had anything to eat in a while. Days." He sighed, leaning against the wall as he sank downward to try and relax if he could manage it.
"That's just more reason to get out," Keith mumbled, as he processed the plans in his head. He wasn't really sure if he'd be able to hold his own for this plan, but worst comes to worst, he was definitely willing to be a distraction to get one of the others out of this place. ...not the most pleasant option, but the others were more useful than he was when it came right down to it. He was good at running though. Must've done a lot of running before he Woke Up. And he was pretty sure he could be a good distraction, he just had to make sure to bother the heck out of 'em.
Alright, well here was hoping they'd be able to get this done right, and that it wouldn't be too late when morning came.
"Yeah," Verity said, "the information you've given us just says we're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't, so let's try the maybe we'll escape method rather than the sit here and wait to die method. I'm not really for waiting, gotta say. Night works in our favor, too, especially if we set off the fire alarm system and drench this place. I hope the audio's still running well." Five people could hold hands and stay close, but ten people could hardly collect themselves all together. Plus, if they had any sense, they'd probably leave. The building probably had a decently long burntime, but the structural integrity wasn't something he'd trust, with all those skylights and oddly placed store windows, and if he were holed up here, he'd run for it.
Jasmine sighed. "I really hate to say this because I'm exhausted, but Verity has a point. Unless one of them conveniently has the power to see in the dark, the dark will definitely provide a better chance for us to evade them at least." She wasn't convinced that escape was even possible, especially not with everything that Erin was telling them. "Anyway. I'm not the planning type. You guys figure it out and tell me when and where to run, I'm gonna try to rest a little at least while I've got the chance." She moved to another mattress, closer to the door, and sat down on it with her back against a display shelf.
Since Verity had said pretty much what he was going to say to Erin, he just gave the guy an apologetic smile, though a brief one. "I'm more thinkin' about the way 'cross town than the way out of the building, since there's tons of shit to hide behind in th'building, but you g-guys do have valid points, too." Tayne shrugged, folding his arms across his chest and stopping to peer out the grating that blocked them off from the rest of the mall. He was exhausted, too. All this activity when he was only feeling sort of better... he wasn't sure he could even make it across town, at the moment, the way he felt. Maybe once he was far enough away, if he got that far, he and whoever else made it out could crash somewhere before trying the trek.
Turning around to look at the others, as best as he could without his night-vision, he continued, "If you guys wanna get out now, we can try to get out now. I'm tryin' to think whether we should stick together or split up, and each try gettin' out alone. It'd give them more targets to go after, more chance for one of us at least to get away, and more chance that we'd get our powers back if we're all goin' d-d-d-different directions, but it'd be more dang'rous, too, for each person."
"Oh man," Erin said, muttering the words miserably into his hands. He didn't think that any of this was a good idea -- even if he had nothing better to offer. He wasn't a coward, but he wasn't exactly cut out for this kind of action, either. "I... I'll go with whoever tries to escape, just because... well, it'd be nice to stretch my proverbial legs, I guess." He had a sinking feeling in his gut that they were making the wrong move, but there was no convincing them right now. He supposed he might understand, if he had a place to get back to. He'd been here pretty much since almost the very start of all of this mess... a few days into the Apocalypse, and he'd been locked away to starve and watch others die around him. It seemed like it'd been that long, anyway. Maybe it had only been a week... It was hard telling time anymore.
"Think we should all try to leave together..." Keith thought about it for a moment. It'd be kinda scary to go out there alone with a whole group of people out for their um. Blood. ...flesh? ...ew. "I'd rather have other people with me than be by myself..." But maybe that's just because he was a total pansy. Which was completely within reason as well. At any rate, he'd rather have whichever option had the best chance of getting someone out of this place, and pansy or not, even if it's a small group, he felt that a group versus another group had a better chance than a person against a group.
"I'm for that," Verity agreed. Tayne was probably okay on his own, but who knew about Erin, and he and Keith were kind of just along for the ride. He really wasn't sure about Jasmine. She had a cool power, but apparently she couldn't use it. He had to wonder how that area of no-powers worked. How big was it? What would happen if they, say, surrounded the bad guys? Or if one of them struck off alone? "So... How about I get the door, and Tayne, I guess, since he can light a fire, goes a ways off and gets that done, and we see if the alarms start up. Should drench the place, so everyone be ready for that. And hopefully they'll have bigger things to worry about than us. And maybe if we leave this room we'll get our powers back, if is just works in a space. Which would help. But either way, nearest door."
Jasmine held back a groan, resting her head on her arms. This was not going to work, they were going to get killed or captured or who knew what. She wanted to get home, but... She tried to hold back the shaking and tell herself she wasn't terrified. Besides, if everyone else made a break for it, like hell was she going to stay behind to catch the brunt of the reaction. She nodded half-heartedly as the others talked, staring blankly at the floor, listening to the plan but not making any input.
"Good man." Tayne clapped Erin on the back lightly, glad they'd be getting him out at least, then went back to staring out the door, trying to match things with his memory from the way in and make some kind of escape route in his head. He still thought the department store was the best idea. "Get working on the door, V-- but don't open it until we're ready, just unlock it. And if there's not a handle to pull to start the alarm, I'll need some wood-- from the cabinets you're getting your lock-picking whatever from, if it's made of wood." He sighed and turned back again. "When we do get out, then, we'll be sticking together. We'll go slowish until we get to the d-department store, thataway--" He gestured in the direction of the bigger store. "--and then we'll haul ass. Stick to carpets as much as you can, that's quieter, and there'll be more displays and shit to use for cover. If someone gets hurt or falls behind, we'll t-try to help, but...." He took a breath, and said, "If one of us gets c-c-captured again, we c-can't stay to rescue them unless it'll be an easy snatch. Someone needs t-to get out and get help, and if we're all locked up again, we c-can't do that."
Erin glanced to Keith and Jasmine, wondering how much they actually wanted to go through with this. He honestly didn't want to either, but he could see what Tayne was saying. They did definitely need to get out of here. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. Watching people come and go was becoming more than just emotionally burdensome. "Alright..." The plan sounded dangerous, but what choice did they have? Erin made his way to the front of the shop, hoping he'd be able to keep up with the rest of them. He coughed, turning his head toward his right shoulder to keep it quiet. His arm was throbbing, but there was very little they could do about it. It was probably infected. He glanced at it, hoping it wouldn't keep him from being helpful.
Keith didn't really want to do this, but what other choice did they have? They couldn't stay here... and what wasn't dangerous nowadays...? If he had a good chance of dying, he was gonna make his death count at least, dang it. He wanted to go out being helpful, not weighing others down. He would make sure that if anyone had to go down, it'd be him, and he'd be the first and last one to go. He was scared and his heart was pounding, but that was how he wanted it to go. He didn't think he'd be able to leave this situation with a clean conscience if it didn't go that way.
He gave a small nod of acknowledgment at the plan.
Jasmine looked up just as Erin glanced at her. She blushed, looking away and then back. This whole deal was just confusing, and she was worried about her Erin (as she was starting to think of him), back at the hotel. Had anyone brought him food? What would Tayne do when they got back to the hotel? The Erin that was captive with them did pose some interesting- and perhaps dangerous- problems, but at the same time....
She didn't realize that she was watching him thoughtfully, just barely short of staring as she lost herself in her thoughts. This Erin, at least, knew who he was. He seemed nice enough, so Jasmine was slowly losing her suspicion of him, but that didn't really make things better. She refused to believe that 'her' Erin was... evil, or a trap, or whatever other possibilities this opened up. There had to be some other explanation. She also had to admit that she really wanted to start asking this man questions. She wondered if he could change himself back to man form, even briefly; but she also wondered about his past. She basically dropped out of the conversation as she sat there thinking, but was still ready to jump up and run when she was told to.
They were all in, and Tayne nodded with a kind of weary and almost light-headed relief. The thought of leaving anyone, even Erin-the-second (or first), made him want to throw up like he'd been doing for days, even though he was pretty sure there was nothing really to bring up by now, after hours without the rest of the snacks. Plans were made quietly for escape routes and who did what, when-- and what kinds of weapons they would grab as soon as they hit the department store, depending on what they found left there-- and then it was just waiting for Verity to get the gate unlocked. Once he had, Tayne took control of it from there to lift it up one inch at a time, lest it squeal or rattle and give them away to any kind of guard or monster that might be lurking out of sight. He whispered to everyone to stay there until the fire alarm went off-- even though they already knew that was the plan to do-- and snuck out with his dismantled wooden cabinets to find the nearest recepticle of the smoke detectors.
It was a pull switch, thank god, so he didn't need to start any fires. Despite his confidence in being able to pull a boy scout trick, it'd been a long time, and he hadn't wanted to be out in the open for as long as it would take. Instead, he stood still for a long moment to make sure he could hear nothing-- even with his pitiful human hearing, in this empty mall, he figured he ought to hear if someone was walking down the strip anywhere nearby-- then used the wood instead to bash the glass in covering the alarm, and yanked the lever.
As the alarm sounded, there was an almost immediate level of attention from down the hallway, heavy footsteps falling somewhere out of sight for the moment - though it wouldn't last long. The group was given a small window of opportunity to do what they needed to do before it was too late. Already there were voices, shouting to each other to get to the prisoners.
Erin grabbed Jasmine's hand and led her out into the hallway, deciding it was time to move. They didn't have the option of standing around right now. He headed toward where Tayne had suggested they travel, using every ounce of muscle in his body to try and match what would be considered a normal pace for a person with two legs instead of a tail. It wasn't easy, and already as the department store came into view, Erin could feel himself losing steam. He hadn't eaten in days, was sick, and his snake's lower half wasn't made for this sort of prolonged movement. As the group passed by another closed up store, the screams of a woman cut through the alarm, hands reaching through the metal grates as she shrieked.
"My baby!"
Waiting for the gate to open made Keith feel sick with anxiousness, as he paced uneasily back and forth while waiting for their escape to start. He was scared something was going to go wrong, he was scared that he'd end up messing everything up and that he'd ruin their chance. It seemed silly, but he glanced down to make sure his shoes were tied before this whole thing started. If they all ended up being eaten because of some shoe laces, he really would start crying.
Keith waited for the others to run through the gate before following after them.
Verity was very happy to spill out into the hall. Soon they'd be clear, and he could get back to Jasper and the hotel. It wasn't much of a home, but it was something to look forward to, the way even a dentist appointment would be worth his hope on a really boring summer day. When he heard the woman cry, Verity stopped, pulling his makeshift lockpicks free again. The locks here were pretty lousy quality. He had a feeling he could get another store open pretty quickly, and the more prisoners free, the better.
Jasmine was a little surprised when Erin started pulling her along with him, but she didn't complain. She was too terrified to complain. The woman's cry startled her, and she saw Verity head for her to help. She approved of the move, though at the same time she was afraid that the extra time would end up getting them caught. She continued moving forward with Erin; as his strength began to wane, she helped him along as best she could, slipping her arm under his and nearly pulling him along. They were almost to the department store... she hesitated for a moment, looking back at the others, but confident that they would catch up. At least if something happened to them in the store, she could try to yell and warn them not to come this way, right? With that cheerful thought she pulled Erin along through the doorway.
There were guards posted a lot closer than Tayne had imagined, and Erin apparently couldn't make much speed. Tayne could probably have offered advice, but he was just plain too distracted at the moment. He shoved Keith and Jasmine and Erin ahead of him and into the dark department store, hissing at them, "Go, hurry!" as Verity paused to get at the next cage-shop's lock. They really didn't need to be wasting the time, but he couldn't quite bring himself to stop Verity. If there were other captives, they needed to get them out, too. Verity couldn't defend himself, but Tayne at least could. He had the wood that'd been planned for fire-starting, and it would make a decent club, as long as no one shot at them.
He pulled the remains of a cardboard cutout in front of the wall where he and Verity crouched, half-hidden at least. It was better than nothing. "Hush, ma'am," he whispered to the woman urgently, eyes ahead and scanning the hall. "We're getting you out. Just keep quiet. V, you almost done?"
As Erin, Jasmine and Keith were shoved into the dark of the department store, hands came out of almost everywhere. Jasmine and Erin were torn away from each other, the heavy lower half of his body thudding against a clothing rack as he twisted and attempted to escape. Another dark form went for Keith, intending on catching and containing him. There were the sounds of gunfire from back in the main area, loud voices shouting to give up, surrender.
Erin struggled as the strong arms held him in place, subduing him long enough to bring a knife up. The blade flashed in the dim back-up lights, and in an instant it was dragged over his throat. Erin let out a strangled sound, was released and fell downward immediately.
Keith panicked as the hands reached out for them, "Jasmine! Erin!" He called out. He wasn't really sure what kind of response he was looking for, but it was the first thing that came to mind. He struggled against the figure that tried to grab him, trying to push it off and thrusting an elbow back towards it. He was running on pure adrenaline on the moment, and his body was moving faster than his mind could think of what to do first.
If nothing else, Verity was good under pressure. Of course, that was the pressure of an annoying customer or a major test, generally speaking. The mechanism of the lock was simple, but his tools were completely shoddy and the threat all around was definite. His hands were shaking. He hoped there were a lot of people in here. And that if they were all going to get separated, whoever was canceling their powers would have to stop. Either it took a lot of focus or it was constrained to an area, right? He got the lock open, but it took too long, and his hand slipped as it went, bashing his fingers hard against the metal grate.
Jasmine struggled as well as she was grabbed, knowing that there was little chance she would actually get free-- she wasn't very strong on a good day, and this definitely wasn't a good day. She stared into the darkness where she had heard them pull Erin, barely able to make out the struggling shadows. She did see the knife, though, and could hear well enough to tell what happened. As his body hit the floor, she let out a scream, her struggling increasing with her terror. Tayne and Verity still hadn't made it, right? They weren't in here-- it was a trap! Her screams finally formed words. "TAYNE! RUN!" Even as the words escaped her, she clenched her eyes shut, certain that she was going to die.
After a split second of indecision, torn between running to help and trying to get someone out at least, Tayne yanked the gate up, grabbed for Verity with one hand and let Verity grab the woman, and made good on Jasmine's suggestion-- away from the rest of the group, and the plan. At the very least, he knew that the more spread out they got, the harder it'd be to keep the anti-power field on them-- or so he hoped.
Instead, he bolted the opposite direction from the department store, dragging Verity and hopefully their next escapee behind him, and hoped to hell there was another exit that way.
As Tayne, Verity and the woman scattered the opposite direction of the department store, the sounds of gunshots became louder. Figures appeared in the distance ahead of them, blocking their exits. Two of the men they'd seen already, and one much larger, winged, clearly deformed to the point of being almost unrecognizable as human. Dragon-like in shape, he let out a shockingly loud scream, flames erupting from his mouth and carrying outward into the air, a good fifteen feet or so of pure inferno.
"Don't move!" one of the men shouted, his rifle aimed and ready to take down any one of the three. The other man made ready as well, both of their eyes intense.
In the meantime, the woman attached to Verity was screaming wildly, clawing at his hands to get away from him. "My baby!" she shrieked, clearly detached from the situation at hand - possibly beyond any sort of mental rescue.
Back in the department store, there were guns thrust into the faces of Keith and Jasmine, the woman's familiar face amongst the small group of men. "You would be wise to do as we say, and go back to where you came from. Immediately." Her voice was sharp, her nostrils flared as she stared them down. Behind her, on the floor, laid Erin. He gasped, making a horrible choking noise as his blood continued to spill out onto the tile underneath him. "Pity," the woman said, glancing downward a moment. "He was useful."
As the weapons were thrust into their faces, Keith's eyes redirected to the barrels of the guns. His hands were held up as a reflex... it was no good to try to fist-fight their way out of this now. His look traveled from the guns to the woman, to Erin on the floor... before he looked away off to the side. God, this was too much... he was frustrated, and he could feel a part of him ready to boil over. But he kept that part in check. Because if he snapped, then they'd probably shoot.
Keith shut his eyes and kept his breathing steady.
Verity stopped, working out the guns with his old usual knowledge, if his power wouldn't come back. He was still detached, unable to connect to the reality of what was around him, and he could only be irritated that one more stupid thing was between him and his little brother. He let go of the woman completely willingly, uninterested in incurring injury dragging someone along. She had as much chance as anyone if she wanted to take it. Verity's analytical mind was still trying to spin. He'd been trying to work out their adversaries all along as though they were villains in a video game, and it seemed completely unfair to him that at least someone hadn't had their powers click back on yet. They were in completely different places now. How could that conceivably work? Even if someone was hidden away focusing on all of them, then how were they seeing their targets? He took in the firebreathing whatjacallit, noted that with interest, and changed his track. If the power-negater was going to defy logic, then that'd be a good person to tick off. At the moment, Verity was inclined to bring to the forefront what had been a minor feature of the escape plan. They should start a real fire and take this place to the ground, with all of these people inside. He wasn't thinking clearly about the real implications, only that these people had proven they were acting without any discernible reason and weren't going to start acting like actual humans, so they should probably just all be gotten rid of at once, and their base of operations with them. With Tayne's boyscout tricks and even just a mattress, he was pretty sure that'd work. Most things, when persuaded properly would burn. It was good to have a plan B.
Jasmine opened her eyes slightly as the woman spoke, shaking in her captor's arms. She looked to where Erin's body lay, starting to cry... She didn't know him, really, but the fact was that he was identical to the Erin back at the hotel, and that he had been nice to her even though she'd been suspicious and wary of him at first. Not to mention that he was another person, not like the monsters outside, and she didn't think she'd ever get used to seeing other people die, especially not in the violent ways that were the norm now. With her emotions the wreck that they were, it was all she could manage to remain standing, and that was with the 'support' of her captor. She didn't want to die, or to watch anyone else die, and she was almost willing to do as the woman said and return to where they'd been held... except that she wasn't entirely sure that she could even walk under her own power at the moment. Whimpering, she sagged slightly, nearly falling to the floor if not for the hands that were still grasping her.
They lost the woman, which Tayne regretted as he dove into the shelter of another shop entryway, wincing at the way the fire seared into his eyes. It was too bright, even without his tiger-vision. There were guns out there, and they couldn't do a lot against guns. "You'd think they wouldn't be this quick to organize at god-awful o'clock in the morning," he panted. It looked like their escape plan had been completely an utterly useless. Maybe if they hadn't bothered with the fire alarm, and tried raising the gate inch by inch....
It was too late now. Tayne groaned, butted his head against the sturdy plexiglass of the shop window, and asked Verity, "Any ideas, V?" Coming up with on-the-fly plans seemed Verity's forte, and it certainly wasn't Tayne's.
Immediately, Keith and Jasmine were led back to the store they'd escaped from, guns to their backs and the threats of their captors forcing them onward. There would be mercy this once, but it was promised to them that this was the only time they would receive it. The next offense would have far worse repercussions. This was not a joke.
When Jasmine and Keith were secured in the store again, under close watch, the remaining men and woman went after the rest of the group. From both sides, Tayne and Verity were given very little options.
"You can come out now," the woman called, "or you can die where you are."
Maybe it was how someone else was already breaking down, but Keith held himself together--despite guns being pointed at them, their lives being threatened, and their friends' lives being threatened. God, what could he do...? He stood off to the side by himself for a moment, glancing over at Jasmine warily, like he felt like he should do something, but he wasn't sure. He leaned against the wall and looked out at the mall, mixed between wanting them to give up and try another day, or somehow making it out now. He didn't think that the two of them that'd been caught would be able to hold their own, really. The other pair seemed to be more fit as leaders.
He slowly approached Jasmine, wanting to put a reassuring arm around her. Keith needed the contact just as much as anyone else really... he said nothing, because any words he would've been able to choke out would've been transparent anyway.
Verity looked straight toward the voice. "This is so completely pointless. I mean, wow, you're just a total failure, aren't you? Does this actually make sense in that dopey little head?" A fierce taunt it wasn't, but Verity was expressing honest confusion. Motivation, please? The whole thing still didn't feel real to him. He couldn't register fear. Or he was so afraid it didn't matter anymore, and there was nothing more to be done. Figuring they were outmaneuvered now (and it was still so damn unfair that this bunch of obvious lunatics and probable hypnosis victims could be so organized, didn't make sense at all), he stopped, but he didn't cower, already busy with his next idea. It'd probably be a bad one, and the next, and the next, but when the alternative was to sit tight and wait around to be eaten or added to the mind-controlled army, of course he was going to make runs for it.
Jasmine had stared blankly ahead as she was moved back into the store, hugging her arms to herself in her terror. Silent tears were still slipping down her cheeks as she was marched in, and when they were left alone she leaned weakly against a wall, staring blankly down at the floor, barely registering what was going on outside the store. She didn't react to anything until Keith started to move closer, at which point she lifted her tear-stained face to look him in the eyes. Hoping he wouldn't mind terribly, she moved forward and buried her face against his shoulder, sniffling and still shaking, sending occasional frightened glances towards the doors.
Nobody was getting out if they were getting shot. Only Verity seemed to have ideas, and only Tayne was capable of defending anyone or anything, and losing them meant the end for Keith, Erin, and Jasmine. Tayne sighed at Verity's bravado, and called, with the damnable stutter sneaking out, "We're c-coming out, just put the damn g-g-guns down. It ain't like we're armed." And he still couldn't smell or hear or see anything useful. How the hell were they going to get their powers back? It couldn't be a blanket field, the other guy's... power... was intact, wasn't it? The fire-breathing and the... face? He shot Verity a look, said, "Keep your mouth shut unless you wanna p-p-piss them off more, okay?" before coming out in the open, both hands free and held up to show they were empty.
As Tayne began to come out of the store front, the group of obviously madmen watched, slightly more relaxed than they had been previously. The smallish blond one near the woman giggled, shifting from foot to foot as though he couldn't contain himself.
"I believe you know your way back?" the woman asked, gesturing behind her to where they'd come from only a mere handful of minutes ago.