Monsters Outside

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Thanks, fortunately for me a replacement was just an hour away.

>Maybe you coud wrap some sheets over our shoulders and arm. Later when whatsherface comes, you can ask her if sshe can get those two out and get the couch back.

>Also the virus is contagious by direc touch but what aboutobject touhed by monters ? does the virus stay ? doee it need/can it be washed up ? if yo don't know you can chat to the millitary base lady about it.

>If they don't respond to your voice, maybe they are lucid? open the door and peek out, to see what they do. If they look like they're taking hostile action, close and barricade the door, putting clothing underneath the crack.

You peek through the door. They remain still.

Knife in hand, you approach the two monsters. They still don't move.



Then you realize something. They're not breathing. Even monsters have to breathe.

They're dead.

Did they just... come to die on your couch?

Someone appears at the door.



Seeing the suit, you shout “WHAT'S THE PASSWORD?”

The figure responds.

“Two. Three. Zero. Six. Eight. Seven.”

That's the password, all right. You ask her.

“Alyssa Gnu?”

She nods her head.

“Yeah. I am. Used to be captain but they discharged me on account of my, uh, condition. I'm here to protect your ass until the rest of the team gets brave enough to mount a real rescue.”

You point to the two dead monsters on your couch and ask.

“Are you the one who killed these two?”

She shakes her head.

“No. I was actually looking for them a while earlier. They must have sneaked past me. Sorry.”

You hold yourself back from shouting, and instead you just say:

“Sorry's not gonna cut it. I could have been infected!”

She sighs, and says:

“Look, I only have one pair of eyes. Well. Ones that can see out of this suit, anyway. I already took out fifty monsters while you were asleep. If you don't believe me, you can ask Dr. Cobra. She was watching everything through my camera.”

You relent. She does have a point; she's only one person and it's possible a couple of monsters managed to get past her without her noticing. The apartment building you live in has three different entrances, after all. Not to mention windows. Even the hallway connected to your room is fairly large, big enough for a whole crowd to get through.

“Sorry. Uh. Look. I just woke up, and seeing these two just gave me one hell of a fright.”

She looks at the two corpses on your couch.

“Yeah. Understandable. You're lucky these two died after entering your room. Hm. Okay. I'm going to, uh, remove these two. Oh, and don't touch the couch for the next 24 hours.”

You have to ask.

“Wait, what?”

She turns back to you.

“Dr. Cobra never told you? The virus dies without a host. After 20-24 hours, it just breaks down into protein. We looked at the limbs the monsters dropped. After a while it just decomposes. Bad news is, monsters can grow their limbs back long as they can eat something, so they'll just keep trying.”

Well, good to know you won't have to worry about forever being unable to touch anything ever.

One by one, Alyssa removes the corpses on your couch. She puts them down in the hallway, then looks back into your apartment and talks to you again.

“Hey. I'll be guarding your door. Reckon I should keep a closer watch after what's happened. If I see or hear anything, you'll hear me through your cellphone. I paired up my phone with yours through the Commsound app. Feel free to chat if you're bored, God knows I am. I'm going to keep sending requests for backup. After what's happened, they gotta be incompetent if they're not sending any more people to help protect you. Like I said, I only got one pair of eyes.”

With that, she leaves the hallway and closes your door.

Didn't you leave it locked before you fell asleep? You check the doorknob. It looks like the lock's been broken. The two 'visitors' you had must have just pushed your door open. Wonderful. Somehow, despite having been assigned a bodyguard, you feel even less safe.

You leave the door closed anyway, but now you're going have to be more alert than ever before.

You're going to have stay off the couch until tomorrow. Stupid epidemic.

You hear a sound coming from the bathroom. It's an aluminium cylinder with Government markings. Must be the rations!

You open it and proceed to have the best meal in what feels like an eternity.



BREAD! CHICKEN MEAT! CARROTS! GRAVY!

A while after you finish eating, you hear another ding on your laptop. You read the email.

“From: Dr. Belinda Cobra
To: You (Costovo Elmada)

Subject: More bodyguards

Been watching the live feed from Alyssa's suit-cam. Sorry about the two intruders. The Prime Minister just approved our request for more infected personnel to help you out. Two more incoming, both wearing Government hazmat suits. One is Grogo Malkid. The other is Yassa Hart. Grogo's password is '220756'. Yassa's is '151186'. Ask their names when they contact you, and ask for the password. Commit the passwords to memory. We got reports of monsters wearing hazmat suits in a bid to evade our troops.

Do keep in mind that neither Yassa nor Grogo is trained. They're civilians, which was why we didn't let them out earlier. However, considering the circumstances, we can let them carry weapons.

Oh, and sorry about the couch. We just can't take the risk of you getting infected from a damn skin flake or something like that, so wait for 24 hours for the virus to decompose. Good thing it's unable to survive in the open air, eh?

We'll keep sending you food every morning so don't worry about running out. Oh, and I'm going to stop sending you emails and just talk to you via Commsound. Much easier for us to talk back and forth. You can chat right now, if you feel the need.”

More bodyguards. You're starting to feel like a real VIP.

You grab your phone and look at Commsound. Two new 'Friends' added. Dr. Cobra and Alyssa. You contact Cobra.

COMMSOUND AUDIOTALK
Ver. 1.1.4
(all conversations monitored by Government under Emergency Act)
(You are speaking with Friend Cobra-Doc)

You: Hey

Cobra-Doc: Good to hear from you again, Costovo. Anything you'd like to ask?

You: What is status of my rescue?

Cobra-Doc: We're halfway done to clearing out the city. We should get you out in a couple of days.

You: Wow, that's fast

Cobra-Doc: Yeah, well, the military isn't pulling any punches. They're bombing anything that doesn't have a white flag waving out a window. We put out a message to every building: If you are friendly, find a white piece of fabric to wave out of a window. If you don't have that, raise your arms and walk outside. We've found 102 infected people who are still coherent... out of, uh, a hundred thousand.

You: What determines mental state? I mean, people who don't lose their minds, what's the factor here?

Cobra-Doc: Dunno.

You: What.

Cobra-Doc: We only found out about this outbreak a week ago. We don't exactly know all the details here. Science takes time.

You: No theories?

Cobra-Doc: No. I don't like to speculate.

You: Ok. Well. Can you send me something other than rations? Like weapons?

Cobra-Doc: Ok. I am going to send you a steel club. A hazmat suit too. But I will need time for clearance. Sorry. Government demands I follow protocol. You know how it is.

You: So once I get the suit and the club... Can I just... leave?

Cobra-Doc: I'd recommend against it. Wearing that suit doesn't make you invincible. We lost thirty soldiers despite them wearing hazmats.

You: What happened?

Cobra-Doc: Remember, some of the monsters aren't stupid. A few of them figured out how to make bows and arrows out of junk. Cut right through the suit. Others built spears. Sharp weapons, all drenched with monster blood. They just straight-up shot people with virus-arrows, stabbed them with infected blades. They know we're hunting them and they're hunting us back. We got reports of squads getting ambushed by monster gangs wielding bows and knives. They even managed to kidnap three of our troops.

You: Damn. Ok. I'll stay put until the coast is clear then.

Cobra-Doc: Yeah. Just stay in your home. Don't take any unnecessary risks, ok?

You: Ok

Cobra-Doc: By the way, we know about Trollmaster Hades. He's a hacker who used to spend a lot of time ruining websites dedicated to medical research.

You: The hell? What's he got against finding cures?

Cobra-Doc: He's a real piece of work. Thinks everyone who dies from illness 'deserves it for having weak genes'. After he got infected, he became convinced that being able to retain his intelligence means he's 'superior'. He's still obsessed with spreading the disease, but he hasn't lost his creativity, unfortunately, and he's made you his priority target. Remember the monster-gangs I just mentioned? The ones with bows and arrows? He's been co-ordinating them.

You: Holy crap.

Cobra-Doc: Yeah. You any good with self-defense?

You: Not really? I mean, I've never practiced boxing or anything like that. I'm just an electrician.

Cobra-Doc: Okay well, I am definitely going to send you more bodyguards as soon as we can clear the others for outside duty. Who knows, at the end of this crisis you might actually wind up with a small army of monsters yourself, fighting against Hades and his roving band of plague-monsters.

You: That sounds kind of cool actually.

Cobra-Doc: Yeah, well, here's hoping you don't end up needing a monster army to help you.

(Alyssa has joined conversation)

Alyssa: Heads up, we got a group of hostiles coming our way!

You: H-how many?

Alyssa: Twenty! They're all armed! Get your ass in the bathroom and lock the door. That way if you get stuck in there, they can use the sewer to send you more weapons or something.

You: WAIT! Why don't you fall back into my room? There's only one way in and you won't get swarmed. You're already wearing a suit, so I won't have to worry about accidentally touching you.

Alyssa: Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to keep them as far away from you as possible.

(You hear gunshots)

Alyssa: One down! COSTOVO GET TO THE BATHROOM!

Your mind races at top speed. Running into the bathroom sounds like the smartest idea, but you could help Alyssa out by giving her your grenade. You could also keep your eye on the front door and get ready to attack anything that tries to get in. With your knife, you can stab an intruder through your flimsy door.

You could also try to set up a trap by making the floor wet and electify it by cutting the microwave's power cable and then using water from the bathroom to dampen the floor. Actually, you could even grab the cable yourself and use it like a taser.

What are you going to do?

>_