Re: The Gradual Massacre (GBS2G4) [Round 4: Misty Swamp]
11-19-2011, 09:04 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.
Holly was used to death threats backed by a rather vague conception of "justice" by now, and for the most part, the plan worked along the lines of "get some asshole to take the fall for you, then run like hell." Unfortunately, Careous was unwilling; under normal circumstances, she'd shove some of her fear and rage into him, maybe whisper "kill the freak" into his ear, but the idiot just had to be resistant to magic. Her backup plan, such as it was, primarily consisted of "burn things", but it felt like the instant she made a move, the distressingly metal projectile would have smashed through her chest. She ran through several plans in her head, but all of them felt useless, given she was backed into a corner by an obvious psychopath.
She began backing away, heart pounding incessantly, her chest feeling about ready to explode. "Please, don't! This isn't justice, to kill someone just because, uh... just because they believe their friend didn't do something wrong!" She inched further and further from Algernon, breaking into a cold sweat. "Have mercy!"
The creature just shook his head. "Mrsssy sss nmy f jssstsss." He raised his crossbow and placed one appendage on the trigger.
Click.
The bolt whizzed through space, toxins dripping off its tip as it bore towards Holly's head; Holly's head (and for that matter, the head of everyone else in the room) subsequently dipped about two feet, and the projectile lodged itself in the back wall of the room. As it happened, being a bizarre amalgam of arachnid and human makes swimming very difficult, especially when one is dropped directly into a swamp via a hole that wasn't there before, which made the plan far more convenient.
The elf, her fear now out of the picture, made her way to Algernon as quickly as she could. By now, he was completely immobile, and his blood loss was only getting worse. Holly managed to clamber back onto dry land-- more than could be said for either Careous or the assassin-- and subsequently hoist Algernon out of the muck and over her shoulder. She made a mental note to fix the floor later; for now, there were far more pressing issues to attend to. She staggered through town, towards Grellend's lab.
------------------------
All of them in one place, and better still, an opening. No one would expect an ambush from inside the town; everything was outside, all threats outside, the fog outside. They kept it at bay with torches and the occasional fan, with carefully-grown plants on the edges of the boardwalk, all the towns did; its assault on Holm had merely left the fog with a pile of ashes that were once his minions, because naturally there had to be a zombie expert in that accursed metropolis. But they could not eradicate it from beneath the swamp, no, for the swamp and the fog were one and the same, and the only way to get rid of the fog would be to get rid of the swamp in its entirety.
Go beneath the water, my children. And, dutiful children that they were, they did, sinking one by one into the depths of the swamp, slowly stumbling towards the hole in the building marked Ironwood Therapy. Careous had climbed out of the hole, so all that remained was the creature with the crossbow, barely treading water, occasionally partaking in a frantic attempt to scrabble out onto the boardwalk again, to bring justice to the evil. Here is one. Destroy him. And the dutiful children did, drawing him under.
Fog began to seep through the pit, collecting in the office. We are doing them a favor, my children. Soon they will have no more to squabble about.
------------------------
Holly scowled at Algernon's unmoving body as Grellend paced back and forth, mixing various chemicals and mumbling to himself. Is it really worth all the effort keeping the little moron alive? Lord knows it'd be far easier-- no, no, that's a Holly thought, knock it off now. She continued scowling, now more at herself, as the dwarf finally plunged a syringe into the unconscious fellow's neck. He sighed. "There. He should recover within half an hour or so. Now, I really need you to be off, I have things to do."
Holly began to argue, but was cut off by the sound of shouting. A glance into the street revealed fog slowly creeping in from off towards the center of town, and a great deal of zombies. Most of the villagers were doing their best to mount a defense, but as the fog spread, they soon became indiscriminate with their attacks, flailing at innocents while accusing them of being "one of them" as well. Holly quickly slammed the door shut, only to see Rolf Grellend's scowling face. She grinned sheepishly. "You, uh, have a plan for this, right?"
He let out a single, sharp laugh. "Yes, actually. This building can be converted into an airtight shelter at the press of a button, with only those I deem worth saving allowed in. Obviously, it can't fit everyone, so sacrifices have to be made." He grinned, and hoisted Algernon off of the table he'd been laid on. "Unfortunately, seeing as the two of you arriving was directly correlated with things becoming far worse around here, I'm afraid you're one of those sacrifices." He shoved the limp man into Holly's arms.
She began to shake her head and start ranting about how this wasn't either of their faults and she didn't deserve to be shoved out into the swamp, but was unable to come up with a legitimate reason for why they should be kept; perhaps Algernon could contribute, but he'd be killed without her, and she couldn't see her abilities being much use in reclaiming the town. In all likelihood, they'd end up dead one way or the other.
Without a word, Holly exited the back door of Grellend's lab, and trudged out into the swamp with the still-unconscious Algernon.
------------------------
It was going so wonderfully. Easily thirty percent of Fernwood had gone half-mad; soon they'd have torn all the still-unaffected ones to bits, and then they could get to the process of slaughtering each other. Soon, one more of these accursed settlements would be knocked off the map.
It was true that the shelter would be a nuisance, but nothing worth worrying about. It would take them years to devise a way to venture outside without falling under The Fog's grasp; they would be dealt with when they needed to be dealt with. Until then, relish the small victories. Onward, my children. Murder all that you can find.
Two more minds entered The Fog's influence. As always, it seized the opportunity to spread.
------------------------
Holly kept trudging through the swamp, breathing more and more quickly. She was away from them, away from all the insane people, away from Ouroborous. But she had Algernon with her, and he was weak-minded, he was going to be affected by the swamp, not like her, she was strong, she could handle it longer. Shelter, shelter, she needed shelter, however small, a place to hide, to compose herself, to let him compose himself. Killing was to be avoided, but if it came down to it, she had to kill him first. She knew he wouldn't stop himself, why would he, he'd be mad within the blink of an eye. He stirred, and Holly barely stopped herself from crying out.
She saw something moving in the corner of her eye, heard the sloshing-squelching of footsteps through the muck. She walked as fast as she could, looking left and right, a cave, a safe town, anywhere for shelter. Something was chasing her, chasing them, but if they just kept moving, they'd be safe, at least until Algernon woke up and decided to murder her, look at him look at how weak he is he'll crumple in an instant just put him out of his misery now before he can wake up before he can attack you NO you have to find SHELTER and the footsteps kept coming, multiplying, from every direction.
Holly thought she heard laughter. She knew she heard Algernon groaning. Her heart beat faster as she broke into a run, desperately charging through the swamp.
Holly was used to death threats backed by a rather vague conception of "justice" by now, and for the most part, the plan worked along the lines of "get some asshole to take the fall for you, then run like hell." Unfortunately, Careous was unwilling; under normal circumstances, she'd shove some of her fear and rage into him, maybe whisper "kill the freak" into his ear, but the idiot just had to be resistant to magic. Her backup plan, such as it was, primarily consisted of "burn things", but it felt like the instant she made a move, the distressingly metal projectile would have smashed through her chest. She ran through several plans in her head, but all of them felt useless, given she was backed into a corner by an obvious psychopath.
She began backing away, heart pounding incessantly, her chest feeling about ready to explode. "Please, don't! This isn't justice, to kill someone just because, uh... just because they believe their friend didn't do something wrong!" She inched further and further from Algernon, breaking into a cold sweat. "Have mercy!"
The creature just shook his head. "Mrsssy sss nmy f jssstsss." He raised his crossbow and placed one appendage on the trigger.
Click.
The bolt whizzed through space, toxins dripping off its tip as it bore towards Holly's head; Holly's head (and for that matter, the head of everyone else in the room) subsequently dipped about two feet, and the projectile lodged itself in the back wall of the room. As it happened, being a bizarre amalgam of arachnid and human makes swimming very difficult, especially when one is dropped directly into a swamp via a hole that wasn't there before, which made the plan far more convenient.
The elf, her fear now out of the picture, made her way to Algernon as quickly as she could. By now, he was completely immobile, and his blood loss was only getting worse. Holly managed to clamber back onto dry land-- more than could be said for either Careous or the assassin-- and subsequently hoist Algernon out of the muck and over her shoulder. She made a mental note to fix the floor later; for now, there were far more pressing issues to attend to. She staggered through town, towards Grellend's lab.
------------------------
All of them in one place, and better still, an opening. No one would expect an ambush from inside the town; everything was outside, all threats outside, the fog outside. They kept it at bay with torches and the occasional fan, with carefully-grown plants on the edges of the boardwalk, all the towns did; its assault on Holm had merely left the fog with a pile of ashes that were once his minions, because naturally there had to be a zombie expert in that accursed metropolis. But they could not eradicate it from beneath the swamp, no, for the swamp and the fog were one and the same, and the only way to get rid of the fog would be to get rid of the swamp in its entirety.
Go beneath the water, my children. And, dutiful children that they were, they did, sinking one by one into the depths of the swamp, slowly stumbling towards the hole in the building marked Ironwood Therapy. Careous had climbed out of the hole, so all that remained was the creature with the crossbow, barely treading water, occasionally partaking in a frantic attempt to scrabble out onto the boardwalk again, to bring justice to the evil. Here is one. Destroy him. And the dutiful children did, drawing him under.
Fog began to seep through the pit, collecting in the office. We are doing them a favor, my children. Soon they will have no more to squabble about.
------------------------
Holly scowled at Algernon's unmoving body as Grellend paced back and forth, mixing various chemicals and mumbling to himself. Is it really worth all the effort keeping the little moron alive? Lord knows it'd be far easier-- no, no, that's a Holly thought, knock it off now. She continued scowling, now more at herself, as the dwarf finally plunged a syringe into the unconscious fellow's neck. He sighed. "There. He should recover within half an hour or so. Now, I really need you to be off, I have things to do."
Holly began to argue, but was cut off by the sound of shouting. A glance into the street revealed fog slowly creeping in from off towards the center of town, and a great deal of zombies. Most of the villagers were doing their best to mount a defense, but as the fog spread, they soon became indiscriminate with their attacks, flailing at innocents while accusing them of being "one of them" as well. Holly quickly slammed the door shut, only to see Rolf Grellend's scowling face. She grinned sheepishly. "You, uh, have a plan for this, right?"
He let out a single, sharp laugh. "Yes, actually. This building can be converted into an airtight shelter at the press of a button, with only those I deem worth saving allowed in. Obviously, it can't fit everyone, so sacrifices have to be made." He grinned, and hoisted Algernon off of the table he'd been laid on. "Unfortunately, seeing as the two of you arriving was directly correlated with things becoming far worse around here, I'm afraid you're one of those sacrifices." He shoved the limp man into Holly's arms.
She began to shake her head and start ranting about how this wasn't either of their faults and she didn't deserve to be shoved out into the swamp, but was unable to come up with a legitimate reason for why they should be kept; perhaps Algernon could contribute, but he'd be killed without her, and she couldn't see her abilities being much use in reclaiming the town. In all likelihood, they'd end up dead one way or the other.
Without a word, Holly exited the back door of Grellend's lab, and trudged out into the swamp with the still-unconscious Algernon.
------------------------
It was going so wonderfully. Easily thirty percent of Fernwood had gone half-mad; soon they'd have torn all the still-unaffected ones to bits, and then they could get to the process of slaughtering each other. Soon, one more of these accursed settlements would be knocked off the map.
It was true that the shelter would be a nuisance, but nothing worth worrying about. It would take them years to devise a way to venture outside without falling under The Fog's grasp; they would be dealt with when they needed to be dealt with. Until then, relish the small victories. Onward, my children. Murder all that you can find.
Two more minds entered The Fog's influence. As always, it seized the opportunity to spread.
------------------------
Holly kept trudging through the swamp, breathing more and more quickly. She was away from them, away from all the insane people, away from Ouroborous. But she had Algernon with her, and he was weak-minded, he was going to be affected by the swamp, not like her, she was strong, she could handle it longer. Shelter, shelter, she needed shelter, however small, a place to hide, to compose herself, to let him compose himself. Killing was to be avoided, but if it came down to it, she had to kill him first. She knew he wouldn't stop himself, why would he, he'd be mad within the blink of an eye. He stirred, and Holly barely stopped herself from crying out.
She saw something moving in the corner of her eye, heard the sloshing-squelching of footsteps through the muck. She walked as fast as she could, looking left and right, a cave, a safe town, anywhere for shelter. Something was chasing her, chasing them, but if they just kept moving, they'd be safe, at least until Algernon woke up and decided to murder her, look at him look at how weak he is he'll crumple in an instant just put him out of his misery now before he can wake up before he can attack you NO you have to find SHELTER and the footsteps kept coming, multiplying, from every direction.
Holly thought she heard laughter. She knew she heard Algernon groaning. Her heart beat faster as she broke into a run, desperately charging through the swamp.