Re: The Vivacious Deadlock: S3G6: Round One: Genreshift
08-04-2011, 08:22 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Godbot.
"Run."
Dr. Harmon was about to protest that he was being patronizing again, and that she could take care of herself just as easily as he could, but it occurred to her that Sir Cedric was:
- Someone she hated
- Armed, whereas she was not
- The only one between her and a posse (that was after him)
- Someone whose death she would benefit from
- Still an asshole
She turned and ran away without a second thought. Good riddance. While he was busy being shot or hanged or buried up to his neck for the vultures to eat or whatever it was cowboys did, she could figure out just what exactly was going on, and maybe scheme against her opponents and -
The effects of the horror bookmark rushed over the ground underneath her feet. The paved road broke into jagged cobblestones, and the storm clouds parted to reveal a blood-red full moon. Dr. Harmon's handheld sensor spiked again and started beeping loudly. The readings were drastic enough that she very nearly forgot what was going on around her. She'd never seen such incredibly high levels of, uh...
Dr. Harmon glanced at her PDA. 'ZOMBIE SENSOR' was neatly lettered along the top.
"Shit," she muttered. Even as she looked past her PDA into the growing fog, she could see shambling forms getting closer. Well, at least it worked.
She looked over her shoulder. Maybe sticking with Cedric wasn't such a bad idea...
Sgt. Cedric slammed his combat boot into the chest of the nearest zombie cowboy. Its authentic revolver clattered to the ground, and the zombie landed on top of it, pinned under Cedric's weight. He unloaded the barrel of his shotgun into its head, leaving nothing but a fine grey mist, some traces of a cowboy hat and a pair of shell casings behind.
Zombies were getting closer from all directions, so rather than reloading his shotgun, Cedric shoved it into the strap over his shoulder and pulled Sigrar, his trusty chainsaw, from his belt.
"Hail to the king, baby," he growled, revving it over the sounds of the groaning masses until he could hear it echo.
A handful of zombies clumsily lunged for him, but he dispatched them with a few quick swipes of Sigrar. Unfortunately, this gave another zombie a chance to grab Sgt. Cedric from behind and try to bite his jugular. The grizzled vet winced at the smell and slammed his forehead into its temple, knocking its head loose. Another undead cowboy fumbled with its revolver and aimed it at Cedric. He spun around and grabbed the zombie behind him before it could collapse, and pulled it in front of his chest. It jolted lifelessly as a plague-infused bullet thudded into its chest, and Cedric discarded it. Before the undead cowboy could get another bullet into its gun with its decaying fingers, Sgt. Cedric had already thrust Sigrar through its chest.
They locked eyes.
"RAAAAGRRHGHH," said the zombie.
Cedric revved the chainsaw and tore it to shreds.
"Cedric!" screamed a woman's voice. He spun around. A pair of zombies were clinging to Dr. Melissa Harmon, the Only Reasonable Scientist, and she was frantically beating them back with her loudly beeping zombie sensor. He rushed towards her, tearing through the zombies in his way. A few poorly-aimed rounds thudded into his bulletproof vest, but he shrugged them off as he fought his way to the doctor's side. She had the cord of her PDA around one zombie's neck, but it wasn't doing much of anything.
"They don't need to breathe," Cedric reminded her as he pulled one zombie away from her and punched it out.
"Don't you think I know that?" she growled, elbowing the other zombie's arm aside as it tried to claw her face. She pulled its ten-gallon hat over its eyes and shoved it away.
Cedric dispatched it with a blast from his shotgun. He grinned at her. "I'm not going to be able to protect you if you keep running away," he teased.
"I can take care of myself," she growled. "And don't you act like you're any more important than me. You can't find a cure for zombieism by shooting them, Sergeant, and you can't keep fighting zombies forever."
"I gotta try, Melissa," he said. "Someone's got to."
"That's bullshit! You're a stubborn idiot, and you're going to die," she snapped, stepping forward and glaring up at him. "I don't want to work with you, and I don't want you protecting me. As soon as we make it to the safehouse, we're splitting up. Do I make myself clear?!"
Sgt. Cedric bristled. "This isn't about you needing me, you selfish bitch. Frank and Will and Chloe and the others are dead, now, but as long as you might be able to find a cure, there's still a chance that we'll get out of this."
"Sergeant, what the fuck are you talking-"
"Damn it, Doctor, I'm fighting for you! If I let you die, then everyone died for nothing! I need you! You're all that's left!"
Suddenly, Dr. Harmon found herself in Sgt. Cedric's grip. She froze with tension before she realized that their lips were an inch apart. She closed her eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion -
The 'horror' genre vanished all at once, like a tide going back out to sea. The cobblestones clicked back together, the zombies turned into an assortment of cowboy corpses, and the clouds came back together, dousing Sir Cedric and Dr. Harmon in freezing cold rain. They both yelled in protest and shoved each other away. Cedric made the mistake of wiping his mouth off on his gauntlet, brushing its metal plates over his already-cut lip. He cursed under his breath and incinerated a cowboy who was sneaking up on him in frustration.
"Don't ever do that again!" Dr. Harmon yelled, kicking the cowboy she was standing on.
"How is this my fault?" demanded Cedric, covering his mouth and checking for blood. “You started it.”
"That doesn't even-" she clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms. "Whatever. Fine. I don't care," she muttered, speaking more to herself than to him. "Just fuck off, Cedric."
Cedric stopped in his tracks and looked genuinely puzzled. It rather reminded Dr. Harmon of a mastiff who'd just been smacked on the nose with a newspaper. "What do you mean?"
"I mean go away!" She turned her back on him and started walking. It was pouring rain, but she wanted to make it clear to him that she didn't want him around, and she wanted to be able to do it as coldly as possible. It was a move she'd practiced extensively. "I don't need your help," she growled over her shoulder.
"Uh, yeah you do," Cedric said as if this were obvious.
"I mean, you're a woman."
Somewhere in the distance, a window shattered.
Dr. Harmon would have given him a whole nasty speech full of seething fury right about then, but all she could think of were swears. She would've sworn at him, but she was too angry to settle on any specific words. She would've even just screamed at him, but she was too furious to unclench her teeth. She occupied herself with trying to see if she could wring any water out of her PDA.
"And I mean you, y'know... you don't even have a sword," he added delicately, not really wanting to embarrass her.
"Y-you absolute PIG," she stammered.
"Now, look, I get that you're angry and all, and you might not want me to come along with you, but it's kind of my job to defend the weak," he went on. "I can't let you go on alone. I guess I could help you find another knight to protect you, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only knight that Spectator brought along, and," he didn't hesitate to add, "you certainly won't find any knights as good as me." Which, as far as Cedric was concerned, was the honest truth.
By this point, Dr. Harmon was ineffectually beating her fist against his heavily armored chest and yelling something about 'you chauvinist piece of bitch.' It clearly wasn't working, so she settled for yanking him down by his short beard and smacking him across the face a few times before turning and storming off.
"Wait!" called Cedric, starting after her. It was like she wasn't even listening.
"Run."
Dr. Harmon was about to protest that he was being patronizing again, and that she could take care of herself just as easily as he could, but it occurred to her that Sir Cedric was:
- Someone she hated
- Armed, whereas she was not
- The only one between her and a posse (that was after him)
- Someone whose death she would benefit from
- Still an asshole
She turned and ran away without a second thought. Good riddance. While he was busy being shot or hanged or buried up to his neck for the vultures to eat or whatever it was cowboys did, she could figure out just what exactly was going on, and maybe scheme against her opponents and -
The effects of the horror bookmark rushed over the ground underneath her feet. The paved road broke into jagged cobblestones, and the storm clouds parted to reveal a blood-red full moon. Dr. Harmon's handheld sensor spiked again and started beeping loudly. The readings were drastic enough that she very nearly forgot what was going on around her. She'd never seen such incredibly high levels of, uh...
Dr. Harmon glanced at her PDA. 'ZOMBIE SENSOR' was neatly lettered along the top.
"Shit," she muttered. Even as she looked past her PDA into the growing fog, she could see shambling forms getting closer. Well, at least it worked.
She looked over her shoulder. Maybe sticking with Cedric wasn't such a bad idea...
Sgt. Cedric slammed his combat boot into the chest of the nearest zombie cowboy. Its authentic revolver clattered to the ground, and the zombie landed on top of it, pinned under Cedric's weight. He unloaded the barrel of his shotgun into its head, leaving nothing but a fine grey mist, some traces of a cowboy hat and a pair of shell casings behind.
Zombies were getting closer from all directions, so rather than reloading his shotgun, Cedric shoved it into the strap over his shoulder and pulled Sigrar, his trusty chainsaw, from his belt.
"Hail to the king, baby," he growled, revving it over the sounds of the groaning masses until he could hear it echo.
A handful of zombies clumsily lunged for him, but he dispatched them with a few quick swipes of Sigrar. Unfortunately, this gave another zombie a chance to grab Sgt. Cedric from behind and try to bite his jugular. The grizzled vet winced at the smell and slammed his forehead into its temple, knocking its head loose. Another undead cowboy fumbled with its revolver and aimed it at Cedric. He spun around and grabbed the zombie behind him before it could collapse, and pulled it in front of his chest. It jolted lifelessly as a plague-infused bullet thudded into its chest, and Cedric discarded it. Before the undead cowboy could get another bullet into its gun with its decaying fingers, Sgt. Cedric had already thrust Sigrar through its chest.
They locked eyes.
"RAAAAGRRHGHH," said the zombie.
Cedric revved the chainsaw and tore it to shreds.
"Cedric!" screamed a woman's voice. He spun around. A pair of zombies were clinging to Dr. Melissa Harmon, the Only Reasonable Scientist, and she was frantically beating them back with her loudly beeping zombie sensor. He rushed towards her, tearing through the zombies in his way. A few poorly-aimed rounds thudded into his bulletproof vest, but he shrugged them off as he fought his way to the doctor's side. She had the cord of her PDA around one zombie's neck, but it wasn't doing much of anything.
"They don't need to breathe," Cedric reminded her as he pulled one zombie away from her and punched it out.
"Don't you think I know that?" she growled, elbowing the other zombie's arm aside as it tried to claw her face. She pulled its ten-gallon hat over its eyes and shoved it away.
Cedric dispatched it with a blast from his shotgun. He grinned at her. "I'm not going to be able to protect you if you keep running away," he teased.
"I can take care of myself," she growled. "And don't you act like you're any more important than me. You can't find a cure for zombieism by shooting them, Sergeant, and you can't keep fighting zombies forever."
"I gotta try, Melissa," he said. "Someone's got to."
"That's bullshit! You're a stubborn idiot, and you're going to die," she snapped, stepping forward and glaring up at him. "I don't want to work with you, and I don't want you protecting me. As soon as we make it to the safehouse, we're splitting up. Do I make myself clear?!"
Sgt. Cedric bristled. "This isn't about you needing me, you selfish bitch. Frank and Will and Chloe and the others are dead, now, but as long as you might be able to find a cure, there's still a chance that we'll get out of this."
"Sergeant, what the fuck are you talking-"
"Damn it, Doctor, I'm fighting for you! If I let you die, then everyone died for nothing! I need you! You're all that's left!"
Suddenly, Dr. Harmon found herself in Sgt. Cedric's grip. She froze with tension before she realized that their lips were an inch apart. She closed her eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion -
The 'horror' genre vanished all at once, like a tide going back out to sea. The cobblestones clicked back together, the zombies turned into an assortment of cowboy corpses, and the clouds came back together, dousing Sir Cedric and Dr. Harmon in freezing cold rain. They both yelled in protest and shoved each other away. Cedric made the mistake of wiping his mouth off on his gauntlet, brushing its metal plates over his already-cut lip. He cursed under his breath and incinerated a cowboy who was sneaking up on him in frustration.
"Don't ever do that again!" Dr. Harmon yelled, kicking the cowboy she was standing on.
"How is this my fault?" demanded Cedric, covering his mouth and checking for blood. “You started it.”
"That doesn't even-" she clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms. "Whatever. Fine. I don't care," she muttered, speaking more to herself than to him. "Just fuck off, Cedric."
Cedric stopped in his tracks and looked genuinely puzzled. It rather reminded Dr. Harmon of a mastiff who'd just been smacked on the nose with a newspaper. "What do you mean?"
"I mean go away!" She turned her back on him and started walking. It was pouring rain, but she wanted to make it clear to him that she didn't want him around, and she wanted to be able to do it as coldly as possible. It was a move she'd practiced extensively. "I don't need your help," she growled over her shoulder.
"Uh, yeah you do," Cedric said as if this were obvious.
"I mean, you're a woman."
Somewhere in the distance, a window shattered.
Dr. Harmon would have given him a whole nasty speech full of seething fury right about then, but all she could think of were swears. She would've sworn at him, but she was too angry to settle on any specific words. She would've even just screamed at him, but she was too furious to unclench her teeth. She occupied herself with trying to see if she could wring any water out of her PDA.
"And I mean you, y'know... you don't even have a sword," he added delicately, not really wanting to embarrass her.
"Y-you absolute PIG," she stammered.
"Now, look, I get that you're angry and all, and you might not want me to come along with you, but it's kind of my job to defend the weak," he went on. "I can't let you go on alone. I guess I could help you find another knight to protect you, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only knight that Spectator brought along, and," he didn't hesitate to add, "you certainly won't find any knights as good as me." Which, as far as Cedric was concerned, was the honest truth.
By this point, Dr. Harmon was ineffectually beating her fist against his heavily armored chest and yelling something about 'you chauvinist piece of bitch.' It clearly wasn't working, so she settled for yanking him down by his short beard and smacking him across the face a few times before turning and storming off.
"Wait!" called Cedric, starting after her. It was like she wasn't even listening.