Pandorum 2nd ed.

[karamitchell]

As they started forward, Kara saw that the ductwork became much narrower and cramped than the vent opening they had used as an entry point. It was obvious that they would have to proceed single file. Just as she was about to follow the other two, Kara glanced back towards the woman who had come for them and noticed her looking off into an intersection of another vent as if waiting for something. Risking the noise she whispered out, “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

Despite it only being a whisper, the other woman’s body tensed up and she shot Kara a panicked warning look to be quiet. Something had definitely spooked this woman, and all of a sudden, Kara wasn’t so eager to find out what was going on. Still they needed to get going, the sooner they were out of these vents the better. She still wasn’t convinced it was a good idea to be crawling around up here. It didn’t matter how careful they were all being, four people crawling around in such cramped quarters was going to cause some amount of noise. If they stayed up here too long, sooner or later, whoever or whatever was looking for them would figure it out, and then they would be stuck like a can of sardines.

Despite tugging more insistently at her, the woman still refused to move and just brushed Kara’s hands aside and continued to peer off into the other junction of the vents. She didn’t want to cause another panic by speaking up again so she just tugged at the other two and signaled them to wait. None of them knew where they were going and the last thing they wanted was to get lost.

 

[Noon_Shadow]

Mark

Mark had heard something very distantly, perhaps on an adjacent corridor, or perhaps very, very far behind him on the same corridor. It was the faint sound of something...scratching? He couldn't tell. It was probably too far away to carry to where he was very well, but it pierced the quiet around him, which had been weighing very heavily around him. He couldn't remember much of who he was, but somehow, he knew that he had very been comfortable with silence, and that was weighing on him. He'd always been around people, usually a lot of them. A city? That sounded right-he'd grown up in a big city somewhere.

Which was part of why this was so eery for him. He felt tempted to make a lot of noise just to break the tension, but...well, without knowing more about what was happening on this ship, he was afraid to. He'd noticed some damage on the walls-some doors has been dented, even ripped apart. It was pitch dark and he had yet to encounter another soul. So perhaps calling attention to himself wasn't the wisest course of action. Could there been a catastrophe on board? Boarders? Mutiny? Too many possibilities at the moment.

After several more minutes of walking, he came to the end of the corridor. He couldn't see it, it was still perfectly dark, but he'd felt a ladder in front of him. Damn, he would kill for a flashlight. He leaned down, and felt around the floor. There was some manner of a hatch, he could feel the seam, where the floor section probably swung down, presumably to allow access to the deck below. There would likely be another ladder below that, leading down. And since there was a ladder here on this deck, there was one going up, as well. After taking a minutes probing with his fingertips, he felt like he had reasoned how to open it-by pulling down on a lever while twisting on a locking mechanism to release the catch.

Well, he thought, up, or down? Or back the way I came until I come to another intersection? Mark wasn't sure at the moment. He stood there for a moment to reason it out. He was hoping to find the bridge. It could very well be on this deck, he had hardly explored the whole thing. But there was no power on this deck, either. At least, for the most part. He hadn't found any rooms he could have entered without power, save the ones whose doors had been damaged. Surely if there were any survivors, they MUST be on the bridge, or at least some other control room, and that would surely still have power. Wouldn't it? And wouldn't the bridge be at the top of the ship?

It all seemed perfectly reasonable. Well, up it is. And time to figure out how big this malfunctioning piece of shit is. He hoped he would get some answer soon.

It was just then that Mark thought he heard footsteps, very soft. Boots? He turned his head, not that it was doing him any good. Fuck, he might as well have been blind for all the use his eyes were. Was there something there that was a bit blacker than the rest of the corridor, moving? Was this finally another member of the crew?

"Hello?" Mark asked nervously, his voice rasping out in a whisper. His heart was pounding in his chest, scared out of his mind. He realized that, perhaps, being alone might not have been so bad after all.

 

[kittenofdeath]

Issac slowed, the horrid feeling in the pit of his stomach returning as he saw another figure ahead, at least it was a case of out of the fire and in to the frying pan, this one looked far less intimidating, in fact, it looked human.

He stopped, he saw it, it saw him, but it didn't move, either it was actually another human, or the others had clearly developed a level of tactical planning above running at you, he’d seen traps before, the occasional trip wire, but he’d never seen one act like a human.

”hello?”

Ok, that settled it, they couldn't talk, so he was human, it had been so long since he had seen another human. Issac raised one of his hands in greeting, letting the person know he had heard, but he remembered the last time he ran in to one of his fellow ‘civilised’ humans, so his other hand rested on the hilt of the knife on his hip.

Once he got closer his fears alleviated, this guy was fresh out of his tube, too unguarded, and once he was close enough to make out details, too clean not to be. “Listen carefully” He said as low as he thought the new guy would be able to hear “by the lack of grime on your face I’m guessing you just woke up, so I’ll give you the quick version, shit has hit the fan in a colossally bad way, there are unknown things on the ship that want to eat us, and in my experience standing still for too long is a horrible idea, so follow me and I’ll explain more when we’re somewhere safer.”

Issac gave the man a second to assimilate that rather hefty and somewhat vague bombshell, then kept going, walking past and heading up the nearby ladder, if the man followed then Issac would do his best to help, if not, then it was out of his hands.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Leo

Leo watched silently as the figure, which he now saw was a woman, turned to him and held up a small device. It had words on it. He focused on the screen.

Wendy. 2 grls need help up here. Pls help if u can when get them up.

Wendy. The name tugged a cord. He tilted his head only slightly, slipping back around the corner when she turned around. More people. He had managed to find three people in the same place when he hadn't found any in weeks. Strange. Quite strange. At any rate, he waited for the telltale sounds, but tensed up slightly at the sound of a voice. Damn! Thankfully she quieted before he decided to get out of there. He strained, listening to the natural sounds of the ship, waiting to see if there were any traces of Them. Any chance They might find them. He didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Not yet.

He heard the sounds of metal bending only slightly as two, no three, new figures climbed into the vent. He released the pent up breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"Stay spaced out..." he heard himself murmuring.

He shut his mouth. He shouldn't be talking. It might bring Them. He pulled himself around the corner again, moving down the vent on his way to the group. Memories of times past worked his way down the vent. Gunshots over his head. Blood flowing from a wound in his shoulder. A bright white light...and then he was back, crawling through the vent. How strange, he thought to himself. He had never had a moment like that before. He shook his head, bringing himself back to the task at hand. He paused a distance back from the woman, Wendy, and nodded at her. Gesturing forward. She seemed like she knew a semi-safe spot they could talk. He was content to let her lead them along. For now.

He vaguely took note of the three others that were in the vent, from what little he could see of them. Two were female, wearing robes that "left little to the imagination." He was unaware that he had the same thought they had before. The third was male, and it appeared he had just woke up. He paused, looking behind him. Did he hear something? He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard someone shuffling where he had just come from. He held up a hand to the woman in front of him and moved back to the intersection slowly, glancing around the corner. Nothing was moving, but there was something there. He caught a vague glint of metal in the dull light. Odd. There was something there, blocking the natural flow of air.

He pulled himself around the corner, not using his light to avoid startling whatever it was. He stopped when the light from his helmet illuminated what he was looking at. It was a woman, and the glint was a blade. He held his hands up, showing that he wasn't holding anything, hoping to appear friendly. He wasn't sure if he was successful or not. He really didn't want to talk, but he got the feeling he had to.

"Stay calm, please. I'm not one of Them. There are others just around the corner, we're going to somewhere somewhat safe." he whispered as low as he could.

He looked behind him again before looking forward.

"Come with me." he whispered and beckoned, crawling back to the intersection. He glanced back at her, waiting for her to follow.

 

[Noon_Shadow]

Mark could not really make out the details of the person approaching him. It was very creepy-he or she was making quite an effort to be quiet, and they were really hard to see in this darkness anyway. Their clothes were dark, and they were approaching him very carefully. He thought he saw the hand grab something at the hip-a weapon? Gun? He stepped backward, nervously, before he heard the man speak up.

“Listen carefully, by the lack of grime on your face I’m guessing you just woke up, so I’ll give you the quick version, shit has hit the fan in a colossally bad way, there are unknown things on the ship that want to eat us, and in my experience standing still for too long is a horrible idea, so follow me and I’ll explain more when we’re somewhere safer.”

And then the man was brushing past him even as Mark was still attempting to absorb all of that. Shit was messed up? Well, he'd been able to make sense of that much. But wait, what was he talking about...things?

"Things, what things?"

He didn't have time to get a response since the man had just grabbed the ladder and starting heading up toward the next deck. Mark glanced back down the dark corridor behind them. Well, that had been the direction Mark was going to head anyway. Given the choice of talking to the only other person he'd encountered, who at least seemed to know what was happening, and continuing to stand around in the dark, following seemed like the obvious move.

Fuck it, thought Mark. Just have to roll with the punches for now. This guy at least hadn't stabbed him outright and stolen his backpack with the rations, which was the only thing he had. Making what seemed to be the easy decision, he grabbed the ladder and started clambering after him up the ladder. On the off chance that this was a mutiny and the guy was a mutineer and a liar, he could at least hope the rest of them would be as reasonable. Didn't seem worth the effort to lure him into a trap when he could have stabbed him already during his confusion.

"Hey, wait up," Mark called in a low voice as he followed up to the next deck. As he crossed through the hatchway separating the decks, he gave a soft shiver. Damn, it was cold. Beyond that, there wasn't much else he could discern about this deck different from the last.

 

[AngelLightheart]

Jasmine

Jasmine stared, not reacting at Kara's outburst, as she didn't know what was going on either, and didn't really fancy crawling around in some air vents. It all seemed bad, but she didn't know exactly how bad. That was, until she saw the look of terror on the woman's face as Kara spoke, and she read the message there. Monsters? Kara had a similar reaction to her own. They moved to the vent slowly, and then Jasmine and the other woman helped Kara into the vent. Jasmine took the offered hand and pulled herself up into the vent, just behind Kara.

She had to admit she shared Kara's urge to move, and had no idea why the woman was still waiting. She tried to convey her own want to get moving with her eyes, but the other woman didn't budge, looking back at a cross section in the vents a little ways back. She turned her own eyes back there and noticed a helmet leaning around, followed by a body and start crawling towards her. The suit looked familiar. There wouldn't be a monster wearing one, right?

Right?

She remained wary of the figure regardless, waiting to see the woman's reaction to him. She had known he was there, obviously, or she wouldn't have held them up looking back at him. She gestured forward again, anxious to get somewhere where what was going on could be explained to her.

 

[La_Reina]

The Others

Deck C: The female kept munching until she heard it. Small noise. The ship usually made noise, but this sounded like speech patterns. It wouldn't have been any of her people. Her people didn't usually speak like that. She slowly stood up with an arm hanging out of her mouth, slowly sucking on the fingers. She moved forward her feet slapping against the floor making little pat, pat noises. She cocked her head to the side as she went through a dark opening. She stopped biting through the bone and sucking the meat off the fingers. The blood had congealed and she was chewing it like bubble gum. She spit the blood out just as she heard a cry. She stopped moving and stiffened listening for more. She stayed still hearing more and more than metal being dragged. What was that? She moved into the opening just barely seeing someone's leg go up. Food?! She had missed Food?! She screamed loud and angrily the sound going loud and long echoing off the walls and up the vent. She jumped up her head hitting the vent where the girls and guy were that she had just missed grabbing. She kept jumping hearing the slight bent of the vent where their body weight was held by the vent. Her fists and nails digging into the metal crunching it as she screamed her rage.

The leader heard her cries and sat up. Her cries of rage, passion, and missed opportunity? Food! Food was getting away. He stood up and growled his own rage. The bass of his voice rumbled and vibrated the walls. He ran down the hall, made a sharp turn, ran down the hall towards her voice and saw... Food on climbing device. He growled loudly and ran as fast as his feet could take him. He was faster than the man going up, but the man was already more than halfway up. Just as Food was disappearing he jumped up and his nails trailed through the man's pants, ripping them, but he didn't get skin. The leader screamed and jumped again. His hands caught the opening and he pulled himself up his head clearing the opening and he snapped his feet at Food trying to grab it with his mouth. Food was too far and he dropped back down to the opening. They were up a floor. He would have to go to the cold area.

Deck B: He growled and ran on all four his staff in his hand slamming against the metal floor with a loud thwap. The female came out looked at him, screamed, and followed behind him. They ran up the stairs, occasionally running along the wall when their wasn't enough room for them both to maneuver. The brute could hear the other two coming and he stayed still listening. The leader barked orders there was food on this floor. Find it. Everyone took off in different directions. More yells echoed from below. They were getting reinforcements and Others were coming to Deck B. They were going to find and get food. Food! Food! Food! Food! They're only thought at this moment. Food!

 

[White_Jade]

Wendy almost screamed when one of Them appeared. She, and the rest she was sure, heard it before she saw it. The horrid thing bounded up at the vent and for a moment, Wendy thought she was dead. "It'll jump right in with me and I'll die, it'll tear us all apart!" The thought flashed through her mind. But then It fell short and banged against the bottom of the vent.

Biting her inner cheek to keep from screaming, Wendy crawled forward over the three other newly awoken people and towards the guy in the Engineering suit. Wait, that's what it was? Yes, for some reason she knew that now. Shaking her head, she whispered as she passed, "Try not to scream or freak out yet. If we live, we can do that later. They hate light and follow noise, so remember that if...anyway, come on."

If They get me. That's what she had been about to say.

The guy in the suit had moved back a bit and was facing off with another woman. What was this? She hadn't seen another soul since Rachel had been taken and now people were everywhere!

Deciding she didn't have time to talk more, especially not with one of Them bounding and screaming its head off, Wendy set off at as fast a careful crawl as she could manage. She glanced back to make sure the other people were keeping up with her. As she moved, her mind raced.

It was screaming and there were responding cries. There were at least two after them now. Two! God. Maybe more. How could they get away? She'd hidden before and Rachel had...and maybe she'd have to be Rachel this time. But maybe she didn't have to. Distractions. They needed to lure the hunters away somehow. How?

The alarm clock. The hologram emitter. Maybe, just maybe those could work.

She crawled and scrambled through the vents for long minutes, every one feeling like hours worth of time. There were more cries echoing from below and rolling through the vents now. God, more of them! How many? Wendy wanted to curl up and cry but she kept going. Get out of the vents in her formerly "safe" spot, try to make a plan and get some clothes on those girls.

She came out of her entrance tot he vents in the trashed store room she'd taken to hiding in. Before dropping down, she listened carefully. She couldn't hear anything nearby. Didn't see any motion. She took a deep breath and prayed fervently that none of Them were near here yet. Then she dropped down as quietly as she could. "They're coming, we need to be quick and quiet," she whispered again. "Grab what clothes you can from here and then we need to figure out how to distract them and get away."

God. Fuck. She hated, hated having to talk this much. She felt like she was almost singing and waving her arms to attract attention with all this speech.

 

[Noon_Shadow]

Mark was following his newfound companion, who had not hesitated even a second to answer his questions, climbing up onto the deck above. He was trying once again to get his attention, not wanting to be left behind, when he heard a massive roar. It was a very low rumbling that carried through the halls, seeming to resonate with the deckplating. What the hell, were there lions on this shop or something?

"The fuck is that?!" cried out Mark, as he increases his climbing speed. He thought he heard something charging down the corridor. Just as he pulled himself through the hatch onto the deck above, he felt a sharp claw slash at his pants, already slightly tattered, and ripping them. Mark flailed his leg as a claw snagged on the fabric for one second, nearly pulling him with it, before he pulled his leg away and crawled backward on his hindquarters. There was another loud cry and he saw...something grabbing onto the floor and trying to pull itself through the hole, teeth gnashing angrily, screaming wordlessly.

It was trying to follow, and Mark stood, staring helplessly. It was still too dark to make out what it was, but it was chasing them. He scrambled clumsily to his feet, ready to sprint away, before he saw it. But then the creature's attempt to climb through ceased as it snapped its mouth shut, and he heard it drop down below, crashing to the floor, and then sprinting away. Mark's only, stupid instinct in that moment was to run over and slam the hatch closed, making sure it was locked. He was breathing hard, and the cold air was slightly burning in his lungs as he sucked in as much as he could.

"Well, you weren't lying when you said shit hit the fan," he said uselessly. He glanced at the other man, getting a slightly better look at him as there was just the tiniest bit of illumination where he was standing, from an emergency lights whose battery life was so low it was barely generating any light at all. In the sudden quiet that had dropped over the area, Mark stilled his breathing. He wondered if there more of the things about, and if they could hear him.

"Seriously, what the hell is that thing?" he asked in a low whisper.

 

[zydrate]

Katie

~~Somewhere between decks C&D~~

Katie hugged her knees to her chest, she was as quiet as could be...every little noise, no matter how small had made her jump..made her heart skip a beat.

Her stomach rumbled in protest..it had been at least two days since she had anything to eat and right now she was too afraid to venture out side her 'hiding' place. There had been noises lately, more whispers... Deep down, Katie was telling herself that everything was going to be all right and that she was over reacting yet when she started to think about going else where, something else happened...either a loud bang or voices..

And they weren't the sort of voices one would hear, such as whispers but more...ghostly...if that was a good description for it. She had barely slept much during the last few days since waking up. The last of her food rations she had managed to find while brave enough to explore outside the vents was gone...

She knew she'd have to go out again but the thing was she didn't know which way to go. She wasn't too sure how to get back if she did get in a bind. There were so many ands, ifs and buts that she felt like she was starting to go crazy by questioning everything she thought of. What if this was all a dream? Or what if it wasn't a dream?

Come on Katie..you can do this... she heard her father's words assure her. Slowly a small tear managed to escape from the corner of her eye which she quickly wiped away...what the hell? She had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry or get too emotional. It didn't help things...

"You can do this Katie.." she said to herself in a very low whisper. "Here goes nothing.." It was time to find food and anything else that would help her in this survival...

 

[kittenofdeath]

He followed, smart guy, he just might live for a while after all, that was nice, someone to talk too that talked back was always welcome, it had been a while though... Well, it had been a while since the person talking back was more than a figment of Issac's imagination, but the less said about that the better.

The howl was not the kind of responsiveness he was wanting though, neither was the new guy shouting, but it was a little late for subtlety anyway, so no damage done, no need to threaten him with multiple violent stabbings yet.

As soon as Issac had pulled himself up on to the new level he scanned his surroundings, knife still in hand as he checked for more of them, running blindly was stupider than trying to fight. Satisfied that the area was comparatively safe, he turned his attention back to his new friend, who had also managed to climb up, though he did have a follower, the big bastard Issac had snuck by earlier was scrambling to grab his prey, idiot, pull yourself up then attack.

Issac gently slid his knife away as the inevitable happened, then smiled as the new guy closed the hatch, survival was always something to smile about.

"Well, you weren't lying when you said shit hit the fan,"

For a moment, he almost laughed, really, it was quite the nice feeling, as close to normality he had come in a while, he supposed that it wasn't the case for the new guy though, this must be incredibly far from normality for him, so he just stayed quiet for a few seconds to let him catch his breath.

"Seriously, what the hell is that thing?"

“I wish I had a definite answer” he said with a sigh “but no one I trust to actually know has told me yet, so all I have are educated guesses and insane ramblings, none of which sound promising” he turned and started off again, expecting to be followed, they were safer here, but staying still was never a good idea.

“Come on, I know where we can get some water.” It always felt better to have a purpose, some kind of goal, even if it was only to get a drink.

 

[Noon_Shadow]

Mark noticed now that his new "friend" was carrying a rather wicked looking knife. He saw him sliding it away, tucking it back into whatever sheath he'd had it concealed in the first place. As Mark finally caught his breath, he started moving off again. It was disappointing to learn so little about...whatever the hell that thing had been. Somehow, knowing would been slightly comforting, he thought. He couldn't remember anything about who he had been formerly, but he felt confident that he was simply used to being in the know.


“Come on, I know where we can get some water.”

Mark shrugged as he started to follow. Suddenly he checked to make sure he still had his backpack, which he did. He was relieved to find it still around his shoulders, and he then stopped to wonder how long since he had had some water. Hours, at least. Since he had started walking up that eerily long and dark corridor. A drink was fine with him. Patting his backpack, he nodded.

"That sounds good. I also have some rations...about a week's worth, I suppose." He sighed regretfully as the dim lighting they'd found faded back in the distance, regretting that he was about to strolling about in the dark once more. Did nowhere on the ship have power? "My name is Mark, by the way. I'm...-" He cut off. It was instinctive of him to follow-up with his profession, but his brain still wasn't operating that far back. He couldn't remember what he'd use to do-fuck, he still didn't remember his last name. "I'm sorry, I just don't remember much of anything," he finished.

"Shouldn't we be making for the bridge? Surely there's still someone there operating the ship?"

 

[La_Reina]

The Others

Deck C: They were moving. They were moving. The other food were moving fast, but one was inching alone. He could hear food. Sweet food. The Other looked at his brethren. The leader was on the deck above where it was cold. He called to us, but I could still hear food above between the decks. I looked as my brethren ran towards the stairwell to heed the Leader's call, but ... the other climbed on the wall and onto the ceiling. He slammed his hand into the vent and created a huge hole. A body came tumbling down and he pounced on her. Her red hair making him think of blood and sex. He roared his delight and fell on top of her hearing her legs break under his weight.

He fists fell onto her body pounding her. He ripped the clothes from her body hearing her whimper. He stopped and felt her skin. So soft. So white. He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall. His cock was average for his kind, bigger than most human males, and scaley. He slammed it into her and he chocked off her screams. He didn't care if they were pleasure or pain and the blood dripping from her pussy to land on his cock sent him into overdrive. He pounded her faster and harder as he tilted her head to the side and sank his teeth. He ripped out a piece of delicious meat even as his own cock kept fucking her. Her blood was salty and thick. Just what he needed. He feasted on her body with his cock and mouth. Taking huge chunks from her shoulder and biting the fatty tissue of her breasts.

With one loud roar he arched his back and came. Globs and globs of black cum jetted into her spasming body. He pulled out and saw his cum on her lily white skin. It was pretty her white skin, his black cum, her red blood, her body twitching trying to hold on to life. He heard a roar above. He was needed. He glanced back at her wanting to fuck her mouth, but he had to go. He turned and ran off towards the stairs. He'll come back for her later.

 

[LeoHawk35]

Leo

Leo flinched quite violently and held an arm up to shield himself as metal fragments showered his body. An Other had found them. Or, her, to be exact. When he lowered his arm she was gone through a massive hole in the vent. He could hear her screams as the Other brutally raped and devoured her. He closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head slowly. He was still well aware of the danger, however, so he turned to follow after the others as fast as he could while still remaining quiet. Everything screamed at him to flee. To run away as fast as possible. Everything but one thing:

That quiet voice of reason. That one thing that had made him keep his head through this entire ordeal. The thing that told him what to do, where to go, how to get there, how to react to the Others, how to defend himself. He had since learned to rely on that calm voice of reason amidst all the chaos. That voice that sounded strangely like his own, almost as if he were recalling himself telling someone else what to do. Teaching someone else, and his mind were bringing it back to him in his time of need.

It was something he couldn't quite describe, but that he just knew. So, instead of listening to the screaming voices and natural bodily instincts that so many relied on, he listened to that calm and confident voice. He crawled away, following after the group, his thoughts his own, surprisingly calm considering what he just saw. They reached what was evidently the safe room. He poked just his head down first, looking around the room, before hooking and arm over the edge and dropping down silently, landing without making a noise. He turned his gaze around the room, moving along and away from the others, separating himself almost by instinct. A vague glance back at them as he looked about the store room. He stopped and leaned back against the wall, his hands clasped in front of him and waiting.

He considered their chances of survival, what with the hornets' nest stirred, his helmet hiding his face.

 

[La_Reina]

Deck B: The leader looked over his breathen and cried out in anger. They were in between the walls again. He slammed himself into the wall, but it just bent and chunks fell, but he couldn't get through. Besides they were in the ceiling. They were too big to get in the ceiling. It was getting cold here. He didn't like it here.

One of the Others made a wild suggestion. Get the kid. The wild one who was dying to go on hunts. He'll fit in the vent. But the kid could be killed easily or blinded by the bright light the food sometimes emit. Still if the kid wanted to do it than let it be done. The Other's screamed and yelled in satisfaction while a good majority went to get the kid.

Deck C: Moments later they arrived on deck c and heaved the kid into the vent. The kid gave a child's scream that was horrifying even to the adults below. They answered his scream with their own in bloodlust. The kid followed the scent of food. He was going slowly when he thought he heard voice ahead. He pounded his fist. He was close. They were here. Food. About 3 or more of them and ... he pounded his fist hard with excitement .. female. He would lead the men to the females and be awarded with becoming a warrior.

 

[White_Jade]

The others seemed to be stunned by what was happening, and while she wanted to slap them or ditch them and save her own hide, she really couldn't blame them. She'd gotten a little bit of time to get her feet under her but They had come so fast...

From not far away enough there came a woman's cries and screams, gurgling off under the sound of a heavy, thumping body and tearing meat. Wendy put her hand over her mouth, willing herself not to scream, vomit, or weep. Not yet. Survive first.

Maybe.

"Okay, listen, we don't have time for a plan. I'll...oh, God help me, I'll try and distract Them. Keep heading this way until you reach a maintenance ladder going up. Then head that way, they don't like the cold and it's colder on the upper decks." She swallowed. "If...if I make it," her voice was quavering and even in this light they could see her shaking and trembling. "If I make it, I'll try and meet you back at the officer's mess on B Deck."

Then she crawled back down a vent, hearing more screams and shrieks from Them as They moved about. It was almost like they were having a conference or something...

Then she heard a thud not far away. In a vent not far away. "Oh, fuck." They...They had small ones too? She swallowed hard and lifted the holo projector she'd found. She waited, praying that the other humans were doing what she said and moving away. She waited, terrified of seeing movement in front of her.

Then she activated the projecter. Light poured forth, hurting her eyes and making her look away. The device was meant to sit on the floor to be triggered, and the way she was holding it meant that the image fired out sideways into the vent ahead of her. It was bright, colorful, and vivid; a smiling family, all waving, their mouths moving with silent laughter.

God, let it work. If one of Them was in the vent, this should blind the hell out of it. Unless it came at her from behind...but she didn't think the sound of it entering had come from that way...had it?

 

[kittenofdeath]

Everyone asked the same questions when they were new, the bridge question was a common one which Issac didn't really feel like answering in detail, so he kept it short “no more power on the bridge than here” he said, only pointing up to the dead lights as he walked, not bothering to turn his head. There was a little more to it than that, such as the rather robust locked door that you needed to get through to get to the bridge to name one other problem, but Issac just really could not be bothered.

“Don't worry about the memories” he said, starting to remember his own fun at trying to remember when he woke up “important stuff shows up when its needed, like an automatic response, the fact you can speak is kind of proof for that, and as for other things...” Issac had been awake for quite some time, and he still had massive memory gaps, it was never easy to tell someone that they just might not remember something ever again.

“Well, it comes back eventually” he said after a pause, completely ignoring the roars or conquest and victory that reached the two of them as a faded echo “most of it anyway” someone had been caught, someone had died, but it wasn't him, and it sounded like it happened far away, so as morbid as it sounds, it was a good thing to hear.

“My name is Issac” he said, suddenly having a strong desire to change the subject, but not knowing what to say, his social skills having atrophied from lack of use. “So that's introductions done, lets...” he stopped and held it his hand to indicate to mark he should do the same, then brought his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence.

“You hear that?” he asked, his well trained ears picking up the tiniest hint of a high pitched screech, echoing from some of the lower duct access panels “sounds like a little one, kid of the bastard you met.” He frowned and his brow furled, he did not like the little ones, they didn't get to come out and play often, but whenever they were about the vents and tight spaces Issac relied on to survive became far more dangerous, with the exception of a few of the smaller females he had seen, none of the adult ones could fit.

 

[Noon_Shadow]

Mark

Mark glanced dumbly up at the lights for a second before catching Isaac's meaning. So wait, no power on the bridge either? The whole SHIP was this fucked up? What the hell kind of world had the awakened to. Clearly every assessment of just how bad things were was falling well short of the reality. It was almost as if wandering about in a dream, only he had already been asleep for way too long.

He gave slight shudder as he heard the very distant of a roar and then a scream, which seemed to follow them from up the conduit they'd just left. Behind them somewhere. His instinct was to head back toward it, but he noticed that Isaac didn't even slow down, walking away-and right now, he seemed infinitely more capable than Mark. Perhaps there was absolutely no help for the poor person who had been trapped. With a swallow, Mark quickly caught the implication of what could happen to him...people were too busy saving themselves. He suddenly felt a need to get organized, try to...regain control of the ship or something. But he didn't even know how or where he'd get to do that.

Mark spoke, imitating the soft, hushed voice of his companion. "Well, I hpe it does come back..I feel as useless as a screen door on a submarine right now." He hushed when Isaac indicated he should be quiet, giving a soft shiver at the cold, thankful for what clothes he had. The talk of vents got Mark thinking-some of it was starting to make sense now. These...creatures, they were big, too big to fit into the vents that a grown man might squeeze himself into it. Seemed logical-the only one he'd seen had been HUGE, and hadn't been able to follow through the hatch leading up here.

"So should we try to climb into the vent, then?" asked Mark, as he glanced around. The more the situation sank in for him, the more ominous the surrounding darkness seemed. One of those things could be around any fucking corner. What Mark needed now was a place to relax for a bit-the hours he'd spent wandering around were beginning to build up an appetite.

 

[La_Reina]

Officially Closed