RolePlayGateway™

OOC Acceptance Thread: http://www.roleplaygateway.com/the-seven-deadly-sins-ooc-accepting-t13493.html

Backstory
The state of New York had seen better days. Declared a disaster area by the president, no one was allowed to enter for mysteriously undisclosed reasons. The media was ordered to report the incident as an “unfortunate natural disaster” and faced serious fines and criminal charges for any information disclosed without proper authorization. Heavily armed soldiers, formidable tanks and battle copters constantly patrolled the temporary borders, maintaining constant vigilance.

Across the nation, people watching the news about New York’s fate constantly questioned the reasoning behind a heavily armed patrol around a supposed disaster zone, but inquiries to the government were always met with stiff opposition and few clear answers. However, those who remained within the doomed state knew exactly how serious the situation was.

On Halloween morning of 2008, a mysterious package was received by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Upon removing the wrapping, the curator discovered an ancient brown crate filled with seven seemingly unrelated artifacts – a brass scepter, an iron crown bejeweled with rubies, a silver urn, a hand-stitched silk handkerchief, a rose fashioned from untreated quartz, an empty oak treasure chest trimmed with gold, and an opera mask crafted from ivory. Because the items seemed nearly ordinary, they were left overnight to be examined the next morning.

As the sun rose the next day, a bloody scene was discovered by authorities in Times Square. Thousands of people had been murdered over night and dumped into the middle of street, their bodies torn and mangled as if something inhuman had gotten a hold of them. As investigators combed the city for clues, more mass dumping grounds were discovered in various locations throughout New York. Unable to give a reason for the mass killings, the government immediately locked down the state and forbid anyone from entering… or leaving.

Reports eventually began to circulate from the soldiers guarding the borders that “monsters” were seen roaming the streets at night. In order to prevent a nationwide panic, the president ordered the censorship of the press concerning the strange sightings. As a preventative measure, the commander in chief then ordered that anyone attempting to leave the state be shot on sight, whether they appeared human or not. While a secret international conference has been called to address the handling of the situation, those still trying to survive are quickly running out of time.

Back in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the seven seemingly mundane artifacts have disappeared…

~*~

Jedd had stayed at his working place for two nights, sleeping on the cold, tile floor with one eye open and a hand on his trusty baseball bat. No one had ever shown up for work, and as each day passed by Jedd grew more and more fearful that something was terribly wrong. The phone lines weren't working, and even his cell phone didn't appear to have service. He couldn't get in touch with anyone.

Kikuno, his Siamese cat, was curiously prancing about his office, knocking over trophies, awards and other accolades as she did so. Normally Jedd would've stopped her from causing a ruckus, but the noise and motion in the room was welcome in the dead silence that pervaded the rest of the floor. The digital clock on his desk read 3:13 a.m., and Jedd was beginning to grow sleepy, but he knew that drifting off might very well cost him his life. He had seen some terrifying things outside - piles of bodies, blood strewn all over the pavement, and more strange "figures" shuffling about in dark alleys.

"What's happened, Kiku?" Jedd asked of his bouncy cat, an attempt to keep himself awake and a little less terrified. The cat mewed loudly in response, knocking over a glass jar full of multicolored sand as she did so. "Is everyone... dead?" he gulped.

Another 30 minutes went by, and Jedd was beginning to lose the fight with his exhaustion. A sudden loud commotion from the alley below jolted him awake, causing him to slam his head onto the edge of his desk. After rubbing his head and cursing softly, he looked out the window at the street 10 stories below. From above, it looked like a swarm of wild dogs had surrounded something, or possibly someone, or maybe multiple someones - he couldn't really tell from his altitude.

"Wild dogs?" he thought to himself out loud. "Couldn't be wild dogs, could it, Kiku?" The cat sensed that Jedd would be on the move soon, so she hopped onto his shoulder and curled her tail around his arm for balance. "Let's go check it out, shall we?"

With bat in hand, Jedd ran down the stairs (the elevator had stopped functioning) to the first floor lobby, quietly opened the front door and headed towards the alley. He had been mistaken about the wild dogs. The large creatures gathered in the alley were not dogs, they were extremely large rats. But there was something about these rats that made the hair on Jedd's neck stand on end. The heads of several of the rats were spread open, blossomed like some disgusting, bloody flowers. Each "petal" had a pointed silver spine at the end, and what appeared to be a clear venom was dripping from each. Small, red tentacles were moving about in the center of the cluster, almost of if the creature was using them to sense its surroundings. Jedd noticed after a minute of observation that when the "flowers" closed upon itself, the creature looked like a normal rat, albeit abnormally large.

"Mew," Kikuno said loudly, keeping a constant eye on the strange animals before her. Jedd froze as several of the creatures turned to face him, obviously attracted by the sound she had made. "Great, thanks for that, Kiku," Jedd said sarcastically, gripping his bat firmly. "Now you've got their attention."

The rats made hissing noises as they slowly approached, all opening their heads to reveal their undulating tentacles. Jedd's heart was beating painfully in his chest. He knew that he'd have to fight these things off. They'd noticed him and they didn't look too happy to see him. Or maybe they were happy to see him, seeing as he would make quite a good feast for them.

One of the rats finally made a move, pouncing into the air with such force that Jedd nearly stumbled backwards in surprise. Taking a blind and hard swing at his target, Jedd was lucky enough to connect with his attacker and send it flying into the pavement. The creatures hissed loudly as one of their own was struck, their tentacles waving more wildly than before.

"This might not be good, Kiku..."

I'll be on in a bit

"Zee?"

Despite the revolting smell of sweat and urine coming from the alleyway he stepped over the body of a homeless man to take a look behind a large trash can. "Zee is that you?" It didn't take him long to begin to ignore the gore. After a while, bodies were just another thing a person seen so many times that they no longer carried the same impact. "Zee?" But despite the certain numbness he felt towards seeing the dead, he could not bring himself to walk any further into the dark alleyway. The creatures were every where, scabbing over the gutters, drowning in the blood.

He would have shined a flashlight down the long cold corridor had he not heard shoes running across the pavement one street over. "ZEE!" That sound was as distinct as a fingerprint, he could pick it up out of a noisy crowd or hear it a mile away. There were other sounds, sounds that could only be described as creatures scurrying after her. "KEEP Running Zee! I will be there in a minute."

He didn't have time to run down the block and back up the other way. So, braving his fear of the dark, he took a few steps back and made a running leap down the alley and towards a fire escape. Though his mad dash might bring unwanted attention to himself, he was bound and determined to get over the building before the creatures got a hold of her.

It didn't take him long to scale the wall and run over to the other side of the building and back down the fire escape. But now he couldn't quite tell if he had made the right decision. "Zee!" He whispered, wondering if she had somehow found a place to hide and got the creatures off her back. After a few seconds of standing still and listening he pulled out a flashlight and shined it down both ends of the alleyway.

When he seen the shadow of a torn figure slumped on the ground he immediately started to panic and run over, dropping the flashlight on the ground before leaning down to take a good look at the body. Touching something like this was not his cup of tea, especially if it was her. This body was at least a day and a half old. One of the survivors who had been picked off a little before Seven A.M.

The flashlight moved, and he removed his gun from the holster pointing it in the direction of the wavering light. Temporarily blinded he hoped that a crazed person would see him as threatening and run away. But as, whatever it was, stepped forward he sighed in relief, to see little dark obsidian wisps of tangled hair. "Zee, Don't you scare me like that again!" He returned his gun to the holster and got up, dusting off the knees of his pants. "You could have been hurt!" Truth was, while she might need him to provide certain necessities like food and clothing, he needed her much more. She was his glimmer of hope, what kept him from simply taking the gun and blowing his brains all over the alleyway walls. "Alright, come on. I found a place to stay for the night." Holding out a hand he waited for her then began to walk off in the direction of a small two story building that had yet to be raided.

Dark. Cold. Scary. Stinky. Disgusting. Terrifying.
All these words could've easily described the back alleys through which Zee sprinted, running for her life. So many different nights ended up like this, being chased by horrible, gigantic rats, that the girl was surprised she could find enough surprise to be scared anymore.

Bodies littered the alleyways, but Zee didn't have time to be disgusted. Or contemplate the nightmares that would undoubtedly haunt her tonight. Or wonder why Saiga was taking so long... Zee's short, dark hair streamed out behind her, and her panicked green eyes darted around, terrified. Her worn-out shoes tapped against the pavement lightly, but to Zee it felt like they would give her away with the colossal noise.

She couldn't breathe. Her lungs were heaving too hard, and her legs were literally about to collapse. Knowing she couldn't keep running for much longer, Zee ducked behind an old dumpster and hoped to God that the rats wouldn't find her. She could hear the scurryin gof the over-sized rodents already, getting closer.

She grabbed something and tossed it into an intersecting alleyway, and it made a loud smack as it hit the gory pavemnt. Zee listened as the scurrying turned in that direction, not daring to breathe freely until the pitter-patter of huge rat feet died away. Only then did she relax, but her rest was short-lived.

Zee froze as the movement on the other side of the old dumpster came about, heart beating so loudly in her chest that she thought that the thing might have heard it, and her own fear would've given her away. But she couldn't scream, because the familiar lump rose in her throat, and she stopped trying to yell lest it choke her.

" Zee! "
Saiga called her name, and she could hear the terror in it. She didn't answer him, but Zee breathed a shaky sigh of relief and stepped out from behind the dumpster. She wobbled over to Saiga. Her legs were still shaking as she hugged him, burying her face in his chest and letting out a few sobs. Usually, she wouldn't break down like this, not in front of Saiga, because he needed her to be strong....

But he was gone for so long, Zee thought to herself, trying to justify her crybaby behavior. I thought.... I thought he... he was...

But it hurt too much to finish that thought.

Clark's head peeked out from around the corner of a dark alleyway as her green eyes quickly scanned the street. She whipped her head back as fast as she could when her eyes landed on what looked to be a lion. Aw crap I completely forgot about the zoo! Clark thought as she brought her fingers up to run through her dirty hair. Not only do I have to worry about those freaky creatures now I have to watch out for lions and shit! Panic started to swell up in Clarks already tired brain and she started to take in oxygen with ragged uneven breaths. "Okay just calm down breath and focus on your original goal." Clark mumbled to herself as she tried to get her emotions under control.

Clark's goal was to make it across the street and into a small store. She hadn't had that much to eat in the past couple days and her body was starting to get sick from lack of nutrition. She was just hoping beyond all hope that at least some food was still left in the trashed looking building. However with the appearance of the lion there was now a wrench in her plan.

Taking a deep breath she looked around the corner again and saw that the lion was now ripping the flesh off of a mans corpse. Clark fought past her gag reflex as she watched it rip off the mans arm and took in another deep breath. Ok this is good in a way. Now the things distracted so if I'm sneaky enough I should be able to make it across the street. With that thought Clark started to inch out off the alley way.

She kept one eye on the lion and one on her goal as she darted behind a overturned car. From there she crouched down and looked over at the lion once more to make sure it was still preoccupied with eating. Her gaze then switched over to the store. She was about half way there and new she could probably make it inside if she went at a dead run towards the door. Counting to three under her breath Clark sprung up from her crouched position and ran towards the store.

Throwing open the still attached door she slammed it shut behind her as she made it inside the store. Whipping around her eyes found the lion who didn't do anything else except look up and then go back to eating. I almost had a heart attack for nothing! The damn thing didn't even try and attack! She thought in disbelief as she backed away from the door. Turning around to face the contents of the store she noticed that not a lot of stuff was left on the shelves. "Damn...well maybe someone missed something." She mumbled as she walked further into the store.

"I am so glad you are alright." He hugged her close, taking time to dry her tears with the back of his hand. "I found some food and water." They weren't blood related, in fact they had only met a few days ago but for some reason they just hit it off. He wasn't quite certain where her family was, Saiga could only imagine what horrors had befallen them in this god forsaken city. There was no way he was going to let anything happen to Zee. After a few seconds he attempted to hoist her up in the air where she could sit on his shoulders. It wasn't a practical way to travel but at least she would be close if the two needed to make a daring escape.

They took a dimly lit path towards the building he pointed out. Saiga babbled about random things, fighting off the silence even though he knew it could get them caught. She didn't talk much but he seemed to know what she was saying if she nodded or smiled, frowned or shook her head. Saiga had never considered himself good with children before, a kid fresh out of college didn't even know how to take care of himself. However he was doing the best he could, carrying the hope that things would get better and Zee wouldn't have to live like this much longer.

He often spoke about the future. What they were going to do after they escaped the city, how they were going to buy a house in the country. Zee was going to have a pony and Saiga was going to make a living creating special effects for movies. Of course it was probably all just big talking, not liable to amount to anything, but dreaming up stories was better then being pessimistic all the time.

"Alright this is it." The building they would be staying in tonight looked like a dwarf compared to the high rise apartments around it. "I already checked it out, its safe." When they approached he set her down and cracked open a window. "You first, I will be right behind you." It was a fairly nice building. Carpeted and immortalized in the moment, as if the people living there had dropped everything and left. "I know it smells funny but it is better then being outside. We should be able to close up all the windows and get a fire going in the living room."

He stuck a leg up into the window and hoisted himself over after he knew she was inside. "Ow." Still awkward and lanky Saiga was often times too clumsy, stumbling here and there. But he obviously had something going for him to have survived this long. "There is a bedroom upstairs, with a pink star on the door. I don't want your nightmares to get worse." Nightmares were a common occurrence for the both of them. Though he didn't often like to admit it, he was afraid all the time, worried that one wrong step would be the death of him and ultimately the death of her. "And it looks as though we will be able to survive here a while. The previous owners kept a full kitchen." Perishables aside there was always canned food, which they could possibly heat up over the fire. A few seconds after he caught his breath and got his bearings he closed and locked the window before shuffling towards the living room. Careful not to trip over anything he reached out to Zee, motioning for her to follow.

Cyrus Gray was having a bad day.

Sure, he had managed to survive. He had made it back to his house, where he managed to grab his weapons and some ammunition. Now he was wandering the city in his jeep, searching for survivors. But sadly, his jeep wasn't built for this kind of treatment, and the going was slow. Trying to get around the rats... if that was what they could be called... was a struggle in and of itself. Luckily, most of the rats were spread out. The lack of food meant that nobody had survived in the area.

A large group of them meant a survivor. It also meant that the survivor was in trouble.

I must be outta my mind. I'm gonna get myself killed searching like this. Am I really the only one left?

Cyrus was beginning to despair. He had been searching for several days now, after he had slowly fought his way back to his house from halfway across the city. Anybody he had seen had died somewhere during that time. He wasn't having much luck. Getting back to his house was a stroke of luck too, as another person died distracting the rats so he could get inside.

I hope there's still somebody left to save... otherwise, this is me throwing my life away...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cyrus had barely finished that through, when he came across a swarm of rats in a dark alley. They were pouring out onto the street, heading towards some idiot with a bat and a cat. Cyrus let out a few strong words as the rats swarmed him, the first of the attackers getting knocked off by a lucky swing.

Dammit, what is he thinking?

Cyrus grabbed his M-16 and jumped out of the jeep, instantly unloading a barrage of bullets into the crowd of rats. He had their attention for a moment, giving the man a second to gather himself. Hopefully, he wouldn't freeze, otherwise, he'd be a dead man.

Cyrus kept firing, drawing the crowd towards himself. He was the greater threat, and so the rats were for the most part focusing on him alone, giving the other man time to recuperate. Still, Cyrus kept firing.

"Hey dumbass, get in the jeep!" Cyrus yelled, as he swapped in a new cartridge.

With any luck, Cpl Gray would be able to hold off the horde long enough for the man with the bat to get inside. If not, he'd just jump in, and drive by the trapped victim, cutting off the horde from the man for a few moments while he got inside the passenger door. Either way, it was going to be close.

OOC: Yes, fox, I'm referring to your character...

Zee stayed like that for a minute as Saiga dried her face, a slightly surprised but relatively happy expression crossing her face as he hoiste ehr up onto his shoulders. At a different time, in a different place, she would've considered herself too old for such things. But, it reminded her of the way her daddy used to carry her when she was little, so she let Saiga continue.

She listened to his constant babble, hanging on to every word, even though most of it was big talk and she knew it. Like the pony, for instance. Zee didn't really want a pony all that much. They stank, and they could get really mean. She had given up on fairy tale endings and the pony crap a lon gtime ago, when she was around seven. Eleven-year-olds didn't still believe in unicorns.

But the other reason she listened to him talk, endlessly on and on about the house in the country, and how pretty the pony would be, was because she didn't want to think about other things. That was why it was so hard to be away from Saiga, because then Zee's mind would wander, and memories that had been cooped up for too long would resurface and leave her rocking back and forth, curled up in a ball. The rats, they were the hardest.

But even now, she zoned out from his droning as an unwelcome flashback occured.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter...
The sound of rats scurrying endlessly under the floorboards. A sound that Zee was used to, almost comfortable with. The rats had lived under the floorboards for years, ever since her Daddy and Mommy couldn't afford to keep up th house anymore.

She stared up at the ceiling, which was cracked and flaky, and snuggled deeper into her threadbare sheets. Ever since Daddy had lost his job, they had barely had enough to feed themselves. She could hear her father's loud snoring from the other room, and her mother's gentle sighs.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter...
Was the sound getting louder?
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter....
Her parents' nighttime sighs were relaced with shreiks of pain and terror. Zee lept off of her bed, looking around, terrified.
Pit-pat, pit-pat...
A singular sound. Zee froze, but forced herself to turn around-- and there stood the ugliest, scariest thing she had ever seen.

The rat, loked just like a normal rat except for its colossal size. And as it opened it's mouth, lips splitting into four sections and tentacles blossoming from its hole of a throat, razor=sharo teeth, if that's what they were, protruding from its eight lips.

Zee let out a scream-- and that was the last word she ever spoke for over a month, as she sprinted from the house to save her own life, leaving her parents and siblings' dead bodies in the old, disrepaired house...


As abruptly as it began, the memory was, over, and yet Zee shook with terror still.

" Alright, this is it, " Saiga spoke, interrupting her terror as she looked up at a squat, dark, dirty building. Zee said nothing, but climbed in the window and waited in the darkness for Saiga to come through, and following as he made the motion. The memory was still fresh on her mind, but Zee followed him.

He knew that look in her eye. It was the look he had seen so many times in the survivors he met, most of whom were probably dead. So, he stopped talking and walked over throwing some books into a fireplace so he could light a fire. Hopefully the smoke would draw some survivors from the wood works. Saiga would hate to think that Zee and him were the only ones left. He tried not to think about to much. At night he would sit up and wonder what was going to happen. He had no idea how to take care of a child, he was a terrible parent, never even had siblings when he was younger. What was he going to do with a little girl? She needed a mother.

Thinking about it only made things worse. He could see the pain in her eyes and no matter how many times he wiped away the tears he couldn't heal the scars. Everything he did seemed so wrong. And yet, she hung around, hanging onto everything he said as if it were the last words she would ever hear. No, he would make sure that even if something happened to him, she would get out of the city.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?" It didn't take long for him to start in with the questions. By the time they settled down for bed he would have run through a good list of about two hundred yes or no questions about her well being. From a backpack he was holding he produced a small mahogany jewelery box about the size of his hand. It was etched with little gold vines and played a song that he had never heard before. "I found it today and thought you might like it."

He set it down on the ground between them and then produced some food. Most of it was junk food. Saiga had a tendency to get sweets when he was out, almost as if he didn't realize what he was grabbing. It was just something he retained from life before the apocalypse. This time around he did happen to get some beef jerky, and granola bars. It was a step up from their dinner last night that consisted of candy bars and soda pop.

"Go ahead you eat first." It didn't matter if he hadn't eaten anything for a while. He always gave her the chance to fill her belly first. "I ate earlier." Saiga wasn't very good at lying but he didn't want her to feel guilty. He liked to carry provisions with him when they went scouting for food. Usually they consisted of medical supplies and small amounts of food. They had a house about three days ago, and quite a stock pile of food. But after leaving to go stock up some of the crazy animals had gotten in and taken over. This house looked promising, there was no broken windows that something could climb through. The two might even get a decent nights sleep with a good fire going. "I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we would go out and look for survivors. The rats have been increasing in numbers and I don't know if I can continue fighting them off." It was best to admit this now and let her know the truth before they wound up in a situation he couldn't handle.

" Are you hungry? Thirsty? " he asked, and Zee shook her head. Her stomach was too busy lurching around senselessly to be able to eat. He set out the food, but she didn't touch it.

"I found it today and thought you might like it." Saiga set down a pretty little mahogany music box. Zee soon forgot her fears, if only for a moment, as she picked up the chest carefully to examine it. She opened the lid gingerly, and nearly dropped the box as a little melody rang out, a dancing ballerina was revealed as she opened the lid more.

Dum, da dee dumm dum, dum dee dum da, Dum, da dee dumm dum, dum dee dum da...
The lullaby was soothing, and it calmed her nerves. Zee watched almost mesmerized as the ballerina turned in tiny circles, over and over. Like there was nothing to be afraid of.

Zee slowly examined the rest of the box, a strange sense of de ja vu engulfing her, dark eyebrows knitting together as she scrutinized the chest. Whatever was so familiar about the box had nothing to do with its figure. Ze had never seen that before.

Slowly, she realized it was the music that the little pink ballerina danced along to. It sounded a lot like a lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was little and had nightmares. It was so similar... Biting her lip, Zee closed the lid of the mahogany box, and the music came to an abrupt halt. She laid the little chest on her lap, and left it there, staring into the hypnotic fire, because Saiga had lit it while she sat and examined the box.

As the rats began to close in on Jedd, Kikuno started to dig her claws deeper into his shoulder. "That's not really helping, Kiku," he muttered, sweat dripping down his brow. So this was it, this was how he was going to die, murdered by a pack of mutant rats. His title, his success, his reasonable wealth - none of it mattered anymore. He was going to become rat feed.

"Kiku, you better get out of here and run and fast as you can, okay? I know you can outrun and out-jump these freaks," Randall said, gripping his bat even tighter. "Just, just d-don't forget about me, o-okay?" he said with a sob. But Kikuno didn't move; in fact, her steely grip seemed to tighten even more.

"Well, have it your way, Kiku. But-"

SCREECH! And then a barrage of gunfire. Jedd reflexively ducked and Kikuno hissed threateningly, but they weren't the target of the bullets. The rats, now infuriated with the new comer, turned to him and began to hiss loudly in unison as they swarmed towards his vehicle.

"Hey dumbass, get in the jeep!"

"Excuse me, I'll have you know that I'm not a dumba- AHH!" Jedd screamed as a rat launched itself over his head towards the stranger, only to be impaled by a flurry of bullets and fall to the ground in a squirming heap. "Okay, I'm coming," Jedd said quickly, Kikuno mewing in elated agreement.

After jumping into the backseat, he turned around just in time to smash the skull of a rat that had been trying to climb aboard from the rear bumper. "Okay, now would be a good time to get us out of here!" Jedd shouted, motioning for Kikuno to take cover on the floor. "I'm Jedd, by the way, and nice timing!"

A piercing, scraping sound of metal sliding over metal suddenly came from down a nearby alley way, followed by an increasingly loud pitter-patter of feet. Not more than 10 seconds later, a huge swarm of mutated rats, all with their heads open and hissing up a storm, burst from the alley, tearing towards the Jeep with tentacles undulating rapidly as they prepared to attack.

As soon as Cyrus was certain the man was in the car, he made quick on his escape. With a dexterity that was unusual for him, he jumped in the car and closed the door in one quick motion, kicking a rat away in the process. Immediately, his foot was on the gas, and the sound of rubber peeling off on the street filled the air as the car sped off into the distance. The rats were left behind in the dust, and off in the distance, when it was clear they wouldn't catch the jeep, Cyrus watched as they turned, and began to consume the bodies of their brethren.

Those are some sick bastards...

Cyrus drove for a while without speaking, letting the combat high lessen before he tried speaking. When he did speak it was in a calm, collected voice. He kept his eyes fixed on the road all the while, constantly scanning for another crowd of rats to engage.

"My name is Cyrus Gray. Good to see somebody else alive in this hellhole. Jedd, was it? What the hell were you thinking?"

Cyrus's face twisted a little in a grim frown, clearly showing his disapproval.

"You were using a bat to fight them? That was just a dumb thing to do."

For the first time, Cyrus shot a disapproving, yet concerned glance over at Jedd. Still in a bit of a rush, he had yet to notice the cat in the car as well. He stayed focused on Jedd. He was glad to have saved someone, and his harsh tone was simply out of habit. His body finally relaxing a little, Cyrus let out a deep sigh.

"It doesn't matter... are you hurt?"

I wake up, in my ap[artment. I dress, and see the mahem ouside.
"Crap.." I say. I grab my pistol and a bunch of kitchen knives. I see a rat thing in my hall. I plant a knife into it's forehead.

"Shit." I mutter

In a place like this the light in her eyes brightened the room. If he could have bottled that light they would never need batteries for a flashlight ever again. He played with an empty flashlight a few times until he could harness the sparks to light the book. At first he didn't think it was going to work but let out a long deep sigh of relief when a fire started. Lucky for them there was still mildly nice longs sitting in the fireplace. The fire had been put out when the people had left, not giving the fire enough time to eat the wood.

The music box was a good choice. "And I know you need something to carry it in so..." Next he produced a funny looking stuffed bear backpack. "I know your probably too old for something like this." Saiga had hit the jackpot today. He was hoping that tomorrow would also be prosperous.

Now that he was thinking about it he realized how easily he adapted to this universe. Here he didn't have to listen to the roar of a paper shredder, the sound of yelling. It was only Zee and him in this little world trying to survive. How idiotic, to actually like being in this situation. Saiga couldn't help it. This was the vacation he would have never taken if he had stayed with J&Q.

Eventually he lay back on the top of his backpack. There was a strange little smile on his face, quirky yet serious. The fire shed a mysterious glow over the room, painting shadows on the ceiling of which he could almost see a story. For the first few days they had a nice plush carpet to sleep on (they could probably go up to the beds but for some reason he had a bad feeling about the upstairs).

"Even under the circumstances. I am glad I met you Zee." He couldn't quite understand it himself, why he felt so attached to some girl. Maybe it was because he didn't have any known family of his own. Definitely no parents, no siblings, not even any quality friends. Having a little sister was wonderful. Though he might not be the richest guy when all was said and done, he was really going to give Zee the life she always wanted.

Outside he could hear the screeching of a car and immediately crawled over to a window to pull the blinds. The last thing they needed was bandits. He looked outside but couldn't see the vehicle. However if they approached and it was the military he was going to take Zee and run. Now if these people were bandits, they were going to have one hell of a fight on their hands. Hopefully the smoke couldn't be seen and they wouldn't see the fire and come running. This place was for Zee and he meant to keep it that way as long as possible.

Breathing heavily, Akito stood over 2 dead rats with a bloody baseball bat in hand. Moments before, he had been skating at the rats ambushed him. He out maneuvered them, and quickly gained the upper hand, and quickly putting an abrupt ending to their lives. He now stood there, adrenaline pumping all throughout his body. Akito felt alive, bloodthirsty, happy. His tired face, quickly turned into a sinister smile, as he let out a war cry in victory. He let out a few more deep breathes, and his face turned to a scared face. Agito had regained control and was in disgust over the sight.

Agito skated down the street never looking back, and eyes filling with tears. "Why, why did this had to happen?" he asked himself, images of his dead friends and families playing through his head. A rat jumped from behind a van and hissed at him. Agito jumped up and grind on the edge of the van, and jumped over the rat. He then continued down the sidewalk slowly losing the the rat. When it was out of sight, he slowed down and skated casually taking in all the sights. The carnage the littered the streets became routine to him.

He arrived at a store that he had been steadily looting for the past few days, and went around back. The ally to teh back had 2 dead bodies in it, filling it with a foul odor. "Death stinks..." he said to himself. He approached teh door and saw it was cracked slightly. He cracked it a little with the bat and peered inside. Not a sound was heard throughout the store. He proceeded inside and went straight for the cans, getting some sweet beans. He skated out, just as quickly as he came in and exited the ally.

Agito was going to head straight home, but he heard gunshots and the sound of screeching tires somewhere in the distance. "Survivors?" he said to himself, deciding whether to investigate or go back home. Curiosity got the best of him and he placed the beans in his hoodie pocket, and skated down the road towards the sounds. Agito always said he wouldn't go into town because thats where most of the rats came from. But if their were survivors, then maybe he could get out of this hellhole.

"My name is Cyrus Gray. Good to see somebody else alive in this hellhole. Jedd, was it? What the hell were you thinking? You were using a bat to fight them? That was just a dumb thing to do."

Jedd rolled his eyes as he turned to his rescuer, a sarcastic grin on his face, “Well, what would you rather me have done? Fight them off with my bare hands? I don’t think so, buddy. That’s a strange name, isn’t it? Cyrus… isn’t that the name of a constellation or something?”

Kikuno, busy sniffing around the Jeep’s floor for anything remotely interesting, meowed loudly for some attention from her master. “Oh, I hope you’re not allergic to cats,” Jedd said quickly to Cyrus, allowing Kiku to mount his shoulder. She looked curiously at the new face for a few moments, and, deciding that he wasn’t a threat, held up her paw briefly as in greeting.

“She says ‘hello’, if you couldn’t tell,” Jedd said, cringing a bit as she clawed her way behind his neck to his other shoulder – it was harder for her to walk properly in the fast moving vehicle.

"It doesn't matter... are you hurt?"

“Nah, I’m fine. Much thanks to you, actually. I would’ve been dead meat if you hadn’t come along. So uh, where are we going anyway?” Jedd asked, surveying the surrounding area as it sped by around them.

“And do you know someplace we can find some food? I’m starving and I think Kiku’s pretty hungry, too. Hey what street are we on, 56th? How about we go to Trump Tower on the corner of 5th, and rob all the rich people of their luxury food, eh?” It was an ironic statement, as Jedd considered himself a “rich person”, but he wasn’t sure that this Cyrus guy would be able to tolerate that aspect of him at the moment.

“Man can you believe all this? What in the wor- HEY, watch out for that guy on the roller blades, you moron!” Jedd shouted at Cyrus as he spotted someone heading on a collision course with them.

(OOC: Yup, that's your character, Death.)

Cyrus was paying attention to the road carefully. However, he was a bit surprised by a mewing sound coming from the back seat.

"Cats, huh? That's fine. I guess he counts as a survivor. Hell, anything other than those rats is a welcome change. We're headed back to my house. I've boarded it up nice enough. It's pretty safe there, and I have a some fresh food."

Speaking with the man distracted him. Not for very long, but it did. The recently rescued captive seemed to be alright; at least, he wasn't too hurt to notice the kid in middle of the street.

"Wha- CHRIST!"

Cyrus swerved and hit the brakes, missing the kid easily, but still having the rush associated with the experience of nearly killing someone. He hadn't expected to find a second survivor. He hadn't even expected to find the first one. Was the corporal having a good day or a bad day? He still couldn't decide...

"A week looking for other survivors... and today you all start crawling outta the woodwork..."

Cyrus opened the door, approaching the kid. He noticed a rat coming out of a nearby building, and he immediately pulled out his pistol, blasted it between the eyes, BANG, then pocketed it again in the holster on his hip. He knelt down beside the teenager, and began to make sure nothing was injured. His calm composure once again regained, he spoke evenly and tactfully, making sure his words carried enough weight in them to convince this kid of his intentions.

"You alright, kid? Come on, get in the car. We can talk on the road."

As glad as Cyrus was to have found a second survivor, he didn't like the idea of standing around on the road. Sure, he had only shot the one rat, but there were sure to be others nearby. It wouldn't be long before the smell of blood attracted them, and Cyrus hoped to be long gone before then...

((Yup, this is my character, me.))

Daron burst through the bar's door. The Brown Dog Pub had seen better days, and this was even BEFORE New York went to hell. The floor was filthy, but only near the door. The grimy windows let in little light, but there was a good supply of candles in the back. Turning on the gas cooker, he cooked himself some eggs. Just has he sat down to eat, he heard yelling and tires squealing outside. Creaking the door open slowly, he put his hand on his pistol. Three people were outside, and, thank God, they were human. Stepping out, he called over to them, "Hey, survivors! Thought I was pretty much the only one left!" Daron vaguely recognized the Jeep, he had seen it rushing by a couple times.

"And I know you need something to carry it in so..." Next he produced a funny looking stuffed bear backpack. "I know your probably too old for something like this."

It was indeed very babyish, and Zee found herself selfishly wishing that he hadn't bothered with it. Come on, a teddy bear? Backpack? But she didn't want to hurt his feelings, and so she picked it up and examined it further. It was relatively clean, but the right amount of filth would wipe the teddy bear's sickening grin right off its ugly face. But, boy were those ears annoying.

She grimaced indescernably as she slipped the beautiful trunk into the backpack, feeling like a three-year-old who wanted to cart around a new toy.

Then Saiga turned away for a while, no doubt lost in his own thoughts. Zee sighed minutely. He was probably thinking about how easy life could be without a stupid little girl who couldn't even fend for herself to cart around. Very easy. Provisions would last him twice as long, and eh wouldn't need to worry about her..... It was thoughts like these that Zee kept coming back to, thoughts that gave Zee every reason not to trust him and feel like a burden, an extra weight. And, boy did she feel like a dead weight right now. The trust part, not so much. Zee felt comforted to know that she trusted him with her life, even though they had known eachother all of a week. Was that why he was the only person she could talk to?

"Even under the circumstances. I am glad I met you Zee." These words surprised her, and yet they erased any doubt or thoughts of abandonment from her mind.

" Me... too... " She spoke around the lump in her throat, making the words sound a bit slurred, and giving off the impression of retardation.

But then he turned away and ran to the window, and Zee quickly followed. Bandits? Military? Who cared? They were humans!! In a moving vehicle!! Caring little for her own safety anymore, Zee scooted around Saiga and lept out the window, running towards the jeep with quick feet.

Jedd’s heart had literally stopped beating when his newfound comrade suddenly swerved and slammed on the brakes. Kikuno, obviously irritated and disheveled, was now hissing angrily at Cyrus, no longer completely convinced that he was indeed concerned about her well being. “Cyrus, that was pretty awesome, but I nearly pissed my pants, buddy.”

He looked around at the incapacitated rat creature for a moment, twitching grotesquely about on the pavement in a pool of its own blood. Cyrus was talking to the new comer, the almost-vehicular-homicide victim, but Jedd wasn’t paying much attention – he was just looking forward to this “food” that was supposedly waiting for him at Cyrus’ place. His stomach was grumbling loudly, a little too loudly in fact. No, my stomach doesn’t make that much noise, does it? It couldn’t be my stomach, but then…

“Uh, Cyrus, something’s not right here-“

Jedd was interrupted by the sight of a young girl running towards them along the empty street. Oh, that must have been the noise I heard. No, wait, the ground is actually shaking! Jedd thought to himself, his heart now beating in his throat. Another survivor had emerged from a dilapidated pub nearby, but Jedd hadn’t noticed – his eyes were fixed on the running girl, and on the ground beneath her.

“Cyrus, the ground is shaking!”

At that moment, the pavement burst violently just behind the girl and sent her tumbling to the ground, pieces of broken concrete and asphalt falling in a rocky shower around her. A giant, wormlike creature was protruding from the gigantic hole that it had created, and sickly yellow slime dripped off of its segmented body.

“E-earthworm…” Jedd managed to mumble, his body frozen in utter terror.

Indeed, the monster looked like a titanic earthworm, its “head” hardly discernable from the rest of its body. It undulated violently, striking a nearby corner of a building and sending giant pieces of concrete and broken glass crashing down, narrowly missing the young girl. “Cyrus, you gotta help her!” Jedd shouted, picking up his baseball bat that had been lying in the seat next to him.

The creature seemed to be growing in length as more of its body rose from the ground, now standing almost half as tall as a nearby skyscraper. It was now “looking” (as much as an eyeless creature could “look”) down at the girl, almost as if it was readying itself to strike. What it did next set it far apart from your everyday earthworm – a gaping mouth full of shark-like teeth opened up at the apex of its body, and a foul smell of stale blood and rotting flesh emanated strongly from it.

“Hey, l-leave her alone, stupid!” Jedd shouted, plucking a baseball from his bag and tossing it into the air. “Take that!”

With a giant swing, the projectile soared through the air with a whistle and connected squarely with the worm’s “forehead”. Its entire body recoiled from the impact, causing the ground to shake violently and overturn a few nearby cars. Clearly agitated, it let loose a piercing screech that shattered nearby windows into a fine dust that covered the ground below in shiny glass particles. Taking only a second to locate its attacker, it lunged straight for the Jeep…