There's something lurking in the shadows outside. It glides through the darkness, as elusive as a train of thought. It is some Daemon, a horror from the darkest regions of the human mind. It doesn't breath; it doesn't sleep; it only hunts, and eats.
And it senses something. The Daemon can sense warm bodies. Recognizing humans, structures, even its own bottomless hunger is no longer within the monster's capability. It only moves through the darkness, a hunter of preternatural capability. It knows that it must move to the location of the food, but cannot even understand the concepts of sustenance and location. So it moves. It stalks. And it waits for another meal, so that it may satiate it's insatiable hunger.
Gardener zipped up the wide pocket on his pack. All told, he had two boxes of rounds, plus the seven already loaded or chambered in the rifle. He wasn't sure why. He hadn't shot one of the Zeds yet. They looked too human. He couldn't bring himself to take their life. Or, what's left of it.
He shook the thought off, and walked back towards where the people were discussing. He heard them talking about where they were going. Fucking potheads. So indecisive. He thought.
"Hey," he called out, stepping up to the congregation, "I don't give a damn where we go in the long term. But letβs think about right now. Somebody give me the keys to the Victor. Dust-Off in 15 Mikes."
He was met by a chorus of confused looks.
"Somebody give me the keys to the truck, we're leaving in fifteen minutes." He said, in a voice a mother would use to explain something to a child. Somebody tossed him the keys, and Gardener was off walking to the back exit. "Thanks." He added, as an afterthought.
It is walking towards the Daemon. The Daemon is pleased at this. The hunt is easier. This creature is unaware. After consuming this, the Daemon will kill the rest. And consume them as well. A warm body, the creature gurgles at the thought, and moves into the shadows to wait in ambush.
"Fuckin' potheads." Gardener said to himself. The door to the back was left wide open. He closed it behind him as he went outside, and walked towards the truck. The lighting was dim. Shadows pooled at the edge of the flickering light above the worker's door. The Marine Veteran flicked the keys distractedly around his finger, caught them, and flicked them again.
But something gave a warning. It wasn't a very strong sensation. A feeling, dulled after a year of dormancy. It told him something was wrong. It told him something was about to happen. The light above the door gave out.
And the beast came from the darkness.
The monster immediately bowled the Marine to the ground. Hideous, mutated fangs covered in tar-like mucus gnashed to tear through his jugular. The Daemon was on top, thrashing and roaring. What features once identified it as a human being had long deformed or rotted off. Slabs of flesh hung limply off of sinewy, corded, muscle. Gardener thrashed back equally as hard, grabbing the creature's shoulders to keep it from swooping down and mauling his face. That was when he met eyes with the Daemon.
Black pits, like pools of molten tar. They had a fire in them, an eternal flame that came only in death. This beast was immortal. The infection had mutated it, made it Nature's perfect hunter. Speed, stealth, strength--a creature designed only for one thing. To kill.
Gardener yelled at the creature. Hot tears of anger rolled off his face as he reached desperately for his sidearm. The holster was at his hip. He grabbed it easily. He jammed the muzzle under the creature's jaw. He put his finger on the trigger.
But he couldn't kill it. He had vowed never to kill again. This mutated, undead creature wasn't human. But it was close enough to count. He was helpless against the beast.
[OOC]
Somebody save meh!
For real you guys, we should start an OOC thread. So we can plan a little bit just what's going on here. Just a thought.
Oh, and sorry for writing a book. I do some (non-RP) writing, so I have a tendency to go a bit overboard. Exciting, though, right?
[OOC Ends]
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