Post by Darknezz on Jun 13, 2009 4:46:05 GMT -5
Dale opened the door to the shop. The bell ringing reminded him of the day before, a particularly bright day, when he was stuck in this store, peddling candies and snacks to visitors. He remembered that he had wanted so much to be out in the amusement park, instead of selling this junk to the droves of people. And then he thought how much he would like nothing more than to be doing just that, now.
He searched through the wide assortment of snacks and candies for anything still edible. Most of it was gone or tainted. He found only a few still-sealed bags of snacks, and tucked them into his backpack. He thought he might be safe for a good hour more, so he continued looking through the candy shops, trying to find anything he and the others could eat, if only to give themselves the illusion of actually having eaten.
To his dismay, however, he found next to nothing in his search. One last shop, Dale thought, then I'll head back. He opened the door to the last place he thought might have something, and was tripped by a raised floor he didn't notice. His bat fell across the floor, but he disregarded it and went searching, thinking he'd pick it up on the way out.
His search in this last shop ended fruitlessly. Absolutely nothing from this shop. Dale's turn to find food, and all he had was junk. Better than nothing, though. He moved to pick up his bat, and something struck the back of his head.
He spun around on the floor, reached for the bat that was now just out of reach, and then stared up at his attacker. A ghoul, a foul beast, one of the invaders. Its grotesque, dark brown body looked wrinkled and weak, but he knew just how powerful these things were.
He kicked upward at the thing's chest. It staggered backward slightly, and then lunged full-force at Dale. He could do nothing but tuck his knees toward his chest and fling his arms forward in an attempt to keep the thing from his face. His opponent thrashed and scratched and even rolled Dale to try to get at his delicious brain, but it was all to no avail. Dale fought his hardest, eventually getting the thing to stagger for just a second, but long enough for him to get up.
Dale ran for the bat, picked it up, and swung it as hard as he could, catching the grunt's head. It fell, bleeding blue blood, staining and tainting the floor.
Dale, knowing that it was no longer safe to be out searching, ran for the roller coaster that he and his new friends had barricaded. He ran up the steps, closing and locking each makeshift door on the barricades as he went.
The group greeted him warmly. Joseph was still at work trying to get power back to the roller coaster, so they could get some decent light. Joseph had hardwired a cell phone to their last safety zone, but that only lasted so long, and was easily detected by the invaders; he assured the group that it wouldn't happen again.
When Dale showed what he had gathered, the group was less than ecstatic, but grateful nonetheless. They established the guards for the night, teams of two as usual, and got what rest they could.
Early the next morning, when the sun was shining as bright as it would that day, the group awoke and each person got their duties from the oldest survivor, Geoff.
Dale was set to be the scout. He was to find the outposts and strongholds of the invaders, as well as looking for a new camp should their current one fail, along with gathering any intel he could.
He was surprised to find out that none of the outposts had changed since yesterday; The invaders always changed positions, for some reason. Not today, though. While he found it odd, it wasn't very useful, so he kept it in the back of his mind.
Dale did notice, after going over the maps one last time before bed, that the invaders stayed away from the river that ran through the middle of the park. No matter what, he saw that the outposts were always at least fifty yard away from it.
He figured that it must be something to do with the water. Dale reported his discovery to Geoff as soon as he figured it out. Geoff said that he knew there was an already-barricaded area at the other end of the park, but it would take an entire day to get to with the current outpost layout.
They waited a few days, tracking the movements of the outposts; They continued to move, but now only ever other day. The group reached a point where they could plot an almost straight line to the new safe house. It took them all of an hour to get there with all of their supplies and weapons.
When they arrived at the new safe house, Dale was entirely surprised to find that, not only was it well-barricaded and stocked with food, it also had electricity. It was nearly on top of the river, so they felt safe there.
The fence around the amusement park had been modified to electrocute anyone who touched it, the gates had constant surveillance despite the creatures being nocturnal, and the only way out that the group had seen would be to fight their way out. None of them were very keen on that idea, though, after seeing what the guards could do. Sure, Dale took out one of the grunts, but these guards they had stationed were on a whole different level. They were fast, strong, and knew the human's weak points.
The group was awoken by the alarms raised by the lookouts two nights later. They were being raided by a group of grunts and two of the guards. It was reported that it looked to be a total of fifty.
They had to choose quickly; run, or fight. The group decided that it would be best to fight, what with the water as their advantage. The group dropped into the river. The grunts were halted by the guards. The group thought the water was indeed safe. The guards, to the group's dismay, lowered themselves into the water. The group quickly moved to let themselves up on the opposite side of the river. The nearest bridge was far enough away that the grunts wouldn't be a problem.
The guards, however, followed up onto the other bank. Dale reached for his bat and swung it upward into a guard's chin, and it fell back into the river. It was only momentarily stunned, however, and the other guard was quick to strike. It was stopped, however, by a sudden blow to its back. The group fought the guards, on and on, until finally, it seemed they had won. The grunts were just now coming up on their flank.
Dale, Geoff, and James stayed to fend off the grunts, pushing some of them into the water and just beating the rest. The water apparently dissolved the grunts' flesh, little by little. That was their advantage.
When the fight was over, Dale called Geoff to stay and help him haul a guard's corpse closer to the safe house. They inspected it, finding that the pristine, shiny skin was actually a coat of armor. Stronger than steel, but flexible enough to contort to their bodies. When it was stripped away, they found that they were the same as the grunts and dissolved just as easily in the water. The armor that they wore became useless, floppy rubber when the body dissolved.
Dale saw this as their way to beat these things. Water dissolved them, and the guards were nothing but enhanced, armored grunts. All they had to do now was find a way to strip the guards' armor. Dale and Geoff went to bring the other guard to the safe house.
So, over the next few days, the group stayed in their shelter, testing the metal. Figuring out how they could split it, or tear it, or weaken it.
The only thing they found that would damage it even slightly was a full-force whack from a blunt object, and they would have to land a few hits in the same exact spot to crack it enough to let water into the suit.
Dale awoke one night with a headache. It wasn't his shift yet, but he couldn't sleep, so he decided to check on the rest of the group. Everyone was there and fine, except Geoff. The middle of the night, and Geoff was gone. An alarm sounded, and he rushed to the barricade.
It looked as though the invaders were coming in full force. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of grunts and guards, all headed straight for their stronghold, and Geoff was nowhere.
Everyone was up and ready to leave, but they chanced a last-second run away, with a water trap ready to spring. It would drench the first ranks of the marching horde, and hopefully splatter some of the further ones.
The trap was sprung, and then all ran out, beating their way through the dissolving grunts, straight across the river. There was a bright light and a blaring noise behind them and several grunts flew past the group. They looked back to see what was going on. There was a bus, covered in extra metal and sharp things, that had come crashing through the army. The rest of the horde, confused and blinded by the light, went into disarray, while the group of survivors hurried onto the bus.
Geoff, driving the big hunk of metal, asked whether the group missed him as they each climbed aboard.
They were in reverse, backing through one of the main gates, before the army of raving ghouls had resembled themselves.
Geoff drove the survivors to the next-closest town, hoping that the invaders hadn't spread that far yet. The group warned the people of the town of what had transpired. A flying contraption crashed into the town at the base of the mountain, letting loose fifty of the guards. Their group had escaped to the amusement park, thinking it would be safe for a while; They were wrong. The invaders stormed through the city, setting up outposts where they had apparently been cloning themselves.
The armed forces were alerted, all neighboring towns were evacuated, and then a war broke out. The military's weapons were useless, for a while, until they started to get the bright idea of using helicopters to drop water all over the invaders. Small cracks in the armor of the superior troops allowed water to fall in.
Eventually, the invaders were pushed back to their ship, and then destroyed for good. The ship was inspected, and it was found that the thing originated from a lab on Earth. Experiments that went horribly, horribly wrong. Or right, considering the people responsible for creating these things have been in hiding and have yet to be found.
He searched through the wide assortment of snacks and candies for anything still edible. Most of it was gone or tainted. He found only a few still-sealed bags of snacks, and tucked them into his backpack. He thought he might be safe for a good hour more, so he continued looking through the candy shops, trying to find anything he and the others could eat, if only to give themselves the illusion of actually having eaten.
To his dismay, however, he found next to nothing in his search. One last shop, Dale thought, then I'll head back. He opened the door to the last place he thought might have something, and was tripped by a raised floor he didn't notice. His bat fell across the floor, but he disregarded it and went searching, thinking he'd pick it up on the way out.
His search in this last shop ended fruitlessly. Absolutely nothing from this shop. Dale's turn to find food, and all he had was junk. Better than nothing, though. He moved to pick up his bat, and something struck the back of his head.
He spun around on the floor, reached for the bat that was now just out of reach, and then stared up at his attacker. A ghoul, a foul beast, one of the invaders. Its grotesque, dark brown body looked wrinkled and weak, but he knew just how powerful these things were.
He kicked upward at the thing's chest. It staggered backward slightly, and then lunged full-force at Dale. He could do nothing but tuck his knees toward his chest and fling his arms forward in an attempt to keep the thing from his face. His opponent thrashed and scratched and even rolled Dale to try to get at his delicious brain, but it was all to no avail. Dale fought his hardest, eventually getting the thing to stagger for just a second, but long enough for him to get up.
Dale ran for the bat, picked it up, and swung it as hard as he could, catching the grunt's head. It fell, bleeding blue blood, staining and tainting the floor.
Dale, knowing that it was no longer safe to be out searching, ran for the roller coaster that he and his new friends had barricaded. He ran up the steps, closing and locking each makeshift door on the barricades as he went.
The group greeted him warmly. Joseph was still at work trying to get power back to the roller coaster, so they could get some decent light. Joseph had hardwired a cell phone to their last safety zone, but that only lasted so long, and was easily detected by the invaders; he assured the group that it wouldn't happen again.
When Dale showed what he had gathered, the group was less than ecstatic, but grateful nonetheless. They established the guards for the night, teams of two as usual, and got what rest they could.
Early the next morning, when the sun was shining as bright as it would that day, the group awoke and each person got their duties from the oldest survivor, Geoff.
Dale was set to be the scout. He was to find the outposts and strongholds of the invaders, as well as looking for a new camp should their current one fail, along with gathering any intel he could.
He was surprised to find out that none of the outposts had changed since yesterday; The invaders always changed positions, for some reason. Not today, though. While he found it odd, it wasn't very useful, so he kept it in the back of his mind.
Dale did notice, after going over the maps one last time before bed, that the invaders stayed away from the river that ran through the middle of the park. No matter what, he saw that the outposts were always at least fifty yard away from it.
He figured that it must be something to do with the water. Dale reported his discovery to Geoff as soon as he figured it out. Geoff said that he knew there was an already-barricaded area at the other end of the park, but it would take an entire day to get to with the current outpost layout.
They waited a few days, tracking the movements of the outposts; They continued to move, but now only ever other day. The group reached a point where they could plot an almost straight line to the new safe house. It took them all of an hour to get there with all of their supplies and weapons.
When they arrived at the new safe house, Dale was entirely surprised to find that, not only was it well-barricaded and stocked with food, it also had electricity. It was nearly on top of the river, so they felt safe there.
The fence around the amusement park had been modified to electrocute anyone who touched it, the gates had constant surveillance despite the creatures being nocturnal, and the only way out that the group had seen would be to fight their way out. None of them were very keen on that idea, though, after seeing what the guards could do. Sure, Dale took out one of the grunts, but these guards they had stationed were on a whole different level. They were fast, strong, and knew the human's weak points.
The group was awoken by the alarms raised by the lookouts two nights later. They were being raided by a group of grunts and two of the guards. It was reported that it looked to be a total of fifty.
They had to choose quickly; run, or fight. The group decided that it would be best to fight, what with the water as their advantage. The group dropped into the river. The grunts were halted by the guards. The group thought the water was indeed safe. The guards, to the group's dismay, lowered themselves into the water. The group quickly moved to let themselves up on the opposite side of the river. The nearest bridge was far enough away that the grunts wouldn't be a problem.
The guards, however, followed up onto the other bank. Dale reached for his bat and swung it upward into a guard's chin, and it fell back into the river. It was only momentarily stunned, however, and the other guard was quick to strike. It was stopped, however, by a sudden blow to its back. The group fought the guards, on and on, until finally, it seemed they had won. The grunts were just now coming up on their flank.
Dale, Geoff, and James stayed to fend off the grunts, pushing some of them into the water and just beating the rest. The water apparently dissolved the grunts' flesh, little by little. That was their advantage.
When the fight was over, Dale called Geoff to stay and help him haul a guard's corpse closer to the safe house. They inspected it, finding that the pristine, shiny skin was actually a coat of armor. Stronger than steel, but flexible enough to contort to their bodies. When it was stripped away, they found that they were the same as the grunts and dissolved just as easily in the water. The armor that they wore became useless, floppy rubber when the body dissolved.
Dale saw this as their way to beat these things. Water dissolved them, and the guards were nothing but enhanced, armored grunts. All they had to do now was find a way to strip the guards' armor. Dale and Geoff went to bring the other guard to the safe house.
So, over the next few days, the group stayed in their shelter, testing the metal. Figuring out how they could split it, or tear it, or weaken it.
The only thing they found that would damage it even slightly was a full-force whack from a blunt object, and they would have to land a few hits in the same exact spot to crack it enough to let water into the suit.
Dale awoke one night with a headache. It wasn't his shift yet, but he couldn't sleep, so he decided to check on the rest of the group. Everyone was there and fine, except Geoff. The middle of the night, and Geoff was gone. An alarm sounded, and he rushed to the barricade.
It looked as though the invaders were coming in full force. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of grunts and guards, all headed straight for their stronghold, and Geoff was nowhere.
Everyone was up and ready to leave, but they chanced a last-second run away, with a water trap ready to spring. It would drench the first ranks of the marching horde, and hopefully splatter some of the further ones.
The trap was sprung, and then all ran out, beating their way through the dissolving grunts, straight across the river. There was a bright light and a blaring noise behind them and several grunts flew past the group. They looked back to see what was going on. There was a bus, covered in extra metal and sharp things, that had come crashing through the army. The rest of the horde, confused and blinded by the light, went into disarray, while the group of survivors hurried onto the bus.
Geoff, driving the big hunk of metal, asked whether the group missed him as they each climbed aboard.
They were in reverse, backing through one of the main gates, before the army of raving ghouls had resembled themselves.
Geoff drove the survivors to the next-closest town, hoping that the invaders hadn't spread that far yet. The group warned the people of the town of what had transpired. A flying contraption crashed into the town at the base of the mountain, letting loose fifty of the guards. Their group had escaped to the amusement park, thinking it would be safe for a while; They were wrong. The invaders stormed through the city, setting up outposts where they had apparently been cloning themselves.
The armed forces were alerted, all neighboring towns were evacuated, and then a war broke out. The military's weapons were useless, for a while, until they started to get the bright idea of using helicopters to drop water all over the invaders. Small cracks in the armor of the superior troops allowed water to fall in.
Eventually, the invaders were pushed back to their ship, and then destroyed for good. The ship was inspected, and it was found that the thing originated from a lab on Earth. Experiments that went horribly, horribly wrong. Or right, considering the people responsible for creating these things have been in hiding and have yet to be found.
