Evacuation.

[shimmermods]

MISSION START

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It's taken a while, but for all intents and purposes, you seem to be back on track; the town you've been sent to investigate isn't far off now. Beyond a crest, just down one of the wooded hills; as you make your way, the strange wildlife watches you. Nothing much. Just one of those deer.

You get the feeling that something always seems to be watching you nowadays. This feeling isn't wrong.

The top of that hillcrest will reveal the town itself, sprawling out below in your line of sight; however, it will soon become obvious that there's something deeply wrong with it. What you're seeing and what you know of the town tell two completely different stories; it's up to you to decide which you believe.

But what your eyes are telling you is that the town is overgrown, the forest reclaiming it for its own – the streets are cracked and broken, grass and shoots of flowers poking up from the roads and the pavement; the ground is thick with fallen leaves, and the buildings seem to have a bright yellow moss growing over them in places. There are residences that seem oddly undisturbed, as though their occupants simply disappeared all at once; given that the town was allegedly evacuated, perhaps that stands to reason.

What doesn't is that this level of growth would take more than a week or two to develop. Maybe you'll find survivors. Maybe you won't. It's worth looking around, either way.

Perhaps it'll be worth your while, in the end.

code by vuvuzela

Comments

[pr159]

[ Okay, let's check this store out, maybe there's some decent shit in here to add to their supplies now that they've already lost a week's worth. He's also curious to see exactly how old this place looks now that he's up close to a building.

Anything standing out as we approach the door? ]

[notjustawriter]

[Gabriel is absolutely checking out the corner store, too, though to be honest he's not exactly expecting to find anything edible.]

[shimmermods]

[The first thing you'll notice about the corner store is that the door is shut. The building itself seems more or less fine and mostly untouched by the creeping wildlife. There are a few windows on this side of the building, but they're higher up and you can't see anything through them at this angle.

It doesn't seem dangerous, at least, and there's no sounds coming from inside either. What now?]

[pr159]

[ See if it's locked, I guess!! If they've got a designated combat pal here in this group they can have the honors, but otherwise Rideaux will just do it, w/e. ]

[shimmermods]

[It's definitely locked from the inside.]

[notjustawriter]

[...Huh.]

Maybe there's a back entrance? Opened window we could use?

[pr159]

The windows are up rather high, so let's check around back first.

[ Save standing on each other's shoulders or whatever for a last resort... so okay, let's head to the back side of the building, assuming it's not blocked off or something! ]

[shimmermods]

[Good idea! Around the back of the building you'll notice that there are definitely more windows here, and at a much more manageable height. They're definitely large enough for people to fit through, but you'll have to break them first.

It's still very dark inside, so you can't see what's going on in there. But hey, at least this is a solution to getting in!]

[pr159]

[ Cool. Any rocks or displaced pavement chunks or abandoned scooters or anything around that we can assault a window with? ]

[shimmermods]

[There are definitely rocks around, and if you search a little further out, you can also find places where the pavement has been disrupted by nature - so take your pick of rocks or pavement chunks! Sadly, there are no abandoned scooters around.]

[notjustawriter]

[Pavement chunks it is.

Smashy smashy!]

[shimmermods]

[Smashy smashy indeed, there goes the window! The glass shatters easily, and between the natural light and your flashlights, you can get a look inside.

The first thing you'll notice is the smell. It reeks of death. Whatever happened in here definitely wasn't pretty, and the light only serves to prove that.

From where you're standing, you can see several bodies. They're in a state of decay, though you'll probably have to get closer to determine more than that. The interior of the corner store isn't looking much better - dried blood splattered onto the walls here and a lot of bullet holes set the scene pretty well. You'll have to go in if you want to learn more, but this sure is a drastic shift in tone, huh.]

[notjustawriter]

[Oh my god, why did he pick the unholy option.]

Jesus Christ!

[pr159]

[ Honestly, with the front door being locked from inside, he's not surprised to see at least one body in here, but this is definitely, uh, more than he expected. ]

Well, isn't that nice.

[ Ugh. He wouldn't mind getting a better look to get a clearer picture of what went down in here though, and he still fully intends to ransack this place, so. ]

Can you follow me with that light when I go in, or should I take it from that exclamation that you'd prefer to stay outside?

[me_underfire]

[hey guys what's goin' on in this threa- OH CHRIST]

...I don't think this is a rescue mission anymore.

[pr159]

Probably a fair assessment.

[notjustawriter]

I'm goin' in with you.

[Despite the profanity, he's entirely determined to do this.]

It's not the first time I've seen something so gruesome.

[pr159]

It probably won't be the last either, if this is how we're starting off.

[ All right, then, carefully going in through the window and checking to make sure there's nothing visibly/audibly moving in here before going in further. ]

[shimmermods]

[Nothing seems to be moving in here, and the only thing you can hear is the faint hum of the refrigerator units.

Once you've entered, you can get a better look at the scene. It seems like quite a few people were holed up in here, judging from the number of bodies. The place isn't crammed full of them, but there's still a fair amount of corpses here.

One of you should probably check out the bodies, and someone else should probably check on the store's supplies. You aren't in any danger, at least.]

[pr159]

[ At least this town was saved from one disaster. ]

[shimmermods]

[Definitely only one; just look at the rest of these threads.]

[notjustawriter]

[Welp, that's both completely expected and rather ominous. Time to turn on his flashlight!]

[shimmermods]

[You might want to help Rideaux break a window first, but that flashlight will definitely be useful soon!]

[notjustawriter]

[Look, he's rappelled around from a second story window before, it's fiiiine.

But yes, time to see if they can find another way in!]

[pr159]

[ His medic kit didn't come with rock-climbing equipment okay!!! ]