theshimmer | Evacuation.

Evacuation.

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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

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[ 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?

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

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

Probably a fair assessment.

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.

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. ]

[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.]

[As much as he really doesn't want to, he is the Schattenjäger, so. Checking out the bodies it is.

Specifically he's going to be looking for any sign of bullet wounds, due to the... everything.]

...You know I'm a doctor, right?

And I hunt down supernatural monsters. What's your point?

That examining dead bodies is generally a doctor's job and not a monster hunter's.

[ but WHATEVER........ ]

No skin off my nose if you want the job, but be careful not to miss any important details.

You can look over the bodies too, you know. There's plenty to go around.

[He says dryly.]

Somethin' supernatural happened to these people, given the state of the town. It's a matter of figuring out if it was before or after death.

[ Yeah, the Shimmer happened???

ROLLS HIS EYES AND GOES TO LOOK AT SOME OTHER BODIES!! ]

[If the Shimmer turned them into moss people before they died, that's important to deduce!!!]

[While you're arguing, you'll both notice that the bodies all have several things in common. The first is that they all are in a state of decay. It definitely looks like it's been longer than a week or two for these corpses.

The second is that all the bodies are covered in red moss. The moss is primarily centered around the chest and stomach, but some of it comes from the neck or head or arms and legs. It varies from body to body.

Getting a good look at exactly what killed these people may be a bit difficult because of the moss problem, but that's probably something you guys should try to do.]

...Christ, that is some creepy lookin' moss.

[He's a little alarmed by how the moss is growing from different places on the bodies, because his first thought immediately goes to some sort of creepy growth coming from wounds.]

I guess they didn't tell us how recently "recent" the Shimmer overtaking this place was.

We probably could have pressed them a little harder for clarification on that.

[ All right, then. Let's just put on some gloves and get one of these knives out of his inventory (this dead guy isn't going to complain about this dull makeshift scalpel!), and make a tentative cut into the chest of one of these bodies near where the majority of the moss is growing. See what's going on with that first before trying to get it out of the way to look at anything else.

He'll pause after the initial incision in case it seems like it's going to release any noxious fumes or anything, but. ]

[Thankfully, you don't have to worry about noxious fumes or anything here! Unfortunately, cutting into the corpse definitely does cause something to come out - it's more red moss.]

[ Is it like, actively growing, or just being freed from its flesh prison... ]

Edited 2020-07-25 19:58 (UTC)

[Freed from its flesh prison! It doesn't seem to be actively growing right now, but it definitely isn't decaying either.]

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pr159 - 2020-07-25 20:14 (UTC) - Expand

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shimmermods - 2020-07-25 20:24 (UTC) - Expand

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pr159 - 2020-07-25 20:38 (UTC) - Expand

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shimmermods - 2020-07-25 20:44 (UTC) - Expand

[Boys, please, you're both pretty. Grace will let them fight over the corpses while she examines the supplies. Maybe there's something useful in here?]

[Grace is the lone sane person in this building. Anyway!

This is your typical corner store - it has some grocery items stored in those large refrigerating units as well as some non-perishable food on the shelves and various snack foods as well. There are some knick-knacks and other similar quaint items up near the counter, and if you ignore all the blood and bullet holes and bodies, this place might have a homey feel.

Unfortunately, it's kind of hard to ignore those. As you're looking around, you'll notice that there's very little rotting food; it seems most of the perishable food was already consumed before whatever happened in here. The non-perishable food is fine, if you'd like to take some of that with you!]

[Grace definitely takes note of the lack of perishables.]

Okay, they were definitely lying when they said this place was recently overrun. It looks like the people here may have been trapped for a while.

[She's going to take some of the non-perishable food with her, though, especially after losing a week's worth of rations.]

Figures, doesn't it?

It's almost like they're setting us up to fail.

We were never going to find anyone alive in here. Why bother making it part of the expedition at all?

Question of the day, isn't it?

I don't understand the point of showin' us this to begin with. There's no way they didn't know.

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