The Main Hall

The hall contains many ornate and prestigious furniture and light fixtures around the area. On either side of the set of the stairs, there are two music boxes that play the melody of the Clock Tower...

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[from here]

Reiko bursts through the doorway, entering the rather opulent and ornate main foyer of the building. A pair of windows and a set of double doors to her immediate left looked out into some sort of grand courtyard, while she faced a door at the other side of the large hall with a sign that read: "BALL ROOM"

She let the jokes in her head about that fall on dead ears, and turned to look for something to block the door. A set of stairs leading up to the second floor was to her right and there were some odds and ends about; odd shelves and foot stools. Is this place a museum or a private home?! She asked herself, but tried to shrug off the oddity and instead proactively searched for something to block the door. She sure a little extinguishing spray wasn't going to be enough to kill that....thing, that mass of tendrils chasing after her! She pushed a large bookshelf over the door, to delay the creature, while thinking to herself that she needed more than a fire extinguisher and a baseball bat. A fucking bazooka would be nice, maybe a tank... flamethrower, something!

For now, she had to work on hiding and running. She didn't think there was anything left in the extinguisher given how light it felt, but it made a nifty lock breaker and makeshift weapon. She couldn't hear any more gunshots, which troubled her. What the hell is it anyway? An Alien? Some sort of lab experiment gone wrong? First zombies, then this? Was it causing the zombies? Shit, Rei-Gwen, you gotta stop thinking about this right now, there isn't time! You pissed it off, now you gotta get the hell out of here!

In the room she had just left she would hear an almighty crash as Queenie broke through the door that her retriever had simply melted under. Queen Mod1.01 possessed a physical body under her nanites, a combat chassis, although her actual weapons systems were not active at this point. She was still immensely strong and incredibly tough.

Her scanners located the retriever, in pieces on the floor. She stopped and watched for a moment as the black chunks rapidly defrosted and melted, reforming into a puddle that would soon become the scout unit again.

She smashed open the door the maid had gone through and for the first time caught sight of her prey.

Target Acquired!

Queenie wrote:In the room she had just left she would hear an almighty crash as Queenie broke through the door that her retriever had simply melted under. Queen Mod1.01 possessed a physical body under her nanites, a combat chassis, although her actual weapons systems were not active at this point. She was still immensely strong and incredibly tough.

Her scanners located the retriever, in pieces on the floor. She stopped and watched for a moment as the black chunks rapidly defrosted and melted, reforming into a puddle that would soon become the scout unit again.

She smashed open the door the maid had gone through and for the first time caught sight of her prey.

Target Acquired!

Reiko turned to the sound, her makeshift club raised at the new threat. Shit... its here... She thought, before flinching, not expecting the door to the library to swing open, sending her makeshift barrier flying! She stepped back, wiping her face... as the dust settled, her blue eyes widened. "No...fucking way..." Her voice wavered, her plush lips agape. Standing not six feet away from her, stood a mirror reflection of herself, down to the finest detail, clothing, and even the makeup!


Reiko's clone stood there, glaring at her with blue eyes, her blue eyes. "How... how is this possible?" She asked out loud, stepping back her eyes darting from her twin to the reformed dog, then back to the maid again. Oh God... what the fuck is going on here?! That thing's me! But its not... its... its like the dog, it replicated my image? She thought, half analyzing the creature, half frozen in fright...

Queenie cocked her head to one side her eyes moving up and down the maid.

Threat assessment:0.0%

Assimilate!

With the decision made Queen Mod1.01 strode purposefully forwards. Her reconnaissance unit was still recovering from the frost damage, the retriever flickered as it tried to stabilize itself. The Queen unit surged towards Reiko, her arms extending as though reaching out to her, almost like a long lost friend seeking an embrace. Her fingers however extended into thick black tendrils seeking to wrap the maid in there deadly embrace!

Queenie wrote:Queenie cocked her head to one side her eyes moving up and down the maid.

Threat assessment:0.0%

Assimilate!

With the decision made Queen Mod1.01 strode purposefully forwards. Her reconnaissance unit was still recovering from the frost damage, the retriever flickered as it tried to stabilize itself. The Queen unit surged towards Reiko, her arms extending as though reaching out to her, almost like a long lost friend seeking an embrace. Her fingers however extended into thick black tendrils seeking to wrap the maid in there deadly embrace!

"Stay away..." She said shakily at first, watching as her mirror image approached without delay. "I said stay away!" She screamed at... herself. She raised the bat, and swung as the second maid's hands reached out, almost similarly to the zombies outside. Her bat smacking the odd black tendrils that shot out of the clone's fingers, realizing that if she got caught up in the being's attacks... it would likely engulf her, much like the others in the clock room!

The first swing of the bat knocked the tendrils away, the second time the bat hit with a wet smack as the Queen unit deliberately softened her nanite body in an attempt to stick to the bat. Once she had a grip on it jerking it towards her, unless Reiko let go she would follow the bat straight into Queenie's arms.

"Ah ah ah" she spoke sounding very much like Reiko, waving one finger in the air like a parent chastising a child "You should never, under any circumstances beat yourself up!" a wide malicious grin expanded across the duplicate maid's face as she advanced towards her prey.

Queenie wrote:The first swing of the bat knocked the tendrils away, the second time the bat hit with a wet smack as the Queen unit deliberately softened her nanite body in an attempt to stick to the bat. Once she had a grip on it jerking it towards her, unless Reiko let go she would follow the bat straight into Queenie's arms.

"Ah ah ah" she spoke sounding very much like Reiko, waving one finger in the air like a parent chastising a child "You should never, under any circumstances beat yourself up!" a wide malicious grin expanded across the duplicate maid's face as she advanced towards her prey.

((OOC: LOL!! That line xD))

The tendrils shot away, but the second time she grabbed hold of the bat firmly and began to tug her towards the sadistic Queen! She let go before the tendrils could engulf her, and backed up to avoid the mimic's touch. The way she spoke to her... it was her own voice, making the whole ordeal all the more eerie! Ah shit... what the hell am I going to do?! She thought, backing up, raising her fists in vain:

"What... what are you?! What the living hell are you?!" She screamed at the creature, her eyes lidded with fury, her fists clenched tightly, knowing if she touched her... she was going to meet a similar fate to those poor bastards in the other room! She remembered the dog too, her eyes leaving her mirror image for a split second to keep it in check, she didn't want to get flanked while her attention had been on the mimic! I've seen what the raptors did to that guy in Jurassic Park! No clever girls today!

"What am I?" She cocked her head to one side at the question her face taking on a mockingly thoughtful expression "What are any of us? Really just simple creatures trying to find our ways in a complex universe"

The queen unit moved closer all the while her arm tendrils waving both hypnotic and menacing at the same time.


"I am the future, a step forwards in evolution, a bio-organic symbiont of machine and flesh. I will create harmony through assimilation, I will absorb the bio-sphere and remake it in my image!"


"FREE ME!" TBQ's voice echoed in the queen unit's head. She seemed to almost stagger. Then her face contorted to anger tendrils shooting out at Reiko as she screamed "LEAVE ME ALONE!" at the voice in her head!

Queenie wrote:"What am I?" She cocked her head to one side at the question her face taking on a mockingly thoughtful expression "What are any of us? Really just simple creatures trying to find our ways in a complex universe"

The queen unit moved closer all the while her arm tendrils waving both hypnotic and menacing at the same time.


"I am the future, a step forwards in evolution, a bio-organic symbiont of machine and flesh. I will create harmony through assimilation, I will absorb the bio-sphere and remake it in my image!"


"FREE ME!" TBQ's voice echoed in the queen unit's head. She seemed to almost stagger. Then her face contorted to anger tendrils shooting out at Reiko as she screamed "LEAVE ME ALONE!" at the voice in her head!

Reiko brought her arms up in a defensive manner, scowling at her mirror image. It was so God damn eerie hearing her own voice escaping the copy's mouth... her mouth. She watched the creature make a facsimile of a person lost in thought that was somewhat in the realm of uncanny valley.



She side stepped the creature, as she answered her with words she did not want to hear. "You're not my future... I don't want any of what your selling, lady." She says, dodging the attack and came in with a quick jab.





She felt weird hitting her own face, it didn't feel like a mass of tendrils, it felt like her latex was smacking flesh... yet, it was clearly not either. She smacked again when she seemed to stagger. She kept punching her own face, her own face losing its cool as she kept slamming her fist into the Reiko copy. "Leave me alone!!" She screamed back, unaware of the internal banter the creature had, when the tendrils struck her shoulders and were beginning to coil around them! "NO!" She screamed, punching again and again, reddish fluid like blood leaving her copy's face as she continued to pummel the copy's face! She felt the tugging, and she went from punching to yanking the tendrils off her shoulders before they became too taut! "Let me go!" She hissed, yanking hard on the tendrils coiling around her right shoulder, whilst backing away to put some distance between herself and her doppelganger!

Reiko would find it impossible to pull one of her hands away from the Queen unit's face as effortlessly black tendrils formed out of the symbiont's face wrapping around the girl's arm extending upwards towards her elbow. The unspeakable monstrosity held the maid in her grasp, tendrils seemingly so thin but incredibly strong wrapped around her shoulders. Queenie lifted Reiko clean off the floor without so much as lean back to counterbalance the weight of the girl.
Still standing stock still she wrapped coil's around Reiko's neck, a malicious smile playing over her lips as she began to squeeze. Watching almost mesmerised as the woman struggled in her grip.
"You will be one of us, you will become us!" Queenie mocked
As the struggling maid opened her mouth to gasp a thick black tendril shot down her throat, this was purely and simply evil. The queen unit already had the maid. Her nanites had already begun to process the unfortunate woman. But she had been annoyed, TBQ would not be silent and this human had the audacity to attack her..... Not to mention temporarily disabling her canine unit.

The retriever padded over to it's mistress as Reiko continued her death throes, stopping to sit beside the Queen unit. Queenie looked down at the canine unit as it sat wagging its tail.
"Good dog" she smiled and patted it's head as a maid screamed and died.

Queenie wrote:Reiko would find it impossible to pull one of her hands away from the Queen unit's face as effortlessly black tendrils formed out of the symbiont's face wrapping around the girl's arm extending upwards towards her elbow. The unspeakable monstrosity held the maid in her grasp, tendrils seemingly so thin but incredibly strong wrapped around her shoulders. Queenie lifted Reiko clean off the floor without so much as lean back to counterbalance the weight of the girl.
Still standing stock still she wrapped coil's around Reiko's neck, a malicious smile playing over her lips as she began to squeeze. Watching almost mesmerised as the woman struggled in her grip.
"You will be one of us, you will become us!" Queenie mocked
As the struggling maid opened her mouth to gasp a thick black tendril shot down her throat, this was purely and simply evil. The queen unit already had the maid. Her nanites had already begun to process the unfortunate woman. But she had been annoyed, TBQ would not be silent and this human had the audacity to attack her..... Not to mention temporarily disabling her canine unit.

The retriever padded over to it's mistress as Reiko continued her death throes, stopping to sit beside the Queen unit. Queenie looked down at the canine unit as it sat wagging its tail.
"Good dog" she smiled and patted it's head as a maid screamed and died.

Reiko tries her best to pull away, but in the end it is impossible. "Let go of me, bit-*Urrk*!" She blushed, feeling her neck gripped as she was raised off the marble floor! She felt her weight dangling, her blue eyes staring into her own...



He declaration made her eyes widen, an unable to breathe and out of instinct lets out a scream that is muffled by the thick tendrils which traveled down her throat! "Urk..mmmmrph...urrrf......!" She closed her eyes, feeling the... thing crawling inside her, it was terrible! She couldn't do anything... she was hopeless now, and unable to defend herself against this creature she was going to be lain waste to it's dark agenda.



She kicked and struggled, her mind slowly going black as she tried her best to hold on, even when her body was already giving up the fight... her thoughts on wanting to live, to survive pushing into her brain... then, nothing.

ReikotheGwen wrote:

Queenie wrote:Reiko would find it impossible to pull one of her hands away from the Queen unit's face as effortlessly black tendrils formed out of the symbiont's face wrapping around the girl's arm extending upwards towards her elbow. The unspeakable monstrosity held the maid in her grasp, tendrils seemingly so thin but incredibly strong wrapped around her shoulders. Queenie lifted Reiko clean off the floor without so much as lean back to counterbalance the weight of the girl.
Still standing stock still she wrapped coil's around Reiko's neck, a malicious smile playing over her lips as she began to squeeze. Watching almost mesmerised as the woman struggled in her grip.
"You will be one of us, you will become us!" Queenie mocked
As the struggling maid opened her mouth to gasp a thick black tendril shot down her throat, this was purely and simply evil. The queen unit already had the maid. Her nanites had already begun to process the unfortunate woman. But she had been annoyed, TBQ would not be silent and this human had the audacity to attack her..... Not to mention temporarily disabling her canine unit.

The retriever padded over to it's mistress as Reiko continued her death throes, stopping to sit beside the Queen unit. Queenie looked down at the canine unit as it sat wagging its tail.
"Good dog" she smiled and patted it's head as a maid screamed and died.

Reiko tries her best to pull away, but in the end it is impossible. "Let go of me, bit-*Urrk*!" She blushed, feeling her neck gripped as she was raised off the marble floor! She felt her weight dangling, her blue eyes staring into her own...



Her declaration made her eyes widen, an unable to breathe and out of instinct lets out a scream that is muffled by the thick tendrils which traveled down her throat! "Urk..mmmmrph...urrrf......!" She closed her eyes, feeling the... thing crawling inside her, it was terrible! She couldn't do anything... she was hopeless now, and unable to defend herself against this creature she was going to be lain waste to it's dark agenda.



She kicked and struggled, her mind slowly going black as she tried her best to hold on, even when her body was already giving up the fight... her thoughts on wanting to live, to survive pushing into her brain... then, nothing.

...as if a switch had flipped, her eyes reopened, and she began to struggle again, her gloved hands gripping the large tentacle mass wriggling through her mouth! Not... yet.... can't give up... yet! She thought, her muffled screams returning as she put all she had left into one act of defiance! Her movements became so hastened as she kicked her legs that a mass of the tendrils flew behind her and crashed through one of the windows looking into the garden area with a loud smash! She didn't have much time left, but with this last desperate struggle she hoped she could yet make it out alive!

(OOC: From here)

Carrie Taylor wrote:

(Backlog):

She nodded. "We'd probably be able to see the station from the clocktower..."

Then the sounds of struggle came from every direction. Down in the Clocktower Ball room, then there was gunfire from the hospital and the parkinglot. She looked behind her and in the direction of the hospital, and suppressed her acknowledgement of whom she saw running around with the shotgun. Jack... what the hell are you doing in this area? Coming after me? I'm not a little girl, dammit!

She glanced back to Ed, knowing that Jack would be all right on his own for now she made a quick decision for them both: "Ed, idea. We help who ever is in need in the ball room below first, then, we'll make our way back to the hospital and clear out anyone still alive, maybe grab an ambulance and drive it to the Station if we can still use the roads." She explained.

Carrie then glanced down into the garden area where they saw the UMBRELLA container parachute into... she wondered if she should risk it, but given Edward's state, he may be able to make use of the cache left for the siblings... he wouldn't know what it meant, and its not like they'll be coming to a confrontation later down the road... Things can remain hidden for now...just don't get too attached Carrie. She told herself, mimicking her elder brothers... it was sick, but she understood the risks.

"Now... just need a way to drop down from here..." She says out loud, holding her chin, looking down at the courtyard... leaving herself open.

Edward didn't need to think twice about it, he scooped up Carrie into a bridal style carry using only his left hand to cradle her to his chest even as he jumped over the railing and swung his right hand out, using it togrup the wall, ripping the ancient stonework wall all the way down as rubble and broken pebbles. Eventually he was low enough to the ground where he kicked off the wall and landed in the courtyard, before he quickly put Carrie down safely, before spinning back, as he drew his S&W 629 .44 revolver, but before he fired, his eyes lit up once more, the red light was accentuated this time with small flares of embers along his skin, which audibly hissed at the air. His gun turned from chromed silver, to almost red hot.



Then he fired, and a streak of blazing orange erupted from the heated gun, as the bullet was pushed well into melting point, but strangely the gunpowder remained intact until fired like an ordinary bullet. The sound of the gunshot was more like a cannon rather than a pistol, as the bullet struck the writhing formless mass, the temperature driving the nanites away from the area of effect. Edward fired 3 more times at various parts around Reiko's body, driving the devouring swarm back further.

Carrie let out a pitched scream of surprise as she was carried by the larger man, and dropped down into the courtyard! "Wh-what the hell?! You just-?!" She gasped, before she screamed again as he bound off the wall into the courtyard safely. She was soon on her feet again, the bigger man silently making his way to the clocktower... his veins were turning red with embers...! What is he...? She asked herself, watching his anger fuel the weapon Riley had given him. The .44 grew an angry red as he lowered the weapon upon the streaming mass of black tendrils crawling into the woman's facial orifices.

Carrie let Ed do his thing, as she scurried over to the cache that had descended into the courtyard. She yanked it out of the hedges... and frowned that it held the Club insignia instead. Dammit... well, Ed could probably break this... She thought, before turning to the scene unfolding within. "Incoming!!" She grunted, hefting the heavy case and lobbing it with a strained scream into the ballroom, through the nanite cluster and further displacing the superheated black goo surrounding them!

She rushed in soon after, to yank the woman to safety! "Gotya!"

Reiko felt the last surge of her energy drain away... when the booming, thunderous cannon stirred her. She reopened her hazy blue eyes, the black splots which covered her vision fading gently as she felt extreme heat flying past her body! She watched the tendril creature disperse further when the large crate flew into the beast! She fell, coughing, into the arms of someone, blacking out momentarily in her saviors arms... all the while the tendril creature continued to writhe and shriek!

As the ladies retreated, Edward fired the remaining 3 bullets from his revolver before lowering the weapon. His mind was roaring out 'You were never meant to consume the innocent! You have been corrupted by that sociopathic fool!'

His skin illuminated brighter and hotter as he took in a breath, before eshaling a jet of superheated flame at the black mass of nanites to finish driving it off.



Once the black Queen was forced to retreat, his orange embered eyes turned towards Carrie and their rescuee, before his temperature died down to the point he looked normal, and his gun had cooled.

"..." Edward had no words. He had no idea what to say, given what he had just done. He was inhuman...

"What did they do to me....?" he whispered to himself.

Edgar Holden wrote:As the ladies retreated, Edward fired the remaining 3 bullets from his revolver before lowering the weapon. His mind was roaring out 'You were never meant to consume the innocent! You have been corrupted by that sociopathic fool!'

His skin illuminated brighter and hotter as he took in a breath, before eshaling a jet of superheated flame at the black mass of nanites to finish driving it off.



Once the black Queen was forced to retreat, his orange embered eyes turned towards Carrie and their rescuee, before his temperature died down to the point he looked normal, and his gun had cooled.

"..." Edward had no words. He had no idea what to say, given what he had just done. He was inhuman...

"What did they do to me....?" he whispered to himself.

She held the woman in the fetish outfit tightly, backing away for Ed to do his thing. She watched as he roared like a dragon, spewing flames from his mouth like one as well! She watched with wide terrified eyes as Ed pushed back the inhuman creature, forcing it to slither away in the recesses of the room, backing away and leaving a slimy trail behind in its wake... What the hell are you Ed? Seriously...

"What the hell was that? And... the thing you just melted, why isn't it dead? How'd you do that? I-" she paused, taking a deep breath. "Ed... are you sure you have no memories...? Of anything before waking up in those woods? You just spat fire from your mouth like a dragon! I'd say I'm crazy for seeing that, but here I am still slimy from that frog's stomach, holding a woman in an erotic maid outfit in a city occupied by shambling zombies... so, I don't think it can get any stranger than that."

Carrie Taylor wrote:She held the woman in the fetish outfit tightly, backing away for Ed to do his thing. She watched as he roared like a dragon, spewing flames from his mouth like one as well! She watched with wide terrified eyes as Ed pushed back the inhuman creature, forcing it to slither away in the recesses of the room, backing away and leaving a slimy trail behind in its wake... What the hell are you Ed? Seriously...

"What the hell was that? And... the thing you just melted, why isn't it dead? How'd you do that? I-" she paused, taking a deep breath. "Ed... are you sure you have no memories...? Of anything before waking up in those woods? You just spat fire from your mouth like a dragon! I'd say I'm crazy for seeing that, but here I am still slimy from that frog's stomach, holding a woman in an erotic maid outfit in a city occupied by shambling zombies... so, I don't think it can get any stranger than that."

Edward simply looked at Carrie for a few moments longer, before he lowered his gaze. She could see the confusion and fear in his eyes. "I don't know." he said in a low voice. "I don't know, but someone has done something to me... and I intend to find out why."

He looked over to where the nanite creature had disappeared to. "As for, that thing, I don't believe we've seen the core of it. more likely what we just encountered was an extension, a 'limb' of sorts." his eyes turned upward and started looking around their surroundings. From the place where they had just dropped from, to the possible exit and entry points.

"We need to get her out of here. And quickly. That creature could return at any moment, from any direction. Not to mention whatever else was attracted by the noise we just made coming here." He started looking around for anything he could to create a type of harness. He couldn't carry the both of them with his arms, and get them out while fending off the monsters. "That is, if you still intend to come with me. I know you probably think me a monster now, like them."

Edgar Holden wrote:

Carrie Taylor wrote:She held the woman in the fetish outfit tightly, backing away for Ed to do his thing. She watched as he roared like a dragon, spewing flames from his mouth like one as well! She watched with wide terrified eyes as Ed pushed back the inhuman creature, forcing it to slither away in the recesses of the room, backing away and leaving a slimy trail behind in its wake... What the hell are you Ed? Seriously...

"What the hell was that? And... the thing you just melted, why isn't it dead? How'd you do that? I-" she paused, taking a deep breath. "Ed... are you sure you have no memories...? Of anything before waking up in those woods? You just spat fire from your mouth like a dragon! I'd say I'm crazy for seeing that, but here I am still slimy from that frog's stomach, holding a woman in an erotic maid outfit in a city occupied by shambling zombies... so, I don't think it can get any stranger than that."

Edward simply looked at Carrie for a few moments longer, before he lowered his gaze. She could see the confusion and fear in his eyes. "I don't know." he said in a low voice. "I don't know, but someone has done something to me... and I intend to find out why."

He looked over to where the nanite creature had disappeared to. "As for, that thing, I don't believe we've seen the core of it. more likely what we just encountered was an extension, a 'limb' of sorts." his eyes turned upward and started looking around their surroundings. From the place where they had just dropped from, to the possible exit and entry points.

"We need to get her out of here. And quickly. That creature could return at any moment, from any direction. Not to mention whatever else was attracted by the noise we just made coming here." He started looking around for anything he could to create a type of harness. He couldn't carry the both of them with his arms, and get them out while fending off the monsters. "That is, if you still intend to come with me. I know you probably think me a monster now, like them."

Carrie listened to him. "Sounds like you know that thing... more intimately than I." She replied, before looking at him with a raised brow. "Treating you like a monster would make me a crazy bitch. Though your abilities are a little weird, they are a far cry from that tendril thing." She then glared daggers at him. "If I wasn't holding her, I'd slap you for saying that! No, you're not a monster... trust me, I've seen real monsters and you're not one. Wanna know why? You saved me, and this woman, and that's all I need to know. You're a good person Ed." She explained, with a warm smile.

"But you're right... we should get moving." She says, avoiding the topic of the crate which lay not too far, practically unsinged by his powerful fire.

The woman felt... odd. Like something squirming within her, reactivating nerves and neurons that hadn't been used... she felt air again flowing in her lungs, her heart beat pounding her chest. The woman's eyes flashed open were inky black, before the blackness retreated behind her large blue orbs.



No one seemed to catch that, and the woman coughed and heaved more of the inky black stuff from her throat onto the ground... she watched it slither away towards the crate Carrie threw, and blinked. "What... the hell?" She coughed, her voice hoarse. She felt... oddly fine, despite it all. If not a little more... alive? The world seemed a little more saturated around her, slightly fuzzy too... as she turned to the woman holding her and the tall man with the large magnum. She saw her stage prop, the nail bat... and crawled for it, lifting it up by the grip before quickly standing and holding it out at them! "You're not one of those things? Are you?" She asked frantically. "You're not just a bunch of black goo...too are you? I saw-saw them, take the form of a dog! A human too, s-she ate... everyone!" She coughed, eyes wide with panic! They darted to and back to both people. I have to get out of this city...!

Carrie Taylor wrote:Carrie listened to him. "Sounds like you know that thing... more intimately than I." She replied, before looking at him with a raised brow. "Treating you like a monster would make me a crazy bitch. Though your abilities are a little weird, they are a far cry from that tendril thing." She then glared daggers at him. "If I wasn't holding her, I'd slap you for saying that! No, you're not a monster... trust me, I've seen real monsters and you're not one. Wanna know why? You saved me, and this woman, and that's all I need to know. You're a good person Ed." She explained, with a warm smile.

"But you're right... we should get moving." She says, avoiding the topic of the crate which lay not too far, practically unsinged by his powerful fire.

ReikotheGwen wrote:The woman felt... odd. Like something squirming within her, reactivating nerves and neurons that hadn't been used... she felt air again flowing in her lungs, her heart beat pounding her chest. The woman's eyes flashed open were inky black, before the blackness retreated behind her large blue orbs.



No one seemed to catch that, and the woman coughed and heaved more of the inky black stuff from her throat onto the ground... she watched it slither away towards the crate Carrie threw, and blinked. "What... the hell?" She coughed, her voice hoarse. She felt... oddly fine, despite it all. If not a little more... alive? The world seemed a little more saturated around her, slightly fuzzy too... as she turned to the woman holding her and the tall man with the large magnum. She saw her stage prop, the nail bat... and crawled for it, lifting it up by the grip before quickly standing and holding it out at them! "You're not one of those things? Are you?" She asked frantically. "You're not just a bunch of black goo...too are you? I saw-saw them, take the form of a dog! A human too, s-she ate... everyone!" She coughed, eyes wide with panic! They darted to and back to both people. I have to get out of this city...!

Ed smiled a little bashfully at Carrie, placing the now cooled revolver back into his coat, as Reiko started to wake up, and immediately started to panic. An understandable reaction given the circumstances.

"No, miss. We are not one of those things. I managed to drive them off of you before it consumed you completely. and Ms.Carrie here kept you safe while I drove it off." he resumed looking around. "Unfortunately, similar horrors are happening all over Raccoon City and likely the rest of Arklay county right now. We need to find safe zone to recover, and plan a way to get out of this city."

He looked back at the two women. "It will not be easy, this place is a war zone, in more then one way."

Her attention turned to the ero-maid who now held the nail bat to them! Carrie stood up hands out, looking alarmed. "Hold your horses lady, we don't mean ya any harm!" She explained, holding her hands out and showing she wasn't going to harm them, as Ed explained the situation to them both. She ignored the maid for a moment to agree with Ed's sentiment. "Exactly, more reason for us to find that police radio for that Gunshop bitch and, oh fuck, that zombie cop has it in the-!" She remembered too late as the said officer zombie sprung up on her before she could yank out her handgun! She held the creature at bay by gripping its bleeding neck, her breasts jiggling behind the flimsy sequin dress as her back hit the marble floor! The radio still blaring off a repeating message as the lifeless eyes of the man looked down at her! Its rotten breath wafted over her clacking hard, bloody teeth as it tried to remove her nose!

She continued to push herself into a corner... when the woman was attacked by a zombie! She watched as she fell... and remembered that the zombies didn't seem to notice the dog much...

Within moments of the woman hitting the ground, the maid's leg swung up reflexively against the creature's face!



Boot splattering with blood, she lowers her leg, and then swiftly walks over top the zombie, letting the bat spin in her grip, before stepping down hard on both arms, pinning it to the ground. Wordlessly, she rose the bat over her head and brought it down over and over, grunting as blood splattered her leather, lace, and latex!

Once it wasn't moving... The woman huffed and puffed, reaching down and undoing the radio and handset. She then turned to the pair, a weary look in her eyes:



"Okay... so you're both going to run this mess by me again later, right?" She asked, blood and brain matter dripping down the bat she tightly held. She didn't know if she could fully trust them... after all, mans best friend betrayed her and removed her defenses.

She held her breath and let out a soft sigh. "Reiko..."

She lowered the bat, and placed a hand on her hip, a bead of blood and sweat rolled down the right of her cheek as the blood and matter dripped off her weapon and boot.



"Reiko is the name I'll give for now. Till I can trust anyone in this forsaken city, its the best you'll get from me." She explained, her blue eyes glancing between them, then tossed the radio to the obscenely tall man.

Ed had pulled out his weapon at the Zombie, quickloading another round into it's chambers, but before he could fire, Reiko had stepped in, and wiped the turned Police Officer out - acquiring his 2-way radio in the process.

He finished reloading is weapon, before placing it back in his pocket with a smirk. "Seems you are more skilled than most, Reiko" he complemented, before his eyes resumed their search, and determining taht getting to higher ground was the only real solution, lest they encounter the nanite creature at ground level, he walked over to the long disgarded crates set to the side of the courtyard, hoping to locate something he could use as a makeshift rope or line. He could crawl his own way up the walls if need be, his hands could dig into the stonework, as he demonstrated on the way down, but that would not be a viable option tof Carrie and Reiko, and he certainly was not going to leave them behind.

"Need to find something we can use as a rope. Something you two can use to climb to higher ground. If we can bet back to the balcony, we can use the ladder we used to get back down outside the building." Ed explaine

Carrie blinked as Reiko quickly made short work of the cop. She silently stood back onto her feet, and brushed herself off. "Thanks... 'Reiko'. I agree, we need to move out and I need some real clothes, its getting cold and rainy and my nipples are so hard they can cut glass!" She shivered. Thinking back to that mens store they outfitted Ed at, but she didn't find anything that could fit her there. "But we can worry about that later... since you're doing well with your kit." She says to the woman before thinking. "Wait, how'd you get in?" She asked the woman, her eyes darting back to Ed who was looking through the crates... and as he lifted the one she had thrown, the one with the engraved Club set into it, she felt a little worried but at the same time relieved. Inside it... she would imagine would be one of her brother's items, probably not his blade... but likely one of his other weapons, and part of his gear.