Nightshift 42: Mountain Antiques

[rocksthecourt]

And there went the pleasant atmosphere within a matter of seconds. Klavier hadn't really been paying attention to the time at all. He figured when it was time to go back, the nurses would corral everyone together as usual. Instead Klavier glanced up from his playing in time to see the store not full of patients or citizens or even workers closing

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[clockmongler]

The first thing X noticed was the screaming, closely followed by frantic flailing and someone barreling out the door.

...Huh. He had noticed it was becoming a bit too late to stay here.

At the sound of those undead creatures (and he knew the sound of them and therefore knew better than to mistake them for anything else. Really, as if he didn't have enough of that on Port Royal) rounding the corner and toward their aisle, the Nobody patted the God on the shoulder. "Truly, love? I do not think that is necessary."

Ah well. Luxord grabbed something nice and heavy from the shelf nearest him and proceeded to break open the glass case, then pocketing his prize. Waste not, want not.

[deadlyjuliet]

Well, that just wasn't right. Grell turned when he heard the screaming, and then felt his throat constrict when he saw the reason for it. There were undead creatures in the shop. Undead creatures in the shop. Pressing himself back against the wall, Grell clutched a hand against his chest and stared in pure horror at what he saw. Undead. Walking. In the shop.

"Bloody--" Something crashed and Grell jumped, head whipping around when he realized just what the noise had been. Luxord was being a proper pillager and taking what he wanted. Well, that was fair enough, but now those undead things were looking their way. If he had his scythe, or even his powers, these things wouldn't be a problem. He'd just sweep through them like the god he was and it would be over.

Unfortunately. "You do realize they're staring at us now, don't you?"

[clockmongler]

Hm. That was an awfully nice pair of earrings as well. Too red and feminine for his tastes, of course, but Grell looked as though he were in need of good cheer. Those also went straight into his sleeves.

It was strange how absolutely horrified Grell appeared. Luxord felt perfectly fine, but he was incapable of being frightened. Were the sight of those monsters all that horrid? It could not have been as bad as the smell.

With a sigh, the Gambler calmly took his date by the hand, pulled him closer, then pushed over a nearby shelf to block off a few of those undead... no, they were pirates, this time, though they did bring back nice memories. Undead townfolk, perhaps? Ah well. The point was, X carefully began leading his date though the aisles, occasionally making sure nothing was pursuing them from behind, and eventually managed to return to the entrance. Whatever had been there seemed to have moved outside (or had moved deeper into the store) and, while it was obvious there were greater numbers of those undead outside, they'd need to

[high_prosecutor]

[from here]

So far, so good. Miles let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, then stopped mid-step, another rush of pain and screaming in his head. "We shouldn't stay here too long," he said in a thin voice. "Something's not far behind, if it's not already here."

He sighed, then began looking for anything that might serve as a weapon for the night. I can't believe this is actually happening.

[rectifies]

Of course. They couldn't stay here long. Not with rotting corpses littering the streets, cold bodies clinging despairingly within shop windows. A barricade would only work if they had the proper equipment, as Edgeworth pointed out, but even then...

Ken worked the knob, before throwing a foot at the wooden panel, forcing the door open. The incoming door sent a nearby corpse into the wall, crushing its ribs with a sickening crunch. That, unfortunately, did not rid the group of immediate dangers.

Without hesitation, the child grabbed an umbrella from a tin holster and slammed it--point-first, of course--into the abdomen of another. "I'll keep them at bay!" he called back. "Just take what you can!"

[pleading_ngri]

"Ken-" The name came out of his throat strained, strange, as Phoenix watched the child fight like he shouldn't have been able to and his gut twisted a little more in response. But he followed the instruction, weaving into the store, going to the wall most crowded with junk and tearing through the cluttered pile. Safety in numbers had to be their best bet. But where would everyone run to? The hardware store, probably, for all the weapons available there. It figured, too, that there would be the few who thought they could barricade themselves in the bar, but

[high_prosecutor]

The world seemed to freeze for a moment, the scream from the voice seeming to harmonize with the chilling sounds of the fight going on around him. For a moment, Miles couldn't move, the pain rooting him firmly in place. Things shifted again a moment later, the images of Phoenix and Ken in the thick of the fight burning themselves into his eyes in a way he was sure he would see in dreams again later.

Without thinking, he reached along the wall, grasping the first thing that felt like it might be a mallet of some sort, closing his eyes and swinging it at the nearest creature. He couldn't bring himself to look as the polo mallet smashed into the zombie's skull with a crack that made his stomach turn. Twice more and it stopped moving, and he opened his eyes. He didn't let himself look down at the dead creature.

"You're right," he called back, his own voice panicked. "Where to? I'd say the sheriff's office but I'm sure that's been taken over by now, and the same for the hardware store. Any other thoughts?"

[wearsthehakama]

Something like the smell of rotting meat hit Kaoru's nose with the force of a steam engine and she gagged. What was worse were the creatures. Though the institute had been bad, the sudden swarm of people that had once been whole, hale and good seemed so much worse. It would figure that they would find themselves trapped like rats in a fire.

"Kenshin..." Kaoru's breath puffed before her in the sudden temperature drop. "What... what should we..." She didn't have time to be scared, but her legs shook and felt like jelly, and one of her hands gripped the back of Kenshin's shirt.

[wearsthehakama]

Kaoru didn't resist, and did her best to keep up with Kenshin. Her skirt hampered her legs even more than her kimono would have had normally. And at least, she thought as she skirted around a still-snapping head, I could've split the kimono some.

"Where are we going?" she asked between breaths. Kenshin scared her like this. There was something far too frightening when he started fighting so furiously. Given the usual situation, Kaoru would have begged him to stop.

But this was hardly the usual, even for them.

[roseoverture]

Utena had been heading into Mountain Antiques after heading the sound of guitar playing a little ways down the street. Listening to someone play music had seemed as good a way to end her relatively uneventful, frill-filled day as any. As she entered the shop, however, a sudden sense of wrongness washed through her. Everything around her became dark and dank without warning, and fog rolled swiftly through the street outside. Inside, the already aging furniture and knick-knacks took turns for the worse with wood rotting and cracking, paper yellowing, and the floors creaking loudly

[fencing_captain]

Not long after Utena moved away from the entrance, Juri ran into the door with a wild look back over shoulder as she slammed the door on the fingers of a zombie chasing her. She panted, bent slightly at the waist, and leaned on the door as if she were safe. She was more concerned with catching her breath at first than anything else

[roseoverture]

Utena was surprised to see her upperclassman suddenly, but wasn't complaining. "Not yet. Was just gonna start looking," she answered quickly, leaping back as another zombie approached. They kept getting close to her with their rotting mouths, clearly wanting flesh. She needed to find a longer ranged weapon and fast or she wouldn't be able to keep avoiding those mouths.

"I'll take this side," she told Juri, bashing in another undead head with the base of her statue and making a dash for the right-hand end of the shop. She kept an eye out for anything sword-like, though it was hard to make out anything in the cramped, dark store.

[fencing_captain]

Juri was not one just to take orders, especially from someone else not on the student council. She glared at Utena, but the practicality of the suggestion kept her silent. However, she also wasn't stupid or prideful enough to argue over precedent in a building full of undead. She swung her candlestick in a arc around her, trying to clear the way without looking too closely at what she hit

[windstwilight]

[from here]She could barely get inside with the crowd, but the masses seemed focused on the larger of the two groups--two guys with a little kid. Something sharp twisted in her, and Senna didn't stop to think. Something took over, instincts she had never owned and merely borrowed from the Shinigami that had came before

[sheisthecause]

The antique shop was crowded way beyond the maximum occupancy for fire safety, which--wait, was there a fire extinguisher somewhere? If so, she couldn't find it, not in this mess. She could see Phoenix and the other two with him through the occasional gaps in the crowd, but there were a lot of zombies between her and them. Maybe just knocking them down wasn't going to work, not in here. They were going to have to find a way to get rid of these things

[windstwilight]

And that would be a shit moment. She scrambled back over the counter in a rush, knocking an ever-friendly undead to the side with the hilt. Man, how had they mobbed Meche so suddenly? One minute they were surrounding the other group, and the next... There were so many! How were they going to... beat them all? How were they going to win

[sheisthecause]

Meche cried out in pain as jagged teeth sunk into her ankle and tried to work. She regretted the sound before she even fully processed what had just happened--Senna would be worried. Then she broke through the initial shock of the pain and struggled again to free her leg. She had to be careful; she couldn't afford to lose her balance in here, and she had to keep hitting at the three in front of her