Peiquok Town Hall

[Icelus]

((Everybody starts here. Feel free to interact with one another or NPC's, you just can't get out... yet.))

A modest town hall for a modest-sized town, it has a large, open multi-purpose room with a stage and podium at one end, and several side-rooms used for meetings and storing equipment for kids summer care, as well as a simple kitchen/break room and washrooms. Currently set up with cots and chairs, the smaller rooms are blocked off. Soldiers have blocked the exits and are telling the remaining vacationers and villagers that are being brought in that they are being held for their safety. The military has said that it's investigating the disappearance of the majority of the town's population, but isn't saying much else.

[Pheonix Alugere]

A young woman is moving around the main room with a slight panic evident in her movements.

What's going on? What's going on? Why are we here? Too many people, books! There have to be books around her somewhere. Their nice creamy white pages holding the knowledge of the ages. They always are there, saying the same thing no matter who you are. They don't judge. I just need to find some books. She thinks, moving about. The slight hunch in her shoulders and the way she seems to be trying to shrink herself causing her to seem smaller than she is. She also seems to have a habit of trying to move around without disturbing people. Uncomfortable with actually having to talk to them.

[xivvix]

Melissa stood with her back against the wall, neck craned to look through the window next to her at the street outside the town hall. Soldiers were moving back and forth along the street calling to each other as they maintained some kind of blockade. Against what, though, she had no idea. The town had been strangely quiet during her trip to the town hall.

Trip? More like kidnapping. She had been stopped on the highway leading into Peiquok, a small town she was going to stop in for a bite to eat, an hour or so ago, then forcefully led here without so much as a 'please'. Her 'escorts' had nearly pushed her off her motorcycle as soon as she parked and slammed the door shut behind her.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" she yelled to no one in particular, though certain the soldiers could hear her. "I WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE IN CHARGE!" Melissa knew she wouldn't get a response, but she felt the need to yell anyway. Finally she moved away from the wall and to a chair in the middle of the room, flipping open her cell phone to check for a signal.

No bars. Big fucking surprise. She slammed the device shut and shoved it back into her jacket pocket. She stood up again, took a few steps away from the chair, then turned back to face the people gathered. "Anyone from around here want to clue me in on what the hell's going on?" she asked loudly, addressing everyone.

[wallpaper]

Cara hadn't known what the hell was going on when someone had tapped on the window to the back of her beaten up old Plymouth Sundance, waking her from her sleep early in the morning. Seeing army gear had done nothing to make her feel better; for a moment she had thought that she was back in time, and she was late for the morning's drill, and she was going to get chewed out, as always...

But things came back fast enough.

Now she was in Peiquok's shitty little town hall, corralled here like everyone else... she didn't even think a hundred people were here, but the 'Welcome to Beautiful Peiquok' had read somewhere around one thousand. Aside from the fact that she heard rumors that people had disappeared all around, everywhere, she had no idea.

Cara hugged her guitar case before sliding it under her chair, then sat upon it with her arms folded over the back. She'd tried the guards already. Nobody else here seemed too friendly.

"Pipe down, hot shot," she told the woman shouting a couple dozen feet away from her. "If we knew what was going on, you think we'd be here?"

[xivvix]

"Excuse me?" Melissa asked the woman angrily. "Look maybe being grabbed by soldiers, dragged away, and placed under house arrest is normal for you, but I want some damn answers." She looked over the woman. Ratty hair, dingy clothes, and not particularly big, but acting like it. Trash most likely, Melissa thought, then turned back to the others. "The more we know about what's going on here, the easier this'll be for all of us. If you know something, please share it, because the troops out there sure aren't."

[Janna]

Morgan pulls over one of the unattended chairs and uses it to stretch out her calf muscles. She had been riding out along the town's main street when, like a scene out of a bad movie, two military vehicles had rounded the corner right in front of her. The soldiers had been polite. . . well, as polite as they could be as armed men walking a girl on a bicycle back to a town hall with no real explanation aside from some vague talk about a quarantine.

She turned her deep brown eyes towards the woman who had shouted, and the other two that were now talking to her, "Nobody told me anything. Quarantines are usually for disease, right? But I haven't seen any doctors or paramedics. You think they'd want to check people for symptoms."

She shrugged a little and walked over to the group that was forming. "I'm just here on vacation." The last word dripped with sarcasm and Morgan rolled her eyes a little. "I don't really know anything about this place except what the website said about the bike trails out in the forest."

[wallpaper]

Cara rolled her eyes ceiling-ward, then drummed on the back of the seat for a moment before brushing some stray hair out of her eyes and regarding Melissa. She chewed on the inside of her lip for a minute before replying, "If I knew exactly what was going on, like I said, I wouldn't be here." Lowering her voice, she added, "calm the fuck down, you're not going to get any answers if you look like you're having hysterics."

Cocking an ear to the dark-haired woman, she raised a palm, dipping her head to nod. "No doctors, no medics, nobody else, either. You'd think the town would have more people to transport, but there's nobody here." She gestured to the handful (well, few handfuls) of people who were mulling around. "Why are we getting singled out?"

[xivvix]

Melissa gave an irritated grin and shook her head at Cara's comment about hysterics, choosing to ignore them for now. Instead she continued the attempt at reasoning out the situation. "I was brought in from the highway leading in to town, not away. If it was a quarantine for a disease, I think they would have just turned me away." She bit her lip and paced a bit, then said, "A town with a thousand people in it and they are talking about lots of people disappearing. It doesn't make sense."

[Pheonix Alugere]

Too many people here. Those people over there sound angry. Why can't I find a book anywhere? Maybe they at least know something about what's going on. Or better yet, why the smaller rooms are blocked off. Jen thinks, wandering over and trying to inconspicuously place herself near the group, trying to avoid their attention while doing so.

[Rule 34]

Cat shakes her head at the ongoing discussion and paces around. Fucking hick town in the middle of nowhere. Should've tramped, but then again. . . She bites her lower lip, almost pulling the clip-on ring off. Who knows what kind of creeps would have picked her up.
Those military types just picked her up as soon as she stepped out of the bus. Ushered her in here together with those strangers. . . and that puppy (http://www.big-dog-clothing.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/chocolate-labrador-puppy.jpg). Ever since she set foot in this town the little mutt won't stop following her around with it's adorable floppy ears and cute eyes. Right now it sits at her feet and smiles up at her. It smiles. "Sheesh, what am I gonna do with you? Can't take you into the mosh pit when I get out here, that's for sure", she murmurs as she leans down and scritches its head. "I think I'll call you Killdozer. Show me your fiercest face!"
The puppy responded by starting to wag its tail.
Cat stares at it for a moment before blowing that strand of black hair out of her face and getting back up. "Maybe you're not a Killdozer after all."

[Icelus]

A young woman in military fatigues is walking around the large room, a tray in her hands filled with cups of coffee and hot water with tea bags. She has dark hair and eyes, and olive coloured skin. She appears to be a little jumpy, so when Melissa starts shouting, she starts a little and jostles some of the liquid from the styrofoam cups.

Moving over to the group of women, she pauses by Jen and offers her something to drink. "Please stay calm, ladies," she directs, mostly at Melissa. "We're working on the disappearances as best we can, my superiors told me that it was safest for everyone we could fine to be brought to one place." She looks young, like she might not be over twenty... but she smiles genuinely enough. "Have something hot to drink while we wait this out. When more information comes in, we'll let you know."

[Pheonix Alugere]

Taking the glass hesitantly, Jen starts sipping it until she hears the word 'safer' Safer? From what? And... And there's no books! She squeaks out quietly, before taking a drink to try and hide her face, embarrassed from speaking out and scared of how others will respond to her talking.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva puts a hand to her chin, and leans against the nearest wall to think for a moment.

She thinks to herself, "The town's population... Gone missing? Well, then, the last place I'd like to be is here. But with no car, and the transportation being cut..." then, along with her body, she rests her head on the wall, "I can't shake the feeling that someone, or something, is trying to keep us here..." Shiva's eyes glance over all of the people in the room who aren't in military or staff outfits, then shifted to said higher officials, "These people likely know just about as much as I do... And I doubt the military of all things would tell me anything..."

Taking a deep breath of frustration, Shiva waits patiently. Although, this is not as easy as it sounds, as something in the back of her mind kept nagging her, warning her...

[Janna]

Morgan approaches the woman in fatigues, taking a cup and filling it with hot water in preparation for making tea. She examines the selection with a neutral expression; not expecting to find anything particularly tasty she takes one of the more inoffensive looking teabags.

"Who has disappeared?," she asks, dipping the bag into her cup. "I mean, it must be something pretty big for you guys to quarantine the whole town." She lets the tea rest and adds, "I'm not even a Canadian citizen, you know."

[Rule 34]

Cat accepts the cup of coffee with a little smile. "So you can't tell me when we can leave, huh. Gonna have to kiss those tickets goodbye", she adds under her breath. Just her luck - this once she breaks away from home and does what she wants and she ends up in a mystery thriller waiting to happen. Any second now fucking Scully and Mulder are going to enter the room.
Cat's train of thought is derailed as the puppy jumps up and down in front of her. "What", she asks in an unnerved voice. "You want something to drink? Something to eat? You have to take a leak? Is that it?" She bends her knees to get down to him again. "I can't walk you now. I don't even have a leash."

[wallpaper]

Snagging a cup, blowing and sipping on it, Cara listened intently to the young soldier. She could tell practically from the way the woman held herself that she knew as much as the rest of them. She agreed with Melissa -- none of this made sense -- but she didn't have nearly enough of the pieces to make sense of it.

What had come first, the military or the disappearances? Last night things had been fine. Rainy, shitty weather, and she'd been pretty hungry, but otherwise she'd seen other cars on the road. This morning, she'd been pulled out of her car and nobody else was around. Still, she kept her thoughts to herself as she sipped the burning-hot coffee. She needed an eye-opener in more than one way.

Her eyes drifted across the gathered women instead, and beyond that to the other townsfolk and vacationers brought here. She noticed Cat's puppy, raised both brows, and tucked that away for later, then let her gaze settle on Melissa and Morgan. Of all the women, they were asking the most questions the loudest. It didn't mean that they were going to be the smartest chicks in the room, but it meant that at least they were willing to try to find the answers.

[Icelus]

The woman in fatigues makes a face. "Just about everyone, from what I've seen. People from Peiquok, people visiting, Canadian, American..." She pauses, noting that another, somewhat older officer is casting her a look that needs no explanation. "Excuse me, ladies. I need to get these to the rest of the people here."

She passes Jen as she moves on again, taking a moment to balance the platter on one arm as she pats the extremely nervous girl on the shoulder. "Hang in there," she suggests before moving on.

[Mamono Assault Force]

The tension, as well as the behavior of the officials in the hall, was enough to make Shiva quite angry.

Her anger not being shown in her soft, whisper of a voice, she talks only loud enough so nearly everyone around her can hear her, "Not even given the courtesy of a lie, the truth is hidden from us," she said, both aloud, and in a whisper, "Such a strange event, and people are being kept in, rather than out..." she sighed, lowering her head in momentary defeat, "I fear for our safety."

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci sat in the corner quietly listening in on the conversation with the guards. She realized they probably weren't allowed to tell them what happened to everyone outside. She wondered what was happening in the outside world. Was her parents ok? She couldn't know. As she was driving to her job as a paramedic she was taken here. The only thing she managed to bring was her first aid kit. She sighed knowing that worrying would do nothing. She decided to get up, go to the center of the room, and interact with anyone that actually started talking to her.

[Janna]

Morgan sighs and goes back to drinking her tea, "Well, that's great." She leans up against a wall in the makeshift shelter, looking around at the other people with a little curiousity.

"None of you are a serial killer, right?" she jokes, to nobody in particular. "Just trying to make sure."

[Rule 34]

"Sure, I feed all my victims to this hellhound", Cat replies in a sarcastic tone as she pets the puppy in a vain attempt to calm it down before getting back up. "Okay, listen. If this one isn't going to get out soon the whole hall is going to smell like dog piss. Poor bastard is almost exploding", she adds. "Can't I just head out real quick? Stay in sight and all that jazz?"

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen sits in a nearby chair shaking nervously. They aren't telling us anything because we're going to die aren't they? Demon's of the Western World mentioned some cults disguise themselves as military or police forces to capture sacrifices. Jen says quietly, probably to herself but still audible, remembering one of the books from the town library.

[xivvix]

Melissa waves off the uniformed girl with the drinks. She was too busy trying to piece what little she did know and whatever she could infer about the situation to do anything other than concentrate.

"The military wouldn't be called out for a serial killer," she said, shaking her head dismissively, "not even for a mass murderer." It would have to be something bigger than that. A chemical spill maybe. Or a bomb. No, they would be evacuated from anything like that, not brought in and gathered together. They didn't want people alone... Are they are afraid we'll get into trouble being alone? Or that we'll cause it...

Melissa looked over at the quiet girl that had just spoken up. "We aren't going to die, and getting suspicious of the soldiers without reason isn't going to get us anywhere," she said, a bit too sternly perhaps. But suspicious of the soldiers is what Melissa was becoming herself. She had a sudden feeling of being threatened, but by what, she didn't know. She shook her head again and rubbed her temple, hoping to clear her mind.

[wallpaper]

Cara rolled her shoulders as she listened to the concerned banter going back and forth. She didn't much trust the military to do anything useful, let alone getting their own heads out of their butts... but then again, she didn't have a good that good of an opinion of organized forces these days.

"I saw a base on my way in. Few miles out, wasn't it? Maybe it's experimentation, like outta that 'Mist' movie." She grinned, resting her chin on her knuckles so that she was hunched over the chair now. A stray flock of bangs fell over her eyes, obscuring them partially for the moment. Her free hand brought the cup of coffee she was holding up under her nose, a little like smelling salts.

"Seriously, this sucks, but what are we going to do about it, bust out? Who here can incapacitate a trained soldier, raise your hand." She was joking, of course.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen looks at Melissa when she speaks, flinching away when the woman replies. Why can't they at least hold us in the library with all the books and their soft, gentle pages? She says to herself.

[Janna]

"This is a nice central area," shrugs Morgan. "This way at least they know where we all are. And there's enough space and bathrooms for us instead of trying to cram into a nicer but smaller place." She looks in the direction of her hotel, "I'd guess a hotel are too broken up. They wouldn't want us all in different rooms."

She smiles over at Cara, "Probably wouldn't want to find out if I could or not. They tend to have a lot of guns."

[Diagasvesle]

Xetia, being bored and ignoring the outbursts and general talk around her just watched the officer.

She was sitting in a chair at the lefternmost wall, generally ignoring everyone else since she at the moment, did not see them as necessary.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva stopped talking for a moment to place a hand to her forehead. The warning feeling became more extreme, and yet she still couldn't figure out what it meant...

[Icelus]

Shiva, Kaci
A woman in her late thirties, dressed in a red and white checkered dress with an apron in front passes Kaci, then pauses, turning her attention back to the young medic. Kaci will recognize her as Mrs. Shaffer, or Cally. If Kaci grew up in Peiquok, she would be familiar with the Shaffer twins, Cally's daughters, though neither appear to be present and accounted for this morning.

"Have you seen my girls?" Cally asks Kaci, her worry admirably contained. She leads Kaci toward the wall, near to Shiva. Shiva will recognize Cally as a waitress at the best (and cheapest) corner cafe in Peiquok; having been searching for a job here, she will probably have had several instances of interacting with the woman, if just to order food for herself.

Cat, Cara
Meanwhile, a bald man sits himself between Cat and her puppy, and the blonde with the guitar. He holds out a bundled pile of newspapers to the white-haired teen, nodding to the chocolate lab. Neither woman will recognize him, but he is fairly tall, caucasian though tanned, with a trimmed auburn-coloured beard. Dressed in a well weathered leather jacket and denim jeans, he looks like he spends more time outdoors than in.

"Surprised they let you bring that in here," he admits to Cat, his voice sounding melodious behind the gruff. Maybe he doesn't talk a lot. Glancing to Cara, he asks, "you planning on rushing for freedom?"

Jen, Melissa
As if on cue, a man in the same uniform as the young lady strolls up behind where Jen and Melissa are sitting and standing, respectively. He's also caucasian, with short-cropped brown hair and green eyes. He raises both brows, though he only nods greeting. His posture is relatively relaxed, though he still means business. "Is she alright?" he asks Melissa, nodding to poor Jen who seems to be breaking down. The embroidered label on his fatigues reads 'Dyer'. He holds the rank of Corporal... which doesn't mean a lot, but it may mean something.

Morgan, Xetia
Though nobody approaches either woman, yet, there are other people milling around the room. The dark-haired woman has finished serving coffee and tea and has gone back to the main doors, guarding them with some other men and women in uniform. Xetia can spot one or two other people of high standing, like her, one is texting (or attempting to) on her cellphone, the other is exchanging a few words with an extremely harried looking soldier.

Morgan can see another woman with a grim look listening in on the main gaggle of women, here, she's probably not much older or younger than Morgan is herself. She looks weathered, tough. A young family is speaking anxiously amongst itself -- a man, his wife, and a boy of about four. Morgan is close enough that she can hear the man speaks in accented english; he appears to be telling his wife that all will be well if they simply pray...

[Mamono Assault Force]

Having only heard about the woman, unable to order from the restaurant due to her being redirected here as soon as she arrived, Shiva pays little heed to the waitress. Not out of any foul intent, but out of the strange headache she was getting, as she kept her hand on her forehead, using her fingers and thumb to rub her temples.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen suddenly shakes herself before shuddering and holding her head in her hands. What was that? I wasn't asleep. Oh gods, they're starting whatever they're doing to us. I'm seeing monsters. Why...? Jen thinks, a few images rising from her subconscious.

[Janna]

Morgan takes a deep breath, seeming to snap out of a passing daydream and looks around. Someone watching closely would notice a quick flush of color in her cheeks that fades as she observes the people nearby. She smiles, seeing the family pulling together and decides to leave them alone to their prayers.

She makes eye contact with the other solitary woman and nods, giving her the barest flash of a smile in greeting. "You here on vacation, too?" she tries as an icebreaker.

[Simca]

Celia sighs, she'd been just passing through, the little redhead balling her jacket up in a corner as she lies down and closes her eyes, figuring she might as well sleep, since nobody here seemed to keen on the idea of her leaving...mainly, the soldiers, of course..heh.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci placed her hand on on Cally's shoulder. She tried to be as comforting as possible. She knew she had no idea what it was like to think you lost your children. Deep down she hoped she would never have to experience that pain. The only thing that she thought could be as bad as that was... losing your parents. Kaci started to wonder if she was the one that needed to be comforted now instead of Cally. Still she pressed on and said to Cally

"I'm sorry Cally, I haven't seen much around here, I've been sitting in the corner thinking about this whole thing until just now and you came up to me."

She tried to make it sound like they could still be here even without her knowledge. She was hoping she wouldn't have to see someone breaking down knowing it could send her over the edge as well.

[Rule 34]

"What, the puppy", Cat asks as she spreads out the newspapers and places the labrador on it. "Ain't mine, he just started to follow me around. Must have snuck by the guards or something. There we go", she adds as the puppy looks up at her while the newspapers underneath it show an ever growing wet spot. She nods at the man. "Thanks, I was afraid he'd take that leak on me. I'm Cat, who are you?"

[xivvix]

Melissa did a quick double-take at the soldier who had approached, then breathed out audibly and moved her hands away from her face. "She's just confused, scared. Like most of us," She looked around the room at the various soldiers. They didn't seem to be very scared, but then, they were the ones in control.

She moved closer to the corporal and said quietly to him, "All this secrecy isn't doing much good for the people you've rounded up. Don't you think you should clue us in on what's going on?" She doubted the corporal would give a straight answer. Melissa's sharp eyes took in his face and his stance, checking for shifting eyes, nervous ticks, anything that might give her an idea of his frame of mind.

(ask Dyers about the quarantine and watch to see if he's lying)

[wallpaper]

Cara watched the puppy, averting her eyes as he did his business. Poor guy, she'd be embarrassed too if she had t'do that in public.

Then she snorted at the man, setting her cup down between her legs (hopefully not to the puppy's curiosity!) and sat up straight in her char with her hands clasping the top of chair's back. Her clothes looked about as weathered as his, though they were rattier, much like her hair. "What if I am? I parked 'bout a block from here. Nothing saying I can't jump into the car and take off. It's not like I really wanted to stay in Peiquok, I just happened to be overnighting here." Could be because she'd had better luck with their lax parking enforcement than in some places. Besides, she'd been around here before and they did know how to celebrate a party... "I'm Cara." she added, since Cat had already introduced herself. She grinned sidelong at the white-haired punk, who looked like she preferred music that was screamed or whined, rather than sung the good old fashioned way.

[Icelus]

Shiva and Kaci
((Sorry Raptor Jesus, for some reason I read part of Shiva's bio and thought she'd been in town a couple of days! :rolleyes:))

For now Cally doesn't notice the white-haired woman who seems to be in slight distress against the wall, caught up in Kaci's reply. "Oh, darling, your parents, I'm sorry," she looks like she's holding up admirably well, though she swings an arm around the young medic in training, wanting to share support. Her eyes are red, but she's not crying. "We should pray," she tells Kaci stolidly, mouth set firm to stave back more difficult to control emotions. "And hope that the next people they bring in are Lisa and Hazel," her two girls, "and your parents."

Jen and Melissa
The man, 'Dyer', glances at Jen as she shakes in her chair, then turns his attention to Melissa.

Perception Check
9+2 vs Curtis Dyer 13, Failure

Jen doesn't see anything in the man that might detect if he's lying, though his voice is certainly grim enough. "It's bad," he finally tells her. He doesn't say much else, though she can tell from that and from the tight lines around his eyes and mouth that he means it.

Morgan
The woman shakes her head, allowing her hair to fall a little in her face. "No, born and raised here. I usually live a couple of miles out, down the shoreline. Bad day to pick to come in for a few supplies." She twists her lips in a wry grin. "I'm Rosie. You?"

Cat and Cara
"Griffen," the bald man replies to both women, though he doesn't offer his hand to shake. "Neither of you are from around here, are you?" He is straight-faced, almost somber-looking. "Bet you're both a touch worried. Maybe this guy smelled it on you," he points to the pup. "He got a name?"

After a moment, the man casts Cara a sidelong look. "You're not going to get anywhere if you try that. They brought me in along the northwest exit, these knuckleheads," he jerks a thumb at the soldiers in sight, "are setting up blockades to keep everyone else out. Unless you're driving a tank or know your way through the woods, you're not going to get past them."

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva, still rubbing her head, asks Cally, who hasn't been looking at her, "Excuse me," she begins, talking in her soft, whisper of a voice, "do you have an Advil, or something similar? I suddenly have gotten this strange headache..." she trails off, going back to rubbing her head.

[Diagasvesle]

Xetia looks at the texting women and asks "Why are you even bothering?" As she continues to lean against the wall, giving a curious expression to possibly the only other women in this room next to herself that could deign of any importance.

[xivvix]

Melissa sighs at Dyer's unwillingness to speak. "I could have figured that out myself," she said under her breath. She took a step away from the soldier, being in his presence made her feel worried. For some reason an old song had popped into her head, and stubbornly refused to be forgotten. It was a depressing song, the lyrics she remembered being something about soldiers going away, to their graves. It was so familiar, but she couldn't remember the other verses, even though she could hum the tune if she wanted.

Trying to take her mind off the song, she asked Dyer, "Can you at least give us some idea of how long we'll be here?"

[Rule 34]

As Cat looks at Griffen she suddenly feels a flush of arousal. What the- she barely even knows this guy! She stares at the outstretched hand for a moment before shaking it. "I don't even know if he's a he", she giggles nervously. Sheesh, what is it with her?
After the puppy is done she decides to pick him up and check. "Yeah. . . it's a boy alright", she confirms. "No collar, no nothing. . . Where did you come from, little boy", she murmurs as she scritches his head some more.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Bad? Do you mean the lizard monster is real? I...I thought it was just stress, but they're trying to get into my head. Jen forces out quietly, trembling with tears forming on the edges of her eyes and looking around desperately for something or someone that could provide a measure of comforting safety. In her opinion, a book would be best, but she doubted the soldiers would let her go to the library.

[xivvix]

Turning her attention away from the soldier, Melissa looked at Jen. "Monsters?" she asked incredulously. She gave a slight smile and quick laugh, but suddenly brought her arms up across her chest, involuntarily running her hands up and down her forearms to still the goosebumps that were forming. She looked back at Dyers with a 'this is why you need to talk to us' look, then took a step towards Jen and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, miss, there aren't any monsters. You're safe here." The song she had been trying to forget immediately bubbled up again in Melissa's mind, making her seriously doubt the validity of her own words.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci had never been the type to believe in religion. After seeing people die from the simplest reasons she couldn't really think one existed. Still, she didn't want to upset Cally and seeing she was on the verge of crying made her start to feel worried about her parents. She said to Cally in a comforting tone

"I'm sure they'll be alright. I'll pray with you."

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen looks up at Melissa with tear stained eyes, B-But, I keep having images of a l-lizard man attacking me. Someth-th-thing is out to get us. She says in barely more than a whisper.

[Janna]

"I'm Morgan," she answers, moving over to Rosie. "For me it was just a little vacation. Spending it sealed up in a town hall isn't my idea of a break." She looks the other woman up and down, "So you're a local, huh. It doesn't sound like you'd know a lot more than I would if you're not in town that often but I guess I could ask anyway: Any idea what's going on with the disappearances that they're talking about?"

Morgan crosses her arms over her chest, pursing her lips for a second, "I don't know why but I definitely get the feeling that there's something strange going on around here. Even if I'm not sure what, yet."

[wallpaper]

"Son of a..." Cara looked worried. "Well that's just great. What are they gonna do, line us up for target practice?" She'd meant it as a joke, but damn! Something was wrong here.

The woman perked for a moment, lost to Griffin and Cat's exchange as she listened to something that none of them seemed to be able to hear. Scanning the town hall as a fresh prickling of goosebumps rose up and down her arms, she swallowed to relieve her suddenly dry mouth. That sound... it reminded her vaguely of a coyote's call, but there was so much malevolence to it... and now that she listened harder, she couldn't catch a repeat of the noise. Just the babble of the few people still here. She swallowed again, grabbing her coffee and taking another sip to try to relieve her nerves.

Running a hand through her hair, Cara grimaced at the two of them. She'd wondered if she was crazy in the past, idly, but in light of the strange happenings that were going on now, she wasn't so quick to jump to that conclusion. "Don't suppose any of you heard that?" she asked, playing it cool again now that she had managed to cool down a little!

[Mamono Assault Force]

Before the woman could respond to her, Shiva suddenly felt the headache disappear, with visions of claws piercing her skin left behind. Instead, Shiva felt herself become woozy, as she felt the need to sit next to Kaci and Cally before she lost balance as the two started to pray.

Both hands at the temples, she sat, cross legged on the ground, her dress providing a cushion on the ground as she leaned forward, resting her hands on her face.

Shiva thought to herself, "Something is wrong, very wrong. Am I the only one who feels this way?" she looks around, and despite the eerie feel in the air, nothing obvious strikes Shiva as she scans the room. She returns her head to her palms, "... Perhaps I'm just being paranoid..." she tried to convince herself.

[Icelus]

Shiva and Kaci
"Thank you, dear," Cally seems to note that Kaci doesn't necessarily have her heart in it, but still she steps over to the wall and kneels, about to open into prayer. When the young woman with white hair interrupts, she glances up, eyes long distant for a moment. Then, coming back to herself, she replies, "ah, oh yes. Just ibuprofen," she apologizes, digging around in her apron and coming up with a small bottle. She passes it to Shiva, mentioning to both her and Kaci, "standing on your legs all day is enough to make you curse the day you forget them."

As Shiva collapses against the wall, Cally drops the pill container back in her apron and scrabbles over to the stranger's side, hand coming up to Shiva's shoulder as the woman puts her face in her hands. "Shh, hold on now. Should I find a doctor?" She looks at Kaci expectantly, considering the girl was top of her class. Cally is more convinced that they need to pray, though if Shiva is in pain, that needs to get attended to first!

Xetia
The woman -- she has blonde hair and hazel eyes, her body looks like it was built for fine places in a big city, not Peiquok's small-town dumpiness -- glances up at Xetia briefly. "Why do you think?" Her tone is less hostile than patronizing, obviously wondering why no one else is even trying. "This is important. If there's any chance..."

Melissa and Jen
((Sorry Pheonix, I'd meant the response to be to Melissa xD))

Corporal Dyer's eyes flick to Jen for a moment as he answers Melissa, tight lipped. "Temporarily, ma'am; we're rounding up whomever else we find in town, and you'll all be evacuated once we're through the search. Leave no one behind," he tells her. There are plenty of people here who are going through various stages of grief and denial, missing loved ones or friends who don't seem to be here with them.

Looking at Jen again, Dyer goes tight-lipped. "Excuse me, ladies," he says, moving off at a steady pace towards a knot of military men, one of who looks like she might be a medic of some kind...

Cat and Cara
Taking her hand at last, Griffen seems to notice Cat's blush as their hands touch. Holding that shake for a moment longer than necessary, he withdraws at her nervous giggle and watches as the puppy gives a little yap and does its damnedest to lick Cat's face. "Sometimes people leave their pets on the side of the road when they don't want them anymore," Griffen tells her pragmatically. "Usually it's kittens, though..." Speaking of which, the irony of Cat's and the puppy's predicament isn't lost on him. "The occasional stray is usually on the lurk if people don't keep their pets indoors, so you wind up with this...." He points to the puppy, who sniffs at Griffen's finger before turning his attention back to Cat.

Glancing at Cara and her nervous looking around, Griffen frowns faintly. "No, but what did it sound like?" he asks. "If these idiots were planning on shooting us, they'd probably already have done it. I think there's something worse going on here."

Back to Cat he says, "this guy's a determined little bugger. Should name him something with that at its heart."

Morgan
Rosie grins humorlessly. "Strange? Yeah? No kidding, I could have told you that if I was here fresh from Yemen." She adds, "I might have an idea, but if I told you, you'd think I was crazy. I don't even know if it's the right idea, but looking at how everyone's jumping at ghosts," she nods to Jen, for example, and Cara, "I'm pretty sure it's not just a chemical spill."

[wallpaper]

"Uh..." Cara tried to recall the noise. "It was like... a coyote or a wolf, like a howl sort of. But very faint. Like..." She scratched her head. "Well, I won't try to imitate it, but it was really eerie. Like, not-of-this-world eerie."

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva blushes as Cally rushes to see if she's alright, and blushes more as she holds her shoulders in comfort. Shiva quickly shakes her head, "I-I'm fine..." she claims in a soft tone, "I'm just a little woozy..." Shiva lets her head back, and rests it against the wall. She wasn't sure if she was fine, in fact, she was starting to get paranoid. The fact that they were being kept in a town that people were vanishing in put her on immediate edge, as they weren't even being told what was going on...

Remembering herself, Shiva looks up to Cally, "Thank you,..." she whispers in her soft voice, anyone that was farther away than where Cally was likely could never have heard her.

[Janna]

Morgan looks around the room, following Rosie's nods and blinks. ". . . I don't know," she says, finally. "I might think you were crazy but. . . " She shakes her head a little, "I would definitely believe something was going on here. I don't know what but just a little bit ago I felt some kind of weird sensation." She shrugs, "It was like for a minute I was somewhere else but still here."

She keeps watching Cara and Jen, wondering if that is what happened to them, too, before turning back to Rosie. She laughs, shaking her head again, "But that could just be the stress of not knowing what's happening. I don't know what else it could be."

[xivvix]

Melissa looked back at Dyer as he left, a scowl on her face as he left without even attempting to console the obviously hysterical Jen. She turned back to the girl, moved in front of the chair and knelt down, both hands reaching out to her shoulders. "Just calm down, miss. There's no lizard man here," she said, then reach a hand out to Jen's cheek and guiding her face so the two women would be looking at each other eye to eye. "I promise, you'll be fine."

Melissa leaned back away from Jen, and brought a hand to the girl's cup, lifting it towards her mouth. "Here, drink this." She looked around the room, noticing other women that looked distraught. Turning back to Jen, she asked, "Can I get you something to help you calm down?" Medication, perhaps? "My name's Melissa, what's yours?"

[Pheonix Alugere]

J-Jen. She murmurs, drinking the fluid, I w-worked in the t-t-town library. Books w-were always comf-f-forting, they are always th-there for you. I d-don't think there are any h-here, though. A-are we going to d-d-d-d... What's going to h-happen to us? There are mon-mon-mon... There are things out to get us. She pushes out through fear wrought sobs, panic evident in her voice.

[xivvix]

"Okay, okay, calm down, Jen," Melissa said, her hand gripping the girl's knee. "There's nothing out to get us, we're going to be fine, just calm down." She had to calm this girl down, or her hysteria might start to spread to the other people gathered here. Standing up, Melissa looked around, her gaze settling on the stage, then looked back at Jen and said, "Okay, I'll be right back."

Melissa quickly walked over to the stage and looked around. Finally she saw what she had been looking for, the town hall minutes: a thick hard cover book filled with hand-written notes detailing everything that happened during town hall meetings. Grabbing it, she rushed back over to Jen and knelt in front of her again. "I've got an important job for you, Jen," Melissa said, looking the girl square in the eyes, between her sobs. "I need you to look through this book and see if you can find anything strange that might help us explain what's going on. Can you do that?" She held the book out to the girl. Melissa doubted there would be anything in the book that would help them, but she needed something to keep Jen occupied and calm.

[Diagasvesle]

Xetia blinked and then shrugged and said in a bored tone and as if speaking to a 3 year old "The military is more then likely trying to cover something up here. Do you think they'll let cell phone signals reach out and call people?" She waits a moment before answering her own question "No. They don't want this getting out of hand. But if you insist..." She pulls out her own cellphone, already knowing she was getting zero reception but maybe this time would be different.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Y-yeah, I can do that. Jen replies, taking the book and cradling it to her chest for a few moments. She then pulls a few chairs together, scrunches up into a ball and starts to read through the book. She still trembles slightly, but not as bad as before. Likely she is using the book as a distraction from whatever is going on. However, it is only a few moments later that she is brought out of her distracted reading.

Wh-what's this? There's something on my wrist. she says as quietly as ever, looking at her left wrist. Putting the book down she starts to rub at her wrist growing ever more frantic over time. It won't come off.

[Icelus]

Cara

Griffin listens to Cara's recitation without much change in expression. "Huh." Glancing at her, he looks down to the cup of coffee in her trembling hands and says, slowly, "maybe you should stick with the water." Is that a hint of a grin, or is he completely serious? He turns his attention back on Cat, apparently more interested in the girl and the puppy than in the jittery, ratty looking woman.

Shiva
((Waiting on a post from Kaci before moving on.))

Morgan
"What kind of weird sensation?" Rosie asks, "really vivid, or just kind of..." she waggles her hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "It could just be the vibes bouncing around," she idles, though she doesn't sound like she completely believes that... or even believes it a little bit.

Melissa, Jen
A few minutes after Dyer has left them, a woman with a cross on her uniform's shoulder approaches Jen, kneeling next to the woman's ball of chairs. "Hey, honey, the corporal told me that you're a little worried. What can I do?"

Meanwhile, Melissa can see a few stragglers being brought in from one of the side-doors on occasion, though the numbers are growing less all the time. It looks like the soldiers are running out of people to find, perhaps...

Xetia
The woman who was texting watches Xetia, at first somewhat swayed... but as the student pulls out her cellphone, she seems to lose a little respect. "Here, hun," she speaks back in the exact same patronizing voice, turning Xetia's cellphone on -- after power up, the phone shows that Xetia getting decent, if not spectacular reception. "That ought to fix it. I'm Dianna, by the way. What's your name?"

[Pheonix Alugere]

I... l-lizard monsters are t-t-trying to get int-to my head. Th-they even l-left this ma-ma-mark. I c-can't get it off, and now th-they'll u-u-use it t-to get m-m-me. Jen says quietly in a panicked voice. She then shows the woman a strange mark on the inside of her left wrist.
http://www.ulmf.org/bbs/picture.php?albumid=147&pictureid=1524

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci went over to the white haired girl. She didn't like to see people in pain. She took off her backpack and Looked through it to see if she could find any painkillers for her. As she was looking for something to help the white haired girl she said to her with a concerned voice, "Hey, you seem worst off then your saying. Don't worry about accepting help from me. It's why I'm becoming a doctor. Is there anything else wrong then just a headache?"

(( I have a feeling I will be doing research to be this character... XD ))

[Janna]

"I'm not really sure," Morgan answers, closing her eyes and brining one hand up to rub her temple. "It felt so vivid for a minute but. . ." She looks back at Rosie and smiles weakly, "It's fading. Kinda like a dream after you wake up in the morning, you know?"

She looks down at the styrofoam cup in her hand, half-full of cooling tea, "It's probably nothing. I don't want to bug you with me being crazy, sorry." She takes a drink and sighs, "I probably should have just stayed home but I wasn't going to let the reservations go to waste. And I really did want to see the trails out there in the forest. It's supposed to be good riding; do you ever bike around out here?"

[xivvix]

Melissa takes a step back as the medic approaches Jen, looking at the girl with concern as she goes on about her tattoo. It was obvious that nothing short of a strong sedative would calm her down. Finally, she sighs and shakes her head, moving away from the strange girl.

Running her hands again over her forearms, Melissa steps towards where the solders are herding in a new group of people. She looks them over, but instead steps towards the soldiers. Picking out one that appeared to be more senior to the others, Melissa asks, "Excuse me, we've been here a while now. Is there any new information about what's going on here?"

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva weakly shook her head at Kaci, "I am versed in the medical field as well, and I assure you, I'm fine..." she whispered at the (Black?) haired girl. All of this attention was making Shiva feel flustered, and overwhelmed. She could handle a screaming patient, but these two women around her suddenly rushing to her aid was not a kindness she was used to.

Shiva lowered her head, feeling as if her head was lighter than air, "I just... Need some rest..." she whispered.

In her mind, she complained, "Being held here in this building, I feel as if I'm in a waiting line to the slaughter house. What could have possibly possessed me to want to travel to this horrific place, were people disappear?"

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci sighed at the the white haired girl. She stopped looking through her bag and put it by her side. Some people were very stubborn about accepting help and she knew this very well but she never liked it. Instead of trying to push her she just sat next to the white haired girl. Moving her backpack next to her she said to her in a rather determined voice, "Fine, you don't want help, but I'm gonna sit here just in case something happens."

(Black haired, Icelus' version Raven haired... I'm guessing the list gooooesss onnnn.)

[Rule 34]

"Aghpfft!" After the puppy gets a good lick across her face Cat quickly holds him at arms length with both hands. The puppy keeps on smiling with his tail wagging, exhilerated at all the attention he's getting. "Sure is determined. . . hm, I think my mother told me that she wanted to call me Alan if I would've been a boy. Means little rock. Alternatively you're gonna be called Moxie", she adds with a giggle. Her smile fades away quickly though as she lowers her eyes and murmurs something that sounds like "La Faserhf Cyl". A resolute headshake later though she's back to normal. "Where the hell did that come from?"

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva lowered her head as she sat along the wall, embarrassed by this raven haired girl's determination to help her. She sat in silence next to Kaci, not wanting to argue with her to try and prove that she was okay. She pulled her legs up, wrapped her arms around them, and rested her head on her knees, resting quietly against the wall.

[Icelus]

Jen
Examining the mark, the woman furrows her brow and replies, "honey, that looks like a tattoo. Are you sure it hasn't been here the entire time?" She looks worried. "Look, I've got a sedative if you'd like to lay down. Lizard men aren't going to get you, you're safe in here."

Kaci, Shiva
Cally Shaffer looks across Shiva to Kaci and nods, then settles in beside the white-haired woman. Putting her hands together, they can both hear her begin her prayers:

"Dear loving Father in Heaven," says she, her voice but a whisper, "I pray you to keep my daughters safe, and to watch over your children as you have always done in this, our time of need. In your infinite wisdom, oh Father, I pray you rest easy and allow us to do the same."

She continues on, unless either of the two interrupt her.

Morgan
Rosie's grin grows a little wider. "Are you kidding me? I pretty much live out there. Get away from the cottage-district and it's just about perfect. I'd rather be there right now..." She thinks about that for a few minutes, then leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "Hey, Morgan, if you get that feeling again, let me know, okay?" She sounds a little worried, though she isn't letting on why.

Melissa
Looking between themselves, the most senior of the small knot of military officers shakes his head. "Sorry, ma'am, we're still bringing in stragglers. Once we're sure we've got the town cleared, we'll be able to escort you and the rest of the people gathered here to a safer point."

He adds, "I understand your concern, and I would like to be able to tell you more, but until we have a solid idea of what's happened here, we aren't at leisure to divulge information yet."

Cat
"La what?" Griffin asks. "Moxie works better. The other one sounds French."

[Rule 34]

"No, I was just. . ." Cat shakes her head. "It just came to my mind. Must've read it somewhere", she tries to explain the strange feeling. She pulls the puppy back against her chest and makes motorboat sounds on his side. "Moxie it is then. Are you glad you have a name?" He is apparently, as he licks along the side of her face. Cat grunts and sits Moxie back down onto the ground.

[Janna]

Morgan tilts her head quizzically, "Sure. I mean, if it happens again, I will." She looks around the room, "I'm glad that people seem to have calmed down a little. When we were all rushed in here this morning, I thought there was going to be be problems." She laughs a little, "I guess that's just a big city girl's idea of what small town people are like, though. Everybody local seems to be handling this pretty well, actually..."

She pauses, thinking about that and watching Cat playing with the puppy. "Have there been disappearances around here before? Or a quarantine. I guess... I don't know, I was thinking there might be more panic." She looks down into her empty cup, wondering why she wasn't panicing more.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva politely let the woman continue her prayer. If someone could find peace of mind via any method available, Shiva was not about to rob them of what she didn't have. The only thing comforting her now was the heavy rain against the windows, the white noise washing over her senses, and driving her into a hypnotic trance. For once in this whole situation, she found herself no longer thinking about what doom might await them, and became solely focused on the heavy rain...

[Pheonix Alugere]

I s-see my wr-wrists all the time, beca-ca-cause I read a l-lot. That w-w-wasn't there last n-night. Jen pushes out, her fearful sobs returning as the timid girl becomes overwhelmed by the situation. I-if I fall to sl-sl-sleep then the l-l-l... monsters while get m-me. She continues afraid of what will happen if she takes the sedative.

[ToxicShock]

Buster surveys the room, looking across the people, noticing the different reactions to this 'situation.' So many different people, so many to meet, almost too many. Trying to decide how to greet everyone, he contemplates raising his voice for the room, but doesn't have anything to say. No that would just seem desperate for attention. Still he'd liked to introduce himself to everyone. Might as well get friendly, judging from the military involvement, they'd probably be there for a while.

He makes his way near a corner of the room and starts in on biting his nails, staring intensely across the room, surveying all the people while trying not to overhear their conversations. That would just be rude. In the meantime, he'll just watch, desperate for a moment to jump in on someone's conversation.

[wallpaper]

Cara, flipping Griffen the bird and feeling just a little defensive, rose from her seat. She snagged her guitar and swung the strap of the case over her shoulder, surveying the room and noticing that military men were ushering in another small gaggle of people.

Along with them she noted the blonde guy chewing his nails and looking like his eyes were just about bulging from his head as he scanned the room back. Wandering his way, she wondered aloud, "hey, you alright?" She sipped leisurely from her coffee, noting how the rain had picked up outside. She wondered what was going on out there, still feeling uneasy that the military was doing anything useful.

[ToxicShock]

Busters eyes, at first focused on everyone, darted to the movement made by a girl getting up from her seat and walking towards his direction. No longer having to search across everyone, he closed his eyes and gave his head a quick small shake, away from his fingers, as if coming out of a daydream, then returning his eyes back up at the girl with a smile on his face.

"Me? Oh I'm fine. Just.. uhh.. just new to this place I guess you could say. Oh and how are you?" He started to reach his hand out for a shake, then noticing the coffee in hers, casually and nervously moved it upward and starting scratching the back of his head instead. Nice save jackass, you didn't even introduce yourself, will you calm the hell down. There's plenty of time to talk to meet everyone

[wallpaper]

Cara was beginning to think that maybe everyone around here was twitchy as fuck. "How do you think I am; I got dragged in here by those soldiers and dumped with a bunch of townies, it's pouring and storming outside around god knows what, and this coffee tastes a little like ass."

Still, she grinned sardonically at the situation they'd all gotten themselves into. "I'm Cara, by the way. What's your name?"

[ToxicShock]

Buster chuckled a bit at her reaction, not in a patronizing way but genuinely entertained. His attention came back and he flashed his large smile. "Heh, I never liked coffee.. too much caffeine. The name's Buster, and don't worry.." he leans in a bit, having a semi-serious face for once, covering his mouth and looking around as if he was enthusiastically telling a secret "..I'm not a townie either." With that, he pulled his head back, gave a reassuring wink and returned to his smile. "And I wouldn't worry about the soldiers, I feel safer with them about. Now if government people in suits start showing up, then I'll start pissing." Buster laughs off a small genuine fear of the unknown situation.

[Icelus]

Cat
Griffen ignores Cara's insult for now, casting her an unimpressed look before returning his attention to Cat. Let her go pester someone else... then again, everyone around here seems to be acting a little strange, and not just panicked-by-the-military-strange, either...

"Kind of like the rat-girl's howling noises?" he asks, quirking a brow.

Morgan
Leaning back in her chair, Rosie shakes her head. "Well, out in the woods it's pretty lonely on regular days, though I like it that way," she admits. "Around this time of year there's usually a tonne of soldiers on leave dicking around town for the food and summer girls, but never a quarantine... at least, not so much as I know. Maybe before my time. My grampa used to be on the town council, and he's told me a lot about Peiquok... but I don't remember any quarantines."

Jen
The medic listens to Jen, very concerned. "Hey now, shh. Calm down. You want to go into one of the smaller rooms, now? Don't worry, we'll watch for any mean monsters," she tries to comfort.

((I'll get to Shiva in a bit, Raptor, I'm just trying to think of a way to get her engaged. Toxic and Wallpaper seem to be doing pretty well so I'll let the be for now.))

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen nods, moving over to the medic and clutching at her. You pr-promise not t-to let them g-g-g... take me? She asks through tear filled eyes.

[Janna]

"I guess I'm one of the 'summer girls'," Morgan smiles, "But if the soldiers were looking for a date, I'd think they could do better than locking us all up in here." Her eyes flit over to the military personnel escorting Jen out of the room and her smile vanishes, replaced by a worried expression. "I wonder what's happening with her."

She looks around and spots Melissa talking to a group of the soldiers. "She was talking with that girl who got taken out," she points her out to Rosie. "Maybe she knows something more about what's going on. I'm going to go ask her." She walks across the room.

[wallpaper]

Buster chuckled a bit at her reaction, not in a patronizing way but genuinely entertained. His attention came back and he flashed his large smile. "Heh, I never liked coffee.. too much caffeine. The name's Buster, and don't worry.." he leans in a bit, having a semi-serious face for once, covering his mouth and looking around as if he was enthusiastically telling a secret "..I'm not a townie either." With that, he pulled his head back, gave a reassuring wink and returned to his smile. "And I wouldn't worry about the soldiers, I feel safer with them about. Now if government people in suits start showing up, then I'll start pissing." Buster laughs off a small genuine fear of the unknown situation.

Watching him and listening to Buster's replies made Cara both more and less nervous. More, because he seemed so... carefree. Naive, maybe, but so laid back about what was going on. Didn't he understand that they were all up shit creek, here, very likely?

Then again, she wasn't sure how he put her at ease. "So where are you from?" she finally asked, wanting to move to a less uneasy topic. "I'm from all over... mostly Toronto the last couple of years, though the scene's gotten pretty dead..." or at least she thought so. Not that it could hold a candle to Peiquok, with it's Ghost-town-in-progress!

[TheWeirdOne]

Seeing the white haired girl next to her Kaci wondered how bad she was doing. She was also starting to catch on that maybe it was more then just pride that was making her not accept her help. Pulling her knees up like the white haired girl she turns her face to her and says, "Hey my name's Kaci, and even though I don't look like it, like I said earlier I'm training to become a doctor. What's your name?"

She thought it might be a good idea to try to keep their mind off this disaster by talking to each other. Just thinking about it could probably overwhelm anyone.

(When she says "Don't look like" it she's referring to the gothy/tomboyish clothes she is wearing (Refer to Emily's original picture in my album if you are curious XD))

[xivvix]

Looking between themselves, the most senior of the small knot of military officers shakes his head. "Sorry, ma'am, we're still bringing in stragglers. Once we're sure we've got the town cleared, we'll be able to escort you and the rest of the people gathered here to a safer point."

He adds, "I understand your concern, and I would like to be able to tell you more, but until we have a solid idea of what's happened here, we aren't at leisure to divulge information yet."
"Can't divulge information yet," Melissa said, exasperated. Turning around and giving a quick point to Jen as she was being led off by the medic, she said, keeping her voice down, "See that girl? She's unstable. Babbling about monsters. And there are other people in here talking about just walking out." She looked back at the officer and continued, "I can understand that you would want to keep a tight reign on a dangerous situation, but all this secrecy is not helping right now. These people need..." Melissa stopped, and brought a hand to her face, covering it as the song once again ran through her head. Finally, she lowered her hand and continued, "We need to know that there's a reason we're all here. Here, locked up in this place, instead of out on the road, getting away from whatever it is you're afraid of."

(try to "charm" the officer into talking)

[Rule 34]

Cat
Griffen ignores Cara's insult for now, casting her an unimpressed look before returning his attention to Cat. Let her go pester someone else... then again, everyone around here seems to be acting a little strange, and not just panicked-by-the-military-strange, either...

"Kind of like the rat-girl's howling noises?" he asks, quirking a brow.


"Hey now, rats are awesome", Cat tells him with a shake of her head. "We're all kinda on edge here. I'm feeling - strange myself. A coyote sounds about as good as the lizard monster that the breakdown-in-waiting is babbling about", she says with a nod to Jen.
"Fuuuck", she suddenly sighs. "If this goes on I'm gonna have to punch somebody. I want outta here, damnit. I got tickets to a Spitshine concert that cost me a hundred bucks, and if I don't get there by evening they're down the fucking shitter."

[Icelus]

Jen
"I'll do my best, sweetie," the medic replies, bringing her out of the hall and past the guards that are keeping the general public away from the side-hallways. Here, Jen can see that the side-doors are open onto a covered porch, a few soaked soldiers are sitting on boxes and watching the road, smoking and chatting. Beyond that, military vehicles are parked, pulled up in a line, maybe two or three of them. Beyond that, Jen can't see too far up or down Main Street, though there is a single civilian car stalled in the middle of the street...

Even as she passes by, a pair of soldiers are escorting a pair of young girls to the town hall. Then the two of them pass by and her view is cut off.

The side hallway of the town hall is usually used to reach meeting rooms, smaller multi-purpose rooms, as well as a storage room for sports, with a small kitchen and breakroom at the back. Now the rooms have been converted to use by the military: the first two doors are closed, but Jen can see lights coming from beneath them, and hear voices speaking in hushed tones from one.

The third door is open, and the medic brings Jen through this one. Inside, several other townspeople (she might even recognize one or two) are resting comfortably on cots; one or two are reading magazines, while the rest are sleeping. The medic gestures for Jen to take an empty cot, sitting her down and asking, "would you like some orange juice, sweetie?"

Morgan, Melissa
Rosie gets to her feet and follows behind Morgan, curious, though more to pass the time than because she seems genuinely concerned. "Maybe she's got that feeling like she's in another place," she suggests, sounding sardonic at best.

Melissa attempts to charm the soldier
11+6 vs Soldier 12, Success

Leaning in close, the man's frown only deepens. "Listen, ma'am," he tells her very quietly, "the less you know, the happier you're going to be. We're not sure yet, exactly, what's going on here. If the brass knows, they're not telling us, all we know is that leaving you all out there to wander around is tantamount to leaving you to die, but we haven't gotten the order, or the transportation yet, to move you out, and our orders are to keep you together."

He licks his lip, looking around. "Don't go telling everyone this, but the closest we can make of it is some kind of mass hysteria, linked to people wandering off and disappearing off the god damned face of the earth, alright? Your friend there's not the first of them, but we're still working on what to do about it."

((xD That enough information yet~?))

Cat
Griffen doesn't reply to Cat's bitching, though as she goes on about her missed concert, his eyes linger down to her shirt and the rest of her get-up, then snap back to her face before she notices his roving eyes. He actually grins, then chuckles. "Somehow I don't picture you laying in a lot of damage on one of those soldiers." Teenagers, so preoccupied with superficial things...

[xivvix]

(haha, she's a cop, it's her job to find out what's going on ;))

"Mass hysteria?" Melissa repeats quietly. Finally she nods and takes a step away from the officer before saying, "All right. I understand, thanks for being straight with me." She gives him a slight wave before walking off, coming to a stop when Morgan and Rosie walk up to her.

"Hi," she says. "Need something?"

[Janna]

"Hi," she says. "Need something?"Morgan smiles, "It just seemed like your were in the middle of everything. I was curious if you'd figured anything out either about the soldiers or..." She turns to look in the direction where Jen was led out, "...or about anything else."

"Have you noticed anything weird," she asks, nervous but almost hopeful. "I mean... just like anything... that happened?" She doesn't seem to be able to explain what she's thinking.

[xivvix]

Melissa follows Morgan's look, then says, "Don't worry about Jen, she's fine, she just needed to lay down." She looks back at the officers, to make sure they weren't eavesdropping, then said, "Tell the truth, there doesn't seem to be much information to get right now. The officers sound like they are being kept in the dark as much as we are." With a glance at the windows, she adds, "They could be protecting us from the rain for all I can figure."

Melissa looks at Morgan quizzically at her second question. "Something weird?" She thought for a second then said, "I had something like a brain freeze earlier, then I got some old song stuck in my head, but that's about it." Staring a bit, she tilts her head slightly and asks, "Why? Have you noticed something?"

[Janna]

Morgan watches the rain with Melissa, nodding as she listens. "I did..." she begins, looking nervous. "This is going to sound crazy, I'm sure but I spaced out for a while earlier. It couldn't have been longg but I felt just like completely distracted."

She blushes, "Once I noticed it, I was fine. A little... um..." She glances around making sure that there aren't any guys nearby, "A little turned on for like absoutely no reason that I could figure out, but fine."

"What was the song?" she asks, clearly hoping to turn the conversation away from her own experience.

[Mamono Assault Force]

"Hey my name's Kaci, and even though I don't look like it, like I said earlier I'm training to become a doctor. What's your name?"

Snapped from her not long lasting trance as Kaci introduces herself to her, Shiva didn't move her head. Her red eyes shifted so that her right eye was looking at the Gothic looking girl. She spoke in the same quiet, soft voice, "Shiva... Vera..." she told Kaci her full name, as she was used to people avoiding her for her unusual appearance, so she didn't know how she should act, or what she should say. The fact that these two women around her were not even taking note of her white hair, not to mention her devilish red eyes, was something that Shiva could not make an explanation for, as she sat quietly, not saying anything more after telling her name.

[xivvix]

Mass hysteria. Melissa couldn't help thinking about the word as Morgan recalled her earlier experience. What if this girl was undergoing the first stages of whatever caused the other people in the town to disappear? No, don't jump to conclusions. Melissa chided herself for a rookie mistake. There wasn't any evidence that everyone in town had simply gone crazy and walked off. Mass hysteria was just a catch-all for when you can't find the real cause for a problem.

She smiled when the girl admitted to becoming aroused, then offered, "Maybe you were just having a daydream about one of the guys in here?" Melissa smiled and looked around. "That tall one over there maybe?" she asked, motioning to Buster. "I'm kidding, it was probably nothing."

Morgan's question about the song caused it to run through her mind once again. Melissa looked a bit uneasy, then said, "Well, it's an older song, like from the 60's." She paused for a second, then continued, "The lyrics go something like, "Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards every one. When will they ever learn?" She paused, then began to hum the tune, getting a little embarrassed and cutting off after two repeats. "So yeah, I have that song stuck in my head."

[Janna]

Morgan blushes, laughing and shaking her head, "Hey, I'm engaged. That means all of my thoughts are devoted to my one and only true love..." She busts up in a gigglefit. "Like I said," she smiles once she recovers, "It's probably nothing important. It was just weird so I wanted to mention it since we're talking about weirdness."

She listens to the lines of the song, "I don't know what that could mean. One thing we're not short on around here is soldiers." She gestures at some of the military personnel. "We've got enough to be sending them out to drag more people in here."

Morgan sighs, "I guess there's no way of knowing what's happening until somebody decides to tell us. I'm not going to try and sneak out when I don't know what's going on."

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen gives a tentative nod before curling up in a tight ball on the cot, clutching the comforting paper pages of the town hall minutes to her chest. It wasn't the minutes that were comforting to her, but the fact that she had a book of any type. Curled there on the cot, Jen looks much younger than she is and the way she holds the books is much akin to the way a young child holds a teddy bear.

[xivvix]

Melissa smiles at Morgan's comment about her true love, but says nothing else. Her remark about the song and what's happening, though, prompts Melissa to speak. "Well, they already are dragging people here. At least that's how I felt." she says wryly. "Even if they are rounding us up to protect us, I have a strange feeling whenever I'm around the soldiers. Like something bad is about to happen." She sighed and shook her head.

"You're right though, we shouldn't go wandering around without knowing what's going on," she said. "I'm sure the soldiers are keeping the quarantine tight enough that sneaking out of here isn't a possibility anyway."

[Diagasvesle]

Xetia looks at Dianna with mild annoyance and shrugs and speed dials her father and holds the phone up to her ear.

[Icelus]

Melissa, Morgan

Rosie listens to the exchange raptly, though she feigns mild amusement and disinterest. The way the two are talking is giving her ideas, though she says nothing for now. She doesn't want to make any claims that she can't back up.

"If we're not out of here by the end of the night," she suggests, "I know the town well enough that we could probably snake out... my place is about an hour's drive, but I know a place a little quieter that's secreted away that we might be able to reach by foot..." she can't quite believe she's saying this, but it seems like better than nothing!

Kaci, Shiva
It was likely that those who saw Shiva assumed her to be an albino of some kind. Cally certainly has seen her fair share of a wide variety of people, so perhaps she's not willing to ask unless Shiva brings it up. In any case, at least she comes to an end of her prayers, which had gone mostly to silent murmurings after the first few utterances.

"Mom!" a high voice splits the town hall momentarily as the newest batch of people make their way into the town hall.

"Alex!" Cally rises to her feet, unaware of Kaci and Shiva against the wall. "Sara!" She meets the two young women, roughly Kaci's age, in a great group hug. "Oh god, I'd prayed you'd be safe," she tells the two of them, in tears. Realizing only belatedly that only half of her prayers had been answered, Cally turns to Kaci and gives a hopeful look. "Maybe your parents will be in the next round-up..."

"Kaci!" the louder of the two twins adds, hugging the tomboy briefly, "I'm glad you're here too." She gives Shiva a strange look, but doesn't say anything else. "Stay safe," she tells the medic, before rejoining her family. Without much goodbye, the three waddle off, apparently joined at the hip, as Cally leads the two girls over to the hot water station. The both of them look about soaked to the bone...

Jen
The medic stays by her side for a few minutes, just watching to make sure that Jen doesn't begin to grow frightened again. Eventually she asks, "do you want a magazine? That book can't be too exciting." She tries to grin comfortingly.

Xetia
For now Xetia only manages to reach her father's voice mail -- it is still the middle of the day, perhaps he's in a meeting.

Dianna smiles saccharinely in Xetia's direction, before returning to her own texting again.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen nods, not because she wants something more interesting to read, but because the more books around here, the more comfortable she'll feel. Aside from that motion, however, she stays curled up, clutching the book tightly. The timid woman's eyes have started to fearfully scan the room looking for lizard men.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva's eyes watch as the family reunites, and although they couldn't see her, she smiled as Cally was reunited with her family, not paying any heed at all to the one that gave her a strange look, she was used to it, after all.

After the family had left, Shiva let out a relaxing sigh, making a glance at Kaci before returning her eyes to the center of the hall, not necessarily to look at anything, but just to soften her focus, and relax her mind, still feeling a slight pressure in her head.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci smiled at the white haired girl after Cally left. Although she could feel a void start to grow in her when her parents didn't show up with any of the stragglers she just tried to ignore it. Maybe she could make a new friend here. She said to Shiva "So, why are you so shy?" Kaci had spent most of her life as the weird one. Of course a white haired girl with red eyes wouldn't disturb her in the least. She didn't even really seem to notice her strange appearance at all.

((He he he I accidentally put my name in there XD))

[Rule 34]

Cat
Griffen doesn't reply to Cat's bitching, though as she goes on about her missed concert, his eyes linger down to her shirt and the rest of her get-up, then snap back to her face before she notices his roving eyes. He actually grins, then chuckles. "Somehow I don't picture you laying in a lot of damage on one of those soldiers." Teenagers, so preoccupied with superficial things...

Cat sticks his tongue out at him, inadvertedly imitating Moxie. "I've got a pair of brass knucks in my pocket", she explains. "Not gonna go on a trip without some protection of some kind or another. Anybody touches me and BAM!" She smacks her fist into her palm. "Gonna leave a lasting impression. 'Course", she adds, "not gonna help me much with a fucking machine gun pointed my way."

[Icelus]

Jen
The medic lets Jen be for a few moments, so that the young woman can curl up in peace. One of the other conscious patients was keeping an eye on her, however; an older man that Jen might recognize as being a library patron. "You're that young lass from the library, aren't you?" he asks, voice rough. Jen can see that his eyes are bloodshot, and he's shakier than usual.

Cat
Griffen raises his brows apparently dubiously impressed. "Do you go around beating many people?" he asks, mildly amused as Moxie grows excited by Cat's exuberant explanation. He leaves his agreement that she won't be much fight against soldiers trained with guns unsaid.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Y-yes. They didn't let me bring any books, though. Jen starts shakily, but manages to finish slightly more calmly since she is talking about books.

[Janna]

Morgan nods to Melissa and Rosie, "It's good to know there'd be someplace to go if things get bad. I think we're safe enough right here for now though. I mean... these military guys are better armed and better trained than we are, right? I get kind of a weird feeling from all of this too, but I guess tha can happen when you're in a big group of nervous people... Right?"

"I'm Morgan, by the way," she grins, realizing that she hadn't introduced herself to Melissa yet.

[Rule 34]

"If they deserve it", Cat replies with a wink - before bursting out in a laugh. "Fuck, that makes me sound like some vigilante comic book hero. All I need is a skull shirt and some tight pants." Thinking about it, she does have those in her closet back home. . .

[ToxicShock]

Watching him and listening to Buster's replies made Cara both more and less nervous. More, because he seemed so... carefree. Naive, maybe, but so laid back about what was going on. Didn't he understand that they were all up shit creek, here, very likely?

Then again, she wasn't sure how he put her at ease. "So where are you from?" she finally asked, wanting to move to a less uneasy topic. "I'm from all over... mostly Toronto the last couple of years, though the scene's gotten pretty dead..." or at least she thought so. Not that it could hold a candle to Peiquok, with it's Ghost-town-in-progress!

Buster couldn't help but return to his poor habits, bringing his fingernails back up to his mouth, but making sure not to break eye contact and seem distracted by them. Noting they were no longer discussing their situation and back to introductions, Buster tried to erase his foolish grin, or at least the best he could, to try and sound like not everything he says is a joke. "Well I was born and raised around some small towns in Pennsylvania, went to college in New Hampshire. There, a few of my friends were New Englanders and some Canadians. We dispersed and decided we'd meet up in Canada. I took off early to see the sights along the way and this happened to be one of them...."

Buster's eyes make way to his pants pocket, as if visually cluing him to the fact he still has his cell phone. "Maybe I should call him and tell him I might be late?" After saying this, Buster realized that seemed pessimistic and tried to avoid bringing up anything that seemed like they were in danger, despite the obvious evidence that they were. " .. eh I'll wait, I have plenty of time." Trying to quickly change the subject, he eyed the girl over quickly and saw and pointed towards the guitar. "You any good with that thing?"

[wallpaper]

Cara decided that she liked the guy, even if only because Buster reminded her a little of Moxie, Cat's puppy. More nervous, though. "Couldn't hurt to call," she told him, nodding... then shrugging as he decided against it. Cara didn't even have a cell phone. Pay phones worked well enough for her, with the added benefit that nobody got in contact with her unless she wanted it.

Hefting the case, she grinned, looking a little feral in the process. "Depends on what you like. Most people hate it, but then I never got into it to try to please anyone." She chuckled and told him, "didn't you know part of Canadian sight-seeing involves getting rounded up by army-men and held against our will? You're living the experience, Buster." What an odd name... Cara was amused, wondering if it were his real name or a nickname he'd garnered along the way.

[ToxicShock]

Busters brow twitched up in delighted surprise at how she described her music, even musing that "Well as long as it's your own, you'll never sell out, right?" When she made light of the situation at hand, his smile brightened. See Buster, it always works. Optimism and comedy for any event. "What, are you kidding? This is how I spend every summer." More comfortable and in the conversation, Buster dropped his fingertips from his mouth and clasped his hands together.

[wallpaper]

"Me too," Cara replied, unslinging her guitar case and resting it against the wall as she leaned back against it, next to him. "A couple of years out of high school and I might even have been on their side," she jutted her chin the military's way. "My dad was in the army, I think he figured I'd take to it. I didn't, so much." She grinned. "Too many 'yessirs', and I'm too much of an ass."

[xivvix]

Morgan nods to Melissa and Rosie, "It's good to know there'd be someplace to go if things get bad. I think we're safe enough right here for now though. I mean... these military guys are better armed and better trained than we are, right? I get kind of a weird feeling from all of this too, but I guess tha can happen when you're in a big group of nervous people... Right?"

"I'm Morgan, by the way," she grins, realizing that she hadn't introduced herself to Melissa yet.

"Thanks for the offer," Melissa said to Rosie, "but let's see how things play out before we start getting ready for World War 3."

"Melissa," she responded to Morgan with a smile. "That's exactly why I wish we could get more information," she said. "The more the group knows about the situation, the better we'll react to whatever happens. It's not a good idea to be so secretive when you've got the military rounding people up."

[Janna]

Morgan blows out a breath through pursed lips, "Yeah... If the Canadian military types are anything like the ones back home, it's going to be a long time before they tell us anything. It's probably one of those 'need to know' type things."

"Really frustrating," she shakes her head. "You'd think if people knew things about what was going on, it would make the most sense to share them with anybody that might be able to help. I've never had a lot of patience for bureaucracy or keeping secrets, though. I guess I'm a little bit of a free spirit." She rolls her eyes a little and makes a peace sign while smiling.

[ToxicShock]

"Almost a military gal eh?" Busters smile cocked to the side a bit, attempting a smirk. "Some people just naturally don't take to roles of authority, I wouldn't call you an ass for it. I mean, your music, not taking after daddy... You seem like a pretty 'go your own way' woman." He drops his smile and raises a turned fist, stating with a bit of joking bass to his voice, "Power to ya," before letting it fall back down into his other hand and giving a small chuckle.

[xivvix]

Melissa gave a slight laugh and said, "Yeah, I've got a lot of experience with bureaucracy." Deciding to change the subject, she looked off to the side then and asked, "So you mentioned you were engaged. Where's your fiancee?" Melissa felt like she was walking a tight rope with this question. What if Morgan's fiancee was one of the people missing? Should she be asking this?

[Janna]

"Oh... he's... um... he's back at home," says Morgan, looking away from Melissa. "We kinda had a fight," she explains with a shrug. "It will all work out," she sighs, "It always does. We just both run hot sometimes and especially as we're getting closer to the big day... This trip was actually supposed to be something to take our minds off of everything. I guess it worked, at least for me."

"What about you?" she asks, "Are you just her on a vacation, too?"

[xivvix]

Melissa nodded, glad to have avoided a land mine with the fiancee question. She shrugs her shoulders at Morgan's question. "I've been having a rough time at work lately, felt like I needed a break," she sighed, then continued, "So I've just been riding around, enjoying the fresh air and seeing the sights." She gave a wry smile and added, "This isn't what I had in mind. Too bad this is how I get introduced to the town. Peiquok seems like it would be a nice place to visit."

Wondering what time it was, Melissa reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cellphone. With a flip, she opens it and it pleasantly surprised to see she had reception. "Well here's some good news," she said with a smile, turning the device to the two girls. "I might be able to get a call out of here." With a few taps she dials the number for her friend Beth. "Maybe there's something on the news about this place."

[wallpaper]

"Almost a military gal eh?" Busters smile cocked to the side a bit, attempting a smirk. "Some people just naturally don't take to roles of authority, I wouldn't call you an ass for it. I mean, your music, not taking after daddy... You seem like a pretty 'go your own way' woman." He drops his smile and raises a turned fist, stating with a bit of joking bass to his voice, "Power to ya," before letting it fall back down into his other hand and giving a small chuckle.

Cara laughed outright, feeling pleased despite herself. She wasn't completely at her ease, not by a longshot, but Buster had certainly busted her earlier tension! "So what do you do when you're not taking people's minds off of impending doom, or at least annoying hold-ups?"

[Janna]

"That's a good idea," says Morgan. "I wish I'd brought my phone but I was trying to dodge calls a little bit. This town would be great if things were being normal; I didn't have a chance to get my bike up to the forest but Rosie was saying it's just awesome out there. Hopefully this all will be cleared up before the weekend is over and I'll still get a chance."

[xivvix]

Melissa gives a grin and shakes her head before saying, "Wouldn't you know she doesn't pick up?" When the voice mail message comes on, she speaks in a friendly tone, "Hey Beth, this is Liss. Know how all the weird shit happens to me? Well, I'm stuck in a little town called Peiquok. Military quarantine of some kind. That's P, E, I, Q, U, O, K. Do me a favor and check the news, see if there's any info out there, cause we don't know anything right now. Call me back." She hits the END button and sighs, then throws her hands out in a 'oh well' gesture.

Morgan was blowing it off, but Melissa was sure the girl was worried. Holding the cell phone out, she asks, "You want to give him a call?"

[Mamono Assault Force]

She said to Shiva "So, why are you so shy?"

Shiva blinked at the question, and turned her head slightly to Kaci, remaining silent for some time, trying to think of a way to answer the surprising question, "I don't look... Normal..." she told Kaci, unable to find a better explanation for why she prefers to be quiet.

[TheWeirdOne]

Shiva blinked at the question, and turned her head slightly to Kaci, remaining silent for some time, trying to think of a way to answer the surprising question, "I don't look... Normal..." she told Kaci, unable to find a better explanation for why she prefers to be quiet.

After hearing Shiva say she doesn't look 'Normal' Kaci seemed to stare at her a bit intently as if trying to find out how she didn't look 'Normal'. After about ten seconds she said "Oh," as if just realizing right now Shiva's strange white hair and devilish red eyes. Shrugging she said to Shiva, "Nothing wrong with how you look." She then said teasingly, "It shouldn't make you so shy."

[ToxicShock]

Cara laughed outright, feeling pleased despite herself. She wasn't completely at her ease, not by a longshot, but Buster had certainly busted her earlier tension! "So what do you do when you're not taking people's minds off of impending doom, or at least annoying hold-ups?"
(.. oh god haha)

Buster is able to loosen up more at her laugh, but never able to fully stop his erratic fidgeting, starts scratching and fiddling his thumbs. He turns down to his hands, fully conscious of his twitching problems. Hearing her bring up the situation again, even if it's not in a desperate frantic way, he tries to steer it a little more general and avoid more information about how he got here. "I do whatever keeps me busy. I'm not exactly rich but, I mean, I'm fresh out of college, I'm already in debt, so I figure what's a few more dollars? I just try to keep physically active and learn whatever I can. Student by heart, so to speak, whatever keeps my mind on track."

Buster leaned his back against the wall and stopped his hands from visibly freaking out. In turn, he took the weight off his left leg, and started bouncing his heel, and by extension, the rest of his leg. He turned his right leg outward though, trying to conceal it, so it didn't seem like he was impatient or in any hurry out of the conversation.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva sighed, lowering her head and burying it in her thighs in frustration, "It's all natural..." she whispered against her dress, as she rested her head against her legs, her voice barely understandable as her whisper was muffled by her dress.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci looked at the girl. She said to her "Of course it's natural. Otherwise you wouldn't be so shy about it..." There is a concerned tone in her voice now as she sees how disturbed Shiva seems to be talking about this, "If you don't want to talk about this I don't mind. I just want to let you know I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean I'm a girl training to be a doctor and on top of that I'm a... well I guess there is no way to describe someone like me." She thought about trying to stroke the girls back but seeing how shy she was it would probably just make her feel embarrassed or worst. Instead she just lightly and quickly patted her on the back.

[Janna]

Morgan was blowing it off, but Melissa was sure the girl was worried. Holding the cell phone out, she asks, "You want to give him a call?"Morgan looks relieved and takes the phone, "I really would, thank you. I'll pay you back for the charges as soon as I can get back to my hotel, I promise."

She takes the phone and dials, mouthing another thanks to Melissa as she holds it to her ear.

[Mamono Assault Force]

"Of course it's natural. Otherwise you wouldn't be so shy about it..." There is a concerned tone in her voice now as she sees how disturbed Shiva seems to be talking about this, "If you don't want to talk about this I don't mind. I just want to let you know I don't see anything wrong with it. I mean I'm a girl training to be a doctor and on top of that I'm a... well I guess there is no way to describe someone like me."

Shiva gave up trying to tell the girl about her abnormality, as she didn't seem to pay any heed to it. Instead, Shiva took note of her lasts words, turning her head once more so her right eye could focus on Kaci, the red ring around her pupil locking in on her, "Someone like you?" she asked, her soft tone unchanging as she regarded the raven haired girl.

Shiva felt as if her and Kaci were opposites, white hair, with black hair, as that was the only explanation to her as to why the girl didn't just avoid even looking at her like all of the others.

[Icelus]

Jen
The man nods, "They didn't give us much time to gather anything before we all got rounded up. Don't worry, though. We've got plenty of protection around us now."


Cat
"Haven't read comic books in a long time," says Griffen, "Thought the girls in those books went around wearing painted on skinsuits." He looks Cat up and down and grins, "Could probably pull it off if you wanted."


Morgan
Scott's number goes to voicemail.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Why are we being gathered, though? Does it have something to do with the thing I was seeing back in the main room? Jen asks, both hoping for an answer and yet scared to find out at the same time.

[Simca]

Celia sighs, finally waking up, having been utterly exhausted, and begins to wander around anywhere she's allowed.....

[Rule 34]

Cat's eyebrows rise a bit higher above her blue eyes as Griffen checks her out. As if on accident her hand comes to rest near her right pocket. "Eyes up here, soldier", she says, pointing at her face. He was right with the skintight suits, of course, but it still makes her feel uncomfortable.

[wallpaper]

Buster is able to loosen up more at her laugh, but never able to fully stop his erratic fidgeting, starts scratching and fiddling his thumbs. He turns down to his hands, fully conscious of his twitching problems. Hearing her bring up the situation again, even if it's not in a desperate frantic way, he tries to steer it a little more general and avoid more information about how he got here. "I do whatever keeps me busy. I'm not exactly rich but, I mean, I'm fresh out of college, I'm already in debt, so I figure what's a few more dollars? I just try to keep physically active and learn whatever I can. Student by heart, so to speak, whatever keeps my mind on track."

Buster leaned his back against the wall and stopped his hands from visibly freaking out. In turn, he took the weight off his left leg, and started bouncing his heel, and by extension, the rest of his leg. He turned his right leg outward though, trying to conceal it, so it didn't seem like he was impatient or in any hurry out of the conversation.

"Sounds practically Bohemian," she continued to grin, apparently not put off by his fidgeting. Sliding down the wall and resting with her back to it, her legs bent out in front of her, she wriggled her bare toes in her sandals, apparently having caught some of his fidgety-ness or perhaps possessing a little of her own. "You ever played a guitar?" she asked, a hint of challenge in her voice. "That'll put your mind on another track altogether."

[Icelus]

Jen
The man shudders. "I don't know. I hope not."

Celia
Celia can see many people in the main hall, sitting on folding chairs. There are family groups, singletons, and groups who look like they're forming more to pass the time than anything. A pair of military men guard each of the two side exits, though occasionally more show up to escort the remaining people that can be found around town, the newest arrivals being soaked to the bone by the rain outside.

It doesn't look like she's going to be able to get out of here, but on the plus side, there is water and apparently rations being kept on some fold out tables towards the raised stage at the front of the hall, and there are dozens of people to talk to...

Cat

Perception Check
Griffen 9+5+2 (Awareness) vs Cat 13, Success.

The man's eyes linger to her hand before looking back up to the young woman's face. He smiles, amused by her discomfort. Leaning back on the chair, he warns "I don't remember asking for a demonstration," still smiling although he is keeping an eye out for that hand to slip into her pocket. If she hadn't alerted him to the fact that she had a weapon to begin with, he probably wouldn't have noticed! In a hall full of people and soldiers who would most likely be willing to take Cat's side, Griffen knows it would be foolhardy to get into a fight with a girl half his size, anyways.

[Janna]

Morgan's face falls a little and she quickly speaks into the borrowed phone, "Scotthoneyiloveyoui'llcallbacksoon." She ends the call and shakes her head, "Damn. I didn't want to say anything that would make him worry or start driving up here," she explains before Melissa can even ask. She hands the phone back.

"I do feel better though," she smiles, "Even just leaving a message."

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen is suddenly confused by an odd sensation in her body and falls silent. Not knowing why, she feels a sudden heat between her legs as well as an emptiness aching to be filled. Pondering this she stares off blankly for a short while.

[Rule 34]

Cat raises her chin. "Hit on me and I hit on you. Your face, mostly. Maybe some shots to the kidney." She pulls her knees up against her body and onto the chair she sits on. "And you started out so well, giving out information and all that shit."

[ToxicShock]

"Sounds practically Bohemian," she continued to grin, apparently not put off by his fidgeting. Sliding down the wall and resting with her back to it, her legs bent out in front of her, she wriggled her bare toes in her sandals, apparently having caught some of his fidgety-ness or perhaps possessing a little of her own. "You ever played a guitar?" she asked, a hint of challenge in her voice. "That'll put your mind on another track altogether."

Buster gave a small chuckle at the comment. "Yeah, I like 'Bohemian,' sounds a lot better than 'self-destructive and short-sighted.' I think I'll use that word from now on." Always focusing on movement, maybe out of paranoia or good reflexes, he notices her drop her height a bit and saw her toes give movement as well. I hope I'm not making her nervous. Then his eye raised back up when she continued the discussion.

"No, I actually never did. I mean, computers make learning things easy so I taught myself a lot of songs on bass, which is kinda the same thing but not really. It's not like I understand music, I just know 'to play this song, put this finger here and pluck that string.' Ya know? Just doing things out of habit without really knowing why. Nothing big." He turned his head down, trying to help further the conversation, but kicking himself for being unable to think up any questions to ask the girl. It's not bad that she was leading the conversation for now, but if she ran out of questions too, they'd hit an awkward silence, and there was nothing that disturbed Buster more than one of those.

[xivvix]

Melissa chuckles at Morgan's hurried message, then takes the phone back. She holds it out to Rosie, and asks "Anyone you want to call?"

"Well," Melissa says, looking back and forth, finally settling on the table with water and rations near the stage. "I was heading here to get something to eat, and I never got any. Think I'll check out what kinda food soldiers are expected to put up with." She grins then looks at the other two with a questioning look. "You two hungry?"

[Janna]

"Sure, I could eat something. Light probably, since it doesn't seem like I'm going to be getting any exercise today." She stretches, rolling her head around her shoulders and tossing her long brown hair. She straightens up, "I wonder if we're going to be eating some kind of MRE or if they've got any real food."

[xivvix]

"Light? I'm so hungry, I feel like I could eat your bike and mine," Melissa joked, walking over to the food table, her hand on her stomach. Stepping up to the table, she grabbed a glass of water and took a sip. Looked over the available food, she asked, "What do we have here?"

[TheWeirdOne]

"Someone like you?"

Kaci sat for a second and looked up into the air as if thinking. She looked to Shiva again said to her after a few seconds, "Well... The best way to explain it is that I just never really fit into a 'group' of people... You understand what I mean?"

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva sighed at the question, her eyelids lowered as if she was tired, and she turned completely to Kaci, both of her eyes focused on her now. Shiva didn't respond to the question, as she gave Kaci a blank look, as if the full sight of Shiva's hair, and her eyes, was enough of an answer to her question.

[Icelus]

Cat

"Hey there, whoa," says Griffen, holding up his hand. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just trying to pay you a compliment." He chuckles, "You're going to get yourself in trouble if you react like that anytime somebody says something nice." He takes a half-step back, giving her some space in case she really is going to start swinging. "I thought we were getting along pretty well."

Melissa, Morgan

There's no shortage of good food at the moment. The table is laid out with a number of trays of meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables. Possibly they were supplies for one of the big weekend barbecues that are being ruined by the quarantine and the rainstorm.

[wallpaper]

Buster gave a small chuckle at the comment. "Yeah, I like 'Bohemian,' sounds a lot better than 'self-destructive and short-sighted.' I think I'll use that word from now on." Always focusing on movement, maybe out of paranoia or good reflexes, he notices her drop her height a bit and saw her toes give movement as well. I hope I'm not making her nervous. Then his eye raised back up when she continued the discussion.

"No, I actually never did. I mean, computers make learning things easy so I taught myself a lot of songs on bass, which is kinda the same thing but not really. It's not like I understand music, I just know 'to play this song, put this finger here and pluck that string.' Ya know? Just doing things out of habit without really knowing why. Nothing big." He turned his head down, trying to help further the conversation, but kicking himself for being unable to think up any questions to ask the girl. It's not bad that she was leading the conversation for now, but if she ran out of questions too, they'd hit an awkward silence, and there was nothing that disturbed Buster more than one of those.

Raising her brows at Buster's less than positive self assessment, Cara shrugged languidly and settled the case on her lap. She began to snap open the clasps holding the very well weathered case together, she listened as he explained what experience he had. She didn't seem to mind that he didn't have questions; if an awkward silence came around, it wasn't going to be the end of the world, right? (She hoped not, at least.) As he dropped into silence, navel gazing all of a sudden, Cara brought her guitar out balanced it on her thigh as she slipped the case back to her side, brought out a spare pick, and, settling the second-hand instrument (the guitar looked fairly worn, too, though the strings were kept in good shape and it had seen one or two professional repairs) in the way that felt natural to her, she strummed up a simple background tune. Awkward silence avoided!

"That's not a bad start," she agreed, the music flowing simply, maybe a little repetitively as she looped through the hand motions needed to provide it. "It keeps your hands and mind focused," she told him, grinning, and then, "once you get used to the basic tune, you can start to make variations..." the simple melody changed slightly this repetition as Cara made some obvious switches between the notes. Returning to the main tune, she continued to make more subtle, little variations here and there. "It might not keep your body top notch, but it feels good to feel something evolving out of noise, you know?" She stopped, looking him over as she rested her hand over the body and strings, silencing it. "Wanna try?"

[ToxicShock]

Buster eyes the guitar as she brings it out of the case as she stayed silent, lowering his eyebrow in a bit of fear. Oh no, please don't tell me she's gonna give me a lesson, that'd just be embarrassing. Busters mind started off on a tangent inside himself so incoherently fast, he didn't even know what he was thinking of until she struck some chords. Well she wasn't lying, she can play it.

His head turned to her as she spoke, apparently trying to ease him into playing. He shook his head a bit to himself and quickly started to drum his fingers against his knee out of a bit of nervousness, eyes returning to the guitar as she continued. When she offered the guitar over to him, his eyes shot back up and his fingers were going faster than ever. "Nah, that's ok, I shouldn't." Although welcoming of the chance to put his mind into something, he didn't want to drift too far into it, especially embarrassing himself along the way. "I'd probably just end up getting bored of making a fool of myself, ignore the B and E string and lose myself in playing songs I already know on bass instead." He tried to play it off with a smile, but he wasn't too sure exactly how convincing it was.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci looked at Shiva for a moment. She was telling the truth when she said her strange appearance didn't bother her in the least. Getting the hint though she felt awkward about not realizing it sooner. Finally realizing that her appearance depressed her more then she thought she said to her a little embarrassed, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking..." She looked around to try to see if there was anything that could change the subject while she scratched back of her head nervously. Seeing food she she talked to Shiva again while standing up, "Hey you hungry? There's food over there. I'll sit next to you if you want to eat."

[wallpaper]

Snorting, then laughing, Cara took the guitar back. "Alright, suit yourself." She strummed a bit more, decided it needed a bit of a tune, and went to that for a moment or two. "I don't think anyone would notice. Everyone here is too caught up in their own little world, I think." She nods to huddled groups of towns-people, visitors, and families. Even if some of the soldiers were glancing their way, it didn't seem that anybody was paying them much heed.

Nudging him with her elbow, the woman added, "and I don't think fools can make bigger fools out of themselves one around the other, so don't go getting your panties in a knot." If he wasn't embarrassed, than she was the queen of england; however, the man hadn't gone and told her off like that snippy bald man, so Cara wasn't feeling prone to up and walking away.

Speaking of which, she glanced Cat and Griffen's way, noting that the two seemed to be quarreling. Poor puppy was getting ignored. Ah well, Cara's first impression of the two was that they were both quarrelsome sorts. She wasn't all that surprised. Turning her gaze back to Buster, she wondered aloud, "so what wouldn't make you bored? I have a feeling we're going to be here a while, the way they set up food for us," she noted. She had a feeling that the damn army men (and women, she'd noted) were doing their very best to inconvenience them without actually appearing to. Typical.

[Mamono Assault Force]

"Hey you hungry? There's food over there. I'll sit next to you if you want to eat."

Shiva shifted in place, as if regarding her answer, but also because another strange sensation overtook her again, almost as if the headache decided it'd come back in a different form to bother her once more. She shook it off with her head, and looked at Kaci, "If you're not hungry..." she trailed off, thinking the message got through that she wasn't about to be so rude as to eat in front of Kaci while she just sits next to her.

[Pheonix Alugere]

What did you see out there? I kept getting images of a l-l-l-l-lizard m-m-man. Jen asks, the strange sensation in her crotch distract her enough to say the sentence clearly until she had to mention the lizard man.

[xivvix]

As Melissa reaches for an apple, she suddenly leans forward against the table, causing it to shake. One hand comes up to her head, and the other slams the glass of water down on the table, a few drops splashing out as she steadies herself. "Whoa," she says, her head down, eyes blinking. After a moment she straightens up and says, "Guess I was hungrier than I thought." She clears her throat, then grabs a paper plate and begins to shove food onto it, popping smaller bits into her mouth as she does. "Pretty good," she mumbles to Morgan, after swallowing a bit of cheese.

[TheWeirdOne]

"If you're not hungry..."

Kaci looked down at Shiva. She rolled her eyes making sure Shiva couldn't see her though. She said to her, "I'm hungry, I just wanted to know if you want to come with me." Then she said teasingly, "That's why I stood up. You wanna come with me?"

[Janna]

Morgan puts her hand on Melissa's shoulder, steadying her, "Are you okay? You looked like you were going to faint for a second there." She looks a bit worried, but seeing Melissa eating reminds her of how hungry she is; she takes a plate and loads it up with some fruit and veggies. "Maybe we should at least sit down while we're having food," she says, hoping to play off her concern as no big deal, "Wouldn't want to spill all over the place."

[Rule 34]

Cat

"Hey there, whoa," says Griffen, holding up his hand. "I didn't mean anything by it. Just trying to pay you a compliment." He chuckles, "You're going to get yourself in trouble if you react like that anytime somebody says something nice." He takes a half-step back, giving her some space in case she really is going to start swinging. "I thought we were getting along pretty well."


"Saying something nice isn't the same as imagining somebody in a skintight bodysuit and telling them about it", Cat informs him with glaring eyes.

[xivvix]

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Melissa reassures Morgan. "Just a little dizzy. Thanks." At the mention of sitting down, Melissa turns to look for an open set of chairs, saying, "Yeah, my knees feel a little weak, I could use a..."

Melissa words trail off as her gaze is drawn to the door of one of the side rooms. It was only slightly open, and no light from the room they were in seemed to penetrate it. She stares at the door, completely still, barely breathing.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Kaci looked down at Shiva. She rolled her eyes making sure Shiva couldn't see her though. She said to her, "I'm hungry, I just wanted to know if you want to come with me." Then she said teasingly, "That's why I stood up. You wanna come with me?"

Shiva felt the massive headache come back, but she felt herself getting used to it. She stood up, brushing the back of her black dress with her hands as she does so. She looks to Kaci, and gives a nod, "Okay," she whispered, ready to follow her Raven haired friend.

[Janna]

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Melissa reassures Morgan. "Just a little dizzy. Thanks." At the mention of sitting down, Melissa turns to look for an open set of chairs, saying, "Yeah, my knees feel a little weak, I could use a..."

Melissa words trail off as her gaze is drawn to the door of one of the side rooms. It was only slightly open, and no light from the room they were in seemed to penetrate it. She stares at the door, completely still, barely breathing.Morgan follows Melissa's gaze, turning to look at the door, but she doesn't see anything odd about it. She sets down her plate and drapes one arm around Melisssa's shoulder, "C'mon, let's go sit down. You'll feel better once you have something to eat and drink." Carefully she tries to guide the other woman over to an unoccupied chair.

"Take a deep breath for me, okay?" she requests, feeling Melissa tensing up for some reason. "Just let me know what's up and I'll help you out." She keeps watching the door, unsure if maybe Melissa had seen something that had frightened her.

[Icelus]

Jen
The man gives Jen a strange look. "Lizard men?" He seems unaware of her odd state.

Cat
"Who says I was?" Griffen asks, still keeping his space, though his smile fades a little as Cat continues to glare up at him. Moxie gives a worried whine from about Cat's feet.

Morgan and Melissa
Rosie, who's fallen silent in all this time as she listens to the two women chatter, helps Morgan to support the police officer to a nearby chair. She's not smiling anymore, looking a little worried.

[xivvix]

Melissa jumps at Morgan's touch, more of the food spilling from the plate, and she lets out a small whimper. She looks at Morgan wide eyed and shivering for a second, then back at the door. Suddenly she blinks, and looks confused. She stares at the door for a second then glances back at Morgan and nods, "Yeah." As they walk to the chairs, she glances back at the door, but not for long, her fingers gripping tightly on the plate and glass.

Melissa sits down, taking a deep breath and bringing a hand to her head, before wiping a strand of hair away from her eye and sitting up straight. "It was..." she began, then stopped and sighed, her face looking more like it had only moments ago, calm and in control. "It was nothing, just thought I saw... Nothing." She gulps and licks her lips, then proceeds to pick slowly at the food.

[Janna]

Morgan sits down next to her, still looking worried, "Melissa, what is it? What did you see?" She has totally forgotten about her own food and is shivering a little bit herself, even though she's trying to calm down the other woman. Her eyes glance around the room to see if anybody else is reacting like Melissa.

[Rule 34]

"Aw sheesh, now you made me upset the puppy", Cat snaps as she reaches down and picks Moxie up. "Sssh sssh", she hushes as she scritches his head. It seems to calm her down as much as the dog. "Look, I don't like guys hitting on me, and you're not even that much of a hunk. Stay and behave or go eat a dick, I don't care either way."

[TheWeirdOne]

Shiva felt the massive headache come back, but she felt herself getting used to it. She stood up, brushing the back of her black dress with her hands as she does so. She looks to Kaci, and gives a nod, "Okay," she whispered, ready to follow her Raven haired friend.

Kaci quickly wrapped her arm around Shiva' shoulder as she stood up. Smiling she pulled her in closely. Walking to the table with food on it she let go of Shiva. Getting a plate she quickly put a bunch of meat on it like chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs. She started digging in before she even sat down waiting for Shiva to get her food.


(( Nobody saw this coming.... ))

[xivvix]

"I didn't see anything," Melissa says, her eyes on her plate. "It just felt like..." she paused, glancing up at the door, then at Morgan. She sighed again and dropped her eyes back to her food. "I felt like I was being watched, from the door," she said, sounding defeated. I must sound crazy.

[Pheonix Alugere]

When I w-was out in the m-main r-room. I st-st-started to have v-visions of a m-monster than was ha-ha-ha... part l-lizard part p-person at-t-t-tacking m-me. Jen says, the fear she had tried to ward off earlier returning and causing her to have problems speaking again. Fortunately, the odd sensation that is plaguing her is starting to fade away at least.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva's breath stopped as Kaci drew her in for a close hug, her cheeks going deep red with a blush as the girl drew her in. The surprise of the sudden kindness flustered Shiva, as she walked limply with her to the table. As soon as Kaci let her go, she slowly felt the embarrassment go away, and gracefully sat at the table. Before Shiva even dug in, she looked at Kaci out of the corner of her eye, noticing the girl gorge herself on all kinds of various foods before she herself took a bowl, and took some salad out of the salad bowl, placing it in her own. With a fork, Shiva slowly took little bites of her food, almost nibbling on it, savoring it. She had always loved salad, and seafood as well. But, she wasn't in the mood for seafood, so she figured a nice, simple salad would suffice for now, while she tried to ignore Kaci's stuffing of herself at her side.

[Janna]

Morgan furrows her brow and looks at Melissa. This didn't make any sense, just a minute ago the police woman was acting so confident and now she's turned into a nervous, shaking wreck. The food wasn't that bad, Morgan thinks. What had the other girl said before the medic had taken her out? Something about Lizard Men out to get her? Morgan turns to look at the door and then down the hall towards the thrown together infirmary.

"Look, don't worry about it," she says, hoping that she sounds sympathetic. "There's a lot going on and we're in kind of a weird situation. Just have something to eat and try to rest, okay?"

[xivvix]

Melissa couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Just a few minutes ago this girl had come up to her, talking about having a strange experience that Melissa had dismissed, and now the situation was reversed. Maybe the problem with this town is mass hysteria. Melissa looks up at Morgan with a smile and says, "Thanks. I'm okay, really." Still smiling, Melissa picked up her pace with her food.

[TheWeirdOne]

Seeing Shiva sit down with her food Kaci takes a seat next to her. Eating her food fast she didn't seem like she savored the flavor like Shiva did. The speed at which she ate and how much food she had probably made some people around her wonder how she looked like she was in shape. Her mouth was full when she started to ask Shiva a question. Her words came out a little muffled with all the food in her mouth, "So how long you been in town? I think if you lived here I would have noticed you before." She didn't turn to face Shiva as she asked this question probably sparing her a sight of a strange girl gorging her face and talking at the same time.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva eyes squinted at Kaci when she spoke with her mouth full, finding herself putting a little distance between her and the woman, for the sake of not having anything fall out of her mouth, and onto her...

Shiva, bringing her bowl with her as she moved a little away, answered Kaci with her soft, calm voice, "I came to work as... as a..." Shiva trailed off, her breathing suddenly becoming labored, her heart starting to pound, and a sense of lightheadedness enveloping her. She suddenly placed her hands on the table violently, causing a rattle of everything on it as she sought support from falling over. Her heart was throbbing heavily, and her head felt as light as air, her vision blurring.

To those around her, Shiva looked to be having a panic attack, which surprised her as well, as she's never had one in her life. Although she strangely felt releived, she couldn't help but feel worried about her own sudden condition, as she leaned over her bowl, her hands on the table acting as supports, breathing heavily, her eyes wide with the shock of the sudden development.

[ToxicShock]

Snorting, then laughing, Cara took the guitar back. "Alright, suit yourself." She strummed a bit more, decided it needed a bit of a tune, and went to that for a moment or two. "I don't think anyone would notice. Everyone here is too caught up in their own little world, I think." She nods to huddled groups of towns-people, visitors, and families. Even if some of the soldiers were glancing their way, it didn't seem that anybody was paying them much heed.

Nudging him with her elbow, the woman added, "and I don't think fools can make bigger fools out of themselves one around the other, so don't go getting your panties in a knot." If he wasn't embarrassed, than she was the queen of england; however, the man hadn't gone and told her off like that snippy bald man, so Cara wasn't feeling prone to up and walking away.

Speaking of which, she glanced Cat and Griffen's way, noting that the two seemed to be quarreling. Poor puppy was getting ignored. Ah well, Cara's first impression of the two was that they were both quarrelsome sorts. She wasn't all that surprised. Turning her gaze back to Buster, she wondered aloud, "so what wouldn't make you bored? I have a feeling we're going to be here a while, the way they set up food for us," she noted. She had a feeling that the damn army men (and women, she'd noted) were doing their very best to inconvenience them without actually appearing to. Typical.

The feeling and meaning behind Busters smile returned, albeit slowly, when the girl started tuning the guitar while trying to reassure him that it wouldn't be an embarrassment. She elbowed him and told him he couldn't make himself a bigger fool. In order to break eye contact, Buster turned his glance downward, grinning even more at her comment,and shifted in his chair. Did she just call me a fool? Haha, well she's not wrong, I guess. I don't think I've ever felt this good about being called a fool before.

Buster slowly worked his gaze back up at the girl, hesitating for a second at her neck, before giving his head a little shake and returning to her eyes. He sat back and stared at her, waiting for her to finish while listening intently. "What wouldn't make me bored? Jeez.. there's not much to do around here. I think crack would bore me at this point." He tried to give a laugh before compressing his smile back into his head. Drugs aren't funny, shut up you idiot! Change the subject now! "Tell ya what, play a little bit more, I'll get comfortable and I just might take you up on your offer all right? Even if I do look a fool, you can help me out, and at least be keeping both of us busy right?

[TheWeirdOne]

Seeing Shiva start to ram the table violently Kaci quickly swallowed all her food. Choking a little from the sudden amount of food she just took down she banged her chest really hard and felt better. She quickly got up out of her chair and got behind Shiva placing her arms around her. It probably looked like she was hugging her when in truth she didn't want the girl to suddenly faint and crack her head open on something. She leaned against the back of Shiva's chair and said to her in a concerned tone of voice, "Hey, you ok? Is this like that headache from before?" She left her medkit at the side of seat. Remembering Shiva saying she was a doctor herself she thought she could just let her go into it and see if there was any medicine that she thought would help her in it. Still sounding concerned she said with her arms wrapped around Shiva, "My backpack has medicine in it, you told me you had experience in the field, you wanna see if there's anything in it that'll help you?

[Mamono Assault Force]

Taking deep breaths, Shiva relaxed a bit, and felt herself slowly returning to normal. The feeling of dizzyness fading from her, as well as the rapid heart beat slowly regulating itself. Shiva breathed in slowly, then breathed out slowly, trying to recompose herself lest she attract the attention of everyone around her.

Shiva let out a relaxed sigh, "I'd need to perform a CAT scan in order to be sure exactly what I need..." Shiva looked back at Kaci, and blushed at the way she was being held, with Kaci's arms wrapped around her. Shiva quickly turned her head away in embarrassment, "I-I'm fine..." she whispered in a stutter.

After looking down at her food, she actually questioned whether or not she was really fine. Something strange was going on, this she knew, and it all seemed to occur after she had arrived in this town...

[TheWeirdOne]

She let go of Shiva because it seemed like she had regained her composure and she said she was fine. Also, she caught the hint that she got embarrassed easily. She said to her her voice sounded almost like she was choking now, "I didn't want you to break your head open... 'scuse me." Walking off from Shiva and facing away from her she started coughing violently while covering her mouth with her hand.

After she was done she turned to her and with watery eyes from coughing she said, "Swallowed my food to fast..." Wiping off her eyes she went back to eating but this time far slower.

Shiva could probably tell she was keeping an eye on her because she wasn't really trying to hide it.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva showed her own concern for Kaci, the flush in her cheeks gone, replaced with concern for the girl as she seemed distraught from swallowing more than she should have. Shiva relaxed after Kaci's throat seemed clear, and the most help she could think of giving now would be something to lower her throat's agitation.

Shiva felt shameful that she made the girl choke on her food. With her hands on the table, she simply stared at her salad, and whispered an apology, "I'm sorry..." she told Kaci, her devilish red eyes focused on the salad in thought.

"What is going wrong with me?" she asked herself, though not expecting an answer, "These abnormalities seem to be getting worse... I think I need to go to a hospital for an examination..." Her eyes wandered around the salad, as she suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore. Her eyes fixed in place, the sounds of Kaci's munching was only a distant thing in her mind...

[wallpaper]

((^_^ Hope the long posts are okay. If they're causing you annoyance, poke me!))

"Both of us busy, or both of us fools," Cara agreed companionably, then, "more'n likely some of both." Winking, she returned her attention to absent-minded crowd-gazing as her hands and pick teased music from the instrument. She wasn't a stellar player, but she was at least quite competent. The somewhat raggedy woman sought to help Buster calm down with a basic tune that varied enough not to get boring. 'God forbid boring,' she thought as she smiled to herself.

After a bit, she opened her mouth up to speak again, but found herself interrupted by a wave of vertigo, causing her head to lull forward slightly and her notes to go sour as her hands clamped up, looking for something solid to hold her. The initial wave of it passed and though her head still felt a little like it was spinning, she realized that she was already sitting with her back to the wall, ass planted solidly on the ground, thank God. Whatever she'd been about to say passed as a quiet groan as her eyes fell closed for a second. She was torn between trying to shake the feeling away or to bask for a few moments in the flush and sudden yammering heart-rate that came with it... In the end, Cara brought her hand to her face and scrubbed at it, trying to remember what she'd been about to say before her body had hijacked her thoughts like a giddy teenage girl. 'It's got to be someone dropped something in the water,' she thought, managing to quell the worst of the dizziness, though the rest still seemed to linger.

She didn't usually get embarrassed, but she'd realized that she hadn't said anything for a minute or so, and she had no idea where the feeling'd come from. It couldn't have been from just sitting beside a relative stranger like Buster; she refused to believe that she was that... that... naive. Forcing herself to return to the music, at least, Cara shook stray bangs into her face to hide her flush that had taken on an embarrassed heat as she chewed on the hows, whys, and what-the-hells. At least it didn't take her too long to turn her attention back to the man. Without preamble, she asked, "ever get those feelings where you're dreaming and you go to lift your leg, and suddenly you're jolted awake?" That was the closest she could come to describing what she'd just experienced, though there was no dream and it wasn't her leg she was thinking about. She forced herself to look at his face, since she knew she wasn't subtle enough to pull off looking him over (she'd been told as much in the past) to see if maybe it was him that caused the reaction. 'Not my type,' she all but waggled a mental finger at her own nose, just to make sure she had that fixed firmly in mind until she could return to concentrating on what was really important.

[Janna]

Morgan nods to Melissa, "Okay. Just let know if you start feeling weird again; it might mean something." She walks back to the table and retrieves her own plate, looking around the room on her trip back to sit down with the policewoman again; she blinks and stares at Shiva for a moment, watching the white-haired woman almost collapse against the table.

"Did you see that?" she asks when she sits down. "There's definitely something weird happening here; it can't be medical because we haven't seen any doctors. They wouldn't just be leaving us all together if there was some kind of contagious thing spreading around." She bites her lip, "What do you want to be that if we asked her, she'd say the same thing? Just a weird feeling that all comes up at once and then passes before you know can figure it out?"

[Icelus]

Melissa and Morgan
Rosie looks pensive, watching the two. "Look," she says very quietly. "I don't think that it's going to matter whether we keep a watch for these things or not... I think it's going to keep on happening." The gooseflesh on her bare arms is apparent as she rubs at them. "If this is what I think it is, we're all in some very bad trouble..."

Cat
Moxie, picked up by Cat and cradled, gives her the inevitable puppy eyes as he begins to calm down.

Griffen, on the other hand, seems rather unimpressed. "You're a little young," he tells her, though he doesn't try to defend himself one way or another about hitting on her any more. Best to leave it lie, even as offended as he seems. "Besides, you've got sack to tell me to behave, girl. I haven't laid a hand on you and I'm not planning on it," he tells her mildly, though whether that's true or not...

Persuasion Check
Griffen 8+5+2 (Charm) vs Cat 13, Success.

...well, he doesn't seem like he's going to start anything here. Besides, it might be nice to have someone on her side if everyone winds up getting herded somewhere strange.

Jen
The man shakes his head. "Best to lay down and rest it out. Others have shown up," he leans in and tells her, "not lizard men, but other things..."

[Rule 34]

"You still checked me out", Cat complains. "That's a federal offense in Catland", she adds with a thumb pointing at herself. Inside she knows she's acting absurd, but this has turned into a battle about who's right, and Cat would rather die than admit she's wrong.

[xivvix]

Melissa looks over at the girl Morgan had pointed out, furrowing her brows at the girl's behavior. She shakes her head. "For some reason, doctors are the last thing I want to see right now. Hell, they may be the reason it's all happening."

Melissa's head whips around at Rosie's statement, her face suddenly stern. "What do you mean 'what you think it is'?" she asks intently. "Has something like this happened before?"

[ToxicShock]

((^_^ Hope the long posts are okay. If they're causing you annoyance, poke me!))

(at first I read that and thought, "Nah, I like it, it makes me write more and I like that. Then I scrolled down to the rest of your post and went :eek:)

Buster smirked at her comment and turned down to the guitar, eyes closely looking at the strings as they vibrated at her touch. His hand went back up to his mouth, not to chew on his nails, but absentmindedly picking at his upper lip before his vision went past the guitar at nothing in particular, as his mind blanked and he spaced out listening to the music. It seemed like forever in his mind before he was struck awake by the sound of an off-note, and he noticed her loss of balance as she almost fell forward. His hands shot out in front of her, as if to offer support if she fell but never making contact. There he froze... no.. wait yes, he actually froze for a bit, making sure she didn't barrel face first into the ground, but she seemed ok.

He took his hand back as she regained herself and asked him if he were familiar with the feeling she had just had. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean." In all honesty, he had no idea, but he wasn't about to make her feel weird about what just happened. She was staring directly at him for a bit, and neither of them were talking so he reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder reassuringly before asking "You're all right, right?" And though an answer didn't come INSTANTLY after it was asked, it still seemed like too long to Buster's hyper, overthinking mind. He looked at his hand still on her shoulder, jerking it back at the wrist quickly to come off before returning the rest of his arm slowly to his lap. His eyes followed his hand back to himself and he seemed to return to his habits the closer his hand came back to him, knee bouncing as soon as the hand rested back on it.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci looked to Shiva finally seeming to remember her table manners swallowing her food before she started to speak. "Hey, no problem... Don't worry about it, if I didn't eat like a pig that wouldn't have happened." She smiled at Shiva and said, "Small price to pay to make sure you didn't crack your head open or something."

Seeing Shiva still wasn't eating her food she wondered if something was still wrong with her. She was silent though not wanting to embarrass the girl further.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen nods at the man and makes some sort of affirmative sound before curling herself more tightly and laying down onto the cot, trying to get some sleep. Although, give the waking nightmare she had earlier, she doesn't know how restful the sleep will be.

[Janna]

The grape she was had in her hand tumbles to the floor and rolls away as Morgan slumps forward, nearly falling out of her chair before catching herself. She blinks rapidly, blushing just a little and touches her stomach, "I... um... What? Doctors?" she seems a bit confused as she turns to look at Melissa again.

Shaking her head, she focuses again, agreeing with the Melissa, "If you know what's happening around here, even if you have an idea or a wild theory, I think we should know." Her hand scratches at a spot just below her belly button though her top, like she has a bug bite or another itch.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva blushes at the kind words from Kaci. Her eyes blink several times before she whispers in response to her caring words, "... Thank you..." she thanks Kaci, her soft voice carrying meaning with it. Looking down at her food, Shiva decides not to waste it, even though she had lost her appetite. Picking up her fork again, she continues to slowly pick at her food, trying to mix many things in the salad together in one bite, as the great taste of it seemed to bring back her appetite a little.

She continued to quietly eat her food, not making a noise, other than the occasional ding of her fork hitting the edge of the glass bowl.

[xivvix]

This time it's Melissa's turn to reach out to Morgan, her hand quickly sliding across the girl's back, ready to catch her if she needed it. "Whoa, easy," Melissa said. "That's three people in a short amount of time," she said, once Morgan had recovered. "I didn't see anything out of the ordinary in here," she mused, almost to herself, though the others could hear. "Maybe some kind of gas or radiation."

Raising her head up, she looked at Rosie, "What about you? Has anything happened to you?"

[Janna]

Morgan's eyes close and she sighs happily when Melissa's hand rubs down her back, actually leaning against Melissa weakly until she can recover.

[wallpaper]

((I'll try to whittle it down to two or less paragraphs per post, then. ;3))

She went tense as he placed his hand on her, waiting to see if the odd sensation would get worse. To her relief, there were no sparks or embarrassing further losses of control; his concern only added to the sense of relief. Inwardly, she pummeled the odd little flare of lust back into submission. 'I'm not that bored,' she thought to herself, regaining her composure with a grin as she nearly laughed at herself. "Yeah, I'm alright, I just had a thing," she told him, "um, a moment. Never had one like that before, it just felt like jerking out of a dream." She rubbed at her face again, hand coming up to scrub at one temple and then at her still burning cheek. "Fucking town. People going missing and I feel like I'm on a really [i]strange trip of my own here, sometimes. Not often, just... this morning it's like there's a jolt of 'oh, fuck, I'm going to die' and crazy coyote howls. Some skinhead told me off for it, but I know what I heard." She looked a little vexed. "Now this. I'm not that crazy. My body doesn't fuck with me like this on a regular basis, just since I've been to Peiquok."

[ToxicShock]

(don't worry, I was joking. Just do however much you can or feel you're up to and I'll return in kind)

She gathered herself and seemed back to 100%, so Buster no longer worried and returned the smile she now had. She went on explaining her issues with the situation, and Buster turned back downward. I guess there's just no way to avoid talking about what's going on here. I can't cover this up with laughs, that's just being ridiculous. "Well, extreme situations lead way to extreme emotion. I don't think any of us are thinking totally clearly and it's having an effect on all of us. Trust me, you're not the only one." Buster leaned forward with his forearms across his thighs and moving his hands from in his lap to between his legs, before looking back up to her. "You're not going to die. We have plenty of people with guns around. Plus I'm here, so that's like times ten awesome, haha." Goddamn it, stop trying to be funny, you know you can't ignore this forever. His laugh stopped instantly, but quickly realizing it, tried to recover. "..wait, what do you mean crazy coyote howls?"

[wallpaper]

Cara's face refused to stop burning as her blush changed to one of self righteous annoyance. 'What is it with men laughing me off around here, first that dipshit with the beard and now this guy?' she knew what she'd experienced, it wasn't just 'some woman's emotions getting out of control again'. Come to think of it, she'd run up against that a lot outside of Peiquok too, though for entirely different reasons.

Then she realized that Buster was trying to make a crack, and she loosened up a little. She'd really had him going, there. Scowling at him for a moment, budging him with her elbow to show that she hadn't liked that one, she tried to think of a way to explain that wouldn't sound crazy. "Like howls from something you've never heard of before; eerie, haunting noises as if they were coming from outside, somewhere. Just quiet, but I still heard them."

She glanced at him and down at her guitar, then made busy by settling it in her case again and snapping the case shut. "Look, I'm gonna go see if I can get some answers. If anything when we can get out of here. I don't care if it's just me being an overstrung psychobitch, I don't like being kept cooped up with nothing to do and nowhere to go."

[ToxicShock]

She didn't at all seem entertained at what Buster had said and he didn't understand why. She didn't keep it for long though and gave him a little elbow. He picked his hand up out of his lap to rub where she hit, not that it hurt, but to show that he got the point of it. He listened to her try and explain the sound she hurt, nodding his head to what she was saying. "Must have been before I got here. I haven't really had the chance to hear anything since I got here."

His smile faded when he saw she was putting away her guitar. She told him she was off to get some answers as he peered back up at her. "Sorry," he turned to himself in confusement for saying that, he knew her mood had changed but didn't really tack it up to his fault, so not sure why he said it, must have been at just the guilt of seeing her walk off. "Good luck. If they tell ya anything, let me know k?"

His gaze dropped back down to his knees for a bit, which started to bounce again as he once again went back to biting his nails. He looked up and scanned the room, looking for more people to meet. Hopefully everyone here's that interesting.

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna walks into the building sighing as she played with the release and close functions of her claw. This was definately not where she wanted to be, and that stupid arcade owner had lied to her. She was going to take that bastard to the cleaners once she got out of here... whatever the hell was going on here anyway...

She smiles as she walks around the room, twirling her weapon as she looks around for a conversation to drop into, or someone interesting to talk to...

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci, still keeping an eye on Shiva, smiled as she saw Shiva starting to eat again. Maybe she was starting to feel better. She still ate slowly, though, just in case if something happened again. She said to Shiva, "No need to thank me, like I said I'm becoming a doctor because I like to help people." She added to her sentence still smiling at her, "I think you'll make a good friend, so what'd you come here to work as let me guess... A doctor?" Kaci hoped Shiva would stay in town for a longer period of time then a common traveler....

[Mamono Assault Force]

Although it took Shiva to piece it all together in her mind, at first she gave a start when Kaci knew that she had come looking for work as a doctor. Letting out a small gasp, she looked over to Kaci with her red, devilish eyes, and gave a slight nod, "Y-yes..." she whispered in answer to Kaci's assumption. Taking another bite from the salad, she noticed half of it was eaten, and she didn't think she could eat the rest. She set the fork down for a second, and thought to herself.

"Why is she being so nice to me...?" her brow furrowed in confusion, "No one's ever treated me like this before..."

Shiva let out a sigh, and looked over to one of the windows outside, watching the persistent rain batter the window, feeling entranced once more by the white noise of rain landing on the roof, window, as well as everything else. She sat, and stared, drawn in by the sound without rhythm, letting it dull her senses...

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna notices the two girls eating salad by the table and thinks to herself,

"Man... I haven't eaten anything except granola bars and stale candy for the last two days..." She quickly walks up to the table and stands there, staring hungrily at the salad, not even realizing there was a much bigger table with food on it, as soon as she sees the girl put down her fork, she quickly grabs at it, "Mine!"

[wallpaper]

As Cara got to her feet, she nodded to Buster and told him, "promise, if I can spot you again anyways," considering there were many people here, she didn't think it'd be hard for the freckled blonde to hide away somewhere.

That said, she turned away and sought out the nearest clump of soldiers, maybe a medic if she could, to see if she could find out what the hell was happening... or maybe just to be able to sit down somewhere out of the way; she'd seen some people getting escorted out of the main hall, maybe Buster was right (she hated to admit it) and she was letting the fear get ahold of her.

...Then again, while Cara did enjoy a good rush of adrenaline now and then, she'd never really been the kind to get... worked up... over being frightened. Angry, sure, but not frightened.

((Search out some soldiers, unless someone else wants to intercept her? :D))

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva gives a start as some strange girl runs up and takes her fork, but only sighs, and pushes her bowl away, the white haired, red eyed girl using the newfound excuse to stop eating. Shiva sits quietly next to Kaci, and waits for the Raven haired girl to finish her food as well, not wanting to pay any heed to the girl that, for some reason, wanted her fork...

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna notices that the girl pushed her bowl away and hadn't reacted to her taking the fork, she smiles, taking this as a good sign that the girl was done anyway. She reaches over and grabs the salad bowl, starting to eat it hungrily and voraciously, "Thanks for the food!"

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva shook her head, not responding to the crazed woman's actions, or words, allowing her to take the salad bowl. Shiva looked over to Kaci, wondering if she was almost done eating, wanting to take any excuse she could to put distance between her and this crazed woman.

(That's your cue, Neo, post dam it!)

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci watched the strange girl taking Shiva's food. She was going to yell at her but Shiva seemed to give up her food willingly. Shrugging she went back to eating and watching to make sure Shiva was ok at the same time. When she was done she said to the girl that took her food in a cold voice, "Hey, next time before you go around taking people's food... look around to see if there is a huge table with food on it alerady." Not caring if the girl saw her she pointed to the table with food on it... (Whichever direction it is)

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna continues to eat the salad happily as she looks at the two girls, "Ah... really? Is it free? Or do I have to pay? Uh..." She reaches for her back pocket and pulls out her wallet, which seems rather light looking, "I uh... don't have very much money... um... so..." She scratches her head, then puts her wallet away and offers a hand, smiling happily, if not a little silly looking, "Hi! Uh... nice to meet you! Can I borrow some money?"

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva looks away from the girl, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of her words. With all of the food being right in front of them, Shiva just didn't say anything, as the only things she did think of were very rude, and she wasn't in the mood to start something with some strange girl she didn't even know...

[Icelus]

Cat
Griffen snorts, then looks across the way to the refreshments table. "If your majesty would prefer, I'm going to go get some chow. Stay here if you want."

He pauses as the lights in the room flicker momentarily, scowl apparent clearly even through his trimmed beard.

Melissa and Morgan
Rosie gets a little rosy in the cheeks as Melissa begins to question her. "No, not exactly. Not like this. I've heard stories but..." she pauses as the lights flicker, revealing how dark it can get in the hall as night seems to be drawing on. Swallowing, she glances around the room, looking at all those others trapped with her. When she doesn't seem to find what she's looking for, she tells the two women, "I don't think that anybody here is gonna be able to help us..." she mutters absently, then more clearly, "I just have my grandfather's stories to go off of, and half of what he used to tell me was chaff, you know?"

When Melissa asks Rosie about her own experiences, she looks to the floor, thinking long and hard. "Before I met Morgan," she begins, "a few minutes before, actually." She chews on her lips and thinks. "I just got this awful feeling that I'd gotten sucked up and entombed by something. I think if I hadn't been in the middle of the open hall I'd be a lot worse for wear, but I just..." she shrugs, "shrugged it off at first."

Kaci, Shiva and Leianna
As the three women chat (or rather, as Kaci and Leianna chat and Shiva seems to give the good approximation of a hellish glare), they are briefly interrupted by the flickering of lights. Somewhere nearby -- there are a lot of people seated near the table that bears food and drink, after all, -- they can each hear someone mutter, "great, here we go," as they notice several soldiers heading for the side door...

Jen
Jen has a few hours to rest somewhat peacefully... visions of snakemen and strange sensations begin to fade from mind as she rests, but as the night begins to draw on, she's wakened by the flickering of lights. A child begins to whimper in a cot against the wall while his mother shushes him, and then two soldiers bring in another woman, slightly older than Jen, who is wailing at the top of her lungs. "Don't touch me!" she shrieks as they wrestle to calm her down. "Leave me alone! They're after me! They're after everybody!"

Buster
The blonde catches a lot of interesting little tidbits. Two families nearby -- a mother and two twin sisters, as well as a father and mother with their son -- are deep in conversation, nearly huddled together for all that they're intent on one another's words. Several soldiers are mulling through the crowd, either to comfort them or to gain information. A boy of seven or eight is wandering through as well and looking for his mother, who is apparently one of those who have disappeared.

As he watches for someone to come by to talk with, Buster sees the lights flicker briefly. His proximity to one of the windows allows him to hear what might be gunshots and a noise... much like what Cara described earlier. The howl is not close, but it sounds pretty unearthly.

Cara
As Cara looks for someone to speak with, she encounters a group of soldiers heading back outside. The lights flicker, and in the moment that they return, she sees that one of them stumbles slightly, head drooping for a moment before she curses and regains her bearings. The three of them stop altogether when she stumbles again... none of them look happy, and none of them seem to notice Cara heading their way.

[wallpaper]

Cara paused as the soldiers did, not sure about approaching them now that they were going through what looked like... maybe... the same thing that she'd seen others in the town hall experiencing. She looked around her to see if anyone else was watching her, then moved a little closer if the soldiers decided to take off. Maybe they'd be more willing to speak if they didn't know that she was hanging around and listening.

She hadn't liked the way that things were turning out as the sky had begun to grow dark, and she was absolutely certain that she'd picked up more of those noises that she'd heard earlier. If they were in real trouble, she wanted some kind of heads up on what it was that they'd been corralled in here for.

((Use stealth or awareness or something to try to pick up some information? Maybe track 'em to the doors if they're heading that way? :O))

[xivvix]

Melissa winces as the lights flicker. She hadn't realized how late it was getting, the sudden realization of how dark it might become in here gave her a momentary shudder, before she hugged Morgan. "Don't worry, everything's okay," she told the girl, though she honestly wasn't sure who she was trying to comfort.

Looking back at Rosie, Melissa said, "I think you'd better tell us about these stories, even if they sound crazy."

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci said to the girl "Let me answer your question with a riddle... How many paramedics go to work with a bunch of money?" She said this knowing full well she didn't look anything like a paramedic and was wearing her 'normal' clothes. After she said this the lights flickered, she looked around again seeming to be in her own world. Not seeing what she wanted to she sighed and looked sad. She just hung her head and stared at the table now.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Her momentary waking calm broken by the woman, the images of the lizard man returns. Moving closer to the woman, Is... is it the l-lizard man? She asks shakily. She avoids touching the woman having draw the conclusion that the lizard man and any of his allies might be able to extend their reach through physical contact.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva was ready to take any excuse she could get to put distance between herself, and this crazed woman. She looked at Kaci quickly, and whispered, "Excuse me," before quietly sneaking in the direction of the soldiers, wanting to eavesdrop on what they were up to, what with the strange sounds in the distance she wasn't about to pass off as just lightning...

Not only that, but Shiva was still very suspicious about the soldiers actions, about why they'd want to keep everyone in a town where people disappear, and why so many people seem to be going insane with all kinds of unusual mental trauma. She didn't think she could find one woman who was being effected in this way without the soldiers carting them off to who-knows-where, so she thought to spy on the soldiers themselves, and see if they run their mouths about what was happening.

( Shiva uses stealth to stay out of the soldier's attention, while trying to listen in on what they're saying )

[Icelus]

Cara, Shiva
The two women wind up focusing on the same group of soldiers, two of which are actually women, one of which is a man.

Stealth and awareness checks
Cara
11+8+2 vs Soldiers 12, success.

Shiva
6+8+6 vs Soldiers 12, success.

The trio doesn't notice the blonde nor the albino-like woman...

Cara
8+5+2 vs Soldiers 13, success.

Shiva
7+7+4 vs Soldiers 13, success.

...however, the two women spot one another and realize that one another are basically after the same thing.

The male soldier tells the one who's stumbled, "it's getting worse, isn't it?"

The brunette -- the one who hasn't stumbled -- grumbles, "you know what, fuck Peiquok; I never liked this place even when it wasn't straight out of a bad horror story. We should just pick up and get the hell out of here; townies'd be happy enough to get out on their own, too."

"You know we can't do that," the man tells her, giving her a hard look.

The blonde -- the woman who'd stumbled -- pauses in rubbing her head and tells the both of them, "look, I'm fine, alright?"

"Bullshit you are," the other woman confronts her. "You got that feeling where you're getting torn apart by a hundred different fucking tentacle-things?" When the other purses her lips, the brunette continues, "or something like it? Everyone here's getting something, and if the higher ups aren't going to give us a fuckin clue..."

"Calm down," the man tells her, then double-checks to make sure that the both of them are quiet. "They need backup down in the park, so we're going there whether you're chasing ghosts or not. That's too close to the townies; if they begin panicking, there aren't enough of us to hold them all and God knows what will happen if they scatter." He casts the two of them a meaningful look that tells them to stop worrying. "It doesn't matter what this town is full of, it's our job to protect these people."

"Yessir," the two reply, one a little less enthusiastic than the other. the three eventually make for the door, though a single guard now stands there, his hands straying nervously to the butt of the rifle slung over his chest. From there, they head out into the rain, leaving Shiva and Cara to wonder what, exactly, they're fighting...

Melissa and Morgan
((Waiting on Janna's post, then I'll get to you two.))

Jen
The young woman finds herself having a hard time conversing with the terrified newcomer, as two medics are wrestling to hold her down. "Snakemen!" she gasps, "all kinds of foul get as God is willing to put on this earth!" She nearly bites an attendant before being forcibly restrained. "That's only the tip of it, only the very tip! Let me go, they're coming to feast!"

Either the medics have injected her with some sort of tranquilizer, or the woman has passed out on her own, but she collapses back on the cot, unable to answer any of Jen's further questions. Everyone else in the small room has gone silent, though the boy who'd been weeping is now outright bawling.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva was astounded by the development. She stood up from where she was hiding, making sure to try and blend in with the crowd of people around, as not to appear like she was eavesdropping, and made her way over to the blond haired, blue eyed girl who was spying with her on the soldiers. Shiva wasn't much for just walking up and talking with people, but the strange images appearing in her head, along with her strange developments in her head made her want answers as to what was happening.

Shiva walked up to the blond haired, blue eyed woman, and asked her in her soft, whisper of a voice, "Excuse me..." she called to Cara softly, trying to get her attention, while not being to rude as to start asking questions right away.

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen backs up to the far end of her cot and curls back into a ball, clutching desperately at the town minutes. W-worse than the l-l-lizard m-man?... She whispers to herself.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci stayed quiet as Shiva left. In truth Shiva was helping distract her from thinking about her parents. She sighed and turned her head over to the strange girl that stole Shiva's food. She said to her looking for another distraction, "You don't live here do you... how'd you get to this place? by the way the food on that table is free."

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna sticks the fork into her mouth as she thinks, then answers, "I would think paramedics carry lots of money around, I mean, what happens if you get hungry on the job?" She waves the fork around as she smiles and looks away, "I walked here, from a small town nearby, I heard something about an arcade around here..." She looks around, feeling a little annoyed, "Better not be some bastard out there stealing all the prizes from the UFO Catcher machines..." (Btw, UFO Catcher machines are those games where you put a coin in and you get about 10 seconds to try to position the claw right, so that it drops down and grabs the thing you wanted)

[TheWeirdOne]

She laughed at the girl's answer to her 'riddle.' She said to her "We don't really have time to stop for food. You know trying to save people and all..." She sighed. She liked Shiva better then this girl but pressed on anyway, "I'm sure whatever is causing a lock down wouldn't be too interested in stealing some cheap toys, it's probably not something you have to worry about... What's your name by the way? Mine's Kaci."

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna grins and shakes her head, ""That's where you're wrong, see, new arcade owners are usually idiots and think that if they put a big enough prize in the machine, it'll make money for them, and it's usually true~" She thinks about what the girl said, then looks at her, "So... um, what happens if you're really hungry, but you have to rush a patient to the hospital? And by that, I mean you're so hungry you're going to collapse! My name is Leianna, Leianna William Sebastian Tsui."

[TheWeirdOne]

This girl seemed more concerned about toys then what was happening. What did they tell her when they rushed her in here? She said to her, "Why are you so concerned about toys right now...? Did you just wonder in here or something...?" Then answering Leianna's question she considered idiotic, "That has never happened to me... and is probably one of the-" She stopped considering maybe she shouldn't make anyone mad right now, later probably.

Thinking about her name she said, "Your name reminds me of a character from an anime..." As she said this she looked like she was deep in thought staring at the ceiling, "Oh yeah Edward, from Cowboy Bebop..."

(( Don't ask me when I heard that name I thought of Edward and was like... meh might as well! ))

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna shrugs as she plays with the bowl, "I was pretty much grabbed when I came into town, then I was taken here, where I got hungry, then I started talking to you!" She laughs at the toys comment, "I don't know~ having lots of toys makes me happy I guess! Uh... anime... yeah, I watch that sometimes.. can't say I know this Edward though!" She laughs again, a little uneasily as she watches the trio of soldiers leaving.

[Rule 34]

Cat
Griffen snorts, then looks across the way to the refreshments table. "If your majesty would prefer, I'm going to go get some chow. Stay here if you want."

Cat would tell him off, but at that very moment she is overcome with a heady rush that makes her sink back into the chair, eyes closed and arms relaxing, dropping Moxie into her lap. She feels like she just ran a marathon, but sexier. . . A more experienced woman would recognise it as the feeling you have after being thoroughly fucked till your brain melts. At the same time all the voices seem to fade away, and lonelyness covers her like a thick, comfortable blanket. Just making her want to wrap up in it-
Moxie prods her with his nose, and the feeling goes away as quickly as it came. All that remains is a languidity and a strange feeling of security. "Woah. . . what the?" She stares at the cup of coffee, standing long forgotten on a nearby table. "Did. . . did they put something in there?"

[wallpaper]

Shiva was astounded by the development. She stood up from where she was hiding, making sure to try and blend in with the crowd of people around, as not to appear like she was eavesdropping, and made her way over to the blond haired, blue eyed girl who was spying with her on the soldiers. Shiva wasn't much for just walking up and talking with people, but the strange images appearing in her head, along with her strange developments in her head made her want answers as to what was happening.

Shiva walked up to the blond haired, blue eyed woman, and asked her in her soft, whisper of a voice, "Excuse me..." she called to Cara softly, trying to get her attention, while not being to rude as to start asking questions right away.

Cara hadn't noticed Shiva until the soldiers had taken off, but the moment that the other woman began walking over, she had to do a double-take. Her first impression was of someone incredibly sickly, to have hair and skin like that, then she noticed the woman's eyes and settled (albeit uncomfortably) over the realization that Shiva was probably an albino. Still...

There were more important things to worry about than the colour of someone's skin, like oh, say, people wielding mind-fucking drugs, or even ghosts or monsters... Cara's tripes felt tense, she simply felt uneasy all over. "You heard what they said?" she asked Shiva without much preamble, as her fingers worked nervously over the case strap that rested over one shoulder. "Because I'm not sure that I believe that I heard what they said."

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva's expression took on that of concern, as she couldn't help but address her suspicions to Cara, knowing she must have at least been as curious about what has been happening as she was. Shiva's brows furrowed together, as she asked the blond haired woman in her soft, whisper of a tone, "Have you been feeling strange lately?" Shiva asked Cara, folding her hands in front of her, relaxing them on her black dress, "Please tell me... Have you been feeling strange? Seeing images in your mind, or feeling sudden influxes of mental instability? Such as dizziness, or fatigue?" she asked Cara. Although her voice was still in a soft whisper, anyone who payed attention would note the tinge of concern on her voice, as she desperately sought answers from Cara, hoping the two could piece together another part of this strange puzzle.

[wallpaper]

"Yeah," Cara answered simply, her own darker brows drawing together as the woman came right out and asked it. "Yeah, well, at least I think I have; there's a couple of people here who might say that I'm just a little crazy... why, you too?" Of course she was going to refrain from mentioning the unanticipated lust... if they were up against drugs or ghosts or monsters, they'd want to be killed, not just... have a good time, right?

"Looked like they were having the same problem," she added, jerking her head towards the door so that her bangs fell into her face. She wiped them out of the way again, adding, "I'm thinking that they and us aren't the only ones, either."

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva's head lowered, her eyes shutting tight, as she whispered grimly, "... There is something effecting the minds of everyone here..." she looked up to Cara, "We seem to be fine, but since others are sent away, seeming to be traumatized with conditions I've never seen in my life as a doctor, I think it's only a matter of time before we share the same fate..."

[wallpaper]

She leaned forward, straining to hear the other woman as she whispered. She wondered if Shiva simply smoked so often that she had lost her voice, or if she was just eccentric in more than her appearance. ...But again, that was a side-thought, and didn't necessarily hold relevance at the moment. "Oh, great," Cara grinned sardonically, looking past Shiva to the other refugees (maybe?) who were gathered in the hall. "So I -- we're -- going crazy after all. Somehow I'm not comforted."

Mulling on what Shiva'd mentioned -- she was a doctor? She looked more like a french maid, ferchrissakes! -- Cara tried to think of what they could do with the limited information that they had.

There was one guard at the door, she'd seen. It looked like much of the other military presence inside the room had thinned out as well. They could potentially get out of here, but what then? She made the assumption that whatever the soldiers were 'protecting the townies' from were the same things causing said townies (and vagrants, as Cara was definitely no local) to go nuts. That meant that they might have to face said things, and though Cara had training in defense and fighting, she hadn't handled a weapon in a couple of years. That left the unknown of whether what was happening in Peiquok was happening just in Peiquok. She thought no, considering she'd seen people calling others, and the one soldier'd been wanting to desert...

God, what was so bad that it made people want to desert, aside from the distressing fact that people had outright disappeared? Surely the soldiers here could find whatever was causing people to go crazy and take care of it, right?

Speaking aloud, she told Shiva, "if anyone's gonna get out of here, we're probably gonna have a shit time once we're out the doors... who knows how many soldiers are on the road between here and the highway we need to get out of here. You said you're a doctor? Anything you can think of to keep the crazy at bay until we can figure out an escape route?" ...and that left Cara with another question. How many people was she willing to escape with? Technically, if she could get to her car, she could give four other people a lift, but that was assuming that they could get out to the highway... she had no doubt that they'd meet confrontation on the way out. She had spent the last two years covering her own ass and no one else's, so she couldn't help but think that she might be better to try doing this on her own...

Still, she should probably find Buster and let him know. She had told him that she would do so, and he seemed a little like a lost puppy otherwise...

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva slowly shook her head as Cara asked if she could do something medical about what was happening to everyone's minds, looking down to the floor with shame as she didn't have any idea about what she could do to stop what was happening...

Shiva's gaze looked outside the window, at the rain pounding against the glass, as she whispered to Cara in her simple, soft voice, "Those soldiers were backup..." she blinked, shifting her eyes to Cara, "I think they might be fighting what is causing our mental trauma..."

Shiva suddenly felt herself fill with shock, she was worried about Kaci. Shiva felt strange because of this, as she wasn't used to having friends, or worrying about them for that matter, and the thought that Kaci might be subject to the strange mental trauma began to form into an itch in the back of her mind, driving her mad. But, she wasn't about to leave this girl so rudely, she would finish her conversation, and return to Kaci, who she hoped dealt with the strange girl who wanted her food...

[Janna]

Melissa and Morgan
When Melissa asks Rosie about her own experiences, she looks to the floor, thinking long and hard. "Before I met Morgan," she begins, "a few minutes before, actually." She chews on her lips and thinks. "I just got this awful feeling that I'd gotten sucked up and entombed by something. I think if I hadn't been in the middle of the open hall I'd be a lot worse for wear, but I just..." she shrugs, "shrugged it off at first."Morgan nods in agreement with Melissa, straightening up and running her hands through her hair and looking less pale than she did a moment ago.

"That's... kinda how I've been feeling too, Rosie," she offers, wondering if Melissa will think that she's crazy. She rubs her arm nervously, "And not just trapped... I've been feeling like something has been after me." She looks down at the ground and swallows hard, "Did your grandfather's stories say anything about that?"

[wallpaper]

Cara nodded. "Any thoughts?" she finally asked, lowering her voice a little without even thinking about it as she tried to match Shiva's quiet tone. "I've got shit all about what we're gonna do about this. What anybody's going to do."

Her expression hardened as she heard what she was certain was gunfire; rifle fire, no doubt. Whatever was happening outside was bad.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva shook her head again, her gaze still lowered to the ground, "I don't know..." she admitted, "If the Military can't handle it, or if they abandon us..." she trailed off, knowing full well that Cara understood what the ending was going to be of her statement, as she kept a grim look on her face, worried about what might become of her, and everyone in this hall.

[wallpaper]

Cara snorted. She forced a grin; that sort of teeth-bearing, feral looking grin. It wasn't the best moral booster, but it was how she dealt with things. "If it comes to that, then we'll figure something else out, yeah? I don't think anybody's gonna lie down or bend over for whoever's out there." Well... most people, anyways.

She noted that Shiva was glancing back to the table with a pair of young woman repeatedly. Likewise, she had begun scanning the room. It was good to have one or two familiar faces to latch on, like Morgan's, and then she spotted Buster again. "Alright, if I hear more, I'll say something. What's your name? I'm Cara," she introduced herself belatedly.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva blinked at Cara for a moment, before answering her greeting in her soft voice, "... Shiva... Vera" she said in her near whisper of a tone. As Cara was correct, she indeed wanted to get back to her friend. She gave Cara a polite bow, before saying, "I have to go... Goodbye..." she said as she finished her bow, before starting towards Kaci and the strange girl, giving a grimace upon seeing that the girl had not left.

Shiva walked up to Kaci, and took a seat next to her, quickly leaning in so only she could hear her, whispering even more quietly, "I really need to tell you something... It's very important..." Shiva gave a gesture of her head at Leianna, suggesting that Shiva's words were meant for Kaci alone, as she was the only one she wanted to trust right now.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci was glad Shiva was back. When she said she wanted to tell her something important she almost said out loud what is it but realized Shiva wanted to only tell her. She leaned in close and whispered to her like Shiva did to her, "If you don't want to tell me here we can go over where there is no one else. Did you find out why we are here or something?"

She felt herself start to get impatient when she said her last words. Even though she doubted it if Shiva could tell her what this is all about maybe she could piece together what might be happening to her parents. Her leg started shaking and she waited for Shiva to speak again.


(( Lol RJ I forgot all about that post... <.< ))

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva nodded a little, confirming Kaci's question of what might be going on, "I think so..." she whispered, before gesturing over to an empty corner silently, wanting Kaci to follow her to they could speak in private.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci said a little too loudly to Shiva, "Really? Come on let's go." She grabbed Shiva's hand and dragged her over to the corner speaking really quickly she asked, "How'd you find out? What's going on? Is it bad? Do you think people out there are gonna be okay?" Calming down a little after her barrage of questions she stared at Shiva expectantly waiting for her to answer her questions.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva was a little flustered to be dragged away so quickly, but regained her composure after Kaci had finished asking her questions, and spoke in her usual quiet voice, "I know you must have been feeling it to... There is something happening to everyone's mind... People are going into traumatic comas, as well as losing their mental stability. One of the guards mentioned being ripped apart with dozens of claws... And yet they looked perfectly healthy..."

Shiva shook her head with uncertainty, "I think it's some kind of disease, something is attacking our minds, and some people are suffering more than others..." Shiva looks to a family grieving over someone who appears to be dead, but the barely heard conversation states that the person just fell asleep, and never woke up again, and the family just think he's died.

Another direction Shiva points Kaci to is a girl who was raving wildly, seeming to have gone insane, as she's carted out by a couple solders, out of the building.

Shiva brings Kaci's gaze back to her, a desperate look in her red eyes, "Something is happening to everyone!" she announced, her voice getting loud enough so Kaci could hear the tone of her voice, she sounded mature, almost like a teacher's voice, "And I know I must have this strange disease as well..." she stated, moving her hands to her temples, remembering the headache she had gotten.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci was slightly confused when Shiva said that she had to be feeling it as well. She said to her, "Well... I've been feeling pretty normal to be honest..." For the first time she did look around her to see the strange occurrences.

If this was a disease maybe she was immune, or was a carrier. She said to her concerned for Shiva now, "I haven't felt anything Shiva... What if I'm immune to it... or a carrier?" Then she thought of her parents, "What if this is happening to my parents... there still out there..." She started to feel miserable.

She could be infecting other people unwillingly and her parents could alerady have fallen victim to this disease. Looking out the window she sighed and sat down with her legs up to her chest with a miserable expression on her face.

(( A carrier is a person that is virtually immune to a disease but can still infect others with it because it's in their body ))
(( My battle hasn't ended yet RJ XD ))

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva shook her head, and sat with Kaci, against the wall, drawing her legs up in a similar fashion, and wrapping her arms around them. Shiva brushed some of her white hair off of her face, and looked at Kaci, "Everyone here already seems to be infected... You couldn't possibly do any harm..." she trailed off, not mentioning anything about her parents, as Shiva simply brought herself to the conclusion that they suffered either this disease, or whatever the military is fighting...

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci looked to Shiva and smiled but still looked miserable. She said to her, "Thanks Shiva.... for telling me all this, and for not freaking out when I might be a carrier." She scooted over to her and hugged the white haired girl. She sighed and said with Shiva still in her embrace, "I'm probably overreacting anyway." Kaci let go of Shiva when she was done talking but leaned on her.

Deciding it was better to not talk about her parents right now she dropped it and tried to block off her thoughts of them as well. It wouldn't do any good to worry about something she could do nothing about. Still she felt the void in her growing as time passed and they didn't seem to be here.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva blushed heavily with embarrassment as Kaci wrapped her arms around her, lightly hugging her back as Kaci embraced her. As Kaci leaned against her, Shiva didn't know what to say. Although she thought that in all likelihood, her parents were... Gone. But, she wasn't about to suggest this. The girl was strangely being nice to her, more than anyone really ever has. Even polite people who tried not to pay attention to her strange appearance still seemed put off by her hair and eyes.

Shiva felt her eyes getting heavy with fatigue, as she stretched her arms out in front of her, and then returned them to her legs, "I'm tired..." she whispered, and began looking around for where the soldiers had set up their sleeping area. Shiva didn't think she could get much sleep, afraid of how much the disease might develop during her hibernation, the thought of closing her eyes and drifting to sleep terrified her, wondering if she might be one of those people in the hall that never wake up...

[Icelus]

Jen
The lights begin to flicker more often, leaving the young woman to curl up and fend for herself with only the occasional attention from medics. It seems like more people are arriving to these side rooms all the time...

Kaci, Shiva
As they converse, the two young women note that the lights are flickering more frequently, though the comfort that they seem to find in their friendly embrace may help with the unnerving sensation of being left literally in the dark...

Leianna
Most of the food is being left for now, providing the newcomer with a veritable shmorgesboard -- and not just of salad! However, the atmosphere of the town hall is nervous at best, and with the way that the lights of the place keep flickering more often, the tenseness in the faces of those around her is only worsening...

Cat
By the time that Griffen returns, the lights that had flickered once seem to be doing so with random regularity. As much as he had sounded like he was planning on leaving her be, he has brought back a couple of paper plates piled with 'chow', including some of the sliced meat and cheese that had been left out for the people gathered here. "Eat something," he tells Cat as Moxie leans his head way over to snuffle at the food. "You don't often get a free lunch -- or supper -- so take what you can get."

Cara
As Cara and Shiva part ways, the blonde begins to notice that the room's lights are going haywire... making her way to Buster might be more of an adventure than she'd planned...

Morgan, Melissa
Rosie seems to hesitate only for a few more minutes, but as the lights seem to begin to flicker, her resolve only strengthens. "Well, yes and no. He had a lot to say, but from what I can remember and filter through, there were... incidences, in the past. Never the entire town going missing like this; this is just crazy, but occasionally people would speak of dreams, or worse. Demons," she cringed, glancing at the two before a few moments of darkness shadowed their faces from her. "creatures of nightmares, I suppose, haunting sinners." She paused, chewing on her lip. "Like I said, it's stories mostly. Maybe my grandfather was a little cracked, himself, but it's not leaving my mind and people here keep reminding me of it."

[wallpaper]

Cara wandered back in Buster's sitting place, more because it gave her a sense of a goal rather than because she thought the man would believe her, necessarily. As the lights began to flicker, she cursed, wondering what the problem was now. The thunderstorm outside was going pretty fiercely... it was probably just that some power box was getting a beating, but it didn't add to the turmoil in her gut over what was happening.

When she did find him, she rested her case against the wall before leaning back against it, herself. "Hey, you know that crazy thing? Apparently just about everybody's getting it," she told him, again without preamble. "Something is royally fucked in the town of Peiquok, and whatever that is, it's getting inside our heads... I... overheard," she wasn't necessarily embarrassed about eavesdropping, though she knew that others might be, "soldiers talking about fighting something down in the park, not far away, and getting ripped apart by monsters. Or something. You wanted to know, that's what I know."

[Pheonix Alugere]

Shivering in fear, still, while curled up in her little ball, Jen closes her eyes and tries to sleep, hoping she would wake up with this being only a nightmare.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva shudders as the lights seem to threaten to go off, actually finding herself cuddling closer to Kaci in search of comfort. Feeling her eyes getting heavier by the second, Shiva looks over to a small amount of cots laid out for people in the hall. There seemed to be some available, and Shiva, after feeling drained from the apparent disease eating away at her mind, felt overcome with a sense of doom. She didn't know whether or not sleep would speed the process of decay, and the sight of people in unshakable sleeps troubled her, but she was just feeling too tired to even think, especially after that long trip on the bus.

Shiva stood up after some time, and looked for Kaci to do it with her, as she had all intents and purposes of laying on one of the cots, looking only slightly more comfortable than the floor, and hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep...

[Janna]

Morgan, Melissa
Rosie seems to hesitate only for a few more minutes, but as the lights seem to begin to flicker, her resolve only strengthens. "Well, yes and no. He had a lot to say, but from what I can remember and filter through, there were... incidences, in the past. Never the entire town going missing like this; this is just crazy, but occasionally people would speak of dreams, or worse. Demons," she cringed, glancing at the two before a few moments of darkness shadowed their faces from her. "creatures of nightmares, I suppose, haunting sinners." She paused, chewing on her lip. "Like I said, it's stories mostly. Maybe my grandfather was a little cracked, himself, but it's not leaving my mind and people here keep reminding me of it."Morgan listens somberly to Rosie's story, trying not to get too nervous when the lights in the room start to flicker. "This is all too much to deal with right now. I feel tired," she shakes her head, "Look, I don't believe in demons and stuff like that. There's got to be a rational explanation for what's going on. No offense." She tries to smile at Rosie. "It's late and we're all on edge from everything today. I'm going to find a cot and try to get some sleep; I bet this all looks silly in the light of day." She hopes that she sound slightly convincing as she moves off to find a place to sleep.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci stood up by Shiva looking just as tired if not more as her. Stifling a yawn with her hand she said to her, "What're you doing?" She hadn't noticed the cots yet and just stood next to Shiva.

[xivvix]

Melissa listens intently to Rosie's story, her jaw clenching as the lights flicker again, her eyes straying around the room to the various dark corners. After Morgan's comment, Melissa nods and says, "Let's save demons as a possible explanation once we're sure it isn't some kind of gas leak. But thanks for sharing that with us. The fact that similar problems have been happening before means it's not an isolated incident. I'm sure we'll be fine, once we figure out what's going on."

"Good night, Morgan," Melissa says as the girl walks off to find a cot. "You should get some sleep too, Rosie." She stands and stretches, looking around the room at all the people who were starting to nod off. "I'm going to stay up for a while, see if any news comes up." With a wave, she walks over to one of the windows, looking out into the dark town.

Melissa tenses as a sudden burst of gunfire rang through the town. She thought she had heard them earlier, but had written it off to an over-active imagination. No denying it no though. The damn song runs through her head again as she stares out into the rainy night, trying to find whatever was out there that was making her skin crawl.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva looked to Kaci, appearing just as sleepy as her, "I'm going to try and rest..." she told her simply, walking in a daze over to an available Cot, and plummeting down on it, stretching and yawning as she laid on the military cot, looking to Kaci to decide whether or not she wishes to sleep as well.

[Loli Defense Force]

Leianna stands by the table, watching the two girls get back together and walk away from her, "Hey what... oh..." She notices that she wasn't really invited and stops, wavering a little, "What... what a bunch of weirdos..." She shakes her head as she turns around, her hand brushing against the bowl, sending it off the table as it clatters onto the ground. She stares at it for awhile, then kicks it as hard as she could and tries finds a wall to lean against, starting to feel a little tired.

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci's eyes followed Shiva as she went to the cot. Tiredly she said "Oh there's cots...." She walked over to a cot next to Shiva and laid down in her direction. She said to her, "Good night Shiva..." Then closed her eyes trying to sleep.

[Mamono Assault Force]

Shiva blushed as Kaci said goodnight to her, still embarrassed by her friendly behavior, "G-goodnight... Kaci..." she whispered in return, feeling herself slowly, and suddenly, drifting off to sleep...

[Rule 34]

Cat
By the time that Griffen returns, the lights that had flickered once seem to be doing so with random regularity. As much as he had sounded like he was planning on leaving her be, he has brought back a couple of paper plates piled with 'chow', including some of the sliced meat and cheese that had been left out for the people gathered here. "Eat something," he tells Cat as Moxie leans his head way over to snuffle at the food. "You don't often get a free lunch -- or supper -- so take what you can get."


Cat looks up at Griffen in surprise. "Thanks", she mumbles as she accepts the plate and picks out a piece of meat that at least looks to be without spices and puts it on the ground. Within seconds Moxie has jumped down and starts to chew on it. Cat herself makes herself and impromptu sandwich and takes a bite, sitting there and eating in quiet for a while. "Look", she starts before pausing awkwardly. "I've kinda been a bitch to you. . ."

[Icelus]

The night is beginning to draw on, and those that wish to rest are becoming the majority as the lights flick off for good -- either intentionally, or because the power has gone out for good. While there aren't enough cots and blankets for all, a good many people are able to take up places to sleep either on those that are provided or along the walls, even on lined up chairs...

and while many are sleeping, a few remain awake.

The storm outside only seems to have intensified, and the number of soldiers left within the town hall are minimal. There is a tenseness in the dark that may be due to the noises of fighting that fade in very rarely, or perhaps that's something being caused for the same reason that people are having strange visions... it's really hard to say.

Some time around the stroke of midnight, Melissa, (as well as Cara and Shiva, if they have managed to make it this far) are treated to the horrific sight of something having crept up the side of the windows as a crack of lightning casts great shadows of long, vine-line strands moving across the surface. There are enough of them that the women, in their own glances or harder looks, the tentacles have left red stains along the glass that tint what fractured light manages to pass through on each lightning strike.

Then, for all who are sleeping or awake, there is an inexorable tugging, like a riptide of exhaustion, dragging Cara and Melissa at least into unshakeable sleep.

....and the night passes, and the storm begins to break...

but the horror of the situation is only really beginning.

As the light of morning finally breaks, those who wake are treated to a much emptier hall. Of the one hundred and fifty or so people who have been brought here, there are perhaps thirty or so remaining... and for some, much much less.

Melissa
The police officer will wake to see herself in a slightly darker version of the Town Hall, alone save for one other person -- who very luckily appears to be Rosie, currently dozing with her jacket bundled under her head. The rest of the hall appears unsettlingly familiar, though she can't quite place why she feels this way...

((Melissa may traverse Peiquok's locations the same as everyone else, however she will not be able to see or communicate with anyone else save for Rosie (or others who may find themselves in the same predicament as her in the future!) Locations will have a slightly different description; PM me if you'd like them. Three guesses as to where she's woken up.

Everyone else: the remainder of the populace are PC's and approachable NPC's. The doors to the outside are now unguarded, so feel free to take off and start exploring the town however you'd like! There will be another day change, but probably not for a little while... it kind of hinges on some things happening first. Just remember that if you want to take off, I need to approve your coming and going between threads first!))

[ToxicShock]

Cara wandered back in Buster's sitting place, more because it gave her a sense of a goal rather than because she thought the man would believe her, necessarily. As the lights began to flicker, she cursed, wondering what the problem was now. The thunderstorm outside was going pretty fiercely... it was probably just that some power box was getting a beating, but it didn't add to the turmoil in her gut over what was happening.

When she did find him, she rested her case against the wall before leaning back against it, herself. "Hey, you know that crazy thing? Apparently just about everybody's getting it," she told him, again without preamble. "Something is royally fucked in the town of Peiquok, and whatever that is, it's getting inside our heads... I... overheard," she wasn't necessarily embarrassed about eavesdropping, though she knew that others might be, "soldiers talking about fighting something down in the park, not far away, and getting ripped apart by monsters. Or something. You wanted to know, that's what I know."

Buster's head cocked up quickly when he heard something touch the wall close to him. He gave a fleeting smile when he saw it was Cara but dug his forehead into his palms. He listened as she explained what she knew while rubbing his hands in circles against his brow. "This place is giving me the creeps, honestly. The lights and sounds are just unnecessary additions to a weird enough situation. Now monsters?... I thought it was just an uneasy feeling about being somewhere new, but yeah, I feel strange here too. I just don't feel like myself, I'm tired and... well, it's just not right."" He took his head out to face her again, and opened his mouth to speak, but hesistated, unsure whether to bring it back up again. He decided it was for the best, considering they were sharing information. "Could you tell more about the howl you heard?"

(aww, sunnavabitch. Didn't see you post. Do I have to change anything?)

[Pheonix Alugere]

Jen wakes to find the small infirmary she slept in devoid of people. Frantic, she looks around before rushing out to look for people, coming into the main hall, she looks around. The first thing that catches her eye other than the same low amount of people is a length of white hair standing out from the rest of the scenery. Seeing that woman and another brown haired one sleeping on cots close together, she views the two to at least be staying together for a reason. Maybe they could protect each other. Needing comfort, Jen moves over to the cot the white haired girl is sleeping on and curls into a ball on her side near the white-haired woman's feet letting her head rest on the woman's calf.

[xivvix]

Melissa jolts awake, her first thought being the strange... thing... she had seen outside. She spins around to face the window, gasping for breath. She stares at it, wondering if the creature will reappear, then begins to back away, further into the town hall. "Did anyone else see that?" she asks, her hands waving behind, seeking someone or something to grab onto to steady herself. Not paying attention to where she was walking, she hits a chair and stumbles backwards, landing flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling of the strangely darkened meeting hall. Immediately scrambling up onto her hands and knees, Melissa looks around. Her eyes narrow in confusion, then her body starts to shake as she realizes that she is alone.

No, not alone. Someone was sleeping on a cot, some distance away from her. Melissa recognized the girl quickly. "Rosie!" she called, staggering to her feet and walking over to the girl slowly. "Rosie, wake up," she said, quieter now, afraid that the creature from the night might hear her. Her hand reaches out to Rosie, shaking the girl, as she pleads quietly, "Wake up Rosie, come on. This isn't funny."

[TheWeirdOne]

Kaci woke up and yawned while she sat up cross legged on her cot. Looking around sleepily she realized there wasn't as much people here as there used to be. She quickly found herself not tired anymore as she realized this and as she looked at the cot next to her and saw that Shiva wasn't there. Turning around in panic she realized she must have rolled over in her sleep because Shiva was still sleeping... with some baggage on her leg.

She said to the girl, "What... are you doing? Shiva did you have a kid in your sleep or something?" Staring at her she seemed to be harmless. It was probably just some scared girl that woke up and realized there wasn't as much people here. She said to her, "You know what happened in the night...? Did the soldiers leave us behind or something..."

(( Black hair btw XD ))

[Pheonix Alugere]

Huh? Jen says, her head snapping up to look at Kaci. I... I w-was in one of oth-th-ther rooms l-last night with a b-b-bunch of other p-people and n-now there's n-no one there. I j-just ran in h-here and s-saw you two and thought y-you could prot-t-tect m-me. Jen says, fear causing her to shake and impede her speech. She still clutches the town minutes that Melissa gave her last night to her chest as if it were a ward against whatever was happening.

(Eh, they both start with 'b')