1. ZOMBIES (oh snap, just like the terrible comic series)steverogersMay 31 2012, 12:12:03 UTC
The shield went flying right through the guy's body. Right. Through. It. When it pinballed off the wall behind the now two-pieced man, Steve was slow to realize and barely caught it.
What the hell? The man had been alive. Steve just killed him. But he hadn't had a choice. No, he thought, my shield hadn't been thrown that hard. He wasn't sure what to do. He panicked.
And then he heard a guttural moan from somewhere behind him. Turning around, his gaze was met with an entire troop of the same violent droning that he'd witnessed in the man who lay dead on the ground. He was going to give these people a warning too-- even if a few of them definitely had blood smeared on the sides of their mouths.
Every good apocalypse has zombiesnottheworsthingMay 31 2012, 15:02:20 UTC
On low power the repulsors had just about enough kick to knock someone off their feet. Not enough to do any real damage. Definitely not enough to cause someone to disintegrate from the waist down. And yet that was what had just happened.
There was very little blood. It was an odd thing to notice, under the circumstances, but it did register. However what really got his attention was the way that the mangled remains of the top half were still trying to crawl toward him.
"That's new," he muttered, and keyed the radio. "Uh, Cap, I think we have a bit of a situation...?"
"Agreed!" he managed to reply, while shielding himself against a very large attacker. He shoved off his assailant and managed to roll back enough so he had more space to plan his next attack. "Stark, where are you? What's your status?"
One of the things suddenly lunged towards him and he let out a cry as he smashed its head in with his shield. The others watched with hungry eyes.
"I'm fine," Tony replied. To be a little more specific, he was hovering about ten feet off the ground, comfortably out of the reach of the tallest of the growing crowd of...whatever they were. Every gaze was turned upward, watching him with a dreadful hunger in their slack grey faces. Well that was disconcerting.
He shook his head and climbed, the crowd shrinking into an anonymous mass below him. The HUD obligingly threw up a map and pinpointed the source of the radio signal. "I'm about half a click from your position. Need a ride?"
He was barely managing to keep a mealy pair of arms from grabbing at his face when he struggled back a hasty answer to Stark's question. "How much are you charging for fare?!"
Yes, sarcasm in a time like this. He finally summoned up enough strength to kick the woman away and he picked up his shield from the ground. She didn't stay back for long and once Steve turned away, she was lunging for one of his legs.
"Ma'am, don't make me do this!" He furiously shook his legs, hoping that even if she did get a hold of one, she wouldn't be able to damage him through the thick leather boots. "I'm going to warn you one more time!"
"Shit," he muttered as he closed in on Steve's position. It was looking worse than he'd thought. "Cap, you've got a big crowd converging on you. Try to get clear and I'll pick you up on the next pass."
The woman's angry shrieking was but a muffled cry in the chorus of moans and angered screaming. Steve's head felt as if it were splitting open and his heart was pounding against his chest. His entire body was getting heavier as he tossed about, struggling to get back on his feet.
Arms and teeth came close to tearing at his uniform, but he quickly batted back, keeping them at bay for one second longer. His choices for escape were getting scarce. He spotted a pile up of cars on the far end of the crowd, but he'd need to get there fast before he was completely surrounded.
Shield raised, he watched for an opening in the group, a section of shambling victims that he could easily cut through. When he saw his opportunity, he swallowed down the bile at the back of his throat and began to sprint, battering down the obstacles before him. The car was so close now...
"Stark!" he yelled out, as loud as he could. "Now!"
He didn't need to be told twice; he was already banking and coming back around for a low pass, barely skimming over the ever growing crowd of grasping hands. Diverting power to the chestplate to free up his hands he swooped down low and caught Steve under the arms before shooting off skywards again.
"Try not to move too much," he warned. Steering was awkward without the hand repulsors for balance, and having half again the design weight dangling around below wasn't helping.
"Where are we going?" The feeling of being lugged around in the air, almost a hundred feet over the crowd of those people, was very unsettling.
The streets below didn't seem to show any signs of clearing up. The rabid victims were everywhere, swarming through wreckage and fires, searching for something they couldn't find.
What happened? Steve thought, wondering how on earth everything went to hell so fast.
"High ground," Tony replied succinctly, scanning nearby rooftops for a good place to land. He climbed, careful to hold steady; he didn't want to risk losing his grip. Supersoldier or no, falling a few hundred feet still wasn't going to be fun. He set down on a broad balcony encircling the upper floor of an office block. Lifting the armor's faceplate, he raised an eyebrow at Steve. "So. That happened."
"They're not human." They couldn't be. He's never seen humans act like that before. Not even at their most desperate. "If they ever were, they aren't anymore."
The fresh memories of the things he'd just fought -- how they'd broken so easily -- it reminded him of corpses. Of the fragile rotting dead. Zombies were a thing from science fiction. They were creatures of mystic voodoo. He'd been scared as a kid by older children who told tales of the dead rising from their graves... but that was only a story.
This. This wasn't.
"They've taken over the city. Hundreds, thousands. We're going to need back up."
"No shit," Tony replies sarcastically. "Who knows, maybe rampant cannibalism's the next big thing. I blame Romero. People'll copy anything they see on TV." He's aware that he's making even less sense than usual. His mouth is just sort of rambling away on autopilot as it always does when his higher brain functions aren't paying any attention to it. "Yeah. We should probably head back to base. Assuming it's not swarming too."
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What the hell? The man had been alive. Steve just killed him. But he hadn't had a choice. No, he thought, my shield hadn't been thrown that hard. He wasn't sure what to do. He panicked.
And then he heard a guttural moan from somewhere behind him. Turning around, his gaze was met with an entire troop of the same violent droning that he'd witnessed in the man who lay dead on the ground. He was going to give these people a warning too-- even if a few of them definitely had blood smeared on the sides of their mouths.
Reply
There was very little blood. It was an odd thing to notice, under the circumstances, but it did register. However what really got his attention was the way that the mangled remains of the top half were still trying to crawl toward him.
"That's new," he muttered, and keyed the radio. "Uh, Cap, I think we have a bit of a situation...?"
Reply
One of the things suddenly lunged towards him and he let out a cry as he smashed its head in with his shield. The others watched with hungry eyes.
Reply
He shook his head and climbed, the crowd shrinking into an anonymous mass below him. The HUD obligingly threw up a map and pinpointed the source of the radio signal. "I'm about half a click from your position. Need a ride?"
Reply
Yes, sarcasm in a time like this. He finally summoned up enough strength to kick the woman away and he picked up his shield from the ground. She didn't stay back for long and once Steve turned away, she was lunging for one of his legs.
"Ma'am, don't make me do this!" He furiously shook his legs, hoping that even if she did get a hold of one, she wouldn't be able to damage him through the thick leather boots. "I'm going to warn you one more time!"
Reply
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Arms and teeth came close to tearing at his uniform, but he quickly batted back, keeping them at bay for one second longer. His choices for escape were getting scarce. He spotted a pile up of cars on the far end of the crowd, but he'd need to get there fast before he was completely surrounded.
Shield raised, he watched for an opening in the group, a section of shambling victims that he could easily cut through. When he saw his opportunity, he swallowed down the bile at the back of his throat and began to sprint, battering down the obstacles before him. The car was so close now...
"Stark!" he yelled out, as loud as he could. "Now!"
Reply
"Try not to move too much," he warned. Steering was awkward without the hand repulsors for balance, and having half again the design weight dangling around below wasn't helping.
Reply
The streets below didn't seem to show any signs of clearing up. The rabid victims were everywhere, swarming through wreckage and fires, searching for something they couldn't find.
What happened? Steve thought, wondering how on earth everything went to hell so fast.
Reply
Reply
The fresh memories of the things he'd just fought -- how they'd broken so easily -- it reminded him of corpses. Of the fragile rotting dead. Zombies were a thing from science fiction. They were creatures of mystic voodoo. He'd been scared as a kid by older children who told tales of the dead rising from their graves... but that was only a story.
This. This wasn't.
"They've taken over the city. Hundreds, thousands. We're going to need back up."
Reply
Reply
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