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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:37 am
((Entering thread))
Epsilon ran until she couldn't run anymore. Everyone else had acted so capably when confronted with the beast; Epsilon hadn't. A soft, wheedling cry broke free from her, muffled by the gas mask that covered her face.
She was safe here. There was a large tree, and she'd found cover beneath it. Her hand tightened around the mace desperately.
Sing a song. A song. It seemed like second nature, and Epsilon wasted no time in humming a reedy, broken tune; she broke into song when humming didn't seem to help with the bitter, chilling terror that threatened to suffocate her.
"When you w-w-wish upon a sta-a-aar," she choked on the last word, but forced herself to continue, "makes n-no difference w-w-who you a-are.."
It wasn't helping.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:50 am
Epsilon wasn't the only blue team member to seek refuge under the dense canopy of trees.
Once he'd managed to escape the tent, Theta had kept on running, barreling through the field of corn. His prerogative was speed, not grace, and it showed as he tripped over fallen stalks once or twice, carving a path through the foliage in his wake. He nearly fell over panting when the cornfield suddenly ended. Instead of the dense ground cover he'd been fighting through, he was surrounded by towering, vine covered edifices that stretched as if to touch the distant sky.
It was humid here, more noticeably than before - perhaps because the vegetation held moisture on every upturned leaf. Where were they? If he'd had to guess, based on the abrupt change in scenery, he'd say South America. Not that he could remember where that was.The only thing Theta could recall was to watch out for snakes, so he proceeded with caution. Somewhere in the distance, a voice was singing...
"Anything your heart desires, will come to you..." Theta added in a rumbling bass. Had he known that song? He wasn't sure where the memory had come from; the words had just bubbled to the surface of his mind.
"Who's out there?" He added.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:57 am
Epsilon froze. Her breath wheezed in her chest, her throat, as panic crawled up her spine - an ugly parasite that seemed to seize her very breath.
"Stay away!" Her voice was shrill and filled with anxiety, "Just stay away! I have a .. a club! And I'm.. I'm not afraid to use it!"
Yes, yes she was. She was terrified to use it. Epsilon just wanted to hide out in the trees, let everyone kill themselves off - and if there were more than five, Epsilon hoped that her death was quick and mercifully painless.
"I don't want to hurt anyone," Epsilon sobbed brokenly, trying to lose herself in the thick undergrowth of the jungle.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 11:08 am
Theta's heart broke a little at her tone. He looked at the stake, still clutched in his hand where he'd forgotten it. He grimaced and tossed it out into the woods. He then held up both hands, and approached where he'd thought the voice had come from slowly.
"I don't know where you are, but I'm unarmed. You can search me if you like. Now, nobody's gonna hurt anyone here, ok?" He tried for a joke. "I mean, that hand thing... that was freaky business.. I was just lookin' for a place to cool my heels. I didn't expect to find a jungle."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 12:57 pm
His voice was coming closer, and Epsilon tried to peer at him through the thick brush. He didn't appear to be armed; that in itself was a reassuring gesture.
And he had a point. That hand thing was freaky business.
She shifted in the bushes before slowly moving to her feet.
"I.. I won't hurt you," she offered quietly, "I mean.. unless you make me."
Epsilon desperately hoped he wouldn't.
"I don't know what to do. The phone said.."
She trailed off. The phrase was too disturbing to finish.
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:10 pm
"Yeah," Theta replied quietly. Was that a rustle in the bushes ahead? He stopped moving as the person he'd been talking to slowly stood.
That text...
"How are they gonna know if we...You know, anyway?" He fished around on his belt, pulling out his phone slowly and holding it up in the air. "D'ya think they're like...tracking us with these things?" He tried to tug it off, but with no success, and he couldn't seem to figure out how to get the belt off either. The whole rig seemed seamless.
"Well," he continued in a friendly manner, "what was your plan? Just gonna hide out and hope for the best?" He couldn't disagree with that plan. After all, he had no idea how he'd come to be here, or what he'd do if they somehow escaped. He was just Theta, and Theta was a man who very much didn't want to kill anybody. No, he was sure that he wouldn't have agreed to something like this...right?
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:21 pm
She felt skittish, but he didn't seem to be aggressive. Epsilon forced herself to relax, humming softly as she watched him pull his phone from his belt. She reached for hers as well, her hums growing more and more disjointed.
"I don't know. I don't know, I don't. I just. I don't want to hurt anyone."
Tracking via phone seemed entirely plausible, and Epsilon cleared her throat.
"I was going to hide. Just. Hide, and.. when.. if.. I just."
She sighed.
"I want to live, but.. I don't want anyone to get hurt. So.. I was just going to hide here, I guess. And.. and if I die, I just hope it's peaceful. I'm.. I'm not a monster. I don't want to be a monster."
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Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 1:34 pm
Despite the events of the last hour or so, talking seemed oddly soothing. "Well you don't have to worry about me," he replied, pointing at the blue symbols on his outfit. "I think we're on the same team."
Theta glanced at their surroundings again. Their gas masks and suits would protect them from the elements, but... "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," he chided in an undertone, mostly to himself. "I dunno if this kind of wilderness is the safest place to camp out."
He made soothing motions in the air with his hands, and came a little closer. "Nobody's callin' you a monster. The idea of... of killin' people don't sit right with me either. But, I mean...there weren't many people in our tent, right? How many of these...'groups' could there be? Maybe they'll just take care of themselves."
After all, most of them had gone after the strange hand creature with gusto. He shuddered.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 10:29 am
Epsilon visibly relaxed, slumping slightly. She was working herself up over nothing. On the same team. His voice was calming, his demeanor more so, and Epsilon nodded.
"Maybe if we just.. find a good place to hide, you know? We could um. We could just wait it out."
She glanced around taking in the sights of the thickly forested jungle. There were plenty of places to hide.. trees, fallen logs... then again... there had been a giant hand that had sprouted from the ground. Epsilon had to wonder what else was in store.
"I just.. you're probably right about this place, I mean... there are a lot of places we could hide, but. Who knows what else is out here," she mumbled, voicing her concerns.
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