The End Days of Erida [JeopardizedJake]

[Deleted]

"I'm just taking a look outside, chill out. I'm hoping there's a place we can stay the night. I saw a chapel nearby a little bit ago..." I say, my voice trailing off slightly.

[Kynikos]

"Yeah, yeah, but look at this place. You're just a big red siren. They're already naturally attracted to this place! I read it in the handbook they gave us when they told us to man the towers! It's not wise to tempt fate. If we're gonna bolt, it needs to be in one concentrated effort. That's what the handbook said. Milrel's guidelines." She seems pretty adamant on this point. "If ya wanna get yourself killed, go ahead. But I don't wanna be putting up with the spirits."

[Deleted]

"So what do you suggest we do?" I ask, stopping before I reach the door.

[Kynikos]

"Do ya got anything? Anything at all for like, warding or somesuch? I..." She trails off a bit. "I didn't actually pay that much attention when they were going over all of this shite. But it sounded pretty bad. I'm just sayin', if you're trying to gun to the chapel it might be best if you gun immediately. Or just stay in some kind of room if you've got the stuff to ward it off. Chapel might be the best. Could be ingrained into the spirits that the chapel keeps them away. Not that it will anymore, but it might." She loses track here, before shrugging. She closes her eyes.

[Deleted]

"Alright. I can carry you. I'll give you the pistol in case we run into anything. Sound good?" I ask her, walking back over to the couch

[Kynikos]

She nods and after a second opens her eyes. "Okay."

[Deleted]

"Alright, let's do this," I say, handing her the pistol before picking her up bridal style before making my way to the door out into the street.

[Kynikos]

You pick her up and she holds the pistol. You begin making your way across the chapel when you hear gunfire. A brief turn of your head tells you that there is two people brandishing weapons and firing. She returns fire but in her state, there's no way she can hit them from this distance. She pulls off two bullets that don't connect.

[Deleted]

"Hold tight," I tell her, breaking into a sprint toward the chapel.

[Kynikos]

She does and stops firing. You make it inside the doors of the chapel. The power is firmly out and the stained glass windows cast odd shadows among the four carpeted shrines. A staircase leads up and down to locked doors.

[Deleted]

Slightly out of breath, I go to the far wall and set her down. "Stay here, don't want you opening your wound," I tell her, taking the pistol. "If I die, play dead," I tell her, taking cover behind a shrine.

[Kynikos]

You put her down and explain it to her. She nods. The pistol has three bullets left as you take cover behind one of the bulkier shrines. It appears to be some shrine representing the Kelani.

It takes a few minutes, but the two men enter. You note that they hold pistols instead of guns and wear dark clothing and some kind of mask. They immediately lock eyes on the woman before one of them goes, "Where's the runner?".

[Deleted]

"What do you want from us?" I ask from behind the shrine, daring to take a peek.

[Kynikos]

They swing around immediately and start firing at you. You get your head down quick enough to not get yourself pasted on the wall at least. The firing stops almost immediately once you duck.

[Deleted]

I grab the camera out of my bag and take it in one hand, the pistol in the other. I then raise the camera out of cover of the shrine, hoping the flash would be enough to disorient them for a split second. I rise from my cover, take aim at the closest perpertrator, and fire before ducking back into cover.

[Kynikos]

You take a flash and then take the shot... and it seems to have worked, somehow. You hear the thud like someone just dropped to the ground. Two bullets left. A picture of the scene spits out of the camera a second or so later.

[Deleted]

I take a quick look at the photo and pinpoint where the other man was. Then, I dart out of the side of the shrine to another one, hoping to get an angle on him. I fire a single shot, hoping that would be enough to throw off his aim.

[Kynikos]

You duck out and fire again. Perhaps for once your luck is shining through, or you're just a better shot then you thought, but they too tumble to the ground.

One bullet remaining, both of them dead.

[Deleted]

After hearing the thud, I can't help but breathe a sigh of relief. I know that they might still be alive though, so I check the bodies for a pulse. If there is one, I use the hatchet to finish them off.

[Kynikos]

There is no pulse. They're dead.

[Deleted]

I loot the bodies, then go and check on the woman to see if she's still okay.

[Kynikos]

She's out cold. Not even the gunfire woke her up.

The two deceased corpses don't have much. There is one revolver, which if you reloaded it would have six bullets and two left over. The other is a pistol equivalent to yours with about thirteen bullets. The masks they are wearing are entirely salvageable as ski masks if you so wish. Wallets complete with keys and a business card tell you that at least one of them was a manager at a high end restaurant.

[Deleted]

I load the revolver, depositing the two rounds in a nearby pocket for quick access. I strip the magazine out of the pistol, fill it with ammunition, then put the spare pistol in my backpack. I load the remaining ammunition into the pistol I had in the first place, which should leave me with two full magazines. I also take the two wallets and respective keys, but I close the chapel doors before taking any closer inspection.

Once safe, I try to figure out what the keys might go to.

[Kynikos]

You sort through your equipment, change ammo, and shut the doors. Taking a look at the keys, there's nothing that special about them. One is a Museum Pass keycard to the Museum of the Jungle, one is labeled with 'Home' and the other is 'Office'. The rest have no marking and you have no idea where they go too.

SPOILER: Click to show

Gavin
Equipped
Black long-sleeved shirt/black pants/shoes/gloves
Civilian Pistol - 7/7 [One extra clip]

Inventory - Backpack
Outdated Gas Mask - 3 Filters [0 used, 24 hours each]
Food - 3/4 meals
Thermos - Filled
Change of Clothing - Pants and T-Shirt
Phone [100%] [Shut Off]
Charger for Phone
Wallet
Apartment 203 Key
Hotel Room 752 Card Key
Camera [One roll of film/9 pictures] [One roll of film/10 pictures]
First Aid Kit
Gold Necklace
Rope [20 ft]
Harness
Fire Axe
Civilian Pistol 0/7
Revolver [6/6, 2 bullets left]
'House' Key
'Office' Key
Wallet
Wallet
Misc. Keys
Museum of the Jungle Keycard

[Deleted]

I take out the useful things in both of the wallets like money or anything that could lead me somewhere useful, ditching whatever is left. I then use the the rope to make a jury-rigged holster of sorts for the fire-axe to hang on the side of my backpack. I do the same for the harness. Just a loop for it to hang off of.

With that in place, I use the rest of the rope to tie up the chapel doors for some sort of safety.