Let me tell you a bit about the roads. They're utterly dishevelled. Many of them are cracked, some are melted in places. It looks like the roads those Russian dash-cams that got popular for a while portrayed. In the actual city of Boston proper, these same styled roads are crowded with mostly-empty cars. I still haven't figured out the reason why most of the vehicles are empty, but that presumably has something to do with the occasional roaming pack of undead we encounter.

To my right, there's a lady sleeping. I'm not sure if that's the right term to describe her. She's started looking... weird lately, too. Aside from being r00d, her arms are significantly hairier than they'd been... maybe three days ago. Her jaws also look to be getting more rough.

For myself? I've tried to keep the trim up on my haircut, but it's not really looking that good. Another thing, is that I've definitely been getting taller. It's a little uncomfortable to sit in most cars now. That said, my face also feels a bit weird. When I get time to look in a mirror, my brow seems more pronounced than it used to. There's something wrong happening to all of us. That's worrying me to.

In the back, is still the tiger as sedate as usual. She(?) looks a bit more red than a normal tiger, and seems to be a bit bigger as well. Maybe this is the effect of demonic radiation or something? Corruption? I hate ADoM, and I'm not even getting into the other games I've encountered corruption in.

When GG's car pulls to the side, I feel an instinctive twinge to do the same. That ability seems to be shared among everyone in our group. When we aren't directly opposing an action, it just seems natural to follow whoever went first. It has it's quirky moments. Once, back at the hospital, I went to take a leak and found the other three guys occupying both urinals and one stall all at once. It doesn't seem to be a very intelligent solution, but for the most part we move together.

[Part 2/4]

I lead my car off to the side, negotiating the ditch without getting dumped in it. The change of direction seems to be too much for Loud Girl to stay asleep, and it shocks her to wakefulness.

"What is- augh, fuck?!" she yelps and covers her eyes abruptly. More shit to worry about.

"Are you alright?" I ask, in a panic.

"Yeah- just... why is it so bright?" she asks, her eyes still covered with a forearm.

I look around outside of the car. The light-levels outside aren't actually that high. The dusky overcast haze is still dominating much of the sky, but it's not quite like the full heavy-metal apocalypse look that the sky had a handful of days ago. The winds still seem to carry shit around and away. It's approximately four in the afternoon as well.

"Uhm. It's not?" I assert.

She shakes her head, and lifts her arms briefly. I can see tears glisten against the backdrop of her yellow irises... wait what?

"It's fucking bright." she blinks her eyes shut again.

"Your eyes are yellow."

"What?" she tries to look at me briefly, before covering her face again.

"Your eyes are yellow. When was the last time you looked in a mirror?"

She shakes her head violently. "My eyes aren't fucking yellow. Can you get, like, a blanket or something to cover up the windshield?"

I look into the back. There's nothing that immediately jumps out for it's sun-blocking attributes. As I dig a bit more, there's a short pair of knocks on the driver's side window. I look out, and find Gun Guy standing by. The rest of the group is out of their vehicles and milling around.

I roll down the window.

"Do you have any sunglasses?" I ask.

"I- what?" Gun Guy asks, furrowing his brow.

"Sunglasses." I reiterate.

Pretty Boy actually holds up a pair. "I've got you covered." he says as he makes his way over.

"Okay." Gun Guy says as he moves aside.

Loud Girl wastes no time in putting on the borrowed glasses.

[Part 3/4]

After that, she seems to have an easier time seeing and gets out of the car. I follow along, with the Tiger slipping out behind me. It's a little annoying seeing the entire car shift as much as it does when I exit the vehicle. I'm practically starving in the apocalypse and it seems like I still can't lose weight.

I find the rest of the group gathered in the middle of the street. While it's unlikely that a car is going to come by but I still keep an eye out.

"Alright." Gun Guy begins. "What are we doing?" he looks around at us, as if for a suggestion. I thought that's exactly what he would be telling us, rather than asking.

"Still moving." Pretty Boy says. Food Girl shifts uncomfortably and scratches at her forehead.

"Right now if we keep on this road, we'll be in Clinton. It's mostly residential, I'm pretty sure. Anyone know if there's anything useful?"

I shake my head. We've got supplies to last for a while. Many of the supermarkets we go to are still full of canned food. We don't need much, and when the apocalypse hit- it really didn't leave a lot of competition.

"What about trying to find other people?" Loud Girl asks. She looks hungover with the oversized aviators.

Gun Guy shrugs. "I really don't know if we should, or if there even are any."

"Why don't we just go until we find something?" Baseball asks. "We can get food, and gas on the way if we scour areas that used to be populated."

Gun Guy shrugs. "We can, I guess." Such an inspirational leader.

I hear Food Girl give a whimper and look over to see her holding a large clump of her own hair in her hands. "My hair's falling out." she says with tears in her eyes.

...

Clinton is a town of oddities, as my group comes to know it. After scouring the place, there are a few locales of note:

>Woodlawn or Saint John's Cemetery, lots of undead in both
>Strand Theatre
>Museum of Russian Icons
>Simple Man Saloon
>Central Park
>Clinton Hospital

Forgot this last option:
>Other [Write In]

For example, we could get to know our group a bit more if anyone would like. Talk about some of these FREAKY MUTATIONS, or allow Fa/tg/uy to distract himself with the petty amusements of a new place.

Jesus christ that's a lot to read.
hold on!

>>41178514
Hahaha, Sorry

>>41178168
>entire update
That's not normal...
Demonic radiation must be a hell of a drug.


>Woodlawn or Saint John's Cemetery, lots of undead in both
NO. NEVER. Unless we are well armed or find a way to hide against zombies in plain sight.
>Strand Theatre
meh.
>Museum of Russian Icons
why?
>Simple Man Saloon
Why?
>Central Park
Meh.
>Clinton Hospital
risky, but medical aids.

Out of all of these locations, I vote for the hospital.
unless...

How are the buildings laid out? How are the roads and other local buildings located around it?

>>41178664

We're pretty well armed. I've got my claymore, and an assault rifle of some make. Considering what I did in the hospital before though? I can pretty much wade through groups of undead, as they're not that tough. If we see a giant amalgamation of undead again, or a horde of hellhounds... that's another matter.

The Museum of Russian Icons is a small building at the junction of Union and Mechanic street. It's right next to another church, the Church of the Good Shepherd. Here, I saw a group of a couple of undead, with promises of more right around the corner.

The Strand Theatre is across the street from a Sovereign Bank, on a small strip of various commercial businesses. Right behind it, is St John's Evangelist Church. Next to the Theatre is a Hardware (aubuchon) shop, and a Sports & Leisure shop. There's also a gallery of some ort, a thrift shop, a market called Quisgueya, and a gym.

Around the corner is the Simple Man Saloon, next to an emergency dental office. It appears to be underneath a series of apartments. Across the street is a tailor, a hair salon, an insurance agency, and a metroPCS. I don't normally drink, Loud Girl expressed interest in this (and other bars) as we scoured.

The hospital is a large sprawling one, amidst a residential district. Not much to say here. Some cars still in the lot. I didn't see any undead when I looked. We still have plenty of medical aids from the last time we were in a hospital... and had to pay for them with a bus-load of churchgoers. Hospitals always seem to be an ordeal.

>>41178664
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Clinton,+MA/@42.4130519,-71.6901524,6518m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e3f10d2c65154d:0xaa080a2c231a47da!6m1!1e1

>>41178168
>Clinton Hospital
Let's go for the title "Hospital Clearer"

>>41178855
>and had to pay for them with a bus-load of churchgoers.
I don't get it.
>>41178872
Referring to the map, can we visit that auto shop? Even if we know nothing about cars, picking up a spare tire or tools can't go wrong.
completely fine with this.

Hospital looks too big to bail out if shit goes wrong, but we got a big team and we could use the extra medical experience from simply poking around or maybe even finding manuals if we are lucky. But the point is you can never have enough medical unless it'sl hindering cargo space.
good enough I guess?

Churches and the russian icon buildings are small but don't see much value.
Meh.

Saloons... alcohol is useful in many ways
I'm okay with it.

I also noticed the auto sales n service down the road. Maybe take a peek?

Cemetary and the central park we have no reason to go to.
bah. Not these.

But I don't like gettimg on with current situation.. .
Other people should show up so we can share our choices. We can find mistakes in our plans if there are any that way.

>>41179189
Ugh. Hospitals. Maybe I won't have to blow this one up too.

>>41179226
Remember when we met the hospital demon who had us by the balls after we did our looting thing? He demanded payment in the form of grabbing some churchgoers under siege, and bringing them to safety in a big city bus. For those of you just joining up, the events mentioned here are detailed in Episode 3!

It is a pretty big hospital, and yeah. I'm not sure if anybody knows much about medicine in our group—it bothers me, but I'm really not sure about all of their capabilities. I need to speak with them a bit more.

And you're right on the various random buildings. I just thought that maybe our group could get together and maybe bond over a movie in a theater, but honestly it's more likely that the projector or screen would vomit out some hideous rapemonster rather than be in any kind of working order.

Auto services though? Yeah, that's probably worth checking out. Our group is moving in a train-style, so everyone's gathering opinions more than actively looting right now.

Writing for Fa/tg/uy's Hospital suggestion to the group.

>>41179366
>spoiler
shit, I forgot, I fell asleep during the third thread.
an probably this one too, judging from my current state if I'm not careful.

>>41179469
The voices in my head are tired? Uh... do I need some coffee?

Mine isn't the only assessment of the town we have to work with. Our group pulls into a parking-lot about a mile out of the town, grouping our cars together again.

"You drink alot Fat Guy?" LG asks from the passenger seat as I pull the parking break on the SUV.

I shake my head. "Not really. I don't usually drink at all."

She continues looking out the window from behind Pretty Boy's pretentious sunglasses. "That's good." She pops her door and gets out. The tiger stays where it's at as I exit.

The group is gathered up shortly. "Well," Gun Guy begins. "I see a lot to offer. I'd like to get into some of the lockers at the Police Station, see if we can get some additional firepower or ammo."

Baseball actually raises his hand. I give him a nod, and he lowers it. "I wanna find a junk-yard. Also, across from the Elementary school, on Church Street? There's a mechanic school. My brother went there, and there might be some tools we could get into. Also- right next to it is an auto shop. There's like..." he looks around. "Two or three around here we could get into. Maybe we could get an extra car for storage."

Gun Guy nods. "That would be good."

Food Girl's hair seems to have suffered. She looks agitated. "I want to visit the supermarket, see if there are toiletries. We're running a bit low."

Gun Guy nods to that as well.

"I think we should visit the hospital." I say. The group looks at me.

"Only if I can get drunk -first-." Loud Girl demands.

Gun Guy shakes his head, "Not happening. We don't need to be drunk and stupid right now. Why the hospital?" he asks.

"You can't have too many medical supplies." I say.

"I thought you said you hated hospitals." Pretty Boy says.

I nod. "That's why I want to get it out of the way.

"Alright." Guy Guy says. "We should do that first."

[Part 1/2]

>>41179810
Getting to the hospital isn't much of a chore. These places are usually death-traps only after you get inside.

It doesn't look imposing from the entrance. It's an old red bricked building, and squat. Only two– maybe three stories high at it's best. The quickest entrance is the side. 'Ambulance' it's marked. The front entrance is through a car-parking lot. There are a great many trees here, most of which are black and withered, some of their leaves still green attesting to a sudden and unknowable poisoning death. It still isn't clear just -what- killed the world. And that bothers me.

There may, in addition, be a back entrance. If there's something sentient inside, it would be our best bet. If it's more mindless hordes? We may as well come in through a brick wall.

>Scout the place out more, looking for movement and a back door
>Through the Ambulance Entrance. Their ER prep equipment might be the most handy.
>Through the front entrance. I wanna go check out the gift shop anyway.

Part [2/2]

Sorry folks, the wife brought back food.

>>41179834
>Through the Ambulance Entrance. Their ER prep equipment might be the most handy.

>>41179834
>Through the Ambulance Entrance. Their ER prep equipment might be the most handy.
If something difficult is here, bail.
if not, we might as well secure the exit and continue on

>>41179897
>>41179987
Side entrance it is.

Since it was my idea, the rest of the group is more than willing to let me lead this up. Loud Girl seems a bit jumpier than usual. I drive the SUV up directly to the entrance. When I leave the car, I grab my claymore in hand. It's done a lot more damage, historically, than any guns have. Of course, that doesn't stop me from being worried about it wearing out. I may need to find a way to swap it out, eventually. Not looking forward to that.

The ambulance entrance is an automatic glass door, which of course doesn't work—but it does provide us with a view of what we're dealing with. The interior is pitch black, and there is an overturned gurney in the hall, and papers strewn about. Looks like some serious shit occurred here.

Loud Girl abruptly busts the glass open with a sharp kick, earning looks from everyone else in the group.

Food Girl provides the red glow of light from one of the road flares, of which we have several dozen. It comes on with a crackling hiss and throws enough to see by, but not much more. Immediately we encounter a number of signs.

> <- ER Waiting Room Cardiovascular ->
> <- Maternity ICU ->
> <- MRI & Radiology Morgue ->
> In addition there are some various rooms scattered around here, likely storage.

Was looking for a hospital layout, found one I like.

>>41180313
> <- ER Waiting Room Cardiovascular ->
Follow this one.

>>41180387
Sorry, I don't think I was clear- there were two options in each sign, so really it should've been as below:

>ER Waiting Room
>Maternity
>MRI & Radiology

>Cardiovascular
>ICU
>Morgue

>>41180555
>ER Waiting Room

>>41180645
Thanks. Waiting to see if I get any more votes. It's a slow day.

>>41180555
the waiting room

>>41180645
As we head further into the hospital, two likely scenarios develop in my mind. Either there were people here, and they scrammed with as much goods as they can find (judging by the way that even drawers and desks seem overturned and emptied as we pass by offices) or some kind of demonic influence occurred here. Getting into the ER waiting room, we find the hundred or so obligatory chairs. A few televisions hang lifeless from the ceiling. The red glow of the flare casts an eerie light on the entire situation. There are abandoned bags here on the ground. I spot a stroller by a chair, and feel even more uneasy.

What are we looking for here?

The ER Waiting room connects via corridor into the hospital lobby, but it's a bit of a walk with some branching corridors off of it.

We can look through some of these bags for goods, but it's unlikely that I'll find anything useful.

I can backtrack to the ICU, and get some... hell, I don't know. Saline? We've got Gauze, but you can never really have too much gauze. We could go find Surgery, get some scalpels and hypodermic needles. I know we don't have many or any of those.

We could try to get a generator running, and check the security footage to see what happened.

>Write In [The hospital isn't well stocked. Something bad happened here, but maybe its like this everywhere?]

>>41180953
>Find surgery for those scapels and needles.

>>41181046
It'll be useful if any of us ever gets an infection, or becomes a licensed surgeon. Or if I need to make a ridiculously orky stabber out of scalpels.

I find a directory, and find that Surgery is on the second floor. Silently, I point it out to everyone on the directory. I get a few nods, one with a pair of glowing yellow eyes- which is sincerely eerie. Since the elevators are out, we have to find a secondary stairwell, or a fire stairwell. A quick look at the fire escape layout gives us the information needed. There are a couple of staircases near here, but a few more further out. If we got a generator working, there's a high likelihood that we could activate the elevators but maybe that's a bit too labor intensive.

As we arrive at the first stairwell and open the door, I hear a chaotic yet distinct pattering of flesh on cement floor from above and the shuttering noise of a door swinging open. My heartrate skyrockets as I hear a sound that doesn't belong to my group. With hat, I draw my claymore from its sheath.

Surgery is on the second floor. It's likely whatever I just heard is also on the second floor.

>Continue this way, there are six of us.
>Find the other stairwell.

>>41181263
>Continue this way, there are six of us.
maybe ask if people wants to go head to head right now or after with whatever's up there?

>>41181829
It's super dead today, isn't it? I'm considering trying again at a different time...

After a quiet moment left in the space of time after whatever upstairs made its move, I quietly ask "Well? Do we want to move up, and deal with whatever that was head on? Or do you guys wanna-" I don't get to finish, as a hand pushes me aside enough for Loud Girl to get out of the doorway and onto the stairwell.

That answers that question, I guess.

We get up the stairs to the second floor's landing and find a corridor stretching either way. There's a sign which says, Surgery with an arrow pointing down the way. What's more concerning however, is the dark dried stain coming out from underneath a doorway just to the right. I can't hear anything coming down either of the halls, so I have no real clear indication of where the thing went, which is frustrating in of itself. For now? We head down to Surgery.

It's on the way there that the road-flare gives out, but fortunately there are some windows which now let in dim light. One of the windows I passed was broken, and hazarding a quick glance down showed me a dark stain on the ground far below.

There's a theater and a couple of other rooms, but one is marked 'Storage'. The door appears to have been kicked in. When we enter, my boot crunches on glass and I look down to find a mess of destroyed needles and glasses. There's even at least one scalpel in the mess. Color-coded tubs are tossed haphazardly, and many of the locked freezers in here have been left open. I realize now that any kind of liquid articles are long gone, but after a quick search we do find some various utilities. Forceps, scalpels, needles, cardiometers- even one that works off of battery, tubing, gauz, and all manner of useful objects with questionable sterility.

>Check the Pharmacy
>Check the Generator
>Search for whatever that just was in the stairwell.

>>41182199
>Check the Pharmacy
A few medical beds would be a good addition for our medical tent

>>41182302
Stretchers and Gurneys? I'm not sure if that could fit anywhere. I mean, I guess if we got rid of the tiger?

>>41182338
Or take one of the ambulance?

>>41182432
This has some merit, but I didn't see any ambulances out there. I'll keep my eyes out though, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with the maneuverability of the vehicle. We'll find out.

>>41182302
Writing for this. I'm not sure if I am up for continuing running since it looks like there's only you in the thread, chief. And as you mentioned, you said you might pass out.

>>41182518
I'm here too, just got back from lunch, should be around barring further errands. Also did you remember to link this to the WQDT?

>>41182585
I did not.

>>41182603
Well, I'd recommend it for QM's looking to get more players. I can do it if you want.

>>41182674
Just did it, thank you.

>>41182302
>>41182518
"Let's head back down to the Pharmacy." I suggest. The group responds with the usual silence that follows an unresisted idea, until Baseball says, "What do you think the thing we heard was?"

I give a shrug.

"I dunno." Loud Girl says. "But it sure ran off fast."

"Maybe because we're turning into monsters?" Food Girl asks.

Her words produce an icy sensation deep in my chest. I don't say anything to that.

"Monsters?" Pretty Boy asks.

"Yeah. I think I can make fire." she responds.

I stop and turn around. "What, really?"

She looks a bit taken aback. Gun Guy puts his hand on her arm and, looking at me, says "Leave it for right now."

I don't want to leave it—hell no, I wanna find out ALL ABOUT IT. I shrug, however. "Alright." I say.

"Alright." Pretty Boy echoes.

"Can we just find a monster to kill?" Loud Girl asks.

"Pharmacy first." I insist.

"Fiiiiiiine." she whines.

...

The Pharmacy is raided and looted. We haven't even begun to touch our store of medical supplies, and looking at the state of this it's a good thing. I find more blood here, but still no bodies. We're onto our third road-flare.

>Check the Generator
>Go looking for monsters (stealthily)
>Go looking for monsters (draw them in with noise)
>Other [Write In]

>>41182851
>Check the Generator
>The Pharmacy is raided and looted.
FFFFFFF

>>41182851
>Go looking for monsters (stealthily)
Well this place is probably a bust. All looted. Doubt the generator will do any good.

>>41182921
There's difficulty with that. From the maps and layout information we have access to, all we get is 'Basement'. There's only one stair-well which goes down to the basement. That says 'BOSS FITE' to me, or it would when I played vidya and (imagined) tabletop. Loud Girl, as usual, seems intent on going ahead as soon as I suggest it. Gun Guy, however...

"I don't think we should try to restore power to this place." he says.

"Why? If we could see what's on their security footage, we might have a clue as to what's actually going on." I say.

He shakes his head. "If we leave, we won't have to deal with whatever's here."

"It's not just here, Gun. It's everywhere. And I don't think we can just drive away from it."

"You think I don't know that?" he says, becoming incensed. "But the more time we wait here, the more likely we are to get found by scavengers. Which, if you hadn't figured it out, seem to be attracted to hospitals."

I shake my head. "I'm not worried about some scavengers. I'm more worried about some alpha monstrosity coming out of no-where to fuck us up because we don't have any knowledge of what we're consistently up against." I realize now, that I'm actually becoming somewhat heated. It's odd.

"Hey you fucks, why don't you have your pissing contest later?" Loud Girl says.

"Don't be such a bitch." Food Girl glares at LG.

"Oh-hoo, cat fight~" I vaguely register Pretty Boy saying.

"If you shut up now, I'll loot you a nice pretty whig later." Loud Girl snipes back.

"This place is a bust, and you're just angry because it was your idea." Gun Guy says, thrusting his finger at my chest.

"Don't touch me again." I growl at him.

"Or -what-?" he narrows his eyes.

"Guys?" Baseball says quietly.

"What?" Food Girl snaps at him. It manages to distract me from the impending fight somewhat.

"We're not alone." he says.

My head snaps around to look out into the lobby we've come to a stop in. Eight pairs of green eyes look back.

>>41183205
>GET IN THE STAIRWELL
>Only eight? Hopefully they don't die immediately.
>Settle down, gather myself.
>Other [Write In]

>>41183205
>Only eight? Hopefully they don't die immediately.
Everyone knows enemies that come in numbers are weak.

>>41183316
Uh, this ain't a videogame fellow headmate. Check it out, look around. They're all getting way more pissy than usual. Except Loud Bitch. That's her schtick.

>>41183205
>Settle down, gather myself.
Tell them about how fuckweird was our last hospital dive?
Maybe the same thing is happening here?

>>41183316
>>41183418
We've got a tie. Anyone care to break it? If not, I'm going with the first.

>>41183455
HAHA, I just realized I gave everyone my hash. This is my new fucking hash. Fuck.

>>41183483
haha
it's always something so obvious
I remember a QM with the name NotSatan had a hash that was ActuallySatan

>>41183316
Within the blink of an eye, I have my claymore readied and twisting in the intestines of...

of...

...absolutely nothing. As I attacked the silhouette (which was fairly odd and formless, but appeared to have a dog-like head) its form disappeared, and the others did much the same. A few white and inky black striped feathers flit to the ground, and I hear that fleshy patting down a far corridor.

"What the fuck?" My growling voice surprises me. It's a deeper sound with a more grave timbre than I'm familiar with.

"It's getting away!" Loud Girl says before hurtling down the hall... on all fours.

"Stay down, I'll take care of this." Gun Guy volunteers– an offer as bewildering as it is stupid.

"Wait!" Baseball says, as Gun Guy heads down the hallway.

"WAIT!" he says louder as I prepare to follow- I find him clutching at my arm. He nearly loses his hand, but I rein myself in.

>Go anyway, I'm set on killing this fucking worthless fucking... fucky fuck.
>Wait to see what the small meatsack has to say.
>Other [Write In]

>>41183763
>Wait to see what the small meatsack has to say.

>>41183763
>Wait to see what the small meatsack has to say.

>>41183787
>>41183811
"What?" I ask. It must've sounded closer to thunder, judging by Baseball, PB's, and FG's reactions though.

"...What?" I ask, carefully monitoring my volume.

"Whatever that thing is, it's pissing everybody off." Baseball says.

"Duh!" I agree.

"Magically." he says.

I pause. That makes sense. "Oh fuck. We've gotta go after them."

Food Girl runs her hand through her hair... and pulls away with another large clump. She's getting to be mostly bald. "Fuck... How are we gonna do that?" she asks.

"Well, we could burn the place to the ground and pick them out of the rubble..." Pretty Boy suggests. He receives glares for that. "What?!" he asks, pleading innocent.

"That might actually have some merit." Baseball says.

"What seriously?" I ask.

He nods in response, "They'll most likely leave the hospital. Then we could trap in the monster."

>That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard.
>That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard. It's perfect, let's do it.
>Ask Food Girl for a real suggestion
>Other [Write In]

>>41183874
>Ask Food Girl for a real suggestion

>>41183874
>Ask Food Girl for a real suggestion
Not worth if they don't leave.

>>41183920
>>41183963
"Yeah, do we have any better suggestions than those of the peanut gallery?"

Baseball looks offended, but shrugs. Pretty Boy rolls his eyes.

"Wherever we're going to find them, they're bound to be fighting each other. So we need a way to stop them from killing each other." she says

"Like what?" I ask

"Like a bigger threat." she makes an apologetic face at me.

"What do you—" She wants to use me as bait. "Oh hell no." I say.

>Oh hell yes
>Other [Write In]

>>41184063
That's hardly a better option, fuck it why not do a bit of both? Use me as bait and try to make them chase me out of the place?

>>41184063
>Other [Write In]

Uuh, what's wrong with everyone just going and pulling them off each other?

>>41184148
>Oh hell yes
Pretty much. C'mon big guy, you've survived worse.

>>41184185
Have we though? They're both mutating just like we are, 2 of us-types probably have nasty DPS.

>>41184217
Hey Baseball doesn't seem affected. We can be bait and he can manage things? I don't know.

>>41184286
I'm sure we're all affected, his just aren't as obvious as ours.

>>41184148
That one would require getting in between teeth, claws, and bullets, and then holding them down. I'm only really strong enough to hold one of them at a time, and I don't think the parade of stick-men I'm with would be able to handle either of them. Unless Pretty Boy is stronger than he looks.

>>41184185
>>41184121
"You don't have to." she says, holding out a hand.

"No, it's fucking perfect. I do that, lead them out, and you guys burn down the hospital?"

Pretty Boy grins a devilish grin. Baseball shrugs. "It's a fucked up hospital anyway."

Food Girl had put her hands back down, but now she brings one up beside her. "I don't think that will be a problem." she says as burning red flames. Holy shit!

"Hoo- nice!" Baseball says.

"I can try to calm them down from afar." Pretty Boy says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I think I'm magic too. A different kind of magic. I mean, I can tell that you're conflicted-" he says pointing at me, "You're depressed on the verge of suicidal." he points at Food Girl who looks offended, "And you're excited to make an explosion happen." He points at Baseball.

"That's not magic." I say.

"It is if I tell you that you're cold and you suddenly feel cold." he comes back. I feel a shiver.

"Oh fuck you." I say.

Magic Effects can be resisted if they are known. Otherwise, Fa/tg/uy is as susceptible as the average joe.

"Once you get them somewhere safe, I'll convince them to lay off the murdering. I'm not sure if it will last, or it will work- so I'd rather be out of this thing's area of influence."

I look at Baseball. He hasn't really chimed in on all this.

"What do you think?" I ask.

He shrugs his shoulders and nods to Pretty Boy. "I just wanna blow something up."

Great. Fuck me.

>INITIATE SECRET PLAN: SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN
>No, reject this stupid plan and come up with something better– but quick!

>>41184353
>INITIATE SECRET PLAN: SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN
Heh

>>41184353
>INITIATE SECRET PLAN: SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN
Tell Food Girl if you could trade your hair for fire powers you would totally do it. Maybe that'll cheer her up.

>>41184353
>INITIATE SECRET PLAN: SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN

>>41184353
>>41184406
>>41184437
>>41185011
Sorry, I'm back- geez I didn't expect to be gone for so long

Two of my teammates just revealed that magic is real. I'm literally a virgin by the internet's standards. Shouldn't I be in on some of that? NOPE. I get to be the big dumb barbarian. Why does that feel awful? Am I That Guy who can't play anything but a wizard? At the same time, I have been getting pretty cozy with the whole 'rip and tear' bit. Maybe it's not all that bad?

Whatever.

"Hey Food Girl?" I ask.

"Yes?" she looks at me.

"I'm sorry about your hair, but I just want you to know, if I could trade my hair for fire powers? I totally would. Maybe if you want, we could get you a nice hat though." I offer.

She smiles, and shakes her head. "That's sweet, but we don't have any time to worry about that, do we?"

I shake my head as well. "No. I guess you're right. Let's find our DPS."

She tilts her head at me. Baseball laughs. I vow internally to never open my mouth again.

"Let's find Loud Girl and Gun Guy." Pretty Boy offers.

We do that. Honestly, it doesn't take long, just gotta follow the gunshots. We're lucky though. Whatever's toying with us wanted us to see what was going on... or maybe get us all in the radius. Whatever it's going to do, it's sure not gonna get me ag-

[Resolve: 2d6+2(Spirit): 7]

My vision goes completely red with anger.

[1 Willpower Spent]

I take a moment to calm myself. It's about then that bullets rip through a further hallway at us.

[Gun Guy's damage: 6d6+5: 23]
[Fa/tg/uy's dodge: 2d6+4: 11] (12)
[Fa/tg/uy's Physical Defense: 4] (8)
[Fa/tg/uy's Ogre Resilience: 1/5th] (6)
[Fa/tg/uy's HP: 14/20]

A handful of bullets rip through my side and stomach as our group ducks for cover.

"This wasn't that great a plan." I insist.

Food Girl shakes her head. "I'm sorry. Allow me to provide you cover?"

From her hand she gathers a flame, ducks down around the corner and lets it loose.

Part [1/2]

>>41185292
>[Gun Guy's damage: 6d6+5: 23]
Gun guy's no joke?

>>41185292
These guys are... a little too specialized. Hey, by the way- we should have about 12 XP from last time I forgot to assign, so that's good! Right guys?

[Food Girl's Consuming Flames 8d6+8: 38]
[Gun Guy's Athletics 4d6+5: 22] (16)
[Gun Guy's Supernatural Defenses: 8] (8)

To the surprise of everyone, the fireball goes off like a goddamn grenade with all of the bang and explosion- only there's a whole lot more fire.

I feel the heat from it sear my face even from my cover. When Food Girl pops back behind cover she looks like she's seen a ghost or four.

"I think you should be good to go now." Baseball says.

"O-okay." I say. I duck around the corner.

When I see the damage made by the fireball, it makes sense. Much of what's flammable has caught, paper, various debris, the ceiling. It throws off a dull orange glow. I take this time to recapture what precisely I'm supposed to do.

I roar, "Come on you cocksuckers!" and dart down a hall towards the ER Waiting Area.

>Circle back around through the ICU area and try to find Loud Girl
>Get Gun Guy out and at least try to de-hypnotise him with Pretty Boy's help.

>>41185425
>Alternatively, [Write In]

>>41185425
>Get Gun Guy out and at least try to de-hypnotise him with Pretty Boy's help.

>>41185425
Getting Gun Guy to not Gun us down sounds like the best option. Guns and Insanity don't mix, if we're to learn anything from the Media.

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162 KB JPG

>>41185504
>>41185577
I keep sprinting towards the outside, right out the Ambulance exit that Loud Girl busted open maybe an hour ago. My heart is racing, and yet– I don't feel fatigued at all. I do turn around, sword in hand.

My jaw sets, then I roar.

"COME GET ME, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" and I spread my arms.

I wait. And while I wait, I begin to feel uneasy. I take the time to find some strategic cover behind a ca- Gunfire opens up around me. Shit shit shit.

[Gun Guy's ranged: 6d6+6: 29] (I forgot a point last time.
[Fa/tg/uy's Athletics: 2d6+4: 16] (13)
[Fa/tg/uy's Physical Defense: 6] (7) (x.5 for having light cover)
[Fa/tg/uy's Ogre Resilience: 1/5th] (6)
[Fa/tg/uy's HP: 8/20]

>Spend a Fatigue to no-sell the attack?

>>41185789
Yes, spend all the fatigue. God damn, he really is all the deeps.

Also Level up Ogre Resilience and increase Body by 2 with that 12 xp.

>>41185857
Ditto this.

>>41185857
>>41185872
That'll decrease the damage to 4. Do we still wanna spend the Fatigue?

>>41185928
Yeah

>>41185789
>>41185857
>>41185872
>>41185966
Thanks to our new stats, we now have 24 HP, and 8 Fatigue remaining.
I drop to the asphalt as bullets rip through the cover I'd been behind just a moment ago, avoiding the shots. I'm really hoping that Pretty Boy keeps up his part of the bargain.

I stay like that for a moment, presumably while Gun Guy scouts out my position. I look from under the vehicle. Finally I feel like I can relax a bit, until three shots go through the undercarriage of the car and onto the ground.

I get to my knees at least, but shortly thereafter find it wasn't necessary as I hear a man's pitched yelling. Against my better judgement, I indulge my curiosity and come to a kneeling position, peaking through the broken car windows. Pretty Boy's standing next to Gun Guy's prone form in the middle of the parking-lot. His eyes are closed, and he seems deep in thought.

The entire picture is unsettling. He didn't kill Gun Guy, did he? Fucking, did he? Maybe he used some kind of power the goddamn Devil gave him to kill Gun Guy?

>Wait, don't be a paranoid, Fat Goy. Let's check out the situation.
>I knew you were always out to get us, PB.
>Ignore them both, it'll sort itself out. You've got a tiger wrangler to... er... wrangle.

>>41186076
>Ignore them both, it'll sort itself out. You've got a tiger wrangler to... er... wrangle.
I trust PB to solo GG now that he has him in his voodoo mind grip.

>>41186076
>Ignore them both, it'll sort itself out. You've got a tiger wrangler to... er... wrangle.
Don't forget the actual tiger.

>>41186207
With our new tankiness we can shrug off a few bites.

>>41186253
Man we're literally mutating Devil powers. If us humans just got scary I don't even wanna imagine the goddamn tiger's mutations.

>>41186297
Well, Loud Girl is a druid and the tiger is her animal companion, I wouldn't be too worried. Them working in concert is the real danger.

>>41186363
Druids get wildform...

>>41186417
yeah ik thx 4 the reminder tho

>>41186187
Yeah. That shit is seriously creepy.
>>41186207
>>41186253
>>41186297
Oh shit? Thanks for reminding me. I scan over the parkinglot and see... looks like the Tiger's still in the police SUV, chilling out and looking over the highway. Useless fucking bastard.

PB doesn't even open his eyes as I head past. WEIRD.

Upon entering the darker parts, I immediately hear a yell coming in my direction. Instinctively, I reach out a hand and PUNCH.

A light made from Food Girl's hand appears in the darkness- it startles me a bit. I look down at what I just hit... and see Baseball sprawled out on the ground, his bat rolling towards a wall.

"...Ow." he says.

"Are you high, dude?" I ask as I kneel to help him up.

He feels his jaw out. "I thought you were GG."

"Yeah, well, that was almost GG for you bro." I quip. "Have you guys seen the monster, or Loud Girl?"

FG shakes her head.

"Damn. Why did you have the lights out?"

"Like I said, thought you were GG." Baseball supplies.

Food Girl shrugs.

"Okay. Let's find her."

That turns out to be a harder prospect than I initially imagined. We back-track our way back to the Lobby, and find nothing, except a spreading fire. I head around to Maternity, and find... God Damn.

There's old dried blood out of the ground here. The cradles are dumped over, and one or two are smashed. I feel sick looking over it. We move onto ICU, and even poke our heads in Radiology and MRI. Nothing. Nothing except the lingering feeling of being watched.

Getting back to the ER Waiting Room, I find GG and PB outside the doors which have, apparently, been broken out.

"Hey GG. You good?" He looks like he sucked on a fireball, his shirt burnt and his eyebrows too.

He nods with what appears to be silent remorse.

"It's fine. I know you were out of it." I say.

"...Thanks." he says.

"Can you help us find Loud Girl?" Baseball asks.

"Yeah. Let's go." he replies. Pretty Boy smiles that smile again.

Part [1/2]

>>41186531
>"Yeah, well, that was almost GG for you bro."
hahaha

Also if bullets are falling out of our healing wounds yet we should hand them to GG with a witty comment. Something like "you dropped these." or "I figured you'd want these back."

>>41186612
>Also if bullets are falling out of our healing wounds yet we should hand them to GG with a witty comment. Something like "you dropped these." or "I figured you'd want these back."

Hilarious. However also mean. GG was obviously Demoning Under the Influence.

>>41186531
It's Food Girl who actually gets attacked by LG. She was in the middle of our group when it happened. Not for long, however. As we passed a door I'd -just- looked in, Pretty Boy suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, she's right here." he said.

We were on the second floor, in a hall by the windows. To our left were patient rooms, for the most part. Out of that one I had moments ago stuck my head in, Loud Girl comes bursting out and tackles Food Girl...

...Directly out of a window.

"Fuck!" Gun Guy says, he gets to the window and aims his gun.

Baseball grabs his shoulder and pulls him back with surprising strength. "No fucking shooting!" Gun Guy looks a bit paler. I stick my head out of the open window, and see Food Girl sprawled out on the ground.

"She's not dead." Pretty Boy says. "She's bait."

"Oh come the fuck -on-. Loud Girl becomes the goddamn predator when she's possessed by a demon asshole?" I whine.

"Let's get down there." Pretty Boy pats me on the shoulder. We move as one.

We find Food Girl standing, looking uneasy.

"Hey, sit down." I say. "You had a hard fall."

Baseball starts checking her over. "Can you give me a light?" he says. She makes fire on her fingertip. He holds her wrist up.

"Follow the light with your eyes?" he asks. She knits her brow and pulls her hand away. "I'm not concussed. Thank you. I'm sore, though."

Baseball nods. "Alright, hey, your funeral." He stands up.

I've been looking around, trying to see what the strategic advantage for getting us out in the open like this is. So far, I don't have anything.

"Where do you think she's at?" I ask.

Pretty Boy concentrates for a moment.

I hear the sound of squeeling tires, and we all look in time to see an ambulance (Where the fuck was it earlier?) rapidly approach.

"THERE!" Pretty Boy shouts as he runs for cover.

I grab Food Girl up and get promptly out of the way of the vehicle which slams into the brick wall at a break neck speed

Part [2/ILIED 3]

>>41186680
What's the point of being a close knit group slowly mutating into monsters if we can't make a few jokes at each others expense.

>>41186713
Fair enough.

>>41186709
Shit, is baseball the team medic?

Or do we not have one?

>>41186709
>I grab Food Girl up and get promptly out of the way of the vehicle which slams into the brick wall at a break neck speed
Aww there goes our medical ride

>>41186819
Baseball is the team medic it appears.

>>41186819
Uh... My guess is between Food Girl, Baseball(?) and maybe possibly Pretty Boy? But he just might be a creepy hedonist.

>>41186709
I help Food Girl to her feet, and the others begin slowly to emerge from their cover. The vehicle's entire front looks smashed to hell and back.

"I think she's still alive." Pretty Boy says.

I go to check the driver's side door. It falls off, and I find... nothing in the driver's seat. "...The fuck?" I stick my head in a bit further and hear the sound of glass abruptly smashing. Loud Girl reaches her hands through the window between the ambulance sections and grabs my face and the back of my head and -yanks-, slamming my head repeatedly into the wall.

[Loud Girl's Brawl 6d6+6: 23]
[Loud Girl's Competence 1d10: 10] (-1 Fatigue)
[Fa/tg/uy's Brawl 3d6+6: 19] (14)
[Fa/tg/uy's Physical Defense: 4] (10)
[Fa/tg/uy's Ogre Resilience: 2/5ths] (6)
[Fa/tg/uy's HP: 18/30]

I manage to yank my head away, dazed, as she bursts out of the back of the ambulance. I'm still a little too dazed to get the full view of whatever's happening, but it's not long before I hear a feminine, yet animalistic howl. Then I hear a tiger's roar, and a purely feminine scream. I get there in time to find the tiger assaulting Baseball, before Gun Guy kicks it squarely in the side of the head. The Tiger peels back and roars, while Loud Girl is on the ground.

I head over to subdue the Tiger. God, I never thought I would be narrating that set of actions? I literally run over... and... fuck, I guess I'm tackling this tiger? The force of the impact sends us both sprawling, and the twisting thing manages to get on top of me. It's set to maul me, before I hear Loud Girl say, "Tigette! Quit." The tiger perks its head up.

Loud Girl is sitting on the ground, rubbing her head.

"Are you alright?" Gun Guy says to her. Baseball comes over to look at me, but I wave him off.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Can we burn this place down, already?"

>>41186927
>Yeah, let's do that.
>I wanna find that monster and kill it personally.
>Other [Write In]

>>41186948
>>Yeah, let's do that
No telling if you all can make your willsaves a second time.

>>41186927
Actually Fa/tg/uy's Physical Defense is 6 now, so he only took 5 damage instead

>>41186948
>Burn it down
>Also really, Tigette? How unique.

>>41186948
>I wanna find that monster and kill it personally.

>>41186970
>>41187059
>>41187120
Sorry I had to eat AN ENTIRE HALF PIZZA IN UNDER FIVE MINUTES BECAUSE I HATE MYSELF

"Yeah. Let's burn the fucker down. Also, you seriously named her Tigette?" I ask.

Loud Girl looks at me with her bright yellow cat's eyes. "Yeah. That happened like, five chapters ago."

"Chapters?" I ask.

"You wouldn't get it." she says, brushing herself off.

"Is that a deadpool reference?" Baseball asks. Food Girl starts off towards the hospital with Gun Guy while Pretty Boy just laughs.

"Uh... Okay." I say, heading that way.

Loud Girl sighs, and catches up. Gun Guy and Food Girl are at the front, while the rest of us follow. I'm not sure how we're gonna blow this place up. Probably let Food Girl go haywire.

"I told you her name was Tigette back at the Park. Remember now?" she asks.

I look over. "Oh yeah. Yeah, I guess so. It's still a terrible name."

"Well I'm sorry. What would you have named her? Something from WoW?" She starts off to catch up with Food Girl and Gun Guy. She must still be out of it to be this sensitive about something stupid like that.

...

Gasoline. parked all of the cars in the hospital in the lobby, siphoned off a few extra cars in the parking lot and doused the entire fucking thing with gasoline. As much of it as we could. About eight cars (I still think I could fit a few more in) were crammed into the lobby. They were our fire-starter. Our kindling. Something deep inside me felt incredibly pleased to use eight cars in that manner. When it went, it -really- went.

The fire licked over the outside walls. Plaster melted. Plastic made sounds like screaming as air escaped. Tires erupted like the beating of drums. It was a beautiful bit of destruction.

"Shouldn't we... I don't know, not burn down the whole town?" Baseball asks. He's got a point. Everything's really fucking dry right now.

"Who gives a shit?" Gun Guy asks. He's got a point too.

[Part 1/2]

>>41187337
Fuck she did bring it up before and I forgot. It'll be real embarrassing if I made fun of it back then too.

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>>41187427
I don't remember. It's still a stupid name, and she should feel bad.

>>41187337

We sit in that parking-lot and watch our grand-scale arson from the hoods of our cars. Tigette is rubbing against Loud Girl's leg as she sits on her Police SUV. I picked out a new car. Not as room as an Ambulance, but I think it'll do.

The insane fire warms our night. In some ways, I'm sad that I didn't get to watch the last movie the world would ever play, but there'll be other opportunities. I take a moment to look around at my group. See their faces, at least the profiles. We're changing. It may be the last time anyone ever sees these exact faces. I try to lock them in my memory. The day was odd, but somehow? I feel closer to my group than I had before.

Looking back over the fire, I suddenly don't feel like I lost out that much in living in the regular world. And really, all that we're missing are the marshmallows.

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>>41187479
EPILOGUE FOR EPISODE 4.

It's a couple night's after. I think I've grown an inch. We're stopped for the night, gathered around a bonfire made by the now-completely-bald Food Girl. Her skin seems to be getting a little darker. Baseball's features have started to look even slighter, and Pretty Boy is looking... hilariously, prettier than ever.

They're sitting on logs. I drug them over. Really, I feel stronger than I ever have before. Stronger than I think I have a right to. It's pretty cool. Me? I had to head back to my car for a quick moment. See, a few days ago, Gunz lost his mind and shot me up. Since then, the bullets have been pushing themselves out of my skin. So I've been storing them in an ashtray. I grab them out of the car and come to kneel down next to Gunz, on the other side of Food Girl.

"Hey, GG." I say.

"What's up?" he looks over at me.

"I found these. I think you dropped them." I hold out the bullets. I'm pleased as punch.

He glares at me. "Come on, big guy. I wasn't in my right mind."

"I know but..." ...Big guy? BIG GUY? I COULD'VE BEEN BIG GUY INSTEAD OF FUCKING FAT GUY! FUCK! That's it. I'm gonna tell them to start calling me Big Guy. That's so much better than... wait. Waaait.

...

You know on second thought? I think it's better to be Fat Guy, I think. The name has some mileage on it. And besides, I'd rather not be a meme, thank you very much.

"...Fat Guy?" GG asks.

"Huh?" I look at him.

"You just trailed off. You okay there?" he asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, totally fine. Super cool." I say.

"Look- I'm sorry about shooting you." he says.

I shake my head. "Nah, it's cool. I healed right up, wanna see?"

"Please do not lift your shirt at me."

"...O-okay." I say. I head over to my own log. Well... maybe my social skills haven't improved. But I've got time. Yes sir, I've got all the time in the world.

image related.

>>41187718
lol

thx 4 runin budi gud thred

9.5/10 could have used more descriptions of the HUGE SHITEATING GRIN we had on at the end there.

Hey you guys, thanks for sticking it out with me today. I'm sorry about having to end so early every time. Eight hours is about my max, and I've got work in the morning. I hope you've enjoyed the ride, I know today started out kind of slow. Post game survey: is it weird that Fa/tg/uy's so bonding-focused? Did I close today well? Was there anything you didn't like so I can improve next time? Do you have any suggestions?

As I've said before, this is my first Quest. I can already identify a few things that aren't that great. I have to do a lot of multi-parters, but I tried to keep the time between each part lower by pre-cutting the text. In addition, sometimes I type out something and submit it only to review it and realize I left something out. I'm gonna try to work on that in the future as well. I'm also worried that I'm not giving you guys enough interaction. I feel like if I'm not careful, that I'll turn into one of those novel-writer QMs I've heard about.

File: Nope, not on my aircraft....gif (2.53 MB, 280x358)

2.53 MB GIF

>>41187718

>>41187801
Cheshire-cat tier fucking grin.

Before I forget... again, 8 experience.

>>41187949
what can we buy with that again?

>>41187975
All manner of bonuses. Costs are at the very bottom of the character sheet.

>>41187814
Less interruptions. Mad time apparently got spent on ur waifu bringing food, finding a hospital layout, an unspecified break, and eating half a pizza in 5 minutes because you hate yourself. I feel like most of that was avoidable.

Also remember to link in QTG when you start.

>>41187949
Level up that Resilience to max. % DR OP.

>>41188043
A guy's gotta eat. And the unspecified break was restroom time. But I'll try to settle down on those breaks. Also, YES. I need to link to the QTG forever onward. I can level up the resilience to full 3/5ths. That's a grand total of 60% DR on all incoming attacks 5ever and then some.

>>41188093
Bueno