[Desolation] Chapter 2: Hard-held

You know, there are times that you should just follow your instincts, this should have been one of them. Why didn't she just follow them.


Red Bean pulls he rubber hose tight between her hands and wraps them around the woman lunging at her.


Sieze by force. Hard+1. 10+1=11


With the hose around the woman's neck, Sister Red tied the ends to the legs of the steel bed.
 
Ryoma, Hooper


Ryoma, you make just enough room to get you hand back there.


You're pulling the grenade out, slowly.


As you get it to the edge of the hole, it shifts.


TING!


The charging handle flings off.


You've got five seconds


There's a choice to make.


Push the grenade back in and cover the with the body.


You'd take the brunt of the explosion, but Hooper would be mostly untouched.


Or, yank it out and toss it behind you.


You'd be mostly safe, but Hooper would take the blast.


What do you do?


Koch


Theo's eyes widen.


He may not know what it is, but he's amazed to be staring at something from the Golden Age.


I'd imagine Fauci is usually involved in this kind of stuff.


What do you do?


Red Bean


Very nice.


Choose 3:

  • you take definite hold of it
  • you suffer little harm
  • you inflict terrible harm
  • you impress, dismay or frighten your enemy
 
Sister Red has never seen the Howling so close before. There is a moment of morbid curiosity, like chasing away the buzzards to see how much of the beast has been picked away, to see if the bones are white, to see if the maggots move when you poke it.


But she can't let it in, she can't let it stay here and spread its influence. She pulls the hoses tighter, coking off all the air. As the woman struggles, Red grabs the woman's arm and holds it down until she feels it pop out of joint. Dislocated, it no longer moves, she releases it. The woman's other arm comes over and grabs at Red. She should have tied her hands down as well.


Soon, the life will be choked out of the woman, the Howling will have lost its conduit. The woman's nails dig into Red Beans flesh, but she won't let her free. "You are not welcome here. Sister Red will not let you in," she says to the beast within the woman. Then, with her free hand, she drives the serrated blade into the woman's chest.


(Take definite hold, Inflict terrible harm, Frighten the enemy)
 
Graves


"Afternoon, Roark. All quiet now?" Graves asks, cheerfully, holding his weapon non-threateningly.
 
Life consists of very few true choices. She heard the Old Man and his fellows argue this or that point about the nature of free will, of truth and volition, but the ugly fact of it is that most people act on habit; there is no true 'choice' present even when presented with options. But, every now and then, life offers you a choice, when you hold fate in your hands.


Ryoma shoves the grenade beneath the corpse and dives toward Hooper.
 
Hooper


From the beginning of this little event, Hooper was confused why they just didn't chuck Ball's corpse at the girls, blowing them both up and keeping her room clean. She had shrugged it off and now pretty Ryoma is in danger of the grenade ruining her face and robes.


As soon as Ryoma dives, Hooper reacts. She grabs the diving Ryoma and throws her out of the room, using her own momentum and the considerable strength that her face gave her. She didn't care about the grenade but her face told her she should care about Ryoma.
 
Red Bean


You put the tubing around her neck and she tears at you with nails and fingers.


Her hands find your throat and try to choke you as well [1-harm, armor applies], but you get her arms away and secure.


After you pin her arms, you pull your blade and drive it deep into her chest.


You're met with a gout of blood and then the red liquid flows like a river over her chest and onto the floor.


She slows,


then weakens.


Only the occasional jerk.


Then, she stops moving, her eyes staring at you as the last of her life drips off the slab.


You're covered in blood.


An then you notice Lumpey standing next to you.


He embraces you and shushes you.


"She's dead.


You can stop now.


She's dead."


What do you do?


Graves


Roark nods as he stares off the wall into the desert.


"Hey boss.


Yeah, looks like the 'Skulls have moved on.


You're Golden Girls really did shove 'em off."


What do you do?


Ryoma, Hooper


Hooper, roll to act under fire.


I don't want to drag this out, but I'd like to see if you can pull this maneuver off.


This should be interesting.
 
Ryoma, Hooper


Ryoma, you shove the grenade back in, move the corpse back, and dive.


You feel Hooper's calloused hands wrap around you and launch your further out of the room.


BOOM!


The grenade explodes, showering the room with shrapnel.


Ryoma, you feel and see several pieces fly past you as you roll in the hallway outside.


Hooper, you're met with a cloud of death, but you're standing outside the primary blast radius.


You feel a piece of shrapnel slam into your back, but it means nothing to you. [1-harm, armor applies]


The smoke clears and both bodies are mutilated.


What do you do?
 
Stand up. Dust herself off.


"Hooper," she says, gently. "Thank you. My injuries would have been far more grave if not for you..." A sweet smile as she grabs her slightly singed robe off the ground. "I do believe you will need new quarters... Alas, it seems our main lead has been... exploded." It seems so arbitrary -- why make this demonstration to Hooper? It would lost on her.
 
Hooper


Each chunk of metal, concrete, and bone digs into Hooper's back. Each one slicing into flesh or sliding into the random assortment of straps the crisscross Hooper's body.


She doesn't even grunt while staring at the prone Ryoma.


Then the whisper is back, Hooper listens intently. Her face tells her something important. Something they should do. Some way to catch who tried to hurt her. The machete is back in her hand.


"Go into the next cell. Someone is going to see if they killed me." She walks out of the cell and into the one next door. She does stop for a moment when Ryoma speaks.


"Wel-" Silence returns for a moment "Whatever" The figure vanishes into the darkness of the next cell.
 
Ryoma grabs up her blade and charges forward. It's imperative she get to this person first -- then she can turn them over to Hooper's vengeance.
 
Ryoma, Hooper


The cell next door has been used for storage of old desks and ruined filing cabinets.


Would either of you guys like to read the sitch?
 
Graves


"Good. Glad to hear it."


He stands just behind and beside Roark, the wind blowing off the desert ruffling his beard, jack trailing in the air. The noonday sun casts his face in shadow beneath his hat.


He lights up one of his rare, precious cigarettes, inhales deeply.


"You know Corbett, Roark? Hold is getting too big now for me to keep track've everyone by name, myself. Got a daughter, I think."
 
Ryoma, Hooper


Hooper, you get to ask 3.


Ryoma, you get to ask 1.


Both of you see below:

  • where’s my best escape route / way in / way past?
  • which enemy is most vulnerable to me?
  • which enemy is the biggest threat?
  • what should I be on the lookout for?
  • what’s my enemy’s true position?
  • who’s in control here?


Koch


Theo shakes his head and smiles.


"Nah, K, I think we got it from here.


Shit's been going down out here.


You might want to check in with Graves.


Other'n that, I think you're square.


Thanks!"


As Theo starts to walk toward the truck, you hear the distinctive sound of a pistol hammer being pulled back and see a gun being raised in the crowd of people.


The guy pulling out the gun has a shifted jaw, like he's been punched there too many times.


You've seen him before.


His name is Jabber.


Doesn't talk much, but is hired as a merc all the time.


Has a bit of a mean streak.


What do you do?


Graves


Roark frowns as he thinks.


"Name doesn't ring a bell, boss.


Why, what's going on?"
 
Sister Red let's Lumpy hold her for a second as she slows her breathing. The scratches had caused little harm. Her skin was tougher than that, after it had been burned away, it had grown back scarred, hard, and red. "Did you see it? It was inside her brain. I don't know how long it was in there." It was her job to make sure it didn't get into the compound. The compound wasn't ready to face the Howling itself.


That was when the thought struck her. "Is it gone? Did I shut it out in time?" She didn't wait for the answer, it was too important. She had silenced the woman who brought it into the camp, it should be gone. But was there a chance it had moved somewhere else. She opened herself to the world around her then beyond. Where did it go? You can't kill it. At best she forced it deep into the maelstrom. At worst, it was patroling the edges of their awareness looking for an easy target.


Roll Weird+3 (9+3=12) Mark XP


Apparently, I messed up and should have improved after killing the woman (+hard) and reset.


Picking up Charismatic - when you try to manipulate someone, roll+weird instead of roll+hot
 
Graves


I'm going to read the person on Roark while chatting with him.


"No? Damn. Can't find the man himself right now and I've got half a dozen different mentions of him - some folk are concerned something is eating him. But then I got told his daughter is pregnant, too, and if that ain't gonna put a man on edge what will?"
 
Hooper, Ryoma


Hooper, you should be on the lookout for a possible ambush in the next cell.


You enemy's true position is above you in old unused cieling vents.


Krin is in control here.


The well-armed woman above hoping to kill you.


Ryoma, Krin, a would-be assassin, is in control here.


Red Bean


Nice choice.


So, I just want to be clear, you're opening your brain to look for the Howling?


Also, tell me more: Is the Howling contagious?


Graves


Awesome. You have hold 1.


Roark shakes his head.


"Damn.


Pregnant.


Unlucky in times like these.


Sure as hell would put me on edge.


Have you spoken with him already?"
 
Hooper


A telltale heart beat gives away the position to my face. The exhaling above me as I step into the room. My heart would beat like that if it could.


I step through the room until I'm directly under the vent. The old metal looks recently disturbed. My face can feel her heat coming from the confined space. Another that tried to kill me, another corpse to toss over the compound walls.


In a rapid motion, I punch my free hand up through the vent and try to drag the assassin down through the torn metal. Wrenching her down from the vents.


My shining face meets hers as my hand goes around her neck, I feel the bones groan under pressure. The hand with the machete tenses.


Rolling to seize her from the vents by force.


http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3935472/ 2d6+3 → [6,4,3] = (13)


Frighten the enemy, take definite hold, I suffer little harm.


((I swear to god, Invisible Castle loves hooper))
 
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