Realistic or Modern Overcast: Marten Rietveld

[Croike]

Marten faces Mister Wigg. "Yes sir, it's getting bad. We need to get you out of here as soon as possible. There's riots in the streets and crazed lunatics in the hotel. Staff are deserting the building." He gestures to the injured kid after mentioning the lunatics.

 

[Lorsh]

Sam Wigg swallows uneasily. "Oh, that's not very good at all." He quickly shuffles over and starts packing a suitcase. Meanwhile, Roche has done his best on the kid, applying some antiseptic and patching up the wound with some bandages. The bleeding seems staunched for now. The mother picks him up.

"Are we going to the airport?" Jodi asks.

"Yes, yes- we'll go to the car, and we'll drive there, and fly back if we can. If we can't, there's probably police there," Wigg says over his shoulder. Roche gestures at the other articles of luggage. "Miss Fischer, do you mind?" he snaps. Normally it'd be his job, but he's occupied with the kid at the moment. Jodi quickly scrambles to pack up whatever she can, holding onto two suitcases.

From the window, you can see half a dozen or so people staggering inside the lobby from the parking lot.

"Mr. Rietveld, lead the way to the elevators," Wigg says, placing his strongman up front.

 

[Croike]

Marten nods, taking his baton in one hand, and his taser in the other. "If we can find a different way out than the front door, I think we should. Could be an emergency exit- since this is an emergency I think we should be taking the stairs." He starts leading the group toward the staircase.

 

[Lorsh]

The group follows your lead, and although the descent downstairs from the thirteenth floor is tiring, adrenaline seems to keep everyone moving quickly regardless. It seems it was a wise decision to take the stairs, for when you emerge, you see that one of the elevators has become a scene of carnage. Blood has spilled out into the hallway in ludicrous quantities, and squelching, gnawing sounds come from the elevator carriage. In it, you can see the hunched figures of a car lot attendant, a female bellhop, and two security guards ripping apart the bodies of several businesspeople.

Miss Fischer vomits, and so does Wigg. Thankfully, before any of the monstrosities can come after your group, the elevator door closes when some poor sap on one of the upper floors summons it.

The lobby music hasn't ceased. The fish tank is busted open now, with the little multicolored specimens helplessly flopping on the ground. Among the water, dying fish and broken glass, you can see the suited man that was on his phone earlier being eaten by the cute lobby receptionist. There's a lot of abnormal-looking people out in the front of the building, but they're crouched down, distracted as they eat an unseen body, though it might be the other bellhop from earlier.

Roche points out the buffet room, which has an emergency exit. He keeps his hand on Mr. Wigg.

 

[Croike]

Marten says nothing, but he motions for everyone to be quiet. He starts leading the group toward the emergency exit with a measured tread, trying to make as little noise as possible.

 

[Lorsh]

Passing through the buffet room, it's surprisingly still intact. It's been awhile since breakfast though, so not many people linger around here.



You lead your six-man posse outside through the buffet room's side door, which leads out into the same parking lot, just not as close to the front doors. Mr. Wigg's rented car is in sight, and is reached without issue. However, the street next to the hotel looks chaotic, nearly jammed with many cars looking like they've been crashed or abandoned. There's a lot of honking horns, and a few of the crazy people are slapping against windows, but overall some of the cars are ambling along, albeit slowly.

 

[Croike]

"Mister Wigg, where do we need to go? The airport? Or do you have somewhere else in mind?" Marten asks of his boss.

 

[Lorsh]

Roche turns on the car, nervously looking out the window.

"Yes, the airport, boys," Wigg says. "But, I'm not sure if they'll be running flights. Just anywhere safe will do, if we can think of anywhere else."

"We could listen to see if the government is setting anything up- like a safe area," Jodi suggests.

"What if we- what if we just try to get out of the city?" the mother asks. "Everything is going to hell here in this city. Too many people..."

 

[Croike]

Marten ponders for some time. "The airport is crowded, and likely to have poor security. People fleeing from- whatever this is. Not to mention it's easy for sickness to spread. Sorry sir- I don't think that one is a good plan."

He continues thinking.

"Trying to leave the city during a panic is going to be a tricky business. The roads are going to be bad, maybe even impassable due to traffic. I think the best thing we can do is try to wait this out at a police station. Then try to arrange transport out once things have calmed down."

 

[Lorsh]

Roche speaks up, groaning from the driver's seat as he watches two cars smash into each other on the street. "I have no idea where the police station is," he tells you. Up ahead, all that is visible are a series of high-rise office firms and multipurpose tower blocks.

The vehicle's automotive navigation system does not come with labels for any of the buildings, only street names and an auto compass.

 

[Croike]

Marten sighs deeply upon hearing this information. "Roche, do you know of any nearby hospitals?" He looks to the woman in the back seat. "If you have any ideas- now is the time." He ponders a few moments more. "We could try the docks. While I don't think we'll have any luck with a ferry, or large ship we might be able to pay someone to get us out of here."

 

[Lorsh]

"If this is a sickness, you can only imagine how bad the hospitals are," Roche tells you, frustration evident in his voice as he looks at the congested city street ahead. Cars are already starting to clog everything up. "The docks- the docks sound good," he says. He looks over his shoulder briefly as he makes the decision for Wigg, who continues to cower in the back seat. "We'll get you on a boat, sir."

"N-no!" the woman protests. "We have to get to a hospital! Please!" she begs.

Roche grips the steering wheel tightly as he speaks through bared teeth. "The hospital will not be safe," he says.

"Take us to the fucking hospital! My boy is dying!"

 

[Croike]

Marten lays a hand on her shoulder, gripping it firmly.

"Calm down. We've stopped the worst of the bleeding. Roche isn't wrong about the dangers. Just look outside the window. You can see the riots in the street. The flow has been staunched. He needs a transfusion but that won't be impossible to arrange. Do you know your son's blood-type?"

He tries to look her in the eye as he speaks.

 

[Lorsh]

The woman tenses as you grasp her by the shoulder, and she swallows, looking at you with wide eyes. "Umm- yes, A-positive," she says.

"Seatbelts; we're not talking anymore," Roche says. He puts the car in drive and takes it out of the parking lot, as a few sickly and blood-flecked people are already beginning to stagger over from the front of the hotel. He nearly gets into a collision with another vehicle almost immediately after pulling onto the street, as nobody seems to be obeying the speed limit at this point. Though the road is jammed, he manages to get some real estate on the adjacent pedestrian walkway, though he has to swerve to avoid food stands and random people. The women shriek as 'strange' people begin to slap at the windows and leave streaks of pus and blood. Roche speeds it up.

 

[Croike]

Marten continues to keep an eye on the woman and her son, and he tries to determine if he's met her before. He goes through his disaster checklist internally and thinks back to his time in the RSF. He curses internally about his lack of a pistol. "Mister Wigg, how much money do we currently have available? I doubt any sailors at the dockside will take us for free."

 

[Lorsh]

Mr. Wigg starts to pick through his wallet. The car slams into a prostitute that looks like she has all her skin flayed off. Her body disappears over the roof of the car, and he turns on the windshield wipers. The woman simply shrieks and hugs her child closer to her, being offered some comfort by Jodi.

Roche continues to maneuver the vehicle through the chaos. "This is Samuel Wigg," he says. "We can make promises to repay them- even if we don't have cash on us."

The hotel was close to the harbor district, thankfully. Roche pulls onto a street adjacent to the ocean, though the proper docks are still a few hundred metres ahead. You can see vessels of different shapes and sizes, some of them burning, in the distance. Roche comes to a halt, as a bus has flipped and blocked the entire street, preventing him from driving any further. "Shit."

 

[Croike]

The moment the car stops, Marten piles out with his baton in right hand and his taser in his left. "Come on! We'll have to walk. Stay close. Don't let anyone odd looking touch you." He starts down the path toward the dock, seeming tense and alert.

 

[Lorsh]

Roche walks beside you, while the 'dependents' of the group, Jodi, Wigg, and the woman keep close behind. The bus looks to be the scene of a massacre- you can hear voices screaming from within as you pass by. You see someone trying to crawl up through the shattered windows, which now rest on the top, but they get pulled back down.

"Oh god," Jodi whimpers.

The group pushes towards the docks, sticking to the sidewalk. Though, in the middle of the path, a man in a bloodstained set of navy formals stands up from eating the body of a dock worker. He turns to face you, gurgling as he staggers forth. He's missing a chunk of the left side of his face, from his cheek to his eyebrow.

 

[Croike]

Marten says nothing at all, he briskly approaches the man and his hideous facial wound, deliberately swinging his baton at the individual's head, going straight for the temple. He lashes out with his boot as well, trying to plant it in the man's chest and shove after the baton strike. He jerks his head in a 'come on!' motion to the others.

 

[Lorsh]

Your baton collides with the infected man's head, causing it to snap sideways. The ladies shriek a little. Though it staggers him slightly, he gives no indication of being in pain, and he seems far less affected by the strike than would be expected. Your followup boot to the chest is enough to send him sprawling onto his back, however. A sickly man in a high-vis jacket approaches from the street, but Roche pushes him back.

The group keeps moving on your prompt, and you finally reach the docks. A few motorized dinghies and sailboats are still tied up. It's dark, but there's a great deal of illumination provided by a burning freighter loating on the water, a few hundred metres away.

You see a guy in shorts, along with a woman, tossing stuff on a motorsailer straight from the back of a van they just pulled up on the dock. You also see a more older fellow, armed with a long gun of some kind, untying the rope to a small motorboat. The largest group of people (over a dozen) attempting to escape are trying to do so on a catamaran motor yacht at the end of the dock.

 

[Croike]

Marten takes a deep breath and calls out to the old sea dog. "None of us know how to sail a boat, we could use your help- and I think that they could too." He gestures to the pair at the motorsailer. "We'll have a better chance of getting out of here with your help, and I doubt that little boat will get you off the island."

He turns back to the group. "Mister Wigg, I think you should take the others and see about persuading them to take us on board. I'll follow in a few moments." He gestures again to the motorsailer when he says 'them'.

 

[Lorsh]

Wigg perks up a bit. "Right, right. Good plan," he says, gesturing for Roche to follow him as he walks over to the couple in the process of loading their personal craft, who have briefly paused to look at you. Wigg steps over and initiates dialog with them.

The older man looks up and only just stops short of raising his gun at you. From the looks of it, it's a Sporter Compact rifle with a scope. "How do I know none of you are sick with that flu?" he asks. "And I don't need to get off the island- just out of here," he says. He notices the mother and her child. "See, he's a goner," he tells you while she isn't looking.




"They'll take us," Roche calls over his shoulder.

 

[Croike]

"I have a taser." He holds it up. "If anyone's sick- then we can just jolt them and throw them overboard. We can pay you once we hit the mainland." He pauses. "How do you know the boy's sick? He lost a lot of blood earlier- someone bit his shoulder, badly."

 

[Lorsh]

"He's sick because he's bit," the old man points out. "That's how they spread it. All of those crazy people, they've got wounds just like that," he tells you. "No way I'm helping you out, money or no money, if someone's hanging around that's gonna rip my face off."

Roche walks over. "Rietvald, what's the hold up?" he asks.

 

[Croike]

"Take care old timer." He starts walking toward the boat with Roche. "He said that this sickness is spread by biting, and that the kid is going to start showing symptoms. If the kid starts acting weird, I'm throwing him overboard." He sighs deeply. "At least we're going to get away from this shit."