Proteus Plague (Mitheral and Hiddencard)

[Mitheral]

Eric had chosen to make a run into the city during the day, with a motorcycle as his mode of travel. He’d had Alex drop him off and drive back. While his employer and friend hadn’t liked the idea, he hadn’t argued much. Eric’s plan had been simple - using a motorcycle to travel about. And Alex was simply nowhere near as good a cyclist. Had things gone south, Alex would have been left behind or they would have both been lost. Eric, on the other hand, was damn near a stunt cyclist. He used to do illegal street racing.


The plan was simple. Drive around and find a fuel truck. If it had enough fuel for their generator to simply return, great. If not, he had mapped out a couple refineries. He’d have to find them, load up fuel - without blowing himself up - and return with it to the Estate. The motorcycle was disposable.


The trouble was that the best place to search for a fuel truck was Boston Logan International Airport - right in the heart of Boston by the ocean. The airport would have its own fuel storage that he could pump from. The trouble with that was that just to the south across the bay was the Aquarium, which had become a contested home to both succubi and hell spawn. Just as bad was the fact that the Batmen tended to be drawn to the airport. That made a morning run a necessity.


(@Hiddencard , kept this very short. mainly it gives the location of the initial story. Basically Eric is stockpiling resources.)

 

[Hiddencard]

Had it not been common knowledge that yelling out in a the middle of a open area was pretty dumb nowadays, Amanda would have probably been cursing her heart out. She leaned her back against the pick-up truck that had been her stolen mobile home for two weeks, running her hands through her hair. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, contemplating her next move. For two months it had been her quest to travel from Austin Texas to New York to find her older brother Mat. It had taken her quite a while, since you easily ran into complications if you take the main roads and it had been almost impossible to get through DC. She had lost contact with him when the outbreak happened, but since he was the only family she had in the country, she had seen no other thing to do than find him. New York had been one big mess though, and she had only gotten out in sheer luck and coincidences if she had to be completely truthful. She had continued up toward Boston and now her truck had reached it’s limit and only a few minuets ago rolled to a stop. She was a mechanic and was able to fix a car in an instant, but even the best of skills could not make a car move if it had an empty tank.


She bounced her back off of the side of the car again and went over to fetch a contained to get gas in from the trunk. A small distance back she had seen a sign that led to the airport, and hopefully there would be some gas there. She didn’t know where exactly she was headed, but no matter what this was not the place to make camp for sure. She brought her gun with the safety on in her belt, not too familiar with her surroundings. She had traded herself to a silencer on the gun through some services back in the previous state. Best trade she ever made.


She made it to the abandoned parking lots and main buildings in a small walk luckily. There was an eerie silence around the place, which was probably what made a buzzing from the distance more apparent. She turned her head, and quickly took cover by a pillar by the entrance. It was the sound of a motorcycle, and she kept silent while it passed, putting her hand on the gun. In times like these she didn’t even trust humans. Working alone was definitely favorable.


(edited from this point)


But then her attention was instantly shifted forward as she spotted movement. She grasped closer around the gun and drew it, just as she noticed a figure standing ahead of her, a small distance away. Slitted eyes were watching her from a distance as a slender creature, definitely female, had made itself visible. It looked alerted by her presence, although not aggressive. Amanda recognized the creature as a succubi. She had encountered a few of them before, and they never seemed all too interested in females. She still kept the gun tightly in her hands though, very slowly clicking off the safety. She raised the gun, still cautiously. By the sight of the movement though, the creatures eyes turned even more narrowed.


Amanda stepped around the pillar and started backing away. The creature let out a hissing sound toward her. The silencer was still on the gun, and she decided that she would rather shoot than wonder if it would follow her later. Quickly, she fired the gun toward the head of the creature, but not quick enough. It flinched swiftly to the side when it noticed her finger going to the trigger. The creature erupted another hiss, this time louder and smashed through one of the airports windows and went inside.


Amanda cursed and turned her gun toward the building, backing away again. Hoping a lot that it had taken flight and not making a tactic to ambush her. She also really hoped the loud sound hadn’t attracted more unwanted guests.

 

[Mitheral]

Eric started his entered the airport by way of the truck entrance. It wasn’t hard to break into the guard shack and locate the switches to open the series of gates that allowed a truck to enter. He left the gate open so he wouldn’t need to bother on the way out. He could already see the huge storage tanks of the Biofuel Operations site. Once opened he simply rolled in quietly.


Alex had estimated that about 7600 beings now populated the Greater Boston area. Of those 3800 would be the huge Pit Fiends. About 2600 would be the succubi, a mere 750-800 would be the Nightcrawlers and perhaps 350 would be Neohumans. Of the 750-800 Bat Men, Eric was expected perhaps 75-80 - or 10% - to be living in a colony at the airport. So the last thing he wanted to do was provoke a fight. Just the same, he had come prepared for them.


He found the tanker over near the small plane section of the airport as Alex had suggested. And he was surprised to find the tank half full. The fuel gauge read ¾; so it was good to go as it was. He looked back at the motorcycle and frowned. He hated the idea of abandoning any vehicle. But even as strong as he was it would have been rough manhandling a motorcycle up onto the tanker. Then he’d have had to find a way to chain it down. No, the plan had called for abandoning the vehicle. So he left the keys in it and a note he’d written in advanced that read.


“Half a tank. Runs okay. Good luck.” The date was also on the note so whoever found it would have an idea when it was left.


Then he walked over and cranked up the tanker. The keys had already been in it. Someone had clearly used the tanker to fuel up a small plane. He wished them luck whoever they were. He put the tanker into gear and started out slowly. He’d never actually driven a tanker, but it had been described to him. As he eased onto the brake he felt the fuel slosh a bit despite the bafflers that reduced the effect. The guy hadn’t been kidding about the truck resisting a stop.


As he exited the fueling station and was about to pull onto the highway when he heard a noise in the distance. It sounded at least a half a mile away on the other side of the park - near airport parking. He almost ignored it when it dawned him as a little unusual. It was unlike most survivors to attempt to go into the city so far. So it was either someone with a plan - or someone not from the area.


He debated what to do for several long moments until it dawned on him that all he really needed to do was go back and get the motorcycle. He simply shut the truck off right where he was, walked over to a car and hotwired it like a professional - the benefits of a misspent youth. Fuel read ¼ tank - plenty for a quick recon. So he decided to leave the bike and head over in the car - a ratty looking one at that. What really sucked that it had been the lesser of evils. The other car nearby had been a sub compact that he hadn’t been sure he could fit into. Eric just hoped he wasn’t about to meet a group of cute girls in a piece of junk like this.

+++++++++++++


When he got closer he pulled out the ATN ThOR 320 4.5x Enhanced Thermal Imaging Weapon Sight and his binoculars to see if he could see anything out of the ordinary. The first thing he spotted was a pickup with its engine still warm from having been recently driven. He switched over to the binoculars for greater magnification. It took a few moments but he soon spotted the broken glass, then a few moments later movement of something human. At least he was reasonably sure it was human as it was clothed.


He watched for awhile until he realized what he was seeing. It was a woman with a gas can. He stared for several long moments - not because she was cute - but because he could believe anyone would be that careless. He tried not to let the thoughts of stereotypes drift into his head about ‘typical women’ and ‘blondes.’


He laughed as he realized that if she had gone another half a mile she would have seen the fuel storage tanks and had a good laugh herself. He then put the visual gear away and headed on down the road toward the woman. It didn’t much matter to him if she was friendly or not, he’d happily make sure she got herself underway and to a safer locale.


He rolled the car directly toward her position and stopped about 50 yards out. He’d only seen a pistol, so that was a good distance at which to flash his headlights at her. Once he felt she wasn’t going to start blasting he rolled forward close enough to hold a conversation. He looked like a delinquent, the sort of guy fathers dreaded having their daughters bring home.


“This is not a good place to run out of fuel. If you had made it another half a mile north there’s a whole biofuel storage plant.” He eyed her gun. Silencer. Okay, not completely dumb. Smarter than him in fact. “If you want help it’s offered. But I would stay away from sources of sparkly things - like airport gift stores, jewelry stores. And stay away from perfume shops. The Derahn go ape for that stuff. Silk too. There’s a large colony about a mile or so that way.” He pointed south.


The word Derahn was one Amanda had never heard of and clearly not derived from any fiction she had ever heard of. But that was what he had called the succubus.


“Oh and no, this isn’t my car. I am amazed it hasn’t backfired yet. Probably not a problem around here this time of day, but I’d rather not tempt fate.”

 

[Hiddencard]

Amanda had been keeping her attention on the window a moment longer, although it didn’t seem like the succubi was going to make a leap back through the shards of glass. After a moment of precaution she lowered the gun though, and took a step back. The faint sound of a motor sounded behind her, and she turned around as a car… a trashy car, pulled up. She kept the gun in her hand by her side and picked up the gas can with the other one. The headlights blinked at her, and when they stopped she was able to see the rider in the vehicle more clearly. She wondered if there were more people around the area or if this could be the same guy who had ridden the motorcycle a little while ago.


As he drove the car closer and spoke she looked in the direction he was directing her. “Sound good..” she said with a short nod. She had almost been prepared to pierce one of the parked cars with similar fuel to her own car. She still didn’t know if the guy was actually on his own, but he didn’t seem hostile. And he was human, which was a pretty good reason not to kill each other off. “I will remember that,” she responded, although the name he used for the monster was unfamiliar, but she. Her eyes fell on the car he was driving and her mindset as a mechanic just couldn’t help noticing it’s bad condition, although she knew it was probably just a temporary used one anyway. She shook it off though and turned her attention back to the guy. “You know a lot about this place, do you live close by here?” she asked him, starting to walk closer.


Since he didn’t seem like trouble - although he looked like it - she decided to ask him. “Because.. I’m looking for a survivor coming from New York, although I don’t know if he is actually alive. His name is Mat Dale. You wouldn’t happen to have heard that name have you?” she questioned.

 

[Mitheral]

Eric was one of those guys that found it easy to strike up a conversation and had an easy smile. He looked more like one of those guys that was constantly sullen and always had issues, but his behavior proved very much otherwise. “Well, I’m a part time chauffeur, part time mechanic, part time handyman, and full time nanny.” He grinned broadly as he made that last admission. “But don’t repeat that last one to my boss. He’s a good friend and more like a kid brother.”


“‘Fraid I haven’t heard of your friend. But then there used to be about 8 million people in this area. Now there are maybe a few hundred, if that many.” He looked around a little. “How about we move out of the area a little. I saw your pick up.” He reached down and picked up the thermal scope. “Thermal imaging. Only hot engine around. If you like I’ll give you a lift back to your pickup. Then you can follow me over to the pumps.” As if the car had been waiting for that moment, conspiring to embarrass him it sputtered and died.


He tried to restart it several times, then shook his head and laughed. “I think the fuel gauge is stuck. He suddenly twisted around hard to look in the back. That was when he spotted a gas can. His face had flushed a little. “Like I said, not my car. Mine would work. And run better. And have a full paint job. And be of a different make and model.” He sounded slightly aggravated, but was maintaining his sense of humor.


He opened the car door to step out, revealing the AR15, his vest, a helmet and various higher end military gear. plus a 12 MCW flashlight. But he was only making it possible to get to the fuel can. He gave it a shake. “Full. Tell you what, how about a lift back to my tanker full of fuel? This ought to be enough to get me there and you to the fuel pumps. They are kinda in the back. The airport had its own private pumps for fueling their vehicles - regular and diesel.”


(Gotta roll out, posting what I had.)

 

[Hiddencard]

Amanda set down her empty gas tank next to his car and crossed her arms. Looks did deceive with this one. He seemed to be quite down to earth, which was rare from what kind of people she had met down the road. “Sounds like you are quite a busy person, I’m just a mechanic myself,” she commented when he announced all his ‘professions’. She had not really expected the guy to know more about her brother’s whereabouts, but it still felt like a let-down to get verified that she really had no leads at all. For all she knew he could be dead in New York, turned to a monster or cozy in some little cabin with the fire crinkling. No matter what, she had no hints.


She heard a strange rumbling from the car as he started it, and a wry smile crept unto her lips as the old car sighed and gave up. She lifted an eyebrow and looked at him with an amused expression as he tried to explain himself on behalf of the car. “I just think you fried it,” she said and looked over at the hood where a white steam was erupting from under the rusty piece of metal. If she had brought her gear along she was pretty sure she could have fixed it. Even if she didn’t have any fluid to help the overheating. When he stepped out of the car she took a look at the gear he had on. Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t drawn her gun at him - she had gotten her gun from her precautions father, who knew where this guy had gotten that heavy gear. “You look prepared,” she commented.


Then she moved some hair away from her face and picked up the gas can again from the ground. Contemplating for a moment. “Alright,” she said, then she could get there faster anyway. She thought for a moment. “And, you also treat me dinner at your place,” she added to the deal. She hadn’t eaten for a while by now, after all that driving the last few days. She smiled and then pointed over toward her pick-up.


It was only a small walk away, and when they came back to the truck she went over to the side to get the fuel cap off.

 

[Mitheral]

Eric stood guard while Amanda drained the can into her tank. Her condition of dinner, while normally an attractive offer, was now a security concern. It wasn’t his home exactly. And while he was fairly certain Alex wouldn’t turn someone away, Eric wasn’t so sure he should be so trusting.


So he flipped out his cell phone and hit speed dial and waited for Alex to answer. “Uhm … hey, how do you feel about company?”


Alex caught the subtle tone in Eric’s voice. “I send you out for fuel and you come back with a girl? What’s her name?”


Eric’s jaw dropped. “What makes you think I found a girl?” It was supposed to be a surprise.


“You really want me to answer that? I assume she’s cute. Have you run the tests?” Alex asked.


“Uh .. no.” Eric was a little mollified.


“If she passes the tests, fine. Make sure you aren’t followed.”


Eric sighed and hung up. “Well, he says it’s okay. But I have to run two tests first.”


The first tests was just him shining the 12 million candlewatt flashlight in her face. It was blinding, but he seemed to think she had passed. The second test required she hold a bullet in her hand. After several seconds he took the bullet and inspected her hand. “I guess I get to feed you.”


It was only a half mile drive back to the tanker. Once there he led her back to where the fuel pumps were and waited while she fueled. He topped her off, as well as filled up the two gas cans. Then he nodded. “You can either ride with me, or follow in your truck. I am assuming you don’t want to leave your truck behind though. This was just fuel for the generator.”

 

[Hiddencard]

Amanda looked out the corner of her eye as she heard the guy starting to speak into his phone with someone. She listened without a word as he spoke with someone about her joining them. Judging from his choice of words it seemed like he had brought girls home before and it made her smirk a little to herself. She finished up with the gas and then looked over at him when he turned back toward her. She blinked surprised when suddenly a flashlight was shone in her face without warning, and later a bullet put in the palm of her hand.


She glanced up at him, lifting one eyebrow by his choice of words. “You get to feed me? Way to make a girl feel real’ special,” she said with a fake-sweet smile and her texan accent coating the words even more apparently. She was not offended, simply finding his carefree way of acting and clumsy procedures to be kind of amusing to be honest. She rarely got truly offended, unless you would insult her directly. She got into the truck and pulled out the wires from the dashboard. She hadn’t been able to find the keys for this one, so she had just kickstarted it with wires. It purred to life and she smiled a little, before shifting it into gear.


Luckily the guy didn’t seem to have lied to her, and soon they had driven the last mile and their cars were filled with gas again.


“I will follow in the truck,” she responded to him, and pulled the pump out from the car when it had reached the brim. Who knew when she would find a proper car again that ran as well. Sure, the streets were filled with cars, but she was kind of sentimental to pick-ups.


Then she remembered something. “I’m Amanda by the way,” she told him, before jumping back up in her truck, but with the window down so she could hear his response.

 

[Mitheral]

“Eric.” He looked almost guilty for a moment, then smiled again. He almost said more, but realized there was little to say for now. Finally he gave her his phone number - just in case. Cell towers in the area were still working so why not. He tried not to grin as he did so though.


It was a fairly long drive - nearly an hour. The Tanis estate was a little off the beaten path - something hard to find in Massachusetts. It dated back to before the American Revolution. Though it was far from Wayne Manor, it was sizeable. But it looked gothic and run down. Eric opened the door for Amanda and gestured an invitation.


Most everything was covered with sheets. cobwebs and dust. Most of his time here was spent in four rooms: bedroom, kitchen, library, and garage. The first really quirky thing was the fact that the walkways were lit with white X mas lights and had candles stationed as well. The chandeliers were all lit. The second thing Amanda would notice was that every mirror was covered. If not for the lights the place would have looked haunted and abandoned.


“And this is just the entrance,” Eric reminded her. Wait until you see the Library and Garage.


“Well, this is a first. You actually brought her home,” a new voice came out of nowhere. Eric quickly interdicted to make sure Amanda wouldn’t shoot him. Dr Alex Tanis was young, boyish looking. Amanda had been wrong about Eric bringing girls back to the estate. But then he worked for Alex, so maybe he hadn’t wanted to cross that line.


Eric looked at Alex and almost gave a retort, but decided to just make introductions. “Alex, this is Amanda. Amanda, I present Dr Alex Tanis. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted while I take care of the tanker and get some food going. If you don’t mind I am just going to get the tanker under cover and handle fuel transfer later.”


Alex nodded, looking suddenly at a loss for what to say. “Uhm, Alex … just Alex. Only the Institute calls me Doctor. Uhm .. “ His face reddened as he swallowed hard. “Sorry the place is a mess. We just don’t use this section much. I didn’t really grow up here. I didn’t even really know about it until I was 14. Then I moved in to go to college. Anyways, I’m not sure what you’re interested in. The place is old. My family has been a long line of archaeologists, linguists and such - scholars. But some were real collectors. So I have a real neat Library and Garage. I mean there’s other stuff to, like the maze, solarium, the Lab.” He paused and added. “The Lab is like one straight out of old B&W horror movies. Frankenstein would have felt right at home.” He actually smiled for the first time. “I call Eric, Igor everytime we go through there.”

 

[Hiddencard]

When they had reached the house she followed Eric inside, as she had learned that his name was. She glanced around and the first thing that caught her eye was the fact that all the mirrors had been covered up. It might not be anything to speculate about though, might just be a coincidence because they hadn’t been here long. Her attention was caught by the voice that suddenly spoke though, and it fell to the back of her mind. Her fingers had flinched toward the gun, but didn’t grasp it, and she relaxed it altogether when he came out into her view. These travels around the states had really gotten her on the edge it seemed. However, the guy that stepped out seemed fairly harmless. “Hello,” she answered when she had been introduced.


She watched as Eric disappeared out of the room, before settling back on Alex who seemed to be her new company. She smiled a little to herself when he seemed to struggle to find a topic he found fitting, and leaned on either leg a few times, before nodding by his story. “That’s pretty neat,” she said and started to look around further. “I went to college myself for a short while,” she told him truthfully, although she hadn’t exactly stuck around for the whole thing in the end. “What did you study? Since you need a whole Frankenstein lab for experiments and your doctor title, I’m guessing medical?” she asked him.


Then she took a seat in one of the chairs that wasn’t too dusty. “It was actually a coincidence that I passed by here. Do you get people… human people by here often?” she asked him.

 

[Mitheral]

“Oh .. no no … not medical. The lab was mostly used back in the 19th century. Uhm .. my fields are linguistics and computer science, some mathematics specializing in cyphers.” He hesitated again. “I, uhm, translate dead languages.”


He glanced around. “Actually you are the 3rd person to set foot on this property in a decade - by invitation that is. There were some attempted breakins long ago. Haven’t had anything since the plague started.”


Alex was clearly not very good at holding a conversation. Odds were that he was afraid noone would understand what he was talking about. Or perhaps he just thought he’d bore people.


In better light it became apparent that Alex had suffered a minor beating. His face was a little bruised. He seemed to realize the bruises had been noticed and explained with a wry grin. “Eric. He’s been trying to teach me a little self defense. And motorcycle riding.” Alex laughed at that, the first signs that he might actually relax a little. “That’s how he found me. I had put out an ad for a handyman. When he showed up I was in the driveway trying to kickstart one of the motorcycles in my collection. I lost my balance and got pinned down. I was just about to call 911. But when he shouted and explained who he was, I used my phone to remote access my security system to open the gate. He could probably have jumped the wall faster.”


“Did Eric tell you he could really cook? The guy has a gift. He makes up recipes off the cuff. I can’t imagine where he learned and he never talks about it. He’s going to make someone a great wife someday.” Alex actually laughed at that. “But don’t repeat that or my next boxing lesson is really going to hurt.”

 

[Hiddencard]

“Dead languages? Like what?” she asked him, not having heard a lot of people talk about that kind of profession before. Sure there had to be many dead languages to go from, but how it would actually benefit in a job was something she hadn’t heard about before. Her attention was shifted to his face though, when he commented on the bruising there. It didn’t look like Eric had been going easy on him with that training, but getting some self-defense down could only be beneficial. She had luckily been able to rely on her gun so far. “You guys, sound close,” she commented, when he started telling her small fact about Eric as well. “Why did you decide to stay together?” she asked.


“I have been on my own since the outbreak, I was in New York to find my brother, but so far there has been no luck finding him. Or, even finding out if he made it,” she explained. During her stay in the city it had been more mutations than people roaming the streets. She really wondered how many people there was even left in the big picture.


“It would be great if I could stay here and try that ‘great' food then,” she said honestly. “I have been living off of canned food for a while to be honest.” On the road she didn’t encounter many kitchens to make something better in. She could cook somewhat, like any other person who lived alone, but she was no expert.

 

[Mitheral]

“If you have heard of a dead language, odds are I know it. I get sent images to translate all the time. Sometimes I have to see the original document. I do translation work for the government as well.” He frowned. “I suppose security clearances are no longer a big deal. Hard habit to break. I was an NSA consultant. I did decryption work for them.”


When Amanda commented about he and Eric being close, the thought that she thought they were CLOSE dawned on him. He turned red and choked on his own laughter. “He’s almost like a big brother. No … we aren’t THAT close. Oh wait.” he smile became devilish. Then he became sarcastic. “Why yes, yes we are. Really. Ever have a gay BFF? He cooks; he cleans; he’s artsy. Eric would so die if you thought that’s what you thought he was. Please. He is always messing with me.”


Eric showed up not long after to announce dinner being ready in the dining area. How he managed to whip up a 4 course dinner so fast was beyond explaining. It had taken him no more than 30 minutes to have salad, soup, main course, and dessert all ready. The soup he had to have already had ready - a chicken and shrimp gumbo. The salad was absolutely garden fresh - with homemade dressings. The main course was fresh lobster, shrimp, and oysters. Where the hell did he get lobster?! And he had baked and half shell oysters on ice. And the desert was a death by chocolate with whipped cream and cherry on top.


He apologized for the meal being so hodge podge thrown together.