The Trip [Open]

Disclaimer: This is a horror RP experiment. Be mindful of the environment of Bludhaven, an eerie city plagued by mutants, zombies, and paranormal activity. Thinking up a narrative as to why you arrived in such a place would definitely benefit the atmosphere and pay attention to the posts of others. Enter an area first and describe it and I'll control NPC's. PM me if you have any ideas to add to this story!


"U-uncle Gerald?"

Chuck's mom nodded.

 "That's right honey, he needs help rebuilding his radio tower and you know how important it is for the town."

Chuck gulped.

"Can I bring Athena along?"

"No honey, there's no pet food there and all the meat there is dangerous for dogs. She has to stay home. You'll be fine, the city's different from what it used to be."

Chuck nervously chuckled and looked at his sister and Athena, both with their eyes open and turning away slowly back to the TV.

Athena telepathically laughed at Chuck.

Well, it was nice knowing you.

She had confidence that Chuck would do fine. Chuck shook his head and began to pack his bags. Nothing better to do in the summer than go to good ole stormy, abandoned by God Himself Bludhaven for good ole fashioned fun with Uncle Gerald.


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(Next Day)

 The train screeched and lurched as it plowed through the center of Bludhaven. A grey sky menacingly hung low over the city as Chuck talked to his uncle on the phone. The british optimistic accent of his Uncle was replaced by something much scruffier and tired sounding. This threw Chuck off. Gerald then mentioned that they had to move the radio into a cabin in the woods and use a lower funded radio receptor. He told Chuck about how badly his business was doing and how he was now working as a state emergency radio broadcaster.

"The ... outskirts Uncle Gerald?"

"Yes boy."

Chuck had no choice but to board a local train per his uncle's instructions and head over to a small town in the woods, mostly abandoned.

As the train began to drive through a valley and through a small mountain the train shook harder and harder. Suddenly something shook the train so immensely it felt like an earthquake but suddenly stopped as quickly as it had started. The lights of the train flickered and then the train suddenly turned off, gliding to a stop in the middle of a clearing in the woods.

The conductor motioned everyone off the train.

"It's alright everyone. There's been a problem with the power lines, but there should be a diesel coming our way in a few minutes, heading in the same destination."

Everyone got off the train a bit concerned and Bio nervously grabbed his backpack. The place felt off. When the diesel train drove by it did not stop. It seemed to be some kind of licensed government train with only two cars and loud horns much louder than before. Where were the other commercial trains? Everyone began to really begin to worry. What was going on and why did they feel as if there was a possibility of being stranded?

Chuck decided to do a little snooping around the area. He had to find out where they were. He just had a feeling he was better off being his own man and being ready to move on himself if push came to shove. First he needed to find a map. Bio told the crowd.

"I'm going to go and find help. Anyone want to come with me?"

But the crowd ignored him seeing as how he was only a kid. He doubted any of them were that brave to begin with either. An emergency broadcast alert siren suddenly blared, but it strangely had no message afterwards. It would blare again in 13 minute intervals. By this point, Chuck was convinced that something was definitely wrong. One last final check before he was super sure.

"Yep, cellphones don't have any signal. That's it I'm getting out of here."

He whispered to himself.

For the sake of himself and the stranded crowd he had to get out of  there and find help. He announced him leaving again to make sure if anyone would come with him.

Keri was on a solo trip, regardless of her father's protest, to visit her grandmother, who was sick and whom she really missed. On the morning she was suppose to leave, her father would not leave her be, and she was finally able to breathe once she had her trunk and backpack and was sitting on the train. The only unfortunate thing was that her grandmother lived in Bludhaven, and that place gave Keri the creeps, especially at night, but she was willing to go to visit her grandmother and to leave the overbearing arms of her father.

As she was reading quietly to herself, observing some people at the same time, the train suddenly began to shake violently, which brought Keri to attention, and then she was suddenly lurched sideways as the train stopped in a random forest. She sensed that something was terribly wrong, but bit her tongue from saying anything.

Once the conductor shooed everyone off the train, Keri pulled out her phone to call her relatives... no signal. That's just lovely. She couldn't help but glare at her phone, why did technology always fail her in her times of need.

Keri heard a boy around her age asking if anyone wanted to go with him to look for help. It was obvious no one was coming to help them, and it was obvious no one wanted to go with him to help. She even hesitated to go with him. It wasn't until he was about to leave when she raised her hand softly and walked towards him.

She was wearing a pair of white chucks, short dark washed denim shorts with a white button down her sleeves rolled to her forearms. It was cloudy today so it was okay for her to wear clothes that showed her skin, but she was wearing a sunhat just in case and had a spare umbrella in her backpack. Her blonde hair was french braided and pulled over her shoulder.

"I'll come with you" Keri said in her soft voice. If he didn't want her to come, she would just follow. Strangely she felt safer away from a crowd of panicking clueless and defenseless people.

Chuck was just about to start stepping and marathon his way through the woods, when a girl raised her hand. He didn't even think she was following him until she actually came face to face. Chuck wasn't the type to not accept help because they weren't as strong as he was or because she was a girl. He nodded and took off his backpack and unpacked his suitcase. He had packed a sleeping bag, some clothes, and a blanket and pillow. He assumed that Uncle Gerald wouldn't have a bed in the city for some odd reason. He didn't believe in a sixth sense or anything like that but if he was a bit more open minded it would be almost as if he somehow knew he would need it. Even though he could control his own body, something about the place made him on edge.

"Hey! My name's Chuck. Was just thinking of taking a look around and seeing if there's anywhere here that has a phone or a map or something haha!"

After he introduced himself, he zipped his bags up and headed down a path where no one had really trod before because it only led up to train tracks and then the side of a mountain.

"I think I saw a cabin to the left! So we just gotta climb down here!"

He made large steps trying to make it seem as if he was in control and could handle the ever increasing steepness of the hill and pushed aside trees and branches to make room for the girl. There was very little field of vision with the amount of foliage in the way and the grey sky above and dying late afternoon sun was already making it dark in the forest. The makeshift path became worse and worse and he was forced to descend away from going straight down and more to the side and then slipped...

He tumbled for a full minute and then landed on his head, seemingly severely injuring himself. One of Bio's traits was that he could never be knocked unconscious but he was unable to move and he was suffering from severe head trauma. Any harder and he would have been brained on the ledge he had fallen on. This was still a paralyzing move and he would be stuck here for a bit. This was bad...

From Keri's vantage point Bio had slid down by 60 feet and she'd have to descend down herself carefully to reach him. If she reached him, she would notice how bad the injury would be and that he was paralyzed seemingly dead (for this post at least)

If she decided to go back to the train for help, however, she would notice something strange. Everyone was gone without a trace. If she dared to check the tunnels who knows what she would find but the people would not be in there or in any close proximity. Practically speaking she was now alone.

If she went beyond Bio's body to see where the path would lead she would notice a clearing with a few trees knocked down in the distance and strange imprints in the ground as if they were animal footprints.

"Nice to meet you Chuck" she smiled softly. "Im Keri" she introduced herself. Keri then carried her bags with her as they walked into the forest, even though she was hesitant with the cabin ordeal. As they were walking, it was nice of him to help clear the path for her, but she secretly used her telepathic powers to help maneuver a lot easier. "Thank you" she smiled.

All of a sudden, Chuck slipped and kept tumbling down, and down, and down... it seemed like he would never stop, but once he did... he landed on his neck. It took all of Keri's willpower not to scream, afraid she may attract unwanted attention. He looked like he was dead, but she wasn't for sure.. she could still sense his presence...

She looked back towards the direction of the station, and noticed that it got eerily quiet. Instead of taking her chances and going back by herself in the creepy woods, she decided to go help Chuck herself. She used her powers to slowly descend down to where he was, carefully. Once she reached him she lifted him with her powers so he was laying gently on his back instead of on his head.

She then felt around his neck area, noticing that he was still breathing, but wasn't moving. "Chuck.. are you... okay?" That's such a dumb question She then, with the help of her powers, tried to re-align his neck, hoping she wouldnt damage anything. "Chuck... please respond in anyway you can..." she said feeling a bit more frightened

Chuck blinked and began to whisper. Since he had been conscious the whole time, he had noticed her powers in action.

  "H-how did you do that?"

He picked himself up, slowly.

  "Sorry about that. I really don't know this place that well. I'm trying to visit my uncle Gerald you see and he lives out in a cabin in a town near the woods. It can't be far from here so it's not like I'm totally lost, I know where it is on this map but the measurements are way too big for me to really get where this place is..."

"I'll be more careful this time. So where are you-"

His voice was cut off by the emergence alert system siren blaring again. This time a message followed.

"It is now 7PM June 14th... all personnel proceed to indoor facilities alpha, theta, and gamma per instruction. NSA will not be responsible for any consequence should you remain outdoors. As of tomorrow full quarantine of this sector will be in effect. All tunnels and exits will be closed indefinitely."

It suddenly began to get darker by the minute. There was a sudden change in pressure and Bio's ears popped.

"Wh-what is that."

The clouds had in a second risen a mile higher than before and darkened, resembling darker spirals like thick ropes of darkness suffocating the sun. The darkness made it seem later than it already was.

"Keri, can you float us off this mountain into the woods down there? I really think we should keep moving".

As he turned his head to the right some humanoid thin figure suddenly scurried away on all fours down the hill. Was it standing near them and he hadn't even noticed? He shook his head and stretched a bit as his healing kicked in.

"I'm a bit special too you know. Are you a meta-human?"

He asked as he waited for her reply.

Crap. I just used my powers in front of him!!! But he was dying!!.. Wait... why is he standing?! "How are you doing that?!" I asked surprised. "You should be paralyzed and extremely hurt and in pain!"

When the emergency alarms rang, Keri was in guard. "What in the world?" she asked out loud. When he asked to transport him and myself down the mountain, I hesitated. "Maybe..." I whispered. "I don't know how far we will go... I'm still new to all of this, even though I've had my... unique qualities for a long while." She then turned to where he was looking and saw something scurry away, and it was on all fours. Her eyes widened. What is that?

"I've noticed" she responded softly, but also with panic in her voice, confusion in her eyes about what was going on. "Yes. I am." She replied simply.

"I have... enhanced vitality or something. I haven't ... really figured it out myself either."

He looked around in a cold sweat as he thought of the thing scurrying away. Because of his much stronger than normal body, he wasn't as prone to jump scares or fear of helplessness. He naturally felt in control of things. This only, however, made him prone to more greater horror as his imagination dared to think of what that thing was and what kind of place he had gotten himself into. He had heard the legends of Bludhaven before but this was completely different. He realized he had to keep conversation going before the girl started to panic.

"Well... that's great! We both have powers! We'll be just fine, they probably need us here or something right?"

Now he just sounded like a know-it-all jerk, and she could probably sense that he was trying to hard.

"Look. I have the power to heal myself and others, mentally and physically. I can temporarily make you stronger and able to keep calm. The only downside is, I get hungry really fast if I use it too much. You should try lifting me in the air for a bit. If you can't do it for long I can use the tubing in my biogun pack to hang onto ledges for breathers. We just can't risk falling down or spending too much time on here."

There he was, now sounding too flaky.

"So, what can you do? And why'd you come to Bludhaven? Are you looking for someone?"

"I can do a lot of things" she whispered softly. "but, im not that good at what I do, I just started practicing and training" she responded. "I came to Bludhaven to visit my sick grandmother, and no not specifically."

She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to sense anyone's presence. She noted a couple of... people? "Yea... we need to get off this mountain as soon as possible." She said while opening her eyes. "I can probably take us down half way from where we are now, but we are going to have to go down on foot until I can regain energy to lift us again.

With that, Keri lifted the both of them and carried them down the mountain as quickly and as steadily as she could.

Darkness began to close in on them the more they descended. Shadows became ever longer as the evening began to turn to night.

Why didn't I take a plane...

Bio wondered to himself as Keri and him descended.

"See? You're not that bad at all. Now all we have to do is just head thataway and we should reach the ca-"

The cabin was strangely gone. When they landed he took out a map.

"I swear there was a cabin in the distance... well the town should be this way."

The city was unique because there were woods and mountains surrounding it and its suburbs. The suburbs were quarantined but now it seemed the woods were too.

"Why do they have a city out here anyway...?"

He whispered to himself. Chuck could feel his own powers blanketing him from panic and despair. Even though he wasn't a kid, that despairing feeling of isolation could still get to teenagers. God only knew what Keri was beginning to go through. He led her through the woods crunching dead leaves and fallen branches on the ground. Keri would feel a rapidly approaching presence as they reached a clearing where some trees were knocked down and others still stood.

Chuck heard a whisper of wind and then what sounded like the quickened steps of running. Something in the pit of his stomach told him that those weren't people having a light jog through the woods.

"Keri" he whispered. That's all he could manage. He hoped she felt the same way he did. He fought and fought himself to stay in the open but the closer the footsteps got the more their monotonous very fast pacing felt twisted and deranged. It just seemed unnatural. Suddenly a line of people emerged from the line of trees.

"Oh my gah-"

Bio immediately turned and walked behind a tree barely able to keep himself from being frozen in horror.

Six of the people who were on the train were,... walking... if it could be called that in a line. One was walking at a running pace in a business like manner leading them single file, his eyes glazed over.  The others followed in the same way but four of them had their hands up in the air as if mocking what some kids did to emulate a monster. The last one limped behind trying to keep up the pace his ankle somehow broken.

If Keri was about to scream or be frozen in horror, Chuck would grab her and pull her behind the tree. He would grit his teeth and immediately, while covering her mouth, trigger his own bio-energetic power. The veins in his hands would bulge as he established a connection with her immune system and quickly programmed it to focus on adrenaline and cortisol and cardiovascular maintenance and triggered a larger endorphin rush than usual. This would give her a sense of calm as they rushed by.

Another group of four came from a different angle of the clearing. Both groups did not notice Chuck or Keri. After a few minutes, Chuck waited to make sure they were gone and then hunched over a bit, trying to make sense of it all.

"Keri, are you okay?..."

Keri were sense that these people, if they were people anymore, were walking in patterns and crossed paths in the center of the clearing. She would know they would return in fifteen minutes. She would also notice that some kind of horrible mind or power was possessing them. Something very primal and hard to pinpoint but definitely something psychic of some kind.

"Those poor people... "

Bio leaned on the tree for support and waited for a plan to come to him. He was just about to suggest running as far away from the area as possible.

"Keri, you may think I'm crazy, but we've gotta help them. I've always wanted to use my ability to become a superhero one day. This is awful, but just hear me out. It could get worse the further we go into these woods, and we obviously just can't stay here. We can't just let them be like that. I think... we have a responsibility to do something about this."

Keri did as she was told, and was surprised that their transition down the mountain was fairly quick and smooth, must be the adrenaline She then landed them where he said to, but got a strange chill once she touched the ground, but didn't say anything about it. "Are you sure we are in the right spot?" She looked around to see if there were any signs of someone living nearby, and saw nothing.

As they continued to look for the city, Keri couldnt shake off this eerie feeling, suddenly, just when Chuck stopped, so did she, feeling that whisper of a breeze, and hearing the sounds of feet in the distance. All of a sudden, as they kept walking, Keri had to bite her tongue from uttering a single peep, frozen in fright.

She saw all the people and saw how they were in a daze, and knew for a fact they were being controlled, but she didnt know who, why, and where the person was. In deed, Chuck had to pull her behind a tree, away from their line of sight, her back against his chest, his hand over her mouth...

Keri felt as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest and run away from fear, and could hear her breathing increase, but suddenly, she felt a wash of calm, and knew that it was Chuck's doing. Her heart rate decreased, and her breathing went back to normal. Once she calmed down and cleared her head of fear, she was able to feel the people's presence, noticing they were making an odd pattern all together.

Once they were gone, she moved his hand off her mouth. "thanks" she whispered. "They'll be back in about 15 minutes..." She noted while looking around for an escape route. Just then, Chuck noted that they should save these people, and that it was their responsibility that these people would be safe. Keri just nodded, having no objections at all. "Let's do it" she said confidently.

Chuck took off one of his packs which he had been able to drag along with everything else and unzipped it. In it he pulled out a cylindrical white bony tube placed in an intricate plastic bag that was much bigger than itself. Tubes jutted out of it and one connected it to a breathing device that looked like the filter of a gas mask. Chuck strapped it on. He then grabbed one of the tubes that had a needle with a pressurized syringe and stabbed it into his artery and then into a vein. His veins bulged as he increased his heart rate and blood pressure and blood quickly began to fill the bag.

"I guess you know that because of... mind powers? "

He looked around trying to think of an idea and still trying to sound a bit optimistic.

"There's no way we can take them all on and then hold them down soooo...
Maybe we can capture them...."

He looked at a few of the larger trees in the woods.

"I'll be the bait and you can trap them."

The large oak tree would probably be an effort but Chuck would have to work with it, the other one's a distance away could work too. After a few minutes, Chuck smiled at Keri awkwardly. The blood had turned white and solidified into what looked like a kind of futuristic gun.

"Keri meet the Biogun, tree meet bullet"

He walked up to the tree and breathed deeply then fired extremely loud shots into the trunk, powerful enough to blow holes clean through. This went on for a bit. There were only 3 minutes left by this time. The oak was surrounded by many smaller trees to the point where Chuck thought it could be used to their advantage.

"Keri let's give this a shot. I'll lead them this way and then knock it enough to begin falling. If you can make it fall fast enough and bar them from going through here I think we'll have something going! Then if they try to get out from the other side, pull all these little trees down and barricade them in. Even though I'm a crimefighter, I really don't want to fight with this supernatural stuff, really not my thing. If some of them have bags maybe I'll try to grab a few to look for some food but otherwise ew, not touching em. Any ideas?"

Bio shouted this from 20 feet away, and he swore he could already approaching footsteps, or maybe it was just his imagination...