YPTS -- Stage 1: The incident

"ASSAULT"​

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Stage 1: Blood

(OOC -- Jacob is a new NPC. He is as of yet unposted.)

The walkie talkie on Sally's desk crackled.

"Sas."

Sally turned away from her little "counseling" session with Tes to answer it. "I'm here, Dan."

He didn't respond.

"Dan," she repeated. When she still didn't get an answer, she called louder at him, "Yo' Dan..."

The radio crackled again, but still no Dan.

Sally set the radio down, returning to Tes, and waited, knowing that when he figured out what he had to say to her, he'd call back again.



The scream reverberated through the 3rd Floor, echoing down Broadway past Sally's office, the Game Room, the Library, Noodles, and the Sweat Shop; down Main Street, past the doors leading into the little units that Sally's 24 "people" now called home.

Sally was out onto Broadway in a flash, finding a terrified MaryAnne -- still in her apron and toque -- backed up against a wall as if she'd been glued to it.

"What's wrong?" Sally cried out.

Dan was standing in the middle of Broadway, just a few steps away; he was looking directly at Sally ... or so she thought.

"Dan...?" she asked confused.

Dan's gaze was distant, as if he simply wasn't there, simply didn't see her.

And then ... he fell forward ... to his knees ... and to the floor, crashing upon his face.

MaryAnne -- still plastered against the wall, still screaming -- slumped to her haunches, her gaze set upon the massive splotch of dark red that covered the back of Dan's white shirt.

"Dan-iel!" Sally screamed, running to him, dropping to his side. Without delay, she grasped his shirt and ripped it away. She looked up to her office, to the fear-filled face of Tes. "First aid kit! Office book case! Now!"

People were arriving from every direction, gathering, some staring in horror or confusion, others dropping to their knees to help.

The professional in Sally kicked in; Dan's former lover, Dan's eternal friend ... they both stepped aside as "Doctor Sas" took over. In no time, she had the bleeding under control and was applying securing bandages.

"We need to get him--"

She stopped as she realized the stairwell door -- the entry Dan had always been so careful to keep secured at all times -- was sitting wide open.

"Help me!" she ordered. "We need to get him upstairs!"

In seconds, Dan's "fours" were being gripped and he was being carried up the stairs behind the hurrying Sally.

A booming crash echoed up the stairwell from the lower floors.

Sally hesitated, looking down the stairwell, then back toward the following crowd. A voice called out, "We'll check that!"

Sally continued upward. She found the fourth floor door was open as well, and slumped against the door was Jacob, one of the older men who Dan had befriended and was "training" to be a "lookout" up on the roof.

"Jake, what happened?" Sally asked, dropping to his side. She looked up to the others, then pointed down the 4th floor equivalent of the 3rd Floor's Broadway. "Onto the dining table. Find blankets--"

"Shots ..." Jacob mumbled, barely conscious.

"There's a crate of first aid kits in the unit across from the kitchen," Sally was continuing to order even as she checking Jacob's own wounds.

"Shots," Jacob repeated. "Shots."

Sally ignored him, rolling him gently to his side, tearing the clothing from his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine, Jake. Through and through ... didn't touch any thing important."

Suddenly, Jacob grabbed at her with bloodied hands and managed to get out, "They're coming!"

And, he slumped over, unconscious.

Sally stared at him for a moment, unsure of what the hell he was talking about.

Then fast moving foot steps exited the stairwell and a voice hollered, "They're in the building. There're men in the building. With guns!"

"Put pressure on Jake's wound," she instructed the nearest person, adding, "front and back."

Then she rose and headed down the aisle, calling out, "Anyone who knows how to handle a fire arm come with me!"

Dan had been through nearly every rental unit in the building, opened every box and crate to see what was inside. He'd used a battery operated tape player to record for future reference the location of anything and everything that might some day be of value .

But the one thing -- after food and electronics -- that he had been sure to collect, inspect, and test as necessary had been firearms.

Now, Sally -- not unfamiliar with guns herself -- entered yet another 20x20 and began grabbing shotguns, rifles, handguns, even a crossbow and handing them out. Three others opened boxes and distributed ammunition.

Once the arming was under way, Sally announced loudly, "People! This is our home. It may not seem like much, and we may not always be happy here ... but this is out home."

Without having to give orders, the "armed" hurried off toward the exit, off to protect their home.

(OOC)

Stage 1 Reply:
*** I have left "who" did what very very vague. Take any action listed or develop your own. (Only, be sure to read the posts of those before you so 2 or all of you don't end up doing the same thing. )
*** Where were you? How did you react?
*** Were you one of the people above who jumped into action?
*** Maybe you were else where -- Heaven, asleep, having sex -- and missed enough to be confused?
*** If you went down to see what the "boom" was, read the first posts of Stage 1 carefully as my characters have "set the stage" by saying what they view, but leaving lots of openings for you to jump in. Also, if you are one of those who go down the stairs IN STAGE 1, take a look at the first couple of posts of "Stage 2" to get an idea of what was down there.

Jane had done her work out for the day and was in Heaven taking a shower. Sure she knew it was the mens time but there was no one there so she thought nothing of it. Turning off the water was when she heard it. She didn't know what it was. It sounded like shots or screaming or something breaking she didn't know. Pulling on her shorts and tank top she ran out to the hall. Stopping dead in her tracks at what she saw.

Gabe -- Stage 1

Gabe heard the scream from the Sweat Shop. He dropped the heavy dumbbell and shot to the door; people were rushing up Broadway, confused and anxious. He reached out and caught a kid -- Alex, he thought his name was -- by the wrist. "What's up?"

Alex surprised him by easily ripping away from his his powerful grasp and continued up Broadway, hollering over his shoulder, "Dan's hurt!"

Gabe snatched up a towel and wiped his face as he followed.

Just between Sally's "Office" and "Noodles", directly across Broadway, Dan -- his backside drenched in blood -- was face down on the plywood floor, with Sally and several others tending to him.

"We need to get him--" Sally started, then -- looking off toward the unusually unsecured stairs -- ordered, "Help me! We need to get him upstairs!"

Gabe pushed forward through the crowd, snatching Dan's bloodied, right leg. He gestured to Alex, "Get the other one."

"On three," someone said, "One, two, three."

With the others, Gabe lifted, standing erect.

Falling in behind Sally they headed through the open door and began up the stairs when crash echoed up the stairwell from the lower floors.

"We'll check that!" someone called.

Beside him, Alex -- caught off guard and stepping from the landing -- stumbled and fell, sliding head first down the stairwell; he managed to keep himself from tumbling out of control yet was unable to stop his descent until he was nearly to the bottom. Gabe immediately took up the weight of Dan, cursing to himself, then "head" gesturing someone to go after "the kid".

They hurried Dan's limp body up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Gabe saw Sally on the floor tending to one of the older men, a man Gabe referred to as "The Jerk"; Gabe had surprised the man masturbating in the shower once.

"You got a problem?" Jacob had piped off.

To which Gabe -- naked, and stepping right into the shower to confront the other naked man, nose to nose -- had responded, "Yeah! I do! You're wasting the hot water!"

They hadn't exchanged words since, and now -- as Gabe and the others hurried Dan by -- Gabe wondered whether the Jerk would ever exchange words with anyone again.



Gabe stepped back away from Dan's still, bloodied body. He looked down to his own hands; they were red as well. He'd never seen so much blood so closely before. Well, maybe he had.

He'd been several years into body building when a fellow gym enthusiast goaded him into stepping into a boxing ring, arguing, "What is all that muscle for anyway?"

Gabe had gestured toward the pair of spandex-clad young women ogling him from the corner and said, "For that."

But Gabe had bit. He'd donned the gloves and the head gear and bit down on a mouth guard. He stepped into the ring, threw a few fruitless punches and dodged or were struck without effect by a few more. Then, got hit in the face so hard his nose had erupted like Old Faithful. The blood had been endless. And yet, when his "assailant" -- who tended to his nose like a pro -- said, "Come back tomorrow. We'll work on your technique", Gabe did.

Boxing became a regular activity for him, although he never reached a competitive level.

Then, one night at a club, a pair of guys who took offense to their girlfriends eying "Conan", confronted -- then threatened -- Gabe, asking if he wanted to take it outside.

"Sure ... why not?" he'd asked. He was never going to be tested in the ring; let's see what I can do in the real world, he'd thought.

Barely outside the door, one of the men landed a sucker punch, then another. Mistake. Gabe regained his footing, got mad, and dropped the guy with a crushing blow to his mouth that would leave two teeth lying in the dirt and grime of the alley.

The second guy showed a bit of boxing style, so Gabe gave him a match; he never once hit the guy hard enough to knock him out or down, but instead simply pummeled the man with punch after jab, jab after punch, until the entirety of his face was a swelling, bloody mess ... and finally, he just stepped back, dropped onto the curb, and started sobbing.



Fast moving foot steps exited the stairwell and a voice hollered, "They're in the building. There're men in the building. With guns! They killed Craig, I think."

Gabe grabbed the towel stuffed in his back pocket and wiped Dan's blood from him.

Sally hurried by him, commanding, "Anyone who knows how to handle a fire arm come with me!"

Gabe hesitated. It had been years since he'd used a gun. He owned a small revolver that, he mused, was probably still in the glove box of his Charger, where he'd left it the day he entered the Facility -- from which he hadn't been allowed to freely exit.

But he turned with the others -- mostly men, but some women as well -- and followed Sally to an opened 20x20 ... and stared in amazement. One entire wall had been converted, with what ever Dan had been able to use, into an arsenal. There were shotguns, rifles -- large and small caliber, some with scopes -- handguns, bows, crossbows ... even pellet guns, paint ball guns, and wrist rocket sling shots. In the corner was a stack of broken-down storage boxes with the "lauging sun" logo on them; that, Gabe presumed, explained why there were a half dozen or so identical 12 gauge riot guns and another half dozen Remington 30-06 deer rifles with scopes, as well as case after case of ammunition stacked atop wheeled carts of all sizes.

Gabe was surprised at how Sally -- obviously unfamiliar with fire arms -- launched right into distributing weapons and ammunition. "Shotguns first, then hand guns. You're inside ... it'll be close work."

Gabe was handed an older shotgun, likely from a pillaged rental locker; its barrel and stock had been cut down to an obviously illegal length, which made it perfect for what lied ahead.

"Listen up!" a man hollered. "Watch where you're shooting. You have friends here."

Then, with deep meaning, Sally announced loudly, "People! This is our home. It may not seem like much, and we may not always be happy here ... but this is our home."

If Gabe was going to go out there now, he wanted to be next to someone he had confidence in. He looked about ... nothing. Jane! Shit!

Gabe had been so overwhelmed with the happenings that -- assuming she was already here and in the mix -- he hadn't yet noticed she wasn't here. He snatched another shotgun, asking the bearer, "Loaded?"

"Yes."

And Gabe was gone ... heading for the 3rd floor ... and Heaven beyond ... where he hoped he would find a Devilish Angel still alive and unharmed.

Alex--Stage 1

Remembering the YMCA "self defense" class he'd taken years earlier, Alex ripped his arm from Conan's grip with a quick flick of his arm, then continued up Broadway, hollering over his shoulder, "Dan's hurt!"

He joined the mob outside Sally's "Office". Dan was on the floor, bleeding ... bleeding, he was certain, to death.

He turned away quickly. Alex didn't do well with blood. He'd been there with his father when he'd died. It had been all the blood he ever wanted to see. But he drew a deep breath, exhaled, and turned back to help the man who had so unselfishly helped them. Okay ... so unselfishly might be a stretch, he thought.

"We need to get him--" Sally started, then finished, "Help me! We need to get him upstairs!"

Conan pushed his way forward, grabbing one of Dan's legs, gesturing to Alex, "Get the other one."

Alex drew and exhaled again -- for god's sake, don't puke -- then grabbed a leg.

"On three ... one, two, three."

They hefted Dan off the floor and, falling in behind Sally, headed for Dan's normally secured stairs.

They'd just gotten through the open door when a crashing sound -- like the wreck of two semi-trucks at highway speed -- echoed up the stairwell.

"We'll check that!" someone called, then stepping, jostled Alex away from the landing.

His right foot found air; he went down, first to his knees on the edge of the landing, then to his belly on the descending steps. He slapped his hands to the steps below him, but they were coated in a layer of dust, and he couldn't get a grip. Head first, he simply began a belly slide, step after step slamming into his rib cage and hips, until finally he came to rest at the 2nd Floor landing.

He laid there, still and quiet ... more embarrassed than in pain.

When his senses came to him, he heard steps descending behind him. He felt hands grasp him by the arms and shoulders and help him to his feet. Simon took hold of him as the second man, and a third behind him, passed them by and headed through the 2nd Floor fire door, heading down.

"You okay?"

Alex nodded, then patted the dust and debris from the brand new (to him, anyway) outfit he'd just "bought" from Dan -- he'd begun working as a "gleaner" -- for an upcoming date with Maria.

Maria! Oh my god, I didn't see Maria. He turned to head back up stairs, but was unsteady and teetered back against the wall.

"Just stay here a minute," Simon suggested.

"I ... gotta go up."

"Sit down," Simon ordered, moving Alex to the ascending steps. "I have to check something."

Alex watched Simon open the door. And the stair well below them erupted in noise. Gun fire ... machine guns! Alex said to himself. Simon jumped back away from the door, pushing it closed. Simon looked panicked, Alex thought.

"We gotta get out of here!"

Simon didn't move. Alex, still unsteady, rose, grabbed the other young man, and turned him for the ascending stairs. Suddenly the fire door behind them burst open and one of the men -- even more panicked looking than Simon -- appeared and flew past the pair as if they hadn't even been there.

Alex, now steadying Simon, said quietly but firmly, "C'm'on ... we need to get out of here."

.....

Katherine and Ricky

Katherine had been sitting in her brother Ricky's room when all the commotion began. Hearing the screaming and the panic they both went out to see what was going on.

It looked like it had when their farm house had been raided the realization that, that was what was happening smacked into the both of them. Kat standing there shocked her eyes wide as she shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut..

"Kat go and hide I don't care where but do not let yourself be found."

His words were harsh as he stood there with his hands on her shoulders. As he seen her nod he took off to meet up with the others. Finding Sally and people taking guns he stood there ready to fight for their home as he always had been.

Kat heard her brothers room and watched him leave. Standing there still in shock and in fear she ran. Just ran with no where in mind to go. Getting to one of the larger rooms she looked around, it was the game room. Crawling under one of the lower tables she curled into a little ball and his. The tears pouring down from her eyes.

.....

Ricky

Ricky was right there. Going into the room he grabbed a shotgun. Didn't really matter what kind it was, the point was it was a gun. Grabbing that and some ammo he was off. Heading for the stairs. They needed a perimeter. Granted he had never been military but hell common sense said to protect what you had.

The thought of his sister came to him. He didn't know where she was shit. He should have told her some where specific to go and hide but he didn't. Knowing there was nothing he could do now for her he let it go. Making his way to the other men headed for the 3rd floor he followed.

Kat (FEAR)

Kat laid there in the fetal position. Fear was not the word she would use to describe what she was feeling. She was down right terrified. She could hear the chaos, could hear the foot steps. All she was waiting for now was for someone to find her. To tell her it was ok or to kill her. She figured one of the two would happen. What could she honestly do... she was scared... of course she lacked in patience.

Crawling out from under the table. She poked her head out to see what was going on. She hoped that no one would see her. She was laying on the floor just peeking around the edge of the wall. She couldn't be to obvious she told herself. She was still technically hiding since in all she was not just standing in the middle of an open room. She was laying there alone.

Maria

The scream. The sound chilled her to the bone. Numbly, almost without thinking, she rose, looking around Noodles, gazing into the other dumbstruck faces. All at once the room turned to a swirl of motion, people rushing past, drawn toward the source of the panicked shriek.

Maria, joined the rush, but keeping to the back of group. As they passed through Main Street, others joining the throng, the passage was cut short at Broadway. Peering apprehensively over the shoulders of those in front her, she couldn't see much, but she could hear plenty. Small snippets of hurried babble managed to make their way to her. She heard Sally pleading for help, Dan was hurt, badly. Pushing her way through the tight knit grouping of bodies, she stopped short. Blood. So much blood, staining Dan's tshirt. Her heart hammering in her chest, she retreated, stepping back from the scene in front of her, unwilling or unable to trust the story her eyes told.

As she retraced her steps, blindly fighting her way back through the crowd, she was jostled by people rushing to Sally's and Dan's aid. She glanced up just as Alex pushed past her, working his way forcefully through the crowd. A moment's clarity found her and she reached up, wanting to grasp his arm, hold him back, but she was too late, or else he just didn't notice.

She stared as he rushed to Dan, grabbing his leg and commanding another to help with the other. Her heart hammering in her chest, skin breaking out in a sheen of cold sweat she struggled to control her breathing, feeling faint. Tears stung her eyes, but didn't fall. Confusion, utter confusion clouding her mind as she watched them carry Dan, up and away.

Not here...not now. We're safe! We were supposed to be safe here!

Dale

Dale herd the gun, no doubt what it was,he was out as soon as he could and saw te figure run down the stairs. He went, shiv in hand, leaping a flight at a time. The assailant had no idea what hit him, Dale's weight was full on him as he turned, but he got no shot off. 'shhhh, it'll be over soon' Dale whispered to him and snapped his neck. He stood, fuck, this guy was wearing the uniforms they'd been given when fitting this place out, guess somebody had found a way in and out.

Dale turned and walked up the stairs to see what shit was going on, gun in his hand.....

Rick

Ricky turned back. He had to find his sister. She was all he had left of his family and he was not about to let her die. Going back he began searching the rooms. Watching his back to make sure that no one was following him.

Sally and Dan

Sally needed to get back to Dan. She pushed out through the crowd -- she was shocked to see almost half of the group's 25 anxious to arm themselves for the defense -- and hurried to the Dining Room.

MaryAnne was there, pressing a large patch to Dan's back. Just days earlier, the former gourmet chef had been here whipping up an intimate dinner -- seared ham and sauteed vegetables with mushrooms, all from the can, obviously -- for Alex and Maria. Now, she was covered in the blood of the man who'd loaned his private dining room to the pair MaryAnne hoped would be the community's first lovebirds. She cried out to Sally, "I can't stop the bleeding!"

Sally pushed in between the others helping tend Dan -- and in a chair nearby, the lookout Jacob -- and quickly moved to save her former lover from death.

A moment later, gunfire erupted just beyond the stairwell entry.

My god, if they're hit, let them be dead, she thought selfishly. The answer to a test question from a Med' School exam jumped into her mind: "Triage, the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine Medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors." Looking at Dan now, she knew he wasn't a potential survivor in comparison to, say, Jacob, or possibly some of those being shot at in the hallway they were defending. But, she also knew that if she were to make that triage choice at this very moment, she'd let the whole lot of them bleed to death on the floor to save the only man she'd ever said yes to.

Simon

It was all ... muted. He could hear everything going on around him ... he just couldn't hear it well.

The last thing Simon remembered was Alex pushing him to the landing of 3rd floor stairwell, then feeling as if he'd been run over by a run away horse; the force had traveled up his entire backside, and it wasn't until later -- after he'd been dragged like a sack of potatoes up to the fourth floor -- that he learned the "horse" had been some kind of grenade.

That explained the muted sounds.

He reached up to his ringing ears; they were wet, sticky. He looked to his hands; they were covered in blood.

Vivien. Dear Vivien.

OOC -- For an explanation of Simon's last words here, go to either the full (8 post) Simon and Vivien "mini"-thread -- in which the two characters exchange their first words, then get to know one another -- or simply to Post #8 in which a hint is given as to why Simon is concerned about possibly losing his hearing