( open ) our ag wing's back and you're gonna be in trouble (hey now! hey now! our ag wing's back)

[initiates]

Date & Time: October 31st, 3313, 11:59PM - November 3rd, 3313, ????
Location: Agriculture Wing, Moon Base to start. Cafeteria, warehouse, docking bay, VR rooms, Transport Pad, or Observatory later on.
Characters: Any & all!
Summary: Space Zombies are allowed out of the Agriculture Wing, slowly revving up their systems to try and infect and absorb as many of the Transports (or 12 Initiative Members) as possible.
Warnings: Log will be locked for potentially graphic violence. Please warn in threads should the violence or gore become graphic.
Notes: Specify a date and location in your top comment. You may specify multiple dates/locations. Specify a time if you wish as well.

Everything is a success at first, from the cool rush of air out of the Agriculture Wing once the doors are fully unlocked, to the heady sense of accomplishment for finally moving forward on something good for the long-term usability of the Moon Base. It's intended to remain a resource, after all, but not be a permanent home. Fraying tempers and the sense of cabin fever descending on Transports continues to showcase how important it is to get back down on Earth to regain some breathing room.

There's little enough dust between all the unmoving, unlit structures, many even supporting the barest dried husks of what once grew there. Upon the lightest touch, they disintegrate, turning into a dust that falls to the ground. The silent rows will be reclaimed and turned into functioning units, based on Transport efforts, and Transport time invested in the project.

There's just one problem. Something stirs in the reclaimed wing, among tangles of hosing and wiring. Skitterings and movements that make no sense for a long abandoned Moon Base. The further in Transports go, relying on magic or technology to generate light past the bare minimum maintained by the base, the more disturbing sights they may run into.

Of course, the most disturbing of all might be lying just around the far corner -- but don't worry, it's only a flesh wound. Try not to get surprised in the machinery, caught suffering from not looking up or caught making out with anything unsavory this holiday season, Transports. We need all of you to stay alive!

We can't bring you back right now!

Comments

[resolve]

a. november 1, during network downtime - some hallway somewhere - closed; peeta

[She'd been sent away, but the Transporter has pulled her back. Exsilium is gone- destroyed, annihilated, just like District 12. They're on the moon. Somehow.

But now's not the time to try to wrap her head around the ramifications of what she's been told, the glimpses she briefly catches on the monitors. Not the time to let the afterimages from the attack she'd just witnessed on the hospital in District 8 shake her. Not the time to pause to assess her injuries, to allow the pounding in her head to eclipse her focus. Not the time to linger.

There are other priorities she has to put first. Purpose rushes through her like adrenaline at practically the instant the greeter leaves her alone, just as it did that morning in her first Games, after the announcement that two victors could win as long as they came from the same district. She slings her bow over her shoulder, and moves out of the Observatory. Into the unknown.

Peeta.

She doesn't know anything about this place, much less where she's going. But if he's still here, she'll find him. Because she has to. Because she owes him at least that much.

The noises slowly begin to filter into consciousness as she walks. They're faint at first, like mice scurrying in the rafters. Not worth paying any mind. It's only when there's a loud thump from somewhere nearby, and a scrape from somewhere a little further in the distance, that she's caught off guard.

That she reaches for her bow, feels it pulse in her hands. Notches an arrow.

She sucks in a sharp breath, and freezes. And waits.]

b. 2nd/3rd (flexible timing) - open;

[There are a few things she learns quickly. One, shooting them between the eyes doesn't work; with Beetee's bow, she can aim accurately from distances she never could have before, but even the most well-aimed shot is not sufficient to stop them. Two, these failed shots only serve to make them angrier.

Some lucky escapes are the only reason she's still alive.

Nevertheless, she volunteers for food runs. Because being helplessly confined to one area reminds her entirely too much of being trapped underground for three days, waiting for the UE's bombs to stop.

As time goes on, they become harder and harder to avoid; the droves only continue to multiply exponentially. They can come out of nowhere, drop down from vents with no warning. When one appears, too close for comfort, she no longer pauses to shoot. Instead, she grabs whoever is next to her by the wrist, and drags them into the nearest closet.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ One of those escapees was probably Lucy, who was convinced she was quite possibly one of the luckiest of the lucky. Or maybe less so. Like Katniss, she'd found arrows didn't help, so she didn't even call on Saggitarius. Instead, she relied mostly on Aries and especially Taurus, who could at least cleave through the damn things.

Just... pay no mind to the lewd comments from the bull spirit, Katniss. Lucy ignores them too. When that one that came too close for comfort, Lucy let out a yelp of surprise, wishing she hadn't desummoned Taurus to conserve her energy, and squawked when the other girl dragged her into the closet before she could grab her key again. ]

We can't stay in here - that thing knows where we are..!

[ Unless it was really really stupid. ]

[resolve]

[Of course, it hadn't been the greatest plan. If the... thing is aware enough to become more relentless in its pursuit after being hit, her actions surely hadn't escaped its notice. The continual thumping just beyond the door is testament enough to that.

But she hadn't seen any other option.

She's leaning with her back against the wall, taking a moment to catch her breath, when the other girl speaks up. In an instant, her eyes cut over, glaring daggers. If there's anything Katniss doesn't much appreciate, it's being questioned about something like this.]

And if we go back out there, it won't be a minute before we're dead. [It's biting, downright callous, but also said with just the slightest degree of weariness.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Lucy huffed, unimpressed. Katniss' glare was pretty tame compared to Erza's. That woman made her think she was going to lose her soul. But there was a lot more history between Erza and Lucy too. ]

So you think hiding in a closet with no other way out when that thing is just seconds from getting through the door is a better idea? I'd rather be out there, fighting, than hiding.

[ But she had better options against those things than Katniss' bow, since it didn't work on them. Thinking for a second, Lucy pressed herself as far back as she could. ]

If we can't go out, that way, then we'll need another way out. Move back some. [ There's not much room in the closet, but she needed to at least summon Virgo to get a tunnel made. ]

[resolve]

[If Lucy's unimpressed, then she is too. The glare persists, and before long, she opens her mouth to argue.

The argument, though, never comes. It's true; staying in here also means they'll be dead sooner rather than later, with sooner become more and more of a reality as the door slowly begins to cave in. But there isn't another way out, either, at least from what she can see. She has no idea what the girl is talking about. Maybe she's lost a smidge of the outright hostility, but she's still wary, cynical.]

Why?

[celestial_wizard]

[ Hearing the creature banging on the door and seeing the door start to splinter slightly under its efforts made her extremely nervous, lemme tell ya. In the closet, she glanced around for something they could use to push in front of the door. ]

I can call Virgo. She'll tunnel us out - not far, but anything is better than being in here..!

[resolve]

[To that, she has no response; the door beginning to splinter is what draws her attention, and finding something to try to barricade the door becomes a more immediate preoccupation. She knows that any effort she makes will only hold it temporarily at best, but that's better than none at all.

After a moment, her eyes land on something that might do the job, some large, metallic object she doesn't have a name for. She takes a few steps, and begins to drag it toward the door.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ No point in talking it through, the silence she took as agreement. While Katniss started to pull said object of unnameable origin towards the door to help block the creatures from getting in the way, Lucy touched her key, summoning the celestial spirit. In short order there was a rumble within the closet room as a tunnel opened up through the floor between Lucy and Katniss, and she called over. ]

We can get out through here!

[peeta_bread]

[Peeta's been trying to fight off the zombies, thinking he was needed more here.

Katniss should hear the sound of heavy footsteps growing louder. After a few seconds, Peeta appears, running away from a zombie. The minute he sees Katniss, he freezes, all sense of self-preservation vanishing. All thoughts are gone.

Katniss is here.

The zombie is approaching the oblivious boy. Help him, Obi Wan Katniss. You're his only hope.]

[resolve]

[Everything happens much faster than she can adequately process.

In one instant, there's silence. Dead silence; the thumps and the scrapes come to a temporary stop. She becomes all too aware of her short, ragged breaths, her own beating heart. But just like that, it's all over with a sequence of events she could never be prepared for. A mess of emotions tangles with a whirlwind of thoughts, and for a time, she's paralyzed. Paralyzed to do anything but watch all this play out in slow motion, until one thought emerges from the haze.

What is he doing?

It's then that instinct kicks in, takes control of her. It shows her where to aim, guides her fingers to pull back on the bowstring. Returns functioning to her vocal cords.]

Peeta-! [Run.

She releases the string, and an arrow flies toward the creature's head.]

[peeta_bread]

[Peeta ducks. He tries to run, but the fallen zombie grabs for his ankle. Peeta goes down, but he's quick to turn and hack with his knife. Once he's free, he's running toward Katniss. He skids to a halt and grabs her in a hug, his eyes squeezed shut in panic.] I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

[For stopping, for needing Katniss so much, for loving her, for asking her to make a decision last time she was there. For everything.]

[resolve]

[She has another arrow out, ready to be notched, but it isn't needed. Slowly, as Peeta makes good work with the knife, she lowers her bow, and replaces the arrow in her quiver.

There isn't much she can do to resist being pulled into the hug. To stop the thought that having his arms around her again is warm, comforting. It's a thought at odds with the twinges of guilt that start to rise up, and grow with intensity. No, she's the one who should be apologizing. For letting him out of her sight in the arena, for being the reason he got picked up by the Capitol in the first place. For leaving him here, alone, while back in Panem, he's still in Snow's clutches...--

... The creature is moving toward them again.

Her shot hadn't stopped it.

She breaks away, and her voice becomes urgent.]

We need to get out of here.

[peeta_bread]

Come on. [Peeta's going to lead her the housing units, but as soon as he's heading for a doorway, a zombie comes around the corner. Peeta whips out a knife with practiced ease and throws it. It lands in the zombie's head, not bad. The zombie falls for the moment. When he turns back to her, he lets out a yelp, seeing the hacked zombie right behind her.]

Katniss, behind you!

[resolve]

[Katniss is hardly one who needs to be told twice. By the time the words leave his mouth, she's already turning, arrow loaded and ready to fire. It lands right between the thing's eyes, and it stumbles backward from the force of the impact.

Her eyes make a quick sweep of their surroundings, but it's hard to discern with the relative lack of light.

Breathless:]

Are there any more?

[peeta_bread]

I don't see any in the room, but I can hear them coming. Come on, let's get to a secure location.

[He hurries over to take his knife out of the zombie and then checks the corner. He looks to Katniss and gestures for her to come with him.]

[allucinator]

[He can hear the steady thwack of a bow and heads toward it-- even if whoever it is can handle themselves, Jack doesn't want to take the chance. White light shoots from his left hand; in his right he stabs indiscriminately, trying to wound if he can't kill.]

Oye! Oye, assholes! Over to me!

[The group surrounding the archer (male? female? he can't tell) turns, growling and grunting; Jack throws out another spell at them.]

[resolve]

[It comes in the nick of time, really; just moments before, she'd found herself surrounded. Surrounded, with only a weapon that proved mostly ineffective at stopping them. One moment, she's unsure of how she's going to get out of this, but the next, they stop. Turn their attention away from her, before everything's obscured by a white light.

Instinct tells her to run. Every second is precious, and she's lucky enough to have been granted an opportunity to escape. But for the moment, she's frozen.]

[allucinator]

Oye! Distractions don't mean much if ain't nobody takes advantage o' them!

[He nearly sings it as he blasts another zombie-- and another, each with a burst of white light-- but he's stabbing a little more often now, because he's nowhere near the healer his teacher is, and each burst of light costs him far more energy than he'd like.]