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"WOW!" Brian yells as he catches a glimpse of the flying death machines. "I haven't seen one of those since WHY ARE JETS FLYING OVER US TERRITO--ARGH!!" He's forced to slam on the breaks and lower his head, waiting for the biological riot that follows a shock wave pass through him before he has control enough to continue driving.
"Oh my fragging frag, what is happening here? Is there an invasion as well as an infection??"
Realizing that there are not answers here, and not full well what air-delivered payloads can do and not wanting NONE of dat, Brian keeps driving in a direction that most would call 'forward'.
"So we go to the shelter, but only temporarily, is that the general consensus?"
He was desperately wanting to contact work and ask about...everything. But he was losing confidence that anything they could say would remotely impact his present situation which was well and truly FUBAR.
Looking at the others.. Nick goes pale.
"They want to blow the bridges? Then this is war... and the war is lost!!!
Trust me on this, I am german!
Let´s get away from the human mega populations. Somewhere with loads of free space. And maybe try to save this chaps daughter first. How far is it? Remember, I am a foreigner. And keep to the side roads!"
I will text Angie to see if she responds.
"New Jersey, in the best of times it would take hours to drive there. I bet I 95 is a mess right now".
I pause, "Do we avoid the shelter? Once we're in, I bet we cannot just leave..."
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Angie texts back
OMG IM IN a closet. They’re in the building! I’m so scared!
Nick looks carefully left and right and nods.
"I remember my mother used to work in the asylum homes when corona outbreak. The homes were utterly contaminated."
My heart races as I text back, Stay quiet and stay put! I am still in DC, this is across the country what is happening but it looks like the military is trying to do something. I mean it, don't move!
"My employee is trapped in a damned closet. This is truly bad. I don't have the heart to tell her that the National Guard is about to blow the bridges to Manhattan!
CDC site is down. Most news coverage is down. I can't get any update on this infection".
As the SUV drives off the bridge and into the silent white ranks of tombstones of Arlington National Cemetery, Dennis starts blinking up site after site about the pandemic. The Internet, as one can expect, is a total dumpster fire. Dennis tries to find a few news bloggers he respects, but the information is confused and spotty. The first few cases appeared literally three days ago. It was originally thought to be some sort of mutated rabies, and the few coherent reports he calls up note the similarities to rabies: hyper aggressive madness, foaming at the mouth, loss of higher-order brain function. The later blogs he is reading from today are .... strange. Several start talking about how if an infected isn’t head shotted, they somehow.. recover from their wounds and continue attempting to attack people. One blogger states he saw a man with his legs torn off dragging himself down the road. There are also weird reports of a yellow fungus that appears in the sinus tracts of the infected
The SUV follows the line of cars and gesturing privates to a large parking lot. There are hundreds of cars backing up in front of a large commissary/PX mall. Tents are being erected and razor wire is being strung between the parking area and the neighborhoodS of Arlington in the distance
Eloise lowers her gun out of sight in the back of the car as the people in the front talk to the soldiers. "This is crazy," she thinks to herself as they speed away and watch the missile hits the bridge.
"I don't much like the idea of heading towards a Military Base. We had somewhere we could go, but I'm not too sure that avenue will still be open to us with all this crazy going down." She turns to Chelsea. "What do you think? Will they still be accepting people into the compound?"
Chelsea looks frightened. She whispers
“I hope so! I mean, they know me, and they’d take you, you have skills, but...”
She looks about at the group and gives Eloise a subliminal shrug
I will relay what I read out loud to the others in the car, "This is all crazy. It's like a horror movie or an RPG whichever, it's surreal.
Three days this has gotten this crazy.
I am not sure being stuck in a giant crowd is the best place to be..."
we shouldn't go to the base and I don't want to do that. There are a lot of farms out in the country away from people for miles that have food. I don't want to be anywhere close to people. Did you see those soldiers stab that guy in the head? I mean damn and blowing up bridges?! We need to get away from everything and everyone!
Looking at the others Nick nods.
"And maybe get a camper. So that we can have... at least in the beginning a place to cook and a shower! And a decent bed for those that don´t drive!"
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"Okay, fine FINE!" Brian says, a bit louder than he intended. "Just...just let me think.... Okay, okay, yeah. During an...an infection, or pandemic or whatever, being around a bunch of refugees is not the best place to be. And, yeah, with the ad-hoc nature of everything, there's no way there will be enough food and...stuff...for everyone.
There'll be crime, and what little we do have we'll have to defend and we might turn bad ourselves just to make it.
Okay, yeah. Yeah. I don't know how well it's gonna go just showing up to some farmer's house and being all 'hey can we live here until things stop being cra-cra' but right now that actually doesn't seem like the worst idea and it's a testament to how upside-down things are that I just said that.
And, like, I can build stuff. If they've got dirt and wood I can turn it into a fort that'll hold off...well crazy people, at least.
Alright, someone keep navigating, please."
Brian turns off and keeps heading out.
"South in general, yeah?"
Nick ponders for a moment and adds.
"If we pass some stores that are still open we should stop and grab what we can. Maybe there is a caravan rental on the way and with loads of luck.. we might still rent one using a credit card! And if I had a wish list, I would love a construcion store or survival store. And some place to grab loads of water!"
As Brian explodes Nick continues.
"That would be very useful!"
Brian can see he’s not the only one having second thoughts about being stuck in the Ft. Myers Commissary parking lot. Several other cars get out of line and head into Arlington proper. The soldiers attending the line don’t seem to care.
A sudden Australian female voice sounds out
“There are several traffic jams ahead. Route 66 is your best option for traveling “
The group heads out, with a few tips from Anya, they begin to get out of Arlington. It's a very built up area, and occasionally they have to backtrack, but they eventually get onto route 66.
There are fires everywhere, and occasionally they pass a screaming fire engine, usually with a police escort. Once they pass a convoy of Army trucks roaring towards DC. The few soldiers they see are in MOPP gear, their shrouded faces buglike.
Occasionally traffic slows, and the other cars seem to be trying the same thing they are, getting the hell out of Dodge. Fortunately, it looks like many people have decided to stay at home, possibly a knee-jerk reaction to previous pandemics.
They begin to get into the more distant suburbs when Anya calls out
"Traffic jam ahead in one mile. You're still on the fastest route"
There is a ribbon of smoke going skyward ahead
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"I'm glad we're going -away- from all of...that," Brian comments as they head in the opposite direction of the civil forces.
"Well that's not good," he worries at Anya's notification.
"Where there's smoke there's fire, yeah? As much as this might be the fastest route I'm worried that we'll be able to get by at all."
find us a way around on a side road and a store for us to grab supplies at before we completely leave the suburbs eh?
"Agreed, I don't think the fastest route right now is necessarily the fastest route".
In the meantime, I will scroll the net for more information as to what the hell is going on.
Nick shrugs and adds.
"Usually the navi is for all more or less the same, so every "road" will be blocked soon."
There is an exit coming up, leading into Falls Church. The signs read Route 29
"If we can get to Route 267, we can get to my people. The exit is a couple miles up the road. If we get off now we'd be is small side streets until we could hook up with the route 123 exit. That's a lot of housing to go through"
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"Well, housing means they have to shop somewhere, so where's there's houses there should be stores and gas stations.
And you say you know some people? That's...a better deal than anything I can put together.
Everyone okay with getting off there?"
Assuming no objections, Brian tells Anya about the new routes to look for.
"If we can get to Chelsea's group then we won't need supplies. I'm not sure detouring off into the suburbs is such a good idea. But I'll go along with whatever everyone else thinks."
Nick shrugs."I have no idea where to go."
He then looks at Eloise."I think in this case supplies are not a bad idea. Do you really know when the logistic net will work again!"
your people will let you in, but the rest of us maybe and maybe not which means we get off and get supplies. If we don't need em great, if we do even better Al says pragmatically
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Brian nods, scanning the highway ahead with a practiced eye, his military training and mental prioritization beginning to come back.
"Imma agree with Alpho on this one. Food, like money, always goes down, and one it gets low, it can get really low, and I have a rule: When you go to a friend's house, always bring a snack you like. That way you don't come empty handed, -and- you are sure that there will be something there you can eat.
Let's stop and top off everything we can top off. If we don't need it, then great.
And if we do need it, well then we'll be happy we have it. In my experience a house guest is always liked better when they sponge less."
"Sounds like our best option".
The group takes the exit. It looks as if several of their fellow highway travelers have had the same thought.
DM stuff
There is a small backup at the end of the ramp as cars wait for a light to change. Dennis has been scrolling through the news feeds. Thanks to the Starlink network, Internet seems to be holding steady, although the feeds are going dark at the source. It’s only been about two hours since they were all sitting in L’Enfant Plaza, and the speed with which things are going to s@++ is incredible.
All major news feeds are offline. CNN, FOX, MSNBC are all throwing up 404 error feeds. Official government feeds are either 404ed, or have boilerplate instructional lists for emergencies. There are still a lot of secondary feeds, mostly a mature, but the video is shocking.
Dennis sees a video shot from a rooftop somewhere in mid-town Manhattan. The streets are literally a scene from Hell. People ripping each other to shreds with their teeth.
Another video is a road in a suburb of a Boston. The quiet leafy two-lane is crowded with a group of relatively peaceful people, just shuffling down the street as if taking a slow morning stroll. The video zooms into their faces, and many are in ruins, eyeballs hanging out, noses gone, teeth missing. Many of their mouths are circled in dried blood. All of their mouths work with a rhythmic clack clack clack that can be heard over the birdsong of the quiet street.
Another is a video of Washington DC. A shot from one of the Harbor condo buildings, or perhaps a hotel. Jets strafe the city - leaving fiery death in their wake. The videographer screams as one firebomb hits nearby, shattering glass all around her.
A the lights, a car isn’t going, even though it’s green. The groups SUV is three cars back. Horns start honking, but the car still remains still
I don't suppose we can get around this guy and off road it eh? We might have to get that car out of the way and it might have one of those infected in it. Try to get around. If not I will listen to any plan Al says as he scratches his hair and Russel's with it a bit from under the hat.
"Wow, this went into the s!~!ter fast.
Manhattan is just filled with people ripping each other to shreds.
Avoiding crowds is the way to go here. Once we get to a settled location, I am going to need to figure a way to get back north and I bet the major highways are not it..."
I sigh, "Agreed, let's hit the sidewalk again and go around".
The way the exit ramp is constructed, there is no sidewalk, and it would be impossible to go around the other cars.
The group sees a man get out of the car behind the stopped vehicle. He gets to the stalled car , and suddenly backpedals. The window of the stalled car explodes outward, and a blood-soaked woman begins pulling herself out of it, She is wild eyed and screeching. The man runs back for his car, diving in
Ah damn it there's an infected! Al grabs his shotgun and jumps out of the car and shuts the door behind him!
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"Okay is...is this it? What...what am I seeing here?"
Brian's internal A-TAC, long honed from combat engagements, but just as long dormant, wakes from its comfortable sleep and immediately starts analyzing threats and sight lines.
He gets out of the car, as he was going to do something about the blocking vehicle anyway. Seeing Wolf draw down, he figures he may as well follow suit.
His hand goes behind his back and, from under his hardened leather jacket, brings out the combat SMG.
"Okay, let's not anyone go nutso here but, Dennis? WHAT AM I SEEING HERE?" he calls out in ignorance, having had no chance to see the newsfeed.
He does a tactical circle to the driver's-side of the car, putting distance between himself and the traffic, but opening up his field of fire to...whatever is happening.
What those outside see is an insane woman , forties, slightly overweight in that soccer mom way, with her Karen haircut askew. Her mouth and her forearms are drenched in blood. She has several superficial scratches from the safety glass, but the blood seems like it came from someone else. She is beating on the door of the car the man dived into, but her head snaps up when she senses the party members outside. She snarls, a shrieking feral noise and charges in an ungainly disjointed fashion towards them
initiatives:
Nick: Joker
Eloise: King hearts
Brian: 10 diamonds
Dennis: 9 hearts
Chelsea:8 Hearts
Karen the Psycho soccer mom: 7 diamonds
Al/Wolf: 2 spades
Nick delays after soccer mom has moved.
Brian’s gunfire riddles the woman and she pancakes onto the ramp, twitching. Tunnels of blood flow down the gentle ramp incline
Al moves up pulling the hand axe from it's leather belt loop and sinking it into the back of the ladies skull like he saw the army guys doing and then saying we got to move this car out of our way quick!
Al’s axe splits the woman’s head open. He hears a few car doors opening and a murmuring of voices
“Oh my god, they just shot that lady!”
“What’s going on?”
“F!~% that! Did you see her? She tried to kill me! She was infected! Haven’t you been watching the feeds?”
The man who is behind the car psycho Karen came out of has emerged, shaking. He comes up to Al
“Thank you very much!”
Looking over at Karen’s minivan, it is obvious something bad happened inside. The interior windows are splashed with gore
Nick looks at the minivan and at the others.
"I will not like what I see, I am sure!"
and he opens the door so that he is behind the door.
come on let's push this thing out of the way and Al comes to the busted out window shotgun at the ready before he puts his arm in to put the vehicle in neutral to move it out of the road (unless of course he can just tell it to move)
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"Wait minute, Alphonso," Brian says, changing into a fresh clip as his hands start to shake. "That car got here on its own. Howsabout we just look for the keys and drive it off the road?"
Brian turns away from the gore and chaos and takes a quick drink from his traveling water bottle.
'What have I done?'
As is common for his memory--for he was cursed to never forget something once his brain held it as sweet--the answer came from outside him.
'What you had to do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live.'
That answer seemed to satisfy him, and he returns to the tumult.
Of course, to search for keys, that was obvious.
And, amongst the group here, only one of them had experience recently of searching a corpse for car keys.
"Hold on. I'll...I'll check her.
They say the second time is easier than the first, right?
I wonder if I qualify for some kind of corpse-car-key-searching-based prestige class."
He does...what is necessary.
The woman is not carrying any keys. Brian does find a glasses case with Gen4 iGlasses inside. He knows that these are usually retina-locked. She is dressed in sweatpants and top. Oddly, she doesn’t seem to be wearing shoes, rather some thick fuzzy slipper socks
Nick moves forward to the drivers side minivan. As he approaches, he sees a ghastly sight. A middle-aged man in a suit and tie is behind the wheel, still seatbelted in place. His neck has been torn out, and blood has been splashed everywhere. His face bears scratch marks and bite mark wounds. He looks dead, but the blood is still flowing freely from his neck, so the death was very recent. The minivan’s idiot AI voice can be heard through the door as Nick approaches the door
“ You are in park on a highway ramp. Please proceed. If you are in distress, say emergency and I will take you to a hospital. You are in park on a highway ramp. Please proceed. If you are in distress, say emergency and I will take you to a hospital. You are in park on a highway ramp. Please proceed. If you are in distress, say emergency and I will take you to a hospital. “