Play@YSDC

Z-Day - 7:50 PM Mountain Time - Chimney Rock, western Nebraska
In the woods-
Julie St. James nodded and drove where Dan Aldrich indicated. She also heard nothing. A moment later the young woman was lit up by the pickup's headlights. She was about twenty years old, and her blonde hair was plastered to her head, and her body was glistening with water. She had a terrified look on her face. Julie brought the truck to a halt and rolled down her window, leaning out. "Over here!" she called, waving.

Lara Voronova ran up to the front of the pickup truck, waving her arms overhead. "Bozhemoi!" she cried. "Help!" She glanced nervously over her shoulder, having heard something behind her, but she couldn't quite see anything.

Dan did see a pair of headlights in the distance, coming from the direction of the house. They looked to be heading in his general direction.

Dan looks to Julie and says, "I think we're about to have some company soon. We need to get her in here and get off this road. When she gets in turn off the lights and move us off the path and hopefully they won't see us."

In the woods-
"We're not really on a path at all," said Julie. She flicked off the headlights right away, then opened her door and climbed out, waving Lara over. The girl slipped inside and slid into the middle seat, and Julie got back in and closed the door. She turned the truck in a wide arc to the right. The approaching vehicle was angling to the left, and soon it rolled past them some distance to the side.

When it was gone, Lara finally exhaled. "I thought I was goner," she said in a Russian accent. "Mutt was going to kill me...slowly."

Julie placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You're safe now. My name's Julie. What's your name?"

"Lara," she said. "Lara Voronova. We have to get back to house, the way I come. Zoe and Raquel are alone with Ghost. There's no telling what he do to them!"

"I think our best bet would be to approach the house on foot rather then driving there. We don't want Ghost to here us driving up and get spooked. Lara do you think you could lead us back the way you came?"

In the woods-
"Da," said Lara, nodding. Julie shut off the engine, and all three of them got out of the truck. Julie locked it.

"That's a good idea," said Julie. "I just hope we don't have to make a quick getaway. "Let's go."

"This way," said Lara. She led the way north, back towards the house. Dan could see lights in its windows in the distance. "Please, can I have gun?"

OOC,[b]Dan[/b], roll Sneak. The base skill is 10%. Even if you fail, there's still a good chance you won't be heard. Also, roll Listen.

Dan follows Lara through the woods. Trying to move as silently as possible he hands Lara his handgun and whispers, "Do you know how to use this?"

In the woods-
"Da," said Lara, gratefully taking the revolver.

OOC,[b]Dan[/b], roll Listen.

In the woods-
Lara led the way north, more concerned with speed than with stealth or with paying attention to her surroundings. It was hard for Dan and Julie to keep up with her. Julie wasn't very stealthy either, nor was she observant. Dan, however, could hear things coming from the house as they got closer.

First, a woman shouted "I can't take it any more, you ape!" Then another woman called "Leave her alone!" After that, he recognized Ghost's voice saying: "Yow! What's the matter with you?!" He continued to speak, but his words weren't loud enough to make out.

Outside the house-
Lara ran up to the small house, followed by the rangers. Now that they were almost there, they could see that the front door had been forced open, and light was coming from inside, as well as from the upstairs windows. The raised voices had also come from the upstairs windows. Lara hurried to the open front door.

OOC,I rolled Listen for [b]Dan[/b] to keep things moving forward. [b]Dan[/b], roll Spot Hidden.

As they get to the house Dan grabs Laras arm and whispers, "Hold up, We need to go in quietly. We don't want to alert Ghost that we're here. If he hears us he'll call Mutt back and then we're all in trouble." as he says that Dan spots something.

Outside the house-
Lara tensed involuntarily at Dan's touch, but she stopped and nodded. Looking up at the house, Dan could see that the upstairs window on the left side was open, and a drainpipe ran up the side of the building not far away from it. The second woman's voice had been coming from that room. The window on the right was still closed, and the voices of the first woman and Ghost had come from that room.

OOC,[b]Dan[/b], if you choose to climb up to the open window, roll Climb. A normal failure will only waste time, and you will not risk injury unless you get a critical failure (in which case you should roll Jump).

"I'm going to climb in that window. You two wait five minutes once im through the window and then quietly make your way up the stair. I'm going to try and take Ghost by suprise and secure him somehow." Dan whispers to the two women before heading over to the drain pipe and climbing up.

Outside the house-
"Be careful," Julie whispered back. She checked her watch as Dan began his climb.

"I was lying," came the first woman's voice from the upstairs window on the right, "I hate you all!" She began to sob.

"Gotcha!" said Ghost's voice from the same window. The crying continued.

"Poor Zoe," Lara whispered to Julie. "Ghost has her up there. We have to do something!"

"But Dan said to wait..." said Julie, uncertainly.

As Dan made his way up the pipe, he could hear a woman weeping from within the left upstairs window, the one that was open. He managed to climb up high enough that he could see into the open window. Inside was a child's bedroom, and the lights were on. An open door in the wall opposite the window led to a hallway, and there were no other exits from the room. A race car bed was in one corner, and a toybox was in another. The Hispanic woman he had seen earlier was sitting on the floor next to the window, still wearing only lingerie. Her right arm was handcuffed to a radiator underneath the window, and she was trying to break off the metal bar to which she was cuffed, but she wasn't getting anywhere. With a surprised gasp, she craned her neck and turned to look right at him.

As Dan climbs quietl through the window he whispers, "Don't be afraid, I am here to help. We found Lara[/b ]in the woods and she led us here. I have to leave you here for a bit so I can try and take care of Ghost before he can hurt the other girl. Can you stay quiet?"

Waiting anxiously, Julie begins to get restless, both over Dan's safety and that Lara might leap into the house without warning. She flicks her gaze between the window Dan climbed through, the distant darkness, Lara and her watch. Demandingly, she restates: "Just wait, wait".

In the child's bedroom-

Dan Alridch,The woman nodded. "He took [b]Zoe[/b] down the hall, to the right," she whispered back. "Hurry, save her!" "Do you know how it feels to be wanted, I wonder?" came the voice of the other woman, presumably [b]Zoe[/b], from the direction [b]Raquel[/b] had indicated. "You disgust me. Get on with it!" Peeking through the door, [b]Dan[/b] could see a lit hallway outside, leading left and right. About a dozen feet to the left, it turned around the corner to the left. Two doors were visible to the right. One was in the same wall as the bedroom door, and it was open. No light was on within. The other door was at the right end of the hall. It was closed, and a light was visible underneath it. "Guess [b]Mutt[/b]'s back," said [b]Ghost[/b] from somewhere behind the closed door.

Outside the house-
Lara nodded, trying to hold back her tears. She hugged Julie, pressing her face against her shoulder. Checking her watch, Julie could see that two minutes had passed so far.

Dan silently berates himself for making so much noise as he unslings his rifle from his shoulder. Realizing he can actually use this to his advantage to get close to the room he makes his way down the hall to the closed door where he assumes Ghost is at.