He expected the worse but was relieved at this sight...albeit a little uneasy...
He glanced at Cross awaiting an order..but nothing yet...
While waiting for an order, he began to move towards the metal stairway on the left wall of the warehouse. His urge to explore the shipping containers' contents were over-powered by his urge to see what was happening outside through the office windows...
In the warehouse- Gregor Cross nodded when Jason started up the stairs. He gestured to Peter McBain to stand guard in front of the open container and secure the exit, and then he and Carolyn Wagner began searching the warehouse floor.
Jason entered the office at the top of the stairs. Most of the windows were floor-to-ceiling ones that overlooked the warehouse floor. There were also a couple of regular windows that looked outside, though the blinds were closed. The office door was unlocked and the lights were on. There was a desk with a computer on it, currently powered on with a screensaver displayed on the monitor, and a chair in front of it. Next to the desk was a filing cabinet. In the corner of the office overlooking the main floor was a control panel with levers and buttons. A manual rested beside the control panel.
And in the middle of the office, two bodies lay on the floor in a bloody heap. One of them was a man in a park ranger's uniform with a bolt action rifle strapped to his back and an AK-47 in his hands, pointed at his head. He had what looked like a gunshot wound in his temple. The other was a young woman wearing only lingerie. She held a pistol, the barrel of which was inside her mouth.
OOC,[b]Jason[/b], please roll Sanity. Sanity loss is 0/1d3, so you lose no Sanity if you succeed or 1d3 if you fail. Regardless of the outcome, you may act freely.
In the warehouse- Jason moved the blinds aside with the barrel of his weapon and peeked out the window. It faced eastwards, and the newly risen sun was visible slightly above the horizon, the glare hurting his eyes. He instinctively shielded them with a hand, and he was able to make out details. Other warehouses could be seen in the distance, part of a commercial district somewhere outside of Cheyenne, but there was no movement as far as his eyes could see.
Jason Baker removed his gun barrel from the blinds, letting them close, and backed up, careful not to step on the corpses....
He felt more in control after the initial shock of seeing the corpses...The pounding of his heart in his ears had stopped and his breathing was more regulated....and he was slightly more used to the smell, as much as one could be....
Got to keep it together.... He thought...
Baker moved over to the desk and jostled the mouse in an attempt to see if the screensaver was hiding any useful information that was accidently left open on the computer....
Baker moved away from the desk and made his way over to the windows overlooking the warehouse floor. He tapped on the window with his gun, hoping to get Gregor Cross' attention....
OOC,If I can see Cross and get his attention, I'll wave him upstairs to discuss the next course of action, even though moving the shipping container away from the exit may not be the best idea IMHO. If I can't get his attention from the window, I'll move to the steps and try to signal to him to come upstairs...
In the warehouse- Jason got Gregor Cross's attention, and the squad leader came upstairs while Carolyn Wagner continued searching the warehouse floor and Peter McBain stood guard. "What's up?" asked Cross.
"We got a couple of bodies, a locked-out computer and a filing cabinet. However, it appears we have the controls for that overhead crane. So, since that main door is blocked, whoever has been doing the smuggling is either still in the base or has another way of getting out."
Jason moved towards the filing cabinet to see if they were unlocked, having forgotten to check before calling Cross up to the office. He continued...
"Great, get up here to the office. We got a PC we can't get into without a password. Just a warning, there's a couple of corpses in here."
"On my way." She headed up the stairs and entered the office.
Jason opened the filing cabinet, which was unlocked. There was a lot of paperwork in there, and it would take a long time to sort through it all, but he was also able to find what looked like a ledger.
He passes the ledger to Cross and proceeds to disarm the corpses. He starts with the lingerie model and removes the pistol from her mouth. Her hand is still tight on the grip and he fights off another wave of revulsion, similar to the one he encountered when first seeing the corpses. He then moves on to the park ranger. Taking the AK-47 is not a problem but rolling the corpse over to get the bolt action rifle produces sounds that cause Baker to stifle a gag. Despite his efforts, his face flushes and he chokes back a small bit of vomit...
"Got 'em secured Sir!" His voice quivers unconvincingly...
In the warehouse-
"Good," said Cross, flipping through the ledger, his eyes going wide. "Pots and pans my ass!" he said. "I think I've found the key to ciphering out all these numbers. This book is a gold mine! The shipment dates coincide with when supplies went missing. Could be just the evidence we need."
Carolyn continued typing at the computer, trying various potential passwords. So far, none of them had worked.
McBain stood guard like he'd been told. His trigger finger was itching to dole out some proper justice and retribution. If only the bad guys would just turn up and let them settle this with a straight up firefight.
He sensed tension in the group, particularly towards him. No problem. He'd upset people before and he'd probably do it again. End of the day, he was just here to do his job. Still, not much was going on out here. McBain leant against the wall of the container and scanned the area for any signs of hostiles.
"Just one bad guy," he though to himself. "That's all I'm asking."
In the warehouse-
"If you need help carrying them, I'll take some off your hands, Baker," said Cross. "Keep in mind that they're evidence too. Come with me downstairs and we'll finish up searching the main floor. Wagner, if you haven't cracked the password by the time we're done, we'll just take the computer back with us along with the other evidence and let the techies have a look at it."
McBain started to drift off. There was nothing going on in the warehouse. He wondered briefly if Cross had left him guarding the way out just to keep him out of the way.
He shrugged. What did it matter? If the others wanted to have a club they were welcome. They'd be thanking him when and if the bad guys ever turned up. He looked briefly at his gun and thought about how much more satisfying it was to smack someone in the face with it rather than shoot them like you're supposed to. Weird, that.
In the meantime, he was gagging for a piss. He walked a couple of feet around the corner and took a leak over the container, writing his name with the spray. "Sweet," he smiled to himself.
Bladder thoroughly emptied, he started to poke around near the exit container, just in case there was anything worth finding. He didn't hold out much hope.
In the warehouse- Gregor Cross and Jason Baker returned to the main floor. "All right," said Cross. "We have time for one last look around before it's time to go back to base."