Play@YSDC

Nik’s stomach turns when he hears the woman’s voice. But he knows that Rue is right.

“Goddam that Baughman” he snarls. “I wish he was still alive so I could kill him too.”

He picks up a can and opens it, and starts to pour it into the hatch.

The agents begin to pour the gas down into the tank.

"Clyde? What is this? Oh no. Please, don't do this! If you love me at all don't do this to me. You said you could fix me!" The voice sounds genuinely upset, close to tears.

"Please! I'm sorry about Darcy. I didn't mean to. But the urge was overwhelming. But I can, I can resist it. Just don't do this!"

If the agents wish they can pour all the gasoline down into the tank without any reaction save the voice's frantic pleas. They continue and get more and more desperate, before breaking down into sobbing near the end.

Vanessa takes another jerry can and begins pouring gasoline into the septic tank. She knows that the real moment of truth will come when it's time to ignite the stuff.

Nik keeps pouring until the cans are empty. Any doubts have been dispelled by the talk about Darcy. Obviously whatever Mrs. Baughman is now, is not the same as before.

The pouring finished, he takes out the matches from his pocket.

"You'd better stand back " he tells the others, before anyone can change their minds. First he lights a candle, and then throws the match through the hatch and moves quickly away.

Rue, desperately blocking his ears to try and eradicate the sound of the old woman from his senses - All he can think is

"By God doesn't she sound like my own mom!"

He has to really stop himself from rushing forward as the lighted match gets dropped by Nik because he is aware of the coming conflagration. Unsure of what to do he readies his gun ... just in case it goes South.

Vanessa moves away from the septic tank when Nik lights it. She reassures herself that whatever was in there wasn't Marlene any more, but something inside her dies.

OOC,I wasn't sure if we all needed to roll, or just [b]Nik[/b]. Sanity roll (current level 71) for helping to burn the "old woman": [dice]0[/dice] That's my third loss for violence without reaching my Breaking Point, so I'm adapted to it now.

As Nik throws the match and it falls down into the tank, a final word can be heard.

"Clyde!"

And then there is an eruption. Even having moved back, the team can feel the intense heat that explodes from inside the septic tank. Marlene or whatever she is screams, and it does not sound like a monster, only an elderly woman being burned alive. The screams are full of pain and fear, and they go on for a very long time. Nothing the agents do can block them out.

If there's any consolation, the screams seem to go on longer than a human should be capable of producing them while being burned alive. It takes several minutes, but eventually the screams grow weaker, than stop altogether. The only sounds that remains is the light rainfall and the crackling of flames still coming from within the tank.

Nik falls to his knees and vomits. The screams of the dying woman, or whatever she is, echo in his mind. He sits up and hugs his knees, hoping to block them out, but he can’t.

Vanessa breaks down a little and cries. What am I becoming? she wonders.

It's a simple matter to put out the flames with water from the well. The horrific smell of burnt flesh is ever present and overpowering, but nothing seems to move within the tank. If anyone chances a look, all that can be seen are remains, nearly thoroughly burnt to ash.

Whatever Marlene Baughman had been, it would seem she is no longer an issue.

The only step that remained now for their assignment was to call Delta Green and report in.

OOC:   To save time, I'm assuming you'll eventually do that, but if you'd prefer to do something out first let me know and I'll edit accordingly.

The same woman answers the call, her voice still neutral. "I presume the entity has been terminated?"

As the eruption occurs and the woman screams, Rue turns and screws his face to hide his emotions.

"Jesus! Jesus! Jesus - just what have we just done here?" He struggles to keep the bile in his throat contained as he walks off to rhe edge of the clearing - looking outward.

"It isn't Baughman's wife," and as the cries die out "Get it into your head man - she was something else ... something even Baughman was afraid of. "

He turns and looks at the rest of the cell and is relieved to see that no-one remains unaffected by this.

"Well at least we have held onto what we are people."

"Yes," replies Vanessa to the woman on the phone simply. "It's done."

"Excellent work. Gather up all traces of Agent Baughman's connection to our group and deliver them to the storage locker you first received your instructions at. An agent will retrieve them, and you can consider the mission over. Hopefully you've all learned why we don't try to use the things we're fighting. It never ends well."

"Be seeing you," She says, and disconnects.

***

OOC:   The scenario is just about done. I just need to know if you guys intend to give everything you found in Baughman's stash over to Delta Green, or if you intend to keep anything you found, just as the journal of his operations, the JOHN DOE urn, the videotapes, etc.

Nik is glad to see the back of the cabin. He wants to burn it too but there's been enough fire for one night. He returns the rifle and the journal to the footlocker, but keeps the two paperbacks. The might give him some insight. He drags the footlocker out to his car.

Vanessa intends to turn everything over to Delta Green. She has seen all too clearly what can result from holding something back.

Edmund would like to keep the last video for further study as he has a feeling tat Pastor Michael is going to be someone they are likely to run across in the future.

And so the agents begin the long drive back to Phoenix. It's an uncomfortable drive, and all have much to think about.

A brief stop is made to return Baughman's keys to his apartment, then they make their way to the bus terminal. Locker 245 is easily opened, and the team place Baughman's Delta Green belongings into it, sans for the last tape of surveillance on the Church of the Holy Redeemer and two paperbacks. The belongings are safely locked away, and then the agents can leave. The mission had taken them all of Saturday and a good part of Sunday, but it was over now, and they can get back to their normal lives.

Or try to, anyway.