IC-Down the Hatch(various)

[Mr. Handy]

10:11 AM
In the quarters-
Alex blasted the padlock to bits, and Lynne flipped open the glass lid. The woman within stopped flailing her arms and calmed down. They dropped to her sides and she lay still, apparently unconscious.

OOC,Everyone, please roll Listen. The base skill is 25%.

[aine]

Listen,base[dice]0[/dice]

Alex looks at the woman but keeps his rifle pointing at her.
"Anyone here with medical experience?"

[Mr. Handy]

10:12 AM
In the quarters-
"I'm not a doctor, but maybe I can help," said Duke. He approached Judith Reagan, who this woman apparently was, and checked her pulse, then shook his head. "She's dead. No pulse."

"The elevator!" gasped Lynne. "I just heard it moving! It's going back up!"

OOC,[b]Rita[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the quarters: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Charlie Moon[/b]'s Listen roll (67% skill) in the quarters: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Lynne[/b]'s Listen roll (61% skill) in the quarters: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Alice[/b]'s Listen roll (25% base skill) in the quarters: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Bud[/b]'s Listen roll (45% skill) in the quarters: [dice]4[/dice] [b]Duke[/b]'s Listen roll (35% skill) in the quarters: [dice]5[/dice] [b]Duke[/b]'s Biology roll (55% skill) examining [b]Judith[/b]: [dice]6[/dice] [b]Beth[/b]'s Listen roll (75% skill) in the quarters: [dice]7[/dice] [b]Robert[/b]'s Listen roll (50% skill) in the quarters: [dice]8[/dice]

[aine]

"She can't be!" Exclaims Alex in dismay. "She was alive 30 seconds ago!" But there's no time to mourn. "Someone must be coming down. Or something. Everyone hide in the alcoves, those with guns be ready but let's make sure who they are first; you never know they might be friendly."
He sees Duke's expression, "There's a first time for everything." He says with a wry grimace.

[Mr. Handy]

10:13 AM
In the quarters-
"Moving doesn't mean alive," said Duke. "Not any more."

"I'll stay in there with her and keep an eye on her," said Bud, "make sure she doesn't get back up."

"The elevator's coming back down!" hissed Lynne. Everyone spread out among the different alcoves.

OOC,Everyone, please roll Hide and choose one of the eight alcoves in which to hide. Failing the roll doesn't necessarily mean you'll be seen. There are eight alcoves, four on each side. [b]Bud[/b] has already offered to stay in the one with the corpse, the second on the right, but he'll gladly choose another one if you want that one.

[aine]

"Everyone with a gun stay this side, on Bud's side, less chance of cross fire. Alex orders and then nips into the alcove furthest from the lift; his rifle has the longer range.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,[b]Alex[/b], please roll Hide.

[aine]

hide,[dice]0[/dice] Looks like it may be a case of the old mop-and-bucket routine.

[Mr. Handy]

10:14 AM
In the quarters-
Beth and Robert ducked into the first quarters on the right, while Bud got into the second, Rita entered the third, and Alex hid in the fourth. On the left side, Alice went into the first alcove, Duke the second, Charlie the third, and Lynne the last one.

Each cubicle-like alcove was smaller than a jail cell and contained a small coffin-like bunk, a bookshelf, a desk, and a lamp. The bunks were similar to the one that contained Judith Reagan, though the others were all empty. The only decent hiding place in the compartments was the bunk itself. Alex was confident in his military training in concealment, and he was certain he wouldn't be noticed.

OOC,If you want to search your compartment, you may roll Spot Hidden. The base skill is 25%. [b]Rita[/b]'s Hide roll (10% base skill) in the alcove: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Charlie[/b]'s Hide roll (43% skill) in the alcove: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Lynne[/b]'s Hide roll (46% skill) in the alcove: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Alice[/b]'s Hide roll (10% base skill) in the alcove: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Bud[/b]'s Hide roll (45% skill) in the alcove: [dice]4[/dice] [b]Duke[/b]'s Hide roll (25% skill) in the alcove: [dice]5[/dice] [b]Beth[/b]'s Hide roll (10% base skill) in the alcove: [dice]6[/dice] [b]Robert[/b]'s Hide roll (10% base skill) in the alcove: [dice]7[/dice]

Rita/Charlie/Lynne/Alice/Bud/Robert,The lift went back up again.

[aine]

Alex takes a quick look round.

Spot hidden,[dice]0[/dice]

[Mr. Handy]

10:15 AM
In the quarters-
People took quick looks around their alcoves while they hid and waited for whoever was coming to arrive.

OOC,[b]Alice[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) in the first quarters on the left: [dice]0[/dice] [b]Beth[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (50% skill) in the first quarters on the right: [dice]1[/dice] [b]Robert[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (50% skill) in the first quarters on the right: [dice]2[/dice] [b]Duke[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (30% skill) in the second quarters on the left: [dice]3[/dice] [b]Bud[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) in the second quarters on the right: [dice]4[/dice] [b]Charlie[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) in the third quarters on the left: [dice]5[/dice] [b]Rita[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (25% base skill) in the third quarters on the right: [dice]6[/dice] [b]Lynne[/b]'s Spot Hidden roll (67% skill) in the fourth quarters on the left: [dice]7[/dice]

Rita/Charlie/Lynne/Alice/Bud/Robert,The lift descended again. They could hear [b]Ashley[/b]'s voice reading off the writing on the tiles that were in the lower hatch chamber. Then [b]Horst[/b] said: "All right, let's get moving." Several pairs of footsteps began to approach in the distance.

Alice,[b]Alice[/b] found a picture of a woman and two children in Hawaii on the desk. A number of books on mining and geology as well as volcanology were on the shelves. Most of the notes in the books had been torn out. On one page there was a message. "[b]Mary[/b], [b]Elizabeth[/b], [b]Tommy[/b]- I love you." On another page there was another message- "[b]Anthony Kirby[/b] has killed himself. I suspect he realizes the significance of our discovery, but that leaves me in command. I will do my best, but I fear one of us is infected."

Beth and Robert,[b]Beth[/b] found a picture of a family on the desk. There was a ring laying near the bedside, the inside of which read, [b]Patrick[/b] and [b]Cherry[/b], married 6/21/60. Under the bed she found a letter written to him that suggested he was having an affair with a woman named [b]Alice[/b]. [b]Beth[/b] quietly showed her finds to [b]Robert[/b].

Duke,[b]Duke[/b] saw that the books on the shelves were mostly to do with chemistry and biology.

Bud,[b]Bud[/b] was horrified to see that the dead body of [b]Judith Reagan[/b] was already starting to decay.

Charlie Moon,[b]Charlie[/b] found nothing of note, but at least he had hidden himself well.

Rita,[b]Rita[/b] found nothing of note.

Lynne,[b]Lynne[/b] found nothing of note. Too bad. She had been hoping to steal something valuable.

Alex,[b]Alex[/b] found nothing of note.

[Mr. Handy]

10:16 AM
In the quarters-

Rita/Charlie/Lynne/Alice/Bud/Robert,"Hey uh, Croatoan?" said [b]Thomas[/b] in the distance. "Isn't that the word that was found at the lost colony?" "Yeah, I think you're right," said [b]Ashley[/b].

After another minute, several pairs of footsteps began to approach, loud enough for everyone to hear. They would be here soon.

[aine]

Alex has his rifle ready to shoot. He tries to work out if the footsteps are human or not; they aren't running and there's only several; that could be a good sign.

[Mr. Handy]

10:17 AM
In the quarters-
"It looks like there was some kind of fight here," said Thomas's voice from the meeting room.

A large group of people entered the hall. Horst and Buzz led the way, Horst dragging the blonde woman they had found in the cell and pointing a pistol at her. He also had a bulletproof vest on over his clothes and an assault rifle slung on his back. Buzz carried one of the crates of weapons and had an assault rifle now as well. They were followed by Earl, Ashley, and Thomas carrying the sealed crate. Mutt and Flip brought up the rear, Mutt carrying the last crate and Flip pulling Rosie with one hand and carrying a pistol in the other. Horst and Flip also still had shotguns slung over their shoulders. Most of them didn't notice the people hidden in the chambers, but Buzz had sharp eyes. This was a long room with a hallway at the other end leading further inside. The room contained eight small subdivisions that resembled cubicles, four on each side.

"Smart of you to hide," he said. "Don't mind us, we're just passing through. I wouldn't try anything if I were you."

[Silver Priest]

Thomas assumes Buzz is talking to Charlie and the rest of the group from earlier, given they were the only other ones who knew about this place.

"Yeah, uh, you can't go back up there. Hammond went crazy and tried to burn us all alive. Looks like this way's the only way out now."

[aine]

Alex steps out from the furthest alcove, his rifle pointing at the new group.
"No, don't mind us either. We are heading out this way too. Why don't you take point and we'll follow on behind; cover your rear. You won't have to worry what's creeping up behind you then.

By the way, what's been going on down here? There was a woman alive in a cryo chamber just in that alcove and then she died."

[Mr. Handy]

10:18 AM
In the quarters-
"That bastard tried to kill me," muttered Earl. "My own brother-in-law!"

"Beats me what's going on down here," said Horst. "Never been here before. You got any ideas?"

Earl shrugged. "Me neither. I never went below the hatch. Ask Hammond. If we ever catch up to him, I'll hold him down while you cut off some more of his fingers."

"It'll be my pleasure." He nodded to Alex. "You and your friends are welcome to follow us, just watch where you point that thing. We've got itchy trigger fingers and lightning reflexes. If that gun goes off, it won't be the only one that does. Come on, let's go." He dragged Kerry onward down the hall, keeping her on his right side as a shield in case Alex or someone else decided to fire. Buzz went alongside him. Then Earl, Ashley, and Thomas followed with their crate, and finally Mutt, Flip, and Rosie.

In the upper hallway-
The hall went past the quarters and down a short flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, on the left side, was a door labeled "Project Manager's Office."

[Silver Priest]

Reinforcements make Thomas feel slightly less pessimistic about all of this, even if most of them are not armed. He continues moving forward, hoping that Horst will do as well and not get sidetracked by sticking around this place any longer than necessarily. It gives him the creeps.

[aine]

"Before we go on there's something I have to do." Alex says to the others as Horst moves on. He smiles grimly at Thomas and the other prisoners as they pass; at least they were alive and protected. For now.
Once they have moved on he says,
"That dead woman in the alcove; we need to make sure she stays dead with a bullet in her head." He goes into the alcove with his rifle.

[Mr. Handy]

10:19 AM
In the quarters-
Everyone came out of their quarters and into the hall while Alex headed into the woman's quarters. "Yeah, there's something unnatural about her," said Bud as he passed Alex on the way out. "She's already starting to decompose. A stiff doesn't get like that right away after dying."

"I'd be curious to do an autopsy," said Duke, "but I don't think we've got time for that. It also might not be safe."

"I found something in the cubicle where I hid," said Alice, her voice sounding frail. "There was a family photo, and there were notes written in a book said that Kirby killed himself, and that they'd made a significant discovery. He also said he was in charge now, so it must have been Samuel Niedler. He also was afraid one of them was infected with something."

"I found a family picture in mine, too," said Beth, "and a wedding ring. Going by the name, he must have been Patrick Craig."

OOC,[b]Alex[/b], please roll Rifle if you want to shoot the dead woman in the head. You can press the barrel to her head to guarantee a hit, but you still need to roll in case of a Malfunction.

In the upper hallway-
Horst wasn't in the mood to waste any time either. He led the way downstairs, ignoring the office door.

In the lower hallway-
Everyone could see that the hallway stretched on ahead for some distance. On either side was a large open door and a huge glass window showing laboratories in states of disarray. Both doors had airtight seals on them, but they had been left open. At the far end of the hall, there were two smaller doors. One, on the right side, was closed, but the door at the opposite end of the hall stood open.