Adventures in Horrorland (Gypsy&Darth Corvus)

[Gypsy]

In a world similar ours, a big city (think New York-ish) known only as Horrorland has been destroyed and come under the rulings of the Queen of Hearts. She has created an army of experimental creatures (march hares, cheshire cats etc.) and is hell-bent on taking over the entire world. A secret rebellion has formed against the queen's uprising know as Members Against Domination, or M.A.D. Their leader is known as The Hatter their base of operation in on an island of the coast of Horrorland. They have named the island Wonderland. Our characters must try to escape Horrorland and the queens army and try to make it to Wonderland to join the rebellion.

Name: Jordan Haffner


Age: 27


Previous Occupation: Mechanic


Current Residency: An abandoned apartment building, top floor.

​

 
@Darth Corvus

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

Name: Gerald Evans


Age: 30 as of last week


Previous Occupation: Army Ranger


Current Residence: Partially collapsed tunnel under some highway


Without gear:

With gear:

 

[Gypsy]

It was dark. Everything was dark. Even in the early morning, the sky had become so littered with pollution and chemicals that the sun could not break through. The sky wasn’t always like this. What was it like before it became Horrorland?


“I can’t remember.”


Jordan speaks to the empty room as she looks out the shattered window of the high-rise building. A black bandana covers the lower half of her face to keep out the bigger share of the toxins. She watches as a couple of Cheshire cats fight among themselves on the street. They are much stronger then they appear. Their skeletal bodies are loosely draped with thin skin and patchy striped fir. As they bare their teeth at each other, it looks like rows of dirty needles. The creepy grin never leaves their faces.


Jordan shivers at the thought of one of them sinking their teeth into her flesh and turns away from the window. Carefully she begins gathering her personal belongs scattered among the broken furniture and dust. As she secures her pack onto her back, she hears a scratching sound at the door. Quickly she pulls a handgun from her hip, aiming at whatever might break through. The scratching grows louder and multiplies, yet her barrier remains up.


It sounds as if whatever creature is behind it, might have company. Looking around the room she thinks up a plan. Keeping her gun aimed at the door, she walks backwards towards the window. Looking over, the fire escape seemed to still be fairly intacted. Looking back to the door, then to the window again, she makes her decision.


With one continues motion, Jordan holsters her gun and climbs through the window. Her pants leg catches on the broken glass, ripping her jeans and cutting her calf. She curses under her breath as she stumbled onto the rusted platform of the fire escape. Looking down, she can see the cheshire’s had moved on, so she quickly and carefully makes her way down. As she reaches the bottom, the ladder is broken forcing her to jump the remaining ten feet. Landing causes a sharp pain to shoot up her bleeding leg. Trying to block out the pain, she limps out to the highway and walks along the side of it.

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

Walking about the poorly lit city, Gerald glanced around calmly. He had his rifle in hand, and had already had to shoot three shots to kill a Cheshire Cat. He glanced up at the sky, noting that it was slightly lighter than before. He had a habit of getting up what used to be dawn, but now was black as the night before. He stopped by a car, smashing a window so that he could crawl in and scavenge for anything useful. Rummaging around, he found a small handgun. And not a bad one either. A nice heavy handle, and good solid build...


Gerald heard the yowls of the Cats down the way. Looking up suddenly, he checked for any threats in the immediate area. Seeing nothing, he opened the door carefully. He stepped out into the open air (sorry, cluttered air if you count pollution), still holding the gun. He heard a soft growl behind him, and whipped around with a shout. Although the sound was muffled by the mask, the sound of the gun was not. He shot five times at the Cat's face, then watched it fall to the ground. To be sure, he shot it in the head one more time.


Knowing full well the sounds would attract attention, Gerald looked around again before running in another direction, rifle slung over his back. He ducked into an old grocery store, breathing heavily. He stood, and began to look for the canned foods.

 

[Gypsy]

Bang! The sound of the first shot makes Jordan stop in her tracks. Bang! As the second shot is fired, she runs to the side of the road and ducks down into the ditch, ignoring the protests of her injured leg. Bang, Bang Bang! As three more are fired, she remains hidden and keeps perfectly still. She closes her eyes and listens for more, but silence follows. She opens her eyes once again, knowing it was dangerous to remain blind in Horrorland. Peaking her head up, she looks down the road.


The silence is interrupted by a growling sound coming from Jordan's stomach. She knows she had to find some sort of first aid kit soon for her leg, but her body seemed to have other plans. Slowly, Jordan crawls to her feet then back onto the road. She secures the bandana over her mouth and nose in a useless effort to keep out the toxic air. Looking down the road, it is hard to see much even with her eyes being well adjusted to the eternal night. Abandoned vehicles littered the sides of the highway along with shattered glass, random creature parts, and various litter.


Continuing her search for supplies, Jordan sticks the the side of the road stepping over debris as she came across it. Occasionally, she would kneel down and pick through it trying to find anything of use. During one of these stops, she finds an old backpack buried under a pile of shattered concrete. She shakes off the dust and digs through the contents. Most of the items inside appeared broken or useless, but she does find a wrap bandage that still seems fairly clean. She ties this tightly around her bleeding leg and continues on.


A little longer up the road, Jordan spots a building that looks like it might have once been a grocery store. She takes a moment to study it wondering if she should go inside. Her stomach growls once again, giving her an answer. "Maybe it will have a pharmacy too." she begins talking to herself again. She grabs her pistol from it's place on her hip before walking in the door. It was dark, just like the rest of Horrorland, and the lack of windows made visibility even lower. She grabs a flashlight from her backpack and hits it against her hip a few times to bring it to life. She keeps bother pistol and flashlight aimed in front of her as she takes a few steps into the building. "Hello?" she calls out to the darkness "Anyone here?".

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

Gerald whipped around, staring in the direction of the voice. Did the Queen invent some new horror that could mimic voices? He slowly pulled his bag with the cans onto his back, pulling his riffle off his back with the same motion. He maneuvered his way to the side of an aisle and pointed his gun down it. He flicked on the laser sighting, making a red dot appear on the girl's body.


"Hold very still." Gerald said from behind his mask. He looked over just enough to see what he was dealing with. Another survivor of the Scarlet Bombing? He didn't believe it. He had thought he was alone in this city. His city. He pulled into full view, holding his gun high.


"Put everything you have on the ground. I don't want any surprises. If I find anything that says you are with the Bloody Queen, I swear I will shoot you down." Gerald didn't know who she was, but he knew he was alone here. He knew it. Or, he thought he did. No. He had to be alone. If he hadn't been alone he would have found something. He had scoured half the city.

 

[Gypsy]

As soon as a voice is heard, Jordan raises her hands in the air. It was an action that came naturally after years of working in a not-so-legal auto shop. Very slowly she turns her head to the sound of the voice. She is surprised to see an actual human standing there even though he had a gun pointed at her. The last time she had encountered other humans, the results weren't what she would hope for. This time, she was going to be more cautious.


"No need to shoot, we are all mad here." she puts emphasis on the word mad, hoping he would know what she was talking about. Knowing the Queen had ears all over the city, she couldn't come out and tell him her intentions. Jordan remains still and does not heed his demands to drop all her belongings. Instead, she slowly lowers her handgun and flashlight to the floor in front of her. She hopes if she doesn't move to suddenly, the man won't get the urge to kill in on the spot.


Knowing her life depended on the movements she made, Jordan slowly turns so she is facing him, but remains in the same spot. "I am not going to drop all my stuff. I am not stupid. I will make you a deal, so me yours and I will show you mine. That way, we are on equal grounds." Even though her handgun was now on the ground, she knew she had another pistol on her belt along with a hunting knife in her backpack and a few other things that could be used as a weapon if need be.

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

(cute reference, by the way)


He didn't like the way she was trying to weasel her way out of this. Coward. If he was still in the army, she would be beat for insubordination.


Gerald snorted. He raised the gun higher and aimed it at her head.


"I have a position of power here, and you want me to give it up? No. You have ten second before I shoot." He did wonder why she had put emphasis on 'mad', or why it was even important. Having been here since the city got bombed, he knew nothing of what was happening outside it. She seemed to know something, however.


Gerald noticed movement behind the girl. Cursing, he stepped forwards, shoving her to the side and shooting a round of shots into a Cat. He looked back at the girl, motioning at her stuff.


"Grab your things. You are coming with me. We aren't done here." He shook his head. "Stupid. You cut yourself. They can track you now."

 

[Gypsy]

Judging by his indifferent reaction to her statement, Jordan figures that this guy knows nothing about the rebellion. The only reason she had knowledge about it was from the last group she had encountered. They where heading to the coast where they had a boat waiting to take them to Wonderland. She was going to join them had they not been captured by a group of Mome Raths.


Jordan remembers the creatures well. The group was heading through a forest when they came across them. the Mome Raths stood around seven feet tall and where very slender. They had no arms, or a head or torso for that matter. They where only a pair of very bony black legs with hair that looked like tentacles on the top and a pair of glowing red eyes under it. Upon seeing the creatures, Jordon had ducked into the bushes and watches as they suffocated the rest of the group with their hair.


For the first time ever, she felt relief at the presence of a cheshire. It seemed to provide a much needed distraction. Without a seconds hesitation, she grabs her gun and flashlight as instructed and points them out in front of her. She wasn't thrilled out the idea of going with a guy who just threatened to blindly kill her, but it was better then being alone. "Lead the way." she whispers loud enough for him to hear but no other creature who might be around.

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

Gerald poked his head out of the building, and cursed. He ran out into the open, planted his feet apart, and took one precise shit at a Cat. He waited 'till it slumped over to motion for Jordan to come. Running now, he weaved in and out the buildings, stopping occasionally to make sure she was still with him.


They run, stopping occasionally to shoot down a Cat that is following them, a fair distance. As they reach and old tunnel, eh motions that she go in first. Not a moment after she does, he goes in himself.


Both entrances are mostly blocked off, and one is entirely blocked. It is very spacious, and is decorated with various shelves, racks, and boxes. On each shelf there is a different kind of gun, and ammo for it laying about. Off to one side of the tunnel, she can see he has a sleeping mat laid down, and another mat as a pillow.


Gerald grumbles about her stupidity and walks over to one of the boxes, rummaging in it for a while. After a moment, he becomes rather frustrated and pulls off his mask with a grunt, shaking his black hair loose. He dives back into the box, and comes out with medical supplies. Walking back over, he tells her to sit, then proceeds to clean and bandage the wound.


"It's gonna hurt like all hell to clean this one. It's pretty deep." He looks up her face. "But you should be able to deal with it if you survived the bombing."

 

[Gypsy]

As they where running, it was all to easy for Jordan to ignore the pain she was in. It was something she had become quite accustomed to. The cheshire's where easy kills. As long as you stayed at range, they where really quite harmless. None the less, she would sink a bullet into each one they would come across. She continuously would glance up as they run, scanning the skies of any sign of gryphons. The air attacks are what killed the most people of Horrorland since they where always unexpected.


They arrive at their destination and Jordan is motioned into a tunnel. Once inside, she looks around and sees that he is very well stalked. She wonders how long he has been living here. Jordan never stays in one spot for more than a few days, so she has never built up this amount of supplies. They way she sees it, the Queen is a mean little kid with a magnifying glass and they are the ant hill. The only way to stay safe is to keep moving.


She didn't hesitate when he told her to sit down. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of taking orders from a stranger, but he still had the advantage at the moment. She had to come up with a way to get them on a level playing ground. Jordan unties the bandana from her face and puts it around her head to keep her hair from falling in her face. As he cleans the wound, she cringes and hisses through her teeth, but remains calm. "Surviving the bombing was pure luck on my part. With this wound, I wasn't so lucky I guess.".

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

(Hope you didn’t mind me making up the bombing)


Gerald frowned and shook his head as he wrapped the bandage.


“Surviving the bombing wasn’t luck. It was a miracle. Hell, for the last three years I thought I was alone in this city.” He looked at her again. “Though I am not convinced I wasn’t.” He shook his head again and got up, moving for the boxes. “Now where did I put it?”


There was a moment of silence as he rummaged through a box. Finally he spoke up.


“When the bombing happened, where were you? Only reason I survived was because of a man proclaimed to be the maddest man he knew, but seemed rather sane to me.


“He had pushed me into the subway, an almost bomb proof shelter. It was Sunday, and it was a memorial day, so I was alone. Jerry told me to stay, told me that trouble was coming. Of course, I thought that was outrageous, but I humored him and stayed. Damn, I am glad I did.”


Gerald came walking back, a large knife in hand. “When the bombs went off, all I could think was ‘shit man, Jerry knew what he was talking about.’ I mean, I never thought I would ever hear him give a decent prophecy.” Gerald spoke continuously while he swiped Jordon’s bag, quickly rummaging through her things. He nodded.


“You’re clean.” Gerald took the knife, and put it in her pack. He then got up again and went to a shelf. “What kind of ammo do you use?”

 

[Gypsy]

Jordan snatches her bag back with a huff. She didn't appreciate being treated in such matter. Like she was the enemy or something. Their was only one puppet master now, and that was the self-proclaimed Red Queen. The rest of us where just marionette's hanging by a solitary string, hoping she doesn't cut it down.


"I was at my shop with a bunch of others. We heard the rumbling and ran to the basement. None of us knew what was going on. I assumed it was a tornado or somethin', even though tornadoes are rare around here, Anyways, I don't think the rest of them are alive anymore."


She clings her bag to her chest, feeling thankful to have her things back.


".9 mm if you have it. The only gun I have is a handgun. My father kept it in the shop. I never liked guns, but now I am thankful for it." She continues to look around her surroundings. She wanted to be sure that they weren't being followed. The Queen's experiments where countless and new ones where coming out every day.

 

[Scottybird Corvus]

Gerald nodded. Going over to one crate, he began to pull things out 'till he came out with an ammo crate. We walked back and set it down, motioning for her pack.


He needed her out. He needed to be safe. He needed to not be seen by Her Majesty. If she found him, he would be killed - no, swarmed - for sure. And a swarm of Cats and other beasts was not something he looked forwards to. Best give her a reason to listen to him.


"You were wounded. It dug pretty deep, looks like, so the only way you are going to be safe at this point is if you leave. Now, I don't want to get tracked here, so you can't stay long. But I will get you ready to get you out. You are the only person I have heard of for the last three years. Since the bombing, really." He hoped she would listen to that, and not ask him why he didn't leave. He wasn't sure he had a good answer.