ZOMBIE POD POP! (zompop?)

[cityship]

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | Instructions: First, read *HERE*. Then, once you've read the overall plan, post your character into the main thread establishing them as being podpopped, and reacting to the oncoming zombie horde (since there is no Stacy replies to comment to, it will all be one thread, instead of individual threads). This can include fighting and/or fleeing if you want. Eventually, volunteers from Team Left Behind will rush in and save the day. Obviously, since there's no time for it while fighting for your lives against zombies, this podpop won't get the whole ||You have been Chosen|| speech from Stacy, so they'll have to get their answers (and pants) later.]


||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounds out to all the podmates through the ship.

In the Pod Caverns, there are the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There is condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slide out onto the floors, covered in slime.

--


There was nothing. You were going about your normal life, then there was a bright light, and then? Nothing.

Then the world lurches.

The chamber here is humid.

Actually, "chamber" isn't quite accurate. You're in a cavern, half-lit by an eerie greenish light, going on and on as far as the eye can see. The light is coming from what can only be described as pods, glistening, round greenish-yellow things, glowing with a pale inner light, outlining human -- and not quite human -- forms. Each is rooted to the floor, to the walls, with something black, twisted, and unidentifiable.

They line the walls of the cavern, go up in maddeningly high columns, curling and corkscrewing up into the darkness, until the light from them is like that of the stars, glowing pale and mournful in clusters in the darkness above. Twisted walkways and stairs crisscross, traverse the platforms in front of the pods, wending their way back and forth, up and down through the chamber.

You just came from one of those pods, broke free like a butterfly from a (slimy, nasty) chrysalis.

Now you stand alone but not quite alone, naked, not knowing how you got there, who took you, or why you were taken.

As your body heats up again, you realize the air is warm -- just a few degrees too warm to be comfortable -- and muggy; it smells acrid and organic, like freshly spilt blood and sweat. Your mouth tastes of salt.

The floors are pulsing under your feet, throbbing...

Wherever you are, this entire place...is alive.

Oh, and also you're naked and covered in alien snot.

And this is the point everything goes to hell.

You see, not too long ago, a psychopathic AI unleashed a horde of zombies on this ship, and now they were making their way to these very caverns, eager to eat the flesh off your bones.

Less than a minute after you've been plopped from out of your pod, you hear the sounds of the ravening undead horde making their way through the tunnels towards you, and it's pretty damn obvious what they're looking for.

Ready or not, here they come.

Comments

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

Satori emerges, half-awake, naked, covered in slime and surrounded by the undead, into the world of Stacy.

From her first five seconds of confusion and sorting out the situation, Satori quickly concludes that this was about the worst possible thing she could have woken up to. Complaining, though, would have to wait, as the zombies seem all too eager to tear into the flesh of the living, which includes her. Definitely mindless, as she can't hear any thoughts coming from them...

...no, wait. She can't hear any thoughts coming from anything.

The Third Eye is missing.

The incoming horde of zombies now seeming like a secondary crisis, Satori escapes from the hordes by moving straight up, levitating about ten feet upwards and assuming the fetal position, hoping desperately that none of the zombies can jump that high and looking for anywhere that looks more safe or sensical than here.

[flashfact.livejournal.com]

Okay, so naked? Check. Dripping with goo? Check. No real memory of where he was or what he was smoking before he woke up here? Check. Festering and moaning zombies after his brains? Check. Similarly naked girl levitating over a group of similarly festering and moaning zombies? Check.

What the hell was going on here? Worry about that later.

With one hand over his nethers and his eyes well and truly away from anybody else's nethers, Wally goes powering through the zombies directly underneath Satori, scattering them like bowling pins.

"You okay up there, kiddo?"

[thirdeyesighted.livejournal.com]

"No!" Satori sounds reasonably indignant. This whole situation is ridiculous, and she has no idea who or even what this fast guy is. She isn't even considering going back down there yet. "I need answers. And somewhere to land. And clothes."

[mammalrobot.livejournal.com]

There was a cracking sound that the robot did not hear, followed by a draining and falling that the robot also did not feel. It lay face down on the ground and stiff as a board as various subsystems booted up. Visual, auditory, tactile, motor functions, and finally cognitive.

Atomic Robo awoke to the world with a zombie chewing on his head. Unusual, but not terribly threatening. A simple punch sent the zombie cartwheeling into a nearby wall, it's skull fractured. Questions would come later. For now, there were people around being killed and eaten by zombies, and Robo knew where he stood with zombies. "Alright kids. We're going to play the punching game now..."

[deep_sky_diving]

Tess doesn't process crazy things like this logically. Or particularly quickly, even. Her breath shuddering, nearly hyperventilating, she's letting out a sound that's almost but not quite a low wail as she tries to avoid the zombies.

[bonk-you-up.livejournal.com]

"OH GOD WHAT THE HELL"

Scout sorta... slides out of his pod. He flails a bit until he manages to get up right. He pauses. He is covered in go. And also naked. Awesome. There are also zombies. Scout spots those soon enough. As if being naked and goo-covered wasn't horrible enough, here Scout was in front of a bunch of zombies without a way to defend himself.

Cue the string of obscenities.

[kawalskyeffect.livejournal.com]

Major Charles Kawalsky jumped to his feet, not even taking the time to wipe the goo off his body. He hardly had time to take in his surroundings before he heard that sound. That sound was straight from a horror movie.

He didn't have any weapons. He didn't even have any clothes. There was only on thing he could do. Run.

And there was a flying kid and a robot.

"Anyone know what the hell is going on?" Kawalsky yelled. Scout was right in front of him so he grabbed him by the arm and jerked him onto his feet. He started running again, dragging the man with him.

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

The sounds of the approaching horde was secondary in her mind. Right now, triumphant from bringing her vengance forth, she was now in an unfamiliar place. This was not her Silent Hill, this was not West Virginia. This place was alive somehow, and there was a new situation now: there were crawling things, maggots, attempting to pollute the space she was occupying.

This would not stand.

She rose from the pod, walking delicately. The slime was interesting, cold, clammy. It was actually a feature she liked. She ran a hand through her hair, looking disinterested. She stretched her neck a moment, and when the zombies came at the pod, Alessa was no longer sttaionary.

She had the vines entwined around her, and she rose in the air now, her face no longer dull but almost beaming with glee. One tendril came quick at the zombie and split it in two, and then tore apart another apart from the hip.

She saw no reason for words, but she decided she would make this pronouncement anyway.

You are in my space."

[thekohakuriver.livejournal.com]

Haku panted his panic, momentarily overwhelmed by the disorientation of finding himself asleep, and then awake. He was on his hands and knees on the slimy ground, simply lost in the sensation of breathing and panic, when he first heard the shuffling undead and looked up in dawning horror.

"What?" He gasped, then scrambled inelegantly to his feet. Even Yubaba wouldn't have inflicted this, not she of the damask, velvet and ropes of golden silk. He was used to terrifying or dangerous spirits, but these were unmistakably human, white human skulls peeking through flaccid, rotting human flesh.

Unnatural. A wrong thing.

Watching them approach with his hackles rising, the fact that Haku was nude no longer seemed of particular importance. He turned to Alessa as she spoke, ostensibly to demand an answer to any number of questions, but was struck dumb at the carnage. Instead he stupidly blurted, "A demon?"

[sonotnikita.livejournal.com]

What the hell just happened? The Chinese American woman coughed, gasping for air. It took a moment for her vision to focus right, though that did even less to help. There was something covering her body, some kind of slime. Shit, when did she get kidnapped?

"Disgusting." Grimacing, the woman stood herself upright, getting a better look at the slime in the meantime. Not even the tanks down in the old Umbrella facilities were this putrid. Almost makes you feel sorry for the inactive test subject in those tanks. Almost being the key word.

A familiar sound caught Ada's attention immediately. The same low moan from six years ago. Except this place was obviously not Raccoon City. Meaning this definitely wasn't a fucked up dream. "Must be my lucky day." The words escaped laced with heavy sarcasm. No gun, no equipment, hell not even a pair of heels to get them to back off.

So the situation was as follows: wake up in an unknown location covered in some slime, no clothes or equipment, and a horde of zombies was closing in. Fuck.

[bornintherain.livejournal.com]

Raiden slid out of the pod, slime dripping from his limbs. There was a moment when he stood stock still, letting his eyes grow accustomed to his surroundings. The moaning and shuffling reached his ears, and he faded back into the shadows, ignoring his nakedness. This had happened before. He didn't know why, but he'd get his armor back later.

Then he saw the woman. Or more accurately, the three zombies stalking silently up behind the woman. Hm. Silent zombies? That was new. Blurring from shadow to shadow, he leaped out at the creatures, grabbing the first two by the back of the head and mashing their skulls against the fleshy floor with a sickening crack. The zombies stopped moving.

Whirling he whipped a kick at the last zombie, another sickening crack, and it fell to the floor, head at a strange angle. He kept his back faced to the woman, eyes scanning the area for more of them.

A lot more of them. Damn it. This was like a bad horror movie. Zombies weren't even supposed to be real.

Not turning around he spoke to her. "Stick close. Watch each other's backs." At least until they could find weapons.

[silversouba.livejournal.com]

An irritating low light snuck through his eyelids. Kadaj wiped at his face and witnessed a gooey slim over his fingers and coating his body. The last thing he remembered was being forced to conduct an early Reunion. A Reunion that had only ended in disaster and ultimately proved his weakness.

Pushing himself up Kadaj assessed the situation. He was naked and covered in a foreign substance. The air was heavy and smelled sweet (at least to him). He briefly studied his surroundings and took note of the others still in some kind of weird pods, and some who were naked like him and just as confused. None of this bothered Kadaj. What got his attention was the pulsing under his feet.

Was this… “Mother?” He whispered in question. They weren’t on the planet anymore that was for sure—and this, whatever he was on, was alive. He was used to hearing Sephiroth and Jenova’s voice. They constantly grew louder and louder as each day passed. It rang in Kadaj’s ears repeatedly throughout his waking hours. Only now there was an eerily uncomfortable silence. No one was speaking him.

If this was Mother then he’d be certain to find his brothers amongst these pods. “Yazoo?” He called out, a mixture of annoyance and worry. They were always supposed to be by his side. Where were they? “Loz? Brothers! Come out!” No movement. Fine. Kadaj huffed. He’d have to find them himself.

[is-the-ultimate.livejournal.com]

Shadow let out a hacking cough as he found himself podpopped. It was a familiar feeling to him - Rouge did the same thing some time earlier - but he wasn't covered in snot.

"Next thing you know, Omega's gonna shoot where I'm standing..." Shadow mused. As he stood, he learned he was wrong. Dead wrong. "What in the hell...?"

It was there he could see them. Zombies. Tons of them. And they were heading towards him. He looked down at himself. No gloves, no shoes... wait, no gloves? He smirked as he realized something.

"Alright, you freaks, you want a piece of me?" he said. "Come and get me." As the first one charged at him, the creature found himself exploding into pieces, the recipient of a Chaos Spear. "Who's next?"

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Dean gasped as he woke up, and gave a brief cough as he slid out of his pod. Eurgh, what the hell? He didn't remember being on a hunt where there was something sneezing on him.

And where are his damn clothes?

He wiped a hand over his face as he got to his feet, and his ears immediately caught the distant moaning.

"Oh you GOT to be kidding me!" FML, srsly.

[shroudedintent]

'Vadum was on his feet the moment he awareness, quickly clearing any goop from his eyes. The fact that he was naked less bothering than his lack of weapons.

A growl given as he swept his gaze about the room, settling briefly upon the nearby human. The sounds in the distance mixed with a familiar stench in the air that drifted their way.

"Why here? Why now?" Whispered to himself before turning his attention to the other again, settling into a combat stance, "I hope you can fight, human, the parasite approaches,"

[Gather Here, Guys!]

[silversouba.livejournal.com]

“Me?!” Kadaj growled at Shadow. Then he considered the many things back on the planet that was caused by him. Whatever these monster things were, they were attacking humans and that was perfectly acceptable in the remnant’s book. In fact, maybe these humans were the few survivors that had somehow made it aboard Mother. Now, the cetra that Mother had influenced thousands of years ago were following her will and controlling them.

The silver haired boy laughed, softly at first but then louder as the thoughts all came together. “Ha!” Kadaj swept his arms out to the side. “Ha! You’re right! This is my doing! This is all my doing!!” He clapped his hands together and wore quite possibly the biggest grin he could manage.

“EVERYONE! Listen to me!” He stepped upon a small mound of dead people to give him more height. Holding his hand up, he attempted to get their attention. “The only way these monsters will stop is if you submit yourself to the will of Jenova!”

Re: [Gather Here, Guys!]

[demon-alessa.livejournal.com]

Alessa rolled her eyes.

"No," she said. "Your understanding of things are impaired. Do you not know how to kill, or are you impaired by decency?"

[livestoannoy]

Marco took a moment to appreciate the situation.

He had been anticipating hot angel chicks playing harps in skimpy white dresses after Jake decided to ram the Blade ship. Bye bye life, it was nice knowing you. But he was not expecting the slime. Or the pulsating walls. Or the nakedness.

He definitely was not expecting the oncoming zombies. Come on, zombies? Zombies?! What, had the One decided that doing...whatever it was that he'd done to Ax wasn't freaky enough, he had to send a horde of the Living Dead at them as well?

"Okay. This. Is. Officially. INSANE!" he yelled, before starting to morph gorilla.

[jin-xuandi.livejournal.com]

At least Sima Yi manages to catch himself when the pod splits, landing in an awkward crouch rather than ploughing face-first into the floor. This is something he hadn't been expecting - he'd been expecting to wake up with a crushing hangover, and the fact that he feels just fine suggests some disturbing possibilities.

Am I dead?

Starting off the afterlife naked and covered in slime is not exactly what he expected - but then, maybe it's because his corpse hasn't been found yet, and he hasn't been given a proper burial. The probability that he's lying dead in a puddle of his own vomit hasn't taken hold enough for him to feel anything other than numb, and he gets up slowly, looking around; evidently, he's not the only one who's just arrived here. It's painful to see that some of them are just kids, especially because he's a father himself - his eldest son is twelve. Before that train of thought can manage to make it to its depressing final stop, though, he's distracted by a new sound: shuffling, accompanied by a grotesque squishing, crackling sound. Before he can pinpoint its source, the noise grows, and others join it - low groans, and the occasional hiss, as the zombie horde begins to shuffle into sight.

He's heard that, when you die, the spirits of those you've killed come after you for revenge; however, there's no one he recognizes in the crowd, and most of them aren't even Chinese - but that doesn't change the fact that it's a horde of shambling corpses, some a lot less fresh than others. And he doesn't have a weapon. Some of the others have decided to fight despite being likewise unarmed, but they... aren't... human either...

It's definitely time to leave.

[Stragglers]

[flashfact.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're naked. Yes, you're covered in goo. Yes, you are surrounded by an unending sea of the festering undead. Yes, you're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Don't worry, we all are.

Have faith and stay strong. Help is on the way.

Re: [Stragglers]

[hero-medic.livejournal.com]

Peter speeded back from the group, realizing that there may be more people. He was more than thankful to put some distance between himself and the (possibly) exploding girl, and between him and the sea of panicked arguments that seemed to be overtaking the group. On top of that, more people could mean reinforcements as well. He blurred back and forth, clearing as many zombies as he could with his zombie arm of +1 eff-you-up-i-tude, and searching for stragglers.

YOU'RE SAVED.... maybe...

[governmentninja]

((OOC: Thread instructions here))

Well, podpoppers, as you near the exit, you hear some noises. Is it the moans and groans of the infected? Of course! Because there a ton of zombies between you, the clothing room, and the way out. And they are some hungry bastards.

But there are also other noises coming from that direction. The sound of gunfire in the distance, even a few small explosions.

Has someone sent help? Well, no. The people that are coming, they're not there to save you. They, unfortunately, don't even know that you're down there. Sure they know it's possible that there might be people down here who need saving, but if you consider how many zombies they've run into so far, the odds of them finding someone uninfected down here were becoming increasingly more remote, even for the most optimistic of them. What they do know, however, is that this is where the zombies are coming from, and that they need to shut them down at the source to give everyone else in the city a fighting chance. They're there to save them.

They can help you, sure, but there are a whole lot of zombies between you and them, and not a whole lot of light to see everything clearly. As far as they're concerned, if it's naked, covered in slime, and moving (which all of you podpoppers are), they'll shoot first and ask questions later. Judging from the noise, they're doing a whole lot of shooting, and getting closer by the second.

You might want to be careful about how you get their attention.

You may also want to look out for stray bullets.





Leon wasn't taking point for this group, content to let the more heavily armored take that role, though he was still the man in charge. Though there was just so many zombies after them, coming from all directions, that he was getting plenty to shoot at.

"Just remember to stay close, and air for their heads. Anywhere else and you're just wasting ammo, and we don't have much to spare."

Re: YOU'RE SAVED.... maybe...

[dreamstolights.livejournal.com]

Has she reminded herself before, zombie invasions were not the time to be stingy with the powers. So Selene had told Leon what she could do and after dumping her body somewhere with someone to waking her up if something horrible went wrong and she needed to be running instead of sleeping, she came along on this mission. She could keep at least some of the zombies from going after the group by confusing their senses with the illusions.

And since not getting eaten was important and they had to kill a bunch, this seemed like a good thing.

So she was kind of floating in the group, making herself visible, though more of a phantom image at the moment. Just so they knew she was around, but for the most part, she was focused on confusing the zombies.

Not like she could physically affect things if there as a need to do something different. At least nothing that stood out to her yet.

Marching Orders

[governmentninja]

There wasn't a whole lot of time to think, but Leon's brain was still working on a way to get these people out of here. He wanted to keep them out of harms way, but that wasn't an option in this mess. But there were a good number of survivors, so he'd try to make them useful.

"Alright, listen! Middleman, Worf, and Marcus, you three are going to escprt this group out of here. Take them to the back, get them dressed, then take them straight to Weapons & Possessions. You might not be able to access the specialized equipment, but there should still be plenty of weapons to arm everyone with.

"Once that's done, Marcus, everyone who is even remotely good electronics, engineering, tech, or whatever, you're taking them up to Obs deck. Find Mei Ling, Khel, and the rest of the rear guard, and see if you guys can't figure out a way to break this comms blackout.

"Worf, everyone in that group who knows how to fight, you're taking them straight to the Vatican. Pack as much ammunition as you guys can carry, they might be running low there and need more.

"Middleman, you're taking the noncoms straight to level two. The Medbay should still be secure. Hole up there and get it prepped to receive casualties if Kirk has to bail on the Vatican.

"Everyone else, you're down here with me."

Re: Marching Orders

[cowsquirtdrinkr.livejournal.com]

"Yes sir. ALright folks, let;s get your hindquarters in gear and move."