So it looks like they're heading down.....
"It looks like we have a clear shot to the stairwell, we'll head that way, follow them down to the ground floor, and make our escape." Rebecca creates the best plan that she can on the fly, receiving no objections from Deborah. "But we're going to either need more ammo or another gun for you. I can't do anything with a single firearm and one magazine." Rebecca notes an ammo belt on a nearby corpse, but he doesn't seem to possess another handgun.
"You should grab more ammo, I have no idea how to use a gun." Deborah admits, but Rebecca isn't surprised. She'd never had a need to use a firearm before today. "Alright, we've got a plan. Follow me on three." Rebecca allows Deborah to move into position before beginning her countdown.
One. She grips her handgun more tightly than before as the elevator rises past yet another floor.
Two. She says aloud, looking Deborah in the eye to acknowledge the plan one last time. "Three!"
They burst out of the room in a sprint, Rebecca rushing for the ammo belt to grab what she can. The short distance proves to be her undoing though as another torrent of bullets pierces the utter silence of before. Deborah is able to make it safely to the stairwell, but Rebecca soon finds herself trapped behind a cubicle with little to show for her efforts.
Ding! She hadn't even realized that the elevator had nearly reached their floor while running for the ammo.
The doors slide open, greeting the soldiers to a veritable wall of lead. Rebecca doesn't bother to see how many of them had come up, their arrival provides just enough of a distraction for her to dash to the stairwell. "Shut the door!" She shouts to Deborah, who hefts the heavy iron door closed for the time being. "That was too close. Let's not take anymore unnecessary risks, okay?"Deborah relays to Rebecca, who merely nods in reply. "How much did you manage to get?" She asks the reporter. "Not as much as I'd like, we're going to need more than this to get far." She reveals a single clip of ammo, a lackluster prize considering the risk that was involved to obtain it.
"We need go get moving, we've wasted enough time." Rebecca assumes the lead as they descend the stairwell into the belly of the beast....
__________________
I had them in my sight. So why didn't I take the shot? Joseph could have easily taken down the two civilians that dashed out of the side office, two clean shots directly through their skulls would have done the job. But there was something about the woman in the black dress that seemed familiar, she reminded him of someone he lost. Someone he'd swore to himself that he would forget about.
They're lucky, I'll allow them to escape this time. But only because of her. Joseph relieves a small portion of his anger by executing a still breathing soldier in the elevator, his remaining a cold mask mask to hide his true emotions. "All targets clear, proceed to the second floor and extract the data from McAllister then we're done here. Cleanse the building once you're clear." He orders the operatives on the ground as he awaits word from his partner on the state of affairs in the streets below.
__________________
"Do you hear that? It sounds like there's a war going on." Deborah observes upon hearing the multitude of gunfire and erratic shouting from the other side of the door. "We don't have a choice. Here we go!" Rebecca bursts through the door to find things are worse than she'd expected. Civilians and soldiers alike are fleeing in terror as both rioters and mysterious assailants cloaked in black raid the building. "Come on, this way!" Rebecca pulls Deborah into a utility closet to avoid being seen. She cracks the door slightly to see when it might be safe to make their escape.
"Oh my god, what's happening?" Deborah is on the verge of another breakdown, but she holds herself together once more though for how long, Rebecca doesn't know. "Now!" The reporter bursts through the door with her gun at the ready, firing two shots at a soldier who makes the mistake of showing his back to them. His armor is enough to protect him from the small caliber rounds, but a duo of angry rioters overtake him soon as he staggers from the sudden shots.
"Ignore them, we need to keep moving." She hurries Deborah away from the horrid sight, the rioters sinking their teeth into the flesh of the unfortunate man. "There! That door leads directly to the outside." Deborah directs the two of them to an inconspicuous door that most likely served as a janitorial entrance at one point.
Rebecca reaches for the handle, but curses under her breath upon discovering it is locked. She fires a bullet at the fragile doorknob to open the door, having to waste a valuable shot to make their escape.
The door leads to an unassuming back alley dotted with numerous trash cans and a single dumpster. "Which way? We definitely don't want to go into the streets." Rebecca hesitates to take off in any particular direction. They could walk directly into a horde of angry mercenaries or blood thirsty rioters for all she knows.
"Wh-Aaaaaahhhh!" Deborah attempts to comment on their current predicament, but she is interrupted by a blood soaked man who had seemingly hidden within a pile of garbage. He takes the office worker to the ground before Rebecca can intervene. Strangely, he releases his grip on her throat, instead opting to grab her leg and drag her in the direction of the street. "Rebecca, help!" She calls to her companion.
Rebecca aims for the man's head, but she must refrain to investigate a noise from behind. Glancing over her shoulder, she witnesses another rioter, this one a lanky woman infested with scab covered wounds, enter a dead sprint for her back. Attracted by Deborah's screams, she'll be upon the reporter in seconds at this rate.
Not much time, I have to act now!____________________________________
"Do we have everything we need?" Tony takes a quick inventory of their supplies before they leave the safety of the floor. A duffle bag filled with 6 canned goods liberated from surrounding rooms, 5 bottles of water, 3 knives for self defense, and first aid kit filled with as many medical supplies as they could fit within. "It's as much as we could find." Stephanie assumes responsibility for the bag, slinging it over her shoulder after perusing the contents.
"I still don't like this." Victoria voices her obvious disdain for the plan, but she knows as well as they do that remaining on the floor any longer would be foolish. Though with nothing more than a kitchen knife to protect herself, Tony can hardly blame her. It was the best they could given the circumstances. She has the worst weapon of the three by far, but it will simply have to do.
"Not like we have a choice." Tony states matter-of-factly as he takes the first step up the flight of stairs. The stairwell is clutter free and should provide them with quick access to the roof, but what they'll do once they get there, nobody has any idea. "At least it's quiet." Stephanie says to brighten to the atmosphere, but she has little success. "Just don't stop moving. If there's going to be any evacuation, it'll be here before long at the helipad." Tony rounds the stairs to the ninth floor as they continue on in silence to the roof.
Four floors later, after a much needed peaceful venture, They emerge into the salty air. Much to their surprise, they find an entire group of survivors who had the same plan.
I wasn't counting on there being this many people. This might be a problem. Tony makes it a point to hide his gun for the time being, no need to excite anybody right now.
"More? How many of us does that many now?" Various remarks similar to these begin pouring forth from the other survivors' mouths. "Are you still sure this was a good idea?" Victoria whispers into Tony's ear. "It's better than waiting around down there to be overwhelmed. At least hear we have strength in numbers." Tony is surprised to hear Stephanie chime in, though she keeps her voice down to retain the privacy of their conversation.
"Wait a second, do you hear something?" Victoria is the first to remark on a faint rumble in the distance. Just barely audible over the sounds of chaos below, they can see a small blip in the distance. Approaching from the east, it appears to be a transport copter built to carry at most forty people. Unfortunately for everyone on the roof, the arrival of the trio now puts their numbers just north of fifty. Tony looks somberly to Stephanie and Victoria, both of whom share in his uncertainty.
Some people are going to be left behind, there's no doubt about that. With precious little time remaining , Tony must formulate a plan if he is to ensure their places on the chopper. People are already beginning to form an anxious line at the edge of the building as it draws ever nearer.
Anthony Reddick
Vitality: 100%
Stamina: 98%
Inventory: Smart phone (76% battery), 9mm handgun (10/22), butcher's knife
Entourage: Stephanie Everett, Standing by: Taser (100%), pocket knife, Duffle bag of supplies
Victoria Marquez, Standing by: Kitchen knife, Smart phone (100%)
I'm going to try a new voting system so stay with me here. What's going to happen this time is I'll first post a primary choice, then a subset of choices going along with that. The primary choice will be a general course of action while the subsets will detail exactly what the characters will do along those lines. So if you choose A, please select one of the corresponding numbers below it. This will only apply to appropriate situations though, not every choice will have multiple options.
And the first string of choices will be for Tony and the others:
A) Seek some way onto the helicopter when it lands.
1) Use an aggressive approach, Tony has a firearm and should use that to his advantage. It might not be the most civil way to about things, but it might be their only chance for a quick escape. Some of the more volatile looking of the survivors might not react very well to this though.
2) Be diplomatic about this, Tony wants to ensure their place on the transport but not at the expense of a possible riot. The last thing they need is for everyone to pile onto the chopper as soon as it lands. Tony has no way of knowing how the majority of the survivors will take this, some of the more insidious might even use it to their advantage.
3) Bide their time and rush the helicopter when it gets close, some other survivors might have the same plan, but it is the most direct. They can inch their way closer to the helipad while everyone else is distracted by the inbound vehicle.
4) Wait until the helicopter actually lands to do anything, it might be best to observe the situation before taking action.
B) Abandon the prospect of escaping on the transport, there are too many variables that could go wrong. Tony will attempt to persuade Stephanie and Victoria that this is a better option.
C) Allow the women to board the copter themselves, Tony believes it would be better for them to escape. He still has connections to Tanui that he can't just abandon.
D) What exactly is happening on the ground below.....
Z) CYOA
Rebecca Chang
Vitality: 100%
Stamina: 86%
Inventory: Dictaphone, 9mm handgun (9/12)
Entourage: Deborah Gonzalez, IN TROUBLE!: Nothing
Threat level: Minimal
Rebecca and Deborah will not have to deal with a threat level since they are in the city. It will rise and fall depending on how conspicuous they are while making their way through the city.
E) Try to free Deborah before doing anything else.
1) Take a lethal shot at the man dragging her away, Rebecca will have to aim and take the shot quickly before he escapes, but there's still the matter of her rapidly approaching assailant.
2) Fire several shots at the man, it will expend more ammo but it might have a better chance of taking him down. It will also allow her more time to react to her own hostile. This will also generate the most noise of any action.
F) Tend to the threat approaching Rebecca first.
1) Take aim and fire a shot at his head, it is the quickest way to dispose of him, but he is a small target coming for her at a high speed.
2) Unload several shots in his direction, Rebecca has ammo to spare right now and Deborah still needs assistance.
G) Leave Deborah to her fate, Rebecca will feel guilty, but she has a greater duty to the people to discover the truth about what has happened on Tanui.
Z) CYOA
For Rebecca if you vote F, you can also vote for E if you so choose, but it will decrease the chances of success drastically.