"911 dispatch, what is the address of your emergency?"

After establishing that no one was injured or otherwise in danger -- thus, there was no emergency warranting a 911 call -- the dispatcher promptly transferred Mister Reis to the office of the Sheriff of Duskwick.

ring

ring

ring

Should Mister Reis decide to check the pictures he'd just taken of the booths in the diner, he might notice there appeared to be blurry, almost human-shaped lights occupying a couple of the empty seats. Of course, it could just have been a trick of the foggy light streaming in through the picture windows.

D, too, may have caught them in her brief video. They almost seemed to turn their heads to watch Maddie run past.

To look at the same spaces with the naked eye would reveal only dim, empty seats.

By the bathroom door, Eleanor had just tried the locked knob when she was startled by Gary's presence. She stared up at him, a hand over her heart in shock, then released a quick breath. "Listen, honey, I think calling her parents is up to the sheriff, but I'm sure everyone appreciates you trying to help. But if you stand right there -- back up a little -- if this door opens and she bolts again, you'll catch her won't you?" Gary seemed like the prime sort of person for catching speeding children.

Eleanor put a finger to her lips and leaned her ear against the door.

Upon comparison of the two photographs side by side, David and Gary would discover that they were indeed exactly the same photograph -- only the paper one was worn and had been folded and unfolded, as if it were at least a week old.

D's scan of the milkshake machine would reveal little evidence -- except the fact that the strawberry flavor was empty, with a post-it on it scrawled BROKEN.

ring

ring

ring

Eleanor heard a short, terrified yell inside the bathroom, followed by banging noises. "Maddie, honey, are you all right?" Eleanor called through the door, her voice calm and motherly. "Maddie?"

Meanwhile, inside the bathroom, Jill might feel something tickling the top of her head.

It was a long green vine, one of many that now grew out of the rotted ceiling; they shimmered translucent, as if they had only just emerged into existence.

The walls of her stall were decaying and rusting around her; the toilet she stood on was suddenly an older model from the 70's, dry and cracked.

The tiled floor had become overgrown with weeds.

"Maddie, it's all right, I'm here, tell me how I can help," called the manager's voice across the door.

ring

ri- "Duskwick Sheriff's office, how can I direct your call?"

"Jeremy!" called Eleanor. "Go get the bathroom key, quick!"

BANG

The stall door crashed open, and a full-grown Bengal tiger stepped silently out onto the weedy tiles of the transformed bathroom. It slinked past the cracked sinks and calmly faced the door.

"Something's happened, JEREMY THE KEY HURRY!"

While Eleanor waited with her hand outstretched, the floor underneath the bathroom door began to crumble and grow with thin roots and stems.

The door decayed and cracked, the walls dulled and aged --

-- then Eleanor was gone.

One moment she was there, pressed against the door, and the next moment seemed as if she had never been there at all.

A thin silence fell upon the diner.

The decay was spreading.

He hissed at the annoying kitchen boy and gave him the angriest shush finger-to-the-lips gesture he could muster. Thankfully the large suitcase girl cut in to explain the situation to the idiot, letting Mister Reis focus on the important task of informing the police of this exciting development. The thought of how pleased and indebted the mayor would be for his role in helping find one of the missing girls made him almost giddy. If he was lucky, the mayor would even hold an impromptu press conference and delay their meeting so that he could have time to change out of his strawberry milkshake stained clothes. And get something to eat a proper restaurant, not this run-down dump staffed by apes.

As there didn't appear to be anyone overly suspicious sitting in the booths, he made his way towards the frantic group assembled outside the restroom door while waiting for the police department to pick up. Why did it take the police so long just to answer the bloody phone?

"Finally! I found one of the missing girls–Maddie. She's at the old diner in town, the Fed Zone I think it's called. And–"

He cocked his head.

"...And she just disappeared??"

"Did anyone see that?! Did she just DISAPPEAR?! Just like that?", he yelled out to the diner in general.

"And there's also like weeds growing out of the door to the restrooms. You probably need to send someone down to write them up for a health code violation or something", he said with even more satisfaction than he would derive from giving this place a 1 star review on Yelp.

He pulled out his phone and played back his glasses video he had just taken. Did she really just disappear?

"Ahh -- ?" D quickly took several steps away from where she was standing, disengaging from the social setting and rubbing her eyes. The heel of her boot rubbed against the tile flooring, but the noise went unnoticed, even by D. Her eyes unfocused and wandered towards the cup she was holding as her lips folded into each other, signifying her attempt to quickly contemplate what her next step should be. This is a big 'un. Her hand left her mobile device and zipped her pocket.

Her body suddenly bent and squatted next to her case. She didn't have time to think. Steady, Freddy and get geared up. -- that command only took her two seconds too long to register in her brain. She was feeling a little frantic, even if her name was not actually Freddy. Thank God Dad's not here. As much as she wished her father was here to help her, she was glad he wasn't. This was going to be a fucking mind trip, and D didn't have the time -- or the hour, she was beginning to assume -- for unstable psyches. She thought this with certainly, recollecting quickly about that one time Aubrey had dated a guy who quit promised to smoking "weed" for her or something retarded like that. Although, he actually lied and had not stopped, which was why they eventually broke up. Aubrey had been really heartbroken, but D thought they guy was boring and stupid, anyways. How could he not have been? D never understood why people did drugs when they could just engage with the paranormal. Normies are a special type of dumb, she guessed, and Dad is turning into one of them.

The cup was placed next to the case, and D's hands quickly began opening her case. Her thick tan, gloves pressed a sequence into the cases and unhinged the brackets, right then left. The bottom part of the case opened, revealing a gun-of-sorts that looked nothing less ridiculous than her outfit. If anything, they looked like they had come together (which was further from the truth). Next to the gun was a helmet-of-sorts -- gadgets and gizmos with small bits and bobs to operate the thing were evidently not as user friendly as Mr. Hotshot's Google Glasses. It also looked even more ridiculous and annoying that the Google Glasses, depending on who was asked. One thing was certain, it was without a doubt a matching piece to her outfit.

D picked up the headgear and blew inside of it quickly before positioning it over her head. Her large gloves made several adjustments to the helmet, and she took several seconds to pause and look around with her goggles changing performance levels. Lights gently flickered into gear underneath the helmet's protection. "Beautiful," she whispered to herself, as a small half-smile pushed on her cheek. Her head bent to look at her gun. Its large body was pulled from the briefcase. She loved her gun and enjoyed every single time she used it, but her father had warned her against getting too up in arms and excited about using it. It was just such a beautiful creature, and... then the lady with the cool t-shirt disappeared.

She immediately stood up, gun in hand. Her heart fluttered at the site and the commotion, all tinted in blue from her eye-wear. Small breaths were pressing from her, This might actually get better than a B-rated production. The special effects are spectacular. D took in several breaths, trying to calm her excitement in the looks of examining her laser gun. She looked good. The brief case had treated her well. "Did anyone catch that on video?"

@Mokley@Zoro@Briza

“Yeah, you’re right, the Wonder Woman part is pretty part is probably pretty irrelevant.” Jeremy said with a nod, ignoring the idiot who hissed at him. “The rest though, now that’s pretty interesting. Even the strawberry milkshake part, considering the damn machine’s been broken for the last week and a bit...”

However, he was quickly distracted by Eleanor shouting at him to get the bathroom keys. He quickly ran to the back room. He fumbled around the room, looking for the keys. He eventually found it, a pretty difficult task considering the whole ‘organised chaos’ thing Eleanor tended to go for.

He made it back to the front just in time to see... well, weird shit going on. Eleanor was desperately trying to push the door open, and there seemed to be... were those roots? Yeah, no, they were! There were roots growing out from under the door! He started running forwards, fear entering his mind as he got closer to the door. This was bad, he didn’t know what was going on, but he had to get his sister away from that room! He didn’t like the idea of leaving Madeline in there, but first he had to keep his own family safe!
And then she was gone. Just a few metres out of his reach, and she vanished into thin air.

“Eleanor... SIS!”

He ran over to the door, reaching all over the door, looking for any trace of his sister, anything that might help him figure out what the hell just happened!

“No... No no no no, what the hell... What the hell is going on?!”

He continued to stare at the door, shaking, until he heard that google glasses bastard trying to suggest sending someone to give them a fucking health code violation. His sister had just vanished without a goddamn trace, and this dickhead thought the most important thing he could do was try and use the situation as an opportunity to shut them down. Slowly turning away from the door, he glared at the man with every ounce of fury he could hold.

“GET. OUT.” He managed to grit out, before forcing himself to calm down, turning to the other patrons. “Everyone needs to get out of here. These vines are still growing and I... I can’t let anyone stay here and risk another person disappearing... So I'm sorry, but yeah, I’m gonna have to ask everyone to leave so no one else gets hurt."

And then he turned back to look at Glasses, unable to hold his anger back any longer.

“But you, Glasses, you’ve just earned yourself the unique privilege of not being allowed back in once all this shit is over. You’re on the blacklist until my si-... until I find Eleanor so she can say otherwise.”

As he turned to leave, his brain finally caught up with him enough to notice that the girl he'd been talking to had put on a weird helmet and grabbed an equally weird gun. For a moment, he considered just loudly reminding her of what he'd just said, but he caught himself, a new thought entering his mind.

Did she know what the hell was happening here?

Could she help him get his sister back?

"Everyone, keep leaving." He said, wandering slowly over to the girl while still trying to keep a distance from the still growing vines. "Hey, Venkman, do you know what's going on?"

Gary Riley

Gary turned to the man who had approached, the same one who had taken a picture earlier. There was something vaguely familiar about him, come to think of it. He showed Gary a photo of a dragonfly, and Gary held his own photo up for a side by side comparison. His brow furrowed in mild confusion - they were exactly alike, only one was older. What were the odds that a dragonfly had landed in the exact same place and a picture had been taken at the exact same angle? Zero.

He was about to say as much, when the manager spoke up, explaining that calling the parents would be up to the sheriff.

Gary didn't entirely agree to that - after all, surely a parent would have the right to know that their child had gone missing. But there was some logic to it - no doubt the parents in question would drop everything they were doing to come here, no matter how important.

Watching the door was something he could do, at least. Then he remembered why he was here, and realized his boss would be pissed if he didn't bother to collect any sort of footage or pictures. With some hesitation and a somewhat guilty expression on his face, he pulled out his phone and accessed the camera, switching it to video. "I am here at the Fed Zone diner," he explained, switching the camera view and pointing it at the bathroom door, "one of the missing people have been sighted, a little girl named Maddie. She is-"

Gary paused, as suddenly roots began to grow underneath the door, while the door itself and the walls surrounding it began to rapidly crack and decay. And then the manager disappeared.

The oddly-dressed woman from earlier had now equipped a helmet and some sort of weird gun device. Was she some sort of cosplayer? Or had the paranormal happenings in town attracted some sort of ghostbuster LARP? Either way, what the hell was she doing? He moved his camera from the strangely-dressed cosplayer to the employee, who had taken charge and begun shouting for everyone to leave.

Gary rushed towards the door, accidentally knocking over in the process. He was the first to reach it, and immediately proceeded to hold it open, which would allow the other customers to more easily make their mistake. But he also kept his phone camera on, and zoomed in on the bathroom door. This way he could help and still keep an eye on the scene. "Everybody out!" he shouted. "Form a line! No stampedes!"

"Ma'am?" Jill called, voice cracking. She wasn't even sure the woman outside the door could hear her, as there seemed to be a lot of yelling happening. She did hear the woman call for a key, and for a moment, she was painfully relieved.

Then the very room around her started to decay, and the door to the other stall banged open, and Jill couldn't help it: she screamed. It was a short, terrified thing that caught in her throat.

As vines curled up from the floor and crept down from the ceiling, blocking her from retreating any further, she huddled against the toilet, shaking.

If I disappear in a no-name town under supernatural circumstances, Bobby's gonna kill me, she thought.

There was silence, then more yelling, and near-silence again. And even though it went deeply against her nature to make a ruckus, to draw any sort of attention to herself, Jill called out—in a voice that was much higher than she would have liked—"Somebody help me!"

@Not Fishing @lady horatio @Rabidporcupine

David studied the two photographs side by side. Their resemblance was very uncanny, almost as if they'd been taken at the same time... Actually, on further inspection, the pictures were exactly alike, down to the pixel almost.

"Huh... That's really weird..."

And suddenly there was a commotion. David grabbed his camera and trained it at the bathroom door as one of the staff members, an older, taller lady, attempted to open the locked door where the little girl was supposedly hiding. He snapped a picture of this scene, even as others around him did the same. The chaos was unfamiliar and familiar at the same time; the stampede of people trying to leave, while the few concerned citizens around him stayed to help. It felt like when he'd taken photos of the aftermath of a school shooting right here in the US. The same sort of panic and fear that existed in herds of buffalo that were being hunted by lions in the African savannah. The pictures he took of the breakfast crowd barging out of the diner weren't great; mostly blurry images of people moving, with the few candid images of the same concerned people in various states of either helping out or...doing something, he wasn't sure what.

Then the loud bang of the bathroom stall door drew his attention. Even though the bathroom door was locked, he watched as bright green vines grew around it almost like time was in fast forward. The lady pressed against the door called out to someone for a key. David took a series of rapid-fire pictures as the door was surrounded by vines, framing Eleanor in green.

Then she vanished. The silence that followed broken only by the click of his camera's shutter as his finger pressed upon it. His mouth was agape.

"Oh."

Without saying another word, David stood from his seat and ran to the back of the diner where his things were. He slammed his Macbook closed, shoved it into his satchel and slung the entire thing around his body. He also instinctively grabbed the fork and knife he'd used to cut up his waffles, gobbled down the bit of bacon left on his fork and followed the rest of the crowd out. He had a gut feeling...just a gut feeling, but in all his years of journalism, his gut hadn't failed him that often. But just before he left, he heard it.

The unmistakable sound of someone screaming.

Inside the bathroom.

"...shit."

Caught between a rock and a hard place, he sought out the young man behind the counter.

"Mister? We need to get that bathroom open. I heard a lady screaming her head off in there. Whatever took your sister might get to her too, we need to get her out of there and fast."

Mister Reis kept his eyes glued to his phone's screen, easily ignoring the annoying employee who somehow felt the most important thing to do while the diner broke out into chaos and people were literally disappearing was single him out to harass even as he was on the phone trying to save his dear manager's ass.

His heart skipped a few beats. She had indeed disappeared. He'd watched it twice, once in slow motion. The video could not lie. He hadn't even gotten high yet, so his eyes weren't lying either. And then there were the vines twisting and swelling like they were in a time lapse video... only in real time.

"I don't care what the 911 dispatcher said, this is an emergency. Get your people down here now!"

He immediately threw his phone at the suitcase girl. "Here's the video.... wait, what the hell are you wearing?!" His eyes lingered jealously on the abundant bits and bobs of her stunning cyber/steampunk cosplay helmet and heavy armament, until he remembered he was in the middle of an ongoing crisis. "Just put that thing away before the cops come and shoot you because they think that's a real gun."

"Wait! Get away from the door!" He sprinted the rest of the way to the group huddled outside the restrooms, grabbed a ketchup bottle in one hand and a mustard bottle in the other, and then simultaneously squirted them both at the door. "If that mess doesn't disappear or rot away in just a moment, we're going in."

"We'll be there in just a moment! Are you okay in there?!", he yelled as loud as he could at the door.

"Well, hell," Jill snapped, "I've been better!"

She never had been one to do well under stress.

Still, she tried to take a deep breath and stave off what was fast heading toward a panic attack. Help was coming.

She didn't know what they were going to do against spontaneous vines and a possible tiger, but help was coming.

Too preoccupied with the current situation, D ignored the restaurant worker, not quite able to tear herself from the on-goings to stop and explain things to him. Clearly, there was some paranormal activity going on, "You tell me!" Her hand extended as Mr. Hotshot tossed his mobile device at her. His quick use of electronics was refreshing. His use of everyday object, on the other hand, was questionably insane looking and messy.

His device was pushed into a side pouch of her Mecha-GO Suit. Maybe he would not notice it was gone by the time she made all the commotion necessary to get whoever was on the other side of the door free. A grin managed D's face, underneath her gear. The whole lot seemed crazy. Normies never knew how to act when the paranormal was about. It was like their rational thinking skills just automatically shut off. She shook her head slightly, getting ready to make her move.

"You better listen to what the good boy says and leave!" She looked around at the people who were leaving and the people who were still standing around. There were only a couple who seemed to be lingering, and by the looks of her Goggles, there were elements of something else, as well -- not just the decrepit vines growing. Honestly, it was easier working when there wasn't an audience, but D didn't particularly mind either way, "Mind yourself, Hotshot. I'm coming through," Her boots scraped against the tile flooring. Her shoulders rolled, once each, and she began running towards the door, holding her gun with both hands, ready to buttstroke the door open, as Attempt Number One. She was definitely ready for whatever was behind the door, because well, she had no other option. To relieve the tension, she exhaled a kihap.

@Briza@lady horatio@Zoro@DJAtomika@Not Fishing

"God damn it guys..." Jeremy sighed, as things only continued to get louder and more chaotic. "Alright, fine. Let's get this shit done then. Venkman, I was really hoping the fancy gadgets meant you knew what was going on. Now that's a pretty crazy looking gun, so please don't point it at me while I open the door. Tall Guy, keep on that door, and thanks for the help! Negan, I appreciate the help, really, I do, but I work in a kitchen, where hearing people over noise and chaos is very important. I can hear her. And Glasses..."

He paused for a moment, not sure of how to say what he was about to.

Or if he should say it at all, for that matter.

"Shit, I can't believe I'm saying this, but good thinking. Keep that up, and I might even take back your life ban! Don't fall back into the stupid shit from before though!"

He was already walking towards the door as he spoke, key in hand. The condiments on the door hadn't disappeared yet, and he knew that from the woman's shouting, there was more than just vines in that restroom...

"Alright, I'm gonna open the door now, ok? So lets just keep cal-"

Tiger.

There was a tiger in the women's restroom.

He quickly pulled the door closed again, staring back at the group with a blank expression.

"Ok, so I don't quite know how to say this, but there is a very big tiger in there... Venkman, how likely will that gun be to work on a fucking tiger?"

This is for you, Mom! D thought as she began sprinting towards the door, gaining her momentum. There was a strange hope that this disappearing act would be a some clue to her mother's whereabouts. Her hope rose with her speed, but right as she let out a shout, the restaurant employee stepped in her way. "Ahh -- wh...a?"


She immediately stopped herself, frazzled and unsure if she should be relieved that she stopped without losing balance or embarrassed that she was interrupted. Her body swayed a little as she re-positioned herself, teeth pressing non-visibly over her bottom lip. He had the key.... D swallowed, feeling a bitterness in how much she really wanted to break down the door. Using a key was definitely more logical than breaking the bloody door down, though. Maybe, Normies weren't that dumb, after all. Well, I feel stupid, now.

She stared at Jeremy, again for a brief second, He doesn't even know the difference between a barrel and a stock of a gun is... She slowly began lowering her weapon, admiring it apologetically and ignoring whatever he was saying to Mr. Hotshot. I take back what I said about Normies. His intelligence was a fluke.

As Jeremy unlocked the door and opened it, D took a step forward cautiously, "Ok, so I don't quite know how to say this, but there is a very big tiger in there..."

"Tiger?" D repeated in question. Heck yes. Her shoulders straightened.

"Venkman, how likely will that gun be to work on a fucking tiger?" The name sounded familiar, like maybe she had seen a commercial for whatever series he was in, but thinking too hard on it seemed like a waste of a task and a half at the moment. She wasn't even a man, but the foreign nickname was decidedly taken as a compliment.

"I don't know who this V-man is, but -," D raised her gun again, taking a side step towards the restaurant employee again, "What are the odds the tiger is Maddie Wilson?" A small frown set on her face as she began re-positioning her gun for more tactile use. There was no clear evidence the tiger was the girl, but there was also no clear evidence that tiger was not the girl. When it came to the paranormal, the gambling algorithm was not nearly as useful as it was when playing Blackjack, and Normies don't typically think about those kinds of things. It was the least she could do before taking any action.

The door clicked open, and Jill's heart raced, her eyes darting up in fearful hope—that quickly crashed as the door slammed shut again.

Somehow, she just knew it had not slammed shut behind anyone. She was still alone in here, with something scary enough for her rescuer to have instantly changed his mind.

Under other circumstances, she might have weighed the risks and taken her chances—she was damn fast, when she needed to be—but she still had the scars to remind her why it was usually a good idea to keep a wall between yourself and anything that walked on all fours and was bigger than you.

She scrabbled for the cell phone in her back pocket, no longer worried about some emergency dispatcher writing her off as crazy. She would take any heat if someone would just come and get her out of here.

There was a desperate fumble, the feel of a plastic case slipping through her fingers, and a small crack as it hit the floor.

Jill almost lost her footing and had to make another grab for the walls as one tennis shoe slid and nearly went into the toilet. "Shit!"

"A tiger? The hell is going on?!" He accentuated his frustrations by throwing the ketchup bottle on the floor and then giving himself a big facepalm.

"What are the odds the tiger is Maddie Wilson?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? She just screamed, I heard her! This isn't some kind of game, kid. Those vines are spreading and, I don't know how, but I think they are what made that lady disappear! We need to save Maddie now!"

And by we he meant himself, because the only other help was an imbecile cook who was too busy taking his sweet time yapping his head off, some sort of clueless cosplayer girl who'd probably end up getting herself killed, and a few other people just standing around watching things happen.

A loud crash sounded from the floor as he knocked dishes and glasses off the nearest four-legged table. "Maybe we can use this as some sort of shield? Or maybe there's a window in the restroom?"

"Oh yeah, forgot I was still on the phone with you. There's a tiger in the restroom along with the girl. We're going in to rescue her, no time to explain!"

@Zoro@lady horatio@Briza@DJAtomika@Not Fishing

For a moment, Jeremy almost forgot about the situation, wondering if the girl really hadn't seen Ghostbusters, or if she was just messing with him. However, whoever said that thing about 'salvation coming from the most surprising places' apparently had a point, as he was brought back into the moment by Joao smashing about a hundred and fifty dollars worth of plates and glasses.

"Come on, Glasses, those dishes were expensive!" He said, a little bit of the stress he currently felt leaking out in his voice before he could catch it. "And there was no way that scream was Maddie, unless she suddenly grew fifteen years older while in there. Of course, with the fact that a damn Indian jungle has apparently teleported into the women's toilet, predators and all, that's actually a possibility now. Of course, that means the same applies to what Venkman is suggesting, so why don't you stop being all judgy about what's realistic or not. Besides, I think I have a plan. Let me know if anything changes here I get back, I'll just be a second

And then he ran into the kitchen, quickly preparing everything as best as he could. First of all, he grabbed a mop, one of the ones with the extendable and handles, and pulled the back segment of said handle off. Then he grabbed a dishcloth and wrapped it around the top, before dipping it into the deep fryer, drenching it in oil.

"Please work..." He whispered to himself, shaking the excess oil off his creation to keep it from dripping oil all over the floor, before carrying it to the stove and lighting the oil-drenched cloth on fire. All in all, the whole process took about thirty seconds, leaving him with a decent enough makeshift torch.

Just before he left the kitchen, he grabbed the kitchens fire extinguisher.

You know, just in case...

"Alright, go time guys!" He said loudly as he ran back out front, torch in one hand and fire extinguisher tucked under the other. "Glasses, you an me are on the tiger! Keep the table between me and it, and I'll try to keep it from getting too close with the fire! Venkman, get the woman and Maddie out, assuming she's still in there and not the tiger itself! Also, take the fire extinguisher, just in case I accidentally set the vines on fire! Negan, you've got the easy job. All you need to do is shut the door as we come back out, so Glasses and I don't need to take our attention off the tiger. Now unless someone has a better plan, let's do what I said before, and get this shit done!"

"Maddie Wilson is the... woman, now?" D nodded in approval; her frown stayed as serious. Broken clocks are right twice a day as they say, she thought to herself. It was a saying her father usually said when Normies started making sense. Her head cocked to the side, keeping her gun steady as the restaurant employee went into Hyper-Drive. He was speaking quickly, making unnecessary plans. If Dad were here, we'd have this tiger on a leash by now.


"How do w--..." She paused and fired her gun at the vine. A blue and purple electric laser came out and zapped the growing phantom vines, along with a strange voltage noise, Have any Zoos reported missing tigers in the area? How do we even know the lady isn't a red herring or Maddie Wilson and this lady who could or whatever something might be Maddie Wilson aren't some rabbits to get us to run towards some unknown portal, as exciting as that sounds? She wanted to say this all out loud, but then she felt badly if there really was an innocent lady stranded in a restroom with some seemingly ferocious, large, wild animal. "Don't get me wrong, Normies, I'm game for this makeshift plan, as long as no one becomes a sore loser because they accidentally disappear." She imagined her mother was probably somewhere lost in a parallel universe, still kicking ass. Her mom was special, though. There was no way she could expect any of the people here, maybe besides herself, to be that awesome or cool. Then again, what do I care if they get themselves into trouble...? Her father had a thing about Social Responsibility, and she supposed all those mentions were starting to come out just a little bit.

Straightening herself D continued, "Ready after I get myself situated with the fire extinguisher," Her gun was pointing at some more of the vines, watching them as they grew and studying the area she had just shot.

Gary Riley

Gary's order for everybody to leave in a calm and orderly fashion had not been heeded. Instead, the customers surged out like a stampede, shoving past each other and even knocking over furniture in their mad rush for the door. He maintained a death grip on both the door knob and his phone as they came rushing past him. In the end, they managed to make it through...

...except for the last two who became stuck, having tried to run through the door at the exact same time. Frowning, Gary grabbed one by the back of his shirt and hauled him back, allowing the other one to escape, before letting him go and allowing him to run out as well.

Gary had been just about to leave as well when he realized some people still remained, yelling frantically at each other. He could make out mention of a tiger, of a character from the Walking Dead - some Ghostbuster references, and how there was a woman trapped in the bathroom. They seemed determined to get her out, and Gary couldn't help but frown at that. Sure, they might potentially save a life, but it was also possible that they would get themselves killed instead, and fail to save anyone. This seemed like a situation better handled for animal control...

...yet he doubted he would be able to talk them out of it. No one had called animal control, and who knew what the police response time was in this area. If they were intent on this ill-advised rescue, another pair of eyes and hands would at least increase the chance of success.

Training his phone back on the chaos, he released his hold on the door and walked further into the diner, instead of outside which had been his original intention. The employee from before was in the process of explaining the plan.

"I'll take the fire extinguisher," Gary offered. "It'll be easier for her to grab whoever's in there if she doesn't have to lug that thing around."

Today was going to be a good day. It had to be.

The tall brunette pulled the dark hoodie over her head and tugged at the dark bandanna round her neck. Around her right light caramel coloured hand, she had a fishbone chained necklace clutched tight. The pendant, old and dulled like love that lost its lustre, swung away freely. Dusky full lips caught the pendant with a soft and lingering kiss. Her left hand reached at her baggy, yet shapely butt hugging, capri cut slacks and straightened them out. And of course she snugged up the 9mm killing iron tucked at the waistband.

Today was going to be a good day. It just had to be.

It was moving day. And that meant someone may have to die.

“Today is gunna’ be a good day. Gunna see ya soon, baby bro...”





The cries for help sounded real enough, and just like curiosity would a cat, Cheri just had to check it out.

The window opened up wide enough for her to poke her head in. Dark thin eyebrows popped up once with much surprise then suddenly arched downward in a full on bitch scowl. “The actual fu—c’mon man!! ‘The hell is this…?! Is this some kinda’ joke?!”

It had to be a joke. The setup was elaborate, lavish, and, all things considered, well done. There were vines every where and they crept and crawled and looked real enough. There was a lady, undoubtedly an actor, that was hopping up and down on a toilet. Then there was a gigantic striped cat with equally gigantic paws. Nice setup, but Cheri was not falling for it. She had better things to do, so she would just leave them with a piece of her mind.

“’The hell is wrong wit you people?!?!” she growled while pointing a very accusing finger into the opening, “All dis shit goin’ down and you try and pull this prankster BS?! Man, y’all just drag that poor kitty in on dis too! Damn, lady! Oughta be ashamed o’ y’all selves!!”

This practical joke was no laughing matter to Cheri.

Dark Spanish eyes sparked into life, burning like the sun during an eclipse. A different kind of urgency fell over her now. She pulled herself out from the bathroom window, grabbed her things and rushed on over to the main entry way to the diner. She pushed and shoved at the scampering crowd in mass exodus, gushing out from the diner’s main doors.

Things were really going to hell in a hand basket fast. All David heard was the counter boy's order for him to open the door on his mark while they got the trapped woman out and he went for it. He stood next to the bathroom door, his hand on the knob, trying to ignore the obvious vines growing around the door and everything else that had made that woman disappear.

Then he heard the second voice inside and promptly got a bit more panicked.

"Uh, guys? In case y'all haven't noticed, there's a second lady in there now! I'm opening the door whether you folks like it or not!"

And just like that, he threw open the bathroom door and then pressed himself against the adjacent wall. The butter knife he'd pinched from his breakfast was in one hand and his camera was in the other, snapping a quick photo of the chaos in the diner and one of the bathroom before he let it dangle from its strap. The panic bubbling inside of him threatening to burst, bringing him back to his early days when he'd first been diagnosed with PTSD. His hands shook ever so slightly and his breath caught in his lungs. David forced himself to swallow his spit and controlled his breathing.

Breathe in... Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Breathe out... Two, three, four.

He stilled the shaking in his hands and focused on the job before him.

He wouldn't let himself suffer another panic attack.

Never again.

Nothing made sense.

Literally nothing made sense.

But they were still stupid for thinking the tiger was Maddie Wilson.

He hated waiting. Shoot first, ask questions later; that's the code he lived by. Waiting forced him to think first. To think about how none of this made sense. To recall images of the lady fading into the vines. To listen out for the sounds of a hungry tiger growling behind the door. To reconsider risking his life to save some jerk girl who spilled a strawberry shake on his shoes.

"How long is that jerk gonna—yikes!" He had not expected the cook to come back with a flaming torch. The jerk employee's plan was just long-winded enough to allow mister Reis some more thoughts about the sanity of four people charging into a restroom with a table-shield, a torch, and a fire extinguisher to rescue a woman from murder vines and a tiger.

Stop thinking! Focus on— He suddenly ducked behind the table-shield. It seemed the girl's fake gun wasn't so fake after all. He peeked above the shield, fighting his instinct to immediately tackle the presumed psycho.

Nothing makes sense, so just stick to this awful ill-conceived plan.

Only one thing was certain: If he made it out of here, he'd be getting completely wasted. And he'd also be getting a gun.

The door opened. He let out a glorious battle cry and rushed forward. He was frightened, confused, and exhilarated all at once. He'd not felt this intense since playing the Omaha Beach mission on Medal of Honor. The most heroic parts of the game's theme music played in his head as he made his charge.

"Get out now, and don't touch the vines!"

He positioned the table and himself in front of the tiger and snarled and yelled at it. He remembered hearing that's what you should do when you see a mountain lion, so perhaps it wasn't as stupid as it might appear. He really hoped so, anyway.