[IC] BEFORE (Accepting new players)

[Vandy]

Eric Vance and Samantha Hebert

Eric stood behind the parade barricades directly next to the makeshift news platform that the local station had erected. It was a large wooden stage separating him and the others on the right with those to the left of the news crew. Across the street was another row of barricades keeping the people off of the parade path. Unlike his side it was not hindered by a large platform, the people bunched together in such a way that any claustrophobic person would faint from anxiety. It was a veritable sea of purples, greens, and yellows as far as the eye could see. They were in the main part of the City's celebrations, the French Quarter.

Out of the corner of his ear he began to listen to the news broadcasts. "Hi, I'm Becky Jordan with New Orleans News."

"And I'm Bob Schneider. Thousands have gathered to attend the annual city-wide Mardi Gras parade hoping to forget about the war and other dark global events."

"And it's not just natives this year Bob, thousands are showing up from all over the country as well as our allied nations."

"Yes, it seems that in dark times everyone needs a vacation. We are here with councilman..."

"Eric look they're coming." Sam jerked his arm pulling him from his eavesdropping on the news crew. The front float had a massive jester head complete with a green and purple hat carved into its front. Cheers erupted from the crowd immediately as bead necklaces, candy, and cups were thrown out to the crowd.

"Good thing you told me babe, I probably would've missed the whole parade otherwise." He said sarcastically. His girlfriend simply rolled her eyes and turned towards the parade waving her arms in the air. On the other side of Sam her brother Kyle was standing on the barrier banging one hand on the bars and waving the other above him. Eric shook his head and chuckled, two of the wealthiest people he knew were screaming over beads and little plastic cups.

"Damn it, they aren't throwing me anything." Kyle said as the third float passed the trio. He was younger than Eric and Sam, still a senior in high school.

"Calm down Kyle, there are a lot of people here and the floats don't want to hit the reporters." Sam replied back jerking her thumb at the platform. She had to yell to be heard even though they were packed shoulder to shoulder.

"See I told you we should've gotten here earlier man." Kyle yelled to Eric. He let out a little laugh.

"Hey, its not my fault your sister took three hours to get ready." He said falshing Sam a grin.

"Bullshit Vance, I had to wait on you to find that stupid hat of yours." She said as she playfully punched Eric in the arm.

"You know this is my lucky hat," he replied tapping the red baseball cap on the top of his head,"nothing bad ever happens when I'm wearing it."

As if by some divine sign of irony, as soon as the word left his mouth something exploded on the other side of the street. Eric and the others ducked down instinctively before he looked for the bomb. He couldn't see past the floats on the street. It took a few seconds for everyone to get past the initial shock and to start screaming. The only thing he could see on the other side was a cloud of what looked like green mist hanging in the air. Shouts of pain could be heard clearly from across the road even over the noise of the rest of the crowd.

Then something to his left exploded on the other side of the platform. It was much closer this time and his ear started ringing from the blast. Something flew from across the stage and landed at his feet with a *plop*.

"Oh my god what is that?" He could barely make out Kyle's words through the ringing in his ear. When Eric looked down it took a minute for him to recognize the strange meaty object. It was a black man's severed arm.

"Oh shit, we have to get out of here." He yelled grabbing Sam and they started to run back towards the buildings behind them. He had no idea where to go but he knew he had to get the two of them out of there. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the same green mist moving over the stage. Bob Schneider, the reporter, fell to the ground in a fit of spasms as soon as he inhaled it. A yellow sac of puss blew out of the side of his head within seconds and his spasms increased.

At the sight of this the crowd got even rowdier. Still holding on to Sam he ran faster making sure Kyle was right behind them. From behind him someone pushed him down, he lost grip of Sam's arm and hit his head on the concrete. His vision blurred and for a second he lost track of everything.

Finally Kyle grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. "Hey man are you okay?" The younger man asked. Still too dazed to respond Eric simply pointed behind Kyle's head. Bob Schneider's fit had ended and now the man was eating someone.

Kyle pushed his way through the crowd holding onto Eric's arm obviously freaked out thoroughly by the newsman's sudden descent into cannibalism. Regaining his senses, Eric pushed the two into a dark alleyway. They had to open a small fenced gate and pushed it closed behind them.

"Oh God, Oh my God." Kyle was pacing with his hands in his hair. "What the fuck is happening, did we just get attacked?" Eric ignored him and looked around. It only took a second for his heart to fall into his chest with a terrible sense of dread.

"Where's Sam?" Eric asked putting his hand to his forehead.

"What?" Kyle stopped pacing and his face dropped. "I... I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Eric lunged towards his girlfriend's little brother and pinned him against the wall. "Why didn't you help your sister instead of me?"

"I didn't see her fall." Kyle answered with a whimper. Eric began to hear gunshots far away and another explosion.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Eric let Kyle go and put his face in his hands. "We have to find her." Kyle just nodded.

They were interrupted with something rammed against the small fence protecting them in the alley. Bob Schneider and the woman he was eating earlier crashed their faces against the chain link smiling evilly at them. The yellow sac of pus coming out of Bob's head was forming into some kind of plant and the woman had the same nasty substance flowing out of her neck where she had been bitten. They snarled at the two men unintelligibly beating their hands on the fence.

"Oh fuck." was the only thing Eric could think to say as they busted the gate down.

[Rockerman403]

Michal

Michal has been dragging deeply from a cigarette as he looked up on stage at the reporters droning on about the celebration. He himself had little interest in the festivities that didn't include drinking and bare breasted women hooting and hollering. The crows erupted as various knick knacks were tossed to them and proceeded to grab at it all like hungry animals. Moving a hand away from his face, he flicked his middle finger, disturbing the collected ash at the end of the cigarette. He would bring it bag to his lips and drag once more before hacking and toss the butt at his feet. A yawn rose up from his throat and he stretched, starting to saunter towards one of the many open store fronts when an explosion came from beyond him.

It quieted the rowdy crowd for a split second before utter chaos was unleashed. The large crowd shoved and pushed as people shouted and ran from a vomit colored crows hanging eerily over the edge of the crowd. Almost being shoved to the ground and trampled, Michal began to rub with the massive blob of people towards some alleyways. Luckily, being on the edge of this side gave him actual entrance to it and he managed to clambor up and over the chain link before the narrow alley became congested with shoving and paniced denizens. Michal had gone into full flight mode, with so much adrenaline pumping he didn't need to know what he was running from, only that he needed to run.

A few blocks down he broke from the dozen other people running him and dodged into a side alley behind some dumpsters. There were catwalks and fire escapes above him, entrances to apartments it seemed. Down at the end of this narrow hall, he saw people running and shouting as well. For the moment he decided to heave himself atop a dumpster and left for the fire escape. Grabbing the bottom rung with both hands, he nearly fell as one hand grabbed at something slick on the ladder. However, he managed to get a secure grip and pull himself up each step until he was safely on the catwalk.

Reflecting on the events with a more level head now, he tries to recall details. A green mist, some...people seemed to be writhing about within it with something strange about them. He saw little and only knee that something had not seemed normal about them. With that thought, he leaned back and lit a cigarette with shaking hands. Thus was going to be an interesting night he figured, dragging deeply.

[LazyEgg]

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^{MARDI GRAS FESTIVALThe French Quarter}

The sun had already began to dip into the horizon, and Andy had estimated two whole hours of wading through the waves of crowds in an effort to search for his friends.

It was unlike him to attend such an event in the first place, but peer pressure can have you succumb to the dumbest of things. The environment was much too loud -- too obnoxious for his liking. In an ideal world, he would be holed up in his bedroom, reading a good trilogy. The stench emanating from the sewage mixed in with the overpowering aroma that the dancers probably showered in a few minutes before the festival. The colours were vibrant, the people just as lively. However, they pushed and shoved with just as much enthusiasm they spent cheering for the oncoming parade, much to his distaste. As much as the boy wanted to appreciate the special event, he could not bring himself to do so. 'Out of place' would have been an understatement for the guy. If anything, he was going to have to find a way to wriggle out of the crawlspace in between the warm bodies.

The music flooded his ears in painful shockwaves the closer he got to the exit. It was just his luck that they decided to keep the speakers on the farthest edge of the fucking procession. Not only had his friends ditched him - now he had to contemplate scheduling an appointment with an otolaryngologist. In an effort to block out the hubbub of laughter and obnoxious yelling, he plugged his fingers into his ears. He ducked for good measure, since people suddenly thought it would be a fantastic idea to throw things to and from the crowd. A fun time? Sure. Andrew was down. A concussion? He'd rather pass.

As if on queue to interrupt his hard-earned escape, a loud blast shook the area behind Andrew. The noise was dumbed down quite a bit, but only because he was rather close to the radius of the explosion.

Disorientation had gotten the better of him, falling to the ground on both his elbows and earning himself nice gashes on all his joints. As soon as the fuzzy vision and ringing ceased, he took his chances and ran straight into the alleyways that enclosed the march. Andrew struggled to turn the corner as he began to fully regain his stability. Just then, he noticed a brunette smoking on a steel landing. Now, of all the times.
The boy pulled himself up on one of the dumpsters below the man and slid down the wall. He could not climb for the life of him, thus he figured he would settle for a bit.

"So, what now?" he called out to the man, as he inhaled his smoke. There was not much he could deduce from the chaos that erupted from the outside, but he was sure as hell that they were going to be in for a long night.

@Rockerman403

[paragloan]

HELENA

The heavy beat of the drums made even the floor under her feet throb as the parade got closer and closer to where Helena stood on one of the balconies overlooking the street. She had made it here a few hours ago and checked into the hotel. The traffic had been insane from the moment she stepped off the plane and got in a taxi until she closed the door of her room. People were simply everywhere. Singing, dancing, shouting, the city was alive with a cacophony of sound that even closed doors would not shut out. Giving in to the manic tension in the air, she had walked outside onto the balcony to watch the crowd. She leaned against the railing and sighed to herself. While the craziness was distracting, she couldn't quite forget the reason she was here in the first place. This was supposed to be a romantic getaway but instead her ex had cheated and now she was left all alone. She had flung his ticket in his face and told him to shove it before leaving the next day for New Orleans. Hopefully by the time this trip was over then she could move on and feel better.

A string of beads hit her in the face, disturbing her reverie, and she looked down to see two teenage boys under the balcony. "Lets see the boobs babe." they yelled as they drunkenly swayed back and forth. She flipped them off and they laughed and went on down the street. She watched them get about a block away when the world was ripped by a series of explosions. She saw the two boys getting hit with something and then falling down on the ground convulsing. The same thing seemed to be happening up and down the street. Screams were now replacing the music and the mood had changed from manic to terrified. She saw one of the kids stand up and sway back and forth before launching himself at a girl and biting her on the neck. He seemed to have some kind of yellow substance dripping from his ears and mouth and not too long after the bite, the girl showed the same kind of abnormality. Helena backed into the room with her hand to her mouth in terror. Something was terribly wrong down there. What was that green mist that showed up after the explosions and what the hell was happening to the people? She closed and locked the balcony door as another scream ripped the air seemingly right underneath her room. She ran to the phone and dialed 911 but the circuits were busy.

What do I do? I can't stay here but if I go out there.... Oh God what should I do?

Taking a calming breath, she grabbed her purse which held her 22 pistol and slung it over her shoulder. She grabbed her key card and put it in her pocket before walking over and slowly opening the door to the hotel hallway. She did not see anyone which was unusual. Before the explosions there had been people hanging out in the hallway, with doors opening and closing every few seconds. She hesitated a moment then heard a sound behind her. She saw someone standing on her balcony, beating on the glass. She took a few steps towards them and then saw that they had the same abnormality as the two boys that had thrown her the beads. Oh fuck that. No way in hell am I going to open that door. She heard a cracking sound and saw the balcony door glass start to spiderweb and the person pounding even harder. She yelped and ran out the other door into the hallway. She did not know where she was going to go but staying here was no longer safe. Left or right, Helena? Which way should I go? Hearing a sound that sounded like a muffled scream come from her left she muttered, "Right it is." before taking off at a run. She had to get the hell out of here and get back to the airport and home. Coming here had been a mistake. Now if she wasn't careful it might be a mistake she paid for with her life.

She reached the stairwell and opened the door, she started down towards the ground level and almost ran into the girl before she could stop herself. The girl was crying and sitting on the bottom step. Thankfully she did not seem to look like she had been effected by whatever was outside. The girl looked up as she got closer and with tear filled eyes said, "They are dead. Please help me?"

[Rockerman403]

Michal

@LazyEgg

The thrums of panic and death continued to pound in Michal's ears. While quite dulled as he had put quite a deal of space between himself and the square where the explosion had occurred, it still resonated with the sound of far off fear. A man who normally found it quite easy to remain composed was almost visibly shaking. Images of the people enveloped by that must played just behind his eyes. As he had now a moment to recall with some focus, he saw yellow pus dripping from growing and twisting tendrils. Large blisters seemed to ooze the stuff. What on earth could cause something like that. He didn't want to imagine. Michal was not a man to belive in the paranormal or extraterrestrial. Such things were simply a child's fairy tale. Yet, he could imagine nothing human that could have done this.

The cigarette shook in one unsteady hand, while the other gripped the catwalk railing until they were white. He was then torn from thought by a voice. It had come from below on the dumpster. The immediate reaction was to push himself a little further back against the railing, but with a little self control he managed to stay out and answer back in a confident voice.

"Ah can't say ah know. I wa'nt a huge fan ah what ah saw."Another long drag on the cigarette. Ash fell on his stomach. A breeze came through the alley, bringing g with it some leaves, garbage and the stench of death. Michal lenses his head back and sighed, wondering what was going to happen now. Was this the apocalypse? A localized terrorist threat? How could this happen in one of the most popular events in the country. Except for the man below him, he hadn't seen anyome else since finding the resting spot. Finally, his thoughts were calming to a reasonable level. Now some critical thinking could be done, with a shaky start, Michal stood and went to the railing to look down.

"So ah assume you're not whatever become ah those poor foks? Yah seem rather not crazy. What do yah know about all ah this?"He inquired.