[Shenandoah]

Potential M situations...

---

Name: Patrick Flynn
Nickname: Pat, Rick
Age: 20
Weapon: Hammer
Bio: Patrick Flynn became involved in the Game more or less through his free will. His eye, covered by an eye patch, happened before his induction and it doesn’t impede his vision too much, though his blind spot has increased due to the fact. He doesn’t talk much about why his eye is gone and there is scarring about it, but if he were to tell, he would speak of a father who had smashed a beer bottle in his face at a very young age. Rick has been playing the Game since it came out and is one of the first players. He’s been at it for three years now and has gotten used to his haphazard life of a job as a mechanic during the day and a fight for survival at night. He is something of a joker though he can be quite serious. And during the Game, he's a mix of both.
Image: Summoning the Hammer!

(Side note: Yes, it is Lavi from D.Gray-Man)

-

Name: Robyn Bridge
Nickname: Rob, Robby
Age: 17
Weapon: Bow and Arrows
Bio: Robyn came into the game approximately five months ago. Experience with her chosen weapon has been one thing she has gained in this entire experience. And she did not volunteer for any of it. She has to go to school and all the friends she had before the Game have noticed the changes within her. They know she plays the Game, but for reasons no one fathoms… she tells them to stay the hell away from it. She fears for their souls and fears for her own as well. And she dreads not being able to greet the dawn one day.
Image: Ready to aim

[M e w]

Name - Shannon Gates
Age - 15
Ethnicity - White [American]
Weapon - Sword
Appearance - Thin and small. Height is about 5'4" and weighs about 120 pounds. Looks younger than he is because of his small stature and baby face. Medium brown hair not cut into any particular style with bangs that fall in front of his eyes. Wears simple black-rimmed glasses but will sometimes wear contacts. He has pale blue eyes and pale skin.
Personality - He's very shy and is quite the bookworm. Tends to keep to himself and tries to make himself invisible. Usually gets picked on instead. He's not very strong physically but makes up for it in his intelligence. Wishes he could be more like the jocks in his school instead of the wimpy kid he is but never takes the initiative to become stronger or more popular.
Background - Was homeschooled until his first year of middle school and had always been very shy and pretty much antisocial. Begins playing the Game at the start of this story and had no desire to play at all. Parents sheltered him while he was homeschooled and still do. They have no idea of his involvement in the Game and Shannon knows he could never tell them.

---

Name - Maddison [Maddi] Cameron
Age - 20
Ethnicity - African American 50% , Spanish 50%
Weapon - Spear
Appearance - Height of 5'6" and weighs about 140 pounds. She has an athletic and busty figure but not overly so. Her skin is a deep mahogany color and her eyes are just a shade darker. Her hair is dark brown and is ruler straight cut into a short bob hairdo and she has a couple of bright purple streaks going down the left side close to her face. She has two silver ring piercings in her right eyebrow and has multiple piercings in both her ears. Her clothing mostly consists of brightly colored tank tops, mini skirts, armwarmers, and stilleto boots.
Personality - Maddi has a very dark sense of humor and likes to tease others. Rarely has a genuine smile or laugh and doesn't take life very seriously. She can take care of herself physically and is clever and always thinking ahead.
Background - Maddi was abandoned as a small child and had been in and out of foster homes until she turned 18 and was able to go off on her own. She obviously became bitter from her experiences and rebeled against authority figures because of it. She started the Game about a year ago and welcomed it into her life without a second thought. Her normal life during the day consists of her job at a clothing store, her numerous and ever-changing mostly physical relationships, and random activities throughout the day. At night she is eager to begin the Game and the opportunity to stick cold steel into the shadowy monsters.

[Shenandoah]

((Time: Sunset))

Patrick walked the streets with a casual flair, his favorite jacket on to help buffer any kind of injuries he might occur during the coming night. This Game had the added benefits of repairing clothes as well as wounds. And it was as well because his next door neighbor, Miranda Reichs, would have a fit if he came home in tatters, though that hadn't happened in a very long time.

The sun was sinking over the city. Long shadows were already being thrown across streets and alleyways were deepening into nigh impenetrable darkness. Rick was tired after his day of working on these three different cars that have been giving him a headache. Boss hadn't gotten the parts in, so repairing them up to a point was possible... going past that point was difficult.

Patrick's weapon was not yet drawn from wherever it went when he wasn't using it. Having it balanced on his shoulder like an invisible broomstick or pole would look mighty odd to any of the non-Players that he passed. So, until his life was actually in danger he would not summon his hammer.

His lone eye scanned the area, wondering if he'd see that drug addict tonight or not. Last night, the addict had sworn up and down he was having a bad trip until a wolf from around where Patrick himself lived sank its teeth into the eighteen year old's leg and drew blood. Jackass probably didn't make it through the night.

A couple miles away, Robyn slipped out her bedroom window and onto the fire escape at her apartment. It was standard routine now. Do all her homework as soon as she got home and before her parent's arrived, claim she needed to do homework after dinner and going to bed after, go to her room and lock the door... Then slip out of the apartment, step onto the fire escape, and shimmy down in her 'Game' clothes of a loose fitting pair of yoga pants with plenty of give, a pair of archer gloves she got from a sporting good store, and a tank top with a sports bra underneath. Well-supported sneakers finished off her favorite outfit for the night and allowed good traction.

Her chosen weapon of the bow and arrow was one she had gotten used to and glad she had chosen though at first she hadn't known what the hell to do with it. With her hair in a thick French braid down her back, she could will the bow and its quiver into existence over the braid so that she didn't have to worry so much of it getting in the way at a critical moment.

Stepping down the street, she ventured into the growing gloom. Robyn hated this Game... But she wasn't going to stop or else she knew she'd never get to see her family again. If she hid out in her home, there would be small monsters that would come into her home. Last time she tried, she was bombarded with spiders the size of Schnauzers until she fled in fear of her parents hearing the commotion.

The sun was sinking ever lower. Another night of the Game would soon begin.

[M e w]

The first text message had arrived about a week ago. Shannon was surprised to see a text message that wasn't from either of his parents and had eagerly opened it, only to see the words "Welcome to the Game" in bold black letters. Obviously Shannon knew what this meant, the mysterious game that had been talked and gossiped about. He had no idea what the actual game was about, but he felt a sense of excitement when he received a message welcoming him into it.
Of course, that was at the start. When the shadows started moving and becoming dense like actual living creatures he knew he didn't want to be part of this game. He would cower away from the shadows when they so much as flickered and at night when he was alone in him room he would lay there with his covers pulled up to his nose in fear.

Now he had received another message a week later, the same words printed in bold letters across the screen of his phone. As he sat in his room, the deep orange light of the setting sun filling his room, he felt more fear than he had in the past week as he stared at the message. The sun was going down and the shadows were stirring again, but this time they weren't going to stay put as if they were taunting him. The Game was beginning.

--

Work had been extremely boring, and Maddison had been more eager than normal to leave and get started with her nighttime thrills. She summoned her long spear as soon as she was out the door, not caring if she looked strange to non-Players. She was wearing her usual sort of outfit which consisted of a purple pleated mini skirt, black knee-high boots, a lime green low-cut sleeveless top, and leather fingerless gloves. She whistled as she walked down the emptying streets, ready for the night to begin so that she could relax.

Of course it seemed strange for Maddi to love the Game so much, but she was strange herself. The Game let her take out all of the frustrations and anger that had built up from her life. In the Game she felt free to do as she pleased, free to fight against whatever was coming for her. In the normal world she was expected to be a proper and charming woman. In the Game, nobody cared if you were screaming at the top of your lungs or cursing to the sky. In the Game, Maddison was free to do as she pleased, and she always looked forward to when the sun fell below the horizon and another night began.

[Shenandoah]

((I forgot to mention, if a weapon is broken, all the Player has to do is un-summon it and then re-summon it to be fixed. Also, the weapons have an effect on regular objects [such as signs, buildings, whatnot], but they can't affect regular people. And the monsters are whatever you want them to be, so you can get imaginative.))

The sun slipped below the horizon. Shadows separated and formed monsters. It was showtime. Rick saw a cockroach the size of a cat scurry out with its friends from a nearby alleyway. With a flourish, the weight of his hammer fell into his dominant hand where the bracelet that insured his life and health at the end of each night rested. It was a deceptively simple bracelet. Six crystals caught on a leather band was tucked just inside his sleeve as it had slipped there while he lifted his hand up.

Instinctively, he provided more leverage on his hammer, grabbing the other end to balance out the weight more easily and provide a stronger slam when the time came. And the time was now.

He smashed the first one with the ease of someone batting a fly with the flyswatter, but the rest scurried faster, intent on getting some of the meat on his bones. They were disgusting creatures, he thought, but it was his fault. He knew that they were normally in this area. And a little further down the road, evil Venus Fly Traps crawled around on spindly vines, snapping at you with 'mouths' filled with digestive juices. And if you killed them, Labrador sized rabbits would come out to eat them and bite you while they were at it.

Engaged with the enemy now, Patrick settled on taking out these bugs before moving on. It was never a bright idea to stay in one place too long while playing the Game. After all, there was a higher risk of meeting something that was way bigger than you, like the bosses from stupid RPG games on the PlayStation.

----

Robby had chosen to brightly avoid the roof tops. Commonly, she knew, there were snakes and crows up there. Crows she could deal with, even if they were bombarding her and pecking at her. She was terrified of snakes, though, and only went to the rooftops if she had no other choice.

She traveled, hoping to find someone from the Game she could team up with. Weapons could affect other Players, but rarely was there a Player that sought the life of another Player. In fact, Robyn had never heard of Players attacking one another. However, she did meet a person once that claimed to have been attacked by another. Of course, the guy had been a bit paranoid (okay, a lot paranoid) so she couldn't substantiate his claim.

When the sun dropped, she had summoned her bow and felt the comforting weight of the quiver on her back. Naturally, the thing didn't automatically refill every time she took a shot, but she could always get more arrows by simply un-summoning and re-summoning her bow. The quiver always reappeared full. Robyn got a few odd looks from passerby as she had both hands on her bow, an arrow nocked and ready. The placement of her hands without anything in them (according to said passerby) could be considered odd, as was the way her hair was pressed into her back and not free swinging due to the quiver pinning it.

She knew she looked like a right crazy, but weapons only affected those that were apart of the Game. And if anyone was to try to touch the bow in her hands that wasn't a part of it, their hands would go through. Robyn figured she now lived on two planes of existence. One that was 'normal' and the one she was exclusively in while it was daylight... and then she had her feet planted in two different places when the sun went down. The world of 'normal' and the world of the 'Game'.

Shaking her head slightly, she came out of her musings only to freeze at the sound of low, menacing growling.

[M e w]

[Alright, works for me. c:]

The sun had disappeared. Now Shannon sat alone in his room, still staring at his phone in fear. There was a soft chittering behind him. He slowly turned, eyes wide, and then he was facing an army of grasshoppers which were the size of shoeboxes and had long sharp fangs. He sat there in fear until a few of the giant insects leaped at him, fangs bared. He ducked down on reflex and barely dodged three pairs of sharp teeth in his face.
Then, as if someone else had taken over his body, Shannon ran for his window, unlatched it, and dropped two stories into the line of bushes in front of his house. He got up, groaning in pain, but was on the move immediately when he saw that the grasshoppers would have no trouble leaping from the house.

Just as he lifted his foot to begin running he fell, his face hitting the grass with a thud. His glasses managed to stay on his face but they were cracked rather badly. Shaking, he turned his head to see what had caused him to trip; his leg was clutched in the claws of some sort of mangey cat, except this cat had the build of a small bear and its paws were stretched to look more like furry hands.
A wimper forced itself out of Shannon's mouth, and then he was blinded by a bright light. He shut his eyes tight and the light faded. When he opened them again there were several different weapons in front of him.
He had never used any sort of weapon before, so he just reached out to grab the simplest looking one.
Shannon's hand clamped around a gleaming shortsword directly in front of him. As soon as he claimed the sword, a leather bracelet appeared on his wrist. Shannon was now officially a part of the Game, and he was going to have to fight for his life if he wanted to see daylight again.

---

The first shadow monster Maddison saw was a huge dark horse. This horse probably wasn't something you'd go out looking for as it had hoofs the size of cynderblocks and the speed of a Ferrari. Maddison had come to try and fight this monstrous thing before and came inches away from getting her face smashed in. Maybe this wasn't the best idea but she didn't care. She felt like starting off big tonight, so why not start off with the strongest monster she had seen thus far?

Maddison held out her spear as the rampaging stallion charged towards her, an excited grin stretching her face. The horse was gaining speed now, no intention on stopping but running straight through her. As soon as the monster got about ten yards away from her she rolled to the right, knowing it took the beast only a second to close the gap. After she rolled she leapt right back up and stabbed her spear towards the creature. The sharp point stabbed it's left flank, but it wasn't as deep as Maddi had wanted. She cursed to herself and pulled the spear out before she was dragged along with the horse. Luckily there weren't any other monsters in the immediate area, as Maddi was going to be fighting this thing for a while before she could either take it down or have to run for it.

[Shenandoah]

She saw the flash of light, going towards it as she remembered it well. It was only five months prior she'd seen it... the moment she had gotten her bow. Approaching, she saw a teen maybe a little younger than her. A guy, it seemed, by the set of his shoulders. He was slender, though, and definitely smaller than her. Almost waif like...

She approached, her foot stepping on a bit of broken glass and it crunched underfoot, causing the beast that was attacking him to turn in surprise, ready to defend his prey. She brought up the bow and smoothly loosed her arrow right into the creature's side. It sank in, luckily missing any rib bones and causing the bear-like cat to screech a howl that became a touch gurgled at the end.

It lunged at her and she batted it aside with her bow, not looking forward to the claws that could rend her flesh open. She wasn't able to block it completely and howled in pain herself as the bow broke under the wannabe-chupecabra's weight to slash through her unprotected arms.

Dispelling the bow, she felt the weight of the quiver leave her back as she managed to roll away. Blood spattered the ground after her as she hissed in pain and annoyance. "Use that overgrown tooth pick to kill it!" she called to the unknown teen.

----

Rick really wasn't looking for trouble as he finished off the insects. Instead of sticking to his usual route, he detoured South and heard the unmistakable sounds of battle. "Shit," he swore, his eye narrowing as he brought around his hammer. Before he could get to the site of the disturbance (which he really hoped was just a couple monsters going at it), his way was blocked by a couple of nasty looking wolves with odd spiky fur that resembled something a porcupine would have.

"Shit on a goddamn stick," he muttered before cracking a grin at the wolves as they advanced. Swinging the hammer with a nigh professional ease, he smacked one as the other lunged forward, eliciting a shrieking yelp as he nimbly ducked the flying quilled fur form. "There, bitch!"

The other wolf landed too close for comfort and sank its teeth into the tail of his jacket, narrowly missing something major, like his flesh.

"Get the hell off, ass wipe!" he snarled as he brought his elbow down on the wolf's nose. This was a breed he hadn't seen before and he wasn't liking it. The wolf let go with a pained sound and he was able to get away from what could have probably been a very painful bite to his groin area if he hadn't have moved. Good thing he did, because the wolf barreled into his buddy and he hit it's side, smashing a few ribs in the process.

The wolves were out of commission at that moment, but Rick wasn't taking chances. He smashed both their skulls with a heavy blow and ran like hell. He did not want to find out if those quills were sharp or if those two had buddies.

[M e w]

Shannon was staring dumbly at the girl who had suddenly appeared and helped him. About a second after she yelled at him to help with the monster his body began moving on autopilot.
He stood up quickly and took the sword in both of his hands. He wasn't sure what he should do but he just let his body move on its own, and a terrified yell escaped his throat as he charged at the cat creature.

The cat snarled at him and leaped towards him with its claws beared. Shannon closed his eyes as he swung his sword blindly. He heard a gurgled growl and opened his eyes to see that he had somehow managed to slice open the cat creature before it did the same to him.
He just stared, shocked, at the bloodied monster, not believing that he could have been so lucky.
His breath was coming short and quick now; the panic from the nights' events thus far rising up in his chest.
Shannon looked up at the girl who had rescued him and blinked his eyes quickly so that she wouldn't see that he was about to burst into tears.

---

Maddison had managed to stab the horse several more times. One had punctured pretty deep into its' side, but the wounds didn't seem t be having much effect on the beast whatsoever. Maddison however, was running out of breath and had suffered a hard hit to her side, which she was now clenching with her free hand.
The horse was studying her from afar, probably deciding on its next move just like she was. This creature seemed to have more sense than most. Instead of constantly charging forward with no real plan except KILL it seemed as though it was always thinking about the best next move. Just like a human being.

This must be one of the tougher monsters the Game could think up. A "Boss" level creature that would be very difficult to defeat. Maddison was realising just what a dumb decision she had made by trying to face this thing again. She didn't think that she could beat it alone.
She glared at the monster which was still studying her. It wasn't going to have the satisfaction of taking her out without a fight.
"C'mon you piece of shit! I haven't got all night!" she yelled to it, readying her spear and clenching her teeth against the pain in her side.

[Shenandoah]

It was blind dumb luck that he managed to kill the beast... and Rob was very grateful. It was much like her first moment within the Game. For a moment, she knew what she had to do and did it, but never again that flash of revelation ever fell on her again and she learned how to shoot the bow through endless hours of practice and tons of begging for coaching from her avid hunter Ag. Teacher that liked any kind of projectile weapons... including bows and crossbows.

Her hand covered her wound, red blood coating her fingers. "Is there a first aid kit around so that I can patch up for a bit?" she asked, cursing her lack of foresight and not grabbing the fanny pack with her rudimentary medical supplies, including bandages and compresses.

---

Rick vaulted over a pile of trash and burst onto the next street, skidding in surprise as he nearly body slammed a Boss. The thing was bigger than a Clydesdale and seriously torqued off.

"Fuck!" he swore in surprise, spinning away in time to miss hooves as big as dinner plates that were aimed at his head. He managed to fall in beside what appeared to be a Mulatto woman. "You piss this sucker off, hon? 'Cuz that shows real lack of plannin' on your part," he chirped, settling his weapon on his shoulder as he flashed her a grin.

Chit-chat hour wasn't more than a few seconds, however, as the horse decided that running them down sounded like a good idea, apparently losing its common sense at the appearance of the insulting red-head.

[M e w]

As soon as she spoke to him again, Shannon snapped out of his daze and looked at her wound.
"Ummm, there might be something inside but..." he said quitely as he looked back up towards the window he had just dropped from. The grasshoppers weren't visible but he could still hear their chittering from inside his house.
He felt like such a coward and a loser. He had stumbled around about to cry when this girl had rushed forward to save him and had gotten hurt in return.
He dropped his eyes to look at the ground below him.
"W-why did this happen to me? I didn't have any desire to be a part of this Game... I'm not important or anything either. So why was I chosen to be a Player?" he asked, not to anyone in particular.

---

Maddison took a step back when the hammer guy came running out in front of her and the giant horse. The monster nearly kicked his head off and didn't take but a second to begin charging both her and this new guy down.
Maddi twirled her spear around her arm and dodged the horse-beast by a tiny margin before stabbing the spear deep into it's shoulder as it ran past.
"I wasn't really planning!" she yelled at the hammer guy as she pulled her weapon out of the horse's thick hide.
She spun as she got her weapon loose and yelled again, "I was just looking for a good challenge!"
She looked back towards the other Player and grinned at him. She must have a bit of luck left because he had joined her at the exact moment she needed some help. Her time wasn't up yet.

Though, it just might be before the night was over, because the horse was still pounding down the street with only the tiniest hint of exhaustion exposed in its breathing.

[Shenandoah]

Robyn winced. The 'Why me?' spiel was at work. "I don't know, and I don't really care so long as I'm bleeding everywhere." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, at least it shouldn't be too far from a CVS or something. Got some money? I was a moron and left my own supplies at my house in my rush to get out tonight before my parents heard me."

She began to lead the way to the CVS she knew was in the direction she was going. It was the closest pharmacy she knew of. "You'd have to get the stuff for me. Try not to engage anything inside or else you'll look completely psycho. I did that once at the mall. Did not turn out too well." She grimaced at the memory.

Back during the earlier days of the Game for her, she had gone to a brightly lit area hoping that it would keep the monsters away from her. No such luck as there was plenty of light and therefore plenty of shadows. And they could find her easier in the lit areas to begin with.

---

"Well, you overdosed on good challenge, love!" he grinned, the expression almost feral. When the horse turned to try and run them down again, he threw himself to the side and whipped around quickly to land a hammer blow on the flank of the horse. There was the sound of a snapped rib and a shriek of pain. The horse managed to clear the pair of them and Rick scowled.

"What's your opinion of running away? This guy's built like a tank."

[M e w]

The girl didn't sound too sympathetic to Shannon's troubles, but he didn't blame her. She was a Player so she had been through the same thing right? He just put on the bravest face he could manage and nodded at her request for money.
He pulled out his wallet that he luckily still had in his pocket.
"If there's one thing I usually tend to have, it's a bit of money," he said with a wry smile.

He followed her as she walked towards the closest pharmacy, just listening to her advice.
Shannon had his sword gripped tightly in his sweating hands, turning his head every way to look out for more of the Game's monsters.
He had to be brave and be able to fight whatever popped out of the shadows. This girl was hurt and she shouldn't have to injure herself more for his sake. However, his vision was impaired from the cracks in his glasses. He grimaced, took them off, and threw them on the ground. He could see well enough without them at the moment, and he could just pick up another pair when they got to the store.
Every shadow looked as if it wee about to turn into another nightmarish creature and attack to Shannon. Perhaps this Game was aiming to turn him crazy.

---

Maddison let out a laugh at his words.
"What? You think I didn't know that?" she asked as the stallion came back for another charge. She just rolled off to the side while the hammer guy struck it in it's backside.
The horse didn't seem to slow down much though, and when her fellow Player asked about the option of fleeing she scowled.
"I already ran from this thing once, I hate to do it again. But you're right. It would be stupid to stick around any longer, and I'm not THAT stupid," she agreed.
Maddison dispelled her spear and turned to the red-head.
"You have a place in mind where we can catch our breath?"

[Shenandoah]

"Don't be so paranoid that you'll snap and try to kill another Player," Robyn advised. "By the way, my name is Robyn. You can call me 'Rob' or 'Robby'. I don't care."

It didn't take much longer to get to the CVS and she waited outside nervously for him to go grab the first aid stuff and get back to her. She could still shoot her bow, but it would hurt like crazy and if she was unlucky... Well, anyone in the Game was unlucky.

---

"The Player that manages to run away may just live to escape the Game!" sing-songed Patrick, dispelling his own hammer as he moved past her. "And if we can get over to the warehouse district, the excess of shadows will hide us somewhat. It's not completely free of monsters, but the boss in that area has a tendency to sleep for real long periods somewhere near the cargo loading platform and we can stick near the old warehouse where they do the food bank on the other end."

He led the way, running and jumping over crap in the road, thankful that his boots had pretty good traction.

[M e w]

When the girl, Robyn, spoke to him he nearly dropped his sword onto the pavement. He swallowed roughly and nodded towards her.
"O-okay. M-my name's Shannon."

He didn't even look around for any monsters that may be lurking about in the store as he walked quickly to the aisle where the first-aid equipment was, went to the register, payed for the supplies, and exited the building where Robyn was waiting for him.
He wondered if maybe he should leave this girl alone and try to survive the night by himself. He had already managed to get her hurt once, he would probably just succeed in causing more injuries to befall her.
He stood under the buzzing yellow light that illuminated the CVS parking lot and waited for her to walk off and leave him. She probably knew that it would be the smart thing to do. He stared down at the ground, knowing that he would likely be some of the easiest prey these shadow monsters had ever seen.

---

Maddison turned back towards the horse that was getting ready to charge again and blew it a kiss.
"Ta-ta for now horsey!" she yelled to it, waving.
She then turned around and followed the other Player, catching up to him rather quickly.
When other, lesser monsters appeared they just continued running without paying them much attention.
"My name... is.... Maddison.... by the way..." she said, taking quick breaths in between her words. She had never been to the warehouse district, always preferring to stick to the inner city instead, so she kept her pace a step behind his so that if he changed direction she could follow him without having to backtrack.

[Shenandoah]

Robyn started patching up her arm with one hand, practice showing from the fact she seemed capable of doing such a task. "Now that that's done," she murmured to herself and to the new Player. "Few pieces of advice for you if we ever get split up... The more lit the place, the harsher the shadows are and more likely the monsters will find you. That doesn't mean you can avoid them in dark shadows completely, so you still need to watch out.

"Your sword only affects objects in the Game. That means non-Players aren't harmed nor do they see. Stay away from crowded areas as much as possible so you don't look like a lunatic. Besides, non-Players tend to make up their own stories for when you get hurt and even if you're thrown several feet backwards, they'll think you've tripped or something."

Robyn continued outlining what was possible and what wasn't when a few low-level monsters appeared. With practice that wasn't quite perfection yet, she lifted her hands despite the people that were exiting and entering the CVS and summoned her bow. One hand went to the quiver along her back and she pulled an arrow out before nocking it.

"I hate this Game," she said with fervent dislike in her tone as she drew the string back.

---

"Patrick!" called the one-eyed man over his shoulder. "And it isn't much further!" He cleared the major part of downtown with Maddison on his heels and paused at the intersection of the Frontage Road alongside the highway. "Crud. Stupid traffic..." he muttered, punching the button. "Dunno 'bout you, but I think being eaten by a monster's better than getting run over by a car," he added conversationally.

Luckily, the amount of fast moving objects that could hit a monster increased on the highway, so it was rare to find any monsters on said highway. Occasionally one did go onto a busy street and cause an accident, but it was rare. The downside? Traffic tended to lessen at night, but that only happened during the wee hours of the morning.

[M e w]

Shannon jerked his head up in surprise at Robyn's words. So she wasn't going to abandon him? He felt his eyes start to water but quickly blinked them back before she could see.
"O-ok, got it," he said to her handful of advice.
Then he saw the monsters crawling out of the shadows and summoned his sword out of whatever abyss it stayed in.
His hands were shaking slightly as he drew his weapon in front of him. He tried to steady his stance and watched Robyn shoot multiple arrows from her bow.

As he was watching her with amazement a small flowery creature was sneaking towards him from the side. He caught the movement out of his peripheral view and turned towards it, a grimace on his face. He had bought some temporary glasses while he was getting Robyn's medical supplies so his vision was more-or-less perfect now.
The flower-creature charged at him and he stepped forward shakily, his sword swinging in an arc in front of him. He managed to cut off a large red petal from the monster and it let out a shrill shriek that made Shannon want to drop his sword and cover his ears. Instead he rushed forward so that he was standing over it and stabbed his blade straight down into the middle of the flower. The shrieking stopped and, breathing hard, Shannon turned back around to face Robyn.

---

When Patrick stopped at the intersection Maddison did so as well. She could hear the sounds of other shadow creatures surrounding them and hissed, "We don't have time for this!"
She rushed directly into the speeding traffic, moving her body swiftly to avoid becoming roadkill. The cars honked and beeped at her, many almost hitting her without a second glance. She knew this wasn't such a smart idea but she needed to sit down and rest soon; her side was throbbing and she needed someplace somewhat safe to take a look at it.
Luck was definitely on her side tonight as she mad it across the street in one piece.

She turned around and waved her arm frantically, grinning mischievously.
"Come on Patrick! Don't be a chicken!"