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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 2, 2010 11:36:59 GMT -5
At the very edge of the forest, a Humvee drives and skids to a stop. Emerging from this Hummer's back seat are three Private First class soldiers. The front passengers exit revealing two more Privates. Lastly, the driver steps out, distinctly different from the rest. A female soldier in full uniform steps out wearing a white bandanna around her head. She shakes her head and adjusts her hair before turning to the group of men in her command. Towering over them, the woman begins barking orders.
"A-Tennnn-HUT."
The 5 privates line up for inspection by their sergeant.
"Now that I have your attention listen up. I know that Officer Micheal's orders warn of some Boogie man without a face so no one goes off alone. Private McManus is dangerous enough in his own right; the last thing we need is some retard going off my himself like in some cheesy horror movie. No less than groups of two at any time. Our mission is to ensure McManus is dead and to bring his dog tags back as proof."
"But..." one of the subordinates meekly started, "...what about the S-Walkers and stuff? What if McManus is with them? What if...OUFFF!" He was cut off by the large woman throwing a fist into his gut.
"The S-Walkers are a joke. That fool, Bailey, has likely gotten them all killed. If, by some miracle, McManus is alive AND with a group of people..." she paused and leaned in, looking every man in the eyes and relishing the power she had over them. "...No Witnesses. That is our order. We are Phantoms. Understood?"
With that, she motions for them to head out. The six of them stalking the forest for their prey.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 2, 2010 16:06:09 GMT -5
The unit, aside from their domineering Sergent, was still fairly young and inexperienced. They had only served a couple stints in Iraq, mostly sitting in a camp, drinking a beer, and listening to some Black Sabbath. They had heard stories of Madd Mike McManus, how this troublesome soldier would pick fights throughout camp with little to no provocation. Otherwise, he seemed to keep to himself except when it came to the small set of arcade games. As such, they tended to steer clear of him.
Jennifer, however, knew McManus as she was a Private when he enlisted. She started her military career a little earlier than he did and almost at once despised the man. He was insubordinate, he was quarrelsome, he didn't respond to her advances...all around a waste of flesh in her mind. That, and the Sergent seemed to be rubbed the wrong way by him after a little time. And she wanted to stay in his good graces.
"Hey...uh, Sarge? That trail we been followin'..." one of the men began. He stopped quickly when she cast an icy glance his way. Swallowing, he decided to risk her wrath. "It...it looks like the forest done swallowed it up."
Jennifer looked behind her men and saw that the trail had, in fact, disappeared. As unnerving as this was for the woman, she decided that her men would be better fearing her than some faceless specter. Calmly, she walked to the man and delicately placed a hand on his face. Dragging a finger across his lips, she smiled a moment, then swiftly drew it back and back-handed him. He fell back, crimson leaking from a small tear in his face.
"You want something to be afraid of?" She questioned loudly. "This boogie man is nothing compared to me. Question my judgment again and your mothers will weep when they see what I've done to all ya'll."
She blushed a little as her Southern Drawl slipped past her censor. She fixed them all quickly with another icy glare and started marching once more.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 2, 2010 18:25:39 GMT -5
((I'm going with that they been here for a bit so this happened in the past.))
The small group had wandered a time, trying to find some trace of any activity in the forest. The Officer, the one that had been Mike and Jennifer's Sarge, had provided useful information to her such as the entry point. Having used his connections, The officer learned about the S-Walkers and their standard operating procedure.
Jennifer grimaced a little as a fog started up. She was not aware that such things were causes for concern, she just hated not having full visibility. She motioned that they continue creeping through the forest and only had to glare at one man to keep them in line.
"Did'ja hear that?" said the man she back handed earlier. He looked around, panic clear in his young eyes. All eyes turned to him for a moment before they all went on full alert.
"Ah don't hear shit." one of the others said. "Ya'll 're fuckin' crazy." This was quickly responded to with a punch from Jennifer.
"You keep your ignorant mouth shut or I will make sure it is swollen shut." Jennifer whispered harshly. Hearing nothing, she turned to the man. "What do you hear?"
"Whi....Whispering...Ma'am. Children...Whispering..." he replied, eyes shifting in random directions, presumably where he hears the whispers from.
"Guys bat-shit crazy." another responded.
Jennifer didn't know what was going on but she knew she didn't like it. She put a hand on the man and whispered in his ear. The others couldn't hear what was said but it evidently got the man calmed down as he gulped again, this time less in fear. The mystery was solved when he took the lead and his companions saw a small bulge down south.
Jennifer shook her head.
These young boys...no self control. Good thing I am here to control them.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 2, 2010 18:41:53 GMT -5
The young man took the lead, most of his fear quelled. Jennifer couldn't help but draw a parallel between the man and the male praying mantis. So much is their desire they gladly face death to sate it.
He hustled along, attempting to prove himself to his Sarge while the others clearly saw through the act. Out of all of them, he was the smallest and least physical. In truth, he was their gear head, the one that fixed their vehicles, changed oil, all that stuff that was below infantry. They couldn't help but feel jealous of the promised reward Jennifer dangled in front of him.
Jennifer removed her sun glasses as the fog thicken greatly. Her green eyes scanned the the fog for any trace of a business suit or faceless human. Fear wracked her for a moment until one of her subordinates called out.
"Look, tracks on the ground! Someone or thing went this way."
"Nice work, Private. Which way do they lead?" she responded.
"Uhh..." he mumbled while studying the ground, "...it looks like it goes this way, but whoever made them was dragging something...something heavy." he said, pointing to West.
With any luck, that would have been one of those fool S-Walkers dragging McManus' corpse.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 2, 2010 19:02:24 GMT -5
The group followed the tracks, hoping to find a dead or dying Mike McManus. It would make their job easier and they wouldn't have to worry about the Boogie Man coming out and tearing them apart. After following the tracks for about 50 yards, the fog got so think they could no longer see the ground.
"Uhh, I can't track like this, ma'am. It has gone straight so far, maybe we should just keep going straight?" the gear head asked.
"Fine fine fine. Just get me to the end of the tracks." she replied harshly.
Before much longer, the trees themselves were invisible due to the fog. Still, they trekked on, dead set on making sure the Officer's will, of whom they were a physical extension of, was fulfilled.
Suddenly, the man in front tripped on something and fell forward and landed on what felt like muddy sticks. "Uagghh!" he yelled on the way down.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, SOLDIER!" Jennifer screamed. In truth, she had been tense and the young man actually caused her to jump. She hoped the others hadn't see.
The others stopped and looked as the man stood back up, mouths hanging open. He was drenched in a red fluid that they were not familiar with but Jennifer knew all too well. Suddenly, the fog flew off quicker than it had appeared. It revealed to the squad a pile of the dead. Some of the victims with their flesh flayed off, some mostly intact other than a hole in their stomach with no organs. One of which had pale flesh with most of his face disappearing. It seemed his leg and arm bones had grown too big for his skin, however, as they erupted from his body, blood spilled everywhere.
They looked away form the ground in terror only to be even more repulsed. In the trees, numerous bodies hung. All children, all faces contorted in terror, all missing their organs. It was too much for the gear head and he ran faster than he had ever run before.
"Wait, stop you idiot! Otherwise ya'll just end up like dem poor sonsabitches!" Jennifer screamed as she and her squad took off after the man.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 3, 2010 7:47:06 GMT -5
The gear head rabbited without any real direction in his mind. The whispering got closer and the fog returned. He couldn't hear the voices behind him for all the whispers and wind. Suddenly, he stopped, shocked out of his mind with fear.
Jennifer was shaken at what she had seen so she knew her men were also out of sorts. This situation was rapidly deteriorating into a Charlie Foxtrot.
...As much as I despise that Meat-head...no one deserves that kinda ending. Shit. That ain't an end fit for any but the pond scum of the Earth...I gotta...get this shit back under control.
The four men keeping pace with her were turning their heads every which way as they ran, fearful some boogie man would leap out and reduce them to the waste they came across. They saw it before Jennifer did and were similarly stuck with the Gear-head's fear.
Jennifer slowed to a fast walk and grabbed the young man roughly by the shoulder, spinning him around. Her fist was just inches from his face when she saw...tears? His mouth quivered from shock. She looked at the others and saw they were struck as well. Then, she saw them.
5 more bodies, badly mutilated and coated in gore would have been bad enough but the issue was more than that. Through the gore a symbol and rank were clear. These bodies belonged to Rangers. Better trained in combat and survival tactics than the 6 now clustered in their mass grave.
"...That's it man...Fuckin' Rangers...We're dead...we're all fuckin' dead, man!" one man started,
"Thats it! Game over, man, Game Over!" another said, tears streaming from his eyes as he slumped to his knees.
Jennifer noted that the gear head said nothing while the rest started mourning their impending deaths. Sometime silence is good. Sometimes, it is a terrible sign.
"All right, SHUT UP right GAWDAMN NOW!" she shouted. "We ain't gonna fuckin' die. These guys? These Rangers..." she said, leaning down at looking at the dog tags of the highest ranked member, "...huh...O'Brian. Whatever. They, they were led by that jackass Bailey. You are led by ME. I am not gonna have you pursue some indestrucable boogie man. OUR only job is McManus. After that, fuck this town, fuck this state, we get the fuck out."
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 5, 2010 8:04:07 GMT -5
Jennifer looked around. Her little speech seemed to have an effect on most of the group. The gear-head still seemd oddly quiet but otherwise everyone seemed to be clearing their heads a little. That is, until one of them opened their soddin' mouth.
"If...this thing kills rangers, what chance do we have though? I mean...if anyone could avoid detenction it would be..." a private started, only to be halted mid-sentence by an upraised fist.
She needed to give them something. They all were feeling the same, this one just had the balls to say what they were all thinking out loud. She was not much of a tracker but she looked around for something...anything really, to give them some sense of hope. Then, she saw it; a bullet casing. 9mm round. She looked and saw another by another of the bodies. Her keen eyes were clearly not effected by her sunglasses which she replaced, almost as a barrier to make what she was seeing seem less real.
By each of the 5, a bullet casing. All 9mm. Looking, she saw holes in the trees. She decided to keep that bit to herself, for now. "Listen up. These were not killed by some boogie man. Look, shell casings. 9mm, one by each corpse. Likely, some civilian nutjob went off the deep end and started firing."
"Bullshit." the gear-head mumbled, eyes downcast.
"Care to repeat that, private?" Jeniifer responded.
"Bullshit." he repeated, unflinching.
Jennifer was never one to allow for such back-talk. More so now that they were clearly in over their heads. She rushed over, placed her hands on his shoulders, and gave him a good shake. She had severed in Iraq, Affganistan, and in Gernmany. She saw horrible things before. The look in this private's eye was by far the creepiest. His eyes seemed dead, his face, totally blank of emotion, fear, or anything. She had seen shell shock but this...was beyond her.
For a half-second, she considered abaondoning her mission. This was quickly dismissed and she slapped him in the face. He barely registered it.
"Hey, over here! I see some tracks leading off over here!" One guy said, admist the drama. He was never one to idle well and frankly, needed something to keep his mind off how royally screwed they all were.
Jennifer let go of the gear-head and looked. Suddenly, strange noises were heard off in the distance.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 6, 2010 11:25:32 GMT -5
The small group, minus the Gear-Head, raised their weapons as it sounded like tree branches snapped under enormous weight. Little did they know that one of the "trees" not far away was, in fact, the Boogie Man that they were warned about. It tromped down towards the warehouse, growing more limbs and looking more and more like a spider with each "step".
The wind carried the sound of people yelling, likely barking orders to form up, followed by lots of gunfire. Some in bursts, some in single rounds. All of which were ineffective. The screams of the dying were only matched by the screams of the still living. The horror they witnessed easily sapping from them any small part of sanity they had. Their voices carried to the small group, causing them to quake with fear. If only Jennifer knew that her prey was just now leaving that area, less than 1 mile away, she might have steeled herself against the sounds she was hearing and gave pursuit.
The Overseer himself just barely got away from the event. He had met the Masked Man briefly but was unable to fire due to lack of ammo. The group heard him running through the forest, barking an order to meet up with the "Civilians". If she knew Mike was among that group she would have joined up with him. As it was, she was more concerned with the scene of battle. After the sounds died away, she kicked her group into gear.
"The tracks lead in the direction of the noise, Sarge." the one man said.
"Then we shall follow them. Form up. You take the lead this time." Jennifer responded shortly. Even though the sounds had her quite shaken, she didn't show it. She couldn't afford to show it, not in front of the men. It was rough enough being female and having to constantly prove herself.
"Onward...into futility." one dared to say. He apologized when he got an icy look cast his way.
"No. Not futility. To Him." the Gear-head said cryptically.
And thus, they began to march, following the tracks.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 6, 2010 15:54:35 GMT -5
Within just 10 meters of following the tracks, the new man on point stopped and raised a fist, bringing the whole group to a halt. Saying nothing, he bent over and picked up another 9mm shell. He studied the ground some more and found several more expended shells grouped together, like someone was trying to empty a clip into...something.
Jennifer motioned for him to approach. He complied, hesitantly, and spoke quietly. "Looks like whatever wasted those rangers came this way. Fired about nine rounds at...something...then started running..." he said, raising a finger, "...that way."
"How do you know the target was running?" Jennifer asked, curious.
"The tracks before were close and slow. These are more hectic, almost like the target was panicking. Maybe the target saw Sle-Uuugh..." he managed to get out before Jennifer slugged him.
"Say the boogie man's name and I will gut you myself." she threatened. "We continue. Move out but be cautious."
"It doesn't matter. We are already dead." The Gear-head said. In an almost hypnotic voice, he continued with, "The more you know, the more he can see you. When he comes, do not run. It would be better to kill yourself."
Jennifer ran over and slapped him back and forth. He looked up at her and his eyes had changed a little. He actually seemed to have a pleading look, one begging her to release him, one way or another. Clearly the man was being haunted by something in his mind.
She backed away a little. "Oh mah stars..." she muttered. "Look, lets just...go to the disturbance. Find his corpse, then get out. Lead on, private."
One more, they took up following the frantic tracks left by none other than Corporal Kate Conners, though they knew it not. Nor way they aware of Slender Man even now stalked Mike McManus and his friends as they drove through the forest.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 6, 2010 19:03:17 GMT -5
The group carefully picked their way through Kate's trail. Jennifer kept sending glances back at the Gear-Head. Clearly he was losing his grip on his sanity. Jennifer couldn't help herself. She despised Mike but she was able to recognize his strengths. He wouldn't have started going crazy over this. Clearly this guy was weak-willed. She regretted promising him any kind of reward.
Eventually, they came to a clearing and saw some inhuman tracks. Tracks that none of them could really define. Looking ahead, they saw the warehouse, once, staging ground of the S Walkers. Now, a tomb for them and the civilians they were trying to protect. The grizzly scene before them had more red then not. Bodies were strew around outside, most showing signs of being crushed.
"Alright. Recon. Make sure the perimeter is secured, then we start checking dog tags." Jennifer said, taking command again. Four of them immediately looked around the area surrounding, then poked into the warehouse itself. The Gear-Head simply started walking aimlessly. Deciding that he was beyond her, she decided to let him work it out for himself for now.
Inside was more of the same, both military and civilians, all torn apart or smashed to bits. Weapons were strew every where. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Jennifer gave the order to start checking tags.
One by one, the group went around searching for their target. Little did they know that Mike was already a mile away by this point, wandering with amnesia and blurred vision. His friends had, in an epic battle with Slender Man, had driven him off but lost track of Mike after he was thrown from the vehicle.
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Post by Slender Man on Jul 7, 2010 14:09:50 GMT -5
The Slender Man ripped the man apart, multiple hands working their way into his skin and extracting the mans organs. His featureless head looked upwards, examining them before he threw them to the ground.
He looked back down, his arms moving to peel his chest apart, like some sort of demented flower. The two Masked Men sat like a child nearby, looking at him curiously.
The Slender Man ignored him, focused on his work. Slowly, he hung the organs (now wrapped in a curious, sticky organic substance that almost resembled plastic) up on some nearby branches. It'd serve as a warning to other faced ones..
He stood up, looking down at the first Masked Man as he "thought" about it. This one had been one of the ones hunting him.. it had been hard taking him away from their leader at first, but he'd evetnaully managed to take away the mans memories of his comrade completely. Including him taking his fellow away..
Suddenly, his head turned to the left. He could sense others moving through the trees, a long way away. He pointed, watching the two Masked Men run fowards for a moment before moving to follow them.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 7, 2010 14:27:22 GMT -5
Searching the bodies was slow work. Jennifer wanted no mistakes. What she DID want was to find McManus among the dead, grab his tags, then go home and look for someone to get jiggy with. She overlooked the searching, 4 of her men productively searching bodies with the Gear-Head mumbling to himself a little. At least, he was...suddenly, in a fit of anguish, the man clasped his head in his hands and screamed in pain.
Jennifer turned quickly to the man and saw him drop to the ground in the throes of a seizure. "Keep seaching!" she barked at the others as she ran over to him.
God. Dammit. This keeps getting worse and worse. Please...let Mike be here. I just want to get out of here.
She leaned over and reached into his mouth and used two of her fingers to keep them man from biting off his tongue. She grit her teeth and growled every time he bit into her fingers. She knew he couldn't help it but that didn't ease the urge to punch the man in the face when this was over. Then, just as sudden as it started, it stopped.
His eyes snapped open, wide with terror. "They're coming..." he whispered.
Jennifer heard little about the Slender Man but she knew that he did dabble in mind-fuckery. Perhaps this man was suffering from something similar? "Alright, everyone, hope you brought your hip-waders. I think we are about to walk into some deep shit! Form up around our fallen. Shoot ANYTHING that moves! Make a mistake and I'll kill you myself."
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Post by Slender Man on Jul 7, 2010 16:56:40 GMT -5
The Slender Man finally walked out of the fog, right in front of the group of soldiers. It's arms were up in the air, outstretched as it moved into view. As it walked it looked down at the Gear-head, head cocked to one side.
Slowly it's head seemed to move up and it stared at Jennifer. It stopped moving, standing there with it's arms outstretched and it's blank face at that horrible, impossible angle.
Slowly, two human shapes moved out of the gloom and moved to it's sides. The two Masked Men stayed near it, crouched. Both gave such a sense of barely contained energy and violence, it was hard to not look at them.
But all eyes were on the Tall Man. Slowly, it lowered it's arms. It made a small gesture with it's right arm.
Kill.
The Masked Men began to run foward.
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Post by Mike McManus on Jul 7, 2010 17:32:49 GMT -5
Jennifer didn't believe in ghosts, boogie men, or anything of the sort. She only put stock in this "Slender Man" thing because her superior, Officer Micheal's, had told her about it. She got some details that he was able to scrounge up using his connections and studying up on these "S-Walkers". Now here she was, staring, gaping, at this...thing. It was almost like the was in a trance. She had abandoned her quest to keep the Gear-Head from swallowing his tongue.
"Sarge, what the fuck is that thing?!" the man who led them here screamed.
Shaken from her stupor, she screamed "SHOOT THE SHIT OUTTA THAT THING!" Suddenly, the blank-faced monster did something with its right arm and she saw the movement of the two masked men, causing her to notice them for the first time. Sensing they were a more imminent threat, she changed orders. "I TAKE IT BACK, SHOOT THE MEN, SHOOT THE MEN!"
The Gear-Head stood up, calm as could be. He stared at the impossibly tall "man" before them and tilted his head in a similar way, then reverted to a more normal posture. As his companions turned the safeties off their guns, he just started walking, almost as if in a trance, towards what would surely be his doom.
The 5 people with their wits still about them fired at the masked men who dodged with inhuman speed. It seemed that one of them was about to grab the Gear-Head while on his way to The Slender Man so she used him as bait.
Closer...closer...now FIRE!
the bullet parted the hair of the gear-head, narrowly missing his helmet. The masked man bucked at the last second, however, and the bullet ended up lodging into his companion instead.
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Post by Slender Man on Jul 7, 2010 19:15:42 GMT -5
One of the Masked Men had fallen. The Slender Man looked over at the corpse, emotionless even as it's companion looked over at it's fallen brethren. The Masked Man may be shocked, especially with it's dodge causing this..
But he wasn't.. a temporary setback, but not anything he couldn't recitify..
In the background, the first Masked Man had retreated and moved behind him, afraid of sharing the same fate as it's fellow. The Slenderman looked at him for a few seconds, considering.
Slowly, his head moved to look at the gear-head. He raised one arm and beckoned the faced one foward with his index finger.
If he had lost a soldier, he could always work to create a new one.
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