riverviewlogs | ( closed ) lost research

Entry tags:

( closed ) lost research

who: Jim Kirk, Leonard McCoy, Peggy Carter, Re-L Mayer, Shai Ebbisaryn, Sans, Dick Grayson, Scott Lang, Yuuri Katsuki, Victor Nikiforov
what: a rescue mission
when: from May 15th through to the end of the month
where: abandoned area, along the river, the delta and the waterfalls; between the first and second walls
warnings: monster attacks, probably some injuries/blood, don't expect anything more than that; add any needed warnings on your own threads as needed, please!

Despite the risks, most of the journey was a fairly quiet one. A lot of hours walking, making their way along the riverside, trekking through the woods and across small clearings. When the sun set they'd set up camp somewhere, and as soon as it rose they got back to their feet and out towards the Delta underneath the waterfalls.

Jim made sure they had all they needed; maps, compasses, whatever devices that could help them navigate the terrain. As far as supplies went, they had plenty of covers and extra clothes to make sure they didn't suffer through the colder nights, but there were no luxuries out here. If it rained, they'd be mostly unprotected, and they could only shower and wash their clothes so long as they had the time and access to the stream of the river. There was plenty of food, hopefully enough to last them the round trip, but they also had a myriad of tools and weaponry needed for any hunting and scavenging so they didn't always have to consume from the food they'd brought along for the trip.

The creatures living out here were another concern, and on a journey this long, they were bound to run into something sooner or later. They should be packing enough weaponry to keep the team safe and everyone in one piece, though.

Hopefully, it would be worth it. Jim didn't even care if they didn't get their hands on any of that research— all he cared about was that there were people possibly lost and in danger out there, and he wanted to try and save them.

[ ooc: this is a mingle log, so everyone feel free to write up your own top levels and/or tag around as much as you like! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

For the most part, he didn't wander far from the abandoned facility. And where he isn't that keen on going inside, he has a feeling that's going to be necessary. What he does note is just how damn fast the flora seems to have 'taken over' the place. And where he knows some plants are resilient, he's not sure this is quite natural. He was just about to suck it up and go look over some of the experiments when the communicator sounded with Jim's voice.

He stopped that current search to get in and pulled up those coordinates. It's not close really. But if he found a survivor, it's better he looked him over than someone else. That was his job any how. And where he might be helpful figurin' out heads or tails of data on research, he's a doctor of medicine, not whatever it was they were tryin' to do. He could look later.

"Bit of walkin', but I'm on my way." He dropped the Starfleet tags, but he rarely used them unless he had to for formality. Following the charted out path, he's likely cursed every known plant and foliage known to the universe before he gets close enough to call out. Though, he stops at Re-L's words and frowns. "Rotting? Like human rotting or animal?"

Nevermind. "See if you can locate what it is. If it's human tag the location coordinates. Guess we better find out what took 'em out." Sighing, he glanced around the area and grimaced. "Please tell me you're not in a damn cave, Jim..."

"I mean," Jim starts, looking over the man again. "His clothes are all tattered, and I can't see any names or insignias anywhere. He's passed out too, so I can't just ask him yet." And he's almost afraid to move the man too much, probably give him the scare of his life. He's not gonna do that without being sure how he'd react upon waking up, so it really is the best idea to wait for Bones and let him look over the guy first.

He takes note of Re-L's announcement, but before he can tell her what to do, Bones is doing just that. He opens his mouth, closes it again. Probably puffs his cheeks a little. Never mind him, he's just used to giving the orders. Bones has the right idea, though, so he lets it go.

Humming slowly at Bones's words, he glances around the small room. "Uhh... more like— an underground hideout. It's near some rocks, if you can see them— okay, hold on." Best to just climb back out so Bones can see him, and he does just that, turning around until he spots the doctor, then waves quietly at him.

Because Re-L can't help herself, there's a bit of an exasperated sigh after Bones' question. She of course wouldn't really know the difference - mammalian species weren't something she'd ever really experienced up close and personal other than meat in a meal. Even then, it wasn't rotting, and trash was taken at a near neurotic pace by trash collecting autoreivs, so, round about - "I wouldn't know the difference, if there was one, but considering we're all animals I'm going to venture the guess that it could be either. I'm trying to find it now." Granted, the little search would put her behind in the trip to go and meet Jim and see about the scientist, but it was just as important to figure out what it was that had died out here, not too far from where Jim was. From time to time she stops to kind of see if the smell is becoming more intense or dissipating - but then there's the distinct sound of flies. Or just.. insects in general.

She turns, the sound a bit easier to track than the smell at the moment, and decides to check in. "I can hear insects. Probably close now unless I'm stumbling in to a nest - " Sounds of reeds follow before Re-L's audio line cuts out, and, in a moment she's back -

"Well. It's both. There's one of those .. mmn.. big cat like beasts and then a casualty. Looks like they shot the animal but couldn't make it back to the rest by the drag indicators in the reeds.. " It's all very clinical, even though she's standing over a dead body. Not even a little bit disturbed or green around the gills, she calmly logs the body location for all of them. It's not actually too far from the cave Jim was in, which... makes her a little uneasy, to tell the truth. The smell of decay and meat can draw in even more predators, after all.

"Keep your heads up. It's not too far from where you two already are. I'm heading your way now."

Turning about in place, he spotted Jim pretty quick. Not that he really was looking forward to crawling into any sort of underground 'hideout' but the doctor in him took precedence. Moving over to Jim, he's already pulling out his tricorder and adjusting the readings on it. There are some tools that would likely be a helluva lot more useful, but this will work for now. It'll give him what he needs more than anything else.

And as for Re-L, he nearly said there is a way to tell, but stopped. He's a doctor. Of course he can pick up on that. So he just waited for the details as they came over the communications line. In the meanwhile, he's looking past Jim at the small entrance and took a deep breath. "May as well go see what's wrong with our survivor."

He doesn't wait for Jim, rather, he walked into the small 'room' and knelt down in front of the man starting to run scans. He listened to Re-L, appreciative of her run down of the scene laid out before her and nodded. It could just be that. An animal attack and no way back to get help. "You'd think they'd have some way to communicate." When he went that way, he likely wanted to check and see if there was no means of communication on the body. Just seemed really unlikely that a lab wouldn't have something like that. Especially all the way out here.

Jim steps aside as Bones comes closer, knowing already he'll want to check up on the survivor as quickly as possible. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, it has to be one of the scientists they've been looking for. How many other expeditions would've been commissioned out here, after all? And as far as Jim knows, the people in the Quarantine aren't looking for anyone else possibly lost out here, so.

"Alright, we'll keep an eye out," Jim speaks into the comm, keeping himself near the entrance of the hideout for now, wanting to keep an eye out for any potential dangers coming their way. It's fairly quiet outside, though, and the simple sounds of birds chirping away nearby lets Jim know it's unlikely there's any large predator too close to them. "You be careful too, and let me know if you can't find the hideout. Kirk out."

Putting away the device for now, he turns towards Bones. "It makes no sense. How did they all get so split up, and why did they move this far away from the camp? I mean, unless the camp was attacked," Jim ponders the option. "Did you run into their settlement? I haven't found it yet. Might be useful to have a look at it, too."

Instead of sitting around and just watching Bones tend to the man, Jim steps farther into the hideout. It's not too big but there are some darker corners, and he turns on a flashlight so he can see if there's anything hidden in the shadows.

"Well, no one's moving over here so there's no ned to investigate fully just yet. Finding live scientists would be more helpful, after all. As much as she wanted to, you know, be there to save lives and the lot, she wasn't a doctor and hanging out with a couple of rotting bodies that were't moving and weren't being eaten wasn't exactly her best option. Not when there were possibly live people close by, or wandering lost and still alive, being hunted somewhere. "I would bet that they all had something to communicate with at one time or another. Either an experiment went wrong or they were somehow over taken by a group of predators. They don't seem to be the type to work together, persay, but who's to say there wasn't a reason?"

Maybe their experiments drew them in, maybe there was something else that had happened that caused them all to scatter. Either way, the position of both bodies is marked and labelled, and she begins her trek to where Bones and Jim are. It's a carefully picked trip through the reeds to say the very least, not wanting to be ambushed again and possibly distract their doctor from his current patient. At least until she stumbles on an entire kit, and a communicator, spattered in blood. Another mark goes up on their little map, wanting to notate, at least, where what she finds had turned up, even as she pockets a small kit labelled as 'caution', the water logged communicator follows.

"Found this person's communicator as well as some kind of kit. It's labelled 'caution' so I'm not too keen to open it. Should be to you in a few minutes." Those bits and pieces tucked away she makes her way to the caves, taking a moment to look around and make sure nothing was following her before ducking in.

Bones is spotted first, and she gives a little nod hello. "So what seems to be the issue with this one?"

He's long started the scan on the man huddled against the wall. By coloration and hue of the skin, he could already guess what some of the read outs would be on his tricorder. He's frowning a bit at some of the read outs, but for the most part, he knew most of the prognosis on sight. "Malnutrition and extreme dehydration." The doctor rocked back on his heels and frowned. "Where I get the hunger, there's plenty of water round here."

It was very much a matter of the lights are on but nobody was home for this guy. And then there were the other readings. "Well, I'm not sure aout why they would be spreadin' out and forgettin' to eat, but the tricorder is picking up unusual brain wave activity. Nothin' that normally would give me much fuss, but maybe it's more than just a scan to tell me."

Turning to look at Re-L as she came in, he nodded in turn before returning his gaze to the 'patient'. He let his arm rest over his knee as he scrutinized the man in front of him. "I really think we'd best find whatever it was they were workin' on and it would give me a helluva lot better idea." He tipped his head to toward Jim and shrugged his shoulders. "And I saw where the research was takin' place, but you called before I got to go in."

"This guy will be alright, long as he doesn't go wanderin' off and we can get some liquids in him. Least, he'll be physically alright, far as I can tell. Find anything else out there, Re-L? Kinda graspin' at straws till I have more to go on."

Jim listens to Bones's report from the distance, scanning the rest of the cave after he greets Re-L on arrival. The place isn't so big that he ever gets out of earshot, and he makes it a point to pay close attention to what Bones says. It doesn't make much sense, no— even if they lost or went through all their rations, water isn't exactly scarce around the delta and the waterfalls. So it really makes no sense that the man is so extremely dehydrated.

"We should head back to the campsite next, then. Try and pick up any other life signs on the way," Jim starts, glancing over his shoulder briefly. "We can leave one or two of the others here to look after him in the meantime. Once we're sure we've located the rest of the team and most of their research we can head back." His priority is saving the lives of the scientists, though, so he won't delay their trip back to the Quarantine much, even if they can't find a lot of their research data. They can always come back later, anyway.

Turning to the inside of the cave, he steps farther into the shadow, then stops with a small gasp of surprise as his light falls on something. "Oh... shit. Bones," he calls out, kneeling down next to what's another body, wearing similar clothes to the man he's been checking up on. "I don't think this one's alive... he doesn't look injured, though. Can you try to determine cause of death?"

"Unusual brain wave activity?" Well.. that's an interesting little wrench thrown in there. Re-L's brows draw in as she tries to think of everything she knew that could result in strange brain wave activity and comes up blank. The scientists themselves didn't look as though they'd taken a fall or a beating and cracked their heads or anything, but... she supposed it still could've been recent. She's hunched over slightly on instinct (too many saves they'd found back on her version of Earth had resulted in a smacked head thanks to her height), but squats down after a moment, pushed up on her toes. It was all a little confounding, if she's honest, but of all people that could maybe piece it together she supposed it was this team.

Bones' question about finding anything more, though, comes up with a few things. "Yes, actually - " For once that long overcoat with large pockets comes in handy, and out of it she produces a case labelled 'hazardous materials,' a small sample gathering kit that seems to have a few little treasures stored away, a communicator that actually seems to be working, and a bent, broken pair of glasses. "These were scattered out in the reeds. I don't know if they belonged to the body outside or not, but.. they might give us a little bit of a clue, at least."

All Re-L needs to hear from Jim is an 'oh shit' and she's moving to stand, a hand on her gun just in case, looking for something to come around - which seems to be a slight over reaction for a dead body. She does, however, manage to slightly smack her head on a lower portion of the cave ceiling.. which smarts a little, but she'll survive. "Shit - "

He was already trying to decide how he was going to get those liquids in him as he went over the readings. Quickest and best way to build up fluids was intravenously, but he'd need to dig through supplies and hope that somewhere in the mess he could find things that would help make that happen. Otherwise he would have to find some other way to get the man back on his feet. "Let's hope they have some medical equipment as well."

Not that he was sure that Jim heard that comment. For a moment he glanced up at Re-L and arched a brow. "It's hard to know why brain activity does what it does without a deeper scan and finding out if there is an outer stimulus." He'd give anything for his medical bay right about now. Then his eyes stop on the container reading 'hazardous' and he instantly cursed. What were they researching out here anyway?

The doctor would leave the communicator for Jim to deal with. "Till we know what that is, my vote is be smart and don't open it."

Turning in his spot by the man, he pushed to his feet instantly when Jim sounded alarmed. Without even considering he should likely stay with the patient, he moved towards Jim along with Re-L. A line furrowed his brow at the sight of the body, but he instantly pulled out the tricorder to quietly scan the remains. Lowering the device, he shook his head. "Dehydration killed this one." But when he started to put the scanner away, it beeped a warning for contamination. Frowning, he moved the scanner back to the corpse's collar and zeroed in on the substance. Shifting closer, he motioned to Jim. "More light right here."

Jim stood a little more upright and took a couple of steps to the side, giving Bones enough room to check the body himself. He didn't hover but he kept looking over his shoulder, shining his flashlight on the body so Bones would have enough light to see what he was doing.

The conclusion didn't surprise him much, given what they'd found until now. Granted, it was something that brought up a lot of questions they couldn't yet answer, but it fell into line with everything else. Even if it hardly made any sense, considering the overabundance of water. Almost as if they'd just... forgotten they needed to drink or eat.

He started to move the light away too, looking for anything else near and around the body, but then the scanner let out another warning sound, and at Bones's request he moved the light back to the body, pointing it to where Bones was asking him to.

"You would think, being this far out, that medical equipment would be a no-brainer. Maybe even an on-team doctor." Much like Bones was, here. She nods her understanding to Bones' explanation regarding brain wave activity. Of course they were currently far from anything that could possibly tell them what was going on here in deeper depth, but it was worth it to at least find those who were still alive. See if they would come to their senses or possibly be able to tell them what had transpired. Of course.. well, she hadn't been sure what the tricorder could suss out without further equipment before hand, so -

Mental notes taken. There is, of course, an over-arching want to go ahead and open that damn container marked hazardous - h's always been too curious for her own good, perhaps one who does't fully think a decision through on others. But the distraction of finding another body thankfully stops any thoughts revolving around what could be held in that small yellow container. She wants to crack it open near desperately, but instead ends up lingering back, just to be sure nothing sneaks in to try and kill them or steal what they'd managed to collect.

She leans on an arm she puts up slightly higher than her head in the doorway, finding no need to get close to another corpse today if she had a choice in the matter. "Looks to be a little more recent than his stinking friend outside." Though the temperature and the cover of the caves may have kept this one in slightly better condition, considering there was no contortion that would suggest rigor mortis she's willing to bet that the time of death was at least slightly later than the one outside.

"What's it beeping for?" She's a bit in the dark here about what all this means with the tricorder, but her brows knit slightly in concern.

Once Jim moved the light closer, his brow furrowed. Leaning in without blocking the light, he studied the substance that the tricorder was picking up. It wasn't something it considered 'toxic', just out of the ordinary. It had a powdery look, a dust of yellow that reminded him a little of the look of surfaces just after winter and the pine trees decided spring was in full swing.

He started to reach out and touch it, but thought better of it. Instead he put the tricorder to the side of pulled out another sample container and managed to sweep some into the tiny vial. "Looks like pollen. Could be nothing. Just haven't noticed any mass expulsion of pollen since we left quarantine. But he's got enough on him it seems like he was lovin' on some flower or he's been working closely with plants."

Part of him missed Sulu for this. He'd understand it better. But he knew enough about botanical science that he could at least make heads or tails of it. "Wouldn't be the first time that plants did something stupid to people." But this was extreme. "Till we know more, best not get cozy with any plants they seem to be workin' with in the research area."

There wasn't a lot of light, so they really couldn't get a very good look at it, but Jim managed to see enough to relate the yellow sort of dust to some kind of pollen. Bones was quick to agree with him, which made him surer that was what they were looking at. And really, considering they were on an alien moon with a portal that connected it to all sorts of worlds, they really couldn't know what the plants in this place would be capable of doing.

Like Bones said, wouldn't be the first time a plant did something like this to people. Well— maybe not exactly like this, but weird enough that it could be easily considered as a hypothesis.

"We should stay away from the body too, then. Just in case." At least they hadn't upset it too much so they hadn't disturbed the pollen, and Bones had only collected a small amount without sending a cloud of pollen up into the air. He'd like to keep it that way.

Glancing at Re-L, he was quiet for a few moments, clearly in deep thought before something clicked in his brain. "You said you found a container marked as hazardous. Can I take a look?" He wasn't going to open it, obviously. But he would like to try and figure out what was in it.

Re-L doesn't seem fully convinced about the pollen until she sees the sheer concentration of it on the scientist's collar and clothes. Her eyes are keen enough to catch the yellow color when the light hits is, brows knitting slightly as she tries to puzzle it all together. It seems obvious to say that there's something that's gone wrong, here, with whatever they were experimenting with. But considering thy'd seen no large pollen burst while they were there... it's a little more than strange. It seems to her that the pollen is the problem, here, but at the same time it seems odd to claim that the break down of an entire mission laid on the shoulders of a plant's pollen. But hell, here on an alien moon where anything and everything has and can happen... she can't write it off too quickly.

She's smart enough to realize that at least.

"Don't put your hands anywhere near your face now, McCoy." Sh really doesn't want their own situation spinning out of control over something as dumb as pollen, too.

"I didn't look very closely at the one outside to see pollen, but, if it's rained..." Then any pollen on that person might have been lost to the elements, and really... she wasn't looking to touch the body at all anyways. Laying out in the heat or in the elements wasn't necessarily a good thing for a dead body, and well.. they'd have to bring it back to the Quarantine somehow, she just wasn't quite sure how. Jim asks her about the container and she reaches in to her deep pockets to produce the yellow container, offering it to Jim.

"Sure. Just don't go opening it or anything."

"I don't know, Re-L. I might just want to take a moment to see if it smells like roses." He smirked just a little at her, then shook his head. "No, I don't plan to test it out on myself." Not when it was high on his list of culprits. And if it was affecting neural waves, then it had to be a neural toxin. Those could be the most dangerous. But if he didn't get a sample to look at later, he'd never know cause of the behavior that led to death.

"Look, if it's affecting brain waves, be careful. Most neural toxins are fast acting." Turning his head to look at Jim, he let his eyes slide to the hazardous container. "You open that and I will be right pissed at you. When somethin' says hazardous, that means you wear the full hazmat gear before you mess with it." He just hoped Jim wouldn't pull something like that and open it without a suit. They really needed a controlled environment, too. If it was pollen, it was air born just like any other pollen.

"Actually think till we know more, we should be wearin' masks. If it is some killer plant, breathin' it in ain't doin' any of us any good." Shaking his head, he pushed to his feet to get away from the body to return to the live patient. This time he looked for any signs of the pollen on him. He found it, but only small trace amounts on his clothes, especially on his sleeves and collar.

Edited 2017-07-19 04:20 (UTC)

Jim takes the box from Re-L, immediately shooting the both of them a flat look at the remarks coming from them about him opening that box. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Opening up some sealed container and see if what's in there can kill me, or possibly all of us."

He knows he's a little reckless at times, but honestly, even that is a little too extreme for him. He does, however, tug his flashlight underneath his own arm, grabbing his scanner to try and get a read on the box and whatever might be inside it while following after Bones as he moves away from the body.

"I don't know if it'll help any, but it's worth a shot," he shrugs, nodding at Bones's suggestions that they wear masks. At least while they're in here and back at the scientists' camp, it can't hurt. "You got enough masks with you for all of us?"

"You're free to do what you want, but I'm only willing to haul the both of you so far." Probably a lie, but with a poker face like that it's probably hard to tell and not really worth the risk. The good news is Bones and Jim are both rather useful, and have been good allies in both of the places she's run in to them, so chances are good that she'd be bothered enough to make sure they got back to the Quarantine and back to normal. If it ended up like herding cats, though..

Probably not a thought she should entertain regardless unless it ended up being necessary.

Bones makes a good point about the pollen, at least, to distract from Jim and the case, prompting Re-L to nod in agreement. "Yes, we should. I don't have any on hand..." Though if push came to shove they could probably improvise instead of not having anything. A little bit of invention wasn't all bad, even if it wasn't scientifically as effective as an actual medical mask. "We could always improvise if need be. Better than nothing at all."

Sliding his pack off, he dug through the supplies he meticulously packed for any sort of situation. He'd brought surgical masks at the very least because he never knew if and when he'd have to do some unsavory surgery out in the middle of nowhere. It was more habit than anything else. He'd brought along four, mainly cause he considered possibilities of contamination and sanitation needs. Not that they were good enough in his mind to protect them entirely. Still better than nothing.

"Well, I'm glad that you have a heart of gold like that, Re-L. But I don't plan to make myself dead weight if I can help it." He ignored Jim's smart ass remark and held up the surgical masks to each of them. "It's not the quality we likely need to filter out as much as I'd like.. but it will keep you from breathing in ninety percent of it."

And it would be easier than trying to breathe through something improvised. "Just... be careful." He stated that softer before turning to the man and pulling out some temporary fixes to get the man a little more hydrated. Pulling out gloves as well, he started to started to work to inject him with some fluids in hopes of getting him at least coherent to drink something. "We should likely get him out of the cave and away from whatever put him in this situation."

Jim shoots Re-L a brief look, an eyebrow slightly raised, though there's a trace of an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I think we'll be fine, but the generosity is appreciated." He has a feeling she'd care more than that, really, despite her nonchalant attitude. It's one of those small things he's still learning to navigate when it comes to Re-L, but it's not like emotionally stunted or repressed people are something new to him. One could say he has some extensive and prolonged experience in that department.

Nodding at Bones's explanation, he puts on his mask, though admittedly more for Bones's sake than his own. "Alright," he moves closer, leaning down to put a hand carefully on the guy's shoulder. He's still unconscious, but Jim just doesn't want him to wake up suddenly and get scared about a complete stranger carrying him around.

He'll have to risk it, though, it looks like. Sighing, he hands his scanner and light over to Bones, freeing up his hands so he can curl one around the scientist's back, the other hooking underneath his legs, then slowly he lifts him up from the ground. "Come on, lead the way. Let's get out of here."

Something was better than nothing for sure. Even if it kept out some of the pollen in the air and kept their heads on their shoulders Re-L would be glad for it. She takes the mask without a fight, carefully arranging it on her face so that (she hopes) it's filtering as much air she's breathing as possible. Though it's not something she puts voice to, the fact that she's lacking in terms of resistance to anything, pollens included, is weighing heavily on her mind at the moment. Thankfully she's masterful at the art of the poker face, too, as none of it shows as they banter back and forth about her statement before.

"Don't get cocky. We still don't fully know what the hell's going on." The pollen could be the tip of the iceburg, really, and she wasn't about to write anything off when it came to alien moons and the lot. Still, the mission at hand is most important, and Re-L nods as Bones suggests leaving the cave. It's a bit stale in there, after all, and she'd prefer to be back out in the open. Turning to the body further back in the cave, and then back to hr companions in this excursion, she tips her head slightly for indication.

"What about this one? I can carry him if need be... Or leave that for another recovery crew?" Not that she's all that keen to pick up a dead body, but. She's also very capable of carrying it out, at least.

Taking Jim's scanner, he started to protest about Jim doing the carrying alone, but he ended up stopping and lettin' it go. Putting his own mask on, he moved to the cave entrance while rolling his eyes a bit at the other two. Least Jim was playin' along to appease him and Re-L understood what he meant about how severe it could be with an unknown airborne threat. They'd have to deal with the body carefully of the dead as well. No need contaminating themselves.

Looking back at the body that Re-L indicated, he shook his head. "I think the bodies of the dead shouldn't be moved without more protective gear. I say mark the location of the dead and we'll either recover them later, or come back for them. The living is always the priority."

Not that he didn't respect the dead... He just knew they had more important things to deal with. The dead would have to wait a little longer. "Let's get him out of here and get to the research facility so we can get a better idea of what all is goin' on."

Well, he's not just doing it for Bones's sake. Whatever happened to this scientist, he definitely doesn't want it happening to him, and though he might risk a lot in dangerous situations out of sheer necessity, it seems stupid to risk his safety with an unknown pollen just because he doesn't feel like wearing a mask.

Not that the mask would change all that much, but it's better than nothing.

Nodding, Jim follows after the other two, keeping a good distance from them until they're out of the cave. Once out there, he lets Bones lead the way to the campsite, since he knows where it is, with Re-L following behind them to cover the rear. It'd be a problem if some creature were to sneak up on them now.

"Fair enough." That's a bit of a relief, anyway. She hadn't necessarily wanted to fool with the bodies or touching them in any facet, but.. if she'd been out voted it would've just been something she'd had to deal with. Having already marked where one body lay she makes sure the one in the cave is marked as well before following behind.

Following at the back to keep an eye out is understood without words, listening and watching with a keen sense of what they would be up against if they were taken by surprise. For a bit it seems as though they'll get there without incident, though movement further to their left has Re-L stopping, a finger moving to the trigger on her gun.

"Stop for a second. Something's moving at 3 o'clock."

The moment Re-L spoke, the doctor came to a complete halt and turned slowly to look in the direction she indicated. His eyes scanned the foliage of the area carefully looking for any indicator of it being human or not. Enough creatures had attacked them on their way that he felt a helluva lot more gun shy over it, that was for sure.

Reaching down to put his hand on his own gun, he saw the flora rustle as the rustle and cracking of limbs underfoot got more pronounced. He'd just managed to pull the weapon from it's holster when a figure, definitely humanoid burst from the forest's dense foliage and ran toward them with sheer terror in her eyes. Blinking in surprise, he barely had time to move the gun out of the way before the person flung herself at him and clung to his shoulders screaming, "Please, help me!"

He started to tell her to calm down, his hands awkwardly balancing his tricorder and weapon as they came to rest on her shoulders. That was when he realized the rustling in the brush hadn't stopped and something much bigger was starting to emerge with a loud roar like sound heading straight toward their little group.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject