For an explanation of what this is and the background, please see AFTER THE FLESH - PITH - 001.
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(Previously, from AFTER THE FLESH - PITH - 005)
This leads your thoughts ahead quickly. “But… it didn’t start running again until it ate that policewoman’s brain!”
You all realize what is about to happen at the same time. The Sprinter is about to eat someone’s brain and then probably start chasing you again. You are far enough away that you could turn a corner and maybe lose the pursuit. You also may be close enough to get to the pedestrians in time.
(and now...)
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After the Flesh - Pith - 006
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“Aww Fuck!” you blurt out as you grab the tire iron and turn to Sharon. “We have to run it over.”
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Sharon looks at you, and her confusion quickly becomes comprehension and then soon becomes a sort of savage glee. “Yeah. I’m going to run the fucker over,” she says as she smiles wolfishly.
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You both barely register Roger opening the door and getting out of the car, saying “You two are crazy.”
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But you are too late. A Flower Shop Lady with long hair, who looks to be in her 30’s, steps up close to the Sprinter, checking to see if he is ok. You can’t hear what she says, but it looks like she is asking him if he needs help. The Sprinter suddenly lunges at her, as she puts her arm up to protect her face. It bites into her arm, holding on with its teeth as she screams in shock and pain, blood running out of its mouth and down her arm onto the pavement.
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Sharon stomps on the gas, quickly pivoting the car in a U-turn and starts honking the horn as she accelerates towards the Sprinter. People look up from their day-to-day humdrum and see the car coming. They scatter and seek cover, unknowingly distancing themselves from the Sprinter’s reach and the shrieking Flower Shop Lady. It looks up at the car, casually releases its bite and pushes the Flower Lady to crash through her shop window. It starts coming towards you, not registering that the car will damage it.
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You and Sharon brace for impact as you close the distance. Suddenly, a man with a scraggly beard steps out towards your car, shouting “Hey! Look out! You’re gonna hit someone!”
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Sharon flinches and slams on the brakes as she dodges hitting the pedestrian. The tires smoke as they lock up and the vehicles comes to a reluctant stop.
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The man keeps righteously yelling, ten feet from Sharon’s car window, “Can’t you see this guy is sick?” He continues to refer to the Sprinter as it stalks up towards him. "You could have run him … HEY! ARRRGHH!”
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In a daze from stopping so fast, you both look up to see the Sprinter has grabbed the man’s face from behind and pulled him back into its waiting mouth. You see a spray of blood shoot up, misting into the air as the Sprinter bites a chunk out of the man’s neck. It doesn’t even bother consuming the flesh, it just lets it fall back out of its mouth.
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Now it has the man’s head in both hands from behind him. It drives the man’s face towards the road, cracking it open loudly and grotesquely, splattering brain and skull. But, to its bad luck, most of the contents of the man’s cranium squirt into the running rainwater heading towards the drain, taking it out of the Sprinter’s reach and towards the sewers. Undaunted, the Sprinter starts to crawl towards the brain in the gutter.
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Sharon doesn’t hesitate. She backs the car up and then drives forward as fast as she can towards the Sprinter, driving over both it’s legs, breaking them and stopping on one, pinning it to the ground. And everything just goes still as you both sit there in silence for a moment, building up to what you need to do next. You grip the Tire Iron tightly, realizing how short it is and how many times you’re going to need to use it on the Sprinter, without it grabbing you.
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Resolved, you grab your door handle and look back towards where Roger got out. To your surprise, you see him walking down the street, carrying two axes and… a crowbar? Even more surprising, a beautiful and busty lady walking behind him, wearing the apron of the Hardware store and brandishing a sledgehammer. A Sledgehammer?
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Sharon has also noticed it and then turns back towards you in bewilderment. But her eyes flick back towards the Flower Shop, and she blurts out “What the Hell?”
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You turn quickly and see the Flower Shop Lady stand up, her back broken and her body contorted weirdly. Glass sticking out of her skin in various parts, blood, and torn flesh. Flower Shop Lady slowly shuffles over broken glass and towards a screaming customer in her store.
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What is the next step?
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Thank you to everyone who is involved in this. I hope you continue to enjoy this and look forward to your comments and suggestions. That is what makes this fun for me.
- And don't forget to check out the first spin-off, AFTER THE FLESH - LIMBS - T&A - 001 for a different perspective from ground zero.
