Waiting to Die

Astarte began sliding forwards towards to other side with her weight spread as evenly as possible, and slowly, quietly and without a distinct rhythm of motion.

Grimm closed the bible and rose to a stand, slowly backing up to the wall opposite the door and cocking his pistol.

*Eve stays by Lilith's side, watching for danger*
---
*Tirea mimics Astarte's motions*

*There are a few more ominous creaks, but they manage to get to the edge of the road safely. The flashlight beam eventually turns & heads in another direction.*
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*In the dead silence of the house, they of course hear the loud cocking noise.*

L"(Great, he knows we're here. Maybe we should--)"

*As she starts to turn around, there is a loud creaking from the roof, followed by an enormous crash as chunks of the ceiling collapse, a looming white shape dropping into the hallway. It peers over its shoulder with its glowing red orbs, turning as it rears to its full height, blocking off the entrance. But when Lilith sees it's having a hard time turning in the cramped hallway due to its bulk, she grips the machete in both hands, darting forward to stab it in its left shoulder. It lets out an agonized screech that rattles their bones before knocking Lilith back with a flutter of its wing, her machete still lodged in its exoskeleton. It reaches over its shoulder, grabbing the blade & trying to pull it out.*
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*Naturally, Grimm hears the sound of part of its roof collapsing & the beast's horrible shriek.*

Astarte crawled onto the edge of the road and turned her head back to look for where the flashlight appeared to be.

Grimm took aim at the wall where he heard the scuffle and fired twice at chest-height.

*Eve runs back to wherever Lilith landed, trying to see if she's alright. She grips the kitchen knife in one hand*

Eve:<Are you still with me?!>
---
*Tirea follows close behind Astarte*

*Lilith's response is drowned out by a gunshot & another shriek from the creature. She pulls out her hunting knife & lunges at it with an icepick grip, determined to bring it down while it's inconvenienced. She succeeds in raking it across the beast's wrist & retrieving her machete before she is knocked back again, though her flashlight skids down the hall, pointing into the bedroom & right into Grimm's eyes.*

Grimm stepped aside from the beam and squinted at the wall, waiting in aim, "Come on then, bastards."

Astarte is still lookin'.

*As long as the best is still inconvenienced, Eve darts forward, stabbing it in the same place Lilith did. She then pulls the blade out and runs back towards Lilith*

*They cannot see where the light has gone from this vantage point.*
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*The beast's other wrist is now barely hanging on. Determined to kill it before it can manage to pull itself around, Lilith darts foward, swinging with the machete, but she slips on some of the slick goo that is now covering the floor. Finally catching a break, the creature manages to pull itself around to face them with a shudder of protest from the walls. It then shrieks, filtered through their ringing ears, & barrels towards them. Lilith takes another swing with the machete, but it has enough reflexes left in its dead wrist to knock the blow aside. She then uses her hunting knife to block a strike from the monster's almost-severed claw. As she starts sliding under it, it raises a hind claw & slams down where her head was just a second ago.*
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*Grimm is still just talking to himself, hearing the sounds of the struggle. But now he also hears a 2nd struggle coming from the direction of his living room. Some scuffling, movement of furniture, & the sounds of guns firing.*

Astarte beckoned for Tirea to come closer and whispered, "What now? Wait and try again? Go back?"

Grimm dropped to a squat and continued to aim at the door, baring his grinding teeth.

*Eve grips her kitchen knife tightly. Unless there is an adjacent room she can dive into, she throws herself onto the ground and to the side of the beast as it barrels down the hall. Eve does her best to avoid any feet/claws*
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*Tirea whispers back*

Tirea:<(Lilith told us to get some phones, right? We either do that, or try going back to Grimm's and see if we can sneak in.>

*One of the monster's talons slices painfully into her knee. Lilith reaches up & grabs a fluttering wing, which pulls her out from under the beast. She then starts jabbing it about the neck & head with her hunting knife, though fortunate for it, it has the foresight to close its eyes & sustains minor wounds. It turns & slams her against the wall, reaching back with its maimed but still mostly functional claw. From the living area, more gunshots can be heard as Roatha backs in, firing at unseen assailants.*

"Let's try getting phones," Astarte rose up to one knee and looked around for signs of life.

Grimm edged sideways from being directly opposite the door as gunfire continued in his house.

*Gasping for breath, Eve attempts to move in and stab the monster in whatever wound is already present on its maimed hand*
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Tirea:<(I think we're going to have to steal them, unless you've got money lying around.)>

*It demonstrates once again that it has very primitive reflexes by swinging out with its dead arm, doing superficial damage but knocking her back. Also, her leg shakes from the stabbing pain of where its rear claw stabbed into her. It rears forward to slam Lilith into the wall again, but she moves & positions the point of her machete so it winds up impaling itself, covering her ears with 1 arm to protect against the shriek. It turns with the machete in its back to swipe weakly at her, with Ira looking on in horror as she jumps aside. Casting a glance into the living room, he decides to run towards Eve & Lilith while occasionally glancing behind himself.*

*Eve grits her teeth, covering her ears. Putting as little weight on her injuried keg as possible, she moves back beside Lilith. She does her best not to get hit again*

Eve:<Ira!>

"I guess if we sneak into any random house we will find a cell phone to use. Less likely to be alarmed than a store."

Grimm fired into the commotion once again.

*This time, no one seems to notice. Ira aims a punch at Lilith, but she ducks in time for him to trip over her, skidding across the floor, which is the only thing Grimm can see from his vantage point. Meanwhile, in the hall, Vanessa & Schreiber appear from around the corner. Schreiber fires 3 shots into the beast's head, at which point it finally slumps over. For good measure, she shoots the nail gun into the gaping hole.*

L"This thing was Hell to bring down. We should burn it the first chance we get."

*As if to drive the point home, when Vanessa approaches, it lashes wildly at her with its claws & crawls forward several feet before going still again. Meanwhile, Ira rolls into the bedroom.*

*Eve points wildly into the bedroom*

Eve:<We need to take out Ira while we have the chance! Come on!>
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Tirea:<(Lots of people have house alarms though. I guess it's worth a try.)>

*She rises to her knees*

Astarte took off at a stooped run and looked around for lower-income-looking houses.

Grimm took another step aside to keep Ira at arms' length and in range while still aiming at the door, "How many are there?"

"Four. A couple of 'em knocked out the cops & took their weapons, because apparently I hired cartoon henchmen!"
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L"(In case you've forgotten, he has a gun. Not to mention the priest will surely be in there with his own. We need a plan.)"

*As she says this, she puts her foot on the monster's back & pulls out her machete, doing her best to ignore its thrashing. Meanwhile, Vanessa & Schreiber bring up the rear, now armed with proper guns, tasers, & more mace.*
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*It's a single neighborhood by the main street, the homes all look basically the same.*

Astarte picked the one that looked the most shitty, as one of them certainly must have, and looked to see if there were any lights on indoors.

"Lord judge you justly," Grimm sighed quietly to himself, before bellowing. "Come on then, kill me!"
On 'kill' he fired a round at chest-height where the sound of thrashing was coming from, then another round through the wall a few feet either side at lower angles and then going to his knees.

*Assuming there aren't any bullets flying in her direction, Eve turns to Vanessa and the professor*

Eve:<Can I have a real weapon? All I have is this.>

*She holds up her kitchen knife*
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*Tirea is following*

*They do notice bullet holes explode in the walls between them, barely missing them as they were aimed where the monster is. Schreiber ignores them & peers through the bullet hole &, thanks to the discarded flash light, can see where Grimm & Ira are. She motions for Vanessa to assist her & then they firing into the room, though Vanessa's shots are going all over the place due to her shaky hands. Seeing where this is going, Lilith dives to the floor, snuggling up behind the monster's bulk despite its renewed thrashing.*
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*It's probably only due to being partially occluded by the bed that Grimm isn't dead, as bullet holes burst his mattress & explode the floor around him. As the closet would surely be on this side of the room, Ira dives into it & starts firing back, but has to switch out his clip after a few shots.*
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*About the worst thing in this area would be a house with a bit of peeling paint & a slightly sagging banister, so I guess they go there. With the exception of some houses to the distance on their right, all of the homes on this block seem to have all of their lights turned off.*

Astarte went in closer, creeping around the perimeter and looking for cameras or any sign indicating active security as well as any windows that might have been left ajar.

Grimm fired back at a comparatively measured pace, aiming for the bullet holes closest to him as they appeared in the hopes of hitting their makers.