Run Away Scare

Posted on Fri Nov 2nd, 2018 @ 12:07am by

Mission: Run Afoul
Location: Corridors outside Brig
Timeline: MD 03 1000 Hours
1049 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Wilfred punched a few commands into the computer. Another quiet day on the job where no one interrupted his thoughts with people who needed to be locked in the brig. The ship was new to her captain, perhaps someone would displease her and he might have something constructive to do but until then he was going to enjoy every moment of his solitude.

Ten minutes later just as he was supposed to be logging off his console and letting his relief take over, Wilfred ran screaming from the brig and smacked right into Lieutenant Rai and Lieutenant Commander Sommers just outside the double doors.

Lhaes wrapped his arms around the fleeing man, catching him before he could bowl them over. The long cape he wore draped over them like a silly blanket. "Hmmm dinner," the Romulan chuckled, the smile laying bare two of his fangs.

Wilfred jerked back from the man, his mouth hanging open in terror. Surely he must be dreaming, this couldn't possibly be true. Romulans were always suspect in his mind and therefore a small part of him believed this might be a joke but his heart was still pounding and he was only barely able to keep the sound from escaping his throat.

The Romulan looked up at Rai and smiled. "Want a bite?" he asked her, grey eyes sparkling as he looked at her.

"Brains?" Jex smiled, licking her lips a bit as she looked at Wilfred's forehead as though it were a delicious meal. "Brains," she echoed, sounding more sure of herself as she took a step closer to the terrified young officer. Jex kept her face blank and her gaze fixed.

Wilfred jerked away from both of them but his foot caught on one of their boots and he found himself splayed flat on the floor, his chin taking some of the impact that his hands hadn't prevented. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" It came out much higher pitched than he intended.

Not even blinking, the zombie from Betazed took one awkward step forward. "Brains.... braaaains," were the only words that came from the creature. Each step looked as if the woman were fighting rigor mortis as her arms were clinched at awkward angles, all the while slowly closing the distance to Wilfred.

Seeing his source of food being all but snared from him, the vampire Romulan snarled. Sharing was one thing but his victim was about to be stolen from him. He moved swiftly, picking the zombie up and tossing her away. roll he thought as his hand touched her skin. To an observer it was a swift Todd, but in reality it wasn't as hard as it seemed, giving her ample time to move and safely land.

Jex, the zombie, landed and rolled into a bulkhead. To the observer, the resting position of the zombie appeared as though she had been severely injured, if not killed in action. In reality, the toss had not been enough to injure anyone and Jex had positioned herself awkwardly on the floor. She kept herself still, waiting on Wilfred's reaction before reanimation would occur.

Lhaes advanced on the fallen officer, reaching out to grab him by the arm. He smiled, fangs bared, at the young man at his feet. "You will make a nice snack," he said in a low hiss, "all for myself."

"HELP!" Wilfred screamed, leaving behind any pretense not that Wilfred usually showed much. He was a heart on the sleeve kind of guy. But he couldn't think about any of that right now. Something was terribly wrong on this ship. Some kind of disease? A hallucinogenic drug? He was willing to accept any explanation other than this was real. There must be someone out there to help him. "Help!" He screamed again as he tried to crawl away from the zombie and the vampire.

"There's no help here Wilbur," Lhaes said, deliberately getting the young man's name wrong, "don't you want to live forever? I can give it to you.." As he advanced slowly, he herded the man towards the seemingly dead zombie.

Choosing her moment, Jex began to stir. With a carefully acted struggle to get up and a strategically placed groan, the zombified Jex began to half crawl toward the terrified Wilfred. "Braaaains," she added, her speech less human and more guttural than before.

Wilfred couldn't even handle life as it was, he certainly didn't want to go on for an eternity. He knew he needed to be braver and to change his ways but this was really not the way he expected that knowledge to come about. "I'm dreaming, this isn't real." He scooted against the bulkhead, there was no where to go, at least not fast enough to get away from these two when he was crawling across the floor.

Sensing that the two of them had perhaps gone a bit too far with the poor man, Jex dropped the act and sat cross-legged on the floor just in front of Wilfred. Using her best hostage negotiation tone, the Chief of Security stated, "We were playing a Halloween joke, we are all normal." She put up her hands in a non-threatening gesture in order to show that she was who she said she was. "I don't like brains, and I acted most of that throw."

Observing the change, Lhaes sa himself down next to her and offered Wilfred his hand, pre-emptively steeling himself against the bombardment of feelings should the man take it. "Feel for yourself," he said gently, "I'm not a vampire...I'm very much alive."

He didn't bother to touch either of them. Instead he pulled himself to his feet, his heart was pounding in his chest. They had been making fun of him. He couldn't take a full breath, he needed to get away from them both. He pushed past and headed through the ship for some dark corner until he could decide what to do with himself.

Lhaes sighed softly. "I think we went too far," he said softly.

Giving a regretful nod, Jex replied, "Agreed. We need to make it up to the poor guy."

Ensign Wilfred Wexler
Brig Officer
USS Majestic

Lieutenant Commander Lhaes Sommers
CIO
USS Makestic

Lieutenant Jexasi Rai
Chief Tactical/Security Officer
USS Majestic