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Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2025 3:53 pm
by Chaser1
Lysanthra doesn't know what to do and she's confused. What on Earth is happening? It looks like chaos and the world was so simple a little while ago. She doesn't want to panic. She has to stay calm but what does she do now? It's not safe to stay here but where is she supposed to go? Liz's mind is spinning around. Maybe she should try to find someone to help her but with everyone running around she's probably better off by herself. Still she thinks about looking for Ingrid first. Instead she quickly heads in the direction she saw Emily running. If she can figure out what is happening, then she can decide what to do next.

Another explosion from the edge of town mushrooms up as a fireball, raining dirt and rocks all throughout town. She chases after Emily and whoever she's with. The young lady that Emily's with is wearing jack boots, tan tight pants and a flowery blouse, spattered with blood. Her light blonde, almost white, hair, also speckled with blood, whips like a flag in the concussive wind caused by the last explosion.

Lysanthra finally catches up to her foster sister, who looks up at her with teary blue eyes, "Liz! They're killing everyone!" she holds up her hand, her left pinky finger is hanging by a single muscle and profusely pumping out blood. "We have to run or hide!"

"Leave no survivors," Shouts a man's voice from the edge of town. "Find that thieving son of a bitch!"

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2025 4:31 pm
by lysanthra
Lysanthra instantly becomes worried for Emily. She jumps into action and rips a piece of her sleeve off to quickly stop the bleeding. Liz ties it around Emily's hand and tells her to keep pressure on it. She glances around to see where they are and what is around them. She doesn't immediately see a great place to hide themselves. Lysanthra grabs Emily's good hand and tells her they need to run to find a safer location. She wonders to herself who the voice was looking for and hoping she can avoid them.

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2025 4:40 pm
by Chaser1
Lysanthra instantly becomes worried for Emily. She jumps into action and rips a piece of her sleeve off to quickly stop the bleeding, but not before Emily tries to put her pinky back together. Liz ties it around Emily's hand and tells her to keep pressure on it. Emily complies, still crying.

She glances around to see where they are and what is around them. She sees dozens of houses on this side of the street. The veterinary clinic is a few buildings down. Across the street, what was once the stockyards is now a crater full of twisted body parts from both people and animals. The backside of Swenson's Machines is where someone could easily hide in some of the vehicles. Behind the vet clinic is the grocery store. Otherwise, everything else is too far away.

She doesn't immediately see a great place to hide themselves. Lysanthra grabs Emily's good hand and tells her they need to run to find a safer location. She wonders to herself who the voice was looking for and hoping she can avoid them.

The trio runs in the opposite direction, the other young lady simply says, "I'm Megana, who're you?" As they head closer to the creek running along the edge of town, away from the menacing voice.

That's when they hear the menacing voice again, "If you can't find him, then level the town!"

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2025 5:12 pm
by lysanthra
"I'm Liz and this is Emily," she replied to Megana. She was still afraid of being found but it sounded like they were looking for a man. Hopefully the three of them could avoid the voice. Lysanthra didn't know who they were looking for but she was glad it wasn't her. "Where should we go?" she asked Megana. She hoped Ingrid was safe too. Liz knew they would need a plan to get out of this situation. She remained calm and turned to Emily to check on her.

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2025 5:30 pm
by Chaser1
"I'm Liz and this is Emily," she replies. She's still afraid of being found but it sounds like they're looking for a man. Hopefully the three of them can avoid the voice. Lysanthra doesn't know who they're looking for but she's glad it isn't her. "Where should we go?" she asks Megana. She hopes Ingrid is safe too. Liz know they need a plan to get out of this situation. She remains calm and turns to Emily to check on her.

Emily's face is pale as she continues to jog beside the two. Meg answers with, "What if we hide in the water under the water mill?"

More gun fire is heard from the other end of town, followed by the screams of the dying.

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2025 11:30 am
by lysanthra
Lysanthra agrees with Meg. They can't keep running or Emily might pass out. Hopefully hiding will give Emily time to rest and give them time to think about their next move. "Lead the way," Liz says to Meg keeping an eye on Emily.

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2025 12:12 pm
by Chaser1
Lysanthra agrees with Meg. They can't keep running or Emily might pass out. Hopefully hiding will give Emily time to rest and give them time to think about their next move. "Lead the way," Liz says to Meg keeping an eye on Emily.

Megana leads the two to the water mill. They climb into the frigid water and slowly move under the water wheel, which turns with the current and collects water for the town's water supply. Emily holds her wrapped finger above water as it continues to bleed through the improvised bandage. She begins sobbing, fear radiates as she stares at Lysanthra for comfort.

The sounds of ATVs and motorcycles pass by. Another ATV pulls up and shuts its motor off as Liz can hear the sounds of two individuals dismount and begin crunching gravel around.

"You said you saw a group running this way?" One asks.

"Yeah, it looked like a group of women," the other answers.

"Boss will be happy. We need more comfort women for the pits."

She hears them enter the water house, their footsteps clunking around above them as Liz, Emily and Megana scoot under the protruding portion of the waterhouse, only allowing enough room to breathe. Emily bumps her finger on the floor above them and dips her face into the water to scream.

"You hear something?" one of them asks. A few moments of more walking passes. Emily still has her face underwater.

"There's nothing here. Everything's still dusty and if we don't get moving, then they might make it to the lake." They trot out of the waterhouse and climb back onto their ATV and drive away, spraying gravel as they leave.

Megana almost speaks when the sound of a single set of footsteps approach. "Come out come out, wherever you are..." a male voice taunts. "I know you're somewhere here. Just make it easier on yourselves. I wouldn't want to have to kill two of you to take only one. You'd be all alone then..."

Fear radiates from Meg and Emily as they look to Liz for any ideas.

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2025 12:48 pm
by lysanthra
Lysanthra is screaming with panic in her head but keeps steadily breathing for Emily's sake. She knows she has to come up with something quickly. Emily won't last much longer without medical attention. She's lost a lot of blood and she's struggling to stay on her feet. Liz looks at Meg with determination and nods towards Emily. Her look says it all without a word. Emily can't fight and Lysanthra would be damned if she would let someone take Emily off somewhere for God knows what reason. Meg and Liz could fight but would they be successful in eluding capture? She looks at Meg and points upwards. She wants to stay hidden but she knows that won't work. They would be found and captured for whatever purpose. Lysanthra knows that Emily needs help and hopefully Meg can get it fast. She holds a finger to her lips signaling Meg to stay quiet while Liz slips away silently. She knows if she pops out the focus will be on her so Meg and Emily can go in another direction. Lysanthra knows this is a bad idea but what choice does she have for Emily's sake? She will give her a chance to get away with Meg while Liz distracts the man. Lysanthra takes her chances and pops out of the water a safe distance from them. Here goes nothing Liz thinks to herself as she takes a deep breath and runs through scenarios in her head.

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2025 1:14 pm
by Chaser1
Lysanthra is screaming with panic in her head but keeps steadily breathing for Emily's sake. She knows she has to come up with something quickly. Emily won't last much longer without medical attention. She's lost a lot of blood and she's struggling to stay on her feet. Liz looks at Meg with determination and nods towards Emily. Her look says it all without a word. Emily can't fight and Lysanthra would be damned if she would let someone take Emily off somewhere for God knows what reason. Meg and Liz could fight but would they be successful in eluding capture? She looks at Meg and points upwards. She wants to stay hidden but she knows that won't work. They would be found and captured for whatever purpose. Lysanthra knows that Emily needs help and hopefully Meg can get it fast. She holds a finger to her lips signaling Meg to stay quiet while Liz slips away silently. She knows if she pops out the focus will be on her so Meg and Emily can go in another direction. Lysanthra knows this is a bad idea but what choice does she have for Emily's sake? She will give her a chance to get away with Meg while Liz distracts the man. Lysanthra takes her chances and pops out of the water a safe distance from them. Here goes nothing Liz thinks to herself as she takes a deep breath and runs through scenarios in her head.

The sound of the water trickling from her soaked clothes back into the water is enough noise to catch the man's attention. He wears a custom made cowboy hat, a red bandana, a dark red flannel shirt, heavy duty pants and cowboy boots. He draws a revolver and aims it at Liz, "Stay put, you hear?" He comes into view. Lysanthra can only see from the top of his nose to the brim of his hat. His eyes flash amusement as he gets closer. "You wouldn't want me to take you out of commission, would you?"

He has other weapons on him and a radio on clipped to his collar. He gets to about twenty feet from her and asks, "You a virgin?"

Re: Rifts Dead Man's Hand - Festival Day - Lysanthra

Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2025 4:31 pm
by lysanthra
Lysanthra knows this man means business. She can't run now that he's so close. She needs to buy time and distract him from Meg and Emily who are silently sneaking away in the water. She could try to fight for the gun but Liz thinks that outcome is likely not in her favor either. She stands a little taller feeling braver than a moment ago. "No way I'm telling you anything about me," Lysanthra said to him. She considers her options carefully. Run and she could get caught in no time. Fight and she could end up dead. Was it worth it to protect the others? Liz already knew her answer. That's what she had decided when she stepped out of the water. She looked around quickly, thoughts racing with possible scenarios. Lysanthra sized up the man and gauged the distance between them in a matter of seconds. The only option that seemed smart was to get him close enough to kick and take out his knee. If she could drop him or knock him off balance he may drop the gun and she could get out of this alive. Hopefully the gun would land in the water or close enough to her so that she could pick it up. Lysanthra would use all her strength to hopefully break his knee and get away. If she was able to get the gun from the man, could she use it? She knew how it works but did she have it in her to kill? If need be, Liz would do whatever it takes to survive and this was a life and death situation. She took a step to her left and prepared for him to step closer. All she had to do was kick with her right at an angle so that his knee would go sideways. Lysanthra waited for him to lunge at her.