Flameaxe sauntered home, as always a little overly awake after a good show at the Limelight. And for that matter, awake and alert isn't a bad thing, considering what has been going on lately... turning the corner onto Delaware, a single remaining porchlight showed John Doe sweeping off the porch of the gallery. Doe raised a hand in greeting, stopping to lean on the broom handle.
"Evening."
Flameaxe was surprised; Doe was one of the old-fashioned residents of the River Quay, and didn't usually want to acknowledge the dancers and adult entertainers who made up the newest portion of the business community. Nevertheless, politeness never hurt. "Evening, John. You're up late."
Doe nodded.
"Lots to do. Time waits on no man..."
Doe trailed off, obviously still a little uncomfortable with the appearance of his visitor.
"Uhm... may I... offer you a drink?"
Flameaxe was surprised, but flattered. Doe must be feeling the same tension, that need for community and companionship everyone was feeling more strongly since the summer's violence began.
"Well... that would be nice, actually. Summer seems like it's never going to end, does it?"
"Oh, I don't know. I'm sure it'll all be over soon. After a nightcap, I'll walk you home... for safety? Right."
Flameaxe, Cabaret Dancer/Townie, was murdered at home Night Six.
Dr. Amrun Tajo tried to stretch her neck; these long nights were getting to her, she decided. St. Mary's was usually a quiet place to work, but this summer, either the heat or something in the water had everyone a little crazy. More shootings, stabbings, and robberies than she could remember ever seeing before...
Her car waited near the end of the second row in the parking lot; she'd been lucky to get a close spot tonight when she arrived for her shift at the hospital. Normally she didn't mind the walk, but with everything going on lately -
"Hello, doc."
Amrun spun around, looking for the source of the voice and settling on a slender Asian man crossing from the ambulance parking lot. She squinted in the light differential, trying to tell if his dark clothes were the drivers' uniform or not.
"Hello there. I'm sorry, have we met?"
"Once or twice. I just wanted to tell you - "
suddenly he was moving faster than she thought possible, pulling a ohgodagun from behind his back.
"Just wanted to tell you goodnight."
"What? Why... if you need money, I have some in my purse. If you're after drugs, I'm afraid I cannot help you there; the dispensary is quite closed."
"Oh, it's not that. I mean, I will take what you have, but this is business, not personal."
Amrun, Physician/
Doctor, was shot Night Six.
"Greco? It's Sam Ludi."
"Oh, hey. What's going on? Aren't you on shift?"
"Change of plans, unfortunately. My grandma passed last night and I need to take an emergency trip back east."
"Aww, Sam, I'm sure sorry to hear that. Anything I can do? Cover a shift or two for you?"
"I appreciate the offer, Hero, but I know you've got the weekend off. I made other arrangements to cover my shift. But if you've got an hour or so this morning, I'd sure like to get a ride up to the airport. Cab fare's a right bastard on top of the airfare, and my TWA flight leaves before the busses will be up that far north."
"Oh... yeah, sure, no problem. Give me twenty - are you at the substation on 3rd?"
"Nah, I'm at home, over on Fourth. I'll just walk over to your place and meet you there. Saves time?"
"Sure, no problem."
"Thanks, Herodotus. You don't know what this means to me."
Herodotus, Corrupt Police Officer/
Cop, was found dead in his car's trunk in the endgame.
"Bastard!"
Anahito Xvart clenched his teeth to stop from screaming, clamping his hands down on the gunshot wound in his thigh.
"Stupid, cocksucking...."
He shot back again twice, firing through the hollowcore door to Cobblerfone's bedroom.
Of all the stupid things to have happen...
He raised his voice again.
"Paul? You can't win, you know. There's too many of us. Why don't you just make this easy on yourself?"
He looked behind him and saw Camisano coming up the steps, suitcoat flaring with anger.
"What in the name of all the saints are you DOING in here? It sounds like fucking Vietnam!"
Xvart bit back another groan and turned back to the door in front of him. No more cases of lead poisoning had come at him in at least a minute, which was a minor miracle considering how things had gone up until now.
"Sorry boss. I got him to let me in for a talk but.... urgh... I didn't know he was carrying."
Camisano drew his own gun with a disgusted shake of the head.
"Well, make sure he's NOT carrying now. I'll cover your sorry backside."
Xvart nodded and stumbled to his feet, trying not to look at the river of gore streaming down his trouser leg. This was made slightly easier by his vision going rapidly gray for a moment as he stood up.
Oh no...
But he hobbled to the door, listened for a moment as he leaned against the frame, and then pushed it open with his foot, leaning back away from the widening door.
Nothing happened. After a count of four, he ducked his head around the corner quickly for a look, then almost ducked back before he saw Cobblerfone's body sprawled back across the bed. His gun was lying on the pillow, open for reloading, but the mess of pink and grey behind his head seemed certain knowledge that this mess was over.
"He's dead, boss. He..."
Xvart stumbled to his knees as he tried to walk into the room, then the wounded leg collapsed under him and he was left staring at the dust bunnies underneath the bed. His blood roared in his temples for a moment, then his vision went black. The last thing he heard was Camisano's wingtips coming to a halt behind him, then blackness enveloped everything.
Anahito Xvart,
Recruited Teamster
/
Roleblocker, was killed in a shootout during the endgame.
Paul Cobblerfone, Teamster/
Army Veteran, was dumped in the river during the endgame.
Cecily Smith wrapped up her shift at Judge Roy Bean's and dumped her apron behind the counter. For once the till had come up even, and she could get out on time. Maybe even get a little studying done before her morning classes, if her Lambda Delta sisters let her concentrate. She grimaced as she calculated briefly the likely effects of just one drink on her ability to study... sometimes being in the pre-med program had its drawbacks.
At her car, she was surprised to find a tall man waiting for her. It was the cook from down the street at Dinkeldorf's Deli. Cute, in an Eastern European sort of way... they'd flirted a couple of times, but he'd stood her up the one time they'd actually tried to make a dinner date.
What was his name...
God, it must be late if she could forget.
Yusef? No, Yossarian, like in that book.
"Well hello, stranger. They finally let you out after dark?"
Yosarian grinned
"Sorry about the other night. Been tied up a lot, and work's been brutal."
She nodded, standing apprenehsively for a moment before waving him out of the way so she could unlock the car.
"Come on, at least let me sit down in my own car. If you're nice, I'll turn on the air for you."
He backed out of the way hastily, his hands in his pockets as he waited for her to get her keys out. She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, then slipped into the benchseat and pulled the latch on the other side.
"Here, get in."
He slid into the other side, and she was surprised to find him looking directly at her after she got the engine going. The blast of hot air from the vents masked what he said at first, and she asked him to repeat it.
"I said, 'Put your hands on the wheel.'"
She stared at him in confusion for a moment, and then she realized that he had pulled a syringe out of his pocket out and was holding it just above her elbow. The tip wavered slightly, but the snub-nosed revolver in his other hand.
"I'm sorry, but this will hurt less if you don't move."
Cecily "Lambdadelta" Smith, Bartender/
Cult Doctor, died of a fatal drug overdose in the endgame.
Bunny Lover trudged up the steps of the apartment, fumbling to get her keys out. She was so tired she could hardly see straight, and it took three tries to get both locks open. She'd had the new one installed once the killings had started in the area.
These double shifts will be the end of me...
She still had four months to go on her lease in this place before she could move, and the job market for female factory workers was not exactly pleasant right now. All of the returning soldiers from the war had driven the market into the employers' favor again, and trying to get work anywhere close to the salary she had at Chase Bag Company was brutal.
She leaned her head against the doorframe for a moment before pushing it open, and just had time to hear a light patter of footsteps behind her when a blinding pain shot through her lower back. Someone or something had hit her like a truck, knocking her most of the way into the apartment. She fell and stumbled, trying to roll onto her back and get her mace and whistle back from where the keyring had fallen. A foot kicked it away, then came back to connect with her temple, making her see stars.
"What? Who the f-"
"Quiet."
The slender figure closed the door behind himself and stood there for a moment, then pulled an immensely long and sharp knife from a sheath on his hip. Bunny Lover tried to scream, but a fist flashed out of nowhere and crushed her windpipe, choking off the noise. Then the figure was astride her, one knee pinning her left arm, the other driving the air out of her chest as it landed just beneath her ribcage. Then the knife rose, twirled slowly in the moonlight, and fell like a guillotine...
Bunny Lover, Factory Worker/Townie, was stabbed to death during the endgame.
Father Barnabas Voigt put down the book he was reading and rose at the knock at the presbytery door. It was early, still some hours before confessionals would start, but the main sanctuary was open for anyone who wanted to come in and pray. They rarely needed the services of a priest in that, however... He pulled the stole from its place on the side of his desk and placed it around his shoulders, murmuring the traditional phrase:
"Restore to me, O Lord, the state of immortality which I lost through the sin of my first parents and, although unworthy to approach Thy Sacred Mysteries, may I deserve nevertheless eternal joy."
Opening the door, he was shocked to find Joseph Camisano in the doorway. Camisano had never been the most observant of Catholics, and of late he had missed more services than he had attended.
"May I come in, Father?"
"Well... yes, of course, my son. What brings you here today?"
Camisano seemed to take his time getting seated; Father Voigt noticed he was dressed neatly and formally in a charcoal suit with European details. He finally looked up from his lap and said,
"Father, it's come to my attention that you are... have been trying to interfere with my business. I don't appreciate that."
Voigt was shocked, but kept it to himself.
"Son...Joseph, I am in the business of 'interfering' with sin and predation wherever it is found. If that puts me against you... then so be it. I won't be intimidated by the likes of you. I would like to..."
He broke off at Camisano's laughter, abrupt and ugly.
"Intimidate you? Oh no, father, I ain't going to try to intimidate you. I know you're a man of God, and nothing I could say would bring you about to how I see things."
"Which is what?"
Camisano took a deep breath.
"Strength. I'm here...I'm STILL here, because I am strong. Powerful beyond other men. Civillia fell. Sperro fell. Hell, even DiLuna fell, and he's as tough as they come... sorry, Father."
Father Voigt waved it away.
"Then why come here? You've been an empty spot in the pews since... since Civillia died in that explosion. I don't believe I've seen you more than three or four times, even in the neighborhood. So why come here now?"
"Well, Father... I had to. You see, most of the boys balked at killing a priest. And some of them couldn't even do simpler tasks correctly. So... I came to see to you myself."
Suddenly a small chromed revolver appeared from inside Camisano's pocket, a strange cylinder like a second barrel affixed to the end.
"I... see. God forgive you, my son."
"God helps those who help themselves, Father."
Father B. Voigt, Priest/
Cult Doctor, was murdered in his own church during the endgame.
Joseph "Kinetic" Camisano
, Mob
Lieutenant
Godfather/
Stump;
Yosarian Johnson
, Cook/
Goon;
Anahito Xvart
, Teamster/
Roleblocker;
Hiro Battousai
, Bank Clerk/
Vigilante;
Mr. Sam Ludi
, Corrupt Cop/
Jailkeeper; and
John "Nobody Special" Doe
, Business Owner/
Vigilante, win!