The Blackest Death (IC, Open)

[Vaklor]

OOC Thread: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=180936

Iraklion, Republic of Venice
1353

The day was warm, and sunny. The mists from the cool blue ocean drifted along the coast, and light clouds dotted the sky. Days were often like this, but this day in particular was much darker. The sun shined, true, but that did nothing to stop the stench of death from reeking throughout the city. The black plague spread through this city like a wildfire through grass, it’s unfortunate victims scattered on the streets for all to see. This, unfortunately, had now become the common days. People dying on the streets, simply dropping dead, was not uncommon now. Some people had given up all hope, all chance of salvation from the dreaded disease. But some held on, as hope always seemed to find a way.

Francesco walked through the city streets, observing all that went on. He passed a few men pushing a cart, filled all the way up with bodies. They had cloth covering them, but he could still see the black spots on their bodies, something everyone had learned to fear. On the street was a similar situation; bodies scattered, with cloths thrown over them to give them some decency, and priests giving last rites. Doctors treating victims. Ever since the plague, crime rates had gone up, and almost every corner there was a petty thief somewhere. Things were catastrophic. As he walked into the guard house, he saw some men carrying his friend’s dead and plague stricken body out the door. He quivered and almost dropped his weapons. He stopped them and asked, “W- What happened?” One of them responded, “He finally succumbed a few hours ago to plague. If you knew him, I’m sorry. Seems like everyone is dying these days…” They then threw his body onto one of the piles. His friend had now become one of the faceless victims of the plague. Likely to soon be burned in a pile with many others, he will be long forgotten to history. Francesco held his head low in mourning. He regretted not being able to get close to say goodbye, but he couldn’t risk catching the disease. He slowly turned and walked somberly into the guard house.

[The Norak Federation]

Gregory sighed as he felt the life signs of the person fade away quickly. To be honest, he was surprised the person had lived this long. The woman had put up quite a struggle against the disease, only to lose in the end. It was a shame really. Gregory seldom saw men last as long as she did. She was truly a fine woman in her life. It was a pity that in death, no matter what, they never were fine. When the woman's breathing stopped completely, Gregory knew it was useless trying to help. This woman was long gone. There was no hope for her. As he placed his tools in his bag, he thought about how the husband was going to react to the news. Not well most likely. The only option now was to burn her, and relocate her family to somewhere isolated, just in case they did have the disease, though it was most likely they would stay in Iraklion

As he exited the house, carrying the woman, the husband ran up to him, shouting. Gregory ignored him, as he continued walking to one of the piles, the man still following, ignorant that he the longer he stayed near her, the more likely he would get infected.

"Please, sir, help her! she can't be dead, not now!" The man rambled.
Gregory didn't pause, but spoke in a monotone voice, his face concealed by his mask, "Sir, please stay away from the body."
"That's my wife!"
"She's diseased. Leave" He said, and tossed the lifeless corpse onto the pile. The man didn't take this well. Suddenly in a rage, he grabbed Gregory's cloak, and pulled him close, his nose nearly touching Gregory's beak on his mask.
"You're the diseased one! Always looking at people, yet walking away like you're some kind of..."

The man didn't get to finish, as Gregory's knife stabbed the man's left lung, then pulled out and went in again into his heart. The man fell down after he pulled the blade out, surprised, and quickly dying. A while back, Gregory had learned that when people were that upset, he figured it was better to end their misery. True, it didn't give him a good name, but when did he care? He left the man's body next to the pile, to be buried by more, and walked back to the house, to collect his bag. He was aplague doctor, and there was still more work to do.

[Lancearc]

Zak looked towards a large pile of bodies with disgust and despair. He knew that somewhere on that pile, were the remains of a his own brother whom had only been in Italy a few weeks before contracting the plauge. Despite Zak's insisting upon treating him, he had warned, 'No brother, stay away...It's ended for me.' Zak reluctantly listened, and now he felt and overwhelming sense of guilt. Crows circled overhead, and on one body that was away from the pile, one of the black birds sat, pecking out the eyeball of a woman.

Zak couldn't resist the urge to puke his breakfast all over the ground. His brother deserved better than to be buried an unnotable nobody. One of the men leading the body piling pointed to him.

"You there! Why do you stand there like a confused mule?" he inquired.

"Just paying respects, sir." Zak replied, in his usual polite voice.

"Well pay 'em quick, lest someone be payin' ther' own respects to ya' real soon." he said.

Zak sighed and turned, walking down the streets of the city. A small boy approached him with tears in his eyes. "You...Can you help...Can you help my poor mother?" he asked, begged, of Zak. "The plauges taken her and...We can't afford a doctor...please help us...Please!" the child, who could be no more than 8, cried, gripping his leg. Zak took a small bag from his pocket.

"It's not much, but here." he said, the child tightened his grip, muttering, "Thank you kind sir," and was on his way. Zak grinned slightly and continued walking until he reached his home, walking in and locking the door tightly. He proceeded to his second floor study and gazed out the window solemnly.

Where is our god?

[Kalmath]

Avignon, Kingdom of France
Pontifical State
1353

It was raining, and it was raining hard. The rain depressed Horatio, he always thought that is would flood the town as it did in Calais every fall. But this was Avignon, the fourth largest city in Europe, second largest city in France, home of the Bishop of Rome, 2nd territory of the Papal States, ect ect.... Horatio also took comfort in facts such as those. As he signaled for the guards to open to gets out of the Papal Palace he thought of the horrors awaiting him outside the sanctuary of these walls. The suffering of those men, woman, and children at the hands of devil with his tool, the great plague, of which the suffering only the Almighty himself can relieve. The gates opened and he was welcomed by a stench that even after nearly a decade he had not gotten use to. Human beings covered in mud and laying in front of the walls that connected to the entrance to the Papal Palace. These people had come here among rumors that the Holy See could cure them of the impure spirits within them. No the walls were lined with bodies of the dead and the dying. It was a depressing sight and a few years ago hundreds of sisters and monks would have been here attending to these people, even bringing the most severe cases into the walls for special care. Those caretakers had long been killed by the those they cared for, the plague killed clergy, kings and peasants alike. Horatio continued walking across the street his coat drenched by the constant flow from the heavens.

Carriages filled to brim with bodies and piles of cloth afire in the streets despite the heavy rain. As he passed them he brought his scarf over his mouth and nose in a vain attempt to reduce the stench. He continued this for five minutes until he reached his destination. Prudence and Immaculate street, the Pope himself had ordered him here to investigate a pagan ritual that had occurred in the warehouse that stood before him. He approached the large wooden doors and pushed them open they creaked and he was welcome by eight night watchmen kneeling all clutching a rosary all praying to themselves. He moved further in and tapped the shoulder of the nearest man he jumped, scared by Horatio's touch. The man, after regaining his composure, stared at Horatio's chest. Horatio gave him a quizzical look and looked down, the man was staring at his necklace. It was of the Papal seal, he let the man stare at it as he had motioned to the door the men were gathered around. Horatio stepped in between the praying men, he placed his hand on the door, the men that had been praying began to back away. He breathed in heavily and pushed the door open the stench of blood greeted him. Horatio's jaw went ajar the room was covered in blood and filled with bodies, pagan symbols covered the walls.

Horatio whispered to himself:
"God Help us all"

[Lancearc]

Zakaria walked the countryside around the city of Iraklion, a slight early morning drizzle was in the air, and the sun shone fantastically through the rain, creating the effect of a large and oblong rainbow that went wherever it desired, twisting through the air with the rain it seemed. However, the rain wasn't the only thing Zak noticed in the air. Even outside the city, the overwhelming smell of death drifted, forcing him not to breath through his nose, or be faced with the awful stench.

Even out here, in some of the small villages surrounding the larger city, the plauge was striking hard. He saw piled bodies atop a circle of hay, and someone throwing a lit torch upon the hay. The bodies lit up like a hellfire, a perfect description for what was going on. As the man that had lit the fire saw him, he hurried inside, probably thinking he may have the Plauge. Zak continued his silent walking for a good hour before he rentered the city.

Here, as before, the smell of death dominated the air, corpses--some rotted, some newly decease--lingered on the streets and in piles. He gazed at small, unnotable inn that was tucked into a larger house next door. Closed. He'd stayed here upon his arrival in Iraklion, before begining his studies of art. He continued to his home once more. He couldn't be out too long, or he'd risking falling another of the innumerable victims of the Black Death. He sat in a large red chair with a copy of 'The Odyssey,' and read with the warm crackling of the fireplace beside him. Not that it was cold outside, but that being around so much death chilled him to the very bone.

[Vaklor]

Iraklion, Republic of Venice
1353

Francesco sat in the guard house, enjoying his brief respite from the death all around him. He tried to get that out of his mind, tried to think of the warm day, and the cool winds that wisped by. He dozed off… then all that was cut short by a loud noise coming from the door. He awoke abruptly, and saw 2 other guards walking in. “It smells like real merda out there,” one of them said. Francesco got up and asked them, “What’s wrong?” “They’ve started the monthly body-burnings. Thank god I’m not the one doing it, because it’s bad.” “Oh. I see.” Francesco left the house and walked outside, and saw smoke beginning to rise up from all over the city. The crackling of fire was loud, and the stench of death was replaced with one of burning death.

Francesco thought to himself, ”How could it get any worse than this?”

[Lancearc]

Zak peered out the second floor window of his home, drawn to the window by a horrible smell. He saw shafts of smoke rising through the air and into the unending skies, dancing as they floated up from the burning bodies below. He gazed out towards his brother's pile--he stopped here, as that was a nice thought. Not his brother's grave, or plot, but his brother's pile. The bodies were burning like an inferno, charred skin falling off the bones of the dead.

He shook his head, then walked over to his large luxorious bed. It wasn't really time to sleep, but he needed it, he'd hardly slept while his brother fought the plauge, and he was exhausted.

With that thought, he drifted into the embrace of deep slumber.

[The Norak Federation]

Gregory held his torch as he helped the others burn the corpses. It was a smelly job, enough to make people gag and refuse to continue, but his mask helped him, the beak holding many incenses to block out the smell and disease. It was a requirement, at least in Gregory's book. The disease appeared to have spread by air, and his mask helped protected him from it. It was a pity no one else would wear the mask. It would have helped him a little, make him feel less like a reaper and more like a normal person.

As he bruned the corpses, he noticed the body of the woman he had tried to help earlier in the day, though now it was missing an eye, plucked out by ravens. He said nothing as he made sure the corpse burn along witht he rest. As he did, he could hear others muttering prayers, hoping that these poor souls would find rest. Gregory didn't pray. The spirits didn't want rest. They most likely wanted to keep living, like the woman who had fought the disease. Why would they want to rest after they died?

Gregory glanced around, and noticed a younger man, shaking his head, his face disturbed. As the man left his window, Gregory couldn't help but feel some remorse for him. He probably knew someone who was in the pile. A friend, a family member, or worse, a wife or child. But the feeling went away. He had bodies to burn. The disease had to stop. Fire, wicked Hellfire, would hopefully stop this thing from Satan, or God. Gregory couldn't tell if humanity was something like Job's suffering at the hands of the devil, or if humanity was Egypt, and this was the 11th plague, sent by God himself.

[Vaklor]

Francesco stopped to observe one of the body piles. The corpses were melting away, the smoke drifting through the air, almost covering the sky like clouds. He then thought he saw something move out of the corner in his eye. But, of course, that couldn’t happen… right? The corpses were being burned, their victims long dead. But when he looked closer, he definitely saw signs of movement. Someone looked to be trying to wriggle their way out of the pile.
Francesco raised his shield, preparing for… he didn't even know what. In a few minutes time, it was visible that someone, somehow, was rising up from the pile. Francesco backed up slowly and cautiously. A man had now fully emerged, yet still engulfed in flames, giving a low and long moan. He simply stood there, showing no signs of pain or even awareness, his back turned to Francesco.

“Um… sir?” Francesco asked, unsure if what he was seeing was reality.

The man then sharply turned around and gave out a scream, then rushed himself towards Francesco. He raised his shield, and the man threw himself against it, staggering. Francesco pushed him away with the shield, but the man threw himself again. This time he stabbed him in the chest with his spear as the creature came, but the creature looked rather unfazed.
One last time, Francesco pushed the creature away, pulled his arm back, and thrust as hard as he could into the creature’s neck, going straight through. When he pulled out, blood was gushing everywhere, and the creature stumbled for a bit before dying and falling into a haystack, unwittingly setting it on fire. Francesco dropped his weapons and tried to put the fire out and prevent it from spreading.

May god help us all, he thought.

[The Norak Federation]

Gregory was burning the bodies when he heard the commotion. He turned to see that one of the hay piles was set of fire. From the looks of it, one of the burning corpses had gotten onto the pile, being he could see the body and everything. one man was trying to put the fire out, but it looke quite hopeless. Gregory was about to help when he noticed some others coming to put the fire out.

But then he realised where they were coming from. One of the piles Gregory thought, as he realised they were still on fire. "Diseased on the loose!" He shouted. He ran towards one of the people, and with his cane struck out at the man's neck, torch still in his other hand, hoping to halt these people who somehow were still alive, yet had the disease.

It wasn't until his cane hit the thing, that he realised it was still quite dead. Or it looked that way. The thing fell to the ground backwards, moaning, but seemed to feel no pain as it tried to get back up. Another monster was coming from the pile, screaming, coming at him. Gregory swung his torch in front of him, trying to scare the thing away. His cane was ready to stike out again.

[Lancearc]

Zakaria awoke, and upon his stirring from his light slumber he heard a scream outside. The scream of a child, and then another, inhuman scream. He rushed to the window, peeking out the curtains in fear and nervousness. Outside, the sight that he was introduced to chilled him to the very core and shook him until he couldn't see straight. Outside, the very dead rose from their burning body piles, the raging inferno in which they'd been engulfed still burning, and running down the unlucky living that were outside in their tracks.

He saw two adults, one of whom looked like she'd once been a beautiful woman and the other a chef, still in his apron, grab the running boy and rip open his stomach with their hands. The screaming continued, muffled, but soon ceased. They feasted upon the child like ravenous wolves, without hesitation, ending the life of merely a boy.

He ran outside after grabbing his Spanish steel shortsword, swinging it towards the arm of one of the two cannibalistic sick people. The amount of the limb below the wrist was lopped off, but the woman simply stood and shrieked at him, charging him once more. Out of a panic of extinct, he cut off the whole of the arm she reached for him with. Her companion payed no mind, instead greedily finishing off their meal.

Even missing her arm, the woman who looked rotted, smelled of death and had pure-white eyes continued, until he sent the sword to her skull. It crushed and sliced through in a single swift motion, stopping in the middle of the brain, and she fell, dead once more, as it ought to be. Zak quickly rushed over to her friend, who was beginning to stand, and lopped off his head at the base of the neck. The body fidgeted for a bit but fell just the same.

"The dead have become as demons, where is our god?!" he yelled, as two more stood from the pile. One of the workers that was shoveling the piles struck one over the head mightily with a rock, but was overtaken by the other sprinting towards him. Even though it was cowardly, Zak ran before the demon spawn turned it's attention to him.

As he ran through the city, he saw a few more dead running through the streets. He as able to outrun most, and those he couldn't recieved either an injured leg or he simply kicked down. He only killed one more that got too close as he made his way through the town. The guard must know... he thought, sprinting like a wild man towards the guardsmen's barracks.

He saw what looked to be a plauge doctor fighting off one, and another was coming from the pile he stood before. Zak stopped, before running towards him. "DOCTOR!" he shouted, hefting his shortsword as he approached, ready to help him fight the things. "They don't die like you and I, aim at the head, it worked!" he said, wiping a bit of blood off of his weapon before entering the fray. He'd never used the sword in his life, and he was lucky he wasn't fighting a skilled guardsman or some kind of other human opponent, else he would've been dead by now. He took up a position beside the man.

[The Norak Federation]

"DOCTOR! They don't die like you and I, aim at the head, it worked!" a voice shouted somewhere.

Gregory barely had time to register the thought, but it was useful. As the thing charged, Gregory swung his cane with all of his might, and smacked the dead man's head. It was fortunate that Gregory had a strong arm from living out in the country and dealing with bandits who were dumb enough to attack a plague doctor, as the thing's neck cracked and the body fell lifeless, this time more permantly.

The man who appeared at his side startled him, and it took a lot of effort not to turn and try to kill him as well. However, he wasn't like the things crawling out of the piles. This man was stilla alive, or more living than the things. As the one on the ground started to get up, Gregory thrusted his cane into the man's skull, and made a large cracking noise again as this time the skull bursted open, spilling brains and blood.

"This is insane" Gregory said, not caring if someone heard. More and more things were crawling out of the piles, and some weren't even on fire. It appeared Gregory's thoughts about the people wanting to stay alive were true, but he never imagnined it like this. Was this the end of the world? Was this the 11th plague?

Gregory didn't ponder too much on that. Torch high, cane ready to swing, Gregory was ready with the stranger to fight whatever came from the piles. He just hoped the militia could fight these things also.

[Lancearc]

Zak saw that his advice had been helpful, as the doctor managed to bring down one of the demons that seemed to need nothing more than to eat. He hadn't even noticed if they breathed while they walked, but that wasn't anything he'd been paying attention to anyway. As more and more of the things crawled out of the pile, he didn't want t give any one of them a chance to even stand up. He swung down on most of their heads before they could stand, but eventually, they startd gaining a bit of ground as sheer numbers worked to their advantage.

"I have a feeling we may be getting overrun doctor!" he said, swinging at one, and then another. They both fell, but for every two he killed, more seemed to fill the spot. He saw another group of regular humans running down the road in an attempt to get away, but they were quickly be gained on.

Please, don't let this be the end, consumed by hell-spawned devils.. he thought as blood splattered onto his hands. He guessed that there were more of these things than there were humans, if they were victims of the plauge brought back to not-quite-life.

[Vaklor]

When the fire had almost been fully put out, Francesco picked up his weapons and told the men who came to assist him, "Get to the guardhouse."

He then shouted as loud as he could, "To the guardhouse!"

He had heard someone else yell something, something about the head, and he tried to find the source. He made his way through, hearing screams and commotion throughout the city. It pained him dreadfully to not be able to do much of anything.
He then found who he thought had yelled; he saw a plague doctor with a cane and a tall blonde man with a sword. They still looked alive, at least. Dead bodies lay around them, with more rising. As he made his way to them, he heard a growl, and time seemed to slow. He instantly turned around and slashed his spear's edge across the creature's head, then again, and the creature fell to the floor, limp. He stood there for a second, in shock, before wiping some of the blood off of his face and running up to the 2 men.
"Are you alive? Do you have any idea of what's going on?" He blurted out without thought as he jumped into the fray.

[The Norak Federation]

When Gregory saw the soldier, he gave a sigh of joy as he smacked another thing upside the head. "What does it look like is going on? This is the 11th plague! God save us all!"

True, it wasn't the most uplifting words, but Gregory preferred Honesty to optimism. This was nothing like he had never seen. None of his patients had ever done this before. They never showed any kinds of sighs of returning from their grave.

"We need to get out of here. Where can we go that's safe guard? " Gregory asked. He looked like something out of a horrer story, his mask covered in blood, his black clothing glowing in the red firelight and the moon. The only thing that was more frightening than him was the hideous monster trying to feed on flesh

[Lancearc]

When Gregory saw the soldier, he gave a sigh of joy as he smacked another thing upside the head. "What does it look like is going on? This is the 11th plague! God save us all!"

True, it wasn't the most uplifting words, but Gregory preferred Honesty to optimism. This was nothing like he had never seen. None of his patients had ever done this before. They never showed any kinds of sighs of returning from their grave.

"We need to get out of here. Where can we go that's safe guard? " Gregory asked. He looked like something out of a horrer story, his mask covered in blood, his black clothing glowing in the red firelight and the moon. The only thing that was more frightening than him was the hideous monster trying to feed on flesh

"No where is safe against the wrath of god if this is truly what I believe it to be.." he said, looking up at the moon. Somewhere in the distance, a man scream for help, as, Zak presumed, he was devoured alive by one of the hellish beasts. "But yes, surely the guardsmen must have some kind of defense?" he asked, though he doubted it, looking at the guard. This all happened so fast, he was surprised the guard wasn't overwhelmed.

[Vaklor]

"It should be safe..." Francesco took a second to finish off another creature, "...at the guardhouse," he said. "Once there, we can decide on what to do. We definitely need to get out of here; I wouldn't be surprised if they block off this whole island, which is why we need to act quickly. Hell, this this thing might even spread." He then held his spear in the air and brought it down on the head of a creature still on the ground. Brutal, bloody, but necessary. Francesco felt a small level of regret for the victims, but he tried to tell himself that they weren't them anymore. They were sick. Very, very sick.

[The Norak Federation]

"It should be safe..." Francesco took a second to finish off another creature, "...at the guardhouse," he said. "Once there, we can decide on what to do. We definitely need to get out of here; I wouldn't be surprised if they block off this whole island, which is why we need to act quickly. Hell, this this thing might even spread." He then held his spear in the air and brought it down on the head of a creature still on the ground. Brutal, bloody, but necessary. Francesco felt a small level of regret for the victims, but he tried to tell himself that they weren't them anymore. They were sick. Very, very sick.

Gregory didn't need telling twice. If it would be safer at the guardhouse, thats where he wanted to be. He swung his torch a bit, then decided something to do would be to light another haystack. Perhaps that would distract, ot even burn these monsters. Then they could run the guard house.


As he plunged his torch into and out of the haystack, he shouted, "Lead the way soldier! Get us to the guardhouse!"

[Lancearc]

"It should be safe..." Francesco took a second to finish off another creature, "...at the guardhouse," he said. "Once there, we can decide on what to do. We definitely need to get out of here; I wouldn't be surprised if they block off this whole island, which is why we need to act quickly. Hell, this this thing might even spread." He then held his spear in the air and brought it down on the head of a creature still on the ground. Brutal, bloody, but necessary. Francesco felt a small level of regret for the victims, but he tried to tell himself that they weren't them anymore. They were sick. Very, very sick.

"Are you sure?" he said, stabbing towards one of the thing's forehead. The Spanish steel slid through frighteningly easy, and he pulled the lethal blade back out, leaving a clear hole. "What if these beasts trap us inside?" he asked, chopping toward the top of one's head. The blade connected and went through about half of the skull and brain, then he pulled it out and the walking corpses fell limp, dead once again.

[Vaklor]

"Yes, trust me," he said as the last of the creatures were finished. "There are weapons and supplies there, and we can go out onto the roof." He then saw the doctor light up a haystack, "Well, that's one way of doing things, I guess. I just hope it doesn't spread to the buildings. Either way, the guardhouse is where I'm heading. You can follow or you can stay, your choice."

[Lancearc]

"Yes, trust me," he said as the last of the creatures were finished. "There are weapons and supplies there, and we can go out onto the roof." He then saw the doctor light up a haystack, "Well, that's one way of doing things, I guess. I just hope it doesn't spread to the buildings. Either way, the guardhouse is where I'm heading. You can follow or you can stay, your choice."

"There's not really a choice to make, that's like asking if I'd rather live or die." he said, nodding unsurely, but he would rather not be alone through this nightmare, safety in numbers. He kept his shortsword in his hand at all times, constantly looking around, and ready to jump at anything that would dare to raise a finger to try and devour him or his group. He just hoped a large group of the creatures didn't happen to stumble upon their trio, or they'd be trapped in the somewhat narrow streets.

[Kalmath]

The room smelled like oil. The librarian had filled the library with torches in order to "purify the air". Horatio was more worried about the books, there were far to many torches and this was a fire hazard as a fire brigade captain once put. Yet he was to focused on the task at hand. Horatio was in the great Papal Repository. It contained the most vast knowledge and collection of books in the Europe and also contained what was said to be the last of the Pagan texts. That was what Horatio was searching for, the Pagan texts might have what he needed to piece together the symbols on the walls of the ware house. His mind slipped to the warehouse, the blood, the smells he snapped back to his studies. The pages of the book, the Teachings of Arles, seemed to be as old as the day.

He continued to study as a few monks entered the room he occupied.
"God himself has forsaken us" one monk said
"Venetian merchants say that the city is being held by the devil himself" stated the other
"We must pray for those still faithful in the Iraklion"

[Vaklor]

"Yes, trust me," he said as the last of the creatures were finished. "There are weapons and supplies there, and we can go out onto the roof." He then saw the doctor light up a haystack, "Well, that's one way of doing things, I guess. I just hope it doesn't spread to the buildings. Either way, the guardhouse is where I'm heading. You can follow or you can stay, your choice."

"There's not really a choice to make, that's like asking if I'd rather live or die." he said, nodding unsurely, but he would rather not be alone through this nightmare, safety in numbers. He kept his shortsword in his hand at all times, constantly looking around, and ready to jump at anything that would dare to raise a finger to try and devour him or his group. He just hoped a large group of the creatures didn't happen to stumble upon their trio, or they'd be trapped in the somewhat narrow streets.

"Well alright then." Francesco peered out of the alley and into the streets.
There were piles of burning bodies, but for the most part seemed quiet enough. There were bodies, both human and creature, scattered. He wondered if there was anyone else left in the city, but he couldn't stop to look at every little corner. He walked into the streets, heading down the path to the guardhouse he had walked so many times before. Except this time he was doing it to save his life.

[The Norak Federation]

"Yes, trust me," he said as the last of the creatures were finished. "There are weapons and supplies there, and we can go out onto the roof." He then saw the doctor light up a haystack, "Well, that's one way of doing things, I guess. I just hope it doesn't spread to the buildings. Either way, the guardhouse is where I'm heading. You can follow or you can stay, your choice."

Gregory followed, now only his cane as a weapon, being he had dropped the torch, thinking it may attract attention. He felt that the soldier was going too slow for his tastes, but he said nothing, keeping an eye out for any threats. The fire he had set did its work, even better. It began to spread slowly, but not completely out of control. A few houses were beginning to catch, and hopefully when they fell, they would crush any of these things. If it crushed survivers, that was alright with him. They probably weren't any survivors

[Lancearc]

As they continued down the street, Zak began to see less and less humans. In fact, he saw almost nothing and heard only distant screams. This part of the city seemed to be totally dead, and not even the demons inhabited this relatively untouched corner. But he knew that would change soon as the dead began spreading, searching for more living victims to feast upon. Zak noticed he hadn't seen very many guardsmen as they made their way toward the guard house. "Where are all of the guards?" he asked, looking forward at the one who was escorting him and the doctor.