Altered - Week 1b: The Second Day
 

As some of the others begin to try and find anyone else trapped in the debris of the shelter, Alex tries takes to take stock of his injuries. When Lena asks about his health he replies unsteadily, "I'm feeling a bit battered but I don't think anything's broken." He gratefully accepts Hareton's helping hand and is beginning to feel like he won't be gasping for breath for the next few days.

Still, he can't quite get the attack out of his head - the rank smell of the beast's fur as it had slammed into him, those massive jaws snapping at him. Strange, he was only a little cut - he could have been sure it had bitten him. He shrugs it off, probably his clothes had blunted it, and there were more important things to worry about.

Alex hobbles over to where some of the others are pulling apart the shelter, determined to lend a hand. He feels strangely unsteady but that's probably normal after something like this.

OOC: As a little note, I decided it would be best to acclerate the changes a little. They will now be undeniable by the fifth day.

Hareton patted Alex on the back as he slipped out from under his shoulder. He'll be alright now. Harry assesed the situation. Their best and strongest had all been in the fight and taken some minor injuries. Maybe he could take charge for a little while.

Nah, first he had to help take apart the remnants of their shelter. He thought he heard Patrick calmly asking for help. He moved his digging to the source of the noise and, a few branches deeper, found Patrick. Pushing the fallen branch off of Pat's leg, Harry asked, "You alright? That branch looked kinda heavy and it was right on your leg. You need help standing?"

Great, He inwardly complained, now I'm some other guy's crutch. Why couldn't one of the chicks fallen down?

"I'VE GOT FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRR!" shrieked somebody from beneath the debris. "FUUUUUUUR!!! Tell me this isn't happening!! I just got my sanity back and NOW THIS!!!!!!!!!!"

That, was Cathy.

Flora worked with a branch or to, thinking about splints. With a few straps of cloth, they could at least fashion splints and dressings.
Well, I do seem to know a little bit about first aid. Maybe I was a nurse or a field medic or something.
...And then...
Yeesh. The woman went insane again. What the hell is she talking about fur?
Flora looked at the woman, unable to avoid smiling. "Calm down. Maybe we can make a shaving razor out of a rock or something."
It seems I'm starting to learn more about who I was. Maybe the rest or the morning battle jarred my memory.

"NO! L-loook!" Cathy wailed, nearly incoherently as she pushed herself up from underneath the debrish, and pointing to her face and her elbows. Sure enough, black tufts of fur poked apprehensively out from her elbows and cheekbones. They were just the few wisps that tentatively grew, and surrounding that her skin looked slightly lumpy.

"I got fur! What the hell is going on?! And - and... I can smell and see you CLEARLY!"

Flora set the branches aside and waved her hands before her defensively, surprised at the development of her personality. "All right, all right, calm down. The only reason you should be acting crazy is if you actually believe any one of us can do something about it. That's logical, right? None of us can do anything about it, so there's really no reason to go overboard. Just...are other things happening to you?"

As Thomas pushed the rest of the debris away from Cathy, seeing as how any means of hurting herself further would only lead to annoyances. So she was hairy. Some girls just naturally were. He scratched at the bandages a little, and winced. A piece of the bandage floated to the ground as it was sliced from the rest.

"Son of a..."

Thomas looked at his hand. His nails were pointier, and were turning a strange green-black. As long as he was thinking about it, he was feeling a little weird. His teeth were uncomfortable in his mouth, and he seemed to have a feeling of rage deep in his belly. It wasn't a big thing, but still, there was really not much to be angry about right now.

Things were way beyond weird now, Lena decided. The situation had moved into the "Downright Creepy" phase.

Harry was getting... hairy. Cathy was growing fur. Flora was taking charge of the situation. Lena had lost her glasses when the shelter collapsed, but suddenly found she didn't need them. And everything was so loud. Cathy's shriek could have peirced her eardrums. The forest, which had seemed deadly silent yesterday, was abuzz with tiny sounds. This was like a horror movie or a video game, only she wasn't a beautiful tough-girl armed with a souped-up shotgun and a sexy male counterpart. That sucked. And she couldn't push "Reset" if she died. That REALLY sucked.

"And 'Jak II' made turning into a mutant look so damn cool," she muttered to herself. She looked down at her hands as a splinter of wood from the debris wedged itself into her finger. "Why you stupid little--" She stopped. Her arms were covered in tiny circular bruises. Why hadn't she felt them? When did she earn these?

She prodded one tentatively. No pain. She raised her arm closer to her eyes and brushed the spot gently. The dark ring moved slightly and fell back into its original place. Her eyes widened. It wasn't her skin that was darkening. It was the hair on her arms. Ring-shaped patches of darker hair. Almost like... spots.

She blinked rapidly, hoping it was a trick of her eyes and nothing more. If she could have looked into her own eyes, she would have noticed that they too had changed color. Now they were a golden yellow. Almost like a cat's.

"Something is most definately wrong here," she said aloud, mentally moving the weirdness rating from 'Definately Creepy' up to 'Oh My God Get Me Out Of Here Now.'

Alex notices the others giving themselves surreptitious checks and has a mounting feeling of dread as he looks at one of his hands. At first glance there's nothing wrong and he almost gives a sigh of relief. After a minute or two though, he's almost certain that there's something subtly wrong. The proportions seem to be ever so slightly off - the fingers just a tiny bit too long and something about the tone or texture of his skin.

Instead of checking his arm to see if the slight differences continue, Alex sits down abruptly and pulls off a shoe, sudden suspicions blooming in his mind. As he pulls off the sock, his fears are confirmed. He hadn't been unsteady because of the shock of the attack. No, the reason was far simpler. He feels his foot to make certain that he's not imagining it. His foot is changed; elongated into something that is beginning to resemble a dog's paw or a lizard's claw. Alex weakly echoes Lena's comment, "Something is very wrong."

Patrick shoos away Hareton saying that he is perfectly fine. He looks around nervously - every one seems to be going crazy - he still felt perfectly fine. Maybe his flesh was getting a little paler - but then who was to say that the artificial light supplied the same things as the sun. Not wanting to be drawn into the others insanity he tries to direct the attention away from their 'immagined' changes.
"Who dressed that wound?" he says as he indicates Thomas.