Her advancing stopped the moment a voice came across the speakers.  Snapping her head up towards the box hanging just below the ceiling, Zoe couldn’t help but gasp in disbelief. One of the psychotic prisoners had somehow made it to the bridge of the ship.  Things were worse than she had first imagined, and for a moment, she seriously thought about just giving up. Could they escape this madness alive? More importantly, how could she keep from having the crazy prisoners kill her off? 

This sucks on a massive level. I just want to get out of here alive.

It became obvious to her that getting to the bridge alive was her best bet, because she was still a prisoner trying to escape, just like the other insane people aboard the ship.  If she could convince them to let her go, then life would be good. Her original idea had been to go out one of the drop pads, but the ship’s spirit as he called himself shut down that idea real quick.  The sudden urgency to get moving again was due to one of the bizarre men down the hallway screaming something before rubber bullets started to slam all around the trio.

Gotta move, gotta moooooooove!

Luck was on her side, because not only was she behind the two, she was close enough to the shaft to be able to maneuver herself into it just as gun fire starting barraging down on the group.  The other two had walked past it unknowingly, and Zoe tried to get their attention, while ensuring that every inch of her body was shielded.  Without waiting for the other two, she began climbing up the shaft, heading for its exit. It wasn’t long before she found the exit to it and with a grunt; the teen kicked it off the opening of the shaft.  Waiting for a minute or two in order to make sure the coast was clear, Starwind carefully slid out, landing quietly in the empty corridor.  She wasn’t sure where the bridge was, but figured it couldn’t be that hard to find.  She also needed to find the room with her weapons, so without wasting any more time, she sprinted down the hallway.

The escaped madman eyed the firearm in his hand uncertainly, his face a grimacing mask of repulsion and disinterest.  A...gun?  This dull lump of steel was definitely among the lowest of his least favorite weapons.  Jakom lifted the rifle before him as though it were a baby (another of his least favorite things) and released it from his relieved fingers, allowing the pesky thing to clatter on the floor next to him.  How could he kill, or even harm, someone with something so...unpersonal?  No, there was no point if he couldn't revel in the feel of their flesh ripping and tearing into so much glorious, bloody agony. "Not my style." he began with a cheerfully insane grin, "But far be it from me to deprive a man of a healthy past-time!  Try not to bleed em out too much, righto?"

With those words he glanced back the way he presumed his now uncontrollably laughing comrade had come.  "Now which way..." he swiveled his head around to view the opposite end of the hallway, "...is supposed to be the direction they stashed my shit?"  He glanced a wayward eye towards his partner in crime, hoping he knew the way since it certainly seemed like his homicidal urges had been stuck on the prison shelf for quite some time.  The man suddenly lost his cool, grabbing two thick handfuls of hair as he slams the back of head against the wall behind him, causing a loud metal-on-bone clang, "I! FUCKING! HATE! WAAAAIIITIIIIIIING!" with those words he promptly dashed down the hallway, possibly in the direction of his possessions, but considerably more likely towards a section of the ship that was not host to his confiscated belongings and, even worse, host to no guards he could disfigure.

Syke's ears twitched a bit at the scratchy static of the intercom, having been so tortured by the voice's prolonged drone of announcements and passive information that was about as useful as his feces thrown against a wall, and lost himself in the fever of his rage for a moment. The tall figure threw himself against the steel frame of the wall, unleashed a dreadful scream of agony, and swiftly began kicking randomly at the dead bodies strewn around Jakom and himself. Sykes suddenly calmed the raging persons filtering about his subconscious, and lilted a sly grin towards the other insane companion. A new friend? The crazed maniac never found much of that luxury.

"Don't worry. I'm just as fucking crazy with my injections, just a different kind of monster," Sykes reassured his new found companion, and turned his attention towards the end of the hallway where the three other little lambs were attempting to make their escape. The sound of gunshots pulled him into high alert, but he continued to stand stock still as steam shot through the corridors and a stray bullet flew by his head. The crazed grin continued to etch its way across his visage.

"WELL NOW! AREN'T THEY CLEVER LITTLE DOVES! HERE'S SOME FUCKING HEAT!" At this announcement, Sykes picked up two of the sub-machine guns used by the guards, and pulled the chambers back with each hand. A click. The sound of the safety disengaging. They were rubber bullets, but god damned if they didn't hurt like a bitch. The psycho yelled over the loud gunfire, Jakom being close enough to understand him, but the little doves unfortunately would just hear garbled speech.

"I'M GOING TO AIM HIGH, LITTLE BROTHER! YOU GO LOW! CATCH THEIR LEGS!" Sykes squealed with excitement as he continued the destructive onslaught of rubber bullets that could break the frail flesh of a human cow! What? No...just a human. A cow could probably take it. But damn it would hurt!

Wiping his blood and oil covered hands over one of the many dead bodies that lay strewn across the navigation deck, Yasif grinned at the wretched stench of burning cadavers. Also covered in a grotesque mixture of human oils and other bodily fluids was the Captain, who sat next to a charred corpse. His eyes were watering due to the smell of the cadaver. Both his arms were broken and his left leg had a steel rod sticking through it.

Walking over to the intercom, Yasif tapped the microphone, pressing a few buttons at random. A green light lit on the console.

'Hello? Hello? This is god speaking,' he said, an echo of his voice resonated through the whole ship. Satisfied, he turned to the Captain and gave him a sarcastic thumbs up and an overly enthusiastic smile.

'Good...' Yasif thought for a moment what he wanted to say to everybody. 'Hello. People who are not crazy and crazy! This is the ship's spirit!' After making a few ghost-like noises, he spoke again, 'Yes. How's the blood and guts down there? I hope everything is coming along good and well. I, Yasif Khalif, also known as "Inmate of the Higher Detention Facility, X159262HDF-Yasif", have taken control of this ship.'

Walking up to the Captain in all his filthy greatness, Yasif bent over and asked, 'How would you say your condition is right now? Dying? Living? I want to speak like you people speak. Give me good word.'

'In dire need of medical attention, you god forsaken fuc--' He cringed as Yasif's palm tightly squeezed onto his arm. 'You will call me The Dark Master. If you don't, I kill you. You understand Mr. Captain?' The Captain nodded with weeping eyes. Yasif slowly let go of his arm and walked back to the microphone, tapping it a few more times just to make sure he was still 'on-air'.

'The Captain of the ship is in da... Dayer need of medical attention. I would like it if everyone would co-operate with me and my not-so-not-crazy friends. Also, I am shutting down all access to the drop-pods and all hatches leading in or out of this ship will be closed right about...' Yasif slammed his fist on a bright "ENTER" button. 'Now.'

'To anyone who is trying to escape, why don't we meet up at the bridge and talk about it, okay? And to any of my surviving kind -- that is, the crazy people -- meet me at the bridge, too. We can have tea with meat. Or, coffee with meat. Anything with meat. I hope to see you here soon! Bye!'

Even a blind man could tell that neither Cody nor Leo trusted her, but it didn’t bother Zoe one bit. Let them be wary of her, because she certainly was cautious of the two of them. Sliding a few strands of hair behind her ears, Starwind tried to keep from breathing deeply. The entire area stunk like dead corpses and the floor was slick with blood.  The further down the hallway they ventured, the more meticulous her footsteps became. The last thing the blonde wanted to do was slip and be covered in dead guard blood. 

Ugh, I didn’t sign up for this.

Something told her that Leo and Cody had some sort of connection, but it wasn’t any of her business. At this juncture in her life, it wasn’t worth getting close to anyone, especially in a prison setting.  Not having a weapon was a little inconvenient, but that problem would soon be rectified. Watching silently as the engineer made her way to the valve, Zoe knew the criminals had to be aware of their presence. Even psychotic people were aware of their surroundings. Still, maybe luck would be on their side. That was something only time would tell.  Almost holding her breath in anticipation, the Tartarusian felt her muscles tensing up. Crouching slightly, the teen coiled her legs and prepared to make like a puma and flee to temporary safety.

Cool, calm, and collect like always. Just breath and everything will be fine.

Nodding slightly in agreement with her Guardian Angel, Starwind took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly.  As soon as she heard the loud bang and felt the shaking of the ship, Zoe surged forward.  Grabbing a hold of Leo’s wrist, she let her extra-sensory senses lead the way through the hot hazy corridor. All of a sudden, she was mindful not only of the location of the shaft, but was also extremely wary of the whereabouts of the convicts. Sometimes it paid to be something other than human.  Quickly catching up to Cody, Starwind tried to keep from hurrying the other woman up.  The shaft was coming up rapidly, but something told her the prisoners wouldn’t let them escape, not without a struggle.  Her plan was to shove the two of them up into the shaft and then sneak by the criminals and make her way up through her own means.