Jack
by Jason Lautzenheiser (2013)
Genres: Horror

You are Jack and you're running for your life.

action: %
response: Suddenly awareness comes to you and your surroundings. You look around slowly, seeing nothing at first, then in the moon light you find yourself in the middle of a pumpkin patch. Looking down at your feet you see straw coming out of the bottom of your pants and fallling over your boots. In wonderment you notice your hands for the first time and see straw coming out of your sleeves as well. As you stare at your hands you notice a strange glow seemingly coming from within you. You start to run your fingers through your hair only to realize you have none. As you stand there in shock over what you've become you realize you have nothing but vague memories of a time before the pumpkin patch. You look around and see large pumpkins that seem to have the same shape as your head. It all comes flooding back to you.....you are Jack....Jack Halloween.

Copyright Â© 2013, Jason Lautzenheiser. Ectocomp13 Entry.

You are standing in a middle of a pumpkin patch. The full moon light allows you to see some distance around you. The pumpkin patch goes on as far as you can see except to the south where you can make the outline of a road.
action: About yourself
response: You are a tall person. You are wearing overhalls and a flannel shirt. There is straw slowly falling out of your sleeves and pants legs leaving a trail behind as you walk.
action: You go south
response: You are standing in the middle of a dirt road to the south of a large field of pumpkins. The road stretches on the the east and west.

Looking up the road, you see a set of headlights headed in your direction. Something screams in your very soul that you need to hide, you don't think it would be wise to be caught in the open in your state.
action: You hide
response: You lie down in the ditch along the road.
action: You wait
response: Time passes.

The car drives slowly down the road just feet from where you are lying down. Two boys hang out the side window with shotguns at the ready.

You hear one of them say "I swear I saw something standing around here somewhere."

"You just had too much beer before we left Joe, you're so drunk you wouldn't notice old Jack standing right next to you.",  someone yelled from inside the car.

The car slides a bit further down the road, turns around and then heads back the way it came.

As the car flies back up the road one of it's hubcaps comes off and lands in the ditch just ahead of you. You reach over and pick it up.
action: Examine hubcap
response: Really nothing more than a rusty piece of metal that was loosly attached to the wheel of the car. It is flat and looks like if you threw it like a frisbee it would go a great distance.
action: Look around
response: >Road
You are standing in the middle of a dirt road to the south of a large field of pumpkins. The road stretches on the the east and west.
action: Go east
response: As you come up on the edge of town, you see some movement ahead. You crouch in the shadows not wanting to be seen. Soon you see the movement again and you can just make out someone patrolling back and forth across the road. There is no way to get around him without being seen. Perhaps you could distract him somehow.

You can see a young man here.
action: You examine man
response: The man appears to be just a teenager. A young teen by the looks of it. In one hand he carries a large machete and slung from one shoulder is a rifle.
action: You examine the rifle
response: A .270 Winchester rifle. Powerful enough to spread the pumpkin seeds in your head all over the road.
action: You throw the hubcap
response: You stand up quickly and your movement draws the attention of the young man. You quickly throw the hubcap in his direction. The hubcap flies quickly through the dark night and before he can even react, it strikes him square across his forehead immediately dropping him to the ground.
action: You get all
response: rifle: Taken.
machete: Taken.
action: You look at the man
response: The man appears to be just a teenager. A young teen by the looks of it. Embedded in his head is the hubcap you just threw.
action: You get the hubcap
response: That is embedded in his skull....I don't think you want to take that.
action: Look around
response: You are standing on the edge of town. To the west the road heads out of town and to the east you can make out what looks like the center of town.

You see the body of a young man here.
action: You go west
response: You are standing in the middle of a dirt road to the south of a large field of pumpkins. The road stretches on the the east and west.
action: Go west
response: You feel a strong urge to continue to the town in the east.
action: Go east
response: As you begin to head east towards the town, the car suddenly accelerates. Before you can react, it barrels into you. Your body, made mostly of straw flys apart scattering straw everywhere. The last thing you remember before the light dims from your eyes is your large pumpkin head bouncing off the windshield and onto the road only shatter into thousands of pieces.
action: Go east
response: As you enter the town's center you hear a gunshot ring out. The whistle of the slug as it passes near your head and the dust kicking up a few feet behind you are enough to send you scrambling to hide behind the fountain.

You are hiding behind the fountain in the town square. You can head back out of town to the west. There is an old church to the north and the townhall building is on the south side of the square.

There is a shooter somewhere in the square.
action: You examine shooter
response: The shooter is too far away to get a good look at in this poor lighting, but you can see that he has his rifle trained in your direction.

Another gunshot rings through the square and you hear the slug skip off the edge of the fountain just to the left of where you are hiding. This time however, you did see the flash of the shot. The shooter is hiding in the clock tower in the townhall on the south side of the square.
action: You check your inventory
response: You are carrying:
a machete
a rifle
action: Shoot shooter
response: You take quick aim in the direction of the clock tower and pull the trigger. When the flash from the shot clears, you see the shooter slumping over the edge of the clocktower.
action: You describe your surroundings
response: You are standing in the center of town. You can head back out of town to the west. There is an old church to the north and the townhall building is on the south side of the square. In the center of the square is a fountain.

The dead shooter is slumped over the side of the clock tower.
action: You examine the shooter
response: The shooter is too far away to get a good look at in this poor lighting, but you can see that he is slumped over the edge of the clock tower dead.
action: You go north
response: You are outside an old church. The church has seen better years. Behind the church to the east you see a small overgrown cemetary.
action: You go to the east
response: As you enter the cemetary, you feel a sudden pressure building in your head. As your head expands, cracks appear and the light coming from within you outshines the full moon.

As you fall to your knees, the screams coming from the town can be heard far above your own. The curse of Jack Halloween has been lifted. You are free from your cycle of birth and death and the town has fallen beneath the weight of its sins.