biteys: (Default)
NIMBO ([personal profile] biteys) wrote in [community profile] turnout2024-06-29 09:53 am

WEEK 1

WEEK ONE


!
the beginning of the end

That’s what’s playing on repeat on a tape recorder, when the survivors come to.

Characters will find themselves in a humble, American townhouse, which other than being a bit dusty, is still mostly clean. All characters will be sprawled out on the floor and furniture of the living room, in front of what looks to be a giant portal. Characters will also notice they have a seemingly indestructible silver wristband around their wrists, and they have nothing with them but the clothes on their back.

Take a look around, and you'll realize that everyone in the room is likely a stranger. Aside from the tape playing, there's little explanation or proof that what's being said to you is even true. For all you know, one of the people in the room could be responsible for you being suddenly taken here.

Exploring the house's many rooms will reveal that there are small stockpiles food, water, weapons (a few guns, a few bats, a few knives), and maps, along with a large, strange container of blue liquid. The maps all chart a route from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and sport detailed recommended time stamps on them. Strangely, the recommended path occasionally diverges into two separate routes.

Upon searching the house, Haru Okumura finds a set of notes, while Leontuzzo Bellone finds a separate set. They are free to keep these notes to themselves, or share them with the group.

Nothing has anyone's names on it — not the notes, and certainly not the supplies. Everyone will have to compete for the same things. Or maybe all of you can be civilized about this, before anyone goes hoarding weapons and food? Maybe you can even introduce yourselves, while you're at it. For some strange reason, every window and door in this place is locked (and impossible to break), and will be for at least 72 hours, as if someone wanted you all to be cooped up together for a time before heading out.

Most interestingly, in the deepest basement of the house, there's a room with a large, heavy dresser shoved in front of it… and a low moaning and banging emanating from the other side. The door’s slightly ajar, and a closer look reveals a zombie is the source of the sound. Context clues around the basement, like the PhD in interdimensional travel hung up on the wall (for a Dr. Bei), hint that the woman inside is whoever left you this cryptic message - the woman who brought you here, allegedly. But she's long long gone, only this monster left in her wake. It seems she was smart enough to lock herself away to prevent you from being harmed, at least... and it'll give you a preview of the threat that looms outside.
sewer diving
After 72 hours have passed, one and only one door unlocks – in the very same basement that the zombie of Dr. Bei can be found. It leads down to a dark, dingy tunnel that connects to the sewers. Not only is the smell awful, but (non-infected) rats scurry about, keeping to the shadows – but the smell of any of the food you've taken from the house will attract them. Careful!

The party will need to create some light to navigate their way out and keep the rats at bay, or they’ll be bumping around in the dark for quite a while. Now might be a good time to share if you have some matches, or a special talent for being a lantern. Mercifully, there's only one exit that actually opens down in this labyrinth, as if it's a route the Doctor designed to take all the time.

At one point, Puppy falls into the sewage, and loses something they brought from the house.

oh! that's a baseball

Once characters make it out of the sewers, they’ll be a day’s travel to the first mark on the party’s map: “Dodger’s Stadium.” The road they’ll have to hike to get there is winding, curvy, and uphill, which will give the party a good overview of the now dilapidated Los Angeles, along with the many abandoned buildings and cars that litter the place. The stadium itself looks to have been cleared of threats and fashioned into a safe spot a long time ago, as all entrances but one have been completely welded shut. The high walls keep zombies out, and the winding path up here deters most of them from even approaching.

Inside the stadium, there’s some baseball merch (and equipment) to scavenge, not to mention some really old peanuts! Delicious. Maybe there are even some old fireworks laying around this place. Setting up camp here won’t be very comfortable… but at least it’s very safe. A luxury the party won’t have for much longer, if the map is anything to go by. You'll be heading through the city, next, so rest up while you can.

!
week one objectives

➤ make acquaintances with your fellow travelers
➤ decide what to do with the zombie of dr. bei
➤ arm yourself with what you can find
➤ scavenge some portable food from the house and while traveling
➤ make camp at the stadium
empression: (That your actions have consequences)

[personal profile] empression 2024-07-09 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Was... was it the baseball bat?

[ Is this her legacy ]
venomnom: (037)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-09 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's the right girl, then.

This is a stroke of luck, and not one Reiju tests by making sudden movements. She's snatched by the front, but the naturally low temperature of her skin tempers the heat somewhat. It's still very hot, though she pays it no mind.
]

I don't know where she is now. If you want to go where I last saw her, take a left down the hall once you leave.
kototama: (pic#17279164)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-09 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[top 10 things said right before disaster in horror movies.]

You bet! I've got another year of high school before I've gotta think about things like "what comes next", you know?

[A beat.]

You can fly, huh? I take it it doesn't require wings, since, uh. [She sees Zero Wings.]
kototama: (pic#17279170)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-09 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, well. Capitalism can be pretty rough.

[...]

Jeeze, you sound like an ojiisan when you put it like that, though. "Coming down from the mountains"... did you live in some isolated little village?
hydrotherapy: (pic#17266125)

[personal profile] hydrotherapy 2024-07-09 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The way all that's phrased would perhaps be a little sus to most others, but Sigewinne takes it all at face value. Tear things down without thinking or not, it sounds like a valuable skill to have when faced with a large number of enemies. ]

That does sound like a useful skill to have, especially if one of us gets lost somehow.

[ Their very own hunting hound...moe. 🥺 But also: ]

Does that mean you'd be able to hunt down animals easily too? [ In the event they run out of rations and need to forage for food... ]
hydrotherapy: (008)

[personal profile] hydrotherapy 2024-07-10 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Same as before, Sigewinne sits quietly and attentively as Sunday speaks, doing her best to follow along to the story that he tells. She's heard many a story back at the Fortress, and listened to plenty of people bemoan their shattered dreams, but she's never heard one quite like this. The longer he talks, the more solemn her expression grows.

It wouldn't be fair for her to make an assessment of him when she knows next to nothing about him (a name, an area of interest, a snippet regarding his family) but the way he talks about himself - specifically, the way he talks down about himself - makes her heart hurt. ]


I don't think that's true. [ Quietly. ] Maybe this dream of yours didn't come true, but I don't think that means you were never meant to fly.

[ His hands are busy with his makeshift meal so she settles on placing a small hand on his leg. ]

Maybe you're not a star because you're something else. Like a comet that sails past all of the other stars in the sky. [ But she's no astrologist, able to summon forth evocative images of all the beauty the night sky contains. ] Your dream didn't work out this time but that doesn't mean you should give up forever. And I don't think your sister would want you to see yourself that way either.
parttimesoldier: (081)

[personal profile] parttimesoldier 2024-07-10 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, that’s a nice thought right there. A little terrifying too, because the thought of SERN finding out that interdimensional travel is achievable would only be nightmarish—but she’s gonna banish that thought right here, right now. Only the good! Which is the idea of still being able to stop in to say howdy to everyone conscripted into this mission, once it’s all said and done.]

I’m gonna hold you to that, then.

[She grins, then holds her hand out expectantly for him to pass along the baseball.]

But for now, maybe some more practice so I can really wow ‘em with some rad skills when I get back home. You can show me how it’s really done, right cap’n?

[Yeah. Just kill some time with a little fun, before they gotta hit the road again. Suzuha couldn’t really ask for much more than that.]
insinnerate: (7)

[personal profile] insinnerate 2024-07-10 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
You can break anyone out. Even when they don't know that getting out is possible. [She has to agree. Like an oversized dog or a stuffed animal that's been well-loved, she sits still while Hella wiggles and get comfortable against her chest, only pausing to heave a great big sigh once she's stopped moving.]

He smells weak, but I think it's fooling me. He could be powerful in a way we can't see. [She pauses, thinking about their interaction back at the condo. Physically, he'd been too weak to even think of taking on the zombie in the basement, but he'd been fearless enough to follow her down there and look at it regardless.] Does he remind you of your friend?

[That might be one of the few things she can do that are worse than calling Hella short, but Ninety-Nine has no reason to mince the observation. At first, she hadn't known what to make of the quiet, dull-eyed girl who was so protective of the Chief keeping them all shackled to the Bureau, but there's no denying their relationship is more than just being forced to work together by now.]
rifare: ('cause my banner's clean)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-07-10 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Optimistic and perhaps naively kind. That's not exactly how I would describe our reason for being here.

[ More of a kidnapped against their will, and forced into a situation where they have no choice but to risk their lives for a cause that they didn't agree to. ]

You are right on the last point though. We will get it done.

[ They don't have much choice now, do they? Even if that promise of returning home wasn't hanging over their heads, their only other option in this situation was to roll over a die. That wasn't one Leon was particularly interested in taking himself. ]
parttimesoldier: (045)

[personal profile] parttimesoldier 2024-07-10 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
Halovians, huh…

[Uttered mostly to herself, like saying it out loud would help commit that little fact to memory.

As for how she’s doing? She shrugs a little.]


Doing pretty fine too. Kinda used to having to travel through some unpleasant routes sometimes, so I guess this is kinda familiar territory for me.

[Meaning she’s got a higher tolerance for dealing with it, but it doesn’t really make it suck any less.]

I’m definitely gonna be glad to get out of here as soon as we can though. Don’t think any of us want another unfortunate fall into the sewer gunk. Tempting fate, the longer we’re here.
titlecard: (094)

[personal profile] titlecard 2024-07-10 10:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Beams right back at her, full of confidence that everything's going to work out — starting with his turn at bat.

Mark puts the ball in her hand, moves to take the bat from her so he can hit. ]


You got it. We'll have you playing like a pro in no time.

[ Why would it be any other way? They're both in a good place right now — they've just gotta keep that going. ]
titlecard: (100)

[personal profile] titlecard 2024-07-10 10:21 am (UTC)(link)
Nope. I can just kinda... move myself in any direction? [ He floats off of the ground as if to demonstrate. ] I don't really gotta do anything, I can just do it. I guess it's more convenient than, uh, sprouting wings or something would be.

[ That sounds pretty yikes to him, actually?? He's glad to not have wings. ]
titlecard: (082)

[personal profile] titlecard 2024-07-10 10:34 am (UTC)(link)
Focus, huh...

[ He really is hanging on to every word. Is this what therapy is? Putting language to unfathomable and terrifying concepts and offering solutions for how to cope with them? Should he go to therapy later? ]

I'm going to try that. If it happens again, see if I can just... breathe, I guess. See what that feels like, if that's all I'm focused on. [ He offers up a little smile. ] Thanks for the advice.
titlecard: (098)

[personal profile] titlecard 2024-07-10 10:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Help?? Don't read him for filth while they're in the midst of literal filth.

Mark's arm drops as he continues floating along beside Leon, expression falling into something more contemplative. ]


We're here to help people. [ And sure, those people include themselves now, but the point still stands. They're here to help people, and there isn't a whole lot that's more important than that. ] As long as we're doing that, then we're doing the right thing.
mediator: (pic#17265661)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-10 02:44 pm (UTC)(link)
It was more of a compound. There weren't that many of us. Most of the people there were my age or younger, and we had several adults and elders. I don't remember ever living a life away from there until I left, so I never realized how different the rest of the world was.
mediator: (pic#17265661)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-10 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
How do I put it... it's not just the fact you were using it, but how well you used it. I just thought you played baseball, but learning you can use an ax puts it in perspective.

You're dangerous. And I don't think you even realize it.
mediator: (pic#17265655)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-10 02:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Anytime. It doesn't come easy, but you don't come across as a hothead. You'll get it.
empression: (You've got a big storm coming)

[personal profile] empression 2024-07-10 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, against an enemy, I do understand that... though I'd rather not frighten my allies.

[ Unless it's like scared respect, maybe? But that's not conducive to making friends. ]
mediator: (pic#17265655)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-10 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not frightened myself if that helps. You're a kind person outside of that, so it just comes across as surprising.

[ if she were dangerous and her behavior was erratic like kuonji, he'd be more worried. haru is very easy to talk to though. ]
empression: (Five feet apart 'cause they're not gay)

[personal profile] empression 2024-07-10 03:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, if that's how you feel... I understand. I'm relieved I haven't put you off from speaking with me.
kototama: (pic#17279176)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-10 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Wowwwwww....

[... It kind of sounds...]

That sounds really foreign to me. It's wild to think how different things can be in the same country, just in different parts of it.
kototama: (pic#17277104)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-10 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
It'd be pretty wild, right? But I gotta say, just casually flying without any apparatus necessary is kind of even more wild.

[Look at him float! Just like that! As if it's that easy!]
mediator: (pic#17265655)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-10 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it was a huge shock to me. But you know, I'm glad I chose to leave. Even if I can never return, my world would never have changed. I wouldn't even be the same person you're speaking to right now.

[ he's learned and grown so much in a short time, and for that he's eternally grateful. ]
bicth: (pic#17160405)

[personal profile] bicth 2024-07-11 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ At the question, Hella immediately turns more on her side, burrowing her face into Ninety-Nine's body. ]

Who, Hecate?

[ She mumbles, surly and moody. By principle, Hella tries not to talk about too much of the specifics of her missions until they're over, because she doesn't want Ninety-Nine to worry about her. In Drifter Camp, with Rustfire, things have been difficult, there's no way around it — they'd even had to fake the Chief's death for a time, which sent Hecate into a mood. The argument the two of them had before Hella was dragged here is still fresh on her mind, as if her frustration with the other girl. ]

At least Henry can say what's on his mind sometimes.

[ Pouting, she glares at a buckle on Ninety-Nine's clothes, knowing in her heart that if she were to truly complain, Ninety-Nine would completely be on her side, But... she doesn't want that. Pissed off as Hecate had made her feel, she'd like it if one day, Hecate and Ninety-Nine could be friends, too. Quieter, with an errant current of hurt underneath: ]

Hecate just shuts me out and pretends she barely knows me.
insinnerate: (3)

[personal profile] insinnerate 2024-07-11 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
I could try. [Yes, in line with the perhaps-more-alarming nature of her skills, Ninety-Nine would probably find it easier to track down humans than animals. Her skills hadn't been put to use as a mercenary in the streets of Syndicate for animals, just people who behaved like them.]

I wonder how many are still here. [She nudges another rat out of the way with the toe of her shoe. They're fearless down here - and why wouldn't they be? This is their world, and who knows when another person has even been around down here?] There don't seem to be many people left. They might not remember how to be afraid.

... Even then they would be stupid not to run when they saw me coming.

[That's the other thing that makes running people down easier.]