WEEK 1

[biteys]

WEEK ONE

❝Don’t panic. You’re waking up somewhere unfamiliar, but try to relax. You aren’t dead, and I don’t have any intention to harm you. You’ve just been selected for a very special mission. A delivery, I guess. I’d do it myself but… let’s just say I can’t travel in the state I’m in. Take the blue container I’ve left to where I’ve marked on the maps within eight weeks, and you’ll be able to go home happy. More than, really. Any time or place you want to go… I can send you there. It's kinda my thing. Think of it as your payment. Everything else you need to know, I’ll tell you in time. Know that I’m sorry that I had to resort to this, and I’ll pay for my sins in Hell.❞

!

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

code

Comments

[venomnom]

I doubt many of us are. We can look around and see what there is to help us.

[normalness]

Okay.

[Okay.




Awkward beat.]

What’s your name? I’m Henry.

[venomnom]

[Like the unit of electrical inductance?]

Nice to meet you. I'm Reiju.

[With that established, she begins to walk. The townhouse won't explore itself, and they can use all the resources they can find.]

[normalness]

[N… no. Like a Henry.]

Where are you from?

[He’s going to follow, casting about as he does.]

[venomnom]

I came from Germa. [She doesn't expect him to know the name, so she continues:] And you?

[normalness]

[She's right, he has no idea where that is.]

Indiana. Have you heard of it?

[venomnom]

No. I don't recognize the architecture of this place, either.

[Everything is, as expected, unfamiliar.]

[normalness]

You don't? It just looks like... someone's house?

[venomnom]

The houses I'm used to look nothing like this. You're more familiar to it than I am.

[normalness]

[Oh.... so he was assuming.]

Really? What's Germa like, then?

[venomnom]

Strong.

All the walls of Germa's homes are made from the hardiest of stones. Though appearances can be deceiving, this place looks much softer in comparison.

[normalness]

Softer? [A huff.] I doubt brick and mortar compares to the "hardiest" stones, no.

I wouldn't discount this house too much, though. I can't even get any of the locked doors open.

[venomnom]

They must have been reinforced to keep the dangers out. This house is stronger than it looks.

[Despite herself, her smile widens a smidgen, faint amusement dancing along the subtle curvature.]

We'll have to find another way out.

[normalness]

[She seems so calm despite everything.]

We might need some tools for that. Or even a weapon or two, depending on what's out there. Do you know how to fight?

[venomnom]

Yes. I'm a mercenary by trade. [Despite the frills and mini dress.] Do you?

[normalness]

[Appearances can be deceiving. He'll take her at her word.]

That depends on who you ask.

[venomnom]

If I were to ask you?

[normalness]

[Then that's complicated.]

...I can cause harm. Pretty easily, too. [Break bones, snap necks, make organs compress or tear inside someone's body, get into someone's head-] But I've never been in a "real" fight before.

[venomnom]

[Sounds pleasant.

There's a very fine line on the verge of being crossed, even with what little she knows. And Henry is young, or he at least appears to be.]

The nature of the mission could demand that you fight for real. Are you prepared for it?

[normalness]

[Despite his anxious nature, this reply comes surprisingly easy.]

Yes. If I have to protect myself, or the rest of the group, I'm not just going to roll over and let something bad happen.

[A beat.]

I just don't want it to come to that right now.

[venomnom]

[It's an understandable stance to take. Promising, even. He's earnest.]

If we're lucky, it won't.

Then you can fight if there's a need. Is there anything else you can do?

[normalness]

[If they're exceedingly lucky. If, if.]

I can read thoughts if I try. And... sense where people are nearby. Even find them long distance if I know what or who I'm looking for.

[venomnom]

Sounds like haki.

[An impressive skill, and one she lacks.]

According to the recording, we'll be gone for up to eight weeks. An ability like that could help to keep everyone safer.

[normalness]

Haki?

[She doesn't have to expound if she doesn't want to, but it's clear that the term is not something Henry is familiar with.]

I'll do my best. Maybe I can at least sense threats nearby if those threats have a... conscious mind, if that makes sense.

[Eight weeks traveling, though. With a group of strangers. That feels like an age — and yet still strangely freeing compared to his last set of circumstances.]

[venomnom]

Yes, I think so.

[She can at least understand the broad strokes of it. It could be a massive boon for them as they go into the unknown.

And she wasn't going to linger on it, but he sounds curious enough that she does expound:] Haki is a latent power that manifests in different ways. One of them allows the user to hear the "voices" and sense the intentions of others.