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

[titlecard]

I mean... yeah. [ Mark has been trying not to think about it, but... yeah. This doesn't seem like the kind of thing they can get out of without some kind of violence, loathe as he is to admit it. ] Still, isn't it better to see as little of them as possible? Doesn't that increase our odds?

[ A beat before he just has to voice a thought he did not want to have, but. ]

... There's no way there'd be any down here, right?

[rifare]

[ Leontuzzo is quiet for a minute as he continues to walk along. He doesn't fault Mark's logic here in the slightest, and in all honesty the less then encounter the happier he is too. He's just not optimistic enough to believe they won't be stumbling across their fair share of them over the next several weeks.

There's another reason he's quiet though, his ears twisting this way and that as he listens to the sound of their fellow survivors' footsteps, to the sound of the scurrying rats, listens out for the sound of the strange, clumsy, shuffling gate that he'd heard coming from the closet Dr. Bei had shoved herself into. ]

It's possible... I suspect my hearing is better than most of you though, and if there is anything strange up ahead I should be able to notice it.

[ Should, unless too many competing sounds drown it out. ]

Though it doesn't hurt to stay on guard anyway.

[titlecard]

You're right.

[ It doesn't hurt to stay on guard. And that's precisely what Mark is intent on doing, but Leontuzzo is right in more ways than one — his hearing probably is better. Although... ]

My hearing's pretty good, too. Maybe not as good as yours, [ he only has but a mere two ears, ] but... pretty good.

[ Awkward pause. ]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but do you have like... wolf powers?

[ What does that even mean. It is a stupid question. ]

[rifare]

[ Wolf powers, like transforming on a full moon, or being able to rip a human to pieces with teeth and claws alone? These aren't the sort of things that Lupo can do, so it doesn't even occur to Leontuzzo that this is what anyone might mean. ]

Do you mean can I summon wolves to my side in combat? Because if so, then yes.

[ Sometimes one wears a hat. It's very cute.

This is probably not at all what Mark meant though. ]

Usually at least. Given the circumstances I'm not sure if I still can.

[titlecard]

[ Mark actually didn't know what he meant. He just saw a guy with wolf ears and a tail, who can hear and probably see better than him, so... wolf powers.

That he can summon wolves to his side in combat though?? That gets a hushed but impressed woooow, like Mark doesn't have powers of his own or anything. When you were already a comic book geek, coming across new things is pretty cool — cool enough to forget about how gross their current situation is. ]

Like, out of thin air, or do they have to be actual wolves already nearby? Does it take a lot out of you, or do you think you could try and see if it still works? Uh, when we're not in a sewer I mean. Probably. [ Okay his inner fanboy kind of leapt out there for a minute?? Embarrassing. ] Sorry.

[rifare]

[ If it offers the kid (as if Leon is that much older) a distraction from their current situation right now, than he's fine with providing it. He gets the vague sense there won't be much to find enjoyment in during this particular journey. ]

They are not quite the same thing as natural wolves.

[ It's hard to fully explain the wolf pack to people who didn't grow up with the concepts and legends though. ]

Summoning then takes no more out of me than a caster using their Arts, though something feels... different.

[ The frown that pulls down the corners of his mouth is probably impossible to see in this lighting. It wasn't just baseless speculation that had him saying what he did, but it's still hard to explain the feelings that come with manifestations like the ones he can pull off. ]

It won't hurt to try regardless.

[titlecard]

[ Well, one of them is certainly acting a lot younger right now.

Mark is watching Leon as he answers, innocently floating along beside him, but nope, he doesn't register any change in his facial expression. Just his voice, that pause before the word different, and that has Mark frowning slightly. Is there something different about being here...?

(He only has a vague inkling at this time that he's been nerfed. When your powers are inherent to your physiology, you kind of just don't question things.) ]

Probably not. [ At least he sounds sympathetic, even though he doesn't think he can relate. ] Better to try it out when you're in a safe place, right? So you know your limits when things start getting hairy.

[ A beat. ]

Assuming we're going somewhere safe, but... we have to be.

[ Why else would they be travelling through a sewer?? ]

[rifare]

[ They have to, huh? Leontuzzo isn't so convinced about that himself, but he keeps his voice even and calm as he response to not betray that fact. ]

Certainly when we get somewhere with less rodents and odor, I might have the opportunity to try.

[ Though he also doesn't copy Mark's use of the word safe either. Wherever they're headed, if they have to go through the sewers to get there to avoid bigger risks than disease, it feels like safety isn't in the cards for them. ]

[titlecard]

Yeah.

[ Mark nods, because he is currently living in a comfortable optimism where everything is going to work out just fine in the end because it has to. He doesn't notice the omission of the word safe, because it has to be safe. ]

I guess wolves would hate it down here, huh? Since they got a better sense of smell and everything...

[ ... trails off to just look at Leontuzzo because. Does he have an elevated sense of smell, too? ... Does it really suck for him in particular to be down here?? Only he isn't going to ask it out loud because that's a weird question, and surely just staring at him instead is better. ]

[rifare]

[ Wouldn't that be nice? Leontuzzo would prefer an outcome like that too, but he's had to sacrifice enough in his life in situations with less dire life or death stakes than this one, so he's not holding his breath for that. ]

I do not think you need to have a particularly good sense of smell to hate it down here. Just the ability to smell at all.

[ He sounds so disdainful, and all while his boot squishes into a pile of something. He's trying so hard not to think too much about what that might be. ]

[titlecard]

Well, uh... yeah.

[ Okay, so that didn't entirely answer his question, but it's not like he really asked one to begin with. Mark flinches in sympathy with that wet squelching sound, not that he has to worry about it for himself since he's avoiding walking in here, but. Everything in here is pretty gross, so... yeah. ]

At least it's gotta end at some point, right? [ Everything sucks, time for some optimism, his voice ticking up a little to reflect that. ] Like a literal light at the end of the tunnel and everything. Eventually.

[ Come on, they're not going to die getting lost in a sewer ha ha ha. ]

[rifare]

[ Leon turns his head to give Mark a contemplative look for a few seconds as he carefully makes his way out of the sludge he stepped into. ]

You are very much the glass half full type.

[ It's not a question. ]

[titlecard]

[ Oh... that look. It isn't so dark here that he can't read that. ]

Well... yeah. [ Awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. ] We're here to get a job done, right? We'll get it done.

[rifare]

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. ]

[titlecard]

[ 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.

[rifare]

[ Try making it harder for him then, Mark.

For his part, Leontuzzo's heart more or less is in the right place, but for as soft as his fellow mafiosos thought he had gotten, he's still nowhere near as kind as Mark. ]

I was already doing that before I was dragged here.

[ At least he was trying, whether he was going to be successful in his endeavors was a different matter entirely. ]

If I die here or am never able to make it back, then I cannot finish the work I started in my own country.

[ There's just a touch of frostiness in his voice now. ]

Don't misunderstand. I do not blame you for trying to see the bright side in all of this, but I'm not so certain I'll be able to join you in that.

[titlecard]

[ For a long, long moment, Mark is quiet. Leontuzzo might even be able to take his silence for the end of the conversation, that he's successfully cowed this teenager into seeing why being here at all is a problem, but — ]

You aren't the only one who was trying to make things better for people back home.

[ — he finds his voice again, and while it starts sullen, it regains its optimism. ]

But we're here now, and we can't really do anything about it except the job done here — and by doing that, we help other people too. Maybe an entire planet. We'll make it through, and so many more lives will be saved. How is that not a good thing? How do you not see the bright side of that?

[rifare]

[ Now it's Leontuzzo's turn to be quiet for a beat too long, as though Mark has managed to convince him. Unfortunately he's not, but regardless of what he feels about this situation it's not one he can just remove himself from whenever he wants. He won't be able to see it in the same silver-lined light that Mark is, but he's stuck going through the same motions none-the-less.

That, more than anything, is the reason for the resignation in his voice now. ]

Dangerously optimistic then. I hope for your sake that you're able to hold onto that.

[titlecard]

[ Another long stretch of quiet, because Mark really doesn't know how to take that. Wasn't expecting the conversation to be flipped back on him like that. Really had thought he'd convinced Leontuzzo, but now he's just... quiet.

And finally, breaking that quiet, a soft voice: ] Me too.