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

[bicth]

[ She sighs, averting her eyes and curling her lips in for a second. How to explain it to him in a way he might understand? She can tell just from his response that he's not a bad person, just a good-doer who follows instructions, not unlike many of the guards at the prison she's staying in (don't worry about it). ]

Okay, so? Even if it was important, do you want to risk your life for some bozos you've never met? They're treating us like expendables!

[ Huffing, she tears into her hostess cake wrapping, taking a big ol' bite of her twinkie. When she speaks next, it's with her mouth full. ]

I don't know about you, [ She waves a hand flippantly. ] But I've got some shit going on at home. People who.... need me.

[ Her eyes drop to the floor, her last words almost bashful. ]

I'm supposed to drop all that 'cuz of their [ nasally, mocking voice, ] important mission?

[organfarm]

[ Oh. Right. Most people here probably had their own lives and priorities before getting dragged into this, huh. The reminder is sobering, and Jion gives a small nod in response. ]

... mm. Sorry. It really is rough that we all just ended up here. I bet people back where you're from must really miss you too, huh.

[ A pause in thought before he gives an awkward laugh. ]

Stuff like this is my job. Well -- not this sort of delivery, exactly? But I'm a soldier. So. Y'know. If there's something I can do to help people, then of course I gotta do it? And I kinda assumed a lot of other people would be from similar situation, but I guess it's not like that? Whoever brought us here really could've chosen better ...

[ Oh, he's rambling. Jion pauses with a little clear of the throat before trying to change tack. ] -- um, what kinda place are you from? Maybe things'll be okay if we get this job done as fast as we can and you can get back?

[bicth]

[ Inwardly, she thinks of course they miss me, though she tries not to let her mind wander too much to the state of things where she was taken from, fresh off the heels of fighting with a friend and on the precipice of a major battle. Definitely not ideal timing. If she lets herself think about it too much, it's going to sour her mood even more, so she shakes her head once at his question, honing in on the what kinda place are you from part. ]

A place about as shitty as this. [ She nods her head towards one of the windows, where outside, everything looks like your staple apocalyptic zombie abandoned town. Actually, the sight is pretty familiar, all things considered. ] Except where I'm from, the apocalypse happened over a century ago. Whatever happened here seems like it happened more recently...

[ It's all very casual, the way she talks about it. The apocalypse, officially named Nightfall, is a fact of life for everyone that lives in the world she came from. The event happened so long ago, and so far away from her birth, that she has no lingering feelings about being stuck in a world like it — can't miss what you never had, and all that.

It helps, too, that despite the state of her world, there are still people like this boy in it. In him, she sees the kind people in Rustfire, who do genuinely only want the best for the people around them, even if it means wading into danger and sacrificing themself. She can respect that. ]

You know, there's probably people that miss you too, dummy. What about your fellow soldiers?

[organfarm]

[ Sorry, that -- uh.

There's a distinct pause as he tries to process what she's saying, head tilted like a dog trying to process an unfamiliar noise. And then, after his brain's been showing the little spinny ball for a hot second: ]

Oh, uh. I'm sure my absence is noted ... and my commander will probably be upset with me? But I was just recently deployed to that encampment, so, um, I don't know if anyone would miss me, exactly? And in terms of logistics, I'm sure they'll send a new engineered unit there ASAP, so -- I think they'll probably be okay.

[ Another pause. Okay. He answered the question, so. Time to loop back: ]

Sorry, you said an apocalypse already happened where you're from? Like, um -- a real apocalypse? [ 'Like from a movie?' he wants to ask, except that feels sort of insensitive, so. He instead opts for: ] And you were doing alright there?

[bicth]

[ A new engineered unit? No one would miss him? His word choice is starting to give her pause, and it shows in the way her eyes narrow, lips pressing together momentarily. He moves on, so she doesn't have a chance to question him further about it, but suffice to say, her suspicions are piqued. Whoever's doing this "deployment" sounds more like they're using him as a tool....]

Yeah, yeah, it happened when a big meteor hit the planet. There was nuclear war over resources afterwards.

[ Which she says with a shrug — this all happened long before she was born, so she doesn't have any real stake in it, nor does she know much of the details. ]

This contamination from the meteor still affects the planet today, but for the most part, I've been doing okay. I'm alive, aren't I? [ Can't ask for much more than that, when she lived on a knife's edge in the poorest, most dangerous part of society post the apocalypse.] What's it like where you came from, then? You just made it sound like there's some kind of war.

[organfarm]

[ Sorry, that question sorta goes in one ear and out the other? Just as Hella is starting to be suspicious of what he's saying, Jion's equally as distracted by what she so casually lays out -- and he's nowhere near as good at staying on point.

So all she gets in response for a good long moment is Jion just staring at her, blinking wider-eyed, before he finally snaps out of his little reverie. ]

-- oh, sorry. Um. I was just surprised. That's -- kind of a lot to hear.

[ His words peter off for a moment, but his fidgeting makes it pretty obvious there's more he wants to say; he just needs a moment of waffling before he can get the words out. ]

And I was thinking ... that kind of sucks. That you had to get brought from a place like that, where you were doing okay, into a place like this, where things are also going pretty bad and now you have to figure things out all over again. If something like this had to happen, it would've been nicer if you could end up somewhere more fun, huh.

[ A supremely awkward little huff of laughter. ]

Sorry, what was the question, again?

[bicth]

[ Aww.... he's actually kind of sweet? In a way she's not used to; Hella grew up around the roughest and toughest fringes of society, where most people would fuck you over for a single corn chip. A stranger expressing that he feels badly that she's stuck here isn't something she'd expect to hear at all, and her smile turns lopsided as he goes on. ]

It's fine — I'll get back one way or another. I'm not about to cry my eyes out over it. There's not a cage, or even another dimension that can hold me! [ She shrugs, her words confident. Someway, she'll figure out how to escape from this place, even if the escape plan in question is just playing along with the ol' doctor. ] Don't forget you're getting the short end of the stick too, dummy.

[ Even though he's said he's fine with this turn of events.... well, she thinks he should show some more displeasure. STAND UP JION ]

I was asking about the war. You said you were being deployed... so there was fighting, right?