biteys: (Default)
NIMBO ([personal profile] biteys) wrote in [community profile] turnout2024-07-06 10:11 am

week 2

WEEK TWO


After allowing the party some time to rest at the stadium, it’s time to get a move on again. As per your mysterious benefactor’s (?) recommendation, the party will be splitting up into two groups, with one group traveling west to a hospital, and the other traveling east to a mall.

if you chose hospital...
To get to the hospital, characters will need to venture into more densely populated areas of Los Angeles – and that means they’ll be coming into contact with a higher amount of zombies. The hordes that roam here descend upon any living creature that makes too much noise, so you might witness an unlucky squirrel or cat get hunted down by these roaming threats. The bad news is that they’ll sprint full speed at you if they happen to catch sight – the good news is that they’re not very coordinated at pack hunting, and you may be able to outsmart them by weaving through the streets.

In a stroke of bad luck, Shoko Ieiri attracts the attention of a horde, forcing the party off considerably off course. Temporarily, hopefully. Detour!

Thankfully, there are several methods of getting to the front door of the location – parkouring atop or traversing inside connected buildings, for example. The zombies aren't the only thing that can kill you, though, if you're not careful; while traveling to the hospital, Auch Aubrey slips and falls to his death off a building. Remember Dr. Bei's warning, about not getting too far away from each other? The party will realize if they get too far away from his body (specifically the bracelet), it'll start feeling like their own bracelet is burning them at the wrist. Better go back — and either lug his body around, or lop off the bracelet somehow....

The area this group will travel through has many tourist attractions – antique stores, the Natural History Museum, old-school theaters, for example. For our sword wielders, there are some dated ones among the antique stores and museums; they're dusty, but they'll get the job done. There are other cool artifacts to "borrow" at these places, too, not to mention some history of what the world was like before all this happened.

And at the theaters? There's candy, DVDs, and cardboard cutouts from a variety of movies that were out when the fall of society came. Maybe there are minions there.

Once at the hospital, the party will find that there are a massive amount of zombies that have been trapped inside. Many are former patients or hospital staff, so several are wielding things like scalpels or crutches, and they are just smart enough to attack with them. To get around the facility to find the medical supplies you need, you’ll need to find a way to either distract the zombies, stealthily make your way around, or, you know, eliminate all of them.

As for scavenging, the hospital is surprisingly well stocked, as the high zombie count has made it hard to raid. Characters will be able to find bandages, medicine, surgical tools, and more, if they look close enough.

Of this group, Satoru Gojo and Mark Grayson are infected.


if you chose mall...
To get to the mall, characters will need to travel underground through the subway tunnels. None of the trains are in operation anymore, so they won’t be at risk of getting flattened – but the aged husks of the vehicles are still down here, rotting away. In some tunnels, it will be impossible to go around them, and you know the saying: sometimes the only way forward is through. Inside the trains, some doors that connect the cars are operational, while others are too rusted to move, forcing characters to climb atop the train to progress to the next car. It'll be a taxing trial, made worse by the fact that in these train cars, there are both regular corpses as well as zombified ones. The unpredictable nature of the functioning or non-functioning doors will making escaping the zombies difficult — characters will need to either stand their ground, or climb up to safety if they find themselves at a dead end.

Exiting the subways leaves one last test for this group: the stairs are collapsed! The light of outside shines through what is essentially a giant hole in the ceiling leading to street level. There's about a one story gap between the end point of the subways and the upper ground of the street, so characters will have to get creative with getting everyone up — using train cables? Throwing each other? Human pyramid?

Once at the mall just outside, the party will find that while there doesn’t seem to be a massive horde, there’s another problem: the first floor of the mall, which is below street level, is completely flooded. They’ll have to swim across the distance to the escalators, find a way to get across using debris, or some secret third thing. There are waterlogged zombies floating about in the water as well, who will swim violently towards you once they hear ripples in the water — they’re not subtle about going after you, and will thrash and splash and immediately let you know where they are. They're like people sized piranhas. Scary!

At one point, Sigewinne is pulled underwater by a zombie, and comes close to drowning.

As for scavenging, once they’ve scaled the escalator, they’ll find the second floor of the mall has definitely had its fair share of visitors, but there are still many useful things to find. There are electronic stores that have batteries and walkie talkies, clothing stores (like Hot Topic) that have some extra clothes lying about, and of course, the food court, where you’ll find canned and preserved foods from a variety of different cuisines.

Of this group, Suzuha Amane is infected.


rendezvous

After several days apart, characters will be able to meet back up at a spacious park in the northern part of the city. There are park ranger staff cabins that can be converted into temporary shelters with effort — and the area has a lightly wooded trail, which will make camping outside slightly more safe than if you were plain out in the open.

It’d be a good time to treat the wounded with the new medical supplies, and chow down on the food that’s been collected. Is there someone among the group who’s medical advice can be trusted? Is there someone who might be good at rationing or cooking the food? Everyone’s role in the party should start to become clearer.

There are probably a lot of things to discuss: what will you do with the infected? What's the deal with the bracelets? Reality of how dangerous this mission is will be setting in far too quickly.

Most annoyingly… after all that, some characters will find that moving north has caused their bracelets to inexplicably magnetize together at times, perhaps in response to everything that's happened. Due to this, you might need to help feed each other, or sleep next to a stranger. Hopefully you don't get stuck to someone you totally hate.


!
week two objectives

➤ scavenge for your assigned items!
➤ protect and fight for each other
➤ treat each others wounds
➤ eat tasty canned food


killboss: (Default)

[personal profile] killboss 2024-07-11 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ What he doesn't do, is ignore his surroundings.

Gnashing teeth from a second advancing runner ( the prelude to the all-encompassing swarm coming at them ) scrape off the metal of the pipe he'd scavenged from the farmhouse. He rips a few out as he draws his makeshift saber back, only to smash his metal fist into the side of the zombie's jaw and scatter teeth and congealing blood across the pavement. It's just like fighting the Hosts that have been used up, left as unfeeling husks useable for anything — that's how he sees the zombies.

He backs toward Shoko, because protecting her is more important than wading into a mass of undead bodies. Flashing text across his mask is not a good method of communicating right now, nor is imagery; both run the risk of forcing Shoko to focus on him, rather than her environment. So, Puppy falls in with her smaller form and begins to try and herd her back.

The subtle press of his weight at her back, urging her to move as he curves like a shield around her. The engines and wires within his mask and arm pour heat from nanotech caught in a cycle of life-death-rebirth, making him all but molten as he angles metal away from her. Run, he seems to be encouraging, as he points toward a series of vehicles in a messy line; there's a clean shot to open road that way? ]
killboss: (pic#16242312)

[personal profile] killboss 2024-07-11 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She was bitten.

Of course not all of them were going to make it, it just sucks that he wasn't there to make sure it was him and not her. That's what he's here for, he figured. Big and stupid and barely human, he's a great sacrificial piece. Always had been. ]


— █ BAD LUCK

[ Puppy works his cybernetic hand a little, flexing the braided muscles and wiring until a normal muscle might feel sore; he just gets warm, dark and battered metal giving off heat like the surface of a car in the sun.

Then he waits, for a little bit, to cool it down. ]


— █ JOURNEY END
— █ SAVE YOU?


[ Only after that does he gesture to the stump of her arm with that warmed hand — asking silent permission to touch her. Like a hot pack for a sore spot! ]
killboss: (Default)

[personal profile] killboss 2024-07-11 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Maybe if it were anybody else, they might spend time talking to Mark about hope, about how everyone will work hard to save him. In Puppy's mind, some part of him would like that, but he also has seen people so far gone that ending them was the most gentle, loving thing that could be done. If Mark can't heal...

He doesn't shy away from the other's form, as if unafraid of the infection burning through him. Maybe he isn't afraid at all, really. ]


— █ WILL TRY
— █ SAVE YOU


[ Where their bracelets had come to link, Puppy tugs his wrist away so that he can slowly put his hand on Mark's shoulder. ]

— █ NO HEAL
— █ SAVE OTHERS
Edited 2024-07-11 14:47 (UTC)
killboss: (pic#16242313)

[personal profile] killboss 2024-07-11 03:24 pm (UTC)(link)
— █ NOT NEAT

[ ( Puppy will repeat this to Gojo later, with more solemnity and gravitas — because the situation will deserve it. )

For now? He focuses on planting a foot against the roll cage of a hollowed-out vehicle, catching the bars right against the heel of his boot so that when he shoves his weight into it, the whole thing slides fast and hard into a set of three zombies. Crushes them up against the wall.

They might still be writhing, but they're out of his way. Man, he could really use a gun.

Also, continuing to text at Gojo is foolish — forcing him to read anything on the fly might take his focus away and get him hurt. Instead, Puppy wades through the carnage and closes in on the teen. Pantomiming the following: Gojo, Puppy, up, pointing to an alley, two palms held parallel and a small-distance from one another, fist colliding with open palm.

Which roughly means: Hey, Gojo. Take ne up so I can come down on the nearby alley that zombies might be soon pouring out from, so that I can either block it or bottleneck it.

Easy translation! :) ]
normalness: (🌟🕷️ 010)

[personal profile] normalness 2024-07-11 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
A superhero?

[The word's out of his mouth like the unbelievably cool thing it is, except such admirable novelty is utterly ruined in a situation like this one. Mark is a real-life superhero, which would make sense—him swooping in to save him—but he shouldn't be wasting his effort on him, not like this. Not like this, just look at him, he's already so... so...]

That's all the more reason why you shouldn't get bitten! If you're one of the stronger ones here, then we can't lose you!

[And so early on? Guilt gnaws at him. He swallows hard and steps forward, eyes raking across Mark.]

You don't... You don't look so good, Mark. We need to get you some help.
normalness: (🌟🕷️ 033)

[personal profile] normalness 2024-07-11 04:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[Not much of a win, but they take what they can get, right? Henry nods and opens up the can, the top peeling back with ease, and hands it over to Gojo. He'll cast about for a little plastic spoon, too, so he can sit down and eat somewhere.]

Thanks. [For letting him help. And, actually...] You know, if you weren't around, maybe things would have been a lot worse.

I know that's not much consolation, but it's not like you didn't help us, so. [Repeats, uselessly-] Thanks.
normalness: (🌟🕷️ 034)

[personal profile] normalness 2024-07-11 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Blurts out immediately, among seeing the fireflies, as though it's the first piece of useless trivia that his brain supplies him-]

Oh! If you catch one, then you can make a wish!

[Immediately walks over and tries to catch a passing firefly with two cupped hands. Using his powers is cheating, you know!

Later, when they actually find the glut of fresh berries ripe for the picking, Henry's eyes widen.]


Wow. I've never picked wild berries before.

[Because they're definitely picking these berries, right?]
normalness: (🌟🕷️ 035)

[personal profile] normalness 2024-07-11 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[he's only like level 3 or something probably okay

She does the equivalent of scuffing him, except with his arm instead of the back of his shirt, and Henry gives a startled-]


-ah!

[Before his back up on his feet and dragged along, finding his gait and staggering back into a run. Practically hurling himself towards the alleyway.]

Thanks! Sorry!

[Both!

He's definitely going to make sure that Shoko makes it into the alleyway, too, because the zombies are rgith behind them. Henry whirls on a heel and extends a hand, pushing the first few back with his powers to buy them both a few seconds' more time...]
normalness: (🌟🕷️ 021)

[personal profile] normalness 2024-07-11 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I dunno. I'm a lot better at drawing than trying to gesture what I mean.

And you're welcome. I bet it's annoying, especially now. Um... so what exactly happened?
kototama: (♪ kitthoge)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-11 06:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[She shrugs a bit, taking a moment to dust off her skirt so that she doesn't have to look him in the eye.]

I just overdid it a little with the kotodama. I'll heal up.

... It's just... Suzuha was bitten.
kototama: (pic#17289603)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-11 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Wowwww, I wanna do something like that! [WHAT A FUN TRIP WHERE SURELY NOTHING BAD HAPPENED.]

But if you're in Tokyo, that means we're pretty close after all! Sakurashin is in Setagaya.
kototama: (pic#17279169)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-11 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[She rolls her eyes at him at that, but it's a loose, relatively muted gesture, especially from her.

Honestly, she'd forgotten about his boasts from before--she'd tapped his shoulder because she can't speak and wanted his attention. She attempts to gesture that, pointing to her throat, and then to him, and then taps his shoulder again.

Then she realizes it's kind of a hopeless case of charades and sighs, shrugging a bit, and gestures for him to give her his hand. He doesn't have to, of course, but she looks pretty stubborn about it.]
kototama: (pic#17279172)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-11 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I can't deny that I'm pretty proud of them, but it's mostly just that I'm gonna use them wherever they're useful.

[Easy as that! But she nods at that, propping her hands on her hips.]

What I can do's been kind of restricted here, so I think I'll wait and climb the cord. Better safe than sorry, you know? A twisted ankle would really slow us down here.
kototama: (♪ kerlerap)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-11 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
O-kaaaay.

[And, casually:]

What're your measurements?
titlecard: (078)

[personal profile] titlecard 2024-07-11 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He nods, absent, more focused on steadying his breathing than anything else at the moment. In, out, in, out...

Okay. Okay. He's got it under control now, he thinks. His head is still pounding, and that fresh wound is absolutely burning. He'd take a look at it, but whatever his reaction would be would probably just stress Henry out further, so he's gotta tough it out. He might be bleeding, but what else is new?

Mark takes one more deep breath before lifting his head, squaring his shoulders. He's fighting through it, but his eyes are also looking a little glassy. ]


It's okay. I'll heal. [ He forces the agitation from his voice, goes for something reassuring, but it's still strained. ] Besides, what kind of superhero would I be if I let you get bit, huh?

[ Accompanied with a little laugh. A pretty bad one, actually!!

... A beat, like the rest of Henry's words have just set in, and he loses his bravado. Still isn't going to look at the wound, though. ]


But um. Yeah. I might need some help. Jion's a medic, right? He's good at this stuff? Or Shoko...
bicth: (pic#17160486)

[personal profile] bicth 2024-07-11 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled for more, then. If you have rewards for me...

[ Said with a mischievous glint in her eye. She's never tried smoking herself, though perhaps the pollution in Syndicate is bad enough for it to practically be the same as if she had. ]

You just seem like the laid-back, chic type, is all. A lot of people wouldn't be able to keep their cool like this. [ After seeing what they had, she means. Inwardly, she's thinking that Shoko has probably already seen some shit herself. ] That's why I donated some of my precious time to come check on you.
parttimesoldier: (stares wistfully into distance)

[personal profile] parttimesoldier 2024-07-11 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[Another nod from Suzuha, who tries to keep her wounded arm steady so that Shoko can do her job with little fuss. And for the consoling words, well, she musters up her best bittersweet smile, remaining hand tensing into a fist at her side a little unconsciously.]

Yeah, it— it is what it is, y’know?

[She exhales a forced attempt at a laugh that probably falls a little flatter than she’d like. The care and kind words are appreciated immensely, but Suzuha has found it easier to cope with the whole ordeal if she tries to ignore the reality of how devastating it is. The fear, the regrets, they’re all still there just under the surface, but it’s hard to find the right way to wade into those shallow waters to confront it without feeling like she’s going to slip and be pulled in deeper.

There’s a little echo of it to be found in the slight hesitance in her voice as she continues, though.]


But I… keep playing it back in my head, as if there was something I could have done differently.

[Honestly, it would be so much easier if she could block it off and move past it. Yet after staking so much of her purpose on wracking her brains over how to change other matters, it’s kind of a hard habit to break.]

Not that I’d stop myself from going in after her— [A point that feels very important to emphasize, because that action was entirely immutable. A convergence point, no matter the possible timeline.] —but, what if there had been a better way to do it?
insinnerate: (7)

[personal profile] insinnerate 2024-07-11 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
A wish?

[The way Ninety-Nine repeats it, it's like she might be stuck in some tenuous space between incredulity and faith. It's the tone of someone who thinks wishing on a bug sounds trivial and impossible but who wonders, with innocence or desperation, if it could be real.

Her hand moves, palm open, when one of the fireflies drifts near, but she pulls it back abruptly, realizing she'd only crush it if she tried to capture it in the palm of her hand.
]

You aren't supposed to say what you ask for, right?
venomnom: (112)

firefly

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-11 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Is that how you catch them?

[Reiju watches him, more interested in his burst of energy than the warm radiance of the fireflies in the moment. It's a nice break from the doom and gloom of their mission.]
irreversal: 🧃 teen (147)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-11 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Exactly.

[ ... ]

I didn't think three of us would get bitten in just this first week. I guess there's a reason Dr. Bei got desperate enough to summon all of us.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (100)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-11 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She nods. No, it definitely isn't going to be a happy one. ]

When Auch fell and died, we felt this burning sensation from the bracelets. The only way to make it stop was to bring his back to the group.
venomnom: (042)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-11 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
It's unfortunate, but we now have a better idea of what we're up against. We should expect that more of us will be bitten the farther we go.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (103)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-11 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahaha. So you're waiting for the right time?

[ Well, Shoko can hardly blame her, when she's felt that way before. But the nicotine helps, in that regard, and Shoko takes another deep lungful of it as though to remind herself. ]

I was the one who amputated Gojo's arm. But that's the kind of thing that I'm expected to do here. For you, Haru-chan... It must have been awful, too.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (76)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-11 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Shoko hasn't been quite so animated ever since returning from the hopsital, but upon hearing that, she immediately flings an arm over to (playfully?) jab at Soujuurou's shoulder. ]

Heeey. Take that back, Shizukiiii.

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