week 2

[biteys]

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

code

Comments

[empression]

[ This is really when she thinks, oh. Someone like their leader should have been here. Or Makoto, their strategist, their tactician, who always had several solutions on hand. Here, it's just Haru, who wants to be as supportive as she can, but similarly, she's seen zombie movies, she knows how this goes.

... But she doesn't want to believe that, not in this moment, because surely there were other ways and as she follows Sigewinne's instructions and ties the belt slightly above the bite marks, Haru takes a deep, steadying breath. Not right now. No panicking. Suzuha must be terrified, more than all of them. ]

It's... it's all right. [ It's not. But it could be worse. They're not fending off zombies at the same time. ] Let's think this through.

[ And it's... there, she realizes, looking down at the belt tightly applied to Suzuha's arm. There's an option, but suggesting it sounds...

... ]

In... some of the movies I watched, they were able to prevent the infection from worsening by... [ Oh, she's practically cringing. ] ... Removing the affected area, so to speak, but...

[ Do they really want to do that to her? ]

[hydrotherapy]

[ It's times like these that she's both grateful and heartsick over how willing and able everyone is to pitch in. Grateful because it makes everything go so much easier, and heartsick because the young women around her are just that: young. They should be attending school still or indulging in their hobbies or spending time with their dear friends and family, not having to fight their way through dangerous areas just for the chance to survive.

Humans already have such a short lifespan. It feels so deeply unfair to take what precious time they have and cut it even shorter. (But life is unfair, she'd learned that long ago.)

Kotoha runs off and Suzuha puts on her bravest face and Haru....well, she says what needs to be said even if it's surely the last thing anyone wants to hear. ]

....It's an option. [ She says the words slowly, eyes fixed on the bite wound. ] Removing the infected area completely if the infection itself is spreading too quickly or is too severe to be stopped by other means.

[ Movies or not, amputation is a method used often enough as a medical treatment, though usually a last-ditch one. ]

It'll be dangerous to do here though, without the proper supplies [ a lack of sterilized tools, no anesthesia ] but considering our other option might be more dangerous....

[ Her voice trails off. Her eyes flit to Suzuha's. In the end, it's not her choice to make. ]

[parttimesoldier]

[Suzuha hadn’t been nearly as cocky as some other people in this rag-tag group of theirs, but she’d been confident at the very least. A carefree life of school and hobbies and friends had never been hers in the first place; she’s only had adversity for as long as she can remember. First on the run, and then fighting in earnest… she figured this whole thing would be more of the same. A different sort of danger, sure, but still. It was something familiar. She could handle it.

And now? They’ve barely been on the road over a week and already she’s screwed up in a way that there’s no recovering from. Not that she would take it back—it means Sigewinne is safe and whole, if not a little waterlogged, and that counts for something.

Sigewinne, who speaks of options when Haru brings up the one that has been lingering on the edges of Suzuha’s own thoughts. Her good hand, still shaky, reaches up to her face, over her eyes. Damn it. What an awful choice to have to make.]

It’s the only option, right? [Her voice is tight, and it’s not solely due to the burning pain still screaming from her arm.]

It’s dangerous, but the alternative is worse, isn’t it? If we leave it, I turn into one... one of those things? And I— [Oh god, here comes the panic rising in a swell within her chest, suddenly much harder to try to push back down.] I can’t, I can’t—

[She doesn’t want to hurt these people, but more importantly, it would mean that she would not be able to make it back home. Her mission left to go unfulfilled, the world left to languish on a tyrannical timeline and she can’t let that happen.]

[kototama]

[Kotoha stumbles back into their little circle with two water bottles in hand, just in time to hear that--well, "suggestion" doesn't feel right either. It's... an inevitability, isn't it? That's how it always goes in the stories, the anime, the movies, the video games.

But those were all fiction.

None of those involved someone Kotoha likes and appreciates losing a hand.

She's... seen some gnarly shit in her time, so she doesn't panic--that's the last thing Suzuha needs, surely. But her expression tightens, lips pressed together as she silently offers one of the water bottles to Sigewinne, who will surely know what to do with it better than she does.

... She can't help but be speechless; her own words can't help stop this from happening to Suzuha, no matter how much she might want them to.]

[empression]

[ Ordinarily, she'd take Suzuha's hands in hers, give them a squeeze--but one hand is dealing with being infected and the other hand she's going to need for the water bottle Kotoha offers, so Haru just rests a hand on the shoulder of the non-injured arm.

If that's what she's decided-- ]

Then we should... [ deep breath, Haru, make sure your tone doesn't quiver. ]

... Find something sharp. I'm confident in my ability to... cut... [ oh, she feels a little sick ] But unfortunately, the fire axe wasn't in one piece and a baseball bat certainly won't do be helpful. [ And she's definitely not using Persona Guns. ]

[hydrotherapy]

[ It's only years - decades, really - of training that keeps her from feeling sick to her stomach. Along with her teacher (and then afterwards by herself), she's treated any number of patients for any number of ailments, from small children to the elderly on their deathbed. But the wealth of experience doesn't make this any easier, even if it does keep her voice steady and even.

She won't have a free hand soon but she does reach out to squeeze Suzuha's free hand with both of her own, a gesure of comfort that ends all too soon before she's digging into one of the packs nearby to fish out their scant medical supplies. ]

If no one has anything with a sharp blade on it, we might need to ask Kotoha to make something. [ Sorry Kotoha. :( ] Is that something you can do? Preferably one that's sterilized already.

[ Is that something she can even specify??? Otherwise maybe someone can start up a quick fire.... ]

[parttimesoldier]

[I can’t die here, I can’t die here, I can’t die here. It’s all that’s repeating in her head for a good long moment, a terror-stricken mantra that’s slowly reflecting more and more on her face. Everything around her almost fades out for what feels like a small eternity, a terrible reverie to get lost in until those physical gestures can reel her back in. A gentle touch on the shoulder, something pressing into her hand, a comforting squeeze.

She blinks, gaze sweeping across the three faces surrounding her—when had Kotoha gotten back? And it’s only then that she belatedly registers what is being said. Right. Something sharp. To… cut off her hand. Her arm?

Oh. This is really happening to her, huh?]

…I think I need to sit down.

[Said quietly, low enough that if it weren’t for their proximity it might easily get missed. There’s an unsteadiness to her legs that’s building, and she knows it’s best to get off her feet before she goes down in a much more undignified way. So, using that old directory sign she’d been already leaning against to keep steady, she slowly and carefully lowers herself to the floor.

Takes a breath.

C’mon, Suzuha. Get it together. You can’t get through this if you start to panic now.]

[kototama]

[Something... sharp. Right. Something sharp. She can--she can do that. She... can make something sharp. That's why she's here! That's why she came with this group.

Haru's tone is so calm, somehow. Kotoha can't help but wonder at it in amazement, because. Really, how is she doing that?]

Y-yeah. I can do it. If I say I can do it, then I can do it. [It falls flat, because right now, she doesn't have any bravado to draw on.

She clears her throat, turning away slightly as Suzuha lowers herself to the floor, turning away from the blood and the paleness of her face, and drags in a deep breath. Something sharp. Haru had mentioned before that her weapon of choice was an axe. An axe could-- could cut through bone, no problem, if utilized well. Axes weren't usually sterilized, but fuck it, what she says goes.

Deep breath in. Tongue out, the crackle of magic.]

... Axe shaft, hickory wood, shaped as a handle. A flattened axe head of steel attached to one end, sharpened to a blade on both sides. Made of sterilized stainless steel.

["Sharp enough to cut bone", she wants to say, but she can't get the words out. It doesn't matter; the axe appears nonetheless, sharp and sturdy. Perhaps this place doesn't like her creating weapons, Kotoha thinks faintly as her throat closes up, raw as sandpaper. Doesn't really matter, though; it's far more important that she bring the axe over to Haru, holding it carefully, rasping out:]

H-here.

[empression]

[ Haru hovers nearby, to support and steady Suzuha, because the last thing they need is for her legs to give out mid-lowering and for her to whack her head. Though then maybe she'd be unconscious for... well. What's apparently to come, which she's trying not to think about, even though she was the one who voiced it.

When Suzuha is safely on the ground and Kotoha has finished chanting, offering her the axe, Haru accepts it rather numbly, remembering her manners in the midst of her horror to give her a soft thank you in return. She can tell at a glance it's perfectly sharp, that there's a dangerous gleam to the blade, and when she thinks about how she'd normally use it on firewood or on monsters, how freeing and relieving it felt, in stark contrast to what she's about to use this for now...

Kotoha may think she's being calm, but Haru is already aware that when all is said and done and there's nothing more she can do to assist everyone, she is going to go find a safe corner somewhere and cry hysterically into her palms. Which is still one hand more than what poor Suzuha--

Deep breath. Her grip tightens on the axe. ]

Sigewinne, could you advise me on the ideal place to aim?

[ Like as close to the bite marks as possible? A little above them? Her ears are ringing. Her voice sounds strange to her ears, even though she's aware it hasn't actually changed. ]

Suzuha-chan, also... take as long as you need. But please tell me when you're ready.

[hydrotherapy]

[ While Kotoha chants to herself, Sigewinne pulls out a few clean bandages (those makeshift sheet strips before sure are coming in handy now!), folding up one of them into a particularly thick square. This one she silently passes over to Suzuha, carefully placing it in her free hand. ]

We'll want to make sure we aim high enough that there's no chance for the infection to have spread that far yet. [ She purses her lips, eyeing Suzuha's arm critically. ] To be safe, we should probably remove everything below...here.

[ With a gesture to wherever Thirteen wants the arm to get lopped off. The world is our oyster. ]

Suzuha, if you could put the cloth in your mouth between your teeth when you're ready. Just in case. It'll hurt quite a bit [ understatement of the year. ] and I don't want you accidentally biting into your tongue.

[ Belatedly, she realizes she probably should have asked for something else, although maybe with how much Kotoha's already made it won't even be possible. But she has to at least ask, if nothing else. The thought of Suzuha going through all of this with nothing but moral support and a few aspirin for later.....it's heartbreaking. ]

Kotoha, I know you've already done so much, but is there any chance you would be able to make a needle with some anesthetic in it? [ She carefully lists out the ingredients, along with their concentrations. ] Even a little is better than nothing.

[ And if not..............well. Well. Then they'll just have to do this like they did hundreds of years ago and pray for the best. ]

[parttimesoldier]

[Suzuha would be impressed by that item-materializing skill if the sight of the axe that results from it and the sickeningly sharp sheen of the edge of its blade didn’t immediately make her stomach flip. She has to force herself to look away as it gets passed to Haru, instead focusing on the bundle of cloth slipped into her own hand by Sigewinne, nodding in silence at her provided instruction.

Her gaze drifts to her wounded arm where she’s let it rest in her lap, staring in numb silence at all the blood, the torn flesh, the angry burn-like blistering surrounding the area where that thing’s teeth had dug into her. …Does it look angrier than before? Has it spread? Is she just getting more and more delirious? Maybe this really is the best course of action, given the circumstances.

What she does know for sure is that it’s hurting worse and worse, a painful throbbing with each beat of her heart, and the belt wrapped tightly around her arm only makes it all the more uncomfortable.

She should… she should probably lay down for this, huh? They’ll be hard-pressed to quickly find somewhere she could comfortably prop her arm up for something like this, and in the (fairly likely, let’s be honest) event it causes her to pass out… Yeah, laying down is for the best. She begins to maneuver to do so, pausing once she’s leaning back slightly and still propped up by her good arm when she hears Sigewinne’s next request of Kotoha.

Suzuha’s gaze snaps over to her with urgency, a look of pleading in her eyes that she can’t bear to speak, but feels keenly nonetheless. There obviously must be a cost to Kotoha’s magic, so maybe it’s not even a feasible ask at this point. But god, it would make this so much less horrifying. She’ll grin and bear it if she has to, but. Please.]

[kototama]

[It wouldn't matter if she could or couldn't do it, not when Suzuha looks at her like that, with such naked pleading and hope and lingering despair. The only option is she will, whatever it takes--and really, what's a bloody throat compared to what Suzuha is going through right now anyway?

It's incomparable.

So Kotoha nods firmly, eyes meeting Suzuha's, expression grimly confident.

Of course, she wouldn't be able to without Sigewinne's carefully listed out ingredients and portions--but Kotoha carefully repeats them, power crackling around each and every word, tacking on a hasty "in a syringe" in a weak croak at the end.

It appears--thank goodness--a precious dosage of anesthetic that Kotoha hands over to Sigewinne as carefully as she can with hands that tremble.

"That's it. I'm toast," she'd say, if she could, but she can't, and that's fine--she'll recover, and they've got far, far more important things to worry about right now.]

[empression]

[ it's Haru's turn to set the axe down and unzip the bag she's been using to stock things in, first to pull out one of the carefully folded Hot Topic hoodies to place down for Suzuha's head and then to slip out a smaller bottle of water to pass to Kotoha. Haru's throat most certainly is not a wreck right now nor is she suffering from a zombie bite. The worst that's happening is a lump in her throat as she curls her fingers around the handle of the axe again.

She doesn't say anything this time, just looks at both Sigewinne and Suzuha. She'll take her cues from the both of them, once they're as ready as they can be. ]

[hydrotherapy]

[ Thank you.

Two words that contain an endless amount of gratitude, both in the way she says it to Kotoha and the way she cradles the fluid-filled syringe in her hands as if it's the most precious thing in the world. (It is right now, as far as she's concerned.)

Now that everything's in place for better or for worse, she finishes up the rest of her work, knocking any residual air bubbles from the syringe before carefully injecting the anesthetic into Suzuha's arm. ]

It'll take a minute or two to kick in fully.

[ She glances at Suzuha, Kotoha, Haru. ]

Is everyone sure they're ready? [ One last check... ]

[parttimesoldier]

[The amount of relief Suzuha is beginning to feel in the moment Kotoha speaks that precious bit of anesthetic into existence is comparable only to the guilt that slowly snakes in behind it. The way her voice tapers off into a painful rasp, that expression on her face—she can tell this is asking a lot of Kotoha, all for her sake. She stares up at her with all the gratitude she can muster in her eyes, and it’s only then that the threat of tears feels like a real one.]

I owe you one. [Her gaze shifts between each of them.] All of you.

[Because this is such an insane thing to ask them to do. And she certainly wouldn’t be getting through this without them.

The wait for the drug to kick in is agonizing in its own way, despite how short it is. There’s no reining in the rapid pounding of her heart in her chest, or stemming the fearful tide that’s spurring it into action. But it does eventually take hold, a feeling like a limb falling asleep that begins to push away the edges of that burning ache emanating from her wrist. It feels odd, empty almost, compared to everything that’s happened over the last dozen or so minutes.

This doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel real, and she doesn’t know how she’s managing to push herself to lay down. To outstretch that partially-mangled left arm out beside her. Her good hand reaches up to her face as she takes in a slow, shaky breath. Oh. She’s actually started crying, hasn’t she.]

I’m— I’m ready. [A breath.] Someone might need to hold me down. To be safe.

[She doesn’t think she’ll flinch, but. After? She doesn’t know how well a local anesthetic will hold up against… this. So she bites down on that folded bundle of cloth as Sigewinne had instructed, and scrambles to hold onto something with her free (and soon to be only) hand—whether it’s the kindly offered hand of another—sorry for the inevitable bruising, if so—or just a crumpled fistful of the soggy fabric of her shirt.

Suzuha, like every member of the resistance back home, knew that capture and torture could be a distinct possibility during the course of their fight. This is a little like self-torture, isn’t it? What had she always been told? To focus on something good, over and over.

So she thinks of early morning bike rides through Akihabara streets, strawberry cakes from a cute little bakery, and the first—and only—hug from her dad she can remember. And tries to let everything else fade out around her.]

[kototama]

[Suzuha doesn't owe them anything, Kotoha thinks but can't say. Certainly not for something like this. Certainly not for what little, what small amount they can do.

Someone might need to hold her down, Suzuha says. Kotoha thinks, again, about just how brave this girl is, someone who's basically the same age as her but has the wherewithal to think of such a thing, even with what's looming in the immediate horizon.

Sigewinne and Haru both have their hands full, so Kotoha settles herself on the ground behind Suzuha, and shifts her gently, if she allows it, so that her head is in Kotoha's lap. One hand presses down, lightly, on Suzuha's shoulder. Despite how she looks, Kotoha still isn't human--she's stronger than she looks by far, and thinks she'll be able to help hold Suzuha still.

Her other hand reaches for that grasping hand of Suzuha's, holding it in her own. She squeezes gently, as if to say, "Squeeze as hard as you need. I've got you."

There isn't anything else she can do now, in this moment. So she'll do this, before she lifts her chin and nods to Sigewinne's question. She's... as ready as she'll ever be.]

[empression]

[ Is she ready? To bring her axe down on the hand of someone who isn't an enemy? To target a limb with the same kind of brutal precision she's used against monsters, against future kindling?

No. She might never be ready. Her heart is pounding in her throat and it would be nice if she could do something soothing like Kotoha's actions or to do her utmost to ease the pain like Sigewinne, but the only way to help Suzuha right now is to put a violent act to good use. ]

I'm beginning.

[ I'm sorry.

And with that, she's bringing down the axe against the designated spot in one fluid, swift strike. Thanks to that, thanks to the sharpness of the blade and the way she has to force herself not to falter, it's an instant severing. ]