turnout | week 2

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

code

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

a. in the streets

[ He said he'd been looking forward to throwing down with some zombies, and while they've mainly taken evasive maneuvers so far, he gets his wish when Shoko inadvertently draws the attention of a horde to them. Something he'll have to tease her for later, but as far as he's concerned, it's no big deal. No matter how fast and strong they are, they are no match for the might of Strongest.

That's how it should be. He needs to prove himself, needs to assure the others that he's as good as he says. No matter this unfamiliar feeling in his cursed energy is, the sense of a bottom to it, that is usually never there.

They'll be time to recharge after. For now, he'll be helping out the group, snipping zombies left and right with blasts of red energy emitted from his fingertips, and even when there's no one to save, he takes the fight to the horde, cutting through them with ease. Untouchable. Ascendant. ]

Heh. Just stand back. I'll handle this.

[ This is what he does best; what he was born to do. ]

b. rendezvous

[ That mouthy brat who wouldn't shut up last week is now...uncharacteristically quiet, although it isn't difficult to tell why. All that's left of his right arm is a stump at his elbow, everything below that gone, carved away to stave off the infection from his bite. A choice that he doesn't regret, because it saved not only his life, but likely the lives of everyone else here. If he turned...

That's not an outcome he can entertain. He will get back. But where his will is unshakable, his typical bravado is...quiet. Silenced, like a bird with clipped wings, forced to face his own mortality in such a way. He's supposed to be untouchable. Inviolable. If he isn't, then who —

A memory slaps him across the proverbial face, and he drops the can of food he's been trying to open with one hand. ]

...Ugh. So annoying...

[ That's one word for it. Help him...at your own risk! He can also be found later, drifting away from the group and finding a clearing outside to sit in, looking almost like he's meditating. In truth, he's looking for something, something he hasn't been able to see since he got bitten.

Yet after a moment, he let's out a frustrated noise through his nose, slamming his remaining fist into the ground next to him. Why, why isn't it working? ]

[ Everything seems like it's going so well, until it isn't.

The wall that he's continually been climbing up, chasing the horizon, has always pushed him to grow stronger and stronger so he never reaches it. It's why he's never been afraid of reaching his limits, because he is, quite literally, limitless. That he's noticed some sort of cap on his cursed energy since he arrived here isn't all that concerning, so long as he's efficient with its use and replenishment. He might burn through it faster than he's used to, but that only means he needs to be exacting. Precise. He can. He will be. This is still nothing.

Even more than having something to prove to himself, he has someone to keep safe. Despite the difficulty they've had, they make it to the hospital, with further yet zombies to cut a path through, ones that seem even more aggressive and coordinated. Still nothing, he thinks, and he continues to fight, to push, I have to get home, I have to go back. He cuts deep into the horde to give the others the chance to slip down a blocked corridor to a supply room, intending to hold off the zombies until they make good headway. In, out, red, blue, output, amplification, reverse —

Arm outstretched, he fires off another blast of red energy to obliterate horde, while a stray slips free and lunges for him. He doesn't think twice about it, because Limitless will stop it. Everything seems like it's going well, until it isn't, the zombie's jaw snapping through Limitless like it's nothing. A second it all it takes — he pivots, slamming a fist through the zombie's chest with a repelling force, but not before the monster sinks its teeth into him, skin and blood and bone splintering beneath the strength of its jaw. ]

Shit —

[ Behind his eyelids, it's like he can see the flash of the Inverted Spear of Heaven all over again. He thought he was safe, he thought he was —

Again, just like that fateful day, his mind hones in one objective: survive. Heedless of the blinding pain from his ruined arm, he wheels back towards the group, shouting: ]

Shoko! I need you!

[ His own RCT is ineffective, so he expects hers will be, too. But that's not what he needs from her right now. ]

[ Shoko, for her part, wouldn't necessarily say that anything is really going well at all. She doesn't have the same sort of resilience that Gojo has in these circumstances, given her lack of combat experience. It was her mistake that had necessitated a detour, that called a horde onto them so early on, that got Mark infected, and another of their own lost entirely.

When it comes to facing the horrors of treating those injured by their own dangerous missions, having to examine the bodies of sorcerers she once knew... Shoko's heart steels in those moments. But here, in the midst of everything...

...Having Gojo is a blessing. Even if he's not quite such an endless font of cursed energy, he's still strong, and he can take care of himself, and—

Shoko! I need you!

—he's... hurt. Badly, because she knows he can handle anything less, yet still, even after hearing his voice, she hopes and hopes and hopes it's not a bite. She knows she can't heal one, after trying with Mark. So please, not a bite— ]

Gojo—!?

[ She doesn't even think twice, from the moment her fears are shown to be the reality, to meet him, her eyes widening at the gash at his arm, the burn that surrounds it. ]

How— Shit. Let's get you away from here—

[ it got through Limitless is how; she doesn't need to ask to know, so she won't. Now is when her own strength serves, now is when she needs to do what she was trained to do. Shaking her head, Shoko positions herself to bring his good arm around her shoulders to help him move. ]

I can't help you until we're out. We're almost there, so just— deep breaths, okay?

[ How is the baffling question that races through his mind, how the inert power of infinity may as well not even been there, when he needed it most. He had trusted in his technique, in himself, and now his arm is burning, flesh ruined and bleeding, as evident a sign of his failure as when he'd been he'd nearly been severed clean in two, left to rot.

This time, he isn't alone, though. This time, he has Shoko. He was supposed to be the one —

But he can't think about that now. Following her instructions, he leans against her as much as he dares to, adrenaline fueling him even with the pain of infection flaring in his arm. He doesn't know how long they have, how long it will take, but if he can sense the mire of its energy spreading beyond his arm, to where it can't be contained, then what he will need to ask of her will be much, much greater.

He can't allow himself to think like that, though. Survive. Survive. Gritting his teeth, he moves alongside her towards the hospital's exit, taking deep breaths. ]

Up — up ahead, go right, they're — in the rafters —

[ He can at least use his Six Eyes, to guide them as safely as possible. ]

rendezvous

!week two objectives

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A! 8)

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!
week two objectives