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

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[venomnom]

[Reiju has positioned herself to bring up the rear, making her one of the last to exit the train car. The gunfire is perhaps the most familiar sound she's heard in her time here, so she doesn't blink as she reaches for the proffered hand.]

Thank you!

[It's not entirely necessary, yet kind still. Reiju's hand is hard and on the cold side, and she pulls herself up to situate atop the train car in a balanced crouch.

The pursuit is far from over, though. More zombies take the place of their fallen companion, clawing the air and edge of the roof in their hasty pursuit of warm flesh. One falls out the side of the train, followed by another, then a third while the rest begin to climb the resultant pile.]

[parttimesoldier]

[The thanks gets a flash of a smile in return, brief though it may be while they’re still in the thick of things.

The benefit of holding up the rear together? Means they can make sure no one gets stuck falling behind. On the flipside, it does mean a bit more of a fraught game of Keep Away From The Zombies, which proves to be a more urgent task than she’d expected going into this. The zombie mosh pit that’s beginning to form down there isn’t something she’s eager to experience, particularly when some of those hands start reaching a little bit higher.

Suzuha tears her gaze away from the chaos of flailing limbs and glances back over to Reiju.]

Not sure I want to stick around and see how good these things are at climbing.

[venomnom]

Me neither. Let's go before more of them start to stir from the noise.

[The ruckus has probably set off a chain reaction in the adjacent car. If they don't hurry, they might end up in a pincer attack by hoards from all sides.

She kicks off into a low sprint, mindful of the limited space between the tunnel's ceiling and the roof of the train. The sound of shattering glass and guttural moans fill the tunnel as zombies break out in a frenzy, falling over themselves and onto one another. More hands come up to claw at the edge of the roof, rapidly closing in on them.]

[parttimesoldier]

[The one (and only just barely) good thing about the subway’s resident zombies having stirred from whatever torpor they’d been languishing in prior to their arrival, is that they no longer have to try to guess which strewn about corpses were just, well, corpses and which were much more dangerous. They at least know where the immediate threats are now, with all the moaning and clattering as they haphazardly throw themselves at the windows and walls of the train cars.

Suzuha follows close behind her, similarly keeping low and keeping a sharp eye along the edges of the roof. They’ve got a quick pace, but so do the monsters in pursuit of them. The end of this car is fast approaching, and it’s hard to tell from her position whether the area’s clear. So she calls out to Reiju, who might have the better vantage point ahead of her.]

That look like a doable jump to the next car?

[Maybe sticking up above while they can is the right call? As long as the tunnel itself remains clear and intact ahead…]

[venomnom]

Yes. Watch out for the hands from below!

[Suzuha is right. As Reiju suspected, the uproar has attracted the attention of neighboring zombies, a few of whom have spilled out the broken window of the next car's back door. They scramble for the space between cars when Reiju jumps and tucks her legs in, clearing the gap. She rolls onto her back and resumes running in order to give Suzuha the room to follow suit.]

[parttimesoldier]

[She takes heed of the warning, maintaining enough of that pace to make a quick and clean jump once Reiju is clear, landing with a dull thud upon the next roof and using the momentum of her landing to keep moving forward. Those zombies trying to force their way out of that back window certainly had worked themselves into a frenzy at their passing, and Suzuha is suddenly very glad they’ve moved up to the higher ground.]

Definitely a lot more chaotic when there’s more than one of these things around…

[What remained of the solitary Dr. Bei had been aggressive, sure, but blocked inside that room, it didn’t quite leave the full impression of what these monsters were capable of.]

[venomnom]

[Truly, Dr. Bei's zombie had impeccable manners by comparison.

While they've cleared the first jump with relative ease, Reiju lifts her head at what lies ahead. By now, the zombies have piled themselves high enough for the next batch to reach the top. The roof of the car ahead is therefore starting to draw a crowd, likely to be overrun in a matter of seconds.]

They've made the climb. We'll have to go inside this time.

[As they close in on the backdoor, a zombie tears through the space between cars. Reiju drops to the floor of the roof on a palm, twists her hips, and kicks it aside with enough strength to crack the wall of the tunnel on impact. Then she pushes off to drop inside the next car, where another zombie lashes out from the other side of the door in the previous car.]

[parttimesoldier]

[Clear head, just think about one move to the next. It’s a familiar rhythm for her to fall into, even if the specific circumstances they’re facing here and now are completely new. So she shouts an affirmative to Reiju’s observation, slows enough to allow her the necessary space for her impressive kick that clears the way, and prepares to follow suit and drop to the next car in quick, staccato succession.

That swiping zombie on the other side of the door makes a grab that nearly snags Suzuha by the sleeve, prompting a quick turn that’s followed by another bark of gunfire. It gets the zombie in the shoulder, and she takes advantage of the resulting stagger to kick it back into the car it had emerged from. A temporary measure, but she hurries to follow up behind Reiju with the time it buys them.

Here in the next car, she spots one of the vertical handrails has been knocked loose, listing to the side slightly. An idea starts forming in her mind, and maybe if they both try yanking on it together…]

That hand rail, maybe it can block the way behind us a little if we pull it further down.

[An extremely minor obstacle in the grand scheme of things, but if the zombies make enough of a mad rush together, it could help slow them down if they continue to mindlessly pile onto one another as they’ve seemed inclined to do so far.]

[venomnom]

[Reiju focuses on what lies ahead while the gunshot rings behind her. Once again, she's grateful to Suzuha for the assistance. There are far too many zombies for such a cramped space, and they're fortunate that the bodies piled along the sides of the tunnel are impeding those on top of the train from dropping back inside with ease.

Her gaze falls on the handrail. Every second counts, and Suzuha is delightfully clever.]

Good idea. Leave it to me.

[If it's a physical feat, she can probably manage on her own, which opens Suzuha up to gauge the situation and apply that quick wit elsewhere. Reiju speeds toward the handrail, then, after Suzuha has crossed the imaginary threshold, grabs the handrail with one hand and yanks. It groans to the side, sealing the passage in a diagonal position.]

[parttimesoldier]

[She might not be experienced with zombies, but trying to make a quick escape from pursuers is at least more familiar territory for her. They’ll have to hope that on-the-fly decisions will be good enough to keep the monsters at bay. While they don’t exactly have the same critical thinking skills as the enemies she’s used to running from, the zombies are just as tenacious, and violent to boot.

There’s only a bare moment of a hesitant look shot Reiju’s way when she opts to handle it on her own, but Suzuha dismisses that; after seeing the strength of that kick the woman had delivered not moments ago, she can be fairly certain she can trust her to handle this on her own. As she moves past her, Suzuha offers her a nod of approval and thanks before focusing her attention back on the path ahead.

Thankfully, much less perilous than the path thus far. The cramped quarters of the tunnel choked by the partially derailed subway car make it difficult for the throng of monsters to make quick headway on the outside.]

We might be in the clear if we’re quick. Looks like only a straggler or two managed to get up ahead.