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


venomnom: (065)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-09 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
[Reiju climbs in after, but ends up stepping ahead as she silently takes in the morbid view. It's about what she expected, and the lack of movement nearby has her glancing over a shoulder at Kotoha.

Focus. This is not the time to be horrified.
]
kototama: (pic#17279175)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-09 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
[No deep breaths. The stench of rotting bodies certainly won't help. And Kotoha absolutely does not have the time to hurl--if anything, that would be awful on her throat, and they can't have that.

Slow, careful breaths in from behind her hand, and--

--it's a different situation. Don't think about the last time you saw this many dead bodies. Just focus on taking one step, and then another, and then another.

... She moves forward, silently.]
venomnom: (043)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-09 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[Once Kotoha starts moving, Reiju turns her full attention back to the decayed scene before them. No zombies have risen as of yet, and she aims to keep it that way by measuring each of her steps, muffling her footfalls.

There's a good number of them in the party, though, and only so much room a train car can provide when it's packed with bodies, warm and cold. Reiju and Kotoha's progress is also determined by the pace of those ahead of them, which is soon halted by another door that blocks their path.

Reiju chances a glance behind them while those at the front attend to the door, gleaning the corpses for visible injuries with a discerning eye. With any luck, the door will open quietly. On the flip side . . .
]
kototama: (pic#17279173)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-09 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[On the flip side.....

A corpse not too far behind Reiju starts to stir. The movements are subtle at first, but it's definitely unearthing itself from beneath a pile of bodies, not far from a row of seats.

Kotoha hasn't noticed it; her hand is still over her mouth, eyes fixed on the next door they need to tackle.]
venomnom: (005)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-10 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
[It's not noticeable at first. But the second another corpse's arm falls limply over its belly from the jostling, Reiju snaps forward to grab Kotoha by the arm. If allowed, she'll yank them both back toward the rest of the party, just as the zombie bursts through the pile with a shrieking cry that shatters the silence.]
kototama: (♪ kenophobia)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-10 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh my god. She's yanked easily, Kotoha's eyes widening as she stumbles back with Reiji.]

Oh, shit--

[AGH.]

There was a zombie lurking! Ugh, it's so gross!
venomnom: (058)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-11 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[It's gross, and it's throwing itself at them. Reiju steps forth and swings the baseball bat one-handed with enough force to cave its side in, sending it toppling away—though not down for the count.

All around them, bodies begin to stir from the noise while the rusted door on the other side of the train car rattles. The elder Henry is there, working their way out with a rusty pipe.
]

Go!
kototama: (pic#17277110)

[personal profile] kototama 2024-07-12 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kotoha stumbles that way, whirling around to stare at the zombie as it slowly gets back up.

Aghhh!]


Freeze!

[Ice crawls up the zombie's legs, pinning it in place on the floor of the train--but only for a moment, before it just yanks its legs off, ignoring the fact that a hefty chunk of each leg is left behind. That sure does not seem to bother it at all.]

What--seriously?
venomnom: (109)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-12 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[Seriously.

Ice didn't stop the zombie, but slowed its advance long enough for Reiju to snap her leg up in a perfect perpendicular line to the floor. Her heel catches the zombie's jaw with a crunch and sends it airborne.

Meanwhile, zombies from the rows nearby begin to scramble toward them. Reiju swings her bat wide as she backs up toward Kotoha and the door behind them, keeping the growing horde at an arm's distance.
]

We'll have to slow them down—but be careful, or we'll end up separated from the others.