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


irreversal: 🧃 teen (135)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-09 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Haa...

[ She's right about that. Whether it's something like money or power or drugs... or even simpler, more innocent things like candy or cute clothes... it's simply human nature, the way their brains are wired. ]

Is there something you feel that way for, Reiju? Everyone knows my bad craving, but what's yours?

[ A bit of unsolicited small talk, perhaps, but... it's good, to not feel the need to talk about What Happened, even for just a little while. Even if it's just until she finishes this cigarette. ]
venomnom: (045)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-09 10:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Reiju leans against the back of the bench, looking straight ahead. In contrast to her swirling thoughts, her expression is light.]

Who knows? . . . Maybe it's that I like things that are poisonous in nature too much.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (97)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-09 01:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Like... snakes? Or alcohol? Both?

[ Ah. That reminds her... ]

—That's right. Sorry, Reiju-san... Things were pretty hectic at the hospital. I couldn't take a look at all the chemicals they had.
venomnom: (030)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-09 08:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[Snakes. Alcohol. Ruthless self-preservation.

She angles her head toward Shoko with a smile.
]

No need to apologize. I wasn't able to find what you asked for at the mall, either.
irreversal: (118)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-10 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ Damn, maybe she should get into snakes.. ]

Hamu-chan - ah, that's Hella - found me another box of cigarettes, so I think I'll be okay for a little bit, at least. But thanks for looking out for me~

[ Another puff of smoke. ]

I heard you guys ran into trouble at the mall, too.
venomnom: (026)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-10 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
[That's good. She'll have to keep an eye out for more cigarettes as they pass through the region.]

There were zombies in the water. It turns out they can swim if they thrash hard enough.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (4)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-10 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
Geh.

[ She pulls her cigarette out of her mouth just to stick her tongue out at that. That's legitimately more horrifying than chainsmoking. ]

Zombies that can swim? That's cheating..!
venomnom: (030)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-10 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
[Faint amusement dances along Reiju's lips at Shoko's reaction. It does feel like cheating, doesn't it?]

Did yours do anything you weren't expecting?
irreversal: 🧃 teen (116)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-10 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It does!! They need to pick a lane and stay in it. She always thought of zombies as slow and largely easy to avoid, but these guys are fast. It sucks. ]

Ugh... yeah. The zombies inside the hospital were using objects as weapons. Freaky, yeah?

[ She gestures at the bandaged wound on her arm. ]

This was from one using a scalpel.
venomnom: (015)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-10 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[She nods, gaze falling to follow the gesture toward Shoko's bandaged arm. Oh, yes, very freaky. Can zombies shoot guns?]

It must have hurt. Still, I suppose we should be grateful if we get slashed as opposed to bitten.
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.
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: 🚬 big (10)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-12 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well, that's certainly the most realistic way of looking at it, but... ]

Ehhhh.....

[ She'll just melt into the bench now. ]

We need to come up with ways to deal with hordes from afar. Getting mobbed by them sucks...
venomnom: (009)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-07-12 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh, Shoko.]

Was there anyone in your group who seemed good at stalling or fighting them from a distance? If we have to split up again in the future, I think we should take that into account as well.