week 7

[biteys]

WEEK 7

!

getting to the bridge

This week’s main task will be crossing the very famous Golden Gate Bridge to get to a specific bay on the northern end of it. Getting there from the wharf seems like a short trek — deceivingly so. There’s a high volume of abandoned cars on the way there, which makes traveling along the roads a very slow task, indeed.

Inside the cars, there are occasional remains to be found inside, belonging to people who seemingly just starved due to inability of getting out of the city. From the looks of things, maybe when all this started, a lot of people were trying to flee north. Inside the cars, there are actually a number of usable things: spare guns, bullets, stale processed food still in bags, et cetera. You’ll just have to steal from these people who never stood a chance.

Further north, towards the mouth of the bridge, the congestion only worsens. Debris from car accidents, seemingly from people trying to zip around one another, makes traversing the terrain as one group impossible. The party will need to clear some of this debris in order to make it onto the main part of the bridge — preferably in pairs, with one person moving and one person on zombie watch. Upon closer inspection, there are zombies of the crash survivors still among this debris, who have been pinned in the same place for years….

Worse yet, all the noise as you all approach the bridge will begin to draw hordes from the city. Not just any regular sized horde, but a massive one, similar to the kinds that had roamed Los Angeles; hundreds, maybe thousands of undead. The group will quickly become overwhelmed if they do not find a path to squeeze through the debris before the hordes get to them; they can try their luck darting through and over crashed cars, but it’ll be a rushed and panic-inducing escape. Some may find it wiser to try to fight… but those that do will eventually become overwhelmed themselves.

Puppy and Ninety-Nine, who stay back to fight the threat, are eventually overwhelmed and consumed.

The only good news is that the horde cannot make it through the huge pile up as well as the party did; their rushed movements mean that they hinder each other in squeezing through the small spaces required of them. A steady trickle of undead will come from behind from the stopgap, rather than a rush.

crossing the bridge

The main body of the bridge is clearer in terms of cars… but treacherous in other ways. The lack of maintenance and constant weight on the bridge over the years has worsened the swaying that occurs when winds from the bay blow over — it never feels truly stable, as the group traverses ahead. The ongoing rampage on the southern end of the bridge isn’t helping, either, as more and more weight tries to come on to the bridge.

Of the abandoned cars that are on the main part of the bridge, some of them have lost the ability to stay parked, and thus roll with the movement of the people on it and the wind.

Hella is hit by one of these rolling cars. Satoru Gojo loses their balance, and is nearly thrown off the side from the swaying.

The zombies that are trapped on the bridge do not often see humans, as there have not been people traversing the bridge in such a long time: it makes them less coordinated than the zombies that have adapted to the city, and less fast. It’s the obstacle course of debris and the unstable terrain that makes evading these ones hard, not their speed or hyper aggression. As Puppy and Ninety-Nine fight from behind, there are a few city zombies that make it through to advance from the rear steadily in pursuit. Some of them may be holding things they could have torn from Puppy and Ninety-Nine’s inventory (or body...), so there are a mix of threats.

Thanks to Puppy and Ninety-Nine’s sacrifice, only Sigewinne is infected.

Towards the end of the bridge crossing, the steel cables high up above start to creak menacingly. That’s right: the bridge is starting to collapse. Concrete crumbles, and metal bends — the only mercy the group is afforded is the collapse starts from the southern end, where the massive horde was. However, pieces of bridge and thick cable still fall from the sky indiscriminately, footing becomes even more perilous than previously seen, requiring characters to take risky jumps to survive at times.

In the final sprint to the end of the bridge, Vinsmoke Reiju is pinned under a falling beam, rendering them temporarily immobile in the panic.

the other side

With the bridge collapsed, and many losses on their hands, the group may be relieved to find that the northern end of the bridge seems… quiet. Almost eerily quiet. While context clues seemed to point to the fact that not many zombies have made it past the bridge, it’s another thing entirely to see it.

North of the city is full of what used to be nature conservatories and national parks, meaning that the terrain is oddly serene and beautiful compared to the terrifying perils of the bridge. Make your way down to the bay you’ve been led to, and check the map: your final destination is an island. It’s called ‘Alcatraz,’ whatever that means…

Wild crabs, fish, and birds are in abundance here, and none seem to be infected.

There are also a number of abandoned boats on the rocky shore, some manually operated and others with engines. It might be time to look for something that can fit all of you, and practice operating them. When night falls, the sky is clear and full of stars — look closely, and you'll see shooting stars here and there, twinkling against the sea of darkness. If only you'd have been able to make a wish earlier, right...?

Once you’ve had time to recover, it’ll finally be time to see where it is this doctor has led you all.

code

Comments

[bicth]

I. horizontal, cw: car accident-like injuries, blood

[ Hella ends up in the rear part of the group, as the travel continues: she's far better suited to be farther up front, lacking in physical power and likely being more valuable as a scout. The only problem is: she can't find Ninety-Nine. She could hear her fighting before they'd slipped through the pile of crashed cars, remembers her stomach dropping from the fear of the strain a battle like this would put on her corruption. She needs to go back and help her —

But just as she has this thought, a dramatic lurch in the bridge up ahead sends a car careening into her side, the bridge's changing incline only serving to increase the car's momentum. Hella is blindsided by it, too busy being distracted by looking back towards the pile up, and as a result, goes flying from the impact, skidding against the asphalt for several feet. Very this energy once she stops rolling:



Dazed, she can only make a soft noise of confusion as she tries to refocus her vision, the shock shielding her from the worst of the pain: her femur and ribs one one side are surely broken, and chunks of her flesh have been torn off in the ensuing skidding from the impact, leaving several patches of raw, exposed sinew on her arms. There's growling of zombies coming from the southern edge of the bridge, sprinting towards her, but her mouth is full of blood — how can she cry out? She spits out a few teeth knocked loose, grossly and wetly, working her jaw to try to say something to the nearest non-zombie blurry figure. ]

Fuck, I can get up... I can still....

II. aftermath

a.

[ When they make it to the nature reservation, Hella is quiet, almost despondent, tightly saying that she needs to rest whenever anyone approaches her. It might be the truth: while her powers are working overtime to close the wounds on her body, repair and regrow bones, it takes much more of a toll on her than it ever did in her home realm.

The real reason she keeps brushing everyone off becomes clear soon enough. In the dead of night, soon as she thinks she can reliably move her leg, Hella silently sneaks out of the camp, heading back towards the bridge with her pipe in tow, eyes wild with dread. She's still limping, and breathing shallowly, but there's no time to think about that.

A twig snaps behind her, and she doesn't turn around, continuing to limp ahead. ]

Don't try to stop me.

b.

[ Once her poorly hatched plan to go back to Ninety-Nine fails, Hella falls truly and fully into despair. Other party members may have felt the tightening of the air around her whenever her Mania spiked before, but this is different. The weight of her upset is so palpable that being anywhere near her feels like a heavy weight on the chest: her Mania twisting and corrupting the emotional state of others around her, turning it volatile and prone to swings, as though she were projecting the chaos in her heart. She's shaking, and it's hard to tell if it's because she's crying or because she's furious. The stars don't feel like a reprieve, they feel like cruel irony.

Get too close, and she hurls a rock from the shore your way hard, eyes seeming tainted with a wild, untamed influence that's not normally there, seeming to tinge her eyes darker and redder. She looks more like Ninety-Nine did when she'd first come to the house, snarling at everything like a street dog — she can barely control herself, feeling that she might completely snap on the next thing or person that rubs her the wrong way. With all the vitriol she can muster: ]

Get the fuck away from me!!

[ She doesn't think she can bear it, if someone asks how she is, or asks what's wrong, or worst of all, tries to needle her for how adamant she'd been about getting everyone cross. And so, she barks, hoping to scare away all that might put salt in the wound. ]

IIa

[parttimesoldier]

[The thing about Suzuha falling whole-heartedly back into her deeply ingrained habits of constant vigilance is that there’s not a lot that’s going to get past her notice. After the raid, after losing so many people—they cannot afford any lapse in judgment, in defense, in the will to push forward. The only acceptable outcome is completing this mission, and she will do everything in her power to make that happen. There might be a bone-deep weariness and exhaustion hanging over her (and surely the entire remainder of their crew) by the time they settle into the relative quiet of the nature preserve, but she can barely manage to force herself into a few hours of rest before that need to remain on alert starts to seize her again.

Someone leaves camp in an attempt at stealth, but she knows how to listen for signs of movement in the dark. Somehow, she’s not surprised to find out who it is when she gets up to follow. It’s apparent how injured the girl still is, and as Suzuha catches sight of that pipe she’s got in tow, her eyes narrow.]

Then don’t do something foolish.

[Her tone isn’t harsh, but it is firm; this is not something she is going to let go.]

Turn around, Hella.

[bicth]

[ "Something foolish," huh...... Hella bristles, her Mania spiking up hard, enough for Suzuha to feel it like a forceful gust gripping her heart. Hella stops, but doesn't turn around, eyes fixated on the bridge. ]

Or what, are you gonna detain me? Shoot me?

[ It's a challenge, and a poorly issued one at that, arrogantly thinking that Suzuha won't push too far, won't feel comfortable enough forcing her back. Even if she does, what would another wound matter, at this point? Her fixation on Ninety-Nine trumps any fear she would normally feel at the potential of being hurt more. The guards at MBCC know — Hella doesn't go easily whenever Ninety-Nine is involved. And while Suzuha doesn't order her like a guard would, her response is something of a kneejerk reaction, like a territorial animal trying to protect what's dear to it. Hella turns her chin over her shoulder to look at Suzuha in the eye, solely to make sure she's not being held at gunpoint. ]

IIb

[venomnom]

[The weight settles on her chest like a stone, heavier than the one that's thrown her way.

Reiju stands at a distance while the rock bounces off the ground not far from her feet. This sort of reception is expected, but the wild look in Hella's eyes keeps her still and solemn in spite of the ache that niggles at her head. She's healing slower than she'd like, but time won't wait for either of them.

When she speaks, it's with calm neutrality:] Did you make it to the bridge?

[She saw earlier—the purposeful strides with which Hella had marched back. It's the only question she can think to ask at this juncture, knowing only a fraction of what Hella has lost and must feel.]

[bicth]

No!

[ She shouts, picking up another rock preemptively, though it seems more that she needs something to squeeze, something she can "defend" herself with, than that she immediately wants to attack Reiju. ]

So you don't have to come over here and tell me not to go.

[ She assumes that's what Reiju must have come to do; Hella imagines that everyone is thinking the same thing. That it's pointless, that it's a lost cause, that she just needs to accept what happened on the bridge. That it was expected they would lose some people, or that Ninety-Nine was already infected, so it was what she had chosen to do with her last bits of strength. The wound is too raw for her to think about any of that rationally; all she feels is hurt, hurt, hurt. ]

i

[irreversal]

[ Shoko has essentially filled in for the spot that Hella would have been best suited for up front, scouting ahead for the group... what remains of them, at least, as they traverse precariously along the bridge she's seen so many times in things like postcards and movies, but is absolutely nothing like how it's been portrayed, of course.

But even being focused and perceptive can't alert her to something like the bridge suddenly lurching beneath them, and it's all Shoko can do, to hold fast to something, anything that doesn't seem like it's about to give out, too, and she looks back over at the rest of the group to find that the rest of them aren't quite so lucky. She— she doesn't know where Gojo is— ]

Fuck—

[ And she watches as a car slams into Hella while she's distracted, the impact only made worse by the car's momentum, surely, and Shoko grits her teeth, white-knuckling the fencing she's clinging onto. But as soon as the movement stops, Shoko sprints for her, too, taking hold of the bat she's held onto ever since the stadium - which has now been adorned with various protruding nails - and swiftly swinging it at one of the zombies, flinging it away from Hella's injured body with surprising force. Adrenaline is one hell of a booster. ]

You— You need to stop talking when you're injured, Hamu-chan—

[ Squelch. Another zombie goes down by way of nail bat, before Shoko turns to kneel down beside Hella. ]

Stay still. I'll heal you.

[bicth]

[ She's just beginning to make sense of her surroundings again when she sees Shoko knock the two zombies back, blinking rapidly to try to focus her vision. Every movement she makes has her cringing from the pain, and for the first time in this whole trip, she makes a pained, scared whimper, the varnish of her confident, tough street kid act falling away to fear and hurt. Hella is tough, she always has been — but only the people closest to her know that her healing didn't make her completely uncaring about what happens to her, despite how she acts. She hates being hurt, she doesn't even like fighting. Willing to get hurt, yes... but it's a burden she doesn't proudly carry in the least. Like Ninety-Nine, she just wants to live a peaceful life where she never has to be hurt anymore.

When Shoko kneels next to her, she clenches her eyes shut, trembling. ]

I can't breathe... [ She wheezes out, ignoring Shoko's request for her to stop talking. They can't afford to stay here long; through the pain, she knows that getting moving is the most important thing. Her hand reaches out to clutch at the edge of Shoko's sleeve, half demanding and half desperate. ] Fix my ribs first... we need to...

[ Go, she wants to say, but she works her jaw to spit again, another sticky clot of blood leaving her lips. Stupidly, she tries to straighten her broken leg, used to a break of this nature already being well on the way to healed in this short amount of time — with her sharp intake of air shortly afterward, it's clear that's not the case here. ]

getting my pre-bridge angst!! wildcard

[insinnerate]

[Ninety-Nine isn't a good liar, and she can only play pretend for so long, even if it's for the sake of protecting Hella. Her blood has carried the virus through her system quickly, almost in mocking opposite of how Mark's physiology had helped him fight it off for so long. It's impossible to keep two infections at bay at once, and the zombie infection only makes the Mania deteriorating her body cannibalize it faster.

The bloody hoodie that's seen her through the worst of this second leg of their trip can't hide it now, but she can cradle the worse of her arms - the one bearing the bracelet - in its kangaroo pocket, containing the ashy, carbonated material that threatens to slough off at any moment. She'll be thankful for it later when she needs to cast the bangle off and run, but for now, it's annoying - it's the last thing she wants anyone to see.

Especially Hella, who will understand what it means. Sallow-skinned and worried she might bite, she's nonetheless carried Hella as much of the walk en route the bridge as she could. It's too bad. She liked the water at the wharf better.]

Hella. Mice can't swim. [And neither can she - neither can both of them; the abandoned shopping mall had been all the more dangerous for it. She sets the other girl down on her own two feet] If anything happens to the bridge, keep running.

sniffles

[bicth]

[ There's more than the hoodie stained with black tar that tells her that something isn't right. It isn't like Ninety-Nine to carry her with one arm when both are free, even if she hardly needs both to support Hella's weight. It's about the security of it, so long as she's not carrying anything else. There's her Mania, too — Sinners can discern changes in it more clearly than a regular person, who simply feels overwhelmed by feeling the tiniest amount.

All signs... point in a direction she doesn't like.

Hella is silent as Ninety-Nine puts her down, going willingly — perhaps even passively, instead of hopping down like she usually might. Her expression is hard to read, perhaps especially so for Ninety-Nine, who has a difficult time recognizing nuanced feelings in most other people outside of Hella. She looks... like she's holding something back, which she never does, especially in front of her companion. ]

You can't swim either, dummy.

[ They're both just mice that happened to escape the cage. She huffs, eyes looking ahead at the unending congestion of cars. It's not that she wants to be in a bad mood or make Ninety-Nine feel like this is her fault... but she doesn't know how to confront the conflict in her heart. There's a dread that hangs over her that she's never felt before — not even when Ninety-Nine had been packed away for her execution. Back then, she'd been confident she could at least do something.

Now, she's not sure if there's anything she can do to slow the wheel of fate. All Sinners will become Corruptors eventually, it's just a matter of when. And Ninety-Nine's time seems to be approaching more and more swiftly. She lingers close to Ninety-Nine's side, but she shoves her free hand in her pocket, the other holding her pipe at her side. After a long pause: ]

...You're trying to get rid of me again.

[ An accusation like that from Hella could be playful, in different times. But here, she sounds far too sure, and far too somber for it to be anywhere near funny. ]

[venomnom]

A. Crossing the bridge (cw: eventual disfigurement)

[The bridge is falling.

Reiju kicks a particularly fast zombie square in the chest, sending it flying back toward the worst of the collapse and tumbling down the gaps into the churning waters below, when a loud groan sounds overhead. By the time she whips her gaze toward the sky, the broken beam has nearly descended upon her—and with the path ahead blocked by a myriad of obstacles, she has little choice but to tank the hit by ducking her head and crossing her arms over it for cover.]

Ugh!

[The thunderous impact drowns out her grunt as the beam crashes onto the sagging bridge, kicking up dust, cleaving through the roofs of cars, and eliciting a chorus of horns in its wake. Another series of groans join the cacophony in the immediate aftermath—a warning of the bridge's imminent collapse, preceded by the fissures webbing through the cement where Reiju was standing mere seconds ago. Through the sandy fog of clearing dust, she can be seen lying prone with the beam pinning her down from head to mid back, unmoving.]

B. The other side

[Back in literal shape, Reiju sports some abrasions on her face and arms that have yet to heal in full, but appears to be fine otherwise. Her body has more urgent tissue to repair from within, and the consequent tenderness in her extremities in tandem with an intermittent headache gives her pause once night falls. Smiling smally, she turns to regard whoever has joined her at the edge of their encampment.]

I think I'll take the second watch tonight. Is that all right with you?

b

[empression]

Are you certain?

[ It's not quite answering the question, but Haru still looks concerned. ]

I think you shouldn't feel obligated to take any of the shifts tonight if you're not feeling up to it. [ She sure knows she was unconscious for a good chunk of the time up until they'd reunited at the lighthouse, after The Bear. ]

A

[irreversal]

[ Golden Gate Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down...

And they're close, so close to making it to the other side, if they could just— get there without losing anyone else. The price they've paid to arrive here has already been far too steep, and Shoko is certain that there are others who should have been here in her place. The least she can do is not be a burden now. If they can just make it, if they can just run like hell, then...

...then there would still be the matter of falling debris to contend with. By some other miracle, Shoko manages to avoid a falling cable, but she glances up just in time to find Reiju just beneath the beam, and she cries out: ]

Reiju-san!!

[ Only for it to be drowned out by the sound of the impact, the groaning and creaking of now-delicate metal and concrete while the bridge continues its collapse. Shoko must hold fast to something that still feels secure in the wake of it all, though never once does her gaze stray from where she had last seen Reiju. ]

Fuck. No, no, no—

[ But then there she is— pinned beneath the beam, but— alive, perhaps, and knowing what she does of Reiju's ability to heal herself, Shoko has to hope, and that hope is what springs her forward, sprinting to where Reiju lays. ]

Reiju-san! Are you— Are you—

[empression]

I. Getting to Le Bridge

[ She's in it now, regardless of how she or anyone else feels about it, but for the time being, Haru is focused on staying busy. She's found a gun in one of the cars, found bullets in another, and what looks like a bag of half-finished beef jerky. Look at that! Striking it rich! So maybe you can check her spoils or--

You can be paired up with her while she's on zombie watch and you get to move debris! ]

... It somehow feels as though we're so close and yet still so far... but all the same, I'd like to believe it's more the former than the latter.


II. Getting Off Le Bridge

[ That. That sure escalated. Haru can't stop to process everything that's happened, is still happening, just trying to keep the zombies at bay while avoiding everything trying to crash down on them and the wind sure isn't helping.

But maybe you're in trouble, which, uh. Hope you don't mind this girl running towards you. To steady you, to pull you to safety, to whip out a Persona to decimate a zombie or a bit of debris, we just do not know, but she's sure sprinting to the best of her ability!

It's fine if she overdoes it a little. Just this once.

Or maybe she's the one who needs help and it's probably on a jump that either she doesn't know she needs to make it or she might need a bit of a hand to make it. Teamwork makes the dream work! ]


III. By Le Boats

[ They've lost more of their number. As expected, and she'd half-suspected they wouldn't be able to convince Puppy, but Ninety-Nine trying to protect them and sacrificing herself had been an additional painful blow, and Sigewinne getting bitten...

Haru's been around, of course. To support. To rest. But as night falls at some point, she's ventured past the camp (not very far), and if you go looking for her under the stars, you'll find her. She's doing the very dreamy and wistful activity of staring up at the sky, marveling at the...

... No. No, she's not. Just kidding. She is chopping firewood with a very grim kind of determination. Like a maybe-you-should-call-out-to-her-first kind of determination. It's very controlled, at least? ]

ii

[irreversal]

[ Shoko is no combatant, and she'd made that clear from the very first day they all found themselves in that townhouse. But it had also been made clear, since then, that if she were to simply stand by while others did all of the fighting, she would only get the rest of them killed.

So here she is, with the baseball bat she's carried with her since the stadium strapped to her back - the very same one on which she'd stuck the sticker Sigewinne gave her - and firing off a shotgun she'd picked up from the bed of an abandoned pickup truck on the way here. After having lost both Puppy and Ninety-nine, they all need each other's help now more than ever, and—

But, still, she is no combatant. It won't take much to start to overwhelm her, even with her bat and the gunslinging that she'd only began doing a few weeks prior, with Suzuha's help. It seems, then, that Gojo isn't the only sorcerer Haru is saving today, as a few zombies that managed to break away from the massive horde close in on Shoko just as she's trying to avoid another rolling car. ]

Haru—!

[ Well, first of all, she hadn't gotten the Persona lore or seen Haru's this close until now, but it doesn't really matter, does it? It does indeed decimate the zombies, and she's still alive as a result. ]

...Nice save.

i. do you want one last ninety-nine

[insinnerate]

[Even mostly one-handed, keeping her crumbling arm tucked away and hidden in her hoodie pocket, Ninety-Nine is still one of the party members better equipped to move rubble quickly. The horde hasn't started encroaching on the group yet, but the air is thick with anticipation; her senses are in overdrive from the warning and the infection. The air smells bad.

As Ninety-Nine moves another chunk of torn asphalt from the pile and rolls it aside with her good arm, she lifts her head and listens to the groaning in the bleak seaside air.]

Haru, come stand here. [She wants to see if the gap is wide enough for the much smaller girl to squeeze through, but she doesn't have the time or desire to explain it.]

[unliminal]

a. getting to the bridge

[ He meant what he said. If people in the group start to lag behind and start to put others at risk, then he'll do what he has to to keep them moving. To keep himself moving. He swears he'll leave them behind if needs be — but while it's still in their capabilities to stay together...

If someone sidling through a pair of cars next to him should happen to stumble and fall, he reaches out a hand to catch them, the telltale glow of blue energy emanating from his hand and acting like something of a magnet. If he has to hoist someone along to get away from a swiping zombie, he'll do that, too, even if it seems to take more effort than he cares to admit. ]

C'mon, pick up your heels. They're getting closer.

[ ...And contrary to what some might believe, he doesn't want to see anyone get left behind. He just...wants this to be over. ]

b. crossing the bridge (closed to haru)

[ It gets worse before it gets better, and between taking potshots at zombies with his powers, moving vehicles, and assisting the others along, he is very near to running on empty as far as his cursed energy goes. It's...alarming as hell, honestly. He's never been this close to fully burning out before, and even if his technique has been faulty at best since arriving here, he still relies on it heavily, counting on it as instinctively as breathing.

So when the bridge lurches violently, sending cars and debris flying, Gojo is able to dodge out of the way, but the resulting expenditure of cursed energy leaves him with instability in his Six Eyes. He loses his balance, thrown to the side of the bridge, and with only one arm to catch himself with — well. ]

Shit — !

[ Scrambling, he can't quite stop his momentum as he skids against the broken pavement, trying to dig in his heels, but unable to find purchase. All too quickly, he's thrown from the edge of the bridge, tumbling into a free fall towards the waters churning below.

So...this is how he goes, huh? Not very poetic, for the world's strongest sorcerer. ]

c. aftermath

[ ...He's tired. He's tired, but so are they all.

His tumble on the bridge left him with something definitely broken in his leg, but he's been slowly healing it with his technique as it recharges, leaving him with a limp as he fishes up some seafood out of the bay and then cooks it up over their makeshift fire. He seems actually pretty decent at this, fishing (by cheating with his powers) and cooking (not by cheating with his powers), and then once its ready, he's handing out the goods to nearby survivors, roasted hunks of meat skewered onto sticks. Maybe not the most gourmet meal of all time, but —

It's something. ]

Hey. Eat up. I slaved over the fire for this.

[ His tone is unusually gentle.

As the night gets darker and deeper, he digs out the blankets from their supplies might just drape one over your shoulders, too. This isn't much either, but...they're all so tired.

But they're still trying. ]

b

[empression]

[ It's hard to say in the moment what catches her attention in the chaos. Gojo's cry, the movement of someone whose balance has definitely been compromised, some other sense that she would be delighted to claim is something like feminine intuition at a much later date--

Whatever it is, Haru sees it. And for a split second, it seems impossible, doesn't it? She couldn't stop people from being bitten. Couldn't fend off a zombie bear. Couldn't talk Soujuurou or Mark out of their choices. Couldn't stay back. Couldn't convey her thoughts without accidentally cruel implications.

Gojo's already falling. She's too late.

Except that split second is only 0.5% percent of Haru right now. The 99.5% remaining is already running, ignoring the twinge of still-healing wounds. The axe clatters off to the side and she lunges, leaps, feet leaving the stability (questionable) of the ground, one hand outstretched to grasp Gojo's hand and the other flung out behind her. ]

Lucy!!

[ She's never thought to use her Persona like this before. She's not sure if it's possible. But it's her spirit of rebellion and she's using it to rebel against the idea of standing there and losing another one of their number. Milady's fan had caught an attack before. Solidified, long enough. And if Makoto could wield hers so uniquely--

It's a gamble, but she knows it's paid off when the ballgown and trenchcoat-wearing Persona's hand grasps hers, a sudden force that prompts a stifled shriek of pain when the strength and speed of the grab promptly dislocates her shoulder. It means she's got a death grip on Gojo's one hand, at least, as they dangle there for a few seconds and then Lucy yanks back and unceremoniously flings them back onto the bridge.

It's not the most gentle of landings. But it's also not the ocean. ]

c

[venomnom]

[Reiju takes the skewer with a smile, curling her fingers around the stick and ignoring the throbbing in her arm from the motion. Gojo has been through quite a bit, so she can only be grateful when he goes out of his way like this.]

How reliable. Should I keep this a secret, too?

a-ish bc i need them to kick butt but i want h/c later

[irreversal]

[ It's not that she's stumbling over a crack in the pavement while slipping between cars or anything, but rather that she's climbed into the bed of a pickup truck, rummaging through it for guns. ]

So keep them away, then. I'm almost done here.

c...

[bicth]

[ He hears him offer the food to her, or maybe he's offering it to someone else — she doesn't know because she doesn't look up from the fire. Her eyes are still red-rimmed and puffy from crying, and there are patches of her face which are slowly but steadily healing, the more superficial injuries beginning to close now that her leg is on the mend. He is maybe the last person she wants to talk to right now, but he catches her at a moment where she's too exhausted to immediately bite his head off or preemptively tell him to fuck off before he says something he'll regret, so she just shakes her head, pulling her beanie down to hide her eyes from him. More than anything, he's the one she doesn't want to look upset in front of. ]

I don't want your food, and I'm not hungry.

[ Which is muttered darkly. There's a lisp to her words that wasn't there before; looking closer, she's still missing a tooth or two, as well. ]

c for comes back here late w zombucks

[irreversal]

[ The thing about smoking cigarettes is that it tends to kill one's appetite, and so even despite Gojo's unusually gentle approach and tone, Shoko waves him off, before brining that hand to slip her cigarette between her lips again. As she has done for many times now, tonight. The last few weeks.

Though this is her very last cigarette. ]

Not hungry.

[ A beat. ]

Some stunt you pulled back on the bridge, huh? Did you thank Haru-chan properly?

come get ur h/c

[irreversal]

a. healing

[ Two more gone, just like that, and another infected, many more injured heavily. Getting to and crossing the bridge, surviving is truly more than enough for one day, one week, really, but this is when Shoko's work truly begins.

And as such, there's no rest for one of the remaining medics here. Rather than take a break with the rest, she is of course making the rounds to check on anyone who needs healing, or help with their injuries. ]

Hey. Time for your check-up.

[ Otherwise, she's searching the boats in hopes that at least one of them might have more supplies - another first aid kit, perhaps, but it's just as likely that she simply needs to busy herself by doing something, anything, that isn't looking back over a vista where the Golden Gate Bridge used to be. Even if it's reading something as boring as a manual for a boat.

They've come so far, and they're so very close now to completing their mission, but it's exactly now that they shouldn't let their guards down, isn't it? ]

b. nighttime

[ Then, come nightfall, the group might find Shoko stepping away from camp frequently, smoking cigarette after cigarette to keep herself awake. Because if she sleeps now... she doesn't know if she wants to know what nightmares will greet her. She would rather smoke and stargaze, which is exactly what she would be doing if someone follows her.

Other times, she's standing at the shore pensively, before she suddenly starts taking her shoes off and then steps into the water just enough to soak her feet, sucking in a sharp breath. ]

Geh, it's cold!

[ ...But it feels nice. Refreshing, even, after a day spent running and running and running... unless some zombie piranhas come chomping at her ankles or something. But it serves well to jolt her back into being awake and alert, even if what she might really need now is to sleep. ]

b!

[bicth]

[ Hella keeps awake too; she's in too much pain to sleep, even if she can get up and walk now. Well, more like limp, in a very obviously poorly thought out way, as the bone in her leg continues to solidify and reconstruct itself. She's just operating on the assumption that her volatility — both from her Mania and her very clear emotional distress — will keep anyone from trying to tell her what to do or to lay back down. ]

Hey, give me one.

[ She holds out an expectant hand when she sees Shoko smoking near the shoreline, staring up at the sky. It's not a new thing to her — she used to smoke from time to time in Syndicate, though never cared for it much. Right now, she just wants to feel anything other than the giant absence that's been carved out of her. ]

LATE WEEK 7

[biteys]

MESSAGE 004 + FLOWER POWER

Have you had ample time to rest at the nature reserve? No? Well, that’s too bad, because your next message from the good ol’ doctor loads up, once enough time of the group being there has passed. It repeats several times, unlike the other messages.

”Bracelets… portal… only way….”

…Whatever that means! That’s the message in its entirety, but hopefully it’s clear enough for the party to know what the doctor wanted to tell them. 🤡 What could the bracelets have to do with the portal?

Speaking of bracelets, now might be a good time to make sure that they’re all accounted for, and to perhaps pay your last respects to their owners.



In the nature reserve, a mellow hike up the hills from the shore, there are large fields of wildflowers to be picked or arranged, available in a variety of colors. The hike and fields are relatively easy to access, and provide beautiful views of the surrounding city — more importantly, thanks to the broken bridge, and the general distance from the next ghost of civilization, there still seem to be no infected roaming these parts.

There are plenty of places for a quiet moment under the sun or stars, with serene bubbling creeks and ample shade provided by the trees making for quite the picturesque summer camp site. The flowers might make a good parting gift for your departed friends… or a heartfelt message for someone in camp. (🤨)

In the interest of suffering fairness, Henry Creel accidentally disturbs a bee’s hive during the group’s stay here, which may result in more than just him getting stung. Whoops! Maybe the group can at least harvest some honey…?

[empression]

[ Haru can be found among the flowers, and mainly there. Either she's carefully studying them before nodding to herself and selecting one that's apparently Important enough to be chosen or if you approach her, she'll look up at you with a tired smile. ]

Ah, one moment. I think I know which one would suit you best.

[ Get your hanakotoba CR flowers here-- ]