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week 7
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.
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.
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.
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.
no subject
Reiju tightens her core, braces herself, and heaves, lifting the collapsed beam with her shoulders. It slides down over the slope of her neck and crashes onto the cracked cement as she rises onto her knees in one, if malformed, piece.
There are no major breaks in her skin aside from the angry red abrasions with pinpricks of blood that mar her head and arms where the fabric of borrowed sleeves has torn. The integrity of her hard, metallike skin holds despite the state of her bones beneath. Her right elbow is higher than the rest of her arm, having caught on smaller rubble in her descent—as if it were a tetromino and not flesh—while her left arm is wrenched overhead and toward her misshapen back with an unnatural bend at the elbow, left palm flush against the underside of her wrist. Reiju can feel the throbbing discomfort of it all, harsher than she should be feeling, but finds herself unable to take stock of the damage in full when her head is forced into a near 90-angle flex at the neck, forcing her eyes to the ground.]
Sorry . . . [She huffs as her gaze focuses on the rubble before her, physically incapable of looking in Shoko's direction.] But could you straighten out my right arm for me?
[Ordinarily, moving in this state shouldn't be a problem. Here, though, it's more of a strain than she'd like it to be.]
no subject
Your arm—
[ Ma'am. Your neck!? But okay. Arm she can do. And then maybe the other arm. Shoko nods and positions herself urgently at Reiju's right side, letting her hands hover over the unnatural bend in Reiju's elbow before asking: ]
Ready? Here goes.
[ She doesn't need to tell Reiju that it's gonna hurt. She likely already knows that. But with her permission, Shoko will take hold of that arm and straighten it out to the best of her ability, unflinching from all of the horrific cracking or bending or screaming that may take place as a result. ]
no subject
It's not supposed to, but it does. As Shoko pulls, the bones don't snap so much as her skin, hard yet malleable, groans in resistance. Reiju sucks in a sharp breath and holds it when a lancing pain shoots through her arm. The discomfort tapers into a throb once the bend has straightened out from Shoko's commendable efforts, and she immediately grasps her other arm to yank it down, resetting her shoulder, with one swift motion.
Then she wrenches her other hand free, pushes a palm against her chin, and pulls her head back in a clean, harsh snap. A tight ache settles around her temples and forehead, but she ignores it in favor of staggering onto her feet, limbs properly aligned once more.]
Thank you. Let's go!
[The cars are still alarming, drawing the attention of what zombies that have made the perilous crossing over the crumbling bridge. The ground beneath them begins to shake violently as the bridge's foundation continues its collapse. Reiju's gaze flits from Shoko to a small gap between vehicles beyond the fallen steel beam, urging her to squeeze through first.]
no subject
Wait, Reiju-san.
[ Before they get moving again, Shoko reaches out for her and splays her hand over Reiju's back. With any luck, Shoko's technique might work on Reiju, and she might feel a burst of energy flowing through her, to draw some of that lingering aching and soreness away and out of her body in hopes that she'll be able to keep moving more easily. Otherwise, well, Shoko just pat her on the back for no real reason for like two seconds. Your choice... ]
Okay.
[ She'll follow dutifully, suddenly finding herself thankful that she didn't skip all of their gym classes, so that she's able to keep up at a time like this. At Reiju's signalling, Shoko nods and pushes herself through the small gap, and the moment she's through, she looses her baseball bat from her pack to swing at a zombie staggering towards them from the other direction. ]
no subject
The pain recedes like the ebbing tide, strange yet welcome. Reiju straightens, squaring her shoulders and feeling the relief as it ripples out from her torso at the point of contact. She shoots Shoko a small smile, the edges somewhat sharp from the concentrated furrow of her brow.]
Thank you.
[Then they're off. Reiju lets the zombies behind them get in their own way at the bottleneck between piles of debris as she hastens after Shoko. The latter's swing bowls over the zombie ahead of them on unstable footing, knocking it back into more of its shuffling ilk like a domino effect. This creates a large enough gap for Reiju to break through, leap into the air, and swing down with the heel of her foot on the head of the next zombie to rush them.]