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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
At the bridge. Ninety-Nine gave it to me before she broke away from the rear.
no subject
Then she knew what was going to happen...!
[ She wishes she could feel betrayed or angry, but she just feels sad, knowing that Ninety-Nine's last moments were self-sacrificial ones. Hella was always supposed to be around to prevent that from happening, and she failed. ]
You just left her there after that?
[ Reiju is strong, powerful — couldn't she have helped? If she hadn't been hit by that damn car, Hella would have found out herself eventually, and headed back. It's all so unfair. ]
no subject
[In a way, the tears are worse than anger. They were never easy to stomach from her brother, but the sight of them on a girl's face instills a similarly queasy feeling in Reiju. After all the strength she mustered to keep the party together, Hella's grief is staggering.]
The vanguard had to advance. And . . . [She glances in the direction of the bridge.] It was what she wanted.
[To die as herself—before Ninety-Nine could well and truly become a monster, because she wasn't one, not really. The realization had stolen Reiju's breath away that night. It's been on her mind since, so much so that once it was time, she couldn't bear to extinguish that spark for any reason.]
no subject
The infection had complicated things further. It doesn't help her to know that Ninety-Nine did this because she wanted to — it twists the knife, for her to know that Ninety-Nine died in the clutches of the thing she feared and wanted to resist most. Losing control, permanently. ]
Aahhhh....
[ Hella lets out a cry, hand closing hard around the rock still in her hand, hard enough to cut, hard enough that blood seeps out of her hand in thick globs. It's hard for her to precisely boil down what she's feeling — she's furious at the situation and the doctor, even partially at Reiju and Ninety-Nine, heartbroken that she couldn't have been there to prevent this. That Ninety-Nine had kept this from her, perhaps knowing there was nothing she could do. It hurts enough that she's gone, but it hurts worse to feel like she couldn't be there for her in her biggest time of need, and that she might not have been able to do anything at all. ]
Ninety-Nine.... Ninety-Nine...! [ It feels like she's being crushed; only the pain coming from her dominant hand grounds her to the moment. Her head hangs while she endures the worst of the clench of grief, struggling to push herself up. Her leg still isn't fully healed, and the break that's become a fracture screams against her to stop. But she doesn't, not until she can stumble a step closer to Reiju herself. ] Fine! If that's how it is, then... then...
[ She tries to shout, but her voice is hoarse. Casting the rock to the side in the sand, she holds her bleeding hand out expectantly. ]
If I can't go back to the bridge... then I want to hold something she touched! I should've — I was always supposed to be by her side!
no subject
That's one of the many differences between them. Hella is so active and expressive, always fighting at great cost to herself. In a way, Ninety-Nine had been like that, too. Heat builds behind the back of Reiju's eyes, and she closes them to breathe deeply and banish the water before it can build. Those who care always suffer the most—that's a fact of life she's known since she was a child.
She slides her hand out of a pocket, pulling the bracelet out with it. Closing the remaining gap between them in a few long strides, she deposits it onto Hella's waiting palm, the motion swift—yet gentle.]
Take it. It's yours.