( OPEN ) GAME START.

[monstermasher]

▶ WHO: Everyone.
▶ DATE: July 9th, 2015 (Day 1)
▶ WARNINGS: Blood, violence, general zombie horror.
▶ SUMMARY: You've met with a bad... however that line goes. Welcome to Earth.

GOOD MORNING!

---

Please try and ignore whatever it is that you just heard. It should only last for up to a minute... maybe.

It... it is morning, right?

There are no windows.

There's a light, but it's barely considered one. The compound runs on a solar generator, but that doesn't mean it has a lot of power. The light seems to be hanging from the ceiling, swinging precariously. That's when you might actually start to wake up, sit up, find the things that are familiar to you... and then some of the things that aren't. It'd be wise to explore the small room you're in before leaving through the steel door, but there's nobody around to tell you that.

Outside is a tightly knit compound, just as dark and metallic as the room. The hallway you're in houses dozens more doors identical to yours, and if you're unlucky there may be more people poking their heads out through them, just like you. There's a dull glowing sign that reads MEDICAL BAY but not all of you remember being hurt. Some of you may be just fine, apart from the memory of the sound you heard when waking up.

The Medical Bay is stocked with enough medicine to last a couple of months. There's almost everything that can be found in a hospital. Somebody was thinking ahead.

Outside of the Medical Bay are more doors, some are even locked—many aren't. There are living quarters, a food storage, a kitchen, some laboratories; even a room full of computers and nothing else, all with a screen asking for a password. There's only two doors out of the compound, a vehicle bay with what appear to be a few military jeeps and trucks, and the front doors. It's on the inside of the front doors that something is painted in bright red, flecked with what smell like blood:

DO NOT GO OUTSIDE WITHOUT A GUN AND WATER.
GUNSHOTS ATTRACT THEM.
HOLLOWS IS 1.3 MILES NORTH OF HERE.
GOOD LUCK.

And on the outside of the doors, if you choose to open them:

THE WORLD ENDED JULY 3RD, 2015.

Now... how long ago was that? And where is this place? Luckily for you, Hollows is a small town that can be raided. It hasn't been too long since the apocalypse—surely you'll be able to find something there. Batteries, food, weapons, maybe some people—and what you're guaranteed to find. Them, whatever that means.

Outside of the compound there's a fence with a single gate. Nothing can get past this unless you let them in for tea, so be careful. There's a shooting range and a large shed full of weapons and ammo, enough to last two months if you're careful. Guns, knives, anything that would be used by the military and police is hidden away in the shed. There are even a few hunting bows with arrows.

If you climb up the ladder to the top of the wall, there's enough room to walk along the top. There's definitely something moving in the distance, something you should definitely be worrying about. Maybe it's time to get a good look with a sniper rifle...?

Oh.

It's gone.

Maybe it was just a trick of the light. Regardless, it's impossible for everyone to stay in the compound forever. There are nefarious things at work! The choices are to go to Hollows, stick around, or go somewhere else. Really, the world is almost a blank slate. Maybe more of a used slate, but still yours to explore.

When the night comes, you should be hiding. The screamers, the ragers, whatever the hell they are, are running full tilt through the streets and across the landscape, running through anything in their way, ripping apart anything alive. If you don't make any noise, they won't notice you. Especially since they're stuck listening to each other. But if you get noticed by one, it won't be long until a horde forms... you might be able to outrun one for awhile, but they don't seem to let up on their breakneck pace. Maybe someone should have told you how to kill them.

OOC NOTES.

---

There will be zombies in Hollows. Whether you meet them on the way there is up to you. Apart from the undead and the animals (maybe somebody should let those poor creatures out of their houses) the town is completely deserted. In fact, the closest thing you can find to a human are the bodies of those who died without being bitten, and there's even few of those. You can find anything you'd find in a normal town here, and are free to loot and raid the houses and stores—the cops won't be coming, after all. The power is OFF apart from what you can find that is solar powered or still has a charge. If you're lucky and find another town while exploring the first few weeks, you might find an area that still has power—thank hydroelectricity.

Just keep in mind travel time... and travel expenses.

You have creative freedom over everything else. The world is open. The only stationary places are landmarks and cities—if you want to go to Texas and talk to the poor astronauts stranded up in space, it's there. (Might be a long trip, though...)

If your character can figure it out by geography before getting to Hollows, the compound is located a few hours from the west coast, in California.

The way to kill a zombie is blunt force to the head. The head doesn't need to be removed, but significant damage needs to be done to it. This does not include the throat—it needs to be a headshot.

There's also a glaring hint. The computers in the compound, asking for a password. It is impossible to hack at this time. There will be more on this later!

Finally, if your character is exploring outside of the compound (or extensively inside of it) there's a comment here for linking me the thread. You can also PM me! I'll be ducking in with what your character may or may not have found, via a response to the actual RP thread.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS please direct them here!

Comments

[usavatar]

[Steve dishes up his own food and finds a seat on a stool at the counter. The statement is a knife between the ribs. Steve can still picture Bucky's face perfectly as the man sighted on enemy snipers with a frost in his eyes that Steve had never seen there before.

He followed Steve into the jaws of death, and the idiot from Brooklyn got him worse than killed.]

Shooting? [Steve knows that isn't what Bucky means, exactly, but he wants Bucky to say it himself.]

[wipedclean]

[He shakes his head, chewing through a mouthful before he answers, still casually matter-of-fact.]

Killing.

[It's what he does. It's what he was made for.]

[usavatar]

[Steve doesn't contradict him, though the objection burns in his throat. He does focus on his food for a while, trying very hard to put his thoughts in order, trying very hard not to imagine the things he'll do the next time he's in the vicinity of a Hydra facility.]

What else do you want to do?

[wipedclean]

[That startles him, and he stares, blinking, a little like a deer in headlights for a long moment.]

...want?

[Because want never factors into it. Never.]

[usavatar]

[Every response, every expression, brings a rush of mixed emotions that Steve is going to have to sort out eventually if he doesn't want to drown.]

Want. [Another mouthful of spaghetti.] What you like. What makes you happy.

[wipedclean]

[His brow furrows and he shakes his head irritably. They're words, he knows they are, and they make sense, but not in his context. What he wants doesn't matter. He doesn't have likes, and happiness is out of the question. He's a weapon. Weapons don't have emotions.]

Irrelevant.

[usavatar]

Important. [Steve flounders. He doesn't know how to handle this. He needs Natasha's help - and why should he need someone else's help to try and take care of his friend?

He pokes at the spaghetti on his plate, and thinks of something.] Do you like the food?

[wipedclean]

[The question comes when he's got a mouthful of food and he stares for a moment, blinking a little before he chews and swallows.]

It's food.

I LAUGHED AND THEN FELT LIKE A BAD PERSON

[usavatar]

But do you like the taste? [Steve's appetite is dwindling. He'll regret not eating later, he knows it, but the thought also makes him feel a little sick just now.]

bwahahaha

[wipedclean]

[He's confused now. Does he... like the taste?

It takes him a long time to think about it.

He's not sure he knows what the answer to this question is.]

How... how do I know if I like it?

[usavatar]

[Uncertainty is good, Steve decides. Uncertainty means Bucky is at least considering the question.

He's going to go outside and break some things once this is over.]

Describe it to me. Tell me what you notice.

[wipedclean]

[He blinks, takes a breath, then takes a bite of the spaghetti, chewing it slowly.]

It's... a little sweet? Soft. There's spices in it.

[He keeps an eye on Steve as he recites, because this is a test, right? And he wants to know if he passed. And hell, Steve's the closest thing he has to a handler right now, and the test is just kind of... cementing that in his mind.

So he might be a little worried about the consequences of failure.]

[usavatar]

[The tension is so easy to spot. It twists Steve's heart and stomach, makes him want to hug Bucky or to take him out of the compound and away from everyone, to protect him somehow. The worst part is knowing that nothing he does will save Bucky in the way he needs to be.

Steve smiles in a way he hopes is encouraging instead of just pained.]

Easy. There's no bad answers, here. [Casting around, trying to find what to say next, praying he doesn't misstep and do more harm than good.] When you take a bite, which part do you think about the most?

[wipedclean]

[The smile eases his fear of negative repercussions, but he's still nervous. He wants to pass. He wants to be acceptable.

He swallows and takes another bite.

There might not be any bad answers but there's probably a right answer, and he wants to get it right. He has to. Failure is unacceptable. Failure is punishable.]

The... spices? They're... interesting.