( 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!

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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.

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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

[axeyou]

The smile that flicks onto her face is a sharp one. In fact, if a smile could be pointed at the ends, this one sure would be. She shifts her weight onto one hip, hand planted on it, and cocks her head.

"Not quite, handsome." It almost sounds--and looks--flirty. Except, like he's so brilliantly observed, they're on a wall post-kidnapping to God knows where for no reason; blah blah blah. Can anyone really be flirty post-kidnapping? Especially with an axe strapped to their back? Well, sure. She even winks at him. "Axes put me at ease. I like to sleep with them, and not much else. So you don't want to go out?"

[borntochoose]

Kal doesn't exactly blush, but he does look a bit taken aback by the flirting. He isn't dumb enough to believe she's earnest in her flirting, especially considering the situation. But he's still incredibly awkward in this kind of scene, so he just shrugs with one shoulder and focuses on the part that he can handle.

"I want to, of course. I don't do well with being caged up. But not without knowing what waits for us outside, and how to handle it. Have you seen the doors? The warnings?"

[axeyou]

"Who hasn't? And I heard screaming when I woke up. I think I was supposed to think that was a warning, too." She sounds flippant--not exactly dismissive, but more like someone that's read threats before. Her weight still sunk onto one hip, she reaches up to flick her hair over her shoulder.

"But someone's got to do something. Why would they give us all these weapons if we're just supposed to stay inside? That doesn't sound like much fun. So it's either this" --Walking the walls, looking out over the land beyond, surveying nothing at all, and she gets all of that in a jerk of her head-- "or it's getting together a little recon. I'm not stupid. That's why I'm up here first."

Recon second. Her smile looks almost genuine. "You too? Or are you just up here for fun?"

[borntochoose]

Screaming. She's not the first one to mention that and he wonders who, exactly was screaming and why. He's not disregarding the idea that it’s all in their mind either, mostly because he’s pretty sure he would have heard the screaming as well if it had been real. But since he has no idea how he got here or what they used to knock him out… he also has no idea if his powers were working at the time.

And the idea is kind of frightening.

“I just heard bones snapping when I woke up- I was trying to get a feel of the place, and mostly to see if anyone has the slightest idea of why we’re here and what they expect us to do. Or who ‘they’ are, for that matter. But it doesn’t look like anyone knows.

Mind some company, if you’re planning to get out?”

[axeyou]

Bones snapping. Her eyebrows shoot up, disappearing beneath the crisp trimmed edge of her fringe. She's washed her face by now, and she's not bother to pretend with him--so her expression is clear. A little skeptical; a little unimpressed. A little curious and a little amused, too.

"Wow. Snapping bones. That's specific." Drawled, no judgement. "Someone else might ask how you know that sound so well. Lucky for you--" She winks-- "I don't care."

It's mildly disheartening that no one knows what's going on. But then again, Johanna isn't the least bit surprised. That would be too easy, right? She looks back out over the wall, into that distance--and then she shoots him another grin.

"You want to team up with me? I'm not going to say no to that. It sounds fun. Except, you did get to the weapons stash, right. I'm not going to have much fun if all I get to do is save your dumb ass."

[borntochoose]

He doesn’t really look all that bothered about the implications of what she’s saying. He knows the sound just like he knows every sound. He can hear almost everything on earth, so he learned to categorize early enough. But she doesn’t ask for a justification, and he doesn’t give it.

“I don’t need any weapons. You could shot a gun at me and the only dangerous thing would be that it would ricochet against my best.” He shrugs. He doesn’t like to brag, but he knows better than to play the ‘aw shuck’s modesty card when the entire world is dying.

“I’d say you can prove it with that axe of yours but we might need it, and it’d be a waste.”

[axeyou]

Johanna laughs, short and loud. The way he says that makes it sound like assured fact, but come on. The idea of it is funny. Panem doesn't have any slapstick, but the way Johanna is picturing the scene is pretty close. Not with her as the attacker. No one better even think about laughing at her.

"No way. So I don't get any demonstration? I just have to take your word for it? Come on, that's no fun--you can't tell me something like that and not show off a little."

There could be mutts that indestructible. There could be some kind of modification, some surgery. The Capitol is capable of all kinds of wonders. But Johanna doesn't shrink back with any kind of fear. She gives him another wink, daring.

"Show off. For me. Please?"

[borntochoose]

Kal shrugs. He doesn’t like showing off for the sake of showing off but she isn’t really asking for much, and he came here as Superman so if there’s someone out there watching his reactions (which was his first thought upon waking up, but it’s looking less and less likely) they won’t get anything they don’t already know about. He can just keep some tricks up his sleeve.

“Be my guest then. But I could show off in other ways, if you’d like- like flying, or my speed.” He notices how she keeps the conversation to him, not giving anything away about herself. But that's fine, he's a patient man.

[axeyou]

Playing cards close to the chest is as much of a tactic as swaggering around is. If you can do a little bit of both? That's even better. He's listed three skills so far. Either it's a bluff (doubtful), or it's exaggerated, or it's all completely true. But there's probably more.

Or so she hopes, anyways. It would be sad if he was cute and totally dumb.

"Ooh." Johanna grins, like she's so easily impressed. "No, I don't want to mess up my axe. I've seen people run fast before. Tell me more about flying."

That one sounds a little like bullshit to her. Unless he's got a hovercraft secreted away somewhere. If that's the case, maybe she'll think about acting a little sweeter.

[borntochoose]

“I don’t have to tell you. Can you just show you.”

And so he simply lifts himself a couple inches from the floor. He honestly doesn’t like showing off, but he has to admit watching people’s reactions when he does it is kind of priceless, so far. He has gotten used to people expecting Superman to have powers even only after a couple of months in the open.

[axeyou]

Johanna is not easily impressed. She's been around enough to see all the little tricks and modification the Capitol is capable of. Surgeries and procedures, modifications and enhancements. Whatever, whatever, whatever.

This is nothing like this. It's exactly what he promised: flying, but low-level. He could go higher. And she could look for wire, or assume that she's mad (not out of the realm of possibility).

Or she could laugh. Which is what she does, surprised and amused and pleased. It's a good trick. She doesn't wear her surprise so openly--no blank stares, open mouth. But she does stare. How could she not?

"How'd you get to do that?"

Maybe a little jealous, too, even if she's assuming that it was something that was done to him. That's just her realm of experience. Nothing personal.

[borntochoose]

He shrugs. Most people also assume he simply was born being able to do that- which is doing wonders for his secret identity back home. If you don’t think Superman has a secret identity you stop looking for it.

“A lot of training, at first I could only leap over really tall buildings. Now I mostly got the hang of it.” His landing is still a little rough, but he’ll get there eventually. “The planet where I was born had a red sun, and a harsher atmosphere. That and a bigger pull of gravity made it so my body adapted to those conditions.”

sorry I'm so late! & I see you're oocly out for a bit so feel free to drop

[axeyou]

Born with it seems pretty impossible--but then again, so do other planets. In Panem, it's barely acknowledged that the stars are anything but little pricks of light stuck up in the dome of the sky. Science is not an emphasis in what little schooling most District children get. Even among young Capitolites, they'd probably prefer to keep alive the rumor that the sky is gone, and that the stars were put in place by the Capitol. Thanks be to President Snow.

But Johanna knows better than to show off her naivete or lack of knowledge. Red sun, harsher atmosphere, gravity--all words that she knows, basically, but all of it outside her realm of experience. She takes it in stride, with maybe just an extra blink as her tell, a flicker of misgiving. What the hell.

"So you've always been able to do it. You just sucked before." Not surprising. Even if her axe skills were honed before she could even walk, there was still training involved. That's something Johanna knows anyways, and the winch of her smile lets up just a little. Not soft, but almost understanding. (Almost.) "Ever take anyone for a ride?"