TEST DRIVE MEME #1.

[therunning]

OPTIONS: WAKING UP You wake up in a studio in an apartment building that's got windows all boarded up. You remember being sick, you remember dying, and you probably can't believe this is the afterlife. If you head out into the hall you'll see that others are heading out too, looking just as confused as you are. All of you died, most of you of the same thing. If you head down to the front office, you'll meet a native resident who will explain in brief that you're in Aqora, a settlement living among the undead and that people like you show up every so often. You'll be given an informational pamphlet, a shitty cell phone, and a walkie. Then you'll be expected to figure it out. No one has time to hold your hand. EXPLORING Miscellaneous things here: shops and restaurants turned into places to live, apartments full of people living day to day, the main focus (the library) being the hub where people come to learn and children go to school. Because school never ends, even in the apocalypse. Feel free to buddy up with other newcomers to figure out what the hell is going on. OR, say you've been here a while. It's time to figure out how to get more supplies! Let's go on a supply run. You'll just be heading out past the barricades to start, and you'll have to dig through buildings to try and find things. If you're lucky, maybe you'll hit a cache. If you're unlucky, you'll find too many undead to fight. No one goes out alone though, so hopefully your partner can help. "NETWORK" Someone has set up a rudimentary network using the nearest cell towers. You can communicate with others in the area but only via voice and text. Anything further out is voice only via walkies. You can have a username or leave it blank. Have fun, campers.

Comments

[dirtyredneck]

While Jesus went down the stairs, Daryl checked the doors on the upper landing. There were two elevator cars and a door with a number on it. He kept an ear out for his partner to call the all clear or call for back up. When Jesus does whistle, he heads over to the stairwell and waits. Then walks with him back to the elevators and the door. Waves at the first two.

"Could use the service ladders in there if we needed to. Just have to push the elevator doors open. Most have service ladders, right?" He asked because he was assuming they did, but he didn't really know. It would make sense for them to. How else would you get up and down when the elevator was stuck?

Then he nodded at the door, "Think that's an apartment. It's numbered like one, but it's the only one up here."

[iesus]

"True," Paul agrees, about the service ladders. There's got to be ladders in there. "All you need is a crowbar and leverage for that. Simple work." It's funny - these are all things that people would never say was just easy as anything a couple years ago, but most everyone could now and people like them always could.

At the assessment of the door Paul cocks an eyebrow and moves toward it, nodding. "If it's empty I think we should keep it in mind." Then he crouches in front of the door and studies the knob and lock, humming thoughtfully and then moving to pick the lock as easy as you please. It's not hard - Paul's good at things like that. "Think anyone else is willing to go up this many flights every day? Place your bets now."

[dirtyredneck]

"Nah," Daryl shook his head. "Betting they ain't using nothing past the 3rd floor in most of these buildings. But especially for the bedding. Probably picked most of the places clean of cloths and food, though. Not sure how far up they cared to go with that here. But might still be some stuff worth keeping."

Especially since it was still locked. Actually, there might be more than a few apartments in the building worth checking out if they were still locked. Meant they might find dead people inside - actual dead and walkers - but also otherwise untouched supplies. Clothes and bedding. Furniture. Toiletries.

When the lock clicked open, Daryl took the handle and turned it quietly, knife raised. He pushed the door open as he went silent and stepped inside. It was brightly lit from the late afternoon sun. Half the windows faced west and covered it all with a golden glow. It was hot and stuffy. Definitely not in use. Kitchen was right up front and based on the plates in the drying rack, probably hadn't been ransacked yet. Didn't look like the owner left in a panic either. Which meant dead right at the start.

Daryl gave a whistle and waited for any noises, groaning or shuffling, to answer back.

[iesus]

"No good lines of sight that low in places like this," Paul surmises, frowning a little as he waits for Daryl to step inside before he trails after, knife at the ready. Hot and stuffy and dusty enough to make Paul sneeze once, making a face. That aside though it's fine - when Daryl whistles Paul doesn't hear anything but he moves to take stock of the rooms nonetheless, picking through the rest of the space. He's privately glad for the mostly-open floor plan because it means less work for them.

The cursory search reveals nothing and Paul moves to open the windows to try and get some air. "Must not have been home," he murmurs, thoughtful. Then it's time to look through for supplies and he heads to the pantry first, wondering what shelf-stable goods there would be - and smiles lopsidedly, crouching a moment before tossing a bottle of water underhand behind him toward Daryl, expecting him to catch it. "Two full cases down here. All of the bottles are still sealed."

They're gonna taste like plastic, but hey - good water is hard to come by.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl caught the bottle and inspected the 'Rasberry!' label with a frown, "It's flavored."

Despite this, he cracked the lid open and took a sip. It did taste like plastic under the sweetener, but the flavoring kept it from being overpowering. He considered it for a couple more moments, then took a longer gulp before closing it back up and sticking it under his waist band. Didn't have a proper bag to store it in just yet. Closet might.

He headed away from the kitchen and around the corner into the sleeping area. The bed was a queen and made up. Closet was a small walk-in and there were shoes and clothes and purses. He grabbed the largest satchel-like one he could find with a shoulder strap long enough to let it hang at his hip and slipped it on as he put the water bottle inside. Then headed back to the living area and kitchen, opening the windows Jesus had yet to get to on his way.

"Doc said we needed to tell someone which apartment we picked. Let's do that, let 'em know we're here. See if they'll let us have a couple of flashlights, then go down one floor and hit up as many apartments as we can 'fore it gets dark. Maybe we'll luck out again like we did with this one."

More bottled water (or liquor), maybe some dry goods. Maybe some clothes. The community obviously cleared out the dead, but getting around to clearing out every last inch of the apartments had obviously taken a backseat to putting up the walls and growing food. With good reason. But that just meant he and Jesus had a potential gold mine waiting for them. In this building and others.

The people running the place would probably appreciate whatever they decided to bring down in offerings or barter, too.

[iesus]

"Yeah, this one's peach." Paul opens it and takes a drink anyway - it's got that thick, gluggy aftertaste of warm sweetened drinks but it's not bad. He pokes around the pantry some more while Daryl goes through the rest of the apartment - some canned goods, a lot of things that he's afraid to ask what they used to be because they're liquefied (but thankfully sealed so there's no smell), and some alcohol tucked away in the corner. He's not much of a drinker and he doesn't know if Daryl is so he just leaves it be for now, coming back out and shutting the door with a few more bottles in his arms to hand off for Daryl to put in the satchel he's got now.

He nods, humming his agreement, looking through a few more cabinets and some drawers. "Might earn a couple lanterns if we bring enough down on this trip, you think?" Better than flashlights by a mile. "There's a lot here. Could sort through some real quick. I'm not sure what they have a surplus of, but I know water is going to be worth a lot."

He takes another drink from the bottle before something catches his eye and he pauses, lowering it and rubbing his thumb over the rough numbering on the plastic. "Best by on this is 2024."

There's no way anything from before their apocalypse would have been "best by" that long. That's almost fifteen years.

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl was considering the barter offer and decided to push one case off to the side - the one they hadn't opened, "This one stays here. It's ours."

The other one, that had already been opened and two bottles stolen from, Daryl grabbed another one from and put it to the side as well. Sure a 12pack missing three meant supply only got nine, but it was flavored water. Which had to go for a little more in the long run than regular water. Variety and special treats and all that.

He tapped the remains of the case, "Just this. Two lanterns if we can get it, one lantern and a half dozen candles if we can't. And a match book or lighter."

At that point he realized Jesus had said something weird. Frowning, he looked over, "You sure it don't read twenty fourtee-" No. No, it did not.

"No one makes bottled water with a sell by that long." He checked the other case, same date. Daryl rubbed at his lower lip, "Best you'll find is one or two years. Unflavored."

Plain water could last indefinitely if stored properly, but he never expected any water to be stored properly anymore. His thumb slipped from his chin into his mouth, thoughtful, "Don't bring it up. We'll hit the library after we trade this to 'em. Check the news archives."

[iesus]

Paul nods, grabbing a kitchen knife out of a drawer and holding it, testing the weight of it, slowly moving it in a sideways arc like he's seeing how good of a weapon it would make. He is. "Decent," he confirms, putting it back and nodding to the drawer it belongs in. Back up supply. "Find a few places later to stow some more," he says quietly, thoughtfully. "Just in case. People seem nice enough but you never know."

Maybe it's funny to hear from always-mild Paul (except when he'd appeared like a ghost in the night, killing plenty of men, and silently left again) but this is how places like this affect people.

"A good spread. Enough in there to eat for a while while we get our bearings so no problems there." He pauses before nodding. "Better to investigate than ask."

The pause this time is a little longer before Paul reaches out to touch Daryl's elbow briefly, thoughtfully, trying to figure out what he wants to say. He licks his lips before he finally speaks. "I know we haven't gotten along in the past," an understatement, "and I'm sorry were here at all, but I'm glad to not be here alone." That said he takes a step back with an awkward cough, shrugging off his coat and draping it over the counter - he'll fix it later. He rolls up his sleeves so that the cuff covers the ugly scar the bite mark left - he shudders once when he looks at it, just a little, before he recovers - and looks to Daryl again.

"Better get going before it gets any later."

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl glanced down at the hand on his elbow and then up to meet Jesus' eyes. He pressed his lips together and when the man was done talking he ducked his head and shrugged the words - the apology - off.

"Weren't your fault this happened," he answered as he grabbed his part of the stash they were dragging down for trade and went to the door. "Ain't got nothing against ya, neither. You were doin' what you needed to for your people. We're good."

[iesus]

If I hadn't got bit first sits on the tip of his tongue but he swallows it down. Who knows if that's why? "Okay." After a long moment, Paul finally nods and grabs the rest of what they're taking down and trails after Daryl to the door. Once they're out he draws the door shut again with his foot and lets out a sigh.

"Back down we go." He gives the older man a slightly lopsided smile before heading back to the fire escape so they can move down. It's not actually that bad - it's not like this number of flights is horrible for someone like Paul. Still not the best, but all right. "Top few floors of this place are gonna be good for us, I think."