bakerstreet | lock and load, lovelies

lock and load, lovelies

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE MEME
inspired by the Left 4 Dead games, The Walking Dead, and various other zombie-related media.

It's a scenario that needs little introduction: the dead have risen to feast upon the living.
In the beginning there were evacuations, emergency broadcasts, reassurances from the government and the media.
It was hoped that things would return to normal sooner rather than later. But eventually, all that's left are the shambling hordes.
So take up that baseball bat, or your father's shotgun. Cling tight to your memories of the better times, or your faith, or whatever keeps you going.
The odds aren't stacked in your favor....but maybe you'll survive.

WHAT.
a productive survivor is a happy survivor.

1) Scavenge/Search: The end of civilization as we know it also means the end of all things convenient, up to and including hot water, electricity and McDonald's. Whether it's ammo or edibles, you're looking for any salvageable supplies. This option is also for if you're trying to find a familiar face somewhere among all the destruction and danger.
2) Fight: Not for your right to party, but for survival. Whether against a lone zombie, an entire horde or a fellow human being, there's nothing else to do but try and come out of the encounter alive.
3) Barricade: There's nowhere to run, but you can at least hide out and hunker down for awhile. Hopefully being cooped up won't drive you stir-crazy.
4) Escape: There comes a time when the only thing to do is run. Is there a horde on your tail? A final evacuation helicopter waiting just ahead? Whatever the reason, better hope you don't stumble.
5) Scout: Charging ahead blindly is an easy way to get killed. A little reconnaissance can prove to be the wisest decision.
6) Relax: Seems like an out of place choice, doesn't it? But sometimes, peace is just as important as safety. You've managed to secure a little while to breathe, to forget the horror you've just gone through.

WHERE.
location, location, location.

1) City/Neighborhood: These places used to be bustling with life. Now they're silent, littered with wreckage and likely crawling with foes.
2) Farmstead/Mill/Lighthouse: Isolated, secluded buildings out in the sticks.
3) Sewers/Subway/Rooftops: If you're heading through these areas, you're likely just trying to get to someplace better. Here's hoping nothing gets the jump on you.
4) Hospital/Army Base/Evacuation Center: These places once offered hope and protection. There might still be firepower and supplies stocked somewhere within.
5) Woods/Swamp/Coast/General Outdoors: Nature hasn't gotten any kinder, but it might just provide needed cover or a place to gather food the old-fashioned way.

WHEN.
at what stage of the world's end do you find yourself?

1) Initial Outbreak: This awful reality is new and frightening. There's chaos and panic everywhere you turn.
2) Two Weeks Later: The horror isn't quite so fresh, or maybe you're just starting to get a little numb to it.
3) Two Months Later: Some of the dust has settled on what remains of society. How have you been holding up?
4) ???: Specific time of your choosing.

WHO.
humanity's numbers have thinned dramatically, but you aren't alone.

1) Family: In this world, kin may be all you have left, or those who are as good as.
2) Friends: Better to be in the company of those you know and trust than those you don't, right?
3) Lovers: This isn't exactly the time or place for a honeymoon, but you're lucky enough to have found your spouse/romantic partner/fuckbuddy/whatever.
4) Strangers: You don't know this person and they don't know you. In any other situation, your paths might never have crossed. But here the two of you are anyway, like it or not.
5) Enemies: Perhaps you were at each other's throats long before this world went to hell. Maybe you just ended up that way over time, or due to the stressful circumstances at work.
6) Guardian: It could be that you don't even like this other person, but you feel responsible for them anyway.

EXTRA.
feel free to add these at your own discretion.

A) Power Loss: Immortality? Gone. Magic? Nixed. You're just an ordinary person now, for better or worse.
B) Infection: You've been bitten, or scratched, or maybe you're grappling with a sickness that has the same eventual end. You can resist the symptoms for awhile, but the only "cure" to be found is a bullet to the head.
C) Injury: Unlike the option above, you aren't hurt because of a zombie. How badly have you been knocked around?

AS ALWAYS, if there isn't a prompt that suits your needs, you're free to make up your own scene.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[Elizabeth does her best to push the bed out, helping Booker. When he stops, she does as well.]

Are you sure? I'm not going to sleep. You look like you need it more than me. [Elizabeth, your eyes are red and bloodshot, go to bed.]

I can- I can take first watch. [She yawns, letting her body move to sit on the bed.] I don't wanna sleep yet.

Neither do I.

[He started to dig through his pockets-- finding a cigarette. Well, it'd make up for the lost salts. He'd fish for a lighter too. Lighting it himself was a little counter-intuitive.]

Why're you so set on staying awake?

I don't know, [She said, looking down at her booted feet. Then, after a pause, she continued.]

If I rest, it will all hit me. Everything. From the tower, to Comstock, the zombies... [Her voice was tight.] And- and I don't know if I'll be able to go on.

Better to do it on your terms.

[He said simply, eventually locating the lighter, and lighting up the cigarette. He was quiet for a while, as if thinking. Maybe he was relaxing. Maybe he was too tired to do anything. Tilting his head back, he let the smoke exit through his nostrils.]

We've got no choice but to go on. We're not gonna die here.

Yeah...

[She lets her legs hang over the edge of the bed, her hands planted firmly in her lap as she looks at them, biting her lip. The silence... It was nice. It isn't until Booker speaks that she even realizes she's been crying.]

I know. We can't. But what if it's everywhere?

[He looks up at her, the cigarette still dangling from his mouth. Only after he notices she had been crying did he remove the cigarette, crushing it against the floor.]

Not where we're going.

[He didn't actually know if what he was saying was the truth, but something tugged at him. Some kind of need to console her. Or at least get her to stop crying. He couldn't quite pinpoint the need, but it was slightly, paternal? No, that couldn't be it. That made no sense.]

Listen, I promise I'll get you out of this.

[Now he's noticed she was crying, and she really wishes he hadn't. It was embarrassing, to be crying over something so little. So... But this was her life. Her introduction to the outside world. And there was so much death and pain and suffering and zombies.

She sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.]

Don't make promises you can't keep, Booker. Even I know that.

[He didn't say anything after that, looking forward again and pocketing the cig. He wanted to say something else, it was clear by his expression, but he wouldn't. It wouldn't be worth it. No use making promises. Something about that rang too true to him.]

'll do everything I can, then.

[He spoke softer. Tired. He'd leave the gun he had on his lap-- resting the back of his head against the bed.]

Edited 2014-07-22 13:35 (UTC)

[There. That was better.

Looking down at Booker she waited for a moment before speaking again.] You can sleep first, I'm serious about that. It'd be kinda... nice to get my thoughts in order. Before I sleep.

Wake me up when you're feelin' tired.
Or for anything... actually.

A roundabout way to show his concern for this girl he'd only just met. Nothing too direct.

As for the sleep, he'd hold her up to that. Just by their experience so far, he could tell she was responsible and could hold her own. He took a moment to settle into his seated position, completely relaxing against the foot of the bed and tilting his head forward. It wouldn't take long for his surroundings to melt away around him, his breath eventually slowing. However, even in sleep, something nagged him about not being able to stay awake with her. He didn't actually want to leave her alone with her thoughts, but he knew as well as anyone did that if he didn't sleep when he had the chance, it could be fatal for both of them.

I will. That, I can promise.

[Elizabeth waited until Booker looked mostly asleep, before getting up from the bed. She needed to keep moving in this small bar. Something to keep her mind and body awake. it didn't last too long, unfortunately, as soon enough, she was back on the bed, her eyes shut as she silently cried herself to sleep.

So much for first watch.]

[At least they got a few hours in-- four or five hours of much needed rest was better than nothing. Somewhere in the main space of the bar, there was a deep scratching sound, followed by the sound of the shelving Booker had so diligently moved tumbling down in an earsplitting crash. Booker had been shaken awake immediately from the sound, his cold sweat from his own demons covering his face. He was stunned when the light of daybreak spilled through the cracks of the windows they had set up, but there was no time to consider how long they had been sleeping.

First priority: The girl.

He sat up straight, looking to Elizabeth with drowsy eyes-- where was she?]

[it's the crash that wakes her up, sitting bolt upright in bed, her bright eyes wide.]

Booker! [She gasps automatically, looking for her companion. Oh, right where she'd... left him to sleep.]

Booker, something's found us.

[He pushes himself to his feet, listening out for any further sounds to gauge what type of situation this was-- fight or flight. It was a careful, labored movement; after all, he was already starting to feel the soreness in his muscles settle in, slowing him down from an energized spring. Luckily enough, they were pushed to the far back, so they wouldn't be seen immediately, but even then, there wasn't much time to watch. They would have to move quickly, and soon.]

The question is how many.

[How many indeed. His voice was low-- moving behind one of the shelves to peek through the gaps, and peer at the stumbling group of wheezing rot. They knocked over various chairs indiscriminately, and Booker felt another rush of adrenaline at one of them turning in their direction. It didn't see them-- but the promise he had insisted to Elizabeth to be truth rang in his mind. 'I'll do all I can.'

He didn't have many rounds in either of his guns left, and his salts were still low--

So now was the time more than ever to improvise. It was only then he turned his attention to a shelf not far from the zombies, loaded with various dead flora in vases of all sizes to decorate the bar-- a good push with that could crush at least 3 of them.

Fight zombies with flowers, huh?

Before he moved, he looked to her.]

If you see any bullets around, now would be the time to tell me.

He was already preparing for his elaborate improvisation though, a little eager for her to make it so he didn't have to.

[Elizabeth nodded immediately.] I'll find some.

[And just like that, she was off the bed, digging for exactly what Booker needed.]

Here!

[A small cartridge under the desk. She tossed it to him without thinking twice.]

[Even better. He caught the cartridge with one hand, barely looking, moving to reload. They were in sync that single moment-- Booker aiming right through the gap in the shelving they were behind--]

Don't look.

[A warning at least. He didn't want this entire scenario to scar her, after all. Death. Bloodshed. He paused a moment-- shooting a single bullet through the head of one of the dead, blood splattering on contact. It was easy when they weren't aware of where he was--

It was the half second later he had to worry about-- the group of about 6 charging into awareness, dead eyes turning sharply to their location. Booker didn't hesitate to move-- attempting to distance them from Elizabeth with himself hopping out from behind his hiding place.]

[And so she ducks for cover at his request, digging around for more ammunition and staying out of the sightline of the zombies. If need-be, she'd run, get out of there on her own the best she could. But Booker was out in the open, and there were... one, two, three... six! of them, she could make out from their feet.

He could do it. She'd seen him take on more. But that didn't mean that each new moment didn't bring about new challenges.]

Here!

[A small pistol was pulled.]

[As soon as the gun he had been wielding ran out of ammunition, he dropped it, catching the one she had thrown with ease. Booker gave her a silent glance-- an affirmation that everything was going to be alright. His hand with a gun was dependable, but even then, it was hard to ward off four in such a closed space.

The pistol finished off two-- but even with his impeccable aim, he felt himself shoved back by one of the large, twisted bodies, tumbling backwards onto his back. The gun in his hand skidded across the smooth floor away from him, closer to her-- Booker motioned to reach for it, but his body was straddled by the larger of the two remaining zombies. He struggled to keep it from advancing into his face, kicking the second one farther back to stall for time. His fist swung for its face-- disorienting the grumbling shell of a man-- but he needed that gun.]

D-damnit!

[He cursed allowed, gritting his teeth in frustration.]

I'm looking! [She yelled towards him, still browsing for ammo, a gun, anything.

There, in the back of the cupboard. A small tear. Opening it, she pulled out a few rounds of ammo, and wasted no time in tossing them to him.]

Booker! Catch!

[Good timing too-- despite not having his gun in reach, he used the box as a blunt distraction, knocking the zombie off of him and moving for the gun. Without thinking, he loaded it up, and shot right through the other one, the remaining one being kicked onto it's back with effort. Walking slowly, Booker was sure to look it right in the face before he lifted his gun, shooting it dead, sighing out in relief.

He paused-- as if to relax, before he looked to her.
Well. He was still alive.]

Y' alright?

[They have to keep moving. The gun probably made noise. He moved up to her, as if to confirm she was alright. She seemed shaken last night.]

[Elizabeth nods mutely from where she'd hidden behind the bar.]

I'm okay. [Sort of.]

We need to get out of here. But... Is there a back-door out of here?

[Damn it. He wished he didn't have to do that. At least in front of her. Already, he was heading to the back in search of a door, anything, expecting her to follow. On his way, he wouldn't hesitate to grab a few rations of food, stuffing them into his pockets-- wherever they could fit. Next was to search for a way out--]

We'll find out.

[He had enough food for the both of them, at least. This could get them by for about three days. Upon moving to the back, there would be a door, but when he moved to reach for it, it wouldn't give. Locked. Lockpicking was NOT something Booker was versed in.]

It's locked. No way we're getting through there.

[Elizabeth helps, stuffing any sort of food or ammo into her bag as quick as she can. You never knew when she would and wouldn't be able to find it.]

Do you have a lock-pick?

This one looks complicated, think you can pick it?

[He fished in his pocket-- pulling out a twisted one and handing it to her.]

[That gets him a side-eye. Who would have thought she'd be so good at a bitch face?]

I've lived my entire life in a tower without anything else to do. I think we're good. Just give me a few...

[And lo-and-behold!]

Done!

I love it so much

I'm glad you do... you're an amazing Elizabeth!

<3 Thank you so much! I miss playing her regularly.

You could app her to a game? Unless you're already apped somewhere.

I have before. Right now I'm considering bringing her in to Ataraxion where I already have some kids

Really? I'm actually planning apping an OC there, too intimidated to app Booker anywhere.. haha

Yep! I have three characters there currently: Eponine, Rogue and Laura Roslin. it's tons of fun

Soon! I can't wait.

<3

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