The 'We're Stranded' Meme

[survivorkate]

 THE ‘WE’RE STRANDED’ MEME

 

You’re stranded it’s as simple as that. Maybe you were on your way to a nice relaxing holiday, a business trip or maybe you were just on your way home. Whatever the case, it doesn’t look like you’re going to be reaching your destination any time soon. You’re stuck and all you can do is to try and survive until help arrives. If help ever does arrive. Well, at least you’re not alone. No, there’s someone here stranded with you. Maybe you know them, maybe they’re a complete stranger or maybe they were stranded here long before you. Whoever they are you’re going to have to work together to get out of this mess. 

 

What you do to survive and what happens to you is up to you. Do you search for food, do you try and find any signs of human life, do you have a run in with the locals or the local wildlife or do you just close your eyes and hope someone finds you. Whatever happens good luck.

RULES

• Comment with your character, canon, preferences and any ideas you might have
• It might be useful to note whether you want the interaction to be between two strangers or if you’re okay with any assumed cr
• Feel free to set up your own scenario in your initial comment to give taggers something to work with or just leave your comment blank
• Pick a scenario that catches your eye or use trusty old RNG
• Reply to others!

 

WHERE ARE YOU STRANDED?

1. On an island – You’re stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere. There’s no phone or radio signal and there are no signs of life (that you can see). It could be a huge island with a dense forest in the center or it could be a small, sandy island with sparse vegetation cover. It’s up to you.
2.  In the jungle – One minute you’re making your way along a jungle trail and the next minute you’re completely lost. You have no idea where you are, you have no idea which way to go and all you can see around you is trees and more trees. Have fun in the jungle. Look out for the wildlife and any local tribes
3.  In space – The sci-fi option. For some reason you were in space. Maybe you’re inside a ship stranded in the middle of nowhere or stranded in the middle of some kind of asteroid field. Or maybe you were outside of your space shuttle and now you’re stranded with no way to return. Let’s hope your oxygen supply doesn’t run out
4. Open Water – Maybe you were simply out for a swim and the current was too strong, pulling you out to sea. Maybe you were diving and after resurfacing you’ve realized you have absolutely no idea which way is land and your boat is nowhere to be seen. Or maybe it’s a Titanic-type situation and your ship has sunk. Better get your life jacket ready.
5. High in the air – Maybe you’re trapped in a ski lift high above the ground just like the movie Frozen. Maybe you were on a roller-coaster or a Ferris wheel and the rides malfunctioned. Or maybe you’re just stuck at the top of a really, really high mountain or cliff. Whatever the situation you better not be afraid of heights!
6.  Inside an elevator - This one is pretty self-explanatory. You were in an elevator, the elevator stopped and now you’re stranded inside the small space, probably with a bunch of people you don’t know until help arrives.
7.  A cave – Maybe you had planned to explore the cave system or maybe it was a spontaneous event but you went inside and now you’re stranded with no way out.
8. The middle of nowhere – This can cover any landscape really: a mountainous area, a desert, the middle of the countryside, a tundra area. Whatever the landscape there’s no signs of human life anywhere. You’re stranded.
9. Wild Card! – Don’t like any of the options given? Come up with your own scenario!

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

1. Extreme weather! - You're caught in a blizzard or a thunderstorm.
2. Searching for food/supplies!
3. Setting up a camp/shelter from the rain
4. Coming into contact with (possibly dangerous) locals/local wildlife
5. Calling for help
6. Trying to find a place with better signal
7. Just generally freaking out
8. Trying to come up with a plan
9. An obligatory smut option
10. Wild Card! – There are so many options and so many things you could do in this situation. Use your imagination!

 

Comments

[reapitup]

[It's recent. Finished just now, really. The stillness remains, which makes Luke's voice seem all the louder. And quietly, because something must change, a throat clears. More silence, like it's not sure if it's worth the risk. If there's a choice.]

People...and they...have things?

[If Luke turns around a 20-something kid will be peeking around a tree trunk from like 30 feet up. His hand covers his right eye and his clothes are dirty, hair a mess, moss, bugs, and tree splinters stuck in it but he hasn't noticed.]

[burningdaylight]

He whirls around, tasting the sharp metal tang of adrenaline in his mouth. Hope spikes -- but then realization hits him and his face goes slack, eyes dull with an exhaustion that goes to his bones. The stranger's face isn't one he can place a name to but for all his built-up wariness Luke reserves some sympathy for strangers, particularly those who look like they've had hell of a time. He's equally filthy-looking after all, though it comes with being stripped of basic comforts for years, clothes worn ragged and almost perma-stained with blood and liquefied zombie guts from more encounters than he can remember.

"Iunno..." He lowers his blade slightly. It's all he has outside the gun at his hip. "Maybe? Don' know that much coulda survived after last night." A beat. He looks around. "...Who's askin'?"

What's Luke's health like? If anything'll develop into a problem Death'll pick up on it.

[reapitup]

The kid catches that look. This guy may be telling the truth, then...and if the his clothing is any indication, there's a lot to run from. Or he killed a lot, which Death doubts...and something's off besides. It's too much rot - the decay and the clothing don't match up...

He takes a slow, shaky breath. Machete. Cutting, chopping...a tool, not precise for flesh or bone. He could stop it when things went wrong. The kid edges behind the tree trunk and there's a horrible grating tearing noise. If Luke cares to look from the other side, there'll be deep claw marks all the way down.

He walks out, finally in plain, level view. His hand's lowered and his extended eye twitches, always seeing more.

"Death."

Cue metal guitar riff.

[burningdaylight]

[He jerks back a half-step.]

Holy shit...

[It's not the name that gets him - that just comes off as a joke in poor taste at this point - but seeing that eye which, from a distance, looks like a bad case of pink eye. Then he starts to wish it was. His face screws up in confusion.] ...The hell happened?

[After a beat it occurs to him that that might be a little forward. After all, offending someone he only just met could be bad news. He shakes his head.] ...Sorry. How long y'been out here?

[reapitup]

[It'd be the first time anyone considered it a joke...or, rather, took it seriously enough to think it one. Death squints for a moment, not sure if Luke is making fun of him, if only for the aforementioned reason...but he apologizes. That's more than anyone's done.]

Half a day. I won't wait for a storm to get out of the rain...

[Death trails off and tilts his head, distracted. By Luke.]

You're leg's looking pretty bad. Have you noticed increased drainage? Red streaks? Those, uh, signal possible infection.

[Not like there's anything he can do about it, but...this, simply, is what Death did if he happened to be around people in his world. He always knew, even if it didn't matter. And then, at least for once, he hoped he could make their death as painless as possible. Call it a dream.]

[burningdaylight]

Half a day? [There's an obvious note of surprise in his voice and he can't stop staring at that eye - it's distractingly bizarre and painful-looking and he'd half-convinced the sun's gotten to him until he rubs his own sweat-stung eyes and the stranger is still there. One hell of a persistent hallucination, if he is one.]

Well, considerin' what's happened I ain't exactly had the time to look. [And he hasn't much time to be idle, either. There's much to do - crafting some kind of raft or boat at some point is the least of his problems - but he is nothing if not a survivor, and if they could trust each other enough to put their heads together then that only ups his chances.]

[reapitup]

[Death stops. That tone's not one he likes and he's not sure why. Then, he never needs to be. His extended eye locks on Luke for a few moments, blinks, twitches. Then it shifts as Death walks, picks up some flimsy branches and flings them with no direction in mind other than away.]

You should now. And shouldn't find any pissy corpses, either. Pretty sure I took care of those.

[The debris all starts dragging itself to the edges of the clearing. The shelter adjusts itself, too, rocks fly up, old deer tendons wrap and knot for stabilization. Death's doing all he can to avoid looking at what for him is an embarrassment of his efforts.

Looking for his people, he said. There's not much Death has to lose. ...God what he'd do for a plate of coconut shrimp.]

[burningdaylight]

[It's as much the little things that have been making him uneasy as the bigger situation - the weird, infected-looking eye, the lack of a name offered (yeah, he's not buying 'Death', sorry), and now, the debris that stirs as if wind is sweeping through the clearing. But it isn't. Sweat's stuck to his skin, no relief under the sun -- and yet branches and rocks seem to be guided as if by invisible hands, the shelter building itself.

As always, the idea of the walking dead skulking around scares him the least.]

What the fuck... [He says, half to himself.] The hell's goin' on here?

[Yeah, definitely reevaluating how he feels about pairing up with this guy.]

[reapitup]

[The lack of reaction to his name isn't new. Frankly, Death prefers it - flat-out denial's better than being believed and dismissed. Like you're nothing. Like you mean nothing.]

Telekinesis.

[A little focus here and...Luke's heart skips a beat or two if that's okay.]

And that was a heart palpitation. Look, I'll monitor your people and kill whatever bothers them if they'll give me food.

[Death pauses.]

Please?

[It's a magic word, right? ...Oy.]

[burningdaylight]

[He likes to think he's a pretty adaptable guy. After all, riding out two years in a world where the dead no longer stayed dead took coming to terms with what he - and everyone else - had once considered to be impossible.

But after being battered around in the storm, hurting and lost and exhausted, there's only so much in the ways of surprises he can handle. And these days, surprises are rarely happy ones. The feeling of his heart jerking in his chest on cue doesn't shake that trend.

He goes cold, his face blank with fear as he steps back. The machete's half-raised again.]

--What the fuck?!

['Please' means little to him now faced with what feels like a threat. Anyone who commands the power to manipulate him without laying a finger on him is not only likely to be bad news at some point but seems fit to catch is own food.]

You shittin' me right now?

[reapitup]

[You think Death would be used to ruining everything by now. He's glad, and shocked, and disbelieving at Luke's sensible reaction and all that shows on his face. He turns away from the guy who could totally stab and kill him and can't quite hide a quiet huff of goddamn giggles.

To say Death is a great unknown is putting it lightly. He faces Luke again (assuming he hasn't booked it - and even if he did, Death'd just yell happily after him) with a bizarre little dismissive hand flap, all smiles. The nightmares will be good tonight. He coughs, though, tries to steady himself.]

Ah, your...your people. Yeah, ah...two are over there a ways.

[He gestures to the west.]

Older man and a girl...and one's found a river that way.

[Point. Northeast. And Death goes through the rest - if any are on the move, he says which way they're going, too. And soon he's done, and his little chin fang things claw the air for a moment. Pondering. He doubts he'll be able to explain. How it feels...to finally, possibly be seen for who you are.]

Don't worry. Ah, about anything. Really.

[As long as Luke's here his whole group will suddenly keep finding a few hefty freshly killed fauna and whatever random crap that may prove potentially useful, like a mysteriously discarded tape role or rubber band. May therapists have mercy on his insurance.]