Notebrains:
None. They're all gone! Zombies ate them all!
-----
Quarantine Day Twenty-three
Entry Two
Carder Row School
Shackleville
The school playground had definitely seen better days. We hopped a fence, climbing over the top and down onto the other side. The first thing I did once my feet hit solid ground was stumble over to the swings and grab a seat. We’d been on the move all morning, picking our way through the empty streets, and both Jeff and I were starting to get tired. He took up the swing next to me, and sat, hunched over, with his head in his hands, trying to catch his breath. “You ok?” I asked him.
He nodded as he swallowed a lungful of air. “Yeah. Just need a rest.” He had his hands wrapped around the swing’s chains, and he rocked back and forth in the seat for a few moments, before eventually turning his head and giving me a once-over. “How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Not bad,” I replied with a shrug. Other than the mounting fatigue, I couldn’t really complain much. Well, ok, I could, but it wouldn’t be a lot of help. Instead, I kicked my feet against the concrete a couple of times, sending the rusted hunk of playground equipment into motion. I got in a few good swings, then dug in my heels and came to a stop. “Don’t want to stay out here too long, though. Place gives me the creeps.”
Normally, an elementary school playground wouldn’t be the kind of place that could give anyone nightmares, but time hadn’t been all that nice to this particular playground, and the Quarantine only made a bad situation worse. The swing set was pretty much the only piece of playground equipment that was still intact. By comparison, the jungle gym’s bars had been warped. Some were even missing completely, leaving behind jagged metal edges. Good thing I was up on my tetanus. At least… I hoped I was. The slides weren’t much better, with the metal chutes dented, and the ladders leading up to them missing most of their rungs. Even the little carousel-thingie was a mess. The worst part was the animals: the chipped paint and the dents… made them look like horrific, undead versions of what they should have been. Almost as creepy as an entire city teeming with zombies.
Most of the damage to the area seemed fairly recent, and I found myself staring at these dark brown specks on the otherwise polished aluminum of one of the slides. Those… those had to be blood. I was almost 100% certain of it. I shivered. Something bad had happened here… not that that was any surprise given the condition the rest of the city was in. But there was just something… all the more wrong about something like that happening here. I was just glad that the MPD and the Guard units had done their best to find all the kids in the city and get them out first…
… though there was no way they could’ve found them all.
The air was already cold, but somehow it felt like the temperature had just dropped another couple of degrees.
Jeff felt it, too – it seemed like he had, anyway. He pointed over to a set of double doors that led into the main school building. The metal doors had been thrown wide open. I looked a little more closely and could see huge dents in the surface – they looked like impact marks from… human fists – that was my guess, anyway. Only thing was, hitting those doors hard enough to make dents that big… would probably have broken every bone in your hand. I took that train of thought to its logical conclusion.
Jeff had already done the same. He took to his feet, dusting his palms off on his BDU pants. “I think we’d better hustle, Coll. If there were anyone left alive around here, they definitely wouldn’t have left those doors open.”
“I’m thinking you’re right.” I took one last look over my shoulder at the abandoned school building, and tried not to think too hard about what must have happened to the people who’d been inside. Of course, trying -not- to think about it, just made the images harder to shake. Funny how that works.
Yeah. Funny.
We hustled over to the other end of the playground. The chain link fence surrounding the area had had a large hole cut into it with some wirecutters. Squeezing through was a little tricky. The sharp metal edges kept wanting to tear at our clothes and skin, but we eventually made it without too much trouble.
It was deserted back out on the main streets, nothing moving at all, and no noises except for the wind continuing to howl in our ears. “Where are we going?” I asked Jeff, my teeth chattering from the cold. I slipped my hands into my pockets, trying – mostly in vain – to keep them warm.
He looked over at me, and he had this look on his face… like someone who wasn’t all that sure where they were going or what they needed to do next. I saw his mouth work itself into a frown, and a few creases formed on his forehead. He ran his fingers through his hair, and took a breath, letting it out in a long sigh. “We’ve got a few options. But I was thinking about heading home.”
“What, you mean Whittern?”
Whittern Towers. In southwestern Kempsterbank. Clara had lived there for years. In fact, she’d gotten her place back when I was still in college, and I’d lived with her while I was working on getting my Bachelor’s. After graduation, I’d moved out, gotten my own place, and Jeff had moved -in.- I wondered, though, what his reasons for going back there were, exactly. Clara was safely out of the Quarantine zone. There wasn’t anything really left there except for the apartment they shared, and that was full of just stuff. “Why?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “When you found me at Bornard, I was trying to make my way north… see if I could find you. When I left Whittern, though, there were still a bunch of people trying to hold the building. They should still be there, and now that we’ve got supplies, I’m thinking it’ll make a good base of operations while we-“
“While we try to find your unit or something? And as soon as that happens, you’re gonna be running off to play hero, and I’m gonna be-“
He didn’t let me finish. “Coll-“
He wasn’t willing to give me enough common courtesy to finish saying what I was going to say, so I didn’t let him finish, either. “I don’t get it. How… how is this any different than us, or just me, I guess, staying in the mall? There were tons of people in that mall, Jeff… I… I would’ve been as safe there as I could be anywhere else in this city.”
He shook his head “It’s… it’s different, Colleen. It’s different because, these people I know. I trust them. They’re my neighbors. Some of ‘em I’ve known for years.” He sighed, put a hand on each of my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “I’d prefer to stick together. I really would. But if that can’t happen, at least I’ll know the people you’ll be with. I can trust that they’ll look out for you. And I can trust you’ll do the same for them. Like I said before, I’d just… just feel better knowing someone was looking out for you. I mean, if I could, I’d go with you to one of the Evac Zones. See if it wasn’t too late to get you out of here. But… but I think we’re both stuck, and if we’re both stuck, I at least want to-”
“Yeah… yeah, I know.” The man was loyal to a fault. I think we both knew it. Here he was, carrying around dead weight, all because of some… misguided sense of loyalty. I would’ve yelled at him for it… but there wasn’t much point. For one, he’d pretty much made up his mind. For another, I was just too tired to argue. And then there was the fact that… well… in his shoes, I’d probably be doing the same thing. I always was a sucker for lost causes… and that included people. “All right… Whittern it is.”
Quarantine, Day Twenty-Three, Entry Two
Started by
Guest_AlphaMonkey_*
, May 04 2007 08:31 PM
6 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_VigaHrolf_*
Guest_VigaHrolf_*
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Posted 14 May 2007 - 04:00 PM
Notebrains:
None. They're all gone! Zombies ate them all!
Damn Zombies and their love for juicy tasty brains!
Er... I mean...
Never mind. Moving on...
Quarantine Day Twenty-three
Entry Two
Carder Row School
Shackleville
The school playground had definitely seen better days. We hopped a fence, climbing over the top and down onto the other side. The first thing I did once my feet hit solid ground was stumble over to the swings and grab a seat. We’d been on the move all morning, picking our way through the empty streets, and both Jeff and I were starting to get tired. He took up the swing next to me, and sat, hunched over, with his head in his hands, trying to catch his breath. “You ok?” I asked him.
Hard run?
He nodded as he swallowed a lungful of air. “Yeah. Just need a rest.” He had his hands wrapped around the swing’s chains, and he rocked back and forth in the seat for a few moments, before eventually turning his head and giving me a once-over. “How are you holding up?” he asked.
Running through the city while constantly alert will take a lot out of a person.
Inara: "And at those moments of weakest vigilance is when Mr. Murphy will have his friends stop by and visit."
“Not bad,” I replied with a shrug. Other than the mounting fatigue, I couldn’t really complain much. Well, ok, I could, but it wouldn’t be a lot of help. Instead, I kicked my feet against the concrete a couple of times, sending the rusted hunk of playground equipment into motion. I got in a few good swings, then dug in my heels and came to a stop. “Don’t want to stay out here too long, though. Place gives me the creeps.”
Abandoned school yards are... very... creepy.
Normally, an elementary school playground wouldn’t be the kind of place that could give anyone nightmares, but time hadn’t been all that nice to this particular playground, and the Quarantine only made a bad situation worse. The swing set was pretty much the only piece of playground equipment that was still intact. By comparison, the jungle gym’s bars had been warped. Some were even missing completely, leaving behind jagged metal edges. Good thing I was up on my tetanus. At least… I hoped I was. The slides weren’t much better, with the metal chutes dented, and the ladders leading up to them missing most of their rungs. Even the little carousel-thingie was a mess. The worst part was the animals: the chipped paint and the dents… made them look like horrific, undead versions of what they should have been. Almost as creepy as an entire city teeming with zombies.
I almost wonder how much of that damage was recent, and how much of it was due to neglect prior to the QT.
Still... a freakishly disturbing image.
Most of the damage to the area seemed fairly recent, and I found myself staring at these dark brown specks on the otherwise polished aluminum of one of the slides. Those… those had to be blood. I was almost 100% certain of it. I shivered. Something bad had happened here… not that that was any surprise given the condition the rest of the city was in. But there was just something… all the more wrong about something like that happening here. I was just glad that the MPD and the Guard units had done their best to find all the kids in the city and get them out first…
And here I have my answer...
… though there was no way they could’ve found them all.
Well, no.
Inara: "No, I've seen a few, and not just the ones in the Tower. I mean... we did our best, but there's a lot of people, a lot of kids even... aww fuck, now I need a drink."
Tommy: "I think I'll join you."
The air was already cold, but somehow it felt like the temperature had just dropped another couple of degrees.
I think that thought would drop things far enough to hold off global warming for a few more weeks.
Jeff felt it, too – it seemed like he had, anyway. He pointed over to a set of double doors that led into the main school building. The metal doors had been thrown wide open. I looked a little more closely and could see huge dents in the surface – they looked like impact marks from… human fists – that was my guess, anyway. Only thing was, hitting those doors hard enough to make dents that big… would probably have broken every bone in your hand. I took that train of thought to its logical conclusion.
Jeff had already done the same. He took to his feet, dusting his palms off on his BDU pants. “I think we’d better hustle, Coll. If there were anyone left alive around here, they definitely wouldn’t have left those doors open.”
No. They wouldn't have. Bad things abound.
“I’m thinking you’re right.” I took one last look over my shoulder at the abandoned school building, and tried not to think too hard about what must have happened to the people who’d been inside. Of course, trying -not- to think about it, just made the images harder to shake. Funny how that works.
Yeah. Funny.
Inara: "Oh, most certainly."
Tommy: "Yeah, it's wonderful."
It was deserted back out on the main streets, nothing moving at all, and no noises except for the wind continuing to howl in our ears. “Where are we going?” I asked Jeff, my teeth chattering from the cold. I slipped my hands into my pockets, trying – mostly in vain – to keep them warm.
He looked over at me, and he had this look on his face… like someone who wasn’t all that sure where they were going or what they needed to do next. I saw his mouth work itself into a frown, and a few creases formed on his forehead. He ran his fingers through his hair, and took a breath, letting it out in a long sigh. “We’ve got a few options. But I was thinking about heading home.”
“What, you mean Whittern?”
Tommy: "Good food, good times, high walls. Whittern Towers."
Inara: "Great. Just great."
Whittern Towers. In southwestern Kempsterbank. Clara had lived there for years. In fact, she’d gotten her place back when I was still in college, and I’d lived with her while I was working on getting my Bachelor’s. After graduation, I’d moved out, gotten my own place, and Jeff had moved -in.- I wondered, though, what his reasons for going back there were, exactly. Clara was safely out of the Quarantine zone. There wasn’t anything really left there except for the apartment they shared, and that was full of just stuff. “Why?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “When you found me at Bornard, I was trying to make my way north… see if I could find you. When I left Whittern, though, there were still a bunch of people trying to hold the building. They should still be there, and now that we’ve got supplies, I’m thinking it’ll make a good base of operations while we-“
And the reason... comes out.
“While we try to find your unit or something? And as soon as that happens, you’re gonna be running off to play hero, and I’m gonna be-“
He didn’t let me finish. “Coll-“
He wasn’t willing to give me enough common courtesy to finish saying what I was going to say, so I didn’t let him finish, either. “I don’t get it. How… how is this any different than us, or just me, I guess, staying in the mall? There were tons of people in that mall, Jeff… I… I would’ve been as safe there as I could be anywhere else in this city.”
He shook his head “It’s… it’s different, Colleen. It’s different because, these people I know. I trust them. They’re my neighbors. Some of ‘em I’ve known for years.” He sighed, put a hand on each of my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “I’d prefer to stick together. I really would. But if that can’t happen, at least I’ll know the people you’ll be with. I can trust that they’ll look out for you. And I can trust you’ll do the same for them. Like I said before, I’d just… just feel better knowing someone was looking out for you. I mean, if I could, I’d go with you to one of the Evac Zones. See if it wasn’t too late to get you out of here. But… but I think we’re both stuck, and if we’re both stuck, I at least want to-”
He wants to make sure you're as secure as possible. An understandable sentiment.
“Yeah… yeah, I know.” The man was loyal to a fault. I think we both knew it. Here he was, carrying around dead weight, all because of some… misguided sense of loyalty. I would’ve yelled at him for it… but there wasn’t much point. For one, he’d pretty much made up his mind. For another, I was just too tired to argue. And then there was the fact that… well… in his shoes, I’d probably be doing the same thing. I always was a sucker for lost causes… and that included people. “All right… Whittern it is.”
And... they're off
Good story, as per usual. You really managed to get a great chilling atmosphere going.
VH
#3
Weyoun
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Transcendant
Posted 20 May 2007 - 09:24 PM
Notebrains:
None. They're all gone! Zombies ate them all!
...
That has to be one of the cheesiest jokes I've seen in a while... and yet I'm laughing my ass off.
Maybe I'm just still a bit giddy from the StarCraft 2 announcement.
Normally, an elementary school playground wouldn’t be the kind of place that could give anyone nightmares, but time hadn’t been all that nice to this particular playground, and the Quarantine only made a bad situation worse. The swing set was pretty much the only piece of playground equipment that was still intact. By comparison, the jungle gym’s bars had been warped. Some were even missing completely, leaving behind jagged metal edges. Good thing I was up on my tetanus. At least… I hoped I was. The slides weren’t much better, with the metal chutes dented, and the ladders leading up to them missing most of their rungs. Even the little carousel-thingie was a mess. The worst part was the animals: the chipped paint and the dents… made them look like horrific, undead versions of what they should have been. Almost as creepy as an entire city teeming with zombies.
Creepy. Reminds me of those pictures from the Zone around Chernobyl. For some reason, the picture of that ferris wheel always creeps me out.
It was deserted back out on the main streets, nothing moving at all, and no noises except for the wind continuing to howl in our ears. “Where are we going?”
To a shelter which seems safe, but is only lost due to the greed of the fellow humans who turn out to be more dangerous than the zombies themselves?
Hey, that's what happens in every Romero movie.
He shook his head “It’s… it’s different, Colleen. It’s different because, these people I know. I trust them. They’re my neighbors. Some of ‘em I’ve known for years.” He sighed, put a hand on each of my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. “I’d prefer to stick together. I really would. But if that can’t happen, at least I’ll know the people you’ll be with. I can trust that they’ll look out for you. And I can trust you’ll do the same for them. Like I said before, I’d just… just feel better knowing someone was looking out for you. I mean, if I could, I’d go with you to one of the Evac Zones. See if it wasn’t too late to get you out of here. But… but I think we’re both stuck, and if we’re both stuck, I at least want to-”
“Yeah… yeah, I know.” The man was loyal to a fault. I think we both knew it. Here he was, carrying around dead weight, all because of some… misguided sense of loyalty. I would’ve yelled at him for it… but there wasn’t much point. For one, he’d pretty much made up his mind. For another, I was just too tired to argue. And then there was the fact that… well… in his shoes, I’d probably be doing the same thing. I always was a sucker for lost causes… and that included people. “All right… Whittern it is.”
Good luck!
TnT Enhanced Edition: http://www.fanfictio...rds-and-Tempers
---
Sith Warrior - Master, I can sense your anger.
Darth Baras - A blind, comotose lobotomy-patient could sense my anger!
---
"The New Age? It's just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds" - James Randi
---
Sith Warrior - Master, I can sense your anger.
Darth Baras - A blind, comotose lobotomy-patient could sense my anger!
---
"The New Age? It's just the old age stuck in a microwave oven for fifteen seconds" - James Randi
#4
Guest_AlphaMonkey_*
Guest_AlphaMonkey_*
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Posted 21 May 2007 - 04:36 AM
Hard run?
CN: "You know how it is. Nothing quite like running for your life to get the old heart pumping."
Running through the city while constantly alert will take a lot out of a person.
Inara: "And at those moments of weakest vigilance is when Mr. Murphy will have his friends stop by and visit."
JG: "I'm aware of that, yes. But the 'advice?' Not really helping. Sorry."
Inara: "No, I've seen a few, and not just the ones in the Tower. I mean... we did our best, but there's a lot of people, a lot of kids even... aww fuck, now I need a drink."
Tommy: "I think I'll join you."
CN: "Boozing away our problems, are we?" (Sigh) "Count me in."
JG: (Shakes head) "You know, it sounds kinda trite, but... yeah... I mean... really, what can you say to that?"
CN: (Nods) "Try not to think about it too hard, I guess. It'll drive you crazy, otherwise."
Tommy: "Good food, good times, high walls. Whittern Towers."
Inara: "Great. Just great."
CN: "Not to mention Jeff's stash of lesbian porn, hidden under his mattress."
JG: "I don't hide porn under the mattress, thanks."
CN: "Oh, no?"
JG: "Of course not. Your sister would find it. I keep all that stuff locked away in a password protected directory on my computer." (Winks)
CN:
#5
Guest_AlphaMonkey_*
Guest_AlphaMonkey_*
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Posted 21 May 2007 - 04:43 AM
That has to be one of the cheesiest jokes I've seen in a while... and yet I'm laughing my ass off.
Well... great!
Maybe I'm just still a bit giddy from the StarCraft 2 announcement.
St-Starcraft 2?
Buh?
Really?
Neat.
I'm still working through C&C3, though... and playing lots of skirmish matches. Which I'm not terribly good at.
Creepy. Reminds me of those pictures from the Zone around Chernobyl. For some reason, the picture of that ferris wheel always creeps me out.
There's a lot to be said for that whole idea of something that looks... normal... but in reality, is really from it. The playground looks so... empty, and couple that with that nagging in the back of your head telling you why it's empty, and that'll do a number on you.
To a shelter which seems safe, but is only lost due to the greed of the fellow humans who turn out to be more dangerous than the zombies themselves?
Hey, that's what happens in every Romero movie.
Well, it's either that, or they could just hang out at the Winchester.
But no, they're heading for Whittern Towers. The name should ring a bell.
#6
Guest_Coutelier_*
Guest_Coutelier_*
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Posted 07 June 2007 - 04:11 PM
Notebrains:
None. They're all gone! Zombies ate them all!
Imoen: You mean Ghouls...
Tarant: Stop it... the undead don't care what you call them. There is never going to be a Ghoul Pride Parade.
Normally, an elementary school playground wouldn’t be the kind of place that could give anyone nightmares, but time hadn’t been all that nice to this particular playground, and the Quarantine only made a bad situation worse. The swing set was pretty much the only piece of playground equipment that was still intact. By comparison, the jungle gym’s bars had been warped. Some were even missing completely, leaving behind jagged metal edges. Good thing I was up on my tetanus. At least… I hoped I was. The slides weren’t much better, with the metal chutes dented, and the ladders leading up to them missing most of their rungs. Even the little carousel-thingie was a mess. The worst part was the animals: the chipped paint and the dents… made them look like horrific, undead versions of what
they should have been. Almost as creepy as an entire city teeming with zombies.
So sad... a place so associated with young life as well. It was the one really sad thing in that whole Dawn of the Dead remake, seeing that empty playground.
“I’m thinking you’re right.” I took one last look over my shoulder at the abandoned school building, and tried not to think too hard about what must have happened to the people who’d been inside. Of course, trying -not- to think about it, just made the images harder to shake. Funny how that works.
Yeah. Funny.
Well, trying not to think about something means you must think about it.
He looked over at me, and he had this look on his face… like someone who wasn’t all that sure where they were going or what they needed to do next. I saw his mouth work itself into a frown, and a few creases formed on his forehead. He ran his fingers through his hair, and took a breath, letting it out in a long sigh. “We’ve got a few options. But I was thinking about heading home.”
“What, you mean Whittern?”
Edwin: You don't want to go there. I hear the food is terrible and the staff awful.
“Yeah… yeah, I know.” The man was loyal to a fault. I think we both knew it. Here he was, carrying around dead weight, all because of some… misguided sense of loyalty. I would’ve yelled at him for it… but there wasn’t much point. For one, he’d pretty much made up his mind. For another, I was just too tired to argue. And then there was the fact that… well… in his shoes, I’d probably be doing the same thing. I always was a sucker for lost causes… and that included people. “All right… Whittern it is.”
Edwin: At least you realise now that you are a lost cause. You just stick to sitting around looking pretty and staying out of people's way... as women are meant to.
#7
Guest_AlphaMonkey_*
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Posted 08 June 2007 - 06:30 PM
Imoen: You mean Ghouls...
Tarant: Stop it... the undead don't care what you call them. There is never going to be a Ghoul Pride Parade.
The puns. They hurt me where I think.
So sad... a place so associated with young life as well. It was the one really sad thing in that whole Dawn of the Dead remake, seeing that empty playground.
Exactly. That's just it. The fact that it seems the exact opposite of what you expect to see. You see a playground, you expect happy, laughing children. You don't anticipate a pile of bodies, and a feeling that Death's visited the place. It's creepy in movies, I can't imagine how much worse it'd be for real.
Edwin: You don't want to go there. I hear the food is terrible and the staff awful.
I wouldn't say that in front of the locals.
Edwin: At least you realise now that you are a lost cause. You just stick to sitting around looking pretty and staying out of people's way... as women are meant to.
CN: "So... does that mean I'm allowed to kick him in the crotch now?"
Me: "Go play. Enjoy."
CN: "Awesome."
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