trans_9 | Survivalist Plot: The Envy of Eden

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Survivalist Plot: The Envy of Eden

Day One

Stacy calls Cedric Diggory, Diana Ladris, Guru Clef, Howard Bassem, Karis Needleteeth, The Master and Maxine Hunkel to the deck.

Planet Designation: Eden Status: Terrestrial, H-class. Non-sentient life: Sparse levels of flora, no natural fauna Semi-Sentient Life: None Sentient Life: Small human colonies created to mine Eden's limited precious elements. As of last Eden 'year', population 300. Settlers do not typically make permanent stays. Water: 75.6% of the planet's surface. Climate: Dry and moderate during the day. At nights temperatures drop to below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Infrequent rains, risks of flash floods. Landscape: Desert and sedimentary rock mountains. Most water is retrieved by wells or from cargo ships. Sparse vegetation. Air: Type I (breathable) Sky: Grey Warnings: Electrical storms may interfere with omnicomm function. Mission: Investigate source of distress signal picked up on Stacy's sensors.

For the most part the trip down to the atmosphere goes uneventfully, even if it is a little cramped in the shuttle, but as soon as they get within a few thousand feet of the ground things start to go wrong. Communication with Stacy cuts off; Stacy herself is cut off mid-sentence while warning the crew to use iodine in any tap water they find. The omnicomms go similarly blank. The shuttle lurches through the sky and tilts sideways. One of the engines blows. The automatic seatbelts unlock. A section of the shuttle's roof rips off, letting in thin, hardly-breathable air.

More terrifying still, the superpowered members of this crew may have time to notice that they no longer have their abilities.

About thirty feet above the ground the shuttle tips into a barrel roll, the autopilot fritzing out as it tries to right things, and the crew goes tumbling out and scatters amongst the town moments before the shuttle crashes into a far cliffside.

[OOC: Tag into your designated subthreads! In a little, once we've established what's going on a bit more, while I'll put up a thread for them all to reconvene. I will be NPCing monsters in these threads, so please drop me a line if you want the monsters to do anything specific or if I'm being slow on a tag.]

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“Oh, goodie.” She said, rolling her eyes. “I get the fun job.”

While collecting what she would need for her run across the street tomorrow, she addressed his question. “Tomorrow.” Like everything else, those creatures probably needed water too, and there was no way of telling what might be sharing your well in the dark until it was too late.

Once everything was organized she pulled up one of the kitchen chair and sat in it (not trusting what might be lurking within the cushions of a sofa). “Looks like we’re back to long, paranoid sleepless nights. The justified kind, anyway.”

She resisted the overwhelming urge to rub her shoulder, her arm was beginning to really smart. “Who’s having the first shift?” They may not trust each other but there wasn’t a cat’s in FAYZ chance they were going to let the night pass unwatched. True, they both had sleeping issues, but after a tiring day pumped on adrenaline it would be impossible for them both stay awake all night. It felt horribly wrong but for the sake of rest, they’d have to put their life in the others hands.

At least it was only watch duty.

"I got the binoculars," he says, totally smug. He pats them in his jacket. "And goodie, I missed the sleep deprivation so much. I can't wait for the dehydration to kick in next."

He rolls a sleeping bag out on the floor and sits on it. It's going to be a long night, probably boring and tense at the same time. It's not like they have anything to read and even if they did, they wouldn't want to get distracted. "I'll take first shift."

There's a downside to that - if Diana chooses to mess with him while he's sleeping, he won't have a similar opportunity to get back at her. But the upside is that since they have no way of telling time, shifts will have to be divided by 'until I'm about to doze off', and without the cat nap to recharge his batteries a little, Howard's shift will probably be shorter.

"You want me to take a look at that arm before you conk out?"

Diana gave him a look, not even bother to hide the distrust in her eyes.

She really didn't want Howard anywhere near when she was injured, much less actually touching her. And the boy probably felt the same way.

But despite this, they would really be no use to each other if they were injured. Even distractions needed to be able to run, if only so the creatures followed them instead and left you alone.

And turning down help from a medic would be a foolish waste and most likely would just haunt her later.

With this in mind, Diana lifted her sore arm out, presenting it to Howard.

"If you want."

"You're more useful if you can actually do the 'pick up' in 'pick up and run'," he says, echoing her thoughts. "You can still flex all your fingers, right?"

As he approaches he plugs in the space heater and turns it on, noting with some satisfaction that it's nearly silent. Good. They can stay relatively warm without attracting enemies, and the house has electricity. Not that they'll turn on the lights and alert the whole world that they're there at night.

"I mean, I don't got my kit, but if it needs something warm or cold applied to it we might be able to manage that. Keep a towel by the heater or something." He could probably make a sling or splint for her out of materials around the house if she needed it, but he figures Diana wants to advertise her injury as little as possible. And if it's dislocated, he might be able to pop it back into place.

“Yep.” Diana held up her arm and wiggled her fingers at him, before giving him the ‘Spock’ sign.

Moving her hand didn’t seem to be too difficult, but there was a slight twitch in her jaw that indicated moving her arm and, more specifically, her shoulder, in anyway was painful.

“Don’t get too excited though, will you?” She smirked, as she pushed down her shirt to reveal her bare shoulder, which was blooming into an impressive combination of colours.

"Shockingly, I have other things on my mind."

At least there isn't too much in the way of open wounds. Despite looking through the house, Howard hasn't been able to find anything that might work as a disinfectant besides household bleach, and he figures they'd both rather risk the infection than use that. No cinnamon, no sugar, no garlic, no vinegar, no honey. Whoever cleaned out the pantry took the condiments and with those, all the natural antiseptics Howard knows of.

"It's dislocated," he concludes, then cuts a strip off the bottom of the curtains. He twists it into a thick wad and hands it to her. "Put this in your mouth, because this going to really hurt."

It's kind of funny how he doesn't mind touch when it's strictly in a medical sense. Touching Diana's bare arms and shoulders is probably something almost every other teenage boy in Perdido dreamed of doing, so at the very least Howard should be feeling awkward about not feeling thrilled, but instead he's calm and collected. He holds her upper arm out, gets the angle right, and starts, "on the count of three, one, two-"

He jams it back into place without bothering to get to three, hoping to avoid her tensing up.

Diana watches him, unable to supress the growing sense of dread as he prepares.

Raising an eyebrow, she makes a joke about gagging then holds the wad between her teeth, readying herself. When he moved earlier than she anticipated there was a sudden panic, but that was quickly replaced by the blinding pain that attacked her.

Her jaw clamped down on the wad, managing to make a strangled growl rather than a scream but tears of pain still found a way to gather in the corners of her eyes. She furiously blinked them away, pretty face twisted horribly in agony.

Slender fingers appeared more claw-like as she gripped Howards own shoulder and pushed him roughly away from her. “Get off me!” She spits out, along with the wad in her mouth.

Clutching her bruised shoulder, she pants, fingers curled in torment. It felt like it’d been set on fire, then the flames beaten out with a hammer.

"You're welcome!" he hisses at her, getting up from where he'd landed flat on his rear from being pushed. Fine, let her sulk and whine and lash out. He thought pregnancy toughened girls up. An idea occurs to him and he disappears to one of the downstairs bathrooms before emerging with a tiny bottle of mouthwash.

He walks over to the supplies they've collected again and digs through it, finally producing a roll of clear packing tape. The mouthwash should be barely enough to cover disinfecting all their cuts and scrapes, which is a pretty pressing concern for Howard. Who knows when they'll get back to Stacy, and with Stacy's stupid bacteria filter their immune systems aren't going to be prepared to cope with anything this planet throws at them.

Unfortunately, he knows from experience that mouthwash does not substitute for water.

He dribbles a little bit on the gash on his shin, then tapes it up like a waterproof bandage. "When you're done whining over there, I'll tape you up and you can go to sleep."

Diana didn’t say anything.

Once her breathing returned to normal she just sat up and looked at him, waiting.

She was still holding her shoulder, and the look in her eyes clearly told him she wanted nothing more than to inflict the same pain on him as he had on her.

But for the most part she'd recovered.

"Hey, it's not like I enjoyed doing that." Howard stares back at her. "Unlike some people we both know, I'm not a sadist."

He drips a little of the mouthwash on her skinned elbows and cut arms, passing her the tape. "This is the best I can do for bandages right now, but it's waterproof. If we get infections we're both screwed. I have no idea what kind of bacteria's on this planet."

He pats the sleeping bag. "Now go to sleep and it'll probably hurt less in the morning. I'll keep watch."

She lets him get on with his work without attacking him this time, inspecting his makeshift bandages and copying them when she uses the tape.

"Thanks, Howie." It's blunt and quick but at least she's said it now.

Settling down into the sleeping bag, she rolls onto her side and looks at him, small smirk on her lips. "Can't believe we're back here already, huh?"

Her tone is teasing, because if she doesn't mock the situation, what else can she do but worry about it as she tries to sleep?

Her 'thanks' would probably mean more if she hadn't followed it with that loathed pet name.

"Feels just like home." He means it as a joke, but in an awful way, it's true. He takes a seat in the chair and watches out the windows as she sleeps. His notepad, which somehow managed to stay in his pants pocket during all this, lays on his knee, and he makes notes in it to pass the time. Some drawings of the monsters. A list of their supplies. A list of what they know about the monsters, and a copy of the map he has in his lap.

It was stupid and naive to believe they'd ever really escape the FAYZ, wasn't it? Maybe it's not the same bubble as they used to be in, but the rules are the same. Be smart. Be vigilant. Be shameless. Trust no one. Look out for yourself because the instant you rely on someone else is the instant you're out of luck.

He looks over at Diana's sleeping body and realizes that as much as they don't get along, she's the only one he knows who truly understands it. Even Orc doesn't, having spent most of the FAYZ in a booze-fueled blur and leaning on Howard to keep things from falling through. It's a strange sort of camaraderie, one that isn't worth anything practical, but at least they don't have to explain themselves to each other during this romp through Hell.

After a few hours he's having trouble keeping his eyes focused, and a sleeping guard is worse than none at all. His head's throbbing from dehydration. He tugs at the end of her sleeping bag. "Your turn. If I don't crash I'm going to doze and then we'll both end up dead."

Before he'd looked at her, Diana had watched him for awhile. It was hard to stop the paranoia that had hardwired itself into her system, demanding she never shut her eyes because who knew what could slither up while she was unaware. After finally managing to suppress it whilst on Stacy, now it was back with renewed vigor.

She didn't make eye contact, just grazed her gaze on his knees and notepad before rolling over, her back to him, staring at her own hand laid beside her. She'd need to sleep as much as possible, who knew when the next chance to rest would come up?

His scribblings make a noise, barely louder than a whisper, but FAYZ kids were used to laying in darkness listening for any sound. She forces herself to remember that it's Howard she's hearing and focuses on that. He wouldn't be writing if something was wrong. If he'd heard something or danger was near he'd stop. The scribbling means she's safe. Mostly.

So, she focused only on that noise and the lines of her open palm. Finally falling into a troubled sleep.

Her eyes snap open when he tugs. There's no bleary eyed teenager trying to roll over back to dreamland. Instead her pupils focus in record time and look him over, something flashes within them. Regret, is it? For their situation maybe? Either way, it's gone.

She nods and gives her slender a limbs a cat-like stretch before pulling herself from the sleeping bag. Butterfly from chrysalis.

Sitting on the previously used chair, she tucks her legs underneath herself, resting her chin on her knees and looking at him, corner of her lips tugging upwards. "Sweet dreams~"

Her naturally ability of observing shines through, making the whole 'watch duty' seem very casual, even if she is taking it very seriously. But she's an expert at acting cool.

To keep herself alert, she whispers and murmurs songs under her breath. Songs she can't believe she even remembers. Songs from before FAYZ.

Edited 2012-02-13 23:09 (UTC)

Unlike Diana, Howard lived with Drake/Brittney in the basement. He's used to tuning things out. Diana's songs barely leave a imprint on his memory as he drifts off. That doesn't mean he isn't alert. Even in sleep, there are certain noises that will rouse him instantly: doors opening, footsteps, glass breaking, wood rending. The scraping, clumping sound of Orc walking around.

It takes him about twenty minutes of listening to Diana sing to convince himself she's not going to ditch him here and take the car, but in a strange twist, he sleeps better now than he has in months. Possibly his body knows that it needs rest now, because there won't be any later. He's not going to waste a chance at recharging on petty nightmares and insomnia.

He sleeps and it's deep and dark and warm and silent, like the lights went down on all that bubbling paranoia and neurosis he totes around in his head. He wakes up and he's getting a migraine from the dehydration. The edges of his vision are blurry and vibrating. Not that he'd let Diana see that he's hurting.

"I'm up," he whispers, not needing Diana to rouse him. It's still dark but there's just a peek of light starting up outside, enough that even without the flashlight they can see silhouettes against the background. He curls his hand over the handle of his pocketknife in his jacket. "You ready to find water? We're not going to make it much further otherwise."

Maybe they would have back home, in humid SoCal. But they've been running, and there's no food to get moisture from, and it's arid climate.

"How's the arm?"

Diana licks her dry lips and she nods, throat feeling sandpaper lined. She swallows a few times so her voice doesn’t sound like a smokers.

“Better.” She answers bluntly, uncoiling herself from the chair and rolling the limb in question experimentally.

She gives her long hair a shake and looks out the window, expression unreadable before turning to him. “Let’s get out of here.”

"Good." Howard packs up what he can fill his pockets with without compromising his ability to run. His knife, the notepad, tape, a large empty pill bottle he found that they can use for at least some water. "Man, I already miss showers. Stacy spoils us."

The walk to the well is about a quarter mile across flat terrain, which Howard thinks is a very good thing. With the exception of the row of house blocking the view behind them, they can see anything coming at them from any direction. Although the thought that some of these evil beasts could fly or burrow up from the ground does occur to Howard. The ground is dirt, pressed hard, and as the sun rises they can see that it's cracked and parched.

For a while, he just listens, wondering if the sound of one of their crewmates or of the monsters will echo across this expanse. And once they're far enough away that the houses behind them are just dots in the background, it's pointless to listen more.

"You dream about anything last night?"

Diana walked in step beside him.

Her eyes flicker about the landscape constantly, casting hated looks at the cloudless sky and following the snaked scars in the thristy ground.

"Yeh, I did."

She always had dreams. Whether she wanted them was another story entirely.

"What about you?"

"Nothing. One bit of good luck for me on this whole stupid trip. Well, that and not getting eaten."

More than they can say for Cedric. It sort of amazes Howard that he's managed to put that out of his mind, mostly, but there isn't time or energy to mourn here. And even if there were, he wouldn't do it in front of Diana. Most of the kids in the FAYZ were too busy trying to get by to really mourn their parents or older siblings, either.

It's a trait he's held onto. Keep busy, it keeps the despair at bay.

The well is, in fact, an old-fashioned well, stone rim, bucket and all. But Howard's face falls as they approach and are hit with a pungent smell.

"Something died down there." No duh. It smells as if many, many things died down there. "Want to risk if it's still good?"

They could at least try boiling it or using iodine tabs once they get it back to their shelter.

Diana scowls, nose wrinkling in disgust as she covers her mouth with her hand.

"How good could it be if something's died in it?"

She looked around for other signs of life, but nothing dared touch the well. To her, it seemed like the water source was poisoned. She wasn't sure they had the means to rectify that.

But they should at least investigate, shouldn't they?

She only took one step forward but immediately regretted her decision. Whatever was rotting in the well was giving of such a odor that she had to force herself not to retch, retreating back two steps and covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve.

Howard rolls his eyes at her and steps forward. "It's not that ba- oh god yes it is."

He doesn't step back but he does have to pause a moment before taking another step, enough to tamp down the urge to dry heave. Another few steps and he's at the rim of the well, leaning over it with his hand clamped firmly over his nose.

And jumps and stumbles back, putting distance as fast as he can between him and the well. As soon as he's a satisfying thirty yards away from it, he looks over at Diana and shakes his head. "Let's go. It's no good. It's really no good. And let's go fast, because I think this is their nest."

He doesn't wait to see if she's following him as he heads back towards the shelter. They'll just have to try their luck with the other houses, even though he knows deep down that nobody who lives somewhere where the water comes by well or cargo ship is going to just leave their water around.

With his head pounding, the sun beating down and no promise of a drink at the end, the walk back to the house seems much longer than it did on the way here.

As endless as the walk seemed, Diana guessed it would be nothing compared to the pained searching of houses they'd have to do for water.

Her tongue was far too dry and her dark lashes were doing little to keep out the piercing hot light of the sun.

She was midway through debating whether or not tying her hair back would make her feel any cooler when she gave Howard a look over and spoke.

"You're not looking as fabulous as usual, Howie. What's wrong?"

Diana looked around them for any trees as they walked.

"You mean aside from getting stranded on a planet with no water, being chased by monsters, having to bandage myself up with packing tape and having just found out that the well is clogged with corpses?"

Hey, it could be worse. He could be stranded here with someone who doesn't appreciate sarcasm. Although knowing Diana and that discerning, sneaky little mind of hers, she's probably already pieced together that Howard's in an exceptionally foul mood even for this ugly situation.

It also doesn't help that the sun is making mirages of water in the distance. Not even a little.

"What's wrong is that nothing's wrong. We're going to dehydrate ourselves to death and all I can think about is like...really? Plain old dehydration in a desert with some flesh-eating monsters? Don't we even get some flesh-eating worms or death plagues to make it interesting for us? I mean, we're looking at actual sky. It's not even some fake FAYZ wall crap. It's so...mundane."

The houses are getting closer. Probably better to check a new one for water than return to the one they've temporarily claimed.

She rolls her eyes as his long winded attempt at diversion.

"Yes, yes, Howie. Mundane, whatever you say."

She continues to let him walk ahead, mainly so that he'll be the first one having to enter any of the houses.

"Come on, we're not done yet."

Diana points to one of the houses where the top windows aren't broken like others. "Let's try that one first."

Howard shakes his head, although slowly, because quick motion is like adding voltage to his splitting headache. "No. If the windows are broken, that means whoever inside might have gotten killed. They might not have had time to empty their pantry."

Death could lie in either direction. At least getting eaten by a monster is a fast way to go. Howard pushes open a door - unlocked - and walks in as quietly as he can. Pressed against a wall, he waits for Diana.

Diana is still stood on the threshold of the lawn, watching him. She makes a 'go on' gesture at him and leans on the fence.

Yes, she wants to search the place for water, but there's no way she'd heading in to scout the place for danger with Howard when he's likely to pull her back during a scramble to exit the house should things turn sour.

Not that she wouldn't do the same.

So she's no intention of following him yet.

Re: Feel free to find other things, just no food, water or current tech.

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