In Media Res (RP Intro Thread)

[Mercutio]

“Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for your continued cooperation in this time of crisis. We have it on good authority that within the week, it will be safe for you to exit the shelter and resume your day –bzzt- lives. In the meantime, please report to the medical wing for inspection. There have been numerous afflictions, and we wish to ensure that everyone has a nice healthy remainder in the shelter. Noncompliance will be met with appropriate action.

“And now, a word from our director…”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’ll be succinct. Most of you will have no homes to go to when you leave. The crisis that America now faces is unlike anything we have ever known. We’ve lost contact with the President, and most military holdouts. What we do know is that the bombardment has stopped, and we will be able to breath fresh air again soon. But our hardship will not end there. We will have to rebuild. Perhaps from scratch.

“But it is not entirely bleak. The bunkers have enough stores to feed us for years to come, and we are not without our resources. With the help of our acquaintances, we will overcome our seemingly insurmountable problem. In the meantime, we must work together, and respect the authority we do have left. Therefore, I will call back to our automated message from earlier, and urge everyone to visit the doctors in the infirmary for inspection. For the forthcoming days, we must be strong in mind and body. Your humble director, signing off.”



The message, recorded some time ago, sparked to life alongside the decrepit bunker. Frost matting the walls like a coat of paint, flickering lights dimmed and dyed pale by ice on their lens, and skeletons in tatters littering the hallway like trash. Aside from the smell of frozen rot, there was little in the air of this hollow fortress aside from the sound of static as the recording stops, and then replays from the beginning verbatim.

“Ladies and gentlemen…”

It plays on, no variation, addressing people long dead. The facility had only sparked to life seconds ago, leading to the restoration of the message when the ones who recorded it have likely passed away years ago along with the rest of these souls. As the facility hisses back to life, the grinding of metal and ice echoes in the hall as machines resurrect. The chimes of clinking ice and the grating of rusted metal makes for an ugly symphony.

Within the medical wing, the frozen bones of unfortunate patients lie on beds, all restrained, their bones telling tales of amputations and worse. The doctors and nurses also tell stories from their resting places, lying scattered about with clothes savagely torn, as if by claws. One is located by the entrance to the wing, his chest against the wall, his right hand outstretched to red lever, labeled “EMERGENCY.”

In the back of this wing is a large vault door labeled “Cryonics,” tightly shut, with but a round window peering into it, frozen pale blue. This area in particular is humming with new life, as within the crystal caskets begin to sweat. Eventually, they begin to melt away, unveiling the humans beneath. As the ice fades, leaving the humans on the ground, shivering uncontrollably from their encasement despite the warmth pouring in.





Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!!!


A lot has transpired since you last slept. The world as you know it has ended, and you awake into a very cold yet bloody place, filled with the bones of the dead. According to the voice recordings you woke up to, the surface may no longer be habitual to mankind, your homes wiped from the earth or broken beyond repair. In their place, a frozen landscape, crawling with new horrors you’ve never seen before.


Survive

This new world is hostile, in more ways than one. First, monstrous creatures wander the frozen wastes in packs, organized and specially evolved as hunters, difficult to overpower alone and easily as undesirable as a group, even. If the monsters can’t get you, the cold very well can. You will need to survive this neo ice age, find suitable clothing, warmth, and food.

At times, your objectives for survival may oppose each other, as a warm fire may draw the attention of nearby packs, and you will have to compete for food and avoid becoming it.


Create Your Own Zombie!

To mix things up, I’m going to ask you guys to conjure up some zombie concepts and give them to me. While you’re doing so, keep in mind a few things.

• The zombies of this world operate in a pack. How would your zombie help the pack as a whole?

• Without letting you know how the infection spreads, there are no zombies that specially spread it. So things like a spitter that shoots the virus at a distance do not exist. Spitters that shoot other effects, like maybe paralysis or perhaps acid, are fair game.

• Despite the name, these creatures are not the usual sort of “zombies.” Despite usually gaunt faces and shriveled bodies, they do not display rot, and actually have really hot blood and other effects to enable enhanced survival in the frozen wastes. Glowing white-red eyes are also a common trait. Also, no brain munching.



To preserve a measure of surprise when these zombies do crop up, do not share your zombie with anyone but me and whoever might be interested in helping me run this thread.