OC- Living Past Apocalyse-

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welsh

welsh

Junkmaster
Just to let you guys know, this is the zombie thread I had discussed earlier.

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10895

For more details, see the above which has a discussion of where this is going.

I have introduced the current three characters, as well as a supporting cast.

I hope to tell a bit more about both what happens in the house and what happens in Yosemite by tomorrow, Sunday. SO please don't post yet.

All together this came out to about 5 pages of Micrsoft Word.

But also note- that the emphasis here will not be on the zombies per se, although the zombies will probably be the constant threat of death. Rather the story will emphasize the characters.

I hope to write a little each week on this as the story continues, so it's fine if this is a slow thread.

Cheers,

Welsh
 
Just a heads up, next post will also be a flashback sequence beginning with what happens in the house, and then flashing forward to what happens in the valley and, probably, the death of Ranger Daniels.

If you have any questions as to what will happen next, please feel free to post.

And a reminder- this is really a cooperative fan fiction. If you have a character or a story that is autonomous of this story, knock yourself out. We can have multiple stories happening at the same time and there is no pressure to pull these stories together. If it happens, great. If not, ok.

My only expectation, is that you are consistent.

Please post on this thread if you plan to post at all. And if you do post the expectation is that you will stick with it.

As regular admin here, I will edit as necessary, but hopefully not much. Better to resolve plot issues here before posting if you're not sure.

Remember, the story is circa now.

This is not a story based on the Fallout Universe.
 
Ok, I have brought up the first characters, first conversations and the first encounter with the undead. This was a long one. Next section will be a flashback to the present.

Any other people planning to write?
 
Pyro- nice post.

One thing. If Ray is a zombie, he has no pulse, no heart beat, nada.

And don't forget, the characters probably need to figure out that the zombie needs a head shot to go down.

One last point- as for the zombie types. I am kind of leaning to Romero here, but agree that the new Dawn of the Dead zombies- running zombies- are more frightening.

My compromise- Different types of zombies depending on how long they have been a zombie and how much damage they did.

Some zombies will be "twitchers" that are still animated but can't move
Others will be "Stumblers" or "Walkers" who barely have the capacity for coordination of motion.

A rare few will be runners. The reason is that coordination to run is harder than coordination to walk, and generally zombies lack anything more than instinctive hunger. Climbing, for instance, is virtually impossible- even up a steep ladder.
 
Thanks Welsh. I was gonna go to bed but the inspiration struck me. Also it woulda looked better but the italics i used for the mental conversations dont carry over to the forum.

O well.

By the way. What is a Romero zombie?
 
welsh said:
One thing. If Ray is a zombie, he has no pulse, no heart beat, nada.
Click to expand...

Think it's still too early to make a definition of a zombie? I always saw the whole zombie deal as a contagious virus mutagen that went to the brain but otherwise kept the body alive. I mean, in order for it to move anatomically, it needs to breath to bring oxygenated blood to its muscles for movement, etc. Or are we going to keep the whole zombie origin vague like in Night of the Living Dead?

Here's a hypothetical definition of a zombie: For all purposes, "zombies" are brain dead. The virus (transported via the bloodstream) attacks the frontal lobes of the brain and destroys its ability to rationalize and limits, to a degree, its muscle coordination. The primary motivation of a zombie is purely primal: to eat. Memory and intellect is wiped out but instincts and single-minded determination replaces it.

That doesn't cover all of it, but its a start. There's still stuff that needs to be discussed: how the infection is spread, whether it was man-made or via radiation, the lifespan of a zombie, how quick the infection kicks in (think you already addressed this with Daniels' death), a bunch of other stuff. I realize this is a huge can of worms, and we can probably get away with keeping the stuff vague for a while.
 
Sorry about the double-post, but I've got another issue I'd like to bring about, that being weapons. Welsh, nice choice of location in California, but we would probably be royally fucked in the way of self-defense if a zombie infestation took place; it's a pain in the ass to get most any manner of firearm and there's many restrictions and bans in this particular state: no magazines that can carry more than 10 rounds, no Armalite-family weapons unless it contains a fixed, undetachable magazine of 5 round capacity, no sound suppressors, and a bunch of other limitations. I'm just saying that firearms wouldn't necessarily *have* to be a prevalent cornerstone in a zombie story because not everyone can just casually reach underneath their bed and pull out their .38 S&W Special to deal with the undead.

I liked the "28 Days Later" approach. In Great Britain, where most of the populace is being disarmed nowadays, the group of survivors can hold their own with a varity of makeshift weapons like molotov cocktails, machetes, bats, knives. It's only the military that are packing serious hardware.

Just a thought. I'm probably not going to arm Greg with a M-16 and a bandoleer of grenades. That would make things too easy, right?
 
Gunslinger I understand entirely, but this is America. Just off the top of my head by the ratio around here in my neighborhood I'd say 8 of ten houses have guns in them (I live in sothern Cali. I know there are gun bans.)

I am not gonna make a superman or nothing and infact was going to grab a 10. lb sledge from the garage of my character. Bullets would be a thing you saved like gold. My guy has around 18 or 20 shots with a weapon that is relatively unaccurate past 30 or so yards tops.

The gun is just there as a fallback. And I intend to get rid of my bullets pretty quick.
 
I agree Gunslinger, that if our characters are to be armed, they will have to work for it some. To a sense I cheated a bit here- 1 park ranger would be armed for bear, on detective would carry a piece off duty, and the attorney/DA is often armed- at least they are in NY.

The rest of the band was not armed. One issue they will have to deal with is getting weapons because their ammo will be in short supply.

But yes, giving a person an M-16 and grenades would be too easy. I think characters should be trying to make due with limited weapons- a crowbar, etc.

I also agree, lets keep the virus a bit dry. I am not sure if the 28 Day Later zombies kept their heartbeat, I assume so. But a Romero zombie comes back once the person dies. So the heartbeat has got to end. Even voodoo zombies are supposedly back from the dead, although they have been found to have been placed into a comma.

I agree that makes things complicated. Zombie Survival Guide plays on the notion that the zombie infestations are caused by a virus. But I think we can keep it ambiguous.

That a person dies and comes back though, is part of the course of the zombie story. Remember in 28 Days Later, you didn't have to go for the headshot to stop a zombie. Since this is mostly a Night of the Living Dead- derived thread, I figure it pays to stay loyal (to a point) with those films.
 
Ok, I am going to put this on hold for a little bit, at least until the weekend so I can catch up with other work.

For my story- the flashback will involve them trying to get into the valley to either grab guns, food or a car.

For the current story- well there is a trip to the store for diapers.

I am not sure how the current story will pan out- My goal originally was to do this as a short story and this RP is mostly for jotting out ideas. But the past story is the trip to Fort Pickett and what happens there- which should be kind of fun.
 
Ok, I am curious. What are you guys thinking about this thread. Is it working for you? Where do you think it should go.

I know there are at least three of us interested. Anyone else?
 
Hey, I'm putting some stuff together for my own story. I love what's been happening so far. Keep up the good work people.
 
No, I won't put this down yet.

My story still has to be of the group trying to get a car and the trip to Fort Penshall only to find it overrun, then to Pickett, and the reason the main characters leave it.

At the deeper theme I have the issue of Beth's suicidal impulse and the issue of raising a family to deal with. I had figured on concluding this story with Beth giving up her preference for suicide. But that's a way yet.

Looking forward to your post Specialist, and your next one Pyro.

What I am curious about is what you guys think of this so far? Is the plot working? Is it too restrictive? Not enough pressure?

I have thought about putting this in fan fic as a cooperative exercise- should I?
 
well Welsh I'd say I really don't know what my character is going to do. I might go to a harbor or airport, and take off for an uninhabited island somewhere.

My character(still unnamed) is to the east of san Fransisco at it's outskirts.

I could meet your character at the supermarket on a food run.

Then I will leave the thinking to you.

Or I could keep going my own way and we can have a sort of forum for a few seperate threads of short stories of people in similar problems.

Your call Welsh.
 
I feel that, as is, you should keep this as an RPG, only because this is a very dynamic setting w/ potential. If you port it into a fan-fic right about now, you'd have to formalize it to a degree. However, neither of our characters have interacted, so you could just outright take your bit out and turn it into a fan-fic by itself, not as a cooperative writing.

Right now, I know where my character, Greg, is going. I figure that I will need maybe three or four posts just to get him up to speed into "real time".

Also, I don't know if Greg would ever join up your gang, welsh, since he's a cocaine addict and that condition wouldn't seem congruent with Beth and her suicidal/motherly instincts. We'll see, though.
 
Sorry that I haven't posted. Been busy with deadlines but will try to get something out this weekend.
 
Hey folks sorry about the suckitude of my last post. I have rewritten it entirely so take another look and then tell me what ya think.
 
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