Downfall RPG

Who: Tayne and Joyce
Where: The kitchen
When: 6:30ish

The actions of making dinner, and making enough of it for the whole hotel-- okay, with help, but still-- had calmed Tayne down some from the stress of the morning. Not entirely, but certainly some. He wasn't sure he'd come to grips with the changing thing yet, but he no longer shook every time he thought of that grocery store and how much he'd wanted to tear down that poor dead girl and tear out the throat of anyone who had a hand, or a paw, in putting her there.

Okay, so maybe that thought left him a little shaky. He was trying not to think about it, really.

He leaned on the counter, arms folded across his chest, as he tried not to think. Dinner was done and sitting in the giant fridges, and he just had to wait for that seven-o-clock to roll around and everyone to get downstairs to eat. There wasn't a whole lot to distract himself with, really, except maybe other things he'd rather not be thinking about, like worrying how long their food would hold out, or about people tripping down the stairs in the dark, or about heat in the winter. So he wasn't going a very good job at keeping a cheerful face, at the moment.

( Making conversation. )

Who: Everyone
When: 8:00pm
Where: Dining room

As dinner drew to a close, and chatter began to creep into the dining room, Terry stood up from the table he'd chosen. He sent a glance around the room, and then took in a long breath to force himself to find a sense of calm. The day had been long and traumatic for most involved in the trip to the grocery store, and as he scanned the room to be sure most of the others had finished with their meals, he cleared his throat.

"Thanks for coming," he said, offering a soft - yet forced - smile to the group. "We have some things to go over, which is why I requested the presence of all of us for dinner tonight." Pausing to tuck back a stray lock of hair, Terry held out both of his hands, palm-up, and continued with, "First off, I really think we need to get more familiar with each other. I realize that in this kind of situation, not everyone will know everyone all the time. We seem to be gathering survivors every day... and that's -- that's great. But I think there's a certain level of importance in knowing the people you're living with, so... with that in mind, I'd like to start this off by having everyone introduce themselves. Just one after another, give us your name and..." He wasn't sure how to phrase this, so he simply went with, "If you've noticed any extraordinary abilities or changes with your physiology, please say so now. If you... can read people's thoughts-" He gestured to Landon, "-or can teleport, for example. If you haven't noticed anything about yourself yet, you can say that, too. Also, you can mention any skills you may have that will help us to better our chances of survival."

Terry paused, and then tapped himself once on the chest. "I'll go first, though I'm sure everyone already knows me by now. I'm Terry, and so far... I haven't noticed any special changes in myself. I used to be a professor, so I think that above all else I bring a level head to the table. I know how to handle a handgun, and I can cook." He shrugged loosely and then glanced around.

"Who'd like to go next?"

[ Directions: Post as each of your characters in response to this. Write in paragraph format, where your character gives the information they feel they need to give. You may make it as long or short as you would like to, so long as it is written in proper rp format. Do not thread your responses - simply post a new comment when you're ready to add your character. Posting order is not important. Post when you see this, at your leisure. You have until Sunday night to be included in the scene. ]

Who: Everyone
When: 8:15pm
Where: Dining room

After introductions were over, and the group had been given the opportunity to speak, Terry stood up again. "Thank you for your cooperation so far, everyone. I'm hoping that since we've now all been familiarized with each other and our abilities, things will be easier... at least socially. It's important in a disaster situation to be comfortable with, or at least aware of, your peers." He stopped suddenly, clearing his throat as he realized he was cultivating his old habits, stepping all too easily into the professor-like position he'd held for so many years.

"Before I get into the main reason we're all here tonight, I need to mention a few things. Obviously we lost power last night sometime in the early hours, which was unfortunate, but inevitable. For now, we seem to still have running water... though how long that will last, I'm not sure. Starting as soon as we can, I feel we should take advantage of it and fill up as many empty bottles and containers with water before it's gone. Obviously collecting and filtering water on our own will be much more difficult, and given the size of the group... anything we can do to make our lives easier should be taken into consideration. Another idea I had is to fill up the bathtubs in all the empty rooms, just in case."

Terry stopped to pick up his water, sipping it before moving on.

"A few days ago, Zane, Landon and I went to the nearby hospital to collect supplies. We brought back with us many medicines and tools needed to care for people as best we can. Pain relievers, antibiotics... but all of this has been locked away. Zane and I both carry keys to this storage, so if you need something, please come to one of us to ask for it. Keep in mind that supplies are limited. We won't be handing out pain pills for every headache or bout of back pain. I'm sorry... but we have to be smart about our resources." He thought about the grocery store, the threat of running out of supplies sooner than they'd anticipated...

"Furthermore... two things: If you're hungry, eat. But don't take what you don't need. Our food stores are good for now, but they are not going to last forever. We need to do the best we can to make what we have last. Also, if you feel the need to leave the hotel grounds for any reason... I ask that you please let somebody know. It's not asking for permission, but it's letting someone know so that in case you come up missing, we'll have some kind of idea when you went missing, or where to search for you. This isn't a difficult thing to do, and it's not a huge request. It's for everyone's safety, which is most important, above all else."

Sighing heavily, Terry cleared his throat and shifted his weight, not really wanting to talk about the things he'd seen at the grocery store, but knowing he didn't have a choice. Their safety and survival depended on everyone being made aware of what had happened. "Today, a group of us traveled North to visit a grocery store and to gather supplies. When we got there, we discovered that it had been basically cleaned out. There had obviously already been visitors to the location. Tayne and I went to clear the store, to be sure it was safe, and when we reached the back, we found the body of a young girl." He reached up, running a hand through his hair to get it off of his face. "There was a sign, written in her skin... it said, looters beware." There was another short pause. "We immediately headed to the exit, but as we tried to leave, a horde of creatures came after us... from inside the store, as though someone had... let them out. I don't know. We heard gunshots too, but... we didn't stick around long enough to find out where they came from."

"With this information, I ask that you take my warnings into consideration. Please... just be careful. We don't know what we're dealing with, here. We literally don't know anything about these other people, yet. If they're people... how the creatures figured out we were there... We're in a completely new world, now. We can't just... run out into the streets whenever we please. It's not going to be easy to adjust to, and I know that... but until we've figured this out, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to be out... much less on their own, or for silly reasons. I'm not telling anyone not to do it, but use your best judgment. Keep the group in mind."

[ Directions: The same as the last post, you may respond as your characters once. You do not have to reply to this if you do not wish to, but here you may offer more suggestions for conservation of supplies or opinions on the threat discussed. Branching between character responses will be considered off-screen information, as it is not necessary in this case. Simply offer up anything else your character would want to add, if anything. The aim of these posts is to simply make sure all characters are up to speed on the situation, not to write out a cohesive and in-depth scene. ]

Who: Everyone
When: 8:25pm
Where: Dining room

Once the discussions on group preservation came to a close, Terry held his hand up to gather the attention of everyone again. "Okay, I have one last thing before we all leave tonight. There seems to be a rather widespread desire for someone to be named leader. I think we should assign the titles to three people, as a first, second and third. These three people will be involved in major decision making events, hold the back-up keys, deal with threats as they arise... It's probably wise to do it now, before we run into bigger problems. The... other group, or whatever they are... it's a big deal. What we don't want is to end up in a situation where we need to negotiate and we don't have a chosen person for it. We don't want to seem weak if a challenge is brought to our door. We need to be organized, and I agree with the others that have mentioned it to me or spoken quietly to each other about it. We need leadership, if only to have a sense of normality, and a body... or in this case, three, to make important calls. If the person chosen to fill the top role is... lost for some reason, we'll have two more names to fall back on. Two more people to step up, take over when a leader is needed most."

Terry bent down to retrieve a pot he'd set on the floor, bringing it up to set it on the table. Inside was a pad of paper and a box of pens. "Write down the names of the three people you feel are best suited to handle threats, to keep us safe, and to keep a level-head when he or she is needed most. Order them, from one to three... obviously the first name being the person you would like to name as the... head of the three, I suppose. I'll tally the votes and announce the names of the three after everyone is finished."

He picked up the pad of paper, tore off a corner for himself and handed the pad and pens to the nearest person. As people began their votes, he walked over to Megan, leaning down to say, "I... wasn't sure if you needed help or not. Please tell me if you do, or I'm sure there are others here you can call on if you'd rather someone else..."

[ Directions: All you need to do for this is to give the three names of the people your character wants to elect. If your character doesn't know everyone, and only wants to write down one or two names, that's fine! Everyone should at least write down one name. All comments are screened! ]

Who: Everyone
When: 8:35pm
Where: Dining room

Once all of the votes had come in, Terry sat down in his spot again and began tallying it all up, assigning a simple point system to the names and how often they showed up in which spots. The results that came up weren't entirely surprising, but he hadn't expected them to go quite the way they had, either. He stood up when he was finished and cleared his throat, calling out for the attention of the group.

"Alright," he said, glancing around at a few of the faces he was trying to assign names to in his mind. "The results were pretty clear. It seems that I'll be filling the role as leader, and... as my second in command, I have Joyce, and then Landon for my third. I'll be keeping the back-up keys as I already have been, though I'm going to be placing Landon and Zane in charge of our medical supplies and questions. If you need medical help, see the two of them. Zane, seeing as your name came up several times as sort of a fourth place choice, I'd like for you and Landon to get something set up. A room we can sterilize, and use in case of emergency. Joyce and I are going to take over food maintenance, organization and cooking." He looked to Tayne, pointing him out. "And Tayne, since your name came up multiple times, I'd like to talk to you about security options." Terry remembered the ideas that had been brought up, and wanted to be able to take advantage of that.

He handed the voting results to Charity afterward, who was nearby, and asked her, "Please recount for me, just so that there aren't any questions."

"Thank you everyone, for your patience and cooperation. If you have any questions and concerns in the future, or if you need to alert someone that you're leaving the hotel, please try and come to me first. I'm in room 501 if you need me. Otherwise, you can talk to Joyce and Landon. We'll get through this, so long as we continue to work together."

And now, maybe he could attempt to sleep...

Who: Verity, Joyce & Josh
When: Day 6, morning
Where: the hotel to the hardware store and back

Verity was really just wandering at this point. He was feeling restless and there was nothing to do, nothing to distract himself from fresh memories and future worries. He'd already posted his inventories of supplies, such as he'd been able to put together. He couldn't figure out who the information should go to, so a couple of signs seemed like the best idea. He might have opted for lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and hoping not to fall asleep, but that would set Jasper a bad example. He at least wanted Jas to get out, and trying to see to his brother's mental health forced him to take a little care with his own. He had decided that now was the time for his vending machine raiding project. There were a whole lot in a little alcove off the lobby. As good a place to start as any.

( survivors unite )