Jacob woke with a start, chest heaving as he stared around the room. Some part of him expected the bunker he’d seen, but all the man saw was the same peeling paint and decrepit furniture of the office he’d barricaded himself inside. “What… what the hell was that?” he asked himself, unsure if what he’d seen was a dream or something else. It was so real… almost like he was living someone’s memory. If that was real, then whatever happened to Brighton went down long after I was frozen. I certainly don’t remember AI windows being a thing.
But how long after I was frozen? Decades? Centuries? And how long has it been since what I saw happened? How old am I? And what is the world like now?
To be honest, I hope those anthro lizards survived considering how cool they looked. As he pondered this, Jacobs stomach growled and he realized how hungry he was.
This place is untouched. There should be at least some food here.
As it turned out, there was food left in the various offices, which Jacob took with glee. Most of it was packaged snacks and junk food, but food was still food and the man tore open a pack of cookies. Despite being rather stale, the cookies were still edible and even a little tasty to Jacobs taste buds. Advancements in preservatives?
On a whim, the man checked the expiration date and gawked.
Best by 4/16/36
I’m assuming that’s 2136 and not 2036, Jacob thought. Otherwise these cookies are as old as I am. Holy shit… I’ve been frozen for over ninety years. Maybe even longer considering how badly damaged the building is. Shit, I’m guessing I’m not getting my inheritance now… so what do I do?
Find supplies, find other people, and we’ll figure out what to do from there. I need to keep going. I didn’t pay all that money to survive, only to lie down and die when the going gets rough.
Jacob was surprised at his newfound drive, and stuffed the rest of whatever food he could find into the bag. I’m going to need more though. I’m guessing that the cafeteria and food storage are ransacked, but I might as well check anyway… if I can find it in this damn maze.
Jacob decided to go check through the rest of the building for anything useful, though all he found of worth was the dead doctors ID card, plus a plethora of maintenance tools. The man tested a few wrenches before he took a heavy pipe wrench. Jacob inspected the thing, feeling the heft when his mind tried to do… something.
A blue box popped up.
[ERROR]
Object identification systems are currently locked.
Reach Rank 1 to gain access to this ability
And with that the box disappeared.
This just keeps getting weirder and weirder… Jacob sighed. Now go find more supplies.
After exiting General Storage, the building became in increasingly rough shape, with stripped walls and element-damaged flooring. Jacob was clueless about where the cafeteria was, and didn’t see any signs towards… anywhere. For all he knew, the signs had been on televisions, or even those AI screens he’d seen before. In that case, I’m liable to be wandering these halls for a couple of hours.
Even with his increased willpower, Jacob groaned inside at that chore.
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After a solid twenty minutes of wandering, Jacob heard the sound of metal screeching in the distance. The hell is that? he thought before the man took the pipe out of his bag. With caution, Jacob sneaked down the hallway and towards whatever made that noise.
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Shiv pulled on a cabinet door, wincing at the loud noise the metal made as he forced the lock. Part of him knew there was nothing here but his packmates, though that was still less than ideal. Neither Shiv nor his fellow Reptilians liked each other.
The other part jumped at every shadow thinking it was a Wight. Of course Shiv had never seen a Wight before. He’d heard the stories of demonic humans with glowing blue eyes and black blood though. Selfish and cruel creatures who’d hidden themselves away during the Fall, only to reawaken and take the Badlands back for themselves.
Everyone knew Wights typically appeared near Old World hospitals, often times their crypts hidden within. Nobody has seen the demons near this hospital, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a crypt inside. Small wonder its interiors were barely touched by scavengers, though the outskirts appeared to have been looted in the early days of the Fall.
Even with the possible loot, who knew what horrors lurked within the hospitals confines. For all they knew, there was an entire crypt of Wights, ready to enslave whoever entered their domain.
Of course nobody listened to the runt with a lame leg.
Shiv scowled to himself as he pulled out a few unopened cans, these ones with pictures of pink and orange fruits on the labels. They went into the Reptilians backpack, before he moved on to the next cabinet and pulled it open. Inside were more cans, alongside bottled water, which made the mutants spirits rise. Sure, you could boil or filter groundwater, and the water gained from dew collectors was mostly clean (depending on how clean the dew collector itself was)… but pre-Fall bottled water was uncommon and highly prized.
Once more Shiv almost fell over as he tried to unsling his backpack. Stupid leg… He’d been born with his knee and ankle twisted in a strange way and forcing his leg into an off-balancing position. This made him always stand in a hunched-over posture to keep balance and leave a hand out if he fell. This position and his awkward gait made walking difficult, and trying to run was next to impossible.
The worst part was that Shiv wasn’t smart enough to know how to fix this. He couldn’t fight well, which meant he was still Rank 3, and his Intellect hovered around a measly 7. Despite his attempts in the past, the Reptilian couldn’t figure out how to make an effective brace, much less get surgery to readjust his joints. The mutant knew there were likely supplies in the hospital that could help with this, but he was too scared and busy scavenging to try.
While he searched a small cupboard, Shiv found a group of six bright-colored cans with tabs on the top. He couldn’t read the labels (or read anything for that matter), but some part of his memories as a hatchling remembered something about a similar can. Sweet. Something sweet…
Shiv shook the can and heard a strange fizzing sound inside. What is that? Confused and also intrigued, he hooked a claw over the tab and pulled on it, a small hole opening on the top.
A strange-smelling foam sprayed out over the mutants face, who sputtered and almost dropped the can. When the fizz died down, Shiv wiped his face, and cautiously licked a claw. A strange fizzy, sweet taste entered his mouth, making the Reptilian even more confused. Candy? Liquid candy? Ancients were strange… still tastes good though. He pulled the cans hole even bigger before he chugged down the contents.
Might be a good bargaining tool.
Again Shiv almost fell over as he put the cans in his backpack, hissing in annoyance as the mutant regained his balance. Stupid leg. Need to keep searching.
The Reptilian was about to move to a different cabinet when he heard footsteps approaching. Not the click of his packmates claws, but the sounds of boots. Human boots. Yet again Shivs fears rose. There’s no human scavengers in the building. The others would’ve dealt with them by now.
Wight?
Shiv scurried into the darkest corner and pulled out the meat cleaver that served as his chief weapon. The footsteps grew louder and louder until a male human entered the room with long black hair and wearing mismatched attire. Its hands were bandaged, and slung over the man’s shoulder was an old shopping bag. The figure clutched a steel pipe as a weapon. Shiv deflated a little. Scavenger. I can take this one on-
The figure turned its head towards Shiv, glowing blue eyes cutting through the gloom to stare straight at the Reptilian. Almost immediately a box appeared in front of the mutants eyes,
Wight [Rank 0]; Neutral
Lethality (General): Pitiful
Lethality (Personal): Roughly Even
Chance of combat success: 54%
Oh no…
