villagelogs | 001-003 » a chilling mathias welcome

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001-003 » a chilling mathias welcome

WHO: Everyone.
WHERE: The east end of Mathias, along the waterfront.
WHEN: Days 001-003
WHAT: The newest residents of Mathias Township are welcomed with a storm.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. PM this account to have a warning added!
NOTES: A small love letter from your mod. This spot can be used for plotting.

RECOMMENDED ♫ Deadly Avenger "Mara"

DAY 001
THE ARRIVAL BEGINS

Is it the whooshing crash of waves on dark jagged rocks that wakes you? Perhaps. It might also be the near-continuous rumble of thunder growing closer every second, the vibrations almost seeming to come from the wet sand beneath your hands. Or maybe it’s the shivering of your own body as water recedes from the pebble-covered shore, the cold sinking into your very bones as a chilled wind picks up. It could be any of these things that rouse you from a deep slumber that leaves you feeling groggy and out of sorts--

But it’s the fear that gets you moving. A deep, intense terror grips your chest and squeezes the breath right out of you, and you know without a shred of doubt that you have mere minutes before whatever it is you’re so afraid of arrives on that stretch of rocky beach to greet you. Even if you want to stay rooted to that spot and faced it head-on, your body betrays you, a survival instinct etched into your genetic code forcing you to seek shelter.

Welcome to Mathias. You should probably run now.

THE STORM ARRIVES

When the storm crashes into the small township, it's hard to remember what life was like before it. The ocean becomes a raging thing, waves rising and falling as if trying to attack whatever they can reach along the coast. Any foolish enough to venture along the beach have no hope of surviving the encounter; their bodies will be swept out with the current, gone in the blink of an eye.

The wind is a howling beast, screaming between buildings and driving spikes of cold into any crevice it can reach. The rain is just shy of freezing, every drop like a shard of icicle trying to itself into your skin. It will bite at your nerves and leave you shaking if you stay out in it too long, so you had best get inside if you haven't already. You certainly don't want to attract the attention of the lightning that arcs in the sky like a vengeful god ready to unleash its wrath.

The Grey Gull restaurant sits at the edge of the town along the beach, and just a few yards away are two parallel rows of houses lining what might be a picturesque street if the world weren't beginning to resemble an apocalyptic landscape.

Move quickly, and choose wisely.

DAY 002
THE STORM RAGES ON

The storm has somehow become even more violent overnight. The world outside your shelter might be trapped in an endless night, for all you can see through the thick covering of storm clouds. Lightning continues to streak across the sky, thunder following almost immediately in its wake, threatening just how near those spikes of electricity truly are. You can see them touch the shore at times, even the street between the homes, but never the buildings themselves. A blessing, perhaps, or an oddity to take note of?

Some may be foolish enough to try venturing outside. They are welcome to, of course, that is their right, but the rain is still like ice and that lightning is so very near. You may try heading further into town, and you can certainly see buildings beyond this row of houses, but should you walk toward them...

Well. It is far from a pleasant experience. Exhaustion sinks into your bones so quickly that it leaves you reeling, and every second you push through it makes you physically ill with a feeling that you might collapse at any moment. The second you turn away from that path, however, you feel infinitely, and even more so each step back the way you came.

Something wants you to stay where you are. Perhaps you should.

DAY 003
THE CALM DESCENDS

The third day begins much as the second, with waves crashing upon the shore and thunder booming with such force that the ground seems to shake. It feels very much like the world might end right there, torn apart by a force of nature unlike any seen before. Any who venture outside at this time are almost immediately afflicted with a terror so intense that they can make it no more than a few yards or the short distance to cross a street before they become incapacitated by the fear that sets their heart beating dangerously fast. The term scared to death may very well become literal this day.

And then, suddenly it stops. The rain, thunder, lighting— all if it just stops and the silence that fills the night is deafening. There are no sounds of life within the town, no car motors or dogs barking or the voices of anyone beside those new arrivals in the immediate vicinity. In fact, none of those things even exist in Mathias. There are no cars, no animals or insects, no other people. There is just... emptiness and silence.

It may be best to wait until daylight to move further inland.

THE NIGHT DARKENS

For those who are foolish enough to leave the relative safety of the cluster of houses near the Grey Gull, they will find their journey quite chilling, in a very literal sense. There is another row of houses beyond where they had been, branching off on either side into a neighborhood. There are no lights on in any of these homes, though there are occasional streetlights illuminating their way. But as they continue further, reaching a third block of houses, those lights begin to dim, until they have gone out completely, and what had previously been a simple fall chill becomes biting cold as the temperature sharply drops.

In all of this, there is silence. No sounds travel through that night air to comfort them, and even looking up to the sky stretched out above them offers little reassurance. That sky is black, without a single star and not even the faintest outline of the moon to guide them. All that reaches them here is the barest hint of light traveling from the way they've come. The longer they linger outside in this place, the colder it will become, and any light they carry with them will slowly begin to dim as well.

Truly, they should have waited until the sun rose once more.

LOCATIONS

THE GREY GULL is what one might expect of the most frequented restaurant in a small coastal town. The wrap-around porch is lined with white chairs characterized by peeling paint. Exposed wooden walls and worn seating speak to its many years of existence, and the mishmash of décor confirms that the owner never much cared for how the place looked. What mattered here was the food, and faded chalk menus advertise soup specials and a daily pie. The bar appears to have once been well-stocked, but all the bottles remaining are unfortunately empty. There is, however, quite a bit of food in the kitchen that is somehow as fresh as if it were purchased that day.

The second floor of the restaurant is a sparsely furnished apartment. There are no personal items to be found; perhaps it was waiting to be rented out to someone.

THE HOUSES are well-kept, middle-class homes, four lining either side of the street. Their doors are unlocked, windows unshuttered, and everything within feels like the owners might return at any second. There is running water and electricity, fresh food in the fridge, photographs on the wall... but also dust everywhere. If you didn't know better, you'd say the place had been abandoned for years, and yet nothing has aged. It is both strange and unsettling, and yet no matter how hard you search, no answers may be found within these homes.

What can be found within them, however, is a phone. One single black phone within a main room of the house, and beside it, a list of handwritten numbers and names that have been crossed out.

1302 8-5491 ~~Thomasen~~
1304 8-9256 ~~Lyrie~~
1306 8-4712 ~~Anders~~
1308 8-3201 ~~Mulcalley~~

1301 8-0415 ~~Sanderson~~
1303 8-6762 ~~Reese~~
1305 8-9132 ~~Evers~~
1307 8-9025 ~~Hirano~~

Should your character choose to shelter in one of the houses, you are welcome to choose the features of that particular unit. Please reply to the comment thread below with the details you decide upon, specifying the house number in the subject line.

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Part of him knows that this is a risk: knocking on a door to an unfamiliar building with no way of knowing who might be inside. It's not a smart move, and he knows it, but considering the alternative is staying outside and trying to brave the elements, he figures it's at least worth a try. If it goes south, well, he'll take his chances trying to escape and just live with the weather.

But when the door opens and he finds himself facing someone (well, sort of, because she's only opened the door a crack), a girl by the sounds of her voice, he hesitates for a fraction of a second before answering her questions.

"Phil Coulson, and I don't know what WLF is. I certainly didn't bring you here, because I don't really know how I got here myself." He knows he doesn't want to give away too much information, when he doesn't even know what or who he's dealing with, but he sees no harm in admitting that much.

There's a tense moment where Ellie just sort of stares back at Coulson, deciding whether or not to believe him. He sure as hell doesn't look like part of the WLF with their heavy military gear. She doesn't see a gun on him, though that doesn't mean he doesn't have one. He doesn't seem like an immediate threat, but that doesn't mean anything, either.

He's drenched from the storm and the house is at least dry. Ellie still has bruises on her face, but she's not all bloody, having cleaned up the night before (or whatever) in the theatre in Seattle.

She finally decides to believe him. What purpose would it serve to lie to her about also waking up here? She can't see one. And despite her rage and paranoia, and that sickening fear that seems to get worse the longer she has the door open, she does care about other people who aren't her enemies.

She pulls the door open the rest of the way to let him in.

"I'm Ellie," she says. "Come on, it's fucking pouring."

He's patient, and of course, it makes complete sense to him that Ellie might feel a little discomfited with his presence there. They're little better than strangers, and it's not really being paranoid to feel a little anxious about this place and the other people in it. Never mind that they're not there by choice, as far as he can tell. He knows he isn't, and although it's just a hunch on his part, he figures he's not the only one brought here unexpectedly.

"Coulson. Phil, if you prefer." He's not picky, although most people just use his last name. Whatever she feels like using is fine by him. "And thanks."

He doesn't hesitate to walk in, because the rain isn't lessening, and while he won't melt, he'd appreciate the chance to dry off somewhat.

"I'm sorry for the interruption." After all, she got to this building first, and for all he knows, she could be someone who enjoys her own company. If she asks him to leave, or move to another room, he'll comply.

"You're not interrupting," she says, a bit grudgingly, closing and locking the door. It probably doesn't matter, but whatever. She moves back into the living room, leaving him to follow.

"You don't know anything about this place, do you? I don't even know how I got here." She doesn't feel bad admitting that; it's the truth, and it's nothing that could be used against her. He doesn't seem like a terribly dangerous person just to look at him, but she knows all too well that soft-spoken men can be deadly.

On the plus side, he doesn't have any apparent weapons on him, so...maybe they're at least on level ground for now.

"Well, if you're sure," he replies, noting the almost reluctant way in which she says that. He doesn't wish to intrude, or outstay his welcome, but for the moment, he doesn't have too many choices available.

"Sadly, I don't. I thought I saw something at the town hall that might have been this place's name, but I haven't seen anyone who looks like a citizen of this place who might confirm that for me." It seems like a logical enough conclusion with or without confirmation, but Coulson's a detail-oriented man sometimes. He likes things like confirmation.

"The last thing I remember, I was in the middle of a firefight with some bad people." Rogue agents from an evil organization is more accurate, but he's not in the habit of giving away more information than is necessary.

"I certainly don't know how that translates to being swept off to an unknown place without so much as a warning." Simply put, he's just as confused as she is. And he's only deadly when he has to be; it's too soon to tell if Ellie can be trusted or not, but as she's noted about him, she doesn't appear to have any weapons on her person. That levels the playing field a little, and puts him slightly more at ease.

"Mathias, right? I think that's what this place is called, but...I've sure never heard of it." That doesn't bother her too much; there are plenty of small towns she's never heard of, names unfamiliar to most people who survived. Small towns don't tend to be populated anymore unless they can be well fortified like Jackson, nestled in the mountains.

"I was in Seattle," she says. "I was looking for someone." That's more or less true; really, she's looking for two someones: Tommy, before he gets himself killed, and Abby, so she can kill her. Maybe slowly. But she'll just settle for Abby's death one way or another.

"Half my shit was missing when I woke up, though," she continues. All her weapons, totally gone. She's not about to admit that to a stranger, but it's a way of testing the waters a bit.

He said he was in a firefight, though. He's...dressed strangely to her eyes. He doesn't look like much of a fighter, but that doesn't mean much. "Who were you fighting?" She has no idea if he'll answer, and it's not like she'll probably know if he lies to her, but she tries anyway.

"Oh, that's right, I did see that name while I was looking around." He thought nothing of it at the time, but it's as good a conclusion as any. "I'm not familiar with it either." He's not the most well-traveled, but then again, his SHIELD missions have seen him go to enough far-flung countries that he knows a few more small towns than most. Still, he can't place this particular name.

"I wish I could say you're a long way from home, or not, but we don't even have a point of reference for where we are." That's one of the things that he doesn't like about this situation.

"And for me as well." His weapon was gone as well; all he has on him is his empty holster, and he's not any happier about that than she is.

"It's a long story, but they were people who used to be our friends, but it turned out they were double-crossing us the entire time." It's so fresh for him that the betrayal still stings.

"Seattle isn't home," she says, abrupt. She hates Seattle, really, and that's probably evident in her tone. "I just have some shit to do there. Shit I would love to be getting back to right about now." She sighs and crosses her arms. It's been a long few hours.

"After the storm blows over, I guess I'll just try to head out and see if there's anything familiar." She has no idea what day it is. How long was she out? Just how far away is this? Seems pretty far from Seattle, based on weather. Okay, Seattle did have some shitty rain, but this place...it's different.

"People betraying you like that fucking sucks," Ellie says, sympathy working its way into her tone. "You think those people somehow brought you here?" If so, that doesn't answer any of Ellie's questions. The WLF would have just killed her, she's sure. Probably so would those crazy Seraphite people. So...who does that leave? She doesn't have any guesses.

"Just a place you live in?" He shrugs as if that makes sense. It does, in a way, because people move and put down new roots all the time. He can't be sure that's her story, but he figures if they're going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future, they might get to know a thing or two about each other. "I know that feeling, though. There's things I need to be seeing to back at home, but I guess that those things are just going to have to wait."

He doesn't like the idea of that, but what choice does he have, anyway? "That's what I was thinking too. I'm curious how settled this place is, or not settled, I suppose. I haven't seen anyone around here besides you and me, and that makes me wonder: who lived here before we showed up?" At the very least, by looking around, he can make a mental map of the area and possibly gather supplies too, if there are any to be gathered.

"Tell me about it. I trusted a lot of them, and they took advantage of that." He's really quite offended by that. "But no, I can't be sure. It's a good theory, but then again, there's nothing to indicate that it was them." Of course, there's nothing to indicate that it wasn't, but he figures if that was the case, someone like John Garrett would be walking around here all smug and gloating. Not that he expects her to know who he is. She's better off not knowing him, anyway.

"What about you? Do you know of someone in Seattle that might have wanted to bring you here?"

"No. I live in Jackson, Wyoming," she corrects. God, living in Seattle would suck. The warring factions are just bullshit. No one else is even left, as far as Ellie knows. If you're not WLF or a Seraphite, then you apparently just die there. Fuck Seattle, she thinks. She wouldn't care if the whole ugly place burned to the ground.

"I'm sort of in a hurry," she says. "My friends are there. It's...it's dangerous. One of them is sick. God, every second I'm here, they're in more danger." She's fidgety as she talks, twisting her fingers together without realising it. It's her fault, really; she'd dragged Dina into it. Jesse had come to find them. Dina had known she was pregnant and come anyway, but she's not doing well.

"There are definitely people who would want to fuck with me, but...anyone I can think of would have killed me. Someone must have brought me here, but I have no idea who." That's one of the most baffling things.

"Wyoming. Nice place. I always wanted to visit there, but somehow never managed it." Then again, it's not like working for SHIELD leaves him with much in the way of free time.

"For what it's worth, I hope that we find a way out of this place, and you can return to help your friends." He hopes the same for himself, because they're on the ropes back home too, and to say that time is of the essence would be underestimating things by a considerable amount.

"Add that list of things you hope to uncover, I suppose. And if you get any leads on that score, well- I know we're little better than strangers here, but that might turn out to benefit us all." But he knows not everyone believes in group efforts, so he won't hold it against her if she's that way as well.

"Yeah, I like it. The mountains. The winters kinda suck but Infected move slower in that kinda cold, so..." She trails off and shrugs. It doesn't yet occur to her that others wouldn't know about it. She can't fathom a world without it, after all.

"I hope so too," she says. "They're capable, but...Seattle's fucking dangerous." She has the injuries to prove it, a couple of which are obvious on her face. The others, she hides much better. "Same to you, you know?"

She fidgets a bit, crosses one arm over her torso and squeezes the other arm. She's trying to think, but things are just so messed up today. She's not even sure what the next step is.

Luckily for both of them, she does believe in group efforts. Although she's not sure about Coulson yet, not sure that he's entirely trustworthy or that he won't try something shitty if he gets a chance, he's here now. He hasn't done anything to her yet. He doesn't put off huge I'm a creep vibes, so...that's a start.

"Fuck," she says, "I'm not really...I have no idea where to start here. Without guns, without my knife, without a map."

Coulson just nods along, agreeing with what she's saying until she mentions the Infected, and not having any context for it, he has to ask: "Sorry, but who or what are Infected?" Hopefully she doesn't mind explaining, because he knows a thing or two about having to repeatedly explain a concept or idea to others not familiar with it, but he's just trying to get a feel for what sort of world she's from.

"Thanks," he says with a slight smile, considering the serious nature of what they're discussing.

Like her, Coulson's trying to think, to plot out a plan, or next moves, or something, but it's hard to do that when they don't have a lot of information at their disposal. And if she's sizing him up, well, he's doing the same for her, and coming to the conclusion that she's someone else who's been forced to grow up much too quickly.

"Exactly. My thought was to just go through each building and thoroughly search it, but I haven't found anything useful." It's part of what's making him wonder what the point in them being here is. If there's no clues, or at least, nothing that's not incredibly cryptic or vague, how are they supposed to find a way out of whatever this is?

He doesn't intend to spend the rest of his life here, that's for sure, and he has no problems saying just that. "Sooner or later, we're going to have to find a way out." Because he refuses to consider the possibility that they're never going to leave.

She pauses, goes completely still. That's something, for her. Unless she's hiding from someone or something, she's not usually very still. Even now, she's been fidgety. But Coulson's words hit her in a way she can't explain. Who or what are Infected?

It's impossible. The whole world, as far as she knows, got hit. Well, she's never been out of the US or whatever, but as far as she knows, it's everywhere. The reports from when it happened, from what Joel and others said, that was a global thing. The whole world was totally fucked. She's thought before that there must be someone out there like her, immune somehow. But who knows? It's likely the military just killed them because their blood registered as being Infected. Better safe than sorry, right?

But how could this man, clearly older than Ellie herself, maybe old enough to remember when it happened, not know? She can't get her head around that.

"You're joking, right? That's...you have to know what Infected are, don't you? The infection, the...the fungus. Runners, clickers, all that? Ring any bells?" But she has a sickening feeling that it won't, that he doesn't know, that somehow he just...missed it.

"I couldn't bring myself to go back out once I got into this house. It just...felt wrong. That sounds like I'm some kind of fucking baby. I can't explain it. But...dunno. Sometimes you gotta listen to your gut, I guess."

He notices when something he said gets a reaction from her, brings her up short, and he pauses, figuring whatever's running through her mind, she needs space to process it. He can't know what it is he said that gave her pause, but if it's important, he figures she'll tell him.

"No, I'm really not joking. I've never heard of Infected, or an infection, a fungus." He just keeps shaking his head as she continues listing things off. "The world I'm from has its problems, but at least as far as I know, there's no widespread infection."

But then she continues talking, and he just nods, because he understands. "That doesn't make you a baby. It's smart, not stupid. And if I were you, I'd definitely keep listening to your gut." Because from where he's standing, she's smart and has a good head on her shoulders, even if he really has no room to talk since they've only just met.

"I might not know what Infected are or what your world's like, but it sounds like it can't have been easy. I think your instincts are good, though."

She believes him only because she's never met anyone shitty enough to pretend the infection doesn't exist. He'd have to be more psycho than all the other psychos she's met – and that's a long list – in order to just...lie or pretend about it. Even the super crazy ones are afraid of the Infected, and they fucking should be.

The walls feel like they're closing in. This is so impossible. It's too impossible to even be a dream.

She shoves her threatening panic back down as much as she can.

"Your world. My world," she repeats at him. "Like this is just super normal to you and other worlds are a thing." She doesn't believe it, but she reads comics, okay? It's not the most foreign concept she's ever heard of, but it's not real. Other worlds can't be real. Right?

He doesn't say anything, just watches her, because he's good enough at reading people to tell that there's a lot brewing below the surface. "Are you all right?" He does feel bad that he's upset her somehow, or caused some sort of panic reaction.

"I can't say that it's "super" normal, but I've crossed paths with gods from other worlds, and if they didn't have pretty tight backstories, I wouldn't have believed them for a second. And yes, I know I sound crazy right now." He expects her to just dismiss him as some mental case, and honestly, he can't blame her for that. He did just reference meeting gods, after all.

"But I can promise you that where I'm from, there really is no infection."

"Dude, I woke up in some weird ass place without my friends or any idea where I am with some guy telling me that he doesn't know what the infection is. I'm not fucking all right," she says. She doesn't mean to snap or anything, but there's only so much she can take, and her temper isn't great at the best of times. This isn't anywhere near best of times.

"I don't even know how to...even absorb what you're saying," she says, with a laugh that comes from desperation more than any sense of mirth. "Fuck, man, I just want to know that my friends are okay. And...I don't know where to start in this weird ass nightmare town." She focuses on that idea, the idea of her friends waiting for her, because it's an anchor – and a stronger one than her need to find Abby. She's not like Abby, not into torture and all of that, but no amount of other universe bullshit will let Ellie forgive if something happens to Dina.

"I'm sorry," Coulson is quick to say, holding up his hands in an apologetic gesture. He really is, even though he knows he really couldn't have said anything different. There is no infection where he's from, but he can absolutely understand waking up in a strange place and feeling rattled.

"It's not a consolation, I'm sure, but between us, I'm just as confused and unsettled as you. I don't know where my friends are or even if they're all right, and just like you said, I don't even know where to start here." He hopes his words don't upset her further; he's really trying to help make up for his earlier gaffe, even if there's really no way he can do that.

She sighs and brushes that stubborn piece of hair out of her face like it will actually stay for once. It does, but only for now.

"So what do we do now, then?" she asks. It's half rhetorical; she has no idea if Coulson has any ideas. With the storm coming in, and the way it makes her feel scared and weird to be outside, she knows they can't just walk out of here. If they could, they wouldn't be in this house to begin with. But this can't last forever. Right?

Honestly, he has no idea what they should do next. He's just as lost and confused as she is, as any of them are. But he has to say something, so he gives it a shot. "Well, I don't think we should try going outside, not right now. That storm has to clear up eventually, and when it does, maybe then we can explore. Figure out where we are, who else is here, if anyone..."

He offers her a tentative sort of smile, not sure how well she'll respond to his typical attempts at defusing a situation. "I'm guessing you don't have a deck of cards on you." It's a joke; he doesn't really think they should just sit around playing cards while they wait for the storm to pass.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

001-003 » a chilling mathias welcome

no big deal, he's used to worse hah

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