IC - Atomic Highway: Safe no more

[Hemnon]

Thematic Music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPuSQN2t3o)

2022... *sigh* this was where it all went to hell. We thought we where so smart, but apparantly we where wrong. January 29th 2022 was the beginning of the end, the day the first ICBM was fired. It didn't just end with Nukes, Chemical and biological weaponry was also used, turning the earth in just a few months into a dangerous frozen wasteland. Civilization ended that year and so did almost all of humanity.

It's been 70 years since then, it is now the year 2092. The nuclear winter have lasted this long, but it's decreasing each year, though it is still very cold and very dangerous in the nights. Snowstorms are common and the wildlife that survived, have either adapted to the cold or mutated from the chemicals and radiation from the war, 70 years ago. This is the world you all live in, this frozen hell on earth. It was only about 40 years ago that humanity began to resurface in big enough mass to recreate communities and build new towns from the rubble of the Before.

Money is a useless thing, except to burn it for heat. The new big currency is either edible food or anything of high combustion-value (like gas). Some old powerplants are still running and are able to supply a very limited amount of electrical power to nearby bartertowns and farmsteads.

Mutations are a fairly new thing amongst humanity, first rumored about the time when humanity resurfaced 40 years ago. Many looks down on mutants, quite a lot fears them, some pity them and a few will kill them on the spot just for what they are. each year, more and more mutants are born (though in a fairly low percentage increase).

Because of the cold that still lingers, fuel that can be scavenged or otherwise obtained has a habit of freezing to ice, making it useless. finding stuff like antifreeze or stuff like it could have a high bartervalue.

Bandits, feral mutated animals, and mutant-raiders are a few of the dangers that lurks outside the safety of a bartertown or similarly barricaded place.

The ruins of the Old Cities can be seen in the distance from many bartertowns and farmsteads, but stories of strange sounds, ghostly lights and disappearing people, scares most away from approaching the cities. Quite a few stories are so horrifying that some have changed their mind about looting the city ruins.

Besides the ghoststories of the Old Cities, rare and valuable items are said to be found there, old technology from before the Great War and other riches are said to be hidden within those ruins.
http://www.stalkermods.ru/_ph/1/2/853041375.jpg



Almost all vehicles of the motorized kind have gone out of use, the consumption of gas they require and the insanely difficult challenge of getting one to work again, have made them a rare sight. Old wreckages can be found almost everywhere, but any working parts are a rare thing.


Right in this frozen place, you four are living your lives. You've all come to this Bartertown called Riggertown (because of their control of an old oilrig out in the ocean. The oil they get is either sold to an old powerplant to the east or used by themselves for the warmth it can make. It's 9am in the morning and you all all lodged at the bartertown's inn. Population is medium-high (about 500-700 people) and their general outlook on mutants is 'They are alright'. The townmayor is call Stevens, Robert and the sherif is a muscular fella named Brick. Since you all know eachother a little bit and have just recently traveled to this town together, the mayor have called you all in for a talk. You're enroute to his house (an old postal office by to look of it).
http://ipadwallsdepot.com/detail/post-apocalyptic-city_00048609.jpg

[Space Lawyer]

Rob

Rob rubs his hands together and blows on them. The gloves kept them from freezing and becoming frostbitten, but the home-made fabrics and his mama's mediocre needlework made them only just good enough. "I say its 'bout time we go see the mayor, huh? In my 'sperience, head honchos like that dun' like to be kept waitin'."

[Loki_42]

Pyotr

Pyotr checks the straps on his gas mask, adjusting them to keep the glare of the snow out of his sensitive eyes. He tries to keep to the middle of the group, hoping the cover will be enough to hide his mutations. Even if most of the town is okay with them, he learned it's best not to advertise them. He jovially nods his head. "Yes, we shouldn't keep the man waiting. That would just be rude."

[Hazuki]

Dee
~
The crunch of snow was satisfying beneath Dee's heels, despite the cold that attempted unsuccessfully to nip at her skin. On most days, she would be more than covered enough, but on the troupe's trip to town, even her eyes were covered by a pair of slender goggles to shield sensitive eyes from Riggertown's winter. Besides the bob of her bushy ponytail as the bounty hunter walked and an occasional puff of warm air from beneath her bandana, there would have been few signs that she was truly alive.

There wasn't much for her to say to the other people in her little group of wasteland wanderers, except for cursing about the cold. It didn't lend itself well to conversation. Her thoughts on their current task weren't even very active; that was for the others to worry about, while she cast her gaze across Riggertown, unimpressed behind the thin lenses. There was barely any activity in the ivory streets.

So Dee just gave a nod to the others.

[Vizzi]

-Jack-

With a weary grin Jack moves onwards, his hands twisting and turning a single piece of cold steel, the coldness almost hurting him as his mind was in deep turmoil, thinking of what can possibly be done. Of who they where and what paths would lead him onwards.

No regrets was always his motto, the reason why he left his home and the reason why he still helped those that proved worthy or asked. His grin turned happy as his memories brought back all those that he knew, helped and moved him. Most where distant, but always close in heart.

"Indeed, no sense upsetting people by rudeness." his hand threw the piece of metal into the air before grabbing it in a smooth motion and storing it in his pocket "Onwards to adventure." he said with mirth as his feet left deep imprints on the snow.

[Hemnon]

The lack of proper winterclothing was a great annoyance to all of you. Luckily you had all just arrived recently, still carrying stuff that could be bartered away for more useful stuff.

As you reach the building with the sign 'Mayor's Office', you all enter and the miracle of heated water and scavenged radiators quickly unfreezes your stiff limbs and cold ears.

A man in a slightly rugged suit is sitting in the adjoining room. There is no sign of his Secretary at the little homemade desk at infront of you, however, the mayor himself sees you and hurries towards all of you.

two guys carrying what appears to be old but fine conditioned submachineguns flanks him, these must be his bodyguards.

''Wellcome wellcome, thanks for comming on such a short notice.'' he says as he shakes each and everybody's hand. ''Now before you ask questions, let me answer some right now.'' his voice turns more serious as he approaches the subject that is, why you are there. ''We have a problem, some of our livestock have begun disappearing. only bloodred snow is found in the mornings, a trail leading right towards to Old City that is a mere half day's walk from here, you can't miss it. Since no one here dares to approach the Old City and the dwindle in our foodsupply have forced me to make an announcement, unless the killing of our animals can be stopped. The announcement will be that any and all non-residents are to vacate the city immidiately, otherwise we can't sustain ourselves. Now before you ask, yes, there is a reason I'm telling all of you this.'' As he says this, his demeanor turns more bussiness-like. ''I would like you hire you people to go and investigate who or what is killing our livestock and stop the entities, permanently, in whatever fashion you see fit. If you succeed in this, I'll make you all Honourable citizens and grant you living quarters here. I do know the stories about the Old City, and I'm only asking all of you this because otherwise trade might halt here and we would die out. We don't have much supplies left, but our trade-bazaar down the street is always interested in new scavenged items. Now, are you interested in the deal?'' He asked, leaning up against his secretary's table.

[Loki_42]

Pyotr
Pyotr leans up over the desk. "So, either we get evacuated because we're non-residents, or we leave to run you're errand?" He sighs. "Well, I don't much like this, but I guess we don't have much of a choice."

[Space Lawyer]

"Aye, I'm interested. Might be some good stuff lyin' in the ruins. Ye got any spare ammo or pack beasts sittin' around we might can borrow?

[Hazuki]

Dee
~

The quartet's crunches being the only sound that resonated through the desolate halls of despondent and dead civilization, Dee began to focus on it. Their strides were never quite in tune, no matter how much she tried to correct it. A shortening of steps or quickening of pace, but she couldn't match the mutant with irregular gait, the Rat who jingled with the weight of stranger's mementos, or the gentleman with a dirty face; they were a group of wanderers, without a goal to bind them or any union of flesh. The were brought together only by the circumstances of the world with a bleeding heart; a forced gauze that would soon be buried in sanguine fluids.

Their steps were a symphony to those who would listen, with an ear for the arrival of strangers and the sense to judge them. Irregular and out of touch, but it was their sound. Back home, Dee had heard the stories of the cities that buzzed with the sounds of life, of joined humanity. Where she would rest on grumbling engines and the crunch of roads beneath jury-rigged wheels, the laughter of a hundred families would echo through suburbia, the ecstasy of lovers both young and old could be heard between silk sheets or the spontaneity of an alley, and while one person slept, another would sing to the clouds, and another would dance to their song, and love would spark within the heart of an observer.

Riggertown was not like that. Its frigid streets stood in stasis, save for the odd clatter of machinery or uproarious reactions from a place too far from view. If the lives of people from the old world were bodies that flickered sensuously amongst each other, the civilization Dee now walked through was the last twitches of those bodies thrown into a chasm. It was the same wherever she went, even in the communities that hadn't yet been destroyed by her family, or the ranches where the noises of animals were meant to be heard. Whatever could bring vivacity was the result of anger or trauma; she'd screamed enough times to know that. In the void of frozen streets, all Dee could hear was their footsteps.

And it drove Dee mad. Like the beating of a drum, it pounded against her skull incessantly in its inevitability. It was going to be there for as long as she lived, no matter who she trod alongside, there would be footsteps against lands once given in good faith, and the knowledge that it was pointless to try. One step was a cut, and the first of thousands that would leave her wallowing in despair or brimming with frustration. Then she would find some way to get rid of those excessive emotions, and the first cut would come soon after. The process would begin again, and pound the inside of her skull, and nobody would realize. It was a burden for her shoulders alone.

The reverie of numbness and frustration came to a sudden end, as Dee stepped across the borders of authority and was bathed in the warmth of cobbled together radiators and enclosed spaces. She hadn't realized the cold, while struggling to think of ways to speak aloud the dogged thoughts, but its sudden departure was enough to draw her attention to the situation at hand. The immediate room was nothing special, Dee noticed, as their surroundings came into clarification and the beaten-down wood of a building furnished too long ago to be presentable. There were places where things could be kept fresh, such as the tribes the Nomads rarely came across in their travels over unpaved roads, and some particularly diligent steaders. Bartertowns never seemed to have the mien of care to them, though; much less in those who had others to care for it in their absence.

Nobody to guard the immediate entry area, or even a person to call for help if anyone of dangerous intent entered. Maybe the leader was short-sighted, Dee thought, because the more obstacles between somebody and a bullet, the better their chance of survival. As she saw the raggedy man leave an adjoining room flanked by two grunts with maintained weapons fit for mowing down crowds, Dee saw that he had plenty for his own protection. Except for something for protection in a fight between himself and a lone combatant. It would have been all too easy for either of those men to gun him down and take his place, or for adversaries to grow confidence at his complacence. Not a scrap of armor adorned his suit, and the leader could have been dead before a single shot was fired from the goons' guns.

This leader of vulnerable flesh shook the hands of her companions before coming to Dee herself, but she offered a mere glare to his offered hand. Touching was nowhere near necessary for a simple greeting, and any finger laid upon the man would sooner be in violence than kindness. He moved on from it without a word spoken about her denial, and continued on his tirade of honeyed words suited to manipulate the group in a manner just to his liking. And what an offer it was, with an explanation fit only to serve the man's stupidity and delusions of grandeur in the face of those he surely saw as idiots meant to run about for his amusement. The man couldn't even protect his own livestock, which was a problem unheard of in Bartertowns with competent leaders that could handle their own guns. In the Nomads, there would be no such thing as a leader who couldn't fight.

So she spoke up. "You know what I think?" Dee asked, after two of her companions agreed to the leader's notion without any further word. "I think **** you. You want to send us to our deaths, without a few rounds of ammo or even one of your goons? I'm not gonna walk into a deathtrap, while you're sitting all poncy with your armed guards that can't protect your own animals. You're either stupid or greedy, and I ain't got patience for either, so help us help you save this town with something we can hold. And I'm the only one in this group who can fight worth a damn, so unless you wanna take your chances another fighter will wander into this frozen hole before your animals're dead, give us some real support."

[Vizzi]

"I have to agree, its a bit, difficult heading out towards a death trap like what the Old City undoubtedly is, without some sort of support. Especially those of us unprepared for the cold." he shrugs slightly, he could imagine what was going on Dee's mind, although her attitude and response was not exactly a good decision. You don't mess or insult those in charge, unless you could run away or had back up.

[Loki_42]

Pyotr
"Look, can we settle down a bit? This man seems well-meaning enough, and this town's been better to us than a lot of others."

What's she doing? She'll get us thrown out of town for sure! Pyotr thought, before straightening himself up and saying, "Look, she knows combat better than me, so if she says we need some of your men to follow us, I'm gonna trust her. I understand that puts a strain on you, but if the killing of your livestock is so important, surely you can spare the inconvenience? Tell you what, I'm even willing to do some medical work to patch any of your men up afterwards. What do you say?"

[Hemnon]

''I do not appreciate your tone miss.'' The Mayor replied with a scowl. ''This is my town and if you don't like it, you are wellcome to leave, right now. *sigh* Look, I cannot order anyone to go with you, because everyone fears the stories of the Old City. All i can do is ask you people for help. The only person i could think of that might go with you is Nicolai who lives down by the bazaar, in the old church ruins. But other than that, i cannot help with any more manpower. I can help with a few basic supplies but if you want more, then you need to barter yourselves to it, that's why this is called a bartertown after all.'' He begins to write something on an old mechanical typewriter at the secretary's desk and then turns back to the lot of you. ''Show this to Kendra in the bazaar, dont' worry she is easy to find, and she'll give you the supplies.'' he said with the piece of paper awaiting to be taken from his hand.

[Hazuki]

Dee
~

"Oh, you're breaking my heart." Dee spat the words from behind her bandana, and turned to look at the three men that accompanied her into the city. "Do any of you wanna risk an Old City with what we have? I reckon there are more 'en fifteen targets in that place, and guess how many rounds I've got." She said, gesturing with a closed fist to the heavy rifle slung across her shoulder, so the man in charge wouldn't think she was about to crease his suit. "We're bein' sent to death like the animals this guy can't protect; hasn't even got a weapon to help 'imself."

Though anger was bubbling up within Dee, she tried her damnedest not to let it take over; she didn't want to screw over the guys with her, but she didn't want the guy in the suit to take advantage of their generosity either. There was a reason the Old Cities were feared, and why Riggertown's protectors were too scared to even go near them. The leader could go with 'em, if he cared so much but doubted the confidence of his peers, or one of the fancy submachine guns that just sat in the goons' hands all day could be handed over.

[Space Lawyer]

Rob

"Now Miss Dee, 'bout the easiest way t'not get yerself in a sit'ation where ye need to be worryin' 'bout how many bullets ye got is not get spotted by folks that might be wantin' to trade shots. Long as we keep ourselves outta sight, won't be much call for violence. Now, I say we take what the man is offering, get what we can from this Kendra an' whoever else feels like makin' a fair trade, and go find ourselves some shinies in the city."

[Hemnon]

''If you are unwilling to help us, then you are wellcome to leave. And the main reason I can't grant you weapons is simply: how can I make sure that you all don't just run away with it all?'' The Mayor said, unwilling to loose face infront of this bunch. ''I can't force you all to go further than you want to. Any info you can return with, will be appreciated.'' The Mayor returned to a more diplomatic expression.

[Vizzi]

"Alrighty, still i think becoming Honourable citizens is somewhat worth the risk, not completely of course but worth it none the less, especially as you said so yourself if you can trust us not to run away the reward may be greater." he grins at the slight verbal trap and possibility of a greater reward "So i think ill head up with towards the Kendra you mentioned, mainly looking for something a tad warmer than what i have, and anything else is just groovy." he nods his head towards the Mayor.

[Hemnon]

The Mayer turns his attention towards Jack and his words.

''Warmer clothing is part of what this slip of paper with my name and signature will be able to grant you.'' He says, still holding the paper out for any of you to take with you.

''However, i cannot grant you such things as personnel or weapons. Those are things we ourselves are in need of here. but if you all find signs of a large bandit encampment of something like that, i do not expect you to just go and suicide yourselves. If something like that'd happen then please return and report your findings. I'm not stupid or unreasonable, I simply don't want this town to wither away. That's why i'm asking you all to help. Not for you to go and die, that would help no one.'' He continued to everyone.

[Space Lawyer]

Rob grabs the piece of paper and stuffs it in an inside pocket of jacket. I'm well and satisfied. Sooner we get a move on, better chance we might can fin' us a good spot to hunker down fer the night, make sure we dun' freeze to death."

[Loki_42]

"The mayor seems reasonable. I think we should just get a move on, and head out to get an idea of what we're up against when we're more prepared."

[Vizzi]

With a swift and easy movement Jack grabs the offered piece of paper "Indeed, we are wasting daylight." and with that said he nods towards the mayor in respect and heads outside hoping the others would follow.