[NU] Scavenging in the Ruins [Th2.1]

Adam

Thirds, It's been a long two weeks, running in the ruins for various requests... You know the deeper you go into the city, the more likely you are to find something, but sometimes a good wander will pay off with unexpected finds in the edge of the ruins. I know you've got your hands full looking for stuff, and it's fair to say you've caught wind of a decent scavenge a few days walk away. Did you wander into the city proper, or are you sticking to the edge of the ruins?

Roll+Sharp for me. On a 10+, choose 3. On a 7-9, choose 2.
• You've spotted the person tailing you (name them).
• The scavenge you found has one thing you're looking for (detail it).
• You've got enough food to get back.
• The scavenge isn't in contested territory.
On a miss, the MC will choose 2 for you. Sometimes life sucks like that. :P

Mischa

[Thirds]

Long couple days walk, south. Following the big river. The heart of the Ruins, a tip from Matilda's crew. Once I rigged a raft to head down. If I find something big like the electric water heater. I'd do it again. Kind of a target in the river. But anyone shoots, you could sink whatever you're trying to steal.

Still, was almost relaxing. Not so good to swim. But peaceful.

Mischa

[OOC: Love Letter, roll+sharp.]
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 3, 3. Total: 9)

Mischa

• You've spotted the person tailing you (name them).
• You've got enough food to get back.

Mischa

[Thirds]

Is that Sun? What the hell?

I'll stop at a fucked up McDonalds. One outside table got a big plastic umbrella thing. Take a swig off my canteen, in the shade.

Wait.

Adam

It takes a few minutes for Sun to get the hint, but eventually you spot someone hopping down from a nearby car dealership roof across the road. She's keeping a close eye on you, slowly crossing the street, and stopping a few paces from your table.

She's short, barely 5 feet tall, and probably a hundred pounds soaking wet. Her hair is jet-black, and cropped to chin-length. Around a campfire, she'll occasionally smile — but she's not smiling now. Now, she's all business.

"What are you doing here?" She asks, with slightly broken English, "don't you know this is Hugo's land?"

Here's a decent picture of Sun, for the record:

Mischa

[Thirds]

I don't mind watching a pretty girl come to see me. Wish I had some cold water instead of normal. It's wet, though. Still good.

Hugo motherfucking again. Huh. She on his side now? Or is she watching my ass instead? I feel a little suspicious. Then I think about a few weeks back. I still got her arrows.

I look at the dirt by the table. "Don't see his name on it," I'm a wiseass. "How come you're here?" I go to stash my water bottle. Gonna bring out the arrows like a magic trick. Water into steel.


"Meant to return these." I hold em out by the shaft, crosswise.


Huh. Quick thought. Anyone following her? I shoot my eyes back where she came. Look back to Sun.

Adam

As dangerous as it may be to be tailed by Sun, she's definitely not threatening you right now – and you don't sense that she'd be followed. Unless of course you're saying you're charging the situation... Doesn't sound like it though.

She cocks an eyebrow at the sight of her arrows, but quickly regains her composure. She doesn't reach for them – though you think she might want to. "Everywhere is Hugo's turf. When he sees something he wants, he takes it." There's certainty in her voice – like this is a truth she's experienced first hand. "I'm here keeping people off of Hugo's turf. Why are you here?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

I wiggle the arrows, "G'wan. You missed, right? Figured you wanted 'em back." I wipe some sweat off my head, set the arrows down. Maybe she doesn't want to get close. That, I understand. "Maybe they're special fletched to miss?" A shy smile, quickly gone. I'd rather she missed me than shot me. Arrows can be a right bitch and a third.

I frown medium. Ain't right for to lay claim to everything. Can't help but wonder if he laid claim to Sun. I glance away. Muddled thoughts of Rue and Sun, Cinch. I look back in a sec.

"Same as anyone. Looking. You know me. I can't sit still." Is that funny? I'm sitting still now. Maybe she'll laugh. Or smile. At least smile.

Not sure if I want to ask her about the battery for Robinson. Wait and see.

Adam

Sun shifts uncomfortably when you joke about the arrows being fletched to miss — like you insulted her craft — but she doesn't comment on it when she sees your smile gone. It's more an awkwardness than an actual hurt, but you can tell from the arrows' construction that they mean a lot to her.

Anyway, then you make the crack about sitting still, and her eyebrow cocks again — almost like a tell that she's trying to stay on the clock. She shakes her head, and her face goes back to neutral again. "I've seen you around... What's your name?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

Shit. I'm no good at this. Gets me down a little. Probably not obvious exactly, but I look down, away. Shoulders slouch a little. My knees move my feet a little.

"I meant you're a good shot to miss on purpose," I mutter. I know she wants 'em. Why isn't she taking them?

"I'm Thirds." I know who she is. I crack my neck, just side-to-side. "Um. You like wandering around? Out here? Seen anything worth mention?" I don't ask if she likes working for Hugo. Don't think I'd get a truth.

Adam

She looks a little surprised when you correct yourself, mumbling down at your feet. She sighs, like she's disappointed in something. She looks over at the arrows, and snatches them. Quickly tossing them into a quiver slung over her shoulder. She makes a show of not looking over to you when you say your name, but she slows up putting the arrows away for a second — like she's paying attention. She shakes her head, "everything out here is Hugo's. If I see anyone trying to take Hugo's things — like the stash of canned goods I found in that abandoned cafe two blocks east — I'm supposed to let his scouts know where they are..."

She looks down south, like she's considering something, "If I saw someone..."

Sun may be distant, but she's not impermeable... She's got her tells.

Mischa

[Thirds]

I sit up a little. A thank you for the arrows? Something else? I quick count the arrows she has. Just in case.

"Or if you even found something at all." I say it with a bit of hope, a bit of tempt. "Maybe just two people can share?"

I wonder why she works for Hugo. If she has a choice. I still don't like asshat says all this shit is his. I glance at the McDonalds. Wonder if there's something Coke in there for Clarity. I look to the other side of the world, the horizon if I can see it.

World's too big for one jerk to call dibs.

Adam

Sun shakes her head, "you can't hide anything from Hugo..."

Well Thirds, you did give her those arrows back... That gesture could probably be seen as leverage. Why not manipulate her to see if she'll let you slide this time.

Mischa

[OOC: Manipulate, roll+hot, marking XP.]
(Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 4, 6. Total: 10)

Adam

Still, she seems bothered – like she might agree with you that Hugo's possessive nature is more harmful than good. She bites her lip, and adds, "clean out what you can... One of Hugo's scouts will find it eventually, so it won't be there long... If I found anything at all."

She adjusts her quiver on her back, and eyes you up and down. "You wanna see it?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

I nod a couple times like a damn fool. "Sure. Um. The nothing you didn't see." The smile stays a little longer this time. I slip hop off the table. Moving easy, less wary. Wait, is she looking at me looking at me?

I want to ask her about her. Maybe she'd like Monroe. "Um." Dammit.

I want to take a quick look in window as we leave. Just in case there's a Coke can for Clarity. Not long. Grab it later.

Try something else. The weather? "Seen any Anoms?" Ask about scouts later.

Adam

She waits for you to get to your feet, check out the McDonalds, and meet her by the street. There were no cans in the McDonalds... They liked those cheap cups that dissolved into nothingness all those years ago. As you approach her, she says, "There are rumors that their bags of "fries" from this place are the only food in the world that don't rot. Instead, they turn into rocks... And people used to feed their kids this stuff. That must have been why people were so fat before the anomalies came — because the food would turn to rocks in their belly."

Then you ask about any anoms she's seen, rather than what she's about, and she thinks a moment. "There's a street in the city where the lights never turn off... Maybe a block or two where the lights are on day and night — except one that got broken when it fell over. If you touch the lamp posts, they shock you." She seems to relax a little recalling it, like that place holds fond memories for her. "What about you?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

I laugh at the idea of people with rocks in their bellies. I know another story kinda funny. "I heard one about a scav was hungry. Went to a hold, asked for food. Nobody helped her. So the scav says, I'll make stone soup. Food from a rock." Walk on the shade side of a big dead bus in the street. I look at Sun, see if she thinks it's funny yet.

"Nobody believed her. So she borrows a pot. Fills it with water. Finds a great big rock." I find a biggish rock in the road. Like a half meter. Lift it up, easy, thunk it into a pretend pot. Look at Sun again.

"The scav says, great soup. Just needs a potato. Someone in the hold has a potato suddenly. Everyone wants rock soup now. Scav says, great soup. Just needs a lil piece of meat. Boom, someone has some saved bacon." Man, bacon. Looking forward to fall. My stomach gurgles, agreeing. I drink some water. Talking makes you thirsty, you know. I offer the canteen to Sun. She's gotta return it, right? Won't hear the end of the story.

"Scav says, great soup, if only we had a carrot. Whaddaya know, the hold has four extra carrots. On and on it goes." Clarity tells this way better than me. I forgot the part about the onion and the salt. All the heat on my ears ain't from the sun. Or Sun. But I think about Clarity talking. Try to push on. Can't just leave half a story. I'll push through some underbrush, questioning the way to go, holding it aplace for Sun to pass.

"Scav says, ta-da, all done. And the stone soup fed the hold. And it was delicious. And the scav leaves them the rock. And she heads home with a jingle."

I walk for nother couple steps.

"Um. The end."


She says her piece about lamps always on. Sounds amazing. Maybe I can find it in the dark. Is that a quarter? No, just a circle of metal. I pick it up, flipping it between my fingers. Watching it catch the sunlight.

She asks about anoms, and I think about Rue in the Bago, feel terrible and horny. Look at Sun. Not sure what to say. "Um. I seen a Bago floats in the air." Feel like I've used up all my words. Don't want to say much else. Not sure what'd come out. I should've crawled into the bunk with her. I feel like a real shit.


"You're real good at making arrows." Smooth, Thirds.

Adam

Sun finally smirks when you finish your story about "Stone Soup". She's definitely a quiet one, but you get the impression she's heard it before — and perhaps it's one of her favorites. She raises an eyebrow when you claim to have seen a Winnebago floating in the air, and she narrows her eyes dubiously. "Are you serious?" She finally asks with a smile, but then she notes your mood changing, and she gets serious again.

She looks back at her arrows as you cross the first of two intersections between you and the cafe, then nods, "my mother taught me how to make them. She survived many years alone in the city until I came along. Then as many more with just me... She taught me everything." She looks over at you, trying to change the subject, "you're good on your feet. You run like no-one I've ever seen. Where did you learn to run like that?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

A mom...

"I've been running my whole life," and I stop short. Bite my lips. "Too much from the bad. But it feels good to run." Some things better left unsaid.

I look aside at her, smile. Tense back one foot, then run run run run and leap to grab a thin lamp pole pulling up with my arms and spinning to a flip on top of a car and land and thump and roll down the hood to a handstand. Show off a bit with a careful balance on one hand. One leg out a little to balance. A single push up. Then back on two hands. Walking over to her. Watch out for the crap in the road. Grinning.

A controlled slow tumble back onto my feet. Facing her. Not really breathing hard. "Old movies. No cigarettes. Practice."

Adam

Thirds, you may not know this — but you're seducing Sun right now! Fancy that! Can you hit the roll for me?

Mischa

[OOC: Seduce, roll+hot, marking xp]
(Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 4, 6. Total: 10)

Adam

Well, she's smiling quite a bit by the time you finish your little show... In fact, she even claps a little. She keeps walking, though you swear she's checking you out from time to time... When you finally step into the cafe proper, the first thing you notice is that it's in remarkably good shape. Sun takes your hand and guides you through the rotting tables. It looks like she's heading upstairs, should you choose to follow her...

What do you do?

Here's the cafe's front, for the record:


And the interior:

Mischa

[Thirds]

Oh.

I see a hungry look in Sun's eye. A certain twinkle. Rue had a look like that. Shit, I need a map for girls. Can't ask Robinson. This is hard. Now what? I feel calluses on her palm. Archery. I suddenly feel real thirsty.


Cross the threshold, nose first. Mildew. Mold. Coffee. Earth. Some fungusy stink squinches my nose.


Keen to find out if there's something else here. Something Sun missed. Lightbulbs, parts from the kitchen, a hidden safe. Some stuff is easy. Some stuff is not.

I'll check out downstairs later. Let's go see this stash. I check the stairs before climbing. Don't want to step through a step. Heh. Made a joke.

Adam

She leads you into a small room upstairs, and office really, and slides a section of the wall back to reveal an old saferoom that's been stocked with a bunch of survival related equipment. It's all neatly stacked on shelves, and sealed tight. Some of it is entirely non-perishable; but with the climate control long dead, most of them have exploded, or passed their expiration, or overtaken with mold. There was once enough food here for a family of five people for a few months. Now, there's maybe 1-barter worth... She lets you in first, and hovers by the door, blocking your egress. She's trying not to look at the two beds that've never been used in the back of the room... Or at least not while you're looking.

"There's gardening supplies on the roof, too," She whispers, checking the hall, "what do you think?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

I blink a few times. Whistle a long, sad note. "Helluva lot of food, that was." I've seen pictures of such wealth. But condensed here, all ruined. I regard the shelves, shake my head. No peaches, too. But hey, cranberry sauce. Love that stuff. I heft the can. Run my finger in the dust. Thick.

I feel the hairs on my neck standing up. I don't like being caged in. Try not to show it. Force the tension out of my back. Stay frosty. I don't think she's going to stab me. I think she wants something different. Halfway thinking about Matilda's truck for the mattresses. Sun is pretty. I wonder if she'd like Monroe over Hugo?

I look up at the ceiling. A little dim in here. "Tools can be worth more than food. You can grow a tomato. Not so much a hammer." That's funny, right? Maybe just to me.

"This is a good find, Sun." I sit on the edge of the bed, ready to roll out. Maybe I'm paranoid. Balls of my feet just so. "Maybe nobody has to know you found it?" Why does she have to tell Hugo? Jeeze, these two beds might be worth a full jingle. I bounce lightly, testing the spring. I bounce some words around my head. None sound very good. I'm stalling. Get it together, Thirds! "Unless... something happens if you keep mum?"

Adam

She looks away from you when you ask why she needs to keep quiet. "Hugo assumes I know where all the major finds are..." She gently grabs her left elbow, and bites the inside of her cheek. Whatever is running through her head, she doesn't want to talk about it. She shakes it off and slowly closes the distance between you. She lays her pack and quiver on the floor next to the bed. "But he doesn't know about this one yet."

Then she leans down and kisses you... Kinda makes you wonder what find she's talking about, doesn't it?

What do you do?

Mischa

[Thirds]

Whoa. Oh. Oh! Yum. Sun is a real good kisser. Don't know what to do with my hands. Try to keep from falling over. She thinks I'm a find? What does that mean? Does she want to fuck me? Does Hugo? Don't want that. Wonder how Rue kisses. Sun is a real good kisser. I, wow. Do I feel guilty? Thinking of other girls? I could get lost in a kiss.

No maps.

Catch my breath. "Um. Wow." I'm blinking fast. I'm horny, and I want to do it, and I also want to run. It kinda smells in here. I don't have condoms. This mattress is soft. So is Sun. Do I kiss her now? And what about Hugo? And Monroe? Things are complicated. She is pretty. I fucked up with Rue. Don't want to fuck up here.

I'm nervous. Excited. They do this in the movies. I can do this. I put one hand on her cheek. Kiss her again. I hope I do okay.

Adam

Well Thirds, if you don't make the first move, Sun will. When you come back with a second kiss, she's already pulling you down to the bed. Her hands wandering to get you out of your clothes. The question is, do you sleep with her? Because she certainly won't object.

Mischa

[Thirds]

I try to make a move. I kiss her, right? Still in a fog from her kiss. But Sun's hands are active. Insistent. Eager. Like me. She makes a harder move. My nose is almost used to the funk in here. I smell her. I have to undo my own gear. This armor is tricky.

You know about my dry spell. Rue got me out of my rut, maybe. Now, I get lost in the moment with Sun. I feel like I'm falling and climbing and running and moving and dancing and —


Sleeping? Not so much.

Adam

You dog! Fire off that sex move.

Once you're done, tell me what you're going to do... Take a nap, sort out what to take from here, etc?

Mischa

[OOC, Ruin Runner sex move.]

If you and another character have sex, they gain 1-hold. They can spend it to have you arrive, right there, anytime.

Mischa

[Thirds]

I feel.

Drained.

And refreshed.

"Wow."

My brain's full of white nothing. Zen.

Time's moving slow. But I'm still. I want to run.

Do I get dressed now? Does she?

Better eat. Need water.

I get up. Move to the shelves, naked. Look at Sun. Open my pack. Grab some granola without looking. Share.

"Um." Chew, swallow. Drink.

"Now what?" Do people even boyfriend girlfriend? I look at the scav find. What if she wants again? Or me? I think, be nice if she was Monroe and not Hugo. I feel a hopeful sort of shy smile. "Nobody has to know this is here but us." I think about the Bago, and Rue. But then I think about Sun, and Hugo, and Monroe.

Adam

She's lying on the bed, drunk on you. She looks over when you ask her "now what", and looks around the room when you suggest it remain your secret. "Hugo will find it — his people go further out every day — but he doesn't need to know what happened here." She gets up, still naked, and gently pads her way over to you. She embraces you, her hard hands contrast against her soft skin. "I need to go... Where will I find you next?"

Mischa

[Thirds]

Got a goofy puppy grin, watching Sun. She feels good. Good on my skin. I'm a little unsteady, too.

Fucking Hugo. A scowl chases my happy, they both leave.

"Do you have to go back?" Not the same thing as have to go. I don't know how to ask if she'll follow me back.

"I'm all over. You know that." A thought strikes. I turn to her, still half tangled and naked together. My eyes are on her body, on the shelves, on the door. "Um. Want to scav together?"

Adam

She nods solemnly at the question of going back, but lets you finish before answering. "I do... To both, sadly. I need to go back. They'll come looking for me." She sighs, "but I'll find you again." She pulls away from you, wanting to get dressed.

What do you do?

Mischa

[Thirds]

I get dressed. Yeah, I watch her, too. "I don't blame 'em. I'd go looking for you, too." She is pretty. "If. Um. You want to um. You know, not go back. Maybe I could help?" Don't know how. I scratch the back of my neck. Feel like a damn teenager. Monroe has extra houses, right? Fucking Hugo.

"Um. Thanks again for not shooting me with an arrow." That's funny, right?

Adam

She chuckles to herself at your little joke, and smirks dubiously. "You really want me to come along? Have Hugo and his people on your tail all the time? I don't know anywhere that's out of Hugo's reach..."

Mischa

[Thirds]

"Yeah. Dumb idea." I squint a little. Trying to work it out. Half shrug and nod like a question. "Why?"

What does Hugo see in Sun?

Adam

She shrugs, and averts her gaze. "Because he gave me medicine when I was sick, and tried to save my mother too... Because he gives me food when I can't find any, and didn't kill me when he caught me on his territory... He says I owe him. I probably do."

She pulls her shirt over her head, and grabs her jacket. "That doesn't mean I owe him my life... He just doesn't like losing things he thinks are his. He's cruel like that. He has to be, or his people would have starved an age ago." You get the impression she's making excuses for Hugo's behavior, and doesn't really want to go back. She grabs her pack and motions for the door.

If you let her, she'll walk out the door. For some reason, you get the impression she doesn't want that.

Mischa

[Thirds]

I kinda don't want that either.

"Good reasons to owe someone." But I look down, rub my fingers together nervously. "But no person's a thing, right?" I look up. uncertain. I don't know Hugo. I don't like him. "I wonder what'd set you even. So you don't have to go back?"

I got a weird look on my face. Like suspicious and hungry. But not hungry for food. Hungry for... I dunno, the hunt. And the find. "How many people? How's he got so much food?" Rue could take 'em, I bet.

Adam

Sun shrugs, uncertain of how to answer that... "Hugo doesn't have that much food... He feeds everyone equally, and there already isn't that much to go around. You either help provide for the group, or you abandon them – and Hugo does not like deserters. Life is hard in the ruins... I don't imagine Monroe would share what little food they have with the 30 men and women that Hugo considers family..." Considering people in Monroe and the surrounding areas are starving, you know denying the point would take some significant convincing to the contrary.

She puts a hand on your shoulder, and whispers, "take what little you can sneak away with, is what my mother always said..."

Mischa

[Thirds]

I put my hand on hers. "Yeah." I don't feel great about this. Fucking Hugo. Do people kiss again after they do it? They might.

I nod at the shelves, shrug. "I figure this stash'll get cleared out. Before you get back to haul it." The ghost of a distant smile. An offer. "I'll sneak away some for you. By that Mickey D's. Ice machine. Nobody has to know."

Here's my plan for when she goes. Bag what food I can carry. Hide a chunk for her. Stash one of those mattresses for easy pickup, if I can. Robinson's got Bungies.

I look around from sitting. I wanna find whatever she missed.

Adam

She smiles at the suggestion, but you get the distinct impression she thinks you don't understand her. She probably blames it on her broken English. Instead, she grips your hand tightly, then lets it slip, and heads out the door without another word.

She left you everything, but she'll be back. If you cleaned the place out, she'd pretend to be none the wiser. You can certainly arrange for a pickup. 1-barter worth of food and goods is nothing to sniff at. It occurs to you, if you left this place untouched, it might help Hugo trust Sun to get out more... If you took it all, you'd pocket a barter at the cost of Hugo's trust in Sun.

How much do you take?

Mischa

[Thirds]

I turn that over in my head. Probably a little longer than it needs to take. Let a barter lie to get Sun out from Hugo? Or take a barter from Hugo for Monroe?

I get up, brush some dust off my hands. There's a nice stash here.

Two cans of cranberry sauce. I mean, yeah? Nice big ones, too. One's got my fingermark in its dust. Too obvious. I start to head out and "Shit, is that Coke?" I bend down. Yessir, the bright red-and-white. That six-pack is coming home with daddy. But that's is.

The Ruins is big. Lots of stashes to be found. I don't need a mattress.

Fuck Hugo. A person's better than a pallet of canned beans.


I do like beans, though.

Adam

== END SCENE ==