oasismods | March Test Drive Meme

March Test Drive Meme

Test Drive Meme #2

Fire and Ice

Days. Four of them, to be exact. Those four days--four days and four nights--have been nothing but rain of varying intensities, but it hasn't stopped. It pours down in heavy torrents, sweeping away the grime and decay of the crumbling city. It floods the banks of the oasis and it drowns all nearby plants. To the point; it's a right pain to anyone hunting for game. Everything has taken refuge to higher grounds. Well, everything except the infected. They seem confused by this phenomenon. It rouses them from their dormant states and pushes them to be more active. If you find yourself out and about in the rain, you may want to bring a decent weapon with you and a friend to watch your back. ~~Or to trip should you find yourself in trouble.~~

What's worse than all that precipitation, you ask? Why would you even ask that? Haven't you seen a single horror movie? Well, since you asked; what's worse than rain is hail. How could that possibly make the situation more dire? You aren't worried about the insurance on your car, so who cares? You're sure full of dangerous questions, aren't you?

Hail impacts the ground, the buildings, the cars, and the wall with a mighty raucous. The sound as it hits the pavement is deafeningly louder than the sound it makes when it impacts the waterlogged earth, slowed by the trees blocking its descent. It won't take long at all before the group of survivors holed up in the city will notice a mass of shambling Iraites beginning to congregate against the walls and gates, attracted by the noise. They're toppling over each other and pressing against the boundaries. The gate looks like it might buckle under all that weight like a dam about to burst. You might wanna do something about reinforcing that gate, or maybe even start taking out the horde if you can. There are still hunters and gatherers out in the forest. If they come back to this mess, they'll never make it into the city alive.

If that's not enough trouble, you suddenly have another problem. Between the rain and the hail and the infected, a loud crack of lightning hits a tree near one of the crash sites. You can see the smoke all the way from the city and it lights up the edge of the forest. But that's so far away, how could it pose any trouble? You ask, because you obviously have a death wish. Well friend, you may recall a certain crashed shuttle in about that very direction. Such a thing is leaking some rather potent accelerant. Find a way to contain that fire or you won't have to worry about the infected anymore. You won't have to worry about much when the blaze takes out the forest and creeps through the city with a lazy hunger that cannot be sated.

[Mod Note: Pick any scenario, mix and match, or combine them all into one chaotic mess of death and mayhem. Feel free to do a crash scenario from the first TDM. Enjoy~]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His reaction is completely unexpected, and it made her stop walking and turn to face him. She had worried he might think she was some kind of killer or monster but the fact he thought she was badass made her grin and laugh.

"You really think I'm badass?" Her laughter bubbled forth until she was downright giddy with giggles and had to lean forward and brace herself with her hands on her knees. It took her some time but she got the joy out of her eventually, and stood up so she could look him right in the eye as she grinned.

"Well, I think I'm gonna keep you around for a while, Murphy. No one's ever thought I was badass before." She knew that was because she always had to be protected. It felt nice being the one doing the protecting for a change.

"Then you've been done a grand disservice," Murphy laughed back. His eyes dropped to the knife - his knife - but she'd already proven she was ready and willing to use it. And more familiar with what the hell was going on. So while he gave it a long look, he eventually turned himself back to the bodies.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," he said with an apologetic tone and wandered back to where the - what had she called them? walkers? - had dropped. They were a couple of nasty looking fellows. And she'd done them no favors, either. But they were still dead and they still deserved proper rights. Everyone did if it could be given.

Murphy flipped their bodies over so they were resting on their backs. After which he made sure their eyes were closed and their arms crossed over their chests. Then he knelt down between them and prayed for their souls, finishing the prayer by making the sign of the cross over each of them and lastly himself, "amen."

Beth curiously watched him and if it were at all possible for the sun to start shining and birds to start singing, it would've happened for her in that moment. It was one of the most touching things she had seen in a long while, something she knew her daddy would've approved of. She approved of it, and respected it too. And it maybe made her admire him a little, but she didn't let that show beyond a sad smile as she made her way over to him.

Her hand went to his shoulder, fingertips pressing lightly against him, and she held on as she crouched down and spoke a prayer of her own. It had been so long since anyone made her feel close to God, or that God was still listening. He was listening though, she desperately wanted to believe, and she remembered a time when she thought the walkers were people who were going to get better. The praying wasn't always for the walkers, anyway, it was for the people left behind.

As the prayers finished and they both were on their feet, she handed the knife back over for him to take. It was his, after all. She couldn't hang onto it forever. "Here, take it back. You're a good man, I trust you with it." That was when she decided to travel along with him, until she found her people, then he could join up with the rest of them.

Murphy stiffened just a little at her hand on his shoulder. He wasn't used to being touched by someone while praying. Even Connor tended to keep his hands to himself. It caused him to pause and have to retrace his thoughts back to where he was in his prayer. He didn't want to be rude by shaking her off. He'd just have to hope that in the future, she didn't do it again.

After they'd stood up and she was offering the knife back, Murphy kept his hands close to himself and eyed it. He didn't take just yet, instead looking up and meeting her eyes, "And if I take it back, what are you going to send the dead back to God with?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "I don't want to have to..." She trailed off lamely, looking down at the ground. She understood that somehow, she was the one that was better equipped to handle the walkers. It was after some biting at her lip and looking unsure of herself that she finally nodded and moved to tuck the knife in her waistband as she had been taught back at the prison.

"Sorry if I bothered you when you were praying. I just haven't seen anybody do it in a long time." She had picked up on the fact that she had distracted him and felt bad for doing it. He was clearly a religious man and she knew better than to bother someone when they were speaking to the Lord. She had just gotten a little taken up in the moment, that was all. Not that she was going to say so, because it would make her look like a kid.

She hadn't seen anyone pray in a long time? That was even more of a shame than her not being told how badass she was. Murphy shrugged a shoulder and let his left hand rest over his stomach, fingers tapping his soaked shirt in an idle manner.

"Well, if you ever want to pray, I don't mind doing it with you. You aren't Catholic, are you?" The touching of his shoulder made him feel like she was used to holding on to others when they prayed. He didn't know a lot about other faiths, but he thought that might be a Baptist or Lutheran habit. It certainly wasn't Irish-Catholic.

She shook her head at his question, and didn't elaborate on the religion she had been brought up on. "Labels don't matter much anymore," she explained instead, smiling as she turned to lead the way through the trees. They'd need to keep walking and try to find shelter so they could dry off, or at least keep from getting more soaked.

"Things are so bad where I'm from, I think people are too afraid to let themselves believe and pray. Too many bad things happen and it's easy to think God isn't listening anymore. But he is, otherwise things would be a whole lot worse."

She tried to imagine a place that wasn't infested with walkers, a place where everyone could live without having to be in constant survival mode. A place where children could be innocent and no one had to live their entire lives in fear of what would happen next. She had that kind of life growing up, but she was so far removed from that life that it all felt like a fairytale now.

"It's not about labels, it's about honoring God in the way you were raised," he disagreed amiably, falling in just behind and to the side of where she walked. "Different people have different beliefs is all. I respect that."

He went quite after a moment. Listening to her. It sounded like she was really used to living this way. "So... are you from around here, then? This is... normal for you?

She really wanted to argue that she always tried to honor God the way she was raised to, but felt that someone who had just taken down two walkers like that probably wasn't someone God favored and didn't have any room discussing what they believed. She swallowed her words about her faith and stuck to talking about a plan of action. That was what needed to be done, anyway. She wasn't used to being the leader, and it left her quiet for a few moments while she tried to figure out what to do.

"I'm from Georgia, but I've got no idea where we are now." And that scared her, not knowing. She had no idea how she got in that thing she woke up in, or where they currently were. She had hoped to run into someone that knew, but understood that wasn't going to happen.

"Our best bet is to find some kind of town or something. If there's a gas station, there's maps and things like that. Food maybe, too. Dry shirts if we're lucky. We can figure things out from there."

Georgia was a long way from where Murphy had been. And this place didn't look a thing like it, either. So they weren't in Georgia and they weren't where he and Connor had been. That narrowed the possibilities down by maybe two percent.

"Got any idea where a town might be?" he asked, rubbing a finger under his lower lip, shoulders hunching a little as he took a look around them. She was leading and he was fine following, but he'd been assuming she knew where she was heading. If this place was new to her, then that wasn't the case. "Or we just walking and praying God sends us a sign?"

"I'm hoping God sends a sign before bad luck sends us more walkers." Her answer was almost dismissive as she stopped and looked up to try and figure out if she recognized anything. These trees were all wrong, it didn't look anything like the ones outside the prison after she and Daryl went on the run. Not that trees could be familiar in a unique sort of way, but she knew they weren't ones native to the areas she was used to.

She was quiet and thoughtful as she looked around, up until her eyes caught on to a sign of something. Giving out a triumphant little sound, she hurried over to point out what she had seen.

"People've been through here. Look!" There were footsteps in the mud, a whole trail of them coming and going. The steps were a good enough distance apart to tell it wasn't the sort of shuffling walkers would do, which meant they belonged to actual people. And some of the plants had been cut through and were disturbed, as if people had been walking through them in an attempt to find berries in the bushes.

"We follow these tracks, we'll be somewhere in no time." The smile she gave him was bright and promising, filled with hope that whoever the tracks belonged to, that it was someone peaceful.

The rain was coming down hard enough that Murphy wouldn't have been able to see that kind of trail without her pointing it out. Had the rain not been coming down, he probably would have recognized it as a path people used. It had been a long time since he'd been in Ireland and on the farms and sheep fields. The whole tracking a trail thing was something he'd have to re-learn.

But he met her smile with one of his own, "Hallelujah. Looks like God's smiling on us today. Maybe he'll see fit to guide us to some cigarettes sometime soon, too." Murphy crossed himself for good measure, casting his eyes upwards in genuine thanks to the good Lord above.

It felt like it'd been an hour since he last lit up and whoever had grabbed him and his weapons had also taken his smokes. He hadn't gone that long without one in the last fifteen years unless one counted the time he was sleeping.

"A religious man with a vice." Beth gave him a smirk and rolled her eyes, laughing softly. "Sounds about right. Better hope we find a gas station, then."

Feeling empowered by all she had done so far that day, she took the lead once again, hand hovering at her side so she could quickly pull out the knife if she needed to. She was quiet so she could try and hear the sound of walkers over the rain, and it felt like they walked for an incredibly long time before there was a city wall up ahead.

She stopped a good distance away and just looked up at it. Climbing wasn't something she was skilled at doing. They were either going to have to walk around until they found a gate or an entrance of some kind, or hope the wall had holes somewhere they could crawl through.

"A bar would be better," he replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I could use a fucking drink that isn't the Great Flood come again."

She fell silent after that, though, and Murphy did as well. It gave him time to think. He didn't like that part so much. Because when he got to thinking, his mind went straight to Connor. And then he was worrying. His brother had to be around somewhere. So where Connor was, Murphy needed to be.

He was surprised she stopped when she did. There was a wall. A big wall. Which meant people like as not. And it was one of them thick ones like a person found on a really important or rich estate meant to keep the riff-raff out. So good chances were there was a decent home behind it.

And he couldn't believe he was saying it, but... "We have rope. Might be helpful in getting us over."

"If you can get us over the wall with it, I'll find us a bar." She hadn't ever been to one, and figured the country club didn't count. She needed to get in all kinds of new experiences, so why not visit a bar?

She made her way over to stand behind him, placing both of her hands on his shoulders. "You know how to use that rope?" It was a tease, and she guided him to move forward by gently pushing on his shoulders. She had faith that he'd get them both inside, and didn't mind sitting back to let him take the lead on this one. She was exhausted and really needed to take a minute or two to catch her breath.

Murphy smiled nervously, letting the backpack drop off his shoulders so he could get to the rope. At her question, he shrugged, looking down. Smile slipping into a frown. Frustration obvious as he pulled the stupid rope out.

"Connor's better with it," he said to explain his suddenly sullen mood. "My brother. I'm not sure how well I can do with it. But maybe, if we could find something to tie it to, we could try and throw it over? Make a grappling hook or something?" At that, he bit his lower lip and looked up at her. Seeking her approval since, as far as he was concerned, she was the one most experienced with their current situation.

"You still got your brother?" She looked a little awestruck by that, and didn't bother hiding the sadness that came over her face. She missed Shawn so much sometimes, but she tried not to think about him too much so it never got painful. She didn't know many siblings that got to stay together where she was from. Daryl had lost Merle, she and Maggie had lost Shawn, and even she and Maggie had been separated eventually. She could only hope that Carl and Judith got to stay together after everyone at the prison went on the run.

"You're lucky to have him. Even if he ain't here with you right now."

She realized then that he was looking to her for approval for his plan, and she smiled, turning to look over at the nearest tree. It was high enough to provide some cover if walkers did show up, and some of the branches extended out right near the wall. She tipped her head up to look at those branches, then looked back over at him, silently gesturing for him to look up too. It wasn't the best place to toss a rope but maybe if they got it to stay they could climb up and just jump over.

The other choice she could think of was looking to see if there were any bricks raised up over the others that they could tie the rope around. She wasn't sure if that would hold their weight and she knew she didn't want to fall off the wall and wind up hurting her back on top of all her other injuries.

"Course I got my brother," Murphy mumbled, offended at the idea that he wouldn't. As if they could be apart for any real length of time. As if either of them could live without the other.

Shaking that thought away - Connor was alive. He'd know it if he wasn't. - Murphy slung the backpack with the rest of the supplies back over his shoulders and started unwinding the rope. The wall was decently high. He was guessing twenty or thirty feet. The tree she was looking at had a few branches high enough up that if they could get there, they could secure the rope there and then use it to climb down the wall on the other side.

After some consideration, he looped the rope across his chest and headed over to start climbing, "Keep an eye out, aye?"

"Be careful," she insisted as he climbed, and stood at the base of the tree to keep an eye out for walkers. It had been quiet so far, and she had become accustomed to thinking too much quiet wasn't ever a good thing.

"Last thing we need is you fallin' and busting something that can't be easily fixed without a doctor."

She probably sounded older than she looked saying that, like some sort of mother hen type. She just didn't want him hurting himself, because she had seen first hand what medical care without a doctor close by was like. Even care with a doctor around wasn't what it should've been, due to a lack of tools and medicine. Murphy didn't want to fall and break an arm or a leg, because she would've been the one to bandage it up.

"I'll be fine," he called back, annoyance in his voice. He was perfectly fine climbing. He'd climbed a lot of trees. And other shit. Granted, he usually had Connor there to back him up and help steady him, but it wasn't like he needed his brother for shit like this. ~~He just needed him for practically everything else.~~

Murphy got up far enough to see over the wall and was surprised to see that more than just an estate lay beyond it. He laughed down at Beth, "Well fuck me... There's a whole fucking city back there! Looks like the power's out. Got no lights."

The rope got looped over the branch he was straddling, tied securely, and then tossed over the wall. Murphy tested it with a couple yanks before waving Beth up, "Get on up here, lass. You can go first."

Not used to being called lass, she smiled to herself and attempted to climb the tree as quickly as possible. It was difficult for her to do, not having the same sort of upper body strength a man did, but she managed well enough. She only slid downward once, and managed to catch herself before it was an accident.

"I'm coming!" she made sure to let him know, just in case he saw her struggling and thought she was too weak to make it up on her own.

When she got up to where he was, it took some shifting and moving around him carefully to get to where she could use the rope. She was tired, but didn't dare stop to catch her breath. All she gave herself time to do was look up at him, serious about what she was saying.

"When we get down there, you stay close to me. That place doesn't look like anyone's been there in a long time." Longer than there were walkers out ruining everything, she thought. That part was worrying her, because what kind of place was this?

"You don't know where walkers are gonna pop out of. We've got to move fast, but careful."

Her soft spoken instructions out between them, she moved to scale down the rope carefully. She definitely didn't have the arm strength to do it properly, and wound up sliding down until she hit the side of the wall and slid down the rest of the way, giving her hands rope burns.

Murphy cringed at her slide downward. She clearly didn't know how to use a rope. Unfortunately the rope was going to end up sacrificed because they wouldn't be able to cut it down or untie it so it could come with them. But hopefully it would go relatively unnoticed by the zombies. And if not, hopefully they weren't smart enough to use it.

Once he'd slid down and joined her - with a lot more skill and grace, he let out a held breath and came up close behind her, "You think they'll be inside here?"

"I know they'll be inside here. They're everywhere." She wanted to stop and take a minute to bandage her hands but knew they didn't have time to do that. It would have to wait until they found someplace safe enough to set up for the night. If Murphy was lucky, it would be a bar.

"Let's go this way," she brought out the knife as they walked and held it tight in her hands, just so she'd be ready when there was a fight with walkers. "And keep an eye out for any sign of other people. A place this quiet might be cleared out. That means we're intruding, and some people don't take kindly to that."

"That can wait a minute," Murphy waved the orders away as he grabbed at her elbow. He could see some blood on one of them. He knew she'd had a bad time going down the rope, but bleeding was more than just a bad time. "Let me have the knife for a second."

She stopped walking and looked at his hand on her elbow. Not wanting to rock the boat, she handed over the knife to him. It was his, and she figured he could probably use it better than she could right now. "Are you sure you only want it for a second?"

March Test Drive Meme

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