[OOC] Shelter: A Zombie Survival Story

A Z O M B I E S U R V I V A L RP
A Z O M B I E S U R V I V A L RP

[mickilennial]

This is NOT happening.

Objectively speaking here, as the most accomplished person at Stockbridge Academy, the entire prospect of ‘zombie apocalypse’ is nigh impossible. It’s fiction. Allegories for society, politics, public health, and the distrust between people in general. It’s not real. It can’t be real. I wish it wasn’t real. But it is.

I should’ve known it was bad when the teachers told us we weren’t going home two weeks ago. That CDC had flagged our homes as host to a dangerous pathogen that needed to be rooted out. Our rights went out the window from there and the school went into super lockdown–the state of emergency that investors and the school board signed off on when the point of discussion about school shooters came up. Turns out, a school shooter would be a good distraction right about now.

Not that they would do much against the entire 9th Grade Class being infected.

We were in the auditorium when it became clear that somehow, that sickness the CDC was worried about decided not to be outside anymore. I’ve never seen someone die before, let alone seen a half-a-dozen 9th graders turn into feral animals in a snap. Mr. Toolsey was an idiot and nobody (and I mean nobody) liked him, but nobody deserves to go out like that. After seeing all of that? Well, everyone ran. The infected got who they got and I’m still thinking about all of the teachers that followed in Mr. Toolsey’s example and those that didn’t try to protect any of us. Hard to blame anyone in a state of emergency, but now I know Mr. Jeffries is willing to throw us on the floor to save his own skin.

Not that I did much better. I found the first classroom to hide in and didn’t look back. A small handful of students are here with me and I can’t even fathom what we are all going to do.

All I know is we have to find a way to reverse the lockdown and get out of here. Even if the world is fucked, I’d rather be out there than stuck in here.
_{- Hera González-Jones}

For the last three decades, the Stockbridge Academy for Higher Learning & the Arts has been the pride and joy of the State of Michigan.

Initially seen as just another roundabout attempt at creating another new age private school to prey upon the growing dissent toward public schooling, Stockbridge has become a name that is known nationwide despite its humble roots in the folksy suburbs of eastern Michigan.

Perhaps a lot of the school’s success has been on its investors, but the current Principal and Headmaster, William R. Nielsen, Jr., insists that the prestige comes from the success of its students and not that of its board of investors that have helped provide most of the top shelf academic facilities. A distinct athletics program has even allowed students interested in golf, football, basketball, soccer, hockey, baseball, and softball to have the opportunity to play their sport of choice and compete competitively at a state-level. A few state championships deck the trophy case at the front of the main building before the administrative offices.

As of the present date, Stockbridge provides quality education for grades six-to-twelve with various outreach programs, partnerships, and scholarships. You do not need to be “the best of the best” to get into Stockbridge. All you need is potential to show the world that the best was inside you all along. It is for this reason that the teaching staff of the multiple departments are as varied as any other. As a member of this faculty it is your responsibility to bring out the best of your students. Some notable members of this teaching staff have come from the finest universities in the world, though others are from less finer distinctions, of lesser colleges and even community ones. Imperfection can often lead to the best results.

Stockbridge’s facilities are varied, though principally based on a repurposed (and modernized!) structure near the center of the city of Alpena Heights.

As the story goes, Alpena and Alpena Heights transformed from townships to cities in the early sixties, similar to other major fixtures of the downriver area. With a population of around 13,000, The City of Alpena Heights prides itself in keeping itself down-to-earth and locally-grown. Common public areas include a fruit market, older theater (that has since been renovated into a community center), metropolitan park, and a mall. Basically, its the boring picture of the idyllic middle class.

- Shelter is a small group collaborative story focusing on a group of High School Students from Stockbridge Academy as a zombie outbreak occurs at their school at the tail-end of the Michigan Winter Season in 2023.

- In Part 1, players may create characters who are any composition of trope, class, or determination. A fourteen-year-old freshman is just as fair game as a eighteen-year-old senior. Players are encouraged to figure out how their character interacted pre-outbreak.

- The location of Alpena Heights is a fictional determination, but it is loosely based on the metro suburbs of Detroit such as Dearborn Heights, Farmington Hills, Wyandotte, Woodhaven, and Royal Oak.

- Players are expected to be productive and hold each other accountable in terms of activity. The posting expectations is two weeks to maintain activity, though communication of availability is also paramount. GMs do not play by special rules. They are expected to communicate and be active as well.

- Writing Level should be consider middle-of-the-pack Casual. Flexible, but not too time consuming. A focus on character and substance will be more important in character review than extensive composition and exposition.

- Keep drama to the minimum and keep in line with site policy. No Emmanuelle Arsan novels, please.

- Faceclaims are to be based on real actors rather than anime or artistic renditions.

- Applications in OOC in a hider. Accepted ones in CHAR without a hider.

[mickilennial]

Sheet Template is in character's tab. I'll probably finish her when I don't want to die.

[Carlyle]

[mickilennial]

You literally asked!

[Carlyle]

You literally asked!

@TGM

Shh, don't change the narrative.

[mickilennial]

So, right now I'm thinking 5-6 as the hard cap of characters (including me). If we go bigger it might be hard to manage and I have a lot going on IRL to manage a lot. We'll see how I feel.

[skidcrow]

WHAT'S UP MOTHERFUCKERS

[Carlyle]

WHAT'S UP MOTHERFUCKERS

@skidcrow

oh no it's owen

[Lemons]

You thought you could have a Gowi game without me?

That's where you're MISTAKEN

[Carlyle]

Jess

_{17 - Cancer - Senior - 5'2" - Sophia Lillis}

"I thought that life couldn't be any shittier than it already was. I was wrong."

Jess, monologuing in her head

---

Appearance Details

As someone who isn't particularly interested in appearances, Jess isn't much of a standout.

Her attire often consists of anything baggy and/or with long sleeves, such as jackets and sweaters. Some of her peers have attempted to get a rise out of Jess by exclaiming that her family is poor or that she shops at the thrift store, but such words are meaningless to her. Practicality and comfort are more important to Jess than trying to impress others and buying into the next new fad that comes around.

Jess keeps her hair boyishly short, resulting from her dislike of long hair that gets in the way of everything. It once caused her to be mistaken as a boy by an elderly substitute teacher; an incident Jess has yet to live down.

Characterization

When compared to the jocks, cheerleaders and other popular kids of Stockbridge, Jessica Langbroek is rather bog standard. Both of her parents, an on-call firefighter and a late night bartender, were Alpena natives, and chose to stay local. Although she had no control over this decision, Jess felt trapped by it, being forced to grow up in the "shithole of a city" she had come to believe Alpena to be over the years.

With her parents' jobs often keeping them away from home, Jess grew into a socially awkward kid that ate plenty of cheap TV dinners and typically fell asleep to infomercials on the couch. In turn, Jess quickly found herself uninterested in making friends or trying her best in school. She did her own thing, and didn't particularly care what anyone else thought.

In a cruel twist of fate, this outlook on life likely saved Jess' life when the infection found its way into her high school. None of her classmates cared if she lived or died, making it even easier to worm her way out of the chaos without attention.

Character Notes

Family:

- Allison Langbroek: Mother; works late nights bartending for extra cash. Late 30s. Fate is unknown.

- Henry Langbroek: Father; works as a firefighter. Bit of a local celebrity. Mid 40s. Probably dead as a result of his job.

Classmates:

- Aaron West: "If ego was a person, you'd have Aaron."

- Ethan Hubbard: "Seems cool, at least compared to his siblings."

- Hera González-Jones: "Too focused on the future to not be an asshole."

- Quinn Ashburn: "Don't buy into the happy-go-lucky façade."

Inventory

- Wallet, containing identification, loose change, etc.
- Backpack, filled with assorted school supplies
- Apartment keys, labeled with the number 307
- Smartphone, hand-me-down and outdated

---

I'll probably add more to the character info/misc section as needed later on, but the rework of Jess' sheet is finished. [@TGM]

[PatientBean]

Got room for one more?

[mickilennial]

And Kuro laughed at me for not using an interest check.

[Carlyle]

And Kuro laughed at me for not using an interest check.

@TGM

[webboysurf]

What the heck, why not.

Aaron West

_{18 - Ares - Senior - 6’ - Brandon Flynn}

“I’m going to cut you off… I don’t really care, man.”

Aaron, to a partner on a group project

---

Appearance Details

Aaron West stands at a solid six feet even, and weighs anywhere between 170 and 185 lbs depending on how much he’s bulking up for a certain season. He usually has a cocky grin plastered on his face, only to be replaced by a focused stare or cold indifference when it’s called for. He wears his high school varsity jacket with pride nearly anywhere he goes, with the appropriate patches for his roles on the Football, Basketball, and Baseball teams. A closer look reveals that his Varsity jacket is the only thing Aaron keeps pristine: the soles of his shoes have been worn down and smoothed, his jeans are always covered in grass or dirt stains, and his shirts are all older and worn out.

Characterization

Aaron West was supposed to get out of here.

He was always running, from a young age. His parents say it’s because he was a born athlete, but he taught himself everything he knows. He rarely spent time home, his parents both being out working a shift or drinking themselves into a stupor to numb the pain of having to go in the next day. So, Aaron grew up on the local basketball courts, and was signed up for nearly every sports camp and little league team he could be. Anything to make sure he wasn’t home.

It wasn’t until high school Aaron pieced together how bad his home life was. Two parents that hated each other, but were too tired and jaded to seek happiness elsewhere. Besides, why chase a better life when they could just blame their kid? The only times they ever seemed to be interested in him was at the games of his they could make. He could be something one day. He was an investment. Not enough of one to put effort into making sure he stayed on top of his grades and didn’t have to repeat the 8th grade… but an investment nonetheless.

Despite being somewhat popular for being a triple sport athlete, Aaron has earned himself a reputation of being a difficult jerk. He’s been called everything from sardonic (a word he probably doesn’t even know) to downright arrogant and aggressive. His teammates put up with him as much as they can, but Aaron knows they’d never stick their neck out for him if they didn’t have to. At the end of the day, it’s for the best. He doesn’t want to be stuck in Alpena Heights like his parents, and there’s no point in making connections to a place that’ll be in his rearview the rest of his life. Everyone else is just baggage that’ll slow him down.

At least, that’s what he tells himself. It’s easier than admitting his own flaws, or how his devil-may-care attitude has hurt anyone who has tried to get close. Best for his ego to just claim they abandoned him, or that he doesn’t need anyone.

Of course, maybe he would have been something in another world. But here… the only thing Aaron has going for him is he can keep running.

He always keeps running.

Character Notes

- Aaron’s father is Henry West, a used car salesman who works at a dealership near the mall.

-Aaron’s mother is Barbara West, a waitress at a local diner.

-Aaron and his parents are only children.

Inventory

-Smartphone, 2 generations old and with a cracked screen.
-Backpack, half-full since he forgot half his textbooks at home.
-Pack of cinnamon gum
-Keys to his car, a 2012 Hyundai Sonata, which is in the student lot.

---

[Carlyle]

At this rate when are we renaming Stockbridge Pacific Royal

[mickilennial]

I could say something petty but I choose not to because I am a good girl. :)

@webboysurf @Kuro: I like the dynamics you've presented with your characters so far. Without knowing what other character archetypes people are making, I would say I'm pretty excited to see how things play out.

[Carlyle]

@webboysurf

Jess and Aaron's fathers:

[PatientBean]

Quinn Ashburn

_{17 - Libra - Junior - 5'9'' - Sydney Sweeney}

“Oh sweetie, you showed so much spirit! A shame it didn't move you to actually try.”

Quinn, to a student at tryouts

---

Appearance Details

Quinn is 5'9'' and has shoulder-length blonde hair and dark grey eyes. She is often seen wearing trendy clothes or in her cheerleading uniform. She wears make-up in light colors and often wears a silver bracelet on her left wrist (a gift from her late father). Quinn looks like a happy teen roaming the halls, rarely letting the mask fall despite the whirlwind of emotions plaguing her mind.

Characterization

Quinn Ashurn is not a nice person.

Well, that's not 100% true. She tips over 20% at restaurants. She will give to the poor when able. She does her chores without being asked. Despite this, Quinn has a nasty streak in her. To her, it is the price one pays to be on top of the social hierarchy that is high school.

As one of the head cheerleaders on the team, she often has to make decisions on what is done during performances as well as who gets a spot. The power of such decisions has, more often than not, gone to her head and Quinn takes some pleasure in calling the shots.

Quinn does well in school, maintaining a 3.9 GPA and shows genuine promise in math class (though she will never admit it). Her mother is often overbearing and pushes her daughter to excel no matter the cost. Quinn is the youngest of 5 siblings and her older siblings are all out of the house and doing things for themselves, leaving Quinn to handle their mother.

Quinn dreams of going to college out of the country if only to get some distance from her family and this town.

Character Notes

- Quinn's mother works in local government.

-Quinn's older siblings rarely keep in touch, though her closest older sibling, Tracey, reaches out more often than not.

-Quinn dated a member of the football team sophomore year but the two broke up for 'reasons unknown'

Inventory

-Smartphone
-Purse with make-up, mints, keys, pens, mace, tampons, and her wallet.

---

[Zombiedude101]

Is there any possibility you'd be willing to facilitate a player playing as a member of the faculty? Nothing perverse, before people get that impression. I can send you a rough idea of my character if you're not sure.

[Mao Mao]

I would also like to know.