Completlie

On The Dead Roads

"Ah, I see..." Sasha said, taking everything that had just been said.

"Dammit! Elliot should've given me the spear instead of the frigging bat!"
"Well, I'm just going to say that there are, hmm, a lot of things that Elliot could've handed to you but didn't, and there are also, erm, a lot of things you could've stolen at home before you, um, embarked on this journey to nowhere. And you could—"
"Alright! I get your point already! Say, should I volunteer for the bus thing?"
"But you can't drive!"
"Well, it's not like it's only the driver who's risking his life for safety and supplies!"
"Well, what can you do?"
"I can recon—"
"Well, what are the odds that this plan would work, huh?"
"The fence is chainlink. Even if the bat proves worthless to kill the zombies with because of its size, the knife should be able to do so. And, since it's metal, I can just heat it up, and kill the virus. Hopefully. Now, for the second half of the plan, the school bus, like most, is bright yellow. Zombies, according to modern interpretation at least, are easily distracted, like they have ADD or something. Large, brightly coloured things distract humans. Zombies are dead humans, but allegedly have much less focusing ability. Do the math. As for killing them, my bat is aluminum, and a little more than two feet long, so that's decent range. And, like the sword, I can purify it with heat, though to a lesser extent since aluminum apparently has a lower melting point than stainless steel. By how much, I don't know, and I hope I don't need to test it anytime soon. Need any more convincing?
"Fair enough. Here's to God that you don't get killed. Or worse.

"I volunteer. Might as well." Sasha said.

On The Dead Roads

Still here, just busy.
Actually, I'm writing my next post now.

On The Dead Roads

Sasha woke up in her room. Like most other rooms, this one was a repurposed classroom. More specifically, this classroom used to belong to one of her favourite teachers, as if his memory would keep her going during this apocalypse. She took a drink from her water bottle, then grabbed her knife and bat. She shoved her knife into her belt while she holds the bat in one hand. Slowly, she leaves the desk fort she made for herself when she arrived at St. Walkers, being careful not to knock anything over. She looked out the window, and noticed a rather large pileup of zombies against the fence.

"This is not good." Sasha thought.
"Tell me about it, if this keeps up, that fence will be knocked down and boom! Zombies, zombies everywhere." Her mind replied to itself.
"Should I go check it out?"
"I'll say, you better do."

Sasha quickly bolted down the stairs, catching a snippet on the radio about Alcatraz becoming the new safe haven for the apocalypse or something along those lines, and went outside where she noticed Eli working on his bike, as usual, along with Joseph and Noah.

"Well, it looks like you're not the only one who noticed the problem that's probably about to be resolved."
"But they don't seem to be doing anything about it right now."
"Well, they're doing it, and you probably don't have to get involved."
"I'm pretty sure that I have to get involved, otherwise, in your words, 'that fence will be knocked down and boom! Zombies, zombies everywhere.'"
"I'm pretty sure that either way, you can't do anything about it."
"There should be no harm in asking, right?"
"Fine! Have it your way."

Sasha approached the boys and began to speak in her usual deadpan tone.

"Morning boys, I can't help but notice the rather large pileup of zombies over there. I'm wondering if there's anything going to be done about it?"

On The Dead Roads

It's finally done!

Sasha Farliasas

(Replace dress with a black jacket, black jeans, and dark red runners.)
5'7", 136 pounds.

Age: 18, born January 7th.

Position: Reconnaissance.

Weapon: Baseball bat and survival knife. Or anything else she could get her hands on.

Bio:

Here. (Because it's suprisingly pretty long.)

Sasha's home life was pretty hectic. Divorced parents, with an abusive mother and a non-responsive younger brother. School life was better, but not by much, as she's too shy to interact with other students. She does find some solace among the teachers, but because of their inherent authority over her, she can't really forge a friendly relationship as if she would with another student. The one person who she truly likes being around with as much as he does is her mentally-ill twin brother, Elliot, whose illness alienates him from the student body. This does not bode well for Sasha, who has been described as being similar to him on multiple occasions. Thus she becomes more withdrawn, overthinking everything she might say by holding mental conversations with herself, as an attempt to prevent alienating herself from people because unlike Elliot, Sasha secretly wants to be around people who she can completely trust.

When apocalypse hit, she was preparing for post-secondary education along with Elliot. When her and her family found out in the news that zombies have become rampant, disagreements were all over the place about how to deal with the situation, which culminated into Elliot running away in the night to places unknown, leaving a note and backpack full of starter supplies for Sasha to do the same. Alone and confused, Sasha decides to run to the only place she thinks she could go: St. Walkers, the place where she had just graduated from.

Personality wise, Sasha is intelligent, but introverted. She doesn't like talking to other people which gives people the impression that she's antisocial. She's observant of her surroundings, and puts much thought into her words as she has mental conversations with herself. Outside, she's cold and stoic, inside, conflicted. What most people don't know is that she can be rather eccentric. Her slight facial expressions are key to generalizing what's going on in her mind.

Other: Carries a locket with a photo of herself and her brother. Also, notable things in her bag include a water filter, rope, fire starter, bandanna, first aid kit, compass, duct tape, binoculars, flashlight, water bottle, cutlery, a bowl, and a marker.

On The Dead Roads

Posting CS in the morning.

Wonder.

"So now we have a causality. Presumably less than 24 hours after we woke up, there is already a—"
"Look ahead."
"After I see where the next— ...Oh. My. God."

Sasha stared with disbelief at what she just saw: Alex at the end of the hallway alive.

"He survived that?!" she exclaimed. She froze in her position for a good five seconds before a taser singed the top of her head and she remembered to on keep moving before another taser would do something much, much more devastating.

"He lived, and not only that, he got to the end before any of us did. I wonder how Echo would react to that."
"What is this sorcery?! I honestly thought he was going to die! Not that I actually want him dead, but legit, an electric shock straight to the goddamn chest would've probably killed him either way you slice it! Even if it didn't kill him, he would've probably been knocked unconscious and would've either died by other means anyway! Plus, it would've been difficult for anyone to try to drag him out of this maze of sparks unless Echo is nice enough to turn the tasers off, which obviously won't happen."
"Well, now look, which one of us needs to calm down around here?"
"Shut up! We're talking about a guy who just survived a frapping taser to the chest! I mean, is this even real?! I'm not even going to be surprised that Echo reveals to have slipped hallucinogens in the vents or something. Maybe we did hallucinate Cinia float. But point is: Alex got a mother-frapping TASER. TO THE CHEST. AND SURVIVED."
"So, want to go see if he really is okay?"
"Goddamn straight I wanna see if he really is alright! I wanna see if he really did survive or if he actually did die and but got turned a zombie or something."

Sasha dashed past Cinia as she made her way through the rest of the tasers to meet up with Alex at the door.

"Alex, is that you? Is that seriously you? Are you actually here and alive?"

She put her hand over her face as she lowered her head down. For once, she let her impulses talk.

"I legitimately thought that you were going to die right then and there! The way that taser hit you looked so bad, I seriously thought there was nothing to be done, I thought there was nothing I could do, so I just went onwards, hoping to God that someone else would know how to take care of your situation while I try not to get hurt myself. I just—, I just—..."

She is now tearing up from the emotional pressure. Of course, this cannot be seen as her hand is over her eyes, and her forehead was facing and resting on the doorframe.

"I guess... what I'm trying to say is, are you okay? Like, are you legitimately okay? Like, how do I word this? Uhh... are you sure you're perfectly fine? That hit from that taser just looks so bad, I just wanted to see if you're alright... Are you hurt? Or in pain? There we go, that's what I'm trying to ask, 'are you in pain?' Are you in pain? Just, that shock looked really, really, really, painful and... you can figure out the rest.

She brushed the tears off her eyes and finally faced towards him.

"I'm just relived that you're at least alive. God only knows what I'd do when I found out that it's less than a day since I woke up here and I had to witness someone being killed mere metres away from me..."

She walked in front of Alex and offered her hand to help him up from the ground.

Wonder.

"Vanessa. The girl that just came back."
"Ah. I see."
"And she pissed off Echo. And Echo made us run through a literary reference. For food. The food better be half-decent. At least. "
"Know the reference?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"How did she know then?"
"Touché. Let's see... I don't get the reference."
"You only read the graphic novelization, maybe that scene was cut?"
"Or, it could be that I probably read it a long time ago? Did you take account of that?"
"...Touché. I forgot for a split second that you don't read nowadays as much as you used to."

Sasha walked towards the hallway where the food was allegedly kept. With the tasers.

"Wait. Did Cinia just float?"
"...I think she did it again...and again...and again, I'm pretty sure you just did."
"Vanessa said that Echo based this facility on the Witch and Wizard books... and we just saw someone float..."
"And I'm positive that we don't hallucinate."
"Wai- Wai- Wai- Wait. Wait. What."

Sasha's eyes opened with utter horror.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MIGHT MEAN?!"
"Ok, me, calm down. Maybe Vanessa meant was the facility design and the... I guess I'll call them the tests?"
"BUT WE JUST SAW SOMEONE FLOAT!"
"True, and I don't see a gun that shoots holes that are not bullet holes, and I'm sure the alleged food isn't cake, or a lie, and whether or not Echo is actually an AI is uncertain, though I hope she doesn't flood any of the rooms with neurotoxin, she might use them to threaten someone though... I take my previous statement back... Yes, I do know what this might mean. Why and how though is quite uncertain."

Sasha looked at the tasers shooting electric sparks. "What material do you think your outfit is made of, and how thick is it?"

Sasha felt her dress. "Probably polyester. The dress and leggings, both are decently thick, like, it's not see-through. The shoes, leather."
"...Echo is (mostly) intimidating us. I still advise not to touch the sparks, but I theorize that if you graze a covered part of your body, you'll be fine. I suggest not to test it though, and I don't think that it works on the same area twice since that part of your clothes is probably burnt to a crisp. I neglect to say this, but I theorize that your biggest problem is not necessarily electrocution, but being burned by the heat. Protect your head and arms, and you'll come out alive. Not necessarily 100% A-OK, but alive. "
"Thank you me."

Sasha ran, hopped, crawled, and etc., etc., anything that helps her dodge the tasers until she was about a third of the way through the hall. She turned back for just a second to see Alex hit by a taser. Her face shows nervousness.

"Oh crud. What now?"
"Keep. Going."
"But-"
"You'll end up like him if you stop, and it'll probably be at your head. Echo or someone else will have to deal with him, but it can't be you now. JUST. GO."
"Got it."

She continued down the hall until she's almost caught up to Cinia.

Wonder.

"Noel and Sam. Five. Two more."
"Well, we'll know them soon enough."
"Good point."
"Tap your bed."
"What."
"You called your bed, sure, but then everyone else touched their beds when they called it, so I'm guessing you should too."
"Did Cinia just call a top bunk...even though she has no arms to scale that ladder?"
"She said she wasn't born with them, I'm pretty sure, she knows how to climb a ladder with legs alone. Judging by the...uh...conversation I just heard, Echo did...something to Cinia as well."
"Judging by my perception of Echo, it's not good. Though, I'd pray to God that it's not that bad."

Sasha walked up to the bed under the stairs and touched it.

"Calling this bed again...just in case."

"So, what's your favourite colour?"
"A pretty irrelevant answer if you ask me. Besides, I wouldn't know. I don't know anything anything about myself other than 'my name is Sasha Farliasas and I'm 16 years old.'"
"And you know that—"
"That is not completely confirmed. You know that."
"Would you at least think that it could be real?"
"Already at the back burner."
"So, favourite colour? I suggest red, just because."
"But Noel and Sam already picked red. I don't think it's a good idea to roll with red."
"Fine. Try blue, or perhaps green , or orange. Actually no, this is more complicated than I thought, why do people ask about their favourite colours anyway?"
"Exactly, it's completely trivial."
"Well, since you are clearly bored of the question, what do you think we should say?"
"I got it. Ask them their expectations in this facility."
"What. Let me reinstate to you that, we were here, we had our memories wiped, we were in this facility together and expected to forge a strong friendship with seven other people, you already know what they'll say, so what's the point of asking?"
"Well, if Echo said that we are supposed to make a strong bond, asking what everyone else thinks of the facility makes a decent starting point before Echo unleashes whatever horror she has in store for us in which we would all probably be forced to bond together either to rebel or to at least get out of this situation with all of our sanity as intact as possible. Plus, in theory, it makes a pretty interesting conversation."
"Alright, go for it."

Sasha turned to face the others.

"Since we are all in this facility together, most likely against our will, our memories wiped, and now we're told that we're supposed to bond together as the best of friends like we allegedly once were, what do you think is in store for us in this facility? For me, I think our experience will be...bittersweet. It seems, judging by the quality of beds that I'm seeing here, it seems that we're going to have decent care at least, though something tells me that something bad is going to happen. I don't know what or when, but somewhere along the line, I have a slight hunch that something unpleasant is going to happen somewhere in this facility, and we are left to deal with it. That's my take on it anyway, what's yours?"

Wonder.

"So, the armless girl's name is Cinia. Three. Four more."
"She's quite happy for someone who's probably been kidnapped, had her memories wiped, and placed here against her will. Actually, no, she almost looks like she wanted to be here."
"Obviously. Not just to me, but probably to everyone else as well."
"So, Alex and Cinia, they just introduced themselves, will you?"

Sasha sighed.

"I guess. If what Echo said is true and we all are the best of friends once, interacting with them shouldn't be dangerous even though it really feels like it."

She was about to introduce herself until Alex interjected about Cinia's lack of arms. Sasha shot him a glare.

"Oh yeah, why doesn't she have arms?"
"The most obvious answer is a birth defect. Tied for the second-most obvious answer is either an accident, or a required amputation. Either way, one does not simply just ask a person who you have just acquainted with about their...deformities. Though, judging by how cheery the girl is, she should be able to shrug it off."
"He does seem to regret his interjection though, so he is a normal functioning human being with feelings."

"I'm Sasha..." She finally said slowly, her face looking a bit nervous.

"Why so slow?"
"Can't you see? I'm trying to make an optimal first impression here."
"Don't you see? Alex and Cinia seem to be rather amiable from the looks of it. Relax a little."

Even with her mind trying to reassure itself, Sasha still feels rather nervous.

"As for where we are?...I don't know. God only knows— or rather Echo...Though Cinia has a point, this place is rather clean...considering how just about everything here is white."

"I wonder, could I have talked about something better?"
"Not necessarily better, but I know something."

"I'm 16. How about you guys?"

"There, that should get something going."

Wonder.

"Two doorways. Which one?"
"The one where the crowd is going, of course."
"'Of course'? Elaborate."
"If I went with the lone and armless girl, I'd be forced to talk to her, since she wouldn't notice anyone else with her. However, if I went with the others, who I might guess have already been acquainted with each other a little bit, they'd ignore me in favour of the others, as I'm a complete stranger to them. I could go on and on about why I'm going to the left door instead of the right, but you know me, so I'm not going to."
"Ah, I see what you mean. Well, let's quit dilly-dallying for a bit and let's move forward."

Sasha walked into the next room after the others did.

"What is this place?"
"You said it yourself earlier, 'this is some kind of facility.'"
"Not that, like, we went from a blank, empty room, to a room with buttons, to here, which looks like a university classroom."
"And how do you know that this looks like it's from a university, you're only sixteen."
"I'm 16?...Well, to answer your second question, I don't remember...I just knew..."

A video played. The video was composed of several images of children playing together. The strangest thing was that one of was unmistakably a younger version of Sasha. As in, Sasha looked happy playing with these people, implying that she did go out and made friends at one point.

"That cannot be me, those photos must be edited, that cannot be me, that doesn't even look like me!"
"That's probably the biggest lie I've ever heard from you today. That is you, that is me. You're in denial, you're denying the reality of these photos."
"Of course I'm denying these photos as real! Can you see me frolicking out there with this many people?! Of course not!"
"Of course not. Not today, no you wouldn't be, but I know, you know, deep down, we both know, the events of these photos are real, they did happen."

All the while, a voice on the intercom made a mini-speech about how everyone here were the best of friends before they got here, and how such a relationship needs to be forged again in this facility. Sasha's face grew into a slight scowl.

"How dare that woman—"
"Echo. 'That woman' is named Echo."
"And how do you know that?"
"I heard a voice while we were asleep. I believe it's the same voice as what you just heard. I can't remember the entire thing, but one of the things I can pick out was "—you can call me Echo."
"Point is, how could this woman— Echo — say that I've been friends with all these people? That I cared for these people as much as they cared for me? I don't remember having friends. I don't remember trying to make friends. I don't even remember that I wanted another person around me. Echo's right, it does seem impossible. No, it is impossible, I recognize none of these people, and she expects me to befriend all of them?!"
"Why are you so angry?"
"l...don't know...I guess...I'm not angry, actually, I believe I just get tense when I have to deal with other people. Obviously, as with everything else, I don't know why it is."
"Think of it this way: what if...all of them were Raya?"

Sasha smiled a little bit in amusement.

"I doubt that six people here can all be named "Raya." If that were the case, then my name have to be also Raya, since it's odd to have six people sharing the same name and then one person having a different name."

Her face dropped back into a neutral state.

"But now we have a lot of questions to think about: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? Who are these people around me? If we all mean so much to each other, why don't I feel it? Why do we have to befriend each other again? But more importantly, who is Raya?"

A door opened to a room, a bedroom, as it seems. The amount of beds make it appear
that it seems to fit all of the people in here. Sasha saw a magenta-haired girl call out the bed she wants, at the top of the stairs. Afterwards, her name popped out on the side, effectively labelling the bed. She also noticed a boy getting out of one of the beds.

"Vistra. So, that's her name."
"There's another one. Judging by the nameplate on his bed, his name is Alex."
"Well, that's two names known..."

She recounted the people around her.

"...four more names to go, plus the armless one, that's five. This also disproves the 'everyone is Raya' theory you had earlier."
"Whatever. Choose your bed."
"Huh?"
"It's first come, first serve, call your bed, it's now or never. I'd suggest you pick the bed right underneath the one Vistra picked, or maybe a top bunk, for maximum security."
"Alright, if you say so."

"I call the bed underneath...if that's okay with everyone else..." Sasha said.