Strawberry425 — Roleplayer Guild

3 DAYS AGO

“Quite down, boy!.”

Kate’s eyes popped open to the sound of Uncle Charles screaming his head off at Hershey. Bolstering herself on an elbow, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself curled in a snug ball with Selina, the latter of whom was still deep in sleep; someone, her Aunt, maybe, had generously covered the girls in a comfy thick , baby blue colored throw. She couldn’t recall when either had fallen asleep, but groggily remembered that they had been watching old reruns of Courage the Cowardly Dog, a favorite of both girls’ in their childhood. Some adults they were.

“Uncle, what’s wrong?”

“The damn dog won’t stop barking.” Uncle Charles was shaking his head furiously. The veins on the side of his head were bulging, and she wondered for how long Hershey had been yodeling out the window.

Uncle Charles was a short plump man, with a shiny balding scalp, and a beer belly so big it hung over his belt like a separate entity. He was the very opposite of Kate’s father, his brother. If Kate remembered correctly, and she believed that she did, there was a time when, exempting height, both brothers had been of similar stature and Uncle Charles had, had a full head of hair. But those days were long gone, and since retreating to Atlanta he had acquired a more general American phenotype.

There were only three things that had stayed constant about Uncle Charles: his height, his New York accent, and his typically easy going personality. Therefore, by deductive reasoning, Kate’s chocolate lab must have been barking for quite a while to get on Uncle Charles nerves like this.

“Shut em’ up, Katie,” Aunt Racheal, on the other hand, was a native born Georgian. Uncle Charles and Aunt Racheal had met each other when he’d moved up from New York to attend university in Atlanta. After five long years of dating, they’d married, settled down, and produced two of the finest boys that had ever lived in the finest city on the face of the planet, or so Aunt Racheal thought. It was no secret that Charles despised Atlanta; the family vacations to New York had been extensive, which Aunt Racheal and her two sons loathed. They just weren’t New York material.

After the boys had grown up and left, Uncle Charles had found his vacations to New York becoming sparse and far apart. He hadn’t seen his favorite nieces and nephews in years, and had jumped at the opportunity to host Selina and Kate by his house for a week.

“Katie,” Uncle Charles voice jostled Kate out of her thoughts. Hershey was still yapping away, sounding more and more aggravated with each bark. Whimpers began infusing themselves in his desperate shouts, and Kate found herself unable to calm him with soft words and gently pats. Ultimately, she resorted to waking Selina, the animal whisperer of their small family of three, soon to be four.

“Hmm?” Selina spluttered awake, and Kate affectionately (and somewhat grossly) thumbed away a thin glob of spit that had leaked down her wife’s chin.

“Babe, Hershey won’t stop barking.”

Rubbing her eyes groggily, Selina squinted in the direction of the one year old pup, who was beginning to sound more and more like a broken record.

“What’s the matter with you?” she grumbled. The dog had quieted down some, now that the boss was awake. He still whined with an urgency Kate had never heard before, and even Selina seemed unnerved by his behavior.

“He’s scared of something,” Kate said matter-of-factly to her Uncle, who just rolled his eyes and huffed with exasperation. Minutes ticked by, and finally an hour passed, and still Hershey remained antsy. He had refrained from whining, only to begin methodically pacing back and forth by the house’s front windows.

And then he stopped and stared at the door and the world seemed to be dipped in quiet. Kate couldn’t understand the feeling of morose that pierced the air just then like a dagger through water. But she knew the others felt it too.

Selina’s grip around her shoulders tightened, and for a few moments her soft palm rested on the small nearly nonexistent bump on Kate’s stomach.

Aunt Racheal’s eyes look like round blue saucers on her face, too large for her small head and dainty nose.

Uncle Charles had retreated to the recliner to watch football reruns, but had muted the television, staring fervently in the direction of the dog.

Everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

Thud, thud, thud, thud…

NOW
LOCATION: EMORY UNIVERSITY, CAFATERIA

“Cox Hall.” Selina snorted. Her voice echoed throughout the airy cafeteria bouncing off the walls and singing Kate and Selina’s utter loneliness. Selina was very literally beginning to believe that they were the only humans left on the face of the planet. Everyone had evacuated, and the University was devoid of life.

“The reporter,” Kate murmured, eyebrows knitting together with anxiety, “She said they’d be here. That help would come here. But…” she raised her head and glanced around the empty dining area, “…Everyone is gone.”

“Come here baby,” Selina said, patting her lap. When she had made herself comfortable, Selina wrapped her long arms around Kate, holding on to her tightly. They were keeping each other together.

A high pitched whimper arose from under the table the girls we’re sitting by.

“Quiet, Hershey.” The dog's big greenish-yellow eyes stared up apprehensively from underneath the table. Eyebrows knitting together, Selina reached out a hand to pat the dog, keeping the other firmly wrapped around Kate.

"Sorry, buddy. We're scared too." She knew he wouldn't, couldn't, understand what she was saying, and somehow, that made things worse. She could comfort and reassure Kate with words, but Hershey could only understand tone. And even then, those intelligent eyes and far-hearing ears could probably figure the disastrous things that were occurring outside.

Someone had boarded up the windows of Cox Hall’s dining area, probably in anticipation of protecting incoming survivors. But, whoever had done it was either dead, or had left a long time ago, maybe the day they had barricaded everything.

When Selina and Kate had arrived the sprawling university had been left in abandon, much to their dismay. And while the windows were soundly secured, the doors had been left open for any stranglers. It had been Selina's lone job to blockade the doors with various tables and chairs, refusing to even allow Kate to lift a finger to help. The girls had been weary of leaving Uncle Charles house.

But the blood. The blood splattered on the walls was unbearable.

Opening the door had been a huge mistake.

One of those....things, had stumbled inside and sunken its yellowing teeth into Uncle Charles neck before he had even been able to respond properly. Kate and Selina had tried their very best to save Aunt Rachael. But she wouldn't leave his side. Selina had pried Kate away and they, along with Hershey, had escaped with Uncle Charles's old sedan, taking several weapon like sports equipment with them. She had very sparsely packed for both girls. It had just been a matter of throwing a few needed things into her bags, before speeding off. She would not have waited for more of those things to flood into the house. They had left behind everything else...their suitcases, containing most of their clothing, and poor Aunt Rachael, kneeling by Uncle Charles body, knees stained in a pool of red blood.

Selina felt horrible about the whole situation. She didn't even know if Aunt Rachael was alive, and she knew it had been bothering Kate for...well since they had left.

A broadcast had echoed from the radio telling the girls' to make their way to Emory University. The road had been filled with perils, and Selina had found herself more than once veering off the road to avoid hitting one of those monsters.

When they had arrived, the University had been in a state of disarray. Certain areas were boarded, whereas others remained wide open. In those places, the decaying human-beasts roamed, moaning and walking into walls. Hershey had guided them to the cafeteria, his keen senses tell him exactly which paths to avoid.

When they had settled, upon observation, the more urban area of Atlanta, a small distance away, seem sedentary. The girls had only passed one night in the University; Selina had made the laborious journey (by stairs) to the roof of the building. There, she had surveyed the skyscrapers just miles away. Oddly, only a few lights per skyscraper had been on; and not a stir of the life and noise that accompanied a big city.

Kate was holding her head now, and shiny wet streaks were leaking down her cheeks.

“Oh, don’t cry, babe.” Selina herself was trying very hard not to cry. She kept rubbing Kate back and belly in comforting circles, trying hard to lighten any stress. Stress, if she remembered correctly, was not good for the mother, nor the baby.

The girls were at the back of the cafeteria, plastered against the wall, as far away from the boarded up windows as possible. They were near an outlet that was, miraculously, still giving electricity. In fact, for now, the whole building seemed alive, and the dining room lights hadn’t given out on them yet.

They had a small radio plugged in the outlet. Nothing was broadcasting, but they had turned the channel onto the news. Every now and then, it would frizzle and Selina’s heart would race with the hope that the news station would broadcast some sort of helpful information. But it never happened.

NOW
JACK, JEM, AND SCOUT

Scout’s hand was curled in a small fist on her lap. Her father had never driven this fast before. It was nauseating, and to make matters worse, Scout had already come down with vicious cold. She had only been on the verge of getting better when he father had ripped her out of bed (still in her pajamas), and sped to school to pick Jem up. Both children hadn't had a bath or fresh change of clothing in three days. What in the world was happening?

All Scout knew was that Jack and Jem seemed to know very well what was happening, while she remained in the dark about everything.

Every now and then, they would pass a person ambling down along the highway. Scout couldn’t understand why the road was so empty, or why people had abandoned their vehicles. But she did understand that these people were sick. Their eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets, and their flesh seemed to peel from their bones. It was gross, and Scout had tried her very best not to look at them.

“Daddy,” she whined begrudgingly.

“Yes, baby.” Scout could hear the forced politeness in her father’s voice, feel the fakeness of his cheesy smile, one she could only see in the rearview mirror.

“Play, music. It’s too quiet an’ I don’t feel good.” The radio had been frizzing irritably since they had first sat their asses in the car. It was on their regular station; Scout was sure it was, she had seen the numbers.

“Shut up, dummy,” Jem grumbled irritably from the front passenger seat, “Don’t you see the station ain’t working?”

“Shut up, Jem.” That was her father. She could see Jem scowl from her place in the middle seat in the back. His face spoke several degrees of ‘stung’ but Scout thought he rightly deserved it. Who did he think he was, trying to tell her what to do?

“Listen, kids,” Jack sighed loudly, “We’re heading to Emory University. That’s where the radio said to go. They’ll find us there…” he began talking to himself, muttering things Scout didn’t understand. She just reverted to staring out the window, hoping this nightmare would be over soon.

Sixsmith said
.Also, as you all probably aren't as oblivious and dense as I am you probably have already noticed, but omg the LGBT representation in this RP is astounding. You guys are lovely and I'm not alone. <3 *Goes to cry happily in his bed*

McHaggis said
It warms my cold butch heart. Especially Strawberry's characters <3

Awww thanks Haggis <3

But yeah, all of the characters so far have made me reallllllyyyyy happy. Especially since I'm a bisexual WOC. I crave diversity, and many people, even if they are LGBT choose not to create characters that represent them in rp. Personally, I can see myself with a man or a women in my future ,and I wanted characters that represented me, which I have so rarely made in the past. Also, its iffy; if one out of every ten people you meet is LGBT then I feel like rps should have us more; we're pretty normal. And I don't blame straight people for not rping or writing about us. For some, it's hard to put themselves in the shoes of something they feel so alienated from, especially since the media implies same-sex relationships are so vastly different from "normal" relationships, and that bisexual women are sexual fiends that prey on innocent virgin girls and "turn them".

It's also sad that many LGBT people chose to rp a character of the opposite gender, so the character is straight, and the rper can have a romantic interest of their gender preference, just to avoid being judged. I've found, recently, if at least one brave person takes the step to introduce an LGBT character, then other people will shyly join in. The fact that out of those of you who applied, many of you chose to go with characters who are things other than straight, makes me super happy. It also makes me happy people chose to go with straight characters. Like, yassssss, let's represent the real, real, world here. Diversity. But anyway, I'm ecstatic.

On another note, at this point if you asked me, I'm really craving a girlfriend right now; went to a restaurant today, hot, hot, hot, hot waitress, and I kept giving her the eye. God, she was a hottie. And at one point, I think she realized I was checking her out, and kept looking back to see. Such a hottie.

Okay, but enough of that. I decided to play it safe and study. Midterm went alright. I'm going to write up a post now. We can get started. Also to answer your question Sixsmith, I think when we've got a nice established group, I'll be open to more characters from our present rpers. It would be weird if we didn't introduce new faces at some point. And eventually, we'll open back up to new rpers.

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