Room 508, Tuesday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was hunched over her computer, muttering to herself. "Raven, what the hell? Don't wander off! No, get back--Dante, how do you have dysentery? Again?! No, I am not stopping this car, there are too many--Dammit, Ringo, how did you break your arm?! Were you AT-ing during the zom--DANTE YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE, YOU JERK! Anders, you're a goddamn magic-user, heal somebody! OH MY GOD, DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS CAR AROUND AND DRIVE BACK TO THE NUKES, SO HELP ME!" A moment of quiet and then, "Hey! Somebody stole my last battery!"

Someone had discovered Organ Trail on Facebook. And had foolishly decided to play using the names of her friends. And had nearly decided to give up on this carful of people and try again. Surely Kira and Ezra would be more sensible during the zombie apocalypse.

"Raven! I said not to wander off! Great! Now you're dead and I have to start over!" Kathy didn't believe in leaving anyone behind. Even in the pixelated apocalypse.

[Open! Link to the conversation with Dante]

Comments

[soniaroadsqueen]

"But there are zombies out there." Duh, Kathy. "It would be really bad to get bit, right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's also really bad to starve to death," Kathy pointed out. "Also, you just started the game without getting any supplies at all, so you don't have ammo to shoot the zombies off while scavenging. Or spare tires. Or med kits. And now I'm dead and we didn't even make it to the first pit stop." She shook her head. "This is why I get to be in charge during the zombie apocalypse."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"And how far did you get the first time you played this?" Ringo asked suspiciously.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Texas," Kathy deadpanned. "But then again, I remembered to start with a car full of supplies."

And had, you know, grown up playing the original Oregon Trail and knew the basics of the game.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"How far is that?" Look, America was big. Ringo felt like she knew a ton of geography just knowing where New York was from the island.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Almost 2600 kilometers," Kathy said. Which, you know, didn't really help much in game terms. "More than halfway to our goal of Oregon."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo pouted. "You probably cheated," she muttered to herself as she quickly doomed a second group of friends to certain death. "Somehow."

[spin_kick_snap]

"How can you cheat in this game?" Kathy asked. "Also you can't use arrows to move, you have to use the WASD keys on the keyboard." Pause. "No, spacebar shoots." Beat. "You can only shoot in a straight line." A moment's silence. "And there's a pause between shots. This isn't a a submachine gun on full auto, you know." Pause. "And everyone's dead."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Because you were distracting me!"

Yeah, Kathy, this was all your fault.

Ringo scowled, quickly starting up a new game. "You be quiet and let me concentrate." Because that was going to go so, so well.

Ringo got starting supplies and shot Kathy a look. "And no snickering."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy raised her hands in surrender. "Sure, sure. Sorry, I thought you were confused when you were hammering on the Enter key expecting something to happen. Clearly that was some masterful strategy I interrupted and not you forgetting to use the spacebar. I'll be quiet now and watch the magic happen."

In fact, she was going to eat some chips, just to keep her mouth occupied. HELPING!

[soniaroadsqueen]

With her face scrunched in concentration, Ringo managed to actually remember which keys to use to do things.

"Wait. How did you break your arm, Kathy?" she muttered at the screen. Then she shot Kathy a dirty look for breaking her arm. "How am I running so low on medkits?"

It'd probably only be another playthrough or two before she was doing the exact same kind of yelling that had drawn her into the room int he first place.

[spin_kick_snap]

See? Kathy had reasons for yelling at imaginary versions of her friends on the computer. Reasons.

"Your terrible driving," Kathy decided immediately. "When you spun out of the way of the zombie, I probably slammed it into the car door and it broke."

Granted, the simplistic animation style didn't even allow for the kind of scene she'd described to even happen, but ha! Kathy could make up stuff with the best of them.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"First of all, why am I driving, anyway? I don't even know how to drive." She looked over at Kathy. "Second of all, why weren't you wearing your seat belt?" Even Ringo knew that was important!

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're driving because you put your name in first," Kathy said. "Your little Ringo sprite is the main character, right? So then you're driving."

She wasn't going to mention the seat belt thing because she hadn't come up with a good enough answer yet.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"That's silly. Leaders don't have to drive. They totally get chauffeurs to drive them around." Ringo knew because of TV.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not after the zombie apocalypse," Kathy retorted. "C'mon. Most people have been eaten at this point. It's just the five of us trying to make it to the other side of the country. You, me..." She glanced at the screen to see who else Ringo had named in this iteration of the game.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, Alluka's definitely not driving," Ringo pointed out. "She'd probably be even more lost than I would. Oh!" She shook her head. "Probably Dante was driving. That would totally explain the spinning out thing. He probably thought it would be fun."

"Unless you think Mabel's the bad driver?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're in charge, you're driving," Kathy said, shaking her head. "It's just how it is. Stop blaming your terrible driving on other people."

Beat.

"But yeah. Mabel and Alluka are not allowed to drive."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I'm a good leader," Ringo sniffed, trying to look superior. With predictable results. "I delegate."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Is there something wrong with your nose?" Kathy asked, fighting down a smile. "It's doing something all weird."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I'm looking down on you, duh." Except that, given their height differences, Ringo was still looking up. Stupid Kathy! Be shorter!

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh, that's what you were trying to do," Kathy said, nodding. "It looked like you were doing a bunny impression. Or maybe had to sneeze."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hey! I make for a very cute bunny!"

Not that Ringo had ever actually tried looking like a bunny, but she was sure she'd be cute at it.

[spin_kick_snap]

"You know what's not at all useful during the zombie apocalypse?" Kathy asked. "Bunnies."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"That's enough lip out of you, missy." Ringo watched some questionable TV to be picking up phrases like that. "Where's the button that kicks you out of the car?"