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]

"I don't have to justify myself to someone as insubordinate as you." It was clearly time for a change in tactics.

But she started a new game. And remembered to get starting supplies. And didn't immediately get everyone killed. So, that was a start?

[spin_kick_snap]

It was! EVen Kathy had to agree. "Better," she said, giving Ringo's shoulder a gentle, friendly sneeze. "You still have to make it across all of America, but better!"

Kathy was going to let experience show Ringo that random incidents were just that: random. It didn't matter how well she provisioned; people were still going to get sick, injure themselves, or wander off. It was just how the game ran. But at least now, she was in a position to handle most of it.

Except for the wandering off bits. There was no way around losing someone when the game decided that.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo managed to deal with a couple of random events, and even made some actual progress. She was starting to figure things out.

But when "Kathy" randomly wandered off, Ringo stopped and stared at the screen, then burst out laughing. "I'd totally forgiven you for this run, and now you decide to go off and disappear into the wilderness?"

She rolled her eyes and looked at Kathy. "You're so fickle."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Maybe I thought my odds were better vanishing off in the wilderness by myself." Kathy said, failing to keep a straight face. "Or I'm injured somewhere, having scavenged food for us, but you're in such a hurry to leave me behind, you won't even look for me properly."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, if you show me the button to press to go find you, we'll see about a rescue mission." She grinned.

Well, Kathy?

[spin_kick_snap]

"The Escape key," Kathy said.

Which would, of course, restart Ringo's whole game. But she was going for a perfect run, wasn't she?

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo frowned. "I thought that restarted the game. Does it also let you do rescue missions?"

Someone did not play very many video games.

[spin_kick_snap]

"There is no rescue mission," Kathy admitted. "You can either start over or continue on without me."

If she continued on, the line that held Kathy's name and information would be replaced with a bright red DEAD message.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Maybe we should just go on, then," Ringo said slowly. After all, she was doing so good!

Then she sighed, and reached up to reset.

Apparently, despite her earlier claims, she couldn't just leave totally-fake-pixelated-Kathy behind to die.

[spin_kick_snap]

The struggle was real.

"That's the one you can't avoid, sadly," Kathy said with an understanding smile. "Everything else, if you play your cards right, you can keep from ending in death. But wandering off--oh, and getting bitten, but that only happens if you're not careful--leads to death no matter what."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"That's not fair," Ringo pouted. Things being not-fair was what life was for, not games!

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's a zombie game," Kathy said, totally not smirking. "It wouldn't be properly terrifying if there wasn't some kind of immediate death."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Wait." Ringo looked slightly confused for a moment. "It's supposed to be scary?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, this one? Not really," Kathy conceded. "But there's still got to be some form of insta-death."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, if you say so." After all, clearly Kathy knew way more about video games in general, and zombie video games in particular.

[spin_kick_snap]

Came with nerd territory and Kathy was very much a nerd.

"You don't want it to be too easy, do you?" Kathy asked. "Where's the challenge?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I guess." Ringo shrugged. The idea that a video game should be challenging wasn't something she'd really thought about before. It did make some sense, though.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was clearly not paying enough attention to Ringo's video game education.

"It's the equivalent of using your ATs on a perfectly straight road," Kathy said. "Sure, you could, but what's the point?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, I get challenge," Ringo laughed, rolling her eyes. "I guess I just never thought of video games as being a place for it. Like cooking. Cooking should be easy!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy looked at her like she'd suddenly slipped into Japanese. "Cooking is easy," she said. "I mean, unless you're trying to make souffles and pavlovas, cooking really isn't that hard."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Well, some things are easy," Ringo allowed with a frown. Cup ramen, for instance.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Like chicken," Kathy agreed. "Or cupcakes."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo frowned. "Well, sure, karaage isn't bad, but cupcakes? How are those easy?" They involved baking, Kathy. Ringo could make plenty of things on top of a stove, but ovens? How did those even work?

[spin_kick_snap]

"Baking is pretty much chemistry," Kathy explained in a tone that suggested she thought she was being perfectly reasonable. "Edible chemistry! Follow the recipe and you'll be fine!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo stared at Kathy like she was speaking a foreign language. "Did you just say that chemistry was easy?"

Because it wasn't. A Heel-plant 1440 Backspin into a Forward Flip Kick, now that was easy. But chemistry? No way.