Zompania Draft - Draftees only, days 1-3.5

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: This is your death. Followed by your time-traveling life and desperate bomb hunting.
When: From May 22 to May 20 to early May 23 (days 1-4)
Where: Zompania
Summary: Information post here
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post is for the draftee-only portion of the Zompania draft--the day 3 death, time travel to day 1, and then the events until the arrival of the reinforcements. Be sure to use the above info post for any plotting needs you might have. Enjoy!

Please note that there is a specific top-level comment thread for:

• The day 3 arrival of the draftees and the 6 hours that follow until the bomb is dropped
  
• Death--This thread can be treated as REFERENCE ONLY. Responding to it isn't necessary.
  
• Threads prior to departing for Zompania--post resurrection freak outs, arguments over how to proceed, etc.

All other threading, from day 1 until the reinforcements arrive, should be conducted as normal.

Be sure to tag this post appropriately: [canon] character name

Comments

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette gulps. She picks up her first aid kid and, holding it over the opening, presses the cross on the front causing it to emit a bright light. She peeks into the hole again.]

It...It doesn't look like it's that far of a drop, right?

[She edges just a little closer. It'll be fine. Just fine, right? She'll just have to jump in. Jumping in isn't falling. She definitely won't fall, probably, and she definitely won't get hurt while not falling. Maybe.]

[foundafamily]

[That first aid kit is pretty handy. The hole isn't that much less scary now that they can actually see it, but the light will definitely be a big help once they're actually moving.]

...Nah, it'll probably be fine.

[He looks from the hole to her.]

Want me to go first?

[ribbonbon]

[She feels guilty for even considering it, but...]

I-If that's okay with you...?

[She smiles nervously. After a second she takes the ribbon from her ponytail and ties it around her first aid kit to keep the cross pressed in so it stays lit, before offering it to him.]

If you want, you can take it until I get down there.

[foundafamily]

[He nods, forcing a half-smile to cover up his nervousness.]

Sure. There's probably nothin' down there--a lotta the dangerous stuff is probably waitin' in the city or back at the front lines.

[Hopefully. Of course, that doesn't mean it'll be fun when they start getting closer to entering the city.

He's a little embarrassed at how relieved he is that she offers. He nods and takes the case.]

Thanks. I'll tell you if it's all clear.

[And then he jumps. It's not a long enough fall to be dangerous, but he doesn't manage to catch himself. She'll probably hear him cursing before he calls up that it's safe to come down.]

[ribbonbon]

[Her eyes widen a little when she hears that swearing, but when he gives the all clear, she sits on the edge of the hole for a moment before jumping down, letting out a quiet squeak. She stumbles a little when she lands, only just keeping her balance.]

Oof...! I hope this thing isn't too long...

[Even with their light, she finds it a little creepy.]

[foundafamily]

[He keeps out of the way to watch her land, ready to step in if she looks like she's floundering. A little stumble isn't bad, though, so he keeps his distance and starts walking as soon as she looks ready.

He glances over at her remark.]

You're that eager to jump back into battle, huh?

[Please just ignore Firo's terrible attempts at humor.]

[ribbonbon]

[She pouts a little bit, clearly not amused, as she follows him.]

No...! I'd just rather be above ground than in some...creepy gross drain tunnel or whatever.

[She looks around a little, trying to stick close. The quiet echo of their voices isn't doing much to decrease the creepiness.]

[foundafamily]

[Firo's a little sad that his joke goes unappreciated, but he laughs it off. He doesn't sound too apologetic.]

Sorry. I get'cha. At least it doesn't smell too bad.

[Not that it smells pleasant, but it's not disgusting. It probably hasn't been used in a long time.]

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette figures she can at least be thankful for it's lack of use. At least they're not having to slosh around in...who knows what. Even if the smell isn't too bad, the air is thick and stale. It almost feels suffocating.]

I wonder how long it's been since someone opened up that cover last...I don't think there are even like, bugs or whatever down here.

[Or...whatever animals usually live in sewer drains.]

[foundafamily]

No alligators either.

[That's not funny either, Firo.]

Who knows how long it's been? All that matters is that they didn't seal 'em up for good.

[ribbonbon]

[Firo, please. Pilouette's frown deepens just a little.]

I guess you're right. At least we were able to get in. I guess right now we just need to concentrate on getting back out the other way. ...And, um, if you want, I can go back to holding that first aid kit. Y-You know. So you can free up your hands. Just in case.

[Really, she just wants to hold it to hold it, thinking that maybe it will make her feel less nervous.]

[foundafamily]

Yeah? Thanks.

[He gladly hands the kit back to her and grips his knife more comfortably.]

Hopefully we won't need to do anything just yet... But, you're right, it pays to be prepared.

[ribbonbon]

[She take the kit and holds on tightly to it. Just holding it is helping her be just a bit more at ease.]

Maybe we'll get lucky and we won't run into anything down here...M-maybe they forgot all about this thing.

[foundafamily]

Maybe.

[He can't keep all the doubt out of his voice, though.]

At least we'd probably hear somebody if they were comin' at us. There's kind of an echo in here, isn't there?

[ribbonbon]

Yeah...Yeah, we'd definitely hear if there was someone else down here.

[She can hear that doubt in his voice, but she tries to a little positive. As they walk, she listens to their footsteps echoing through the tunnel. When she speaks she lowers her voice a little; somehow she feels like even her normal volume might be too loud.]

...I'm like, kind of nervous about what we're going to run into once we get into the city, you know?

[Especially considering everything they heard from outside the city.]

[foundafamily]

[He hesitates as he considers whether he should be honest or pretend to be brave.]

...Yeah.

What do you think's gonna be in there?

[ribbonbon]

No idea...I mean, like, besides cultists.

[She bites her lip nervously before continuing. The not knowing is the worst part.]

If it wasn't something big they wouldn't have dragged us all out here the way they did, right?

[foundafamily]

[He considers her question for a moment.]

...Probably. I mean, it did seem really abrupt. Like they were desperate. And whatever that things was that they used against us earlier... that's gotta mean trouble. I've never seen anything like that.

[ribbonbon]

...I've never seen one before either, but I read about stuff like that in history classes back home. It was like, some kind of bomb or something, I think...but there's like, no way the cultists could have made something like that, right? I mean, I don't think so, anyway.

[She's not exactly a scientific person. Maybe they could.]

...Do you think the Malnosso knew that was coming before they brought us out here? That they just didn't bother telling us?

[Her grip on the first aid kit grows tighter as her expression darkens. She wouldn't be surprised. She sat on the fence for a long time, but after the last cultist invasion of Luceti, she had finally decided that she couldn't trust the Malnosso and the situation at hand isn't helping their case, as far as she's concerned.]

[foundafamily]

[Firo's jaw drops open--they had stuff like that at her world? Coming from the early 1930s, Firo has no idea what the future of warfare has in store. He's about to ask her if she's kidding him, but her next question is even more shocking.

He's quiet for a moment; his voice is full of bitterness when he speaks. He never trusted them and his contempt has only grown with time.]

...I wouldn't put it past those bastards. How many a' their guys did they even put out there with us?

[ribbonbon]

Like, who even knows? By the time we got there, everything was way too out of hand.

[Even if they had sent everyone they had, which she's sure they didn't, she likely still wouldn't have been able to tell. She had been frantically trying to help whoever she could and do whatever anyone asked her.]

I...I'm not even sure we could have beat them, even if they hadn't used that bomb.

[And if they hadn't, she wonders briefly how many of the draftees would have joined those inside Zompania. It's a frightening thought and she does her best to push it aside. They don't have time for her to worry about things like that right now.]

[foundafamily]

[She has a point, though Firo has a hard time conceding that. Even when constantly faced with proof, he hates thinking about how powerless they are.]

...They are pretty tough.

I dunno how the Malnosso expect us to be any help when they send people out with no trainin' or anything.

[That sore spot will probably never go away for him. He had a friend die because of that.]

[ribbonbon]

...That reminds me of something someone told me once.

[It was a conversation she had with someone not too long after she arrived in the enclosure. She wasn't sure if she should take it seriously back then but now that she's come to distrust the Malnosso so much...maybe.]

We were talking and we started wondering...what if they send people who can't fight out because they can't fight? I mean, what if the Malnosso send them to make sure people fight as hard as they can to protect them? The harder everyone fights, the more likely they'll take out the enemy, right?

[The thought is horrifying. She wants to believe it's not true, but...]

[foundafamily]

[Firo stares at her, eyes wide and disbelieving. But the more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense.

He stops in his tracks and stomps his foot.]

...Shit. That's--that's sick!

[ribbonbon]

[She jumps a little and lets out a quiet squeak when his foot hits the ground, startled by the sudden noise. When she speaks her voice is shaky.]

Well, it's...it's not like we know for sure that it's true or anything, you know? L-like, maybe the person who said that was like, totally wrong or whatever...!

[She might be trying to convince herself more than him, though. Not even the Malnosso would do something like that...right?]