Perspective Protagonist...Group novella

[lumberjim]

Seven travelers. They are traveling on foot for the moment. The Moon has been hit by a comet, and civilization has broken down completely. These seven travelers have come together by pure random chance. This is a story told by these travelers in the first person as though they were narrating or relaying it to a friend.

It is summer, but you wouldn't know it from the weather. Bandits are not uncommon, and the cities are swept up in tribal wars over the quickly diminishing stores and fuel. Our travelers have fled Chicago, and are making their way West to find land that they can live on in peace and begin to rebuild. The defacto leader, Patrick, has or had a grandfather that owns or owned ( he had not talked to him since the impact, as there were no phones, mail, or any other means of communication) a large piece of land near Durango, Colorado.

how to play

Choose a character.

If you are first, you may take Patrick, or create one of the six remaining characters. Your first post should include a name, a physical description of your character, a brief background, and a description of his or her personality. You may want to include a proffession, skill set, expertise, or material possessions. This is now YOUR character, and he or she has free will.

Wait until all seven slots have been cast

Once all seven slots are filled, we will begin the tale. If we don't get seven people that will stick with this, we may reduce the size of the traveling party, or just scrap the whole idea.

Telling your side of the story

The first to post sets the pace.

Write a one post entry about a time period that you see as appropriate, keeping in mind that the rest of the cast will be giving their version of your events if they were present during what you describe, or telling of their own experience during the time period you set. Try to be descriptive while leaving doors open for the other players. Set traps or prop up another member of the cast. Have fun with it.

Progression

After everyone has posted their character's entry, the second character that was created will do as #1 did in the first section.

Adaptation
If you decide that you no longer want to play, you are free to off your character by whatever means you deem fitting. You are also free to lend your character to a friend, or give it away. If you simply abandon your character, and you don't respond to prodding, your character will be written out or claimed by another willing participant.

If there are more people that wish to participate, they can assume the role of any "non-core character" mentioned by any of the "core-characters." That is, If Patrick sees a bandit in the woods and runs from him,or meets a lost child, YOU may then define the bandit or child as described above under "Choose a character" and he or she then enters the "Progression" in the order that you appeared in the story.

There is no set plot, but for the sake of the story, please try to keep the overall structure in mind. As a reminder, you need contention, conflict, and resolution for a story to be a story and not a wandering journal.

I hope you will join in. This idea came so quickly, and all at once that I have not spent any time refining it. It seems to me, though, that by keeping chaos invoilved in the creative process, this will refine itself.

Who will take the first character?

[Griff]

My character will be Aaron a 13 year old male labeled ADD by his now defunct school. When we start writing, let me know if I'm working within your concept. Let's go people, sounds like fun.

[lumberjim]

My name is Vark. That's short for Aardvark, which has been my nickname for as long as I can remember. It's my nose, you see. That, and I like to eat ants.....just kidding. I'm 17, and I would have graduated this year. My younger brother Aaron survived, too, but My Parents, and our other sister, Winnie all died in the earthquakes on the first day.

My real name is Rebecca Wise. Patrick found us huddled in the doorway of the Library that very day, and we've been following him ever since. We're going to Colorado. I don't really know why. I made a promise to myself that I would take care of Aaron until he could take care of himself. He's got A D D, and he's a pain in the ass, but Mom would KILL me if I let anything happen to him.

Mom.

[Elspode]

Sounds like a cross between 'The Stand' and 'Lucifer's Hammer'.

I'm in, and because it seems obvious, I'll be Patrick. I'm about 30 years old, and I am/was a nuclear physicist working out of Fermilab, just outside of Chicago. Average height and build, and just beginning to go bald in front, but the rest of my hair is pulled back in a ponytail.

Getting through college wasn't easy for me. My parents died in a plane crash when I was 10, leaving my grandfather to raise me in Colorado. Through him, I learned a lot about woodsmanship, fishing, hunting and trapping. I had always had a knack for math and science, and I managed to churn out good enough grades to get into MIT. Grandad had to sell off some of his land just to buy my books and tuition, but I still had to work to pay for my room and board.

I couldn't afford to travel, so the only contact I had with Grandad was the rare phone call. When the job at Fermilab came through, just after graduation, I snapped it up, but I've been pretty unhappy being so far away from the mountains and my only living relative.

Oh, yeah...did I mention that I'm pretty handy at building useful and original devices out of ordinary parts and stuff?

[Clodfobble]

Nelson

My name is Nelson. I believe the only reason I survived was my fortuitous library visit in the middle of the night, and my introverted habit of preferring the lower basement levels--no undergraduates, you see, and only the very rare graduate student at those hours. I had been rechecking an obscure reference for my lecture the next day: Apocalyptic Imagery in Modern Literature. Doubly ironic when one considers how hard I had to fight to keep it on my schedule this year (this dozen-year tenure veteran already served his time as an associate professor, thank you very much, and I'll be goddamned if they think I'll teach ENG 305 again just because they have a staffing shortage.) My bravado aside, there were several weeks when I thought I'd be forced into it by a contract technicality, in which case it could very easily have been an evening of grading (read: skimming) four-page writeups on how Don Quixote truly was a quixotic protagonist, instead of being safe down in my literature-laden bomb shelter.

I've teamed up with several other survivors, and we're heading to Colorado. I'm not sure what we'll find there, but I do know the psyche needs companionship to survive, and it seems more prudent than attempting to find a use for my current skillset in this brave new world.

[Torrere]

Patrick Forrestor, I presume?

[lumberjim]

Ok, so Patrick, Aaron, Vark, and Nelson have left Chicago, and started on the road to Durango. As they round a bend in the road they meet.......

(insert your character here)


let's go...we need three more victi...er people to play with us!

[Sun_Sparkz]

I was sitting on the corner with my dirty Lee jeans and a white tank top, my hair was messed up and i felt like crawling back under the rubble from which i had just emerged. I felt a world of lead on my slender shoulders, and i was sure my eyes were portraying much more than my tender 20 years of age.

I had been trapped inside the house with my mum for hours, she had been trapped underneath the bathroom wall (which had come down on us during the earth quake) but i was the only one who made it out of there.

i sat down on the pavement and stared at the ruins. I just wanted to get away from there and feel safe again, but the reality of that seems a life time away.

In the distance i could hear voices, and at first i thought i was going mad, but they got louder and louder until around the corner came two men, a boy and a young woman. They approached me and the older man, whom looke dto be about 30 years old (and a little nerdy) knelt down to touch my brused face.

"are you ok?" He asks

"Im Skye, i dont know whats happened...." My voice breaks as i try to hold in the tears of fear and confusion.

"Are you alone?" His leadership and caring nature shine through his eyes as he looks about the road.

i sit for a moment assessing the group now surrounding me...

"Yes.. yes i am alone. Can i come with you?"

[Scopulus Argentarius]

How many Hail Maries...ooops..wait..thats a Novena...

[lumberjim]

well, it seems like five is the number....for now at least.

Griff, if you're still interested, why don;t you start us down the road?

[Griff]

I was climbing in the rubble of the school with Becka, "You're not my Mother!" hassling me, as usual, but I got some great stuff. I finally got coach Jackies whistle, Who's in charge now? fweeeeeeeet.Who? Me! fweeeeeeettt! I've got the whistle, I'm in charge. fweet I found the Coke machine all smashed open, cool, loaded up on pop. Ha, can't turn of the Coke machine now can ya? dumbass custodians. fweet Cept Big Fred, crap I hope he's okay, screw the rest of these clowns, my man Fred now he's the man let me hide out in his office whenever Mrs. Cranky sent me to ISD Bitch. fweeet I'm not a pussy, I'm not gonna cry. Got some other good stuff in my pack to, got Stoneys stash, that'll be worth something. fweet Gotta take care of Becka, she's not tough not like me. She's crazy falling in with this crowd, buncha geeks. Gotta remember to call her Vark around people, she thinks it makes her sound tough, whatever. fweeeeeeeeeeet

[Sun_Sparkz]

The last thing i thought we needed was to load up on fizzy drink, surely we could make our way to the old supermarket just a few blocks away and collect some actual recources that could help us reach Colorado without developing sugar diabeties first.

the kid is just so hyperactive he is driving me crazy! i swear if he blows that whistle one more time i am going to stuff it up his left nostril! but i have to be nice, i mean they did let me come with them, otherwise i dont know how i would have survived, with all the bandits creeping around.

tweeeet

URGH! "no Skye, you have to be calm" i tell myself, after all Aaron is Varks little brother. Vark is the other girl that is with the group, She is about my age and very pretty, but we havent really spoken as yet. I dont know why but there is an unidetified urge inside of me that i must impress her, i really want her to like me.

[lumberjim]

I hardly slept at all last night. We camped in the school garage. Aaron's breathing had been irregular all night, and I couldn't stop being jerkied awake every time he stopped snoring. Sleep Apnia, Athsma, and the dry dusty post impact weather don't mix well. I think it makes his ADD worse, too. He is always impossible after nights like last night.

When I finally did get to sleep it was fitful and dream ridden. I dreamt that there were seven of us, and we were looking out over a plain. There was an enormous radio tower that had bent at an odd angle. My sight was drawn to it, and at the base of it there were 3 dark silohouettes of men walking towards us. They were probably a mile away, but the land was so flat that I could see them; dark against a molten sky. Sunsets have been incredible ever since "the day". Even in my dreams, apparently. These were dangerous men coming toward us, and we had to get away from there.

I awoke to Patrick's hushed but urgent whispers to get up and get ready to travel. "Vark! Up and at em!" "where's Aaron?"
I looked around, not knowing at first who was talking to me or where I was. "huh?"

"Aaron!" I shouted. And I waited. No answer. "Maybe he went to go pee"
"Well you'd better get him, cuz we're leaving in a half hour, with or without you two." He said.

I can;t figure this guy out. One minute he's all chivalry, if a bit awkward about it, and the next, he's impatient and aggressive. I guess we all have our quirks. So, Now I have to find A. He was talking about going to see the school last night when we were going to bed, so I decided to look there first.

As I approached the school at a trot, keeping in the shadows of the early morning, I could hear a shrill whislting. I hoped that aaron wouldn;t be stupid enough to be blowing that whislte with who knows who hanging about. I followed the sound because I just knew. Knew that was such an Aaron thing to do. I came into where the Gym used to be. I could see him at the far end of the area standing triumphantly over a very deceased soda machine. He saw me as I enter the area, and started shouting some nonsense about being the boss while blowing the whistle even harder. I didn;t want to shout and raise even more alarm, so I made faces and waved my arms, made decapitating motions and shhhh faces. It only seemed to make him think I was playing along. Did I mention that he's a pain in the ass? By the time I navigated the rubble and got into earshot, he had busied himself rummaging in the debris.

" You little bastard! Stop with the freakin whislte already! You trying to get mugged?! Stupid little kid! C'mon, we're leaving! NOW!"

He made the standard "not my mom" remark, but he did start toward me.

" C'mon, Aaron. Patrick says he's leaving with or with out us. We have to hurry!"
fweeeet!
I slapped him in the back of his dirty little head.

God, I want a bath. A nice hot bath. I don;t even have to have soap. I just want to relax and soak. Maybe in Colorado. I'll have to ask Pat if he has a nice big tub waiting for us.

Loading each others stretched out shirts with cans of soda, we began to head back to the garage. About a third of the way across, I twisted my ankle. I can walk, but it is very sore. I'll have to be more careful. There are no doctors anymore. A broken leg would probably get me abandoned.

When we got back, They were all waiting to go. I noticed a flicker of rage pass across Skye's face as she watched Aaron do his soda dance for Patrick. Drinks were important. He had done well finding a machine that had not been raped already. The angry look had faded by the time Skye turned to me and offered to help me pack up our bedrolls.

Skye is a little bit of a kiss ass, which is kind of strange because she's older than me. She's nice, though. And gorgeous. I hope I fillout like that. I still feel like a girl. She's a woman. a little scattered, maybe...or it could just be an act. She seems to look to me for direction a lot. She must have been very dependant on "mum". She talks a lot about her. I guess some people just have submissive personalities. Not me. I'm a leader. I still miss MY mom, though.

I don't know if Patrick is a leader...he seems uncomfortable with it, but he does seem to be the one making the decisions. Patrick is a little paranoid. He says he has good reason. Says some bandits took his first backpack, and knocked him down in the middle of the street in broad daylight.

People stuck together in little groups nowadays. It was the only way to appear strong enough to defend yourself.

So, I lived in Durango for 7 years. Do I get to be in on this?

[lumberjim]

looks like " big Fred" the janitor could be defined if you want, or you could wait for the next person to write you a character in their next entry. After you see a character you like, define him or her, and then join in.