She felt better--less woozy, more able to focus on what she was doing and looking at in front of her face. Was it the vines? She wasn't terribly keen to find out, to be honest. Just in case, she still wasn't going to touch them. At least, not on purpose. Here and there she brushed against them, but Ruia was quick to pull away as soon as she safely could. She didn't make any note of whether the days stretched longer. Her sense of the passage of time had dulled to nearly nothing. She supposed she was lucky enough to survive the conflict, though that was small comfort indeed.
What boon was survival if there was no point to it?
She wasn't even sure where the rest of the other students had gotten off to in the confusion, and that wasn't helping her mood any. The last thing she wanted to be in all this was alone.
The roar made her jump, and her heart started pounding painfully against her breastbone. It felt like it was trying to crawl into her throat. That she saw it was fireworks and not, say, more explosions did not help her fear any. What if the undying saw this? What if they were attracted? She had no weapons, no group, no protection--!
...And nothing to worry about on that front, apparently. There was no ensuing rush of the undead. Even so, as the fireworks continued, she hastened towards them. Fireworks meant people and she wasn't going to be caught out here alone just in case the undying were having an off day and taking a while to get into motion.
Of all things, however, she was not expecting a casino. Delta Casino. Ruia mouthed the name, furrowing her brow and narrowing her eyes a bit. What was a casino doing out here? Where was it getting the power and supplies to keep running? ...Well... she was hardly going to turn down the chance for shelter and company...
Ruia entered the casino.
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:28 pm
Once inside, Ruia felt overwhelmed by the amount of activity going on. It almost seemed for a second that there had never been any apocalypse at all. The smoke from tobacco made her eyes water and she rubbed at them, realising belatedly that it probably looked like she was crying. Well, even if she was, who could blame her, right? Right. Okay. She found 50 coins thrust into her hands, though she passed politely on the cocktail. Alcohol on an empty stomach was not a good idea, and she wasn't sure the last time she'd eaten. That was something else that blended together with the days, honestly. She was just always hungry.
She was still blown away that this was all just... a casino. People laughing, playing, enjoying themselves. Even after she'd been given the coins, she wandered a bit more to take it all in. Ruia hadn't been much of a gambler before everything had all gone to hell, so there was an added layer of mysticism to her about the entire environment. Something she'd read in books, seen on television, seen in movies, but never actually experienced for herself.
Until now, anyway.
What was she going to do? Well, she couldn't just stand there, could she? She saw the slot machines and decided to give them a shot. There wasn't too much skill involved in that, so she wouldn't be too much at a disadvantage for her lack of gambling experience. She picked an open machine and sat down.
Her first pull got her two coins as the 4s lined up beautifully in the center. Ruia couldn't help the little wiggle of joy she gave in the chair as she leaned over and plucked the coins out of the tray. Her luck wasn't going to keep being this good, she was pretty sure, but she was definitely going to enjoy it while it lasted! She got three pulls to play with, so she reached up and gave it her second go.
50+2=52
OOC
Character's name: Ruia Abreu Character's faction: University Character's journal link: [x] Character's survival stats: [x] Jersey Number: 26 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: She's of average height and build, with shoulder-length curly brown hair, brown skin, and reddish eyes.
Another success! Ruia gave a brief flash of a victorious grin, her face feeling weird and stiff, as if unused to the expression. Perhaps she was. But she was having fun, and right now she was going to relish that for every second it was worth. One more pull, right? She got one more, and then she'd probably go do something else. There was a ton of stuff to do here.
52+2=54
OOC
Character's name: Ruia Abreu Character's faction: University Character's journal link: [x] Character's survival stats: [x] Jersey Number: 26 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: She's of average height and build, with shoulder-length curly brown hair, brown skin, and reddish eyes.
A satisfied grin as she got another two coins for the third time in a row. Honestly, for such a small payout the machines were probably rigged so that people felt like they had a chance in the higher-risk games, but she'd take it. Humming, she took her now-fifty-six coins and looked around for something else to get into.
54+2=56
OOC
Character's name: Ruia Abreu Character's faction: University Character's journal link: [x] Character's survival stats: [x] Jersey Number: 26 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: She's of average height and build, with shoulder-length curly brown hair, brown skin, and reddish eyes.
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:32 pm
She didn't think much time had passed, but she felt herself getting a bit dizzy again. On the one hand, Ruia cursed it because she had just started feeling better from losing so much blood those days before. On the other, she was more preoccupied with the "why" than she was with the cosmic injustice of it all. But neither one was important enough to keep her from slumping against a wall as her vision went dark.
-----
Soreness, heaviness... Ruia groaned. This was an unwelcome sensation. It felt like she'd fallen down a flight of stairs, or had a hangover. She hadn't had any alcohol that she could recall, however, so... What did it matter--she felt like hell and needed to figure out why. Opening her eyes, she saw that the room was dark and that having her eyes open or shut didn't really make any difference in what she could make out in the room. Her ears, however, told her that she wasn't alone.
Well, there was small comfort in that, at least.
When the lights turned on, she hissed in pain and snapped her eyes shut. Stars sparked behind her eyelids and she fought the watering of her eyes to open them and take in where she was located.
A classroom?
Really?
She actually felt a pang of longing for the classrooms of the university she and the other students had holed themselves up in. That was preferable to finding herself tied to a chair in a room with countless people, some of which she recognised and most of which she didn't. She took in the information about buying their freedom, now regretting ever deciding to head towards this casino. Not that wandering the wilderness would do much for her, but surely there were better chances than this? Suddenly the games she'd seen people playing didn't seem so fun and inviting. The in-retrospect sinister undertone of them made her actually shiver and squirm in her chair.
Value? How much was she even worth, anyway?
When the time came to ask questions, she didn't even try. What point was there in it? She knew what was laid out in front of her and what she'd have to somehow manage to do. What she wasn't prepared for was to be bodily hauled, chair and all, into another room. The moment of panic--more than what she already felt, anyway--subsided when she was left to sit in the room and not summarily slaughtered and eaten as some sort of appetizer for the main course everyone else presumably would end up being. Unless they bought their freedom anyway.
She wasn't the only person in the room, however, taking in the sight of the young woman and a boy who looked like he hadn't even hit eighteen yet. Her heart ached for the both of them, but the horrifying choice she found herself presented with made her suck in a gasp of air. Ruia took a deep breath and selected the boy. He was so young, probably still in high school, and therefore a child. At least the woman was an adult, not that it made it easier to bear her screams as she was dragged away.
Or the sight of the terrified boy being gunned down as he tried to make a break for it. She choked back a sob of her own, clenching her eyes shut again and shaking. She barely heard the man say that they were going to continue.
CYOA Choices
Remain Silent -> Young Man
Ruia has 56 coins!
OOC
Character's name: Ruia Abreu Character's faction: University Character's journal link: [x] Character's survival stats: [x] Jersey Number: 26 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: She's of average height and build, with shoulder-length curly brown hair, brown skin, and reddish eyes.
Amasis
Everyday Blob
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Amasis
Everyday Blob
Offline
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:38 pm
She found herself shoved out into the casino again, then. Well, perhaps "shoved" was too harsh a word. Regardless, Ruia did have a fleeting desire to run for the exits before she saw the guards there. She wondered now if people who were enjoying themselves like she had been were innocent of what was going on.
Like she had been.
She knew she probably wasn't allowed to tell them and, anyway, wanted to get down to business. She couldn't sit there and wallow. If she was going to save herself, then she was going to have to get her gambling feet wet, after all.
Time to earn some coins.
OOC
Character's name: Ruia Abreu Character's faction: University Character's journal link: [x] Character's survival stats: [x] Jersey Number: 26 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF MY CHARACTER: She's of average height and build, with shoulder-length curly brown hair, brown skin, and reddish eyes.
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