hadriel_logs | Event log: Buried Alive

Entry tags:

Event log: Buried Alive

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Buried Alive event!
Where: All around the city
When: January 16th-January 19th
Warnings: Claustrophobia, starvation, premature burials, all that fun stuff.

On the morning of January 16th, half of the game's characters wake up to find that they are not where they were when they fell asleep. Instead, they're surrounded by a claustrophobic darkness, cheap satin cushioning, and an intense feeling of weight directly above them. Unfortunately, all of this adds up to the fact that your character has been buried alive.

Luckily, they'll have their phones, which can function as a source of light, communication, and hopeful distraction. They'll be able to talk to the other folks who are buried around the city, as well as their would-be rescuers. Thanks to Hope's timely post on the network, the rescuers know where everyone is, even if they're not sure who is buried where.

This is where organization, planning, and a little bit of luck come in! The aboveground characters will be supplied with shovels via the armory and are encouraged to go dig up their buried friends. Dig quickly though, because the air supply is pretty thin, and by the morning on January 19th, the characters who are not yet dug up will find that oxygen deprivation is a rather unfortunate way to die.

So, grab your communicator, grab your shovel, and get to work!

► This log covers January 16th-January 19th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► Please remember to report any deaths to the Death page!

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[Well, that whole thing had sucked.

Water and some rest had helped greatly, at least as far as feeling a whole lot better than he did when he arrived, and he'd managed a few hours of actual uninterrupted sleep out of sheer exhaustion. But now Chris is awake again, not yet up to walking back home but too restless to even try to go back to sleep.

He's on his phone, mostly, sitting up in bed and checking on everything he missed; he looks pretty okay, all things considered, a little pale and with a few small bandages on his hands but nothing worse. When he notices Adam looking around he glances up from his screen, offering a weak smile and nod of greeting.]

Hey.

[It's quiet, both because his voice is still a little shaky and to avoid waking up Ronan or anyone else who might be sleeping still.]

[He nods in return, though he doesn't quite smile - he's not the sort of boy who smiles all that much, and he's tired and emotionally wrung out. But he's alive, and that's something, so all in all Adam is in a pretty decent mood.]

Hey. You must have been buried too.

[Probably an obvious thing to say, considering they're both here and both in similar states. Adam keeps his voice soft too, but the clinic isn't a large place. They should be able to hear each other.]

I guess it must all be over now.

[Three days, wasn't it? And it's been more than that by now. Whoever was left down there is probably dead. A close call, at least for Adam.]

Is it that obvious?

[He makes a weak attempt at a joke, offering another small smile to indicate for certain that's what it is, though it fades soon after at Adam's next comment.]

Yeah. I-I'm... I'm trying to figure out if they found everyone.

[But reports back in are still a little scattered, which is nothing unexpected. It's hard to tell, too, if everyone's been found when it's not for certain who was buried to begin with.]

I mean, I-I don't know when the countdown actually started, s-so maybe...

[There might still be some time, but he has no idea. Just that seventy-two hours was what they got.]

[He hasn't looked at his phone much since waking up here. He glances over at where it sits on the edge of the bed, wondering if he ought to. He knows his friends are safe, but there were a lot of other people buried.]

Maybe. Even if time is up, I don't know if the gods can be trusted about anything. They might have more time.

[Adam is trying to be comforting, at least a little, though he doesn't know if he even believes his own words.]

Everyone's supposed to come back, but... even if they do, death is death. People don't just go through that and wake up fine.

[Chris doesn't think Fear would lie and give more time--less, maybe, but not more--but he decides not to say it. That won't help anything.]

Yeah. Maybe.

[They can hope, anyway.

Adam's next comments give him pause and he shifts his gaze back towards his phone for a moment, withdrawing into thought. He wonders, morbidly, what the difference would be between dying and not, if you come back to life. Of course if the manner of death is long and drawn-out then the answer is pretty obvious, but if it were something that would've been instantaneous--like a gunshot to the head--would actually dying still be worse? Or is it just the experience that leads up to it that does it, rather than death itself?

Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter and he definitely doesn't want to find out through experience. Coming close to death is awful enough.

He blinks a few times, not sure how long he was staring blankly at his phone, looking back at Adam again.]

Y-Yeah. Hopefully that isn't a... Hopefully no one had to go through that.

[Though some people here probably already have, and others probably will. But dwelling on this--on any of this--isn't going to do either of them any good, so he tries to shift the topic a little.]

What's your name?

[He wants to wince, thinking about it. How it would feel down there alone as the air slowly runs out. Beyond told him it wouldn't be painful, they'd just slip into a coma, but knowing what's coming - that would be terrifying. That would be enough to be a nightmare.

Adam closes his eyes for a moment and tries to push the thought of that away. He's not the sort of person who's overflowing with empathy for others. He can't let himself think of what could have happened. He's alive, and that's what matters right now.]

Yeah. I hope so too.

[But they can't focus on that. He looks at Chris again, summons something that vaguely resembles a smile, for all that it falls short.]

Adam. I'd shake your hand, but I'd rather not get up.

[He's strong enough to, he's tired but not that weak, but he doesn't want to disturb Ronan.]

What's yours?

Yeah, no problem. Same.

[He could get up but he'd rather not, so he's totally fine forgoing the handshake for now. Besides, the name Adam is a little familiar for some reason, and though it takes a moment he places why it stuck out to him.]

I think I talked to one of your friends when this whole thing started. Noah.

[He wonders if that's the guy sleeping, or if it might be the other person Noah mentioned as looking for Adam.

Oh, and right, he was asked a question.]

It's Chris.

Nice to meet you, Chris.

[In contrast, the name isn't familiar to Adam, but that's not a surprise. He did just spend the last few days underground, which makes it hard to meet new people. He does look a little pleased to hear that Chris spoke to Noah, though.]

Yeah, he's a friend of mine. He helped out looking for me, but - it's hard for him to stick around, sometimes.

[Because he's a ghost. Long story. Awkward story.]

You'll probably meet him in person eventually. He's pretty friendly once you get to know him.

You too, though it could've been a better situation for it.

[He's met more people in the last few days than the entire time he's been here, he's pretty sure.

He'd ask about that stick around comment, but he has a feeling it's a story Adam might not be up to telling right now so he lets it go; he can always ask later. Instead he glances toward the man sleeping, then back up at Adam.]

I'm guessing that's not him. Ronan?

I'm not sure there'll ever really be a good situation for it, here.

[But hey, maybe being in mortal terror all the time will turn out to be a really good way to meet people. It's worked out for Adam so far, he has to admit.

He glances at Ronan too, smiles just a little. It's more an expression of relief and gratitude than anything else.]

Yeah. He's the one who got me out. He deserves plenty of rest.

I guess that's true. This place kind of sucks.

[Understatement as usual, but understatements are a lot easier than figuring out a way to actually describe how terrible something is. He smiles a little again when Adam does, nodding at the comment in understanding.]

Yeah. Hopefully that's what my friends are doing too.

[Ashley and Josh hadn't been the ones to find him but they had gotten to Sam, and Chris knows all three of them could use a lot of rest.]

Are your friends from like, where you're from?

[In other worse, are they from Adam's world or are they new friends made here?]

Yeah. We're all from Henrietta, in Virginia. Well - we all went to school there together, anyway.

[Though Adam is really the only one who was from that little town. He understands the question, though. There are so many people here, from so many different places.]

I've made a few friends here, but I guess I'll probably always be closer to the ones that came with me.

[If nothing else, because he doesn't have to explain the more unpleasant details of his life to them. They already know.]

Do you have people here from home?

[Henrietta isn't familiar but Virginia is, which is nice. He's just sort of making a mental list of people here that are from places he actually recognizes.

It isn't too surprising to hear that Adam, Ronan, and Noah are all from the same world either; he'd thought they might be, because he definitely understands that sentiment about being closer to the people they knew before.]

You've known each other for like, awhile then?

Yeah. Three of my friends are here too.

[Where are they, anyway? Sam should really still be resting. Josh and Ash too, probably.]

A year or two. They've known each other for longer.

[But 'a year or two' still makes them the longest and closest friends Adam has ever had, even if he is a latecomer. He thinks he would be able to survive here without them - he's survived a lot - but he wouldn't want to. He has little doubt that Chris likely feels the same way. Having someone familiar here is immensely helpful, even if all it does is keep you from being totally alone.]

Were they the ones who found you?

[Not all friends are as loyal as Ronan, Adam is well aware, but he thinks it would be strange if they hadn't tried to look for their friend - and, well, obviously Chris made it out okay somehow.]

[He would've guessed they'd been friends longer with how adamant Noah had been about him and Ronan searching for Adam, but then again people can become really good friends really quickly.]

When you said school did you mean like, high school? Or college?

[At the question he pauses a moment, not because it's a difficult answer but because he wants to make sure he gets the right point across.]

It was some guy called Beyond, but my friends Ash and Josh were looking for both me and my friend Sam, and they found her.

[They'd definitely been looking, and they'd gotten to one of them. He doesn't doubt the three would've kept searching until they found him, either, but Beyond just got to him first. Not that he's complaining, either.]

High school. It was a private boy's school, lots of rich kids with fancy cars.

[Which Ronan definitely is, and Noah once was. Adam's the odd one out - not that anyone can tell now. Those things matter less when you're stuck in a murdercave.]

I'm sure they're just happy you're out and safe. It doesn't matter who did it.

[Adam thinks that's how he would feel, anyway, if it had been one of his friends who was down there instead of him. As long as they were safe, it wouldn't matter how they'd gotten there.]

How do you all know each other?

Oh yeah? How was that?

[Chris' family is well off enough that they never had to worry about much of anything, but not rich enough that private school had been a thing. He's fine with that, since he hasn't heard much of anything good about those types of places, but it's not like he actually has any experience other than movies to go off of.

He nods a little at the comment about his friends, reaching for the bottle of water next to his bed and taking a sip before answering.]

I've been friends with Josh for like ten years now.

[More than half his life, which is crazy, and it's even stranger to think that might not be the case anymore. Things are tense between them now, at best, and at home--

He blinks, to focus himself again, then continues.]

Sam and Ash were like, friends of friends at first, but we all ended up getting along really quick.

[Sam is one of his closest friends now, and Ash is... Maybe something more.]

The academics were excellent, and I made a couple good friends there. Otherwise it was pretty much what you'd expect from a school full of very rich boys.

[And he feels like he ought to offer some kind of an explanation for that, even if maybe he doesn't have to -]

I was a scholarship student.

[And his tolerance for stupid rich boy antics is about what you'd expect from someone who had to work three jobs to pay for the remaining portion of his tuition.]

Ten years? That's incredible. You guys must be really close.

[That's what Adam would assume, anyway. He knows you can get close with people real quick, but having someone in your life for that long - well, it seems like it would be entirely different.]

[The explanation isn't necessary but it does make things a little clearer and he nods again, offering another weak smile.]

They definitely seem like good friends, yeah.

[Especially for Adam having only known them a year or so.

The smile falters at the comment about Josh, and his shifts his attention back to his water bottle. Normally he would've just agreed, brushing past the subject entirely both for his own sake and for Josh's, but he can't muster up the energy to lie.]

We were. Not so sure now.

[But Josh had helped save Sam and had been trying to find him, so at least he can't hate Chris too much right? And Chris still cares about him in return, but he feels far too betrayed to consider them still as close as they once were.]

[As a general rule, Adam tries not to pry into other people's personal lives. He's spent so much time with secrets of his own, things he tried very hard to keep private, that he doesn't like taking that sort of thing away from anyone else. Some things should be personal, and they should be left alone.

But he also knows that makes it hard to get to know anyone. That's what he's preferred, for most of his life, but it hasn't served him very well here. Anyway, when you get right down to it, Adam is more comfortable listening to other people talk about themselves than he is talking about himself.

So he pries, just a little.]

What happened?

[It must have been something bad, to shake a friendship that has lasted so long.]

Was it something here?

[He gives a small, tired shrug at the questions; it doesn't bother him that Adam's asking, especially since his previous answer just invites questions, but he isn't sure he wants to go into it. Even if he did, there's no way to explain it all.]

No, it was... Back home. The night before we all got here.

[He hesitates again, still focused on the bottle.]

He just did something super fucked up, but I don't think he totally gets it was that bad. So it's just...

[A mess. But he finally looks back up at Adam and gives an attempt at a sheepish smile, but it's totally hollow.]

Sorry. Everyone's got enough to deal with already without me complaining about things that happened months ago.

[Even if it still feels like yesterday, a lot of the time.]

[Adam shrugs.]

If it's still bothering you, then it doesn't really matter that it was months ago. I mean, I guess you've either gotta let it go or figure out some way to resolve it, or it'll just keep haunting you.

[Not that he's in any way a good source of advice. Adam's done his share of fucked up things, but usually he's more than aware that they're fucked up - he just needed to do it for one reason or another. And anyway, him telling anyone to not let something keep haunting them is a pretty big hypocrisy. But that doesn't mean it's not true.]

Anyway, just because we're here doesn't mean the stuff that happened at home doesn't matter anymore.

[That, at least is definitely true.]

But - sorry. I probably shouldn't have brought it up.

[He looks away while Adam talks, trying to keep himself from feeling some layer of irritation under exhaustion, because nothing Adam is saying is wrong and he's just trying to help. If it had been something else--anything else, really--Chris would've done exactly what Adam is suggesting: either let it go or work it out.

But he can't work it out, not with Josh seemingly so utterly oblivious, and letting it go... He wishes he could; that he could just forget about it and be pissed off awhile and then get over it, but even though the anger's faded out the issue is still somehow there. It shouldn't be--none of it was even real--but everything is still...

He takes a deep breath and shakes his head, looking back over at Adam again.]

No it's... You're right. And it's okay, I mean, I kind of opened the whole conversation up.

[It's all good.]

[He knows it's not really his business, and he's definitely not the type to lecture someone he doesn't know very well. But Chris seems like a decent guy, and they're probably all a little emotionally raw after being buried underground for days. Still, Adam ought to be careful what he says. He doesn't really want to offend Chris, especialyl since for all he knows the guy could have some kind of insane power. A lot of people here do, after all, and Adam's no fighter.]

Still. I know that kind of stuff is personal.

[He shrugs, fiddles with his empty water glass.]

It's never as easy as just letting it go, anyway. Humans don't really work that way.

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Event log: Buried Alive

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