Redemption Songs, Light Up The Darkness Options

[Jerub-baal]

Welcome to Redemption Songs: Light Up The Darkness, a Heroes/I Am Legend crossover RPG.


The Setup

On March 20th, 2007, the world changed forever. But not in the way one would think...…

In the middle of a speech to reveal that he can fly, Nathan Petrelli was gunned down by an unknown assassin.

The tragedy was apparent. A man in the prime of his life, a family man, a high achiever throughout his years who could have been President one day, struck down. To leave children, a mother, and a grieving brother.

The sequence of events that followed is best left to historians, but they do not exist anymore...civilization does not exist anymore.

On March 20th, Peter Petrelli went into seclusion, the man thought by so many to be capable of saving the world giving up on it after the death of his brother in the face of the might of The Company.

Shortly after, as the world forgot about Nathan Petrelli, about an unfinished speech, The Company went to work upon the Shanti Virus once again, on a new strain to finally disable powers with effectiveness- Strain 914.

On March 20th, the world changed forever. The draft of Nathan Petrelli's speech was leaked to the internet by an unknown benefactor named "Samantha48616e61" and conspiracy theorists latched onto it.

Between theories about the government, the CIA, aliens and the Templars having a hand in Nathan Petrelli's assassination, a small group of people were turned onto the truth.

The Company had killed Nathan Petrelli because he was a member of a new species, an ordinary man with extraordinary power.

Calling themselves The Seekers Of Truth and with the assistance of Hana Gitelman, this new group began to attract followers, even as it was dismissed as fringe conspiracy.

Slowly evolved humans began to come to a small village outside of Bogotá, Columbia, where the group had taken headquarters.

The Company was not fit to dismiss this as but a conspiracy group, and sent agents to report, and what they found prompted action beyond bag and tag…

The event that occurred 4 Months and 12 Days after Nathan Petrelli's assassination, the death of a politician being a butterfly shaking its wings creating a storm, would bring about the end of the world as we know it.

A small crop spreader plane was sent over the Seeker compound, releasing upon human test subjects for the first time the new strain of Shanti Virus.

Strain 914's effects were devastating, causing death in most of The Seekers.

However, to those that lived came horrifying side effects.

It started off as if imitating the rabies virus, but slowly came the more malignant occurrences- a loss of hair, an animalization of features, and a cannibalistic hunger as human behavior became utterly absent. Social de-evolution became complete within days. A few managed to get to the city itself, only hastening the spread of the disease.

Within weeks, quarantine was ineffective.

Strain 914 spread as if a plague.

Six billion people on Earth when the infection hit. 914 had a ninety-percent kill rate, that's five point four billion people dead. Crashed and bled out. Dead. Less than one-percent immunity. That left twelve million healthy people, turned into savages now in the end of the world. The other five hundred and eighty-eight million turned into what are now called 'dark seekers', and then they got hungry and they killed and fed on everyone living.

The last hope for humanity comes in those who are only debatably human. Strain 914's effects ended up being less potent upon Evolved Humans, and throughout the world were scattered pockets of resistance to the dying of the light.

This is the story of one of them.

A year after the virus was released, on August 1st 2008, in Morningside Heights, New York, formerly a neighborhood of gentrification and sophistication, home to world renowned Columbia University, a group of Evolved Human survivours has banded together.

As always within darkness, there is light, within death there is hope.



Chapter 1: Glimpses Of Light

((OOC: Let's get this started!))

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Eva Marie Pazzon

The books are magnificent. Once meticulously organized by a now departed librarian, the books of Columbia University's Nicholas Murray Butler Library are the highest of high literature arranged in the lowest of low sloppiness now in a small corner of the large building, arranged there by their just about one and only reader anymore.

A curvy and sun-dappled form weaves between bookshelves, waves of black hair trickling over athletic shoulders swaying with movement through the library.

Coming down to her spot, Eva Marie Pazzon drops into a bean bag chair rescued from one of the evacuated dorms and sighs happily, Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse" placed on the knee and propped up to read in the light streaming through large plate glass windows behind her.

A quick flip of the hair back and out of her eyes, and Eva begins her morning routine in earnest, safe in the assurance of the months they've been here that Sigfried, Lauren and Phoenix are still safely snoring, though 'Jo Redd' could be off doing anything at this rate, and Benjamin is pretty much a ball of energy most of the time so his sleeping status is doubtful.

The books arranged in neat piles around her chair are worked through with the speed of a lifelong reader, and as sun breaks over the horizon, Eva begins to plan the day out.

It will be quite the eventful one, she knows, but just how eventful is something she's kept from most everyone in the small group of survivours assembled at Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York.

The university is now only a transitory dwelling, their new destination as roamers beginning to show clear. She's been with them for a good part of the last year, the group changing, losing and gaining members throughout the time, she's the only one left of the few who banded together with a shared resistance to the Dark Seeker Virus on August 1st, 2007.

It's only fitting that she's going to finally leave this place, her sanctuary and home, on the one year anniversary of coming to it.

Standing up and smoothing out the blazer-tanktop combo she's chosen for today along with some jeans, Eva walks over to a duffel bag so often slung over her shoulder containing everything which she needs to live, including a CB radio.

Tuning it to the correct frequency, she glances out the window behind her, to the earthen blockades and levies Lauren put up.

Taking out the CB radio, the first of many calls are made, out to a houseboat docked around Liberty Island in the shadow of Lady Liberty, that of Logan Covar.

The 'phone chain' of sorts spreads quickly using Logan's collection of shipboard radios, sending word out to the fortified Staten Island apartment of Nicholas Lejune first, then moving to the broadcast system of Time Square and the last survivour in what was once a meeting ground for them there- Elizabeth Cipriano.

Those two have actually met Eva in person, traveled through the wasted and destroyed New York to congregate with others who have survived this plague, but eventually returned to their havens of choice, a spread of survivours in moderately fortified defenses seeming more prudent than one great last shining hope after the failures of Yosemite, Boulder and Manhattan as cities of the living in the last days of what used to be known as The United States Of America.

Eva sighs as the first round of calls is done and on to the second, this is more of a stretch, trusting those who she only knows as fellow survivours through the CB bands and the like still active and providing communication for those left living. All signals except for those originating in the upper northeast coast of the United States and parts of Canada have gone quiet, the government broadcasts either on loops or dead.

Calls are promptly put out through Canada, reaching Paul Beckett.

Eva begins to settle back into her average day of waiting and the like, but the long distance frequency broadcast has to be made.

Walking through the library and deserted campus as she pulls the blazer tight and shivers, Eva begins to source energy off of the sun rays working down onto her, a small burst of heat around her hands warming her up every few seconds.

Climbing to the radio tower built when Columbia University was being converted from a place of learning to a quarantine, to a fortification, she runs up the stairs which consist of so much of her exercise these days, her gym membership less than useful in the end of the world.

Broadcasting on all signals, the message is simple- there is a place now where survivours are gathering, and shelter, food, care will be provided to anyone out there who wishes to join.

Eva's broadcast is always important to her routine, but usually on a loop. This time it's different, a small coda at the end-

"Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come."

[tag: Everyone]

[Kris]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Lauren Steil

Though her eyes were closed, Lauren was wide awake. The air in her room was stale, and although she felt like getting up already, she remained in her bed. She once had a friend that went to Columbia When Lauren got to New York, she had come to the shelter in hopes that her friend had made it through the virus. Unfortunately, Kris hadn't made it. Lauren now resided in Kris' dorm, as it was one of the only places where she felt at home anymore.

Sighing, she finally opened her eyes to the same world had she seen for the past year. She couldn't stand what she saw, but then again, she felt the same way about the horrors she saw when she closed her eyes. She had dreampt of Travis, again. Him telling her to leave him after he had been infected, his face half covered in blood from an attack by Dark Seekers. It was enough to make her want to just walk out at night and let them take her.

He wouldn't want that, though, she thought to herself, pulling her hair back into a messy bun and walking out to see who else was awake. There was no question that Eva was. Eva seemed to always be awake, and Lauren was greatful for her looking over them all. We'd probably all be dead without her...

Deciding to get her training done earlier this morning, she headed towards the gym that they had created. Grabbing a bottle of water, she hopped onto one of the treadmills and began her daily workout of 5 miles. Tomorrow she'd start on three. Lauren had never been an athlete, but ever since the virus spread, she was forced into getting into shape. It was either work out, or die. You're only as strong as your weakest link, and now that Lauren was with the group of survivors, she was determined not to be the weakest link. She could now run a mile in six minutes, give or take a few seconds, which beat her record from back in high school of a good solid thirteen minutes. After her run, she decided to wait until later to finish the rest of her work out routine. Grabbing a towel and taking another gulp of water, she turned when she heard the door open. Spotting the familiar face at the door, Lauren smiled.

"Good morning."

Tag: Everyone at Columbia

[Snowind]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
New York, 11 miles to Columbia University
IC: Carlos de la Vega

It had been several months since Carlos left his family in the shelter in Guadalajara, one of the few places where survivors were gathered in Mexico, the first few months he had been worried about them, but during his travel he had gathered several devices. After all it was a lonely journey and he had to be informed, and through them he kept a status on his family, they were weak from fighting the dark seekers but fine overall.

From Guadalajara he traveled North, and had to pass the frontier to the USA through California, mainly because it was less infested and easier to cross than the river. All the Mexico Journey he did on a Motorcycle, rescuing some families and sending them to the nearest shelter he knew, the one on Monterrey, Mexico.

In los Angeles, some months ago, he found some survivors gathered, who gave him shelter for some weeks while he recovered from some battle wounds, there he learned to use some gadgets the people there gave to him in order to continue his travels north. There he also got a new life mission, to find a place where the infection can't reach and try to move everyone alive there.

Also in los Angeles, he added a GPS to his bike, and after stealing some supplies a technical engineer told him to get, the engineer combined a satellital Tv/radio, with a couple of sun panels, so the device wouldn't fail due to power. The only thing the Engineer wanted in exchange for the gadgets he gave Carlos was to bring her daugther back who was in a town nearby.

After returning victorious the engineer in appreciation also added solar panels to Carlos bike, so in cases where he ran out of fuel he could still move the thing, although obviously with solar power it doesn't goes as fast as it could, but it was a good safety measure.

He later helped the survivors there to secure the shelter, and after they were finished, Carlos started travelling up north passing camping through las Vegas in the way, which was seriously infected.

It's been almost a year since he started traveling, in which he learned how to kill efectively the dark seekers, even though he calls them "Vampiros de dia", and not knowing what was what caused the people to turn this way he kills them according to old vampire tales, a stake to the heart, decapitation or a bullet through the head whenever he has enough ammo. He learned the hard way that holy water and garlick do nothing to them except piss them off.

One day a month ago in Chicago, after he reached the shelter there and saw they had it covered, he got the signal from his radio that in Columbia University was the biggest shelter in New York, so he programmed the direction in his stolen GPS and started travelling there, asking everytime he found a survivor if they knew of a possible quarantine zone, with no positive answer yet, but he still wouldn't give up.

This is 1st of august 2008, 11 months since he started his journey, and he was only a few miles away from Columbia University, when the transmission he had been hearing for a month changed.

It was heard now "Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come"

And Carlos wondered what had happened today to make them want to travel, maybe they had found a quarantined zone and they were moving there, new hope in his heart Carlos pressed the accelerator and prepared his heart to hear good news.

TAG: No one yet.

[Admiral Cheesema...]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: "Jo Redd"

"Mr. Spock, I believe we may have a leetle problemo."
The skink stared at her, and flicked its magnificent blue tongue. The problem, of course, was food for the lazy lizard lounging on her lap.
"Never fear, Spocky. The famous adventurer Jo Redd is on the case! Uh...roaches. I'm gonna entrapify some. Uhm...but where in this place would the cockerthingies make residence...? Miss Leader Lady would know."
Maybe...maybe not. Leader Lady's big mistake is still being Leader Lady. Just because I happen to be younger doesn't make her better.
Jo rubbed Mr. Spock's belly. "Gotta go now." She set the lizard on the table, and then
started skipping through the library, whistling the theme to Indiana Jones.
Pause a second...where is Leader Lady?
Jo took a breath, and then yelled at the top of her lungs. "MISS LEADER, WHERE DO THE ROACHES LIVE?!"

[Tag: Columbia Crew]

[FabledJables]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Sigfried

Sigfried sighed. It would be impossible to sleep again. NOt after waking up for the fifth time. He had trouble sleeping, the things he had done, the people could you call them people? that he had killed wieghed heavy on his thoughts and dreams. Human nature was an interesting thing. He had kept telling himself it was do or die that had to be the only choices, right?

He stood, and wiped his eyes. Well, might as well get busy. The gym sounded like a great place to start. His routine, sometimes with Lauren, sometimes not, was usual. He was a doctor,and had turned to survivor. Although the times here at Columbia have been great, leaving was always a chance, being overrun always could happen. If that was to happen, he didn't want to be lost, to die, or become one of them.

He stood, throwing on an old Resident Evil shirt, the Umbrella logo on his uppper left hand breast. Funny, who things to be connected. He had owned this shirt since his college days, and it always seemed to fit. But, not the time to bother with frivilties. It was time to let the sweat roll, and muscle density rise, hopefully.

He walked out of the dorm he had taken residence in, walking down the carpeted hall, breathing in slow measured breaths. He loved this school, the memories he had left here. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. He opened the door, startled by Lauren.

"Uhh...yeah. Mornin' to you too. So, finished so soon?"

(Tag: Kris)

[nic_nac]

IC: Elizabeth Cipriano
Day One, Daybreak, Times Square NY

It was so quiet in Times Square, so tranquil, running her hand through the grass, she advanced into the centre, where she sat silently and pondered for a while. She took a deep breath and then exhaled, it was trips like these she begged Eva for, she needed to clear her head and sitting in the centre of what was one of the most busy places on the planet certainly did that.

About half an hour passed, she got up and looked at her watch, it was nearly 8:30, time for her morning broadcast and verification with Eva. It had only been a week since she had last been at the University yet she missed it, not purely because it was the only sanctuary in miles, but due to the fact that there were people like her, people who were special.

Elizabeth started to walk, continuing her deep train of thought as she did so.

Elizabeth was thankful for her gift, she thanked god every day before she went to bed (that and the fact that she hadn't been devoured by the Dark Seekers yet). Her ability enabled her to not be harmed by Dark Seekers, but concentration had to be maintained and of course consciousnous, it was therefore decided that she would spend her early mornings as a sentry of the University's campus.

However, this week was different, she was on an errand in the city for equipment, mostly weaponry. She had been generally successful, her backpack was filled with magazines and some low-grade rifles and pistols and even a single tank mortar round. She lay the pack down, gently on the grassy plains of broadway, picking the small portable-radio from her belt. Flipping the switch and tuning it properly, she heard the voice of Eva. The message was clear, to the point and understandable. Nodding her head as if she had heard it a million times, then:

"Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come."

Elizabeth cursed under her breath in two langauges. Swiftly, she pulled a worn walkie-talkie and spoke into it in her best english accent.

"Nick! Nick! Are you there? Pick up!"

tag:(QPegasus)

[QPegasus]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Nick’s apartment, Staten Island, NY
IC: Nicholas Lejeune

Nick was awake, but didn’t want to open his eyes just yet. It was one year since the first outbreak. Nick sighed, knowing this was another day of hoping to survive. He had gathered a huge stock of supplies over the last year. If he didn’t want to leave his ‘fortress’, he didn’t have to. He had all he desired right here, in his own Acropolis. Most of it was stolen, but hey, there weren’t any shop keepers left to chase him. He didn’t have worry about law enforcement either - the police force was disbanded months ago, it was practically wiped off the face of the Earth, together with most human beings.

There weren’t many people left now, most of them even were ‘specials’. They had their ability to defend themselves, the other poor bastards had to use whatever they could grab. Nick saw a poor old man trying to defeat a group of darkseekers with a box of toothpicks and an empty can of spinach. It was sad, but as Nick had his own problems he didn’t bother helping him. It was cruel, but it was every man for himself.

Nick stood out of the large tub, that had to serve as a bed. A tub was stronger, higher, and Nick grew used to it. Still sleepy, he rubbed his eyes and walked to the window. He opened the heavy doors fortifying them. There was no way in heaven the darkseekers could get through that. He could practically survive a nuclear bomb with these things. Nick grinned at the thought of it. ‘I’m a bit overreacting now’, he thought to himself.

As a daily routine, he stepped to the radio to turn it on, expecting the daily broadcast from Morningside Heights every minute now. Most of the time it was just a basic message, nothing special really. But he had to keep contact with the other survivors. A small group had formed, now staying in what once was a blooming university. Almost a year ago, the original group of survivors had fortified what once was Columbia University. Nick had been there, it was impressive to say the least, but he chose not to stay there. He worked so hard to gather a pile of resources and to fortify his place he just couldn’t abandon it. On top of that, there were just some annoying people there. Apocalypse does strange things to people, he figured.

Nick was just about to go downstairs as he heard something on the radio. He turned around and had a seat in a comfortable armchair - stolen, by the way, from a furniture shop just around the corner. That armchair was one he always wanted, but before the outbreak couldn’t afford.

As he listened to the daily message, seemingly normal, he sighed as memories from his family passed through his head once again. It’s been a year now, a very long and lonely year. His parents were dead due to this horrible, apocalyptic virus. That same virus turned his brother into a beast - beast not even being a good word to describe what he had become. He was nor an animal, nor a human. Far from human, even. The message was coming to an end, as he heard something peculiar. Today it just wasn’t a routine message, there was a coda at the end saying “Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come.”

Not long after, Nick heard his walkie-talkie, that was lying on the floor somewhere. He stood up quickly and turned it on. It was Elizabeth, he presumed she had heard the same peculiar message. "Nick! Nick! Are you there? Pick up!" she said in a hurry. Although English isn't her mothertongue, she's adapted very well. She was obviously as confused as he was.

“Yeah I hear you, I suppose you got the same message. Listen, I’m packing as I speak. I’ll meet you at Times Square in about 40 minutes. No time to waste, this semes serious. Over and out.” Nick said, grabbing his backpack and rushing to his safe. He put 4 guns and ammunition, a couple of grenades and his smallest katana in his backpack. He put his other katana, the largest one he owned, in its ‘holster’ and laid it around him. He then paced to his room, clumsily grabbed some clothes and throwed them in his backpack. In a hurry, Nick went downstairs to pack some supplies and rushed out of his apartment. He locked it and runned outside to the port.

Not bothering looking for a good enough boat, he jumped on the first boat within sight.

TAG: nic_nac (not necessarily though)

[Jerub-baal]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Eva Marie Pazzon

Eva had come down from the radio tower and was passing back into the library when she saw Jo walking several paces in front of her, then stopping and yelling for "Miss Leader".

Eva clasped her hands over her ears as she heard the start of the yell, but it didn't much dampen the sound.

"Ugh..." she groaned, coming around the side to place a hand on the young girl's shoulder-"I'm right here. Maybe if you weren't so caught up in your own imagining you would have noticed tha-" she stopped, realizing she was reprimanding just a teenage girl, albeit one that could bleed you dry with nary a thought-"I mean, good morning."

She smiled as warm as the sun which she so depended upon for her power was shining in the daybreak, having to crouch a little as she was a tall woman to meet eye level with Jo Redd- "The roaches are mostly around the gym these days, the vending machines which were destroyed when people first looted sort of drew them there, no matter what we do and no matter that we've cleaned it all up. C'mon, I'll walk with, have to do my morning workout."

Eva patted Jo Redd on the shoulder lightly, she was utterly awful with teenagers but trying nonetheless- "Oh, and if you don't mind, I call you by the name you ask to be, Jo Redd, if you could call me Ms. Pazzon or Eva like the rest I'd much appreciate it."

Starting the walk towards the gym with Jo Redd, Eva asked to keep polite conversation going- "How did you get the name Jo Redd anyway?"

[tag: Cheesemaker]

((OOC: Just a polite reminder to keep up the good work and keep up with format. I know people have different ways of doing tags or whether they bold/italicize/what have you things, but having the four lines at the top and tag at the bottom is the key. This game is shaping up to be quite wonderful, I haven't seen players so enthusiastic about a project in a long time, and the posts so far are of very nice quality. ))

[Kris]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Lauren Steil

Undoing the tie holding her hair in a bun, Lauren shrugged, taking a seat as she watched Sigfried take his place.

"Eh, I dunno. Not in the mood today, I guess," she replied, wiping the sweat off of her face. She most likely smelled foul, but that didn't really bother her around Sigfried. They were known to work out together usually, and after the first few weeks, becoming embaressed about body odor faded quickly. Sig was only a few years older than her, and at the moment, he was her closest friend. At best. They didn't know everything about one another, and they weren't extremely close. But she considered him the closest of whatever allies she had remaining. She had only told him about Travis, her exboyfriend.

Not ex. We didn't break up... she reminded herself, sighing.

Looking up, in a small voice, she said, "I dreampt about him again last night. Trav."

Tag: FJ, and all those willing

[Snowind]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
4 miles away from Columbia University
IC: Carlos de la Vega

Carlos was increasing speed, he was now at 180km/hr in the desserted road, dodging desserted cars and other things. After one year of travelling through all North America he had become really skilled at driving.

He saw the sign "Morning side heights 4 miles" and his heart and mind focused only on reaching the place, focused so much on the road he forgot about everything else. It was when his ability alerted him.

Uniemotional beings coming from his left, right and front, it was an ambush. With little time to react he used the break and when it was going at 80km/hr he jumped from it, the bike getting sparks as it slowed down with the pavement.

Once his feet were in the ground, he took out a small 9mm he had with some ammo left and his stake.

In matter of seconds, he saw them, the Dark Seekers surrounding him, if he would be paying more attention to his surroundings he would have dodge them without a fight, but it was too late for that.

The byke crashed into a dark seeker that had already jumped into the road, sending it several yards away, the other four were still there. Carlos took out the gun and shot one of them with the gun, until it ran out of ammo.

"d*** Vampiros..." yelled Carlos throwing the gun away and taking a hunting knife, "Come here bitches..."

Two of them he was facing, the other was at his back, although by sensing their hunger he was able to know exactly where they were in a 50m radius.

One of the dark seekers facing him jumped to attack him, he moved left took his wrist, with the force he had and the one he had absorbed from his own emotions he threw the Seeker to the ground and staked him in the heart. Then kicked his jaw with all his strenght just to be sure.

The other two seekers jumped while he removed his stake from the dead one. One trying to attack the chest and other the legs, Carlos jumped to his right now but fell two the ground, the seekers were rising. Carlos threw the knife with his two-men strenght and it stuck in the neck of one of them.

The other had already jumped but when it was about to get Carlos, he had already raised his stake and it empaled itself.

Breaking the neck of the dead Seekers, as he usually did just to be sure, he picked up his moto which was just a little scratched and re-took the road, this time going slower so his ability would alert him with enough time.

TAG: Still no-one, just an action scene so you see him in action.

[Misunderstood]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Beckett's medical bunker in Vancouver, Canada
IC: Dr. Paul Beckett

Paul awoke to the steady beeping of an incoming transmission. He squinted his eyes, not having adjusted to the bright light of his lamp. He had fallen asleep, yet again, in the middle of typing up his report. A report of yet another failure. He ran his hands over his face as he stood, placing the papers and files that were in his lap, upon his desk.

As he made his way over to his radio, he bumped into the medical makeshift table. "F**k!" he cried out and immediately started to rub the sore spot on his thigh. Reaching the station he turned knobs and dials until he found the frequency best broadcasting the message. As he listened intently a smile grew across his face. There was a place now where survivors were gathering, and shelter, food, care will be provided to anyone out there who wishes to join.

"Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come." The message repeated itself but that was nothing new. Paul couldn't feel his toes. He swayed on his feet and stumbled backwards, into a chair. The grin could not leave his face.

After he had gotten a hold of himself, Paul started to pack a few things. It was going to take sometime to get to the University and need provisions, not to mention protection. He glanced at his watch a swore to himself. He couldn't leave that day; not much time to get an adequate heads start.

"That's alright." he said to himself. "I just have time for a complete rest and a decent route." With that he took a map out. He unfolded it and grabbed a pencil and highlighter as he looked over all of his possible routes. After he was satisfied he smiled to himself, placing the pencil behind his ear. He started to fold the map when he stopped. "How the heck does this thing fold!" he said, frustrated; he could not get the correct sequence. "Oh f**k it" he said and folded it his way, making it work. Paul then tucked it just inside his bag. He returned to his radio station, sending a radio transmission reply.

"Dr. Beckett here, will be there in about 3 days if driving conditions are ideal." He hesitated at the time schedule. Ideally it would be roughly 45 hours, but considering the roads were probably....not in the best of situations, he corrected himself. "I'll be there as soon as I can."




[tag: anyone at Columbia if you so choose]

[Urza Soulforge]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
CFB Petawawa, Ontario, Canada. En route to Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Marcus Emmanuel


"Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come."

The irony of the statement was only appreciated by the pilot of the Bell CH-146 Griffon helicopter. He was the only one to appreciate it, because he was the only one in the helicopter. Even if the helo had passengers, none of them would get it. None of them knew about him, anyway. They knew that he was their leader, he was in command, he was their General. They did not know he was one of them. A special.

The pilot looked out the window. The view of scenic New York from the air was always breathtaking, even if everything was in ruins, and you considered that every building, with notable exception of his destination, was filled with f***ing vampires. Every building, with notable exception of his destination, was filled with former humans who were ready, and willing, to eat you. Yummy.

He looked back on what lead him to take to the skies. His men, and some women, who looked up to him as a leader, as the greatest warrior their country had produced, were holed up with him in an old hangar. They had enough supplies to last a week, and ammo for less than that. Their deaths were imminent, and would be of the least enjoyable character. He had lead them here. He thought that Petawawa would be secure. He thought that, even if they were forced into this situation, that he could win out. He had power, after all. But he couldn't let them know. He did not want to lose them to fear of him. He'd seen how well others did. Hell, people stoned gays who came out, back in the day. They shot Nathan Petrelli. He did not tell them. Slowly, they each died. They had made a last ditch effort for the helos, to fly out. The rest of the survivors died. Except him. He was the only survivor.

Flying towards Columbia University, he pulled out his wallet. He opened it, and looked inside at the last picture he had of a living person, or at least, a person he hoped was alive. In his hand was a picture of a woman, now in her late 40's, as he was.

Her name was Julie.

He loved her.

He had tried to find her, after the crisis started, but nothing doing. Without the Internet, he had little or no chance of finding her in this suddenly massive world. He stared at the picture. There was his hope, his hope of a life that wasn't a complete waste, a life that was worth something, a life with purpose.

Those hopes died along with civilization.

But he heard a new hope, on the radio. Just like when he was a kid, listening to his rock, which, of course, scared the crap out of his parents. He heard Eva. He heard that he could find solitude, and a new bastion, to begin anew his quest for revenge, his quest for closure, his quest for Julie.

They would never appreciate the irony of this statement. He reached over to the empty seat next to him. He touched the leather upholstering. But it wasn't leather he felt. In fact, it was really nothing. He felt nothing. He, in his hands, held the true building blocks of matter. He held it, and shaped it with his will. He asked for a nice BLT sandwich, on whole wheat bread.

He pulled his hand out, and in his hand, was that BLT sandwich. He tasted it. d***, forgot the cucumbers.

He looked out the window again, and saw his destination.

He landed his helo on the most empty area of the campus. Right when he landed it, the engine cut out. The helo was out of gas.

He stepped out of the helo, and put on his gear. His winter camo stood out strongly against the green of the campus. His long white jacket, and his wide hat made him look like a snowman looking for an exorcism, and his belt of weapons made it seem like no ordinary exorcism. He moved toward the main building, and comforted himself, seeing that there was electricity. That meant humans. Thank God, the God he still believed in, after everything. He moved back to the helo, touched it again, and pulled out a bottle of beer. It tasted stale, and was flat. Both things he hated. He was nervous, and the beer told him so. He sat down, and started drinking.

(Tag: Columbia crew, say hello if you want, but don't rush. I wanna finish my drink. lol)

[Dreadman]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Just off Interstate 80, Pennsylvania
IC: Jack Malone Jr.

"Ah, dammit."
Jack forced the gas pump back into its home, wiping his now gasoline covered shoe on the concrete step next to his cruiser. The sun's light was thankfully spreading over the station before him, forcing Jack to give a silent prayer. With the tank of his Mustang cruiser now full, Jack threw on his black jacket and pulled open the trunk of the car. A subtle sizzling sound came from the ground next to him. He turned his head to look as the sun began to cook the skin of what Jack assumed had once been the owner of the station, smoke rising from the bullet wounds on its chest.

"Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it."

Jack picked up three medium sized plastic bottles and set them up in the back, which was already near full. Locking the trunk and walking around to the front of the car, Jack opened the driver's side door, pulled out a pair of shades and slid them up the bridge of his nose.

Las Vegas was dead during the day and a hotspot at night, both before and after the virus. Jack had watched as those he had trained, taught, brought under his wing as sons, mutated into the sick creatures that stalked in the night. They were out for blood, sniffing it out like sharks and going into a frenzy whenever food popped out its head. Months passed without another single survivor, and so during the days Jack went through the city packing heat and searching for his own food. If a Seeker or two ended up dead, that was fine by him.

It was in his old precinct on The Strip just the day before that he first heard the radio message from New York. He had been using the precinct as a make-shift home for a few days, setting up any kind of trap that could stop the b*stard monsters from getting too him. If only things had been so easy.

They had made it inside, sniffing out a nice, fresh steak Jack had taken from a nearby cornerstore. Bullets did their job, Jack sitting in the line-up while the banged on the mirrored glass. By the time they broke through, Jack had dropped three grenades and ran for the carpark. They kept coming, their feet stamped down the hall as Jack fired back shots that rarely hit their targets. In the carpark he had already set traps and explosives for if he ever needed to make a quick escape, one of the many lucky saves that made sure his life didn't come to an end.

He pressed that little red button, blowing all the Dark Seekers away to Kingdom Come. The entire precinct went up, lighting up the sky, lighting up the darkness. That's when Jack hopped in his cruiser and set off on the road.
But that was yesterday. What lay ahead today was hopefully some form of survival. If not... at least he wouldn't die alone.

As Jack sat back into the driver's seat, he put the keys into the ignition and rolled the engine, loving the sound of her purring. He glided back up onto the I-80 and turned on the radio, hearing the now familiar message, plus the new addition:

"Be sure to bring equipment to travel when you come."

Winding down his window, Jack lit up a cigarette and smiled. "I've got all I need."

[TAG: Noone]

[Jerub-baal]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morninside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Eva Marie Pazzon

Eva held the portable receiver in her hand that was meant to...well, to receive the answers to her transmission. It beeped and she turned it on as she and Jo Redd walked down the steps of the library and crossed the campus, making way for the gym.

She listened to Paul's response, the man was out of range for a reply unless she went up to the radio tower, and that would be after the gym.

She stopped, stock-still as the helicopter was seen across the campus, blinking a few times. She looked to Jo Redd-"Go up in the radio tower and call back to Paul Beckett, tell him we're glad he's on the way."

Eva shook her head in amazement at the helicopter and entrance.

"Holy..." she just muttered, a few quick strides breaking out into a full blown run as she came upon a man looking like something out of an action movie- belt of weapons, heavy jacket, and standing backdropped by a helicopter she could only assume he piloted here.

"Umm...hello!" She spoke brightly, a sort of giddiness about her only stopping for the seriousness of the occasion.

"Eva Marie Pazzon, I'm the one who sent out the transmission you got." She said authoritatively, extending her hand out.

[tag: Urza Soulforge]

((OOC: I was planning on having everyone show up at Columbia on the first day, but since Paul's up in Canada there's going to be a time jump forward until his arrival I figure, to come in time with Dread and Snow's characters, once everyone has their first post(s) in.))

[Sylar JPC]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Liberty island, New York
IC: Logan Covar

Logan began to awake from the all to familar beeping of his alarm. Sliding out of the comfort of his bed he slides on his usual attire and buckles his shoulder holsters tightly. Kylie(his siberian husky) lays stretched out across the bed.

"Well arent you lucky huh" logan says with a smile. Sliding the door open he hops onto his small motor boat and fires up the engine. Logan closes his eyes letting the cool breeze hit his face. Logan opens his eyes pushing the excelerator down. He knew any minute now eva was going to begin the radio broadcasts.

As he nears the dock he slows down cutting the engine. After docking he proceeds to the statue of liberty. After unlocking the doors he slides open the door taking a quick scan of the radios.

"I dont think ive ever seen so many radios in one place. This was one of the safest and best place to send out broadcasts." He thought to himself continuing towards the stairs leading up to the top of the statue. As he neared the stairs he heard an all to familar scream. Unholstering his handgun he raises it and heads into the direction the sound came from.

"It cant be..." he says to himself, taking soft quiet steps towards a door halfway open. Taking a deep breath logan kicks the door open exposing a single darkseeker. As the light hit the creature it instinctively leaped further into the darkness. Wasting no time logan thrusts his arm towards the creature sending a stream of white light at the creature. Yellow sparks leap out of the stream scorching whatever it makes contact with. As the light impacts the creature it falls over onto its side, motionless as puffs of smoke rise from the corpse.

Logan closes his eyes as he lowers his hand and begins to mutter a small prayer. After opening his eyes he runs to the radios. It took a couple minutes to find a clear enough channel to the university

"Columbia...columbia this is Liberty Island please respond"

[Tag: Anyone at Columbia]

[Admiral Cheesema...]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: "Jo Redd"

Jo clambered up the radio tower, and then listened as Paul Beckett's message came in.
She pushed a button to respond. "Oooh! You're Scottish! Are you acquainted with Sean Connery? He's amazing. Mostly when he was Indiana Jones's dad. And when he was JAMES BOND! Ooooooh...yeah! Seen Goldfinger? THAT WAS GREAT! When he zappofied the titanic guy with the razor hat....yeah...Oh! I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Jo! I could make your heart explode!"

[Tag: Misunderstood]

[FabledJables]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Sigfried

Sigfried smiled weakly as he went to the threadmill on the end. He might as well learn to run. Or...run better. Although he was not nearly as good as Lauren. He started the thing slow, a nice jogging pace. He enjoyed talking to her, although by no strech were they close. Just..they had "gravitated" to this room together so by extension they had talked.

"Again? Was it the same as last time? You know...when you lost him?"

He had to be careful with this subject. She was sensitive still about this. Not like Sigfried would know about it, he couldn't relate well. He was always standoffish until he warmed up to people. Hopefully she would get better about this. ALso, he hoped she nver met this Trevor again, not unless he was a survivor. The possibility of him being one of...those things...was high, and if she found him in that changed state she might break down.

(Tag: Kris)

[Misunderstood]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Beckett's medical bunker in Vancouver, Canada
IC: Dr. Paul Beckett

Paul's jaw dropped as he received the transmission from Columbia. Who was this person and why was she at the controls? Where were the others?

"Look, knowing whether or not I am acquainted with Sean Connery is of no use to anyone this day and age. Another thing, you shouldn't be broadcasting such silly nonsense anyway. Is there anyone else who is....older...around?" he stopped and closed his eyes. His bedside manner was pretty rusty and he felt like he just chewed out some girl he didn't even know, not to mention a girl who could kill him, when she saw him in person, for being rude to her. He took a deep breath. "I meant no disrespect, Jo. I am sorry."

[Tag: Cheesemaker]

[Jerub-baal]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Morninside Heights, New York, Columbia University
IC: Eva Marie Pazzon

Eva's receiver/close range radio on her person that she'd sent the call chain out through was still beeper even after Jo answered Paul's call.

She stopped and looked down to it, the small audio recorder built in playing back the last few seconds, she answered quickly.

Giving a small 'one moment' raise of her pointer finger to the man outside of the helicopter, she took the call.

"Hello Logan. Yes, the broadcast has changed today, you really should come over to the university to celebrate the occasion..." she trailed off, a smile playing upon her lips- "I have a plan that could change things for us, for those who've survive the Dark Seekers. Be seeing you!"

She was almost giddy at the turn of events and the new arrival, at least giddy enough to not realize that she'd given their communications network over to an unstable 15 year old girl who was musing about Sean Connery and myocardial conflagrations to the bewildered Paul Beckett...

[tag: SylarJPC, Urza Soulforge]

[Snowind]

The Joining: The Call
Day One, Daybreak
Getting out of Lincoln Tunnel--->Morningside Heights, New York, Columbia University, Gym
IC: Carlos de la Vega

Carlos had just passed the exit of the tunnel where he had just been ambushed, sunlight reaching his face, he hated tunnels always filled with dark seekers, although according to the GPS he could take a short cut through Central Park. Well, not an actual shortcut since it was a longer way but he could use the view.

He entered the now forsaken park at full speed, a place in light where he could do some bike stunts, which of course he did, he had only some minutes to get to the University before the seekers came out to embrace the darkness.

So quitting his fun, one of the only good times he had left, he took his bike and drove the short way to Columbia, to where he arrived in a matter of minutes. Seeing the huge facility he decided to go to the place where he usually went the few time he had ever stepped on a college, the gym.

He opened the door and found a couple of people training.

"Hum... Hola... I'm looking for the responsibles of the broadcast..." said Carlos to the strangers.

TAG: FJ and Kris

OOC: And Snow's in da house!