Life Has Become Better

[Oneshot.]

The housing in the town is made up of simple two-story houses, most of these of built in the style of 70s and 80s American suburbs despite being far removed from such a setting. Many of the houses have similar layouts with some divergence: most feature a bottom floor consisting of a kitchen, dining room and living room, a second floor with a master and secondary bedroom, and a bathroom with a tub. A few of the houses have garages, but the vehicles they contained are either gone or have been rendered inoperable.

Thread Limit: 2
Post Reply
User avatar
Dogs231
Posts: 358
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 8:40 pm

Life Has Become Better

#1

Post by Dogs231 »

S031: ABHISHEK PANICKER — CONTINUED FROM "Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature"

By now, it was the dead of night. The dying embers of the fire Abhishek had left behind were little more than memories, the ashes of polaroid pictures. By now, he could barely remember what it had looked like, how many sticks it had, or how long he'd kept it burning. All those details had faded away hours before as he trekked toward the town.

That was fine.

By now, he had reached his destination. It wasn't a difficult journey—at his leisurely pace, Abhishek hadn't even broken a sweat—but it was certainly long. He'd underestimated the distance. But, ultimately, it hadn't cost him anything other than some wasted time. He hadn't even caught a glimpse of anyone in that timespan.

That was fine.

As he opened the—unlocked—door and stepped forth, there were no thoughts about the danger that might lurk within the home's depths. Any reasonable person, himself notwithstanding, would be asleep, long consumed in their rest. If anyone had the advantage, it was him, with his weapon in hand alongside the element of surprise.

He pulled the flashlight from his bag, clicked it on, and scanned it around the entrance. Nobody was home. Abhishek shut the door behind him, then locked it. He wasn't about to make such an obvious mistake. Then, he took a step, then another, and began to move from room to room. Every single one was uninhabited, abandoned, and cold.

He took the steps up, each step accompanied by a wailing creak, and explored the upstairs, from the bathroom to the master bedroom, his final stop in the journey. As above, so below—or the other way around. He smiled. That was perfect for his purposes. Nothing nefarious, but he wasn't one to keep company for long.

He looked around the bedroom. Empty, save for the ever-watchful eye of the camera in the upper-right corners of the room, where the western and northern walls intersected. Silent as the grave, except for his frigid breaths and the titter of laughter on his tongue. Home, for a time. Not for long, but enough for him to rest.

Abhishek sat down on the side of the bed—now his bed—and slid his bag to the side, then propped his weapon against the nightstand. He looked up at the camera—or, from another perspective, past it, to those beyond, in another world. The young man gave a friendly wave in its direction, unreciprocated by the metal contraption. Then, he spoke.

"Hey. It's been a while since our last bit of chit-chat. Still alive and kicking. So, I bet you're dying to know:

"If I had planned to abandon the fire, why'd I stay and fight over it? The reason is pretty simple. You might even have a guess already. But, I'll answer, for your sake—because, if nobody else, I know that you'd want to hear about it. Give you some closure. Since, well, it's statistically improbable that I'll live to get home.

"The reason is spite. I just couldn't let those two—you know who—keep that sense of smug self-righteousness. And, yeah, I'm a bastard for that, whatever. I know you feel the same way. At the very least, I knew, from the moment they stepped out of those bushes, that they'd try and grandstand even as they tried to rip that fire from my cold dead hands."

Abhishek chuckled to himself and let his head fall. Then, he breathed in, sighed, and looked back up at the camera. A smile crept across his face, but not as wide as the slasher grins he'd given the others back at the campfire. It was almost weak—like, at any moment, it could turn upside-down to a frown.

"That's my reason. And, uh, again—maybe I'm not a good person. It was selfish. But, at that moment, I proved my point. And nobody could stop me from saying whatever I wanted and doing whatever I felt was the thing to do. And, you know, it's fun—just like the forums were. Maybe it's a bad influence, but, you know, I'm already a bad influence."

His smile crept further. It strengthened.

"See you later. I need to get some rest. You should too."

Then, he turned his eyes from the camera, buried himself beneath the tattered covers of the bed, and rolled onto his side. The bed was large enough for two—a space at his side—but he was the sole occupant. Soon, the rises and falls of his chest grew smaller, and he drifted into the abyss himself.

And, eventually, he'd rise, on a different day, in the same place.

S031: ABHISHEK PANICKER — CONTINUED IN "Your Honor, Survival of the Fittest."
[+] PRESENT
V8 — THE DEAD OF WINTER
Relationship Thread

Image
🕇 S021: Corbin Azinger is viewing the world in black and white — "I had shit to work towards, once. I had a future, I had dreams. I did everything I was supposed to, and it landed me here." [Adopted by AlmostInhuman]

“Someone who is determined to disbelieve something can manage to disregard an Everest of evidence for it.” - George Will

The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Intention.

Image
S031: Abhishek Panicker is leading a revolution of his own — "After all, you know me better than anyone else ever did. I'd like to keep my secrets, you know? Let them all wonder. It's more fun that way."

“The distinguishing mark of man is the hand, the instrument with which he does all his mischief.” - George Orwell

Pregame: 1, 2, 3, 4
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Ideology.

Image
S043: Donovan Lauer is dreaming about his victory — "I just wanted to be a winner. That's all I ever wanted—to win something for once, just once, in my life. I was tired of losing. I was tired of being a loser."

“Tex looks at me and says 'There's no 'I' in team!' I looked at Tex and say, 'There's not, but there's an 'I' in win!'” - Michael Jordan

Pregame: 1
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Initiative.

Image
S061: Alexander Hawthorne is trying to put his life together — "I am not afraid anymore. Because now, there is nothing—absolutely nothing—left in this life for me to be afraid of; there is nothing left for me to lose." [Adopted from Salic]

“You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity.” - Phillip K. Dick

Pregame: 1
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Industry.

Image
S091: Claire Haig is thinking about her life story — "Because, in spite of everything, there's still a part of me that wants to believe. ... To believe that there's still something human left behind when you take our masks away. That, beneath the skin, we're not just monsters."

“The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away.” - William Golding

Pregame: 1
The Game: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

Identity.

MEANWHILE — THE CITY OF GHOSTS

██/██/████
[+] FUTURE
V9:

Image
⛼ Damien Vásquez — “The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” - Joseph Conrad

Image
⬤ Rohan Sen — “Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” - Henry David Thoreau

Image
≋ Isaac Kea — “The word impossible has been and must remain deleted from our dictionary.” – Ingvar Kamprad

BEYOND:

∎ William Springfield — “There is nothing more remorseless, just as there is nothing more helpful, than truth.” - William C. Redfield

★ Simon Chase — “What I have done up to this is nothing. I am only at the beginning of the course I must run.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

✠ Harvey Gallant — “It is just that, in so terrible a day, and in the last moments of my life, I should discover all the iniquity of falsehood, and make the truth triumph." - Jacques de Molay

👁 Koda Silver — “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” - Albert Einstein

◓ Edgar Clause — “We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.” - George S. Patton

☧ Adam Angelo — “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed” - The Bible, John 3:20

Post Reply

Return to “Housing”