RPG Archives Post-Apocalypse Now - Prologue

It is another cloudy day in New Windsor. There have been a lot of those lately. The city itself is pretty quiet. There's a bit of noise in some parts, as new buildings are erected out of materials salvaged from an abandoned Vault surveyors found just east of the city. It's been over twenty years since the foundation of New Windsor, but the community is finally beginning to look like the towns and cities old computers had pictures of in their archives.
Around the perimeter of the city, the high, concrete fences stand, patrolled at intervals by guards wearing clean, blue uniforms and carrying small firearms. Whether or not they have any ammo is another question.
Suddenly, the calm of the village is disrupted by a shout coming from wall bordering the canyon on the north-western side of town, where the old computers say the Detroit River once ran.

"Open the gates!!" comes the shout, followed by the deep rumbing of the city gates pulling open.
Charging through the gates come a group of grizzled soldiers in RMA uniforms, carrying a pair of bodies and kicking up clouds of dust in their wake. At their heels, one of the guards sees something.

"NUMANS!!" he bellows. "CLOSE THE GATES!!"

No sooner have the RMA soldiers cleared the entrance than the gates rumble closed, ending the Numan pursuit. A couple of the city guards fire a few rounds at the attackers, and they soon back off, retreated to whatever hole they crawled out of.
Relieved at ending the chase, but still hurried by the condition of the people they carry, the RMA soldiers head immediately for the New Windsor hospital. Dropping off the two dying travellers with the doctor, the soldiers stumble into the local RMA office and collapse, exhausted.

 

Several days go by, and one of the travellers is slowly nursed back to health. His companion, however, is not so fortunate, and dies shortly after reaching the city.
While the doctor insists that the survivor is physically okay (except for a few borken bones and some deep scratches), his diagnosis is that the man has surely become delusional. The rescued traveller keeps rambling on about how he found DCVault after so many years, and about finding records kept by none other than the Founder detailing his exploits after leaving the site of New Windsor.
Given the gravity of his claims, the mayor sent an official team of investigators (and psychiatrists) to find out whether or not there might be any truth to the claims this man is making. The result came up that the man does not seem crazy, aside from his ramblings, and that he firmly believes he found the legendary Vault. Of course, he has no way to back up his claims, so the investigators decide that he probably just made the thing up, or is still recovering from his near-death encounter with the Numans, or the shock of seeing his caravan killed.

But what if there is something to what he has to say? Tales of the wonders held in DCVault are the stuff of dreams. A legendary vault filled with treasures and knowledge from a more advanced time ... whoever could prove its existance would be famous! They'd be rich! Whole cities would bow down to their glory! And of course, just learning the lost secrets of ancient minds would be worth the effort in itself! Even more, think of the adventure! Think of the excitement!
This is the line of discussion heard at some point just about everywhere in the city. Of course, most of New Windsor is afraid to leave the safety of their city, especially after seeing what a few Numans did to that traveller and his companion, not to mention the rest of the group, which was apparently not in any sort of condition even resembling a body when the RMA found them.
Still, some [i.e. you four] think there might be more to this "crazy" man's story than the investigators think. To that end, you have made your way to the hospital (for whatever reasons you may have ... to each his/her own) to meet this man for yourselves.

You are in the waiting room of New Windsor Medical Facility. There is not much activity here, but there is a reception desk at which a short, middle-aged woman in a nurse's uniform is seated. Behind the desk are two doors: on labelled "Authorized Personel Only", and another labelled "Medical Wards".

 

Arc held open the door of the hospital for a young lady as she entered, winking at her. Then, he walked in himself.

His movements were loose and upbeat. He had come to investigate a rumour. The DCVault. If there were any possibilities that these rumours were true, it could mean a world of things to Arc.

He heard a man questioning a nurse. "He is making wild claims, or so the rumors go, and I am beginning to wonder to what extent the rumors are telling. They said he claimed he found the DCVault... is there any proof?"

The nurse answered. A boring answer, an inconclusive one.

He sat down a few seats away from the man. "Hey...Are you serious about the DCVault?"

 

Skie rummaged through her purse and grabbed her make up and started to re-apply it. she opened her purse and took out a pad of paper and a pen. Glancing over her shoulder she noticed a somewhat impatient man, fancily dressed for a normal human. She started to scribble down rapidly in her Notebook and took out a tape recorder, and silently spoke into it. Skie started to inspect her braids and tossed them into a ponytail. "So... what's your name?"

 

"I'm Skie."
She rummaged through her bag in here and took out a small radio transmitter and spoke into it and got a response that was fuzzy and unclear.
"Well, Ryan, I can tell you its not rather safe out there, you're safer here. There's been more of these problems with rebellions out there. Just giving you a warning. Wouldn't want anyone like you to get hurt on my watch."

 

Arc was annoyed that this cat-ish numan person was distracting this Ryan from the matter at hand. DCVault was important to him. Very important.

"Hey- Ryan, right? I'm Arc Barrows. I want to go to DCVault. It seems to me like you plan on getting there. Interested in maybe forming a partnership on getting there?"

He offered his hand.

 

"Me? Just a human. With issues that is." She stood up. "I'm a negotiator. between humans, numans, and other species. I work for the government, and..." She looked over her shoulder staring at the man who was talking to Ryan "...and I too, am going into DCVault."

 

James burst into the hospital. He was covered in wounds, yet showed no apparent sign of pain.

As he limped into the hospital on the one good leg he had, he suddenly collapsed and hit the ground extremely fast.

Soon as he lay there, a pool of blood began to pour out under his body. "Numans..."
Was all he could say.

 

"Damn. Not again!"
Skie ran over to the man and rummaged in her purse grabbed a syringe, flicked it, unrolled the man's wrist and inserted it in his vein. "Don't worry, you won't feel anymore pain." Skie smiled at his dead eyes and saw them slowly close. "We need a doc out here NOW!"

 

Arc thought of answering something like 'Maybe he was looking for DCVault', but decided against it. "I don't know. Sometimes a body just gets seized with the urge to wander outside of our boundaries."

He looked around. "Hmm. Seems to me that all we can do for now is wait. I don't really have much medical expertise...I was a rockstar once, but the only medical experience I got from that was how to treat a hangover..."

He tried to give the man and medical personnel some room to maneuver.

 

"Sounds like you don't like the numans very much..."

Arc pondered. "Maybe the numans know more than they let on. It might be interesting to get close enough to talk with one...that is, if it weren't for the fact that one would be killed. At least...that's what everyone wants you to think, isn't it?"

Were the numans really so bad? Arc wasn't sure...Maybe it was because he didn't know much about them, but he found it hard to judge them.

"It might be a coincidence...but then again, it might not. I can't be sure. He looks like the type that might be able to hold his own in a fight. Maybe he killed some, and that's why they hurt him."

Arc was sorry that this guy had been hurt, but he wanted to see the man who claimed to know about DCVault.

 

Arc nearly slapped his forehead in relief. Was he finally getting through? "Yes! Yes, that's exactly what I want. I want to go to DCVault. And I want to go with you."

He had thought from the beginning that this was where Ryan was heading.

"That's why I'm here. I need to get information on DCVault."

He brushed his hair back. "So...how about this girl? Is she going to DCVault too? Do you want her along? How about we wait around, try and get in to see that supposedly 'crazy' man, and wait on this injured guy to speak to him too. That way, we'll know what's going on."

 

[OOC]: Okay, last post of the night- I swear. Don't want people to have too much to catch up on.

[BIC]:

Arc laughed. Ancient civilization, huh? He could tell Ryan a thing or two about Ancient Civilizations. Again, he decided against it. He wasn't crazy enough to tell Ryan that he'd been cryogenically frozen for years before awaking in this world filled with destruction.

"Okay. I won't get in your way. I have my reasons for finding DCVault too."