Haruspicus. Awakening #1

…I should check my state before exiting the house. Each new day brings different unpleasant surprises, ok, so how is it?

Exhaustion, well I don’t feel too tired, had a good sleep. If I don’t overexert myself, I’ll be able to exist without sleep for 16 hours, that’s quite a lot.

I feel pretty hungry, though. I didn’t go into any infected houses yesterday and had a fight with the marauders. I don’t have the money to buy any food. So what do we have, I am hungry and have no food. I’ll have to see what I can do about that as soon as possible.

How about my reputation? Yeah… that’s the problem. That’s why I’ve no money. The lust for vengeance, natural cruelty, love for marauding and the incidental encounters with these hysterical infected, whom I decide to kill immediately have had their consequences. It’s becoming harder and harder to get my hands on money. Even responsible people are giving me small sums. I must restore my good name.

Now… let’s take a look at what I do have.

Immunity stimulators – none! Level of immunity is but nothing. That is awful, if my district has been infected over the night, only a miracle could save me. I do have some cheap and dangerous painkillers in store though. They could help me restore my reputation, if I were to give them to the infected, but nearing these people barely any immunity is no good either… The situation couldn’t be worse.
Any special clothes? Yep, I have some stalking boots, and a concealing cloak, but no repellants at all! Ok, the clothes I have gives me a chance to make a successful raid at the locked up areas.
How about weaponry? Alright, I’ve a shotgun and one bullet for it, one, but it kills anyone at close distance. Moreover, I’ve a revolver and a whole charger for it, two bullets left in the weapon since yesterday.

Right, so here’s the plan for the morning: run to the locked up area, kill a few marauders, and take the things they stole from them, check out a few locked up houses on my way back – what they have in store. Then use the money gained from this to buy some immunity stimulators and begin restoring my reputation. Then, perhaps, I could go and start communicating with the citizens…

The Bachelor. An episode of experimental play #1

…Having spoken to the field surgeon, I’m going out of the dissecting room, but I forgot to check my state beforehand, how rash of me… never mind…

How is the weather? Hmmm, not too good: gray autumn sky, dim light and empty passages between the rusting warehouses. There are rats here and there, cuddled up in the darker corners and dying. The trees are shedding their dry leaves. The steppe air is as dense as resin, I can feel it with my lungs, only if I could see it with my eyes… could make an interesting experiment. Damn! Where did that come from, right I was, if only I could see it with my eyes, I would have seen the wind that’s flung all this rubbish in my face… Huh? I feel a bit dizzy… It can’t be! There must have been particles of the plague in that, I’m feeling faint… must be ill. It’s probably the end of me, damn, why didn’t I check my state before exiting the dissecting room, my immunity level is barely anything! I could try and survive on the antibiotics and try to destroy the disease with chemicals, but there are too few, and I spent all my money on weaponry yesterday… oh…

(The bachelor faints and begins struggling to keep his soul within his body, but fails.)

How strange, looking down at my body… just a second of thoughtlessness cost me my life. If only the air had been more densely littered, I could have seen the coming infection and returned to the dissecting room just in time to equip myself appropriately. Couldn’t do it…
The bachelor is dead.

The Bachelor. An episode of experimental play #2

…Having sneaked past the officer of the platoon, I stepped out of the carriage. Ah! Where did that come from? That shot must have come from the soldiers on the railroad… They must have realized that I wasn’t supposed to come out of that carriage… it’s all chaos… I can barely see, the world is spinning before me. Thank goodness I’m still alive. I’ll try and strafe my way down the railroad, never mind the shot, hah, ya didn’t get me! Great, they have just as little ammunition as I do, they’ll probably start saving up now… I must find a passage between the carriages… Oooh… they are too accurate… know too much… should do something about that…

(That was the last of the bachelor’s thoughts; the last shot pierced his throat)

The bachelor is dead.