#sabrau

[sophie-gardener-blog]

Day One - Oceanside Loft

Open to any Nomads!

I know that everyone wants to be left alone, but I just wanted to give a little dose of cheer into your life today. The number one rule is still cardio, good thing we’ve got that under control. Lots of practice there. Good job. No, but really, we’re still alive and we’ve got a place to sleep. Hopefully we’ve all got food to eat. You have food to eat, right? 

[thane-watson]

In Full Swing || Headcanon || Aug 1st - 10th

Now that Thane had been back in England for a good few weeks, they had finally begun filming. As always, Thane loved when filming began. The stages were set up to look like a whole different time, and Thane adored it. He enjoyed acting in places that set the tone. Green screen bits were a little more difficult, and he felt like this was where being a good actor was important. You had to completely pretend you knew what everything looked like, you had to look in the right directions for everything, and still convey the proper emotions. All the same, everything still felt as though it were falling back into place for him. He felt, once again, that he was where he belonged. It didn’t take long, however, before all of the long hours filming caught up with him.

It wasn’t unusual for a person to try and find a quiet spot to sleep on set if they knew they would be called back to film in only a moment. Most times Thane would try to go back to his trailer where it was quiet, but he didn’t want to stray too far. He found this area, nobody seemed to really bother with it too much. He laid back on the surface, it was hard, but he honestly didn’t mind since he had been on his feet for hours before this. The hustle and bustle of set lulled him to sleep easily, not even bothering him while he slept. Thane wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep before he heard his name, and he sat up looking around for the person who had said his name. Hair and makeup were on him quickly, only fixing a few strands of hair, and touching up what they’d already done with regards to the makeup.

His days went on much like this, when he would be finished he found himself headed to London as often as he could. He ate at all his usual spots, shopped a bit for clothes that were much more his style than what he found in LA, and he’d take in the sights again. When Thane wasn’t wandering around the city, he would be in his hotel room asleep, or he would call Gia and catch up with her about her day. Sometimes he would call her from set, if it worked out that way, but he was sure to make time to either FaceTime with her, or just talk to her on the phone. Their time apart had certainly made Thane miss her more, but at the same time their relationship was so brand new that he still didn’t know what the future would hold for them. The conversations that they shared made him optimistic for what was to come, however, in a way that he had never felt before. 

The beginning of filming seemed to fly by, and his first break in filming would take place after that. He had promised his parents the first visit. They anticipated his stay, and he knew what was in store for his return. Thane loved spending time with his parents, and catching up on the things that he had missed in his home town. He loved walking around town, going to his favorite places, and also catching the view. He also knew that once he visited that he would want to go back as soon as possible because he was always homesick for his home town. It was for that reason that Thane always tried to organize an early visit with his parents when it was near them while filming. He knew he would want to go back again, and it would usually give him the freedom to plan a second trip to get as much time with them, and in his home. So, with that, Thane put all he had into filming, into being Newt Scamander, with the promise of going back to his childhood home, and seeing his parents very soon.

[sophie-gardener-blog]

Day Six

This could really be any time of the day... just roll with it. On watch, not on watch, whatever floats your boat.

I know that there’s a lot to make people sad, or serious, or whatever but I am so happy to see so many people I know alive. That includes the people I showed up here with. Am I allowed to be so happy about that?

[sophie-gardener-blog]

You Can Cry If You Want To, You Can Leave Your Friends Behind Headcanon || Days Seven, Eight, and Nine || AUVI

They had only just gotten to a safe place, and they’d only just seen people that only days before they thought might have been dead. To see so many familiar faces from the Network was a miracle, in Sophie’s eyes. It was a reason to be happy, it was a reason to be grateful, and she took full opportunity of the chance to be happy about it. She’d seen people she had only thought of seeing again in her dreams. The only problem was that, despite Sophie’s optimism, she was faced with the reality of their life in this apocalyptic world. Not only were the fires getting worse, but the safe haven she had hoped to stay in was looking as though it might not be as safe as she’d originally anticipated. Then, the worst of all the things she faced at this supposed safe space was James dying.

Her heart felt broken over the loss of someone she cared for so much, but life didn’t stop in this world. There were choices a person could face. Either, one, they let themselves be consumed by their mourning and grief, or two, they could use it as fuel to push them on. Sophie was not the sort to stop fighting for life. She’d fought for life since she was a child and fighting now was no different, only there were much worse consequences if you did die, or faced dangerous situations. Her life had somehow geared her up for this. She’d been faced with feeling hungry to the point where she could hardly think of any other thing aside from food. She’d dealt with dangerous situations and dangerous people, perhaps nowhere near this scale, but dangerous enough. She’d been keeping herself strong by being adventurous. Fortunately, her adrenaline seeking tendencies gave her the strength to face each trial she faced, and also helped her where others failed. She was able to climb without thought, or fear, of falling. She was able to run for long distances without feeling fatigue. She was stronger than she thought because of all of her physical activity. No, Sophie had spent too much of her life fighting for everything, and she knew James would be no happier if she let herself fall apart over losing him. He would want her to keep going, at least she felt that he would. She used the pain to continue the fight. There was no time for giving up.

The fires became so dangerous that people were rushing to come up with plans for what to do next. Suddenly, the large group of people were coming up with all sorts of ideas. Some wanted to move north, some wanted to stay, some thought it wasn’t safe to stay but didn’t want to venture far so they could return after the fires passed, some decided to move south. No matter what direction people wanted to move in, Sophie saw danger in all scenarios. In the end it boiled down to what group did she think was most likely to survive? She couldn’t trust her life with just anyone. It was difficult seeing her previous crew splitting into different camps. Jeremiah had decided to stay and help. Taney and Lucas decided to venture north with some others. Not only that, but she looked at all the friends she was having to say goodbye to again. Axel, Marcie, Tomlin, and Zosia were all going to be moving north, but she felt it was terribly dangerous moving in that direction.

The next group, the ones staying, there were too many dangers staying. Kailani was pregnant and would not be able to handle very much physically if it came down to it. There were so many children. The benefit was that there were two doctors in the group, but there wasn’t really much a doctor could do to stop someone from turning into a zombie, so the benefit wasn’t high enough to warrant her to stay. The group going out into the water was small, but she wasn’t sure that some of them could handle the difficulty of a life constantly moving if it came down to it. That was immediately ruled out. She looked at the group moving south. Curtis and Remi were active people, she’s seen they were on the Network before. Remi had mentioned to people about climbing Everest. If they could handle things like that, they could handle this traveling life. Malu, she knew she could trust. He would hold his own. More than anything, she trusted Damien with her life. She had been traveling with him long enough to know that he would do what needed to be done to survive, and he wouldn’t whine about it. She didn’t know Alma enough to know whether she could handle it, but if Damien and Malu were there, and Curtis and Remi she had seen were physically strong too, she felt she had to put her lot in with the strongest group. 

Sophie had seen that Marcie was offering extra weapons to those who were seeking it, and knowing what she was about to go back into she figured it would be for the best to get some things. She knew they were going into very dangerous territory. The amount of zombies they would be facing would be no small feat. She would need to be as prepared as possible. Getting a few things to supplement her own supply, she said goodbye to her friend. She figured she wouldn’t likely see her again, but she hoped they would. It was only moments ago that they were greeting each other, happy to see that the other had survived this long, now they were going off again.

Heading back out into the world seemed almost normal for her. Constantly being on the move had seemed more natural than she’d expected. She had said all of her goodbyes, and somehow managed to keep her emotions in check. All she could do was continue to hope, and it’s something she hadn’t stopped doing since everything began. So, off they went, facing small dangers here and there. Sophie didn’t leave all the hard work to the men, it wasn’t something that they could afford. Every single one of them had to pull their weight, and if anyone slacked those pulling the weight would inevitably come too exhausted to carry the team. It was best to help out, it lightened the load on everyone else.

It was a long day, but things were getting worse for her. She watched as each person in her group died, or rather worse, turned into the very monsters they were fighting to stay alive from. Sophie felt completely helpless as each one suffered. Yet, somehow through the struggle, through the fight to stay alive she continued to make it. Fear of slowing down didn’t give her much time react to everyone that she lost. Damien had gone off on his own, they didn’t have a choice with a group so small, Sophie also went off for her own supplies. They would find each other again later, they would move on to a safe place for the night so that they could rest. There was a problem, however, Damien never reappeared, and she didn’t know which direction he’d gone in. It was too dangerous for her to wander off after him not knowing where he was. She could end up dead, and what good would it be for him if she got caught in a dangerous position on her own. The only threat wasn’t just the zombies, after all, there were other people who were surviving, and they didn’t take kindly to intruders if they happened to be around.

After waiting a long time, Sophie felt the twinge of disappointment. He wouldn’t be coming back, he never would have left her alone this long. She’d traveled along with him enough to know how dependable he was as a person who watched another person’s back. If he hadn’t come back it wasn’t because he’d found a goldmine of supplies, and he wouldn’t have left her to fend for herself with so little left to go with. It would have been too dangerous, he knew that. The light was starting to go down in the sky, and if she was going to make it anywhere safely she had to hurry. She pushed herself, running, to find somewhere that looked as though it could be safe enough for her to stay for a night. She did a quick check, but cleared the threats, and finally settled herself in a spot of the room where she would have the advantage of seeing someone coming if she were awake.

Sleep did not come easily. All the hopes for being with a strong group, and surviving through this madness had come crashing down around her. Her hopes for surviving, however, had not stopped. However, this was the first time Sophie had silence, and the first time she’d been alone since the zombie apocalypse had started. It was strange how she’d come to expect company around her at all times. She wasn’t used to be alone, and somehow being alone made her incredibly uncomfortable. She was a weak link being alone. There was nobody that she could depend on all on her own. She could only trust that her own instincts and the fighting skills she’d come to learn along the way would get her out of this alive. She would have time to think about what she would do next in the morning, but right now she was faced with loneliness.

Her mind couldn’t stop replaying the images that plagued her whenever she was calm or resting. It was almost best to have a mission to keep moving forward. If she could only continue moving then she would be able to forget about what had happened. She’d been reunited with James, then they had been on the same patrol. She could still see him fall, and the image of it happening plagued her in this crushing loneliness now. She remembered Malu and his strength. She remembered Damien and began to realize just how much she had depended on his strength. How could she be the sole survivor in a group such as this? She couldn’t believe that she was alone, that she wouldn’t see Damien again in the morning ready to continue moving. Tears welled up in her eyes against her will.

Sophie sniffed, and rubbed the back of her hand across her face under her eyes roughly brushing away the tears. This world was not for weakness. This world was not for crying. She couldn’t stop the pain she felt at the losses of those she’d cared for so deeply. She curled up, her head resting on the backpack she’d been carrying, using it as a pillow. This is the only time you can grieve, Sophie Gardener. She told herself as she lay there with tears streaming from her eyes. There was no use in asking why her, and not them again. There was no logic to the world they were living in now, and no answers would ever come. Sophie fell asleep crying, plagued with nightmares of losing James, or of losing Damien as well.

After a night of fitful sleep, she finally rose, her head was pounding likely from the massive outpour of emotions the night before. Sophie allowed herself a moment to try and regroup. She ate one of the small snacks she had in her pack while she mulled over her options. She could continue on in the direction that had originally been decided, or she could turn back. Continuing forward was a dangerous task. She would be headed towards more zombie danger, and without a group to help her face them, she wasn’t sure she could safely make it far, but it was an option. She had to think everything over. If she came back in the direction that she had just travelled from she could hope to regroup with some that had stayed back at the estate. It would be lucky for her if that were the case, and she didn’t want to be alone, but it wasn’t safe there either.

The fires!

She’d just remembered about the fires. Sophie’s mind had been in a haze since waking up, and the headache didn’t make things any easier. She scrambled towards a window to look out and see what was happening outside. Her eyes surveyed the surrounding territory. The fires were much closer than she had anticipated. She wouldn’t have enough time to outrun them, no matter how fast she was. She could not beat that without the threat of zombies or others to kill her. With those threats, it was an impossible feat. She glanced around some more. Zombies were there, of course, but then her eyes spotted it, it was a hard angle to see it from with this window but it had to be a pool.

Jumping into action, Sophie grabbed her belongings and pulled it open. She had a small section of tarp that she’d rolled up in the bag nice and tight. She’d had it from when she was traveling around with the rest, in case they camped outdoors and she had to keep herself protected from the elements. Sophie quickly set to work with waterproofing her backpack as best she could. She didn’t have many supplies left, and what little food she had, as well as her guns and ammo needed to remain as dry and safe as possible. She took  the bits of rope she had in the bag that was used to tie up the tarp when she’d travelled and tied them around the bag to secure the tarp. The ropes were frayed and dirty from use, and reminded her of the past travels. Pushing past memories aside she carried the backpack by one of the ropes and ran out in the direction she’d seen the pool.

With her other hand, Sophie held one of the weapons she’d gotten from Marcie, and hacked her way towards the pool. She cleared out the danger around her, and looked back at the fires. The smoke was thick, and the water in the pool was dirty, but fortunately secure of the dead. Lucky. She would have to get in the dirty water, but it didn’t matter. It was either get into the water and wait for the fires to pass, or get burnt, and there was no chance of her doing that. She slid into the pool and her backpack, being weighed down, sank into the water without too much difficulty. She watched as the fires got closer, and sank down until only her head stuck out of the water. The heat was coming out in waves, and when it was time she sank down after taking a deep breath. She had to hold her breath the longest she could. With the hand that had formerly held her weapon she pushed against the side of the pool to keep herself from coming up over water. It wasn’t long before her body was fighting her to come up for air, but she pushed herself to the limit before raising up slowly, and only enough for her mouth to clear enough to take another deep breath. Still, with the smoke it was hardly a good breath. She coughed underwater, pushing herself to stay under for a little longer. When she couldn’t hold it any longer she pushed herself up out of the water.

The fires had passed by enough for her to safely consider her next move. She pulled her weapon out of where she’d tucked it, and set to work on the now crisp zombies straggling around. Once the danger was eliminated, she quickly untied the ropes, pulled off the tarp, shook it dry as best she could and rolled it up tightly. Tossing everything back into the backpack, she pushed her arm through the straps and set off in the direction of the estate. This would be her only hope for now. She knew better than to use the guns, doing that would waste bullets that she needed for an emergency, and it would draw too much attention. Being alone, she needed to have as little attention as possible focused on her. The sounds of a gun would alert everyone to her whereabouts and would likely lead to her death.

After what seemed like an age, she found the coastline, and not long after saw the group that had boarded a dinghy to wait out the fires on the water. It wasn’t long before all of them were working together to push back towards the estate. Somehow, it seemed better again to be with people, but she found it ironic that the group she was now with was the group she’d originally thought would be her last option to go with. It didn’t matter now, these were her companions, and in this world one didn’t get a chance to choose their companions often. It seemed like yet another exhausting day as they tried to get towards the estate. The sounds of people screaming, the sounds of gunshots, none of it was any good to help them survive, but she knew there was nothing to be done. They had to fight, and the zombies were coming at them again and again.

Soon, it was obvious that the threat of the zombies would be too much for them. They had no choice but to have to change course. Turning the group in another direction, she suggested the zoo. She knew the place better than anyone, and if there was a place she could make safe enough for their group, that would be it. After a discussion with those that remained in their group they all agree to try and make contact with the estate using the walkie talkies they had. After making contact, they would make a camp here and wait until the rescue team would come for them. Exhausted, Sophie collapsed in what safety they were able to create, and she couldn’t help but think, I’ve survived. I’m still alive. Still alive.

[starsandboulevardsroleplay]

‣ ADMIN NOTES ↴

Our Sixth AU Week ends at 11:59pm EST tonight. Please post a drabble, HC, or para for your character’s death and wrap up your chats. Thank you for participating. I know I really enjoyed reading everything, even when real life was a situation and kept me off my computer. Everyone has 48 hours **11:59p EST Sunday, August 12** after AUVI to go active or request a hiatus. Warnings will not be issued to accounts that do not go active, they will simply be removed. 

Happy Writing, Admin NatBat

[sophie-gardener-blog]

Day Five || Nomads

Late in the evening near the Danish Royal Estate.

Do you guys see that up ahead? Is that what I think it is? Do you think that maybe we could stop there? Maybe there are people in there too! 

[starsandboulevardsroleplay]

‣ AU WEEK: LOCATION ↴

OCEANSIDE LOFT

A pre-apocalypse reference is available here.

These once-idyllic apartments have become a chronic fighting ground between the living and the living, as well as the living and the dead. While food supplies may be scarce here, other supplies are abundant and if you’re a nomad looking for a place to rest your head or a place to trade goods, it’s a dangerous but good place to start. Sometimes small groups form and The Network’s cluster of nomads have done just that and after a hard fight, for now, they have claimed these buildings as their own. However, just because they cleared out the living, doesn’t mean there aren’t surprises in the apartments waiting for them. Tread lightly, Nomads.

Below is a list of the nomads with their day one duties. Day one will start with Patrols clearing out some apartments and Gatherers searching the cleared apartments for supplies. Everyone is free to pickpocket their fresh kills. on the Oceanside grounds, but you never know when one may rise again.

‣ THE NOMADS AT OCEANSIDE LOFT ON DAY ONE ↴

Sophie @sophie-gardener (gatherer)

Jeremiah @dr-jeremiah-hale (patrol)

Ayannah @ayannahnolan (gatherer)

Damien @damienrath (patrol)

Lucas @lucas-peterson (patrol)

Taney @taneyhana (gatherer)

[starsandboulevardsroleplay]

‣ AU WEEK: PLOT ↴

When the United States government closed in Los Angeles with a mega-wall and infected everyone inside with an unknown virus, there was death, rebirth, crime, resistance, and enslavement. Ultimately, survivors prevailed, tearing down the wall to escape the undead. Unfortunately, this resulted in a continental outbreak within months and a global outbreak within a year. Now, several years later, the world is settling into a new normal where only the strong survive... or rather the strong and those willing to carry the weak.

No one truly knows why the government did it, but in the new world, there’s very little communication outside of airwave radio announcements of known information and even those only work at places with functioning solar panels. Even now, information trickles out slower and slower as people become less trusting and less willing to give up the locations of havens with nomads and thieves plundering location after location.

There is some new beauty to the city, though. As Los Angeles was the first to fall, it was also the first to rise anew. Nature has slowly grown out of the concrete and taken over many places. Havens were made, havens fell, but in their stead things like rooftop gardens and hidden food stores became commonplace. If you’re willing to take a chance, there’s enough to draw a person out of hiding to live a “normal” life... but at what cost?