my names ross. living in the apocalypse is kinda fuckywucky but at least i have most likely expired mcnuggets & wifi.
no, but in all seriousness, hey. i’m ross vaughn. 23, scorpio, i used to be a paramedic + pharm tech in the UK. 2 years ago, after some shit went down and i lost my jobs, i moved over to the US to stay with family and get my shit straight. i was here for literally like a week before the apocalypse hit.
at least where i am, things have actually kinda chilled out. radioactivity is still a hella risk in the city, and some people go out of their ways to be massive motherfucking pricks bc they know there arent any real consequences, but most things have calmed.
i found myself a roommate and we’re staying on the outskirts of a bigger city on the east coast. before u ask, no, the east coast isnt a bigass crater after the nuclear bullshit, contrary to popular belief. i promise, we’re real, we’re usually breathing, & there haven’t been any zombie outbreaks, just the occasional mutant deer. saw one with 8 legs one time, that was wild. anyways.
i kinda begged my roommate to actually let me try this, and tbh i don’t know if wifi is working literally anywhere aside from this mcdonalds, but if anyone see’s this hmu? i’ve missed human contact. and memes. bloody hell i’ve missed memes. send me your best apocalypse memes. i have no idea how the fuck tumblr still exists but after what i’ve seen on this hellsite i can’t said i’m surprised. tumblr is the real zombie of this apocalypse. ANYWAYS. this is ross, your resident apocalypse medic, signing off.
Hey there. I'm not really sure what I'm doing but Ross got really excited when he realized they got the WiFi working again at McDonald's and suggested we start posting on here. Don’t ask me how the Internet is still a thing, I barely understood how it worked Before. I personally don't see why we should be sharing information about ourselves on here because it'll probably just attract thieves but I think Ross wants the attention. If you, who ever you are, genuinely enjoy these logs I might keep it up whenever we can visit but I don't know. That's all for now. Stay safe and keep your eyes open
-Calliope M
Date: 4/18
Weather: Clear skies, warm, slight breeze
Morale: Very high
Health: Good, check in later for food poisoning caused by expired mcnuggets
Inventory
Food- Need more variety, getting tired of green beans.
TW: drugs, gif with flashing lights, derealization for this whole blog, apocalypse for this whole blog
its 4/20. i found someone in town running a makeshift dispensary. guess whos getting BAKED tonight!!!!! its been literal years since i had to pretend to be sober and callie is gonna be lowkey pissed if they find out im getting high without warning them so WISH ME LUCK because i may very well be a dead man in a couple hours. alsoooooo i havent smoked in at least a year so im so scared of greening out sooo. wish me extra luck please?
this is ross, your resident apocalypse stoner, signing off.
TW drugs, derealization for the whole blog, apocalypse for the whole blog
So I get home after a long day of trying to keep us fed, just to find my dear roommate stoned out of his goddamn mind in our living room. I don't even want to know what he traded to the guy who set up shop in the old trailer west of town for it. Honestly I don't know if I'm more pissed that he got high without warning me first or that he didn't save any for me. Whatever, he didn't get into my muffins when he got the munchies so I guess I'll let him live another day. No log today, I just needed to rant.
For a moment Kit thought he was still lying out in the streets. He could feel the cold, hard ground beneath him and getting hit in the head by the guard who was supposed to protect him was the last thing that he could clearly remember. When he looked around, he could see brick walls surrounding him, and a ceiling overhead. He noticed several gears and cogs that moved slowly, which initially lead him to believe that he might have been brought to some sort of factory. There was some additional credibility to the notion when he realized that the last thing he remembered was being in the Industrial District. But there were large round windows on each wall, which would have been out of place in a factory. The windows were only semi-transparent, and didn’t let much light in, which made them odder still. Nothing looked even a little bit familiar to him. Kit began to panic when he realized he couldn’t even guarantee that he was still in Galtia. He spotted his bag sitting in the corner of the room, the only thing that he did recognize.
Then he spotted a girl probably close to his age, sitting next to his bag. Black hair framed her pale white face as she read through the only book that Kit had thought to bring with him. Her striking blue eyes examined the page, completely unaware that Kit was watching her. Kit tried to call out, but his throat felt dry and he found himself struggling to make a sound. He cleared his throat and said, “What are you doing with my stuff?” His voice came out in a weak and hoarse tone, and was far less authoritative than he would have liked. Nonetheless, the girl put the book down and looked up at him.
“Sorry,” she said, “I didn’t realize you were awake.” She nodded towards the book and added, “It’s interesting stuff though. I didn’t know there were any copies left.”
“This is the only one as far as I know,” Kit said, “I’m going to have to ask for it back.” He realized that he probably should have kept his mouth shut. If the girl wanted to steal from him, it would be easy to sell the book off at a high price. Luckily, she just put it back into his bag, which came as both a surprise and a relief to Kit.
The book had been given to him by his father, just shortly after Kit had told him about his powers. The book was aptly titled ‘The Book of Powers’ and contained information about every documented ability. Most copies had been destroyed when the Patrol’s reign had been at its peak, but somehow the one copy survived and made its way into his father’s hands. Kit had read the pages about telekinesis several times, but he also liked to learn more about the wide variety of powers that could be found in Toltova.
Kit struggled to sit up. His head pounded and the room seemed to spin around him. He rubbed at his forehead trying to ease the pain, though it didn’t seem to work. His head still felt like someone had been pounding at it with a sledgehammer.
The girl watched him, before calmly asking, “You ok?”
“I’ll survive,” he replied, “But I have several questions.”
The girl shrugged, and said, “Ask away then, Your Highness.”
“Ok, first off, where am I?” He looked around the room, which was much smaller than he initially thought, still trying to look for something that looked vaguely familiar.
“You’re in the Galtia Clocktower,” the girl said.
Kit frowned, looking around the room. It made sense when he studied the room a little closer. It was not a very big room, for one thing. Certainly too small to be a factory as he’d initially thought. He’d never actually been inside the clocktower before, but he had a pretty good view of it from the window of his room back at the castle. It wasn’t built to be a spacious structure, and it showed from the inside of the tower. While the girl’s response certainly made sense to him, it raised even more questions.
“It was both the safest and closest place I could think to bring you,” the girl added, which answered at least one of his other questions. “I know some people in Galtia that I should have brought you too, but they live on the other side of town. I’m not sure I could have carried you that far.”
“But you carried me up to the top of the clocktower?” Kit asked, thinking aloud.
“I never said it was easy,” The girl said, “It was kind of more like I dragged you to the top of the clocktower. You weren’t fully unconscious, which made it slightly easier. But only slightly. You were still pretty out of it.”
“I see,” Kit said, satisfied with her response for the most part. He could still remember most of what had happened before he had come to his senses. The only part that left him puzzled was right before he had lost consciousness, he remembered the guard falling to the ground after his spear was yanked out of his hands by...who? Or what?. There hadn’t been anyone else around. It had just been Kit, and the guard. He dismissed it as his imagination. He had been barely conscious at that point. Perhaps someone else had been around and he just somehow didn’t notice.
“There’s something else I need to know, and you will--” He stopped and tried again, “You will be honest with me.” Kit wasn’t necessarily expecting an honest answer to his next question, but he needed to ask anyways. It was worth a shot at the very least.
“Fine,” The girl said in an unexpectedly calm tone.
“Are you working for my uncle?” Before she could answer he quickly added, “By the way, if you lie to me and I find out about it, I swear I will report you to my father and I’ll make sure that--”
“I’m not working for your uncle,” The girl said quickly, “On the contrary, I saved your life. I brought you here so that you’d be safe. Do you think that’s what your uncle would have wanted? He wants you dead. If I was working for him I would have had plenty of time to do the deed. But here you are, still alive. With all your stuff, I might add. Quite frankly, I’m a bit offended you had to ask.”
Kit pursed his lips. She did have a point, but he was still skeptical. “But you knew that my uncle wants me dead, and that’s suspicious to say the least.”
“I have my sources,” The girl said, flashing him a mysterious smile.
“Well, by all means do share them,” Kit demanded,“Because things aren’t looking good for you right now. So while we’re at it, who are you and what do you want with me?”
The girl stared back at him, evidently startled by his outburst. “My name is Audrey Winlar,” she said defensively. “I’m just trying to help you.”
“That doesn’t explain how you know everything,” Kit pointed out.
“Ok, ok,” Audrey said, “I live in this town in the mountains. It’s kind of been abandoned for a long time, but my friends and I moved in. There’s not many of us, so we kind of have to take on different roles to make sure that things are running smoothly. Part of what I do involves leaving the town every now and then to see what’s going on in the outside world.”
“So you’re a spy, basically,” Kit said.
“I guess you could call it that,” Audrey admitted, “But the other part of my job involves helping people like you out of dangerous situations and bringing them back to our town, where they’ll be safe.”
Kit narrowed his eyes. “So when you say people like me…?”
Audrey threw her hands up in frustration, “Do I really have to spell it out for you? People with powers. Abilities, whatever you want to call it.”
Kit was taken aback by her forwardness. She clearly knew who she was speaking to, yet she didn’t seem to care. Back at the castle, most people liked to suck up to him. They liked to be extra polite, and would compliment him on every little thing. It was as if they thought that he was too fragile to handle even the slightest insult. Alexander was the only one who dared to even speak out against him, though the way Audrey had spoken was different. It wasn’t a threat, it wasn’t even a direct insult. It had been a bit condescending, if anything.
“You... know about that?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Audrey said, “I’m a spy, right? We’d been hearing that there were some things going on in the castle, so my village sent me out to figure out what I could. I was there in gardens, Kit.”
Kit narrowed his eyes. He struggled to find the right words for a long time. “I…what? How did you…?”
Luckily, for all his stammering, Audrey was able to decipher what he was trying to say. “My powers make it really easy for me to get by unseen. Really, really easy, in fact.” Before Kit could question her any further, Audrey disappeared right before his eyes. She was there one moment, and in the blink of an eye she had vanished.
“Audrey, wait!” He called out, “What the-- where are you?”
“I’m still here,” Audrey replied with a giggle. The floorboards creaked as she walked across the small room. Kit could hear her footsteps drawing nearer and nearer. Finally, she stopped. Kit could feel her presence beside him but there was nothing to indicate that she was actually there. She poked him in the shoulder. “Do you understand now?”
“You’re invisible,” Kit gasped.
“Good observation,” Audrey said, re-appearing before him.
Kit leaned forward, resting his arm on top of his knees. “So what else do you know?”
“Certainly not as much as I would like,” Audrey admitted, “I know that your uncle wants you out of the way. I know about your mother’s powers--”
“You can’t tell anyone about that!” Kit interrupted.
“I won’t,” Audrey said, “I swear. I was also able to gather that your father and his brother… don’t exactly get along.”
“That’s quite the understatement,” Kit said, “They can’t stand to be in the same room most of the time.”
Audrey pursed her lips. “Interesting,” She remarked.
“How’s that interesting?” Kit asked, “Practically everyone in Toltova knows about that.”
“Yeah,” Audrey said, “I guess I just didn’t think it was that bad. He’s probably going to be looking for you, isn’t he?”
Kit furrowed his brows. He hadn’t quite thought of that. It did make sense though, that Alexander might be coming after him. He had already tried to get him once. Attempting a second time certainly wouldn’t be out of character.
“Maybe tomorrow we can get you out of here,” Audrey suggested before Kit could speak, “We could stay with my friends for a bit and when Frank passes through maybe I could take you to New Vellarton.”
“I’m sorry,” Kit said, “You want to take me where?”
“Back to my town,” Audrey explained, “The one that I was telling you about.”
“No!” Kit objected, “My parents wanted me to go to Morbane. It’ll be safer for me there. Besides, I can’t just go running off with random strangers!” He drew in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “I’m sorry Audrey. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I can’t.”
“I think you should consider it,” Audrey said, “I don’t think Morbane is necessarily the safest place to be.”
“You don’t know that,” Kit countered, “Morbane is one of the safest places to be along the coast. I’ll be fine.”
“No, Kit, please listen to me,” Audrey snapped, “Morbane is littered with members of the Patrol. They like to congregate there for whatever reason. They don’t usually take people from around there, but when they do it’s easy for them just to blame the pirates.”
“The Patrol?” Kit repeated, “So they are back. My father’s been trying to crack down on those rumours.”
“So I’ve heard,” Audrey said, “Hasn’t been successful, has he?”
“I’m afraid not,” Kit sighed, “He’s been trying to find a pattern, so that he can figure out where they’ll strike next because it’s seemingly random. It’s impossible to tell. A lot of people are just telling him to give it up.” An idea struck him. “Audrey, if I could prove that they’re real--”
“No,” Audrey said, immediately shutting him down before he could fully explain his plan. “Don’t go looking for them, Kit. They’re horrible people, and if they find out you have powers-- If that news spreads, they’re not going to give you any special privileges just because you’re the Prince.”
“That’s not what I was going to suggest,” Kit huffed, “And I don’t expect people to give me special privileges just because I’m the Prince.”
“Yes you do,” Audrey asked smirking, “You can barely go two minutes without reminding people that you’re the crown prince or that your father will be hearing about this.”
“I’m just desperate right now,” Kit protested. He knew that he was privileged but he didn’t sound that entitled. Did he? “I just thought if we could find some actual evidence that they exist, or at least give him something other than rumours to work off of, it might help him put an end to this.”
“That sounds like a better plan,” Audrey said, “I’ll tell you what I know, but I need you to promise me that anything that I mention about New Vellarton goes completely unmentioned to your father. It’s really important to my friends that it doesn’t become known to the general public.”
“But my father can--”
“Don’t make me regret saving your life.”
“I won’t,” Kit muttered.
“Ok,” Audrey said, “We know that they like to hang out around Morbane. They tend to avoid Coral Bay because the pirates are such a damn nuisance, but we know they’ve been out that way anyways.”
Kit nodded, remembering that it had been a reported disappearance in Coral Bay four years ago that had prompted his father to look into the issue. As per the last update on the case, most of the locals were blaming the pirates that plagued the area. Allegedly, it had been the doing of a pirate captain named Marcus Hadley, who was feared all over the coasts of Toltova. From what Kit had heard, Marcus seemed to thrive off of causing chaos and instilling fear into people. The pirates had always been a problem in the coastal areas, but Hadley in particular had been a constant thorn in the side of the authorities in the coastal areas. He’d committed just about every kind of crime imaginable according to the locals, but only a small handful of the stories proved to be true. Regardless, his father’s men had been pretty confident that he had been responsible for the disappearance.
“So, if my father wanted to catch a few Patrol Guards, he should send some people down to Morbane?” Kit asked.
“In theory, yeah,” Audrey said, “But they don’t really strike there very often. I’m not too sure why.”
“Do you think it’s because they know my father is onto them?” Kit asked.
“Possibly,” Audrey said, “But now that they’re operating in secret they have to be more careful. They can’t just go off and kill a bunch of people because they might have powers.”
“Right,” Kit said, “So they need to make sure that the people that they’re taking actually do have powers.” Another idea struck him. “Audrey, what if we baited them?”
Audrey considered it for a moment. Kit could see the gears in her head turning. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Kit,” she said finally.
He frowned. He thought for sure that he had convinced her. “Why not?”
“For one thing, we’d have to find someone who’s ok with exposing their powers in public,” Audrey said, “I’m not ok with doing that. You’re probably not either, and I can practically guarantee that none of my friends would ever agree to that. But let’s say we do find someone, it’s just too risky. What if something goes wrong? It would be our fault, and I would never want to live with that kind of guilt.”
“But--”
“No buts,” Audrey protested, “I don’t think you understand how horrible these people are!”
“Fine, we won’t do that then,” Kit huffed, “But I think we should at least try to get some of this information to my father. What else do you know?”
Audrey shrugged. “Not much like I said,” she said, “I know they have a headquarters somewhere in the mountains. I’ve even...” Her voice trailed off and she looked over her shoulder towards the door.
“What is it?” Kit asked.
“Thought I heard something.” Audrey said quietly.
Kit paused. “I hear it too,” he said. It sounded like footsteps; multiple people walking up the steps towards the tower.
“We need to hide,” Audrey whispered.
Kit looked around the room looking for somewhere to hide. The only place that provided a half decent hiding spot would have been behind one of the gears. They wouldn’t complete conceal him, but at least it might buy him some time. He got up and walked over to one of the massive gears, ducking behind it as he sat down next to his bag.
“Kit,” Audrey said crouching down next to him, “This might be nothing, but if it’s the Patrol-- I’ll do my best, but my loyalties lie with my friends in New Vellarton.”
“Are you serious,” Kit exclaimed.
“I promise, I’ll do everything I can to make sure we both get out of this,” Audrey said. She extended her hand. “Here, hold my hand. As long as we’re maintaining some kind of physical contact, I should be able to turn you invisible too.”
Kit held her hand, squeezing it tightly. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the footsteps grew increasingly louder.
Three young men stepped into the small room. All three of them were blonde haired and blue eyed. They looked similar enough that they could have been brothers, though they were fairly close in age. They were well dressed too, Kit noticed. They very well could have been members of Galtia’s upper middle class.
“Doesn’t look like there’s much here,” the shortest of the three remarked.
“Shut up Dorian,” The man in the middle hissed.
“Just look around quickly,” The oldest one snapped, “No one saw him at the train stations, he’s gotta be in the city somewhere.”
The three men scattered and began scouring the room for any sign that someone else was with them. Kit closed his eyes tightly. He didn’t want to see them. He didn’t want to know how close they were getting to him. He continued to squeeze Audrey’s hand, unaware of how firm his grip was around her slender hands.
“Hm, what’s this?”
Kit opened up one eye to see one of the three men standing only a few inches away from him. Kit bit his lip to try and stop himself from crying out. He could feel tears starting to well up in his eyes. He couldn’t remember a time that he had felt this afraid. Even when Alexander had threatened him, he’d been terrified, but he took comfort knowing that his father was not too far away and that there were guards nearby. But now, he was all alone. As far as his parents knew he was on his way to Morbane. Audrey’s powers were the only thing keeping him safe right now.
The young man reached down and picked up Kit’s bag.
He opened up the bag and began rifling through it. It didn’t take him long to find the Book Of Powers. “Now this is interesting,” the man said.
“What did you find, Donovan?” Dorian asked.
“It’s a copy of the Book of Powers,” Donovan replied grinning gleefully.
“That’s impossible,” The oldest of the three men snapped, “All the copies were destroyed.”
“Not all of them apparently,” Donovan replied, “This must belong to the King. Only he would want to hold on to something like this.” He curled his upper lip in disgust as he spoke, and spat out the words as if they left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Yeah,” Dorian agreed, “What a pathetic excuse for a King, isn’t he? Wasting all his resources trying to find a couple of useless kids. I guess just anyone can be King these days.”
The comment made Kit’s skin crawl. He wanted nothing more than to defend his father, but his own fear kept him rooted to his spot and his mouth sealed shut. It wasn’t worth blowing their cover.
Donovan took a step forward, planting his foot right down on top of Kit’s. At this point, Kit’s heart felt like it would burst right out of his chest. His whole body trembled as he silently pleaded that Donovan wouldn’t notice anything. Kit could tell by the man’s mystified expression that this was not the case. Donovan started poking at him with the tip of his shoe.“What the..?”
Instantly the other two men rushed over to Donovan’s side.
Kit felt Audrey tug at his hand, indicating for him to stand up. He stood up, but Donovan still held his bag. Most of his belongings in the bag weren’t hugely valuable; it was mostly just his clothes and he had plenty of those back at home. But he would definitely be needing his money, and while he didn’t technically need the book, his father would kill him for losing it.
He’d have to go on without it. He hoped that his father would understand given the circumstances, but he felt a pang of regret for not being more careful with his belongings. The last copy of the Book Of Powers would be destroyed, and it was completely his fault. He should have left it at the castle. Perhaps there would be a way to rewrite it, or restore it somehow, but Kit tried not to think about it. It was the least of his problems.
“What is it?” The oldest of the three demanded, “I don’t see anything.”
“I don’t think we’re alone here, Damian,” Donovan said, a twisted grin spread across his face. He wound his leg back preparing for a hard kick.
Audrey pulled Kit out of the way as Donovan swung his leg, and nearly toppled backwards when his foot didn’t make contact with Kit’s side.
The other two young men began laughing, as Donovan’s face turned a deep shade of red. “No you don’t understand,” Donovan jabbered, “There was something-- it was like I hit an invisible wall or something!”
Audrey led Kit out of their hiding spot, while Donovan still frantically tried to explain what had happened. They tiptoed quietly towards the stairs, making sure to give the men a wide berth so they didn’t accidentally run into them.
They were halfway across the room when Damian let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Alright, well there’s nothing here. I’m going to go back down to make sure we didn’t miss anything.” Audrey and Kit both froze as he began walking in their direction. He came almost right up against them, inches away from where Kit stood. Kit took a small step backwards.
Damian spun around, brandishing a knife. “Who’s there,” He demanded, “Show yourself!”
Kit held his breath, uncertain of what to do next. If he tried to move again, then Damian would surely hear him. He couldn’t just stand in place and do nothing. Not with Damian standing inches away from him with a knife.
“What’s going on,” Dorian asked.
“I heard something,” Damian said, “And it sounded like it was coming from over…. here!”
As he spoke the last word his spun towards Kit, thrusting his knife in his direction. Kit ducked to the right, trying to avoid it. He hadn’t realized that Audrey had ducked in the opposite direction until he felt her fingers slide through his hand.
Just like his cover was blown. He stood in the middle of the floor, both visible and vulnerable. He had nothing to defend himself with except his own powers, but he didn’t want to have to use them. Not in front of Patrol members.
A cruel grin played across Damian’s face as Kit appeared only a foot away from him. “Well, well,” Damian purred, “Look who made an appearance.”
Kit looked frantically around the room for Audrey, or at least some sign of her whereabouts, but saw nothing. He couldn’t even make out any footsteps that didn’t belong to Dorian or Donovan. She had promised to help him if anything were to happen. So where was she?
“Father’s gonna be real happy with us,” Donovan said as he and Dorian closed in on him. Dorian stood by the stairs, blocking his only escape route. He had been backed into a corner with nowhere to go, and as far as he could tell, Audrey was not going to help him. How could she without blowing her cover?
“Please,” Kit begged, “Don’t… you can’t-- you can’t do this.”
“Don’t worry,” Damian sneered, “We’re not going to kill you. Oh no, you’re too valuable for that. We won’t hurt you either as long as you cooperate and do exactly what we tell you.”
Damian grabbed Kit, pointing the knife at his throat. Kit gasped, but he wasn’t going to give in so easily. He fought against the man’s tight grasp, thrashing frantically in a desperate attempt to escape. Without warning, Damian’s knees buckled and he fell to the floor, releasing Kit. He knew right away that it had been Audrey. He took it as an opportunity to escape and dashed towards the first of many staircases that wound their way around the inside of the tower towards the bottom.
He sprinted down the steps, taking two stairs at a time, trying to put as much distance as he could between three men. It didn’t take long for them to start following him down the stairs, but Kit at least had a significant head start.
About halfway down, he could feel himself growing weary. He was out of breath, but he pushed forward, ignoring the burning sensation in his lungs that pleaded for him to stop. He glanced over his shoulder, and groaned when he saw that the boys were right behind him.
He was on one of the landings, ready to start making his way down yet another set of stairs when he was grabbed and tackled to the ground.
“Quickly,” his captor grunted, as Kit tried to escape his clutches.
“Nice work, Damian,” He heard one of the other boys sneer. It was the last thing he heard before someone grabbed his wrist, followed shortly the telltale poke of a needle sliding into his vein.
He felt the effects almost instantly. It was just like the other night when Alexander had drugged him. How long ago that had seemed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kit murmured before closing his eyes and letting the drug take its course.
--
Author’s note: I don’t know if anyone actually has been keeping up with this story, but if anyone is, thanks for being so patient while I edited this chapter. With that being said, if anyone is keeping up with this, please let me know how you’re liking it so far. Tumblr doesn’t let me see who views posts so the only way for me to know if someone has seen my post is if they like, reblog, or comment somehow. I really would love to hear some feedback from you guys. I haven’t had much luck on wattpad either.
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