The roleplaying Boards

Chapter 1: The Meeting Place

It was a dark, miserable night in Cinotime. Nobody was around. There
was no noise, no people, no movement at all. And then it all changed,
in a single second. The city burst into life. Laughter could be heard,
televisions were switched on, music pierced the night. This was the
moment when everyone realized that they could still live their lives
normally, even though they were in one of the last cities on Earth.

Shade reluctantly opened his eyes. He was still tired, and it took a
few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light. But he had to get up
now, he had been in bed all morning. He groaned as he swung his legs
round and onto the floor. He stood up, and yawned. This was going to be
another trying day, he could just feel it. As quickly as he could, he
made his way down the stairs and into his living room. It was in a
terrible state. There was glass everywhere, rubbish all over, food
covered the carpet in so many places. "Not again..." Shade muttered
angrily, and made his way into the kitchen. He took a bin bag out the
cupboard infront of him, then went back into the living room. He
sighed, then began to clear up the chaos. It took him an hour at the
least to cast the clutter into the bin bag. When he had finally
finished, he sighed with relief. Shade wasn't a patient man, and didn't
like anything that took him more than ten minutes. He tied the handles
in a firm knot, then threw the bag onto his shoulder. He slipped
through into the hall, put the key into the door and twisted. He pushed
down on the handle and stepped outside. Taking care not to trap
anything in the door, he headed towards the wheelie bin at the end of
his front garden. As he raised the lid and put the bag inside, he
noticed a strange group on the other side of the street. He studied
them for a little while, then shrugged. They didn't appear to be doing
anything wrong, so he turned on his heel and walked back through his
front door. He wondered what to do, when suddenly his stomach growled.
He groaned, then went through and into the kitchen. Shade opened the
fridge, and looked inside. There was no food to be seen. "Oh yeah..."
He muttered angrily. "I just had to pick it all up from my floor." He
stormed into the living room, and threw himself onto the sofa. "I hate
those kids..." He bellowed, and hammered down on the TV remote's on
button.

Viro stumbled into the street. He checked behind him, and saw that the
thugs had finally quit their pursuit of him. "They just never learn..."
He muttered and set off down the road. He passed a set of flats and
looked up. A light was on a few floors up. "Why is there only one light
on at this time...?" He wondered and looked for a decent starting
point. He found one, a slightly outward brick. He grabbed onto it and
began to clamber up the wall.

Zyle shook his head wildly. "You can't fire me, i'm one of your best
men!" He shouted, desperate to keep his job. He was in the marines, and
that was something he was extremely proud of. He had won many medals.
His boss looked at him carefully. "Your fellow marines seem to think
that you don't deserve your job Zyle, and I have to admit the evidence
they provided is mighty convincing." Zyle looked at the other marines
spread around the room. They all grinned at him, and he stared back at
them coldly. "Their evidence may be convincing, but surely you of all
people know that I deserve to remain part of the marines?" Zyle watched
his boss as he folded his arms. "I do. But then again, you have failed
me many times." Zyle shook his head in disbelief. The marines around
the room grinned, and looked at their leader with great anticipation to
his next few words. "I'm afraid... I'm going to have to let you go."
Zyle nodded, and gave his thanks. He turned, and strode out of the
room. All the marines followed him, and laughed and jeered as he walked
towards the exit. When Zyle reached the door, he slammed it in their
faces. He just couldn't believe it. He kicked a stone hard an it flew
into the air. He was full of rage. "At least he allowed me to keep my
guns..." Zyle muttered and headed in the train station's direction.
"It's a bonus." It took him about ten minutes to reach the station, and
find the appropriate train. He got on without another word, and sat in
silence for a few minutes. People were staring at him, like he was
crazy or demented. "What?" He asked finally, and looked himself up and
down. He finally realized his guns were showing under his jumper. "I'm
not gonna shoot anyone..." He reassured them, and held his hands up.
They still didn't seem too keen to stand near him. Zyle shrugged, and
ignored them for the duration. About ten minutes into the journey, the
train grinded to a halt. Zyle frowned, it was too early for the train
to stop. He brought out his pistols and headed to the front of the
train. When he arrived and slid the compartment door open, he realized
why the train had come to a peculiar halt. The controls were smashed,
the electronics were in turmoil and the train driver was lying on the
floor dead. "Whoever did this isn't getting off of the train..." Zyle
vowed, and took pity on the poor driver who lay murdered on the floor.
He moved sliently back through the train, and looked at each passenger
carefully. They all shied away at the sight of him, and bluntly refused
to look in his direction. About three carriages back, he noticed a pale
man sitting alone on the floor. Everyone else had left that carriage,
all except the pale man. "Sir, are you alright?" Zyle asked after a
minute of consideration. "You don't look very well..." He moved to help
the man up but he lashed out, attempting to swipe at Zyle's body. "It's
a Zombie..." Zyle muttered, and aimed both pistols at the Zombie. He
fired four times, and each shot hit it's mark. The Zombie stumbled
back, then prepared to launch himself at Zyle again. But he was ready
this time. When the Zombie got close, he stepped aside and cracked both
guns down on the Zombie's head. "Stupid Zombies..." Zyle muttered
angrily. He shook his head, then shoulder charged at the compartment
door. The hinges snapped and the door flew off. "Ouch..." Zyle
exclaimed. He carefully studied the wall. About three feet to his right
was a ladder that reached to the tunnel ceiling. It led to some kind of
hatch, as around the edges sunlight was seeping down into the dark
depths of the Underground. Zyle grinned, then moved along between the
wall and the train. It was a tight squeeze, but he managed to get to
the ladder. He clambered up, and lifted the cover from it's position
and to the left. Being aware of the drop below, Zyle pushed himself out
through the hole and onto the concrete surface. He replaced the cover,
and hoped no-one had noticed a young man climbing out of a manhole
cover. He brushed himself off and then walked away, hands deep in
pockets.

Shade flicked through all the channels lazily. Nothing good was on, so
he switched the TV off again. "All these rubbish programs they have on
these days... What's the point in them?" he wondered. "And they hardly
ever show the good ones..." He complained, and made a list of the good
TV shows in his head. He sighed, then decided to go get a book to read.
He went into the hallway and began climbing the stairs. When he got
about halfway up, there was a knock on the door. And again. He turned,
and looked at the door with interest. "I'm not expecting visitors... I
wonder who it is." Shade went back down and opened the door. "Hello
what can I-" Suddenly, without warning, a fist flew at him and that was
all he knew.

"Are you alright?" Jenny asked the man lying unmoving on the floor. He
groaned, and began to stir. "What happened..." He mumbled, and
struggled to stand. He had bright eyes, dark hair and wore a pair of
blue glasses. "I'm not sure..." Jenny said, and peered past the man
into his flat. "I just found you here, lying there with your door wide
open." The man mumbled something, then shook his head. "All I remember
was opening the door then... Nothing." Jenny nodded. "Who are you? I'm
Jenny." She said brightly, and extended her hand towards the stranger.
"Shade." Was the reply. He shook her hand briefly, then went into his
living room. He searched the entire house, then came back down to the
door. "Nothing is missing, but there is my-" He paused, then bolted
past Jenny and down into the car park. He looked in his shed, and cried
out in dismay. "It's gone!" He shouted, then ran back up and into his
flat. Jenny followed, and closed the door.

Viro overheard everything. He stared as a man purely in black went up
to one of the doors. A minute later an arm shot out, and no doubt
delivered a mighty punch to whoever had answered the door. The man came
back down, and opened one of the sheds at the side of the car park. He
never came out. Viro dropped down and went to the shed. He rubbed the
glass and peered through the dusty glass. The shed was empty. There was
no other way out, so where had that man gone... Viro shrugged. He
stayed there for about ten minutes, studying the shed. He went round
the back and looked at the wood carefully. Nothing. Suddenly there was
a loud bang and Viro peered round the side of the shed. A man was
striding towards him. He ducked behind the shed. He heard a key
turning, and realized the guy had been going to the shed. The empty
shed. Viro listened as hard as he could, maybe a little too hard. A
minute later the man shouted loudly and He had to cover his ears. "It's
gone!" was what Viro heard. He peered round the side again. The man was
walking away, back towards the building entrance. Viro sighed with
relief, then ran back to the window he had been under ten minutes
before.

Shade reached his door and walked through. His face was contorted with
anger. Anger, that was rapidly building up. Suddenly he started
shouting, loud and clear. Birds in the sky squawked in distress and
rapidly flapped their wings to get away. They weren't keen on noise.
Shade stopped for a minute to look at them. "Wow... I shout loud." He
pondered on that for a moment, then resumed shouting. He stopped to
catch his breath, then sat on the sofa.

Viro of course heard all of this, and clamped his hands over his ears.
He looked upwards at the sky, at the birds so afraid if the outbreak.
"Ugh..." Viro moaned, his ears causing him pain. Finally the noise
stopped, and he released his grip. His ears were still ringing, but he
focused on the window where the noise had originated from. Silently, he
started to climb up the wall and to the window that had contained the
source of many outbreaks in the silence.

Sophie shrugged, and sat down on the sofa. Surprisingly, she had been
the least affected by the rampage, despite her being in the same room
as Shade when he had shouted. She shrugged again. "Want me to go look
for it?" Shade nodded appreciatively. "Please." He drew her a picture
of it. "It looks sort of like this..." He said and handed her the
picture. She nodded, and leapt out of the open window. She prepared
herself, then flew off, in search of the machine Shade so dearly
treasured. She went off around the city, and after about half an hour
she noticed it, standing in a street corner. She grinned, then swooped
down and studied it carefully.

Viro reached the window and gripped onto the ledge. He peered in. The
man was squatted down, examining what looked like dust on the floor.
Viro ducked down as the man spoke. "Rock salt crushed. Hmm." Viro
rolled his eyes and looked over the ledge again. His fingers were
beginning to hurt but he tried to ignore it. He was busy spying on this
man. Viro looked at the room carefully. It was untidy, and had a few
broken pieces of furniture in one corner. There were stains on the
carpet and on the far wall hung a picture. Viro recognized the man he
was spying on, but there was another person beside him. It was
difficult from this distance to define whether it was male or female.
Eventually he concluded it was a man. "I wonder who it is..." Viro
whispered. Suddenly he got hit with some bird droppings. He cursed
quietly, then looked up at the sky. A bird was flying above his head.
Prior to being noticed, it flapped it's wings and flew off. He loosened
his grip. Another few minutes and he would have to let go. But he
stayed up anyway, and watched as the man went through a door at the
opposite side of the room. Viro considered climbing through the window
and go look around, but he knew it was just too risky. Finally the
unavoidable happened. The pain became too excruciating and Viro
released his grip completely. He hurtled to the ground, and braced
himself for impact. He crashed through the concrete and lay in a newly
created miniature crater. He groaned then lay unmoving.

Zyle looked around. There were several blocks of flats to his left, and
a couple of shops to his right. He shrugged, and headed towards the
flats. He wasn't paying attention to the ground and tripped. He looked
back, and saw he had tripped over a young man, who looked around his
age. He stood up, then marvelled at the thought he hadn't noticed the
crater before he walked into it. He shrugged, then went to help the man
up. "I guess you made this then." The man nodded, and immediately
yelled in pain. "Yes, I did." He found talking easier and relaxed to
minimise movement. "I'm Zyle." Zyle said in introduction. "Viro." The
man replied stiffly. "What happened?" Zyle asked. "How did you make
this crater?" He gestured around them. "I fell. Off that building." He
pointed to the flats. Zyle made a face, and shook his head. "That
must've hurt." "Well no!" Viro replied grumpily, and tried to walk.
Zyle noticed and went to help. "Thanks..." Viro said gratefully, and
rested his weight on Zyle. It took about 10 minutes, but they got out
in the end. Viro groaned. "Whoever lives in that flat shouts loud." He
pointed at the fourth window up. As Viro said it, the man from the flat
strode out into the car park. Zyle raised an eyebrow in mocking
surprise. "Him?" "Yeah." Viro said, and raised an eyebrow himself.
"That was just... wierd." He shouted to the man. "Hey!" The man turned
and walked up to them. "Mind out for the-" Zyle and Viro said in sync.
But it was too late. The man stepped into the crater and tumbled to the
bottom. He shook himself down, then peered up at them. "Which one of
you did this?" He said with a grin. He clambered out and stood infront
of Zyle. "I did." Viro said uncormfortably. "You? Really?" He stared at
Viro carefully. Viro shifted a little, backwards. Eventually the man
nodded, and extended his hand to each of them in turn. "I'm Shade, by
the way." Zyle nodded, then shook. "I'm Zyle, and this is Viro." He
gestured towards Viro, who shook. He gasped, and held his arm. "He is
in a lot of pain." Zyle explained. "No wonder..." Shade muttered, and
spoke up. "Which floor did you fall from?" Shade asked, eyebrow raised.
"Fourth..." Viro moaned and his eyes began to look moist. Shade tilted
his head. "Fourth... That's my floor!" He looked at Viro wearily. "Were
you spying on me?" He asked, as his eyebrow came back down. "No.... But
you shouted unbearably loud." Shade laughed at this remark, as did
Zyle."Yes, I understand now." Shade laughed, and clapped Viro on the
back. His face filled with horror. "Oh god sorry..." he said
apologetically as Viro yelped. "It's fine..." Viro hissed, and his face
scrunched at the pain swept over him like the winter cold. Zyle
abruptly ended the conversation, with a loud whistle. Shade covered his
ears, but Viro just stood there lazily. "Wanna go get something to
eat?" Zyle asked, and as if on cue, his stomach growled. They all
laughed. "Sure!" Shade said, his hunger back on his mind. Viro merely
nodded, then put his hood up. Zyle walked off, Shade and Viro following
close behind. Viro looked eerie walking along with his eyes fixating on
every person which passed. Shade was just casual, smiling and winking
at the women. Viro hit him, and only caused himself more pain. He
hobbled along with no input afterwards. They all made their way to the
nearest restauraunt. It wasn't too far, luckily for Viro.

They reached the entrance several minutes later, huddled in a tight
group. Zyle and Shade were supporting Viro, because he had no strength
left. The little group sat at a table close to the door. Zyle looked at
Viro. "What do you want?" Viro shrugged. "Just a milkshake." Zyle
nodded, then asked Shade. He nodded, then went to the counter to order.
"Can I have a milkshade and a large burger with chips please." he
asked. The man behind the till nodded. "That will be £4.34 please sir."
Zyle paid quickly, and stuffed the change in his pocket. He turned to
go sit down when he noticed a woman with blue hair looking at him. His
mouth almost dropped open. She was beautiful. He noticed his legs were
shaking. "I hope I don't mess up..." he whispered, then walked over to
her. "Hi..." He said, his voice shaky and tense. "Hi." She replied, and
shot Zyle a smile. He grinned back. "Wanna come sit with us?" He asked
quietly as he pointed to the table where Shade and Viri were sat.
"Sure!" The woman said, and walked towards it. Zyle followed behind,
lovestruck.

Zyle stared at the woman. She was sat there, poised and perfect, having
a laugh with Shade. Suddenly Viro nudged him. "Isnt that our number?"
he asked, pointing to the man at the counter. "387!" He shouted, then
looked around. "Yeah..." Zyle muttered, then squeezed out. He went over
and got the order. He picked up the tray and hurried back to the table.
Shade snatched up his burger and started shoving it into his mouth. It
was soon gone, and then he began devouring the chips. He looked up, and
noticed Zyle an Viro were watching him. "What?" He grunted, mouth full
of food. Zyle looked away, and Viro batted a hand out infront of him.
"Don't talk with your mouth full!" He groaned. Shade shrugged. Zyle
suddenly gasped, and his hand flew to his ribs. "You ok man?" Viro
asked cautiously. "Fine..." Zyle muttered, and relaxed. "I had to fight
a Zombie on the way here." "Ah." Viro said slowly, and nodded his head.
"Annoying aren't they?" "Yeah." Shade shrugged, and walked out of the
door. Zyle looked at the blue haired woman. She hadn't spoke for a
while. Viro shrugged, and got up. "Whatever." He walked into a shadowed
corner, and disappeared. Zyle's eyes widened, then he shrugged. "So
there's more sorcerers than I thought." The blue haired woman spoke.
"I'm Yami by the way." Zyle smiled. "Zyle." Yami nodded. "Right, Hello
Zyle." He grinned, then stood up. "Come on, let's go." She smiled, then
took Zyle's hand. They smiled at each other, then walked out of the
door, laughing.