Realistic or Modern Overcast: Marten Rietveld

[Lorsh]

The old man nods, and finishes untying the dinghy. He gets the motor running, speeding off as Roche talks to you.

"I had a feeling about something like that," Roche says, looking over his shoulder at the mother, who is already boarding the motorsailer with her kid, Jodi, and Wigg. "If we try to do anything, his mother is going to lose it."

 

[Croike]

Marten shrugs in response. "If she does, she does. We can try to restrain her or not but there's no sense in pretending everything is alright." He turns to Roche. "We have to do what's necessary to keep ourselves safe. Do you want to try to break it to her that her son is going to start trying to eat her, and everyone else or do you think we should just quietly shove the boy overboard?"

 

[Lorsh]

Roche looks uncomfortable at the prospect of murdering a child, though he doesn't look like he has any intention to permit the spread of that sick virus. "I... well, we should tell them before we're in the middle of open sea. But I don't want an announcement like that to jeopardize our spot on the boat," he points out.

 

[Croike]

Marten nods in agreement. "We'll bring it up once we pass a point of no return." He continues walking with Roche toward the boat, keeping his weapons ready and his eyes on the horizon.

 

[Lorsh]

The male sailor, a younger bearded man in shorts and a T-shirt, gestures for you and Roche to hurry up. Once everyone is on board, he starts up the motor and begins to pull out of the docks.



"Never thought we'd get to meet Sam Wigg," the man's partner chuckles. She's a blonde woman somewhere in her twenties, wearing a jean jacket, blouse, and skirt. "Though... I guess it'd be better if it were under different circumstances."


"It'll be a story you'll get to tell your folks about when this is over," Mr. Wigg chuckles.

The harbor is cluttered with various other watercraft. Gunfire can be heard nearby, and you see a Coast Guard patrol boat some distance away. Men in navy-style caps and orange lifejackets fire shotguns and pistols at a burning tugboat, where the crew are slowly walking off the side and into the water.

"Good god," Jodi eeps. She wipes her eyes. "Is it really this bad?" Jet aircraft can be heard far overhead.

 

[Croike]

Marten mutters in his native language. "This shit, right here? Never saw anything like this back in Rhand."
He looks to the PT boat and shakes his head. "Thank you for taking us aboard, where are we headed?"
He starts looking at the kid and his mom as subtly as he can manage.

 

[Lorsh]

The woman turns to you. "Just... somewhere that isn't here. Away from the city," she says. "We have friends in Maish and Saint Nora, we're not sure where we're going to go yet- probably Maish, though. Are you Sam Wigg's guard?" she asks curiously.

The motorsailer is forced to slow down in order to maneuver among the other watercraft. There is a sinking, flaming yacht nearby, and you hear people crying out for help. Bodies are floating in the water, and a few people are bobbing up and down in life jackets, though most of them look dead too. Someone slaps on the side of the motorsailer. "Help!"

Jodi and Roche are already walking over. "Quick, Marten, lend us a hand!" Jodi calls.

 

[Croike]

He nods to the sailor woman. "Yeah, I am."

Then Marten heads over toward the shouting. "Hold on, I'm coming." He looks back to the female sailor. "You mind if we pick up another refugee?"

Running a hand through his hair, he continues to side-eye the ill boy.

 

[Lorsh]

The boy is laid across a bench, resting with his mother, who is looking over at the scene.

"If he needs help, pull him up," the woman says without hesitation. She helps Jodi and Roche pull the man on board.

"Thank you," he gasps after flopping on board, coughing as he takes a knee. He's wearing a soaked business suit underneath a yellow life jacket. Upon closer inspection, you see that he has prominent, black veins all around his face. You also see red droplets mixed with the seawater on his skin.

 

[Croike]

He pauses, taking a moment to breathe.

"Everyone hold on a second. I need to tell you something important. The old sailor on the dock didn't want to join us because the kid got bitten by one of those- lunatics. He seemed convinced that this illness is spread by the infected biting us. I don't know if he's right, or if he's wrong, but- I don't want to take that chance."

Observing the injured man, saying nothing at all. Anyone who catches his eyes will see a sort of, hardness to them.

Moving briskly forward, he throws a firm kick into the man's chest in an attempt to knock him back into the water.

 

[Lorsh]

The man's bloodshot eyes widen, and he cries out as your foot connects with his torso. You see some foam glisten in his mouth as he falls back into the water with a splash, starting to scream curses at you. Naturally, the women on board scream, and Wigg voices protest as well. Roche, however, raises his voice.

"That man was infected. Listen- you could all see it! And with all of us in one enclosed place, we're even more at risk," he says. He still looks... perturbed at what you did, though he still verbally defends you. Jodi swallows.

"Whatever it is- you can't- you're not the one who decides who stays on," the female boater tells you and Roche shakily.

"Not to be hypocritical, but if we let too many people on, we're going to die," Roche says.

 

[Croike]

He turns to face everyone. "I'm not saying let's throw everyone overboard, but that guy was definitely going to become one of them- soon. I don't know if this condition is curable. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I've seen them feast on people, living or dead. You have too, you're just trying not to think about it too hard right now."

He gestures to the boy."If we can bind him, we might be able to hand him off to medical authorities somewhere this isn't out of control yet."

He looks to lady sailor. "How many people can this boat safely hold? I'm not against helping people- but we can't risk everyone dying because of idealism."

 

[Lorsh]

The others absorb your speech. Wigg heaves a deep sigh and looks away. "It can... fit a few more," the female boater says. "Three or four."

You can see that the veins on the child's left shoulder have turned dark purple, and it's also starting to creep up the side of his neck too. His mother is holding a tissue against his nose, which must have started fauceting blood at some point. "No," she says. "He's not going to turn into that. He... he needs to stay with me," she pleads.

Jodi swallows. "Look, lady, maybe he's right. What if he tries to hurt you?"

"He's not going to fucking hurt me!" She starts to become hysterical, sobbing.

 

[Croike]

Marten approaches, taking her shoulders firmly but not aggressively, trying to get her to look him dead in the eyes.

"You don't know that. We need to restrain him- for everyone's safety. With any luck, when we get somewhere safe they can take him to a hospital. I'm sure they'll let you stay nearby while they work on finding a cure. Let's not lose hope."

 

[Lorsh]

The woman quivers, stroking her mostly unresponsive son's hair. She tenses at your touch, teeth gritted. However, when you reassure her about a cure, she seems to relax, it clearly being something she wanted to hear. "O-okay," she says. "We can... put him below deck? I could stay with him there?" she asks.

An orange Coast Guard helicopter flies overhead, its searchlight not shining anywhere in particular, though it briefly blinds you as it focuses on the motorsailer for a few seconds. It then moves away, focusing on the sinking yacht as a rifleman on the chopper starts to fire at anyone who looks sufficiently drunk.

 

[Croike]

Marten looks to boat lady for confirmation that she can do that. "Good idea- but keep any blood away from you and bind his mouth. Blood is a biohazard, and if spreads through spit it can spread through blood."

Once she goes, he clears his throat. "It's easy to restrain a kid. It's a lot harder to restrain a grown man- or woman."

He thinks a moment. "Someone should go tell your partner about how the infection spreads, and about the condition of the kid. But, you"

Motioning to the boat lady. "should stay out here and help determine who we're picking up if anyone else gets near the boat."

 

[Lorsh]

The woman nods uneasily. "You can put him in the... bedroom," she says. "You can grab a dishcloth from the kitchen down there, put it around your mouth, or his mouth. We... um... have some paracord." The mother cringes at the prospect of holding her kid down, but reluctantly consents. Roche offers to bring her down and help her.

"Nono- I'll go tell Ben. It'll only take a moment," the female boater says, moving into the compartment.

The bearded man, Ben, comes out. You see through the window of the compartment that the woman has now taken the wheel. "Alright, I saw what happened. This is serious," Ben says. You see that he's carrying a revolver now. Must have had it stowed away somewhere on board. "Not to scare anyone... but... I'm just keeping this, just in case. I don't want to let anyone else on here if they're sick- but if they're fine, maybe."

The motorsailer is now mostly out of the harbor, the docks and initial clusterfuck being a good distance behind everyone at this point. Still, there's a decent number of boats around, including a large cargo ship around a hundred meters away, which has a Coast Guard cutter floating next to it.

 

[Croike]

"Actually, I feel a little safer knowing there's a gun on board. We can easily figure out if people are lying when they say they're fine. You saw the color their veins turn."

With no crises at hand, Marten just sits down next to Jodi and lets a long sigh out. "I'm looking forward to a long vacation- far away from Congress. They're going to quarantine it for sure."

He gives a nod of appreciation to Roche. "Are you alright Mister Wigg?"

 

[Lorsh]

"Noted, buddy," Ben says. "If they're sick, we just turn them away," he says.

"I'm rattled," Mr. Wigg says. "But at least we managed to get ourselves out of the city," he shrugs with a sigh. "I didn't wake up this morning expecting to find myself at sea later that evening. What time is it?" He squints at his watch. "Almost eleven thirty. Ah, and it's getting chilly out, too."

Jodi sniffles, and takes out her mobile phone. She dials a number and puts it up to her ear. "Oh... they've taken down the cell network," she says, shaking her head. "I want to call my parents. God."

 

[Croike]

Marten gives Jodi a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Take heart, with any luck they'll be alright." He looks to Ben "Do you know anything about- how far this has gone? We didn't exactly have any time to watch the news once we saw things going to hell."

 

[Lorsh]

Though your words aren't particularly reassuring, Jodi does seem to appreciate the effort, especially coming from you. She nods and pats her eyes. "I hope so."

Ben's face looks grim. "I heard it was going down in most cities," he tells you. "Some are worse than others. I heard it's bad in Newley, maybe worse than here, though that's hard to imagine. And not only that, other provinces too. Whatever this is, it spread fast. How long do you think it will be until they get a hold of it all?"

 

[Croike]

"No idea. It looks pretty bad, especially given how fast its spreading. If anything I'd try to get out of the Republic for a while. Hell, I know we'd all be welcome in Rhand." He chuckles softly. "I'd say the best we can do right now is just wait for this to all blow over somewhere safe."

He chews on the notion, pondering for a few moments.

"Ah, I think I have it. You said you have friends in Maish and in Saint Nora. Maybe we should try to see if they could get to Condolence? Harder for the disease to reach an island." He shrugs again. "Just a thought."

 

[Lorsh]

"What if this is worldwide?" Jodi asks. She pauses. "The... the communists might have done something."

"We do have friends there," Ben affirms. "And well... that's an idea. I'm not sure we could make the voyage, so maybe we could stock up on supplies there first," he says. "It doesn't seem like that bad of a plan, but I think we should see how much safer it is on the mainland first. I'm guessing it could be just as bad, though."

"If I lived in Condolence, I'd be pretty suspicious of outsiders," Jodi points out.

 

[Croike]

"Well it won't hurt as a back up plan in case things are that bad. Besides, who knows? Maybe this will be over with in a few days."

He smiles gently at Jodi. "Nah, the communists don't have anything nearly this nasty. Worst they can do is arm guerillas."

Marten looks to Mister Wigg. "Well Boss, how do you think we should ride out the storm? I feel pretty good about our new friends here."

 

[Lorsh]

Wigg shrugs. "Boss? Heh. I know it's only been a couple hours, but already I feel like we're just a bunch of fellas, now. The fabric's ripped too much for it to matter at this point. Still, I appreciate you standing by my side, Mr. Rietvald." He clears his throat. "To answer your question, I suppose we could try to find somewhere secluded, though I'd personally try my hand at finding some of the authorities. The army, or well, considering where we are, the navy."