[It was only a matter of time before Bard's habit of packing his tablet up with everything else during the day came back to really bite him in the ass, and it looks like today is that day. If he'd had it out, he might have caught the warning to get inside; why, if he'd even remembered to check it last night after that excitement running into a whole two other people, he might have seen Clayton's own post about getting locked out and thought to travel more carefully today.

But no. Bard doesn't have the right set of habits for either of these warnings, so when he got back to the house he'd thought to spend the night in, the door refused to open. So, too, had those windows he could reach, so before long Bard retreated to the first pile of rubble he remembered that had an actual corner to sit in. With a little effort and judicious application of force, he was able to break the boards he'd been carrying into smaller pieces; it wouldn't be enough firewood to get him through the night, but it would last him long enough to put together the day's notes for Stephanie and get his thoughts in order.

Which brings us to now.]

[Video]

[So. Here's an old(-ish) guy, lit by the blue light of his tablet screen and a bit of amber light that might be from a small fire off-screen. A couple of you might recognize him, but for the most part he's been keeping to the metaphorical shadows so far. Tonight that's not really an option. The vaguely displeased look on his face--well, it's actually pretty normal for him, but in this particular instance it's appropriate.]

I suppose it's going to be unreasonably cold yet again tonight. Perhaps I will endure it to see the morning come, but if I should pass, there are things I would say. First: I am wearing a hauberk and have with me a knife. Struck together, they make a reliable enough spark for starting fires, and anyone who needs such a thing is welcome to them when I no longer do. If you would prefer to use the knife for other things only, I'm by the northern wall of snow next to a house with many boxes full of rocks, some of which should be small enough to use as part of a flint and steel.

Second: if any of you get out of here and find yourself able, please take a message to my children. They can be found in the city of Dale, south of Erebor, and their names are Bain, Sigrid, and Tilda. I would have them know that I died here, and that I would have returned to them if I could.

[He pauses for a moment, thinking things over, before continuing.]

I suppose that's really all I have to say. If anyone wants to try to keep me company through the night, you'd be more than welcome, but don't feel obligated to sacrifice what rest is to be found here.

[It's video. Feed blinks open and he's looking down at it. Blinks once at the camera, is it on? And then yes, yes, it is on.

So then the video flicks over to where a life sized clown statue- yes, a fucking life sized clown statue is sitting in the corner of the living room.

Yes, guess what unlucky son of a bitch happens to be sleeping with Ronald as a roommate tonight?]

Think I'd be doing us all a favor if I tried to burn it?

[Just saying.]

[late afternoon - video/text]

[The post starts off as a live, shot-by-shot documentation of the area Clayton has decided to explore. He's on his way to the mysterious dot of a building he saw from the balcony in house 88, where he first woke up; apart from house 83, which just happened to be close enough to scout, Clayton knows no other landmarks to look for. With what he assumes is most of the supplies he's willing to take salvaged from 88 and 83, and his makeshift shoes damp and falling apart, he decides that there's not much else to do except go for it and hope for the best.]

[For the entire morning, there's nothing to report. It's all snow. Clayton keeps himself occupied by checking other posts on the network, but otherwise he's silent.]

[By mid-afternoon, he runs into the graveyard.]

[This is worthy of some footage. Clayton posts two of them; the first is a short one, a panning around as he comes in through the front to show off the size and general state of things. His commentary is sparse--he's cold and tired and this place is kind of creepy.]

Found this...guess every town's gotta have one, eh? [He zooms in on a tombstone, here. It's unrecognizably worn.] Looks real old. If anybody died after whatever happened to drive 'em all out, I reckon they ain't buried 'em here.

[Some time later there is a much shorter video. No sound from Clayton, save his quick, somewhat labored breathing in the background as he slowly pans around him. A thick mist has settled in. He can't see it apart from on the video, but Clayton doesn't think to make a note of that before he ends it.]

[Much later, there are pictures. He's found a chapel of some sort--indeterminate Christian denomination, about as old as the graveyard, fairly small. There's a picture of the outside, followed by several more of the inside, the pews, the stained glass windows, the hall leading to the bed and bathrooms, and last, a stairwell down to a set of closed doors.]

[There isn't anything else for a bit longer after that. Then, a text post. No pictures. Something feels really wrong about posting public pictures of a dead guy, or a morgue in general.]

I found where they're keeping Klaus.

[after lockout - video]

[There's another long band of silence following Clayton's escape from the chapel. Driven out by the suffocatingly unpleasant atmosphere, he continued heading south in the hopes that there would be another side of town to explore beyond it.]

[By the time it gets dark, he has not located that side of town.]

[It's well past the time that Clayton's noted the doors on the houses lock, but he's still walking anyways. Maybe it's not all the houses? Maybe he'll find part of a house that offers enough shelter to sit in, but doesn't have a door? He can remain hopeful!]

[No such luck there, either. The wind is picking up and the strength is rapidly leaving his legs. He has to sit down. He'll freeze to death if he keeps himself exposed like this. A snowbank, maybe...]

[When Clayton decides to turn on the network for the last time, he's managed to dig out a shallow depression in the side of a small pile of snow, which is just enough to huddle within and give the illusion of shelter without actually doing anything to prevent the cutting bite of the cold. Clayton has jammed the tablet in the ice near his face so he can keep his hands tucked in his coat. He's resting his head, hair laden with frost, on his backpack, which smells irritatingly strongly of cat food. He doesn't look very comfortable.]

[But he is, as usual, smiling.]

Ah...sorry 'bout this. I know it's late. Ain't sure who's even up... [Clayton shakes his head.] ...Think I got kinda sidetracked. Gonna have to camp out tonight.

[He bites his lip through a grin. In his pajamas and a coat and some wet foam shoes, Clayton is pretty sure he knows how this is going to end. Doesn't mean he has to accept it, though.]

Could do with somebody to talk to, if y'all 'll humor me. Swaps stories, I dunno. Just...don't think I should be fallin' asleep right now.

[It's been a long day. Maybe one of the longest Tadashi has experienced until now. At first he was hopeful about a rescue or finding a way out, but it's been three days now -- four days for some of the others. He's still hopeful, but the cold is starting to get to him. He hasn't found anything warmer to wear and he's fairly sure that Mochi is the only reason he hasn't frozen to death. His food is running low, too. If he rations it and is smart, he feels like he can stretch it for three more days. Which makes the looming question return every time he thinks about how light his backpack is becoming: will he find food by then? The first day will be rough, but the following days will be dangerous if he doesn't resupply quickly.

Reluctantly, despite the fatigue that's settled deep in his bones, Tadashi turns on his video feed and offers a weary smile.]

This is Tadashi Hamada. Again. And this is the end of my third day in Norfinbury.

[Since he saw that key card, he's going to assume that's the name of where they are until new evidence presents itself.]

I found a landmark today -- a veterinarian clinic right up against the wall of snow to the south. I left a message saying I'm going west, so if anyone else finds it, that's where I went. I haven't found food anywhere around it, and it had an... odd feeling about it. I don't recommend it as a base.

[He rubs at his eyes, and covers a yawn. He just has to stay awake a little longer.]

I made it to a place to stay the night and I found something. I've attached a photo if anyone's interested. It looks like it might lead to a basement, but it's sealed shut. When I tried to break it down, I realized that it's solid metal. It's too unusual to ignore, so I plan to come back if I can find any tools that might help me get inside. I guess that's all for now. I hope to see everyone tomorrow.

[He reaches forward and disconnects the feed.]

Attachment: One picture of the door in building 122

[When Yuuri posts to the network for the first time, it's about 6 pm on the fourth day. Using technology again is taking some getting used to, it was easy enough to figure out the tablet's video function. She's using it now to broadcast an image of the house she's approaching.

It's an A-frame house, two stories, and from the outside it looks normal enough. She takes a breath as she comes to the doorway and puts a hand on the doorknob.]

Well, let's see what's in here...

[She pushes the door open, to reveal... nothing. Or rather - the house itself is intact, and as she wanders through the entranceway, her footsteps echo against the empty walls. There are no decorations, and there is no furniture at all. The living room is utterly devoid of any of the comforts of home, the dining room lacks anything that could actually be used to dine, and the kitchen is woefully empty. Even the bathroom and the two bedrooms on the first floor look as though they've never been used.

There's a staircase that she climbs, but from her mumbling, it doesn't seem as though she expects to find anything upstairs. The master bedroom and bathroom also lack furniture, and there's nothing of note on the balcony. She pauses out there for a moment or two to look around.] I guess the view isn't so bad...

[But she only stays there for a short time before heading back downstairs. For lack of anywhere else to sit, she uses the stairs as a makeshift chair.]

...that's a little disappointing! [She breathes out; it sounds a bit like a huff.] I hope all of you are having more luck tonight than I am. Has anyone else found anything?

Characters: Shiki Misaki and Lancer
Location J9
Date: Day 2. Afternoon? Some time in the afternoon.
Summary: Oh shit, two people randomly ran into each other in the snow.
Warnings: God, I'm bad at predicting these. For all I know this might be either the start of a fantastic friendship or one of them will end up bleeding to death in the snow. Will edit if/when necessary.

( Behold J9, a square which contains jack shit with a side order of fuck all. )

[ Video ]

[ Steph flashes the camera a smile - she's starving and horribly cold, so it isn't as friendly as it might have been. It fades quickly. She keeps her eyes on the camera, as one accustomed to video phones. ]

Hi. I'm Stephanie, and no, I don't know how we got here, where we are or why we're here. I'm working on those last two, though. So in that interest, I have two requests. The first is that you answer a survey: nothing somebody who kidnapped you wouldn't already know or be able to find out easily. So far I haven't seen that we have much in common with each other. For that matter, it seems like we might not have, like, planets or time periods in common. [ She grimaces apologetically. ] Which is weird, so feel free to take your time with that one.

The second is this: Try to map your location. These are all going to be disconnected for a while, but given time they might come together. There's a program on your tablet that lets you draw pictures - use that. Let's assume that the sun rises in the east and north is up. Uh... if you don't usually have a north that's left-east up-north right-west and down-south. Make a note if you run into someone, and list what you find. That includes those massive snow walls people have been talking about.

On that note, a third thing: don't go wandering out into the snow if you're not sure you'll be able to get someplace warmer before nightfall. People get lost in snow easily, and tend to go a little crazy if they get cold enough. I don't know what last night was about, but it's insane to wander out in the snow at night if you don't have the right gear or know where you're going.

[ Finally she takes a breath and lets it out in a long sigh. She managed to sound pretty professional for a terrified, starving, seventeen year old girl. ]



So that was a mouthful but I'm done now. I'm going to attach the survey as text. Respond however you like, and feel free to ask if you have questions.

[ Text ]

Name:
Age: (on a scale of pubescent to menopausal, if you want)
Place of origin:
Place of kidnapping:
Year of kidnapping:
Occupation:

Name: Stephanie Brown
Age: 17
Place of origin: Gotham, New Jersey, USA
Place of kidnapping: Gotham, New Jersey, USA
Year of kidnapping: 2015
Occupation: Student