Safe Haven - Jules and Ricky pt.2

[...Posted by Ted H]

And alas the final bit from my NaNoWriMo 2011 is up. A little editing here and there has happened for every post but in large part all 50K words are as written.
As for 2012?
I've already decided on what I'm doing for that. Safe Haven is on the back burner since I'm not sure I can churn out another 50K on the fly like last year. Plus that novel required me to keep track of way too much in terms of characters and intertwining plots. Now Ive got 2 jobs (1 full time) and Id rather do something a bit easier. Plus I wanna change things up a bit since the last year has been the Safe Haven show featuring Oblivion.
More on the 2012 NaNoWriMo project as it develops, but rest assured that I still refuse to grow up and will be writing another zombie tale this year, this one a bit less character driven and more zombie focused.

MEANWHILE!

The play is 99.9% done. Our Town 2 Act III will be up NEXT WEEK.
Ive got a couple things Id like to say on that that I'll save for then, but yes, I finally managed to wrap things up. All Ill say now is that I'll never start a project like that again so close to NaNoWriMo again. Seriously, Act 3 would've been up in January if not for me losing all my focus in November.

So yeah, enjoy the last bit of NaNoWriMo 2011...

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[Safe Haven - Jules and Ricky pt.2]

Despite being one of the more noted Rogues around, Jules was told to stay behind when Teto and company headed out to find the missing convoy. She had a good feeling that it was because of Tucker and Teto decided to make a choice over which one to take, opting to take the sniper they’ll definitely need over the medic they might not even use.

Jules hated Tucker, who was the reason she rarely had the opportunity to tan. The little punk and his sniper scope had been spying on her nude tanning ever since she started and it wasn’t until after many, many years of doing so did she finally catch wind of what the little perv was doing. Keeping true to her track record of being calm, she sought Tucker out and beat him to within an inch of his life.

With Tucker gone, Jules at least had the chance to do her tanning worry free of any snipers. With the boys (and Cooper) gone though, there was a distinct lack of anything interesting to do. No shipments were going to be needed for a long time, Teto’s little side project in the city was as done as it could get with his current supplies and joyriding on Jordan’s ATV wasn’t as fun if he wasn’t around to chase after her screaming. Life was once again boring.

“Hey sis!” Ricky called out from the base of the coaster, well out of sight but not out of range “Sis, Billy just got back and you’re gonna want to hear this! Get down here!” Jules sighed as she sat up and reached for pants. She really didn’t want to make the effort but Billy had snuck into Safe Haven a couple days ago despite Teto requesting that they stay out of the city for a while.

Pants on, she threw a tight black sleeveless tank top on and laced her boots up. She left the rest of her clothes where they were since she had every intention on returning and picking up where she left off tanning. She made her way down off the roller coaster and found where a bunch of Rogues were gathering. Billy was in the middle of the group, already telling his tale.

“I kid you not,” he said “a fucking uprising broke out in the street. Half our distributed weapons were probably involved but the fuckers made it count.” Rogues listened close and were cheering as Jules made her way through the group. Billy was a bit of a dumbass, the kind of guy who went to college for one year, learned nothing but partied every other day. He had a mean streak in him though, and legend has it he punched out fifteen zombies without getting bitten.

“You won’t even guess the best part,” Billy said as he put his hands up for people to quiet down. The crowd indulged him and requested the reason behind the riot. “All the shit those people go through when it comes to the ResEs and the straw that breaks the camels back is when they started gunning down the women in their strip joint.” Immense laughter erupted in the crowd as everyone started talking loudly again. “You gotta be kidding me!” someone shouted as Billy smiled and shook his head.

“I shit you not,” he said “A few sluts go down and that’s where the line gets drawn.” More questions were shouted out, mostly as to why something like that would happen when the Rogues weren’t present. Jules felt jealous since a full scale uprising would’ve been just what the doctor ordered for her boredom.

“So what happened? Is it still going down?” someone asked and Billy shook his head. “Nah,” he said “Even if we sprinted for it from here the second it started, we would’ve been too late. Over as fast as it started.”

“How many ResEs bit the dust?” another person asked. “A bunch,” Billy responded “Not a whole lot though. Nothing they can’t replace at least and we’re still in the minority in a big way when it comes to overall numbers.”

“I say we go in there now and make some more dead ResEs,” another person spoke out. “I wouldn’t,” Billy said “They have gone on absolute lock down when it comes to patrolling lately. It’s a good thing we’re suppose to be laying low for now.”

The conversation continued to devolve into a back and forth question and answer segment hosted by Billy. Jules had listened to all she cared to hear. A riot broke out in the city when she wasn’t around and was now long over. Time to move on. Right now she was burning daylight and sunny days weren’t plentiful lately, neither were Tucker-free days. She jogged back to the roller coaster, her long black hair swaying behind her as every running step she took made her regret going braless for this short break.

As she reached the coaster, an idea struck, which made her turn back and track down her brother. She still wanted to play some part in knocking out some ResEs, and if she couldn’t jump in with the riot, she might as well let it serve as some inspiration for something else. Her idea was dangerous, but it was also a great plan to cure her boredom.

“Hey, wanna have some real fun?” she asked Ricky as she found him in the back of the group still talking to Billy. He looked at her sideways and shook his head. “You want to do something stupid, I just know it,” he said as Jules ran her hand over his short, curly blond hair. She knew he would agree to come, it would just take some convincing on her part.

Safe Haven - Jules and Ricky pt.1

[...Posted by Ted H]

NaNoWriMo 2011 stuff I wrote will close out the month, then Ill be fresh out.
I'll prolly take a little break right before the 2012 marathon, whichll mean no updates...

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[Safe Haven - Jules and Ricky pt.1]

Jules laid out on the roller coaster track as the sun finally found its way through to shine. Today was one of those rare days where she didn’t have anything to do and she was able to work on her all over tan. The other Rogues knew better than to bother her since this specific tan required a little privacy, plus her handgun was within reach and she wasn’t afraid to shoot anyone. Being able to shoot anyone anytime you wanted was one of the perks of being the only Rogue who could competently deal with a gunshot wound, as long as it wasn’t her own wound she was treating.

Jules and her twin brother, Ricky, were both children of a rich doctor in San Diego before the apocalypse. They coasted through school on their fathers dime all to fulfill his dream of becoming successful doctors as well. They were both about six months into their hospital residency when the zombies attacked. Jules had heard all the other Rogues tell tales of what they were doing when the zombies first attacked, but none of them could hold a candle to the sheer insanity she had to deal with.

Ricky had the day off and Jules was working the tail end of her shift when the first patient was rushed into the ER. She wasn’t too interested in the patient until they died on their way in and resurrected on their way to the morgue. A flood of panicked, infected people rushed the hospital and Ricky was calling her up suddenly, urging her to run, telling her that the dead were attacking the living.

Within 24 hours, Jules and Ricky had abandoned the city and were among the first people into Safe Haven at their fathers urging. While he said he’d meet them there, their father never made it himself to Safe Haven. Since beggars couldn’t be choosers, and since both the twins were trained as such, they were allowed to work in the Hub as doctors. Living and working in the only place in the city with running power and heat sat real well for Jules, but life eventually became boring.

Someone comes in injured or shot and she’d patch them up and be sent on their way. Hospital residency was always fun for Jules because of the people around her, but in Safe Haven, her fellow doctors were a bunch of pricks. Then one day a ResE came in with a gunshot wound and was bleeding out fast. Jules worked feverishly to save him but knew it was a losing battle. As he was dying, the ResE couldn’t stop screaming about how a bunch of “Rogues” had done this. Jules wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but she and Ricky started asking questions.

Eventually it came out that those kicked out of Safe Haven were finding a way back inside. The ResEs started calling them Rogues as a way to describe them to each other and the name stuck. Every time an injured ResE came her way with a story involving a Rogue, she listened. The more she heard about the Rogues, the more fascinated she became with them.

One day a ResE got injured out in the field while pursuing a Rogue. The other ResEs there weren’t able to move him without causing him more harm so they had a couple doctors, one of which Jules was, run out into the outskirts to treat the injury. On her way, Jules thought she saw someone watching her from the shadows, but the person quickly disappeared. The more information Jules had gathered about the Rogues, the more she just had to meet one for herself.

She started sneaking out before curfew and hiding out in the outskirts all night when she didn’t have to be on duty as a doctor, just hoping she could meet up with one, but to no avail. The only other person who knew about this was Ricky, who thought it was a dumb idea that would get her killed, but he made no effort to convince her to stop.

Weeks went by with no success and suddenly one night a Rogue was waiting for her in her usual spot. He gave no name and told her they knew she was staking them out. He said they had a request of her and were making sure for the last few weeks that she wasn’t part of any ResE plan. He told her that the Rogues operated out in the wastelands outside the city and they were having trouble getting medical equipment.

All Jules needed to do was smuggle some medical supplies out and the Rogue said they’d do her a favor. Jules told him not to worry about it and to be back the next night for some supplies. The next night, instead of handing off a duffle bag of supplies to the Rogue, Jules instead insisted he’s take her with him out of the city since she doubted the Rogues had anyone with medical expertise. He agreed, but Jules suddenly had a different idea and handed off the bag. She said for the Rogue to come back again for yet another batch of supplies.

The next day Jules told Rickey everything in private and insisted he come with her. He was hesitant at first, but Jules eventually convinced him like she always could. Together, with three times as much medical equipment in tow than what was sent out last night, the twins waited for the Rogue and left with him.

The twins were easily accepted into the Rogues and Jules thus began her new life in the wasteland. She changed her name, wore her hair differently and took a new attitude to the world around her. She was no longer a bored rich girl living out the fantasies of her father and she was no longer a bored doctor living in fear behind giant walls from the threats of the outside world.

The ever present threat of the undead ensured life was never boring for Jules, especially when she constantly ventured out into the wastelands and into Safe Haven. She learned that when the people in charge of Safe Haven noticed the enormous amounts of missing medical equipment in conjunction with the sudden disappearance of two doctors, it didn’t take much mental strain for them to determine what happened.

At one point, Jules decided to up the ante by hunting down all of the ResEs who she ever patched up. She wouldn’t kill them, just shoot them where they were once injured before and make sure they knew who had hurt them. Now the ResEs knew for sure she was not only a Rogue, but actively hunting people down. She would even go as far as to leave clues as to who she would hunt for next, just for how challenging and dangerous it would become. Teto eventually put a stop to it, claiming she was no good to the Rogues dead.

Ricky was the more low key of the two. Anything he usually did was because Jules was doing it and she insisted he’d come along for the ride. He had no interest in being a doctor in the first place but Jules convinced him otherwise. Becoming Rogues was finally the start to Rickey becoming his own person. While Jules still found much excitement in saving the injured and dying, Rickey found more joy in working with the guns. He had handled weapons before the apocalypse, but the abundance of weapons to play with now was too much for him to pass up.

Ricky would enter the city with the other Rogues all the time, but unlike Jules, he never wanted to make more waves than necessary. Still, Jules would convince him to accompany her whenever she ran through Safe Haven on another hunting trip, often helping her if ResEs started shooting back.

Jules had garnered a reputation of being a bit hot headed and perfectly willing to hurt anyone who pissed her off, which also made her one of the more respected Rogues around since she became so good at on the fly doctoring, once actually fixing up someone with a broken leg while surrounded by zombies. She fired her guns, went to setting the broken limb, back to shooting, back to the leg, etc until she was able to help the hurt Rogue up and together they walked to safety.

Safe Haven - Naked Man Has A Name

[...Posted by Ted H]

1...maybe 2 more SH updates comming...

[Safe Haven - Naked Man Has A Name]

Jezus made his way back to the Hub and into the tech area, where anything that required a computer was done. There he found Kendall staring blankly at a computer screen, the same way he was when Jezus left earlier. “Any luck with the gun?” Jezus asked as Kendall blinked and looked away from his screen. “No,” he said “I don’t think anyone here has even heard of a fingerprint, let alone know how to dust for one, so recovering it doesn’t accomplish shit.”

“I don’t care. None of that explains why you’ve been looking at a computer screen. I’ve fucked…twice today. Even if all you’ve done is look at porn, it doesn’t justify nothing.” Kendall rolled his eyes as he held up a piece of paper. “Remember this?” he asked as Jezus shrugged. He wasn’t all that interested. “It’s all the numbers of the men in that whore house when you and the two idiots first charged in after that guy who took the rifle.”

“Oh, you mean naked man,” Jezus said as Kendall rolled his eyes again. “Naked man has a name,” he said as he referenced to the computer screen. “I checked every number on this list and this guy is the only one that looks close enough,” Kendall said as Jezus looked at the profile. When citizens were forced to have numbers branded to their hands, some basic information was also taken down for a profile to store on file. Jezus was now looking at the profile of a “John (No Last Name Provided)” with a picture that looked pretty damn close to what Jezus remembered.

“So Mr. John is our boy?” Jezus asked as Kendall nodded. “Definitely the guy Rotting Cure attempted to run down the other day. I looked up everyone else and know where they’re suppose to be living. We’ll check them out after curfew just to be sure.”

“What about John?”

“John is a ghost right now. Where he used to live was shot up and nobody’s been there since the riot. Best we can do is pass the picture along to RC and let him deal with it. We got the girl to worry about for now anyway.”

“We’ll worry about that tomorrow. I got it covered.”

“I find that shocking and difficult to believe.”

“Yeah well I’m just full of surprises, partner. So get used to it.”

“Whatever. I’m tired. I’ll be in bed until curfew. Wake me when it’s time.”

Kendall got up and left, leaving Jezus alone with the computer. He punched in his own number to see the profile the city had on him. “Jezus Sanchez…” he read off the screen “…Male…Age: 32...Current residence Hub level 10, room 3...Residential Enforcer clearance level: low…Current status: Active.”

Jezus marveled at how bad his photo was when it was taken. He remembered how long he used to keep his hair and the photo was now a permanent reminder of how bad an idea that was. An idea then struck Jezus, who cleared the search field and attempted to find the mystery woman. He entered Female, age 18-40, and residence in or around sector 2, which is where Kendall and Will had originally picked her up. The results hit with 385 relevant results, to which Jezus sighed and walked away from. He didn’t feel like going through 80 images, let alone 300 more, and he figured it was best to let Duke figure it out for him.

Jezus pondered as to what to do now since his partner was unavailable for a while. After weighing his possible options, he decided to head back to Kate and hopefully see if she was still the way he left her earlier.

Safe Haven - The Duke pt.2

[...Posted by Ted H]

Computer trouble on the rise....gonna send this post up just in case...

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[Safe Haven - The Duke pt.2]


As Jezus approached, Dmitri stood up with a menacing glare. “Oh I never know the fucking pass code,” Jezus complained. Dmitri folded his arms and did not yield from in front of the door.

The fucking pass code, a phrase that Jezus always knew but could never recall right away. “Klaatu Barada,” Jezus started as a joke but Dmitri didn’t even crack a smile. Jezus sighed and thought for another moment. “Fuck the queen, now I’m king,” Jezus said after a moment but Dmitri didn’t move. “C’mon! That’s the phrase!” Jezus protested, but Dmitri showed no sympathy. “I ought to just fucking kill-” Jezus said before realizing what he forgot.

“Every fucking time,” Jezus said before starting again “Kill the bishop, fuck the queen, kill the king.” Dmitri nodded and finally stepped aside. The inside of the arcade was lit up with hundreds of candles and any light that shone through the patched up boarding job on the front windows. Multiple people were lounging around inside and barely acknowledged Jezus’ presence.

Two overweight men in wrinkled dress shirts approached him. One was named Timmy and the other was named Chris. Jezus never bothered trying to learn who was who since they seemed interchangeable with their shaved heads and the same clueless expression on their face.

“He’s not ready to see you,” one of them said, making Jezus laugh. “I’m here now though, so tough shit,” Jezus said as he walked right by and towards the back. The arcade managers office was closed so Jezus slammed his fist against the door several times. “Go away!” someone inside yelled. “At least I knocked,” Jezus said to himself as turned the handle and threw the door open. He knew it wasn’t locked since he was the one who broke it once before.

Inside the office was the man Jezus was looking for, Duke. Currently Duke was sitting back in a leather chair, pants down, and a nude women going down on him. “Knock knock,” Jezus said as Duke pushed the woman off of him and made himself presentable. “We should talk,” Jezus said as he then looked down at the woman “In private.” Duke led the woman to a far corner and petted her head. The room itself was lit up by two high powered electric lanterns on each side. The energy required to power them was siphoned off from a nearby street light. Jezus knew this, since he was the one who set it up for Duke.

“Don’t worry bout the girl,” Duke said as he walked back over to his chair “She’s so wasted she don’t where she is, let alone what’s being said. We’re practically alone.” Jezus shrugged as he closed the door. Everyone outside in the arcade were either trustworthy or too high to notice anything else, but Jezus preferred his closed door meeting to have an actual closed door. “I trust you have results?” he asked as Duke shook his head. “You know how hard it is to find results when all you gave me was a vague description?” He reached into his desk and pulled out a note pad.

“Here’s the description you gave me,” he said as he referred to the paper “I got my people on the street looking for, and I quote, a short but not too short woman, kinda hot, don’t look like she could take anyone in a fight, brownish or blackish hair that you’re not too sure which cuz it was dark out, brown sweater, skinny jeans though I doubt you even know what skinny jeans are, and a nice ass…You described half the women in this city, how can you expect me to have results by now?”

“You would know her when you see her,” Jezus said as Duke dropped the paper onto the desk. “So you’ve told me before,” he said as he sat down “I have my people looking anyway, the least I could do. But I gotta tell you, it’s not exactly the highest priority on my list.”

“Bull shit, like any other ResEs have more important shit that needs doing.”

“Manson, for example, needs a lead or two in finding some thief.”

“Someone’s stealing?”

“Yeah, but they’re stealing from other citizens so I know you don’t care.”

“My bitch killed a ResE, that should make her rank higher.”

“Sounds isolated to me. Your old partner wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed from what you’ve said of him anyway. My guess is he probably fell on his own gun.”

“No, we made sure foul play was the cause.”

“I bet. Look, a shitty description won’t net you instant results, I’m sorry, at least not while other ResEs have more pertinent and more descriptive instructions.”

“Well the little work your lackeys have managed on my girl, what have you got?”

“Not much if anything. I’ve had them keep an eye out for women that fit your description, then keep track of any that act suspicious.”

“Suspicious? How suspicious are we talking?”

“Anything out of the ordinary really. I leave the discretion up to my people, but it usually ranges anywhere from keeping unusual company to a sporadic routine.”

“Anyone who fit’s the clothing?”

“Jeans and a sweater? Fuck that. This isn’t some cartoon where all the characters wear the same damn thing every day.”

“Anyone bragging about how they killed a ResE recently?”

“Everyone’s bragging about that. Fucking riot may have deluded the pool on that one.”

“Well, any suspicious bitches in general?”

“Maybe. I’ll have my people get some info down for you on who they‘ve noticed. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have something in writing for you to go on. Just don’t get your hopes up.”

“You better keep trying then.”

“Whatever. Yo, this list won’t be free, so you better have proper payment ready.”

“Paid in advance, just in case you woke up this morning and decided to be competent,” Jezus said as he pulled out a rolled up paper bag and tossed it to Duke, who opened it up and became wide eyed a what he saw. “I didn’t even know this could still exist?” he said as he pulled out several bags of white powder.

“Some one is making it out there,” Jezus said “And Rogues are sneaking it in and occasionally some dumb mother fucker gets it seized by us.” Duke smiled as he put the cocaine away and put the bag into his desk. “Any heroine?” he asked as Jezus shook his head. “Not right now. Why? Running low?” he asked as Duke shrugged. “Good for now, but shit isn’t infinite.”

“Get Manson to handle it,” Jezus said as he left. He took another look at all the drugged out patrons in the arcade as he walked through on his way back onto the streets. Duke was defiantly an asset to have in Safe Haven. Not exactly a gang leader, more of a shrewd business man, Duke is viewed as a God by all the drugged out and homeless people of Safe Haven, who play his eyes and ears on the streets. As a result, he is able to broker information to the ResEs for the right price.

The price of doing business with Duke is usually drugs so that he could maintain the addictions of his underlings. ResEs usually kept all the vices of Safe Haven to themselves, but the harder, more addictive drugs were usually left alone. Certain ResEs like Jezus would use them instead as currency to enlist Duke. Not all the ResEs use Duke or even know about him, since him being a powerless citizen in possession of drugs should land him six feet under, but enough ResEs recognize that he can get information from the streets that no ResE could ever hope to get.

Enough ResEs rely on Duke for him to have guaranteed protection for him so long as no drug ever leaves the arcade and no user is ever allowed exit unless sober, that way nothing gets traced back to the arcade and no unwitting ResE ever has need to even know about the arcade.

Duke would give him some leads tomorrow, so Jezus decided to finally return to Kendall and see what he was up to at the moment. Juan’s rifle was finally tracked down by another ResE, who had received help from Duke in fact. Duke sold them information about a citizen who was trying to move a rifle, and before two hours had passed, the rifle was recovered and the man trying to sell the rifle was dead.