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Out of Character Post - Introduction Hi Rangers! This'll be my first challenge with the Rangers, and my second challenge overall. This challenge is going to be a written a little differently from most, so let's get right into it. The first thing about this challenge that's worth noting is that I'll be writing most of the posts in character. In character posts will be in green. Once a week or so, I'll be writing an out-of-character recap of the week, but outside that, I'll be letting Rebel Five take over. Fellow Rangers and anyone else reading are free to respond in or out of character. In character, this thread is Rebel Five's personal blog, and all out of character posts, including this one, don't exist. Your character can be anywhere from inside Abel Township (the main setting of the Rebel Five series) to halfway across the world; it doesn't bother me. As long as it doesn't directly contradict anything written down, it'll work out. Naturally, Rebel Five won't reply to OOC posts. But I might; you can call me Jay if you need to differentiate Jay the writer from Rebel Five the character. So I'm writing in character; but what will I be writing about? I'll be writing about a zombie apocalypse setting, with a lot of inspiration from Zombies, Run! the app, but my own plotline. So don't worry about spoilers outside the first mission. If I've done my job, you won't be able to tell what's from the app and what's not unless you go through the app's story yourself. Most of what I use from Zombies, Run! will be characters and the basic premise, not the story itself. Eighteen months ago, the world was overrun by a zombie plague. The plague came in two forms; airborne, and fluid-borne. Fortunately, a small amount of the population was immune to the airborne form of the virus, which spread across humanity with terrifying speed. Civilisation crumbled, society fell apart, and those who were left tried to scrabble together some sort of plan from the wreckage. Rebel Five, a soldier in the Australian army, has spent this time in Mullins military base. Being comprised largely of young, healthy people, Mullins had more people immune to the airborne virus than most, and they were able to contain the infected, removing them from the base and sending them out into the ruins. It was a dreadful time, but because of these decisions, Mullins was able to survive. It has ample supplies, since it was designed to cater to ten times the number of soldiers who now live there, but there aren't enough soldiers and bullets to make any sort of attempt at reclaiming the wilderness, or a large-scale attempt at fighting back. Rebel Five, like most of the soldiers, has done very little except exist over the last eighteen months. This is about to change. For those of you who've played Zombies Run, you know what happens next. For those of you who haven't; don't worry. As mentioned earlier, the first mission will be pretty thoroughly spoiled, but other than that, you should be right. If you're planning to go through the app someday and can't bear any spoilers at all, turn back. Alternatively, you could go download the free app, and play through the first mission! It's quite the gripping tale, if I say so myself. Goals: My goals and Rebel Five's goals are the same, though Rebel Five will have some in-character substitutions. These will be mentioned in the story by the time the challenge kicks off. Goal 1: Lift weights at the gym up to thrice per week, using the Stronglifts program. Minimum: 6 workouts. Solid: 8 workouts. Great: 10 workouts. Excellent: 12 workouts. Goal 2: Run up to thrice per week with Zombies, Run! Minimum: 6 runs. Solid: 8 runs. Great: 10 runs. Excellent: 12 runs. Goal 3: Keep up with my uni schedule. Minimum and above: All assignments done on time. Solid: All work done by the end of the challenge. Great: All work done at the end of each week. Excellent: All work done at the end of each day. (1 off day per week permitted) Meet at least "Solid" on all three standards: Some well-fitting shorts, usable for running. As above, plus two "Great" or one "Excellent": My choice of a heart rate monitor or a set of fractional plates. Currently I've just started Stronglifts, and I'm running 4 km (2.5 miles) 3 times a week. My best time is 5:11 min/km, setting me up for about a 26-minute 5k time if Zombies Run is accurate. I'll be checking for accuracy within the next week before the challenge begins, running a road that I know is about 4.88 km (3.05 miles). I live at house number 244, and in more rural areas, 1 number = 10 meters, so emergency services can find houses easily. So if Zombies Run says the run's between 4.8 and 5 km, that's accurate enough to go by until I do an actual race in November. Uni-wise, I'm studying Computer Science, and just entering my second year. Well, that's enough about me for now; let's let Rebel Five take over!

Author's Note: There are a few spoilers for the first mission of Zombies, Run! in this challenge. After that though, I'm taking a lot of liberty with the setting of Abel Township, and making it my own. Think of it as AU fanfiction of Zombies, Run. There shouldn't be any problems with spoilers beyond the first mission, since the setting will be different enough that there'll be no telling which plot points are from the game or not, so any plot points should still come as a surprise. Dear Reader, The name's Rebel Five, apparently. The people of Abel Township call me Rebel because I've yet to pick an area of expertise, and Five because I took over for the old Five; Runner Five. How did that happen, you ask? Maybe I should start at the beginning. I was sent in from Mullins Military Base on a supply run, where I've basically bummed around living on MRE's for the last year and a half like everyone else there. We've got enough forces that we're not in any danger, but not enough to actually make a difference. It was pretty boring right up until our chopper got shot down. I know, right? Who could, or would, shoot down a chopper in this day and age? The zoms are the enemy, we're all in this together. Should be, anyway; in reality it tends to be every settlement for itself. Even so, we don't attack each other. It's just not done. Lack of co-operation is not aggression. Until now. I'm not sure why I'm writing this post, especially since the network's barely functional these days. I found this laptop in Runner Five's old place. That's where they put me, since I replaced the old Runner Five. I tell you, Five must have been one hell of a runner to be given something as valuable as this. I don't think the higher-ups remembered to grab it before they put me in here. I'm not going to be correcting them, either. It even has the internet. It's pretty awful these days though. Samuel, our radio operator, says it'll probably take hours just to send this. I think I'll use you to keep track of my goals. That's something my sergeant always tried to drill into us. It's easy to get into a survival mindset, where you're just trying to tread water and maintain ground. The problem is, if you do that, you end each day no better than when you started, and when something goes wrong, you can't make that ground back. Or you get deeper into the water, or something. I never paid much attention, but now that I'm on my own, it seems comforting to at least hope there's someone out there who's got it all figured out, and piggyback off what they said. To be honest, she was probably treading water just as much as the rest of us, but let's just keep that between us, shall we? So, how can I make sure I'm not just treading water? Fortunately, Abel's given me a list of standards to work towards. Everyone contributes here. I'd bet my laptop that whoever's in charge here, or whoever calls the shots in this area, was military once. It all feels somewhat familiar. Almost like home. Goal One: Strength train with gymnastics rings. "Why don't we have any free weights here?" "Well, Five, why don't you go get some for us? There's an old gym about eight k's from here. Barely touched. Just go grab one of those 20 kilo barbells and run it back past the zoms. Then when you get killed, maybe the new Rebel Five won't ask stupid questions." - Ranger Nine. (He's not the friendliest, but he's pretty jacked, so maybe these rings are useful after all.) Standards - Minimum: 6 workouts. Solid: 8 workouts. Great: 10 workouts. Excellent: 12 workouts. Goal Two: Go on supply runs, at least 3 km each. "Everybody runs here, Five. Unless you're disabled, or crucial to the continued running of the township, you run. Without supplies, Abel Township's dead in the water. Runners are just the specialists, who do the dangerous missions. Everyone else does supply runs or training exercises." - Runner Seven. (Head of runners. Unofficially, he claims.) Standards - Minimum: 6 runs. Solid: 8 runs. Great: 10 runs. Excellent: 12 runs. Goal Three: Work on programming for an hour each day, starting next week. "So, Five, I heard you're good with computers. Is there any chance you could go on over to the old computer lab? Well, it has four computers in it, does that count as a lab? I'm not sure...anyway, it'd just be great of you if you could give it a look. Our head of IT, Emily, says that they're getting some parts shipped in sometime this week and could use some help with something when they get here. Wait, can you be a head of IT if there's nobody under you?" - Samuel. (Radio operator. Chatty bloke, but I like him.) Standards: - Minimum: 9 days. Solid: 12 days. Great: 15 days. Excellent: 18 days. "All that said, Five, do right by us, and we'll do right by you. We keep the best stuff we find for our most hard working people. And we don't just hoard it for the fastest or the strongest either. It's all based on your personalised standards. Anyone who does their job well gets some of the entertainment we work so hard to find. Exceed expectations, and you'll get some of the stuff we find that make us better at our jobs." - Runner Seven. Meet at least "Solid" on all three standards. Reward: Access to a game from Abel's collection. As above, plus meet "Great" on two standards, or "Excellent" on one. Reward: A pair of specialised running shoes. So that's basically my plan for the month. Run, train, learn my way around Abel Township and the surrounding area. I don't think Mullins is going to send a chopper for me any time soon. I sure as hell wouldn't, if I were in their shoes. At the very least, until the route can be confirmed safe again, there's no way home. It's over forty k's from here...no way could I run that far, fast enough to evade the zoms. I don't know if anyone here could. Runner Seven says they're relentless, and some of them can be very fast. But even the slow ones never get slower. They just keep chasing you down, mile after mile, until you drop. And 40 kilometers is a long, long way. Rebel Five, signing out. Author's Note: I've decided to mess around with doing some posts in character, and some posts out of character. The whole thing'll be explained out of character in the next post.

Moderated Thread: A Sticky Situation of Goblins and Spiders This is a moderated play by post Dungeons & Dragons game. Please only post here with permission from the Dungeon Master (Gainsdalf). Everyone is welcome to follow along with the adventure as well as to post and discuss the game over in the Out of Character (OOC) Thread. Village of Melva The walled Village of Melva is the home of a 30-40 family farming community 60 miles west of the largest city in the area, Delfraca, and 30 miles east of the Dwarven mining city of Dorga. Due to it's location between the two cities, Melva supports a larger than average supply shop and multiple inns in addition to a few of the more common tradesmen such as a blacksmith and a wood worker/wheelwright. It is currently midday in late summer and the gates stand open on the west/east road running through town. A few villagers stand watch atop the walls with short swords on their hips, but are busy chit chatting and not really watching the road. One gets the feeling that the town doesn't see much trouble. A small inn and stables stands outside the gate on the eastern wall for late arriving travelers, and is currently closed up for those coming in that way. The fields surrounding the walls would typically be bustling with activity, but today they stand empty. The reason is clear, it is The Smith's Day! Each of the gods has a day dedicated to them, and today is dedicated to the god of creation, creativity, and crafts. Within the walls are a few dozen tables along the streets set up by merchants and locals alike to sell their favorite arts, crafts, and wares. From the town square, the sounds of music and cheers come as people play games and dance.