Epocheia

[Sparrow]

Sparrow nods then sighs.
“I’m sorry about all of this, lousy first day so far isn’t it?...” she says in a saddened tone.
Coughing slightly she walks to the back of the bus and up to a wooden trunk.
She pops the top off and digs through it.
“Okay good, we got flares, a first aid kit, some weapons, and spare meds.” she says calmly.

Steve waited for Ericken to catch up.
“Some day it’s been hu? With the zombies, and the falling off a cliff.” he says in a slight laugh to cover his nervousness. He looks at the circular ring of trees and plants that are blocking the view. Quickly he looks up to the sky, and finding the brightest spot in the crimson clouds, points to it.
“There’s the sun. Unless there is a full moon tonight we’d better find that slope fast, or set up camp. We have about five or six hours of light left, after that, it’s not a good idea to be out here.”

[FoxTrott]

"I have..." Vince dug through his pockets, and pulled out a few things. "... a lighter, a pack of cigarettes, and a pocketknife... Not that cigarettes would do any good, considering I'm wearing this thing." He motioned to the respirator, and sighed. What he wouldn't do for a smoke right now. "It's all right, Sparrow. I've been through worse."

Ericken quickly caught up, though he almost tripped over something. "We-ell," he began, "I think we should set up camp of some sort at the bus, and go looking tomorrow... It's been one hell of a day, I agree."

[Sparrow]

Sparrow tilts her head to the side then stands.
“Yeah... Sorry about the respirators... You won’t always have to wear them. Well you do have to wear them until you decide if your staying or not, but we have bigger problems to think about for now. We are after all in the chasm...” she says calmly, looking around the bus for the apparently missing orb.

Steve nods,
“That’s the best idea. Hopefully it won’t rain, or be an active night. Last thing we need is for a horde of zombies to show up...” he looks to the thick jungle in unease.
Sighing he adds on,
“Oh well, at least we’ll have time to answer any and questions you two have about Epocheia.”
A sharp crack of thunder is heard, causing birds to flee the trees.
“... We better get back.”

[FoxTrott]

"Definitely a much bigger problem," Vince muttered. Not bigger than my lack of cigarettes, though. He gave a forlorn sigh, and flicked the lighter on and off.

Ericken nodded to Steve. "If it rains--"

CRAKOOWWW

"--when it rains, we'll just have to hope those zombie things melt." He shivered, and jogged back to the bus.

[Sparrow]

Sparrow hears the thunder and looks to the front of the bus.
“Oh great. Just what we need... more blood rain...” she says sarcastically. She takes a jar of oil out of the box.
“This isn’t meant for burning, but I’m sure it will light a fire.” She walks over to a seat near the hole in the ceiling and removers the cushion, then puts some spare wood on the empty seat and coats it with oil.
“We may want to wait to light it.” she says calmly, then adds
“It’s up to you.”

Steve quickly follows after Ericken.
“Melt?” he asks amused.
When they reach the bus he waits for Ericken to go first. He watches the surroundings carefully.
A loud clap of thunder is heard, followed by the pelting of leaves. It begins raining, but the water is crimson red.

[FoxTrott]

Ericken clamored into the bus, and dusted himself off once he was inside. Vince rolled his eyes, and looked at the makeshift fireplace. "Are they attracted to light?" asked Vince.

"Who's they?" Ericken asked. He ignored the thunder, but looked up when he heard the rain. "And why is it raining red? Do you have a tarp or something we could put over the kind of gaping hole in the roof?"

[Sparrow]

“I think I saw a tarp in the box.” Sparrow says calmly.
“I’ll get it.” Steve says as he climbs into the bus. He shakes off the rain and moves to the back of the bus and begins looking through the box.
“Now is the best time to be answering questions.” Sparrow says in a happier tone.
“The oil is meant to attract fireflies, most of Epocheia is lit with firefly lanterns.”
She looks to the sky through the hole.
“The rain is red because of the pollen.”

[FoxTrott]

"I mean, are the... zombies attracted to light." Vince bent down next to the oil, lighter in hand, flicking it on and off. Ericken looked up through the hole, and nodded.

"So the pollen's what's causing the zombies, right?" Ericken asked. He sat down. "Hm. Okay, question. What're your inhalers for?"

"I have a feeling this is going to turn into an endless stream of questions pretty soon," Vince muttered.

[Sparrow]

Sparrow laughs for a moment at the last comment.
“Oh, the zombies seem to keep a distance from light when possible. It’s just something.... they don’t really pay any mind to it.”
“Found it.” Steve says holding up a tarp.
“I’ll go set it up, be right back.” With that he jumps back out the window and uses a ladder attached to the side of the bus to get on the roof.
Sparrow hesitates for a moment, trying to find the best words to explain. Sighing she begins,
“Well you see, the pollen causes the zombies... Everyone who breaths in the pollen is infected. So, because all of Epocheia is covered in a cloud of pollen, everyone in Epocheia is infected.”
The tarp being set across the hole causes her to pause for a moment.
“The inhalers contain a medicine for the sickness... Its not a full cure though, it has to be taken regularly. This is why no one is allowed in Epocheia without a mask, and why there’s a web of netting circling the island. We don’t want anyone getting infected and flipping out anywhere else...”
Steve comes back inside the bus and shakes the rain off.
“Its really coming down.” he says quickly.

[FoxTrott]

Vince nodded, and lit the oil. He switched the lighter off, and stuffed it back in his pocket. He warmed his hands next to the fire.

"So, wait." Ericken arched an eyebrow. "Does that mean there's nobody but zombies here? And us?"

Vince glanced back at Steve, and motioned towards the fire, as if saying, "It's lit, warm yourself up." He looked at Sparrow, and asked, "Where's the orb?"

[Sparrow]

Steve nods and walks over next to the fire.
Sparrow shakes her head.
“Oh no, the medicine is mass produced and distributed to everyone. It’s the people who stop taking it that turn.... Also the medicine doesn’t work very well for long, it needs to be boosted and more concentrated over time.”
Sparrow glances around for the orb,
“I’m not sure. It must have fallen out of the bus during the fall.”

[FoxTrott]

Ericken exhaled. He really didn't want to face the zombie apocalypse after the nuclear apocalypse. "That's really the only question I have," he said, "Well, and exactly what are we're going to do. Are we just bodyguards or public officials or what?"

"If we stay," Vince reminded him, though they probably were going to.

[Sparrow]

Sparrow looks to the front of the bus when the birds and insects outside fall silent. Steve glances to the front also. After a few second the sounds return to normal, and another crack of thunder sounds.
“Oh, I guess I should have told you two already... but with the attack, and the cliff dive...” she sighs then continues,
“You’d be the head guards; you give assignments to the guards under your ranks, which because you’d be head guards would be all of them. You’d be given full access to everything, except the rooms in the labs that have black doors, you’d need verification to access those. You’d be asked for opinions on cases and judgments, time sentencing, etc, and standard cop things.”
She looks to the tarp above,
“Sorry it took so long for me to explain.”

[FoxTrott]

Ericken glanced at Vince, waiting for his response.

"All right," said Vince, nodding. After a few moments of contemplation, he asked, "What goes on behind the black doors?"

"Do we get cool uniforms?" PUNCH "Ow! Vincent, that was my shoulder."

"I know."

[Sparrow]

Sparrow giggles slightly at the cartoonish antics.
“A black door shows an unstable experiment, like a new or glitched Orb for instance. We don’t want anyone getting hurt by just walking in with no idea of what’s inside....” She glances to Ericken and smiles,
“You can if you want them.”
After a few seconds she adds somewhat somberly,
“Oh... Before I forget, you’d also be asked in regards concerning Trepidation.”