Hi, welcome back! Sorry about missing the post yesterday, I was at a music festival, and it was rad.

Last we left Rylo and Briony, they were actually having a good time. Wut.

Rylo is getting used to his days being filled with much more chatter than usual, and is finding that it really isn’t so terrible. Briony’s mind seems to be full of new ideas and adventures yet to be had, and can be mildly amusing to listen to her stream of chatter.

There’s also more light-hearted goofing off than Rylo has ever seen in his life, but he’s realized that not every moment needs to be solely focused on survival. It can actually be kind of nice to spend an afternoon watching Briony tumble around as she tries to learn how to do a handstand.

Her swimming skills really start to come along, but she still sometimes pretends she’s scared or cold or tired so Rylo will have to come hold her in the water as she builds up her confidence. Rylo half-heartedly keeps up the gruff, annoyed act with her as she clings to him, but they both seem to know he doesn’t mind at all.

With zombie training, they start small. Whenever they run into something that’s her size, Rylo hands Briony a knife and lets her try it out. He always stands just a few meters away with his crossbow aimed directly at the zombie’s head in case anything should go wrong, but only has to actually use this precaution twice.

After just a few tries Briony seems to figure out how to lure a zombie one way and then attack from the other. After each of her kills Rylo spends some time giving her advice and encouragement, and she infallibly begs to try out his crossbow next. He infallibly replies that she can try it out when her arms become strong enough to actually hold it steady.

As she grows, she moves onto the bigger stuff. She becomes quite skilled at facing one large zombie or two smaller zombies on her own, but Rylo still watches her with his crossbow raised, just in case.

Rylo soon runs out of advice to give her, but it becomes sort of a regular thing for them to spend some time just talking about whatever over top a freshly dead zombie corpse. Family bonding, yo.

After they had met the family living in the car shelter, Briony had made a point of calling Rylo “Dad”. The first few times he had felt his throat close up and his eyes start to water, and had almost thought he was dying. But he hadn’t quite been able to tell her not to, so it had stuck. It took a long time to get used to it, and it wasn’t until their third year together that he stopped blushing deeply every time he heard the D word. Now, after five years together, it doesn’t faze him at all.

So yeah, time jump. Let’s check out the extended fam.

We’ve got teenage Reuben, who is rebellious and brave.

We’ve got child Mariella, who is messy and full of adventure.

We’ve got Ben, who likes to cook and be handsome.

We’ve got Siri, who turned out handy and brave and cool enough that I wish she was actually part of this legacy (cause ginger = wonderful).

We’ve got Jeyna, who… exists.

We’ve got Carys, who is generally just a nice person.

And we’ve got horrific crimes against fashion courtesy of the sims game’s batshit randomization process that left poor Carys looking like this. Just no.

And here is Oscar, who has lived happily into his eighties. His two next door neighbours are Sam and Joey’s families, so there’s never a day he’s without the company of his sons and grandchildren.

But listen guys, we knew this was coming. Oscar died. As soon as my game told me he was about to die I started stalking him at his house and just watched him do life so I wouldn’t miss him dying and everything. And then one night I wasn’t paying very much attention and he walked outside into the night and fucking died. It was weird and devastating and I missed it.

So I’m horribly sorry about missing his death, but he was old and happy and that’s probably how he would have wanted to go, without a whole bunch of fuss.

Rylo and Briony are kind of just enjoying their post-apocalyptic lives these days. They like to follow lakes and rivers, and every night at sunset they gaze silently out at the colour show reflecting on the waves.

Rainy days are the hardest. Rylo doesn’t like seeing Briony shivering and cold, and has become more bold in seeking out shelter when the weather is rough. Sometimes they go as far as creeping into the outskirts of a town.

Briony loves exploring new places, and is always chiding Rylo to loosen up and explore urban areas more. While he is still extremely cautious, he’s become more inclined to give in to her requests when he sees the fire of adventure light up her eyes. Today they’ve found some old storage lockers set alongside a bay where the remains of a pier crumble into the water.

Rylo is wary of setting up camp in such an exposed spot so far away from the forest he’s familiar with. But looking out onto the horizon he can see that the storm is nowhere close to abating.

Briony: It’s okay dad, we can go find somewhere safer. I’m not that cold.

Rylo: Briony, you’re frozen. We’ll wait the storm out here where we can get you dry and warm.

Rylo approaches the nearest storage unit and pulls the door. It seems to be locked, but he knows that most locks have lost their strength to rust and decay long ago and can be easily coaxed open.

Briony kneads her feet rhythmically into the earth in a sort of dance to keep her body moving and ward off the cold. She braces herself through a particularly violent bout of shivers when she hears a click, and feels something give way under her foot. Instinctively she jumps back.

She briefly registers the strange metallic object that had been under her foot before there is a rush of air and creaking metal and the door to a storage locker swings open.

Rylo stumbles back from the unit, shielding himself from the undead horde now pushing their way out of the metal box.

In a moment he’s up and running with Briony at his side. Under one of his feet he feels a click, and hears another door swing open.

Rylo: Bri, don’t step on those!

Briony: Yeah, got that, thanks!

Rylo searches wildly for an escape. To their right looms a wall of storage units, probably all filled with zombies. On their left they’re flanked by a sheer drop into the raging waters of the bay, while up ahead is a mountain of rubble and a caved-in basement.

Zombies continue to spill out of the open storage units, pressing Rylo and Briony further back against the rubble.

Backed against a wall, Rylo loads his crossbow while Briony clutches her knife in her frozen fingers. Rylo aims his bolts and takes down some of the nearest threats, while Briony readies herself for the coming skirmish.

The throng advances, and Briony somewhat regains her sense of confidence from all those days spent practicing for this. While Rylo shoots at the closest and fastest threats, Briony lures them, ducks, and makes one rapid thrust of her knife into the decaying skulls. The rain and the cold are gone from her mind, and the world moves in a blur devoid of thought and ruled by speed and dexterity.

And then there is a scraping of claws against her sleeve, and Briony wrestles herself away from the cold dead fingers now grasping for a handful of her hair. Through the din of snarls she hears her name being called, and follows it blindly.

Ahead, Rylo is climbing onto a car perched at the edge of the sunken basement. Briony reaches the car and feels the bumper give way as she tries to clamber up. Her fall is interrupted by Rylo, who grabs one of her arms and effortlessly hoists her up like a rag doll.

In no time the zombies have enveloped the car. Briony takes a tentative step away from the reaching arms and feels the chasm of empty air behind her. Thunder cracks overhead, and she steps firmly forward and draws her knife.

Briony brandishes her knife, aiming desperately for a head, but is unable to get past the sea of arms reaching up to her and threatening to force her down into their depths. Rylo has run out of bolts and has begun kicking furiously into the hungry mob, only managing to hold back the few ambitious zombies trying to climb up the hood of the car. Beneath them, the rusty roof sinks and forewarns collapse, while the force of the pushing crowd starts the car rocking dangerously toward the precipice. Again, an arm pulls Briony to her feet.

Rylo: Briony, go!

Briony: What??

Rylo: Go!

Through her panic Briony finds his eyes, and immediately understands what he means.

Briony: No, dad, no!

Rylo: Briony-

Briony: No!

He grabs her wrists and pulls her close as she continues to shriek hysterically and wrestle against him.

Tenderly Rylo kisses Briony’s forehead, and then he releases her hands and steps backward.

A forest of arms reaches up to receive him and the crowd compresses, obscuring him beneath an undulating mass of bodies.

Briony’s steps ring against the hood of the car, and then she’s slamming into the mud and struggling back onto her feet amidst the corpses of zombies whose heads have been pierced by crossbow bolts.

In desperation she looks behind her and is transfixed by the grisly scene searing itself into her mind. Zombies grapple with each other over handfuls of glistening entrails, and scraps of striped shirt flutter away in the wind.

Briony is roused by the realization that one of the mob has broken away and is advancing towards her. She feels inside her pocket for her knife and comes away with nothing. She’s entirely out of time, and the words, “Briony, go!” resonate in her mind. She obeys.

A mix of tears and raindrops blind her, and the roaring wind howls against her ears as she plummets off the edge of the cliff. The roiling waters of the bay rush up to meet her.

Rain and waves and current clash against each other, and the storm rages on.