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<<nobr>> <<audio soundtrack play>> <<audio soundtrack loop>> <</nobr>>The bridge washed out the day before yesterday. It was a matter of time. Jagged edges in the center no longer quite meet, torn at last by a surge of floodwater. For a moment, you imagine a car revving on the road beside you, gathering speed before tearing loose into a daredevil jump across the gap. You don’t think the physics check out, but it’s the first whimsical thought you’ve had today. It also keeps you from thinking about the cars that are at the bottom of the river now. You never bought the "forty days and forty nights" thing, and sure enough, it took less than two weeks of torrential rain to put half the state underwater. You know where you want to put the blame, and it's not with anyone in that story. [[This story is different.|Title]]<<if $hasFood is true>>The road north out of town is clogged with abandoned cars. You can easily pass them on foot, but you don’t really want to find out what blocked their progress. About half a mile up the road, there's a trail branching off to the west into a wooded area that stretches into the hills. You’ve driven by it so many times without stopping to think about where it might lead. Now it looms as large as the woods on the other side of town, and just as mythical. Maybe you should [[take this path|Path2]] and see where it leads. <<else>>The road north out of town is clogged with abandoned cars. You can easily pass them on foot, but you don’t really want to find out what blocked their progress. About half a mile up the road, there's a trail branching off to the west into a wooded area that stretches into the hills. You’ve driven by it so many times without stopping to think about where it might lead. Now it looms as large as the woods on the other side of town, and just as mythical. You don't want to start down this path without food. From here you can get to: [[the school|School]] [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the abandoned house|AbandonedHouse]] <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>The woods feel more foreboding once you get deeper into them. You never realized from the road how thick they are or how deep into the hills they extend. Oddly enough, the space around this trail is littered with abandoned objects. You might have expected some litter from hikers or bottles and cans from teenagers sneaking around, but this is more on the scale of a small junkyard. The items piled up are as large as a refrigerator and as small as a pin for some massively popular band you’ve never listened to. There’s a teddy bear missing both eyes. Someone left a stack of half-painted canvas leaning against a tree, some of them gouged by either the elements or a frustrated hand. A twisting in your gut makes you desperately want to turn back. This wasn’t the plan, and you still have hope that the plan will work. You don’t know what lies ahead here, if anything, and your spine suddenly feels as damp and cold as the rest of you. You rationalize with yourself, though. There are so many “what ifs” in your plan, factors that could stop you in your tracks. There might not be any gas in the boat. You might not have enough supplies for the trip. It could be dangerous. You can just spot the wide green fields of grass surrounding [[the school|School]] off in the distance. You should be able to make it back from here. Or you can [[keep going|Path3]]. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>This wasn’t the plan, but it’s what you’ve got. There must be another town past the next few hills, if your spatial memory serves you right. The abandoned items are piling up faster and thicker around you. You wonder if you’ve become one of them. In your heart, you know the answer, and you don’t want to hear it. Sunset is approaching faster than you’d expected, or maybe the trees are just too thick to let the light through. The only thing left to do is [[keep moving|PathEnd]]. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>too late <<timed 3s>> <<button "Restart">> <<run Engine.restart()>> <</button>> <</timed>>It’s really not a creek anymore. The water is almost as deep as you are tall. You worry, not for the first time, about how you’ll manage to navigate it. Your uncle is away on business most of the time; he spends a week per month here at most. The “getaway cabin” is more of a shack, but you suspect he enjoys playing at being one of the common people. There is a [[shed|Shed]] down by where the banks would normally be. It now stands in close to two feet of water. The [[boat|Boat]] would normally be on dry land waiting to be taken to deeper water. Now it bobs and floats, waiting to be released. It’s still miraculously tethered in place, though its rope is straining. You need to find the key for the ignition, and fast. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $AptVisited to true>> <</nobr>>You only moved into this apartment a few months ago. Despite the art on the walls and the cheerful notes pinned up all over, it hasn't had time to start feeling like home. You guess it never will now. There's no water at your feet, but the whole building feels oppressively damp. The laundry room in the basement is probably swamped. You open a window and start scrutinizing the place for anything you might have forgotten. You might want to check the [[living room]], the [[kitchen]], the [[bathroom]], or the [[bedroom]]. From here, you can get to: [[the school|School]] [[the abandoned house|AbandonedHouse]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the bus station|Station]] [[the northern road out of town|Path1]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] [[the woods|Woods]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $HouseVisited += 1>> <</nobr>><<if $HouseVisited > 1 and $SchoolVisited is true and $hasWaders is true>>You'd be happy never to see this place again. Here's hoping you get your wish. From here, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the school|School]] [[the northern road out of town|Path1]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] <<elseif $HouseVisited > 1 and $SchoolVisited is true and $hasWaders is false>>The truck is gone. The bedroom window on the side of the house is still open. You wonder if your friend’s father even noticed the intrusion at all. No one would blame him for being preoccupied at a time like this. To be safe, you knock on the front door with a prepared routine (all careful lies) about how your friend is doing. You know very well that he either knows or, more likely, doesn’t care. It’s a relief in more than one way when no one answers. You hurry through the window, through the house, and down into the basement without stopping to wallow in nostalgia for even a moment this time. Everything down here stands in an inch or two of cloudy water. You hope your friend’s dad didn’t take his waders, since they’d come in handy even if he’s not going on a fishing trip any time soon. You’re very lucky; they’re still jumbled with a pile of tackle in a corner across from the washer and dryer. You shove the waders into your straining backpack and race out of the house before anyone can come back. <<set $hasWaders to true>> From here, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the school|School]] [[the northern road out of town|Path1]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] <<elseif $HouseVisited > 1 and $SchoolVisited is false>>The truck is still outside. You'd better come back later. Maybe you could kill some time at the old school. From here, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the school|School]] [[the northern road out of town|Path1]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] <<else>>Your best friend’s family has been gradually moving out of this house for six months or more, since long before the flooding began. You’re almost certain they intended to rent it out before all of this happened, and you feel a quiet thrill that they likely never will now. Something about the house already looks sun-bleached and slumped. You remember, of course, that the window to his old room doesn’t latch properly. The screen over it is still a bit bent from years of quick escapes. You make your way inside with only a bit more difficulty than in the past. No one is around to notice by now. The air inside is musty and just as damp as everywhere else. Most of the furnishings in this room have been cleared out, but there are some remnants: the heavy blue curtains, a battered nightstand, a couple of band posters on the closet door. No other sign remains that your friend was ever here. You move to leave the room, but stop cold when you hear noises from the direction of the front door. Someone is fumbling with a key. This is dangerous. For a moment, you imagine yourself hiding behind one of the curtains like something out of an old cartoon. It seems safer to make a full break for it, so you slip out the window quietly enough, if none too gracefully. When you slink around the corner of the house, you see your friend’s father’s truck parked on the street. It, and he, must have been in town before the bridge washed out. Were you just not paying enough attention? You still need to get to the basement. Maybe he’ll be gone later. Maybe you can come back and ask nicely. Right now, tripping over yourself in your haste to get further down the block and away from the house, the second option doesn’t feel likely. From here, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the school|School]] [[the northern road out of town|Path1]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $ClubVisited to true>> <</nobr>><<if $hasPoppy is true and $hasMarkedMap is true>>You're still worried about the mold situation. Nothing else waits for you here. Go back [[upstairs|ShoppingCenter]]. <<elseif $hasPoppy is true and $hasMarkedMap is false>>You’re more focused now, on a mission to find the oddly neat bit of graffiti you couldn’t bring yourself to focus on the last time you were here. And there it is again: WHERE WAS POPPY? This isn’t over. You know what you have to do now. You race [[upstairs|ShoppingCenter]]. <<else>>You’re only halfway down the least-used of three stairwells when you realize the extent of the damage. Puddles slosh at your feet; a vaguely riparian odor drifts up from the basement below you. From here, you can see the small boutique across from Atlantis’s entrance. It’s obviously wrecked, its tasteful selection knocked around and soaked through. Atlantis was always a humid kingdom, but in its time, that was from the crush of bodies on the dance floor. Think back now to one of those nights, an escape from the crushing heat and the throbbing bass, up on this landing, pressed by only one body this time, mouths hovering millimeters apart, breathing in – This is dangerous. Your eyes water, and you find yourself convinced it must be a reaction to some weird mold growing in the funk around you. You stare at the graffiti on the stairwell’s walls, left up for “character” or through apathy. You’ve never been sure which. T---- F----- IS A FUCKING SCUMBAG FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL (The number is scratched out.) VOTE WITH YOUR ACTIONS WHERE WAS POPPY? H ♡ C You get a creeping feeling, despite your blurred vision, that there’s something you need to find here. What it is, you’re not sure yet. You should go back [[upstairs|ShoppingCenter]] for now to get some fresh air. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $SchoolVisited to true>> <</nobr>>This was once a high school, your high school. Shortly after you graduated, it was converted into a community college, both to draw people in from the surrounding area and because the town’s population couldn’t justify two high schools anymore. The building soars elegantly, all airy space and skylights. There was a major town project to bring in a moderately famous architect to design a few buildings some years ago, and nowhere is it more evident than here, even if the school looks quite a bit worse for wear now. The front door is propped open; you don’t know if this was a deliberate choice by the remaining staff or if someone forced the lock. A few people are milling around inside. A small circle is seated on the armchairs and sofa of a study area, having a conversation about TV shows, of all things. No one seems to notice you. You might want to check the [[cafeteria]] or the [[auditorium]]. From here, you can get to: [[the northern road out of town|Path1]] [[the abandoned house|AbandonedHouse]] [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $FieldsVisited += 1>> <</nobr>><<if $hasMarkedMap is true and $hasFood is true and $hasWaders is true and $hasNote is true and $FieldsVisited > 1>>The farmer is gone. You put on the waders and trudge forward. There’s no sense in hesitating any longer. Time to find your uncle’s place by the [[creek|Creek]]. <<elseif $hasMarkedMap is true and $hasFood is true and $hasWaders is true and $hasNote is true and $FieldsVisited == 1>>You put on the waders and trudge forward. There’s no sense in hesitating any longer. Time to find your uncle’s place by the [[creek|Creek]]. <<else>>The water starts to rise out here, where the land slopes downward. It’s too late in the season for you to be able to tell what grows in these fields. You guess it’s a good thing this happened after most of the crops were harvested, if there’s any silver lining to be found. In the distance, you see someone standing on a slight rise of the land. They’re gesturing frantically in what you think is your direction. You think you see a flash of metal and instinctively duck, certain that bullets are headed your way even though you’re technically not trespassing. No shots are fired, but the foreboding figure makes you stop and take stock of your situation. The water is almost to your knees. You won’t be able to get much farther without protection. Do you have it? Do you have any food for the journey? Do you really know where you’re going? Have you forgotten an important part of yourself? Shaken, you go back to [[your apartment|YourApartment]] to regroup. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>At one point during a long, dry summer, when smoke drifted up from hours south to blur your sight and scour your throat, you spent your time wondering when these woods would finally end up catching fire. It felt inevitable. You can’t imagine there’s a scrap of tinder left here that would burn right now. The forest seemed like a fairy tale when you were little, one where you might wander down the trail and never return. In truth, it only stretches a few acres to what used to be an outlying subdivision. Now, though, it might fulfill its old potential. An adventurer could wade, then swim, then find an entire realm under the still and clouded water. Do you still believe that? Clearly, none of this went the way you expected. You might have known that this, too, was only a matter of time if you'd paid more attention to the history books, and if those history books had paid more attention to the people talking about the flooding cycles. None of that helps you now, even if it could have. From here, you can get to: [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the bus station|Station]] [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the fields on the edge of town|Fields]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>note in PC's house waders in basement - abandoned house, must have visited apt and school map w/ notes in thrift store - multiuse, must have visited apt and club key in shed - delta, must have visited apt and ab house, have note/waders/food food from cafeteria - school set multiple visit variable for TS and AH remove note from kitchen when taken[[The Deluge|Bridge2]] <<nobr>> <img src="data:image/jpeg;base64, " /> <</nobr>> <span class="infolinks">[[credits]] | [[content notes]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>></span>This town is on higher ground at the edge of the foothills, protecting it from the worst of the flooding. Even so, sloshing through stale water is getting old, and the levels are still rising. Most of the people who were able to evacuate did. You weren't one of them. There doesn't seem to be any rescue on the horizon, not with the extent of the devastation. You've got to find a way out. You turn away from the wreckage of the bridge and the watery grave below it. From here, you can get to: [[the bus station|Station]] [[the woods|Woods]] [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[your apartment|YourApartment]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>Words and music by <a href="https://linktr.ee/itslionstooth">Lionstooth</a> Created in Twine using SugarCube 2.36.1 Title page image: //J Street, Inundation of the State Capitol, City of Sacramento, 1862//, published by A. Rosenfield. Public domain, courtesy of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J_Street,_Inundation_of_the_State_Capitol,_City_of_Sacramento,_1862.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>. Thanks to my beta testers Agnieszka Trzaska, Francesco Ariis, Cody Gaisser, and SeashellWizard. [[Back|Title]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>Contains: natural disaster/climate catastrophe threatened violence abandonment alcohol and tobacco use [[Back|Title]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>The outdoor mall had seen better days even before all of this. It’s two stories of shingled midcentury architecture flanking a poorly landscaped courtyard. Three stories, if you count the basement. Of course you count the basement. That’s where Atlantis is. (Was.) On weekend nights, it was one of the only places to go in town, a club that draws (drew) what felt like half the town on some nights. You realize the name is more than a bit on the nose now. Many of the shops were boarded up or barricaded in preparation for the flooding, but a few places are still accessible. You might want to enter the [[secondhand store|ThriftStore]], check the [[diner|Diner]], or go [[downstairs|Club]]. If you'd rather leave, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[the bus station|Station]] [[the abandoned house|AbandonedHouse]] [[the woods|Woods]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $TownSquareVisited += 1>> <</nobr>><<if $TownSquareVisited > 1>>The angle of the sunlight has changed, casting the square into deeper greens and grays. Your friend, if you can still call her that, isn’t there anymore. Her car is closed and (you assume) locked. A few people in the surrounding area eye you suspiciously, as if they’ve been asked to stand guard. You wonder what she told them about you. You’re glad the group seems to have each other’s backs at a time like this, but they’re starting to gather and talk under their breaths to each other. The glances are growing more pointed. Time to leave; there’s nothing more you want to see here anyway. From here, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the abandoned house|AbandonedHouse]] [[the school|School]] [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the bus station|Station]] [[the woods|Woods]] <<else>>This is one of the highest points in town, so it’s become a gathering place for many of the people who haven’t been able to evacuate. Cars and tents are sprawled at unsettling angles across the grass and the sidewalks. One of the cars, a battered orange sedan, is one you’d know anywhere, even if your old friend weren’t hanging out one of the open doors and smoking. You haven’t talked in months, and that last time was mostly out of obligation. Even now, she wastes no time in sizing up your overstuffed backpack and the determined glint in your eyes. "Are you trying to get out?” At your nod, she half-smiles, none too warmly. “I'm surprised you didn't go years ago.” “What do you mean?” “You always thought you were too good for this place. As if it wouldn't even exist anymore after you were gone. Like it could disappear for all you care. Or flood." She laughs just well enough to fool someone who doesn’t know her this well. “Look, I know I…” You trail off. It feels like a time for an apology, but you didn’t owe her one then and you don’t think you do now. “You could come with me,” you pivot halfheartedly, already knowing what her answer will be. She stubs out her cigarette on the metal of the car door. “I have people here who need me.” The emphasis is clear, and it stings like a paper cut. “Good for you.” You think you meant to be sincere, but she rolls her eyes and slams the door. It’s a silly gesture when the other three are still open, but you take the hint anyway. From here, you can get to: [[your apartment|YourApartment]] [[the abandoned house|AbandonedHouse]] [[the school|School]] [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the bus station|Station]] [[the woods|Woods]] <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $StoreVisited to true>> <</nobr>><<if $ClubVisited is true and $hasPoppy is true and $hasMarkedMap is true>>There's nothing else you need here. Time to [[leave the store|ShoppingCenter]]. <<elseif $ClubVisited is true and $hasPoppy is true and $hasMarkedMap is false>>You push back into the store and make a beeline for the shelf near the rear wall where Poppy used to sit. Of course. Why would there be graffiti about something you look at every day? If there’s going to be anything for you here, where better to leave it? Tucked against the back of the shelf, there’s a copy of the regional map from the bus station, only this one is marked with an X on a town that’s a few miles south of here and a bit more elevated. You think –- you hope –- you can make it there. Folded into the map is a neatly written note on lined paper. //“You’re probably wondering why I didn’t just text. Or call. Or literally anything else. The truth is, I wasn’t sure you’d want to hear it. If you’ve gone far enough to find this, though, then obviously you do. I miss you and I’m so sorry for everything. I hope you’re safe. I hope I see you there.”// The note isn’t signed and doesn’t need to be. You tuck it and the marked map into the most waterproof pocket of your backpack, but a few tears follow them in before you can zip it up. <<set $hasMarkedMap to true>> Time to [[leave the store|ShoppingCenter]]. <<else>>If this store has a name, you’ve forgotten it. The sign is blurred with age. The owners, an eccentric older couple, seem to have relied on word of mouth and curious passersby for many years. The shop is not quite thrift, not quite vintage. There are diamonds in the rough here, to be sure, but there’s an awful lot of rough to go around. The proprietors have always been all too happy to take everyone’s castoffs. Your old friend used to get claustrophobic here, excusing herself to stand outside as you browsed. Your best friend dismissed the place as “a junkyard.” You love(d?) someone, though, who worked here happily, who saw this place as fascinating and beautiful. Knowing that made you feel more secure, somehow. Oddly, this is one of the more organized places in town now. That isn’t saying much. Rows of books, paintings, knickknacks, clothing racks, furniture, household goods, sports equipment, and unidentifiable things stretch back from the entrance. You remember moments snuck behind the high shelves in the corner. You quickly try to forget, but not before you spy your flushed face in a tarnished old mirror. The two of you used to hide things for each other to find in these aisles, usually notes or drawings. There would be clues and teasing hints left for each other in text messages and late-night conversations. Even on days when the only other person present was one of the owners nodding off over the counter, you’d be able to search the shelves and find something left for you there, usually in or near an item carefully selected for its interest to you. A book on cacti, maybe, or a charmingly hideous mug for your morning tea. You aren’t sure what sort of sign you’re hoping for, but you suddenly feel like something must have been left here for you. But even after all these weeks of not speaking? You feel suddenly overwhelmed the way your friend must have, back when you could call her “friend.” It might be a good idea to [[wander outside|ShoppingCenter]] and come back with a clearer head. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<if $hasFood is false>>The garish neon lights are off, but the place still holds all its seedy charm. Indoor smoking has been banned for many years by now, but you can still smell the ghosts of time past saturating the booths and the walls. There were a lot of late nights here. You’d say there are a lot of memories of those nights, but many of them are hazy at best. Sometimes it’s the alcohol, but lately it’s more often that it just hurts too much to remember. Most of those faces don’t live here anymore, and the ones that have left aren’t likely to ever return after this. You’re not sure you will either. You were hoping to find some food here, but the place has been pretty thoroughly picked over. What remains is largely ingredients that won’t do you much good if you’re traveling light. It’s probably time to head out to the [[courtyard|ShoppingCenter]]. <<else>>The garish neon lights are off, but the place still holds all its seedy charm. Indoor smoking has been banned for many years by now, but you can still smell the ghosts of time past saturating the booths and the walls. There were a lot of late nights here. You’d say there are a lot of memories of those nights, but many of them are hazy at best. Sometimes it’s the alcohol, but lately it’s more often that it just hurts too much to remember. Most of those faces don’t live here anymore, and the ones that have left aren’t likely to ever return after this. You’re not sure you will either. It’s probably time to head out to the [[courtyard|ShoppingCenter]]. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>The note is something you wrote for yourself a few months ago in a period of deep uncertainty, when you no longer felt sure you understood who you were anymore. It seems funny now. Still, there's good advice here, taken from your better judgement and the half-remembered warnings of your friends and family. It reads: //"Hey you! Here are five things you should remember. 1. You are never alone, even when you feel like you are. 2. Sometimes you find what you need in the most unexpected places. 3. Trust your gut when it tells you there's danger. 4. When you don't know what to do, hold your breath and count to ten. 5. You're still lactose-intolerant. Stop doing this to yourself. okay that's it! I love you, future me - past me"// You can take the note with you or leave it behind. [[Take the note.]] [[Leave the note.|kitchen]] <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $hasNote to true>> <</nobr>>It's cheesy, but right now you'll take anything that helps you keep things together. There's nothing else you need in the kitchen. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[living room]], or the [[bathroom]]. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>You stand in the left aisle, overwhelmed by memories of school and community plays. You worked the soundboard and helped paint an occasional set. She costumed the actors. He always seemed to be among the cast, usually in a scene-stealing role (and he could steal any scene he was in). In time, there was one face you always looked for in the audience, beaming in whatever light was cast off from the stage. You never had any big dreams of success, not really, but you knew back then that this place wasn’t enough for the smallest of them. You stayed all these years because of the lives that were entwined with yours, even after your mom followed your sister out east, even as old classmates and co-workers drifted off to the city or more far-flung places. What do you have here now? People are ready to rebuild in this place, and more power to them, but you’re going. Go back out to the [[central space|School]]. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<nobr>> <<set $CafeteriaVisited += 1>> <</nobr>><<if $CafeteriaVisited > 1>>You can't fit any more food in your backpack, as much as you'd like to. At least other people will be able to use all this. Go back out to the [[central space|School]]. <<else>>Here, at last, you find what you’re looking for. Very little in the kitchen works for your purposes, but there’s still a large stash of packaged snacks on the shelves of the student shop. While there’s been some raiding, there’s still plenty left to sustain you. You fill as much space in your backpack as you can manage. <<set $hasFood to true>> Go back out to the [[central space|School]]. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>You shove the door inward with a crack and a shudder. Water surges in to fill the space further. Your heart sinks like a stone cast into the flood. The key isn’t on its hook. Desperately, you fling yourself under the water, eyes forced open against the debris swirling in its eddies. You can come up for air and [[leave the shed|Creek]] any time you like. <<timed 10s>>There. A <span class="keycolor">golden flash</span> beneath you. You grab the key and surface with a triumphant gasp. <<set $hasKey to true>> Get to the [[boat|Boat]]. <</timed>><<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>Your uncle used to take you and your sister out in this motorboat all the time when you were younger. You’re grateful both that he used to delight in showing you every detail of its workings and that you paid attention when he did. The boat isn’t as fancy as it could be under the circumstances, but you have hope it will get you where you’re going. <<if $hasKey is false>>You don’t want to think about trying to row it if you don’t have to. You’re not even sure you could manage anything larger than a canoe. You should try to [[find the key|Creek]]. <<else>>You realize with a panic that you have no idea if the boat is even fueled. You scramble in and, before you untie the rope, test the key in the ignition. You heave a sigh of relief when the motor springs to life and the fuel gauge reads mostly full. It takes you almost five minutes to fumble with the knots and release the boat, but at last it pulls free with an exhilarating lurch. And you’re [[gone|End]]. <</if>><<if $StoreVisited is true and $ClubVisited is true and $hasPoppy is false>>You curated the art and the knickknacks here so carefully from friends, fairs, and the secondhand store. You were excited to finally have a place of your very own, unshared with an assortment of roommates and their own personal touches (mostly in mess form). It's true that you can't take it with you, but you weren't expecting to be confronted with that while you were still alive, so literally and so soon. It could always be worse. There's a small wooden animal on the side table by the couch. You’re not sure about the creator’s artistic vision, but it looks like a cross between a cat and an opossum. You remember the day at the secondhand store when it was pointed out to you, accompanied by the smile of someone who knows you too well. You named the strange thing Poppy and brought it home to dote on. Poppy is small and durable enough to fit in your backpack. You decide to keep them as a souvenir. <<set $hasPoppy to true>> From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[kitchen]], or the [[bathroom]]. <<elseif $StoreVisited is true and $ClubVisited is true and $hasPoppy is true>>You curated the art and the knickknacks here so carefully from friends, fairs, and the secondhand store. You were excited to finally have a place of your very own, unshared with an assortment of roommates and their own personal touches (mostly in mess form). You've taken what you need from this room. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[kitchen]], or the [[bathroom]]. <<else>>You curated the art and the knickknacks here so carefully from friends, fairs, and the secondhand store. You were excited to finally have a place of your very own, unshared with an assortment of roommates and their own personal touches (mostly in mess form). It's true that you can't take it with you, but you weren't expecting to be confronted with that while you were still alive, so literally and so soon. It could always be worse. You feel like you’re forgetting something here, but you can’t settle your thoughts long enough to remember what it might be. You might have to come back later. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[kitchen]], or the [[bathroom]]. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<if $hasNote is false>>You're not much of a cook, preferring to spend way too much of your paycheck on prepared foods and takeout. Frozen food won't do you much good on this trip, and your freezer's been out for a dangerously long period anyway. There's a brightly decorated [[note]] among the mail and magnets covering the fridge. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[living room]], or the [[bathroom]]. <<else>>You're not much of a cook, preferring to spend way too much of your paycheck on prepared foods and takeout. Frozen food won't do you much good on this trip, and your freezer's been out for a dangerously long period anyway. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[living room]], or the [[bathroom]]. <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>It's a bathroom. You don't know what you were expecting. The drains burble suspiciously. In the half-light from the rooms outside, your face's reflection looks unfamiliar. You can't look at it for more than a moment before turning away, colder than you were before. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[bedroom]], the [[kitchen]], or the [[living room]]. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>The bed is unmade. You imagine yourself half-asleep, safe, warm, and as perfectly content as a stretching cat. You imagine the body beside you, reaching out instinctively for you without fully waking up. There's nothing left for you here. You turn away without stepping inside. From here you can go to the [[entry|YourApartment]], the [[living room]], the [[kitchen]], or the [[bathroom]]. <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>><<set $hasNote to false>> <<set $hasPoppy to false>> <<set $hasFood to false>> <<set $hasMarkedMap to false>> <<set $hasWaders to false>> <<set $hasKey to false>> <<set $TownSquareVisited = 0>> <<set $HouseVisited = 0>> <<set $StationVisited = 0>> <<set $CafeteriaVisited = 0>> <<set $FieldsVisited = 0>> <<set $AptVisited to false>> <<set $ClubVisited to false>> <<set $StoreVisited to false>> <<set $SchoolVisited to false>> <<cacheaudio "soundtrack" "music/thedeluge.mp3">> <<set $mute to false>> <<nobr>> <<set $StationVisited += 1>> <</nobr>><<if $StationVisited > 1>>The “intercity bus station,” as it proudly labels itself, is really not much more than a shabby storefront and an outdoor shelter with lights that blink as if stunned by their own fluorescent brightness. The buses still aren’t running. Why are you here? From here, you can get to: [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the woods|Woods]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[your apartment|YourApartment]] <<else>>The “intercity bus station,” as it proudly labels itself, is really not much more than a shabby storefront and an outdoor shelter with lights that blink as if stunned by their own fluorescent brightness. You remember coming here for furtive teenage trips into the big city, goodbye kisses to a traveling lover, or rides to interviews that came to nothing in the end. You used to come out here sometimes just for the hell of it, even if you weren’t going anywhere, simply for the sense of possibility it represented. It felt like there was nothing left in this town that was still unknown to you. Now, with the water pooling and changing the contours, everything feels like an alien landscape. Truth be told, that process started long before the flooding did. You haven’t been to the station since your best friend left on an overnight bus months ago. The buses aren’t running, of course. You sit in the shelter for a few minutes to rest and gather your thoughts. There are some maps of the region in battered plastic holders. They won’t do you much good now, but you take one anyway, scanning it furiously as if someone might have written a clue for you in the margins. From here, you can get to: [[the shopping center|ShoppingCenter]] [[the woods|Woods]] [[the town square|TownSquare]] [[your apartment|YourApartment]] <</if>> <<button "toggle music">> <<set $mute to !$mute>> <<run SimpleAudio.select(':all').mute($mute);>> <</button>>"Are you alive? I touch you. You quiver like a sea-fish. I cover you with my net. What are you--banded one?" - H. D. //end// <<timed 5s>> <<button "Restart">> <<run Engine.restart()>> <</button>> <</timed>>