Welcome To Paradise [R]

[Evil Troy]

“Where am I? How did I get here? I feel cold, Darkness creeping around me, falling, falling into nothingness. Where am I? Who am I?”

Mark’s eyes suddenly flew open. Light from the sun poured into them causing him to squint. Below him he could feel the cold hard earth. It seemed he was lying on a road. When Mark tried to get up dizziness flooded his body. As he stood his head began to pound and his limbs felt numb. Fighting through it he looked around him. The road seemed to lead to a small town. But something seemed off about it. Everything seemed dead, lifeless. Not a single person could be seen in or around the town.

“What’s going on?” Mark thought as he looked over beside the road. A large sign soon met his gaze. “Welcome to Paradise, You’ll never leave!”

“Where am I?” Mark asked as he looked down back at the town. “Come to think of it, I can’t remember anything.”

Mark closed his eyes to concentrate, to try and remember something. But nothing was coming, he couldn’t remember anything. He then looked down at his hands, shaking his head in the growing frustration.

“My name is Mark Landon, and I…..I…..Damnit! What’s going on!? Why can’t I remember anything!?”

Not really sure what to do or really what was even going on Mark turned around. But as he did something caught his eye. Something he didn’t notice before. It was a girl. Her hair looked to be a dyed red and she seemed to be about the same age as him. But as for who she was Mark had no idea. Even still something about her seemed familiar.

“Hey, hey are you alright?” Mark asked as he knelt down beside the girl. “My name is Mark. Can you hear me?” He asked propping up her head with his hand.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Nausea.

“Oh, Lord preserve,” I slurred, shutting my eyes even tighter, trying to block out the light that seeped through my eyelids, always drawn to the darkness.

Am I hung-over? I thought; my head swimming almost too much to think. Where the hell am I? Asphalt was hard under me, and the air was fresh, warm with the sun yet at the same time, not – did that make any sense at all?

How did I get there? What’s my…. Charlie. My name. What kind of name is that for a girl? So many questions.

“My name is Mark. Can you hear me?” A voice, masculine – handsome – intruded into my thoughts.


Mark.

Images flashed in my mind, behind my eyelids and I opened my eyes.

---- -- ---- -- ----

“Augh, God!” Charlie moved, turning her head away from the male – Mark – and lifted her hand, shoving it at his face. Sitting up slowly, she slurred several more curses and placed her hands over her face, dark burgundy locks falling like a thick veil over her face.

[Lacey]

The girl woke up, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. She must have had a nightmare, though she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. Only three words flitted through her head like butterflies stalking her; Ava Rae Haven. A name. Her. Name.

She sat up, dark hair falling to her chest. Mentally, Ava checked for injury. Finding none, she shifted to a more comfortable position. Something cold brushed her neck and her hand flew to see what it was. Her fingers brushed something metal and she followed it. Ava traced a butterfly and suddenly felt a wave of affection. Why?

To her dismay, she couldn't remember.

She stood and looked around. Down a road, one she'd been laying on, she saw a small town. Should she go?

[John]

Claire’s eyes opened. She squinted for a moment as the sunlight temporarily blinded her. Once her vision had returned she looked around, Claire realized that she was laying on her back in a ditch. There was cold damp grass beneath her back and she immediately sat up. Claire took a moment to examine her surroundings and herself. The dress she wore was tropical in it’s look, alive with vibrant colours. Her shoes were high heeled with straps around the ankles. She put her hands into her lap and that’s when she noticed the two rings on the ringing of her left hand.

One was a thin band with a good sized diamond in it. The other was a gold wedding band inlaid with tiny diamonds. Claire thought the rings were quite beautiful but thought it strange that she was wearing them. She didn’t remember ever being married, in fact she was now starting to realize that she couldn’t remember anything other than her name.

She noticed that the ditch she was in curved up and appeared to have a road at the top. Claire reached down and took off her shoes. Pushing herself to her feet she could see the road and the two people who were on it. Claire didn’t know the people and she felt a small twinge of fear. What if the people wanted to hurt her? What if they were the ones responsible for her being here? Claire desperately wanted to go home right now. If only she could remember where that was.

She watched as the man on the road stood up and walked over to a woman who was also laying in the road. The woman pushed the man away and Claire thought that she may be in trouble. Quickly scrambling up the side of the ditch, Claire walked onto the road and started moving towards the couple. She carried one shoe in each hand, in case she needed to use them as a weapon. It was now that Claire saw the sign. The large green road sign with the lettering, “Welcome to Paradise. You’ll Never Leave.” Claire moved towards the couple slowly.

“Who are you and what are you doing to that woman?!?” Claire shouted at the man. He had spiked brown hair and was dressed rather casually. “Maybe you better back away and explain who you are!” Claire was doing her best to sound strong. Her voice was confident but she was scared to death. Claire noticed that she was trembling slightly. She was also starting to think that this man may be the cause of her being here.

[Jubilant]

His eyes opened slowly, and he pushed himself into a sitting position with his arms. His face was burning and the rest of his body felt uncomfortably hot. How long had he been lying in the sun? He looked around; he was right next to a road, and beyond he could see what looked like buildings: a town, maybe?

Two words suddenly materialized in his mind: Luke Bryers. He knew without thinking that that was his name. Yet as he probed the back of his mind, he couldn't recall anything else. He sighed in frustration and kicked at a tuft of grass with his sneakers.

There were four others close by him, but he didn't feel like he needed to talk to anyone. He started towards the buildings, noting the sign that read “Welcome to Paradise. You’ll Never Leave.” He smirked, and kept walking.

[DB.]

Aaron coughed, he opened his eyes and sat up. Most of his muscles were aching, and his body had small cuts all around. He slowly stood up and closed his eyes. Aaron, Reynolds. That was the only thing he could remember. He looked down at his clothes. He was wearing his flight suit. "United States Air Force? I'm, a pilot?" he thought. He reached for his head, his pilot helmet was still on. He removed it and tossed it on the side of the road. The helmet landed next to a sign that read, "Welcome to Paradise. You’ll Never Leave." Aaron let out a small chuckle and looked around.

There were three people behind him. One of the was holding a shoe like a weapon and looked like she was ready to attack the other two. Aaron took the careful approach and circled around the woman with the shoe. As soon as he was on the other side he approached her from behind. He reached where she was standing at grabbed the arm holding the shoe and brought it behind her back. He put his arm around her neck ans said, "Who are you, and what are you doing to these people; and why am I here?"

[Merry]

Running, go, have to go, have to get away, hurry, hurry, run faster…. Shelly’s eyes snapped open with a start, and she took a deep gasping breath, instantly wide awake. Trying desperately to hold onto that last image from her dream as it was quickly fading away. What the hell was that? What was I dreaming about? Holding her hands to shield her eyes from the bright sun, she sat up, looking around her a little disoriented. Why am I asleep in the middle of the day? She was in the center of a large empty field. There were wild flowers and tall grass all around her. A small country road running alongside about fifteen feet away.

Why am I laying in this freaking field? Brushing off her t-shirt which was covered in grass clippings and dried flower petals, looking around. Running her hands across her arms, her legs. I don’t seem to have any bruises or broken anything. How long have I been here? Where, exactly is here? Maybe I was in an accident Her thoughts racing through her mind. She stood up, and continued to try and brush herself off from laying on the ground. Ok, don’t panic, I was going to…. Where? Where was I going? This is very bizarre. Why can't I remember anything. What the hell is wrong with me? I am .. Shelly, Shelly Taylor and, I was going…where….? nothing. It was like looking at a blank chalk board. There was nothing there, no memory, no thought, no purpose. Empty.

She tried again, closing her eyes, intent, trying to think back to the last thing she could remember. Nothing, there was no memory of anything. Just as she was feeling the edges of panic take over, her concentration suddenly broken when she heard a male voice

“Who are you, and what are you doing to these people; and why am I here?”

She grabbed her purse, and quickly headed toward the road, and the sound of the voice. Stepping into the road, she saw a group of people just ahead. “Excuse me," she called out "I think I need help, I think something is wrong with me”

[Evil Troy]

When the girl’s hand came flying up into his face, Mark moved back and gave her some room. He then watched as she covered her face and slowly sat up. At that time another girl stood up. It almost looked like she had no idea what she was doing or what she should do.

“What, another girl? What’s going on here? Hey listen, my name’s Mark. Are you oka…..”

“Who are you and what are you doing to that woman?!?”

Hearing this feminine voice behind him, Mark quickly turned around to see yet another girl standing before him. Only this girl was holding high heels up to him as if they were a weapon. Not sure what to make of this Mark slowly stuck his hands in the air.

“Wooh, hold on a second. My name is Mark and I saw this girl laying here so I thought…..”

Before he could finish what he was saying yet another stranger maid their appearance. This time it was a guy, and from his flight suit Mark figured he must be military.

"Who are you, and what are you doing to these people; and why am I here?"

By this time Mark was starting to stand up, but before he even had a chance to say anything another girl walked up asking for help. Mark closed his eyes and breathed out deeply. Nothing was making sense. It was almost as if everyone here had just been dropped here. Shaking his head, he turned back to the first girl which he saw, the one with the burgundy hair. He looked down towards her and offered her a hand up.

“Okay listen I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but it seems like we were all dropped here for some reason.” Taking a breathe he looked back at the girl who was now constrained by the man. “I don’t know who any of you are. Hell, I can’t even remember who I am. All I know is that my name is Mark Landon and I have no intention in harming anyone. Now honestly I think we should start working together to figure out why the hell we are out here to begin with instead of threatening to kill each other.”

Mark breathed out deep again and looked towards the ground. He could feel the slight anger and frustration in his voice. In a way it kind of made him feel better, yet he knew that whatever was going on this was just the beginning.

[Lacey]

Ava was startled out of thoughts softly whispering through her head like the wind blowing through her dark hair, making it toss around her neck. Her dark eyes showed her shock as this man, who called himself Mark. When he was cut off, she was almost glad. Of course she wasn’t okay; she didn’t know who she was. A name, yes, but a rose would still be a rose if called pickle. No matter her name, she had no idea what was going on. At all. She shivered at the thought.

When, one by one, others started going to this Mark person as if he had the answers. It amused her slightly but she felt that this situation shouldn’t be amusing so she refused to smile. Instead, she walked to a sign that she’d been well behind. Walking around it, she read it. Welcome to Paradise. You’ll Never Leave.

That’s encouraging, she thought bitterly, sighing as she gazed at the town. Shaking her head, she made her way to the group, cat-like. She went to the man holding the woman and gently put a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s right you know,” she said in a voice much like the breeze, soft but traveling farther than one should think, “we need to think things through. We all have to stay calm so we don’t do anything particularly stupid.”

Ava fell silent, feeling young and inexperience as she looked at the faces. Their eyes.

[John]

Claire looked around nervously as other people started to appear, including one who seemed hell bent on ripping Claire’s arm out of her socket. She winced in pain but opted not to fight back, as he was considerably stronger than she. Claire listened intently to everyone as they spoke. She wanted to find out everything she could right now. Especially since it appeared that she was not the only one who couldn’t remember anything.

Claire discovered that the first man she had seen was named Mark Landon. He suggested they all work together to find out what was going on. The man who was holding onto Claire, loosened his grip and she could hear a woman’s voice from behind her agreeing with what Mark had said. Claire moved away from the man and started to rub her shoulder.

Claire looked first to the man who had been holding her. He was wearing a US Air Force flight suit and immediately she wondered if the military had something to do with this. She pushed away the thoughts, which were driven by fear, and knelt down to put her shoes on. Once she had finished she turned her attention to Mark.

“My name is Claire Hannon, and I do apologize You have to understand, I thought you were trying to hurt her.” Claire paused for a moment. “I think we should go to the police. They could find out who we are.” It seemed as good a place as any to start. The police could help, and surely this town, this “Paradise”, had a sheriff. The thought of going to the police made her feel a little more at ease.

[DB.]

As Aaron held the woman another person came up next to him and said, “Excuse me, I think I need help, I think something is wrong with me.” Aaron turned to face her but before he could say anything the man that the woman was attacking began to speak. He told them that his name was Mark and explained that each of them couldn't remember anything and how they should help each other out instead of attacking.

When he finished Aaron let go of the woman and watched her turn and look at him for a moment before putting on her shoes and walking up to Mark and told him that her name was Claire and she thought Mark was attacking the girl next to him and that they should go to the town sheriff.

Aaron chuckled, walked up beside them and turned towards Claire. "I'm sorry too, I thought you were attacking them," Aaron pointed towards Mark and the girl, "for, well I don't know why, maybe to rob them or something. Anyway," Aaron turned towards Mark, "My name is Aaron Reynolds, which, it seems, that's all anyone here knows, their names." Aaron closed his eyes and began trying to recover a memory, any memory.

[Merry]

"well, I'm Shelly... Shelly Taylor" standing with her hands on her hips, looking at the others. "I agree with her" pointing toward Claire

"We need to find out what's going on. Why we can't remember anything, and where the hell we are. I don't know about you, but I'm going into that town, she's right there must be a sheriff or a hospital or something. Someone that can help us figure this out. I'm going."

Not stopping to see if anyone had even listened she turned to go and started walking down the center of the road, her heels clicking loudly on the pavement. It felt good to have something to focus on, other than the fact that she couldn't remember anything before she woke up.

[ARandomHeretic]

A young man's eardrums vibrated softly as he slowly gained consciousness. He could make out muffled voices that were some distance away. A pins and needles sensation came over him as feeling was restored to his body. He was laying face down in a field of some sort. The tall grasses tickled his face as they waved to and fro. The cold, solid earth beneath him contrasted with the warmth of the sun quite nicely.

Popping his eyes open, he was briefly confused. How had he gotten here? Where was here? Sitting up, he allowed his eyes some time to adjust to the sun before examining his surroundings. A field full of tall grass, exactly as he had thought.

Then he remembered- the voices. But... that was all. That was all he could remember. For a moment, the young man was stricken with panic. His confusion persisted but he calmed himself down enough to think. He patted down his jeans before finding a wallet in his back pocket. Hoping to find an ID Card, he was in luck. A Massachusetts driver's license. On it was a familiar face. His. And a familiar name. William Desmond.

Had he become an amnesiac? He couldn't remember anything. Just William Desmond. A million thoughts exploded in his head at once, but just one stuck out: find the voices.

William took to his feet, finding that his field covered all that the eye could see, with the exception of a single, lonely road, leading to a tiny village composed of several small-to-medium sized buildings. "What the fuck..?" Looking back down the road, a group of people in a circle were talking. One of them, a woman had started away from the group and was heading towards the township, in his direction. The woman was about 50 yards away when William made his decision.

'She must live there,' William thought, 'She must know something.' He jogged over to the road to meet her.

"Excuse me, Miss, do you know where I am? What is the name of this place?" He blushed immediately upon getting a better look at her face. She was about his age, maybe a few years younger; certainly not the age a person would want to be called 'miss'. Never the less, he anticipated a response from the pretty blonde.

[Merry]

As she marched down the center of the road she couldn't stop the floodgate of thoughts from crashing through her mind at an overwhelming rate What the hell. Why are they all just standing there, I'm not waiting. I want to know what's going on. This is insane. Why can't anyone remember anything? Where the hell is Paradise? clenching her fists in a tight ball, getting annoyed with everything, and everyone she failed to realize someone had reached her when suddenly a voice broke through
"Excuse me, Miss, do you know where I am? What is the name of this place?"

"Oh" exclaimed Shelly, completely taken aback at the man standing almost right in front of her. Putting her hands up nervously in a protective block. "I have no idea" she stammered, a little embarrassed that she was so wrapped up in her thoughts the she hadn't even seen him there. Then snapping at him "I'm not sure where the hell we are, or what's going on. Who are you? and what do you remember?" slowlying dropping her hands, willing her shoulders to relax, to stand as if she didn't have a care in the world and wasn't ready to scream in frustration.

Taking a deep breath, she continued "look, I'm sorry, I'm just a little freaked out right now, I'm Shelly. The sign back there, says Paradise" jerking her thumb behind her, not being able to stop the nervous laughter as it bubbled out at the thought. "Paradise, somehow I doubt it, but I'm going there to see if I can figure this out" willing her self to calm down.

[ARandomHeretic]

"Who are you? What do you remember?" William felt his world shrinking at the woman's words. The overwhelming anxiety that had filled him just moments ago had returned in force. The woman - Shelly - was as confused as he, if not more so.

William turned to face the town known as Paradise. From where they were standing it was evident that Paradise was not inhabited. Gray and lifeless, the town carried an air of forlornness. From a distance, the white-washed buildings showed their years, bereft of any noticeable maintenance. Beyond the town, in every direction for as far as the eye could see, there was nothing. Vast fields of grass with the occasional short tree.

Turning back to Shelly, he composed himself enough to squeak out an introduction. "My name is... William. Call me Billy," he meant the words to be friendly, in hopes of putting the girl at ease. He continued, "Honestly... I... I don't remember anything. All I know is what you see here," Billy took out his ID and read off the facts to the woman, "My name is William J Desmond. I live in Massachusetts. I'm a male. I'm five feet and eleven inches tall. I'm twenty-two years old..."

As Billy continued to rattle off information about his address and his license expiration date, a paralyzing sense of entrapment took over his psyche. A taunting breeze danced about his quivering figure before fluttering away into the blank air.

"Shelly," his voice hushed, "I don't think anything good could come from us going to that town. I hate to sound paranoid but I think there's a reason why we can't remember anything and why we're stuck out in the middle of nowhere."

The sneering wind returned and sent a chill over Billy's body.

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

“Whoa, whoa!” Charlie cried, waving her hands at the people around her, still sitting on the ground. Everything had happened just a little too fast, she knew that much. “Rewind!”

Charlie climbed to her feet, burgundy hair falling into her line of sight and she pushed it away, noting that it was pretty, thick and shining in the daylight. Pretty, really.

Am I pretty? She wondered, wishing for a mirror.

Sighing softly, she steadied herself on her feet and looked around at the people who had lingered, as one of the other girls had wandered off down the street towards what looked to be a town. The others had been talking, but Charlie hadn’t really been paying attention; her eyes lingered on Mark. It was strange, how she knew his name and nothing else, and yet that was all that she needed to know. She was ok with just knowing his name. And yet, she knew she needed to figure out why she was here, where “here” was, exactly, other than what the sadistic sign announced as “Paradise.”

“Okie dokie,” she said, shifting in her own shoes. “My name is Charlie Disbrow, and I know you.”

She pointed a long, slender finger at Mark.

[John]

Claire watched as Shelly started to walk down the road in the direction of the town. Though it was where Clare wanted to go, she didn’t’ think it was a good idea that they split up. They were all in the same predicament, and it would probably best if they stuck together. Claire was about to head off after Shelly when she saw another man appear. Claire figured that the new man must be another in the same circumstances as the rest of them. He appeared to be harmless enough and was talking to Shelly.

Claire started walking off towards Shelly and the man when Charlie stared talking to everyone. Claire wasn’t really paying attention and cautiously made her way to where Shelly was. The two were engaged in conversation and appeared to be getting along.

“I’m guessing you must be in the same predicament as the rest of us. My name’s Claire Hannon, and that’s all I know at the moment. I was about to follow Shelly into town to contact the police.” Claire was smiling but was starting to shiver,. The dress she was wearing did nothing to protect her from the elements. The outfit was thin and more suited to a warmer climate.

[Evil Troy]

Mark took a step back as the burgundy haired girl, Charlie, pointed a finger at him and said she knew him, but at the same time his heart skipped a beat when she did. Wait, how did he know her name? True she just said it yet for some reason warmth surrounded her name some how, almost as if he had known her all his life. Because of this Mark started raking his brain, but nothing came. Frustration was now starting to set in as he shook his head and looked towards the town.

“I…I know you too...” He barely said aloud before turning back around to look at everyone. “Okay let’s get to the police station, or hospital…or whatever is here, and then we can try to figure out what the hell is going on here.”

He then grabbed Charlie’s hand and started walking towards the town.

“H-how do you know me? I…I mean I know you too, but I don’t know…how…”

His mouth dropped as they got further into the town.

“Dear god what happened to this place?”

He let go of Charlie’s hand and ran forward to the center of a four-way. The town was barren and life-less. Trash littered the streets, windows were broken, shelves in stores where turned over and its contents scattered across the floor. It almost looked as if people were forced to evacuate and in the mist of confusion and panic thieves and criminals took the opportunity to steal and loot everything they could find. But something else was still off about all this. The wood on building was splintered and old, metal wore years of rust on it; food in a nearby store was rotted and inedible. It was obvious this town had been abandoned long ago. The more he looked at all this the more panic started to kick in. But to make things worse a sense of fear seemed to overwhelm him, so much so that he fell to his knees and looked up at the sky.

“Where are we?”

[roan]

Icy blue eyes peeped through a crack in the bathroom doors. Not a yard away in the adjacent room of the store stood two people, a young man and woman, their eyes large in disbelieve and confusion. They didn’t seem crazy, but who could she trust? The dark-haired girl shuddered, teetering on the edge of a panic attack. Why couldn’t she remember anything?

‘Absolutely fucking nothing. But a name! How do I know it’s not someone else’s name Why would Maria be my name?’

The mirror behind her, reflecting a curvy body dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a stained gray muscle shirt, had minutes ago revealed she knew not her face. Her baby blue eyes were indiscernible, her heart shape face with its tanned skin clung not to her memory. It was rather depressing not to know your own self, more or less your ‘creepy fucking surroundings'.

One thing she did know was that she cursed a lot because it came so naturally. Hmm. Taking a deep breath one hand took careful and quiet hold of the rusty door knob while the other gripped a sharp of broken glass, a dirty cloth wrapped round its base to protect her hand. With a fast exhale her hand on the knob turned while she pushed forward, lunging out of the bathroom into the main of the store.

“Who the hell are you? How did you get here?” A small pause as she breathed deeply, her ample chest heaving as she was speaking loud and firmly, holding still her mirror shard in hand. “Do you know anything?” ‘Oh please say yes.’

[ｒａｂｂｉｔ]

Mark took her hand and pulled her towards to the town and she followed after, casting a shrug at the others still on the road.

“I don’t know how I know you, but I feel like I know you really well,” she looked at him as they walked, slightly concerned. And then she actually looked around.

The town was a mess; an absolute mess. The stench of rotting food wafted out of the stores and made her want to gag. “Aren’t there any rats or raccoons? Animals? You’d think that they would have come along and eaten it, right?”

She watched him carefully and shook her head slightly; the town was so creepy and not just in appearance – it simply wasn’t right.

“It’s Paradise, Mark…” She murmured as he dropped to his knees. In her peripheral vision, motion drew her attention and her blue-hazel eyes swiveled toward it quickly, surprised.

“Oh, holy weapons of mass destruction!” Charlie hollered and stumbled backwards from the threat, over the kneeling form of Mark.

“C-CALM DOWN, CHILD!” The burgundy haired girl scrambled to her knees, hands raised to show she held no weapon, unlike the blond who’d approached them from one of the run-down buildings.

“Please, put down the… Uh, blade… My name is Charlie, this here is Mark, we woke up in the street a-ways down there with a few other peoples, and none of us seem to recall anything but our names," the girl spoke quickly, accent a bit thicker than normal.

The last part was only a small lie, right?

[DB.]

Everyone went off towards the town so Aaron decided to go too. There was a new person with them; which also appeared to have no recollection of what happened.

They slowly entered the town. It was desolate, abandoned. Almost every window was broken and bad smells were emanating from every corner. "Why are we here," Aaron thought, "Were we all friends on a trip or something? Theres no way we could all be here, with no recollection, and expect to pass it off to coincidence."

Aaron was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone come out of a building, yelling, or asking, Mark and the woman next to him who they were. Aaron turned around and saw that she was holding a shard of glass. Aaron was about to say something when the woman next to Mark, Charlie, explained to her what was happening.

[Leilayh Blaine]

“Do you know the muffin man?”

What kind of question was that? Kennedy shifted in her cocoon of warmth, the fogs of sleep floated over her body like a veil of ignorance.

“Needy! Go Needy! You can win!”

Win? What can I win? Who was yelling? Her tawny brows flickered, the stirrings of consciousness bloomed over her features in a slow progression. Everything was so very warm, and her body was fatigued. Lazy.

“I will always be with you, Needy Richards.”

Her eyes opened. Sunlight blazed from the slats in the blinds along the window and such bright rays scored her optics. Blinking away from the offensive light she waited until her visage had cleared. Then..

“What the hell.” Needy murmured whilst slowly sitting up. “ I am Kennedy Richards. Richards. Needy Richards. I..where...who am I?” She was talking to herself. Oh god, I am a lunatic?

That was just entirely too tragic to be true so she pushed the thought away. Looking around Kennedy found herself to be laying on the counter in a very beat up Diner. The floors were black and white checkers, very cliche, and the booths were a dusty red. Nothing looked to have been touched in years. It was so lifeless. Unlike her.

“Holy Mother..” The rest was drowned out by another endless stream of curses. Needy kept staring at her stomach. The round little protrusion there was nestled under her breasts, full and sore as they were, and it was just so shocking.

“Great. I'm fat.”

Needy's mouth dropped into a small “oh” of surprise when her fat did a somersault.

“Great. I'm pregnant.”

Before the blond had time to even try to recall how she got in this particular predicament voices from outside the Diner drifted in. Curious, Needy slid off the counter and shuffled with stiff movements to the door, exiting to meet the much hotter sunlight from outside. A group of people were straggling along the main road. From what she could tell they were a mixture of eclectic people. One seemed to be having a dramatic moment on his knees, while another was holding..was that glass?

Oh god, have I come upon some kind of human sacrifice? Instead of retreating an urge flowed inside of her body, and Needy heedlessly rushed forward towards the one girl holding the glass with her bare hands covered by a mere cloth.

“Hey, before you do something..I don't even want to know what, can I check out your hand? It looks like it could be tearing through that cloth. And any cuts could lead to immediate infection in this heat.” She said it all in such a matter of fact manner that it shocked her. How did I know all that?

[John]

Claire walked down the cracked road inot what remained of the town of Paradise. The smell of rotting food greeted her nose and she resisted the urge to vomit. The paint on the building was cracked and peeling. Windows were smashed and debris littered the streets. Claire began to feel a wave of panic at the realization that this town was deserted.

Walking to one of the store fronts, Claire peered into one of the windows. The sign on the store said clothing and Claire could see the smashed remains of mannequins and the remains of articles of clohting. Walking to the door, Claire pushed it open and entered.

Cobwebs hung in the corners of the room and it appeared that no one had been hear for a long time. Walking to one of the piles of rags on the floor, Claire began to root through it until she found the remains of a pair of jeans. One of the legs had been shredded to the knee and the other leg had a large hole in it. Claire shook the jeans to get rid of the layer of dust which had formed and proceeded to squeeze into the jeans. They were about a size to small, but the little bit of extra warmth they would provide would more than make up for the discomfort.

After she had put on the jeans, Claire began moving to the door and could hear Charlie speaking loudly. Stepping outside, Claire looked in the direction of Charlie and could see a pregnant woman and another one who appeared to brandishing a weapon of some kind. It was hard to tell at this distance and Claire moved quickly to the scene.

Claire heard the girl asking what they remeberd and Charlie telling them that they could only remember their names. The pregnant woman was staring at the hand brandishing what looked like a shard from a mirror and offering to look at it. Claire thought the girl with the weapon looked crazed and felt the urge to talk to her. More than an urge, instinct. Claire felt that if she spoke to the girl, she could get her to calm down. Approaching slowly with her arms raised at her sides Claire began to speak softly.

“Listen, no one wants to hurt you,” Claire was smiling and slowly moving closer. “My name’s Claire. Could you give me the shard and tell me your name.” Claire slowly extended her hand toward the girl. Claire truly wanted to help and it just felt right talking.

[ARandomHeretic]

The others had begun the trek into the town. Billy was lagging some yards behind the rest when he heard the first scream. Instinctively, he ran to the origin of the noise when another yell reflected off of the decrepit walls of the town. By the time he made it to the scene, many of the others had already gathered around and were yelling things about a weapon.

Billy barged into the fray and saw a younger woman brandishing a large shard of glass, holding it as if it were a knife. The others were shouting at her to put it down, but Billy decided to take on a more subtle approach. He looked around at the others, many of whom he had not come to meet yet. "Let me take care of this."

He calmly, slowly started towards the girl. She was short, dark haired, and had a beautifully chiseled face, though her eyes were wild with fear. He examined the blade. It was jagged and could certainly injure, though she could not have a strong grip of it since she was holding onto it with a cloth. She didn't seem like she wished to cause any harm, anyway.

"Hey... my name is Billy," he spoke in the friendliest tone he could muster, "You're probably as confused as we are." He continued to move slowly toward her, hoping not to spook the girl. "Listen, put the blade down. You could hurt yourself or one of us. None of us are here to hurt you, ok? We just want to figure out where we are... and why we're here." He was in arms length of her now.

He reached out an open palm, "Please, give me the blade."

[roan]

Maria hadn’t meant to scare the couple like she did but in her own state of memory abandonment she lashed out at anyone.

“Please, put down the… Uh, blade… My name is Charlie, this here is Mark, we woke up in the street a-ways down there with a few other peoples, and none of us seem to recall anything but our names." Spoke the girl named Charlie who especially had a rough reaction to her sudden appearance.

“Are there more like you?” The blue-eyes girl asked, the shard lowering to the side of her dusty jeans. Before Mark or Charlie could answer another male form came into view, the shard immediately rising defensively for a moment before lowering slowly as he was obviously a friend. ‘Why were they were along with me?’ Maria couldn’t help but think this, it all sounded like some government experience. ‘Or a piss-poor excuse as a joke.’

Soon another came, a pregnant woman. At her appearance Maria felt suddenly foolish, and was soothed by the concern showing on her pretty features. Glancing quickly at her hand she did notice some blood but it didn’t hurt. ‘Ain’t broken, don’t fix it.’

“I’m fine. Thanks.” The last word felt forced, as is she struggled to say it. And, oddly, it was. Maria wondered what kind of girl she was before she forgot herself. So far she felt like a bitch.

Like flies to honey more and more persons appeared. First a girl, showing the same compassion the heavily pregnant woman held. “My name is Maria,” She said to the newly introduced Claire. “I’m sorry honey but I’m not giving this up ‘til I find some other sort of weapon. Who knows what hiding in this forsaken place?”

When the man named Billy stepped towards her she took a step back without a thought, the sudden approach from a male making her almost grimace. She wished she could understand her actions and attitudes. After his softly spoken words the young woman had a sudden burst of anger, where it came from she didn’t know. “Just stay back, O.K.! I’m…I’m…Aaaugh!” The shard was tossed backwards, shattering against the bathroom door she had emerged from before Maria fell hard to her knees while the tears she struggled to hold back flowed freely, hands moving fast to cover her face in shame.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Maria sobbed weakly into her dirty palms. Obviously she was having a hard time coping with the nightmare they all were experiencing.

[Leilayh Blaine]

At the girls, Maria's, outburst Kennedy stepped forward. Holding up her hand to delay Claire or Billy from getting any closer, Needy knelt down on the dusty gravel. She winces in minor discomfort when the sharp rocks pinched her bare knees. She was wearing a dress for some odd reason, it looked to be a heavy sundress, giving her enough freedom to move her arms and legs but was snug over her protruding stomach. How far along am I?

Looked about six months. I am a whale, Needy sighed. First things first.

Placing her hands on Maria's head she tilted the girls head back so the light could allow Needy a better look at Maria's pupils. It was like her body had taken over her actions. Needy's fingers found pressure points on Maria's neck and soothed them to calm down the girls nerves. From the racing pulse, Kennedy deduced:

“She is in shock. Just give her some air, and if you could help me... maybe we should get her out of this sun.” Kennedy looked up at Billy, speaking to him because even though she didn't know a thing about herself. She knew her body couldn't support Maria's weight. “ Actually I think we all need to get out of this sun. I came from the diner just over there. I woke up there. I am guessing you all..woke up here too.”

She may not be the brightest cookie, but it was obvious they were just a group of people who had no idea what was happening or where they were. Standing slowly she wiped away the dirt from her knees, from what she could see of them before straightening up. The heat was getting to her for sweat was slowly starting to trickle down her neck. The rubber-band clinging to her wrist was a godsend, and Kennedy walked a little towards the diner while gathering up her layered dirty blond tendrils into a pony tail. This felt very natural.

[Merry]

Shelly watched the scene unfold, hanging back a little at the sign of violence. Frozen in a sudden fear that the situation would turn ugly. I'll just drop if there is blood the thought catching her by surprise. How did she know that? Had she fainted before? Had someone attacked her? Shaking her head, pushing the thoughts away, far away. Watching as the rest of the group was able to calm the newest addition to the rag tag crew down, and get things under some sort of control.

Stepping a little closer, she commented towards Kennedy "you need to be out of the sun as well" looking at the girls swollen belly. Fanning her face, then holding her hand to her eyebrows to block the glare of the sun, looking around for some sign of life. Something to indicate that this was not a nightmare of some sort. Her eyes seeing nothing but dilapidated buildings and desertion. "Somehow I think we're not going to find much in the way of help here" then turning to the new girl, Maria, "You came from that building" pointing towards the building "Since we all came from the road outside of town, maybe you are from here, Paradise? Do you remember anything about this place? We need to figure out what is going on, with all of us."

[roan]

The young woman heavy with child came to her side, placing a calming hand on the back of her neck, hitting some nerve or muscle that instantly caused Maria to relax, her back and chest releasing from the muscle contortions she had felt before.

Rising to her feet slowly she pushed her hands deep into her jean pockets, embaressed by her reaction with her head down, and her eyes on everyone's feet.

“ Actually I think we all need to get out of this sun. I came from the diner just over there. I woke up there. I am guessing you all..woke up here too.” Kennedy said.

"Yea," Maria had replied softly, moving with the group wherever they were headed.

"You came from that building" Shelly questioned Maria. "Since we all came from the road outside of town, maybe you are from here, Paradise? Do you remember anything about this place? We need to figure out what is going on, with all of us."

Shaking her head, dark hair falling into her eyes before she brushed them back, raising her blue eyes to the new girl that spoke to her, "No. I don't know anything. I don't think we all know anything. I'm sure that this place is deserted. I haven't seen any animals, either. No stays cats or wild dogs, nothing." The native american girl had spoken softly, looking to Shelly before spotting a prominent building within the town, above it in broken florescent lights read 'HOTEL.'