Chapter 4.8- The Post-Apocalyptic Walk Of Shame

Hey all. Quick recap: Rylo made some friends. He realized they were cannibals. That wasn’t chill, so he ran away. He ended up on a hill, and got super high from weird burning fumes. He had some wacko hallucinations, and topped off the night by doing the dirty with some chick in a caved-in mansion. Shit’s cray.

But that’s the story we’re going with, so let’s get back to it. Rylo is doing the post-apocalyptic walk of shame, and is discovering that some of the stuff from last night was imagined, and some of it was not. I feel like that’s an experience many of us can relate to.

Rylo is surprised to find that there really are horrific faces carved into the trees on this hill, and mulls over the fact that his acquaintance from last night is most likely the artist behind it all. He decides that everything on this hill is absolutely batshit and he can’t get away fast enough.

Finally alone in the wild, Rylo starts to feel like himself again. This is how he belongs, just him and the trees and the sky and the occasional zombie to tousle with. Ever since he can remember other people have had some sort of dark secret or ulterior motive. For a while he thought maybe Harlan’s group was the nice little family they looked like. Rylo used to think that people like that had to be out there somewhere. But even for all their happy nights laughing around the fire and sleeping cuddled up warm somewhere, they were really all in it for themselves.

Rylo can live that way too. He always had, and now he’s sure he always will.

Rylo shifts easily back into his routine of hunting, sleeping, and maybe taking a dip in the river. It’s a mindless life, but it’s comfortable enough.

He’s found the crossbow to be an incredible convenience, and he can’t believe Harlan would ever have relinquished it. He no longer has to wait for zombies to come anywhere near him, and can take them down from a much safer distance.

Also, it’s super fun.

Rylo hardly has to spend any time worrying about his own safety, and knows that if any living people were to come near, it wouldn’t be too hard to scare them off.

In this way Rylo spends his days, lounging in the water, hiding in the trees, and hunting in the brush. Seasons pass, and Rylo doesn’t keep track of how many. When the weather starts to cool he simply kills a deer and wears its hide for a few months before casting it off again.

Luckily, we can keep track of time, by looking at all the other Yu cutie pies growing up! Here’s Titus, and I still don’t know if he/she is a he or a she. Still fluffy and clueless looking though.

Marina and Joey spent a few years contending with Reuben, who developed a horrifying case of floating baby syndrome. It was all they could do to keep him from getting stuck to the ceiling, and they nearly lost their minds when they found out they were pregnant again.

Thankfully, Reuben grew out of it as he entered toddlerhood, and became a bright-eyed little guy who stayed firmly planted to the ground.

Shortly after, Siri was born and the whole family was delighted to discover that she operated normally within the limits of gravity.

Carys also grew up, and I was pretty psyched to see she has Oscar’s hair and eyes. Apparently, Sam and Dorah are pregnant again, so that’s cool.

Also, let’s all please just ignore the fact that the toddlers and Marina are in brand new modern-day clothes. I was too lazy to change them, okay? I have so much CC that changing a sims’ outfit takes like 15 minutes and it’s just not worth it for the side characters.

While the extended family he doesn’t know he has does all this cool stuff somewhere off-screen, Rylo spends years of his life alone, glad to be looking out only for himself.

Whenever he comes to a town, he does his best to circle around it. Towns offer way too many hiding places, as well as rotted out floorboards and old ceilings waiting to collapse.

Sometimes, for variety, he explores standalone buildings. This old train station will probably provide decent shelter for the night and might even give him some zombie killing entertainment.

Me and Rylo both think this old train looks pretty slick. I love CC ❤

Rylo climbs in through a crumbled wall and tests out the floors. They seem sturdy and so far nothing has come running at him, but he raises his crossbow just in case.

As the end of his weapon peeks out from the doorway, he hears a hungry gurgling coming from the corner to his left.

Rylo whips around and plants an arrow right in the zombie’s mouth. It drops to the floor with a heavy thud, and everything is quiet.

Rylo looks around the rest of the little train station, but this zombie seems to be the only occupant. Satisfied, Rylo sets to building a fire to cook up some dinner.

A rabbit that was too slow for Rylo’s arrows makes for a flavorless but filling meal. Rylo basks in the heat of his fire as the sun goes down and clouds gather in the sky.

Eventually it starts to rain, and Rylo licks his fingers before heading inside.

The roof has more than a few holes, but Rylo finds himself a bench in an area with the least amount of leaks. It’s a bit too short for him, but he settles down to sleep anyways.

He just seems to have drifted off when a loud thump jolts him awake. Before his eyes even open Rylo pulls his knife from his pocket and scrambles back from the sound.

As Rylo’s eyes adjust he sees a group standing in the doorway, eyeing him with equal surprise. He wonders if they’ll kill him, or eat him, or both. He’s pretty shocked when they completely ignore him.

They silently move about the building, taking out bedding and arranging it in the driest spots they can find. They scarcely talk to each other any more than they talk to Rylo.

Rylo watches as they set up their camp for the night. One girl drags out the body of the zombie Rylo killed earlier and drops it off somewhere in the rain. Conversation is minimal, and everyone seems focused on taking care of themselves.

Some of them have some fruit or a bit of dried meat that they take out of their bags. They eat alone, just for the sake of eating, and make no move to share or sit together.

After some time they all lay down to sleep somewhere. Rylo decides he doesn’t really mind them. They’re very good at keeping to themselves, and seem solely focused on survival.

That’s good enough for Rylo, and he lays back down on his bench and falls asleep to the sounds of pouring rain.

As the morning breaks, Rylo hears the group rustling around and getting ready to leave again.

As they file out into the morning light, Rylo stands to watch them go.

An older man is the last to leave, and he glances at Rylo in the corner.

Man: Come along if you want.

His disinterested way of throwing out the offer before walking out the door is what sells Rylo.

Rylo decides to tag along, mostly out of boredom. He had been living alone for years, why not do something a little different for once? It’s always a lot safer to sleep with others around, and it seems to Rylo like this group is only together for that reason. He knows none of them really care about each other, and he won’t have to pretend to care about them.

That’s it for this time. Sorry not a lot happened, but that’s life. Sometime’s life’s kinda boring. See you all next week anyways.