TUESDAY
JULY 5TH, 2011
(DUCK
AND COVER)
9:39
AM
Yearning to begin anew
Spinning
the labyrinth blue
The landscape opens
To
a refreshing twist
Of passion, music,
Society
sun-kissed!
Follow me into civilization
Close
the door behind
You fall deeper, you
star sweeper
Into the story of mankind
There’s
nothing like a little bit of Sunsetters to wake you up in the
morning, huh, journal? :D
9:53
AM
Donnie's found a road
map in the lobby. Gotta discuss where we're going next.
9:55
AM
"Do you think
we'll go through Nebraska?"
I mean, we can go anywhere we
want. I was actually thinking of checking out New York. It's not too
far from here, relatively.
"Oh. What's in New York?"
Could
be many things. Big important city. I'd expect some people, like good
guys, still hanging out.
"But what's there for you?"
Well.
There was that book. In that library. It told me I have a friend
there. I showed you that log, right?
"Yeah! You did. That's
as good a reason as any I can think of. I can wait for Nebraska, I'm
sure we'll be on the road again before long."
Probably!
What's in Nebraska?
"Nothing, it's fine."
You
sure?
"I'm sure. Let's
get moving!"
9:59
AM
And off we go, down side roads! Hopefully we can find the
motorhighway.
10:10
AM
It feels good to be in
America again at last. I've missed this, like, general style of road.
Trees. Road sign. And with Donnie by my side, I feel like I can take
on the world. :D
...she kissed my cheek. we're gonna hold
haaaands
10:32
AM
I almost miss being on
the Exodus.
At least it meant we didn’t have to walk to each place. >_>
10:42
AM
..oh my god no way
It's a goddamn Rapture
Duck!
Jesus, look at the size
of that thing!
quack
"They're really cute…"
They're
monsters.
"How can you say that? Look at it, it's a
duck!"
Just keep it away from my journal. o_o;;
10:53
AM
I hear a car in the distance! People! O:
"Americans!"
10:54
AM
Look, it's a little gray volvo!
It's.. it's coming
onto the sidewalk.
Oh god, LOOK OUT
10:55
AM
man, fuck you,
and your volvo…
what
are you doing, don't turn around, just keep driving!
for fuck's
sake here it comes again
dive!
run!
dive!
duck!
DUCK!
DUCK!
RAPTURE
DUCK!
OH MY GOD
FUCK FUCK JUST
FUCK OFF
10:56
AM
The car's rolling down
its window
GUN
pointing at us
"Give us the
girl."
WHAT
donnie "Are you serious?"
"Do
we look like we're joking?"
Well.
Hang on, let me take a closer look at you.
11:00
AM
So, uh.
Donnie was
kidnapped by plants.
Yeah, literally just. Plant men. Vines and
twigs. Driver was just a fucking bush. Gunman had arms of bark.
I'm
not saying I capitulated at the mere sight of them, I mean they got
out of the car and really put up a fight!
They.. drove off to
the north. Pretty sure that's north. It's the direction we were going
anyway.
I've gotta... I've gotta go after them.
11:11
AM
I wish!!! I wish for
Donnie!!!
11:20
AM
Walking down quiet highway roads, trying to ignore that
ever-prevalent cawing I’ve gotten so used to.
quack
And
that goddamn quacking. Leave
me alone! Where were
you in all this,
huh??? With your fierce beak, you could have eaten
those plant dudes! Right? What do ducks eat?
Well?? Tell
me!!!
Why are you just standing there,
looking at me like that?
...
11:21
AM
RIDING THE
RAPTURE DUCK
11:43
AM
There! The volvo! It's
parked in front of that shack!
Thank you, duck! You're
alright.
Do you want to.. come with me? Can you fit through that
door? Have you killed before?
quack
11:45
AM
Dark hallway. Long
hallway. Either that, or we're walking in circles because we can't
see anything.
The air turned very stale as soon as we came in.
I
think it's a rabbit hole. It's gotta be.
11:48
AM
I hear a faint roar.
Gripping Tiger Stripes.
There's
faint music above the roar...
Two big double doors.
11:50
AM
“No fireworks, no cameras, no merch, in fact I’d
go as far as to say there’s no real quality of service but that
still doesn’t change the fact that WE’RE PLAYING TONIGHT–
HELLO, CAMPER FESTIVAL!”
12:03
PM
Out in the lobby
now.
I’m sure the Camper Festival means something, something
big, but I don’t have time to look around.
..Ms.
Desmond?
She’s just sitting there, watching the
performance.
Ooh, over there! Is that Bonnjo Vjonsped?!
OwO
rightsorrylet’sgo
..they’re missing their
guitarist. o__o
SORRY OKAY GOING
this duck does NOT like
loud music
12:08
PM
The door opened to a florist, and then past that, a
forest.
I made sure to ask for some weed-killers on my way
out.
I mean, she didn't give
me any, because I have no money. But I made sure to ask!
Man,
this shrubbery! Real thick!
Why am I still talking
12:11
PM
I hear things nearby.
Hey duck, can I ride you
again?
Where are you going?
12:12
PM
I swear I just saw something running through the
canopy.
Duck, where'd you go? :(
12:19
PM
I swear a bug's crawled
up my trouser leg
I hate this so
much
12:20
PM
I hear voices.
And
honks! Friend, you're close! :D
Just gotta keep.. whacking
shrubs out of the way…
12:25
PM
hnnnng
12:28
PM
Three th
a voice speaks to me...
Night
I
don’t know what time it is. It’s dark, though. Very.
I can’t
see much, but I can make out vague shapes of the trees around me.
Night
(2)
Listening for the
duck. Listening for the voices. Listening for anything,
but there's just, there's nothing.
Gonna walk a
bit.
Night
(3)
I can hear faint birds singing. They sound nothing like
birds are supposed to. May not even be birds; I’m just guessing
at this point.
..the ground here’s suddenly wet. o_o
Night
(4)
Dry ground again. I hear footsteps nearby.
Night
(5)
There’s definitely someone there. I can see the vague
shape of their body. I’m finding out who it is.
Night
(6)
I bumped into a tree. I heard the person run off.
I
don’t know where to go.
Night
(7)
I’ve been wandering for a really long time; I’m sure
it’s been half an hour, at least. My eyes don’t adjust to the
darkness, no moon rises to shine light, nothing. The forest remains
in its perpetual darkness.
Night
(8)
I found a piece of paper. I can't read it, but I'll keep
it with me. Can read it later.
(Attached:
"In the woods there
is peace.
And
the birds,
And
the woodland animals!
On
the trail,
On
my way out from you.
And
the wind,
And
the rustling trees hear me.")
Night
(9)
All the trees look the same. I think. I can barely see
any of them anyway.
Night
(10)
How long have I been out here?
Too long.
Night
(11)
Person again. I think. I see a vague white shape.
Night
(12)
The person is wearing a theatrical sadface mask and
standing there, staring at me.
They won’t answer to my shouts.
Night
(13)
Tree.
Night
(14)
Walking.
Night
(15)
I blink and some trees disappear.
Night
(16)
I blink and some trees appear.
Night
(17)
The sadface man is in front of me.
Under his mask,
I am watched.
“How will you handle the world crumbling around
you?“
do you want to see?
ings just ran
into a nearby cave. The duck's here and quacking at me.
12:30
PM
The cave is filled with plant-men. Flowers and leaves and
vines, and.
Wait.
These things.
They’re
Treefingers.
You're Treefingers!
And they’re staring at
us welcomingly. Me and the duck. Guess they're not threatened.
12:31
PM
I asked one of them where they took Donnie. They’re
looking at each other oddly.
Do you guys not talk? Do you know
any Treefingers who do?
I'm
being led somewhere now.
12:33
PM
This is an arena. You guys do, like, cagefighting here?
12:34
PM
One of the Treefingers told me, if I want to see Donnie
again, I must challenge “the beast,” for it is the beast that
Donnie is being sacrificed to.
..okay I hate these guys
again.
I’m doing it. For Donnie.
12:36
PM
The air’s getting a little thick. I’m coughing a
bit.
Where are you, beast?
Tiger Stripes, give
me…
..Treefingers are approaching.
They said the
beast has been called off. Donnie is being released.
o_o Okay.
Works for me, I suppose. Do I look that intimidating? ...was it the
duck?!
12:39
PM
Being taken to
Donnie, down into some rooms caked in mud.
12:41
PM
DONNIE OH GOD
I MISSED THAT HUG.
She looks
pretty shaken. They didn't hurt her, though.
Let's get the hell
out of here. Take the duck.
12:45
PM
“Someone would like to speak with you before you
go.”
In a big mud hut, outside. Their leader or something? o_o
12:46
PM
Oh dear god. How'd you get the wooden suit back?
YES,
Mistress! Hello! Oh, how I have completely missed
you!
"I've come back from my exquisite tour of the Bahamas, and I am so pleased to see you again. I know, I know, you had places to go, and you did a fine job of role-playing with me last time we saw each other, so I forgive you for just ducking and running. But I heard you were in the area, so I thought I'd have you come by and say 'Hello.'"
...hello.
"You've managed to hold onto your girl all this time. Haven't broken her heart yet. ..hoho, just a joke!"
…what do you want, Harlequin?
"Ouch. I did get the
message, you know. You.. shut the door on me quite clearly. Both of
you!"
donnie's not saying a word
"These plant
guys, they're so much nicer. They give me what I want. They seem to
think I have connections?
Whatever might have given them that
idea?"
…
"God, look at you. You're so scared of
me. Like, actually
scared. Listen. I'm not gonna make this any more awkward than this
has to be. I saw you were in the area, and I just wanted to give you
a word of warning."
...
What is it?
"I'm
not the only bad guy
in the world, y'know? And as far as the totem pole of power goes, I'm
hardly even on the radar. You made it to America? Took the long way.
Put so much work into it. To what, to escape?
Sky's still red here. And me, I'm
still here. Maybe you did escape something,
but you're just so... clueless about it!
"So that's my
warning: You don't know what you're running from, and that means you
don't know what you're running into
either. You just don't know."
Yeah…
"Yeah?
So, you'd better find someone who does."
giggle
donnie "Thanks for the advice. Can we go now?"
waves
her hand "You have cities
to see, drugs to take, a job to do, worlds to save,
whatever."
Well.
Uh.
she's looking right at me
now. with that unmoving mask of a face.
...bye? o_o;
silence
...
2:39
PM
We.. got moving after that.
That was.. weird.
I even kinda forgot it happened and wasn't a fever dream until I
picked up my journal to update it and saw it really written there.
Donnie definitely didn't want to talk about it. I don't know what
we'd even say about
it.
And now we’re getting close to New York. Duck
travel is good travel.
3:21
PM
Most of the creatures around here are zombies. It’s
getting pretty dull.
4:04
PM
…wow, a spidercat!!!
VARIETY!
4:27
PM
We’ve come across a large body of water.
God,
we're gonna need a boat. Wait no. Boating’s for squares. Get with
the circles. Better yet, get with the rhombi.
"Jordan,
what the fuck are you talking about?"
We need a rabbit
hole!
"Jordan, we're
on a giant duck."
4:28
PM
went right into
the water, no problem.
quack
Well. Okay, I feel silly.
5:25
PM
yeah yeah we made it
across no problem, but guess where we found
our way to now?
Broadway
Street!
We’re in New York City! Skyscrapers piercing the red
sky with their manmade majesty, streets as empty as London’s
were.
Okay okay okay, where to now?
Shit, that’s a really
good question. I know I (should) have a very good friend here, but
this is a fucking huge city. who knows if she’s still here.
5:28
PM
..graffiti on the side of a clothes
shop!
“embracethearchangel“ I’ve seen this
message before. Still no spacebar, but it’s significant.
“RAPTURE
IS COMING, CAN’T YOU FEEL IT, IT’S COMING AND IT’S COMING
SOON”
“A voice speaks to me: Would you
like to see?”
“NORTH OF TOWN IS PLAGUE
TERRITORY, STAY OUT”
“What did Doctor Cloud
discover in the Genera?”
“But it’s all in a
mouse’s night to take on all those who
fight”
..someone’s coming.
5:31
PM
It’s an older man, long black hair going grey, a
mustache, trenchcoat. He’s wearing one red glove. o_o
5:32
PM
“Welcome to America, White Jester. You’ve got a lot
of work to do.”
Um. Alright. And who are you?
“Oh,
you’ll get to know. All in good time. But you're gonna want to
know, you're expected at the Soho
Grand Hotel."
Expected? How do you know me?
"Pfft.
White Jester? Arsonist of Paris? You're known."
Wait, that
wasn't me!
"And furthermore, do you
not know you're being followed?"
I'm what? We're what?
"I
did my job. You know where to go. Watch your back."
walks
away
Well. Okay. o_o Guess we'll go look for a building by DAMN
NAME and NO ADDRESS!!!
5:50
PM
Soho Grand Hotel.
Parked our duck outside.
The
lobby’s huge. Broken glass everywhere, chairs overturned, doors
closing DOOR
AFTER THAT DOOR
5:51
PM
The world has too many hallways.
I see a mirror at
the end of the hall. Damn, my suit is nice. :3
Staircase
up here.
5:52
PM
‘Nother mirror down there. Seriously, I love that suit.
.w. Have I gotten taller?
We’re calling out for my friend. If
she hears us, she’ll come out.
5:53
PM
Up these stairs!
I take it all these halls have
mirrors. Beautiful suit, Jordan. Fits you much too well. >w>
.why
am I the only one up h oh, I’m not. Donnie's right there.
..then
where’s her
OH
THAT'S NOT A MIRROR
THAT'S THE
FUCKING SLENDER MAN
WHAT DO WE DO IN THIS SITUATION, DO WE MAKE
A LOT OF NOISE? WAVE OUR ARMS? that's bears, DO WE HIDE IN A ROOM? DO
WE RUN DOWN THE STAIRS?
"GET
DOWN!"
FUCK
budda budda budda
5:57
PM
We're in a hotel room
now. A dude in big fuck-off military gear escorted us to
safety.
Donnie's asking the man if he really just shot at the
slender man with a high-powered rifle.
"Yes, ma'am. That's
policy."
Hey, it worked!
donnie "It scared it
off, sure! But that thing didn't bleed. You can't kill it! What if
you just pissed it off?"
"Then I
pissed it off. You two didn't."
"Okay, your
funeral."
You say this is 'policy?' The
government's?
"That's right."
Huh.
Are we,
like. Okay? Did we walk into a top-secret base or anything?
"You're
fine. This is civilian property. We do a routine sweep every day, as
the Soho's one of the places we've designated a safe zone."
'We,'
like, the military?
"Yep."
donnie "We were
told we were expected here? Were you expecting us?"
"It's
a routine sweep of a hotel. I expect civilians, but I do not know who
you specifically are."
"..huh."
"Dinner's
in the restaurant below around 8. Scream if you see any more
monsters; someone will hear you. Goodnight."
6:00
PM
What
just happened?
Did
we just, like, get lucky?
"Maybe
we're still expected. He said this was a safe zone, and this room
looks pretty clean. There may be lots of people staying
here."
Yeah...
probably!
6:22
PM
Nothing. No one's at
reception. There were some cooks in the restaurant getting set up, so
people are definitely here, but the cooks hadn't heard anything. They
pointed us to a small office on the ground floor that was being used
as
reception, and.. no one's there!
Are we supposed to go knocking
on every door in this hotel?
6:57
PM
this is stupid
"look,
we'll just try a few
more, and then take a
break."
I would much rather be chilling in our hotel
room
"we can do that later!
after dinner!"
but that's an hour away! :C
"do it
for me?
;)"
…
8:10
PM
Fuck yeah, dinner!
I'm
having pizza! :D
8:50
PM
GOODNIGHT,
JOURNAL!
(Attached: “Jordan's arrival in America is hard to make sense of, about to get harder. There are two different angles to consider: the American gods curious about the boy who stood up to a Fear; and Jordan's own background, which he tries to avoid focusing on. We have a lot to get through, so I'll clarify what I can when I can. Watch for song lyrics.”)