The Night is Long (An audience- written interactive TWDG story)
Welcome to a stupid little idea that I had that has most definitely been attempted many times already. Basically, the concept for "The Night is Long" is that it is supposed to be a finish the story type game that takes place in the TWDG comics universe (You really don't need to read the comics for backdrop- the Telltale series takes place in that universe. The only thing you really need to know is that the apocalypse takes place in 2003) in which the story only spans a single night- from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM- 12 hours. Here is how it will work:
- I will begin the story. From there, another person will continue that same story, then the next, and so- on.
- The goal is for me to only have to begin the story- I don't intend on writing the whole thing myself. If no progress is made in the span of two real- world days, I will update it.
- Each continuation should be no longer than six sentences long. It has to be an actual paragraph style format, not just bullet points.
At the start of each paragraph, the new "author" should update the readers on the time. You don't have to tie the character finding out the time in each paragraph, just format it like this:
(Time (ex: 6:56 PM))
(Paragraph)Try your best to use correct grammar and punctuation, but I'm no English reader. Just make sure the readers will be able to understand it.
- Don't add in an OC in EVERY NEW PARAGRAPH. You are allowed to add in an OC, but don't let the introduction of new characters get too repetitive.
- You are not allowed to continue the story twice in a row. You must wait until at least one other person has gone or two days have passed.
- Only add in characters from the game or comic if they make sense. I.E. If an author has decided they story takes place in Nebraska two days into the apocalypse, Clementine can't just "show up" out of nowhere.
- That being said, you can still have references or connections to that universe, like if you want to make a character a sibling or mention a certain location.
- If three people in a row decide a paragraph doesn't make sense and completely destroys a story, that paragraph is excerpted from the story.
Okay, the first post should be down below. Feel free to continue as you please.
Comments
5:59 PM
The wind always felt good on their face after a day like that. The boastful sun was digressing into its frozen chamber for the night, and as the sky grew softer, so did the wrath that had long settled in the person's heart. It was at times like then when a person realized they had something worth fighting for. That something worth fighting for seemed to put the rest of the world at ease, make life simpler, comprehensible. As that horrible, miserable day wore on, the person had always had their something worth fighting for as a backdrop for their every thought, every action. But even as the wind blew away the awful problems of that awful day, the person suddenly had a deep dread set in their heart as they came to an awful, unexpected, unexplainable realization: that night was going to be a long one.
(Author's Note: In case you can't tell, I left this paragraph open to interpretation so the main character, setting, and plot are completely customizable. If anyone stumbles upon this in the next few days, have fun!)
6:00 PM
Everything happened in a matter of seconds: just moments ago he was sitting near the fire and debating with his sister on whether they should leave the area, or stay and keep searching for supplies for a few more days. First they heard their father, who was on the watch out, getting knocked out. Right after that armed figures started coming out of the woods: they were surrounded. Even if they had time to react, there wasn't much they could do - they were out of bullets; resistance was futile, and the only way to get out of this situation was negotiation. Alex stood up and put his hands up: "Look, we don't have anything valuable, ok?" One of the attackers started approaching him: "You tresspassed on our territory, and there are consequences for that."
6:05 PM
The attacker halted when Sam stood up in defense. "You can take whatever you want." The girl stammered, cautiously moving her stance to protect the two brothers sitting behind her. "Just keep my family out of this. Please."
"This could have all been avoided, Sam.." One of the armed men spoke up. "If you had just stayed on your turf." He spat.
"Daryl, quiet." The lead-gunner, Daniel, commanded. He faced the crowd of men behind him, "I know you're all upset about Randall, I am too. But we can't get hung up on that. We need to deal with these sons-of-bitches."
Sam's eyes darted around the room, looking for any trace of her new samurai friend. She started to panic. "W-We can work this out peacefully. I'm begging you Daniel."
The man ignored her comment and instead drifted his gaze towards Alex, who was huddled behind his sister. He lowered his gun when he saw the boy silently weeping. "No need to cry, kid." He reassured with an ingenuine smile. "You'll be with your father soon."
(Randall was killed by Michonne in this, and I added a new character called Daniel. He was Randall's second-in-command, so he runs things now)
No text here.
(Just a note: (Edit) Okay, I did have a "story thus far thing here" but FarFromtheSty deleted their post. Which sucks, 'cause it was pretty good. Anyway, I removed the sentence limit and added some tags to this story. Thanks.)
6:07 PM
(Because two days have past, I will continue the story.)
Daniel, Daryl, and the four other men who were strangers in the Fairbanks living room got in a huddle and began speaking to each other in hushed tones. Samantha grabbed her seven-year-old brother, Alex, who was gasping for breath in between his crying, and pulled him under kneeling chest. She upon him trying to talk Daniel down upon his arrival. "You were so brave, kid," She whispered. "So brave."
Daryl turned around and swung his foot up into Sam's teeth. She though she could hear Alex screaming, but the ringing in her ears made it hard to discern. As the back of her head hit the brick on the fireplace, Sam's world became just a little bit darker.
6:23 PM
Sam woke up in a hell full of walkers. It was dark, but she could hear them gasping all around her. She was barely able to stop herself from screaming before she realized she was literally lying on top of a pile of them. Remaining very still, Sam began to feel around. She was covered in walker guts. Above her, she could feel something solid- concrete. And under her- what felt like hundreds of those groaning monsters. All alive. Tears clouded her eyes as she wondered what horrible place this was- and where was Alex? Had dad, the rest of her family, and the pirates escaped?
Just as Sam thought all was hopeless and she would die, she heard a familiar motor sound she remembered from the pre-apocalypse. _Am I- am I in a f**king cement truck?!_