The Fallen Ones: A CYOA

Say "My sex is my business, but if you must know, i'm a male beaver"

Your name is Adrodo Conrodo and you sexually identify as a half-eaten pizza male.

Well, your name is John Smith. And your sex is yes, please

He must find a way to order pizza, or to make it, because thats the only thing he can eat

Pack up and leave the tent

Andre considers giving the mysterious woman a stern talking to, but quickly determines that such an action would be impossible. He has no idea who that woman could be, and he certainly has no idea where she is. However, he still clearly remembers her words. What had she done that he was supposed to fix? And what made him so special? Was she the one who took away his memories? Deciding that he had no good answer to these questions, Andre chooses to simply move on. Maybe he would meet people later who could answer his questions.

Before leaving, Andre kneels down and retrieves some of the purple fragments lying on the floor of the tent. Upon closer inspection, the pieces of the robe appeared to have yellow designs on them as well, but Andre decides that the pieces are too brittle to attempt piecing them back together. After gathering as many of the pieces as he could, Andre notices that one of them is more intact than the others. It appears to be a large bandanna, also colored purple. The middle of the bandanna clearly had a detailed gold symbol on it, but the center of it has been completely burned through. Andre stands back up, and shoves the larger scraps into his pocket, hoping that he can discover more about the outfits later. {{Indeed, inventory space in this CYOA is unlimited for our main character. Items will be silently added to the inventory in the first post whenever they are obtained.}}

Finally satisfied with his search through the tent, Andre decides that it is finally time to leave the tent and step out into the outside world. Andre walks over to the tent flap, and attempts to open it. However, a sudden rush of hot air briefly stops him in his tracks. In response, Andre strengthens his resolve and walks through the tent flap, finding himself in a large campsite. Unprepared for the sight before him, Andre only barely suppresses a shout of fright.

The ground of the campsite is littered with what must be seventeen corpses. Scattered around them are fragments of the same purple robe, which most of them seemed to be wearing. There are several small blazes burning around the campsite, which thankfully don’t seem to be spreading. One of them is obviously the campfire. For some bizarre reason, a few pizza boxes are scattered about it. Nearby is a large circular mark made of ash, with a large crater in the center. Andre guesses that some kind of explosive was detonated there, which was clearly the cause of death of most of the corpses. However, three of them seemingly died of bullet wounds, and the last two are covered in slash wounds. However, whatever weapons were used to kill these people were apparently not left at the scene.

With considerable effort, Andre tears his eyes away from the gruesome scene and tries to figure out where he is. The campsite used to be occupied by ten other tents, but most of them are now collapsed or destroyed. The entrance and exit to the campsite, an open gate in the middle of a tall wooden barricade surrounding the site, is straight ahead of him. Andre can see the flat land in front of the entrance, and it doesn’t appear to be a pretty site. A long stretch of dry wasteland extends from the entrance to some rocky mountains in the distance. If the land was destroyed by human hands, the destruction is seemingly unrelated to that of the campsite.

Andre, desperate to get away from the horrific scene as soon as he can, begins to slowly make his way towards the entrance. However, the moment he reaches the campfire, a noise causes him to freeze in his tracks. It starts as a faint rumbling noise, but as time passes it begins to grow louder and louder. Judging by the sound, Andre guesses that the noise is coming from some kind of automobile.

What will you do now?

Attempt the equipping of the bandana, then I second Toad.

Andre doesn’t know who’s going to be in that car, and he doesn’t really want to be there to find out once they arrive. Unfortunately, there is clearly no exit from the campsite, at least as far as he can tell. The only way out is through the front entrance... which means heading straight towards the automobile noise. He clearly can’t run, so Andre decides that his best choice is to hide. Knowing that time is of the essence, he ducks beside one of the tents that’s still intact enough to hide his presence. Meanwhile, he attempts to equip the bandanna. Unfortunately, it’s too tattered and broken to wear without tying a second knot in it, and by the point it probably wouldn’t even fit on Andre anymore. It wouldn’t even give him any extra defense or abilities in the first place, so the endeavor would be completely pointless.

Suddenly, Andre’s thoughts are interrupted by the sound of tires screeching somewhere close by. The low rumbling stops at the same time. Andre, his curiosity getting the better of him, chances a peek towards the campsite entrance. Just as he expected, there is a silver van parked on the road in front of the campsite entrance. The van is extremely dirty, and dented in a few places. A few seconds after the van parks, the driver’s door swings open. A red-haired woman wearing combat armor steps out of the car. She seems to have a rifle strapped to her back. The driver’s side door to the backseat opens next, and a similarly armored man steps out, holding a pistol. Andre quickly ducks behind the tent, afraid of being spotted.

The following moments are fairly tense, as Andre huddles behind the tent, hearing the footfalls of the other people around him. Exactly twice someone passes in front of the alley between the tents Andre is hiding in as they investigate the gruesome scene. Andre closes his eyes and tries to stay silent, as he waits for the group to leave. However, it isn’t much longer before he hears a female voice shout, “Guys! Come over here!” Andre opens his eyes, and, sure enough, a girl with short hair dyed blue near the ends is standing at the entrance to the alley, pointing a pistol at Andre. Judging by the expression on her face, she’s about as frightened as he is. Andre slowly stands up, raising his hands into the air, and mumbles, “Uhh... H- Hello.”

Before long, the rest of the group arrives, weapons raised. Andre notices the red haired woman and armored man he saw earlier, as well as a man with long blonde hair, and what looks to be a toolbelt with knives, pistols, and several other weapons attached. The red-haired woman steps forward and asks, “Hello! Are you another survivor?” Andre, quite confused, replies, “‘Survivor?’ Survivor of what, exactly?” The man from the driver’s side door mumbles, “Oh, I don’t know, the apocalypse? Armageddon? Ragnarok, if you prefer? I mean, I’d say your body looks pretty alive right now, but I’m not so sure about your brain...” The blonde guy elbows him in the gut, and shouts, “Nice first impressions as always, Carl!” The other man, apparently named Carl, replies, “Like you’re one to talk, Frank.” Ignoring the two of them, you reply, “Well... I seem to have lost my memory... so I really don’t know what’s going on right now. I only woke up here a few minutes ago...” “Is that so?” the girl asks, finally lowering her weapon, “Well, if that’s the case, we could try to fill you in...” “Not now, Amelia,” the red-haired woman interrupts, “I’d rather clear out of here as soon as possible. Besides... I have a better idea. How about this? We’re actually on our way to Hope City, the survivor capital. It’s probably the safest place for someone like you, and the best place for you to learn more about the recent happenings here... Besides, you might even learn more about your own life if you come with us. So, what do you say?” She holds out her hand, clearly waiting for a handshake on the deal.

What will Andre do now?

Pointless? No, no no no. It may not give our Andre defense points, but it'd for sure give him some mean style points...
...
*ahem*
Jump up and do a short, flamboyant dance, ending in a pose with your arm outstretched for a handshake. First impressions, right? We don't want these people thinking we're some kind of uninteresting weirdo. I'd take vanilla weirdo over that any day.
Then sometime later, or perhaps before that, ask about the bandana you found and/or the campsite you're in right now.

{{Public Service Announcement: This is not an April Fool’s update. I didn’t have any ideas, especially because this CYOA has only been going for, like, five posts.
Also I forgot to put line breaks when different characters were speaking in the last post lol}}

Andre, wanting to make the best first impression he possibly can, does several mid-air somersaults before landing again and slapping the woman’s hand for a sideways high-five. He then shouts, “Deal!”

The woman looks a little confused by what she just witnessed, but eventually does a normal handshake anyway, continuing, “Alright, it’s a deal. ...By the way, my name’s Sandra.”

“Andre,” you reply, “Nice to meet you all.”

The other girl, Amelia, quietly replies, “...Uh... Nice to meet you too... Can we get out of here? I... don’t like this place...”

Carl mumbles, “That’s a brilliant plan, in my opinion. Let’s head back to the car.”

Sandra replies, “Fine, I get the message. Come on everyone, let’s go.”

The four of them begin walking to the car, and Andre follows closely behind. On the way, he decides to equip the bandanna he found in an effort to be more fashionable. He makes a second knot where the weird emblem used to be, and then puts it around his arm, as it no longer fits on his head. He thinks it’s a pretty cool armband, and can’t wait to see how the group reacts. However, when Sandra and Frank see it, they just exchange an unreadable glance and continue to the car. Sandra gets in on the driver’s side, while Frank walks around the car and into the backseat. Amelia seems to walk a little faster than normal as she climbs into the shotgun seat. On the other hand, Carl stands near the car, tapping his foot impatiently. When Andre stops to try and figure out what he’s doing, Carl glares at him. Andre realizes that he’s supposed to sit in the middle seat, so he quickly climbs in and slides to the middle. A second later, Carl enters and sits in the backseat. Once everyone is in the car and strapped in, Sandra starts the car and begins driving down the road.

After they’ve been driving for about a minute, Andre tries to ask the group about the campsite he was just in. But before he can begin, Carl suddenly asks, “Hey, Sandra, is now a good time?”

From the driver’s seat, Sandra replies, “I’d say so. We might as well get these unfortunate things out of the way as soon as we can.”

Frank shouts, “Cool. Let’s do this, Carl!”

Before he can look to see what the two of them are doing, Andre feels two cold, metal objects press into both sides of his head. “...What is going on here?” Andre asks, turning to the left. When he does, Andre is shocked to see Carl pointing a pistol at his head, giving him what could perhaps be considered the definition of a death glare.

Carl immediately uses the pistol to turn his head forward, and shouts, “I don’t want any more sudden movements, okay? Even a freak like you can’t survive two bullets to the brain!”

Frank points at Carl with his other hand, and shouts, “WHOA! Nice one!”

Andre, simultaneously confused and afraid, shouts, “What are you doing?! You said you were going to take me to the survivor capitol!”

Sandra calmly explains, “That is exactly what I said, and that is exactly what we are going to do. You will arrive at Hope City in an hour or two. Once you arrive, the local authorities will take you away, you will be tried for your crimes, and then you will most likely be executed.”

Carl mumbles, “Hey, look at the bright side... You’ll get to see Hope City from the distance, and it is a pretty magnificent sight... Even better, you’ll be killed. That’s a pretty nice bright spot for sane people like us.”

Andre replies, “What are you talking about? You’re the insane ones! I haven’t committed a single crime since I woke up!”

Frank shouts, “Ah! The amnesia defense! I haven’t heard THAT one in a while!”

Andre continues, “W- Well, what crimes could I have even committed?”

Carl snaps, “Why even ask that?! Your cult was the one that tore our society apart. People who join it are considered guilty of the entire cult’s actions, not just their own. You should already know that though, shouldn’t you?”

Sandra continues, “Even if we only take your actions into account, it appears you massacred an entire campsite filled with your own fellow cult members. If you can’t adhere to your own society’s twisted view of morality, then you’re a pretty messed up individual.”

Andre desperately shouts, “I- I’m telling the truth! I don’t remember anything! I just woke up in my campsite! I didn’t kill anyone! ...P- Please, have some mercy!”

Sandra replies, “Mercy? Why should we give you any mercy? Did your kind give any mercy to my family? What about you, Amelia? Did they show any mercy to your parents?”

Amelia, who has been silent up to now, simply mutters, “N-No...” She then looks out the window, clearly trying to pretend this discussion isn’t happening.

Frank continues, “To be honest, I’m not sure why you’re still arguing about this. Just admit it, you did a pretty terrible job! I’d say next time you try to infiltrate Hope City, don’t wear your cult bandanna around your arm!”

Carl and Frank push their guns against his head a little harder, as an obvious hint that Andre should stop talking. Apparently these people can’t be argued with. However, he can’t really hold it against them. Even with his limited knowledge of this world, it sounds like these people are just trying to enforce whatever laws the survivors have, and he was caught on the wrong side of it. Though he does wonder what he was doing lying in some kind of cult campsite, Andre also considers the possibility that he doesn’t want to know.

However, he does know one thing for sure. He needs to get out of this car, hopefully without hurting anyone. If that mysterious woman knew what she was talking about, Andre’s grand destiny does not involve getting executed. Andre has no idea what he’s supposed to do once he escapes, but he does know that the only thing that matters in the present is getting out of this situation alive.

What will Andre do now?

Ok. Andre has pretty much nothing to help him out in his inventory except for a rockin leather jacket and arm bandana, which is partially the reason he's in this situation in the first place. Carl, Sandra, and Frank don't seem like they're going to drop their weapons no matter what Andre says. Amelia is trying her hardest to pretend we're not being put to death, and I doubt she's willing to stand up for some random cultist even if she doesn't seem to agree with killing them. So yea, Andre is dead...

PICK A GOD AND PRAY!

Wow I can't believe that worked.
Okay, now pull a huge mass of papers out of your jacket pocket that were DEFINITELY THERE BEFORE and throw them at the van to obscure vision as you ninja jump out of the way or something. As you do this, yell "I have evidence!" or something.
If that doesn't work just... kick up a lot of dirt and/or dead grass and do the same thing. Do this with a staunch lacking of witty one-liners.