Setting October Nano Prep

The building is large and old. It’s also clearly abandoned, no one’s been in here in a long time (other than the occasional wandering hobo or rowdy teenager). As soon as you walk through the broken doors you’re hit by the dank smell of rotting wood. It’s dark inside, although there is enough light to see. The windows have all been blown out and some light comes through the empty holes. As you walk glass crunches beneath your feet. In some areas there are large puddles of water where pipes have disintegrated and burst. As you walk forward from the doors you encounter nothing but space. It’s a huge space, a huge space with nothing in it. Once there were machines, assembly lines, supplies, products. But that was a long time ago, now it’s just space, even the skeletons of what was here have been blown away. Once you venture further you come across a staircase leading to an upper level, as you put your foot onto the steps they start to crumble. Moving from the stair you look around the room, next to the stairs there’s a small metal ladder affixed to the wall.



The walls around the ladder are wet and crumbling. As you climb the ladder it creaks and shakes, throwing bits of dust off the wall above you and onto your face. The dust smells like earth and something rotten. Despite some misgivings on your part, the ladder holds and you reach the second floor. You survey the room as you wipe the grime from your face, the grime is gritty and rough and stings your face. This floor is darker than the lower level. Walking up you’re startled by a loud banging sound and stand frozen. Quickly you realize it’s an old window flap hitting into an old blown out window frame. You calm, but only a little, all around you are the sounds of dripping water and creaking metal and wood. As you walk forward you see a light in the distance. An open door or window spills light into the otherwise empty floor. Since it’s the only thing you can discern in the dark you begin walking towards the light. The ground beneath you is wet and water fills your shoes as you walk. It makes your shoes slippery, water squishes between your toes. As you approach the light you can see it’s a doorway with the door missing. You find yourself rushing towards the smell of the doorway, it smells fresh and clean and open. As you walk through the doorway the light is so bright you can’t open your eyes fully. You shield your eyes with your hand and slowly walk more fully into the light. You’re immediately struck by how hot it has become. Sweat prickles on your neck and armpits. Once your eyes adjust to the light you see you’re on a large balcony. Beneath the balcony is a large open field of grass. The grass is tall and undulates slowly in the wind. It reminds you so much of water you almost want to jump from the balcony into the green waves. You don’t. Instead you stand on the balcony staring out at the green mass beneath you, wondering at how something so beautiful and alive could be next to something so ugly and dead.