Where we give new meaning to "forever alone" - Let's Play Lone Survivor!

There's another Jelly as I pass through the hole. My hand draws my only friend...

No.



I've got to keep control. I can't afford to waste my ammo. I don't want to be like Draco.

It takes considerable effort to free my clenched hands.



A box of instant coffee joins the canned goods in my bag. The soda I down instantly, but my stoma



Is... is that a girl's voice?

It's coming from the far wall.





It's... Her. From my dreams.



...what's real anymore?

...You called out to me! You just screamed for help!

I've seen you in my dreams, and I'm seeing you here now. Who are you?



No... she looks familiar somehow. Somehow.

Hey, wait --

...Where is she? Where the hell did she go?!

..and what's this by our feet? This wasn't here before...



"The Director. Acquisitions Inc." Is that it? No wait, at the bottom. Is that radio frequency?

I don't have any option but to try.

I can't ignore my stomach forever.



No matter how close, I've got to keep searching.



Prawn crackers! The box is open as soon as it touches my fingers.

Wait. Have I found a way down?

I pass through the door on the left. There's a map hanging on the wall just to my left.



...but the front door's just around the corner.

Why would whoever marked the map leave the front do

Damnit!



I hardly have to try, anymore.

Draco would be proud.

Two doors to the entrance hall and to the front door. I step towards the closest...



No matter, the farther one's only a few steps away.



...but why is the glass smashed?

OH SHIT.

I take off back down the way I came. I don't even look back. That can't have been a person, what the hell was that thing?

My legs carry me to the other hallway. At the first sign of movement, I duck into the nearest room.

All the meat is practically fossilized. What little food I've consumed heaves...

I stumble out of the room... directly into a Jelly.

Fire, damn you, fire!

Behemoths. Ceiling-walkers. Her. I'm losing it. I'm just losing it.

I can't get back to my bed quickly enough.



I collapse into bed, clutching Catson in my trembling arms.

What is this gif from?

I just found it on a Tumblr. No idea of the original source.

So I checked the image sizes and HOLY LOADING TIMES, BATMAN.

I've resized all the screenshots. Hopefully this will work out better for everyone. :)

Thank you c: It's a little harder to make out the details now, but the smaller images make reading the LP easier.

Hmm, was wondering about that. Is it too hard to make out the details? The LP is fairly screenshot heavy, so I don't want to have too large images, but I don't want peoples' browsers crashing either.

I think it's primarily when compared to the larger screenshots. In the post after the hanging meats, it's a little hard to see our Lone Survivor in the shadows, but you can see him, so it works (I think).

That corridor is particularly dark, even more so than the other parts of the game. I don't think brightness will be an issue for the majority of the LP, but if the need arises I will increase the brightness so no one strains their eyes.

If there aren't any other objections about the screenshot size, I'll stick to this new size then.

Stick to the new size.

Oh yeaaaaah the new size is so much easier on my eyes. Never go back.

It can't be morning already. Light peters in from the window beside my bed, but I just want to burrow my head into my pillow.

No, not my pillow. None of this is mine!

Yesterday I was so close. So close. But I couldn't escape. Not with that behemoth. Not with the ceilng-walkers. And what's changed since then? Nothing.

Nothing's changed and I'm still trapped. I've got no unpackaged solid food and I'm right back where I started. Damn it!


I lift my bag to throw it against the wall...



...and it flutters out. The business card from yesterday.

The one lead I have from yesterday.



Fuck off, Director. Christmas ended when the world ended.

How does this help me? I clutch my head in my hands when --



An apartment here? Did someone other than Chie survive?



I sure as hell won't escape downstairs. At least the apartment's something to move towards.

I can't just stay here forever.

There's only one Jelly between me and 204, now. My handgun feels a lot lighter than I remember.

I've spent too many bullets these past few days. I can't let fear get to me again.



Did anyone ever live here? Other than a small cranny to hide in, the room is entirely empty. Only the walls and their child-like chalk drawings suggest anyone ever stayed here.

Hah, I could draw better than whoever drew these! They're mostly of some girl, anyway.


...This is silly. I didn't come to look at crude drawings. Where's whoever I spoke to? The Director?

I creak open one door a fraction, the light from the ceiling lamp spilling into the next room. I can't hear any Jellies.



Pushing the door wide, I step onward. This is no room -- it's a corridor, and a fenced one at that. But I can also see an illuminated figure at the end.



He's here. The Director.

I remember what happened with Chie. I'm afraid to step too close. But I hate hearing only my own voice.

Are you really The Director?



How have you survived? I've barely gotten by, but I have a furnished apartment!



...but I just asked you! How should I know? How am I to even know if you're real?



I came here to seek help.

You're not fucking helping.

I came here for help, damn it. I don't need mind games. No, I don't care about keeping my brain in shape! It's not a muscle!



For a minute, I think he's leaving. Instead, he reaches over to his box and pulls out a saucepan. He smacks it into my hands.

Apparently he forages pretty regularly...



I open my mouth to respond, but my stomach beats me to it. With all the wallowing in self-pity, I've forgotten to eat.

The Director doesn't even bat an eye. Reaching over to his box once more, he pulls out two packages: crackers and cheese.

I want to hug this asshole.

The thought only strikes me after I leave the corridor. I don't have a working stove. How will I use this saucepan?

Searching the next room answers my question.



Just what I needed. Now I can replace the gas tank in 206.

But what's a lone, full gas tank doing here? I haven't seen any furniture in 204 at all. I can only see more drawings: again in chalk, this time of a girl with wings, hearts, clouds...

Absentmindedly, I grasp the saucepan. Certainly feels real.


It doesn't matter, really.



My stove finally works! I've got no food I can heat, but watching the flames dance as I assemble a cheese-cracker sandwich nonetheless brings a smile to my face.

Where there's food, there's hope.

But I have to conserve my gas, and eating the cheese-cracker sandwich takes but a moment.

I stare at the pilot light for lack of anything else. I may have made a new ally and repaired my stove, but I'm still no closer to escaping than I was a few hours ago. Unless I bludgeon the behemoth to death, I can't make use of the saucepan.

One way or another, I have to return downstairs.



It's a lot less successful than I hoped.

I lured and killed one of the Jellies with rotting meat, only to collide with two more of them in the infernal dark.

I manage to sneak past after lightening up my pack twice more, but the damage is done. My wounds already have me seeing red.



I all but collapse into the closest room. No drawings decorate these walls: just newspaper clippings of a civilian's death in war.

War. Now just history. The strangest shiver runs down my spine.



A gust of wind greets me like a slap in the face as I enter the next room.

Of course. The back alley! All this time, I've been considering the front door. Why didn't I check the map?

I'm free!

My flashlight's beam illuminates packages of food dotting the alleyway, but who cares? I'm free!



My words trip over my tongue as the flashlight flickers. NO! DAMN IT, NO!

I'm so close!



The hell are you?!

You know what, it doesn't matter. Just where the hell did you come from?



Yes, and you're blocking my way. Move, fish-face! I don't know what you're saying, and I don't like it, either.



That's just fine, I don't plan on seeing you again either --



-- wait! How will you find me? Don't!

My flashlight flickers once more, but he's already gone.

Chie, The Director, now him. I pull at my hair -- I want to SCREAM. Why me? Is any of this shit real?

When I attempt to push myself up, my hand grazes something metal. It's a soda can, but it feels empty. I can hear something rattle inside.



I can't go on, the alleyway's a dead end. I can't repair the gaping hole, either. I'm no Mason.

I'm still seeing red from earlier. I spotted a mirror just beside the hole. At least... at least I can try to sleep away this pain.

And...and then I can start afresh. Tomorrow.

When I wake up the next morning, I can barely sit upright. My vision's worse than yesterday. Food, I need food.

Desperately, I dump the contents of my bag. Cans, cans, cans... squid on a stick! Well, just a stick now.

By the time I can see clearly and feel a definite weight in my stomach, I've devoured any food that's not canned and nearly polished off the crackers and cheese. Self-restraint...

It's too late for that. I'd at least better get moving.



What does the fire key do? I still can't unlock my fire escape. I tilt it in the light from my windows: is that a "1"?

In spite of all the rotten meat I've dropped, my bag weighs down on my shoulders. I have to return downstairs.

The corridors seem even darker than yesterday. Is that even possible?

The fire key works: it unlocks the last set of fire doors. I know better than to expect escape so simply. I'm almost don't mind the disappointment.

I've got no other option. I have to pass through the main lobby.



I doubt I'll ever have enough ammunition to take the behemoth down. I have nothing to bring it down. I'll just have to make do with what's there.

When I step through the next corridor, I know I wasn't mistaken.



It is darker here than it was yesterday. And louder -- I can hear their raspy moans.



Like bugs, they come to my light. My only friend doesn't let me down.

Still, I can't help but wonder: am I becoming more like Draco? The Jellies...weren't they human?

No. I can't keep thinking like this. It's what I have to do. I'm a survivor, damnit!

I swear I can smell it even from here. But I have to pass through here. I take a deep breath ...

When it approaches, I can't draw my gun. I can't face the monster. I can't even look at the behemoth except by the reflection of the elevator doors...

The elevator doors?



There! Upon the wall, beside the door I came through. I push it frantically...

Nothing. No light. No sound.

Idiot! Did you really expect the elevator to work in an unpowered building? Wait, does this only need power?



The apartment has emergency generators in the basement. If I can power those on, then I can call the elevator!

I can't suppress a shiver that has nothing to do with the monster at my back. I loathe the basement. But...



If I can trap the behemoth inside the elevator, then I can pass through the main lobby. As much as I hate to do it, I have to visit the basement.

It's not as though I have any other choice. But I fruitlessly wish I did.

The railing becomes fleshy beneath my fingers as I descend the stairs. Even the air seems crimson down here.



Veins criss-cross over one door. I can't even budge the door. I can only enter through one way.

First the heart, now this. It's like the entire building's slowly coming to life.



There're a set of directions to the generator room, but I can't use them without a map. More useful are the distress flares close to the door.

It's pitch-black in here. I can't even see my own hand before it hits my nose. Will I have enough batteries for this?

It's a good thing I've kept my hand on my only friend. Attempting to save my batteries, I nearly ran headlong into a Jelly. Now I'm worried about ammo, too.

At least I'm not stumbling blindly anymore.



But who got to this map before I did? I didn't mark one of the rooms on the map.

The thought lingers on my mind as I open an adjacent door.



At least I only had to worry about losing ammo. I could see well enough in this light.

Well enough to spot the fuse lying behind the Jelly's corpse.

Did someone dismantle the generator? The more time I have to spend down here in the perpetual darkness... I'm going to lose it.

Damnit, no!

I needed a break. I thought a night's sleep would be enough. I thought I could find the generator tomorrow!

But didn't think about my ammunition...



It's all gone. The last bullet swallowed by an oncoming Jelly's chest.

And now...



I can feel my forehead resting against the fleshy walls. My fingers dig into the veins.

But I can't even get up. I'm going to die: alone in the bowels of the apartment building. I'm going to fucking die.



I don't want to fucking die.

I can't feel the ground digging into my knees. I can't feel the flesh enveloping my forehead.

Am I...sitting? Am I meant to speak with you?



But you're right. I don't much feel like talking right now.

I like this. I could stay like this.



No, none here. There are no enemies here.

...are you saying I must go back? I don't have protection! I don't want to go back. Don't make me go back.

I want to stay. What if I need you? How will I find you?



Don't -- !



What's this pressing against my side? Is...

Is this ammunition?

What the hell just happened? How did I return to my apartment? Why do I feel refreshed?

...Why me, damnit? Why me?

I want to do anything -- anything -- that'll keep me out of the basement. I'll lose myself down there.



If there's one thing I'm thankful for, it's that I don't have to rely on Flashlight-kun at all on my way there.

True to his word, The Director has a surprise.




It's a cute kettle, too. The word feels foreign in my mind. Haven't needed to use it in a long time.

But thanks, Director. I'll finally be able to brew coffee now. I really loved coffee. At least, before all this happened.



Before I can answer, he retracts his words with some advice: "All the same, don't overdo it."

Then he presses three flares into my hands. He'll give me more in exchange for ammo.

I almost crush my blue pills underfoot.

What I imagine life to be like for the Lone Survivor:

I've got a bad feeling about where this story is headed.

Lone Survivor is now on sale on Steam for $3.29 (66% off!) for the next four hours.

EDIT: It is now 50% off until January 6th, for $4.99.

Oh, you meant you wanted an LP update? I'll be back shortly.