Dawn bleaches the kitchen in thin gray bars. The map lies open, the route to Old Orleans marked in hard pencil, and the packed supplies sit by the door like a verdict. Outside, the street answers with distant, hungry shuffling.
Louis
We do this now, before the noise gets worse.
Jenny
I have the front clear. Once Benjamin moves, I move.
Elias
The house bought them time. It will not buy much more.
Benjamin tightens the straps on the bags. The bat is in his hand, the map in reach, and every window in the house seems to listen.
Julian
If the city swallows us, keep going. Don’t stop for me.
A heavy удар rattles the far side of the house, then another. Dust sifts from the ceiling. Jenny angles toward the door, Louis shifts to cover the hall, and Elias grips the radio like it might still call help from the dead city.
The route is set. The supplies are ready. The street waits beyond the threshold, full of movement and chance. Benjamin stands at the door with everyone behind him, and the first step out is his to choose.
“"Are Dane and Elias okay enough to go out?"”
NO (Unlikely, rolled 85)
Benjamin observes the heavy, labored breathing of Dane and Elias as they lean against the kitchen wall. Their injuries and exhaustion are too severe for the trek, and the reality of their physical limits settles over the room like a shroud.
Elias
My shoulder is not going to hold up on the road, Benjamin. We would only slow you down.
“Is Julian going to turn soon?”
EXCEPTIONAL YES (VeryLikely, rolled 8)
Benjamin turns his gaze toward the corner where Julian sits, noticing the sudden, violent tremors racking the man's frame. The skin around Julian's bite wound has turned a sickly, bruised purple, and his eyes have already begun to cloud over with a milky, vacant film.
Julian
It is happening... faster than I thought. Please, Benjamin, do not let me become one of them.
Benjamin
The infection is taking him now, right in front of us.